I have made New Years Resolutions since I was young, really young. I weighed 114 in high school, but most every year my goal was to maintain that weight, or often to lose weight. And I did it after my first child but not the second and not ever again. Soon I had more important goals, more pressing concerns, and more significant ideals than my weight.

Marriage, children, working, teaching, doing the right thing. I became vegetarian with occasional pescatarian lapses in 1990. That was also the year I began writing fiction. I began running a few years later. At my peak running condition, I weighed 128 pounds, which was a very good weight for my height and muscle. I was in my 40s.

Last year, I wrote out a list of “habits” that I hoped to begin or continue through 2023:

• revise HEIGHT on BMI calculator to 5’2”/62” 
• HABIT: note weight each morning, food, distance&runs, etc.                                                                       
• HABIT: more greens & fruit, less salt & sweet & alcohol                                       
• HABIT: clean up as I bake & cook + divest!                                                          
• HABIT: regular walks, 2 mile runs + longer run each week [through September]                          
• run a <35minute 5k and/or run 10k Bridge Crossing [did the 6.2-mile Bridge in 1:15]
• carry less to/from Five05                                                      
• weaving to use up stash (5- to 5.5-yard warps, ±10-20 skeins/month) and knit or sew to complete something each month  [November, my wrist was injured, but I wrote 50k new words so technically I did “complete something”]                                                                       
• revise All the Daughters Sing novel, character-by-character [incredible]                                                                                                                                     
• edit & illustrate Cows Go Night-Night                                                                                        
• set monthly GOALS & REFLECT on accomplishments 
• Etsy account and/or sell jewelry on Ebay    
• read more books: one/week 
• 15 June: cut sugar and alcohol  [less, but not cut]
• 16 September: stop drinking altogether; less salt and sugar [6 weeks]
• December, wine 1-2 times/week  

The list was too long, but I did pretty well. At my very tallest, stretching my neck and standing high, I was never more than 5’3.25″ and I have shrunk to 5’2″ so that’s why I changed my height for the sake of BMI. “Divest” was probably the most important goal, though it didn’t get a line of its own. Tracking my eating and other behaviors was most important and I did really well. I still need more fruits and veg, so that specific goal also carries over to this year. Less salt was something I added later and put on my list for 2024.

My running goals have not ended as I’d thought they might after my long run in the fall. Since the bridge crossing, I run 1 mile on Sunday and 2 miles on MWF. I thought I would stop altogether, but find myself itching to go, so I do. Gary and I cover about three miles/day. I would like to go out two times each day.

NaNo got me through the chapters I was afraid of. I found readers to provide feedback on Muslim, Welsh, and Korean characters. I need Peruvian, Brazilian, and Nigerian readers, plus someone in rural Georgia—I’ve been there a few times—or I can carve away what I am unsure about.

I read 63 books in 2023 and reviewed the on Goodreads, plus five reviews submitted to journals. My reading goal was 52 books, or one a week. I read one I planned to give to my oldest grandchild, didn’t like it, and discussed it with them. I attended AWP in Seattle and the Portland Book Festival locally. I submitted stories and poems and art and essays a total of 82 times; most of those were submissions of my novel to and rejections by agents, but I had a favorite story and a short story review accepted by a favorite press, CALYX; three pieces accepted by Oregon English Journal; a reprint of an old magic realist story in a collection from Raven Chronicles; and a story with my very first podcast at Metaphorosis. Seven publications!

I rejoined Facebook.

Gary and I figured out a way to store all his LPs and CDs (don’t ask how many) and about a third of my books in our tiny condo. That will happen this year. The sewing machine and loom are still in question. Writing anywhere works for me.

What else is new? We are fairly certain to be moving to Portland for our primary residence. That’s the big shift. We like our city neighbors and have been made to feel welcome. I need to find a writing group in the city.

I will continue tracking all sorts of exercise and eating habits in a chart I began in 2020. “Dieting” may not work, but changing and maintaining a healthier diet certainly does. Not being afraid to feel a little hungry is the key for me. Stuffing myself was a disaster. Eating mindfully and paying attention to calories was the ticket. I feel good.

So the big goal for 2024? Finish the submissions process for All the Daughters Sing and not get too cross waiting for a response. Oh, and lose another 5 pounds! Ha!

But right now I need a walk.