2011 Wrap-up

So . . . here we are at the beginning of a New Year.

Okay, yes, I said last week that I wasn’t going to post until January 2, but I was planning on doing my wrap up post separately from my 2012 Goals post, and if I waited until Monday for this post, then my goals post would be Tuesday, and even though I’m not sure what, if anything, I’m posting on Tuesday, that would throw my whole schedule off.

Still with me? Good.

Last year was a real roller coaster for me with all the ups and downs. Yeah, I had some really bad stuff happen, mostly health-wise, but I had some really good stuff happen as well, so I refuse to look back and call it a bad year.

As this is the wrap-up post, let’s start with last year’s goal. I was pretty easy on myself as far as goals went at the beginning of the year:

1. Do better on my goals than last year.
2. Use the database I created.
3. Stay on top of my poetry.
4. Be amore productive writer.
5. Lose weight.
6. Make good use of the social networks.
7. Read judiciously.

Let’s see how I did.

1. Do better on my goals than last year.
Hmm. Maybe we should leave this one for the end.

2. Use the database I created.
This was definitely an epic fail. The database in question was one I created in 2010 to catalogue my books. Not only did I not make use of it, I forgot all about it. I might even have lost it. Oops!

3. Stay on top of my poetry.
While I did not stay on top of keeping my poetry organized I did put together a chapbook to have ready for sale for my September reading. For a while I had a separate blog for just my poetry, but since I was just duplicating posts that were on my other blog, I didn’t see the point.

4. Be a more productive writer.
This is definitely a win. I published my first novel; I published a chapbook of poetry; I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge once again; and I have not one, but two serials on the go. If that’s not progress I don’t know what is.

5. Lose weight.
This was a kind of up and down thing. I’d lose a little, just to gain it back again. In August my health took a downward turn which forced me to start taking care of myself. I managed to lose 10 pounds in the fall, but I was a real slacker in the month of December and gained 5 of it back. *sigh*

6. Make good use of the social networks.
I’m still a little intimidated (okay, a lot intimidated) by Twitter, but I’m working on it. When it comes to tweeting the spirit is willing but the lap top is weak. For some reason my lap top slows down to a crawl when I’m trying to tweet. It’s so frustrating! So I’ll keep trying, but I probably won’t be an avid twit until I can afford a new lap top. Facebook is much easier for me to handle. I even have an author’s page there now: Carol R. Ward, Author

7. Read judiciously.
Last year I took Dolly Garland’s reading challenge and had a goal of reading 80 books in 2011. I ended up reading 110 and kept track on Goodreads (look me up as Carol R. Ward and be my friend!). So, I’d call this one a definite win.

Which brings us back to Number One. I had to check back to see how I did on my goals in 2010 to see if I did better. Over all, I’d say I definitely did better at reaching my goals than last year.

To see what this year’s goals are, come back tomorrow.