I took some time this month to reflect on the goals I set last year, my progress against them, and what I’d like to accomplish this year. Last year, I listed ten goals, and only accomplished four and a half of them.  They were all big goals, and I faltered under the pressure I put on myself. So this year I’m going to keep the list sweet and simple, and attainable. If I do above and beyond, fantastic, but otherwise just achieving the items on this list will put me on the right path towards where I want to be.

1. Write 1 story each quarter. Can be any length – short story to full-length novel. Doesn’t matter if it’s a polished manuscript ready to be submitted for publishing or just a rough first draft that may never get read by another living soul. Every three months I’d simply like to have one of the hundreds of stories in my head captured from beginning to end.
2. Get 3 works published, or at least have 3 works contracted or scheduled for publishing by the end of the year.
3. Continue to exercise 5 days a week for at least 40 minutes. This will be a cinch because I’ve found some great exercises that I love, including various cardio dance routines, aerobics videos, strength and flexibility training routines in 10 minute increments, speed walking, skating and stair climbing. Family Exercise Time will also continue to be a big deal in our house.
4. Play more. All work and no play makes Tati a dull (and unhappy) girl! I will make board, card and video game time with the family a bigger priority, as well as taking a little time each week to play the kind of solo games that I love.
5. Complete one big side project  that I’ve either started or have been itching to start, such as my visual novel project, an anthology of short-stories or novellas, audio books, and other ideas. I just have to make up my mind which one to focus on – unfortunately, I can’t do it all at once (even though I keep trying ).

There, I’ve publicly proclaimed my goals for 2012 before January ended!

So I’m only now realizing that it’s almost 20 days into the new year, and I haven’t posted a single thing. *laughs* I mean sure, I did take a week off for vacation and got caught up in some other things, but man – I could have sworn I’d posted something like already.

Here are 13 things that have me starting off the year so distracted:

1. Skyrim. What an addictive game! This isn’t the first RPG I’ve played and enjoyed in this series or by Bethesda Game Studios, but it just may be the first one I actually complete. It’s that good. Bethesda  is well known for making HUGE fantasy worlds players can openly explore for hundreds of hundreds, and where you can pretty much play it any way you want. 
2. My hormones. Not sure what’s been up with me lately, but sex has been on my mind an awful lot. Okay, by awful lot I mean WAY more than is usual. For me.
3. My husband. Due directly to distraction #2. The poor man isn’t sure if he’s one lucky bastard or an unfortunate victim of marital sexual assault these days. I say the former (and its not like husbands get the right to say no anyway )
4. The job. I just deployed a new time and resource management software system to a new part of the business this week, and have been working overtime to get prepare before we went live and afterwards to support the kinks.
5. Dance Central 2. Finding the motivation to get my daily cardio in has never been easier. This game is for the Xbox Kinect, which means you there is no holding any controllers or cheating by only moving your arms when you play – you are really, truly, dancing. And burning mad calories and breaking a sweat. All the while working to improve your score and top your friends’ scores or challenge them to dance battle. It even has 2-player mode, which make my husband and I the life of the party with we bust out the game and show off our couple-coordinated grooves. Love this game! 
6. The bills. Let’s just say that somewhere between Halloween and New Year’s we spent way too much. Both the hubby and I have been working out a new budget plan for 2012 that will hopefully not have us in this same situation by the end of this year.
7. My children. They’re at an age where they’re soaking up everything and craving interaction and attention, and there’s so much to show them, teach them and engage them in. I love how being a parent continuously challenges me to re-evaluate my outlook on and appreciation of almost everything on life, from the child’s perspective.
8. The family. My family tree is more like a forest, and I swear that all of them were ready to party this holiday season. Every single weekend since like Thanksgiving there’s been a party, dinner or some other invite that I was harassed into attending.
9. YouTube. Seriously, who needs to subscribe to cable television these days? There’s some seriously funny stuff out there (both unintentionally and brilliantly done) that I wish wasn’t so easy to watch over and over. And to add insult to injury the site has the nerve to recommend similar videos.
10. The fiction writing. These stories are begging to get finished, and are complaining that it’s taking too long!
11. Glee. It takes a special kind of teen show to not only hold my attention, but have me laughing or yelling at the screen and constantly craving more. This show is one of them.  Not sure why I avoided it for so long, but I am now several episodes into the first season and I’m absolutely loving it! 
12. The news. Between grown men opening fire on teenagers, mothers sexually abusing their daughters and debates about the SOPA bill, 2012 has started off with some seriously hot topics. I try not to pay them too much attention, but it’s hard not to get sucked in.
13. … I’m way too distracted to come up with a 13th one.

Okay, so truth be told I watched way more than just 13 romantic comedies this year, but I randomly picked just 13 of them to list and share my brief thoughts on.

1. “27 Dresses”

 I didn’t think I was going to like this movie due to subject matter (weddings, wedding dresses and Katherine Heigl). Turns out that I rather like Heigl when she’s not in Grey’s Anatomy, and I found myself entertained. LIKED IT

2. Just Wright

The storyline was alright, but mostly this movie was worth watching just for Queen Latifah and Common. LIKED IT

3. Bridesmaids

Technically this is more of a screwball comedy than rom com. The romantic elements were pretty weak but I did laugh a few times. I probably enjoyed this movie mostly because I was watching it with friends and wine.  LIKED IT

4. “The Ugly Truth”

This movie solidified my like of Katherine Heigl. I loved that it was a little grittier than most rom coms, and that Gerard Butler’s character had a dirty mouth. I watched this movie 3 times back to back – 2 of those times with my husband who also loved the movie. LOVED IT

5. Gray Matters

I watched this movie purely because the description said it was about a brother and sister falling in love with the same woman, and I HAD to see what that was all about. It was okay, but I didn’t find it particularly romantic nor funny. JUST OK

6. “Pillow Talk”

This is one of those classic movies that I only just got around to this year. It made me laugh out loud, and I screamed at Rock Hudson for being such a jerk! For being a jerk and still making me swoon at him!  LOVED IT

7. The Prince & Me

This was a cute movie, but I never could get into the Prince’s character so it didn’t really move me.  JUST OK

8. The Other Sister

There’s not enough movies out there where those with disabilities get to find love. Funny, charming movie. LOVED IT

9. Barefoot In The Park

Another classic that I just got around to watching.  I’m starting to love older movies because they are simple and focus on great characters with lots of personality in order to entertain.  LOVED IT

10. “The Accidental Husband”

I have this huge crush on Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and so that made this movie entertaining for me. But because I have a hard time watching Uma Thurman and the implausibility of this plot, this movie fell a little flat for me.  JUST OK

11. “Beauty and the Briefcase” (Hated It)

I rented this movie because my husband thinks Duff is hot, and so I knew that’d get him to watch it with me. But my gawd, this movie was not funny, or romantic, nor even interesting.  HATED IT

12.  ”Premium”

I like Zoe Saldana, and so I wanted to really like this movie. I have mixed feelings about this movie. I felt like the acting was uneven and it suffered from poor quality production all around, but wasn’t completely without merit.  JUST OK

13. “The Proposal”

Another movie I didn’t think I was going to like, but I was highly entertained (and so was my husband). I didn’t know Sandra Bullock actually had personality (seems like she developed some just for this movie), and Ryan Reynolds did comedy with amazing subtlety. LIKED IT