Last year, shortly after the New Year chimed, I made the foolish mistake of writing out a set of New Years resolutions. Little did I know that by the beginning of February, my world would be turned upside-down by GBS and the resolutions would be long forgotten. But that won’t stop me now from looking back at my goals and seeing how I did.

Resolution #1: Shop locally

I actually did very well at this one. First of all, I didn’t buy nearly as much stuff in 2012 as I have in previous years. I spent many months recovering, and just didn’t need much new stuff, whether it be clothes or gadgets or recreational toys. At Christmas, I bought virtually all of the gifts I gave from local stores, and when I was in need of something, I nearly always checked the local shops before going on-line. I’ll say, for now, this effort was a success.

Resolution #2: Be more active in the community

I failed at this one. I just couldn’t even get out of the house for months due to my GBS, so getting involved in the goings-on of the community just had to take a back seat to my recovery. I did, however, vote for the first time, and I blogged more about politics in an effort to support the issues I thought were important. So maybe that counts for something.

Resolution #3: Be more charitable

I failed at this one too. While we did give some  money to charity this year, my lack of employment at the end of the year, and reduced hours throughout the year, cut back on my spending across the board. We’re still fine, financially, but not nearly as flush with cash as we might have been had I been working for 12 straight months.

Resolution #4: Take kids camping

That obviously didn’t happen, though the kids did sleep in a tent a few times while staying at their grandparents’ house in the country. Hopefully we’ll make it happen in 2013.

Resolution #5: Market myself and my writing better

Well, if getting a publishing contract is the measurement of this resolution, then WIN! But I wasn’t able to blog as much as I wanted to in 2012. I only made it to the PNWA Conference for a few minutes. I wasn’t able to write more short stories, or work at building up my followers dramatically. As Nowhere Wild moves closer to publication through 2013, this will definitely become an area of focus.  

Resolution #6: Write another book

Check! One Hundred Names for Rain was finished in early-December. I think it turned out pretty well, but I won’t take another look at it until my next edit of Nowhere Wild is done. It wasn’t the book I planned to write in 2012, but I think it was the best one I had in my mind when I finally did have time and energy to sit down to write.

Resolution #7: Be a better father by being more patient

I don’t think you can ever say you were the perfect father and that there aren’t things you can improve on. I can say I was there for my kids more often in 2012, because I was around more. And we’re definitely closer now than we’ve ever been. I’m still impatient from time to time, and have difficulty remembering that they are, after all, only 5 years old. So much of the time my kids seem like they are little adults, that it’s hard to deal with the minutes where they act their age. That’s where I still need to improve.

Resolution #8: Spend more time with friends

For most of the year, I was stuck in my GBS cocoon, and isolated from the world. But since the beginning of November, we’ve been doing more with friends—whether it be going out to dinner, 0r having people over to play cards / games, it just feels like we’ve turned the social corner. I remember back to when I was a kid, my parents would have frequent Saturday night card games at friends houses, and we kids would just fall asleep on  the couch and be carried out to the car late at night. For a long time, we’ve been so stuck in our routine that we didn’t want the kids to miss their bed times. Now we’re more willing to give that a try so we can be social. Sure, we’re becoming more like our parents, but if that’s what we have to do to have a social life these days, it’s a small price to pay.

All-in-all, 2012’s resolutions did fairly well considering what they were up against. In a few days, I’ll post my resolutions for 2013. I haven’t thought about them a whole lot yet, but this exercise feels somewhat therapeutic. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what my subconscious can commit me to in 2013.