Cheers to 2015. My second year of blogging every day. My second year of embracing the writer within me, I suppose. Year Two of the Plan, whatever form it may take as these new 365 days unfold.

I did some writing on the 2014 Retrospective today, and I quickly realized it’s going to be a bit different than last year’s retrospective. I quite simple have SO MUCH MATERIAL to draw from, given that I have in point of fact written down the events of every single day from last year. I feel somewhat obligated to go through all that, pick the highlights from the full body of the raw material. It’s going to take some time, but I’m also quite enjoying it.

I remember being so down on my retrospective last year. 2013 had been tumultuous, to be sure, but my memory of it all had such a negative skew. That was something I didn’t even realize until I sat down to finally do the retrospective, and all these positive things started tumbling out, these triumphs and big steps. I feel that less so this year, but I still do feel it to an extent. There’s always a part of me that’s never quite satisfied with what I’ve done with myself over any given period of time. I always feel unfinished. This year, on the first day of 2015, I feel that much MUCH less acutely than I did last year. I feel tired, physically and mentally…but right on the cusp of chomping at the bit to get started, too.

Today was a wonderful day. The Ho and I were joined at the hip all day. We slept in together, took the pups on the morning walkies together, ate breakfast together, then took an early afternoon nap together. We parted ways there for a bit, and she continued to nap while I cleaned out the refrigerator. I knew that needed to be done before we went and got groceries, which is what we did when she woke up a bit later. In the interim, I went and walked to the dogs too for their nighttime stroll. Grocery shopping was delightful, we both bought a shit ton of food to stock out larders. I ate some food straight off and side-watched as the Oregon Ducks steamrolled their way into the final Championship game of the 2014 College Football season. Brand new system this year: playoffs! Only one round, which I think is too little, but it is progress. I wrote some of my retrospective while all that was happening.

Liz, during that time, was making one of her winter stews and holy shit ball it turned out amazing this time. Seriously…she’s getting better and better at making these stews each time that she does one. And they end up lasting like a full week. I bought some amazing sausage, and we tried out some new cheeses. Our Ralph’s is the SHIT. Then, we ate dinner together and watched a couple episodes of Boardwalk Empire, which ended a full month and a half ago, but we didn’t have the time to watch at the time. It’s definitely ramping up for a “explosive” ending, but I do have to say it’s certainly not their best attempt at one. That came a couple seasons ago. But, hey, still two episodes left. We’ll see how they handle things.

Then, all the sudden, the day was done. It’s almost freezing outside, and we took the pups out for their last pee of the day, and they’re curled up behind me right now as I write the blog tonight. I’m going to brush my teeth and curl up in bed and write some more on my 2014 Retrospective. It won’t be finished tonight, but it will be tomorrow. I can say that with a fair amount of certainty.

But yeah…I’ve been thinking about 2015, and I do have some goals I can state right here and now.

I want to write two more pilots by the end of March. Rough drafts, anyway.

I want to apply to as many assistant positions on TV shows as I possibly can. It would be even better to actually *get* one of those positions, but I’ll hold myself to applying first of all.

Depending on how that goes, I want to write another book this year. Make that TWO books. The one I wrote last year also needs to be edited into a second draft.

Speaking of drafts, both Icarus and Starstuff need new ones, and that needs to happen sooner than later. The former, within the next two weeks. The latter, let’s say by Valentine’s day.

I also want to get the Netflix job that’s been dangling out there in the ether for the past couple months. That means I need to have drinks with a guy. That will happen sooner as opposed to later.

I want to work out. I wanted to last year, and I did for a short period of time before abandoning it for the wedding. Not this year. It’s not going to be P90x, most likely, but a plan of my own design. And, I want to do it for a 6-month stretch hard core.

I want to save money with Liz, build that up significantly this year. Enough to cover us for 3 to 6 months should our income tank unexpectedly, plus enough for us to travel in 2016 abroad.

Finally, I want to take more time for myself and my own psyche. Meaning: spend more time with Liz and the pups, keep my house cleaner, get outside and play sports more often, go see more movies, meet new people at things like writers events and such…enjoy life more. Or, at least, designate time for that.

I also want to be “on time” more often, and “behind” less so. With work, with writing, with everything. Stop the self-sabotage. At least as much as possible. Most of that honestly comes down to my own frame of mind. This retrospective is a perfect example: I set myself the goal of having it done today, and I didn’t, so now I’m “behind”…but *I* set my own deadlines, don’t I? This being “behind” is an entirely artificial construct that I created for myself…so I can decide not to be behind. And, so I did. I’m not. It wasn’t supposed to be done today. I can do that now, in my mind, because I know that I will work on it more tonight, and tomorrow, and I can be happy with that progress. I want to continue to cultivate that into my psyche, and be less stressed out.

Okay…more goals will float into this blog as this first week of the year continues. I think that sounds like a nice plan. But, that’s all for tonight.

I’m really, really, really excited about 2015, guys. And nervous. But, mostly excited. It’s a blank slate, a brand new beginning. I’m freaking ready!

Tonight’s image comes from Shusei Nagaoka