Cinderella Ran With the Warm Fuzzies and Reached her Goal!

Happy New Year, my bloggy loves! Hope you rang yours in in whatever manner you desired (that 'in in' thing looks really wrong, doesn't it? I don't think it's supposed to be 'in, in', is it? And I couldn't think of another way to word it... so screw it). Anyway, Ryan and Sundance and I stayed home last night (as we do pretty much every New Year's Eve) and watched Ever After, which was one of Ryan's Christmas presents (mostly because I wanted to see it and it was on sale at Target for $5.00!). It was really very good, even though it had Drew Barrymore in it (I don't think she can act her way out of a paper bag), and I think it's now my favorite version of the Cinderella story. But Cinderella really doesn't have much to do with ringing in the new year, does she? Moving on...

We ended the year with our 5K in downtown Pigsknuckle. My girl did remarkably well and finished with a time of 30.19! That's pretty fabulous, especially since she's only 10 and it was her first race! We think she even came in first in the 13 and under age group (we should know for sure on Monday). Most of our other GoGirlGo! girls did incredibly well, too, and Ironwoman and I (and all the other parents) were really proud of them! I wound up at the back with some of the kids who just never took to running, so I didn't even bother to get my time. But it was slow. Very slow. It was harder than I remember it being but it was still good and my commitment to running was renewed. My friend Emmy (who wheezed alongside me yesterday) and I are going to sit down and map out a strategy for getting ready for our half-marathon in August. We're doing another 5K in April, too, so we'll be able to gauge our progress a bit. I'm glad Emmy's going to do that one with me because when I mentioned it to Ryan last night again, she said, "Ummmm... Mom? When we do the race in April, do I have to, you know, run with you?" (Interpretation: Do I have to slow down to turtle speed so you can keep up?) I tried to look all offended but her expression made me laugh and I told her no, she could run as fast as she wants and I'll just limp along at my own pace. I did tell her to bring a book, though, so she'll have something to do while she waits for me at the finish. Rotten (albeit speedy) child. Anyway, I was beyond proud of her and though she's whined all day about being sore, I think maybe a real runner was born yesterday... and that makes me very happy!

Another cool thing happened yesterday, which helped to end my year on a high note. I got a Facebook friend request from someone I didn't know (no, that wasn't the 'high note' part). I emailed the requester and asked if we know each other and I simply didn't recognize her name (which has happened a couple of times and always makes me feel crappy, as I would hate it if someone didn't remember me). She emailed me back and said that we don't actually know each other but she's been a faithful reader (i.e. lurker) of my blog for a while now and when she saw me on FB, she thought she'd send me a friend request. She went on to say she thinks my writing is wonderful, which totally made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. All of you know how it feels when someone tells you they like what you write... it's beyond cool. And you know I'm one of those bloggers who checks her stats every day and wonders who those lovely lurkers are (and wishes they'd get in touch). So, thanks Julie, for lurking :), for liking what I write, for saying so, for FB friending me, and for giving me the last warm fuzzies of 2009!

2009 was a year of incredible bad and even more incredible good for me. I went from feeling as low as I've felt in a long, long time, to feeling better than I've maybe ever felt. But it was a gradual process (so no, I don't think I need medication ;) and it came about when I was able to make a conscious effort to change my attitude about a lot of things. It was also the result of setting, working toward, and achieving goals. If I had to choose a word that sums up 2009 for me, it would have to be patience. I stopped wanting everything now and realized that everything worthwhile takes time. It was pretty big for me, people. Pretty damned big.

So, I've spent a good bit of today sorting out goals and plans for the coming year. I don't do 'resolutions', as they seem so black and white to me. They are 'yes or no'... 'do or fail'... 'now or never'. I don't like that. But goals require a plan of action and time to achieve them. They're more grey than black and white and I've found that the path to attainment can have detours and set-backs, but that the goal can remain in sight. I do so like that. And I have many. I divided them into categories like 'health and fitness', 'work', 'personal enrichment', 'social', 'projects', and 'financial'. I won't bore you with my list but I'm sure you'll be hearing about them in the months to come.

How about you? Have you set goals for 2010? Whether you have or haven't, I hope 2010 turns out to be a truly remarkable year of positives and happiness for all of you, my bloggy friends and lurkers!!! I look forward to sharing another year with you... getting to know you even better... and getting to meet a few of you face-to-face (finally!!)!! Much love to you all... XOXOXO