First week of work went well. There are some IT frustrations, as apparently, when they send me an email saying I have a type of account, they don’t really mean it. They mean that they have put me in the system, but I won’t really have my account for another 24 hours. Basically, that translates to me having to use a temporary ID to log into the computer for my entire first week of work, and only having access to email via webmail. Hopefully on Monday I will be able to log in as me and get my outlook set up, and I can then have a calendar as well as email- which is kind of important as most of my job is going to be meeting with people and being the face of this brand new department.

 

Is it silly to say one of the best things about my new job is the commute? I am out of the house for 12 hours/day, which is not ideal, but since I’m taking the train and bus, it means I actually have time to read- you know, books, for fun.

 

Blogging

The purpose of these two goals is, yes, to grow my blogs, but also to support and highlight blogs and bloggers I enjoy. Just like I will be posting 2 new to me blogs every week in my round ups, the point here is to draw attention to blogs that others might not be familiar with. (Blog swaps will not count toward either of these goals.)

Write one guest post per month.

January- yes

February- yes

March- no

April- no

May- no

June – yes.

Publish one guest post per month.

January- yes

February- no

March- no

April- no

May- no

June – yes.

 

Need to get a guest post written and find someone to write a guest post here or over at Life by Pets. Anyone looking for guest posts/want to write a guest post?

 

Writing

Writing fiction is my side hustle, though I have yet to make any money from it. I’ve found that I devote much more time to the blogs than I do my fiction, though, because I am on a schedule. I feel accountable to my readers to get posts up when I say I will. And because I am a procrastinator, deadlines are a must for me. I get the energy I need to work on something from an impending deadline.

I am hoping to transfer the power of those two things- accountability and deadlines, to my fiction this year.

Submit at least one piece to a paying venue per month.

December: Yes (rejected)

January: Yes (rejected)

February: Yes x4 (2 rejections)

March: No

April: Yes (rejected)

May: No

June: No

Complete the first draft of my novella and start edits.

I got a great fight scene written over the last two weeks, but that’s really less than 2,000 words. If only I thought I could actually get some writing done on my commute.

 

 

Finances

A lot of financial goals will actually end up as floating goals- ie they will be things I expect to complete well before the year is out. But I do have some long term financial goals that I think will work for year-long tracking.

Create and track a practice stock portfolio. June post went up two weeks ago.

End the year “on budget” in the categories I’m tracking.

July Numbers

Category	On Budget
	Month	Year
Groceries	No	No
House	No	No
Eating Out	No	No
Allowance – E	No	No
Allowance – C	No	No

 

I made two big credit card payments on Friday, so we’re already not in budget, or at least I think we’re already over budget. I haven’t actually sat down and run the numbers. I should find time to do that this week, I hope.

 

Floating Goals

Fix the plumbing issues. Once the windows are taken care of, this is my next priority.

Sell the Condo. Need to get in touch with our renter and find out if she’s contacted the realtor yet to come in and look at the interior of the condo. We want to get it on the market late this month or early next, and hopefully have it sold very shortly after she moves out in September.

Get an Exterminator.  Still have ants. Mostly in the bathroom.

Publish new photography/flash fiction book. No progress being made. It’s pitiful, really.

Refinance the house. DONE.

Earn my Certified Supply Chain Professional designation. DONE.

Rebuild savings to $5-10k. DONE.

Replace all the windows in the house. DONE (and today I submitted the paperwork for a rebate from our energy company)

Find a new job. DONE.