May 2013 Goals

Whew! Time to catch my breath. I just got back from the Bay area on Monday, and now I’m ready to hit the ground running right into May. April, you were an awesomely fun month. May, I’m pretty sure you’ll be the same.

My main work goal for this month is to finish the book proposal. I don’t know if it’s totally possible, but I’m aiming high. The only reason for the delay is that there are still so many great books about writing book proposals that I want to read, in order to make my proposal as strong as it can possibly be. The best of all possible meta worlds!

It’s getting hot around here, so I want to go swimming! Eric and I may hit the pool in our building, and it’s probably warm enough to fit in a few workouts at the Caltech pool too.

When we were in Berkeley, I bought a bunch of oil painting supplies, and I’m super excited about playing with them. I got a bunch of really helpful books from the library, and I’m learning all kinds of fascinating things about how these paints are made and mixed, and how best to manipulate them on canvas. Fun!

I noticed tonight on my way into the garage that all the star of jasmine on our street bloomed while I was away. This sweet little window of fragrance is one I don’t want to miss. I’m going to try to get out there and enjoy it every day.

At the end of the month, Eric and I are going to my ten-year college reunion! Well, technically, it’s my nine-year reunion, but they group years 9, 10, and 11 together. I haven’t been back since I graduated, and I am so looking forward to seeing old friends and showing Eric the places I lived and worked, the paths I took to my classes, the library where I shelved endless carts of books and sometimes, just sometimes, hid in the stacks and read bound journals while on the clock. Bad librarian!

And, of course, I want to take tons of pictures. I feel like working on project life makes me more aware of my surroundings, and it is always a joy to collect images and ephemera from everywhere we go. I’ll be back with an update in August–updated April goals are here. If any of you do monthly goals, please feel free to join the conversation or leave a link to your page!

Update, June 2013: Well, ha, I had no idea how optimistic I was being about the book proposal! The main thing that stood in my way this month was that I got some really awesome freelance work, which was time-sensitive. I really enjoyed it, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. There should be a little break for a while now, so it’s back to the book for me. We didn’t swim too much in May, but I mostly chalk that up to me being sick during the hottest parts of the month. Boo! I did get started playing with my oil paints, and it was a lot of fun. I have some canvas ideas for the coming month that I’m excited to work on. Eric and I had an awesome time at Oberlin (more on that to come!), and we probably walked several miles each day. My legs were so sore by the end of the trip! We do try to pop out and walk on cool weekend afternoons too. And, no doubt, there were jillions of pictures taken!