My Finish Year

John Acuff recently suggested that instead of resolving to do things this year, we finish things.

If you don't know who John Acuff is, go ahead and Google him. You'll probably learn more about him than I currently know. All I know is that he has written a couple of books and has a pretty extensive blog following. I started reading his blog after hearing several friends talk, and talk, and talk about him.

John Acuff suggested that anyone who wants to participate should first create a list of things they want to finish, being very specific and realistic in the process.

... Is anyone else out there participating in Finish Year?

Here's my initial list:

1. Tear up the carpet that's left in the house (and put down hardwoods, considering the financial requirement).

2. Read Animal Vegetable Miracle. I bought that book two years ago, and started reading it almost one year ago. It's a little too factual for my taste, but I want to finish it nonetheless.

3. Sew a skirt that I can wear.

4. Join a CSA. This is something that I've considered many years in the past, but always talked myself out of it. I'm never sure that we will eat all of the produce. I'm not sure that I couldn't get that amount of produce for cheaper. But I know that I want to support the distribution of local, organic produce, and that dinners may be easier if we are given a box of food to work with instead of starting from scratch.

5. Send birthday gifts to all my nieces and nephews. There are only 5 of them. It shouldn't be too difficult, but every year I miss their birthdays.

6. Write every day. So many days go by when I don't write a single word. This year I want to write something- a blog, a journal entry, a poem, a letter, a long email. Why? Because the first qualification one must have to call himself a writer is that he writes.

7. Read Genesis and Exodus all the way through. Too many times, I have reached Genesis chapter 7 and quit from disinterest. But I am fascinated by the stories in those books. I want to read them for myself.

8. Reorganize the tool shelf. It's a 3'x4' shelf located in our little laundry/mudroom, and has never made our lives easy.  I believe that looking for things should not be time consuming.

9. National Novel Writing Month. I think that after writing every day for 11 months, maybe I'll be ready for the extra push that NaNoWriMo provides.

9. Read 6 books. I know that's not a lot, butlast year I only read 3.

Here's my final list:

1.) Reorganize the tool shelf so that things can be found.

2.) Read 6 books.

3.) National Novel Writing Month.

4.) Send birthday gifts to my nieces and nephews.

5.) Read Genesis and Exodus.

6.) Write something every day.

Secretly, or not so secretly, I want to finish all 9 of my initial ideas, in addition to NaNoWriMo.

So far, I have not completed any of these. This is the first day of my "write something every day" goal. To be fair, we were gone all day on Sunday, celebrating the New Year, and my husband was home all day Monday and Tuesday. Those days were unusual. Today, I'm back on track.

Come on, Wednesday January 4! Make my year!