2008 was a year of rest and maturity for me. If in 2007 things were brought into focus as to what worked and did not work for me, in 2008 all the pieces finally fell into place and I became who I always wanted to be.

Education
Still on hold: I need a companion to grow old with more than I need to get back to school for that masters degree. Also, with my health in flux, the possible job move, and financial decisions regarding my wanting to buy a house, going back to school had to take a back burner.

Career
I'm creeping up on the 10-year mark with the consulting safety firm I work for. Although this was the year that brought a flattering, temping six-figure offer from Turner Construction 2008 was also the year that brought us the economic downturn. Toward the end of 2009 I want to buy a foreclosure. I'd rather tell a mortgage company that I've been ten years with a firm than ten months. Also, my firm is not laying off: we are, if anything, too busy. I could move to lots of other firms with my top-of-the-industry experience, but why bother? So the career is good and they are even stretching my professional wings a bit.

Finances
2008 was the year when I realized that although I now had a savings cushion I had never really learned how to save. I lived paycheck-to-paycheck as a single parent and went in rapid succession from that to having a degree, pushing for getting paid what I was worth, and getting an inheritance. In 2007 all my bills were paid off; in 2008 the long list of things I always wanted to get to is done. Time to get saving!

Family
Being a grandmother rocks. My local son's wife continues to show me she is a very special, wonderful person: I have truly gained a daughter! Also, going to visit my sister and her family in Sweden was a trip of a lifetime, and made me reconnect with the Swedish contingent of my family. My sister in VA is seeing the light at the end of a VERY long illness tunnel and my brother seems to have dodged a huge health bullet. My two FL sons are now sharing expenses as the eldest has broken up with the horrid fiancé (thank God!) My ex is still slowly dying of Parkinson's and my eldest is poised to take over his firm. Youngest son has a new love and seems happy and successful.

Genre
I saw all my hard work with A&A pay off in a lot of little ways that tell me we are on track. Our wonderful volunteer staff saw new, critical additions. Our reputation and awards nomination status improved, our unique visitors steadily improved, we had our first viral story: Boing Boing, Fark and StumbleUpon (among others) sent us a lot of traffic! The Best of A&A Volume One is coming out in print, and we had our first story printed in a Year's Best collection. Meanwhile, my writing has languished. My life was incredibly busy and something had to go.

Health
It was not breast cancer, yay! But the arthritis? I'm 53, so of course I creak a little, but now I have that firmly in hand. 2008 was the year that I got rid of an unsightly leg mass that had become medically necessary to remove. I started getting enough rest and got more exercise. Toward the end of the year I started telling the scheduler at work that I was NOT taking the mandatory overtime and the world did not end.

Love Life
Early 2008 Ray and I parted ways. I suppose I should not have expected to get things right the first time I really tried a new relationship with a guy, but I learned a great deal about who I am and how things work in this day and age, at my age. I'm pretty much over him, which is good, because Gerry and I seem to be working out. Maybe.


Did I meet my goals for 2008? they were
(1) Find a balance in my professional life where my advancing years cause me less discomfort. YES. I was more vocal about bad working conditions and hours, especially recently.
(2) Work on the MA in safety management. NO, but at least I actively looked for a school and chose UCONN.
(3) Cultivate healthy habits like being more active, being better to myself, and not isolating. YES. As for not isolating, believe it or not, my mentoring work has caused me to blossom in this area. I'm getting more than I am giving, no lie.
(4) Get A&A working like a well-oiled machine. PARTIAL. It's getting there. Response times are better, and lots of changes were implemented. Becoming the publisher will give me the control I need to finish the job.
(5) Start paying attention to retirement planning. PARTIAL. I kept up with the crazy market this year and lost very little. That's a win in my book, but the nest egg needs to grow.
(6) Reconnect with my family. YES. This, especially, was made of WIN. The habit of staying in contact on a weekly basis is firmly in place.
(7) Try to live more in the moment and less in my head. YES. The move helped me do that. My atrocious living conditions had me closing my eyes. Here, I am surrounded by peace and beauty and I have gone from poking my head out of the sand to breathing deeply and being more alive.

Welcome, 2009. My goals (not resolutions; goals) are:
* Go back to school. My emotional need to go back to school will eventually get so intense that I will have little choice but to give in. I suspect a few other more urgent items will happen first, but since I want to teach safety management when I retire--and this is an essential step--it will happen. I'll see what happens to the market this year first, though.
* Put away some money. I've viewing saving for retirement as a fun challenge and buying a foreclosure is a way to save. Yes, I said fun: I love the challenges of living frugally and enjoy meeting goals. This is my goal du jour. It's been frustrated by car repair expenses. Watch for me to find a solution to that, and soon! I've also been traveling too much. I will be looking for ways to cut con expenses.
* Health. For 2009 I want a new ob/gyn in my new town (the old one moved out of state), a new dentist (the old one did crappy work and I have to redo two crowns), and a new MD who has privileges at the hospital one mile from my home.
* Love life. Here's the thing: I now know how to find someone. That's incredibly comforting. I am enjoying getting to know Gerry and if he does not work out? He's not the only fish in the sea, either.
* Genre. Goals for A&A are in a separate post, but the ultimate goal is to become an SFWA approved market. Writing? I had my first invitation to an invitation-only anthology and found that all the editing has indeed sharpened my writing skills. My work hours should be easier now so I can get back to a regular writing schedule.