Ebony's Pearls

I don't do resolutions because that's so - final. I prefer to set goals to accomplish for the year.

I have only 19 things left on my "70 Things to Do By 70" List, which is 7 years away. I think I may have to go ahead and make my "80 Things to Do By 80" List.

Of course, the remaining 19 things on my list are all things that involve either time or travel - visiting the Redwoods, the Pacific Ocean, Grand Canyon, and distant friends.

Immediate goals for the coming year include getting the wiring done in the house so it will support the modern electronics in this house and meets the new city codes. I know the wiring I have is grandfathered in, but since the wiring hasn't ever been upgraded since the 40's, I really think I ought to do something about it now that I've gotten all my plumbing done.

I've got the equipment for agility for the little dogs finished, so in the next year, I hope to teach them some agility skills.

I want to get my new charity underway. I need to find a name for it if only so I don't keep calling it "that charity thing I do". I'm sort leaning towards "Food Forever" because that's kind of the goal of the charity, to teach the homeless how to wildcraft for food, to toss seed bombs and plant edibles in waste spaces and abandoned lots so food will grow to make wildcrafting easier, to teach classes on how to eat these foods, and to give speeches/seminars/classes to others to inspire them to toss seed bombs and plant vegetables. This is different from community gardens in that these vegetable patches will often be neglected and/or abandoned, will be in places the homeless tend to gather in anyway, and will be transient, dependent upon the lot remaining vacant or abandoned. They won't be fancy, just edible.

I want to get Terra Mer (formerly New Atlantis)functioning.

I need to upgrade my web designing skills, and learn to use some of the electronics I have. I have a neat little video camera I can't use because I haven't a clue how to use it. I need better Linux/Ubuntu skills. I need better carpentry and cob building skills. Education will be near the top of my goals to accomplish list.

And in my copious spare time, I need to get with my sister to sort through Mother's photos and papers and get copies and get them organized.

Plus, I want to finish remodeling my bathroom. That will be time-consuming but no longer expensive. I've done the pricey stuff already.

I need to decide if I'm going to write fiction for pleasure, or if I want to get serious about publishing it. And if I decide to get serious, I need to actually do something about it. I already know the submission process - I do that all the time with the non-fic I publish. It's just different markets.

Those are my goals for the coming year, and I'm pretty sure I can get them all done.