Rae Roy

Image by Ulrike Mai For quite awhile, I was stuck in nearly every area of my life. I couldn't even think up ways to get unstuck. And I was sleeping terribly, so perhaps there is a connection there. Recently, I became unstuck. I don't know how or why, but lately I see a problem and can think up a work around in seconds. I may not have the energy to execute it, but at least I am getting the ideas for when I do have the energy. Maybe it's because I started a gratitude journal or because I'm beginning to see the light at the end of my renovation tunnel. It could be the hope I've felt since the inauguration happened. Who knows, maybe it's coffee. Speaking of renovations, there has been some slight progress on the bathroom front. They took measurements and will hopefully have materials soon. I don't know when, but hopefully soon. I had a look at the floor I was originally going to get and it wasn't available anymore. The one that was just like it had a pattern...

I finally discovered the delights of coffee. It took me almost 40 years on this planet before I realized what I wasn't liking about it. My mouth is a little drier than some and because of that my taste buds can be extra sensitive to some flavours like bitter. This includes hoppy gluten free beers, grapefruit, and most coffee I tried before. That bitter taste was akin to ear wax. As such, I couldn't understand why anyone liked it. I really wanted to like coffee. Some of my reasons were social and there's the obvious mental benefits, but it's also supposed to be good for liver health. Besides, I've been told writers are supposed to like coffee. So I got into researching my coffee problem one day and I discovered that the more roasted a bean is, the harsher the flavour. Enter blonde or light roasts and my coffee problem has been solved! I guess blonde coffees are more fun for me ;) If you want to check out my goals progress, please go here .

I've been having a lot of dreams lately where I'm wearing whatever I went to bed wearing. This isn't so bad depending on what the dream is about and what I was wearing. Well, it was quite mild in Ottawa last week and I was feeling over-heated and too constrained, so I stripped down to just a t-shirt. That night, I dreamed I was on a beach trying to find sea glass and trying not to bend over and show off my assets. It felt quite awkward and embarrassing! The strangest thing is that I usually don't see myself in my dreams. I'm usually seeing things from a first-person perspective. This one was in a third-person point of view and that made it extra odd for me. Anyway, as someone who is occasionally an experiential writer, a similar situation may find its way into a story at some point... Has a dream you had ever helped you create something in reality? Note: There will be some changes around here like a return to content that isn't just goal updates. What is making...

BLOGGING I noticed I used to blog a lot more in previous years. I'm going to try to get back to it. Goal: Blog once weekly. Progress: 1/1 DRAWING I plan to work through as many of the Training for Comics worksheets as possible during the time I have allotted to drawing on the weekends. Goal: 2 hrs/weekend Progress: Not started. FRENCH So I was really enjoying French, but the system booted me out after the free trial week and isn't recognizing me as a premium user. I have contacted support about this and am waiting to have the issue fixed. They have reset my password, but it didn't fix my issue. It can't see my subscription. Goal: 30 minutes/day Progress: 4/30 days GUITAR With French temporarily on hold, I signed up for Fender Play to work on my guitar skills. It was 50% off, so I figured it is worth a try. Music has always been important to me and I'm enjoying doing a couple lessons each day. Goal: 2 lessons/day Progress: 5/36 I didn't start this until Thursday...

For this first check-in, I can say I'm making some progress on many of my goals. The first thing I had to do was put together a schedule. Then I had to tweak it because I was having dinner too late to fuel French and exercise. Then I figured out that French was too late in the day. I'm still tweaking things. C'est la vie! DRAWING This is something I'm going to do on the weekends. I bought access to a drawing course last year and I'm going to continue with that for awhile. It is lower priority than my other goals, but it's something I enjoy. I haven't started it yet as there is too much home reno work in progress, but hopefully I'll be able to soon. FRENCH It took me a bit to figure out where to go with this goal because so much hasn't really worked for me. After reading some reviews, I subscribed to Pimsleur Premium. I feel like I've spoken more than in two days than in some whole courses I've taken. The first level is supposed to get me to a...

I had a post planned for today, but my heart hurts. I knew that the transition in the South wouldn't be smooth, but I didn't expect the events that transpired today. A couple of years ago, I worked an election as a vote tabulator. It felt completely safe. It felt like I was doing something good. Never in my wildest dreams did I think someone, let alone a group of people would burst in and shoot up the place. I'm so very sorry to the good hearted people in the US who have to live with these wayward souls and find a way to heal the country.

I'm doing things a little different this year. With ROW80, we usually plan goals in 80 day increments. Perhaps it is because last year was so incredibly hectic and unpredictable, I have decided to focus on one month at a time. My January goals are to develop the following: - A DRAWING plan - A FRENCH plan - A HOME plan - A MARTIAL ARTS plan - A MUSIC plan - A SKATING plan (complete) - A WRITING plan Now, I don't think I really did a summary of last year yet, but I'm not sure I have a lot that I completed. I did get a lot of momentum going that I will carry into this year. As I don't do resolutions, but rather choose a word for the year's focus, last year I had chosen THRIVE. I believe I managed to do fairly well despite many things not working out. I enjoyed parts of my drawing course and will be continuing to learn and improve those skills this year. French had to be abandoned while I fulfilled two job roles and had so much going on at home. I'm looking forward...