What do I want from this year?

I will weigh 130 pounds

I want to be at my goal weight of 130 pounds. I am closer this year than I have ever been. I weigh 154 pounds right now, so that’s only 24 pounds to go. With my goal so close in sight, being at goal is my number one New Year’s resolution this year.

We will pay at least $3500 a month to the IRS.

Last year, we paid over $2500 a month, so our goal is to pay $3500 a month. We are busting our butts to get this debt paid off right now. The IRS is not the kind of people that you want to be indebted to. Sometimes it feels like with everything we’re paying, we just get further in the hole with them, so we are just sending them everything we can every month.

I will stay self-employed.

It was a hard decision to become self-employed. Health insurance is a major concern, but we have that covered with COBRA for all of 2006. After that, we’ll have to access other options. I don’t want to be tempted back into the business world. I want to continue being a writer and enjoy it. I refuse to let my fear send me running back. I will do whatever I need to do to stay self-employed this year.

That’s it. Those are all the resolutions that I have this year. I always feel like there are ways for me to grow as an adult. I want to be the best person I can be. Wish me luck!

I took this photo last November when the sun was still willing to visit us sometimes. The words “No Dancing Zone” has been spray painted onto a dumpter behind the beauty supply shop. What does it mean?

I got a new laptop last week. It wasn’t a Christmas present. Mike got it so I would have my own computer when we went to CES to cover the show. It’s a tiny thing and only weighs about three pounds. I love it and I want to take it everywhere.

Right now, I’m at Barnes and Noble in Sugarhouse. They have lots of tables here and I feel right at home with the other computer people. They have wireless access here, but I would have to pay to use it. I don’t need it. I can write offline just as well as online. Heck, I can write by hand or on my Treo. I don’t NEED a laptop to write, but the right tools help make things easier. When I get back home, I’ll upload this to my weblog, but for now, I’m not connected to the Internet. I don’t really need to be. I don’t need the Internet for words to flow out of my fingers.

There is another wireless access point across the street coming from Sugarhouse Coffee. They only charge two bucks a day and the signal is pretty strong here. It’s the kind of coffee shop that’s filled with pierced youth. I don’t think I would feel comfortable bringing my shiny new laptop out of my backpack there, but I can get the signal from the safety of the book-megalith. Of course, there are pierced youth here, too; just less of them.

The phone above my head rings twice. There is a piece of paper taped to the handset that says, “NOT A PUBLIC PHONE,” in all capital letters. I didn’t even know the phone was there until it rang.

Why? Why am I more excited about writing at Barnes and Noble on my laptop than I am at home on my full-sized keyboard? What is the attraction? I’ve sat in this very store writing before on my Moleskine, but I haven’t done it since that day. Why did I have to wait until I got my laptop? It doesn’t make any sense to me.