Thursday Thirteen: Things I want in 2008

Another year has come and gone. Probably, I should look back over 2007 and assess my accomplishments, my failures, my strengths, my weaknesses, my missed opportunities, and my lessons learned. In the interest of closure and self growth, surely I should do this. Trouble is, I just don't feel like it. In the calendar of my life, 2007 just wasn't that memorable. Oh there were high points: I got pregnant, and I finished my manuscript. And there were low points: I had yet another brain surgery. One would have to flip all the way back to 2004 to find a year when I didn't have a brain surgery, so if not exactly hum-drum, it wasn't a life-defining moment. It's hard to dwell long on 2007 when 2008 looks so full of promise. Here are the thirteen things I hope 2008 will bring me.
1. A healthy baby-- I know, but it's worth repeating, don't you think?
2. A publishing contract
3. The ability to stick to a regular and productive writing schedule. I realize this is asking a lot of a year, what with my addiction to distraction and total abhorrence of goal setting.
4. A "go with the flow attitude," one that will allow me to just let things roll right off my back. Again, a lot to ask of a year, I realize.
5. A nice backyard-- We had a nice big swimming pool that we hardly used and so got rid of and ever since then our backyard has been a great big grass encircled mud pit. I want a nice green backyard, preferably with a garden. I wonder if 2008 could possibly bring me a gardener as well.
6. The means to either quit my job and be a full time mommy and writer, or some new challenge in my job that stops me from yawning incessantly and rolling my eyes at the absurdity of my employer.
7. Self acceptance-- I question nothing so much as myself and my actions, often second guessing to the point of dizzy hysteria. It's not from a lack of confidence or self esteem, I'm just generally unsure of myself, even after I've acted. I think perhaps it's a classic over achiever symptom. In many things, striving for perfection with the expectation of reaching it will leave you constantly short of your goal, forever falling back to regroup in an absurd quest for an illusive prize.
8. Something good to watch on TV-- Michael and I spent New Year's Day watching episodes of Firefly. Naturally, a smart, funny show only lasted one season. Is there anything else this good on now?
9. Time to cook healthy, tasty meals using fresh, preferably local, ingredients.
10. Patience-- I know, might as well wish for wings.
11. A year without neurosurgery.
12. A year without family drama and turmoil.
13. An abundance of good books to read.