News and Such

Ok, ok, so I'm pretty much forcing myself to blog right now. I have to go dig my car out of the snow so I can get to work tonight (hooray!), and there's no gas in it so hopefully it starts! Nah, should be fine. Right?

Anyhoo, some quick personal news--I got engaged! Yup yup yup. My boyfriend of six years proposed on Christmas Eve. It was a total shock to me and pretty much everyone knew besides me. The ring was my grandmother's engagement ring and my mom used to wear it before she passed away, so it's really special to me. And, not gonna lie, it was kinda nice to go to work that night and show it off. :)

So! I guess this is the part where I talk about resolutions. Well, I don't really have any. I've tried making them before but it never really works out. Just like every year I buy a planner and use it for about one week before never touching it again. So I didn't buy one this year! It would just be all the usual nonsense anyway--write the second draft, lose weight, get poems published, blah blah blah. I've needed to do all that stuff for a while anyway.

But what I've been really slacking on lately is reading. Don't get me wrong, I love to read. Most writers do. I actually think I write better and more often when I'm reading. The problem is that I don't have a lot of time. Once you factor in a full time job, sleep, household chores and errands, and well, TV, I'd rather spend my free time writing. But I think this year I want to get a head start on my reading goals. Every year I say I want to read 100 books, and I always barely even make it to 20, if that.

A few weeks ago I discovered the Bout of Books read-a-thon, and I thought I would join in. It seems to be a good way to get a jump start on my reading. If you haven't heard of it, here's the description from their blog:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

So that's it. Check it out if you'd like to sign up! I've started piling all my books that I intend to read. We'll see how far I get.

I hope everyone had a great New Year!