Goals for 2014

Hello there! I hope you had a good start to the new year! In December, I clearly lapsed on my posting-once-a-week goal, but I'm bringing that goal back, and taking on a few others, for 2014.

Trying New Recipes: One of my goals is to cook more from my cookbooks:

Vegan Handbook (Vegetarian Resource Group)

The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals (Gentle World)

Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food (Alicia C. Simpson)

My collection cookbook, which contains tons of random recipes, some handwritten, copied down from who knows where, some clipped out from magazines, newspapers, etc.

I've rarely used these cookbooks; they pretty much just sit on a shelf together, wondering what their purpose in life is, so I'm going to try to pay more attention to them. I would like to get a greater variety in what I'm eating, and I know I'm sure to discover some new favorites in the process.

Reading More: I read a fair amount already, but I want to try to read even more this year, and I have a nice (nearly 2-ft tall) stack of books for 2014, and I'm sure more will be added along the way. I'm currently reading Catching Fire (The Hunger Games series) by Suzanne Collins. I saw the movie before reading it, and overall, I'm liking the book better, but there are a couple parts that I thought the movie handled better.

Self-publishing: Having completed my fourth NaNoWriMo this past November (as well as a Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2013), I feel it's kinda ridiculous that I haven't done anything with the stories I've written (other than just reading and editing them myself). I want to publish them, and I've been saying that for a while, but I keep procrastinating. My goal is to self-publish at least one of the stories. I think I might try my story about Mystery (the 30,000-word one I wrote during Camp NaNoWriMo) first, followed by my NaNoWriMo novel from either 2012 or 2013.

Other goals: I also want to work on exercising more, try meditating, and get back into the habit of walking every day (once it stops being so cold out).

Oh, and one more goal, thanks to Rachel at The Vegan Mishmash, is to submit my turkey sketches to 46millionturkeys.

Well, that's about all for now. I hope everyone's keeping warm; Mystery's strategy to stay extra warm and comfy is to cry until I lie down on the couch and let her curl up on my stomach. While she has me pinned down, I use the time to do some reading. 

"Chop, chop! Time to get more reading done!"

Peace. :)

NaNoWriMo, Turkey Sketches, and Mystery!

Hello everyone! Just another quick writing update, more sketches, and of course, Mystery!

With NaNoWriMo, I passed the 2/3 mark last night and am currently at a total of 34,508 words (I haven't written today yet). I'm going to buckle down and start writing more each day because I want to build up enough of a buffer so I won't have to write on Thanksgiving. If all goes well, I might even finish NaNoWriMo early (I've never done it before, though, so we shall see). 

Here are the most recent turkey sketches I've done.

"It is difficult to sneak up on a turkey. They have excellent vision and hearing, even though they have no external ears." (http://www.woodstocksanctuary.org/learn-3/factory-farmed-animals/turkeys/)

"Male turkeys, called toms, love to feel noticed and admired. Toms on sanctuaries are known to follow busy human caretakers from chore to chore, standing off to the side, puffing out their exquisite feathers in a blast of scalloped ruffles, quietly and patiently waiting for the prospect of attention." (http://www.woodstocksanctuary.org/learn-3/factory-farmed-animals/turkeys/)
[sketch based off of second photo from the above link]

"A male turkey is called a tom or a gobbler, a female turkey a hen, and a baby turkey a poult or chick. A young male turkey is called a jake and a young female is called a jenny. A group of turkeys is called a flock." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of first photo from here: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/the-sanctuaries/rescued-animals/2011-rescues/a-safe-thanksgiving-for-25-baby-turkeys/]

"Wild turkeys spend most of the day searching for food like seeds, wild berries, small insects and acorns." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)

"Wild turkeys have dark feathers which help them blend in with their habitats." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of this photo: http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Pictures/Turkey3.jpg]

"Domesticated turkeys have been bred to have white feathers." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of this photo: http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Pictures/Turkey4.jpg]

"Male turkeys will start making their gobbling sound before sunrise and continue through most of the morning. Hens make a clicking sound." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)

On Tuesday, I had to bring Mystery to the vet for some blood work. As a senior cat, her kidneys aren't so great, so the vet has her on special prescription food and she gets blood tests done every now and then so we can make sure that she's doing OK. The vet called me yesterday with the results: Mystery's blood work came back showing improvements in her BUN (blood urea nitrogen), creatinine, and hematocrit levels. Yay for Mystery and her old kitty kidneys! (She's also gained weight; she's at 6 lbs. now!)

And finally, a cute Mystery story: Yesterday while I was putting away laundry, Mystery climbed onto the nightstand from the bed and from there climbed into the third drawer of our dresser, but it was filled too high for her to snuggle in. I picked her up and pulled out the next drawer instead, which had more room, and set her in it. She soon curled up and took a little cat nap; when she was done, she climbed out, using the little step-stool (laundry basket turned upside down) I'd put there for her. And she went in and out on her own two more times that night to enjoy additional naps. 

Peace. :)