How are we nearly 1/4 of the way through 2018 already? *shakes head*
You know, it’s a simple, no-frills photo, but I feel like it fits right now. So far this year I haven’t focused that much on writing or creating. Instead I’ve spent a lot more time on knocking over those ‘tacks’ in life one by one. Those tacks have been health issues, financial problems, house repair problems, etc. Some of those tacks I have to face that I can’t knock over without the tack doing some of the work too and others I can’t knock over jussssst yet, but I’m working toward being strong enough to do so. For now I’m taking out all the little ones that I can. Gotta start somewhere, right?
Little tacks I’ve managed recently:
- Hubby and I finally have a new mattress on our bed. We’ve needed one for awhile. I keep thinking I’m climbing into a nice, fluffy hotel bed now. It’s fabulous.
- Next month I should pay off one of our medical bills and in June I should pay off two more. (I’ve been to the ER three times in the last two years though, and have other ongoing medical expenses, so here’s hoping I don’t just replace those bills with different ones.)
- I finished up our taxes! And they weren’t painful this year! Hooray!
- Maggie is helping me get moving again now that the weather is turning better. Having a dog who loves walks helps a lot. We’re trying to go on a neighborhood walk every day.
- We have awesome friends and family who have been able to help with things in the interim, whether it be feeding us, helping us make a bill, helping us with computer problems, or just being a good ear to listen. Seriously. I appreciate every one of you.
Little tacks I’m hoping to tackle next:
- To everyone I normally write letters to and haven’t been… I swear you aren’t forgotten. I haven’t had the energy or time or mental capacity to write like I used to these last 6+ months and my letters have suffered for it. I need to learn that letters don’t have to all be long and they don’t always have to catch up on everything since the previous letter. (This is why I have never successfully managed keeping a journal. It was all or nothing, and I could never manage all. My brain is broken on the account.)
- Getting the anode changed out on our water heater. This is a smallish expense (especially in terms of house expenses) and it’s time to get it done. I want that heater to last us as long as possible! So far it’s been very good to us.
- My dad and I plan on hosting a joint garage sale in April or May. I have a rather large pile ready to go for it, but I have a lot of the house still to go through. And then taking the time to price it all. I love working garage sales, but they take a lot of effort leading up to it!
- Figure out how to get all the brush/leftovers from a giant old shed out of our yard before springtime grows up around the piles with a vengeance. It’s a lot.
On the creative front I did compete in the first round of Madness Poetry again this year. I had a lot of fun with it and lost out to a great competitor. The competition is still going so if you want to read some great kid’s poetry and toss your vote into the mix, check it out! www.madnesspoetry.com
I’ve continued to do a little free writing here and there, but nothing too focused for now. I’ve been trying to read for the most part lately and if you follow me around here you know that I’m usually a reader or a writer, I rarely do both at the same time. I’m also working on pulling together all of my old spreadsheets of submissions from 2015-2017 into a book that will help me track which journals I’ve submitted to much more easily. I’m hoping that putting the effort into some organization tactics right now will make submissions a lot easier on me in the future. There are several journals I’ve only submitted to once and then forgot about. My new tracking tactics should prevent that (unless I just DECIDE not to submit again).
I’m trying not to make a list I’ll be overwhelmed by. I’m really good at doing that. But gosh darn it, I’m just not getting things done or taken care of NEARLY as quickly as I feel like I should be able to! I guess there’s only so much of me.
How are all of you doing? How is 2018 treating you so far?
*Photo by user shapkasushami at Pixabay, creative commons usage
lissaclouser.com 
You write letters?! Oh I miss letter so much. Even in college, pre-internet, my friends and I wrote letters to each other. I treasure those letters. There’s a line in an Arcade Fire song that’s sentimental to me and says so much:
“Now it seems strange
How we used to wait for letters to arrive
But what’s stranger still
Is how something so small can keep you alive”
I think all those letters I saved are poems now. Do you think of your letters as “writing” time?
I love that quote! I haven’t heard it before, but I think it’s fabulous.
I don’t actually consider my letters writing time. Well, I do, but it’s a separate sort of writing time from creative writing time. I have found that I usually interact so much better on page than in person, so writing letters is kind of ‘friend’ time vs. actual writing time. In my head anyway haha.
I have a couple of friends I write to that I know in real life, but most of my pen friends are people I’ve never met.