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Showing posts with the label getting ready for 2020

2020: Here we come!

At midnight tonight, I will have survived the Holiday Season, which in America is October- January 1.  It has been a hell of a three months, but I'm still here. I'm going into 2020 with an unexpected car payment (my 2007 Ford Escape bit the big one and it was either buy a new car or buy a new engine....), a new plan, a new attitude, and high hopes.  The insane heat that's going on here in Texas is not only taking out people's car batteries but apparently the coolant as well. Somewhere along the way this year I was either slow on or missed a coolant refill, which caused a crack inside the engine somewhere, which allowed leaks that were undetectable from the outside that caused catastrophic engine failure.  In the end, I could even buy a new engine for seven grand or buy a new car.  My Ford was pronounced dead on a Monday and on Thursday I was the owner of a 2017 Hyundai. We were hoping to get at least three more years out of my car (which conveniently ...

Slowing Down to Enjoy the Ride

With the holidays upon us, life for us all is getting hectic.   Whether you are hosting, traveling, or just existing in America right now there is a hustle to the world that is hard to shut out. At our house, for Thanksgiving, we caught a stomach bug.   My husband felt ill for one night, went to Thanksgiving dinner, ate all the pie and went about his life.   I made it through Black Friday at the bookstore (it’s even the busiest shopping day of the year for us at a little local bookstore) and CRASHED. I went to bed Friday night after work and proceeded to sleep through Saturday, getting up Sunday and going to work. I can’t remember the last time I got that kind of sick. I haven’t so much as gotten a cold in years, but I crashed hard.   This morning, Wednesday was the first morning I didn’t feel blah when I woke up.   I actually ate something more substantial than oatmeal or toast today.   I had originally planned on making mulled wine and doing Christmas...

Trying something

I’ve been feeling very overwhelmed and overrun these days. There’s the typical holiday season nonsense happening, some exciting stuff, and some this-is-what-happens-as-you-get-older stuff.   A couple of things will pass with time (hosting two separate family get-togethers back to back), some of it will come with time (my father-in-law moving in), some of it is unavoidable (12-year-old cars just have issues), and one thing has the potential to start me down a path I’ve always wanted to be on (a publisher accepting a book proposal). Overwhelmed doesn’t have to be because of negative things. Overall what it’s boiling down to is I’m feeling out of control. So, naturally, I’m taking steps to get myself feeling more in control. I’m a To-Do List veteran, and over the years have perfected my system. Do I always get everything done? Nope. But it helps me keep track of things. Keeping on top of the must-be-done items is something I’ve gotten pretty good at. I very...