Best Laid Plans

Okay, I like to have a sense of organization, of security.  Mind you, I’m usually delusional, but it feels good to THINK I’m on schedule, that I have a plan.  The thing is, life interferes.  A lot.  More than usual lately.

It started with November.  Now mind you, my next mystery’s deadline isn’t until March 5.  I’d already started it, had the rough draft three-fourths done.  Me–who is usually grumpy and borderline paranoid about my writing by now (This books sucks, won’t work)–was feeling pretty good about it.  Miracles do happen.  It looked like I had plenty of time to sneak in a free romance for my webpage and STILL finish my mystery with plenty of time to spare.  Looks can be deceiving.

I got a great start on my romance until Thanksgiving.  And that’s when my daughter was going to be inbetween jobs for a few weeks, and she was coming to stay with us.  I was SO excited!  Both of my daughters are just downright fun.  We were going to cook together, rent movies, and visit some of my hub’s and my favorite places with her.  And we did.  And it was AWESOME.  But then her travel nursing deal sort of fell through.  So did the next one and next one.  Yes, they offered her jobs, but not enough money.  What sounded good on paper wasn’t good when you looked at the big picture.  No big deal.  She was at our house.  Tyler (Holly’s son, our grandson) came for Thanksgiving and stayed a few days.  We had more fun, but my writing crawled to little or nothing.  But I was having a great time!  I’d make up the writing time later:)

I don’t know why I ever think I’m going to get much writing done in December.  It looks like I should, but December is…holiday month.  There must be somebody out there who still writes faithfully during a social whirl, but I’m not one of them.  The month crescendoed to Christmas, and then Holly’s second son, Nate, came home for two weeks of leave from the marines.  Jackpot time!  We hadn’t seen him since he’d been stationed near San Diego.  I’d been writing for an hour or two a day, but with Nate here, all we wanted to do was enjoy him.

Before I knew it, it was New Year’s Eve.  Nate left on January 5th.  Holly took another job in Indianapolis, but she didn’t start orientation until January 15.  She started looking for apartments, but that wasn’t easy either.  She’s finally moving in today.  She left our house after noon today.  And it’s going to feel weird for a while.  It was so much fun having her here.  We’re going to go through empty-nest syndrome for a week or two.  And then, finally, things will settle back to a sort-of routine.  I’m guessing Holly is ready to be on her own again:)  When you’re a grown woman who’s been on her own for a while, staying at Mom and Dad’s has its perks…and its downside.  But what a wonderful bubble of time to reconnect!  It was a blessing.

Now, I have to settle back into a routine again.  It’s going to take me a minute.  I’ve been cooking more than I’ve cooked for a long time, trying to make everyone’s favorites.  There’s a lot of food in my books, but nothing to compare to the last weeks.  Hubs and I are going to go simple for a while to balance ourselves out.  The holidays were pure delight, but it’s time to hit real life again.  And I think every single one of us is ready:)  I’m going to have to hit those keys to try to catch up.

Happy Writing, All!

Webpage:  (I’m up to Chapter 25):  https://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

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