coronavirus, first world problems, inspiration, mental health, midlife, momlife, Patreon, writing

Forward propulsion (baby steps)

Today began with a bang.

First, I woke to another Patreon subscriber. 😊 She is a brand new blogger and I will be assisting her in getting started, and once she has something in place, I’ll do a shout-out to her blog.

Second, I got a nice email from a friend reassuring me that life is good and not about to fall apart at the seams. This makes me happy.

Third, music. I have been listening to these 3 songs on repeat since yesterday. 🎶🎵🎶

Rivers of Babylon – Boney M

Chiquitita – ABBA

Betty Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes

A friend posted the lyrics to Chiquitita for me and I don’t think I ever paid such close attention to those words as I did when he did that. I have many feels…mostly I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, truth be told. It begins sort of like a sad ballad but has hope injected into it with some upbeat music and rhythm. It’s definitely one of their best, don’t you think? And of course ABBA is so talented, I never tire of listening to their Gold album.

This has been a challenging week. It always seems to go that way, between Christmas and New Year’s, doesn’t it?

The political situation in my province is getting worse by the day and I have long stopped listening to or watching the news regularly. Checking in every so often to stay on top of what is happening with the kids’ schools is the bare minimum I do these days, although sometimes those links to articles tip me over into into the internet rabbit hole and then I get all upset and freaked out and anyway…best to stay away from all the doom and gloom. Or, I limit exposure to what I need to know (school stuff, kids activities), rather than what I want to know (nothing except when is it over?) and focus my energy on things that matter.

My writing.

My community.

Music…

Decluttering this house (ugh).

On that last topic, I started already. A couple of days ago I took apart the bathroom cabinet, which is large and takes up most of the wall over the toilet. I need to hang on to how that feels when something is clean, tidy and completed. BLISS!

On that note, I have things to write, things to cook, things to declutter, and hair to bleach and dye (the first attempt on my daughter didn’t work properly, so we’re trying again today. She wants purple streaks…)

How are you spending the rest of the holidays? And more importantly, if you have a Christmas tree, when will it get chucked to the curb? Mine always exits the house by January 1 at the latest.

See you in the comments.

43 thoughts on “Forward propulsion (baby steps)”

  1. Thank you, Claudette, for the oblique reference. My baby steps are now in the direction of re-entering all the typing I did using the samples, and putting up my Gravatar if it is deemed accessible. All the while coping with Covid19 recovery amid the normal clutter of my house, spouse, and self (wearing a sweatshirt with This Old Spouse on the front. My husband refused it as a gift from his mother-in-law because she gave me one saying “SHE Who Must Be Obeyed.”)
    One Day at a Time. Don’t stop praying for a safe and dignified inauguration and first 100 days.

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  5. My mother had a superstition about it being bad luck to leave the tree up after the 31st. I sorta gave up on that when I had spectacularly bad years whenever the tree came down.
    I’ve been wanting to get a smaller tree for years but the Daughters say no, so I am officially absolved of any tree related thingies. We have a tree graveyard in the back yard. Next time we go camping they will go on the campfire.

    Happy New Year!🎶💃🏼🎊

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  6. Mr. Purply is fake so he gets stored in the closet till next year…My wife gets joy out of him and I leave the put up take down up to her, although we do have decorations on the wall year round for multiple holidays. My wife hates bare wall, almost like we live in art gallery spit out by a tornado lol. Doing nothing tonight, although I making the last decadent meal of 2020 a mushroom pumpkin lasagna. Jess works tomorrow can’t much go away to ring it in, so we’ll just sleep thru it.

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  7. I never toss the tree to the curb! Mostly because it’s an artificial tree and I’d rather not throw away $200…

    But, we’re taking it down tomorrow, along with all the other Christmas stuff. Which, believe it or not, is a record for us. Our decorations have never before lasted all the way to January.

    Tonight, we are playing records and cards and drinking cocktails and eagerly awaiting midnight.

    Happy new year to you and the family!

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  12. I try to stay away from too much social media as the people on social media say some funny things and have some funny concerns but then again I need to laugh some mornings with some silly concerns through facebook. As for the news, I try not to over indulge but stay informed. Here is a better New Year.

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    2. I, too, am leery of social media, and plan to stay that way. Blogging is hard enough, since my husband is somewhat paranoid aabout anonymity and decoupling all past passwords and accounts from my blog identity… I blame social media for upsetting the lection in 2016. In words of one syllable, Trump won by lies. There was a column by Patrick Moon, who likd H.L. Mencken (1930-1950 journalist/critic), to the effect that the American people will some day get their wish and” “the White House will be occupied ny a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron.” I’ll reproduce it on my site eventually. How do you suppose he know??!!

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    1. My Patreon does not have tips on WP or blogging. It’s a creative stories outlet. Subscribers pay $5 per month. I’m currently focusing on two stories – a memoir (of sorts) and an erotic romance (which I have not worked on over the holidays). There are a few other stand-alone pieces as well. Like I said, it’s mostly creative writing and story telling.

      For blogging advice using WP, there are a lot of good videos on youtube. That’s mostly my go-to. I’m not an expert, but I do have a lot of years experience and don’t mind sharing the odd tip on how to do something. If I get more subscribers specifically for WP tips and tricks, I’ll consider doing a feature on that. We’ll see. 🙂

      Is this helpful?

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  15. Music is good for the soul. That said, I wanna get back to playing; i’ve been at low-tide for a few days.

    We’ve nothing special planned for bringing in the new year, but that’s normal for us.

    The tree and the lights will come down after New Year’s Day, as per usual.

    Hope you have a happy and productive new year with more possibilities than the last! I hope that for us all.

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