2020: A Look Back

 I had some lofty goals for this past year, didn't I?  Let's recap and see what WAS accomplished:

-Cleaning out Mom's house Check!  Had everything moved out by late March/early April
-Getting her moved to Assisted Living Check!  She moved in March 1st, just in time for the state-wide Covid-19 shutdown.
-Watch my 1st born get married Check!  Due to CV, they had to post-pone it until June 27th.
-Write RiKar's Redemption (The Chosen #5) Not yet
-Finish/add words to Heart Song No
-Finish/submit Time Travel Trilogy No
-Finish Paranormal Preacher No
-Write new Bridges story Yes, wrote 2.
-Hand-sell 150 Books (previous record 145 in 2018) No; due to the pandemic, only sold maybe 30?
-Pull titles from KU and learn D2D, plus maybe Audible? Not yet
-Buy Inventory and vertical banner Yes!
-Get Second Chances edited (Ariana??) Yes!  Used Lenore again
-Pay cover artist for Second Chances Check!  Bought pre-made from Dawne'....beautiful!
-Promote SC and have successful launch Lukewarm launch, due to CV pandemic
-Paying down personal debt ($400) Check!

-Paying down credit card debt ($600 Check!  Final payment was early Dec) and medical debt ($3000 Still chipping away....think I'm down to $2K??)
-Set up at:
    -Jan:  StoryCon at Benton Co. Public Library Sold 1; cold and rainy weather kept all but maybe 5 adults and 7 kids away.
   -April:  Kentuckiana Book Fair (1/18:  Skipping this year, due to circumstances??), Dale Library (1/18:  Skipping this one also, due to circumstances??); attend writer's conference in Nashville, In, Weekend With The Authors (also, taking Mom with me to Nashville, IN and possibly KY event)  CANCELLED
   -June:  Corning Irish Festival, PrideFest  CANCELLED
   -July:  InConJunction, Imaginarium, Heroes For Kids, CANCELLED
   -Aug:  Watermelon Fest ONLY fest open; sold 22! ,Royal Readers at Mall of America, State Fair CANCELLED
   -Sept:  Cil-Con CANCELLED, Penned Con Did it online; no sales (that I know of, anyway), Saluki-Con post-poned until Jan?
   -Oct:  Art Walk   CANCELLED
   -Nov:  ICGAHS, Rivet, Art Walk CANCELLED

Even the Olympics in Tokoyo were cancelled, to be played hopefully next year.

2020, Month-by-Month:

Jan:

Mom and I dealt with the cold and snowy weather; I fought with HR for leave approval.  Wendy arrived while I went home to see about my job status.  Since I'd worked the 1st part of Dec, I had 8 additional weeks of approved leave.

Feb:

While I was gone, my sister convinced my mom to move into the facility March 1st. We crunched the numbers and decided on which room Mom could afford, and began packing her belongings.  W gathered up the ones she wanted, and I was furious when she took one of the yearbooks I'd wanted.  She didn't even go to that school!  Why did she want it?  I took pictures of the pages, reasons we both wanted it.  I got the one before, that had a certain celebrity's 8th grade picture in it.  Whoopee.

My BIL arrived, to help with the packing of the heavy stuff.  Rented a storage unit and began moving boxes and furniture. Found my Mother-of-the-Groom dress!

March:

Moved Mom in; sold things to Schoolhouse Auctions and the pawnshop; then the virus hit the Midwest and Mom's facility went on lockdown.  I'd managed to put most of her things away, but her room was still a mess. Fortunately, staff tried to help organize things.  My family arrived and was none to happy to see the items I tagged for myself, but tough toenails.  Celebrated my Teen's 16th birthday at Outback, and for the spouse's birthday, he got a wife who brought a bunch of 'trash' (his words, not mine) home.  State went on lockdown the 25th, so S and I worked feverishly for 2 days to move everything out of the house that we could pack, and into the garage what we couldn't.  Even spent one night at Kristin's house, to avoid a 6 hour round-trip drive.  Came home and organized MY house.  Went to Lowe's and began working again on the 31st.

April:

Worked my a$$ off, 40 hours a week, and was able to not only order inventory, but get medical debt paid off/down, CC paid down, and future Con/festivals paid. Worked LG and up front, as part of my 're-training'.

May:

Was pissed when we had to start wearing a mask at work; tried to claim my asthma as a medical condition, but was told I'd still have to wear it. Was finally moved back to lumber.  Indy 500 was cancelled, so worked Memorial Weekend, and my back hurt so much by Sunday, I asked Mgr T if I could come in at 5 on Mon instead.  Yay!

June:

Had a massage on June 3rd to hopefully relieve back issues.  Began having a personality conflict with one of my co-workers, and started mildly pestering Scott to cut my hours.  An asthma attack forced me to call into work, but was able to work the 2nd half of my shift.  Discovered I need to really wash my masks more often. K and J's wedding went off w/o a hitch, with the exception on a last-minute change of venue and an early exodus at the reception!  I only teared up twice.

July: 

Was scheduled to work 8 days straight, but only made it 7 before exhaustion claimed me.  Called in for entire day for the 1st time since last Nov.  Received permission from Steve to take off 2 weeks for Vegas vacation.

Aug:

Was able to do a face-to-face visit with my Mom!  Spent her birthday with her:)  Watermelon Festival was GREAT!  Sold 22 books and discovered one of my co-workers is a voracious reader!  Left for Vegas vacation and had a GREAT time; saw BC Brown, got to visit 6 new states, and really recharged my batteries. Had to call in for the 2nd time, due to not being back yet.  W was adamant about NOT wearing a mask to school, so decided to home-school him.  Which meant, my hours would definitely need to be cut in Sept!

Sept:  

Worked Labor Day weekend, then my hours were cut from 12:30-close to 4-close. Spouse had emergency kidney stone surgery, meaning I had to call in a 3rd time for the entire day.  I was a lot happier, but W took it to mean he could now sleep until 2pm.  Found out about a 'non-convention' in Ohio, and sold 4 books:)  Attended the online Penned Con and bought 22 books.  Don't think I sold any, though.

Oct:

My two sons had a heart-to-heart, and the decision was made to pull W from school and enroll him in GED classes.  He loved his new schedule, and I continued to work my new shift.  Halloween was a somber event, and we early voted.

Nov:

Were very dismayed by Election Night results, and wondered what the hell was on half the country's minds?  Al we can do is pray for the future of our country, and for our leaders.  Mel, Marci, and I went to Louisville for a film screening, and were alarmed when the director announced on Mon she had the virus.  Marci's SO came down with it, but Mel and I did not.  I did end up coming down with bronchitis, and laid on the couch for four days. Fortunately, I wasn't scheduled to work. I did go spend another weekend with Mom, and had to call in for the 4th time that Saturday, since I couldn't find anyone to take my shift. Did make it for my Sunday shift.  My weekday hours were cut to 5-close, which was still enough to pay my bills.  Thanksgiving came and went; I just wanted to sit on the couch and watch the Gilmore Girls marathon, but my spouse demanded I cook the turkey.  As soon as the food was cooked, I plopped my butt on the couch.

Dec:

Bought presents, and was just not in the Christmas spirit. Kids decorated the house; I worked and watched GG and SVU in my spare time, until it was time I needed to bake cookies.  Spent my birthday doing laundry, then we ended up at Outback for dinner.  Went to see Mom the next day, and ate at Red Lobster with Rita, Cookie and Brian M.  Christmas was quiet; after presents were opened, S, P, and A went to P's house and I curled up on the couch to continue watching SVU.  K, J, and S arrived on Sat, and stayed three hours. Continued my SVU viewing.  Sunday, finished watching all episodes recorded Nov-Dec 20th!  Hope to stay on top of new episodes recording Tues 12/29 and Thurs 12/31.