I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe holiday season! Ours was quiet, since our family is scattered. Monday Dec 22nd, my hubby and I traveled to Lafayette to take my mom to an appointment and drop off her gifts. We took her out to eat at The Olive Garden, and returned home.
Tuesday the 23rd, we traveled to Evansville for a recheck of my leg wounds, then picked up our daughter and grandson and took THEM to The Olive Garden (Mon, I had Fettucini Alfredo, Tues the portobello Ravioli).
Wednesday the 24th, we traveled to Freelandville, a small town about 30 minutes from us, and had Christmas with our oldest son and his family. The girls were a delight; they're 4 and 3 now, and my DIL's sister's daughter just turned one. The plastic track and battery-operated car I'd bought was the hit present of the day!
Christmas Day, we slept in, then woke up our youngest son and 13-y/o granddaughter to open their gifts. Put the ham in the oven, then W went back to bed; Granddaughter Alex went to her room; I hopped on Peacock and watched House; Hubby was in the living room watching his favorite Christmas Carol movies. At three-thirty, we ate dinner, then everyone resumed their respective activities. Hubby and I cleaned up the kitchen.
New Year's Eve, the granddaughter went to a friend's house; I had one day to watch as many House episodes before it left Peacock. I poured myself a glass of wine at 11:30, and took a selfie at midnight. Completely forgot to watch the ball drop. I did finally go to bed after watching SE2, Ep 15. Guess I'll have to find it elsewhere to watch the rest. Meanwhile, I'm catching up on missed seasons of Survivor.
On the writing front, I spent all day Dec 30th editing the long-awaited Heart Song. Then NYE Day, I formatted and re-checked things, finally uploading it at 6pm. Today, as I write this, I've just received word it's now published on Smashwords:)
So What Are My Goals For 2026?
-Cutting back on my in-person events, due to needing more $$ in my account. Basically, any event in which I did NOT break even last year, I won't be there.
Feb: Local show
March: Hannibal is still pending; I did well there, but haven't paid my fee yet.
-Local Show
April: Dreaming Dirty In Michigan (still pending; I've not made a decision on this yet. Depends on if my car is still out of commission.)
-Saluki Con: I don't even think I've reached out to Nathan about this yet. If I don't go to Michigan, this is still doable.
June: Superman: I'd still like to do this.
July: Imaginarium is a must, though I probably won't stay over til Monday.
Aug: Geek Con. It's only an hour away from me.
Oct: Lafayette Con was fun last year!
Nov: Not giving up my Christmas show!
-Two local shows
Dec: Local show
-Finish writing Dragon/Tooth Fairy story for 2026 antho
-Finish writing Hallmark Movie-inspired story and publish it
-Publish Rock Star Antho
-Get passport and go see my Great-Niece in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory Canada
-Start investigating alternate living arrangements for my mother, should the need arise next summer.
-Get my hair cut!
Financial Goals:
-Pay down my credit cards
-Put more $$ in savings (trying to save another $3500 for NYC trip, if we go next year)
-Might be in the market for a new (used) vehicle if we can't fix my van. Replaced the fuel pump in November, and began acting up, not wanting to start. Now the battery's dead every morning.
I do NOT expect this to happen all at once. I'm hoping to get my hair cut on the 13th, and I did receive a $100 gift card, which I plan to put toward ordering inventory.(Heart Song, Teacher's Pet, Catered Romance, Playing With Time, and Defending Destiny).
I'll try to remember to check back in 6 months, to see how I'm doing.
Come back tomorrow for the regular Monthly Goals!
