A Whole Bunch of Nothing

When I am really feeling something, the words just pour out of me, and I end up with ridiculously long blog posts. And then there are nights like tonight. There are things I am thinking about, but nothing that has my passion. Everything I have started to write tonight I have then deleted. It just was not quite what I wanted. But I feel like I have to get something down after 3 weeks away from my writing night. So now you get bits and pieces.

I gave myself permission to stop reading After Alice, the newest book from Gregory Maguire. We went on vacation last week, a vacation which included plane trips of almost 5 hours and over 6 hours, and I did not read a single word. I actually felt a desire to avoid reading. Yeah, if I am actively avoiding reading, I need to not force myself. So, no more After Alice. Instead I have started The Bees.

Vacation was good. Mid-February is apparently when I need to visit central Florida. It was 73 and sunny, with almost no humidity. Pop Tart probably would have been just as happy (or happier) with more swimming, less Disney parks, but overall, it was a good vacation. And the sun was exactly what I needed.

C mentioned the other day that we should sit down and go over finances, so that he has an idea of where we are. I told him that in general, we are staying nicely within budget, but the truth is, I need to spend less money. I give myself a pretty generous allowance, but recently I have not been sticking to it. I need to get myself back on a controlled spending plan. Luckily. My friend Jana from Jana Says recently talked about a FaceBook frugality challenge that I think I may take part in in March to help get me back on the right path.

Speaking of finances, I have not even started taxes yet. Normally, I am done with taxes by early February. But last year, we sold two properties and bought another one. One of the properties we sold had been an income property that we inherited. We do not have a tax basis for what it was worth when we inherited it, so I need to get that before I can do anything. I do think it is possible we will owe money this year, but that is okay, because I set money aside from the sale of the second house specifically with taxes in mind.

Of course, there were other goals for some of that money that we have not made progress on. Some were set aside in favor of the vacation I needed. Others we have just been lazy about.

I am finally happy with what my next “new” writing project will be. I still need to do some work before I can unveil it, but I think it will help me with my need for new and my goal of finishing the novella. And thanks to my writing group, I think I even have a good title, too. For the record, titles are hard. I either know what the title will be when I start writing, or I have no idea. The novella has been one of those no idea pieces, so I am actually pretty happy with now having a good title. Of course, I will still mostly refer to it by the working title I have been calling it for the last 6+ years, but you all will see the cool new title.