Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your weekend. I had a lazy day. After posting my blog and watching video church, I enjoed a quiet day. We all need one every now and then. There are only two letters left in this year’s challenge.
Today’s letter is Y. Quite simply, I’m going to blog about the year. Are you a planner? I was definitely one when I started teaching, planning out every detail of my day, right down to the minute. As the days and weeks passed, I learned that plan all you want, something always happened to derail you. So, my plans became more fluid, allowing for interuptions and life.
That’s pretty much the way I do things now that I’ve retired from teaching. I still put in a full workday, but I set my own schedule based on what works for me.
There are several fixed dates on my calendar–birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. There are others that may get plugged in weeks and months ahead of time, like vacations, and there are still more that pop-up unannounced, like luncheon and dinner dates and sadly celebrations of life.
It’s much the same with my writing calendar. In January, I set out the number of books I want to write in the given year, allocate the number of weeks to write a book and just when I think I’m on target, life sabotages my good intentions. Things happened that couldn’t be prevented and they derailed my ability to write for an extended period of time which screwed up my timeline. And what could I do? I tried to look at the big picture. What had I intended to write this year? Is it still feasible? Probably not, so how much can I accomplish. I started with 366 days this year. I have 240 left. I need to make the most of them. Am I going to stress about it? Probably, but like the song says, I’ll try not to worry, be happy.
Thay’s it for Y. Wasn’t Robin Williams a comedic genius? So sad that he passed so soon. Come back tomorrow for my last post of this year’s challenge, the letter Z
Check out blog posts from other participants here: https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe
Living the Dream 
I’m a new reader to your blog, Susanne. Love that we’re both teachers. I too am fairly retired except for a few online classes. You say you continue to be busy. Is that with your writing?
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Now that my mother has passed, I do spend most but not all of my days writing or editing for a couple of other writers. My husband is an accountant, so from March to June, he’s very busy, and I make a point of spending as much time with him as I can. We travel at least once a year, and those trips form the background of many of my novels. Come the nice weather, I live in Eastern Ontario, Canada where spring is struggling to arrive this year, I spend a decent amount of time in the yard gardening. I can’t do as much as I used to thanks to arthritis, but I try. This spring, I’m having my bathroom renovated, so that will add to my excitement. And, of course, there’s the research that has to be done to make my paranormal books believable as well as enjoyable.
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We have a lot in common, Susanne. I am also mostly retired (in my 70’s), mostly write for enjoyment, also have arthritis–RA–and glaucoma! Both under control thankfully. I am going to enjoy following along with your blog.
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Hope your arthritis stays under control. Mine is compounded at the moment with low estrogen. Getting old, 73, sucks. So far no glaucoma, and I too write for enjoyment. Actually, I’ve become a bit of a rebel, writing what I want to write the way I want to do it, using language the way I use it and tons of cliches because that’s the way I talk. I’m an editor’s nightmare, but I’m me, and my voice is unmistakable. I may never get rich from my writing, but I have fun doing it. If my body won’t keep up, my brain plans to keep moving on.
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Not sure I subscribed (remember–I’m 73!). Done!
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We 73 year olds are the best!
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