I wonder if all my focus on what I’m doing as a writer means, well, that in ten years or so I’ll look back and forget anything I did that wasn’t writing? So here are some things that happened this year that have nothing to do with being an author. (Or, okay, very little to do with it.)
I attended an MFA residency at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. It was very cool to live in a dorm again. Literally cool: I had not expected air conditioning and under-packed on bedding. BRR. I also discovered that while Ashland is blessed with Grandpa’s Cheese Barn, they are a liquor store desert. UGH, sobriety.
As of right now, I just have my thesis and two more residencies to finish to have the degree! Excelsior!
I found and finished a long-abandoned sewing project, The Nibelungown. How cool is that? It’s never too late to finish off those old abandoned Works in Progress! This got me a near-perfect score at Kingdom A&S and named Baronial Arts Champion. Well worth all that hand-sewing.
For the first time, my twin sister and I went on a trip together without either of our spouses. Weird, right? We went to Glasgow for WorldCon and had a BLAST. It was Grace’s first science fiction convention since Marcon in the 90s! I think we’ve seduced her back into the fandom fold.
I knitted my first dog sweater, made latkes for the first time, grew mushrooms for the first time, tasted six new scotches (Glasgow trip FTW!) had an amazingly awesome 50th birthday party which was my first ever catered party.
In sadder news, we bid a fond farewell to The Buggy, who if we are honest had passed “cost more than blue book to fix” a couple years ago, but cuteness and roundness are PRICELESS. We now own our first hybrid car. I hope by the time it wears out there will be electric VW Bugs. <3
OH! And there was a freakin’ TOTAL ECLIPSE. Did we forget already? That was DOPE.
Stop here to avoid icky medical stuff.
The Red Cross tells me I successfully donated six pints of blood! Yay! My best donation year since Crohns disease started me on the path of chronic anemia.
I experienced the joys of perimenopause! Pros: six months without a period. Cons: debilitating insomnia brought on by bizarre chemical body thing that makes me feel like I’m in a malfunctioning sauna.
I also got my first corns! Lucky me!
All around, a very full year, even without the writing stuff. Never feel guilty about time spent living; that’s where the writing ideas come from!
