Clearly I didn’t finish all those scenes/stories before the January 1st. That’s okay (I’ve come to terms that I’m always behind on writing). I had good times with family this December. Now the kids are headed back to school, Anton’s back at university, and the adults are all returning to regular workdays.

Anton and I discussed possible travel adventures for the future. Our dad wants to vacation back in his home country at some point. My career may be taking a turn (in what direction? We’ll have to find out together). I’ll also be beginning Year #2 of my gardening ventures.

I used to have a black thumb (I’ve killed both a potted cactus and small evergreen) but I love plants and so, this past year I planted a springtime experiment (sunflowers!!) and autumn experiment (I used the same little plot, different seeds/plants, just to practice keeping plants from dying). And that brings me to my other weirdo hobby—dropping by the garden center of my local home improvement store and taking pictures of plants in season.

My favorite photos of 2018: 

This past week, Anton and I touched on the topic of writing goals. He’s an avid reader but has only begun writing (outside of school/work) and he had a ton of questions for me. I paraphrased several scenes I’d written for that November scene challenge, explained my prose choices, etc. I may have overloaded him with nerdy word stuff (I received a blank stare a couple of times).

He asked if I had copies of Villainy or that magic garden story to give him (he had told one of his classmates about them and she wanted copies). Unfortunately I don’t have printed copies (I should; those 2 stories have been idling at the finish line for far too long), and that leads us to my writing goals for this year.

Only 3 Goals: (1) Villainy, (2) Magic Garden Story, and (3) A Short Story Collection — all in print. (I’m not adding November prompt scenes or Nana Ana Part 2 to the goal list because then the list could potentially appear long and daunting, maybe even  subconsciously bear semblance of something unachievable. And that is NOT okay. Therefore, those extra things I’ll finish along the way as interesting writing practice.) 

Happy writing, everyone!