MamaManagement

I always spend time at the beginning of each year thinking about the year ahead of me. I have this notebook in which I've been writing thoughts and dreams and goals and ideas for years. I pull this notebook out and I look at it. I flip through the pages and soak in all of the aspiration and energy that radiates off the paper. It's like taking a bath in optimist soup! Then I focus in on what I wrote last year. What was I brainstorming about? What was I trying to do? And what of that did I accomplish? When I've done all of that, I usually start brainstorming around the new year. In the past I've even come up with a theme for the new year and centered my goals around that theme. But this year was a little different. First of all, now that writing has become more of a job than a hobby for me, I create two separate lists: one of writing goals and one of life goals. Like anyone with a career, you're likely to have work goals and personal goals. For me, those

This is my art mat beneath a window on the floor in the corner of my dining room. It's not pretty. It's a mess. I love it here. If you follow me on Instagram @bookwormanista (and if you don't, you should: instagram.com/bookwormanista ), then you already know that I had a lot of fun playing on my art mat in the month of December. I took the month off from writing, as a recovery period after winning Nanowrimo2018 and finishing the first draft of a new novel. I tend to let things go in December. I didn't so much succumb to the insanity as I did when the kids were younger, but things are crazy and there is much ado, so I just try to roll with it. Rolling with it meant decompressing on my art mat and discovering a new process for myself. Which was super cool. A few months back I took a one day art class with a local artist whose art I admire. It was supposed to be a group class but others cancelled last minute and it ended up being just the two of us. Which turned