DECEMBER 2020: Please let this year be over.

My brain is tired. To wit:

• There’s too much political division that won’t amount to bupkis when January 20, 2021 comes along (hey, a palindrome!!!), but we still have to endure the MAGAt grief cycle. Fine. I don’t watch TV news and social media is pretty messed up these days, so I see it as an opportunity to read more books, do more puzzles, watch more movies, and spend more time outside when the weather is dry.
• This was my last Project Month for 2020 (six this year, eight in 2021), so I had my usual writing workload plus a learning module to produce, which requires animations, voiceovers, writing, production, the whole shebang. It definitely wipes out my brain by the time I send it off for review.
• I got a phone call from a contact tracer on Tuesday before the holiday; thankfully, my test was negative, but it delayed our Christmas plans, and I admit, I was disappointed and pissed about that.
• Christmas morning blessed me with an MS hug that lasted 16 hours. This post describes how I spent most of my day.

Good news, though:

• I’ve sold some copies of Intention Tremor! Pretty good for not having a live reading event to kick it off! Get your copy here! My proceeds benefit The Accelerated Cure Project.
• Researchers are now testing a COVID-19 vaccine for safety and efficacy in people with MS. I’m still in the back of the line, but at least it’s now a priority. Maybe by the holidays next year? Fingers crossed. I’d rather be inside unwrapping presents in my PJs next year.
• We have four camping trips booked for 2021 with a possible fifth once registration opens again.
• My Kahini+ workshop on “Writing Illness” in February has filled up and has a waiting list.
• Two of my sleep articles earned “Best of 2020” status: Keeping the Beat With Periodic Leg Movement Disorder [June 18] and Down the Sleep Apnea Rabbit Hole: Mental Health [August 26]

More holiday news:

• We finally gathered as a complete family unit for the first time in 369 days on December 28. Refrigerator Christmas, outside in the cold, with masks, six feet apart, grateful for the fire table.
• It was a banner year for Christmas cards. People really are making a great effort to stay connected! I love getting cards from all over the country!
• We made friends with The SP this year (that’s code for our new Elf on the Shelf, whose name in the book is Sticky Pants) and between all the Christmas lights outside, the brand-new pre-lit 10-foot-tall tree, and hide-and-seek with The SP, we had plenty of holiday cheer to keep things festive.
• Y’all missed my best batches of Christmas cookies yet! Molasses chews, Jan Hagel, peanut butter chocolate cookie bark, cranberry bliss bar knockoffs, date squares, espresso cutouts. And my miniature apple cakes turned out great, too!
• O Holy Night: The guy flying all his sh*tty Trump flags on the highway finally realized they clashed with his Merry Christmas Kingston signage and took them down.
• On New Year’s Eve, we will gather ’round the gumbo pot, play some board games, finish a puzzle, and watch movies. That’s not any different than any other year. It’s kind of a nonholiday for us. Then I’ll think about some resolutions on Friday while watching birds from the back porch through my new iPhone-ready monocular and feasting on homemade macaroni with three cheeses. It’s gonna be a comfort-food kinda start to what I am sure is going to be a year equally as challenging as the last.

As for my other hobbies, there are still some scallions and cilantro in the garden, a little bit of rosemary, parsley, and chives in the pots, but I’m in full-on hibernation mode and won’t be doing much out in the yard until late February.

We’re bingeing Schitt’s Creek right now, after bingeing The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (season 3) over the weekend before Refrigerator Christmas. Looking forward to Queen’s Gambit, The Wilds, and Yellowstone. I’m also reading the latest book from my dearly departed friend, Waverly Fitzgerald (Tainted Love), and missing her, though every time I read her book I can hear and see her as if she were the protagonist. I also just finished a book, Little Siberia, which I really enjoyed.

That’s it. I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I got. My brain is tired.

Happy New Year… though in all honesty, I’d be just as glad to receive a Safe, Calm, Unremarkable New Year filled with honesty, justice, and peace. Keeping my fingers crossed.

PS I know the year’s end on the calendar won’t do much to stop crap that’s still headed our way, so please, stay safe out there.

TO THAT GUY WHO THINKS I DON’T WRITE ENOUGH…

…or, in case you’re interested, here’s what I wrote this month.

December’s #AmWriting Report

This monthly reckoning includes all new work written over the previous month (dates reflect completion, not publication).

This includes paid work (live with links or still in the hopper), blog posts appearing here, and any new creative work I managed to sneak in.

I share links when available (some work is still waiting to be published). This provides me with a reminder that my writing life is rich and full and will let you know what I’m up to.

December 2020 #AmWriting Report

Total word count generated in December: 9,600

 

RHYMES WITH CAMERA POSTS

Total December word count—0

• Nothing but a Solstice blessing on the 21st. But I made the graphic, so that’s gotta be worth, what, 1,000 words?

 

SLEEP HEALTH ARTICLES

Total December word count—6,400

• DEC 3, 2020 || Hygge is a Gift We Give Ourselves in the Darkest Winter
• DEC 3, 2020 || Relief Tips for Restless Legs at the Holidays
• DEC 8, 2020 || New Year’s Resolution: Make Your CPAP Therapy Work for You
• DEC 10, 2020 || Resolve to Avoid Restless Legs in the New Year
• DEC 11, 2020 || Resolve to Sleep Better and Fight Bladder Cancer in the New Year
• DEC 15, 2020 || Best places you can buy CPAP supplies, parts and spares
• DEC 17, 2020 || Might we treat sleep apnea with a pill in the future?
• DEC 18, 2020 || Can asthma and sleep apnea overlap in the same person?

 

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS ARTICLES

Total December word count—3,200

• DEC 1, 2020 || MS Good News Report: The Latest Research through November 2020
• DEC 4, 2020 || How MS Made Me Slow Down for the Holidays…Literally
• DEC 22, 2020 || Be mindful of your mask when you get your next MS MRI
• DEC 31, 2020 || MS Memoir Review: Enjoying the Ride

 

CREATIVE WRITING
(NEW WORK GENERATED)

Total December word count—0

• My brain is tired.