Last Push...

November wrap up and December look forward!

November was another fast one. Which isn't surprising. I've talked about how this is the downhill portion of the year. And with Brent on sabbatical for the full month and the Disney trip in there it was a fast month. And a surreal one. 

I talked in October about how difficult doing my Thirty Days of Thanks was in 2016 and that if we had a repeat it would be impossible. Well, it wasn't impossible but it for sure wasn't easy. It's hard to be thankful when you are feeling so resentful. Which is, of course, part of the reason for doing things like Daily Gratitude and Thirty Days of Thanks. They are attitude shifters. Focus changers. It's hard to hold on to anger and joy at the same time. Hard to hold resentment and gratitude in the same hand. 

Which is why I held them in different hands. But I still held on to both. 

There is going to be a part of me that is angry until/unless we break out of this spiral. I'm not interested in reconciliation. I'm not interested in seeing it their way. I view it as that part of the voting population committed the offense, so why should the part that I'm in be expected to patch it over? If someone wrongs you, you are under zero obligation to patch things up with them. Zero. 

So..yeah...the Thirty Days of Thanks was a challenge. But I did it. 

That's kind of how large parts of November felt. Challenging but I did it.

Workout went well. Kept on track with weights and cardio. The Disney trip we walked around 10 miles each day so even the buried in churros portion didn't really cause a weight challenge. Apparently you can eat like that if you are constantly on the move. And to be fair, we snacked a lot, but we snacked as our lunch and dinner. We didn't eat like that AND have full meals. So as irresponsible as it looked, and it was, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And totally worth it. 

Speaking of weight and fitness, I get my thyroid retested in a couple of weeks so I will know where that stands. Also have an appointment with a new gyno at the end of the month so I'll talk to them about my hormone treatments as well. Getting those last minute medical things checked off right before we reset our deductible for the new year. 

Reading, I need to finish four books by the end of the year to meet the goal I set. Not going to be a problem. 

Writing, I've talked about that, figured out how many fiction pieces I need to write to meet last year's super productivity. I think I'll be able to do it. Not positive, TFG winning the election did put a bit of a crimp in my creative flow, but I'm working through it. 

I did Picture of the Day even though the prompts never did grab me. This month a few of them look fun, Christmas themed mostly, so I'll probably wrap the year up with that. 

Starting to think of what I want to do next year and I wrote a little about that already. It's a challenge. I'm also looking at seeing if I can get everything transferred off of Facebook before the T&Cs change January 1 and they start using all of your stuff to train AI. And own the rights to use all of your stuff in perpetuity. I'm trying to decide right now how big of a deal that is to me. Zuck going to Mar A Lago to kiss the ring is making it seem like bailing is the right choice, for sure. 

Katie gave me the name of a blog hosting site (Substack is convenient but has a neo Nazi and Anti Trans problem so she's asked that I not use it) that I might switch to instead of posting here and then on Facebook. It would be like Substack in that if you want my blog you sign up and it shows up in your inbox. I'm thinking I might make the switch. 

So December will be a big thinking month. What changes do I want to make for 2025? What goals do I want to set? What do I need to do to wrap up the ones I set for 2024? How do I make sure to hold on to the gratitude and joy in my life while my country crashes? 

Oh and also I will be bummed when Brent's sabbatical ends and the reality of him not taking the retirement package really hits. 

Merry? Christmas to us all...

We'll work on it.