Holiday Stress? Not In This Household.

At yoga class this morning, two of the women with children were bemoaning the fact that they were nowhere near done with their holiday shopping.  Today and tomorrow they planned to "race" to stores and "fight" the crowds and "drag" the kids to see Santa.

I am so happy I don't have to deal with any of that.  And it's not necessarily just because we don't have kids.  Plenty of people I know are stressing about family coming in, cleaning house, cooking meals, finding the right gift for the spouse, sister, mother-in-law, boyfriend, etc. 

Truthfully, I rarely if ever experience holiday stress.  Thanksgiving weekend we put up the tree, buy and wrap gifts, and send out the Christmas cards so after that weekend we're pretty much free to just sit back and relax.  We don't buy each other presents (I'm telling you, that is the way to go--SO much less stress) and we only buy gifts for our niece and nephews so our shopping is minimal. We 're doing our favorite thing  for the holiday which is to hang out with each other.  We'll probably see "Narnia" over the holiday weekend but other than that, we have no plans other than to read the paper, drink coffee, and nibble on holiday cookies.  My only disappointment is that it's supposed to be near 60 degrees on Saturday.  I prefer a blustery Christmas day.

The only possible stress might come from my plan to make this the year we finally manage to get the mini-reindeer antlers on the cats.  So yes, a trip to the Emergency Room for either or both of us might be stressful.

Here's hoping your final shopping weekend is calm, relaxed, and injury free.

I Am (Dare I Say It?) Caught Up

I entered the month of December in a state of panic.  Three huge projects loomed on the horizon along with the usual myriad of smaller writing jobs that make up my life.  There were a few days I felt physically sick as I approached my desk, there was so much on my plate. What if I couldn't get it done or (infinitely worse in my opinion) got it done but had to turn in substandard work?

The good part about this state of panic is that I was terrified of missing a deadline and dove headfirst into work, pumping it out.  Yesterday I sent off the last of the big projects and heaved a sigh of relief.  All I've got on my plate for this week that has to be done is an interview today at 10 with a woman who breeds Tibetan Spaniels, I'll need to transcribe that and 2 other interviews from earlier in the week, and write two 500-word articles.  If I get really adventurous (which I might), I can start writing my article on Tibetan Spaniels, which isn't due until the first of February.

To reward myself, I indulged in a morning of luxury.  I got up and eschewed exercising in favor of showering immediately, then plopped down on the couch for two hours with the book, Bait & Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich. 

I immensely enjoyed her earlier work, Nickel & Dimed where she went undercover as one of the working poor to see how they get by.  In this work, she positions herself as one of the white-collar unemployed and tries to land a job.  It's well-written and gets better as it goes along, but her naivety in the beginning is so absurd it's off-putting.  Bullet points on a resume are news to her?  Networking as a primary means of finding work is a surprise?  It made me wonder what la-la land she'd been living in.  But once she gets her resume in shape and starts attending (hilariously useless) networking functions, the book picks up speed.

Right now, I'm in the throes of an allergy attack, probably because we spent 3 hours cleaning last night, kicking up dust.  I'd take an allergy pill, but even the "non-drowsy" formulas wipe me out, so I need to hold out for at least five hours and get a bit of work done.

A bright bit of news: Our local papers did a feature story on Lessons In Stalking in yesterdays paper and the front picture is of Lucy and the books cover (see left).  The article was good, although I was disappointed it didn't mention my illustrator, Linda Santell, or the art shop in town where the book is available, The Fat Cat.  But I hope the piece brings a little attention and spurs some Christmas orders.

And now, off to transcribe some interviews.

Peanut Butter Balls & Christmas

And so it begins.  Blair walked in the door last night laden with holiday food prepared by co-workers.  Hallelujah!  I live for the holiday cookies that get sent our way.  One woman who's worked with Blair for years makes especially delicious fare. This year she sent home with Blair a big tin of decorated sugar cookies, chocolate cookies and--my favorite--chocolate covered peanut butter balls.  Saint that she is, she even used crunchy peanut butter and a dash of coconut in them.  I had 3 for breakfast this morning.

The story of the peanut butter balls is amusing.  Last year, the Christmas tin from her didn't include them.

"What the hell?" I asked Blair, prying open the tin.  "Where are my peanut butter balls?"

"Maybe she just didn't have time this year," he said.

"Fire her," I said.  "No, wait.  Threaten to fire her unless she makes us some peanut butter balls."

"I will do no such thing," he said.  "You're insane.  Just eat a sugar cookie and shut up."

I grumbled, but let it go.  Until around Thanksgiving of this year when this co-worker invited us to a bonfire at her home.  We arrived and I didn't even bother with the small talk before pouncing.

"So what's the deal with the peanut butter balls?" I asked.  "Can I be expecting them this year or what?"  Blair went eight  shades of red but hey, I was on a mission.  She makes really, really tasty peanut butter balls.  So needless to say, I am an extremely happy camper this year.

We also received some excellent peanut brittle and a box of chocolate truffles.  And our new next door neighbors dropped by last night with a gift bag containing the most gorgeous apples dipped in milk chocolate, drizzled with white chocolate, with walnuts attached.  They were almost too pretty to eat. (Almost.  Mmmmm.  Tasty!)

I expect to be on a massive sugar high now until the end of the month and will feel no guilt at all.  It would be rude not to eat the lovely food people prepared for us.  Happy sugary holidays to all.

Pay Me, Pay Me, Pay Me!

Aauugh!  Sooooo close!  And the clock is ticking.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I set myself a financial earning goal for the year.  This income goal is for all money earned from magazine writing and teaching, but does not include any monies earned from Lessons In Stalking.  That's its own category with its own expenses and earnings.

So, I have this goal of X number of dollars that, to be realized, must be fulfilled before the stroke of midnight on December 31st.  And right now, I am $68.50 away from goal.  $68.50!  I am THAT close.  But I only count toward the goal money that actually comes in the door, so even though a number of magazines owe me money, if the check doesn't show up before January 1st, it doesn't count.

All my hopes hinge on GTCC and UNC-G.  I'm owed money from both institutions for public speaking and writing classes taught earlier this year. 

I know it's silly.  $68 is close enough to say, yeah, I made goal.  But I'll know that really, I was just under.  I'll spend the rest of this week chasing the postman down, hoping for a check. 

Love that holiday spirit!