Updates as Time Slips By
Time has been sliding right on by me and I realize that it has been nearly a month since I last wrote a blog post. This was not intentional. I just reached a very admin-heavy portion of my existence and I had to let my writer self go dormant while I managed a host of other things. The things were mostly small, but in aggregate it has been a lot. So here are some updates.
We sent XDM2e off to print on Monday. The core book is done and my big push in relation to the project is to write up Alt-Text for every image in the book so that we can put that Alt-Text into the PDF before release. Writing the text isn’t very brain draining, but there are over 240 images to write text for. I’m hoping to get the PDF and other electronic deliverables handled with a few weeks to spare before books arrive and I have to jump into shipping mode.
My son got his driver’s license! This removes 5 hours per week of carpooling from my schedule. He has also taken on some of the other errands, drop offs, and pick ups as well. I’m hopeful that having these additional hours back will create more space for me to write things.
Tax Return money arrived, which alleviates some of the immediate financial pressure because I now have funds to pay for health insurance premiums through the end of the year. (Premiums are by far our largest monthly bill.) However one of my jobs as a business owner is to always do the “when will money run out?” math and then count backward from that point. Howard and I need to be running another revenue generating project soon. This is the constant juggle of living on a creative income.
I have writing projects I want to get done. Gardening projects that are calling me. And home improvement projects that are long overdue (and underfunded). There simply aren’t as many energetic hours in the day as I would like. Though all too often I find myself with un-energetic hours where I need to rest and recharge rather than do focused work.
Next week some family things will take up large portions of my time. After that, I’ll be able to look around and figure out what comes next. This is the current state of my things.