Word of the Year

I know we're a few week into 2018 and most New Year Resolutions are already forgotten, but I think there's still time to...well, not make a resolution, I gave those up years ago.  Instead, I pick one word to build my year around.  I love that other people have joined me in the tradition.  I've used words like Stop, Moment, Awareness, Step, Optimism, Change, Stretch, Time, Hope...

I spent a great deal of time mulling 2018's word and finally landed on Chapter.  With that word I'm acknowledging that things changed last year and will continue to change next year.

In 2017 I lost my mother in July and losing her has left a hole in my life.  I went back to school in August and discovered so much glee in Ceramics and My Novel Freshman Experience.  My family is another year older and they're lives are changing and evolving, and I'll confess, I feel such a sense of pride when I look at what amazing people they all are.

So 2018 sees me in a new place...a new chapter if you will.  By choosing that as my word of the year, I'm reminding myself that even when change is hard, I should more than accept those changes, I should embrace them!  I should try and make this chapter the best one yet.

So even though we're a couple weeks into the year, I hope you reflect on what you want from 2018.  Do you have a word of the year?

Happy New Year, my friends.  I love stopping by this blog every month.  Thank you to everyone who's followed my pottery adventures and a huge thanks to everyone who's picked up a book, left a review and shared a bit glee with me!

Holly

PS The 3rd book in my PTA Mom trilogy it out...Once Upon a Valentine's 
and
Hold Her Heart is on sale for $.99.  It's one of my Romance+ stories...a story about woman's journey that includes romance, but romance isn't the reason for her journey, nor is it her final destination!

And I Would Walk 10,000…er Steps

So what's new with me in 2014??

My husband bought me a FitBit for Christmas.  He bought it because he knows me so well.  Not only is it techy, which he knows I love, but it also tracks steps and miles.

For the last year, I've been trying for three mile walks every day. More when I can get them.  I have an app for that.  But sometimes I forget to turn it on.  This solves that.

Now, the only flaw with those long walks every day is I live in Erie.  According to the Golden Snow Globe site, we're #1 right now with 77.4 inches of snow.  I don't mind walking in the snow, but that Polar Vortex kicked my butt.  So even though I still wanted those 10,000 steps, I wasn't going out in -36 degree wind chills.

So I got creative.  I walked in place while I talked on the phone.  I put clothes away, one item at a time, leaving the basket in the sitting room and walking back and forth.  And finally, I watched a television show and walked in place.

Needless to say, I've made it to 10.000 steps each day.  Some of those steps were creative, but I got

them in.

I'm the mother of four, so finding a creative way to meet a goal is something I've done for years.  When I first started writing, my youngest hadn't started school yet.  Let me tell you, writing with four kids under foot takes a lot of creativity.  I called those years my "Vampire Years."  I wrote after they went to bed.  I wrote until my eyelids wouldn't stay up another minute.

And here I am, years later, more than fifty books.  Those Vampire Years paid off.  So, I'll be as creative as I need to be in order to get those steps in.

Oh, and my word of the year?? (I don't do resolutions—I pick a word to build my year around.) This year, my word is…you guessed it, STEP.  It sort of ties in nicely to my goal of 10,000 steps a day, and really does apply to my writing, too!  At the moment, I'm a bit swamped.  My desk is groaning.  But I'm simply taking things one step at a time.  The day before yesterday I finished galleys for June's Just One Thing, and yesterday I did a fact sheet for October's Christmas in Cupid Falls.  Today, I'm planning to work on a new article that's due in Feb and working on February's final Maid in LA Mystery, Swept Up…step by step, I'm crossing items off.

How about you??  Do you have a word of the year, a resolution, or simply some goal you're working toward?

Wishing you all a very happy 2014!!

Holly