Non-Birthday Day Off

I’ve got three days off work before my day job goes crazy with advising.  It’s my non birthday year, today is my “birthday”.  At least somewhere between today and tomorrow my birthday lands.  My to do list is enough to keep me busy for a month (or longer).  But I’m tackling things one at a time.

This morning I slept later than normal – that was on my to do list.  I’m going to attempt to do the same tomorrow.  I got dressed – very reluctantly.  I’m going out later, so I guess clothes are necessary.  I finished two crochet projects.  Now all I need is some pictures and I can publish the patterns.  I worked on budget and bills.  I paid most of them but my check isn’t in my account until tomorrow – so I’ll pay the rest tomorrow.  I brought current my reports for my writing – sales, commission to TJ, adding in the new crochet pattern, and other things.

My goal was to be back in the recliner by 12:00 – it is now past that time.  However, I did play backgammon and some card games on my computer.  Maybe that gives me a little leeway.  I was supposed to get the two areas cleared that are still cluttered in my office.  As of right now, all I’ve managed to do is get the filing done.  I hate filing.  However the folders are made, the files are cleaned out.  I had two years of taxes which needed to come out – not sure how that happened I’m usually really diligent about taking the old out when I put the new in but it did happen.  I had all seven years in one file and separated them into individual files.

Ava – my middle daughter’s youngest cat – lay on the stand for most of the morning.  She liked me – or at least that is the interpretation I’m putting on it.  Really I was in her sun room and annoying her with my work.  I’m waffling between hitting the recliner and doing crocheting or moving forward with the office.  My legs will be the determining factor.  My fear is I’ll end up moving from one pile to the next and that is simply not acceptable.

I have my birthday journal entry to write.  It is my birthday and it is right here and it would be good to write it now and not put it off for three months (or when I get to it.  I started this in 2007 and wrote it in every year since (except I missed it in 2013 & 2015).  Last year my entry was short and crabby.  Maybe this year can be better.  My goal with this is to summarize how I feel about the previous year.

At the very least I’ve gotten some thing accomplished today.  I’ve got two more days off and then the weekend so hopefully I’ll mark off a lot on my to do list.

Annual Journal Entry

For the last five years, around my birthday I’ve written in my annual journal.  I have a daily journal I carry with me which gets all the daily chaos of my life.  I write in it when I feel the need to – the busier I get the less I write in it.  I try to get a page or two in regularly but it doesn’t always work. 

I read about a birthday journal five or six years ago and started one.  It is supposed to have remembrances from the last year, from my childhood, or other big picture thoughts. 

One year I wrote about as many of my memories as I could jam into a single sitting from my childhood.  Another year I wrote about the conflict in our family.  Last year was all about politics. 

This year, I will have to see what moves me.  There has been a lot going on in my life in the last year so I’ll have to see about the big picture. 

I know my birthday was nearly a month ago but mostly I haven’t had time to think about this deeply enough to do the entry.  In the last five years I’ve written in this journal anywhere from March to May.  If I can get it done, only three weeks after my birthday that will be pretty good.

Now I just have to figure out what big picture I want to write about – or if I want to tackle all of them….
Announcement!!!
Monday March 26, I’ll be posting a blog entry from Barbara Ardinger.  You may have clicked on her link on this page.  She is an incredible author and editor.  She is funny and articulate.  I think you will enjoy her posting.  Come back on Monday to see Barbara’s posting!!!

Birthday…or non-birthday…??

Well I’m home today.  I took the day off to be away from work on my birthday – non-birthday really as I don’t have one this year.  My birthday is Feb 29 and I won’t have an actual birthdate until next year.  I’m 47 today and proud of it. 

It is nearly 10 am and I’m not dressed.  I’m not sure I’m getting dressed, it seems like a stay in the jammies day but I’ll have to see how I feel.  My plan for the day is to work on writing things.  I worked for a while yesterday on organizing things.  Today I may continue that trend.  There are two more steps I want to go through before I feel like my writing is organized the way I want it.

I also have several projects I want to work on.  They are screaming at me for attention.  I may just put in earplugs and work on the one manuscript that has consumed me for months.  I’m taking a day to do what I want.  I slept late – sort of.  I was up late and I got six hours – not much more is needed typically. 

Normally around my birthday I write in my annual journal.  This journal is one where I set aside my daily grumblings and commentary and look at life.  In the past I’ve written about my childhood memories or the events of the past year.  It varies.  I’m also not always great about writing exactly on my birthday but I grab the journal and set it out so it reminds me to do it.  This year I’m not sure what I’ll write on.  Nothing profound comes to mind.  My year has been fairly uneventful.  Although Ken and I are coming up on our 30th wedding anniversary.  Maybe I’ll do a review of our marriage… have to think on that…

This journal is a summary of life for me.  It isn’t the daily grind journal I carry with me. It allows me to look at the big picture.  Before I start a new entry, I go back to read what I’ve written in the past which I don’t normally do in my daily journal.  It is very much a reflective journal for me.  It helps me see patterns in my life and think about what those patterns mean. 

In all I hope I have a quiet and calm day off.  I hope the chaos of the political scene stays at bay and I can allow myself these moments to enjoy and recharge my batteries…