Tuesday’s special: Ten Items or Less

Welcome to a “less” edition of Ten Items or Less, bringing you tidbits and thoughts that don’t warrant a blog post of their own:

  • I wasn’t here yesterday – maybe you noticed? I had no post prepared, and rather than stress myself over the weekend about getting one done, I just decided to let it slide. I committed myself to finishing the book I was reading for a blog tour and writing the review to post this Thursday, but other than that – nothing. The “unplugging” continued, and I spent time with my family instead of my MacBook.
  • You may see more of that – NOT seeing me, that is – over the next few weeks. You may see more randomness like this when you DO see me, too. I wouldn’t say I feel burnt out, but I do foresee writing time being a bit scarce during the near term. Still, most of you are probably very busy yourselves right now, and you probably won’t mind having a little less blog-reading to keep up with!
  • I had the day off yesterday, but I worked on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I got a lot done both days, but it seems like I never get as much done as I’d like to – there’s always something that doesn’t make the cut, for one reason or another.
  • Have you ever felt like December just becomes a black hole? There’s the holiday shopping (which is nearly done for some recipients and barely started for others) and the social calendar – ours includes a birthday party the weekend before Christmas, for my to-be 10-year-old stepson. There’s the rush to get all sorts of things done by the 24th, or else they somehow don’t count. Then there’s the no-man’s-land between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when no one really wants to get any work done, even if they’re at work. Sometimes I feel like I just get lost in it.
  • But after weeks of not-so-gentle prodding, I can make my own plans for the days I will not be at work over Christmas week, because, at last, my son has bought his plane tickets to SoCal for Christmas with us! He’s arriving on the evening of the 23rd and staying till New Year’s. During that week, our TV will be tuned to ESPN more than it is for the entire rest of the year, but as far as I’m concerned, bowl games are a small price to pay for his company (as long as he watches his language when the 10-year-old is around).
  • I hope to spend the last month of the year doing more reading for myself than for obligatory reviews, but depending how much time I actually have for reading, it may or may not pan out. Speaking of reading, sort of: we went to the bookstore on Sunday, and all the books we bought were gifts for other people. I’ve been feeling strangely unmotivated to buy books for myself recently, but that may be for the best, really – TBR Purgatory has become a ridiculous place!
  • And while I wasn’t blogging during the last few days, my husband put up one of his rare posts over at Blogenstein. Take the quiz he’s created, in the spirit of Facebook, and see if you’re living to your full potential!

Let’s trade off now. I’ve shared a few of my random thoughts and tidbits – tell me some of yours! What’s going on with you?

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11 comments

  1. -I got a free pass out of work today and I'm spending the afternoon getting started on Christmas shopping, just because I can. I wanted to do cartwheels when my boss emailled to say she didn't need me today.

    -I know what you mean about burning out. I've been feeling that way lately too with the blog.

    -The week between Christmas and New Year's is one of my favorite times of year, for just hte reasons you mentioned. All the work of the holidays is done- except putting it away!- and it's great chill-out time.

  2. Wonderful news about your son coming to visit over Christmas. I haven't blogged since Friday. I've been reading quite a bit, relaxing with my husband, spending time with friends and we found a kitten hanging around the neighborhood. My husband and I are trying to determine if the kitten is a stray or not.

    It's good you didn't stress over not having a post planned for yesterday. Our blogs are supposed to be enjoyable not stressful! Decembert tends to be a busy month too! I was at the bookstore last week and didn't feel like buying myself anything. But I made up for that last Friday on Amazon where there was a 3 for the price of 2 sale!

  3. — On Friday, I baked my first red velvet cake for my stepdaughter's birthday.

    — Yes, December is a black hole! Today, I looked at my watch and could not believe it was already 4 o'clock. Where did the day go? How will I get everything done?

    — However, I felt much happier reading Florinda's awesome random tidbits!

  4. *I am disgusted by how grumpy everyone is around here (here being SLO County). What ever happened to holiday spirit?

    *I'm almost positive I'll be there for lunch on Saturday.

    *I'm hungry.

    🙂

  5. Marie – Today I turned in a vacation request approved for the week between Christmas and New Year's, since my son will be in town then, and it was approved :-). Now I won't have to go through the motions at the office that week!

    Hope the Christmas shopping got off to a good start!

    Amy – I'm trying to get into this "unplugged" thing, but I always have this nagging anxiety that my readers will evaporate and never come back if I skip a few days of posting! Yes, I do have insecurity issues, why do you ask :-)? Glad you've enjoyed a few days' break yourself!

    Gina (Book Dragon) – Yeah, it's not a bad time to lay low from blogging, because so many other people are too :-).

    Amy RGB – Red velvet cake – mmmm! I've never baked that, but I do like to eat it – hope yours turned out well!

    Why does December always seem so short, but February – which IS short – feel so long?

    Jill (Softdrink) – If you're coming to our meet-up on Saturday, we'll make sure to feed you 🙂 – and we'll be VERY glad to see you!

    Kathy (Bermudaonion) – Thanksgiving was fairly low-key, but I'm still behind on some things too. And it will probably just get worse – oh well :-)!

  6. December is a total black hole. Actually it starts right before thanksgiving for me.

    I'm glad to hear your son is coming home. I hope you get to watch some of your TV shows while he's home. 🙂

  7. Mike – Most of our shows will probably be on break or in re-runs then anyway :-).

    I remember thinking he was growing up when ESPN became his go-to TV channel instead of Nickelodeon. I'm used to his sports-TV addiction, but it gets on Tall Paul's nerves after a while.

  8. I enjoyed reading your random thoughts–even if a bit late. 🙂

    I understand your need to take breaks now and then, especially this month. That black hole you were talking about? I feel that way too sometimes.

    Some of mine:

    All of my Christmas shopping is done with the exception of a couple of somethings for my husband–but only because I HAVE to spoil him.

    Mary Poppins was wonderfully fun and awesome! I wish we could go see it again and again and again.

    I came to the realization that I've been whining and complaining too much lately about this and that. I'm going to be more positive from now on. Hopefully I can keep that up.

    I'm really tempted to sign up for the Social Justice Challenge despite my decision not to sign up for any challenges this next year. Although, technically, I'm already planning to continue on with a couple that started this year. I just don't know if I want to commit though.

  9. Wendy (Literary Feline) – Better late than never :-). I think I'm going to do this again next Tuesday – with different things, of course!

    My friend April and her daughters really enjoyed Mary Poppins, too. We're kicking around seeing it when we go to New York next June, but haven't decided.

    I'm not sure about committing to the Social Justice Challenge either, although I love the idea. I talked to Amy about it, and she's afraid that people might be intimidated by the "call to action" component, but she says it doesn't have to be anything big.