An honest 1st Goal Check-in 2022

Does anyone else feel like the last two weeks have felt like a year?

I’m exhausted by 2022 already. My last two weeks have been filled with quite a bit of stress, disappointment and frustration…and I’m TIRED.

My plans and routine were disrupted as I tried to buy a house. There was a lot of stress and frenetic activity in a short amount of time as I jumped through the “getting a mortgage hoops”. Then the deal went sideways which was disappointing and then I got ripped off (via North Carolina real estate laws….let’s just say I’m hoping the sellers get exactly what they deserve) which was frustrating.

And all of this coincided with something else that was so stressful that it’s impacted my dreams (in a bad way) every. single. night. for over a week. SIGH (I meant it when I said I’m tired. I’m not sleeping well.)

Needless to say, this funk has impacted my writing. Pretty much grinding it to a halt. It’s REALLY hard (at least for me) to be funny and creative when I’m in a funk.

So now I’m dealing with the stress of being behind and the guilt of feeling like I’m not doing enough. Ugggh!

BUT the year hasn’t been all bad. I HAVE made progress toward my smaller and non-writing goals.

I’m loving reading a Positive Quotation A Day as my new way to start every day. Much better than picking up my phone. Highly recommended.

I’ve read a poem every day. (Yay for the Poetry Foundation and their emailed Poem-a-Day.) I read them aloud. The dog listens with rapt attention, lol.

I’ve read two short stories. Didn’t particularly care for either.

I’ve almost finished reading my second book of the year, which I’m really loving. More about that soon.

I got The Hitwoman’s Girls’ Night Out up for preorder.

I tried two new-to-me soup recipes. (Didn’t love either so I’m not sharing them but yay me for eating so many veggies lol.)

In an attempt to improve my mood I went for a wonderful hike and a picnic lunch. (It was only 40 degrees so the lunch part was rather rushed, lol). This is where we sat for a couple of minutes.

It was chilly but beautiful.

Now I’m waiting for it to snow. I moved to a place that averages 4 inches of snow PER YEAR, but they’re saying that tomorrow we could get 8-12 inches. I’ve heard NC is not the best (understandably because they don’t have to deal with it on a regular basis) dealing with snow removal. I’m just hoping the power stays on, otherwise it’s going to get very cold.

Oh, and after looking at a bunch, I put an offer in on another house. I won’t hear about the seller’s decision about my offer until tomorrow night. Waiting is hard.

BUT I’m looking forward to seeing how Smudge, who’s never seen snow, reacts to the white stuff tomorrow.

Hopefully, when I do a goal check-in at the end of the month, I’ll be all caught up on my writing goals and will be able to share more about my current writing project (which was a ton of fun until my mood went south).

The year hasn’t gotten off to a “bad” start….it’s just provided room for improvement. 😉

How are you doing with YOUR resolutions/goals?