I accomplished 45 percent of my goals for March, which unsurprisingly relates to being in the middle of a pandemic. Everything that involved going out, having people over, meeting people, going to places where people gathered — all that got nixed. Budgetary goals got nixed too because I spent so much: extra food, extra pet meds, cleaning supplies, etc. I didn’t finish the tax paperwork I’d planned on because we now have several months more to do them (state taxes too) so they slid down the priority list. Buying tickets for plays was kind of pointless, as was taking another juggling class (and I’d have delayed for budgetary reasons anyway).
I did do pretty well on writing goals. I completed as much of Impossible Takes a Little Longer and Undead Sexist Cliches as I’d planned, submitted six short stories, finished a short story first draft (untitled as yet) and made at least a stab at revising Laughter of the Dark. Given the demands of adjusting to the new normal and taking care of Trixie with her bad leg, I’m pleased.
For this month I trimmed out standard goals involving going out, dealing with people, weekend activities, etc. As Leaf is on one of its regularly scheduled hiatuses for the next couple of weeks, I’m planning to squeeze out as much writing time as I can and meet those goals. And keeping a very tight budget to make up for March. Modest, but achievable in our new environment, I think.
And I will not forget that TYG and I are so much luckier than some of our friends in our ability to work from home.
As a reminder why everything’s changed, here’s Neal Adams dramatizing what happens when you don’t social distance.
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