January/February 2019 Fly-By Status Report – I’m a Grown-Up Hobbit (I’ll explain)

In December last year, I turned 33! Sure, cool number and everything, multple of 11 and whatnot, but it’s also a special age for Tolkien nerds like me. Because in the Middle-earth universe, when a hobbit turns 33, it means they’re considered an adult.

And to celebrate, I designed my own temporary tattoo and bought a whole sheet of them! (I’m still not keen on getting something that hurts, that will never go away and that will only blur over time on my skin.) I made a post about it on Instagram discussing its significance to me:

 

 

 

 

 

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Yaaaay, I’m 33! I even designed my own temporary tattoo, since I still don’t want to commit to a real one! But if I ever got a permanent one, it would probably be something like this: a Celtic triangle with a heart woven in, with Soli Deo Gloria (SDG) and Jesu Juva (JJ) encorporated somehow. #celtictriangle #temporarytattoo #artpuelladocta #sdg #solideogloria #jesujuva #needlepoint

A post shared by Call me Christina (@puelladocta) on Dec 16, 2018 at 5:27am PST

So now that I’m REALLY an adult, I decided it’s time to get serious. No, that’s not a joke, but it kind of is, because how many times have I said that on here before? BUT, I think I actually have the tools to get it done this time! (Which I’ve also said before…BUT LET ME HAVE THIS, OKAY?! It’s seeming to work better than any of the others so far, ask Wervyn!)

Also, just want to apologize for the late blog post, I don’t know if I’ve ever snuck into February before. But late December and January was a little nuts, what with me doing my recurring temp admin job, and Moss having some urinary issues, but hopefully they’re all cleared up now. So I have no more excuses, and this blog is getting posted!

Well, let’s see, what have I otherwise been up to? Well, Wervyn & I supported a video game called CrossCode that put us in the game, thanks to the help we’ve given them! We have personalized avatars and everything! Watch us play through the quest here.

YAY! Our backer/special thanks quest is out on #CrossCode today!!!! @wervyn and I got awesome avatars and everything! Thank you, @RadicalFishGame!!! pic.twitter.com/W2IRMI5yUD

— Call Me Christina (@puelladocta) January 31, 2019

I finally read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert last year, which had been recommended to me multiple times, and I found it very encouraging on this long, bumpy road of undulating creativity (I recommend the Audible version! I hear more books than I visually read these days. If I can’t craft while I’m doing something, OMG GTFO LOL). I’ve also started reading books about executive functioning (I started one and have 2 yet to start in my book pile) and thanks to Organizing for ADHD by Susan Pinsky, I actually have a system that I hope will help me get a lot more done during the day than I ever have before! And it’s not dependent on a reward system that makes Wervyn sad (I’m getting better at budgeting too), it’s dependent on my perfectionism of wanting to do everything that I have on my Google calendar! Self-manipulation at it’s finest! I figure I may as well make that perfectionism work for me, instead of it just turning me into a quivering ball of stress. I gave myself some Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & Timely (SMART) Goals to strive for this year, and this new method has really helped me be consistent, and not beat myself up if I skip a day. The general attitude for this year is 1) Keep Plugging on Your Goals and grow another level of Accomplishment, 2) It’s okay if I skip a day if I feel overwhelmed. Give myself grace for the day, and then try again the next day!

I’ll get to my resolutions in a second, but let’s look at how I did with my last public to do list. (My comments in bold italics.)

Fall/Winter 2018 Agenda:

Long Term

• Continue with the hardcore outlining and rewriting the style of my YA fantasy novel Sign of the Redwing and sharing it with editor friends (and implementing their notes) in preparation for a professional editor to look it over or for agent hunting. (I got past the black hole that is Chapter 3, but the critique notes felt like razor blades because the editing was so time consuming and soul-sucking. SO yes, I’m planning to rework Book 1 in fairy tale style, like I always said I’d do, but I’m letting it rest for a while.)
  • Work on Book 2 (Only started doing that in January, didn’t cover it much last year)
  • Outline the entire series that follows “Redwing” (I have one from long ago that I’m using. Need to cobble it all together somehow, somewhere…I really need to KonMari my writing software and story notes…)
  • Finish a new round of research and go through gathered notes for my series (I research as needed for the new stuff. See also above comment.)

Short Term

• Continue implementing my writing/editing/critique regimen and meet my Just-Get-It-Done-ASAP Draft 6 finish goal, and take a few months off to give myself a break (Yeah, I just took off in November, though I wasn’t nearly done.)
• Work on a few short stories (with photos) about my dollhouse dolls, something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. (Again, I do want to do this, but maybe once something else is off my plate, and the muse strikes again.)
• Finish as many craft projects as I can that I already started. (So far so good! I finished my nephew’s blanket, and I’m really close to finishing another!)
• Add something to my Etsy shop, or put out at least one piece for Free Art Friday! (Not Etsy, but my Redbubble and Zazzle shops got a lot of new items! And Free Art Friday eluded me because I didn’t get my stuff in time. But I’ll be ready for next year!)
• Learn piano and reorganize my craft room (Piano happened in January, as did the craft room organizing! So I’m off to a good start!)

Winter/Spring 2019 Resolutions:

• Hold off on editing/updating Book 1, and start writing the first draft of other novels in my Signs series, and give them more of a folktale vibe! (I’m super pumped about this!) The goal is at least 100,000 words by the end of the year.
• Keep losing weight and exercising with weight watchers! (inspired by The Ukulele Teacher)
• Keep learning piano & practicing ukulele, do more Duolingo language practice for Japanese & Spanish, organize that craft room into submission, do more oil pastel and try new art styles, keep on cross stitching, crocheting and knitting (and listen to a lot of audio books while I do it)
• If I can manage a Twitch stream or a Free Art Friday, or posting new things for sale at my stores, that’s gravy.

And a condensed version of ^ that should be going up on the front page agenda soon! I’m excited to see what other things inspire me this year and attract my attention, as they always do, because I love new diversions ^_^ You can’t predict life, might as well enjoy the ride! Happy 2019, guys, I hope I’m still chugging along and feeling positive by the time May and MomoCon hits! Good luck with any of your goals as well!

And wow, only TWO pictures in the post? Dang, I must be getting old ?

OH, and one last little thing, I’m updating my portfolio page and calling it “Artwork,” and I’ll be moving some of the portfolio write-ups to my blog (rather than keeping them in their own portfolio feed). So don’t be surprised if some new art posts start suddenly pop up, even if they’re back-dated, I’m not sure how that will show up in Feed.ly or Bloglovin. And I need to clean up my messy code, eventually, so please pardon our dust! Thanks! ?