I’m happy to report that, aside from epilepsy, my medical adventures have ended for the moment. Surgery is over, all biopsies have come back benign, I’m back on my feet—thank goodness!

The past few months have been rough, and even though I tried to keep up with writing and such, I simply didn’t have much focus or creativity in me. While drafting, I lost track of things like who said what to whom and when. I have to go back and fix all that, so I hope you don’t mind me skipping the writing updates for now. I think next month, I’ll have patched up some holes and will be in a better position to discuss progress.

For sure, though, I’m nowhere close to done with my Book 3 draft like I hoped I might be at the end of 2018! LOL If I’ve learned anything, it’s that I’m terrible at estimating how long I need to finish a project. Throw in medical complications, and estimates truly start to mean nothing. At least I have successfully reskinned this blog, and it was far less painful than I feared it would be!

Current Goals

I’m giving all of 2019 a look here. Aside from making more progress on Book 3, here’s what I’m hoping to do:

Get back into the saddle. After months of my normal routine being interrupted with doctor’s appointments, having trouble focusing whenever I did have time to write, and having to stay off my feet for recovery’s sake, I need to return to basics. First, I’m getting used to my old writing and exercise schedule again. Next, I’m getting back into writing and editing for The Daily WTF.

Well-rounded Latin practice. Studying vocabulary flashcards daily, textbook work and conjugation/declension practice most days, listening to a podcast on a weekly basis. I’m also meeting weekly with a professor at my alma mater to practice speaking. It’s supposed to be a speaking group, but we haven’t yet found anyone to join us! We’ll keep hunting for Latin speakers in our area. I have also just applied to attend a week-long Latin immersion seminar in my state this summer. We’ll see if they’re willing to accept a tiro (beginner) who’s not a student or teacher, just a dedicated nerd!

Being a good Stoic. I’m still striving to have gratitude, be kind, focus on the positive within the present moment, step out of my comfort zone regularly, and be satisfied with simplicity and doing my best rather than racking up money and rewards. I have lots of books and notes that I review regularly to remind myself, and since my Latin is improving, I’m able to go and read primary sources (like Seneca) more often :) Two insights that really sank in for me this past year: 1) My fear of something is always worse than the thing itself. 2) It’s impossible to eliminate that initial negative emotional reaction to a new problem or novel situation. I will never stop feeling fear, grief, anxiety, etc. I have to accept the emotion, sit with it until it subsides (which I learned how to do in therapy), then figure out how to move forward constructively. Stifling the emotion, or scolding myself for feeling that way, only makes things worse later.

Listening to German. Haven’t been listening to Deutsche Welle as regularly as before. I need to get back into this; it gets hard sometimes when the news is all depressing. LOL I should probably look for a movie or cartoon I like that’s been dubbed into German …

Civic Engagement. I’m still involved with the League of Women Voters, so I hope to keep volunteering at voter registration events this year. The most fun ones are at citizen naturalization ceremonies. Everyone’s happy and excited to start exercising their rights as Americans!

Travel 2019? Still up in the air on this. We’re probably visiting family in upstate NY this year, and if I’m accepted to the Latin seminar, that’s another week-long trip. It may be that this is enough traveling for one year.

Happy New Year! I hope 2019 is wonderful for you! :)