Taking a little time off....

As an independent contractor, I don't get paid vacation days. If I don't work, I don't get paid. So as the holidays approach, it's important for me to balance work time with family time, especially around holidays and birthdays.

It's been difficult this month to take time off. I've had a lot of deadlines this month, so it's meant late nights and long hours. Fortunately, the big deadlines are coming to an end (at least until after the new year), so I'm looking forward to having some time off next week for the holiday.

This year is a little bit different because Puck and Tink are spending actual factual Christmas with Monty. But Bo and I will still be celebrating the holiday in our own way, and since she has two whole days off of work for the holiday, I'm planning to take the 25th and 26th off, as well.

It's going to be nice to have some time off, especially since it's been such a busy, chaotic month (or two) lately. I'll sleep in, drink my coffee out on the patio, and watch too much TV all weekend.

It will be a much-needed break before I jump back into work.

Ending the year with mindful eating

Life has gotten busy lately, and I've fallen back into bad habits. So as this year wraps up and the new year begins, I'm focusing on getting back into my good habits of holistic living.

It was a little bit of a challenge through the Thanksgiving holiday, not only because we were traveling, but because I'm the only non-omni* in the family.

As I'm making the transition back into the healthy lifestyle that works for me, I have to focus on remembering why I'm doing it.

Yes, a big part of the reason I'm going back to a vegan lifestyle with regular exercise is for my health. (I feel better when I take better care of myself.) But it's also because I know how my body reacts to animal product.

My body doesn't like meat and dairy. I can eat it, but quite often, I feel ill afterward. When I was a kid, I couldn't handle dairy (which came up again in both my pregnancies). So it's not a shocker to me that I can't handle animal products now. Since a plant-based diet is not only healthier for me (as an individual) but healthier for me in general, it just makes sense for me to be on a plant-based diet. It's the best way for me to keep my body in balance.

The good news is that the next two holiday meals (Christmas and New Year's) will be at home, so I can make sure there are vegan options (especially since our New Year's meal will be all finger foods). It will be a good way to end this year and start 2015.






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*I know that veg*n living is not a requisite for holistic living, but my body is much happier with a plant-based diet, so it is a requisite for me.

Renew your spirit with winter decorations

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Bo and I put up our holiday tree and some winter* decorations.

I usually like to wait until after Thanksgiving (truthfully, I prefer to wait until December), but we wanted the munchkins to be able to help and enjoy the decorations, and since they went back to Monty right after Thanksgiving, it just worked out better this way.

I like having winter decorations out. I love this time of year. People are happier, kinder, and much more compassionate. People are taking action to make a positive impact on the world around them. People are more optimistic about life and society.

It's a good time of year.

I wish more people would carry the spirit of these holidays with them through the rest of the year. Think how wonderful our world would be if people made an effort to be compassionate and generous every day instead of just once a year?** What if people focused on bringing light to other people's lives instead of bringing "stuff" into their own lives?

Sometime in January our decorations will come down. Our winter tree will be put away until next Thanksgiving, the ornaments packed away in a bin. But this January, I will be making a conscious effort to keep the joy and excitement that comes with those decorations in my heart through the rest of the year.

You don't need lights up around your home to be a light to the people around you!






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*Since our holiday celebrations are secular, I prefer to think of our decorations as for the season rather than for the holidays. Not only does that keep traditional religious decorations out of the equation, but it means I can keep them out a bit longer, which makes me happy.

**I know there are people who are kind and compassionate and generous all year round. That's one thing that I'm working on in myself in an effort to live a more holistic lifestyle. But I'm speaking in generalities for the purposes of this post.

Family Holiday Plans

This time next week we'll be happily celebrating Thanksgiving with family. Puck and Tink are greatly looking forward to seeing Mimi and Papa G, and I'm very excited about this kick-off celebration for our holiday season.

I love spending time with family at the holidays. As much as I am an introvert, I still love having family around sometimes.

When I was a kid, we'd go up to my paternal grandparents' house for holiday meals. When everyone showed up, there were about 20 of us crawling all over the house. (I have seven cousins on that side, and now more since a couple of them are married with kids of their own.) It was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with family, make memories, and play 500.

Now that I live states away from my extended family, and so many of my family members are going off in their own directions, family holiday meals aren't as...rambunctious (though Puck and Tink are pretty rowdy). I miss the chaos of those events.

That's why I'm so excited about our holiday plans this year. We have a lot planned, and it's going to be a good chance to make memories to carry us through until Easter, when we can make more.

It's going to be a great holiday season.

The guilt of giving

Image courtesy of winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It's the holiday season, so there's a big push from charitable organizations for donations. People are more generous around this time of year, and different organizations try to use that generous nature to help fund their causes through the next year.

For the majority of my adult life, I've been not unlike most Americans. I've wanted to give to charitable organizations, but unable. I paid for college on my own (student loans) and had a job that provided for my needs, but just. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to support these organizations the way I wanted to.

Since changing jobs toward the end of the summer, my situation has changed, and I'm able to give back to my community by supporting organizations that support causes important to me.

The problem now is that there are so many worthy causes. We live in a world where there are many, many people willing to stand up for what they believe in. From the Human Rights Campaign to PETA to Susan G. Komen, men and women work tirelessly to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves, make a difference in people's lives, and give voice to those who have been censored for too long. And it seems the more causes I discover in my reading and roaming online, the more organizations I discover that work for those causes.

It's wonderful that there are so many organizations, and people can find ways to stand up for causes that are important to them. But when I see the different organizations, and see how many good people are being helped by them, it can be hard to decide where to place your support. How do you decide who deserves* your donations? How do you look at people and animals who truly need help and tell them, "No, I'm sorry. I'm giving support to these groups instead."

I have chosen one organization to donate to during this holiday season (though it will certainly not be the only or last!) based on what I'm passionate about in my life. For me, that seems to be the best way to decide. If it's a cause that I have a connection with somehow based on my own life and experiences, I'm going to want to support it, yes?

There are lots of people doing lots of really great things during this holiday season, and through the whole year. I hope you will stop and think about how you can contribute to worthy causes not only this month, but in four months, six months, ten months.

Do you give to charitable organizations? How do you decide what groups to give to?






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*I used the word "deserves," but I don't mean it in the traditional sense. I know that all of these organizations deserve support for the good work they're doing. But this is the best descriptor for this sentence based on connotation when you have limited support to give and countless organizations to choose from.

A day is just a day until you make it a holiday

I didn't celebrate Thanksgiving yesterday. Monty had the munchkins and I'm not going to Illinois until tomorrow (due to client-related excitement), so I spent Thanksgiving seeing the great pictures of friends and family celebrating and nursing another spectacular cold.

But it doesn't bother me.

Holidays don't have to be holidays in my family. There have been many times my family has celebrated holidays on days other than when they're "supposed" to be celebrated for one reason or another.

When I was a kid, I remember helping my dad put up Christmas lights in July after he came home from the Gulf War so we could have a Christmas together.

So I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving all week long next week when I get to spend a few days in Illinois with family and friends. I'll eat a lot, have some wine, and make lots of memories with people I love that I haven't seen in too long.

It doesn't matter to me whether I celebrate holidays on the actual day or any other day of the year. The important thing to me is getting to celebrate with friends and family. A holiday can be any other day, and any day can be a holiday. All you have to do is decide how you want to spend the day.

Speaking of which, how was your Thanksgiving (if you celebrated)?

Looking ahead to Christmas

I know it's barely September, that the weather is still very warm, that my life is a bit chaotic. But I'm still thinking about Christmas already.

For our Christmas celebration with my siblings and mom, we do things a little differently. We draw names (each person draws one name), and the person is responsible for making a gift for that person and getting a small stocking stuffer for that person. The rest of the stocking stuffers are bought by people who are willing to contribute candy or small toys or whatever else.

This year, I'm doing the contributing. I'm sure Sisi or Nanny will have candy to add to the bags, but I'm also going to take advantage of the fact that it'll be my first year back in Florida, and I plan on getting cheesy, touristy tchotchkes for everyone. (What better excuse for buying someone a Hawaiian shirt-clad Santa with sunglasses?) So I'm keeping an eye out for cheesy little cheap stuff I can get for everyone to put in their stockings. I think it's going to be fun shopping for everything.

Of course, in addition to planning for the stocking stuffers for everyone, I'm planning for the actual trip up north. There are a lot of people the kids will want to visit, so our calendar will likely be pretty busy for that week. (And, if I have the chance, I want to make a specific stop on the way up or down for a little side trip.)

It's going to be a fun trip with the kids. I'm looking forward to taking them to see family for the holiday, and I hope there will be snow for at least part of the trip. One of Wyatt's concerns about my move to Florida was that there wouldn't be snow in the winter anymore.

Still, even if there's no snow, there's lots to look forward to this December: a road trip, family, and cheesy Florida tourist gifts for everyone!

Are you thinking about the holidays yet? What are your plans?

Federal holidays and working from home

nixxphotography / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today is Labor Day. My husband is home from work today, glad to be sleeping in and lounging around in his "dad shorts." Across the nation people are going to parades, having barbecues with friends and family, and taking advantage of furniture sales.

In the days leading up to today, I debated how I'd spend my Labor Day. On one hand, it's a federal holiday, and it would be nice to have the day off to spend with the family. On the other hand, having Hubby home to watch the kids would mean I could get a lot accomplished in the office.

It's a common dilemma for the work-at-home mom. Having your husband home an extra day makes it very tempting to get caught up (or ahead) in work. But you don't want to be one of those moms who's always working. After all, isn't one of the reasons you work at home to spend more time with the family?

Of course, depending on your industry it may be easier to take federal holidays off. If you work from home because you telecommute for a company and that company is closed for the day, chances are you aren't going to work. On the other hand, if you work in, say, phone sales, working on federal holidays might be a good idea.

Only you know if working on federal holidays is a good option for you or not. However, it's important to remember that if you do, you should make time here and there to not work. Everyone needs time off to recharge and get away from the office, even if it's only briefly. Don't let yourself get burnt out because you're trying to maximize your time.

Ultimately, I decided to split the difference and work in the morning, then spend the afternoon and evening with the family. (I know. Everything in moderation, eh?)

Are you working today? Why or why not?

Getting back into the office

After spending time with family and friends, indulging in delicious home-cooked meals, and laughing and sharing stories from your past, the holidays are over.  It's the first Monday in 2010, and it's time to get back to work!


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Merry Christmas from the coffee-stained, sun-bathing family!

Working at home for the holidays

When you have a traditional 9-to-5 job, usually you leave at the end of the day on Dec. 23 or Dec. 24 and you don't have to think about work until you go back after Christmas.  If you're a writer working from home, or if you moonlight as a writer, though, things may be a little different.  So how can you work from home during the holidays and still enjoy time with friends and family?


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Holidays and Stress

Every year, blogs, magazines, newspapers, and even news shows run specials about how to deal with the stress of the holidays.  They offer good advice for every day people dealing with financial strain, familial drama, and how-am-I-going-to-stick-to-my-diet worries.  They give tips on how to save money, how to keep the peace with family, and what foods you can eat without worrying about fitting into your New Year's dress the next week.

However, they tend to overlook the additional stresses that just so happen to come with being a writer during the holidays, particularly if that writer uses writing as a livelihood as some of us do.  ::raises hand::

One of the beauties of freelance writing is that we can (usually) work from anywhere.  That means we can take a vacation and still be able to meet deadlines.  It's wonderful, in theory, but it also means we don't really get time off unless we're willing and able to not get paid for it.  So when the holidays roll around, you may not be able to take off a few days to spend with the family that's in town, which adds considerably to the stress that already exists.  (For advice on balancing writing and the holidays, check out my post from last month.)

One of the major stresses for (freelance) writers is the realization that if we don't write, we don't get paid.  So it's very tempting to write through the holidays to be able to have a little extra income available.  However, you run the risk of being more stressed with a crazy holiday schedule than you would if you took a few days off.

One solution to this is to plan ahead for taking a few days off.  See if you can get extra work between Thanksgiving and Christmas (or earlier) to make up for income you may lose at the end of December.  It may be a great time to pick up extra hours, as well, since other writers may be visiting friends and family, or scaling back their workload for the holidays.

Another source of stress for writers can be organizing financial records for the end of the year.  Self-employment can be a little crazy during tax season, and it's important to have everything organized to make the process a little easier.

To help keep yourself from worrying too much about your financial records during the holidays, try getting as much done early as possible, then working on it a little each day for the rest of the year.  I, for example, have an expandable file folder and each pocket is one day of the week.  I put the receipts in the folder, and then when I update my accounts ledger once a week, I initial and date the receipt, then move it to a set of file folders marked with the months of the year.  Staying organized is one way to help keep stress to a minimum.

There is always some stress that comes with holidays, especially if you're hosting or visiting friends or family.*  But if you plan ahead, take it little by little, and remember that you're really supposed to be having fun, you can have a happy holiday season, stress-free!

*NOTE: This isn't a comment about drama; it's a comment about how stressful it can be to keep a group of people happy.

Balancing Writing and the Holidays

Thanksgiving is next week (for those who celebrate it in the U.S., that is).  And for those of us participating in the chaos of NaNoWriMo, Thanksgiving is not just a time of the celebration of food with family and friends, but a day (or more) away from adding to the word count.  Add to this the complications of planning and/or hosting the November feast, and Thanksgiving could mean much more time away from the scribbling during the end of the month when time is vital to reaching that 50,000-word goal.

So what do you do when the holidays roll around and you have deadlines and word count goals?  Balance is, of course, the key in such situations.  You can, in fact, make time for family/friends and writing during the holidays.  It just takes a little creative scheduling and determination to accomplish your goals.

Plan ahead.  Because I know I'll be busy through Thanksgiving weekend (and probably on Wednesday, as well), I'm trying to get extra writing done this week so in case I don't get any writing done until after Thanksgiving, I'll at least have boosted my word count this week so I won't be faced with writing 30,000 words in the last few days of November.  If you write even an extra 500 words (that's about two pages double-spaced) each day this week, you'll be in a better position to not write on Thursday and Friday next week.  This is probably your best tool in balancing writing with the holidays.  The more you get done ahead of time, the more you can enjoy your holiday without worrying about looming deadlines or making your NaNo word count.

Remember: there will be down time.  Even families who want to do a lot together when they visit will need a little time away from the chaos to relax.  During those times, pick up a pad and paper--or sneak away to your computer--and get a little scribbling done.  Even if it's just an hour, you can add to your word count without taking away from family time.  Just be sure to use your down time wisely to keep on top of your writing during the holidays.

Keep a notepad and pen by your bed.  I try to keep pen and paper in my nightstand regardless of what month it is, but during November, I make sure I have a small notebook or notepad and a pen handy for when I go to bed.  Even after a long day with family/friends, I don't fall asleep right away, and the time I have before falling asleep I can use to get a little writing done.  This works in the mornings, as well.  Try getting up an hour or two before everyone else to get some writing done before breakfast.  It'll be nice and quiet, and boosting your word count is a great way to start your day!

Above all, go with the flow.  You may not be able to add to your word count during the holidays.  That's okay.  When the family says goodbye and your friends go home, the writing will still be there.  If you're in the middle of a great scene and you get interrupted because Nana wants help making noodles from scratch, make a couple of notes to help you remember where you are and go make noodles.  Family comes first, and you never know what great scenes may arise from conversations during the holidays!

Enjoy the time you have next week with family and friends.  Relax, do a little scribbling, have some turkey.  And I'll see you on the other side.

Happy scribbling!