Time for Kitties

I don't have a lot to say today, so I thought I would share some of the latest kitty photos.

Bertie napping

Rascal and Mallory waiting for a treat

Mallory checking out the new bird feeder outside the office

Rascal wanted to run some numbers

Bertie playing jungle kitty.

Stay warm and play hard!

That Genealogical Black Hole

It sucked me in again. I unraveled an especially tight knot and couldn't stop digging...sorry for the mixed metaphors. I think I found a crack in my genealogical brick wall. I'm still looking for some kind of corroboration to my theory, but I have high hopes.

I think I have figured out that brain fog makes me lean toward the research. To be honest, a lot of it is insanely tedious. Like plowing through pages of horrible handwritten lists of baptisms from the 1800's. In Latin. With creative spelling. And when my brain isn't firing on all burners, that's something I can do without thinking very hard. (Although it is very hard on the eyes.)

For some reason, I am especially susceptible to sinus infections in the winter. Maybe it's the dry air from the hot-air heat. And as I slowly sink into brain fog, that great time-sink of research drags me back in. I lose hours...sometimes whole days to skimming through newspapers from the 1880's or searching online for an image of a city a hundred years ago. Sigh.

So I'm a bit behind on the writing. And in consolation, I will leave you with a warning...

Don't leave your kitty in the sun too long...they melt.

Planning for 2019

I'm excited about starting a new year. I don't really believe in resolutions, but I do believe in goals. What's the difference? Intent.

In my mind, people set resolutions to try to change some sort of behavior. They resolve to lose weight, get fit, stop drinking, do their chores... Those are all good things, but a resolution feels more like a punishment. I must stop eating chocolate. Like that's ever going to happen.

Goals are something you aim for. A healthier lifestyle is a great goal, but it doesn't include giving up chocolate. My choice is for good quality chocolate in small doses that I can savor. So it's a change. A step in the right direction, but it isn't a punishment.

Staying healthy is a goal I have every year, so that's a given.

Sticking to my writing schedule is a fairly new goal, but one I hope to achieve this year. Even though I'm already a little behind because of a side project.

Now the harder one - learning new things about marketing. I've finally accepted the fact that marketing is required for one's business to succeed. However, I've also realized that my brain doesn't really work that way, so I need to figure out some habits or routines to make that work. I set up a schedule for 2019 and we'll see if sticking to it actually works. The industry is constantly changing, so I need to stay flexible.

I might even try poking around in social media again. The first time I did it, my attempts were luke warm and scattershot. I know I need a plan, so that will need to come before I start wildly posting cat photos across the internet again.

So that's my plan. We'll see how it goes.