Then

2012 was going to be my big year. It began with much hope and ambition. I was in the process of fine tuning the young adult novel I had written all while perfecting my query letter as the search for a literary agent took over my evenings. Short stories were cranked out and sent off in the hope of finding a new home. I had a goal to read 80 books. To top it all off, I planned to relocate back to my home state of Maine. I had a plan and my dreams were becoming a reality. Things were happening.

Now

2013 literally began with me giving birth to my precious son. I’ve embarked on the road of single motherhood with the biggest gift life could ever give me. My young adult novel is still in some folder on my laptop. What’s a query letter? An agent? For that matter, what’s a short story? According to Goodreads, I only read 26 books last year. And Maine, yeah, that had to jump to the back burner.

My days are spent keeping up with feeding, changing, playing with, and reading to my son; newborn laundry; feeding myself; paperwork; and squeezing in a shower. Soon I’ll be returning to work fulltime and I’ll be juggling all of the above along with a 40+ hour work week.

In a nutshell…life is good!

Reflections

Just when you think you have things all planned out, life throws a surprise in your direction. This isn’t to say that planning and goal setting should just fall by the wayside. Absolutely not. I don’t know about you, but I need an idea of where I’m heading. Sure, I embrace each moment and breath that life gives me and try not to take anything for granted.

But what can I say? I’m driven. There’s stuff I want to accomplish while I’m on this earth. There are things I want to see. And now, more than ever, there are things that I want my son to see and experience.

Yes, my route has changed. The map in front of me looks very different from the map I had back in January 2012, but the destination is the same. And now I have a little boy in whom I can instill a love of life and learning.

Projections

This year my plan is to embrace what life gives me while keeping an eye on where I want to be. And, hey, I’m not doing too bad. It’s February 18 and I’m already writing again (while the washing machine chugs in the background and my son naps). Oh, and Goodreads, I’m shooting for 80 books again.

Like I said…life is good!