The holiday season is underway…

And I’m going to be realistic.

For the past several weeks, I have been dealing with an exercise injury—a herniated disc with nerve infringement—which means I’ve had neck/back pain that sometimes radiates down my arm and also creates a tingling sensation in my hand. Did I mention it’s affecting my dominant arm? Oh, and it’s especially bad when I lay down which impacts my sleep.

I am ok and going through some treatments, but this is frustrating and has set me back in other areas of life. I can’t do my daily yoga right now which was good for my joints, heart, and mental health—plus it improved sleep. As I try to balance normal adulting tasks with required rest (this injury can sometimes just take weeks/months to fully resolve), my writing goals have taken a backseat again.

I have had to reset priorities and be realistic.

Querying has come to a screeching halt, but I’ll refocus those efforts in the new year. I’ve continued to submit chapters of Dreamcatcher to my writing group, and they are only two chapters away from the end of book one, which is very exciting. They have already helped me trim down my original (undesirable) wordcount for book one and given great feedback. I haven’t been able to get back to editing Red Hour and am planning to make time for it during the next two weeks before the kids are on winter break. Fingers crossed that I focus and make progress.

Cyber Monday helped with holiday gift prep, leaving only a short list of items that require me to shop in person and, you know, carry things around. Our social commitments are few and thankfully laid-back events. I’m currently deciding if holiday cards will be sent this year because the thought of addressing all the envelopes—writing with my tingling hand—is a little daunting. (Typing is ok in shorts spurts, but not long stretches right now.) We aren’t traveling anywhere this year and don’t have a lot of activities planned for break. It will be a time to focus on my family and to rest. We’ll play games, watch movies, and read books. With my husband’s accident earlier this year and now this injury, this fall has not been what I envisioned—but accepting current limits and taking joy where I can is the best thing to do right now.

Happy and safe holidays to all!