Unfortunately for us, we were almost entirely out of food at the time, as I was waiting until closer to my birthday to do some shopping. That turned out to be a huge mistake, as none of the stores had a damn thing left. Not even a can of beans or a package of hamburger, let alone the lobster ravioli and pesto sauce I wanted for my birthday dinner or the corned beef I wanted for St. Patrick's Day. I somehow managed to score a lemon bundt cake for dessert, but that's all, and the pickings stayed pretty slim around here for a while.
I've been hyper-paranoid about running out of food ever since. I was never someone who believed the fridge and pantry had to be stuffed as full as possible to feel like there was enough to eat, but now I totally am. I'm still careful not to waste food and to make sure everything gets eaten promptly, but I grocery shop every week now, whether we really need it or not. I'm also extra-prepared this year for all our upcoming festivities. I have a heritage-breed ham and a corned beef hanging out in the freezer for Easter and St. Patrick's Day, respectively. And you bet your ass I have that lobster ravioli and fresh pesto I didn't get last year in the fridge already.
I'm turning 45 this year, which just feels plain odd. I still think of 45 as my parents' age, even though they're both well into their 70s by now. I've loved being in my 40s for the most part, though. I'm saner, more grounded, and more grateful at this age by a landslide. I actually stick with things that I start now -- positive things like daily exercise, balanced eating, productive writing routines, and regular quality time spent with my husband. I feel dangerously close to being one of those people who have their shit together, and it's a nice feeling after being so restless and undisciplined most of my life.
I've been doing a halfway decent job of sticking with my writing goals lately. One of the main goals I'd set for myself in February was to break my knee-jerk habit of almost always self-publishing my Medium stories in favor of submitting more things to publications (other than my own) instead. I actually did a reasonably decent job of that. I got my first piece ever published in The Writing Cooperative. I also successfully pitched an article to P.S. I Love You, got added as a writer there, and have published several pieces with them since.
I also applied to write for Publishous and sent a pitch to Mind Cafe -- the other two big pubs on my little running wish list. I've been accepted to Publishous, much to my great delight. I'm still waiting to hear back from Mind Cafe, but they've been pretty backlogged lately, so I've definitely adopted a "set it and forget it" attitude about that for now. I'm having a great time with all of this, though. Now I'm wondering why it took me so long to really get on board with the whole idea of Medium publications in general.
If memory serves, I didn't like the idea of giving up any of my creative freedom. I like to reserve the right to cuss, format my posts however I want, and see my things published ASAP -- preferably right away. But I've realized there are advantages to not self-publishing all the time, as well. For one thing, the reach you get is pretty impressive, especially if you're publishing with one of the bigger pubs. When you're still building your audience, your posts have a much better chance of going viral and earning some decent money. You get the benefits of editor feedback and some "cool cred" attached to certain publishing credits, as well.
Meanwhile, I've been lying down on the job a little with News Break. I've officially collected all my early bird bonuses from them, though, so I don't have a ton of incentive to publish there more often or consistently than I really want to at this point. I'm still just not really sold on News Break as a platform, but it's an OK place to crosspost to once in a while. I also have Vocal now, which I tend to forget about. In the months to come, I'd like to explore more possibilities on both of those platforms. But, so far, nothing has really compared to Medium as far as benefits go. It just fits all of my needs so well.
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