Perfect Time for a Fresh Start
2024 started with a bang. And by that, I mean a literal eruption of activity.
We moved into a new home on January 1, and that was after spending a week packing (and suffering with that nasty flu-symptom cold). Then Logan was born a few days later, which kicked off a round of even more furious activity. Then we had a snowstorm that kept us huddled up inside for almost a week… It was all a lot.
But, back to the important event: The new addition to our family!
Logan arrived a week early and he’s a healthy nugget. Kim's recovery is going well, but it was a very difficult delivery/labor for both of them. We were grateful to have some time off together, but it felt a bit cut short by the snowstorm and daycare being closed. (Although, if I’m honest, we shouldn’t have expected things to be as calm or smooth as when we had Graham; that’s just the reality of having a toddler around the house.)
In retrospect, it's all a little strange. I felt so confident about the delivery process, but the thing I worried about was how a new baby would affect our current family routines. Fast forward a bit and the delivery process was full of surprises and uncertainties, while the household routines have quickly settled into an almost identical rhythm. It just goes to show that you can never really know what to expect when it comes to having kids.
Forecasting for 2024
You've probably noticed a distinct lack of writing updates. Unfortunately, that is going to continue indefinitely.
Right now, there is a 2-3 hour gap between when Logan goes to bed and when he wakes up for a late night bottle. That's become my window of free time, but I’m so tired and exhausted that even discussing the idea of trying to do creative writing (or worldbuilding) makes me sleepy.
While that window is getting longer now that Logan is a month old, the state of near-constant tiredness persists. I don’t know if I want to start any writing projects until that changes, because honestly, I’ve gotten a bit discouraged about my writing lately. I haven’t truly felt inspired about writing in years, and I’ve got the unfinished novels/short stories and worldbuilding projects to prove it. That’s a tough thing to accept as someone who self-identifies as a writer and storyteller.
I'd like to get around to writing again at some point this year, because I had built some good momentum and had come up with exciting ideas for my new project(s). But l have more important priorities right now, and as much as I want to write, I don't want to spend months writing mediocre stuff just to check off a box that says "I wrote something this week."
Odds and ends
I’m sure there are a lot of other, finer details I could discuss here. What am I playing? What am I reading? What sort of things is Graham into (which affects what sort of things we’re all into)? I have answers to all of that, but none of it feels important enough to merit an entire section here. And everything is in a bit of disarray, so I’m not even sure where all of those pieces will land…if they land at all.
For now, I think I’ll sign off here and promise that I’ll revisit all of these topics later this month.
After several weeks of slowly working on this (embarrassingly short) post, I’m just happy to be sharing an update and including some pictures. Hopefully you can expect more details soon!
