The overdue Happy New Year post…

My friend finally came home from the hospital yesterday. Yes, yesterday…not Sunday. Not Monday. Yesterday! It’s been quite an ordeal for the woman who said to me at ten o’clock on Saturday night, “you can just drop me off at the hospital and go home; I’m sure it’s no big deal.” She ended up getting transferred to the other hospital on Sunday because 1) her contractions still weren’t under control; 2) the ultrasound person thought there was something to be concerned about on the scan; and 3) the hospital my friend was at wasn’t equipped to handle a 23-24 week old baby should she end up delivering. But she DIDN’T deliver…she’s home now (still pregnant!) and she may continue contracting off and on for the rest of her pregnancy (however long that ends up being). They don’t put you on bed rest when you start having contractions at 23-24 weeks anymore! (In fact, they don’t really put you on bed rest at all anymore…apparently the new research shows that it doesn’t really help.) And they don’t try and stop the labor at 24 weeks anymore, either (they try and stop it for 48 hours, so they can give you two shots of steroids to help mature the baby’s lungs…but after that, if you go into labor, they let you go.)

So my friend has been on my mind quite a bit. And so has my father (he’s not in great shape, yet my mother has decided to just leave him in the nursing home and take off for Florida for three and a half months…she won’t be back unless he actually dies)…and so has my husband (he’s had a swollen lymph node for about six months, so we’re going for a biopsy tomorrow).

Still, through it all, I keep writing. At least two pages a day. (Yesterday I did my two pages, plus a revision of a larger educational project, plus some very last minute changes to My Grandpa Had a Stroke, which went to the printer yesterday.) Writing reminds me who I am…and keeps me sane.

I’ve done a good job of putting my own writing first over these last two weeks when both my kids had winter break…I wrote my two pages first thing every morning, and then I was free to spend the rest of the day with my family. Why have I not done my writing this way before??? I needed to read about someone else putting their own writing first in c_moonshower‘s (THANK YOU so much, Candie!) journal before it ever even occurred to me that I could do the same thing.

I’ve given a lot of thought to what’s really important in my life over the last month or so (not just because of all the crises that seem to be going on around me…but because of my own realization that I was putting way too much ahead of my own writing). So here’s my list of what’s really important to me: my family and friends (that’s a given)…my own writing…other writing…other stuff. (And sometimes the “other stuff” is more important than the “other writing.”) So how do I live my life with what’s really important front and center in my mind every day? In other words, what are my New Year’s resolutions?

1) Spend more time with my family.
2) Spend more time with my friends.
3) Put “my” writing first…i.e. write two pages every day before I do anything else (well, I’ll take my walk/jog/bike ride first…but that’s about it). No “other writing.” No LJ…No e-mail (unless it’s really, really important e-mail!)…
4) Don’t let go of the “other writing” entirely…I may need it if this swollen lymph node of my husband’s turns out to a cause for concern
5) Work on my public speaking skills…i.e. stick with Toastmasters
6) Be better at letting things go (i.e. my mother)
7) Be thankful for every day that I have health, happiness, a family and good friends, and work that I love (not everyone is as fortunate as I am). The last two nights I made note of three positive things that happened each day before I went to bed…people who focus more on the positives in their lives tend to have more positives TO focus on.