I begin 2016 much the same way at 2015: With a cold. It’s a deep cold, though not quite as bad as the one last year. Then I lost more than two days of work. This year, I had a deadline last week (a deadline of my own making; perhaps more on that in another post), and couldn’t take time off. Friday was probably my worst day, but I toughed through most of the day, met my several deadlines, and left for home and a restful weekend.

Yesterday I spent much time in The Dungeon. But, I wasn’t writing. I worked on end-of-the-year paperwork. I made sure our stock trading tracking was all up to date, which it now is. I filled out some trading sheets on current trades. I organized receipts for filing.  By then it was time for a relaxing evening of ordered pizza and reading.

Today, skipping church due to the cold, I got to The Dungeon early enough to have a fair number of hours at my tasks. First I began working on my 2016 income taxes, specifically the tax forms for stock trading.  And, the good news is they are done, except for a few bits of information I’ll add when our December statements arrive, and double-checking it against the year-end statement when it arrives. I then spent an hour or two filing papers. To look at my desk you may not think I did much, but I truly did. My filing basket is way down from where it was. My desk is somewhat freer of clutter (though certainly not uncluttered). The utility receipts are lying on the floor next to the desk drawer they are filed in.

All in all, I’m happy with where things are. I have much more work to do, but I’ll always have that. And, the work I did wasn’t taxing physically. The day has seemed restful despite having accomplished much. And, it’s only 2:00 p.m. Still time to do more. And I’m feeling much better than I did the last four days.

About writing, however, I have no accomplishment. I don’t feel like starting a new project until I have other things more complete. A new short story is buzzing through my head, the next in my Sharon Williams Fonseca series, but I don’t want to start it yet. I have two different novels also stimulating my gray cells, but, again, I’d like life to be a little more settled before I commit time to them. Corrections to books already published are in order, as is buttoning up a Thomas Carlyle project that I want to put on the shelf for a while, but which I want to have in an easily re-start-able condition. That’s about the only writing I worked on in December.

So, the clock having just chimed, I believe I’ll go upstairs, put some socks on (it’s cold in The Dungeon), eat a piece of fruit for lunch, and then return to see what more I can get done. Who knows but that, by the end of the day, my desk will be uncluttered, my mind will be more focused, and I’ll have a plan of what to do next.