Well, 2019 certainly ended dramatically. I honestly won't be surprised if you guys have forgotten all about me because it feels like it's been that long since I've written or posted anything. Heck, I feel rusty just writing this simple blog post. I suppose this blog entry is mainly to explain where I've been, what's been happening, and discuss what's now going to be happening in this new year.
2020. Yikes. It still sounds like some far off futuristic year, but now we're actually here. Why must time pass so quickly?! It's terrifying! But yeah, things have certainly been busy for me as 2019 decided to go out with a bang for me.
Oh yuck! Just as a side note, as I was typing this, I just looked out of my window to see my neighbour (who lives in the house behind me) getting dressed. Ugh! Close your curtains, people! That's what they're for! I just almost choked on my chewing gum! First blog post of 2020 and we're already off to a terrific start! Someone pass me the eye bleach!
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! So let's take a look at 2019 and what the future of writing currently holds for me.
Looking back, it's definitely been a roller coaster of a year. I managed to somewhat achieve all of my new year's resolutions, which is probably a first for me. I didn't do as well with them as what I wanted, but hey, some progress is better than no progress at all. I have my mental health more in check, I've started learning two new languages, I've been reading more, I have been slightly more organised than what I normally am (though not so much with writing), and I managed to get my weight under control. I've not lost too much, but at least I'm no longer putting any unneeded pounds on. So that's something.
These new year's resolutions did fall apart a bit towards the end of the year though, thanks to my job. Yeah, that's where I've been lately. They've been working me to the bone. I've been managing and carrying the place, and then how did they reward me last week? Told me off for working too much overtime. Like... what?! You asked me to! If it weren't for me, that place would have closed down! Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I really have been carrying that place! Still no word on that promotion, so I'm basically doing a manager's job on an low level associate's wage. Yeah. I'm not happy about that. So you bet I'm gonna start kicking up a stink over that. I'm starting to recognise my worth and refuse to be treated like that.
So yeah, I've literally been working during 90% of my time these past few weeks. I rarely had a chance to spend any time with my family and friends around Christmas which I'm super annoyed about. Especially when I had customers shocked to see me working both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Hmmm, maybe I'm working those days because people like you are out shopping, Karen!
Ahem. Sorry.
But yeah, as usual, my grandma came up to stay with us for Christmas, and it's the one time of year that I get to see her, so I'm annoyed that my time with her was drastically cut because I was out at work around 12 hours a day. Hmph. Even more reason for me to be annoyed with them for telling me off for basically carrying the business these past few weeks. I can't wait until they release another anonymous employee survey. I'm going to tear them to pieces. My manager and I are even seriously considering leaving anonymous online reviews, revealing how horrible the company has been lately.
As you can imagine, because of how busy and stressed I've been, when I've not been at work, all I've been doing is sleeping. My sleep pattern is starting to get all out of whack again which is not good news. Because of all my stupid brain issues, I've been trying to keep myself in a strict routine, but that's all starting to fall apart, thus effecting all of the progress I've made on my mental health this year. I had that huge breakdown back in March, but honestly, since then, things had been on the up. Now my job is threatening to ruin all of that for me. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. It's the people at the top that are ruining things as usual.
I feel so guilty that, since September, I haven't been able to get any writing done. I'm actually getting reviews off people thinking that I've abandoned my fics. I haven't. If I had, I would have posted an author's note explaining that there would no longer be updates to those stories. I've just been so busy and stressed that writing hasn't even been making it onto my list of priorities. And I've really been missing it. I keep getting writing withdrawal, and my head feels like it's ready to explode with ideas. I really don't blame people for thinking I've given up. I'm so sorry!
But I'm hoping that all of that is going to change now.
New year, fresh start and all that jazz.
Thankfully, things at work have quietened down. We finally have more members of staff, so I'm not covering four different people's shifts. As annoyed as I am that they've cut my hours down, at least it means that I can finally start catching up on things. I'm getting some quick therapy again so hopefully that'll help things as well. I need to get back into a more strict routine again which means I'll be able to allocate time for writing again! Yippee!
I'm feeling so ready for 2020 right now! I feel like 2019 was some kind of intermission year where I woke up to a lot of the realities in my life. I got some much needed help, got myself a new job, and I cut a lot of family out of my life, which has been making me feel thousands of times better. I had no idea just how much baggage I had been carrying on my shoulders until I finally said, "screw this!" and just let all of that junk fall to the ground. It feels good to feel so light and free. I mean, drama still pops up every now and then, but I'm learning to ignore it and not feel like I have to make things work just because we happen to share the same DNA. Because at the end of the day, that doesn't mean anything. I'm tired of walking miles for people who won't even sit up and take notice of me. I've got my boyfriend and my closest friends, and that's all I need.
2020 feels like the year where I finally get to spread my wings and try to fly. Whether I'll be successful, I don't know. I guess I'll just have to find out. No doubt there will be troubles in the year ahead, but at least I know how to handle things better as I keep growing and changing as a person. I'm definitely looking forward to any good things that might be heading my way, and I'm looking forward to year of doing what I love most: writing.
I have so many plans!
Of course I'm going to be working hard on all of my fanfiction! I'm determined to get Madness Within and Chat Vert finished this year - hopefully no later than May. I have other fic ideas that I'm desperate to try and start writing. I'm going to be continuing with Immortal Bonds, and hopefully get at least one fic updated once a week. I think that's a nice and easy place to start. But I'm also hoping to branch off a bit more this year as well. My FictionPress profile has been sat collecting dust for a while now, so I'm hoping to get back to work on some of my original ideas. Who knows, maybe I'll even get around to trying to publish a story on Amazon this year or something.
2020 is going to be the year where I follow my passions. Where this road will take me, I'm not sure, but I look forward to taking you guys with me if you want to come along for the ride. I've been missing you all terribly, and I hope that you're still around to see what this year brings us.
Tomorrow, I'll be uploading my review of the episode Feast, as I really need to catch up on those reviews, especially since season 4 if due to release this year. Eeeeek! I'm so excited! I'm also hoping to finally update Madness Within on Tuesday, followed by Immortal Bonds on Friday. I'm not too sure about Chat Vert yet, but it will hopefully either be updated sometime between Thursday and next Monday. I'm just so ready to get back into the writing saddle!
Happy New Year!
2020. Yikes. It still sounds like some far off futuristic year, but now we're actually here. Why must time pass so quickly?! It's terrifying! But yeah, things have certainly been busy for me as 2019 decided to go out with a bang for me.
Oh yuck! Just as a side note, as I was typing this, I just looked out of my window to see my neighbour (who lives in the house behind me) getting dressed. Ugh! Close your curtains, people! That's what they're for! I just almost choked on my chewing gum! First blog post of 2020 and we're already off to a terrific start! Someone pass me the eye bleach!
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! So let's take a look at 2019 and what the future of writing currently holds for me.
Looking back, it's definitely been a roller coaster of a year. I managed to somewhat achieve all of my new year's resolutions, which is probably a first for me. I didn't do as well with them as what I wanted, but hey, some progress is better than no progress at all. I have my mental health more in check, I've started learning two new languages, I've been reading more, I have been slightly more organised than what I normally am (though not so much with writing), and I managed to get my weight under control. I've not lost too much, but at least I'm no longer putting any unneeded pounds on. So that's something.
These new year's resolutions did fall apart a bit towards the end of the year though, thanks to my job. Yeah, that's where I've been lately. They've been working me to the bone. I've been managing and carrying the place, and then how did they reward me last week? Told me off for working too much overtime. Like... what?! You asked me to! If it weren't for me, that place would have closed down! Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I really have been carrying that place! Still no word on that promotion, so I'm basically doing a manager's job on an low level associate's wage. Yeah. I'm not happy about that. So you bet I'm gonna start kicking up a stink over that. I'm starting to recognise my worth and refuse to be treated like that.
So yeah, I've literally been working during 90% of my time these past few weeks. I rarely had a chance to spend any time with my family and friends around Christmas which I'm super annoyed about. Especially when I had customers shocked to see me working both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Hmmm, maybe I'm working those days because people like you are out shopping, Karen!
Ahem. Sorry.
But yeah, as usual, my grandma came up to stay with us for Christmas, and it's the one time of year that I get to see her, so I'm annoyed that my time with her was drastically cut because I was out at work around 12 hours a day. Hmph. Even more reason for me to be annoyed with them for telling me off for basically carrying the business these past few weeks. I can't wait until they release another anonymous employee survey. I'm going to tear them to pieces. My manager and I are even seriously considering leaving anonymous online reviews, revealing how horrible the company has been lately.
As you can imagine, because of how busy and stressed I've been, when I've not been at work, all I've been doing is sleeping. My sleep pattern is starting to get all out of whack again which is not good news. Because of all my stupid brain issues, I've been trying to keep myself in a strict routine, but that's all starting to fall apart, thus effecting all of the progress I've made on my mental health this year. I had that huge breakdown back in March, but honestly, since then, things had been on the up. Now my job is threatening to ruin all of that for me. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. It's the people at the top that are ruining things as usual.
I feel so guilty that, since September, I haven't been able to get any writing done. I'm actually getting reviews off people thinking that I've abandoned my fics. I haven't. If I had, I would have posted an author's note explaining that there would no longer be updates to those stories. I've just been so busy and stressed that writing hasn't even been making it onto my list of priorities. And I've really been missing it. I keep getting writing withdrawal, and my head feels like it's ready to explode with ideas. I really don't blame people for thinking I've given up. I'm so sorry!
But I'm hoping that all of that is going to change now.
New year, fresh start and all that jazz.
Thankfully, things at work have quietened down. We finally have more members of staff, so I'm not covering four different people's shifts. As annoyed as I am that they've cut my hours down, at least it means that I can finally start catching up on things. I'm getting some quick therapy again so hopefully that'll help things as well. I need to get back into a more strict routine again which means I'll be able to allocate time for writing again! Yippee!
I'm feeling so ready for 2020 right now! I feel like 2019 was some kind of intermission year where I woke up to a lot of the realities in my life. I got some much needed help, got myself a new job, and I cut a lot of family out of my life, which has been making me feel thousands of times better. I had no idea just how much baggage I had been carrying on my shoulders until I finally said, "screw this!" and just let all of that junk fall to the ground. It feels good to feel so light and free. I mean, drama still pops up every now and then, but I'm learning to ignore it and not feel like I have to make things work just because we happen to share the same DNA. Because at the end of the day, that doesn't mean anything. I'm tired of walking miles for people who won't even sit up and take notice of me. I've got my boyfriend and my closest friends, and that's all I need.
2020 feels like the year where I finally get to spread my wings and try to fly. Whether I'll be successful, I don't know. I guess I'll just have to find out. No doubt there will be troubles in the year ahead, but at least I know how to handle things better as I keep growing and changing as a person. I'm definitely looking forward to any good things that might be heading my way, and I'm looking forward to year of doing what I love most: writing.
I have so many plans!
Of course I'm going to be working hard on all of my fanfiction! I'm determined to get Madness Within and Chat Vert finished this year - hopefully no later than May. I have other fic ideas that I'm desperate to try and start writing. I'm going to be continuing with Immortal Bonds, and hopefully get at least one fic updated once a week. I think that's a nice and easy place to start. But I'm also hoping to branch off a bit more this year as well. My FictionPress profile has been sat collecting dust for a while now, so I'm hoping to get back to work on some of my original ideas. Who knows, maybe I'll even get around to trying to publish a story on Amazon this year or something.
2020 is going to be the year where I follow my passions. Where this road will take me, I'm not sure, but I look forward to taking you guys with me if you want to come along for the ride. I've been missing you all terribly, and I hope that you're still around to see what this year brings us.
Tomorrow, I'll be uploading my review of the episode Feast, as I really need to catch up on those reviews, especially since season 4 if due to release this year. Eeeeek! I'm so excited! I'm also hoping to finally update Madness Within on Tuesday, followed by Immortal Bonds on Friday. I'm not too sure about Chat Vert yet, but it will hopefully either be updated sometime between Thursday and next Monday. I'm just so ready to get back into the writing saddle!
Happy New Year!
We've been missing you terribly as well. I'm so sorry you've been so overworked and stressed lately. The final quarter of any year is always the dump-point, isn't it? Also, I know writing withdrawal well, and I feel that pain HARD. I hope you get the time you need to follow your passion. I'm excited to see where it goes. My FictionPress is also sounding of crickets quite a bit, so maybe your original works will help inspire me to write some as well. Either way, I'm excited for Immortal Bonds and Chat Vert, and to see what other great stories you have to tell.
ReplyDeleteAs for work, that is so uncool that they would pile hours on you, cut your visit with family (that you want to spend time with) short, and then reprimand you for the overtime pay they owe you! Did you stay late at all without checking with anyone if it were okay? Tell a coworker that you'd cover for them without getting it approved? If so, I've done that too, and also got yelled at. I kind of get it, too, because management wasn't given a chance to find an alternate solution that didn't include overtime.
If they SCHEDULED you those hours though, or if your manager/supervisor asked/told you to pick up the extra hours despite you getting overtime for it, then that's bullshit that said manager/supervisor didn't take the blame! I know that's happened to my husband once or twice, where the store manager approved his overtime because they were desperate, and then the store co-manager still reamed him out for the extra hours. 9_9 Corporate sucks.
Anyway, it looks like you are in high hopes for 2020, which is fantastic. Keep that energy, and I'll gladly pass good vibes your way to help. ^_^
Awwww! I feel like I haven't spoken to you or caught up with you in ages! I haven't even had the chance to read your blog! I bet I have so many entries to catch up on. I'll make sure to do that at some point. I hope that you've been doing okay and that you had a nice Christmas and New Year?
DeleteYeah, getting back into things is proving much harder and slower than I thought. I feel so rusty right now. Here's hoping that the rusty period ends soon. Yaaaay! And I'm super excited for all of your work as well!
I wasn't so much mad that they piled all of those hours on me, because after all, extra cash, yo. It's the fact that they turned around and got angry at me for working all of those hours, yet they were the ones who scheduled for me to do so. If I hadn't worked them, the business would have had to close, or our manager would have had to work none stop 7 days a week, which, last time I checked, was illegal. But of course they got mad that they actually had to PAY ME for all of that over-time. No, I didn't stay late or arrive early, I worked the scheduled times they wanted me to. I could understand them being mad if I did that like you said, but I didn't. It's all on them, yet I'm being punished for it. Yay capitalism!
Thank you! That means so much to me! ^_^