Month: November 2024

Goals for December 2024

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What are your goals for December?

https://thecoffeemonsterzco.com/blogs/midnight-blogging/journaling-prompts

I stumbled across this site with some journal prompts that I wanted to explore, but I wanted to start with the appropriate date instead of just grabbing one at random. Unfortunately for me, today’s prompt is related to goals and goal-setting, which I suck at doing for myself.

I’m going to do it anyway.

This December isn’t going to be super productive for me in the writing space. Half the month will be a normal work schedule, so I’ll probably be okay there, but the other half I’m actually taking off of work for a combination of travel and family time. I think somewhere in all of the time I’ll probably try to think a bit further ahead and do some better goal-setting for next year, so I can at least try to accomplish things I keep putting off (or at least the things I keep dragging my feet for because “slow and steady wins the race” means stuff still gets done.)

Also, since we’re talking about goal-setting and how I may not be productive in the near future, fingers crossed I can still push my personal projects over the finish line soon!

A tough decision

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What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why?

Sometimes the things that motivate us to NOT make a decision are based on fear and anxiety, and it takes effort to overcome.

I don’t know if it was the TOUGHEST decision I’ve had to make but it was definitely up there.

It involved two things: the dentist, and money.

I’ve had significant dental work done in the last five years, and it was not cheap. I had to overcome the anxiety of going to the dentist and dealing with a major life changing circumstance of teeth removal and dentures. I had to overcome the fear of not necessarily having the funds to handle such a thing, either.

But in the long run, I don’t regret it. Mouth troubles have been reduced so much, and I’m in a much better position financially than I probably would have been in had I NOT gone through with it (because it could have been so much worse if I let my dental issues go unmanaged).

Now I’m not so afraid of going to the dentist. I don’t particularly enjoy it, but I don’t hate it so much that I avoid it anymore.

Thanksgiving 2024

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It has been a busy week so far, and I’m not feeling up to answering the daily prompt while spending time with my family.

Instead, I’ll just wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving (for those of you who are celebrating it today) and that you also get the time to spend with family!

Family specialties for the holidays

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Daily writing prompt
Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?
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My family has, for a very long time, stuck with more “traditional” holiday meal planning and dishes. Thanksgiving and Christmas are typically turkey’s with stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, things like that. There have been a couple of times in the last ten years where we opted for ordering a catered meal that a local/regional grocery store chain offers for the holiday’s and we have ordered prime rib, but this was primarily to reduce the strain on the family trying to coordinate meal planning and expedite cooking so that we could be more efficient with spending time with my stepmom (may she rest in peace) when she was fighting cancer. Anyways, none of these are really “special” dishes.

There have been rare occasions where we opted to make our family recipe of töltött káposzta (Hungarian stuffed cabbage, there are tons of recipes out there with variations, so I won’t go turning this into a recipe blog) but it is more likely that we cook that outside the holiday time frame. So, I can’t really say with any certainty that we have any special dishes we make for the holiday’s.

Extra time for activities

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If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

Well, I’m going to be honest, I like sleep, so I would be a little sad if I suddenly didn’t need it.

That being said, I could cover a lot of ground in my hobbies if I didn’t need sleep. It would probably be a lot like that episode of American Dad! where Stan has those pills that make him not need sleep. I could finish all kinds of games on my back log, write so many extra blog posts and create a serialized story I’ve had in the back of my mind to eventually publish here (alongside writing the other novels).

The only downside is I don’t yet currently have the physical space I need to feel comfortable doing something like that in the first place, as I’m trying to respect my roommates space and not be loud. (Spooky games sometimes make me jump and yell, okay?)

There’s probably some other things I could do also, like better meal prepping and making better time for the gym.

If only…

That driving pet peeve

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Daily writing prompt
Name your top three pet peeves.
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Last year I wrote about the one pet peeve I could come up with and included some brief educational notes regarding reading road signs.

This all still applies, but I wanted to take a moment to address another couple of facets of driving that really irk me, and it’s rather timely that I’m writing about it again tonight. My roommates were just out and about this evening and experienced something driving related that NEEDS to be called out.

PAY ATTENTION TO SPLIT/DIVIDED ROADS.

My roommates were on the other side of town visiting with someone and picking up a few things, and on their way home they encountered someone who decided to make a left turn into oncoming traffic (possibly without looking both ways). The road was divided, so technically to complete the left turn into the correct lane you have to cross two lanes of oncoming traffic and pass through the opening in the median. This person obviously didn’t do this, and my roommate had to swerve out of the way. Oh, and also this person driving toward them was wearing sunglasses. At night.

Don’t wear your damn sunglasses at night while driving. Seriously, just don’t, you’re a public safety hazard.

The Favorites Stay

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Daily writing prompt
Who are your current most favorite people?
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I gave this prompt a decent amount of thought last year when I answered this prompt, and I decided to go back and look it over to see if my thoughts had changed in that time.

Aside from one specific person I no longer talk to or associate with, the rest of my thoughts haven’t really changed! I know, that probably sounds like a bit of a cop out answer, but I wanted to add some additional thoughts this time around.

I’m getting into my late 30’s, I’ve been around the Sun many times at this point, met tons of people near and far that have all taught me different things, and what I wanted to throw out there is primarily for any younger readers who come across this post. If you’re struggling with personal relationships, people not sticking around long enough, or they’re just not that good for you (and you may not be able to see it) then let me tell you something.

Give it time. People will come and go from your life, and that is okay. In fact, that is MORE than okay, because as people go on to do different things, that just opens up space in your life to meet new people and expand your social horizons. Do it while you can, because from personal experience, the older you get, the harder it is to make new friends and identify those kinds of people that you can easily classify as a favorite.

When you can’t pick just one: mythical creature edition

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Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite animals?
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Last year, I answered this prompt talking about real animals, and how I came to love otters as one of my absolute favorite animals. I also ended that post mentioning dragons and phoenixes as favorites, but how they were mythical creatures rather than real animals and that I would discuss them later.

Well, it’s time.

I don’t know that I can really recall WHEN I fell in love with dragons, not like how I can pinpoint it for otters, but they’ve been a favorite of mine for a really long time. Phoenixes I could probably be more precise, as I came around to those probably 15 years ago, partly because Fawkes from the Harry Potter franchise reminded me of their existence but mostly because I learned of how they are opposite dragons when it comes to mythology (and specifically in terms of Yin and Yang in Chinese culture).

For dragons, one of the things that really grabbed me is how prevalent they are throughout world history while maintaining cultural uniqueness. From the different magical elements (like fire and water) to the different physiology’s (two legs, four legs, or even no legs) there is just so much to consider on how they fit into the mythos of our own world at the same time that we utilize them as inspiration in the fictional worlds we create!

As for the phoenix, well, sadly, my knowledge is not as extensive. I know that they are primarily representative of the element of fire, and that they seemingly defy the cycle of life and death through the power of rebirth. I just like how they seem simpler and sit opposite dragons. That’s all, really.

Dragons are, in my opinion, the greatest.

A good beach right about now

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Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?

Last time this prompt came up, I gave a serious attempt at answering the prompt as a whole, but this time I’ll keep it short.

We’re rolling into Winter now here in South Dakota. We just had our first snow of the season yesterday and normally I wouldn’t mind. Sadly, I’ve been stuck at home for the most of these last few weeks or so, albeit at my own discretion, but I could really use some time outside.

If I were to say my preference right now would be the mountains (which it actually is, as I described last time) I wouldn’t get too much difference compared to walking outside right this second. Cooler temps, a variety of trees, grass, dirt, and steep inclines. So, for the moment, and at least for this recent answering of the prompt, I’ll take the beach. The sun, sand, and the waves are something I feel I could use right about now.

A confession about planning

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Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you’re going to say? Why?

I saw this question and felt like it deserved to be answered here.

In the past, I’ve talked about how I’m kind of a mixed bag on consistent planning. I’m good at planning at work, or for other people who are dependent on me for something, but terrible about developing and sticking to plans for just myself.

Except when it comes to conversations.

Rehearsing is technically a form of practice and not strictly a form of planning, but that doesn’t mean you don’t continue planning DURING the rehearsal. You have to try out different phrases, plan for responses, and so on and so forth.

Personally, I go beyond just phone calls. I’ll play out entire potential conversations with different people in my mind and try to anticipate what they might say so I can respond accordingly. I’ll plan for different timings and environments. Like if I’m having the conversation at home or in the car. I try to consider the circumstances as much as possible, like if they’re having a good day or a bad one.

I do this because sometimes I’m not in the right emotional state of mind and I don’t want to spontaneously direct anger at someone. I want to approach things calmly and rationally. Nobody wants to be yelled at or chewed out, but I still need to vent a little and process my emotions so that I can think things through. I think about how to present any arguments or complaints I might have so that I’m getting the most out of the situation without hurting the other person in the same breath, and I try to anticipate different possible directions things can go so that I’m not getting caught off guard.

Sometimes having a conversation, whether in person or on the phone, is tough, but we have to go through it anyways. Might as well plan it out.