Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

Happy New Year! It’s been just over a year since Ray and I set out on our adventure. We remember making our holiday reservations while standing in line for a ride in Disney World, Florida, and it all seemed so far away! I hope your holiday was full of love, peace, and joy. It’s truly joyful for us when all our kids are together, and this year they were. Our third son made it home from his study abroad semester in London just in time despite crazy last minute flight cancellations. My mom and dad, and sister and brother-in-law rounded out our group, and we spent the week together celebrating. Highlights included a festive day in Disney Land, a terrific performance of A Christmas Carol, a party with my brother-in-law’s family featuring amazing Persian food, a drunken present-opening extravaganza, and lot’s of hang-around time with excellent meals courtesy of my sister and dad. All in all, this holiday will provide lasting good memories for years to come.
Pet lover’s pro-tip: If you have a kitty with any kind of behavior issue, try a pheromone collar. Our oldest cat has the onset of kitty dementia, officially known as feline cognitive dysfunction, and the collar had been a game-changer. She went from wandering around all night crying to regularly sleeping beside me in bed. She still has a few ‘episodes’ now and again, but they pass quickly and she spends most of her time purring contentedly.
I have so many pictures from our journey, and I vowed to organize them all into a memory book. I’m a little behind, but going forward, I’m going to organize them monthly so I don’t have a whole year’s worth to sort. At least, that’s my plan…
I love beginnings. I love the beginning of the week, of the day, of a semester, of a project… you get the idea. I think it’s because beginnings hold so much potential. I also love lists, planners, calendars, and basically anything that helps keep my life in order, so it tracks that I love to make detailed lists of my New Year’s intentions. I like to call them intentions rather than resolutions, but that’s just semantics. Anyway, I have them all sorted into categories, and then subdivided into first quarter goals, etc. etc. Again, you probably get the idea. I won’t bore you with those lists, but I will say that this year, I prioritized my health and well-being before my professional goals. It was a symbolic gesture, I simply wrote them out on the first page of my notes, but I think it was an important one. You know how on the plane, in case of emergency, you have to put on your oxygen mask before assisting others? That’s how I’m thinking about my personal intentions for the year. They need to come first so I can show up as my best self everywhere else.
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Our itinerary, subject to change:

November 19 - January 3, 2024: Orangeland Park, CA
January 3 - February 2: Chula Vista, CA
February 2 - 16: Palm Springs, CA
February 16 - March 1: Las Vegas, NV
March 1 - March 5: Meteor Crater, AZ
March 5 - 14: Albuquerque, NM
March 15 - 18: Oklahoma City, OK
March 18 - April 5: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
April 5 - 12: Fredericksburg, TX
April 12 - 19: Hot Springs, AK
April 19 - 24: Ozarks, AK
April 24 - 28: Topeka, KS
April 24 - May 12: Kansas City, MO
May 12 - 24: Chicago, IL

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

It’s the first Monday of 2020. Last week, I wrote about the importance of reflection in my habit life, and how I like to use the time leading up to the new year to take stock both personally and professionally. An honest and thorough review of the past year helps guide me into goal setting for the new year.

So, here’s how I approach the next step…

First off, I identify a series of intentions rather than specific goals. I do this in order to leave room for unforeseen opportunities, or because I’m not sure yet how a particular intention might manifest. For example, last year, I recognized that I missed teaching, and I created an intention to bring teaching back into my life. When I set this intention, I wasn’t sure how it would play out, but opportunities came in the form of leading writing workshops, panels, and conference programs. I was also offered a chance to teach a semester of Latin. While this classroom opportunity didn’t directly relate to my writing work, it nourished the teacher in me and I was pleased to accept the offer.

This year, my intention is to get into better physical shape. With each passing year, my body changes, and with it the things I need to do to support it. I have a specific routine I follow, but it hasn’t been quite the right thing for a while now. I’m going to pay more attention this year and really focus on finding what does work.

Sometimes specific goals are needed…

This year I have a new project with aggressive deadlines. Under the pen name Maggie Clare, I’ll be releasing a romantic suspense series. With this comes building the required author platform including website, social media accounts, and promotional work.

Additionally, under my own name, I’m planning to finish the draft of Dreamwalker, a gritty urban fantasy about a female assassin who almost kills an innocent man. Think Jessica Jones meets Dexter.

And finally, I’ll continue to promote the HORIZON series with a full travel and book signing schedule.

Those are my concrete goals, complete with dates and deadlines. I’ll spend the next few days planning and structuring my calendar to accommodate them. I’ll admit to being a bit OCD when it comes to working with my calendar and to-do lists. But, my method keeps me working proactively rather than reactively, and I feel more productive and in charge of my time.

One last thought as you consider setting your intentions and goals for 2020…

Focus on things you can control. I talk about this a lot with regard to writing. There are many things in the writing world I can’t control. I can’t predict how people will react to my work, what kind of reviews they’ll leave, if sales will be robust, if I’ll make it onto a coveted list, or win an award. But I can commit to improving my craft, learning the latest marketing and promotional trends, behaving professionally, and working hard. So, when I make resolutions around my writing life, I stick to things over which I can have an impact.

I hope 2020 brings you peace and joy. Happy New Year!

Five Things - January 1, 2024

Monday Musings 1-6-20