New Challenges, New Goals, New Start

SO much has been happening in my life in the last year I can't even begin to think about where I would start.

Writing wise, my life has been less than sensational. I have made a whopping 48.00 (that's being generous) writing content for Suite101, but I have loved every minute of it. In fact, when I started my main goal was just to - well - write. It was kinda cool that I had an opportunity to several cents per article per day, but whether I got paid or not was not my goal. I have gained a lot in ways money can't touch. I have had invaluable training in SEO (search engine optimization) and while I think it takes away from the personal nature of a blog, I know enough that it wouldn't take a lot of effort to re-design my posts to be more search engine friendly. I just don't know that readers would care to have subtitles every 50 or so words throughout the post. Esthetically, it doesn't flow with what my original purpose was for this; which was....

....to blog. Plain and simple.

Though I am not completely opposed. Convince me. :)

Back to my writing escapades - I have done not so much in the way of other freelance work. I just couldn't be bothered with all the stuff going on with my kids - diagnoses and such - and plain ole depression. I AM psyched about the onset of 2009 NaNoWriMo though....already scratching out notes for plot ideas. It's the ONLY thing I'm psyched about writing wise. In fact, today i was granted a leave of absence from Suite101 so I could clear my head and wrap my brain around the changes going on in my life...all I can say is, the associate editor at Suite was ...well.... very 'suite' about it all.

In Other News:

Life on the parenting front - DS12 has just received a dual diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD. We suspected attention/focus issues and thankfully our original concern (childhood onset schizophrenia) was put to rest. In researching these disorders I have come to learn that my son may not have been the only one with this. I most definitely could check off the majority of the behaviours/characteristics that accompany Aspergers as applying to me. And it would answer SO MANY questions!! But alas, I'm barely making it by with the bipolar diagnosis - so I think I'll rest easy on the introspection thing for now.

And life on the homemaking front - one word. Bankruptcy. Husband owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts has put our household into chaos. So while a lot of people have been 'concerned' that filing would scrap our credit, I ask what is there to lose? We ALREADY HAVE crappy credit. How could bankruptcy make it worse? In fact, I am starting to feel a bit of relief because NOW there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Instead of knowing DH will be garnisheed for 91 years (literally - the bankruptcy calculator function calculated that's how long this would take to pay off at the amount of our current garnishee....which is more than we can afford), we now know that in 9 - 21 months, there will be NO MORE GARNISHEE.

In spite of the moments of relief I feel, I have also gone through a HUGE rollercoaster ride of emotions and reactions since our preliminary meeting....right from relief to suicidal and back to apathy. I just have to hold on and try to remember.....there WILL BE an end; there WILL BE an end....! Like a chant. Or a mantra.

Or a desktop screensaver.

So don't be surprised if for the next while "Musings of a Writing Mother" morphs into "Musings of a Bankrupt Mother".

Tonight's gift from bankruptcy land = upcoming migraine. I think that's it for me tonight. So unless a creditor decides to reposess our power before the official filing (which will be Tuesday coming up) I should be posting again in the next couple of days....or a couple of times within the next day. :)

In companionship....