December Theme:
What did you put off this year that you will tackle in the coming year?

Barbara Ehrentreu — What I have put off until next year is publishing the second book of my Mill Valley High series, “Who Is Jennifer Taylor”. I’m not sure how this will happen but I will try. The other thing I have put off is reorganizing my closet. It has become a dumping ground for excess, and I feel if one more thing is put into my closet it will explode. I look forward to this task and finding items lost in the crush of added items.
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Lynn Garelick — My put-offs for this year are changing the smoke detector batteries, changing out blown out light bulbs in recessed ceiling lights, putting new LED bulbs in my dining room fixture and cleaning the glass globe of the dining room light fixture, doing a thorough cleansing around light fixture plates … Goodness this is getting embarrassing!!!
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Leigh Grant — Writing a third novel in The Montenegrin series (Mask of Dreams and Artimon) and advertising the new one, Artimon. I would like to be Cormac McCarthy and just hide. Not a very productive outlook but I feel worn down by social media and I certainly am not wearing it down. On the other hand, if I want to be like McCarthy, I’ve got to keep writing!
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Cathy Horn — I will figure out how to add the barcode to my poetry collection (“COVID Chronicles”) and print a more professional-looking version so that I can donate a copy to Christopher Shields at Greenwich Historical Society for their archives; and so that it is ready to sell at Bush Holley House Museum Store if Barbara Johann accepts it!
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Linda Hortick — What I learned this year is to put off things that can wait. My past profile is, see something that needs to be done, do it as soon as possible. All my life I was a good soldier and tackled things as soon as they crossed my desk. I am an “eager beaver”.

Guess what?  As an octogenarian with some health issues, I suffer looking at piles of things waiting for my attention while I am recovering. I take a good look and say to myself, tomorrow. 

Tomorrow is the day after that and the week after that until clothes, papers, reading, answering emails, texts, phone calls, correspondence pile up in me in box and it is full to the top. 

Now that I am on the mend, the piles that looked so ominous and time consuming don’t look so bad. I am tackling one “thing at a time”. Little by little everything is getting back in order. It all waited for me! Isn’t that amazing? 

So, my guideline for next year is not to get overwhelmed if I cannot do something the minute someone asks me. Most things can wait! As my mother always said, “Linda, the dust always waits for you”.

Being over eighty is a new experience for me. No one gave me a guidebook. I didn’t know my battery needed charging every day with a nice nap. I didn’t know “things could wait”. At a lower wattage physically, I can speak from 4experience if you feel you can’t do it now, recharge your battery and tackle it later. Don’t push yourself to the limit. Be kind to yourself. All the things I put off for so long will be addressed soon and maybe even in the new year.
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Doris Mady — Organize my studio and figure out what paints need replacement.
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Heather Sandifer – Cleaning out my art studio!
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Margaret Esmé Simon – For years I put off applying to the Salmagundi Club for membership. I entered an upcoming show and have been accepted. I promise to finish a membership application. It is a beautiful venue in New York City and well worth a visit if you have never been there.

January Theme:
What did you create that really surprised you?