Personal – December #Reverb16 Week 3

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We’ve reached the point of the year with Project Reverb where it goes to a daily prompt.  As I already have so much to talk about, I’m limiting myself to one post per week where I address as many of that week’s prompts as seem appropriate.  They’ve made it easy for me on the weekends, as there are Instagram challenges instead of full posts.  If you’re interested in seeing my response, head on over to my account each Saturday and Sunday.

December 12 // Sweets: Do you allow indulgences during the holidays with all the tempting food about, or do you have a plan to keep it in check?

The short answer is that I do indulge a little bit.  But the longer answer is that if I have delicious sweet things in my house, they will disappear in a flash.  Which means that in general, I don’t keep delicious sweet things around the house.  If there’s time, I still have a plan to make sugar cookies with the girls.  And perhaps another batch of Christmas crack.  But there are enough treats coming in from the outside that I don’t have to add too much of my own creation to the pile.

December 13 // Planning: How do you take your ideas from your head to reality?  Did you buy a new calendar/planner for the new year?  How do you trick yours out?

I am a big fan of Google Calendar.  I have mine tricked out with 8 different calendars in different colors that I follow.  There’s my personal calendar of things I do.  A shared calendar with the Boy of things we’re doing together.  There’s a secret reminder calendar.  One with birthdays.  One with planned blog posts.  One with baseball tickets in bright red, and another that’s TV shows I want to watch and reminders on when they debut or air.  My mother’s calendar so I can see what she’s up to.  And the girls’ calendar which also contains their mother’s work schedule so I know which nights we have them.

As far as other planning, I have my to-do list on Habitica, and my shopping list on Anylist.  Between those three apps and websites is my brain.  I’ve removed my planning brain from my body and put it in the cloud.  Thank goodness they send me reminders, because otherwise I would have no idea what’s going on.

December 14 // Personality: Has this busy and festive month got all the Introverts like…  wah!  And all the extroverts like…  yeah!  Tell us how your personality enhances or takes away from the current mood.  What are your strategies to deal?

I’m an introvert.  ISTJ all the way.  So things like the office holiday party are HARD.  I am not good at interacting with people that I don’t know unless there’s someone else there to help me out.  So I find a friend, and I glomm on HARD.  But, if you get me with my family, my friends, my loved ones – it’s a different story.  The holidays bring out the best version of myself.  I am cheerful, and excited and optimistic, and a big part of this is because I’m around people I am comfortable with.

December 15 // Unexpected: During the year, we all have had unexpected surprises that have thrown a wrench into our plans.  What was one of yours and how did you get through it?

Did I think we might buy a house in 2016?  Yes.  Did I think it would take 2 weeks to find, and 4 more weeks to purchase – heck no.  I had been prepared for a long slog.  So finding and knowing and making it ours that quickly was very unexpected.   Other than that, things have gone mostly as planned.  But it helped to have an idea of what could potentially happen.  I’ll have a year full of crazy surprises at some point.  But 2016 was not it.

December 16 // Travel: Where did you go this year?  What was your favorite?  Where do you plan to or want to go next year?

I had a very good travel year.  We were in Savannah and Charleston for a weekend in January.  Charlottesville for a part of a weekend.  I was in Syracuse for a weekend with my Grandma.  Virginia Beach for my nephew’s birthday.  England for a long trip in June.  The Adirondacks with my family in July.  And our long weekend in Montreal in November (see picture above!).

Next year is up in the air.  We’ve got plans for the girls to see their grandmother in England again.  But us?  Nothing yet.  Right now there are so many moving parts and we don’t know when we’ll need to be where and when.  I know we will figure it out, and we’ll do something fun.  But for the first time in ages, travel is not the first thing I’d like to plan.  There’s lots more to do in the next year, and those things take priority.  Travel will just have to wait (though it will happen).

Details: This post is part of Project Reverb 2016, which sends a daily writing challenge for bloggers during the month of December.  If you’re interested in participating, sign up here or visit their facebook group.