Whenever I reach this point in the year, I get cranky. Which is odd because the holidays are my favorite time of year and just hearing a street musician playing Christmas carols yesterday made my heart soar. I’ve been on the road a lot and I’m ready to just be home for a while—that’s part of it. I can’t seem to empty my inbox no matter how much time I spend responding to requests and invitations and deadlines. I’m grateful for the opportunities that are coming my way, and I know I’ve got to hustle now for my books to come out in 2020. But planning so far ahead makes it hard to be HERE, present and at ease in this moment. And that makes it hard to write, which also makes me irritable. I’ve been reading a lot lately to make up for the fact that I haven’t had the headspace to work on any of my novels for the past month. They’ll wait for me, I know they will, but I still resent having to set them aside. November was ROUGH and I’m glad it’s over. But December’s already filling up and two NYC trips mean getting back on the train. I’m wondering what would happen if I decided not to do any school visits for 3 months. Being at NCTE and ALAN made me realize how much I enjoy talking to teachers (this generous educator from Chicago gifted me the poetry book I’m reading now), but I was also very aware that we were talking about kids who weren’t actually part of either conference. When I think about cutting things out of my life, I don’t think removing interaction with kids would help; they energize me but dealing with all the adults required to plan a school visit can be tedious and tiring. If I moved to another country for a couple of months my inbox would probably still fill up every day…we’re so connected via the web that escape isn’t really possible. This time last year I was planning my trip to Sweden. Have I worked on that novel since? Not really. We’re about to enter a new decade and I’m nearing 50…I want to keep the things/people/experience/practices that enrich my life and get rid of everything else. Time to make a plan for 2020 that prioritizes the things that bring me joy!