Star Wars Day: May the fourth be with you!

I haven't posted in a few weeks, mostly because I've been pretty busy.  Once taxes were accomplished, I had my birthday, plus some more fallout from the divorce to deal with.  And on top of it all, I got really sick with a horrible cold that lasted for about two weeks.  I didn't work much -- on anything -- during that time.

But on to better and geekier things!  As all good geeks know, May 4th is Star Wars Day.  Because, you know, "May the 4th be with you."  Punnery at its finest!

Tax Day for freelancers: 2015 in review, and plans for 2016

Tax Day this year falls on April 18th -- something about them not wanting the next day to be Saturday.  This also means, for freelancers, that your first estimated tax payment is also due on the 18th.

My first few years of freelancing I was always ahead of the game, getting my taxes done early.  After a while, though, I stopped being as organized about recording my income and expenses throughout the year.  This meant that it all had to get done at tax time, which made preparing my return so much harder.  This, in turn, meant procrastination and last-minute filing.

This year, I did a little better, finishing my taxes a week ahead of time.

Working from home: Loathe it or love it?

I saw this post the other day and meant to share it much sooner:

The Awful Reality About Working From Home That None Of Us Work-From-Homers Want You To Know

As with all GIF lists these days, it's an entertaining post, especially for those who know what it's like to work from home.  But do you agree?

Busyness, scheduling, and Camp NaNoWriMo

The last few months have been busy, to say the least.  Some weeks I think I'm settling into a manageable routine with freelancing and juggling my other things (babysitting, the barn, etc.) effectively, and other weeks I feel like I'm scrambling just to stay afloat.

I'm thinking I'll need to set some limits on things going forward, such as how much time I allow babysitting to take from my freelance hours on any given week.  I also need to finish unpacking (yes, I still have some things that I have yet to unpack!) and get a few other projects done so that I can focus more on freelancing.  I'm not very good about juggling too many things at once, I'm afraid!

Speaking of juggling multiple things at once... This month is Camp NaNoWriMo.

Rough week

This has been a rough week.  I agreed to babysit for one of my families while their school was closed, and quickly regretted agreeing to so many hours.  It basically meant a 12+ hour day yesterday, including my barn chores, and only a slightly less long day today.  When you add in the fact that I got home last night to cat puke on my bed, a long evening of doing laundry, and only three hours' sleep...  Well, suffice it to say that I'll be glad to put this crazy week behind me.

A day in the life of a writer

My schedule has been all over the map lately, but I'm gradually figuring out more of what works for me and what doesn't.  Keep in mind that there is a lot of variation on this, depending on what work I have lined up for the day and what I need to do at the barn, but in general this is how a typical day seems to go for me.

My first few weeks of freelancing again

It's been a few whirlwind weeks.  A couple days into my fourth week of freelancing full-time again, I'm finally taking a breather to update my blog and do a few other tasks.

I guess I needn't have worried about finding enough work, because I've been busy.  In fact, I should have been worried about balancing all the other things I wanted to do -- like blogging and writing fiction and reading and riding my horses.  I've been having a hard time carving out time for everything.