Things to Get Done Before the End of the Year

Yes, it’s the end of November, and we’re counting down til the end of the year. For me, this means a flurry of doctor’s appointments and tests, important to schedule them now because if I get anything done after January 1 our deductible goes back to zero, and everything is out of pocket for the first few thousand dollars. So: blood draw yesterday, neurologist today, thyroid ultrasound Saturday, and yet another couple of doctor’s appointments to schedule that I just haven’t had time to get to…Phew! I’m exhausted, or maybe that’s just the blood draw talking. I’m off to downtown for today’s appointment in a few minutes.

I checked my “gift box” and noticed that I have already done a lot of my Christmas shopping, which I did really early this year, picking up gifts I thought were thoughtful when I saw them at a good price throughout the year. This makes me a little relieved that I don’t have much left to do shopping-wise. Every year we have fewer grown-ups who want to exchange gifts but more children, thanks to my super-procreative brothers and brother-in-law. For Glenn and I, we usually do our gift exchanges after Christmas, which was a tradition in my family growing up poor – we always shopped the after-Christmas sales with my Dad’s January 1 paycheck. It’s actually a nice way to extend the season and not stress out the bank account – I recommend it! As a child it was hard to wait, as an adult it just seems logical!

It’s been freezing cold here (lower twenties at night) which means I had to unearth my box of heavy sweaters, which with the usual winters here I can leave in storage, because our winters are typically rainy, gray, but in the fifties-range during the day. Not this year! I’m also trying to locate a warm-enough coat – most of my “coats” are thin jackets, which, once again, work most years…

And what about poetry and writing, you ask? Well, it’s the end of the year for that too, so I’m taking stock of submissions still out, looking at any recent poem and short story drafts and considering which are worth keeping, thinking about where I want to send work (if anywhere) for the rest of the year. My fifth manuscript is getting into good shape, finally – it took some more personal poems to make the apocalyptic-and-pop-culture-themed collection to find some resonance, but now it’s feeling closer to complete. My fourth manuscript is still…well, let’s just say there’s some movement on it but nothing I can announce yet. It’s in a liminal space, so to speak, between the worlds of creation and production.

So what’s on your list of things to get done before the end of the year? Which boxes are you taking out and shaking?