This weekend has been declared crunch time, and as it turns out there’s also a Finishing Things Weekend (#FTW) happening on Twitter this weekend. Rockin’. I love peer pressure.

It almost became a joke; when will the package show up in Canada? Canada Post, I’ve found, is notoriously slow. I diligently checked the post office every couple days (because they don’t deliver to the house). Christmas came and went and finally, on the last day of the year, a package from California arrived.

I’m planning a submissions party this weekend and you are all welcome to join me on Twitter. I have at least one story that that I should be sending out for reprints and a second that I’m not sure when, offhand, the reprint rights revert. I need to do market research, update my spreadsheets, and get submitting. I’ve also got some stories that have been sitting gathering dust and that’s a crying shame.

Every year has its ups and downs and 2010 was no exception. Still, it felt like a harder year in many ways. There were unexpected challenges by way of financial disasters, health setbacks and personal roadblocks. At times, I didn’t know how I’d get by day to day. Despite everything, the year ended on a high note. All we can do for the days ahead is work smart and move forward.

I’ve been slogging away, the last few weeks, trying to string together words that make sense. It’s been rough. A nameless ennui that I blame on not having a place to personalize yet. That’s something Andrea and I will be working towards in the new year. Meanwhile, life goes on and the writing must continue so I had to find a way. Deadlines usually help, but I’ve been staring two or three, maybe four, up the ugly side so much lately that I’m beginning to go cross-eyed.