It's a New Month - February 2026

This last week has been really hard and my month of February is looking like it is going to be very stressful and exhausting.

My daughter is caught up in her homeschool curriculum though! My son has a few pages in handwriting that he didn't do last week, but otherwise, he is caught up as well (in the mandatory classes - I have several fun projects that we still need to do!). This is the first week in months that we have been where we should be. What changed? Well... as of the start of the year, I placed a few boundaries limiting things that were draining my energy reserves. One of those things was expecting help with homeschooling the kids - and now they aren't crying or screaming about getting school work done. *smile* We are back to enjoying learning!

I am pretty sure that I am getting sick, but that is the way things go during the winter. I am recovering from more trauma - and trying to remember to lock my doors whenever I leave my house to avoid more ... bad things.

I am pretty proud of myself regarding this last month though - even with everything that happened in January, I managed to write 14 blog articles (out of 31 that I had planned)!

I missed publishing these in January, but they are in various stages of completion:

• 2/4 setting up my week articles
• 2/4 music articles
• All 4/4 of my "teaching" articles didn't make it to publication...
• 2/4 of my wacky articles
• 3/5 of my looking back in time articles
• 2/5 of my practices at re-framing my mindset articles
• 2/5 of my spiritual articles

My successful Sunday articles take extra time because I am trying to map out my week, get projects done, spend time with family & friends, and write. Sunday's are one of my most chaotic days because of resets. Maybe it isn't that my article takes too much time... but that my chaos and bouncing from task to task just make it seem longer.

My music articles don't usually take a lot of time... usually around 30-40 minutes per article - and most of that is trying to get the lyrics typed out!

My teaching articles are challenging because I keep falling down that dangerous doubt loop of: maybe you don't have the proper qualifications and maybe you are going to say something wrong... and therefore, I have yet to push submit on a single teaching article... Otherwise, the teaching articles take between 40 and 70 minutes.

My wacky Wednesday articles were supposed to be easy - just write whatever I want to... but my autism doesn't like that much uncertainty! And my autism has been coming out super strong lately. It is very frustrating that I stare at my laptop screen and come up with how many good ideas? None. Absolutely none. Perhaps I will have to change that... but we will see how February goes...

My back in time Thursday articles take a lot of my emotional energy because I am literally experiencing the past at the same time as the present. Gotta love and hate how well my brain works!

My (re)-framing Friday articles are often hard to do because I am trying to get more used to that grey area that my brain really does not like being in. The area where I am not pessimistic, but not optimistic either. Realistic still, but kind to myself. I am a great friend... to almost any person other than myself. Trying to recalibrate that internal wiring is very hard!

My spiritual articles take extra time to do because of the research that I try to do for them and trying to remain non-confrontational. It is a hard thing for me to do because when I am passionate about a subject, I can get ... intense? Which then gets mistaken as confrontational. I am very passionate about where Biblical concepts meet history and enjoy sharing how my brain "translates" Biblical concepts into my everyday life though, so hopefully in time, I will spend less time worrying about what other people will think and more time simply writing down what my thoughts are... the right people will stay - and the rest? Will likely be happier away from me! *smile*

But, I am going to keep working on my goals - and maybe I should just start taking more chances?

Either way, I feel very successful since last year I wrote a total of 52 articles - or an average of 1 per week - and earned an average of almost $0.55 per month in 2025. In January I wrote 14 articles - or an average of 3 per week - and more than doubled my read earning average from last year! *grins*

I have more surprises coming soon (hopefully)... I just am trying to build a life that sustains and fulfills me instead of leaving me drained to the brink of exhaustion. *wink*

What is something that you guys do that helps you feel both energized and successful?

Which article(s) would you all like to see more of? Ideas are welcome! *smile*