It's all about the B....

B is for Balance
That's right. It's all about the balance. See, this time of year is always crazy, and I'll tell you right now, I don't have any kind of magic formula for getting through. 
So why the blog post, then? 
Misery loves company, I guess.
There's kid stuff and family stuff and parties and shopping and decorating and why am I telling you this because you know it already. And this year, in addition to the annual holiday kerfufle, I'm desperately trying to finish edits on Aqua Follies, my semi-historic m/m romance. 
I call it semi-historic, because it's set in 1955, so not quite old enough to be a historic, but not exactly contemporary either. It's about the assistant coach of a water ballet team who comes to Seattle for the Aqua Follies, a swimming-diving-music-dance extravaganza that was a summer institution during the 1950s. The night of their first rehearsal, the trumpet player takes a solo, and our swim coach's life will never be the same. It's been lots of fun pulling from old Seattle Times headlines to build the plot, and my beta readers have good things to say about it, so that's been pretty exciting.
If only I could finish the damned thing.
I'd hoped to send Aqua Follies off to my agent by Thanksgiving. Didn't happen. Then I wanted to wrap it up by, well, last Monday.
Yeah, that didn't happen either.
Now I'm hoping it'll be out of my hands by Christmas -- and if we're lucky, into your hands sometime next year. In the meantime, I keep putting off any serious holiday preparation. Like, if I keep myself dug down deep enough in my writing cave, the rest of the world will just chill out.
Don't expect any Christmas cards from Chez Rancourt.
Getting the Christmas tree up was a huge step in a holiday direction. The image at the beginning of the post shows our actual tree. It started life as a sheet of aluminum. My husband cut the spiral with a jigsaw and tacked an LED light rope to it with zipties. He also punched holes along the edge for ornaments. My usual approach to tree decoration is the more the merrier, but with this "tree" I applied some self-discipline, limiting myself to gold and sparkly. It's not quite monochrome, but as close as I'm capable of getting.
Next think you know, I might even buy some presents.
The holiday season - with it's parties and presents and food (oh yeah, the food!) - will happen whether I'm along for the ride or not. In the interest of self-preservation, I remind myself of something Albert Einstein once said...
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
Happy peddling!Liv
BTW, what's your secret? How do you maintain your equilibrium during the holidays?

Oh, and if you've got a minute, jump HERE to my friend Elizabeth's blog, where I'm talking about why I write romance. Cheers!