Introductory to a new year and change

Hello, and welcome to 2020.  This post is in place of the Motivational Monday I usually have for a Monday post.  I will start back to regular Motivational Mondays next week.  There is so much to see and do in my life until I have to explain it along the way.  Before I get into today’s topic, let me revisit a few things:

2019 the year of mystery and misery…

Not true.  I will admit that I had a bad year, but who hasn’t.  I am going to tell you right now that as long as you are going to be alive, you are going to go through something.

2019 was a year of first-time losses in a very long time.  The last person I lost that was close in my family (meaning biological) was my grandmother.  This was 2003.  In 2019, I lost an aunt in Indianapolis, IN.  she just turned 84 in September.  She was my uncle’s wife, who is my mother’s brother.   The second person died Monday, December 30^th.  She was my mother sister who lived in Bessemer, AL, she was 79. So, as my brother would tell me on the phone yesterday, it is starting.  My mother’s siblings are dying, but I do not look at it that way, as we are all dying.  We do not know when and how we are dying.  The moment that a baby takes its first breath, on second thought, when it is conceived, that baby is dying.  It may live to be born or not.  A friend of mines baby did that 6 years ago.  She died the moment she was born. Then again, that baby may live to be 100 years old or more.  It all depends on how it is taken care of by the parents and other caregivers, and how they decide to take care of themselves once they turn 18 years old.

Photos from Pixabay;
Arranged by P. Lynne Designs
(c) 2020

2019 was a year of self-discovery.  As I get older, I am learning what is tolerated by me, who I let into my life, and how I handle the situations that are thrown at me.  For instance, It has been a challenge to deal with my parents getting older, especially my mom.  She is holding on her own, but I feel that traveling is a challenge for me, rather I invite the family to come or not.

Back in May, I finally booked that Walt Disney World vacation I have been trying to get the family to go on for years since me, my parents, and my eldest nephew, who was 11 at the time, came back from Southern  That day in Anaheim was a blast.  While me, my mom, and nephew spend the day at Disneyland, my father, who is not a Disney fan spent time at a Dodger’s game.  Perfect timing. My brother nor sister did not go.  My sister could not go because my middle nephew was 3 months old and not cleared to fly.  My brother had to work.

California, and spending time in Temecula, Los Angeles, San Bernardino (where the family lived for 6 years), and Anaheim where Disneyland is located.

I decided to plan the Walt Disney World trip after the first of the year, 2010, but since then, things and situations had come up over the years, including my mother’s illness.  I had to continually cancel a booking after booking and even allowed Disney to cancel a couple for a lack of commitment on my part.  I made the announcement at the beginning of 2019 but kept putting it off.  This coupled with the opening of the Galaxy’s Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios, which drew a lot of people, I did not want to be standing in long lines for one ride.  So, I booked for us to go from December 15-20, 2019, in a 3-bedroom Grand Villa at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary Resort.  Everyone was excited, except dad, who I had to try to ask in a nice way if he wanted to go to Florida, which would automatically land him at Walt Disney World. Well, that did not pan so good.  I will mention in another blog post what happened (Hint- At Home with Tricia's Baskets)

It is little things like that which made me wonder if 2019 was a bad year, but really it was not.  No one has threatened me, threaten to take anything away from me, and so forth.  My health was pretty good. So I postponed one little trip?  A year is what you make it, good or bad.

Now finally for today’s topic 2020.

I want to take the last few moments to talk about this year 2020.

Business dealings 2019 and the coming 2020

I finally did it.  P. Lynne Designs is splitting up.  This is how that is going to happen.

P. Lynne Designs is going back to its roots.  I started this company as a creative company.  Creating stationery products such as greeting and note cards, invitations, business cards, bookmarkers, and anything related to them.  However, I am not going back to scrapbooking.  The reason is quite clear.  The industry itself has changed and has incorporated digital to its core lineup.  In the wake of Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tiktok, it is hard for me to keep up while handling these items and my other business.  If a person requests it, I will do one for them, but it is not going to be the main product of my business anymore.

Speaking of my other business.  I will admit that I have felt the loss of running two businesses.  Before it was being a Longaberger Home consultant (which is coming back in a new way for the moment via QVC), and P. Lynne Designs. It was fun doing the juggling act.  No, I will not be a consultant for another company.  Although it was fun, I was not getting commissions like I would want it too, because I had too few customers in comparison to other home consultants.  This has to do with my blogs and the freelance writing side of P. Lynne Designs. The new company is called The Writing Grove, and this is where I will take on clients who need something written for their business or personally.  I will also house the blogs, At Home with Tricia's Baskets and My Ambiance Life (which I am thinking about changing the name to The Writing Grove). The P. Lynne Designs blog will be with business, P. Lynne Designs.

There is a third business that will allow for affiliate marketing and content sponsorship, but it will serve both companies, so it is not an official company and it will not be registered with the State of Ohio.

Speaking of which, my name renewal for P. Lynne Designs is coming up in April, although I have up to that time to pay it, and I will be registering The Writing Grove at the same time.   Unless it has gone up, that is around $100 for both companies (or $50 each).

2020 personal

Lastly, my plans for me are simple.  I am finally going to try to adopt a child.  I know, dealing with a child and a business is going to be rough, but I am up for the challenge.  I also want to take home my friend’s babies.  I also hope to find a nice guy.  Yep, love life to which I currently do not have.

Photo by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

Personal buys I would like to make.  A new home and a new car.  About the new home, I have been talking about this since I moved out of my last apartment, which was 2002.  Yes, I live in this amazing condo that I did not intend to stay for more than 5 years, but it has been close to 20 years.  I want a home where I do not have to worry about stairs.  I want a larger kitchen, a dedicated room for my craftroom, which I will have in the current condo when my nephew and his girlfriend move out, but at the present moment, I have a corner in the dining area.  This is more than what the average crafter/business owner could ask for.  I also prefer not to share my garage space.  I am sharing mine with the neighbor upstairs, and sometimes they irritate me.  The other day, my nephew was unloading something from his car, and in the middle of his unloading, the neighbor’s father came down and closed the garage door, without asking.  I could not tell him to leave the garage door alone because my Spanish is rusty, and he does not speak English at all. Gone are the days when I could tell my neighbor to leave the garage door up.

As for the new car, I am currently driving a used 2008 Dodge Caliber.  This car was an emergency buy because I had an accident in 2015 with my 1998 Honda Accord.  This car was only supposed to get me through the fall and winter of 2015-16, but I elected to keep it for a while and shop for a car payment that I could handle.  For a while, I was dead set on getting a Honda CR-V, a year behind whatever current year.  So, if the current year is 2020, then I would get 2019.  Well, I rode in my friend’s car, and I could not help but think how big this car was.  I mean, the only thing riding with me would be my child (unless I get siblings), and my business, so I switched to an HR-V, which is much smaller, easier to handle, and it is still a Honda, plus it is the same size as my Caliber.  Next thing I knew after making the announcement that this is what I am going to purchase or lease, my father thinks that I am better off with a 2020 Hyundai Kona, like the one that one of the older ladies at my church drives.  I got irritated with that.  So, now, I am supposed to test drive both the Kona and the HR-V. My money is still on the HR-V, but I am open.  He also does not want me to lease, even though he has been leasing his cars for years.  OooKay?

2020 Blogs

I will tackle this in the next post.  I have spent too long talking about the other stuff, and I am close to the 2000 wordmark, which is a tip, this is actually small in comparison to what was the 1000 wordmark for most blog posts.  I will have the normal Motivational Mondays, only it will be on all three blogs.  My Ambiance Life blog, everything will be about the same for now.  I will mention on At Home with Tricia's Baskets what I am going to change on that blog, as well on the P. Lynne Designs blog as well.

Well, this is long and drawn out.  I hope I did not bore you.  I am really out to grab more readers and give you information on all things writing, creating blogs, journaling, and other things related, like planners.  This is going to be a fun year, I can tell.  Until then, check out the rest of my blog posts from 2019 and before.  May God bless you, and peace out.