New Posting Schedule

When I started the Eclectic Otter around a year ago, I was super excited. I had a bunch of ideas for things that I could make and do, and for the first bit, I was really happy with how things were going. But over the last few months, I feel like things have gone downhill and that I've really been stretching to find something to write about. There are several things that play a factor in that, the first of which is a shift in the demands on my time.

The biggest change there is the dog. Getting a dog was not my idea, it was my husband who just didn't feel completely at home without one. However, due to our work schedules, I'm the one who spends the most time with Gil, which means that if I want him to be a calm, well-behaved dog I'm the one who has to work on training him. I knew going in that I'd have to play a role in his training, I just never realized how large a role it would be. While I know that it's okay to send him to his kennel for a while to get things done I feel bad about it, especially when he's being well behaved. But at the same time, I don't trust him to not get into everything if I'm distracted while trying to make something.

Look how big he's getting!

Besides the time spent with Gil himself, there are several other related time sinks. We have a large amount of brush that we want to clear out of our yard so he has more space to play unobstructed, and we need to vacuum about twice as often even though he's a short haired dog.

The other major factor that is affecting my ability to create awesome stuff is money issues. We don't have a ton of money problems but we are really trying to pay down some of our debts and save up for some major home repairs/ updates. That combination doesn't always leave a lot of spare cash for craft supplies in the budget.

Overall the experience of trying to find something to write about that is both quick and cheap has been stressful and I've been unhappy with the results. I want to try and make some changes that will allow me to keep posting but get back to having fun while I do. I have several projects that I want to do that are definitely going to be more long term. They are things where I don't feel like three days of progress is going to produce results that are worth sharing.

So I've been thinking about reducing the frequency of my posts. On one hand I only want to post when I feel I have something worth talking about, but on the other I think having some sort of schedule has been a motivation to get things done. As a sort of compromise between the two I've decided on a schedule of every other week with additional posts if I have something cool to write about. This should give me plenty of time for some of the more long-term projects I'd like to try. (Like attempting to rebind my husband's set of Wheel of Time paperbacks into super awesome leather hardcover books.) It means that if I continue to do book reviews, I only need to commit to one craft post a month. Surely I finish one thing a month right? I think so.

I know the timing is a bit off but the plan right now is to do this month's book reviews Monday the 30th and then start the new schedule posting every 2nd and 4th Monday starting June 13th.