A montly calendar I receive each year is designed and illustrated by a Nebraska artist friend and fits perfectly on my desk.  The bulk of the ones I receive each year are too large.  I give away most of them.  The one I keep handy from my artist friend is the one that lies open on my desk for appointment and workshop entries and it stares me in the face every morning with reminders. 

Each month requires two pages.  In the corner of the first page of every month is a quotation.  I especially like this one from Churchill:  "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

I like to apply this to writing.  When I'm stuck–need to cut words or add them or add or delete a character–I try to apply this principle of optimism.  Often I have to "sleep on it," but I know that the "way to go" is lurking somewhere "on the backroads of my mind" and the solution will come to me.  Of course, this is the same principle we were all taught at our mothers' knees:  "Never give up!"   Until Monday–Willma