The end of January and entire month of February are always the busiest time of year for us at the newspaper.

Right now, we are in high gear working on our 2022 edition of Profile, which is slated to hit stands Feb. 26. It’s our biggest publication of the year – and it has a year-long shelf life.

Simultaneously, our freelance contributors and staff are working on the next issue of Hartselle Living, which will go to press Feb. 15 and publish March 1. It’s not often we have two big publications piggyback on one another, but when they do, well, let’s just say to get it all done it takes a lot of juggling.

Of course, there’s the weekly newspaper too. Those deadlines roll around at the same time every week, regardless of our special section calendar.

I can say one thing though: Even though it’s a super busy time of the year, I’m grateful to have my hands full of work to do because that means I have goals to accomplish and something to help push me toward the finish line.

I don’t know about you, but I would much rather be busy than bored.

I have something to which to look forward: seeing my hard work and the hard work of others come to fruition when the FIFTH Profile magazine of my tenure publishes. I remember, this past year, being blown away that I was finishing the fourth issue.

I won’t dare attempt to count how many issues of Hartselle Living we have published since I took this job.

Profile 2022 is all about local veterans. I hope it is enjoyed by our readers. Thanks so much to the local post of the American Legion for their help in selecting veterans in Hartselle and Morgan County to feature in this publication.

We will have some great stories in the upcoming issue of Hartselle Living, too. Now I have to get back to work, if I’m going to get them to press on time.