Yes, we're half way through 2012. I'm not sure if that's something to be excited about or not. Probably a good time for reflection. I looked back on my goals for this year, and I see trouble. As with the year, this week was a mixed bag.
The Good Stuff:
- I did track on WW
- I did finish sanding the back of the garage (this afternoon)
- I got a few blog posts scheduled, but the whole schedule looks overwhelming. I'm not sure where I want to trim it. Maybe the posts I'm avoiding?
- I did get a little work done for PBOTL. Maybe a couple of pages. I want to pick up the pace.
- I think it's too early to credit the anti-inflammatory efforts, but my knees have felt a little better this week. If I concentrate on it, I've been able to walk up and down stairs mostly normally -- not the one step and one leg at a time toddler walk I've been able to do recently. In fact, I've had to retrain myself to try to walk it normally, because I mostly can.
- I stuck with Step 1+ on the anti-inflammatory diet. No soft drinks. Instead of fried chicken on Tuesday night, I picked up the roasted chicken version (which, frankly, I prefer anyway, but I didn't know they had it until last time I was in there).
- Nurse Practioner thinks my thumb has been aggravated by the work we're
doing on the house and issued me a brace with a thumb spika. She said
to wear it while I was working, but that renders work impossible, so I'm
wearing it to bed at night.
2012 Good Stuff:
- Hubby and my relationship is mostly in a pretty good place, but I'm feeling picked on by him lately. He claims he's trying to get me to laugh?? Mostly, he's making me feel unliked. Does that sound contradictory? I hope you understand what I mean.
- Although my progress on PBOTL has slowed, it is still progressing
- Durant's History of Civilization reading is progressing
The Not So Good Stuff:
- I still didn't ride the bike or squeegee the shop windows.
- I didn't make additional progress on planning Step 2 of anti-inflammation
2012 Not So Good Stuff:
- I said I planned to participate more at Forward Motion. I just don't see it happening. I'm not sure if coasting along there like I am is fine, or if something needs to change. I suppose if I quit worrying about it and just do what I do, that would be fine.
- I'm not really making better use of my on line time, and that may be why the planned blog schedule isn't sitting well with me -- it's ambitious, but is it really a worthwhile use of my time? Maybe not.
- I'm reminded that I planned to study the craft of storytelling, and that has slipped by the wayside.
- I'm getting the Federalist Papers installments, but I'm mostly skimming them and filing them. They are not engaging reading.
The Week Ahead:
- Continue tracking WW. I finished the week with all my activity points intact and even two of my weekly points remaining, but I didn't lose any weight. Chalking that up to just the way things are.
- Get the meals planned.
- Monitor points on Independence Day. We've been invited to some friends' for their annual get together, which always has yummy stuff. I think I can balance things out okay. Not going to worry too much.
- Plan Step 2 of Anti-Inflammation
- Work on PBOTL
- Do the blog posts and modify the schedule as needed to find the balance I'm looking for
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Oops!
Oops! Meant to post Sunday. Didn't. Then Monday. Didn't. But am posting today. I might not get points, but I hope I get no demerits.
Last week:
- Worked on Murder by the Mile, On Target, and a new project.
- Walked three times.
- Rode bike at home twice.
- Paid bills, kept up on household chores, worked on pool. Pool, by the way, is up, and filter is going. Should be able to get into pool this evening or tomorrow.
This week:
- Work on Murder by the Mile, On Target, and Secret of the Pack Rat's Nest. The last is my new project, but I didn't write it. I'm publishing it for a client. Yes, client. My micro-publishing venture has its first real customer. We met Monday at the library and signed the contract. She paid me half down. The rest comes as various steps get completed. I figured it would take me around 30-40 hours to complete the project. I probably charged too little, but I'll know better after I get this book under my belt. By the way, my MPV is named Many Rivers Harbor Publishing. I'm excited, worried, etc. Very pleased to have actually made a little money. I don't know where this will go or what I can do with it, but maybe it's something I can do.
- Household chores.
- Walk three times.
- Ride bike twice.
- Swim in pool several times!
And that's what I did and I'm doing and going to do. Hope you are keeping cool. It's 97 degrees here. A bit warm even for me.
Last week:
- Worked on Murder by the Mile, On Target, and a new project.
- Walked three times.
- Rode bike at home twice.
- Paid bills, kept up on household chores, worked on pool. Pool, by the way, is up, and filter is going. Should be able to get into pool this evening or tomorrow.
This week:
- Work on Murder by the Mile, On Target, and Secret of the Pack Rat's Nest. The last is my new project, but I didn't write it. I'm publishing it for a client. Yes, client. My micro-publishing venture has its first real customer. We met Monday at the library and signed the contract. She paid me half down. The rest comes as various steps get completed. I figured it would take me around 30-40 hours to complete the project. I probably charged too little, but I'll know better after I get this book under my belt. By the way, my MPV is named Many Rivers Harbor Publishing. I'm excited, worried, etc. Very pleased to have actually made a little money. I don't know where this will go or what I can do with it, but maybe it's something I can do.
- Household chores.
- Walk three times.
- Ride bike twice.
- Swim in pool several times!
And that's what I did and I'm doing and going to do. Hope you are keeping cool. It's 97 degrees here. A bit warm even for me.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Tam's Week 25
Yes, I know I'm late, and I missed week 24 completely. Aaargh!!
The Good Stuff:
The Good Stuff:
- Finished Chapter 9 (Sorry, Stephen, still have about 2/3 of the book to go)
- Been exercising with Richard. 4 times last week!
- Down again to where I was - finally defeated the bloat! Woot!
- Went to my 30 year high school class reunion. It was actually kinda fun.
- Saw BRAVE, which was awesome.
- Cooked every day last week, well, other than when we were staying over in Des Moines
- Hung out with my mom
- Got myself a few new shirts, that I desperately need!
- We're down to four cats. Much calmer around here - and less hairy. ;)
- Life, life, life, and did I mention, LIFE? Nothing big or wrong or even important. It's just summer busy, ya know? Ooop, we're outta milk. Ooop! Bill needs 3/4" Pex pipe. Ooop! Laura's putting in an app at the courthouse. Ooop! Low on diapers. Ooop! Dr appointment. Where'd that cat go? Has anyone seen my sunglasses? Lawn needs mowed. Move money between accounts. Supper! Don't forget to thaw something for supper!! Reunion. Replumbing dad's house. Charm swap. Wedding Reception. Graduation. All with a 7mo old baby grabbing everything. So, um, yeah, life. ;)
- Sewed a halloween table runner for an auction item at the quilt show. Just the top, but that's something.
- Got my wedding ring resized so I can wear it again.
- Got a sun tea jar that - so far - isn't leaking all over the refrigerator.
Just Is
- No word from either agent. Yet. Still very positive and upbeat.
- Spent more money than I should have. Clothes. Hotel. Eating out at the reunion and while in DM. The bookstore. You get the idea. It's like I set a budget then totally toss it out the window.
- Chapter 9 FOUGHT ME. One scene, anyway, where Sean and a reporter butt heads. Took me 5 or six tries, from scratch, to get it to work. I'm not very good at making little tweaks if a scene isn't working, I have to rip it all out and start over. Thankfully most of this book is coming along like it should and not laying there dead and stinky like that scene with the reporter wanted to.
- We have mold. Somewhere. In the upstairs bathroom. Bill's currently thinking under the floor/on the kitchen ceiling because, maybe, a year ago when we redid the bathroom the one little leak we had didn't get dried out properly before everything got sealed back up. While I have the utmost confidence that Bill can locate, rip out, and repair whatever moldy damage there is, I'm not looking forward to having my kitchen or bathroom (or both!) partially gutted while I'm struggling to stay on top of life. And there's a baby in the mix. And I'm on book. But we can't have secret mold either - we can smell it, just can't see it. So, um, yeah. Fun times.
for This Week:
- Write
- Stay positive
- Be thankful. I have an amazing life!
Have a good week, everyone. {{huggs}}
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Wendy's Week
Good Stuff:
- Swam 3 times.
- Wrote 4800 words. It's more words than I had last week. I'm done whining about not doing enough.
- Realized I need to take a wider view of my writing career. My ultimate goal is to finance our travel after Eric retires. That's in 20 years if they don't raise the social security age, assuming social security is still around, which will surprise me. It is probably safe to say that if I do nothing but write and focus on perfecting the craft for the next 5 years or so, it will be time well spent. Never mind that I've been fiddling with it for 15 years. That's then. I need to focus on now and later. The plan is to focus less on pitching and more on stock-piling manuscripts that I can polish and send to an agent when the current trends come back around. I can't tell you what a relief that was.
- Made a good start on the downstairs. Of course, it's not staying done.
- Forgot to take my meds the other day and I was zippier that morning than I have been for a long time. That leads me to believe that it's either the ADD or allergy pill that's making me tired. I've been thinking about dropping the ADD pill for quite a while, and since my allergies have been so bad, I'm not willing yet to go off to see if my energy comes back up. I'm weaning off the ADD meds now and should be off completely in a few weeks. I'm exploring essential oils as a replacement, hopefully for both. Sure was nice to go a few hours without feeling like I could fall asleep.
- Finally got in touch with the pastor who is going to renew our vows.
- Put the top of our new tent up in the back yard and inventoried all the pieces to make sure we have everything. Odd to see most of our tax return strewn across the bad yard! The added side benefit is that it's all stowed with the rest of the gear now and not in the middle of the garage, so I have a clear path to the trash cans now.
- Eric got summoned for Federal Jury Duty in August. This part fits under Not So Good, too, because in his current job (at least until he gets hired permanently in Oct) he would have to take unpaid leave to sit on a jury. The good news is they've deferred him until January when, hopefully, the job will continue to pay him while he serves. If nothing else, it gives us a few months to prepare.
- I only had to drive Vicky to school on Monday. She decided she didn't need the Vicodin anymore, that the ibuprofen would handle the residual pain.
- Saved .22 cents a gallon on gas by buying it in St. Louis.
Not So Good Stuff:
- I'm done whining about my writing and how I'm still trying to climb out of the Pit Of Despair.
- Still have a long way to go on the house and a week now to do it. Yes! I have successfully procrastinated reunion preparations again!
- I can't take Eric's jury duty. I was willing. The $40 a day plus mileage would have been great! But the lady at the courthouse was insistent that it's Eric's turn. It's a little sad when you get excited about the possibility of jury duty because it's a source of income!
This Week:
- Finish the house. No, really, finish it this time. Alex will be home Friday, and everyone else will be here Saturday. (Everyone else being only 3 of the Boys. Smaller crowd this time, but good quality!)
- Start making lists of stuff to prep for the rendezvous.
- Grocery shop for the reunion. This might include a Sam's run.
- Swam 3 times.
- Wrote 4800 words. It's more words than I had last week. I'm done whining about not doing enough.
- Realized I need to take a wider view of my writing career. My ultimate goal is to finance our travel after Eric retires. That's in 20 years if they don't raise the social security age, assuming social security is still around, which will surprise me. It is probably safe to say that if I do nothing but write and focus on perfecting the craft for the next 5 years or so, it will be time well spent. Never mind that I've been fiddling with it for 15 years. That's then. I need to focus on now and later. The plan is to focus less on pitching and more on stock-piling manuscripts that I can polish and send to an agent when the current trends come back around. I can't tell you what a relief that was.
- Made a good start on the downstairs. Of course, it's not staying done.
- Forgot to take my meds the other day and I was zippier that morning than I have been for a long time. That leads me to believe that it's either the ADD or allergy pill that's making me tired. I've been thinking about dropping the ADD pill for quite a while, and since my allergies have been so bad, I'm not willing yet to go off to see if my energy comes back up. I'm weaning off the ADD meds now and should be off completely in a few weeks. I'm exploring essential oils as a replacement, hopefully for both. Sure was nice to go a few hours without feeling like I could fall asleep.
- Finally got in touch with the pastor who is going to renew our vows.
- Put the top of our new tent up in the back yard and inventoried all the pieces to make sure we have everything. Odd to see most of our tax return strewn across the bad yard! The added side benefit is that it's all stowed with the rest of the gear now and not in the middle of the garage, so I have a clear path to the trash cans now.
- Eric got summoned for Federal Jury Duty in August. This part fits under Not So Good, too, because in his current job (at least until he gets hired permanently in Oct) he would have to take unpaid leave to sit on a jury. The good news is they've deferred him until January when, hopefully, the job will continue to pay him while he serves. If nothing else, it gives us a few months to prepare.
- I only had to drive Vicky to school on Monday. She decided she didn't need the Vicodin anymore, that the ibuprofen would handle the residual pain.
- Saved .22 cents a gallon on gas by buying it in St. Louis.
Not So Good Stuff:
- I'm done whining about my writing and how I'm still trying to climb out of the Pit Of Despair.
- Still have a long way to go on the house and a week now to do it. Yes! I have successfully procrastinated reunion preparations again!
- I can't take Eric's jury duty. I was willing. The $40 a day plus mileage would have been great! But the lady at the courthouse was insistent that it's Eric's turn. It's a little sad when you get excited about the possibility of jury duty because it's a source of income!
This Week:
- Finish the house. No, really, finish it this time. Alex will be home Friday, and everyone else will be here Saturday. (Everyone else being only 3 of the Boys. Smaller crowd this time, but good quality!)
- Start making lists of stuff to prep for the rendezvous.
- Grocery shop for the reunion. This might include a Sam's run.
A Bit of A Better Week
I think some things went a little better this week. We'll see.
The Good Stuff:
- I tracked on WW and still had a few activity points left after the week was through, so a good start.
- No more of my soft drinks remain in the house (may be a couple left down in SA). I've been drinking tea and water this week. Made sun tea twice (and hubby even had a glass -- I told him he's welcome to it anytime; without mentioning I was using green tea bags for half of it -- he just thinks it's a little weak).
- I skipped the fries or onion rings the last two times we went out for burgers -- one time in SA last week, and this week at The Ranch. Burger and dinner salad is quite a good combo.
- I'm going to try to use the tips Stephen posted last week for my anti-inflammatory plans. I've consumed a lot more fruits this week -- strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. Grapes are still in the fridge for probably today.
- I got a little work done on PBOTL, but I don't think I'm capturing Inuit's voice. I think I need to read back a little ways to try to catch her voice. I suspect the work I did will be like knitting -- I think I'll be ripping out a few rows to get it back on track.
- I sat down and put together a blog schedule for both blogs. It's exhausting to look at it, so it may be a touch too ambitious.
-- Monday: Randomly generated topic (1st & 3rd); Something Positive (2nd &4th); Photo
-- Tuesday: Current Focus; Cats (1st); Book Review (2nd); House Update (3rd); Tech Stuff (4th)
-- Wednesday: Gratitude; Word of the Week
-- Thursday: Twit Topic
-- Friday: Something Positive (1st and 3rd); Focus on Health (2nd and 4th);
-- Saturday: Imagination Prompt
-- The 14th: World History Update from Durant Reading
-- The 19th: Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour for FM
- That's probably too much, isn't it? When I blog regularly, traffic is up at the blog. 6 people instead of zero, so it's still really only for me. I'm going to see how this goes in July. Some adjustment may be in order.
- Got a lot of sanding done on the house.
- Ms Peach has been planted in the ground, and she looks very happy there. Mr Fig is still growing happily as well.
- Kitchen is looking better
- Meal planning and grocery shopping carried out
- Neighbor says he'll stop by with his shiny new shredder and chew up my stick pile. I hope I'm here when he does. I want to see the beast in action (it has a six cylinder Cat diesel engine on it -- wow). Sadly, he sold his old one -- for more than twice what he offered it to us for, so I can't blame him. Just wasn't a good time for us. Darn.
The Not So Good Stuff:
- I've tracked points well, but Oreos have not been safe. I'm not sure what benefit I get from dropping soft drinks if I compensate with the sugar in Oreos (not purposefully, but that's my guess as to why Oreos have become irresistible). On the other hand, if I consume two six packs of Oreos, I'm not ALSO comsuming a bag of chips. There might be something to that.
- I did not get to the recumbent bike this week, because I didn't go to the shop. I need to go to the shop to clean windows and sweep the sidewalk. Maybe I'll get there.
- I'm very unhappy with my knee and thumb flexibility. I'm not sure what to do about it. I made a point not to whine to my doctor about it at the beginning of the month, but I think I'll ask the VA when I go next week just to see what resources they might have that could help. I don't want medication. Yes, losing weight will help, but it won't do it all.
The Week Ahead:
- Continue tracking for WW
- Work on PBOTL
- Schedule as many blog posts as possible. Now that I've committed to it, I need find the most efficient way to produce the posts. (Yes, it's an exercise in regular, disciplined writing.)
- Continue looking for ways to make what I consume less inflammatory and lower in carbohydrates.
- Do more sanding on the back of the garage -- my goal is to complete this task (about half done).
- Get to the shop and squeegee the windows, sweep the sidewalk, and ride the bike.
The Good Stuff:
- I tracked on WW and still had a few activity points left after the week was through, so a good start.
- No more of my soft drinks remain in the house (may be a couple left down in SA). I've been drinking tea and water this week. Made sun tea twice (and hubby even had a glass -- I told him he's welcome to it anytime; without mentioning I was using green tea bags for half of it -- he just thinks it's a little weak).
- I skipped the fries or onion rings the last two times we went out for burgers -- one time in SA last week, and this week at The Ranch. Burger and dinner salad is quite a good combo.
- I'm going to try to use the tips Stephen posted last week for my anti-inflammatory plans. I've consumed a lot more fruits this week -- strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. Grapes are still in the fridge for probably today.
- I got a little work done on PBOTL, but I don't think I'm capturing Inuit's voice. I think I need to read back a little ways to try to catch her voice. I suspect the work I did will be like knitting -- I think I'll be ripping out a few rows to get it back on track.
- I sat down and put together a blog schedule for both blogs. It's exhausting to look at it, so it may be a touch too ambitious.
-- Monday: Randomly generated topic (1st & 3rd); Something Positive (2nd &4th); Photo
-- Tuesday: Current Focus; Cats (1st); Book Review (2nd); House Update (3rd); Tech Stuff (4th)
-- Wednesday: Gratitude; Word of the Week
-- Thursday: Twit Topic
-- Friday: Something Positive (1st and 3rd); Focus on Health (2nd and 4th);
-- Saturday: Imagination Prompt
-- The 14th: World History Update from Durant Reading
-- The 19th: Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour for FM
- That's probably too much, isn't it? When I blog regularly, traffic is up at the blog. 6 people instead of zero, so it's still really only for me. I'm going to see how this goes in July. Some adjustment may be in order.
- Got a lot of sanding done on the house.
- Ms Peach has been planted in the ground, and she looks very happy there. Mr Fig is still growing happily as well.
- Kitchen is looking better
- Meal planning and grocery shopping carried out
- Neighbor says he'll stop by with his shiny new shredder and chew up my stick pile. I hope I'm here when he does. I want to see the beast in action (it has a six cylinder Cat diesel engine on it -- wow). Sadly, he sold his old one -- for more than twice what he offered it to us for, so I can't blame him. Just wasn't a good time for us. Darn.
The Not So Good Stuff:
- I've tracked points well, but Oreos have not been safe. I'm not sure what benefit I get from dropping soft drinks if I compensate with the sugar in Oreos (not purposefully, but that's my guess as to why Oreos have become irresistible). On the other hand, if I consume two six packs of Oreos, I'm not ALSO comsuming a bag of chips. There might be something to that.
- I did not get to the recumbent bike this week, because I didn't go to the shop. I need to go to the shop to clean windows and sweep the sidewalk. Maybe I'll get there.
- I'm very unhappy with my knee and thumb flexibility. I'm not sure what to do about it. I made a point not to whine to my doctor about it at the beginning of the month, but I think I'll ask the VA when I go next week just to see what resources they might have that could help. I don't want medication. Yes, losing weight will help, but it won't do it all.
The Week Ahead:
- Continue tracking for WW
- Work on PBOTL
- Schedule as many blog posts as possible. Now that I've committed to it, I need find the most efficient way to produce the posts. (Yes, it's an exercise in regular, disciplined writing.)
- Continue looking for ways to make what I consume less inflammatory and lower in carbohydrates.
- Do more sanding on the back of the garage -- my goal is to complete this task (about half done).
- Get to the shop and squeegee the windows, sweep the sidewalk, and ride the bike.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Details
Blah blah blah blah.
There's my week.
Okay, fine. Here's more detail.
- Met with the author of On Target, the book of devotions I'm publishing for him. Gave him 75 pages to proof. Tried to encourage him to work more on it so we could publish it in July. We'll see. He took me out for lunch at a local restaurant, which was nice.
- Finished my last bit of publicity for Creations 2012. There will be more -- probably -- as events happen, but everything I said I would do, I have. So that's off my pending list.
- Got words on Murder by the Mile. They seem to be going easier now. No impressive totals, but I'm pleased with the progress.
- Walked three times. Having trouble with my ankle. Been using a brace, which helps, but it doesn't like walking.
- Usual household chores, including vacuuming and mopping. Also dusting, which I hate doing.
- Agreed to publish a book for a lady in my book club. A teen book. We start in July. Not sure if I charged enough. I guess I will see how much work it takes.
- Worked on my swimming pool, trying to get it clean and ready for water. A bit discouraged on this. If I hadn't already put so much time in it, I think I'd stop, but maybe this week, it will be filled.
- Continue low carb diet.
And speaking of this week, my plans include:
- Continue work on On Target.
- More words on Murder by the Mile.
- Doctor's appointment for diabetes checkup.
- Hair cut.
- Household chores.
- Lunch with a friend on Wednesday.
- Walk at least three times.
- Continue low carb diet.
- Work on my swimming pool.
And that's the plan. Hope y'all have a great week!
There's my week.
Okay, fine. Here's more detail.
- Met with the author of On Target, the book of devotions I'm publishing for him. Gave him 75 pages to proof. Tried to encourage him to work more on it so we could publish it in July. We'll see. He took me out for lunch at a local restaurant, which was nice.
- Finished my last bit of publicity for Creations 2012. There will be more -- probably -- as events happen, but everything I said I would do, I have. So that's off my pending list.
- Got words on Murder by the Mile. They seem to be going easier now. No impressive totals, but I'm pleased with the progress.
- Walked three times. Having trouble with my ankle. Been using a brace, which helps, but it doesn't like walking.
- Usual household chores, including vacuuming and mopping. Also dusting, which I hate doing.
- Agreed to publish a book for a lady in my book club. A teen book. We start in July. Not sure if I charged enough. I guess I will see how much work it takes.
- Worked on my swimming pool, trying to get it clean and ready for water. A bit discouraged on this. If I hadn't already put so much time in it, I think I'd stop, but maybe this week, it will be filled.
- Continue low carb diet.
And speaking of this week, my plans include:
- Continue work on On Target.
- More words on Murder by the Mile.
- Doctor's appointment for diabetes checkup.
- Hair cut.
- Household chores.
- Lunch with a friend on Wednesday.
- Walk at least three times.
- Continue low carb diet.
- Work on my swimming pool.
And that's the plan. Hope y'all have a great week!
Wendy's Week--the toasty version
Yup, it's summer here. We're looking at high 90's today. Yahoo.
Good stuff:
- Vicky lived through getting her wisdom teeth removed. She's improving steadily, losing her chipmunk cheeks and so forth.
- Wrote 6,539 words. Not as many as I'd like, but what else is new?
- Allergies have not been as much of an issue.
- Met with my pastor and the Director of Student Activities at a local college campus to see about setting up a worship service out there, and maybe some bible studies and other activities. It appears to be a fertile field and being the mom of college kids, I think I have something to contribute!
- Discovered a celtic festival just down the road we knew nothing about. One of our Highland dancer friends posted on FB yesterday that she was on her way to Swansea for their first annual celtic festival. I showed the post to Eric, and since Vicky was out with her boyfriend (and not in need of supervision in case she fell down the stairs in a narcotic haze) we jumped in the car and went on over. Heard some good bands and watched our friend dance. It was neat to have that unexpected bit of fun, and if they keep the festival going, I'll have a place (someday) to tell my stories.
Not So Good Stuff:
- Swam twice. Part of it was because I had to stay home with Vicky, but the Y was without power Thursday and Friday, so I wouldn't have been able to swim anyway. Having said that, I could have gone yesterday afternoon but blew it off in favor of embroidery in front of the TV.
- I've been tired all week and don't know why. I'm sleeping enough, but there isn't a part of the day that a nap doesn't sound like a great idea. This has not been good for productivity in any area.
- We have less than 2 weeks until the Boys get here. My house is not ready. I am not ready. I am wishing for a couple of weeks of isolation in a quiet place. Unfortunately I still have to be a wife and mom (such as I am these days).
- My work week will be disrupted again this week. I'll be driving Vicky to school and back, which means I'll spend part of the week in the west end of St Louis. I'll take my iPad and keyboard to a coffee shop to work but I have no idea how much I'll get done. If nothing else, it means I have to be ready to leave a certain times, fight traffic, and put make-up on. I'll have to be properly dressed. Boo! Hiss! (Maybe I can catch a movie...)
This Week:
- Survive as best I can.
- Go to bed early.
- Swim three times.
- Get the downstairs ready for company.
Good stuff:
- Vicky lived through getting her wisdom teeth removed. She's improving steadily, losing her chipmunk cheeks and so forth.
- Wrote 6,539 words. Not as many as I'd like, but what else is new?
- Allergies have not been as much of an issue.
- Met with my pastor and the Director of Student Activities at a local college campus to see about setting up a worship service out there, and maybe some bible studies and other activities. It appears to be a fertile field and being the mom of college kids, I think I have something to contribute!
- Discovered a celtic festival just down the road we knew nothing about. One of our Highland dancer friends posted on FB yesterday that she was on her way to Swansea for their first annual celtic festival. I showed the post to Eric, and since Vicky was out with her boyfriend (and not in need of supervision in case she fell down the stairs in a narcotic haze) we jumped in the car and went on over. Heard some good bands and watched our friend dance. It was neat to have that unexpected bit of fun, and if they keep the festival going, I'll have a place (someday) to tell my stories.
Not So Good Stuff:
- Swam twice. Part of it was because I had to stay home with Vicky, but the Y was without power Thursday and Friday, so I wouldn't have been able to swim anyway. Having said that, I could have gone yesterday afternoon but blew it off in favor of embroidery in front of the TV.
- I've been tired all week and don't know why. I'm sleeping enough, but there isn't a part of the day that a nap doesn't sound like a great idea. This has not been good for productivity in any area.
- We have less than 2 weeks until the Boys get here. My house is not ready. I am not ready. I am wishing for a couple of weeks of isolation in a quiet place. Unfortunately I still have to be a wife and mom (such as I am these days).
- My work week will be disrupted again this week. I'll be driving Vicky to school and back, which means I'll spend part of the week in the west end of St Louis. I'll take my iPad and keyboard to a coffee shop to work but I have no idea how much I'll get done. If nothing else, it means I have to be ready to leave a certain times, fight traffic, and put make-up on. I'll have to be properly dressed. Boo! Hiss! (Maybe I can catch a movie...)
This Week:
- Survive as best I can.
- Go to bed early.
- Swim three times.
- Get the downstairs ready for company.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
June in Central Texas
When the rain stops, the heat sets in. This is when I detest Texas. We haven't had that much rain this year, but at least we've had a little. It's looking like we won't get much more before fall unless we're really lucky. So, how was this week, and how did it stack up against my expectations?
The Good Stuff:
- Not particularly important in the whole scheme of things, but hubby's truck has been acquired. We particularly like the dark interior and an unexpected bonus was the blind spot mirrors that came standard this year (I had to buy the stick on kind for mine).
- Lawns are mowed. SA hedges are two-thirds trimmed. I'll be doing some yard work in (gasp!) July when I head down there for a couple of weeks. Trimming, hedge work, and vine removal is still needed here in Central Texas. Watering is commencing in full.
- With a big thanks to Stephen and a little research on my part, I have a few steps to take to begin the transition to a more anti-inflammatory diet. Yes, the Air Force encouraged this right before I retired, and I've read a couple of books about it two years ago, but I'm finally reaching the stage where I believe it may help. Step 1 -- eliminate soft drinks, sugared drinks, and sugar-substitute drinks from my diet (I have two left after I finish the one I'm drinking now, and I've already begun to think this one doesn't taste good). This will leave water, unsweetened ice tea (the only way I drink it), coffee, and a very little bit of juice available for beverages. I rarely drink beer or hard liquor, so I'm not going to worry about that. I do drink wine once or twice a week with meals, but I began to suspect it was inducing hot flashes a couple of months ago, so I've eliminated all but a few white wines (Riesling doesn't seem to bother me).
- I stocked up on a bunch of fruit when I returned to Central TX the other day, so I'm guzzling blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, and apples while I determine what other changes I might want to employ.
- I did my WW weigh-in and measurements this morning. I also began tracking again. If I'm going to pay for the site, I may as well use it.
- I finished sanding three boards along the back of the garage (hubby asked that I do boards all the way across the back instead of the three foot sections of all ten boards that need to be sanded). I'll begin working on the rest later on today.
- Frustrated with pain from simply trying to sleep, I conducted a search and found a .pdf on the Simple Ergonomics website that offered suggestions. My shoulders, knees, hips, and feet were suffering, but I know my shoulders hurt because of the way I sleep. All the other aches and pains have other potential causes. I'm employing some of the suggestions, and they seem to be helping. If you sleep with someone else, these suggestions might be cumbersome.
- VA appointment is set for the 29th, so I'm assembling my list of questions to ask
The Not So Good Stuff:
- No recumbent bike time
- I thought about working on PBOTL. I had plenty of time to work on PBOTL over the last two days. But I did not do so.
- I opened MAY DAYS and synchronized with Simplenote, but I did not work on it either.
- I'm up 26 pounds from my lowest since I started WW. That was in early September. I've lost 16.4 pounds overall since beginning WW a year and a half ago. Clearly, the trend is not in the direction I want it to be in. I think I'm ready to make some changes, and the anti-inflammatory changes should help. I'm going to start with the ones that have no impact on hubby and I eating together and expand to integrating other changes in the least disruptive way possible.
- No stick shredding. In fact, I'm seriously asking my neighbor with the commercial quality shredder how much he'd charge to shred the pile (it would take him about fifteen minutes and me about 8 hours with my little 10HP shredder).
The Week Ahead:
- The kitchen floor. After two weeks of mostly surrendering it to the cats, it needs a good vacuum, sweep, and mop. Same for the kitchen counters (although, the cats are not supposed to be up there, I'm sure there were while we were out of town).
- In fact, no matter what week this is for FlyLady, it's a kitchen week for me.
- I'm going to say it again, PBOTL.
- And again, recumbent bike.
- Get the meal planning laid out, a good grocery list made, purchase, and execute the plan
- Track for WW
The Good Stuff:
- Not particularly important in the whole scheme of things, but hubby's truck has been acquired. We particularly like the dark interior and an unexpected bonus was the blind spot mirrors that came standard this year (I had to buy the stick on kind for mine).
- Lawns are mowed. SA hedges are two-thirds trimmed. I'll be doing some yard work in (gasp!) July when I head down there for a couple of weeks. Trimming, hedge work, and vine removal is still needed here in Central Texas. Watering is commencing in full.
- With a big thanks to Stephen and a little research on my part, I have a few steps to take to begin the transition to a more anti-inflammatory diet. Yes, the Air Force encouraged this right before I retired, and I've read a couple of books about it two years ago, but I'm finally reaching the stage where I believe it may help. Step 1 -- eliminate soft drinks, sugared drinks, and sugar-substitute drinks from my diet (I have two left after I finish the one I'm drinking now, and I've already begun to think this one doesn't taste good). This will leave water, unsweetened ice tea (the only way I drink it), coffee, and a very little bit of juice available for beverages. I rarely drink beer or hard liquor, so I'm not going to worry about that. I do drink wine once or twice a week with meals, but I began to suspect it was inducing hot flashes a couple of months ago, so I've eliminated all but a few white wines (Riesling doesn't seem to bother me).
- I stocked up on a bunch of fruit when I returned to Central TX the other day, so I'm guzzling blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, and apples while I determine what other changes I might want to employ.
- I did my WW weigh-in and measurements this morning. I also began tracking again. If I'm going to pay for the site, I may as well use it.
- I finished sanding three boards along the back of the garage (hubby asked that I do boards all the way across the back instead of the three foot sections of all ten boards that need to be sanded). I'll begin working on the rest later on today.
- Frustrated with pain from simply trying to sleep, I conducted a search and found a .pdf on the Simple Ergonomics website that offered suggestions. My shoulders, knees, hips, and feet were suffering, but I know my shoulders hurt because of the way I sleep. All the other aches and pains have other potential causes. I'm employing some of the suggestions, and they seem to be helping. If you sleep with someone else, these suggestions might be cumbersome.
- VA appointment is set for the 29th, so I'm assembling my list of questions to ask
The Not So Good Stuff:
- No recumbent bike time
- I thought about working on PBOTL. I had plenty of time to work on PBOTL over the last two days. But I did not do so.
- I opened MAY DAYS and synchronized with Simplenote, but I did not work on it either.
- I'm up 26 pounds from my lowest since I started WW. That was in early September. I've lost 16.4 pounds overall since beginning WW a year and a half ago. Clearly, the trend is not in the direction I want it to be in. I think I'm ready to make some changes, and the anti-inflammatory changes should help. I'm going to start with the ones that have no impact on hubby and I eating together and expand to integrating other changes in the least disruptive way possible.
- No stick shredding. In fact, I'm seriously asking my neighbor with the commercial quality shredder how much he'd charge to shred the pile (it would take him about fifteen minutes and me about 8 hours with my little 10HP shredder).
The Week Ahead:
- The kitchen floor. After two weeks of mostly surrendering it to the cats, it needs a good vacuum, sweep, and mop. Same for the kitchen counters (although, the cats are not supposed to be up there, I'm sure there were while we were out of town).
- In fact, no matter what week this is for FlyLady, it's a kitchen week for me.
- I'm going to say it again, PBOTL.
- And again, recumbent bike.
- Get the meal planning laid out, a good grocery list made, purchase, and execute the plan
- Track for WW
Quickie check in
Hey gang!
Everything's fine here, just busy as usual. I don't know if I'll have a chance for a full post, but I just wanted to wish you all a lovely weekend! {{huggs}}
Everything's fine here, just busy as usual. I don't know if I'll have a chance for a full post, but I just wanted to wish you all a lovely weekend! {{huggs}}
Monday, June 11, 2012
Steven Pressfield quote
“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death."
Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Done and will do
Here's the skinny on my week.
Planned last week:
- Walk at the gym three times and try for four: only walked twice at the gym, but did ride the bike at home.
- Continue the low carb diet: Did this.
- Work on On Target: Did this.
- Attend the Creations 2012 book signing this Thursday and sell some of my books there, too! Did this. Sold five books of mine there. The group sold 12 of Creations 2012. Another author sold a few books, also. It was a nice signing. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and the readings went over well. Took most of the day, though. A lot of work to set up and take down. Glad to have done it, but glad it's over, too.
- Write a few words -- just words, dang it -- on Murder by the Mile. Did a few words. Not a lot, but slowly they came. I think I can coax them back if I'm careful. I long for those 2,000 word days I did in NaNoWriMo. I'd be really happy with a 1,000 word day right now.
- Fight the black dog relentlessly. Did this.
- Working on having faith in anything. There are good things in this world. I have to find them in my ordinary world and make them part of my life. Worked on this, but got another couple of hits last week. Sometimes I think certain people really do choose to the most evil thing.
Also did:
- Attended the Saturday writers group meeting and heard about a member's recent trip to Haiti. Brought into focus for me that I really do have "first world problems." Terrifying what the Haitian people confront day-to-day.
- Enjoyed a welcome home dinner with a friend that evening. She had been spent nearly two weeks in Italy and Germany. Her photos of the Vatican were fantastic. It was awesome. I hope to see more of them.
Planned this week:
This week:
- Walk at the gym three times and try for four.
- Continue the low carb diet.
- Work on On Target.
- Write a more words on Murder by the Mile.
- Fight the black dog relentlessly.
- Continue to look for the good things in this world.
- Work on the swimming pool. It's past time for it to be up. Still a lot of work to go.
- Make appointment with doctor for my half-year diabetes checkup. We'll see how that goes.
Hope y'all have a great week!
Planned last week:
- Walk at the gym three times and try for four: only walked twice at the gym, but did ride the bike at home.
- Continue the low carb diet: Did this.
- Work on On Target: Did this.
- Attend the Creations 2012 book signing this Thursday and sell some of my books there, too! Did this. Sold five books of mine there. The group sold 12 of Creations 2012. Another author sold a few books, also. It was a nice signing. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and the readings went over well. Took most of the day, though. A lot of work to set up and take down. Glad to have done it, but glad it's over, too.
- Write a few words -- just words, dang it -- on Murder by the Mile. Did a few words. Not a lot, but slowly they came. I think I can coax them back if I'm careful. I long for those 2,000 word days I did in NaNoWriMo. I'd be really happy with a 1,000 word day right now.
- Fight the black dog relentlessly. Did this.
- Working on having faith in anything. There are good things in this world. I have to find them in my ordinary world and make them part of my life. Worked on this, but got another couple of hits last week. Sometimes I think certain people really do choose to the most evil thing.
Also did:
- Attended the Saturday writers group meeting and heard about a member's recent trip to Haiti. Brought into focus for me that I really do have "first world problems." Terrifying what the Haitian people confront day-to-day.
- Enjoyed a welcome home dinner with a friend that evening. She had been spent nearly two weeks in Italy and Germany. Her photos of the Vatican were fantastic. It was awesome. I hope to see more of them.
Planned this week:
This week:
- Walk at the gym three times and try for four.
- Continue the low carb diet.
- Work on On Target.
- Write a more words on Murder by the Mile.
- Fight the black dog relentlessly.
- Continue to look for the good things in this world.
- Work on the swimming pool. It's past time for it to be up. Still a lot of work to go.
- Make appointment with doctor for my half-year diabetes checkup. We'll see how that goes.
Hope y'all have a great week!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Jean's June Week
Just got back from a nice weekend with the kids. Here's the update.
The Good Stuff:
- Got to meet my new grand dog, Cooper, this weekend. He's a hound mix, and at 11 weeks, he dwarfs his 4 year old Chihuahua brother.
- Got to spend some quality time with my older stepdaughter (she is an amazing woman).
- I did, in fact, look at PBOTL this week. That's about it, though.
- Yard got mowed and is mostly in order
- Doctor appointment went well. He said everything's good except my weight, but he didn't hassle me. I was unsure about potassium levels, so he had me stop at the lab for an electrolyte panel before I left. His office called me later in the day to say potassium levels were normal. Taking potassium gluconate seems to help my legs a little, so I'm not sure what to make of that.
- Got prescriptions refilled at Fort Hood.
- Got about a third of the back of the garage sanded.
The Not So Good Stuff:
- Didn't begin to get started on shredding sticks
- The chain saw is too dull to cut up the tree at the store, so that's on hold
- From the hips down, I'm experiencing a lot of discomfort. Some pain in the joints but aches everywhere else. My left thumb is also bothering me again. I'm not sure what to make of it. I think I'm going to need to explore a serious change in diet to focus on anti-inflammatory efforts. The difficulty with this is two-fold -- my reluctance and my husband's reluctance. I'm beginning research and looking for areas of common ground. One, of course, is found in the encouragement to reduce sodium (that's a common ground piece). Some are things I can (easily-hah!) do without his having to change a thing. Those are probably places to begin.
The Week Ahead:
- I'll call on Monday to set up my annual exam at the VA, and I'll inquire about a rheumatologist at that appointment (since the one at my primary provider moved to CA). My primary provider clinic just opened a new hospital over the weekend, which should help them attract more specialists and surgeons (they sold the hospital next door to the clinic to Scott and White for a Children's Hospital). I hope that expands my care options over the next year or so. I'll also talk to the VA about a pertussis and shingles vaccination.
- Resume work on PBOTL
- Drive to SA on Tuesday afternoon and return on Thursday morning. While there, get my truck serviced and take delivery on hubby's new Navigator (I need to be there to sign the papers to have it under joint ownership).
- Research what I want to do with diet to reduce inflammation and devise a plan to implement. Begin implementation. I believe it will start with associating certain foods with pain (probably visualization?). If I can switch them from pleasure to pain in my mind, they should become easy to avoid.
The Good Stuff:
- Got to meet my new grand dog, Cooper, this weekend. He's a hound mix, and at 11 weeks, he dwarfs his 4 year old Chihuahua brother.
- Got to spend some quality time with my older stepdaughter (she is an amazing woman).
- I did, in fact, look at PBOTL this week. That's about it, though.
- Yard got mowed and is mostly in order
- Doctor appointment went well. He said everything's good except my weight, but he didn't hassle me. I was unsure about potassium levels, so he had me stop at the lab for an electrolyte panel before I left. His office called me later in the day to say potassium levels were normal. Taking potassium gluconate seems to help my legs a little, so I'm not sure what to make of that.
- Got prescriptions refilled at Fort Hood.
- Got about a third of the back of the garage sanded.
The Not So Good Stuff:
- Didn't begin to get started on shredding sticks
- The chain saw is too dull to cut up the tree at the store, so that's on hold
- From the hips down, I'm experiencing a lot of discomfort. Some pain in the joints but aches everywhere else. My left thumb is also bothering me again. I'm not sure what to make of it. I think I'm going to need to explore a serious change in diet to focus on anti-inflammatory efforts. The difficulty with this is two-fold -- my reluctance and my husband's reluctance. I'm beginning research and looking for areas of common ground. One, of course, is found in the encouragement to reduce sodium (that's a common ground piece). Some are things I can (easily-hah!) do without his having to change a thing. Those are probably places to begin.
The Week Ahead:
- I'll call on Monday to set up my annual exam at the VA, and I'll inquire about a rheumatologist at that appointment (since the one at my primary provider moved to CA). My primary provider clinic just opened a new hospital over the weekend, which should help them attract more specialists and surgeons (they sold the hospital next door to the clinic to Scott and White for a Children's Hospital). I hope that expands my care options over the next year or so. I'll also talk to the VA about a pertussis and shingles vaccination.
- Resume work on PBOTL
- Drive to SA on Tuesday afternoon and return on Thursday morning. While there, get my truck serviced and take delivery on hubby's new Navigator (I need to be there to sign the papers to have it under joint ownership).
- Research what I want to do with diet to reduce inflammation and devise a plan to implement. Begin implementation. I believe it will start with associating certain foods with pain (probably visualization?). If I can switch them from pleasure to pain in my mind, they should become easy to avoid.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Tam's Week Twenty Three
Least I think that's the correct count. Almost halfway through 2012! It's been a wild week for me. :)
The Good Stuff:
The Good Stuff:
- Finished chapter 8, but haven't started 9 yet because I've had to go agent hunting. Yes, I said agent hunting (see the first not-so-good entry below)
- I have amazing writer friends. Two have hooked me up with agents who work with their agents (since I write different things than my friends do) and both have received SPORE's proposal stuff. It's rather mind-blowing to me how quickly all this is happening, and one agent even asked me today (Saturday) for my opening and synopsis. They are the only two writers I contacted about my crisis and both have bent over backwards and gone well beyond the call of friendship to help me. Both have gushed about Spore to me - and apparently their agents - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this goes well.
- I also contacted my old editor - who freelances now - and she, too, has the proposal packet after an near immediate reply that she'd LOVE to help. No word yet from her, but I'm sure she'll like it too.
- Since I promised everyone involved that Morgan was done and I had a synopsis, but then found out that I didn't have a synopsis, I am now writing its synopsis. In case someone wants it. (anyone here willing to read a synopsis? ;) )
- Sewed some strips for a Christmas Quilt
- Have only eaten out once - still driving through McD's for their unsweetened tea (we all love the stuff!!) but I broke down and got a sun tea jar so maybe we'll quit doing that. I usually dislike sun tea jars because they leak all over my refrigerator. Grr! So far so good with this one, tho. Maybe if we only pour from the top instead of using the spigot, it'll never leak. Right?
- Bill's found homes for the kittens. They're all going to farms - in pairs - and will, most likely, be outside cats. That's okay, their mama was a barn cat and their daddy is a stray, so they should do just fine.
- Someone got two new teeth! That's a cause for celebration! ;)
- Been walking almost every day this week (didn't walk today, tho)
Not So Good:
- My agent emailed me Wednesday to tell me he's retiring. He'd taken some time off around Memorial Day (I assumed a family/vacation kinda thing) but I guess he'd decided it was time to relax full time. Since his agency is pretty small, the other agents are already spread thin and none wanted to take me as a client or represent Spore. Fwiw, I can totally understand. Joyce Carol Oates, or me? I'd pick JCO, too. Anyway, he gave me some information about editors who might be interested in Spore (should my agent hunt not work out) and suggested I contact writer friends and my old editor (which definitely has worked out so far) and I'm all right, it was just a pretty big shock.
- I spent most of Wednesday in a daze, but once I figured out it would be all right, that this was just God's way of telling me to get out of my rut, it got a lot better really fast. I'm actually excited. A bit stressed, yes, but excited, too!
- Overnight, I put on 7lbs. (see next entry)
- I am BLOATED. Omg, my legs! It's awful. I get bloaty legs every summer, but it's not that hot or humid yet. The only things that changed this week are 1) I ate some chips last weekend and early this week and 2) I took a 2.5 mile (ish) hike with Bill around a lake. We went up hills, down hills, over bridges, and across meadows. It was hot, sunburny, and exhausting. I'm inclined to blame the walk, but I don't know if it was the exertion or the sunshine that did me in. I usually do my absolute best to Stay Out Of The Sun because I'm fish-belly white and I sunburn like nobody's business (and get kinda loopy/dopey/headachy too) but I don't think it's ever made me bloat. But, then again, all that walking should have made me LOSE weight, right? Not wake up the next morning weighing more than I have at any point THIS YEAR!! Whatever caused it, I don't like it. Been eating bananas to get more potassium in me and maybe some of this will fade off.
- My butt and thighs stil hurt from up and down and all around the lake. Owie!
for This Week:
- Write
- Stay positive
- Be thankful. I have an amazing life!
Have a good week, everyone. {{huggs}}
Friday, June 8, 2012
Wendy's week-checkin' in early
We're headed out of town this afternoon, going to Kansas City for the Scottish Games there. We'll see some friends, I'll tell Bodicea to my bard mentor and look for someone willing to come to the St. Louis Games who teaches Gaelic.
Good Stuff:
- Swam 4 days.
- Alex got back to school safely.
- Vicky was home almost all day yesterday. She's doing well in her classes and is enjoying the small class size. She even cooked dinner.
- Contacted the rest of my people from the Scottish Games from last year. Everyone is coming back. I have contracts almost ready to be e-mailed, and I'll get them out this afternoon.
- Lost the party weight. Now I have the research trip weight left to go.
Not So Good Stuff:
- Pollen and mold counts remained high through the first half of the week. I had a migraine Tuesday and felt like crud all the other days. Yesterday was better, today is the best I've felt in a week and a half. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the hassle of packing the neti pot and distilled water for the weekend. The pollen forecast is moderate, and mold is low, so I may take a chance.
- Got almost no writing done. I wanted to do about 7,500 words and got a little over 2,000. Needless to say, I will not be seeing "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" this week. Maybe next week if the weather cooperates.
- Very frustrated by the circumstances this week. If I'm going to turn pro, I need to be able to produce good work despite my circumstances, right? If we decide we're staying here, allergies are going to be an on-going problem and will affect me at least half the year. (Longer if we keep having mild winters.) It's one of those 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak' things, and I'm really trying to keep my frustration from spiraling into flagellation.
Reality Check:
- I realized yesterday that I have first world crappy weeks. We are so blessed to have a secure home and steady income, and that our kids still communicate with us. Even when I feel like crap and can't think enough to work, I know so many people who have it worse. My issues are real to me, but they're really trivial in the grand scheme.
Next Week:
- Try to concentrate
- Write
- Swim 3-4 times
Good Stuff:
- Swam 4 days.
- Alex got back to school safely.
- Vicky was home almost all day yesterday. She's doing well in her classes and is enjoying the small class size. She even cooked dinner.
- Contacted the rest of my people from the Scottish Games from last year. Everyone is coming back. I have contracts almost ready to be e-mailed, and I'll get them out this afternoon.
- Lost the party weight. Now I have the research trip weight left to go.
Not So Good Stuff:
- Pollen and mold counts remained high through the first half of the week. I had a migraine Tuesday and felt like crud all the other days. Yesterday was better, today is the best I've felt in a week and a half. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the hassle of packing the neti pot and distilled water for the weekend. The pollen forecast is moderate, and mold is low, so I may take a chance.
- Got almost no writing done. I wanted to do about 7,500 words and got a little over 2,000. Needless to say, I will not be seeing "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" this week. Maybe next week if the weather cooperates.
- Very frustrated by the circumstances this week. If I'm going to turn pro, I need to be able to produce good work despite my circumstances, right? If we decide we're staying here, allergies are going to be an on-going problem and will affect me at least half the year. (Longer if we keep having mild winters.) It's one of those 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak' things, and I'm really trying to keep my frustration from spiraling into flagellation.
Reality Check:
- I realized yesterday that I have first world crappy weeks. We are so blessed to have a secure home and steady income, and that our kids still communicate with us. Even when I feel like crap and can't think enough to work, I know so many people who have it worse. My issues are real to me, but they're really trivial in the grand scheme.
Next Week:
- Try to concentrate
- Write
- Swim 3-4 times
Monday, June 4, 2012
Tam's Week Twenty Two
Almost halfway to next year!
The Good Stuff:
The Good Stuff:
- Finished chapters six and seven, and am almost finished with chapter eight. I hit a big snag the other night that kind of derailed me for a bit - the characters wandered into a very boring 'we're gonna stand here and talk about nothing' corner - but I ripped that all out and tried again, only to have one of the characters reveal something that I wasn't expecting. But is cool. I took last night off - just too much life happening - but I'm back on the narrative tonight.
- House is mostly clean.
- Sewed on Tuesday and cut out some fabric for a Christmas quilt.
- Down a pound (the same one I keep finding and losing)
- Walked four times with Bill, a mile or so each
Not So Good:
- Would appreciate getting more than 500 ish words a night. I'd like to get back up to 2500 a day, but I'm not sure when that's gonna happen.
- I apparently ticked off a friend in chat the other day - she said some really nasty things to me about my writing methodology - and it upset me. I'm better, but it still stings.
- Could have eaten better. Because of general life craziness, we've eaten out too much and it's a lot harder (for me at least) to eat healthy once I'm in a restaurant. Somehow ordering a salad is a lot harder than ordering a BBQ bacon cheeseburger and onion rings. But then I feel queasy blecky for hours because my gut isn't used to the grease. Grr. Someday I'll learn.
- We still have kittens. All of them, other than maybe one, if the customer at Laura's Dollar General really does want it.
- Took my Rx antihistamine one night and it took me 2 days to think clearly again. It's a tough choice, sleep or be able to think.
- Life is a work in progress.
for This Week:
- Write
Have a good week, everyone. {{huggs}}
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Nearly halfway
Eeek! The year is nearly halfway over. Normally at this time, I look at the goals I set at the first of year and evaluate how I've done. I will not do that this time. I don't need the discouragement. Instead, I'm going to list what I've completed so far.
- Kept (mostly) to my low carb diet.
- Designed and published my writers group's first anthology, Creations 2012.
- Published the family newsletter monthly.
- Designed and sold 15 different birthday card designs.
- Walked at the gym most weeks except when illness interfered.
- Fought the black dog and mostly won the battles. That's a day-to-day thing sometimes.
- Mostly kept my blog going. Missed some days in there, but slowly catching up.
- Lost weight and inches. This should really be up there with the diet, but since the diet was mostly aimed in keeping my blood sugar under control, I thought it deserved a place of its own.
- Designed and published four photo books for various people. I actually printed these and put them together myself. Yes, it's easier online, but I wanted to learn, and let's be honest, I do have a lot of time to fill.
- Kept my house in order and uncluttered the back bedroom so that it's actually a guest bedroom and not a junk room. I have a few more things to do back there -- I need to do more uncluttering, and I want to paint it -- but overall, it looks good.
Overall, it's not been bad. Bad moments, such as the loss of my Uncle Terry and my good friend Mary Bratton, but good moments, too.
Now let's look at what's ahead.
My plans:
- I've started a course "Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft" and "The Joy of Mathematics" offered by The Great Courses from The Teaching Company. The first to help my skills as a writer and the second because I've always to learn math, really know it. I have a couple more I'm interested in, but I'm going to finish these two before starting any more. They take a surprising amount of time.
- Continue on the low carb diet.
- Continue to exercise and be more faithful.
- Fight the black dog until it surrenders or at least signs a truce.
- Continue to declutter my life and my house.
- Finish On Target, my friend's book that I'm compiling, designing, editing, and publishing.
- Finish and publish my book Murder by the Mile.
- Finish and publish Tales from Bethlehem, my first Christian book.
This week:
- Walk at the gym three times and try for four.
- Continue the low carb diet.
- Work on On Target.
- Attend the Creations 2012 book signing this Thursday and sell some of my books there, too!
- Write a few words -- just words, dang it -- on Murder by the Mile.
- Fight the black dog relentlessly.
- Working on having faith in anything. There are good things in this world. I have to find them in my ordinary world and make them part of my life.
Anyway, we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog. Have a great week.
Oh, before I go, this photo was wandering around Facebook. I like it.
- Kept (mostly) to my low carb diet.
- Designed and published my writers group's first anthology, Creations 2012.
- Published the family newsletter monthly.
- Designed and sold 15 different birthday card designs.
- Walked at the gym most weeks except when illness interfered.
- Fought the black dog and mostly won the battles. That's a day-to-day thing sometimes.
- Mostly kept my blog going. Missed some days in there, but slowly catching up.
- Lost weight and inches. This should really be up there with the diet, but since the diet was mostly aimed in keeping my blood sugar under control, I thought it deserved a place of its own.
- Designed and published four photo books for various people. I actually printed these and put them together myself. Yes, it's easier online, but I wanted to learn, and let's be honest, I do have a lot of time to fill.
- Kept my house in order and uncluttered the back bedroom so that it's actually a guest bedroom and not a junk room. I have a few more things to do back there -- I need to do more uncluttering, and I want to paint it -- but overall, it looks good.
Overall, it's not been bad. Bad moments, such as the loss of my Uncle Terry and my good friend Mary Bratton, but good moments, too.
Now let's look at what's ahead.
My plans:
- I've started a course "Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft" and "The Joy of Mathematics" offered by The Great Courses from The Teaching Company. The first to help my skills as a writer and the second because I've always to learn math, really know it. I have a couple more I'm interested in, but I'm going to finish these two before starting any more. They take a surprising amount of time.
- Continue on the low carb diet.
- Continue to exercise and be more faithful.
- Fight the black dog until it surrenders or at least signs a truce.
- Continue to declutter my life and my house.
- Finish On Target, my friend's book that I'm compiling, designing, editing, and publishing.
- Finish and publish my book Murder by the Mile.
- Finish and publish Tales from Bethlehem, my first Christian book.
This week:
- Walk at the gym three times and try for four.
- Continue the low carb diet.
- Work on On Target.
- Attend the Creations 2012 book signing this Thursday and sell some of my books there, too!
- Write a few words -- just words, dang it -- on Murder by the Mile.
- Fight the black dog relentlessly.
- Working on having faith in anything. There are good things in this world. I have to find them in my ordinary world and make them part of my life.
Anyway, we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog. Have a great week.
Oh, before I go, this photo was wandering around Facebook. I like it.
My Goodness, It's June!
There you have it. Go on vacation for three weeks, and the month is GONE. Just like that.
The Good Stuff:
- We survived vacation. Long train vacations won't be more than at least every two years. We like them, but they take a lot out of us. Not enough exercise and uncomfortable sleeping for the person on the top bunk -- and I refuse to get two bedrooms or a bedroom and a roomette so we can both sleep on the bottom bunk, and the 2/3 double bed the couch makes into isn't big enough for the both of us.
- Hubby arrived with garage door openers in tow. We made another pass for sticker burs (128) before mowing. I have the inner side yard and the back strip by the street to mow, and I'll get that done tomorrow.
- Hubby brought St. Augustine grass sprigs from San Antonio, and we planted them this afternoon and are watering.
- Laundry caught up from the trip and some things put away. Still have to get the suitcases back upstairs in the garage.
- Hubby ordered a new Navigator before we left on the trip, and it will be in next week! A little earlier than we expected.
- I managed to get a few (very few) words written since we got home. I've cleared space for PBOTL but have not resumed work on it yet.
- Next weekend, we're going to Dallas to see the kids.
- I did get on the recumbent bike for a few minutes last week (a very few).
The Not So Good Stuff:
- I've reached that point with Weight Watchers where I'm ignoring it. Which makes me wonder, why am I paying for something I'm refusing to use? I NEED to use it, but I'm refusing to do so. I'm not sure what would be best to do. Well, okay, that's not quite right, is it. What would be BEST for me to do is to get with the program and follow it. But since I seem to have reached that point where I won't do it, what is the best thing to do?
- Tied in with that, I see my doctor for my semi-annual visit on Tuesday, and I know he's not going to be happy. Sadly, that makes we want to change doctors, but that's not the right approach.
- Clearly, I'm still not handling my health with maturity or responsibility.
The Week Ahead:
- Refresh my memory with PBOTL and resume work
- Begin sanding the back of the garage (plastic already laid to catch debris).
- Continue yard work -- finish mowing and resume stick shredding
- Get through the doctor appointment on Tuesday and get new prescriptions dropped off at Ft Hood for filling.
- Cut up fallen tree at store building
The Good Stuff:
- We survived vacation. Long train vacations won't be more than at least every two years. We like them, but they take a lot out of us. Not enough exercise and uncomfortable sleeping for the person on the top bunk -- and I refuse to get two bedrooms or a bedroom and a roomette so we can both sleep on the bottom bunk, and the 2/3 double bed the couch makes into isn't big enough for the both of us.
- Hubby arrived with garage door openers in tow. We made another pass for sticker burs (128) before mowing. I have the inner side yard and the back strip by the street to mow, and I'll get that done tomorrow.
- Hubby brought St. Augustine grass sprigs from San Antonio, and we planted them this afternoon and are watering.
- Laundry caught up from the trip and some things put away. Still have to get the suitcases back upstairs in the garage.
- Hubby ordered a new Navigator before we left on the trip, and it will be in next week! A little earlier than we expected.
- I managed to get a few (very few) words written since we got home. I've cleared space for PBOTL but have not resumed work on it yet.
- Next weekend, we're going to Dallas to see the kids.
- I did get on the recumbent bike for a few minutes last week (a very few).
The Not So Good Stuff:
- I've reached that point with Weight Watchers where I'm ignoring it. Which makes me wonder, why am I paying for something I'm refusing to use? I NEED to use it, but I'm refusing to do so. I'm not sure what would be best to do. Well, okay, that's not quite right, is it. What would be BEST for me to do is to get with the program and follow it. But since I seem to have reached that point where I won't do it, what is the best thing to do?
- Tied in with that, I see my doctor for my semi-annual visit on Tuesday, and I know he's not going to be happy. Sadly, that makes we want to change doctors, but that's not the right approach.
- Clearly, I'm still not handling my health with maturity or responsibility.
The Week Ahead:
- Refresh my memory with PBOTL and resume work
- Begin sanding the back of the garage (plastic already laid to catch debris).
- Continue yard work -- finish mowing and resume stick shredding
- Get through the doctor appointment on Tuesday and get new prescriptions dropped off at Ft Hood for filling.
- Cut up fallen tree at store building
Wendy's Week
The beginning of the week was pretty darn good. Then it rained on and off for two days, which was great because we needed the rain, but it made the mold spores spike, which is not good. I'm dealing with allergy head. Not fun. Have you ever noticed that a neti pot is shaped like a genie's lamp without a lid? I'm pretty sure it's because you pour a cup of water into it, and when you pour it out through your sinuses, a quart comes out. It's magic if ever I saw it.
Good stuff:
- I started making arrangements for our "wedding" in September. As it turns out, camp will be open to the public on our actual anniversary, so we'll do it that day and it won't be any problem to get my mom into camp. I also won't have to mess with costuming for her unless she wants it.
- Got most of the weeding done.
- Swam three days.
- Got back into the routine. Sort of. More on that in a minute.
- Went to a party with our Scottish friends yesterday. Good food and good company. Drunk Scots are fun to hang out with! I got to formally meet some members of our society that I hadn't met yet.
- Alex headed back to school today. He'll be there all of June and will probably get home (for the rest of the summer) just in time for the Boys to get here.
- Wrote 3,926 words. Closed May at 26,320, which is about 6k more than I did in April in the same number of days.
Not So Good Stuff:
- While I did get back into the routine, things that are not routine got forgotten. Things like a dental cleaning and acupuncture. Not a good week at all for appointments.
- Lost 1.7 pounds, and then promptly gained them back at the party. Note to me: Plan ahead for the next party and lose a few extra pounds in advance. Or try to. It's usually not that easy.
- Didn't make the calls to line up the volunteers for the Scottish Games.
- Word count dropped when the mold count spiked.
- My family has apparently forgotten that when the house rings, you're supposed to answer it. Sometimes I just let it ring if it's a number I don't recognize, but it would be nice if they would at least get up and go look at it.
This week:
- Make the Scottish Games calls
- Get the bard contract ready to take to Kansas City next week so he can sign it
- Write (the reward for finishing early is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
- Reschedule acupuncture
- Practice for my first 'bard test' (I have to tell my mentor Bodicea's story next weekend)
Good stuff:
- I started making arrangements for our "wedding" in September. As it turns out, camp will be open to the public on our actual anniversary, so we'll do it that day and it won't be any problem to get my mom into camp. I also won't have to mess with costuming for her unless she wants it.
- Got most of the weeding done.
- Swam three days.
- Got back into the routine. Sort of. More on that in a minute.
- Went to a party with our Scottish friends yesterday. Good food and good company. Drunk Scots are fun to hang out with! I got to formally meet some members of our society that I hadn't met yet.
- Alex headed back to school today. He'll be there all of June and will probably get home (for the rest of the summer) just in time for the Boys to get here.
- Wrote 3,926 words. Closed May at 26,320, which is about 6k more than I did in April in the same number of days.
Not So Good Stuff:
- While I did get back into the routine, things that are not routine got forgotten. Things like a dental cleaning and acupuncture. Not a good week at all for appointments.
- Lost 1.7 pounds, and then promptly gained them back at the party. Note to me: Plan ahead for the next party and lose a few extra pounds in advance. Or try to. It's usually not that easy.
- Didn't make the calls to line up the volunteers for the Scottish Games.
- Word count dropped when the mold count spiked.
- My family has apparently forgotten that when the house rings, you're supposed to answer it. Sometimes I just let it ring if it's a number I don't recognize, but it would be nice if they would at least get up and go look at it.
This week:
- Make the Scottish Games calls
- Get the bard contract ready to take to Kansas City next week so he can sign it
- Write (the reward for finishing early is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
- Reschedule acupuncture
- Practice for my first 'bard test' (I have to tell my mentor Bodicea's story next weekend)