Monday Monday

I'm so glad to be back. Didn't think you'd see that for a while, did you? :-)

Good week at Mom's. Got caught up with the family and a friend from high school, who recently had bypass surgery. Yeah, that made me feel old, even though he's young to have heart surgery. We didn't really do anything special while I was there. Shopping, as usual. I didn't find much I wanted to buy. That's a sign that my "Do I love this enough to move it, probably twice?" mentality has become ingrained.

I didn't get any writing done, but I did get some research done. Sort of. We watched two WWI movies, one about American pilots, and the other about the Red Baron, so I got the war from both sides. They also had a decent representation of what common people wore in that era. That probably helped more than anything. Of course, it doesn't help me get back in the saddle, but I'd have to do that anyway.

It's supposed to rain on and off for the next three days. That means I'll get occasional breaks from my Velcro kitty. I was away too long for him, and it didn't help that Eric went on a church retreat over the weekend. They were only alone one night, but he's a little freaked out. Poor guy. Logic doesn't work with cats.

That's pretty much it. It was a low key week, too early in the season for yard work, but late enough that I didn't have to deal with snow when I was traveling. Cutting the distance in half made the drive a lot better, too. I'll try to wrangle YouTube this week, and I'll post the link where you can find it.

Stuck in the middle with you, and I don't know what it is I can do.

I can't say it's been a bad week - it hasn't - but I feel like I'm falling apart.

My Mutinous Cyst has decided to up the ante and start causing discomfort. I hesitate to call it pain, because it's really not painful, exactly, more pressure and heaviness and something in the way when I move, unless of course something (or someone - I'm looking at #TheToddler here) slams against it, then it's definitely painful. The latest ultrasound - taken Friday morning - showed that it has remained the same size since the previous set of pics back in Feb. My physician (who I didn't see, I merely spoke to her nurse on the phone) said that since it's not shrinking and is now causing me trouble I might consider getting it removed, and she can set me up with someone to talk to about the procedure.

I just don't know. Doing so would likely relieve a whole pile of issues (I am having an odd assortment of perimenopause symptoms) but is no longer being cold and itchy worth abdominal surgery? I just don't know what to do.

Oh! I'm also fighting some crappy allergy sinus thing where the stooooooopid trees keep tweaking my nasal passages with their sexy bits. Dang trees wanting to make babies with my nose! Go bother other trees with your biological urges, not me!!

Writing wise, I haven't even looked at anything this week. I know it's because neither book is getting traction and I don't know what direction to go, but this shall pass. Right?

Paid off a credit card this week, which was lovely to do. :)

My weight is terrible. I've put on - gasp! - THIRTY POUNDS. BAM! I had been holding steady at about 15lbs up until this dang cyst thing started, but I don't know how much of the gain is due to the cyst or due to me reaching a frustrated case of the I don't give a flips or stress eating or what. I do know I haven't been following the plan well at all, and I am in charge of what goes into my mouth as well as how much exercise I do. Sigh. Now that all of the easter candy is gone, I can do better! Right? I am positive this newly returned weight is not helping my knees.

LOVING the new bed. Muchly. It's awesome.

Mostly I'm exhausted and aching and tired and frustrated and wandering around wondering what to do. On most everything.

{{hugs}} and have a great week.

Lean On Me

Mr. L has returned from SA, and from all the griping he's doing about all the things he couldn't get done that he needed to do because he had to do things I usually do, I guess he missed me.  I sincerely doubt he would have gotten much more accomplished even if I'd have been there.  At least, that's the way it seems when I do go down there with him.  But, I've noticed he's much more discombobulated when I'm not around.  I think it's going to be more this way rather then less for the rest of our lives.  After twenty years of marriage, I'm still trying to figure out how to synchronize my life with what he needs.  I realize that sounds negative.  It's not meant to.

My appointment went well my my nurse practitioner.  She got the annual exam out of the way.  She examined both my knees, said, "That's interesting" but didn't elaborate, and I got distracted trying to remember other things I needed to ask her and didn't get a clarification. She had the prosthetics shop give me a cool knee brace, and I wish I'd had her give me two, because this one is better than the really nice one I already had.  Oh, well.  I got x-rays of feet, knees, and right hip.  Feet are for referral to podiatry to get new custom orthotics for my feet and probably to have the numbness in my big toe examined -- she suspects age-related bunion.  For my chapped eye corners, she recommends Vaseline, which is what I was thinking.  And she's going to send me a steroid cream for my psoriasis on my elbows and knuckles.  If that doesn't work, she'll refer me to dermatology.  She examined my thumb, and we both agree I probably just jammed it.  A productive visit that knocked out a lot of nagging annoyances. I should be hearing from podiatry in a few weeks, and I'm not sure if orthopedics will be contacting me or not, but the x-rays are on my record, so I'm comfortable for now.

It's a static week for weight.  Actually, I picked up a couple of pounds, but I'm going to stay the course, and I think they'll drop over the next week or so. Stabilization and all that.  I do need to remain diligent in my efforts, though.

The Lift Team sent me a nice Polar Heart Rate Monitor as a thank you for participating in their Quantified Diet Study (Tammy got a cool cookbook for her efforts).

I got several scenes knocked out for Kitty City while I had ownership of the kitchen table.  I think I'm down to eight scenes to go before I can move on to Lesson 18 of How To Revise Your Novel.  I did prep work for How To Write A Series, which will be Kitty City.  Overall, a productive writing week.  According to Timesheeter, 6.5 hours worth of work.  Not exactly outstanding, but much more than I've been doing for quite a while.

The Week Ahead:

• Help Mr. L with his projects
• Mow and trim
• Water
• Find a way to fit writing work in around him
• Public Health Preparedness Volunteer Training on Monday night (I'm not sure what this will entail, if anything.  Their flier wasn't very specific)
• Get sleep and pay attention to what I eat.

Hope y'all have a great week.

Vento secundo

It's been a long week. My heart has been misbehaving again. Annoying, but not life-threatening. We'll probably change my meds at my next doctor's visit. Tired of that happening. Dread the side effects. Well, eventually they will get it right -- after exhausting all other options, I guess.

What did I do last week?
- I did chores.
- I worked on Darkness, Oklahoma. Jean read the first 167 pages and gave me useful information. I have the last 55 pages written, an ending I really like. But how to get from the middle to the end? I don't know how to yet. Will have to see how it writes out. I also want to change some names and add a bit more depth (mythology) for those who want to look for it.
- Organized my writing projects.
- I uploaded, published, and ordered the final (I hope) proof copy of the anthology for the writers group.
- Read three books.
- Planted a small herb container garden in my backyard. Pots on shelves.
- Bought more flowers for the front of the house.
- Spent a quiet and nice Easter today.

What will I do this week?
- Restart the walking program.
- Work on Murder by the Mile. Need to write some more pages on it. Not sure if they will be pages I keep, but they may help me get to the right pages.
- Household chores.
- Lunch with a friend Wednesday.
- Water the plants every other day.
- Clean the aquarium.
- Lunch with a friend Friday.
- Writers group meeting Saturday in which we will finalize (I hope) the book order for the anthology.
- Lunch after the meeting with a friend.

It's a week of lunches, it looks like. I hope you had a good Easter. I hope you have a good week.

Eggs and Such

LittleMiss is off to her other family this morning, so it's a typical crappy Sunday for us. We don't really celebrate Easter other than the candy and egg hunting part, which we already did. I was part of the community Easter Egg hunt, at least the stuffing and hiding eggs part. It was pretty fun (and in the park right behind our house, so it was as convenient as such things could possibly be) and it went well. There's a very definite difference between boys and girls, though. Boys of all ages kept trying to sneak in and get their candy early, and even when they weren't allowed to get it, they'd linger close enough to just snatch it right up as soon as the okay was given.

Most of the girls - of all ages, since the Lion in charge sends the kids out in waves, starting with the littlest to give the small kids a chance before bigger ones trample them - each had one egg and one bag of candy - the minimum we ensured all kids had. A few had one bag or one egg more. The boys, however, had ALL THE REST and some of the girls were upset because their brother (or whoever) got like 5 times as much. But the boys were, and are, more physical, faster, and more prone to climbing, etc, than the girls, so while the girls grabbed the easy to see/reach ones, the boys got those as they ran past to get the harder to get ones. If that makes sense.

Anyway, I found the gender differences, even in toddlers, very interesting. Our biggest troublemaker was maybe a year and a half old and whenever his parents would drag him back to the other side of the gate, he'd escape their clutches and snag up eggs and candy. Repeatedly. Even after lectures, punishment, etc. He was cute, but I bet he'll be trouble in the future.

Otherwise, things are things. I really like the new mattress a LOT - my body just goes 'aaaaaaahhhhhhh!' when I go to bed instead of 'arrgh!', which is awesome. Loving the new couch. I've been exercising well, but the weight continues to climb, mostly because I continue to eat.

I do like eating. Dammit. *tam pokes her flab*

Wrote some fiction this week, just 10 pages or so of feeling out a character, nothing too special but it was nice to do. Despite snow earlier this week, the weather's been pretty good - off and on rain today - and things are starting to turn green. There are even a few leaf buds on the trees, but no sprouting leaves yet.

Declinations keep coming. Most are very nice, but I'm becoming rather discouraged about SPORE. I was just too late for the genre. It's my own fault, but it's also discouraging.

My allergies are in fine form. I'll have sudden sneezing fits for no apparent reason and the headache has been pretty much constant for a couple of weeks now despite Claritin, cold pills, and ibuprofen. Sigh. I've also had some struggles with the blues, nothing too dark and deep, just general blah and 'i don't give a flip'.

Mostly, tho, things are good. I hope you all have a great Easter. {{hugs}}

I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes.

I was riding my bike to pick up the truck from being washed and vacuumed at the detail place behind the shop.  I needed to turn left, so I tried to see if there was anyone behind me (there was), and when I turned back to the front, I wobbled into the curb and fell down.  Embarrassing. I got up, brushed myself off, and finished riding to the shop.  Shortly after I got up, I realized I must have jammed my left thumb (the one that gives me problems anyway) on the handlebar grip when I fell, because it hurt.  I iced it when I got home.  I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with it -- I'm thinking the same thing as happened with my knee when I slipped on the stairs -- it bent further than the arthritis is willing to let it bend without complaining. (I have an appointment with my nurse practitioner on Wednesday, so I'll ask to have it checked, too.)

Not a bad week.  Still feeling pretty upbeat.

Mr. L decided not to see his general practitioner.  He decided (and I agree) his problem stems from using too much Afrin, which is the problem when you start using nasal sprays.  He says he's weaning himself off the Afrin, so I hope that does the trick for him.

I retired my larger size jeans and am in the next size full time.  I have a bunch of other jeans in this same size that don't fit yet, so I'll be here for a while, but I'm on track.  I'm ready to pull some XL T-shirts out, because these XXLs are getting baggy.  I'm aware of what happened last time I did that (I didn't stay in the smaller size for very long).  I'm planning for different results this time.

Lift published the results from their diet study.  All but the Sleep Diet were validated at valid weight loss plans.  Interestingly, the Mindful Eating plan was the least effective.  For me, I believe it was the most effective.  And, frankly, I really only care about me when it comes to this study.

I got mowing done at both the store and the house (we didn't get predicted rain).  I got some work done at the shop getting yard sale stuff put away, and I bagged a bag of debris from out back and put it out for the trash guys.  I did a very little work on PBOTL.  I started looking at my Things approach but am not finished.  I'm evaluating MailTags.  Not sure if I'm as interested as I thought yet.  Mail Search is pretty good.  It's a thirty day trial.  We'll see.

The Week Ahead:

• Continue work on PBOTL and begin work on How To Write A Series Expansion course.  I think I'm going to do Kitty City as a series.  I'm wondering what genre to do it in, though. How I'm doing it now doesn't seem to lend itself to any particular genre.  Sigh. 
• Medical appointment on Wednesday to do annual exam and get a myriad of niggling things looked at.

Happy Easter

Already. Normally, I'd ask where the year has gone, but this year I'm glad it has. I'm cautiously optimistic that it's actually spring. I got too cocky last week, and it snowed. Again.

Good Stuff:
- Not only did I meet my bible study group in a new place, I took the bus and train to get there. It was more of an adventure since I got on the bus going the wrong way initially, but I figured it out, and I wasn't late enough to worry anyone.
- I have a lead not only on another local writing group, but also on a storytelling group that meets once a month.
- The weather has been nice enough to work on the roof. Not work on the roof, like roofing repairs. Plotting. In a notebook. Stop it, Stephen! Bottom line is maybe I won't be vitamin D deficient this summer.
- I got another storytelling gig at the Games in Springfield. I'm doing three sets, maybe four. That'll be plenty for a one-day festival. I'm still waiting to hear from the Chicago Games person.
- I get to spend next week with my mom. I'll be stopping to see Grandma on the way. Looking forward to the shorter drive.
- My hair is finally long enough to put up in a ponytail and a half decent braid.
- Allergies are not terrible so far this year. It would be nice if I were less allergic to Chicago than I am to St. Louis. Maybe it's because we have virtually no green space?


Not So Good Stuff:
- Still haven't posted a video on YouTube. Probably won't for another couple weeks since I'll be in the Land Of Cable Internet next week. At least they don't have dial-up anymore.
- It's the first Easter without the kids. I'm not thinking about it. Instead, I'm focusing on leaving town Monday morning.
- I started the rewrite of Weeping Willow. Progress is glacial. The changes are interesting, but it's like re-plotting the whole dang story. At least none of the big pieces have changed. Yet.

This week:
- Hang out with the family.
- Try to get at least a few minutes of writing time in the evenings so I don't lose too much momentum on the story.

A good week overall

It was a good week overall, capped by a writers group meeting Saturday in which I gave my very first PowerPoint presentation. It was also the first PPP ever for the group. The group now has 20 paid members for its core and another 10 or so guests who wander in occasionally. That might not sound impressive, but prior to this, the group averaged five or six members. It's growing, and the members are learning about writing. This year's anthology is better than last year's, and the book has improved each year. I'm proud of it and the members.

Haven't exercised this week. I concentrated on doing work around the horse: chores and gardening. They left me exhausted, but pleased. I started an herb garden on my back porch. Just few herbs, but I'm going to add more. I want to fill my porch, yard, and life with green, growing things, and I don't mean my cousin Frank.

In writing, not much to report. I am participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge. I've had a few comments, but really, the participants don't visit much. I've been visiting five blogs a day as they suggest and leaving comments, but I've had few visitors and fewer comments. Well, it's still interesting for what I learn from doing it.

Got my taxes done. Had to pay the feds and got money back from the state. Neither amount was large. I've learned how to keep my money closely so that my taxes even out. Of course, the amount of income is nothing to rejoice about, but it is income. I'm grateful for my readers who have continued to buy my books and tell other people about them.

My goldfish are doing well. Just in case you had wondered. I'm sure people wonder about them. I don't think they're going to go to college, but that's their decision. I can't expect them to be happy in the home aquarium forever.

Couldn't go the Medieval Fair last weekend. I was really disappointed. We were going to try to go Sunday, but it got rained out and closed early. Next year, I will get to go and hear Scottish bands and eat expensive food and see too many people in tights.

This week's plans include:
- Getting my hair cut. It's getting rather wild.
- Household chores.
- Working on a project that it's too soon to talk about.
- Submit a revision and order the final proof copy of the writers group anthology.
- Pick up a couple more herbs at the local garden center.
- Take more photos of spring.
- Exercise some. Even 10 minutes a day would be great.
- Edit a page a day in a friend's short story.
- Edit a page a day in a friend's book.
- Blog M-Q.
- Take books back to library on time.
- And a few other mundane things.

Hope you have a marvelous week.

Umm, yeah.

I think it's been a good week. I did stuff, but it's all a little hazy. Apparently, performing several times in a weekend really takes the wind out of my sails. It was Wednesday before I felt like I could get it together. I took several naps but didn't watch as much TV as usual, so I guess that's all good. It took until Thursday, I think, to get the van unloaded.

I'm in the process of figuring out how to post a video to YouTube. I started to do it the other day, got distracted, and have been procrastinating in hopes that I can concentrate long enough to not mess it up. When I have it up, I'll post the link on Facebook.

Eric and I did a double-feature at the movies yesterday. We saw Noah first. It was all right--about what I expected, based on the reviews. I didn't see anything anti-Judeo-Christian, but there was mysticism threaded through. My biggest gripe was how Noah got it into his head that they couldn't reproduce because man had messed up creation, and the reset would only work if men were all dead. There came a point where I wished he would just step off the ark and end it all. There's more, but it involves spoilers.

Captain America: The Winter Solder, OTOH, was pretty amazing. The story was well-done, but what impressed me more was that the eye candy stayed decently wrapped the whole time. No gratuitous butt shots, no naked chests preening for the camera, nothing more indecent than yoga pants. That made it a lot more palatable, at least for me. The final fight scene became a bit tedious. I don't know why they always have to run the clock out to the last second to save the world.

Between the movies, we walked across the street to a hole-in-the-wall barbecue place. Sooooo yummy! I haven't had barbecue that good since we left NC in 1998. They just about made the whole move worthwhile!

So that's the excitement here. What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Here We Are

Not surprisingly, time is still flying.  We're back for another week. And this is three weeks in a row where I feel uncharacteristically optimistic.  What is wrong with me! I can only attribute it to the new habit of jotting down three positives and why in my 750 words entry each day.  Nothing else has changed. 

I am mildly concerned about Mr. L.  He's long complained about not sleeping well, but he's been fighting this nasal congestion for seemingly months with no relief.  It seems like it's centered in his sinuses.  He refuses to believe he could have any allergies.  He's not sleeping well. He's always tired, and he doesn't have much energy -- approaching how he was feeling before he had his stent installed, but his cardiologist can't find anything wrong.  He's heading to SA this week for an eye appointment and an appointment with his cardiologist about another matter near the end of the month.  I'm encouraging him to get an appointment with his regular physician between those two appointments to see if they can ferret out what's bothering him now.  I think he plans to do this (he's good about going to his doctor when he needs to, and he trusts his doctor, so this should help).  He's napping now, and it's 11 am.

I think this will be the week I retire my larger size jeans with hopes of putting them in the next yard sale.  The larger size feels too "flappy." The next smaller size feels about right.  I hope I don't have to stay at this size for too long, because these jeans are more worn.  I may have to move back down to XL T-shirts, too, because these are feeling a little "roomy."  I like these changes.  I don't have dramatic changes this week.  My body seems to be adjusting to where it's at now.  I'm still at 20 pounds lost since January and three inches off my waist since I started measuring in mid-January, because this week has been what seems like a maintenance week.  I'm on track for my goals.

I upgraded to Timesheeter Pro (the free version was limited to 10 entries, and, while I wasn't there yet, I know I like the app).  It works very easily, and I'm finding it helpful in feeling more professional about my approach to writing.  I've been working on Kitty City this week.

I plan to spread PBOTL out on the table while Mr. L is in SA to focus on revision work for the week and a half he'll be gone.  When he comes back, he should be bringing me a table I can use to keep my work spread out on behind where I work on the computer.  (He's picked out a table from the shop to take to SA for keeping his printer on down there.)  I anticipate this will help me work for regularly on revisions.

The free corner of stuff is all gone at the shop, so we'll start a new one for next year.  We hauled two trailer loads of mostly dressers to the city dump for the city wide cleanup day when the city lets residents dump for free -- a $160 value for us.  I love seeing the open space that created at the shop.  We have more to go, but this has been a good week.  I'll work on putting away the yard sale stuff while Mr. L is in SA, opening up the showroom for him to resume work on the ceiling when he gets back.

My sister got the job. An answer to my prayers (and hers!).  She starts on the 16th, I think.  I get the sense this is at a level below her last job, but there is room for advancement, and it is in her field.  The team lead who was in on the second interview was impressed with her QA experience, and I believe that will be where her opportunity for advancement will be.  So thankful.  Her unemployment benefits ran out at the end of March, so this was crucial for her and her family.  Besides, I've heard it's easier to find employment from a position of being employed, so even if this doesn't work out in a positive way for her, she'll be applying from a position of strength if she should happen to seek other options.

I purchased Spam Sieve.  It's still in learning mode, but it seems to actually learn, which was more than I could say for Mail.

The flossing diet has been going great.  My teeth (and me) are happier when I remember to floss every day.  The check box on Lift is just the reminder I need to make sure I get it done everyday.

The Week Ahead:

• Mow at the store
• Put away yard sale stuff and clear the showroom
• Perhaps move everything upstairs at the shop to one area to facilitate Mr. L's plans.
• Work on PBOTL revisions
• Plan revamp of Things and email filing practices.  Neither seem right to me. Mail appears to have some capabilities I'm not using, and I'm going to explore them while I wait for an add-on to be revamped for Mavericks.  If I learn to use Mail's native capabilities better, maybe I won't need the add on.  At least I'll have a better idea of what I'm looking for.
• Evaluate the apps I use and delete the ones I know I don't want from my devices.  Simple decluttering in the electronic sphere.  There's a term for what I do, and Mr. L would be disdainful -- it's called quantifying my life, but for some reason, I feel better when I can mark things off and track things.  Apparently, a lot of other people do it, too. It'll be our little secret.  Shhh.

Too staggered to spring

Since our daughter got a second job, I am babysitting a LOT. Almost all day, every day (at least 8am-4pm, but sometimes 8-9:30) and I am POOPED.

POOPED, I say!

I've gotten back on plan with WW and haven't lost a bit yet. I'm tracking everything, getting my GHGs in, exercising... still sitting in the same spot. Ah well.

I can, also, feel my mutinous cyst now so that might (probably) be a contributing factor. Just have to stick to it and keep going.

Up here, we *just* got spring temperatures yesterday and there isn't any wintery stuff in the forecast, so maybe we're finally past it. I hope so, but my allergies are pretty miserable. The doggone trees keep wanting to get their sexy bits up in my sinuses, dang them! I have, however, been walking some in the evenings, sometimes w/ the kid in tow in the wagon, sometimes not, so that's good.

Morgan is off to publishers and I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but also trying not to think about it much. SPORE's off to a new set of publishers too. Hopefully something will sell soon.

We did some work to the kitchen this past week, just adding some counter space across from the dishwasher, and I'm liking the extra room. The new couch came today - like it gobs - and we picked out a different bed since the TempurPedic wasn't working for me and my neck and knees. It'll come next week, supposedly.

That's pretty much it for me. {{hugs}} and have a great remainder of your week, everyone!

Timesheeter Free

Per Wendy's recommendation, I'm reading TURNING PRO by Steven Pressfield.  Okay.  I get why you recommended it.  Totally.  Thank you.  He mentions the age-old line about 10,000 hours of investment before the work becomes worthy.

Wendy has mentioned tracking hours worked, and I know many others who do the same.  I've considered it before, but nothing's really handy when I sit down to work in a variety of environments.

Yesterday, I conducted a search on my iPhone App Store and found a highly rated gem called Timesheeter Free, and it looks like it will do what I want it to do. 

For grins, I figured out what my time is worth per hour, based upon my income and a 24 hour clock (no overtime for me).  It's a completely fictitious thing, but it may have some value at some point.  I can enter a variety of projects and tasks, then, when I'm ready to begin working, I tap the app, tap the time clock icon, select the project and task (or add one), click the green arrow to start the clock, and begin working. If I take a break, I tap pause, then tap the green arrow when I begin again.  Tap the red dot to stop.  I'm sure I'll forget at various points, but it claims to be exportable.  And, since I seem to respond to these types of self-imposed tracking systems in a generally positive way, maybe it will result in me working on more productive things than I have been to date.

Surreal

Wow, what a weekend! It was great to be back in familiar surroundings with friends. I spent one night at the house downstate, which was a little like visiting my mom's house. It was weird, but not sad. I had good crowds for almost all of my eight story sets and unknowingly auditioned for the Springfield IL Games next month.

Once we got the festival underway, everything was great. Before that I had to chase down sandbags to weigh down my tent because they moved the festival to a big parking lot the day before it started. The park where we usually are hadn't dried out from the snow, and it rained last week, too, so it was a soggy mess. The parking lot worked out much better.

The rest of the week wasn't without drama. Eric had a business trip to Minneapolis. We were on our way to O'Hare Monday morning when he got an automated phone call from the airline that he'd been bumped from his flight. He decided it would be simpler to rent a car at the airport and drive up. He called about noon Wednesday to tell me about the winter storm heading their way. He scrambled to get everything done and flew back Wednesday evening. Since the last leg of what would have been his return trip went from O'Hare to St. Louis, he cancelled everything except that and I picked him up right after I finished the sand bag drama. I was ready for a drink at that point, but honestly, once I saw him walking through the airport, everything was right in my world.

Today I'm tired and my voice, well, it isn't shot, but it isn't strong. Of course, allergy season kicked in last week. I have a van full of stuff to unload and schlep up 4 floors. Thank goodness for the elevator and my wagon. They've saved my bacon so many times!

Guess it's time to get back to reality.

Deuces are Wild

It sounded good.  The week went pretty well.  Here's the good stuff. (I had plenty of grumpy sessions, but I must be in a more manic phase--yes, it will pass--lately, because I'm only remembering positive things, for the most part.)

• Yard sale went fairly well.  A little over $100, but stuff we've been wanting to see go, went.  Yay.  And people who got it were happy to get it.
• Most of our free corner is gone. The big concern were the three tires we had, but someone took them today.  I can put the arm chair out early for the trash, and I'll bet it will be gone before it's trash truck time (I'll pull it before the trash guys come, because I don't want them to have to deal with it the day before we could haul it to the dump for free).  We're already looking for more stuff to put in the corner for the next yard sale.
• Mr. L's birthday went well, and he wants to do it again next year.  I heartily approve.
• Mowed the yard today.
• A-Z Challenge is going well. I need to write and schedule my "X" post.  It's called Xylophone, and all I have so far is a Fisher Price toy xylophone is involved.  The other 25 posts are done and scheduled.
• I'm so glad I got the post subscription list created.  A few people are signing up.  Some have also signed up for the fiction club, too.
• I came up with a variety of types of writing.  Most of the works aren't complete stories, but some complement draft novels and some are ideas that could develop into novels.  Mostly, I want to see what writing resonates with other people.  I'm not sure the Challenge is the best venue for that, but it's the best venue for bringing new people to the blog that I know of.
• My knee has been pretty good this week, but there's something wrong with both of them.  Probably not anything anyone will do about either of them, though.
• I wound up manually configuring the Mini.  Time Machine is virtually useless. A friend told me about an app called SuperDuper! that's highly rated, and I purchased it and am using it.
• I also got fed up with Apple's lousy spam filter and am trying Spam Sieve.  I have the trial version, which will work for 30 days.  If I'm pleased, I'll buy it, too.  It's in training mode, now.
• A high school classmate died unexpectedly this week.  I barely knew him, but still, he was only 55. 
• I've lost 19 pounds since the first of the year and at least three inches off my waist. Very happy with that so far. I have a long way to go.
• I began incorporating "three positives and why" in my 750 words writing eleven days ago.  It's supposed to help your overall outlook on life.  I wonder if I can attribute my overall upbeat mood when I sit down to write this missive to that?
• My sister has been seeing encouraging signs that she may have a job soon.  If you're inclined to do such things, please pray this happens.  Her unemployment benefits ran out at the first of the month, and this would be a huge positive.  The best part is it's even in her field.
• Stephen, you remain in my prayers that something positive that meets your needs will find you soon.

The Week Ahead:

• Gather junk to load onto the trailer for Saturday's City Wide Clean Up effort.  This is the day they open the dump to city residents, and they can bring their junk for free.  We try to take full advantage of it, and this year, we hope to make two trips.  
• My primary goal is to get rid of as much truly useless furniture from the shop as there is. I also want to get some rolled up rugs (they've all been wet, so they're clearly going to be no good) onto the trailer and gone as well. I can't tell you how many disintegrating pressboard dressers we have.  Nasty stuff. I have rolls of dried linoleum, but they're in a hard to reach place and will be the focus of another year.
• We only have one mattress to load on the trailer this year.  Yay!
• The second load, if we decide to do it, we hope to have more salvageable furniture to put on there.  What happened last year, while we were waiting in line for the dump, some people wanted some of the stuff we had on the trailer.  We gave it to them.  This load would be designed to be available to anyone who wanted it.  We noticed some of the dump guys holding good stuff out last year as well.  If it makes it to the dump, maybe they will know of a use for it if it's serviceable.  Either way, we want a lot of this stuff GONE from the building.