Late but here

I should have done this Sunday or even Monday, but I caught a cold ... or something nasty ... and it sucked all my energy away. I've done nothing except work on Murder by the Mile the past couple of days and not much of that. But one of my resolutions was to work on it daily, even if it was just a bit, and I've done that.

Last week:
- Household chores. I'm supposed to have guests this weekend and next weekend, and as a result, my house has stayed in a state of hyper clean. Well, hyper clean for my house. I'll be glad when I can let things slip a bit.
- Worked on MBTM every single day. A couple of days, I was very productive. Cutting the words that I have has really helped the story. I'm excited about writing it again, but ... well, hard to make myself put my butt in the chair. Which is funny since I just did an online presentation for a writing group in which I said Discipline is the most important thing. Do as I say; not as I do. Still, I did work on it every single day. Scenes are being written, paragraphs are being edited. Word by word, sentence by sentence, it's going to lead me to a book this year.
- Had a video chat with Jean. I really enjoyed it. Apparently more than she did. :) I liked seeing her face while we spoke. Facial expressions add a lot to a conversation, I think. She has a marvelous laugh.
- Took down the outside Christmas decorations and some of the inside. Since grandkids will be arriving next week, the tree, village, nativity, and train are still out. But Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27th, I'm putting Christmas up. But maybe not the train. Yeah, not the train. I like the train.
- Also took down the decorations on my bookcase at the store downtown that's selling the Many Rivers Harbor books and put up some generic decorations. I'll have to take a photo sometime and share it.
- Had my first meeting as president of the writing group. It went well. I had an agenda that I shared with everyone and made sure I asked for plenty of input on everything we discussed. I also had them vote a lot, but I want to increase their participation and take personal responsibility for our projects.

This week:
- Continue to work on MBTM every day.
- Keep house clean.
- Get well.
- Guests on Friday and Saturday.
- Rest on Sunday.

And that's it for now.

If I only had a brain...

(Sung like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz lol)

Some days, I'd swear my brain has left the building. I just can't seem to THINK, to focus, to hold a thought more than a moment or two. I can't even remember something as simple as a single recipe ingredient long enough to grab it and put it in without having to read it several times. Very aggravating.

Enough grumbling. Here's the update. It's all a mixed bag of good and meh, nothing really 'bad', mostly meh. ;)

Was up .4lbs at WW this week - also aggravating ha ha, as I'm still more than a pound above my low - and I'm trying to refocus on what works and do all the nuts and boltsy things that I might have gotten lazy with. Also, my leader has told me to eat MORE of my plus points, eat less fruit, add more exercise, and not weigh myself at home. So I'm doing that. I have weighed myself every morning before my shower since we had the girls. Six years. I've not done well with not-weighing since my meeting Thurs. Yesterday, I was in the shower when I went 'oh crap!', today I was actually on the scale. Maybe tomorrow I can not step onto it. lol It's weird how ingrained habits, especially routines, can become.

Wrote a couple of saggy paragraphs for the opening of the current WIP - working title is MOTH, but that'll surely change. I don't know how viable of a story it is, I'm just not seeing it in my head. I blame that on my inability to focus. I like my MC, tho. Says his name is Jaime.

Had a lovely time with my friend Shirley but ate waaaay too much lasagna and bread, which probably contributed to my gain last week, even tho I stayed well within my plus points. I just can't eat much carbs and lose, especially wheat based ones. It's all another thing to learn, another habit to take on.

Sewing room is still in shambles, but I've started sorting fabric. Writing 'good things' for the jar is going fairly well, but not as habitual as I'd intended.

Bill is sick and I woke up today full of snot but otherwise feeling all right. Hopefully I can nip it in the bud and not get sick too.

Been trying to find Chuck Wendig's BLACKBIRDS to buy from a local retailer since I don't buy anything online, but it's proving elusive. Not only have they never heard of the book, it's also not available from their distributor because they don't work with his publisher. Hoping it's a small town limitations issue, but even the county library cant get it. Laura is going to go to B&N on Tuesday, maybe she'll have better luck, but this really brings home the added difficulties of working with a non-big-six publisher. Dangit.

That's about it for me. I hope you all have a great and healthy week!!  {{hugs}}

Not much new

Except the kitchen, and you all know about that. If you don't, go look at my blog. All the pictures to date are there.

Good Stuff:
- Besides the obvious?
- My cold is almost gone. I have no voice, which is a good sign. I should be back to normal this week.
- We had some good quality time with Alex, and he had some good quality time with his girlfriend. Looks like things are getting more serious. Yeah, I'm okay with that. A year ago, I wasn't so much. We've known her for years, and she's done a lot of growing up lately.
- Got some book work done, both on King Or Country and Tim. Not enough, but I'll take it. I need to be working harder on this. Tim is what I'll be working on next month when I go to a writer's retreat. The better prepared I am, the more I'll get out of it. OTOH, I want to enter King Or Country in a contest, but it has to be done first. The deadline is March 15. This is a blessing in disguise. It's experience in juggling projects with deadlines. We should all have this problem for real, right?
- A new Chick-Fil-A opened a few miles away. Actually it's about two blocks from the Y. I see lots of chicken sammiches in my future. Now if we could get a Starbucks in that shopping center...
- One of my band kids (from the praise band at church) was accepted to a good college with a scholarship. As the band mom, I'm proud!

Not So Good Stuff:
- It was 60* this morning. It's much colder now, and we should have sleet and ice by morning. Normally I'd be okay with that. My fridge and pantry stay pretty well stocked. But Alex goes back to school tomorrow, and he drove through less than optimal conditions to get here.
- Started a bible study on Monday and I'm already behind on my homework.

This Week:
- Call the clinic to make follow-up appointments.
- Figure out what to pack for my trip to Florida, and what to pack it in. (I leave the 22nd, which I just realized is a week from Tuesday.)
- Figure out the big parts of Tim for the retreat, or I'll have to take it with me on vacation.
- Keep up on dishes. The good news it, there will be just two of us. It takes a little longer when I have to heat the water to wash them in!

I think that about covers it. Have a good week!

Oh, What A Feeling

I said I started coming down with whatever hubby had last Friday, and it's still here.  Cough. Feverish feeling. Ears stopped up. Feeling out of sorts.  The cough interferes with my CPAP, so I can't sleep with it on.  And I can't sleep with it off. I may switch back to my nasal mask for a few nights to see if being able to cough without having to re-breathe helps.  I think I have an old one around here somewhere.  I can't use it at all when I'm stuffed up, but I'm not really stuffed up, so I need to do something.

Fine.  That's enough of that.  The Good Stuff:

• I managed to get laundry and dishes done this week in addition to a few minor piddly things around the house
• I rode the bike twice
• I working on PBOTL once -- mostly so I could say I did
• I did a lot of reading.  Mostly I finished some books I'd started last year, but I have five books read for this year so far.
• I've done Morning Pages every day this year so far.
• I got the Siamese to the vet for their annual exams (Natasha has another ear infection) and got the kittens scheduled for their spaying/neutering and adoption viewing opportunities at the vet clinic.
• Did a couple of test video conferences with Stephen to prove it could be done.  We're set for Google Hangouts now if we ever want to gather and work or gab or both.  Wendy or Tammy, are either of you game?  It's not something I'm wild about, but it can help sometimes.
• I tracked points this week. Weight showed a very slight loss, but I really remained constant.
• Kittens are doing pretty well.  Rossie is still coming along ever so incrementally.  Vet didn't seem too worried about it. The wild kittens they had at the same time Delta was there all settled in and were eventually adopted, and they were wilder than these have ever been.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• This cold/flu whatever is not going away.  I have a doctor's appointment at the VA on Tuesday.  I guess I'll ask him about it, even though it isn't his specialty.  Mostly, I think it just has to run it's course.  As I recall, I was pretty worried about hubby when he was this far in, but he kept telling me, "I'm getting better."  Well, I'm not getting better, but I'm not really getting any worse.  There.  I went and whined again.  Sorry.
• My night guard needs to be replaced.  I made an appointment with my dentist to start that process on Monday.
• Sneaky walked into and out of the trap again on Monday.  I've since tied a string to the release mechanism, so I can trip it from inside the house.  She walked into the trap on Friday, but I triggered it just a little too early, and she was able to dart out before the door locked in place.  I'll try again starting on Monday, but I'm not sure how anxious she'll be to walk in again.  

The Week Ahead:

• Dentist on Monday and GYN on Tuesday.
• Continue to try to shake this crud
• Work on PBOTL -- do more than a perfunctory pass 
• Continue morning pages, reading, bike riding
• Focus on decluttering in the parlor this week
• Continue staying ahead on laundry and dishes (really, these are two things I usually don't have much trouble with, so they are easy wins when I don't feel well)
• Continue working with the kittens.

Already?

What? Already time for another post? Of course, I posted late last week. Speaking of which, I didn't do a lot. Household chores, two Christmas celebrations, New Year's Eve dinner with friends, plotting my year, a few errands, paying bills, etc. Not much to tell. I did finally on Friday get a day to myself in which to withdraw a bit from the world.

This week:
- My first writing group meeting as president this Saturday morning.
- Learn if the last 2012 Christmas celebration (which had to be postponed ) will be Saturday, also. No big deal if it is. I will just be gone during that time.
- Household chores.
- Begin final (I hope) rewrite of Murder by the Mile. Been rereading the first two books and the 70,000 words already written to get the town, characters, and murders back in my mind map.
- Several errands Monday: Take down my Christmas decorations at the shop that sells my books, go to the library, go to the post office and mail some bills, go to the water department and pay a bill, and wash the car. Also, need to update all my blogs.
- Tuesday, I'm planning to spend on MBTM. All day. We'll see how that goes.
- Wednesday, lunch with a friend, more time on MBTM.
- Thursday, all day on MBTM.
- Friday, MBTM, and preparation for the first meeting.
- Saturday, writer's group meeting and maybe final Christmas gathering.

Reads like a busy week. I hope you have a great one!

Anniversary

Today is the 27th anniversary of the day I left for basic training. I don't remember a lot about that day, mostly sitting around and waiting.

Good Stuff:
- Our cabinets were delivered Friday. They'll install Thursday, Friday, and possibly Monday.
- Met with my bard mentor yesterday and fleshed out the set I'm doing at Tartan Days in April. I have some more writing and research to do for one more queen, but it's going to be good.
- Learned some cool stuff in fencing yesterday. Yes, I feel battered again today, but it's nothing I can't manage. For some reason my pain threshold is much higher below the neck.
- Got my office rearranged and cleaned. It's more functional now, and I have a reading chair by the window. Ironically, moving away from the window has improved my view. I don't have to lean around the monitor to look out.
- We started our blessing jar, too, much like Tammy has done. I think we're going to read ours at Christmas next year, though, because we'll all be together. Time enough to decide on that.
- Thinking about starting Judo. It's closely related, strategy-wise, to fencing and would be another thing in my self-defense arsenal. The mere thought scares the crap out of me, which is another reason to do it, and there is a dojo sort of near my church. My friend (who is a Highland Dancer and does MMA) suggest Krav Maga (an Israeli hand to hand style) but that's way too intense to start with, not to mention I'd probably have to go to St. Louis to learn it. I have to go to St. Louis to fence, but he teaches free, and the people in the class are becoming friends, so that makes it worthwhile.

Not So Good Stuff:
- I'm with Jean on germ sharing with the hubby. His has mostly been a cough and scratchy throat, and that's really all mine has been. I'm a little more tired than usual today, but that could be because I had a big day yesterday.
- My weight has come down a little, but not enough for my jeans to be comfortable all day yet. Tracking on Spark People has helped a lot. I had no idea how much fat I was eating and have scaled that back.
- It's our last week with Alex home. Not sure if that's Good or Not So Good. :-) Of course, his leaving means I'll be doing a Sam's run this week.

This Week:
- Pack up the kitchen.
- Set up my temporary cooking/washing area.
- Get a handle on laundry.
- Research and write my last warrior queen.
- Contact the band I'll be tag-teaming with.
- Don't get any sicker than I already am.
- Arrange appliance delivery.
- Oversee kitchen demo and installation of new cabinets. Pictures soon.

Old Days New

Hubby's been sick all week. I woke up Friday morning with a a sore throat -- how his started.  Just what I wanted before a four hour drive.  Three hours straight north and one hour east.  I had to stop at Fort Hood to pick up prescriptions, so I couldn't take the hypotenuse. 

Taking the hypotenuse is a phrase I picked up from a co-worker back in 1985 when he was taking a college algebra class.  We were walking into work one night, and he decided to walk up the handicapped ramp, which was shaped like a triangle, and he said, "I'm going to take the hypotenuse."  I've been saying that for taking the shortest distance between two points ever since.

The Good Stuff:
    •    I tracked points all week.  Don't ask.  It was horrendous, but I still lost weight -- probably dehydration. 
    •    All kitties made the transition back to Central TX.  For now, I've set up a single crate in the parlor and am having kittens out and about in the parlor and kitchen as much of the day as possible, just tucking them into the crate at night.  They are doing well with this setup.
    •    My heart is warmed!  I just saw Little Orange.  For the first time since I had her spayed, I'm seeing both orange kitties together, so I know she's okay.  What a relief! (Little Orange and Peaches look a lot alike -- I'm sure I've seen her before and mistaken her for Peaches)
    •    I got more than a very little done on PBOTL this week, but that's not saying much.
    •    I've read every day.  I finished The Federalist Papers (I was reading them via email from The Daily Lit -- a good resource for classics and the like).  I've been reading My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass on Sunday mornings.  I just signed up for Alexis de Toqueville's, Democracy in America, Part 1.
    •    Rossie is out and trying to play more.  She's chasing her tail now (until she sees me watching her).

The Not So Good Stuff:
    •    Both hubby and I are sick this weekend.  That's not a pretty sight.  No, nothing unpleasant on the disgusting side.  It's a head and chest cold that, on me, feels like it ranges from the heart to the ears and everything in between.  We're both kind of stumbling around like zombies saying, "I can't focus on anything."
    •    My goal was five pages or 500 words on PBOTL per day.  My current pace is more like 100 words or one page a day.  And I didn't get anything the last two days due to transitioning and being sick.  I'm going to need to improve on that.
    •    My grandmother is not happy in her new living arrangement, but she'd reached the point where Mom couldn't take care of her anymore, and she won't do her physical therapy, which may have helped eventually.  Or not, but it would give her something to do.
    •    I know I'm running a temperature but have misplaced my thermometer here in Central TX.  It's a low-grade fever, so maybe that's not a big deal.  Just one more thing I can't find.  Couple that with hubby's constantly losing things that he simply must find NOW, and it's an annoyance.
    •    Rossie is so jumpy and hesitant.  This is one unconfident kitty.  I don't know how to or if I even can help her.
    •    Didn't get on the bike this week, because we delayed a day returning from SA, and, of course, illness.

The Week Ahead:
    •    Shake this cold by getting plenty of rest and drinking plenty of water.
    •    Work on PBOTL
    •    Read and do morning pages
    •    Ride the bike at least twice
    •    Putter around the house getting caught up on some little things.

New Year, New Day

Been a good week. I've started writing 'positive notes' to myself and putting them in a jar to list good things that happen each and every day. Food plan is back on track after a holiday week stumble, and I've lost most of what I regained last week. Only 1.4 lbs above my all time low of the past decade - pretty sure I'm gonna pass that - and 30lbs above when we got married. Been exercising - Richard Simmons is leaving me achy and exhausted, but I can feel things tightening up. Haven't written anything, but I'm almost done reading Valley of the Soul so I need to find another book to read once it's done. I'm trying to take a book everywhere I go and read at least a little every single day.

I have my book-brainstorming session with my friend Shirley tomorrow, but today it's Menards, football, and cooking. Remainder of the week it'll be continuing to clean my sewing room - it's bad, oh so bad - and flesh out whatever viable story I can come up with on Monday. Plus exercising, tracking, smooching my sweetie, and playing with my granddaughter who is All Kinds of Awesome.

That's it for me, I hope you all have had a great opening to the new year. {{huggs}}

Old and New

Well, I said I'd be back. Supposed to be back yesterday, but my guests stayed longer than I expected, and by the time they left, I was ready to crawl into a dark corner and snarl at the world. Not that the visit was bad; no, it was good, but there seems to be limits on how long I can endure constant company. I need to work on that, I guess.

Anyway, I should look at my goals from 2012, but I'm afraid they will blind me with their arrogance. Perhaps I will take a peek later, but for right now, let's talk about what I accomplished.

- Published and promoted Tales from Bethlehem. That is one of the best things I did last year. There were more headaches with the publishing and writing process than I expected or planned for, but overall, I'm quite proud of it. And while it hasn't outsold any of my mysteries, it's holding a comfortable third position on my sales chart. Since it's seasonal -- and I can update it -- I hope for more sales next year. 

Tales was my fifth book. Murder by Dewey Decimal, Murder by the Acre, EndlesS, Floozy & Other Stories, and now Tales from Bethlehem. I've read that you have to have 11 books published (in the self-publishing world) before you can start making a decent living from your writing. I guess I'll see if that's true.

- Published Creations 2012 by Ada Writers. Although it doesn't carry my imprint, this truly was the first Many Rivers Harbor book. It's the one that gave me the idea of publishing other people's books.

- Published Secret of the Pack Rat's Nest by Martha Rhynes. The first official Many Rivers Harbor book. I learned so much contracts, deadlines, working with authors, etc., and even made a little money to boot. A definite win.

- Published On Target: Devotions for Modern Life. The second Many Rivers Harbor book. Still learned a lot, but the process went much smoother, and it's a lovely book. 

- Was elected president of the Ada Writers writing group. My term started January 1. We'll see how this goes. I'm to guide them through the publishing process for Creations 2013. Looking forward to that.

- Continued to publish the monthly family newsletters. The subscribers continue to support its publication. It's even grown a bit. And I'm no longer losing money on it. That's a win.

- Read 119 books. I'm counting this is a win because I wanted to read 100, but still, I should watch that. When I consider the number of magazines, newspapers, websites, and posts I read ... Reading has always been my drug. Maybe I need to try to interact with the Real World more. No, I should. Really.

Well, let's look at my goals from last year and see how I did.

Writing

1. I will finish and publish Murder by the Mile. To this end, I have committed to writing one page per day five days a week. I hope to do write more, but that's the baseline. Did not do.

2. I will publish Tales from Bethlehem. Mostly I just have to be pull it together, write two more Tales for it, and create a cover. Did.

3. I will continue to work on Debt Free At Last! A Beginner's Guide to Money Management. I'd like to publish it this year, but it's not as high a priority as the other two are. Did not and abandoned the project.

4. I will continue to add Christmas cards to Oakleaf Harbor on Cafepress.com. I'd like to have 50 card designs available before November next year. Did not do.

5. I will add a birthday card selection to Oakleaf Harbor on Cafepress.com. I'd like to have 50 card designs available this year. Did not do.

6. I will continue to send Dragons Gather and Darkness, Oklahoma to agents and publishers. Because each rejection moves me closer to an acceptance. Did. Garnered two more rejections for Dragons and one for Darkness.

Health

7. I will walk at the gym 4-5 days a week, depending on health and holidays. Did although stopped walking at the end of October because I hurt my ankle. And I only walked three days a week.

8. I will improve my diet and eat more veggies and low carb foods. Did and did't.

9. I will arrange for a colonoscopy. I have to figure out how to pay for it, but with the cancer history in my family, I need to do this this year. Did not due to lack of money, but have plans for it this year.

10. I will continue to look at holistic health solutions and ways of life. Did.

Declutter

11. I will remove 50 books from my book collection and sell or donate to the local library. Did.

12. I will have two garage sales. Had one.

13. I will remove 50 items from my closets and sell or donate them or trash them. Did.

14. I will try to remove an item when I add an item to my house. Tried.

Misc.

15. I will continue to seek a job, full time or part time, even though I'm very discouraged about this. However, as my health improves, other jobs that I can't physically do now will be possible. I can do this and will. Did and suffered some crushing rejections. This one just about sunk me.

16. I will read 75 books this year. Oh, I thought the goal was 100. Well, did.

17. I will continue to read the New Testament and finish it this year. I will also read Psalms and Proverbs. Did. Read all three and most of the Old Testament.

18. I will pray daily and give thanks for my blessings. Mostly did.

19. I will remember that honesty can cause pain and remember that I can never completely know what another person is going through and thus should not judge. In other words, I will keep my mouth shut when my opinion hasn't been asked for -- and sometimes even when it has been. Slipped a few times, but mostly I did much better.

20. I will try to be more forgiving of myself and others. We're human and frail in many many ways. We all need a break. Did as best as I could.

Really, I did better on the list than I expected. Surprising. And pleasing.

GOALS FOR 2013

Writing

1. Finish and publish Murder by the Mile. It's past time.

2. Take up daily walking again. Got to do this for my health.

3. Participate in the 2013 National Novel Writing Month.

4. Blog at least one a week on three of my blogs.

Health

1. Walk at least three times a week.

2. Watch the diet and concentrate on more veggies and low carb foods, even when I eat out.

3. Go to the doctor for a check up and schedule a scope. Also, go to a dentist.

4. Seek more holistic information.

Declutter

1. Give 50 books to the local library or to friends.

2. Remove 50 items from my closets and donate or discard as needed.

3. Organize my files and discard and shred old financial records as needed.

4. Donate or discard kitchen pots never used.

Employment

1. Keep my eyes open for possibilities.

2. Look into going back to college.

3. See if Continuing Education would let me teach some poetry classes again.

4. Pursue more contacts on Linked In.

Publishing

1. Publish three books from Many Rivers Harbor.

2. Publish Many Rivers Harbor's first traditional book. Probably a poetry book. More on this as it develops.

3. Continue to seek new clients.

4. Purchase ISBNs for MRH so that it shows as the publisher rather than Lulu or Amazon.

Misc.

1. Pray daily and give thanks for my blessings.

2. Remember that honesty can cause pain and I can never completely know what another person is going through and thus should not judge. 

3. I will try to be more forgiving of myself and others. We all need a break.

4. Battle the black dog until it whimpers to see me. 

Well, that seems to be a good lists of goals. I hope we all reach our goals,or if not, we achieve other things that are even better. Happy New Year and Many Blessings on You and Yours!

Buh bye 2012

I'm late again. I know. I'd blame life insanity, but it's mostly me being scatter brainy.

This has been a meh year. A bit trying in some ways, but really great in others. That said, I'm glad it's done and we're moving on to the new. I need some new.

This past week, I went up in weight ( even tho my points were fine, I definitely blame Christmas travel which included going off the 'fresh food' plan, too much sodium, and not getting enough water) but I should be down again this week, at least to where I was. I haven't written a thing other than chats, posts and tweets, but I've read two books (The Bellwether by Connie Willis was especially enjoyable, even tho it really didn't have a plot). I've completed one quilt, will likely finish another before I get to bed tonight, sinus crud is improving, family is fine, house is - slowly - shaping up, and truly, other than me sidelined by distractions, all is well.

But the new year will be here in a mere couple of hours (as I type this) and Changes Must Be Made. Some I have ultimate control over, some I don't at all, but, nevertheless, Changes Must Be Made so here goes.

First on my stack is an agent. I am expecting a phone call sometime next week or the week after, say around the 10th, ish, from an agency I've been in contact with for months. They're the only ones who've read SPORE (initial comments were great plus they loved Morgan's Run. Yay!). I am hopeful it will go well. If not, I have backup plans laid out, but I am very, very hopeful for good news from New York in mid January. After the agent, I intend to do whatever I can to get SPORE sold well plus get it to Hollywood. I think it'd make an awesome film, especially the Ghoulie parts.

Next up, I have at least two books to write. Finish Dubric #4 (currently titled Stain of Corruption) and one other book, as yet undecided. I'm brainstorming with my friend Shirley next Monday to come up with ideas for both, so that'll be fun. Hopefully we can come up with something workable. I mostly just need a concept. Once I have that, the rest is just typing. The idea, tho, is always tough for me. I've never understood how so many writers have gazillions of ideas. I never have.

I have a LOT of sewing to do. I owe so, so many people quilts or other items, and I have waaaaay too much fabric. So I must sew. I'm thinking a finished project every three weeks, ish, which comes to 17 in 2013. I have one bed sized quilt on deck, but everything else will be wallhangings or table runners or other smaller things, especially since I have to send the big projects out to be quilted but I quilt the smaller ones myself. In that area of things to do, I also will trim down my fabric to a more manageable level (17 projects ought to help with that!!), weed out my mountain of patterns, and learn how to quilt feathers on my machine as well as circles (I bought the circle foot last year but haven't used it yet). Plus sew some clothes for my granddaughter. :)

Weight Watchers is going well. I intend to ensure it continues to go well. So far, I haven't had much trouble keeping on plan, mostly for me it's a matter of tracking like I should and drinking enough water. If I can do that, I usually do well at weekly weigh in. Want to increase exercising and remove even more processed foods (like the baked crisps I like oh so much for my salty/crunchy fix).

I'm also going to do baby steps into being more frugal, FlyLady, and general organization. Mostly, I want less STUFF.

Lastly, and perhaps most important, I want to spend more time with my family, especially my husband. Because he's awesome. :)

So, I guess that's it. Work. Creativity. Health. Organization. And, most important, Family.

2013 is gonna be a great year!!

{{huggs}} for you all and I'm so glad to have you in my life.

Placeholder

This is a placeholder post. Not quite ready to talk about my goals for 2013 or review my goals for 2012. I will say that it was a harder year than I had hoped for, but I'm still here, still writing, still selling books, still getting by. And that is something to be thankful for.

Right now, I am worn out. Too many gatherings. Traveled six hours today (to and back) for one gathering. I have three more "Christmases" before Christmas 2012 is officially over. Love Christmas. Not sure about the people, though. I'm not good with crowds, noise, etc. Puts a strain on me. And one Christmas just got moved to New Year's Day, which frankly I'm not pleased about. I wanted that day to myself. Instead, grandchildren will be arriving. Love them, but wanted some space. Well, that's life. I'll enjoy them. I know I will. And there will come a time when they're teenagers and it won't be cool or fun to come. Need to enjoy these times while they last. That's what I tell myself. And it's the truth.

Anyway, I hope you had a good Christmas. And if you're still in the middle of them ... well, I'm thinking of you and rooting for you.

My plan is to be back here New Year's Day. Then I'll talk about my goals, my failures and successes, and a few other things. See you then.

Wendy's Last Week

Apparently I didn't have any concrete 2012 goals. That explains a lot.

Good Stuff:
- We've had some good family time.
- Made some progress packing stuff from kitchen cabinets. The new cabinets will be here Friday. Not sure when they'll be installed, but I'd imagine it won't be too long after that.
- Set some concrete goals for 2013. We'll see how that works out.
- I've felt like shaking things up lately, like I don't want to waste any more time. It's not something I can really put my finger on, but it makes me wonder if this is how a caterpillar feels when it spins its cocoon.
- I'm rearranging my office to set up a reading area by the window. I'm really hoping the new configuration will lead to greater productivity.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Once again I spent too much time watching TV. I almost overdosed on HGTV.
- I'm having a hard time plotting the new book. I'm trying to dig deeper, but I seem to be digging in the wrong places because it hasn't clicked yet.
- The kid I was fencing with today whacked the crap out of my knuckle. It's really tender but not bruised. Yet. I got him back, the little bugger. ;-) All part of the process.

For 2013:

·     Make enough money to pay at least half my professional expenses.

·   Keep the new kitchen clean.

·   Give to the food bank at least three times.

·   Keep five notes in the car for people standing on the corners.

·   Seriously declutter. I have no idea how to measure this.

·   Do at least 1 bible study.

·   Learn more ways to defend myself.

o  Practice the ways I already know.

·   Write 150,000 book words.

Have a great new year! See you on the flip side!

The End of the Year as We Know It

I think next year I'll pick a random song lyric for a title--maybe modify it for relevance.

The Good Stuff:

• Two San Antonio bathroom problems are resolved or abated.  The sink drain is repaired, including the leaky hot water supply line. The toilet tank has been rebuilt, stopping a troublesome leak.
• Kittens are doing well, as are the big cats
• A very little work done on PBOTL
• Made progress on a few household hot spots
• Raked some more leaves; trimmed a few bushes

The Not So Good Stuff:

• Hubby is still avoiding the tub drain repair.  He has it mapped out, but he just has to convince himself to go under the house. I do understand this.  Sigh.
• Just as our Christmas ham finished cooking, the rotisserie motor on the stove went out.  We have a year to get it fixed, but I'll need to remind hubby about it early in the year.  I imagine he'll be scrambling at the last minute get it fixed, though.

The Week Ahead:

• Prepare to return to Central TX
• Bring in the New Year (because you know it won't arrive without our assistance)

Speaking of New Year, here are the goals for the coming year.

Relationship: Seems like we're in a mostly good place right now, and we'd like to keep it that way.

Pets:

• Continue care, feeding, and attention for inside (big) cats.  
• Decide what will be best for the feral kittens.  They will be ready for spay/neuter around the beginning of February.  Until then, where do we keep them?  In the crate in the garage (it will be difficult for me to clean the crate that way, but it will be better preparation if I'm to release them to outside after their spay/neuter) or set up in the parlor (where hubby says we don't have the space).  
• I plan to ask the vet if she'll keep them for a week or so to see if they can be adopted out of her office -- or I'll ask if a home they'd find from her office would be better than living outside at my place.  
• Of course, the temptation to keep them all inside is a strong one, but that would cause problems.  For our four, we can leave for a four-day weekend, and the litter boxes and food and water towers work fine.  Doubling the number of cats would be problematic.  And, of course, boarding that many for a couple of weeks while we travel would be, gasp!, prohibitive.
• If I put them outside, I'm feeding six cats, so I'd probably need two more feeders.  That would be easy.  I could probably treat these four monthly with the all in one flea and worm preventative to keep them safe from parasites -- assuming they will allow themselves to be handled once I release them.
• Continue trying to trap Sneaky to get her spayed.

Properties:

• San Antonio: This year I want to work on interior cleanliness, yard, help hubby with renovations in preparation for putting it on the market (not this year).
• Central TX House: Declutter, yard, exterior paint
• Shop: help hubby with projects (maybe bathroom repair and cleaning behind the building
• Store: Move bikes to shop, inventory glass, keep it mowed
• Ranch: Trim road edge back

Health and Fitness:

• Rededicate to WW and Fitness.  No, this is not a broken record.  I began the year at 263 and currently have a net gain of six pounds.  My next goal of 261 has been waiting impatiently for me to meet it.  A reasonable goal would be to be at or below 245 at year's end.
• Riding the bike helps keep my knees mobile and helps cardiac fitness (but I'll need to add more resistance to achieve better heart benefits)
• Resume my exercises for my knees.  My right hip is bothering me, and that's directly attributable to not doing my stretching exercises
• My blood pressure is giving me problems.  If I can't get it lowered with diet and exercise, the doc is going to have to put me on another medication.  I don't want that. 

Family:

• This is always troublesome for me.  I care for my family -- even love them, of course, but I've been away from them so long, I don't really know them.  Mom and I play Lexulous, so we chat back and forth in the course of the game.  My younger brother and his family are on Facebook, so we have some communication that way. My sister has a Facebook account, but she hasn't been on for several months.  My older brother will communicate via text, so maybe I better text him more than an annual Christmas and birthday text.
• My folks are coming to OK for my nephew's high school graduation in May, and we plan to attend as well.  So I suggested they might want to ride down on the train, and we'd pick them up in Dallas.  Then I suggested they come spend a couple of days with us in Central TX (Dad hasn't seen the house yet), and they accepted.

Writing: PBOTL revision and completion of How To Revise Your Novel are my top writing priority.  I also plan to participate in NaNoWriMo again this year.

Reading: I always have a goal of reading 50 books a year.  2012 has probably been my worst year for reading, and I doubt 2013 will be much better, but the goal remains 50 books.

FM: I'm more active behind the scenes than I was at the beginning of the year.  I'm not much more active on the front end than I was before. With the transition to Joomla!, I've become the primary backend person.  I've created the test site but still haven't found the best way to get it configured to match the live site.  I plan to redo the FAQ. We need to figure out how to get chat logins integrated with the site login.  There are a few other problems people are complaining about that I have no idea how to resolve.

Blogging and Internet Presence:  I'm mostly comfortable with my current blog schedule.  I skip a few days now and then.  I see few new readers and nearly no commenters.  I understand what they meant when they said blogging was dead, but I have no interest in making Facebook a blogging platform.  In fact, I refuse to do so.  I still value what we have here at Createslate as we begin our third year.

Merry Christmas!

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Wendy's Week

Somehow the weekend has gotten away from me. It's been super busy. Go figure, it's the weekend before Christmas.

Good Stuff:
- Alex got home safely. It took him a little longer because they'd had a blizzard the day before (the same one that socked you in, Tammy) and there were power lines down and snow covered roads on his route.
- Vicky's birthday has been celebrated. Twice. She came Friday for dinner and presents, and this afternoon we all went to see The Hobbit. It was good, very much like I expected, but with a lot of fight scenes and chaos. If I'm going to watch a fight scene I'd rather be able to focus on a couple select people, not pan across the whole thing, especially now that I've started fencing.
- Speaking of which, I fenced yesterday. My instructor is giving me a little less grace each week, not pulling hits and so forth. He landed a few good shots yesterday, but I whacked him good a couple times too. I'm a little shocked at how much I enjoy it, considering it's physical and sometimes painful and a lot more complicated that it looks.

Not So Good Stuff:
- I was getting dressed Thursday morning to go to a funeral, and I went through 3 pairs of pants before I found one that fit. Nothing says "you've gained weight" like trying to dress up in stuff you don't normally wear. I have only myself to blame. I've really let my diet slip lately and I need to get a handle on it.
- I got some unexpected test results from my doctor. Nothing life-threatening, but something to follow up on. This, of course, means more tests, which will be put it off until after the first of the year. Surgery later in the year is a distinct possibility, but mostly because it's a new thing in a long succession of chronic issues and I'm sick and tired of dealing with them.
- The crits from a contest I entered came in this morning. They were not as encouraging as I thought they would be. In fact, overall scores were similar to scores I got in a different contest a year ago. After all the work I've done in the last year I thought they would be better and it's a little discouraging. I know they're subjective and are really only the opinions of people in the industry. They all agreed that the story line was interesting, just that I still have some work to do. Nothing I can do but take their crits into consideration, pick myself up, and keep slogging up the learning curve.

So that's about it from here. I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas. See you next week!

Caught up ... sort of

I spent the last week catching up on everything I had let slide during the launch of Tales from Bethlehem. I mailed the last of my Christmas cards, published and mailed the December family newsletter, shopped for and wrapped and bagged Christmas presents, caught up on the regular household chores, and had my first gift exchange.

This coming week, I will:
-- Have at least three Christmas gift exchanges.
-- Work on my goals for next year.
-- Stay warm. We're supposed to get ice and snow on Christmas, and it won't improve until Friday. Which is good because I'm supposed to travel on Saturday.
-- Continue to work on organizing my desk and craft supplies. I am determined to reduce what I have to what I actually use or will use.
-- Establish a blogging schedule again.

Y'all have a wonderful Christmas. I hope it's peaceful and sweet. This is my favorite time of the year, but it's also the one where I miss my parents terribly. The black dog never rests, you know. But even if Christmas tinged by sadness and loss, it still means a lot to me. It's the beginning of the redemption story. Later on there would be blood, sorrow, and death before joy comes again, but at the beginning, there is only the joy and a babe in the night.

Iowa still stands ;)

Winter has arrived. While I love a good snowstorm, I am very saddened by the car wrecks on our highways. The entire state of Iowa was '100% snow/ice covered, do not drive' on Thursday, yet people still drove. Some were injured, a few died, and for what? There's nowhere you need to be during a blizzard that's worth risking your life - and the lives of rescue personnel - for.

Pretty sure I mentioned this last winter, but it's worth mentioning again. White out conditions, 50+ mph winds, icy pavement under 8" inches of snow... just stay home.

There are still folks in the Des Moines area without power. We're thankful, though, for the snow. We've been so, so dry, it's welcome moisture. We stayed home and took it easy. Bill even took Friday off work to get us shoveled out, so all good there!

Okay, enough of winter, onto the list!!

The Good:

• My regular Weight Watchers meeting was cancelled due to snow, so I went to this morning's meeting and am officially down 19.4 lbs! Woot!
• Since I'd planned on a 'baby steps' approach to Weight Watchers instead of 'leap in all the way and flounder' method I usually prefer, I'd prepared to begin officially exercising at the 3 month mark. Since that was at this week's weigh in, I bought one of their Time Crunch Training DVDs and did the time-crunch upper body workout. I'm going to do a minimum of three of these mini workouts a week all this next month then reassess and expand/lengthen exercise as needed.
• Sinus infection/cold/allergy/brain clog is lifting. Finally. I think because with the snow we've finally had a really hard, fast freeze and allergens have been knocked down. Woot for that, too!
• Christmas shopping and wrapping is done. Yay!
• Bill interviewed for a job that could potentially take him from the posty office into something much more stable. The interview went well, but he's not sure if he'd want the job should they offer it, so we'll see.
• I'm getting better at cooking 'on plan' and pre-tracking so that's really quite helpful as I plan out meals and cook supper.
• Bill got me a really nice pan. I know that sounds boring, but it's heavy brushed stainless, 4 quarts with a draining lid and I am giddy over it.
• I'm wearing jeans I haven't worn in probably a decade and am shrinking out of shirts at a worrisome rate. Not sure how I'm gonna replace my wardrobe, but I'll find a way.
• Thank you, Wendy, for the card!!  {{huggs}}

The Meh:

• Grocery prices are really getting me aggravated. It's getting crazy expensive out there and it's only gonna get worse.
• Christmas is almost over. I've actually managed this one better than usual - I do NOT like Christmas. At. All. - and I only had one implosion, but it'll be done on Monday and I'll be quite thankful for that. Not much longer to go.
• My sewing is stalled due to my head cold issues. I'm making two baby quilts and I don't want the babies to get my illness so I haven't worked on them since right after Thanksgiving, but I'll be back on the sewing machine today.
• Hubby is a grump butt. I am a grump butt. Bah humbug. (it's almost Monday and we'll be DONE!!  Whew!)
• Been sleeping too much - sinuses and generalized depression - but it's getting better.
• Haven't written anything, but haven't really had the brain power or physical energy to write.
• In an effort to get a better handle on characters and conditions I haven't had to write in a long time, I read Ghosts in the Snow, cover to cover, no skimming, for the first time since I did my printer proofs back on 2004. It was a pretty good read, but I kept wanting to fix my lazy grammar.

The Bad:

• Never did get my Christmas cards done. Bought them. And that's about as far as I got. I blame a combination of bah-humbug and sinuses.
• Sewing area looks like a fabric store exploded. Must clean it up. Somehow.
• Eyes have taken another slight step toward old age and I've had to increase my reading glasses strength.
• I have Too. Much. Stuff. Really getting tired of it.
• Need a haircut. Need the gray toned back. Must budget for this.
• No ideas for a new novel other than back to faithful ol' Dubric and Stain of Corruption, but... blargh. I don't wanna. Sigh.

To do for the remainder of this year:

• Gonna trim out excess 'stuff' on my desk, in the kitchen, and in my sewing room.
• Finish the two baby quilts and get them shipped to their appropriate peoples.
• Go through my clothes and take anything I've shrunk out of to either my sister or Goodwill.
• Try not to gripe too much about Christmas. Maybe even bake some cookies.
• Continue to track and exercise.

Looking ahead to next year:

• New agent to rep Spore and subsequent mainstream thrillers
• Sell Spore and get it through production.
• Write at least one more mainstream novel.
• Finish Stain. 
• 50lb weight loss by my birthday in June.
• Sew regularly to keep my happiness up.
• Get back on the Flylady wagon.
• Spread happiness and hope!

{{huggs}} and Happy Christmas, everyone!!

So Much for the Mayans

I'm writing this on Thursday, but I'm completely confident you're here to read it.

The Good Stuff:

• Cats are all fine
• Got a little yard work done
• Have made a little more progress on PBOTL
• Hubby is in Central TX finishing the final edition for the year of his lantern newsletter
• Christmas cards and gifts mailed out
• Have kitty gifts for Christmas 
• Hubby called this morning to say Peaches was sitting on the porch waiting for the food to drop.  He was about fifteen minutes early, so he was relaxing while he waited, and hubby watched and waited while Peaches waited. (In the not so good part of this, hubby did not hear the food drop -- the feeder rumbles to shake the food down, so, standing where he was, he should have heard the food drop. He will not believe me when I say his hearing is impaired. Peaches, of course was not impaired, he began eating as soon as the food fell.)
• The local high school football team won the state championship

The Not So Good Stuff:

• Weight loss from last week must have been a result of illness (not surprising)
• Only did one day of the plan to clean up in house "hot spots" 
• A certain freshly minted 18-year old is providing interesting character development fodder. 

The Week Ahead:

• Finish Christmas grocery shopping -- just need a few fresh things
• Work the house cleaning checklist to get some nagging "hot spots" taken care of
• Continue working with the cats
• More progress on the trees, bag leaves

Revisit Goals for 2012:

• I intend to continue working on my overall health and fitness.  

I think I wound up treading water on both health and fitness

• Work will continue on the various properties.

The Neverending Story is going well

• Relationship--which will remain in the "other" category.

In a reasonably good place right now

• Pets.  I probably won't report on them regularly, but they are fun to talk about --- kind of like people talking about their kids and grandchildren.

I think I've talked about them rather a lot lately.

• I've decided I need to take a more participatory role in Forward Motion.

My work with Forward Motion remains behind the scenes. With the move to the new site, I have a more active admin role. 

• I need to make better use of my on-line time.  I haven't figured out how, but I need to do something different from what I have been doing.  

I may have been doing better at this.  It usually means I'd rather be on line than doing what I'm doing, but I have dragged myself away more this year.

• That brings me to the primary reason why we're here -- writing. 

I did a little work on a novel during our May train trip, and I think a writing retreat on a train is very doable.

• I plan to continue working through "How To Revise Your Novel" with Polar Bear on the Loose. 

I'd hoped to finish this in 2012.  Instead, I'll be carrying it over, but I did make progress.

• I have several reading projects underway.  First, I'm reading The Federalist Papers by email subscription.  I'm also reading Durant's History of Civilization -- I'm on volume 1 of the how ever many volume set.  I've been winning about three books a year from LibraryThing, so I have to read them and write a review.  Other than that, my annual goal is to read 50 books. 

I'm nearly done with The Federalist Papers subscription.  I started another one a few months ago.  I'm continuing to read Durant.  I'm working on a LibraryThing review book. My worst year reading ever.

Next week, I'll post goals for 2013.

December's more than half over.

Totally can't be possible, yet it's true.

I'm fine, everything's fine. Behind on most everything. Still kinda sick. I have no time. Otherwise, all the same.

Happy holidays.  {{huggs}}

The End of the World, by Mayans.

Will this be my last post ever? Stay tuned. Typing on the iPad, so I'm just going to say it this week.

- I ran a fever and went to bed instead of watching a Spurs game Thursday night. I napped a lot of Friday, but I feel better now. Somewhere this week, four pounds disappeared.
- I did pull PBOTL out of the wrapper and finished a scene. Trying to figure out the next one.
- Hubby played Tuba Christmas and swears he's not going to participate next year. We'll see.
- Hubby was supposed to head for Central TX today, but he's delayed another day or two.
- He was planning to be back so we could face the End of the World together, but now that won't happen.
- Kittens are all doing well. Glacial socialization progress.
- Big cats mostly adjusting. They want the kitten food.
- Leaves raked, bagged, and gone in time for more to fall. We're supposed to get wind, so that will put them into a pile for me, making it easier to bag.
- Hubby has only printed one-third of the Christmas cards I need. I may have to improvise the rest.
- Apparently, grandmother is doing well. Two birthday cards go her way tomorrow. She'll be 95 on the 20th.t
- Found out something of great concern regarding my parents today. Thankfully, I can help.
- Double sink vanities take up a lot of room. Surprising how spacious the bathroom became when we had to remove it to access the drain to get the repair complete. I'm thinking bathroom sinks are over-rated and should be removed. Alas, the heavy, bulky beast has been returned. Not sure if hubby plans to actually attempt to complete the job tomorrow or not. If I ask, I'm "pushing" him, so mostly I stay in the dark about these things until he complains that he's waiting for me to help him or some other such thing that indicates I just should have known what was obvious to him all along.
- Tired of sponge baths and washing my hair in the kitchen sink, I may head to one of the local base gyms, do a workout, and shower afterward.
- A couple kittens were losing fur, and Delta was coughing. Fearing mange, I took them to our local vet. He suspects a skin fungus, so we're treating for that. It's not getting any worse, so I think that may have been it. The worst of it is a bare spot on top of Ruby's head. For Delta, he gave me some anti-biotics. Half an eyedropper twice a day. I've never had a cat take medicine as well as she does. I don't think I heard her cough today, either. Hmm.

This week I need to wrap Christmas presents, prepare for mailing, mail, and address and send Christmas cards.  Everything else is up in the air until I figure out what hubby is going to do.

Worn out

Whew. A busy week. I'm worn out, but it's from good things. Two book signings in one week are a bit much, but I know authors who do four or five a week so I need to build up my endurance.

I had enough books. Ended up with 11 left. Some will go back down to the store that are selling them for me. The rest I'm going to sell to anyone who wants an autographed book and bookmark for $15, which includes postage (but only in the U.S.). I have the mailing envelopes that fit the books so it should be relatively easy to do. I guess I'll have them send me a check. Maybe I should investigate PayPal. That's something to work out next week.

Speaking of next week:
-- Wrap Christmas presents.
-- Publish and mail December family newsletter.
-- Household chores.
-- Rest.
-- Sing carols.
-- Cook more. Been eating out too much. Can't afford it, and frankly, I don't think the food is worth what restaurants charge for it.
-- Start exercising regularly again.
-- Work on the outline for "Murder by the Mile." Decided to finish and publish it next.
-- Pay bills.
-- And so on and so on.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Wendy's Week

Wow, again? Didn't I just do one of these?

Good stuff:
- Got some work done on the new Newport Gilded Age novel. I downloaded a character worksheet from Camy Tang's website and it's helped a lot with plotting. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get through one novel without slogging through the middle and making you all listen to me whine that it's haaaarrrrrddd.  ;-)
- Christmas storage boxes have been put away.
- Christmas shopping is done.
- Presents are wrapped and under the tree. Mostly.
- Presents that needed to be shipped have been, and I know at least one person received theirs.
- Shuffled the family's eye appointments. Alex is staying an extra week at school to get some extra work hours in.
- Vicky's birthday presents are bought, wrapped, and ready to go. I even mailed a card to her since she won't be here on her birthday. As of Wednesday at 9:42 a.m. I will no longer have teenagers.
- Routine medical tests and follow-ups are complete for the year.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Our exercise routine was off this week because Eric needed to work through lunch to make up hours from a Monday migraine. It actually worked in my favor, switching from lunchtime to 4-ish because it allowed me to keep working when I was on a roll. There are no rolls to be on late in the afternoon. We're going to try it again this week and see if it continues to work. It's not so much a "bad" thing as an adjustment in the routine for the better. I just have to remember to do my exercise video and remember to do something about dinner earlier so we can eat at a reasonable time.
- Now that the kids are gone and I'm just cooking for Eric and me, I find it's easier to get distracted and I burn things a lot lately. It's annoying. I am getting a handle on portion control, though, just in time for Alex to come home and throw a wrench in the works.
- My energy is ebbing again. I think it's the early evenings. Did I mention that last week? Keeping up on the vitamin D and magnesium helps, but I might need to increase dosages. Hopefully I have a record somewhere of how much vitamin D I took last winter. I think it was 5,000 mg. and I switched down to 2,000 for the summer since I was outside more. Walks on nice days might be a smart thing to add to the routine, especially in the afternoon when I'm not good for anything requiring concentration.

This Week:
- Get ready for Alex to be home.
- Celebrate Vicky's birthday.
- Do the Christmas baking. Share with neighbors, praise band members, and Eric's coworkers.
- Keep writing.
- Try to wrap up 2013 goals. I should really have more than 2 things to work toward.

Late late late

Well, the last two weeks taught me the folly of launching a book during the holiday season. I simply can't get everything done. But I will, dang it, I will.

This week is going to be particularly busy because I have two book signings, one on Thursday (Ada Public Library, 4:30 -6:30 pm) and and one on Saturday (Muldrow Public Library, 10:30 am - 1 pm). I have a huge list that I'm trying to get done.

The table prizes for Thursday are done; all I have to do is pack up the books I'm going to take and the items for my table. A friend is catering the event for me again so I don't have to worry about refreshments. And I don't have to make as big a presentation for this one because my space is limited.

I need to finish the table prizes for Saturday and pack the books for that signing, but I can't do that -- well, can't finish it -- until I see what's left over from the Thursday signing.

I'm very close to the break even point on "Tales from Bethlehem." Soon I will be in profit area. My creditors will appreciate that. It takes some pressure off me, too.

I'm afraid of selling out of books before the Muldrow signing. I probably won't, but I can see how that could happen. Nothing I can do about it. It's too late to order and have them arrive before Saturday. I should have some left. And I could always take orders and mail them, although I don't know how I'm going to approach passing the shipping costs on to them. Well, this is a better problem to have than having lots left over.

I need to concentrate on buying gifts this week and getting my Christmas list done. And Christmas cards. Oh, a family newsletter, too. And chores. And publicity for Tales. Updating all the blogs. Ai, ai, ai ... Well, deep breath. Here we go. Y'all have a great week. Talk to you later.

Winding Down 2012

The week has been good in several ways -- progress with the kittens, a couple of bills paid, some time with friends, and progress made on the bathroom sink drain.

Unfortunately, I didn't pull out PBOTL or get Christmas presents wrapped. I took the picture for the Christmas cards before we left Central TX, but hubby will insist on making those.

Hubby's been on a buy file cabinet kick this week. We found three four drawer units at yard and estate sales this week for $36. Good finds. I guess.  We brought four kittens down in one cat carrier, but they,ll be too large to make the trip back that way, so I found a small dog carrier at Bussey's Dlea Market today that should help them travel in comfort. Hubby found a lantern.

My grandmother's hemoglobin dropped to single digits, and she refused a transfusion.  The nursing home transferred her to a hospital. Mom (a retired RN) talked to grandma, and she has apparently agreed to transfusions on Monday. She'll be 95 on the 14th.

My niece will be 18 on the 20th. She can't wait to be able to get tattoos and buy her own cigarettes. Insert eye rolls here. I hope she proves me wrong, but I don't see a bright future for her.

The new Weight Watchers site has some interesting additions to the programs.

The week ahead:

Pull out PBOTL and refresh my memory.
Help hubby with the plumbing work as much as possible (I really want to take a shower, and he's working on the sink first).
Rake leaves
Continue working with the kittens.

A week of December has passed...

This will likely be another very short post.

Little Miss started vomiting Wed afternoon and by Friday morning everyone in the house was sick. I got it the least - never progressed beyond miserable-glurgly probably because I am almost OCD about hand washing - but after a trip to the doc, 2 prescriptions, 3 bottles of Pedialyte and I dunno how much cleaning solution used up on the couch, carpets and floor, we're all on the mend. Not sure if the couch will ever fully recover, but we're hopeful. A full steam-clean is on schedule for tomorrow.

That took up most of my week, honestly, either being sick or caring for a houseful of sickies (since I was the only one in any condition to drive, cook, or do laundry... Gak, the LAUNDRY!!), but it wasn't a total wash of a week. Bill and I celebrated (sort of, if you count napping all day and eating nothing stronger than chicken broth) our 24th anniversary and I heard back about SPORE. She called to say she loved it, very excited and enthusiastic, and it - and Morgan - are off to the 'big guy' for reading and potential final approval. I am not only excited to have found a potentially interested agency but incredibly relieved that two mainstream novels I wrote as myself, with my voice, my subject matter, my vision, and my unfettered intent are - so far at least - understood and appreciated for what and how they are. While I didn't mind the work involved when I had to gut and totally re-do two of the Dubric novels, it did make me doubt my abilities as a writer quite a lot. So, even if the ultimate answer in this process is a no, I'm still thankful that I'm doing my job correctly and not merely spinning my wheels, if that makes sense.

Oh! I passed 16lbs lost with WW before I got sick, so yay for that, too! Does anyone have any thoughts about the 360˚ program expansion? I went ahead and bought the 'expansion kit' at the meeting and I really like the handbook.

That's all I have. Probably should take another nap. Have a great week, everyone!

Wendy's Week

Not a great week. I logged a lot of couch time thanks to the 5-day migraine. It seems to be gone now. Hopefully.

Good stuff:
- I did manage to get some laundry done, dishes washed, Christmas presents wrapped.
- Vicky came Friday night to help me decorate the Christmas tree. I wasn't going to do any other decorating, but maybe I'll get the creche out.
- We ordered our new counter tops yesterday, but there won't be any work in the kitchen until January. The cabinets arrive the 4th, and from that point it will be at least a month of living in a renovation. If we survive that, we're thinking our next house will be a fixer-upper.
- E-mailed "Held" to Splickety Monday evening, before the headache started, so I have 5-7 more weeks to wait for an answer on that.

Not So Good stuff:
- No writing.
- Not as much exercise, although I did get a good workout in fencing class yesterday, and I can feel it today!
- Ate out way too much.

This week:
- Write!
- Ship presents that need to be shipped.
- Cook and eat at home.
    --- Figure out how to compensate for the loss of the meat thawing drawer in the new frige
- Finish Christmas shopping

December? Wow!

This year has been an adventure.  Time to begin reflecting on the year that's been, the year that will be, and just maybe cleaning up some loose ends.

The Good Stuff:

• Hubby's older daughter was able to get away from Dallas for the weekend and brought the younger granddaughter with her. We thoroughly enjoyed having them here this weekend.  Granddaughter got some quality time with the kittens and helped socializing them to new people.  She made good progress with Rossie while she was here.  Daughter got to spend quality time with her dad sharing some family genealogy information and making copies.
• Is it only this week that we got all four kittens caught and together again to socialize?  My.  It seems like longer than that.  The kittens have a long way to go, but they have come so far.  They are great with the litter box, they're learning to use the scratching box instead of other things. They are learning to play and wrestle. They're learning to be handled, but they are only just beginning to welcome it. (Ruby is our fastest adopter at this point.)
• Hubby has made good progress in getting the downspout upgraded at the shop.  He's working on the key downspout, but we have several more to do.  
• I lost a couple of pounds this week, but I didn't feel as if I'd done anything to achieve the loss.  Maybe that's a good thing?
• Had the follow-up ultrasound, and all they found was a well-formed cyst.  I'll do a follow up in six months to make sure it doesn't change size.  I scheduled the GYN followup for mid-January for the fibroid problem follow-up.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• Hubby was trying to show the kids something, and I attempted to help him, causing what I was trying to avoid -- dropping the item on an antique lamp shade and cracking it.  It was a hundred year old milk glass shade that he has not found another of even though he's been looking. He's furious with me.  He says he'll get over it, but he's heartsick about the damage to that item.  And I feel terrible.
• I didn't even pull PBOTL out to look at it.

The Week Ahead:

• Semi-annual doctor visit on Tuesday
• Heading to San Antonio to do some work down there on Wednesday 
• I need to do some goal work in preparation for closing out this year and beginning next year.
• Including looking at PBOTL.

Signing and more

Last week was busy. I spent the first part of the week getting ready for the book signing on Thursday -- mailing postcards; sending out emails; marketing on Twitter, Facebook, etc.; preparing the door prizes; coordinating the food and drinks, etc. It's quite an undertaking, and I always wonder when I'm in the middle of it if it's all going to to be worth all the effort. I learned a long time ago that bad weather can undone all you've done. At least in my town, if there's bad weather -- a bit of rain or snow -- no one comes out.

Anyway, the signing was on Thursday. It went well. Plenty of people, lots of laughter and good conversation, and I sold a lot of Tales from Bethlehem, including a few copies of Floozy and Other Stories. Of course, I had a lot of people who told me they'd be there who didn't show for one reason or another, but I have another signing on the 13th here. Maybe they'll be able to make that one. Several have said they will.

I'm close to the break even point on Tales. Well, a bit more than half way there, but closer than before the signing. I should reach it with the other signings barring unforeseen circumstances -- like bad weather. The weather here is unnaturally warm and clear. Worries me. We desperately need rain.

Friday and Saturday, I spent recovering and repacking all the stuff I'd unpacked for the signing. I also did a bit of Christmas shopping and wrapped some presents.

This week, I will:
- Continue to sell and promote Tales online and otherwise.
- Prepare more prizes for the signing on the 13th and 15th. I used all of the prepared ones at the Thursday signing.
- Household chores.
- Christmas shopping and wrapping.
- Christmas cards.
- Pray for rain.
- Writers group Christmas gathering this coming Saturday.
- The Hanging of the Green tonight at the local Methodist church. I always enjoy the Hanging. It starts the Christmas season for me.

And that's my news. Hope you have a great week!

Welcome to December

Nothing much to report here other than there's been no word on SPORE and I've returned to working on Stain of Corruption. I'm officially down 13.2 lbs. That's about it.

{{huggs}} all around.

Wendy's week

It's been so quiet this week it seems like two since last weekend!

Good Stuff:
- Got some kitchen stuff packed up. Already it feels bigger.
- Returned the library books I could find. The library says I still have 2. We're all going to look for them again. If they don't turn up, I have the ISBNs to replace them.
- Swam 3 days, and did my exercise video 4 days.
- Researched some paid short story markets.
- Started my 2013 goals.
- Fenced this morning, and Eric went along to observe since we had other stuff to do in the city. He may be joining our class. If he does, I'll have a sparring partner at home.
- Tales From Bethlehem just got here. At 8:30 on Saturday night. FedEx must be paying some serious overtime. That, of course, means I'm almost done Christmas shopping for Mom's side of the family, so maybe, just maybe I can ship their gifts this week.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Back to feeling like I'm not getting anything done. It seems like there are always a lot of things left undone at the end of the day. Must be the shorter days. It stinks to be solar powered with no means of energy storage.
- I still have at least three Powerpoints to do for December. Maybe four.
- Not a lot to show for my time on the writing front. A couple of short stories.
- I'm still waiting for one more crit of the story I set to all of you. I did implement some of the changes you suggested, including changing Kenzie's last name, adjusting the timeline, and the end. Now Julie doesn't say "I told you so." She grins, sits in the other chair, and takes Kenzie's free hand. I also changed the title to Held. (There is a song by Natalie Grant with the same theme and title.)


 This Week:
- Send Held to Splickety Magazine whether I get the last crit or not. She's done with NaNo, so hopefully it will be here in the next couple of days.
- Work more on the kitchen.
- Wrap and ship Mom's presents.
- Track down the elusive Dad present.
- Put up the Christmas tree.
- Work on kids' gifts.
- Figure out a daily schedule that integrates writing and house stuff. There has to be a better way to do things than what I'm doing now.