Any Colour You Like

But let's not make it blue today.  Happy Mother's Day.

The Good Stuff:

• I tracked, did Morning Pages, and got some exercise in with the yard work.
• Morning Pages, Stephen, are like journaling.  You're supposed to write three pages first thing in the morning of the first thing that comes into your head, no matter what it is, to clear your mind and jump start you for writing productive stuff.  I do mine the first chance I get during the day -- sometimes as late as just before I go to bed, but I usually get them done sometime in the morning.  You're supposed to write them by hand, but I've been doing mine on the computer for a couple of years now, first via 750words.com and beginning this year in the MacJournal app.
• I had a productive week for yard work in San Antonio.  I got everything done I went down there to do -- lawn mowed, hedged trimmed, trash trees hacked back.  Yard watered when it wasn't raining.  Thankfully, the city made the watering hours 7-11 am and pm, which is much, much better than 3-8am and 8-10pm.  That waking up at 3 am and turning on the soaker hoses was a killer.
• We got at least 2 inches of rain here in Central TX while we were gone.  Praises!
• My mom says she's feeling so much better, and her pulmonologist approves of everything her doctor has been doing for her, so that's a win for her.  
• My dad is penciled in for his back surgery at the end of July, but if they can free up five hours in an operating room before then, they'll take him.  This is in the good stuff, because I'm hoping it will help him feel better -- not because I'm glad he needs surgery.
• I've been getting some good reading time in.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• I didn't get any writing done this week.  And, sadly, I didn't feel too bad about it.
• I'm eating too much.  I picked up some salad and fruit when I got back to Central TX.  

The Week Ahead:

• Dentist Monday morning, then pick up Sneaky from the vet clinic.  I'm going to bring her home and open a can of food before I open the carrier to release her.  If I'm really lucky, she'll hang around for some food, but I sincerely don't expect her to do that.  I expect her to bolt and hide for a little while.  Then we'll see if she'll talk to me or not after she has a chance to forgive me.
• Yard work in Central TX
• Some maintenance work at FM behind the scenes
• Read, track, morning pages, and ride the recumbent bike
• Take stock in my writing and decide what I'm going to do with it.  I think the first thing I need to do is sit down and review Cat Eyes to see what I can do to give this revised version more conflict and do it.  Then I need to also get back to working on PBOTL.  I've taken too much time off from it.

Sneaking away for a minute...

It's been a pretty darn good weekend. The weather yesterday was perfect--just the right amount of sun and breeze. The graduation ceremony, while long, was well done. The speakers were good, although the keynote guy went off on a tangent into left field. 

We ended up with all the parents, Eric's aunt and uncle, and our kids with their significants--14 of us total. I could have planned the logistics a little better. Traffic was awful and stressed me out more than anything else. If I hadn't had to drive it would have been fine. I'm thinking we should have hired a limo for the day. Other than that, it was a good day yesterday, and it was fun to celebrate Eric's accomplishment with a side order of Mother's and Father's Day.

Dad and Linda, and the aunt and uncle left this morning. Eric's dad and step-mom leave tomorrow, and my mom and step-dad are hanging around until Wednesday morning. It's been a lot of fun having everyone together. The cats are a little twitchy with the noise of 14 people talking and catching up, but they'll get over it. The dishwasher has been getting a workout, too.

The most interesting twist is that Eric has to report for Federal Jury Duty tomorrow morning. At least it wasn't last week! That's about it here. I have a couple more days of visiting, followed by a mad rush to prepare for our first Scottish Games as the reps of Clan Campbell in Springfield. A week from tomorrow, I'll clear my calendar and sleep.

There was a party?

I almost posted last night, but it was about 1 am and decided I'd try to sleep instead. So I guess I'm last.

Ah well.

Things are good, I guess. Busy. I'm down about 32 lbs, exercising 6 days a week, so that's all going fine. Haven't written a word since I sent SPORE out 3 weeks ago. I need to find something else to work on, but I currently have nuthin'. Also no word from The Agent. Starting to really doubt that I'd nailed the changes and worry I've screwed them up. It's surely writer angst.

I sewed six 3-block strips into three 6-block hunks yesterday. Oh, I ripped out some darts I'd put in one of my granddaughter's skirts a while back. That's it for sewing.

We lost a big branch from the old maple in back, and a lot of smaller branches from other trees with this most recent snow. Hopefully winter's finally done.

That's about it for me. Have a good week.

Later to the party

Have to agree with Jean's point about Facebook. I have a friend who says she won't be on Facebook because she doesn't want to hear every little detail of her friends' lives. Trust me, these days she wouldn't. She'd only see recipes, photos of cats, inspirational pics, etc. She'd have to really search to find out anything. What Facebook needs is a button to allow you to turn off other users 'Shares' on your page. I would be grateful.

What I did last week in no particular order:
- Published April family newsletter and mailed it.
- Did News at Three each day sort of on time.
- Worked on Red Bird Woman, a book of poetry I'm publishing for a friend.
- Worked on Murder by the Mile, God help me.
- Worked on Undying, ditto.
- Moped the kitchen and bathroom floor with a Swifter mop twice, then did them both with the steam mop. They shone afterwards. I hate to walk on them.
- Worked on the back bedroom so more. It had become a dumping ground again for coats, books, gym equipment, etc. Cleared most of that out and put everything in its proper home.
- Sort of cleaned the tub. I worked hard on it, but it needs more. Looks better, though. Our extremely hard water here makes cleaning even more of a chore.
- Scrubbed the toilet until it gleamed. Yeah, I know, but I got carried away cleaning.
- De-cluttered and cleaned the garage so more. It's much closer to the way I see it in my mind.
- Changed the display of the Many Rivers Harbor books in the downtown store. Made it more Spring-y.
- Filed three months of bills and other items.
- Vacuumed the house, laundry, and other household chores.

This week in no particular order:
- Work on Murder by the Mile. Did I mention God help me?
- Work on Undying. Ditto on the mention.
- Work on Red Bird Woman.
- Prepare agenda, classic poem discussion, and minutes for writers group.
- Conduct writers group meeting Saturday.
- Pay bills and do stinkin' book work so that my stinkin' taxes won't be so stinkin' hard next year.
- News at Three each day.
- Household chores, including a whole house dusting, which will officially end my spring cleaning ... except for two closets, dang it, that I still have to clear out. Man, does it ever end?
- Work on back bedroom and garage some more.
- May family newsletter.
- Upkeep on a couple of clients' blogs.
- Try oh try to get more sleep.
- Stay sane. Or what passes for it in my world.

I hope y'all have a GREAT week.

Late to the Party

Someone has to have made that a song title sometime, haven't they?

I'm in SA getting a lot of yard work done. The weather has been cool and comfortable, so I'm really enjoying that.

I'm tracking, reading, and doing morning pages.

I have a ton of story ideas lurking on the edge of my brain.  I need to coax them out.

Last time I was down here, I got a notice a couple days into my new cellular payment cycle that I'd used half my data allowance (we killed the landline and DSL in SA to save $100 a month). I upped my data to 6G instead of 4G, and I think I'll be fine. I have to see if there are any restrictions in my agreement on the number of times I can increase and decrease my data limits. I don't mind paying the $10 for the extra 2G if I'm using it, but I don't like wasting it.

I'm getting frustrated with my social media sources, and, at the moment, Facebook is the worst. I,m seeing maybe 10% original content in my feed. The rest is recipes, motivational placards, and silly sayings. I know it hurts people's feelings to complain about it, and I'm sometimes guilty of the same thing I'm complaining about.  I also realize these motivational sayings are frequently as much a personal boost solely for the person posting them, and I can sympathize with that.  But. Sigh.

For the week ahead:
-  Track, read, do morning pages
-  More yard work
-  There must be some other things...

A little better

I got a fair amount done, but my list is too vague. Drat!

Good stuff:
- Made progress on the house. Merry Maids comes sometime Tuesday for spring cleaning, so I have a good bit of decluttering to do before they come. I need as many things off horizontal surfaces as possible. Yeah...
- We bought a lawn mower. The new one is gas but has electric start. The bad news is I couldn't get the electric start to work, but the good news is the pull cord was much more girl friendly, so I did the lawn by myself while Eric was at work. Oh, and it's self-propelled, which is nice. Our yard isn't real hilly, but we do have a shallow swail at the back of the lot that I've had to shove the mower up in the past. Not so now.
- 'Attended' a webinar about social networking. The gist is that to build an effective platform, you'll get the most bang for your buck with Twitter, Facebook, and a blog. The presenter uses Hootsuite for Twitter and Facebook and spends 30 minutes a day on those two. (I spend 30 minutes at a time on FB sometimes, and I don't play games!) Blogging has to be done on a regular schedule, so I've designated Monday as my blogging day. I should be able to come up with something to say consistently once a week. It's a place to start. How is it that I'm coming up with places to start on so many things in the last several months?
- Eric and I saw Iron Man 3 yesterday. Go see it! Some people have said 1 & 2 were better, but I think 3 is the best so far. Tony isn't invincible, and Pepper isn't a simpering wimp. I hate it when script writers make the female lead a simpering wimp, but I equally dislike heroines who are too powerful. Think Princess Amidala in Revenge Of The Sith (the 6th movie but Episode 3) and Lara Croft. Equally loath. That'll preach at a writers' conference.
- We bought Father's Day gifts yesterday. Since ALL of our parents will be here next weekend, and it's Mother's Day, I made a command decision to do Mother's and Father's day together. I'll execute the MD plan tomorrow.
- I have a graduation outfit planned.
- Eric's aunt and uncle apparently didn't get or ignored the e-mail he sent out several months ago about graduation. They found out last week and contacted Eric. Long story short, they're coming, too. That gets our group up to 14 and will take a total of 4 airport runs. :-) Good thing the airport is only 45 minutes away in traffic--way better than the 2 1/2 hour drive from Del Rio to San Antonio. It's going to take 3 cars to get us all to graduation. It's going to be memorable, no doubt about that!
- Did I mention the Alex got accepted to grad school at Western IL Univ? That's where he's been going, so it looks like another 2-3 years there before he has to move on for a doctoral program, assuming WIU doesn't add one before then. He also found another house where the rent is a little less, and he'll have a new roommate who will be bringing a cat.

Ambivalent Stuff:
- I finally broke down yesterday when we were shopping for Father's Day and gave Eric the green light for his Bose surround sound system. He's only been drooling over Bose speakers for 25 years. They're sitting in my dining room at the moment and I have my doubts about whether we'll get them installed before the Ingress. It's more likely I'll drag them out to the garage and deal with it after everyone goes home. Eric, of course, is far more excited about it than I am, but I admit a bit of curiosity about future movie watching experiences. I have a mental list of movies I'm going to watch while he's at work. ;-)

Not So Good Stuff:
- Rain. Lots of rain. Close to 4" since Thursday night. It's still raining. At this point I'm just glad it's not snow.
- More rain forecast for next weekend. Graduation is outside and is slated to last about 4 hours.
- Lawn mowing was harder than it needed to be for the maiden voyage. The spark plug wire had come off during shipping and was hiding. Once I found and connected it, the mower started right up, but it's been so wet that the grass has been growing like crazy, and the old mower left clumps of grass on the lawn, so I finally had to attach the bagger just to keep the mower from choking every row. After that it went a little easier, but I am grateful that we didn't wait for a larger corner lot!
- I'm going to have to mow again before the Ingress because Alex won't get home before everyone comes. Looks like that will be Wednesday.

This Week:
- Mow the lawn
- Finish the house
- MD shopping
- Menu planning and grocery shopping
- Try to get some words in there somewhere
- Pick up in-laws Thursday afternoon
- My side arrives on Friday
- Survive the weekend. We haven't had all the parents together since 1987. Since then, my dad is with someone else, Eric's mom died (1999), and my father-in-law is on his third wife. My mom and his dad got along for our wedding only because I threatened bloodshed otherwise, and Eric's mom kept his dad in line. :-) Yeah, it could be a very interesting weekend! Details as soon as I can get them to you!

Post Conference Syndrome strikes again

I'm not sure if it's information overload or being around people 24/7 during a conference that exhausts me, or maybe a combination of the two, but man, I've been next to useless this week.

Good Stuff:
- General cleaning and maintenance around the house, but only the barest of bare minimums. The big stuff that got done was because Eric said we really should, so I dragged my butt upstairs to help.
- Remembered to mail Alex's rent check.
- Did some church Powerpoints.
- Made a long-term To Do list for the next 2 weeks. I have 11 days before the in-laws arrive, and my family won't be far behind.
- Finished reading 1 1/2 books, mostly because I couldn't motivate off the couch to do more productive things. They are books I have to give to my bard mentor when I'm done. One of our friends gave them to him, but he wants me to research Guinevere (they're Arthurian novels), so I got them first. But he's waiting for me to read them so he can.
- Did manage to get to judo one evening, and I went to my first Zumba class. I might go again, but I want to try a different teacher. She assumed a level of competence I'll have to work up to. Exercise is getting easier, and my endurance and flexibility have improved.
- Started getting stuff together for the clan tent. Our first Games is the weekend after graduation. I'll have 2 1/2 days tops to pull it together once everyone leaves.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Forgot about the Scottish society newsletter, even though it was on my list.
- Didn't get as much writing in as I would have liked. It requires thinking, and that's been hard.
- The lawn mower is falling apart. I want to buy electric because I can't start a gas mower the first time. Once it's been running, I can restart it, but I never have been able to get that initial fire-up. Eric doesn't want to pay what they want for an electric mower. We have to make a decision soon because of the afore-mentioned family visit, and because with the rain we've gotten and are forecast to get, we're going to have to mow again soon.
- It's been raining a lot. That hasn't helped matters. It's way too tempting to settle in with a cup of chai and a book.

This Week:
- Mark stuff off the long-term list.
- Newsletter.
- Powerpoints.
- Write. I made changes to my plot while I was away last weekend, so I'm more or less starting from scratch, although I wasn't that far into it, so the rewriting shouldn't take long.
- Figure out what I'm going to wear for graduation. Alex's girlfriend already has her dress and has told Alex, "It's peach, and you have to match." ;-)
- Try to stay dry. To that end, I need to grab my raincoat and boots out of the trunk of Eric's car. I was wearing them when I left for Memphis.

Bad penny!

And I'm back! Just like the proverbial bad penny. Although I've never really understood that expression.

Last week:
- Worked on Murder by the Mile.
- Worked on a book for one of my clients that Many Rivers Harbor should publish in November.
- Worked on Undying.
- Worked on two clients' websites and updated them.
- Wrote and posted the News at Three on Facebook Monday through Friday.
- Took Thursday night off because I was so stressed that I thought I was going to flip out. Felt better afterwards.
- Household chores, chores, chores.
- Continued A-Z Posts and NaPoWriMo, although I'm running behind on both, but hope to catch up this weekend.
- Prepared the writers group meeting agenda, minutes, poems for study, and program.
- Conducted the writers group this morning and took them on a "field trip" to attend a writer's book signing that was being held in the library. We met a nice author from the eastern Oklahoma, and I invited her to come by and talk to the group after her signing, and she did. We had a good question and answer with her.
- Worked on the yard and my flower garden.
- Learned how to burn YouTube videos onto DVDs so that I can present programs to the group. Today we watched a TED lecture from David Kelley on Creative Confidence during the meeting.
- Fought a cold/allergies all week.

This week:
- Work on Murder by the Mile.
- Work on my client's book.
- Work on Undying.
- Write and post News at Three on Facebook.
- Household chores.
- Finish A-Z Posts and NaPoWriMo, thank God.
- Clean and "spring decorate" my books at the downtown store.
- Write and publish April family newsletter. (Yes, I'm that far behind.)
- Try to squeeze in some downtime in there somewhere.
- Get over this cold/allergies or whatever it is that's dragging me down.

Hope you have an awesome week.

Rain on the Scarecrow

I can only hope.  We supposedly have rain coming our way, but I'll believe it when I see it.  It keeps Mr. L glued to his weather app on his Toshiba tablet, periodically calling out messages of impending doom.  Yeah.  Right.  He's like the boy who cried wolf with that thing.  But heaven forbid I poo-poo his fears about hail and we actually get hail if I didn't listen to his recommendation to take the trucks to the shop.  I'd never live that down.

The Good Stuff:

• Had a couple of good sessions with Sneaky/Sneakers this week (I'm kind of liking Sneakers as a name for her but haven't decided for sure)
• Tracked, did morning pages, rode two days, mowed three days, read
• Looked at Cat Eyes and added more to the next scene
• Zette's offering a short story class at FM, so I'm going to work through that.
• GYN follow up went fine.  He discounted back pain being related.
• Got the store mowed, even if it took three days instead of the usual two (I was thwarted by a brief rain shower on the second day)

The Not So Good Stuff:

• As of Friday, my sister is unemployed.  She knew it was coming, but her efforts to find something in the last few months have not paid off.  She's going to spend time with her kids, grandsons, and my folks this summer (she did get a severance package).  I presume she's also going to be looking for work (she's the lone breadwinner; her husband is on disability).
• I'm still tired a lot.  Getting along well with Mr. L but I seem to be experiencing some personal dissatisfaction that I can't put my finger on.

The Week Ahead:

• Heading to San Antonio on the first to do about a week's worth of yard work and vote in the local election on the 11th before heading back this way afterward
• Assuming weather permits, get house yard mowed and trimmed here before I go
• Do Zette's class and exercises for it
• Track, move, read, and do morning pages.
• Continue work on some kind of writing

Flirtin' With Disaster

No particular reason. I just got a whim to channel some Molly Hatchet.

The Good Stuff:

• Completed my CHL (Concealed Handgun License) refresher course and shot one of my best groups ever on the practical part of the course. Sending off the paperwork tomorrow for my updated license.
• I got front hedge by the door trimmed, a couple of fledgling hackberry trees hacked out below the ground, and the "weedy" part of the SA yard mowed.
• I did morning pages, tracking, and weeding
• Mom's home from the hospital
• We had little trouble with Rossie for transitioning.  It was Ruby who found a place to hide down in SA that took us a while to find.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• What a week! Boston and West.  Boston was terrible for the national security implications and West was terrible for the concentrated community impact. But, if you really think about it, these just received national media focus.  If you look, there's something equally horrible going on somewhere in the world every day.  On the bright side, for each horrid act, there are people pulling together and making good things happen.
• I didn't get much done in San Antonio. 
• I'm feeling tired all the time. Since the beginning of the year (mid-December, really), I've either felt sick, dragged out, or just blah.  I'm not sure what's going on.  If this is just "normal aging" and I have to push through it, it sucks. Resting doesn't seem to help. I have my six-month check up with my primary doctor the first week of June.  I'll add it to the list of things to ask.
• Dad's on the wait list for a back surgery, and Mom's still having trouble breathing.  One of my nieces will be serving as their transport after Dad's surgery, so I don't have to make the trip up there this time, but they won't be able to come to OK for my nephew's graduation and the follow-on visit with us they had planned. (But getting these health matters taken care of is more important.)
• Nada on writing.

The Week Ahead:

• Follow up on Wed with GYN regarding the surgery.  I'm going to ask him about the back pain and a few other things that have flared up since the surgery to rule out any relationship.
• Track, read, morning pages, and exercise.
• Finish A-Z challenge posts. 
• Survive?

Quick break

I got home from the Kiss And Tell conference last night. Also scheduled in the same hotel was a big gathering of National Guardsmen of various types. Romance writers and men in uniforms in the same hotel? Good thing we're Christian romance writers, most of whom are married! The funniest part is that some of the staff didn't realize the conference was about learning to write romance. They were speculating that we were a bunch of lesbians coming out!

Good stuff:
- I got all the little fiddly details taken care of early in the week--oil change, laundry, etc. That left plenty of time in the middle of the week for beauty shop stuff and packing.
- The ultrasound went well. I got someone more experienced and she was faster and gentler than the gal I had in December.
- The drive both ways was pretty easy. It's about 5 1/2 hours from here to Olive Branch, MS (about 15 minutes south of Memphis).
- The conference itself was the most intense I've ever done. I thought Deep Thinkers was intense since it's 5 days jam packed with craft lessons. Kiss And Tell was on par with Deep Thinkers but crammed into 1 1/2 days. By Saturday night I was THIIIIIIISSSS close to swearing off writing romance forever! A peach daiquiri and a few hours' sleep brought me off the ledge. I also learned I have more endurance than I give myself credit for and should push myself more.
- Since this was the first Kiss And Tell, we were able to give Susie May good feedback to improve the next one.
- Because I was sitting in a classroom all weekend and eating more than I should, I took stairs instead of elevators most of the time. I didn't get winded until the 4th flight, which is an improvement. Judo must be working. I might have to give running another shot now that the weather is warming.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Um, let's see. Oh! The house wasn't spotless when I came home. Not that I expected it to be, but it would have been nice. Yeah, really, I got nothing. It was a pretty darn good week.

This Week:
- Write
- Shift part of my focus to more serious decluttering. I'm not worried about cleaning as such--Merry Maids will be here right before the family comes in 3 weeks, and they're doing all the rooms except our offices. I just need to get stuff out of their way, and that alone might take 3 weeks!
- May Powerpoints for church.
- Clean my desk. It's getting junky again.
- Remember to hit Post when I want to post stuff. That's twice today I've left stuff hanging...

Aw, crap, it's Monday already!

2 am Monday, at least for me. :)

SPORE went out Tuesday. I may or may not get initial reactions from The Assistant this week, but I don't expect to hear from The Agent until sometime in mid-late May.

I am still brain fried and have accomplished little more than napping, exercising, eating, and sleeping. I'm okay with that.

Oh, and laundry. Because with a toddler in the house, there's always plenty of laundry. ;)

We're good, everything's good, weather is wet, which is GOOD.

Have a happy week, everyone!  {{hugs}}

Since I'm getting tired of line edits... ;)

My week has been fairly typical, especially for this stage in the revision/about to go out the door process, which means I've mostly been a stressed out basket case weepy PITA.

I sincerely apologize to anyone who has to deal with me either this past week or the one coming up. I'm a mess and I'm trying not to let it spill out, but it defeats me and my best intentions, sometimes.

Anyway, here's my update. :)

Weight was down about half a pound - yay! However, due to book-stress-eating, I'm finding myself munching more, often on things that aren't really points friendly (like pizza, egg rolls, etc). That said, my bathroom weight is DOWN another 2.2 lbs. I think it's the stress. I am pretty hyper/wound up. And not in a good way. It's giving me, um, bowel issues, which started before I decided to just eat what I want until this frantic time is past. I'm still tracking, though, and exercising every day (and, really, I'm only going 5 or so points over for the day, so it's not like I'm pigging out on the stuff).

Took a 'day off from the book' Saturday to go to a quilt show and fabric shopping with my friend Deb and her mom. I spent too much money at The Quilted Forest in Forest City, but I'm totally okay with that. I love everything I bought and have zero buyer's remorse for any of it. Bill's happy I had such a fun time, so screw the budget, I bought jelly rolls and layer cakes! lol (for you non quilters, a jelly roll is a roll of 40 2.5-inch strips and a layer cake is 40 10-inch squares, all different but coordinating fabrics. Neither are actual pastry items. ;) My granddaughter is gonna get a couple of VERY girly quilts for her big-girl bed. I swear, that child will be set for life in the girly-quilts department. lol

We've had some rain - yay! - and snow - yay! - and more rain - YAY! So glad we're getting the moisture.

City council meeting went well, but I'm having a bit of a quandary. Sort of. There's some money left in the general budget and the city clerk wants to spend it on updating the council room with new furniture and carpet. She's supposed to give us estimates for both next month, but I think we'd be better served replacing the community center floor and painting in there, maybe doing some repairs or expansions to playground equipment, that kinda thing, since we really don't need fancier furniture for the 2 hours or so we meet every month. I fear, tho, that I will be the lone vote of 'nay' on the expense.

Still waiting on line edits for the last 4 chapters, and I have 3 (so far) more tweaks to chapter graphics, but otherwise SPORE is DONE. Which means it's not really done, but SOON. Which is a very good thing. My hubby keeps treating me like I'm about to break. This may or may not be true - I spent pretty much all of Wednesday/Thursday bawling - but it's still annoying to be handled that way. Once I get the line edits and other teensy things on my list done, I'll take the remainder of that day to review it, then I shall SEND IT OUT. This week.

I'll be so relieved when it's off my desk, at least for a while.

Then I shall SEW. And it'll be pink and flowery and full of perky cheer! :)

Have a happy week, everyone!!  {{hugs}}

Normal, or what passes for it.

It's been significantly slower around here in the last week. Oddly, I don't feel any better rested.

Good Stuff:
- Mowed the hay, er, lawn this afternoon. Yeah, it really needed it.
- Got some words in. Still not enough, IMHO, but they were pretty consistent, so that's something.
- Collected some paint samples for my office. They're jammed into the trim around the door. A couple have potential, but I haven't yet found the perfect shade of turquoise. Everything I've found is either too blue or too green.
- No one I know had any damage in the tornado that went through St Louis last Wednesday. Vicky weathered it under the stairs with her cat, the boyfriend not being home from work yet. Thank goodness she has a house with a basement. She's better protected against storms than we are!
- The cats were clingy on and off all week but seem to have gotten past that, just in time for me to leave Thursday for Memphis. :-) Daddy will be home with them this time, so it shouldn't be too traumatic. He knows how to open cat food cans. (I'm going for another writing retreat. Might be the last time to hang out with writers this year.)
- So far my allergy medicine is working. Only a couple minor headaches so far, and I haven't had to break out the neti pot.
- Started getting my raised beds into shape. The older of the two will need to be replaced next year I think.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Female issues for which I will be having another ultrasound this week. I'm sure Stephen doesn't want more details!
- The weather, while typical for the area this time of year, has been eclectic. Temps ranging from 50 to high 70's. Today is warm but windy. Rattle the windows and chase the cat under the couch windy.
- I had a fender bender in the commissary parking lot. A teenage boy was backing his parents' van out behind me, and I didn't see him until I heard the crunch. Minimal damage--a dent in his quarter panel, and a broken tail light on my van. We're both USAA customers so it was handled quickly. Getting it fixed shouldn't be a big deal.

This Week:
- Get the oil changed in the van, and talk to my mechanic about getting the tail light fixed.
- Pack.
- Go to two judo classes instead of just one, which is all I've managed per week since I started. It's getting less scary, and it is a good workout.
- Drive safely to Memphis and back.

Defenders of the Flag

If you pay attention to politics, it's a depressing time.  I entered the military during the Cold War Era -- an era I never thought to see the end of in my lifetime.  We defeated Communism.  Or, rather, I thought we did. Instead, we seem to have defeated it in the former Soviet Union and associated Block countries only to welcome it in our own.  I swore to uphold the Constitution, and our President, half the Congress, and some of the Supreme Court seem determined to do everything in their power to disregard or undermine the Constitution.  Twenty-eight years of my life given freely in defense of this nation only to be considered an extremist and a threat in my own country for being a Christian and a veteran.

The Good Stuff:

• We got two trailer loads of trash loaded and taken to the city dump for our annual clean up day (a $160 value).  Mattresses, box springs, rusted cabinetry, an upholstered chair, headboards, water damaged end tables and other assorted furniture items all dumped.  
• We loaded two washers and a dryer onto the trailer for the second load, and when we got in the dump line for our turn in front of a house, a guy flagged us down and asked if he could have the appliances.  We told them to go ahead.  That was my preferred disposition for those items all along, so that made my day. (Made me wish we'd decided to load the still working dryer on the trailer as well, but we decided not to.  We can always stop by that house and see if they want the dryer when we're done with it in a month or so.)
• I'm feeling fairly good this week, although my lower back started locking up on Thursday night.  I'm not sure if it's related to the procedure or if it's coincidental and more related to me not doing my stretching exercises.
• Got the lawn mowed today
• Tracked on Lose It! (actually showed a loss for part of the week), read, rode the bike a couple of times, and did my morning pages
• Sneaky and I sat together for a little while on the porch last night.  It's a start.  She was a lonesome kitty last night.  Still no sign of Peaches or Little Orange.
• A-Z entries are scheduled through M and O and a draft is in the works on the next letters.
• I got a haircut.
• Taxes are filed.
• Mr. L is continuing decluttering.  He's doing well.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• I spent no time on Cat Eyes this week
• My mom's in the hospital with breathing troubles
• I'm supposed to take my concealed carry renewal class on Saturday (at least, I paid for it), but I haven't gotten the email from the place with details yet.  They said it would arrive a few days before the class, so, in theory, I shouldn't be worried yet, but I am mildly annoyed to only have a PayPal receipt so far.
• I'm doing a lousy job of decluttering

Neither Good nor Bad:

• I think the A-Z Blogging Challenge will be my last blog challenge.  It's fun to do, but I don't have time to frantically run by and check other blogs.  Some people have been kind enough to stop by mine, but you can tell they are rushed, too.  
• This year will be my tenth NaNoWriMo.  I regretfully believe it will be my last.  It's been a great source of first draft material, but I think it has reached the point where it's counter productive for me.  I dash off a first draft during NaNo, then it sits and waits for me to get around to revising it.  Revision is where I need to work.  I've proven I can do a first draft. Nice.  So many people can't.  Now, I need to move forward from that and produce something readable.  That's where my focus needs to be. Theoretically, I shouldn't do NaNo this year, but I do want to be able to say I did it for ten years straight.  Silly as that may be.  
• Be it morning pages, NaNo, or other sundry things, I have the tenacity to stick with it, but these things, ultimately, are not productive to achieving the goal of publication.  I have other things I should be doing.

The Week Ahead:

• Continue morning pages, tracking, getting exercise (we'll be transitioning to SA for a week, so no riding), and reading.
• Plug away at the yard work.  I feel as if I'm behind the power curve on it.
• Complete CHL refresher class.
• Get back to writing/revising.  Do SOMETHING.

Very productive weekend.

I'm back! We got in about 7:30 last night, tired and dusty and a little sunburned. Apparently, last week was the darkness before the dawn.

Good Stuff:
- I won't keep you in suspense. The warrior queen set went very well. I didn't vomit or trip, and I got positive remarks later. The band had fun, too! I'm now the Official Bard of Pictus. About half-way through the first story, the terror subsided enough for me to hear the little voice in my head say, "This is FUN!!!!" Eric video taped it. We're in the process of trying to figure out how to post it online. Vicky even came to see it. She's the one who took the pictures I posted on Facebook.
- Immediately after the last story a lady asked me for a business card. I didn't catch all of what she said since the band was playing, but apparently she's interested in having me come tell stories at a pagan picnic in St. Louis. I don't know any details yet. Turns out we have a mutual friend who told her about me and warned her that I'm Christian so I might not be interested. I figure John Wesley went to taverns to preach to the lost, and one pagan picnic won't turn me! If it's a paid gig, even better!
- We had more people come by the clan tent than Jeff and the girls usually get in a season. Hopefully, some of those names will translate into people who come and help and become active in the clan. (Have I mentioned that my bard mentor, Jeff, is also the State Commission for Clan Campbell in Missouri? The girls are his regular helpers (keepers) and have been doing games with him for years.)
- The cats didn't seem to be too traumatized by being left alone all weekend. In the past we had one of our kids' friends come in to feed them and give scritchies, but we're going to be away several weekends this summer and it seemed more cost effective to buy feeder. They're all a little twitchy this morning, but not much more than usual.
- The weather was lovely. A bit windy on Saturday, but it died down before we left the festival for the night. We had a great turn-out, especially given that last year was virtually rained out.
- I did a lot of baking last week, considering I don't bake much these days. I offered to take dessert to a meeting last week, and my scone recipe was so well received that I was told I needed to take some to the festival. I ended up making a total of four batches of scones and six dozen mini cupcakes. I might have a few cupcakes left. I have to say it was a joy to work in a kitchen with ample counter space.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Jeff threw his back out early last week, so he didn't come out until the day the festival started. (He lives in Kansas City.) Consequently, we didn't get as much time to visit with him as we may have had. Not that we didn't visit the entire weekend, so it wasn't that big of a deal. He was pretty miserable by the end of each day, though.
- My dryer was supposed to be fixed (again) today. Not gonna happen. Our repair guy was in a car accident and dislocated his shoulder. I don't know when, but it must have been recent. He talked to Eric, so I got all the info second-hand. What it boils down to for me is that I'll be air-drying laundry again, although the weather is supposed to be nice, so I might move the drying rack outside.
- Allergy season is upon us. 'Nuff said.

Over all, it was a decent week and a great weekend. In a couple days I should stop slipping into the brogue at random times. :-)

Medieval

It's been a busy writing week for me. Besides participating in the Blogging A-Z April Challenge and the National Poetry Writing Month (30 poems in 30 days), I'm also working feverishly on Murder by the Mile and Undying: Poems of Fantasy and Science Fiction. So basically all I've done is write, household chores, upkeep on the various blogs, and try to sleep.

However, I broke routine to attend the Medieval Fair of Norman, Oklahoma, yesterday. Thousands of people attend this annual festival. I've gone several times, but always enjoy it, although I usually I go on Friday, which is less attended. Saturday was people, people, people, and that got me very nervous and freaked. I still had a good time, though, enjoying Scottish music from Brizeus, roasted turkey legs, fresh-squeezed lemonade tart enough to make your eyes waters, tumblers and stilt walkers, Brother Donald the Storyteller, and, of course, looking at all the arts and crafts. A great day.

Next week will be more of this week, without the Medieval Fair, and capped by a writers group meeting Saturday in which I have to give the program.

I hope you have a great week. Oh, in the comments, I'm copying in my seventh poem for NaPoWriMo, inspired by the Medieval Fair and the Scottish music of Brizeus.

Some photos from the Fair:

My friends Matt, his mom Marie, and me.

Chain mail. Incredibly heavy and no use against English archers.

Various decorative items from the Vikings

Wooden shields to be bought and painted. I nearly did, but I have too much to do as it is!

Pendants of copper, bronze, silver, gold, and tin

Brizeus

All sorts of kilts and shirts. I bought a kilt shirt, but no kilt.

Take It Easy

That's been my theme this week.  Thank you for your good thoughts, prayers, and well wishes this week. My discharge instructions weren't specifically for my procedure, but they were close enough. No lifting heavier than 5-10 pounds (the laundry basket was 15 this morning -- oops), do not drive for two weeks (What! The nurse who called the next day said that probably didn't really apply to me as long as I wasn't still taking the hydrocodone), and no vacuuming or lawn mowing (as I discovered this morning, that means riding mowers too -- I was exhausted and had to take a break part way through the job -- really!).   Rest when you are tired.  Got that down.  I slept a lot this week.  The worst part the first couple of days was my throat, neck, and jaw (they shoved an anesthesia tube down my throat and tilted my head back at what must have been an unnatural angle).  I did take the hydrocodone for a couple of days, though, because it definitely helped.  I've been down to Tylenol for the last couple of days (I needed to drive), and the pain's pretty manageable (but why does my left knee hurt when it never hurt before -- what did they DO with me once they knocked me out? -- don't answer that; I don't think I want to know).

The Good Stuff: 

• I'm still here, and with the post-surgical results I've been reading about lately, that's not a guarantee
• I think Lady is recovering from her mites (or whatever it was) pretty well.  I re-treated her this morning, and I did a precautionary treatment on top of Ajax's head yesterday in a spot that looked suspicious.  I'm watching all the cats for signs of irritation.  Lady goes back for her followup exam tomorrow.  Mr. L thinks she's worse, but she has no scabby areas, and the skin looks healthy.  She needs to regrow some fur around her ears.
• Even Rossie got her Revolution treatment this month.  I was dosing all the cats, and Mr. L managed to catch her, so I applied her dosage as well. She handled it pretty well.  Last night, I offered Rossie cheese, but she preferred to be scratched behind the ears instead.  I swear, she's like a socially inept kid who thinks she doesn't fit in but really does.  When she figures it out, I probably won't be able to get her away from me.
• I managed a slow bike ride this week, tracked on Lose It!, did my reading, and morning pages.
• I did a very little work on Cat Eyes this week.  It feels flat to me.
• The yard sale went okay.  We definitely needed to advertise (but I didn't want to in case I didn't feel up to doing it. In hindsight, I'd have advertised and dealt with the consequences).  Some stuff is no longer a hassle for us to deal with, and I think it will do the people who got it some good.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• I haven't seen Peaches since before I went to San Antonio last month.  I haven't seen Little Orange since January.  There's a new Tarzan-look-alike cat across the street.  Has there been a territorial shake-up?  Was Sneaky so friendly last week because she was lonely?  Was it because she was in heat or about to give birth (my bet is on the latter).  I haven't seen Sneaky all week.  My suspicions are that we have a new mama who cannot leave babies for very long and doesn't want to reveal her hiding place.  Food is disappearing overnight, so I'm hopeful she's sneaking away to get some when she can.  I don't want to get too nosy, because if she is under the house and I disturb her, she'll feel a need to move the kittens, and that would be less desirable. (On the bright side, we don't have a lot of neighborhood mooch cats eating the food from the feeder.)
• I've decided that M&Ms do not agree with me.  When I eat them, I feel sick.  In a way, this is a good thing.  I need to move them to the category of donuts (don't care about them, but when I eat them, I eat too many, so I just avoid them) and wine (a sure-fire way to induce a hot flash, so I've mostly cut it out).
• Time is flying by.  So much to do. So little time.  Arghhh.  It's an intellectual sense of foreboding, but I'm noticing it more lately.  Need to deal with it somehow.
• I feel like I'm going to have to deal with a psoriasis break out again.  Groan.

The Week Ahead:

• The standard, read, write, track, and exercise.
• Our community's annual clean up day is Saturday the 13th.  We can haul all kinds of stuff to the dump for free.  Last year, we took half the mattresses from the shop, and they just scooped them off the trailer.  This year, we want to take the other half and some busted up furniture, also from the shop.  We have to figure out how to do it without me lifting more than ten pounds at a time.
• I need a haircut.
• Try to build some stamina to get some things done, but I'll continue to rest as needed.

And so it begins...

Since it's right at midnight and I am very tired, I'll try not to be too long winded tonight.

Things... she is wackydoodle busy. That's sort of like Yankeedoodle Dandy, but without the cool hat.

SPORE is done, still waiting to get final notes from a couple of pre-readers. I am strangely happy about it, it's like I've passed through the terrified and landed softly on the other side. This, tho, may change at any moment, but for now I'm enjoying it.

I have a omelette breakfast to attend in the morning (Sunday) as part of a fundraiser for our local fire department. I have a city council meeting Monday, a quilt guild meeting Tuesday, the book to turn in (hopefully) by Friday, and a quilt show to attend with a friend on Saturday. A week after that, on Sunday,  I have a pancake breakfast to benefit the local Lions Club, then, that following Monday, a Lions Club meeting. Apparently they're very, very short on members (currently just 5) and can't continue to do events for the kids like Easter Egg Hunts, Halloween Parties, Christmas Parties, etc, nor maintain the veterans memorial or the park or do library fundraisers, etc, unless they get more people. They will just close up and stop. Like all of the other nearby communities have done.

I REALLY LIKE having things like this in our teensy community. Like it GOBS.

GAH!! Like I don't have enough going on already!!

GAH!!

I was up this week by 1.6 lbs, not too unexpected since I was on the road a lot (trips to Des Moines, etc) plus book stress, plus hormones, plus just life. But I'm back to tracking and exercising and being good so it ought to come off this week. Want to be 50 lbs down by my birthday and I'll need to lose about 8lbs a month to get there. Which is doable, but tough, so we'll see. I've exercised every day since the middle of last week. I can do it, especially if I can stop injuring myself over-doing the exercise. ;)

I sewed. A little. Sort of. On Friday. See, I'd already made 49 blocks for a huge quilt and I sewed most of them together in pairs. Pretty exciting, eh? At least it's something.

I have lost a sweater I really like. No idea where or how, but I cannot find it, anywhere. Poof! It's been vaporized. My house is not that big, nor are there many places for a teal green pullover sweater to hide, but I can't find it. I've totally emptied my dresser, gone through every hanger in the closet, every piece of luggage, Bill's dresser, little miss's room, Laura's room, every everything.

Poof.

Maybe I'm just losing my mind. ;)

This next week, I mostly just want to keep my mental eggs in their basket as I send SPORE off to The Agent and get through all of the 'events' already on my schedule.

Oh, and sleep. I'll try to do some of that too. Starting right now. ;)

Have a happy weekend!!  {{hugs}}

Just wanted to give you all a lot of {{huggs}}

Everyone's been having crazy/busy/stressful/screwed up weeks, and I'm no exception.

I wish I could make it all better for all of us.

{{{HUGGS}}}

Step forward, stumble back

It's been a frustrating week. It seemed I would take a step forward and soon after stumble back.

Step forward:
- Finally got my car to run. It may be fixed. At least it hasn't died.
Step back:
Discovered my air conditioning system is broken. Can't be recharged. Needs to go AC professional, which is more money than I currently have.

Step forward:
- Got a new client for Many Rivers Harbor, and he paid me!
Stumble back:
- Two unexpected bills (one for car repair, one for insurance) took every last cent he paid me.

Step forward:
- Got everything organized on hutch. My work space is clean and efficient for the first time in years.
Half stumble back:
- I lost a bill in the reorganizing and was late and got penalty. (See above.) I should have known when I had money left over that I had missed a bill.

Step forward:
- Lost another five pounds with this low carb diet.
Stumble back:
- Blood sugar is continuing to rise. I'm quite worried about this trend.

Step forward:
- Wrote two new good chapters for Murder by the Mile.
Stumble back
- Had to remove 6,543 words from MBTM.

Well, that was the week. I also did chores, kept my client's websites updated, finally published and mailed March family newsletter, and generally stayed positive despite the setbacks. Over all, I give the week a 6.5.

This coming week:
- Easter dinner at a friend's house.
- Household chores.
- Work on MBTM.
- Work on April family newsletter. Maybe publish it on time for once!
- Maybe go to Medieval Fair on Friday if weather and finances permit.

Hope you have a wonderful Easter and a great week!

Here Comes the Sun

After last week's little cold spell, the sun looks like it's going to be settling into our little drought-filled state.  We're still in the time of year when I don't mind the weather, but we're rapidly approaching the nine months of the year I dislike living in Texas because of the heat.

The Good Stuff:

• With the advent of yard work, I'm getting good exercise
• I did my morning pages, reading, and tracking
• The yard sale is set up.  We have to decide how to display the "free stuff," but I need Mr. L here for that (he gets here tomorrow).
• Pre-op appointments went well.  Bloodwork is good, but my fasting glucose was 113 (the GYN doc wasn't concerned about it, but that was not good to see), and my EKG looked great.  I'm very comfortable with my GYN doc.  He's confident and exudes capability.  We were going over the authorization paperwork (on the computer, because the VA has computerized all records), and he was covering the things that could go wrong.  He highlighted them, said they are very rare but when they happen, we fix them.  Very matter of factly.  I said, "I sure hope so!"
• Took Lady to Dr. Val to have her ear looked at.  Dr. Val was stumped, but from the microscopic evaluation of the scrapings, she thought it was some kind of mite, so she loaned me a spray bottle of Frontline to spray onto cotton balls and rub over the affected area to repeat in two weeks.  Lady's ear looks much better, so I think that's doing the trick.  I'm down to a $1 credit at the vet clinic.  I told them, I'm sure I'll be using that up soon!
• Mr L has finally taken the plunge to cancel the land line in San Antonio, so I canceled the DSL service down there as well, switching to email only and prepaying for a year (that saves about $12). That will save us about $100 a month.
• I have A-Z blog challenge posts scheduled through "C."  I'm going to try to get a few more done before Monday.
• All the cats seem to be using the cat scratching post, including hanging on the post!  I'm so glad it's heavy and stable. I'm considering getting another one for upstairs.
• I attended the school board meeting this week and found it fascinating.  I may attend more meetings in the future (my Master's degree is in adult education and I have post-masters work in educational administration, so it's nice to know the field is at least interesting to me).
• No real progress with Rossie, but she transitioned well between SA and here without any regression.  She joins the herd of other cats when they are clamoring for attention and accepts her petting.  I picked her up and held her briefly last night and after letting her down, she returned to sniff my hand.  In some ways, Sneaky is more tolerant of me than Rossie is.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• See today's blog post about Sneaky. Suffice it to say I've screwed up colossally, and I hope she will eventually forgive me.
• I have failed to open Cat Eyes or PBOTL all week
• The cats seem to think they own the counters and the kitchen table.  This is not desirable to me.  Time to begin reviewing some behavior modification ideas.  I keep telling myself in a few months, these kittens will be lazy, sleepy cats, and I'll miss their crazy, kitten antics, but right now I'm not so sure.
• I haven't seen Peaches since we left to go to SA last week.  Sneaky's behavior this week indicates she's lonesome, which may not bode well for Peaches being okay.  And, of course, I haven't seen Little Orange since January.  They're feral and outdoor cats, so if something happens to them, there isn't much I can do, so this is an observation.
• My great aunt Margie died yesterday.  She was my Grandma B's sister.  It's been a tough year for the siblings. She would have been 99 in two weeks.

The Week Ahead:

• Everything's set for my endometrial ablation on Monday.  Surgery time is 1:15 pm and show time is 11:15 am. Prayers and good thoughts around those times and beyond are appreciated.  We don't anticipate any problems, but they are using general anesthesia (because, my doctor says, it would hurt like hell if I were awake), and there are always risks with that.
• Everything may not be perfect for the yard sale next weekend, but we're ready to go as it sits. I hope we can move some stuff out.
• I'm going to talk to Mr. L about making a box to keep on the side porch for Sneaky -- just in case she is pregnant and just in case she might decide to have her kittens there.  I think its a long shot, but it may be worth it (he's very good with making such things).
• I want to resume work on Cat Eyes and PBOTL.
• And, of course, continue tracking, exercising, doing morning pages, and reading.

Waving 'bye to last week

What did I do all week? I waited. There was someone at the house almost every day for one thing or another, and everyone did everything they could to drag their processes out to maximum length.

Not so good stuff (starting with this to get it off my chest):
- The kitchen is finally done. It took 10 1/2 weeks. They were supposed to template the rest of my window sills while they were here installing the last little piece of counter, but the guy said they'd only been allotted 90 minutes, and it was at least a 2 hour job. That was Monday. On Thursday, the templater came out and got it all done in a little over an hour. Supposedly they'll be installed on the 8th. We'll see.
- Wednesday was furniture delivery day. They came on time, but they the driver didn't see that I had two living room chairs until I told him. He read the list twice before he saw them. They also didn't bring the hardware to put my table together. The driver called customer service and assured me that Liz would call me before close of business. She didn't. I called our local store, who said they would get me an answer and call right back. I still haven't heard from them. I did call Liz directly the next morning, and she had no idea she was supposed to be doing something about it. She answered the driver's question and thought she was done. The soonest she could get someone out to put the table together was Monday. Yeah, the day after we're having kids here for Easter Dinner. I finally drove to St. Louis, picked up the hardware and instructions, and Eric put the table together in about 45 minutes. They did refund part of our delivery fee.
- My dryer is on the blink. Again. The little computer control thingy is going out again. Luckily, I have a folding drying rack in the garage. I have 2 loads of laundry air drying in my laundry room because our stupid HOA doesn't allow clothes lines.
- I had to go get my military dependent ID renewed. We waited three hours. By that point I was ready to find the flight commander and make him hire me to manage the office. They had three people working, and they weren't working very hard based on the fact that it took two minutes to make my new card, but they were averaging six minutes per customer. Oh, and there were only three people working because the fourth had gone to lunch. During the rush. Which is why wait times increased from two hours to three. I don't even want to think about how much money it cost the government to have all those people sitting around waiting.
- It seems like this whole year so far has been one frustration after another. We've had good things happen. That's evident--my blessing jar is filling up. It dawned on me the other day that maybe the reason is so I can write my current hero more effectively when his job doesn't go as planned. It's going to be a bad year for Tim.

Okay, now that I've vented, here's the Good Stuff:
- Stanley Steamer came and cleaned my downstairs carpets and stairs. They came on time, did their job, and left.
- I decided not to do the bi-monthly Merry Maids thing. I did a little research and discovered there are a lot of ladies in my area that clean houses for a lot less than Merry Maids charges. I might look into hiring one of them, but that's going on the back burner until late spring.
- Got some writing done. Not enough, if my dreams are any indication. They've been very vivid and strange, and usually they're only like that when I'm in a dry spell.
- I bought Les Mis on DVD.
- My second judo practice wasn't as scary as the first. Eventually my life will settle down and I'll be able to get two practices a week. That will give me two judo and one fencing most weeks.
- Made some progress with my two new warrior queens. Got costuming done and packed, although I might pull it all back out and put them on to make sure I can switch quickly. Do a dress rehearsal of sorts. We won't have a chance to rehearse, so I should probably do that.
- Everyone is healthy.
- Eric still loves me. He even helped with the house while he was off, and he cooked dinner twice.

This week:
- Easter dinner tomorrow with Vicky and Justin. Send left-over brownies home with them.
- Perfect the queens. My performance is next Saturday. (Note to self: Find the video camera and tripod.)
- Write.
- Lots of meetings this week, including two on consecutive nights in St Louis.
- Follow up with the dryer repairman. Maybe price new dryers? Why not? We've paid down the Lowes card, might as well buy something else. :-P
- Work on my attitude. It's not helping matters.
- Eat healthy and see if that helps the attitude. Get some exercise, too.
- Have fun at Tartan Day. I'll be late checking in next week.

Here's to a great week for all of us, and Scotch and chocolate if we don't!

Past midnight

It's past midnight on Monday. I guess that makes it Tuesday. Didn't want to go to sleep without posting here. Sharing a bit as it were of my life these days.

Been bitterly cold here. Wind chills in the twenties and teens. The cold creeps into my little house. Makes my bones ache. I'm so ready for summer. I fear the drought, but I need warmth. And sweet, sweet sunlight.

If you've followed the hutch story, you know I've been organizing my working space. I'm  proud of how it turned out. Here's what it looked like before:

Yes, that pile of clutter is where I worked. Until I took that picture and studied it, I didn't realize how limited my work space really was. I was actually shocked. Still, I produced five books and countless articles and newsletters there. So it worked.

Here's the same space with the new hutch:

I still have a few things to throw away or donate to the library, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. I had to replace that lamp because it didn't fit anymore, but I don't think I will need to do anything else. And it feels like I have so much space to work now. I wish I had done this years ago.

Inertia, you know. The tendency to stay put, to let things stay the way they are, even though something better might be possible. Got to remember to embrace a few new things each week. Or at least give them a try.

I've also been working on my News at Three. It's a daily "positive" news note on Facebook. No particular reason other than it forces me to review my day and find something good in it, either for me or for my friends. The response has been good. I'll keep it going until people lose interest.

Building and installing the hutch, working on various blogs, chasing some new publishing clients, doing household chores, and naturally working on Murder by the Mile ... that was last week for me. Oh, Saturday morning, we had our writers group meeting. It's going well. They are in the learning mode that I had hoped for. I hope I can help them sustain it until it becomes the norm.

This week:
- Publish March family newsletter.
- Household chores.
- Work on MBTB.
- Catch up on my postings on my blogs.

I hope you have a great week. Talk to you soon.

Walking on Sunshine

It's a lovely clear, cold day after a lovely, warm, overcast week.  After 81 degrees yesterday, we're slated for 32 tonight.  An Ohio friend expressed surprise about a 50 degree drop in such a short time.  I wanted to say, you obviously haven't been to Texas, but I didn't.

The Good Stuff:

• I got leaves raked and bagged, the alley hedge trimmed, debris raked and bagged from under that hedge, and I got half the front hedge cut way back to begin training the regrowth.  I still need to shape the remains of that hedge and rake the leaves and debris out of it, but that will have to wait until next month.  I also need to do the other half of the front hedge -- apparently the stuff on the left is jasmine, but it's gotten very woody.  This is what I started with (I'd already trimmed the Nandina before I remember to take a picture):

This is as far as I got last week (needs to be raked and and some training done):

 

This is what I have left to do in addition to raking out the other side and shaping:

  

• I completed morning pages, read Stuart MacBride's Blind Eye (I love Stuart's work), and logged in Lose It! (several hours of yard work each day credits me with burning a lot of calories, even though I didn't notice it on the scale)
• Rossie handled the transition to and from San Antonio very well.  She hid for a couple of days, but I expected that.  Then she came out and was seen throughout the house, in the garden window, and playing with toys.  She let both of us pet her in the garden window a couple of times.  She's still hiding now that we're back in Central Texas, but I expect that.  The drive is stressful for them.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• I found exactly the cat carriers I wanted on Overstock.com for less than on Amazon, ordered them, and they arrived exactly when Overstock said they would.  Two of the three were broken. I'm now going through the process of getting replacements, partially complicated by me not having worked with Overstock.com before and confusing the matter by not understanding their system.  They appear to be making things right, in spite of my confusing the issue.
• A classmate from high school died yesterday.  She had an elective surgery in mid-December, during the initial recovery "walking around," she complained of not being able to breathe, got back to her bed, laid down, and her heart stopped.  After some minutes, they got her heart beating again, but she was brain dead (outside of being non-responsive, this was not immediately obvious; the family was in limbo for about a week). At the end of February, her husband (also from our high school, but a year ahead of our class) took her off life support and brought her home to spend her last days with family in peace.  Yesterday she passed over.  While it's a sad situation, I'm going in for my pre-op appointments this week, so I'm a little sensitive to her plight and how it could also be mine.  I don't think it will be, but it's a stark reminder that there is nothing routine about any surgery, just like there is nothing "routine" about space travel.
• I accomplished nothing on Cat Eyes except for a realization that I need to recast Fantusie's mom as a "struggler" instead of a "loser," so I have some clean up to do on the beginning of the story.

The Week Ahead: 

• Track, read, do morning pages, and exercise
• Pre-op appointments on Monday and Thursday.  Hope all goes well.  I hope I'll get a clear understanding of which method my doctor uses for this procedure and verify it's the right thing to do
• Do all the preparatory work for setting up the yard sale, because I may not feel like moving around, lifting, and arranging next week after my procedure
• Do yard work here -- mow and trim the house, mow the store, and finish the crape myrtle trimming and training
• Try to do some prep work for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.  Yes, I'd hoped to have posts already written and scheduled.  Silly me.  That has gotten away from me.

Got in before Monday!

For whatever that's worth! It feels like the week was more productive than it was.

(Mostly) Good stuff:
- The kitchen should (fingers crossed) be done this week. The last piece of counter top goes in Monday, and the new kitchen table will be delivered Wednesday. Coincidentally, Eric is planning to take a vacation day Thursday to take care of graduation details and some other must-be-done-during-the-week errands, so he should be around part of the day to help me put stuff together.
- I did practice a couple Warrior Queens, but I have not recorded or sent MP3s.
- Got some writing done, but not two chapters. The focus has been more on getting the first scene right so I can submit it for a contest. Deadline is next week. Anyone want to read it?
- The Merry Maids quote went pretty well. Now we just have to decide on level of service. They have a special where they do the heavy duty spring cleaning free if you sign up for a year of bi-monthly cleaning at $117 per visit. This, of course, is appealing to me because at least my bathrooms and kitchen floor will get cleaned twice a month, not to mention the dusting I never do unless my mom is coming, but it's pricey, and we've spent a lot of money on the house this year. We might just shell out for the one-time cleaning and revisit regular service next month after Alex is done with his undergrad. 

Not so good stuff:
- No donations collected, and not much clutter busted.
- My writing partner discovered she works much more efficiently alone. I'm 46 and got told for the first time, "It's not you, it's me. I just want to be friends." Via e-mail. Yeah, that hurt. She did call me later, and it helped to hear in her voice that was truly the case and she wasn't upset with me over something I said or did. I do tend to be pretty blunt sometimes. We will remain friends, and I hope she'll let me bounce story ideas around in the future, but at this point I've backed way off. It's going to take some time to adjust to the new normal. In the meantime I guess I just count my blessings that she discovered this while I'm in the writing phase and not the plotting phase. One day at a time.
- Had my first judo practice. Not sure what to think about it. On one hand, it's a great workout. I can handle that. I'm not great at it, but I'm better than I thought I was. I kept up with the kids until they started tumbling. Learning the throws was way out of my comfort zone. Eric has asked me to give it a couple months before I throw in the towel. He wants me to develop more of a predator mentality rather than prey so if something bad happens I'll be able to function. On the plus side, while I definitely felt the workout the couple days after, I was never so sore that I couldn't move. I thought it would be a lot worse.
- I've put off a lot of non-fiction reading, and it's almost time to return the books to my bard. Really need to develop a better system to balance bardic studies, writing, and domestic stuff.
- If I sound overwhelmed, it's because I am. I have two weeks before my Warrior Queen performance, the family will be here in seven weeks, and it's supposed to snow tonight. I'm not quite sure why I want to run screaming in terror to hide in the closet. It shouldn't be stressful to prepare for fun things, should it? Perhaps I need to back down the caffeine another notch.

This week:
- Finish the kitchen and move furniture around to accommodate the new stuff
- Warrior Queens
- Read Scottish history
- Write/submit contest entry
- Decide on house cleaning and get it set up
- Clean downstairs carpets so I can see if I need a professional for that, too (sigh)
- Work on clutter
- Take advantage of the snow to take a chill pill and put things in perspective.

Done and yet to do

It's almost the end of Monday, and I meant to post earlier, but ... well, I didn't. Still, a good day overall. Got many things done. Still have many things to do. That's life.

The two big projects are 1) cleaning out my garage and 2) cleaning and rearranging my desk and surrounding area to be more efficient and less cluttered. They've been so overwhelming that I almost wish I had never started, but I can see an end in sight. Several more hours for both, but bit by bit, they're getting done.

Otherwise, not much to say other than household chores, book marketing, blog upkeep (mostly for my clients), and a few meals with friends.

This week:

- Murder by the Mile.
- Garage.
- Desk area.
- Household chores.

Boring, I know, but all are necessary. Hope y'all have a good week.

Monday. Again.

How is it the weeks seem so long but pass two at a time? There must be a disturbance in the time/space continuum. I blame Q.

Good Stuff:
- Had a good visit with Alex. He divided his time between homework and his girlfriend, but at least this time she came here a few times instead of him spending all his time at her house. She's a homebody. He got back safely yesterday afternoon. As far as I can tell, he didn't forget to take anything back with him.
- The last kitchen cabinet has been installed. We're down to the last bit of counter.
- Seeds are started. I already have baby tomatoes sprouting.
- Got some decluttering done.
- We bought a new kitchen table and two living room chairs. The counter height table with move to the dining room, which doubles as my apothecary. Our oldest couch (the yellow flowered one, Jean) will also move temporarily to the dining room until Alex can come get it. Or until I get sick of looking at it and rent a UHaul trailer to schlep it up to him. New stuff will be delivered a week from Wednesday.
- Logged a little mall time with Vicky (she needed a scrubs jacket before she starts her OR training), and we did manage to get the whole family (including the girlfriend) together for dinner.
- I don't mean to go bragging mom all over you guys, but can I just say I'm proud of the people my kids have become? They're heading for really good things, and they get along with each other, which is better than I hoped for years ago! Shoot, they get along better than Eric and I do with our siblings.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Did not start practicing the Warrior Queen stories. I have a bit less then three weeks, and I need to tweak costuming so each queen has her own look. Don't want to be haunted or anything.
- I also have a bit less than three weeks to get through at least some of the history books my bard gave me to read. Just goes to show I need deadlines or I procrastinate.
- Blah blah blah clutter. Yup, same old stuff there.
- Jumped through hoops between the doctor and Tricare. There was a billing glitch on the ultrasound I had in December and the hospital it trying to charge way more than we should be paying. That was a lot more time wasted on the phone than I would have liked. It's still not resolved. I have to follow up with the nurse this afternoon.
- Really have to stop shopping for a while.

Not Sure:
- Merry Maids comes to do a quote tomorrow. No idea what to expect but I'm pretty sure my house isn't ready. Terrified she's going to think I'm a slob and reminding myself she probably sees worse all the time. In any case, I'll let you all know what she says.

This Week:
- Warrior Queens--practice and send MP3 files to the band so they can practice "with" me.
- Finish at least two chapters of Building Truth (formerly known as Tim).
- Fill another box or two to donate. Stop shopping and fill boxes. That's the clutter solution.
- Finish putting away kitchen stuff.
- Deal with workers (hopefully the counter people will be here this week) and Tricare.

Forgive and Forget

For the third time this week, Rossie has asked us to pet her.  Maybe some progress?

The Good Stuff:

• Earlier this week, I reached down to pet Ajax and Ruby.  Rossie came over to investigate, and she sniffed my hand.  I petted the other cats; Rossie rubbed her head on my hand.  I petted Rossie, then petted the other cats.  For several minutes, Rossie enjoyed being petted.  Then she did the same thing Thursday night when I reached down to pet Ajax in the kitchen.  Rossie came through the rungs of the kitchen chair to get her some petting, and she even let Mr. L. pet her.  Today, when we got home from Houston, again, Rossie asked to be petted.  Most of the time, we can't approach her, but she's definitely taken the approach that she does like her petting -- on her schedule.  That's fine.  She just might forget she's a wild cat pretty soon.  We'll keep "taking it away" from her.
• About five years ago, Mr. L. found a kitchen table and a couple of chairs at a yard sale.  He bought two more chairs to complete the set at a super HEB (local grocery chain for Texas). They've been working well, but the chairs are the cheap kind held together with staples and pins.  They've started coming apart, so we looked for a replacement this weekend.  On the way back from Houston, we passed an antique store.  I didn't want to go in, but Mr. L turned around and went back. Lo and behold, we found a walnut table and six oak chairs that will work just fine in our kitchen, and the oak chairs will augment my oak dining room table very nicely if ever needed.  These, of course, are not a matched set, but my antique furniture is turn of the century tiger oak, and Mr. L's furniture in Victorian Eastlake walnut, so it's perfect for us.
• Got the morning pages, tracking, and bike riding done this week.
• I'm mostly over that nasty cold. Just a few vestiges of cough remain
• Lady is doing well in her vet follow-up visit and the doctor wants to see her again in 30 days to make sure she's still recovering.  We discovered two kittens didn't get their shots when they got spayed, so we got that rectified.
• Only one small curtain was knocked down while the cats ruled the house over the weekend, and a little litter from one box was scattered on the floor (they get a little exuberant when they bury sometimes)
• I decided not to get collars to Ruby and Delta.  I just can't put a collar on a cat.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• I'm eating too much
• My knees are bothering me (those two things might be related)
• Didn't get as much done to get ready for the yard sale as I would have liked
• Got a little more done on Cat Eyes but did not complete my draft.

The Week Ahead:

• If the weather stays on the good side, we'll head to SA this week to complete some tasks that need to be done at the house.
• Continue work on Cat Eyes.
• Find three more cat carriers.
• Continue reading, tracking, exercising, and morning pages

Spring peeked at us, then returned to hiding in a snowdrift

We've had SNOW. Gobs of SNOW. Were supposed to get an inch or so, got about 11, according to the local weather data. Was 65˚ yesterday, but we're supposed to get a dusting this Monday. We'll see how that goes, especially since every massive snowfall we've received this year (3 or 4 blizzards now) was forecast to be an inch or less. ;)

The Good

Most everything. Belly's better, writing is going well, Tina liked her quilt, no one is sick, Laura's still employed, granddaughter is awesome, I'm down 28lbs... It's been a pretty good week.

The Meh

Bill will officially become a mail carrier starting next Saturday. It's good because we finally have an answer and a direction. It's not so good because not only will it entail a pretty big pay cut (we will adapt to that) he's 50. Lugging a 50lb pack of mail up and down hills in all kinds of weather is hard on anyone's body and he's not 24 anymore. I am stocking up on easy to carry protein - nuts, beef jerky, protein bars, etc - and he's already started taking some additional vitamins and glucosamine. At least spring will be here soon so he won't be freezing, at least not to start.

The Bad

I really can't think of anything.

Have a great week, everyone!!  {{Hugs}}