I Can Do Anything

At this point in my recovery, I can do pretty much anything (except, squat, get on the floor, run up and down stairs, and stand easily from a seat without using my arms). I just can't do it all at once. I need to rest often.

My therapist is thrilled with how far ahead my new knee is in relation to where most knees are at the nearly five-week point. Last year, about midway through my therapy, he had me walk backwards on a treadmill. It hurt, and I was in pain for two days afterwards. When I went into the next therapy session, I mentioned that, and he said, "We won't do that again!" Today we did it will no ill effects -- on my first true therapy session.

I'm disappointed with how my left knee has regressed. It's angry at having to do all the work for the last year, and it's letting me know it. Thankfully, my therapist expected that and has incorporated treating that into my treatment plan.

On my way home today, I picked up a new battery for the lawn tractor, so I got the lawn mowed this afternoon.

Alan nearly has the showroom in the shop ready for a friend and me to set up our yard sale.

I've read more than 200 pages of GEEKS. I really like this story. I just hope I can make it marketable and still like it when I'm done. Sigh. The next (and final) hundred pages are on tap for this week. Then I'll have to begin the real work of planning the story and the revision.

Catching up

Didn't meant to neglect this blog. Tripped and fell into a cave, still trying to climb back up. I think I have the tools to do so. It's just taking a bit of time.

This week, I'm working on Blackbirds Third Flight. I think it has some awesome stories and poems in it. Attempting to bring them all together in a coherent fashion is an interesting puzzle that appeals to me. What poems will work better next to what stories? How does the flow of the book keep the reader devoted to turning pages? What illustrations and graphics will enhance the stories and poems? I do like the pavement part of publishing. To make a beautiful book filled with good content...that's the goal.

This week, I have a doctor's appointment, of course, and should be having lunch with a friend or two on different days. Having to look for a new car. I have to buy one or I have to fix my old one. Just not sure if I should keep throwing money into a 1999 vehicle. I don't really care that much about cars. If they get me from one place to another with some comfort (music and air conditioning and heater) I'm okay. I admire expensive cars, but never had much of a desire to have one. Would rather have other things. If had a job where I had to drive, I'm sure a vehicle would be more important. Or if I had to maintain a status among my peers--I have a friend who works for a large corporation and status matters for him and he needs to drive a BMW to fit in--but I wouldn't last long in such a place.

Anyway, hope y'all have a good week. And here's the almost final cover for BTF. I'm pleased with how it's turned out.

First week with double job report

Overall, not a bad start. I wrote/researched 12.5 hours and added nearly 4,000 words to an existing short story I dug up from the archive. Considering I started the week with no idea what to write, it's hard to complain. It's not the whole short story and 20 hours I intended to do, but it's a good start. Between writing and the day job, I logged 32.5 hours this week. I'd rather fall short and work up at this point so I'm not stressing about working and managing the house. However, in the last few days I've noticed times when I could have been writing but felt I had to put something else first, and it irritated me. I'm not sure if I was irritated with Eric for not taking my goal seriously, or if I was mad at myself for not sticking up for my time. That seems like a good sign, and I did get a new pair of shoes out of the deal.

Speaking of the day job, I talked to my boss on Monday and told her it's time for me to transition out. We are going to split my job between two of our current employees. One will need very little training, the other will need more, but nothing in my job is rocket science. The hardest part is getting the weekly financial report to balance. I don't have a timeframe for when I'll be done. I'm going to suggest we take me off shifts in the next month or so, and I'll continue to do the weekly paperwork and deposit for a few more months while things settle down. I've already made myself available for consultation with one of the girls taking my job. The other I rarely work with. In fact, I scheduled myself to close with her tomorrow night so I could start training, and she switched her shift because she has a paper due for her summer English class. It's really not that big of a deal. I'll have the other girl do inventory while I'm gone in two weeks and focus on training when I get back. Just knowing the end is in sight is exciting and terrifying. That tells me I'm doing the right thing.

Overall, I'm feeling like I'm losing control a bit, and I guess I am. I'm transitioning again, and I've done enough of that in the last few years to recognize it now. It all feels a little loosey goosey with no routine in sight. Next weekend we have a friend coming up to go to the ren fair (again), and a week from Tuesday, we leave for Las Vegas. I'm already getting my laptop updated for that. I never thought I'd be this excited to go back to Vegas!

Other than that, it's been hot and we've had some good thunderstorms, so my tomatoes are happy. We found a new farmers market with lots of vendors so my fridge is stocked with healthy food. I have some laundry and cleaning to do, but I think I'm about ready for the week. Hope y'all are, too.

Back on the Road

After three and a half weeks of no driving due to the new knee and the medication, I drove to the grocery store and back Friday. I picked up a few items while I was there. I came home and rested.

I took the last of my pain medication Thursday morning. Friday morning, about 12:30, I didn't feel comfortable that my Copaiba blend was holding pain at bay, so I took two extra strength acetaminophen. Friday morning, I took my Copaiba blend and have not needed more acetaminophen yet. Friday evening, I decided to try a similar blend that had been recommended to me, and I'm switching to that one -- 5 drops each of Copaiba, Frankincense, and Idaho Balsam Fir (out of stock, so I substituted Idaho Blue Spruce, which has all the same constituents plus two).

I've had my GEEKS manuscript sitting next to my recliner since the surgery, but I kept avoiding opening it to read. I finally made that my service for this week and added "Read 100 pages of GEEKS" to my service card. I've read through 114 pages as of today, making notes on each scene as I go.

Healing is coming along. I still get fatigued quickly, but I don't have as much of the brain fog as I had last year. I must still have some, because while I bought the right brand of TP on my grocery store run, I got the variant we don't prefer.

Hope y'all have a great week.

Taking a break from the reunion

We're in the middle of our annual reunion with The Boys. Saturday we headed north to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, which was a lot of fun. All of us except Eric dressed up. I was especially pleased with my barbarian queen costume. On Monday, we did a boat tour on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, which was cool. Well, hot. It was 90* and there was no sun shelter on the top deck, but the breeze was nice when we started moving, so that helped a lot. Tuesday we went to the Shedd Aquarium, followed by China Town for a late lunch at a Dim Sum place we found the last time we were there. Today the daughter went home and the rest of us are tired! Everyone else goes home on Saturday, and I expect the rest of our time will be pretty low key.

Yesterday, I read an article about building an author platform, and part of what resonated with me was to stop treating writing as a side hustle. Here's what I'm committed to doing to transition from the day job to writing.

- Work six days a week on writing, branding, and marketing, for a total of 20 hours a week to start. I'll increase my time as I decrease the day job hours. (I've already got next week on the calendar. I don't know how I'll do with irregular hours right away. My day job schedule varies a good bit. I'll just have to do the best I can until I can do the full 9-5 at home.) The plan for my days off at the Day Job is to write in the morning and edit, market, and brand in the afternoon.

- Draft 2 short stories per month between now and Christmas. These won't be book ready, but shorts are faster to edit and polish for the market, and that will get me 11 short stories finished.

- Schedule my work time on the calendar.

- Walk three days a week to start with to increase my fitness and brain circulation.

- Send out my first newsletter by July 29. It will likely be sooner. I have a draft started, but since I jumped the gun and started an e-mail list without thinking the procedure through, I want to make sure I have it right. That's not going to happen with a house full of company.

- Send out one newsletter per month minimum.

Advice, opinions, observations, questions, and 2 cents' worth are always appreciated. Learning curves keep your brain young. Right??

I don't have a time frame for when I'll be leaving the day job. I've wanted to leave for a while but felt like I was there for a reason. Whatever it was, it must be done because now my desire is to leave without tanking the shop. We've been open 15 months, and it's still precarious. I run the day to day operations on my own (scheduling, inventory, customer complaints, etc), and I need to think it through and talk it over with my boss, and then we need to find and train my replacement. It won't be fast, but it will be. That's fine. By doing both and transitioning I'll be able to build the discipline to make a real go at it this time. Eric is fully supportive. In fact, Sunday I got called in to work, and he asked if I was going to put in notice. He's good with however this plays out. 

I hope y'all are having a good week. See you on the flip side.

TIme to get serious

On Stephen's advice, I read "The Miracle Morning For Writers" by Hal Elrod and Steve Scott this week. It's a how-to book for being a successful writer by getting up at the crack of dawn. There wasn't much in there I didn't already know, but there were some things they explained in a way I hadn't thought of that made the ideas clearer. Some of it seems like hippy-dippy New Age stuff. They're BIG on affirmations. BIG. I've been in enough multi-level marketing schemes to know the motivational buzzwords. Just so we're clear, I've never made money with any MLM.

I'm going to read the book again, this time with a notebook, so I can take the things I think will work and figure out how to start making some money. I really want to work from home again, but working one notch above minimum wage pays better than writing right now. Not having an income is doable but not practical for various reasons, not the least of which is we use my meager paychecks for travel. OTOH, the good thing about not making a lot of money is I don't have a large number to shoot for when I talk about replacing the day job with writing. It's going to be easier to replace 10 grand a year than 100 grand a year.

One thing I do know is I need to get off my rear and do something about this. They outlined several steps that I've been ignoring because they're scary and overwhelming. I need to stop running and face the learning curve head on. I'm going on record and saying that this summer I'm going to build my website, start an e-mail list, and develop some lead bait. Y'all keep me accountable.

Now my heart is pounding. And I really want to take a nap.

In other news, my new best friend is cold brewed coffee. You mix a quantity of water and coffee and throw it in the fridge for 8 hours. Then you strain out the coffee grounds and keep the coffee in the fridge. So easy, and perfect for summer, plus I don't have to share with Alex so I can make it however I want.

The garden is coming along nicely. I have pepper flowers, and a couple of tomato flowers. The vincas LOVE the front steps. I have a few new baby flowers. We've had some rain lately, so I haven't had to do much this week to keep things going, but I'll have to go out and water tonight.

I've come back to this post three times now without publishing. Dang butterflies, always distracting me. I hope y'all have a good week.

The Knee Tis Done

Feeling great. The new knee gets better every day. I'm still sleeping a lot.  That's to be expected.

Countdown Extended

As you know, the knee replacement count down got extended due to a scratch on the knee, complicated by a mild bout of poison ivy around my eye. The poison ivy was dealt with and wouldn't have been a problem, but coupled with the light scratch on my knee, my surgeon erred toward caution (an infected implant is a VERY BAD THING) and scrubbed surgery on the 14th.

Our current plan is to go forward with surgery on the 21st, same time, same bat channel. I believe all puncture wounds will be healed by that time, the scratch is clearing, and the poison ivy is nearly gone. I think I'll be on much better footing on the 21st, so I'm thankful I have a wise and cautious surgeon.

I'm puttering around the house, paying close attention to things that might "bite" me. I have a plan for revising GEEKS. I'm not sure how soon after surgery I'll be able to begin working on it, but I'm ready to go.

Walter is being a delightful cat. Fluffy Gray is hanging around, but she scoots whenever we come outside -- except for Mr. L's sighting of her on the porch behind him when he was feeding Walter on the steps. That was a surprise, but she scooted as soon as she was discovered and didn't return for a while. In more troubling news, I was able to entice Boomer to a can of Fancy Feast yesterday, but he's clearly a very sick kitty. He must be in a lot of pain, but I'm unlikely to be able to capture or trap him soon, so he's on his own for now. I doubt he has an illness a simple vet visit would fix, but I could get him tested for FIV and put out of his misery if that's his situation. If I could catch him. Sigh. I feel terrible for him.

Sneaky soaks up the attention when I sit in my recliner. She's going to boarding for at least the first week of my surgery, but I'll be happy to have her back home. I think she'll be a cuddly recovery cat. Sapphire and Rossie are also going to boarding. All three of them are miserable there, so I'll try to get them home as quickly as possible. Sapphire, like Lady, strongly dislikes the male vet tech (he's a good tech, so I'm not sure what's up with that).

The other six will remain at home, and, in theory. Mr. L will take care of their litter boxes. I'm not holding my breath. I anticipate I'll come home from the hospital to a sink full of dishes, litter boxes badly in need of scooping, and a terribly spattered stove. Thankfully, all those things will take about 20 minutes each to resolve, so I'll plan that in over the first two days in short spurts. Luckily, I can slowly rinse and load the dishwasher a few dishes at a time. Same with scooping litter boxes. The stove, I can delay a day or two, but it can also be broken down over a several sessions if necessary. (Note, the suggested time to resume doing these things is after at least three weeks of recovery, but I'd rather do that than hear the groans of agony if I ask a certain someone to do them.) But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. It could happen.

Have a great week, y'all.

Hard week

It's been a hard week. Too many doctors. Too many tests. More to come next week. And mostly I still have no answers. Each test that says negative means we're moving closer to a positive. I'm not sure if that's good or not. Hard to tell. What if the positive is something terrible? What if it is not? The uncertainty gnaws at me.

Otherwise, not much else went on. I did chores, tried to edit a story, rejected a few more poems (although that should be over now), and generally slept a lot. Napping seems to be my favorite pastime these days. We are close to having the final lineup of authors for Blackbirds Third Flight. One more possible out there. We should know about that one by the end of the month. Then the book can start coming together. Looking forward to that.

I did use the Opera browser more and have decided it's worth recommending. It's fast and secure--well, as much as browser can be these days--and it has a good collection of themes and add-ons. It hasn't replaced Chrome yet, but I'm leaning that way.

Today I got a strange story idea involving Charles Babbage, Ada Augusta King, and Leonardo da Vinci. It starts with Leonardo and involves a strange calculation that he starts but can't finish. Babbage finds it and Ada Augusta King (Lady Lovelace) makes it into a program. Babbage makes it into the punch cards he envisioned for his steam computer. But of course, Babbage never builds his computer, and the cards mean nothing until now when a clever researcher figures out how to turn those cards back into Leonardo's calculation and solves it...and the world changes. I don't know how it changes or anything else about the story, but it's been buzzing about my brain today.

All three of those people fascinate me. All three born too soon and died too soon. Before the world was ready for what they dreamed. We remember them most for the possibilities they raised.

Next week, I have two doctors' visits, but around them, I intend to finish the edit of another's author story and finish--or make good progress--on the rewrite of the Justina Grave story. The second rewrite of that story. Well, really the third, but it changed so much from the first to the second that it's like a whole new story. Sigh. But it is getting there. Darker, more intense, and more action filled with the appropriate level of blood and gore.

And with chores and the usual errands, that will be my coming week.

Peaceful, for a minute.

It's a peaceful summer morning here in Chicago. I've got my coffee, birds are chirping outside my window, there's the occasional alley honker, but no sirens yet today.

This afternoon we set up for the Chicago Scots Highland Games, and we'll be out there all day tomorrow. That's always fun. A lot of work, but fun.

We've had another staff change at the day job. One of my openers, who sometimes closes, texted me Wednesday and said she'd moved further west in the 'burbs, so she couldn't work past 8 p.m. since the buses stop at 9. Me and my big mouth, I suggested she talk to our district manager because we have a location a lot closer to where she lives now, and they're desperately in need of good people there. Things usually move glacially in our company, so I didn't think anything more about it. She called me yesterday and said the DM asked her to tell me not to put her on my schedule for next week so she could train at the other location (which does pizza, sandwiches, and salads in addition to frozen yogurt). Her last day with us is tomorrow. Just like that, I'm another person down.

It's not as bad as it sounds. I still have my two college students for two more months. I'll give them each a couple extra shifts a week so I'm not working too many hours. Next week I'll start calling people for interviews. I can take my time and find someone who will last a while. It's a minor hiccup for me, but it's going to be much better for my former co-worker. My only concern is that I'm at the minimum for staffing, so if someone gets sick or quits suddenly, I could be in a bit of a bind like I was last year. But I still have some of the ones I hired in that dark time so I must know how to do it right. The food industry has a lot of turn-over anyway.

In other news, my garden is still alive and one tomato plant has a flower. I have the front porch flowers planted, and my herbs are happy on the front porch banister. My rain barrels are about half full, which is better than I expected considering they're not fed by a downspout this year. They're beside the garage, so they get some run-off, but it's trick to position them so they get maximum run-off without sheltering them under the eave too much. I'm going to lobby for a section of gutter on that side of the garage so they'll be full all summer. Maybe I'll attach rain chains instead of a downspout.

Have I mentioned lately how glad I am to be out of the city?

Catching up

Made forward motion with Blackbirds Third Flight. Got three contacts signed. I still have one author outstanding and have at least two more edits and line edits to do. That will take place over June.

At least that's my plan. I go back to the doctor for an important medical appointment Tuesday afternoon. We're probably going to change some meds and make some decisions. I think. Hoping things will improve. I need my energy and life back.

Weirdly enough, Jean goes into surgery that day, and my roommate will also be going to see a doctor that day also. It's a medical day.

Anyway, BTF and Floozy Comes Back are my focus now. Well, those and my health. I have got to get healthy again.

Oh, did want to mention that I have been using aspects of the Bullet Journal in my daily calendar. I think those aspects could really help keep me on track. I'll keep you updated.

The first time is the worst. Right?

The power just went out. It's quiet except for the rain on the Windows, the hum of traffic on the street near our house, and the ringing in my ears. Tinnitus is loud when the white noise of life stops.

I had to fire someone by myself yesterday. He's the second person fired from our crew. The first was fired by my district manager and I sat in. He saw it coming so it wasn't that hard. Yesterday was the opposite. He didn't see it coming and thought it was completely unjustified. He's so wrapped up in righteous indignation that he's can't see he was fired because he's not trustworthy, or that no one wants to work with him because he talks incessantly. Unless he's mad at you. Then he gives you the cold shoulder. I feel like I failed him but I couldn't see any way to help him at this point. He's not ready. Maybe I helped him grow up a little, but right now I don't even want to see if I made an impact. It would mean seeing him again.

I wanted to help him the way I do everyone on the crew. They're all young, and I'm not. I try to help them grow up, become better people, rejoice with them when they move on to better jobs. It's like parenting, except I don't have to deal with people sulking on the couch. I get the sullenness for a few hours tops, and then one of us clocks out. Usually, it's blown over by the next time we work together.

When I took this job, I realized it was my mission to teach young people how to have a job. Real Life 101. That's what has kept me going for the last year, stopped me from quitting the numerous times I've wanted to. This is the first time I feel like I've screwed up. I wonder if I did more damage by hiring him in the first place. Have I made him more bitter? Am I going to see him on the news, another disenfranchised young man who finally blew and shot everyone in his work place or murdered his family? And if I do, will I bear some culpability?

Over the years, I've found that when I feel like I'm in a place because I have a job to do beyond the scope of my duties, I'm the one who's being worked on. This job is no different. I'm wiser than I was and can see the changes more easily, maybe because I don't hide from myself anymore. I can sort of see the process in action now, guess at what the outcome might be. Most days, I just hope I can hurry up and learn what I'm supposed to from this job so I can stop the commute.

Long days, short nights

Been having some long days lately. A friend's mother has been in the hospital, and I've been going out there to be with her and her daughter. First, the doctors planned a surgery, then they postponed it, then it was back on, and now it seems off again. She's still in the hospital. I'm going to go out tomorrow again. It's hard to confront mortality for anyone.

And I've been fighting with insomnia again. Can't seem to sleep as much as I need to. Not sure I could sleep as much as I want to. Cats have that ability: to nap at a moment's notice. They find a warm sunbeam and stretch out and they're asleep. I admire cats for that. Although I've seen dogs do it, too.

Not much writing is taking place. I'm going to try to shoehorn some in tomorrow. I need to finish the Justina Grave story and fix its errors, help edit a friend's story, and edit another friend's story. This all has to take place in June so that Blackbirds Third Flight can take to sky in October.

Jean has been using a new organization method: the Bullet Journal. Or some aspects of it. I need to adopt a system that will help keep me on course. I like parts of the Bullet Journal, but it seems a lot of work to keep up. I don't want to spend more time than I have to on that aspect of productivity. But maybe spending the time would pay off in increases. I will look into it. And also, I need to clone a healthier, stronger, younger version of me who can do things while I sleep. Surely one of my mad scientist friends have been working on something I can use.

Anyway, that's what's going on my life. Yours?

Counting Down

My list is prepared. I have 15 days until I get my new knee. Yes, I'm excited. I'll be methodically completing preparation items from my list between now and the 14th.

Fluffy is up in the Blackbirds folder. It's not nearly dark enough. I'm certain he needs more work, but I hope length isn't the problem anymore.

Other than that, my life revolves around yard work and litter boxes.  Surely that's someone's idea of hell.

Prelim cover

So...it looks like this will be a book in October. Woohoo! This is a preliminary cover. I expect changes as more authors join us.

planted

The garden is in and mostly healthy. I have a a few plants that look sad and puny, but the rest should do well. Looking forward to having a good harvest. Of course, by September I'll be ready to yank them out by the roots. :-)

I got the flowers for the front porch potted, too, and we cleaned out the front flower bed and pruned the bushes and roses, so that's yard work done for a while.

The day job is not without its challenges but overall things are going well. I'll just say I have a coworker who may end up dead in a story sometime soon and leave it at that.

Alex is away for a few days to clear out his college apartment, so it will be quiet around here for a bit, and I won't wake up to a dirty kitchen. There are challenges to him working nights. He usually sleeps until 8 or 9 p.m., cooks food to take to work, and leaves pans soaking on the stove. If the dishwasher is clean, the dishes get piled up on the counters. Sometimes that happens when it's dirty. I'm not a diligent housekeeper, but it's getting old. The only really bad part about him being gone is he took our truck to move stuff. The weather is lovely and we have no sun roof! *sobs*

I heard a story on NPR yesterday about some scientists who are considering genetically modifying the breeds of mosquitoes that carry disease. In North America, there are only two. The plan is to breed a whole crapload of sterile males, enough to make it statistically probable that most females will breed with them and not produce offspring. Essentially, they're talking about driving two species into extinction on purpose. They said those two species won't effect the ecosystem because the predators that eat them will just eat other things. And really, what could go wrong? Oh, the plot bunnies. Good thing, too. I haven't written in days. Walter needs something new to play with.

Oh! Mac update! It was an easy fix. The boot file got corrupted. They reloaded it and I had my computer back two hours after I dropped it off. I have a new favorite Apple dealer, and they're 2 miles from my house. Score!!!!

Mea culpa

My apologies. I got sick and didn't sit down at the computer much the past week. So, no posts. And really, that's my news. Just about all of it.

The sickness involved a change in my blood pressure meds, and it threw me for a loop. I am both dismayed and amazed by how much a little white pill could change my daily routine. Powerful stuff. But it does seem to be working. Slowly and painfully. I lack energy, but that seems to be getting better.

In writing news...not much. We've been attempting to put together another anthology, and that's been on my mind when I wasn't sleeping or...doing sick things. We're not quite as far along as I hoped we'd be at this point, but we're not behind, either. Blackbirds Third Flight should take to the air in early October.

This week, I'm going to finish editing a story for one of our authors, work on Floozy Comes Back, and keep on the chores.

What will you be doing?

Miss my iMac

I'm still working on my on-the-cheap laptop. I take the iMac to the repair shop this afternoon. I'm grateful to have the backup computer in a world where most of the population doesn't have internet access, but dang, it complicates things. I finally plugged my ergonomic keyboard into the laptop so typing isn't the issue it was before.

I almost killed my garden over the weekend. I put the baby plants on the back step to harden off since I'll be planting in a couple weeks and forgot about them. I remembered at 3:30 yesterday morning and went right downstairs to bring them in. Everything was wilted and sad. Most of it has recovered nicely after being watered, but it was pitiful there for a while. I suspect the ones that didn't make it wouldn't have anyway, and I don't think I'll have a shortage of tomatoes and peppers in the garden this year. If I do, I have a flower shop and a hardware store in easy walking distance. There are perks to urban living.

My training is coming along. I walked 2 miles the other day on a hiking trail with my friend. If the weather clears today, I'm going to go walk it again. My Memorial Day goal is still in reach even though I've slacked the last couple of days. The weather has turned cool again, and nothing during the weekend went as planned.

Logging my food has been a revelation. I'm not sure why. It's not the first time I've done it. It's shown that some of the things I thought I was doing right were wrong, particularly with regard to eating out. I've started looking at restaurant nutrition sites again and have been surprised by calorie counts. Did you know the fajita veggies at Chili's are 300 calories? I don't know what they're doing to those poor peppers and onions to get the count that high. It's inspired me to eat at home more, that's for sure. Yesterday I couldn't even be bothered to go out for coffee before I went to pick Eric up from the train. If I brew it at home, I know there's nothing hidden that's going to sabotage me, and there aren't any yummy pastries to tempt me. It's paying off. I'm down a couple pounds. More importantly, Eric is starting to pay attention.

The day job is status quo. One of my original coworkers is leaving at the end of this week to start a new full time job. I'm happy for her. My college students start coming back this week so the timing couldn't be better. In a perfect world, we will have enough hours to go around for everyone, and when the college students leave again, it will be time for things to slow down and I won't have to hire anyone. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

That's about it. Nothing exciting, which is fine by me at this point.

Life, life, and more life

It's a stressful three days for me this week. Appointments today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Wednesday's appointment is for my semi-annual diabetes, heart, health, kidneys, liver, etc., check up. They take a lot of blood and do a lot of painful poking. Not looking forward to it. It always leaves me exhausted.

But I have nothing planned for Thursday, so I will get to rest. I will need the time to recover. Of course, I won't learn anything while there. We have to wait for results. They will come next week.

Sunday afternoon, we had a good editing session. I felt it went really well, and it certainly fixed all my concerns about the story. I'm looking forward to our readers enjoying "Mage Hunt" by Wendy Blanton in Blackbirds Third Flight. It's a good story to anchor the entire anthology.

We should have several new authors with this book. I'm excited about working with the new authors as well as our growing stable of authors. Very cool.

In my personal writing...must we talk about it? I'm not doing much. Fighting in the swamp of personal concerns and fears. What is that old saying? "When you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s easy to forget that the initial objective was to drain the swamp" That's how I've been feeling.

Still, I have many blessings. Remembering to concentrate on them...that's the rub.

Tomorrow, I will have one afternoon appointment that shouldn't be stressful other than taking two hours out of my day. Well, maybe less if I'm lucky. I hope to get some things done to make up for the complete loss of Wednesday and some of Thursday. I'm always hopeful that it won't be as rough as the previous times. That could happen. Miracles still do. What's that line from The Lion in Winter? "In a world where carpenters get resurrected, everything is possible." And that's very true.

Anyway, time to post this and head to bed. Have a good week. I'm in your corner. Always. There's enough sun for everyone.

Coming up for Air

I had days where I planned to work on Malone. Plans did not become action in this case. I carried the task of "Add 5 pages to Fluffy" to this coming week, so we'll see how that goes. I can't see any reason it won't get done; however, Mr. L has not revealed his plans, nor does he do so in advance, because even if he tells me, they inevitably change anyway.

I'll need to get it done this week, because the following week will involve another trip to SA. Mr. L needs to get his stitches removed, and I need to do back yard work in anticipation of not being able to be there for several months to do any work at all. Last year, it wasn't pretty. This year it won't be pretty either, but there are a few things I can do.

I plan to make a quick trip down there the weekend before my surgery to mow the front yard and do a quick trim to have everything as spruced as possible before I abandon it for several months.

We're supposed to have rain all week. We'll see what that materializes as. So far, nothing but sprinkles.

Other than that, I'm making lists in preparation for surgery to get my new knee.

Here

Told y'all that I would be posting regularly, and I didn't want to go back on that. So here I am. Didn't feel my best last week. Hope this week will be better.

We are getting submissions for Blackbirds Third Flight. Pleased with that. Nervous to work with new writers, but as BF expands its reach, we're going to be working with people we don't know. Hope we all have good experiences.

I worked hard on my to-do lists last week. Well, until Wednesday. By that time, I was worn down and basically limped through the rest of the week. Right now, I am actually limping. Hurt my ankle while walking. Sigh.

This week:
-- Continue work on Floozy Comes Back.
-- Continue work on Murder by the Mile.
-- Continue work on Blackbirds Third Flight.
-- Plenty of household chores.

How's your week looking?

Almost vacation-like!

After a couple of busy weeks at work, I've found myself with a very light schedule for this week. It's been slower than I'd like, first because of Spring Break, and then because of the weather. When I did the schedule last week I decided to back off a bit and give myself Tuesday off. Then I forgot one of my coworkers was covering my shift last Friday, so when I sent her home, I gave her this Thursday. This puts me in the odd position of having about 14 hours on the schedule this week, depending on how long I'm there tomorrow to do paperwork. I'm looking forward to having some extra time on my hands and have started my to do list. If my boss asks why I'm not working much this week, I'll tell her that I'm taking advantage of the slow business to get things done at home. Besides, my co-worker who lost her sister needs to make up the time she missed so she can pay her bills. I'm not working to pay bills. I'm working to go back to Scotland. We are on target for August 2017.

We found out recently our church is planning a new church plant, and it's going to be in our area. This will be the second plant our church has done, and we're planning to join the launch team. It won't open before next year, but it's going to be exciting to be part of. The target area is right on the border of Really Great Area and Not So Great Area. I feel like if we learn toward Not So Great, we might be able to make a difference in some lives instead of shuffling church-goers from one place to another.

That's the excitement here. It's raining again, but that should clear out tonight. Hopefully the weather will be nicer this week and we'll get some business. But not so much that I get called in.

A Quiet Day in May

We're starting a new month. Nearly halfway through the year!

We head to San Antonio for a couple doctor appointments for Mr. L this week. He's much better than he had been, but he still has some challenges. I know you know what it's like, Stephen. I do hope his cardiologist believes he's improved enough for me to go ahead with my knee replacement next month. I'd like to do it earlier, but I have a few other things in the timeline that won't make that convenient for me.

We're getting yard work done. I'm getting decluttering done a little at a time. I'm working with the inside cats. No progress with outside cats. Slow progress with writing.

I'm feeling more comfortable with the process of incorporating the Master Keys into my life. I continue to practice. I have an incredible mastermind partner (she lives in Georgia). Sneaky has become an amazing sit partner while I meditate.

I'm learning more about the Young Living oils. The nutritional products are working well for me, and I'm trying them one at a time to learn which ones affect me in a noticeable way. I can definitely attest to a boost from the Master Formula product. I've switched to their fish oil (I'll know if that has a significant impact different from Nature Made or Bayer after my blood work is done in late May/early June).

The important thing I'm learning is it's more important to find a balanced approach and my body will use what it needs and ignore the rest. It's less effective to chase a particular symptom and solution. Even while saying that, certain oils work better in certain situations, and what those products and situations are will vary with the individual. I'm grateful Tea Tree, Clove, Rosemary, and Lavender kept a potential poison ivy outbreak from manifesting. I have The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple, which I intend to begin perusing along with my Desk Reference.

My top outcome for this month is finishing my BTF story(ies). Last month was getting taxes submitted.

Getting in the Summer Mode

I'm getting into the yard care cycle. Mr. L is feeling more capable than he has in months. He still has erratic days, but, generally speaking, his stamina continues to improve.

I hope his doctor will give me the go ahead to get my knee done in June at our May appointment.

I'm continuing to work through the decluttering. Some areas that get decluttered become recluttered quickly. Just keep plugging away at it.

I'm working on numerous projects. Some relating to writing and some not.

A neighbor friend has a tree cutting business, and he mulches his trees. He had some clean stuff, and Mr. L wants it to raise the level of the yard. In the last two weeks, he's dumped three loads in the yard. We're getting it spread.

Still plugging along.

Frustrating

Struggling with my health and all my projects wear me down. I know I'm not exercising enough. But I stay too tired to do much. And I often lack the will. The results seem so far off. I truly need to find a local exercise buddy, but the people I know either are much fitter than me or have no interest in fitness at all. Still, buddy or not, I need to be exercising no matter how bad I feel. Easy to type, but hard to do. The story of my life.

If things go according to plan--and we know what happens to the best laid plans--I should publish Floozy Comes Back in July of this year. That's what I'm aiming for. We'll see if I have enough material for the book. Without a weekly deadline, I have not produced as much humor as I have in years past. Something about a deadline--and a paycheck--kept me pounding away at the keyboard. While some of the columns produced during that time weren't that funny, many were.

My problem is willpower or lack thereof. No surprise there. Hard to whip myself or reward myself enough to keep me at the keyboard. That's getting better, but I'm not where I should be.

In other news, I've been looking around for software to ultimately replace Windows and Word. The latest version of Ubuntu has many good qualities, and perhaps if I spent a few weeks with it, I would become accustomed to its quirks and abilities. Right now, I don't have time or the desire to do so. Particularly with all these projects going on. Today was frustrating because I messed with Ubuntu for several hours and could never accomplish what I needed it to do. I'm sure it's possible, but I don't have the hours to spend. My energy is limited right now, and I can't spend it on what doesn't deliver, even though it might in the future.

Eventually, Microsoft will make me mad enough to change over. Their policy of "change for the sake of change" is endlessly annoying. They have design people, though, whose jobs depend on them making changes, even if those changes are necessarily productive or useful. The changes will keep coming. You'd think they would have learned from Windows 8, but the lessons don't seem to have stuck.

This week:
More chores. There are always chores to be done. Always.
More dieting. Low carb. Never craved bread as much as I do now.
More writing. Floozy Comes Back and Murder by the Mile are the two projects that are commanding my time and attention. And both deserve all I can give them.
More editing. I'm trying to edit a story for a friend. It's too long, but I don't want to cut the "flavor" of the piece.

Hope you have a great week! Talk to you soon.

Ephemeral plot bunnies

One of the songs we sang in church yesterday was an old hymn called The Morning Trumpet. Our music director is really good at taking old songs, writing a chorus, and making them sound modern-ish. It's not unusual to sing songs written in the 15th century on any given Sunday. (Have I mentioned our church used to be a Polish Cathedral? The parish sold it to us because the other offer, which was higher, was someone who was going to demolish it and put in apartments.) The Morning Trumpet is newer--the words were written in 1793 and the music in 1844. Paul's new chorus has the following lyrics:

"Shout, Oh glory! For I shall see the Christ on high, when I hear the trumpet sound in that morning."

Of course, we sang it several times during the hymn, and the whole time, Walter was tapping his fingers. I don't know what he's got up his sleeve, but it seems to be something Left Behind-ish, only darker. I have no other details. It's annoying.

I know what it isn't. It's not someone who gets raptured and Heaven doesn't fit the bill. I'll leave those to the unbelievers and the disenfranchised former believers. I can't suspend my reality enough to make that work in my head. OTOH, I don't want to make it overtly religious. I'm thinking closer to C. S. Lewis allegory. Something closer to The Screwtape Letters.

I don't know. I wish Walter would get it together. That's two stories now he's tossing around like a tennis ball; throwing it from hand to hand, bouncing it off the wall sometimes.

I've started going for short walks in an effort to increase stamina and, hopefully, blood flow to my brain. I'm in the worst shape of my life right now, and it's not getting better on its own. Can't imagine why. I've started going around a block or two, twice a day. I'm not concerned with anything except stretching out muscles and not getting winded. I don't even care about my weight right now. That seems to have stabilized. At least, I don't need the rubber band extender for my jeans. I'm more concerned with overall health right now. Having said that, it would be nice to not look revolting in a swimsuit this summer in Vegas. Eric has a hacker convention there, and I'm tagging along to sight-see and write. We only have to pay for my airfare and food. Going back to Vegas wasn't on my bucket list. I've been twice. That seemed like enough. But it will be fun. I won't be at the day job.

Long time, no see

Somehow, two months have slipped by. It's been pretty much business as usual. Work, chores, wedging in words. I've got the garden going as much as I can for now. My seedlings are growing. I've transplanted some of the tomatoes to larger biodegradable pots, and the herbs are in their home pots on the table. They seem happy but I'll be happier when I can move them outside. It's not quite warm enough yet. We're supposed to hit freezing tonight.

Alex finally found part time work at the grocery store where I do most of my shopping now. He'll be working a few hours a week stocking shelves at night. It's not a lot, not enough, probably, but it's a start and will pay for his gas and such. Maybe he can start pecking away at student loans. I think that bill starts to come due in June.

I've been working more closing shifts at work lately, now that I have another reliable opener. It's a double edge (edged?) sword. On the one hand, it stinks because I don't see much of Eric. We might have fifteen minutes before I get ready for bed to talk, but usually not more because we have to be up early so I can take him to the train, and I need my beauty sleep. On the other hand, I'm working with everyone each week and getting a much better sense of their strengths, weaknesses, and goals, which will be helpful at evaluation time if nothing else. It will help me figure out who I should recommend for promotions and raises, or at least bring to my boss' attention. I'm mostly on nights next week, but I've hired a new guy so when I do the schedule next week I can maybe figure out a way to balance it better.

The house, specifically the basement, is coming together. We had our storage delivered Easter weekend, and the bookshelves have been a big help. For the first time ever, I think, we have all the tools in one place. Mostly, at least. The ones we use a lot are upstairs, but the rest is together. I sorted through pictures the other day and identified some to donate and some to hang. Hopefully I'll get them hung this weekend. Eric is going on a retreat with our church, so I'll have a day of quiet to get things done. I should really make a list.

That's about it. Everything else you know from Hangouts and Facebook. Do we even have readers outside our circle? If we do, I'd better become more interesting in a hurry!

Tech can only take you so far

In years past, I coveted the newest tech, particularly writing programs and faster computers. The idea I had was that "if only I had that writing program (faster computer, larger hard drive, etc.) I would be a successful author." Or certainly more productive.

And some of that turned out to be true. Word processing programs (WordPerfect and Wordstar--remember them?) allowed me to write two of my books (Murder by Dewey Decimal and Murder by the Acre) faster and with less errors than my Smith-Corona electric typewriter. And as those programs added spelling checkers and formatting, they became even more useful. Eventually, Microsoft Word out-marketed them, and I switched and never looked back.

However, eventually you come to the realization that tech has done all it can do. Oh, there are some writing programs out there that offer options for writing in various forms, but they help you only be more productive if you're writing in the first place. They automate tasks that writers do more often than other people, like creating table of contents, indexes, etc. They don't write the book or screenplay or play. Tech only take you so far; ultimately, your success in writing--or in life--is up to you.

This realization was hard for me. For one, it took away my justification for the latest and greatest computer--I had always enjoyed upgrading for the speed and sheer geekiness of it. The second reason it was hard because it placed the onus for my success--or lack of--only on me. It was...painful.

Lately, I have been reading and re-reading Your Own Worst Enemy by Dr. Kenneth W. Christian. The book has the subtitle on the cover: "Breaking the Habit of Adult Under-Achievement." As I've worked my way through the book, I've seen myself in so many chapters. It's like he wrote the book for me; I wish I had read it in my twenties. Over the years, I've read dozens of self-help and self-improvement books, but none of them spoke to me the way this book has. I cannot recommend it highly enough for any creative person who is frustrated by how they sabotage their creative efforts.

While doing the exercises the book recommends, I've also been working on three writing projects. I will publish at least one book of my own this year and hope to do two. Your Own Worst Enemy has allowed me to push aside fears and self-limiting behavior. I hope it--or something else--can do the same for you when you're stalled in life.

And besides chores and doctors' visits, that's my life right now. I hope life is treating you well. It not...make it do so!

Publishing news of a sort

It's been a long frustrating day, but many things were accomplished, some of which probably shouldn't have been, but there you go. In good news, much planning has been going on for the anthology Blackbirds Third Flight. So far, we have authors Heath Stallcup, Wendy Blanton, Jean Schara, Gail Henderson, and myself in place. We are "wooing" three others who will add new perspectives to the annual anthology. I don't know how people produce a monthly magazine, though. Just getting this out yearly takes a lot of effort!

In personal news, I also wanted to tell you Floozy Comes Back is also on track for publication this year. Yes, another collection of my mishaps and adventures for people to enjoy. It's good to know my bruises and pain are a funny thing for people. But in a loving way, I'm sure. Sort of sure.

And just because I'm sharing writing news: The first five chapters of Murder by the Mile are being proofed. I haven't scheduled that book for publication this year, but it looks increasingly likely that this will be the year of three books for me. Can't promise it, but it looks that way.

Otherwise, I spend too much time at the doctor's office. I don't exercise enough, but I'm trying. Don't eat right, but I'm trying. Don't accomplish enough, but by golly and by dingo, I'm trying.

How are you doing?

I'm back!

We will try to post more often here. Please stay on the the edge of your seat. Jean has many things to say. I will try to say some things, too. We will be announcing another anthology in the next month or so. Watch for Blackbirds Third Flight coming to a disturbed mind near you soon.