May 30, 2007 | General, Life, Writing
Imagine my surprise to realize, just yesterday, that National is July 11-14 and not at the end of the month like I originally thought. Never mind that I've been registered for months, or that I bought my plane ticket months ago. I've been telling my family that it's the last week in July.
Duh.
So I realized that I have 6 weeks to get back into one of my evening gowns. I am NOT buying a new one. Six weeks is usually enough time, so we'll see what happens. Ten pounds ought to do it, though twenty would really make me happy. I don't really know numbers though because I haven't been on a scale in a long time. Not because it upsets me, but because I use the scale at the gym and I haven't been to a gym around here yet.
The diet has officially begun. So has the exercise, and today my chest hurts from the 45 push-ups I did yesterday. My abs hurt too. Ah yes, the price of too much good Southern cooking must now be paid.
My house is not quite a disaster area, but it's not completely done yet either. I still have boxes to unpack (not many). I still have decorating to do. And I have six weeks to finish this book, write another proposal, and get yet another idea in the formation stage. Can't go to National with nothing to talk about.
*sigh* Better get busy. Aloha.
May 29, 2007 | Life, Writing
On the search for interesting things to talk about, I pop over to Tess Gerritsen's blog. I haven't made the blog rounds in a long time, having been occupied with my move, so I'm beginning to branch back into my favorite reads again. Always trust Tess to deliver. Though we're members of the same RWA chapter, I'm sorry I never got to meet her in person. She's a pretty smart lady.
Finally, I leave you to ponder Creepy Fact #5: the animal with the shortest lifespan is the aquatic gastrotrich. It lives only three days. Only three days to accomplish everything it needs to do in a lifetime.
You, on the other hand, have fifty years ahead of you. That may seem like a long time right now, but it isn’t. I’m a gardener, and we gardeners know that we’re allotted only a limited number of spring plantings in our lives, only a certain number of seasons to try out new plants.
So here’s the final lesson from my creepy facts file, a lesson brought to you courtesy of the pitifully short-lived gastrotrich: Don’t waste a single planting season. Plant the seeds of your future now by nurturing every interest, every hobby. And always have something new growing, something you’ve never tried to grow before. Because you never know. It could end up being the most beautiful plant in your garden.
Head on over to Tess's blog and read the text of the speech she gave for the University of Maine's graduation. Much to think about, whether you're 22 or 42 or 82.
How did you spend the weekend? Saturday, we went boating on the Tennessee River. We watched balloons taking off from the balloon festival in Point Mallard Park, then we docked and went to eat BBQ at Big Bob Gibson's. Sunday, we went to a fish fry and shrimp boil in Decatur, in a very lovely garden, and Monday we moved some more stuff from my parents' house. Whew, life is busy here in Alabama, but I'm loving it. 🙂
May 25, 2007 | Uncategorized |
The problem with having a stay-at-home job is focus. It's so easy to run downstairs for a bottle of water and end up tossing in a load of laundry, folding what just came out of the dryer, and thinking of at least two people you need to call for some reason. What was supposed to be a 2 minute trip to the kitchen becomes a 40 minute detour.
I'm not usually too bad at focus, when the story is humming. When it's not, well, I can think of a lot of things I need to get done. Add to that the guilt of needing to organize the house and get everything put away, and focus becomes an issue.
On a bigger scale, I have trouble with focus in that I want to do so many things and spread myself thin. Concentrating on one thing means I will become more accomplished at it. A master of a particular thing rather than a jack-of-all-trades.
My goal is to become a master. Focus is the key. It will take effort, of course, just like getting those muscles back into shape. One day at a time.
How do you deal with focus? Are you a pro at it? If so, what's your secret? 🙂
May 24, 2007 | Uncategorized |
Everyone has muscles. Some people have fabulous, well-defined muscles. Others seem to be hiding theirs under layers of bulk. Me, I'm in the bulk stage. And I don't just mean weight. Writing uses muscle, and muscle must be fed. It must be exercised regularly, or it gets soft. It needs to be shaped and honed and flexed to stay at its optimum efficiency.
I haven't been exercising the muscles, physical or mental. I've spent the last few months worrying and planning and preparing for a new house and a different life (different from the military one I was used to). I haven't been writing, running, or reading.
But the beauty of muscle is that it only needs to be worked regularly, even after an absence, to get strong and efficient again. It doesn't matter how many layers of bulk have accumulated. Stimulate the muscles, feed them properly, and watch them reshape and grow beautiful once more.
Yeah, it's work, but so what. The results are worth the effort. So today I'm giving notice to my flabby muscles: play time is over. We're getting back in the game, baby. 🙂
May 23, 2007 | General, Life |
Yeah, it's been a while — again. But things are coming together finally after several months of upheaval. We're in our new house. Our household shipment arrived last week after being in storage for nearly 8 months. My desk is set up beside a window. My Internet connection is on. I itch to get back to work.
Random snippets:
1. I love Alabama. Yes, I do. It took awhile, but this is a FABULOUS place to be. Check out Kiplinger's June issue and see why Huntsville is one of the top 25 cities to call home. 🙂
2. This is my first American Idol season. I am irritated. The finale should have been Melinda and LaKisha, IMO. Jordin is good, but not as good as she will be when she matures. And she comes from a privileged background. I'd prefer the million dollar contract go to someone like Melinda or LaKisha, women who come from humble backgrounds and who can sing so beautifully. Jordin gets a little screechy for me. Love Blake's innovative side, but he's not a great vocalist. Such a disappointment watching A.I. for the first time. 🙁
3. Iced mint tea is pretty awesome. I haven't had it in years, but had some at a garden tour last weekend. Great!
4. Do I really have this much stuff? We shipped 10 crates from Hawaii, and had another one in Baltimore. Over 14,000 pounds of stuff, lots of which goes in the kitchen. 🙂
5. Love my new LG Steamwasher! Quiet, efficient, and pretty. Ordered white but got red because of a mix up by Home Depot. The red costs $100 more per appliance, but I got the upgrade for free. Not upset by that at all!
6. National is approaching. Pluses: I'm registered, plane ticket purchased, roomies who kindly invited me to share, the prospect of seeing friends from Hawaii and elsewhere, and all the stuff I'm going to learn. Minuses: Southern cooking. I've gained weight and I need to get rid of it. No, I don't know how much. I haven't stepped on a scale, but I'm guessing it's in the vicinity of 15 lbs. And I need to do it before National if I want to fit into the clothes I already have. Why buy a new evening gown when I have several!? Must stop eating grits and fried green tomatoes.
7. I miss working on my book.
8. It's very hard to type with a cat lying beside the computer and randomly attacking fingers and screen.
