1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… must clean area around it. Still 2 more boxes to go.

3. Eat more whole foods:  Pretty good this week.

4. Pay off some debt: 81.99%

5. Finish 6 quilts: got the thread, just need to sit down and finish the quilting process on the fairy quilt

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 8/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 10/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: Went elsewhere

11. Try 12 new wines: 10/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: maybe next year

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: Complete

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: 4/7 days… weekends are hard

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 7/12

7 more weeks to go.

~Emme

I was at home on Monday with a very upset stomach, thank goodness for the ability to work from home. On Tuesday, the cold that’s been threatening for a week or two decided to come out full force. I have not been a very happy Nic.

1) Cook a new recipe each week (I’m not making it specifically vegetarian but I will try for  three out of four)

I made French Onion Soup.

2) Exercise twice a week.

Big fat fail. I really haven’t been up to it, I did one longish walk this week but it wasn’t nearly enough. Next week, I’ll be all about the exercise!

3) Clean floors and hoover once a week

Done! After last week’s fail I made sure to do it.  It helps that I have people coming for dinner on Saturday night, when I have people in the house you can always guarantee that the floors and the bathroom will be clean!

4) 10pm school night bed time.

Pass but one night I didn’t get to bed until 10.30pm! The only reason I got through this week was the decent amount of sleep I managed to get this week.

5) Walk 10k four times in October.

Fail, fail, fail.

6) Tidy the cupboard. I have a store/junk cupboard off the bathroom that really needs some organising.

Was going to do it Sunday, didn’t. May get around to it this weekend though.

7) Cheerfulness. I’m going to find something that makes me happy every day and will list them as part of the Saturday goal progress report.

Saturday – Grace on Saturday night. I did mention this in the weekend post but I’m glad to be part of this community, that challenges and strengthens my relationship with God.

Sunday – It was my brother’s birthday. We didn’t always get on but on balance I’m glad I have a brother and I’m glad it’s him.

Monday – I was sick today and without wishing to be to graphic was extremely grateful to live in a country and a time with modern plumbing.

Tuesday – Drugs. More specifically Night Nurse. This week would have been unbearable without them.

Wednesday – Friendships that have the ability to change with circumstances. Reminded of this as Max and I discussed her childcare issues and our work issues.

Thursday – In Our Time.  I really love In Our Time, this week it was about William Caxton. Which got me thinking about how lucky I am to live in a time and a place, where working class girls are taught to read.

Friday – It’s Friday. I’m pleased to have got through the week and I’m pleased that I have a job that makes weekends special. It wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t.

8) Forward planning. It’s Christmas in three months and before that Ben, Oli, Christelle and Ma have birthdays. By the end of this month I would like to have their birthday presents sorted out!

Ben’s birthday came and went. There was no present, but Ben was fine about it as I do all the Oli watching. I have a present sorted for Ma and another for Christelle.  I’m on the way to knowing what I’m doing for Oli!

Did anyone else set goals this month? How are you doing with them?

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… must clean area around it. Still 2 more boxes to go.

3. Eat more whole foods:  Pretty good this week.

4. Pay off some debt: 79.29%

5. Finish 6 quilts: got the thread, just need to sit down and finish the quilting process on the fairy quilt

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 7/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 10/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: Went elsewhere

11. Try 12 new wines: 9/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: maybe next year

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: 5/7 days… weekends are hard

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 7/12

8 more weeks to go.

~Emme

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… must clean area around it. Still 2 more boxes to go.

3. Eat more whole foods:  Pretty good this week.

4. Pay off some debt: 76.54%

5. Finish 6 quilts: on hold… trying to find thread… must go to craft store

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 7/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 10/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: Went elsewhere

11. Try 12 new wines: 9/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: maybe next year

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: 5/7 days… weekends are hard

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 7/12

9 more weeks to go.

~Emme

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… must clean area around it when I get back from out of town.

3. Eat more whole foods:  really hard while traveling

4. Pay off some debt: 74.40%

5. Finish 6 quilts: on hold… trying to find thread… must go to craft store

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 6/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 8/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: England… Amsterdam… and Paris instead… on trip currently…

11. Try 12 new wines: 8/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: maybe next year

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: 5/7 days

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 7/12

10 more weeks to go.

~Emme

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… have found the power cord

3. Eat more whole foods:  unknown

4. Pay off some debt: 73.45%

5. Finish 6 quilts: on hold… trying to find thread… must go to craft store

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 6/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 8/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: England… Amsterdam… and Paris instead… on trip currently…

11. Try 12 new wines: 8/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: not yet… probably not in the cards

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: 6/7 days

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 6/12

11 more weeks to go.

~Emme

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… have found the power cord

3. Eat more whole foods: 25% this week

4. Pay off some debt: 67.76%

5. Finish 6 quilts: on hold… trying to find thread… must go to craft store

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 6/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 8/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: England… Amsterdam… and Paris instead… I will update you on this lately

11. Try 12 new wines: 8/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: not yet… probably not in the cards

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: 6/7 days

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 6/12

12 more weeks to go.

~Emme

Let’s see how well I did with this week …

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… have found the power cord

3. Eat more whole foods: 50% this week

4. Pay off some debt: 67.76%

5. Finish 6 quilts: on hold… trying to find thread… must go to craft store

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 6/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 8/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: England… Amsterdam… and Paris instead… I will update you on this lately

11. Try 12 new wines: 8/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: not yet… probably not in the cards

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: 6/7 days

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 6/12

13 more weeks to go.

~Emme

Let’s see how well I did with this week …

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… have not found the power cord yet

3. Eat more whole foods: 50% this week

4. Pay off some debt: 65.03%

5. Finish 6 quilts: on hold… trying to find thread… must go to craft store

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 6/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 8/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: England… Amsterdam… and Paris instead… I will update you on this lately

11. Try 12 new wines: 8/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: whose bright idea was this?

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: not yet… probably not in the cards

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: yeah… about that…

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: perfect!

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 6/12

14 more weeks to go.

~Emme

Let’s see how well I did with this week …

1. Loose some weight: Not speaking to the scale.

2. Exercise:  Total Biked: 206 miles… have not found the power cord yet

3. Eat more whole foods: 75% this week

4. Pay off some debt: 61.94%

5. Finish 6 quilts: on hold… trying to find thread… must go to craft store

6. Host 4 dinner parties: 5/4

7. Try 12 new recipes: 6/12

8. Read 12 non-fiction books: 8/12

9. Write at least 100 words a day on my maybe novel… that would be at least 36,500 by the end of the year: 8.24% to 36,500 words… I have not wanted on this at all something about not being inspired… maybe it is writers block

10. Go to Ireland… again: England… Amsterdam… and Paris instead

11. Try 12 new wines: 8/12

12. Learn some basic phrases in German: bought a kids book… kind of able to follow, just having a hard time retaining the words

13. Go to Saint Augustine or New York City: not yet… probably not in the cards

14. Switch banks: not yet

15. Participate in 6 WDC review raids: 2/6

16. Find a new place to live and move: Complete

17. Attend couples cooking class: not yet

18. Join a meet-up group: Already complete

19. See 6 movies in movie theaters: 3/6

20. Visit 3 new wineries: 2/3

21. Get rid of 100 things: about 75% there

22. Make cleaning schedule and stick to it: making a new one

23. Yoga!: starting to get back into basic stretches

24. Stay on budget: bad… forgot to budget for vitamins and I need to restock on all of them

25. Take vitamins on regular basis: fail… it turns out if you don’t have the vitamins you cannot take them or find them.

26. Date night out at least once a month preferably somewhere new: 6/12

16 more weeks to go.

~Emme

Here are my goals again:

One of my yearly goals is to be crocheting consistently so that when things are needed at the tea room or I need a last minute gift, I have those items on hand.- Crocheting has just not been happening.  Although I did get a pair of fingerless gloves done for my neice the other night.  That’s been it though.

Quarterly goal:  1.  To take and pass the pharmacy technician exam so I can become a certerfied tech.  I’d like to be ready to take that test by the end of March.- Trying to study some each week.  I’m also getting some additional help from a tech. at work.

January Monthly goals.

1.  Get the core subjects for school into better habit.- This really isn’t going bad.  In fact I have hopes that by February we will be able to bring back history with just some tweaking on how long they have to finish the core subjects each day.

2.  Read Shepherding a Child’s Heart.  I’m borrowing this from my sister-in-law in hopes of learning more about raising my children.-  I’m only getting about 2 chapters a week read but still reading it.

3.  Read the Proverbs. Doing well with this and will soon need to pick what I’ll be reading next.

(and now for the crash and burn parts)

4.  Finish Smiley’s dress that was suppose to be for Christmas.   -This has been put aside.  I’m not liking how it looks and I’m just not finishing it.  The question becomes now-Do I rip it out and save the yarn or just cut my losses and move on.

5.  Better meal planning.  Crashing-badly

6.  Attempt to complete Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30. -again crashing badly as I have only done it a total of 3 times.

Now in other related news, I started reading Push by Charlene Johnson I’m understanding the main ideas but struggling with the assignments.  To begin with it was very hard for me to reverse engineer my goals (which I’ll share shortly).  I just couldn’t come up with the long list she wanted me to.  Second, defining success was extremely diffficult.  As in I’m still not sure how to define it and it was yesterday’s assignment.  And todays, well, it’s not going much better.  I thinki I will keep reading it, I’m hoping that maybe once I have read it through, things will make more sense but I’m not sure.

As for the exercising.  Well I’m seeing a connection between school and exercising.  What is that connection you may ask- well I seem to have a problem sticking with something.  I tend to bounce around curriculum and workouts.  Also with exercising for the strangest reason I do better at it in the last 3 months of the year than I do the first 3 months of a year.  I’m not sure why but I do.  So since my weight seems to go up so easily, I know I need to get back on track if I want my clothes to continue to fit.  After all, when I go shopping for clothes next time, I want to be going for smaller clothes, not larger.  So for today, I’m just going to try and get my eating back under control (yesterday, I really let loose).  By Monday, I plan to be back to exercising regularly.  How?  Well that is yet to be determined.  Another thing I have noticed with exercising (and school stuff) I don’t like doing the same thing over and over.  Therefore, to do Ripped in 30 just doesn’t fit well with me.  She wants you to do the same workout for a week in a row.  Sounds a little boring.  Also I know I need to get back on the treadmill 5x a week.  I’m also taking into account a “tweaky” wrist that limits something.  Bottom line, when I figure out what I’m doing, I’ll let you know.  And now I was going to share the goals I came up with during my one Push assignment, but time is slipping away and I have things to do today.

For those of you who don’t know what Elfwood is, it’s a fantasy and science fiction site for authors and artists.  It’s free to use, which means you don’t get paid anything to put your work up there.  It’s like deviantart for the sci-fi and fantasy folk.

Anyway, when I was fifteen and sixteen, I put a bunch of stories up there, and even won a couple of awards, of which I was incredibly proud.  But I realize now that I’m going to want to rewrite and publish these stories for money, which means I have to take my site down.  It makes me sad, because Elfwood is the community that first encouraged me to keep writing.  They’re the people who said, “You have talent” and “I can’t wait to read what’s next!”  When you’re new to writing, that makes all the difference in the world.

So I’m going to copy and paste all the comments from all the stories (which is a bit of an undertaking – I have something like fifteen stories up there) and put them in an email to myself, to read when I feel like I have no talent whatsoever.   (. . .actually, looking back at the comments from my stories, I’m a little wary to read all of them. . . it’s embarrassing, like when your mother sits everyone down and talks about how well you did in school this semester.)

Here is my profile on the site, for what it’s worth.  Keep in mind, these stories are bordering on a decade old, so if you have to say anything about them, please remember that!

On another note, I have the opportunity to send in samples of my work and my resume to a local magazine, for a chance to become a staff writer.  It’s not a science fiction or fantasy magazine, but it would give me the chance to actually be a writer in the real world.  I’m going to send them an article I wrote for the Northwest Arkansas Writers’ Workshop last year (damn, was it really two years ago??), a proposed article I want to write for Clarkesworld Magazine (a big sci-fi/fantasy e-magazine), and one of my short stories (probably “The Red Stars of Heaven”).  I’ve been debating sending them one of my analytical works, from one of my classes (probably “The Pardoner and the Old Man” from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales) but I’m wondering if that might be overkill, since I have yet to see many magazines that focus on literary criticism.  Well, except for, you know, literary magazines that specialize in that sort of thing.  So I’m adding that to my weekly goals, but this is more pressing, obviously.

Okay.  Goals.

Completed Goals

• Finished reading Chapter 2 of FMIIS
• Finished writing Chapter 3 of FMIIS (Danny is currently working on Chapter 4)
• Attempted to reread Echoworld, gave it up as a bad job, and rewrote the outline from scratch.  (That counts, right?)

This Week’s Goals

• Edit Chapter 4 of FMIIS (when it gets to me)
• Write Chapter 5 of FMIIS
• Work on Elfwood, getting everything down and transferred
• Write that article on Bathtub Stories for Edmond Outlook
• Find that article on POV and edit it
• Send in my application for Edmond Outlook

I think that’s enough to be getting on with, don’t you?

Anyway, I should probably get going.  I’ll talk to you all. . . tomorrow.  Actually, no I won’t.  UPDATE: Tomorrow’s post will be from guest-blogger, Daniel Bowman, talking about his part in writing FMIIS, specifically the character of Alex.  Don’t miss it!Cl

~Sarah

Word count on writing: 5,545.

Frustration at WP: 100%

New swear words invented in the last five minutes: 3

Hours until I have to gt up for work: 7

I’ll rewrite the post that was supposed to be, but first-sleep.

I could continue working on And the Meek.  But I feel like that’s going to have to go on hold for awhile.  I have a couple of different ideas in mind.

I downloaded and reread all of FMIIS.  All 400 pages of it.  What does it say about your writing when you can’t put it down, even though you know exactly what’s going to happen next?  I sat there for six hours, reading that book, with all its grammatical and punctuational errors, with all its character inefficiencies and miscalculations, with its plotline going everywhere.  I was just flabbergasted.

So. . . yeah.  That’s what I want to work on now.  Danny and I did what ever author should do after finishing a novel – we put it aside for a year.  It doesn’t necessarily need to be a year; six months will do just fine.  But the point is, after you’ve finished something as draining as a novel, you need a break from it.  To jump right into editing it is to invite disaster, because you’re still too close to it.  Like a fine wine, you need to let it breathe after opening it.  (Or. . . something.  I don’t drink, so the analogy may not be entirely apt.)

I haven’t gotten squat done on the writing scene these last couple of weeks.  Honestly, I think I get more writing done the busier I am.  When I have nothing to do but write, I feel lost and consequently get nothing done.  I’ll be busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest this semester, though.  I might have a job waiting at a nearby sushi restaurant (my favorite, as it happens), plus taking 15 hours, all English.

I’m actually fairly excited about my classes this semester.  I’m retaking “Comic Book Writing” (you can take any Creative Writing seminar course up to three times for credit, no matter how good your grade was the last time you took it [and I got an A in it last semester]).  I’m also taking “Writing for TV/Movies/Stage,” same professor.  Taking “Emotions in Novel Writing,” which should just be a novel-writing course, but I have plenty of material to show to the class, and the fact that it is homework might give me the impetus to write more chapters.    And then, finally, I’m taking “English Grammar and Usage” and “American Literature to 1865.”  Those two are going to be my tough courses.  I know the basics of grammar – you know, what you learn in 4th grade.  But this grammar class is going to be getting into the honest-to-gods nitty-gritty of grammar, and I have the misfortune of having the most difficult teacher in that class, simply because she was the only one offered.  And I’m not very good at literature courses.  They are very difficult for me, not because I dislike reading, but because I can’t write very good essays.

So.  Onward.  This weeks goals.

This weeks goals are written with putting as many submissions out into the aether as I can get out there this year.  Danny and I are working our butts off to edit FMIIS to near completion by mid-May so we can pitch it to a literary agent there.  And I’m dying to get something published in Asimov’s, after having read it and fallen in love with it.  After thinking long and hard about my options, “Echoworld” seems to be the best possible choice.  I just need to tweak it a bit.

This Weeks Goals:

• Read edited Chapter 2 of FMIIS
• Write edited Chapter 3 of FMIIS
• Take down Elfwood account
• Edit 5 pages of “Echoworld”

How’s your year beginning to look?

Goals:

1. Lose 30% of my body weight
2. Ride an average of  10 miles a day
3. Track my food
4. Complete a small (Sprint) triathlon

Dream

1. Do an Olympic size triathlon
2. Ride a century ride

First Check-In of February and I figured I needed to take a look at my goals – considering I completely forgot about one of them last month.  So my original (major) goals were:

• Write 500 words a day, Monday to Friday (at least)
• Write 2,500 words a week (at least)
• Edit the y/a novel (without clawing my eyes out)
• Write one short story a month
• Replot Taunt
• Rewrite first draft of Taunt

I didn’t always write regularly.  Case in point, I didn’t do a thing on Monday and barely got anything done on Tuesday of this week alone.  *Is lazy*

I definitely got my weekly words done but mostly because I banged them all out in the one session.

I edited half of Verity then decided it needed a rewrite so changed my goal to that.  I finished that on Sunday so it now needs some space and then a round of edits.  For real this time.

I completely forgot about the short story. 

I replotted Taunt.  Literally the only thing that went to plan in January.  Although it took longer than I expected. 

The first draft of Taunt is now at 14k words.  I’m a little sad I took such a detour from it but I was able to jump straight into it this morning so it’s looking like it’s not quite as cold as I feared.

Taking all of that into account – here are my new goals for February:

• Write at least 500 words a day – Monday to Friday.  I’m keeping this because I still need that schedule to kick in for me or I’ll waste hours when I should be at least attempting to write.
• Write at least 5,000 words a week.  I’m upping this because I need to get this draft of Taunt done, hopefully this month but if not at least I’ll have a good chunk done.
• Finish rewriting the first draft of Taunt.  
• Spend at least a half hour daily working on organisation.  By organisation, I mean keeping my folders and files updated, regarding, in particular, character sheets and world building info - actually, over the weekend, the twins pretty much destroyed everything I had done so far so I’ve a lot to do here. 

One of my original ROW80 goals was to edit Verity and, technically, I have so I sort of feel like I’ve accomplished something in January.  The best bit is that I don’t hate the story and I’m enjoying the characters again.  I told my OH earlier that I think I might actually be done with it this year.  So whoop whoop for that.  One month done, lots of up and downs, but I’m a happy camper.    Hope you’re all feeling optimistic for February!

ETA:  Okay, been waffling to my OH again.  The poor thing (he’s not a reader) has no idea what the book is about or who the characters are but he helped me figure out how to bridge the gap I’ve been moaning about.  It’s just for now so I have an actual complete story to edit but it might work long-term.  We’ll see.  It’ll bulk up the action, which is good because I’m crap at the romance.  I feel a little guilty for what I’m putting these kids through. 

On to other schtuff.  Fellow ROW80er, Vicki Keire, author of Gifts of the Blood, made me cry this week.  Actual tears, people.  She gave Thirst a really generous, thoughtful review on her blog.  See, I’m not used to people talking about stuff I’ve written.  When Andrew Mocete interviewed me, he did a little intro about Thirst and said what it was about and I swear, I was on a high for days.  Days.  That stuff is addictive.  My stories are in my head, I talk about them to nobody, yet the characters are like family so when somebody else “knows” them, it gets to me.  Sad, I know!

I haven’t done a great deal of work this week.  I haven’t worked on Verity since my last update, but I’m getting a few hours to myself late tonight so if I’m awake, I’ll work on that.  I’m using my ereader to make notes and such, then make the changes in my document when I’m done.  It’s slow work but I find I do my best editing this way.  It’s something I can do around the kids but not while I’m feeding the baby (or if the kids decide they want to scribble on my ereader too) so I generally have to wait until I’ve a child-free block of time.

I have around 4k of Taunt written, or rather rewritten.  It sounds okay until I tell you it was the part of the story that needed the least amount of work.  I printed out a hard copy of the document, went at it with a red pen, switched around the sequence of events and typed up the new first three chapters.  I took a quick glance at the entire first draft I had – it’s not as awful as I thought but it needs a lot of tightening, better organisation of the time line and one particularly long conversation needs to be destroyed.    I also realised I had forgotten a character or two and need to create some character sheets on them.

I only have the beginning of Taunt replotted but it’s much better – I feel more focused on what’s happening and yesterday some very important backstory showed itself for the first time.  I’ve been worrying about a certain storyline and feeling like the motivations weren’t portrayed very well so now I have a new dimension to that which helps make it clearer and helps me with the portion of the story I’ll be working on next week.  It wouldn’t have occurred to me if I hadn’t been thinking about the story every day so thank you, ROW80.

I feel like I didn’t work very hard this week but tomorrow, the schools are open again so I’ll have two less children at home in the mornings and the whole family will be back to a getting up at the same time every day routine which might actually help me with ROW80.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to organise my time a bit better next week.  I have made an effort to do something every day so if that becomes a habit, I’ll be very pleased.

Week One Update:

• Taunt – 4k (re)written
• Verity – 3 chapters edited
• Plot – First section done.

My reading challenge hasn’t gone too well but that’s normal for me.  Next week I could read ten books then the week after, nothing at all.  The fifteen minutes a day bit isn’t happening.  Maybe next week. 

ETA:  Forgot to add the update link.  *And is typo queen today*

Today is day 8 of my 60 Day Life Makeover, and I thought I would give you an update of how it is going! Before I tell you that, however, let me remind you (and myself) what my goals are!

My top 5 60-day goals are:

1. Lose 20 pounds. This body will only carry me for so long, and being at the weight I am is truly starting to become a hindrance, and an anchor to where and what I want to be doing.
2. Find a church home. I NEED a church home.
3. Clean, organize, purge my house from top to bottom, so everything in it has a home.
4. Purchase, refinish, and sell one piece of furniture to slowly but surely get my business off the ground.
5. Put $1000 extra away to help build my wealth.

Ok, so now for the updates!!!

1. Lose 20 pounds. As of this morning, I have lost a TOTAL of 1 POUND (they do say that ‘slow and steady wins the race’ – I REALLY HOPE THEY ARE RIGHT!)!!!
2. Find a church home. We did go to church this last Sunday. Church was fine, but it wasn’t our “home”, it was just too large – we kinda felt like cattle!!! Anyway, we are going to go to a different church tomorrow morning. Our fingers are crossed!
3. Clean, organize, purge my house from top to bottom, so everything in it has a home. It quickly became evident that this task may take a lot longer than 60 days. Right now I am focusing on our office/craft room. I am going through each item deciding what needs my attention, what needs to go into the e-bay pile, and what just needs to be gone!! Not easy, but I am already reaping the rewards of the hard work I have been doing. Yesterday I got to spend a good portion of the day creating! That was SOOOOO WORTH all of the time I have spent filing, and clearing out the clutter!!
4. Purchase, refinish, and sell one piece of furniture to slowly but surely get my business off the ground. I haven’t started actively looking for this yet, this will happen as soon as I get my craft room done!
5. Put $1000 extra away to help build my wealth. I have created quite a stack of belongings that are going to go up on e-bay tomorrow, so I am hoping that will start my efforts to create this $1,000.

So onward, and upward!!!

For today:

• Blog
• 60 minutes Fitness plan
• Track food
• Confirm church times for tomorrow
• Drink 2 liters of water
• Read for at least 1/2 an hour
• Change bedding
  
• Put laundry away
• Vacuum/Sweep/Mop
• Spend at least  1 hour filing creative paperwork
• Go through current bills
• Update electronic bill tracker
• Go through at least 10 magazines (I have at least a hundred of these all over the house)
  
• Bathe Faye
• Make time for playing!

Wow! I had better get busy!!

Have a FABULOUS day!!

Last month I did a general 2010 goals list, so there’s not really a big recap, but here’s my update:

*Learning to cook better – successful work in progress, pumpkin muffins, sweet potato soup, brownies = yum!

*Networking – went to indiewed!  (info to be posted soon)

*Math – checking out some free Online courses

*Making more things and procrastinating less with the DIY house stuff – meh. ongoing.  Took down some ugly paneling in the basement & prepping to redo the walls/flooring sometime soon

For February goals -

*Bakery’s Half-Dozen class - I’ve noticed a few fellow Meetup people will be participating – yeah!! can’t wait for the class to start!!  I’m going kind of light on my actual goals so I can focus on the class!

*Custom communion invitation / thank you cards

*Continue general 2010 goals (Cooking/Baking, Networking, DIY) and getting better at posting about it!

How did everyone do for January?  Hope it was a great month & start to the year!!  Check out Athena Designs to learn more about the Meetup!

With my new job and the type of schedule I have, I won’t be able to even try to attempt a few of my goals. Here is an updated list. New goals are bolded.

• read one classic lit book every month for one year (starting october 2009)
• cook one meal from a recipe book a week for the next year
• join a gym and workout 4-5 days a week
• live within a pre-set budget
• pay off my credit cards and student loans
• save money in savings account and don’t touch it.
• cook one meal from scratch a week
• be early to things. (I used to always be late, now I am “just on time” and I’d like to be early.)
• take at least 1 picture everyday. (You guys can see more of me then too! Or more of things around me…)

I took out cooking from a recipe, because I just don’t have the luxury of time to pour through a recipe book, pick a recipe, go to the store, get the required ingredients for a recipe and make it. I’ll stick to what I know.

I also took out going to a gym 4-5 times a week because so far this week I have been sleep an average of 5 hours a night. Taking out an hour of sleep to go work out will probably make me crack out, and it’s only the beginning of my new job!

I’m going to try to stick to this list, keep reading my blog and help me stay accountable!

terdengar sebuah kabar, sebuah berita

tentang sodara, kawan, dan patner kami, Kang Fatur

Sebuah kecelakaan terjadi

dikala engkau bermain bola bersama kawan2 lama di solo

sebagai sebuah perpisahan, karena kepergianmu ke semarang untuk menjadi bagian dari GOAL

Kau terjatuh di atas hamparan rumput hijau, dan tak sadarkan diri….

Di sini, di Semarang

kami, sodaramu, kawanmu, dan patnermu

mendo’akan kesembuhanmu

menantikan kedatanganmu kembali

Semoga kebesaran Allah selalu melindungimu slalu

Semoga kekuasaan Allah menyembuhkanmu sgera

amiin…

(we la dalah.. jam e mepet banget.., laen kali disambung. cabut dolo)