Feel Good Friday - The Sunday Edition

Gah! The weekend is nearly over. Again! Why does this keep happening?
What a crazy weekend! I'm exhausted!
Here's the list:
1. Shopping with That Man and K4 Friday night - which included a trip to the mega warehouse store for That Man's volunteer job, seeing a 5 car pile up and a overturned tractor trailer full of olives, a quick stop in to see the newlyweds, and having pizza very late.
2. Saturday was my writing group meeting, which is always very good and much needed. I skipped lunch because we were having friends over for dinner and we had a lot to do, but then...
3. Came home to an already clean house! Nice! But then...
4. Get a call from K1. He's stranded. The clutch went out in his truck on his way to a friend's to replace the clutch. The town he's broken down in has a huge car show going on. Traffic is nasty. There's absolutely no clutch in the truck, so it has to be started in gear and immediately starts moving. A harrowing trip up the mountain to stow the truck at my sister's since it was the closest and easiest place to go. Take K1 home, then hit the store.
5. Cooking and preparing for our dinner. We made very awesome bruschetta, marinated london broil, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, corn, grilled mushrooms, and apple pockets (and ice cream for on top). Everything turned out well, though we forgot steak sauce.
6. Company to help us eat the awesome dinner! We talked and laughed and played games. They left later than they'd planned, which was fine by us. We had a really good time!
7. Had to get up early this morning to pick up K1, J, and Baby B. We then went to pick up his mechanic friend who is helping him with his truck. 3.5 hours behind the wheel and I finally arrived back home, intent on taking a nap. Never happened.
8. Seeing my grandson. He is so cute and doing so many adorable things!
9. K3 returning home after having a fantastic time at Barbershop competition. They didn't place well, but he had such a blast! It was his first competition ever and he was so excited.
10. Writing time. Today was the first day of my writing group's 50/50 challenge. 50 words a day for 50 days. I stomped those 50 words (I managed a heck of a whole lot more than 50) into the ground!! Booyah!
Sadly, no sleeping in (or naps) for me this weekend, but next weekend should be different. And... tomorrow is Monday. Oy! I'm so done with Monday!
That is all.
Behave!

And There IT is!

I don't think there's anything better than new book excitement!!
I really thought my brain was broken. Truly. I couldn't settle on what I wanted to write. Nothing was sparking. One of my goals for October was to stay in our fifty words a day for fifty day challenge, so I sat every night and wrote at least fifty words - hoping that the brain barf would begin to coalesce. It kind of did, though I didn't realize it until yesterday. To say I was about a half-second away from going into full on panic and despair mode would be an understatement. I really thought my mojo had abandoned me. Quite honestly though, I really wasn't looking very hard. My attitude sucked hardcore. I wasn't being nice to myself or that mojo.
Somewhere between a really crazy dream and yesterday's writing meeting, I was hit in the forehead by not only how I was sabotaging myself, but by the shiny new idea. And it totally rocks!
Yes, I will admit I definitely needed to take some time off. I don't think I'm the only writer who secretly fears that by not writing, your dream will wander off and get lost in the woods, or fall into a well. And yes, I know how ridiculous that is, but there you have it.
Anyway...the point is that I am on it like white on rice now.
I am very excited.
Behave!

I'm Here...

Not that you missed me or anything! Okay, I know one person missed me for sure! :)
It's been one of those weeks...One of those one thing after another weeks where you're never fully sure what day it is.
But I do know that tomorrow is Friday!
And I'm glad for it, though the weekend is packed with all kinds of stuff, including Grandma duty on Sunday - which I am very much looking forward to. We usually do Friday night dinner with K1, S, & K5, but we can't this week, and going two weeks without seeing the peanut is not acceptable.
I'm behind on pretty much everything external - laundry, grocery shopping, blogging, blog checking, Twitter, Facebook... Though I do know exactly what's up with my kids, so that has to count for something. Right?
In other news, I've made some important writing decisions this week and I'm happy about that. Plus, despite the craziness, I've managed to maintain at least the minimum word count in our 50/50 challenge (50 words a day for 50 days).
And if I want to maintain that stretch, I need to go write at least 50 words!
Behave!

Writing Stuff

Remember to go and vote for my friend Heidi! Voting ends tonight!

My writing chapter started a 50/50 challenge last week. Basically, it's no less than fifty words a day for fifty days. You can go over fifty words, and you can take no more than two consecutive days off, and you have to report your totals no less frequently than every two days to keep the tracking right. It's encouraging to see everyone's totals at the end of the day.
I started off with a bang. My head was all cloudy with editing and revisions and to combat the feeling of brain drain, I just started writing a germ of an idea I've had for quite a while. I love the idea, though I'm not sure there's enough plot to sustain and entire novel. But it worked, I realized my brain is not broken and that I do still have creative spark.
Then, the 50/50 started. And I had to make a decision. Do I continue with the project that was only meant to free my brain and get uber high word counts? Or do I muddle through the edits and take the chance of having to drop out of the challenge when I can't manage to write at least fifty new words a day during edits? My goal for October was to finish the edits and I hate to not make a goal. But...the challenge to write as much as possible tears at me. But...with a project that potentially will never see the light of day due to lack of substance, it's a waste of time to forge ahead with word count. Yes.
My head knows that's true, but I'm having a hard time accepting that. I'm kicking myself for not finishing the edits sooner so that I could use this time to explore the shiney new idea and see if there might just be enough for a whole book.
My decision? For now, for this week, I'm going to try to do both. I will edit and edit and edit and if I don't manage to add at least fifty words during the day, then I will write on the shiney new in the evenings. I'm not sure I can manage it. But I won't know if I don't try.
We shall see.
Behave!

Work in Progress Monday

I'm hitting the keyboard hard today. Trying to recoup from the stretch of barely any words for various reasons. I have managed to stay in my chapter's 50/50 challenge, which is a bonus. My new work in progress doesn't have a title yet, which is the least of my worries since right now it's one unholy mess.
I seriously over plotted my last book, so I'm going the opposite direction with this one. Well, sort of opposite. I'm coming into the homestretch of the very rough (very) draft, and then will go back and begin layering in things I'm skipping just to get the story on the page. I'm a little beyond my estimated date of completion for it, but considering stuff that was out of my hands, I'm not doing too bad.
Anyway.
Here's a rough (very) snippet:
“Get that piece of shit off my land.” Isaac toed the filthy body in front of him. “I don’t deal in human trade. You ought to know that by now.”
“It ain’t trade, Isaac. This one has a bounty. A big one. Worth three times what I owe you. If not more. Easy money.” He spit before grabbing a handful of hair and yanking the head back.
Like I said, rough draft. I would have put a little more in, but the hero swears a lot in the next few lines. I think I mentioned before that this book is like Firefly meets Dark Angel meets Red Dawn. My original vision for it is morphing a bit, but that's par for the course.
Lunch break is over, so I'm heading back to it!
Behave!

Ha!

... Not entirely true for me, but funny all the same. My problem's been time. I have managed to stay in the 50/50 challenge, which is fantastic, but I yearn for a day where writing is my main focus. Now that our visiting family has gone and life will return to as normal as it gets around here, I'm really hoping I get one of those days this week, but with dentist appointments, possible doctor appointments, and the usual obligations...argh!
Behave!

Sunday Already?

This weekend went far too fast. Heck, 2010 is moving in fast-forward. Tomorrow is March already. Amazing.
Anyway.
Saturday and Sunday flew by. I'm 300 words away from picking up the slack of shoving Saturday's writing goal into today, but when the writing challenge I'm participating in hoses up and my wrist is screaming at me to stop typing already, I took that as a sign to be done for today. And yeah, I'm aware I'm still typing. This won't take long.
I'm convinced the new book I'm working on is a complete mess. Not convinced enough to scrap it and start over, though. Which is good. Once I meet my monthly writing goal, I'll take a step back and assess the situation. Right now, I'm writing through. Digging into my characters to find their weaknesses and pulling those weaknesses out into the light. And loving it.
Not to change the subject, but I think I need to get one of those wrist thingys to support my achy wrist. I've been taking care of it. Okay. Not as much as I should be. I'll admit that. I think a lot of it's positioning. I need to find a different comfy spot. That's dumb. Tomorrow I will write at the table and see if it feels different.
And with that, I'm saying goodbye and finding some ice.
Behave!!

Time?

....I post this picture because of the absolute love of Dr. Who that goes on in my house. (Are you sensing that my children have eclectic tastes?) They're patiently waiting for the new season to start with the new doctor. (Plus, David Tenant's a cutie.)
Anyway.
This was supposed to be about time.
There is never enough of it. Never. It's always been like that, it will always be like that. There's nothing we can do to change the universe to give us more, and even if we did, nothing would be different. There would not be enough even if you were a Time Lord. Stuff would fill it, and then there would be none. We have to do the best with what we have. Organize. Plan. And even that sometimes won't help you get everything done. My lists certainly don't help and they don't take into account the cash registers going out just as I get to the register with my groceries (yes, it happened again), or the cat puking, or the washer being off-balance and not wanting to spin the clothes no matter how many times you rearrange them and restart the cycle...ahem...
This morning I joined some friends for a brief writing challenge-type-thingy. We met in the chat room and worked for half hour spans, then reported our progress, chatted for a few minutes, and began again. It was a productive hour and fifteen minutes for all of us - well, except for the one who bailed halfway through, but that's beside the point. I finished my hard copy edits, and now have a few hours to begin inputting the changes into my computer. I don't believe I would be this far if it wasn't for the little challenge.
I keep saying it and I will continue. Get some writing friends and challenge each other. You won't be sorry. In fact, you might just be surprised at what else you get out of it.
Don't let time get you down. Make the most of what you have. Try your best. Give yourself a break when things spin out of control and make sure you use some of it to goof off a little. Oh, and listen to some Jason Manns while you're at it. You won't be sorry.
I think that's enough confusion for one day, don't you?
Oh, and don't forget to tune into Supernatural tonight!
Behave!

Writing Challenge

Today is the official kick off of the writing challenge facilitated by my local RWA chapter. 50 words in 50 days.
No, 50 words isn't a lot. It's a paragraph, but the challenge focuses on the habit of writing. If you sit down to do your 50 words, chances are you're not going to stop there. I'm at 700 words so far today and have no plans of stopping yet. (Except to figure out what to make for dinner, switching laundry, and breaking up squabbles between the natives. And you know...blog and goof off a little.)
There's a bunch of rules. You can't write your words for the week one day and then be done. It's daily progress - no more than two consecutive days off. And we have to report in every day. Progress is tracked. At the end we'll have a celebration for participating. At this point, nearly three-fourths of the chapter is signed up. Pretty cool. I think it's something we all need after the weird summer everyone seemed to have.
Now, if my computer would stop randomly shutting down on me. Grrr.
My writing pal Susan Kelly posted a really accurate description of the writing life here. Go check it out.
I'm heading back to it now.
Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Friday! Yay!
Here's the list:
1. Supernatural! Oh, how I missed the boys. Last night's episode was brilliantly fantastic and I loved every minute of it. Poor Sam. Poor Bobby. Poor Dean.
2. Rain! I love this rain. Maybe that's weird, but I'm all snuggly in my house - already in my jammies and looking forward to a relaxing evening.
3. Stromboli for dinner - homemade.
4. The writing challenge going on right now. I'm motivated.
5. Not too much on the calendar for the weekend.
6. Hanging with my friends yesterday!
7. Sleeping in tomorrow!
8. Surprise plans that seem to be coming together despite a lack of time and the ability to communicate.
9. Peaches.
10. Kids who want to play the violin.
That's all for now!
Behave!