Saturday, January 30, 2010

Another winter storm.... and Off to a slow start.


 My daughter with an icicle from the eaves


What a month it has been.  What a WINTER it has been. I'm truly not used to this much snow and ice in one year.  But I have to admit it's been nice.  This is the third storm this year that has given me good cause to hibernate and relax. I will not, however, deny that spring is ever more anticipated with each storm.  Below is a picture from my front door this morning.



Seems I cannot seem to fit in all the things that I've wanted to, so I'm still juggling with my schedule. Exercise has been the most difficult, though there is no reason, only excuses.  Seems I've been spending more time just trying to get my life in order. All organization and no moving forward.... yet.  I spent yesterday with my novel, and finally got it all organized. The hard copy who's pages had gotten a bit shuffled. The few different typed versions of Chapter one. The folder of research.  I spent the day getting it all organized, then put together a new Chapter One, a compilation of the other versions, so that now I have a version I think I am happy with. I THINK.  I find that no matter how many times I revise, it's just never good enough. UGH.

I now realize that my hope to accomplish so much every day was just unreasonable. So now I'm working on prioritizing. I reconnected with my romance writers crit group. I realize writing is the one thing I expect to do a minimum of 5 days a week.  First I plan on finished getting the hard copy of my WIP (I'll refer to it as Flight for now on) retyped, submit a chapter a week to the group until its done, and finally join RWA (Romance Writer's of America).  I plan to submit to at least on contest this year, and get a feel for them. I hope to have Flight completed by the time school lets out this summer. I also want to start a new WIP to get the creative juices flowing. Editing is so energy draining for me.

The music is something I do for pleasure, but it will come second to my writing.  I plan to learn a new song each week (and commit it to memory). Now that doesnt mean I'll perfect it, but I will learn it and play it a couple times each day, I will also print it and add it to my songbook. This weeks song is "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson.  (This song will most likely extend into next week, since a moment ago I broke a string while tuning.  ACK! well, at least I have to pay a speeding ticket in Stillwater this week. I can buy new strings while I'm there!.)

The weight loss part of this metamorphosis hasn't proceeded as I'd hoped.  I'm finding that I am really struggling with emotional eating.  Under the right circumstances, I find I binge eat. I can do wonderful for a week, and spoil the whole week with one day!  I'm still trying to figure out how to approach this. I don't really feel like I need to go to counseling to deal with it. Just voicing how I feel, or journaling should do it. (Those will go on other blog, don't worry *chuckles*)  needless to say, I still need to fit in the exercise part.

I suppose my biggest challenge is working around a demanding job when my office is in my home. It's so easy to just keep working at the end of the day.  I think I really need to put a clock on my desk and set the alarm for 4:30.  And make myself stop.  If I don't I'll NEVER take care of ME!  I truly need to schedule my day. And setting boundaries on my work hours is the first step. So I will work from 8:00 to 4:30. I will make those hours productive so that I dont feel the need to work later. Now that those are set, I will make the agreement with myself to fit one hour of exercise in during the morning.  And one hour of 'get ready' time. Which means I will need to get up at 6:00 on weekdays. Ugh. 

Now the question is, where do I fit in the time for writing and crits, while still making time for my family. I will certainly have to just start with something arbitrary and then tweak it as I need to. For now I think I will try to do one critique a day at the end of my workday or during a lunch break. The writing I will do in the evening after the kids go to bed. Will 1 hour a night be enough? I just don't know, but we shall find out. When I get on a roll, sometimes it's near impossible to stop. (This particular blog post is case in point!)

The music I'll probably reserve for weekends and maybe one or two evenings during the week.  When I need break from the writing.

Tweaks will most definately follow!

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