Single-focused

Hello Blogwarts friends!  I miss checking in with all of you.  I'm working on my book, and every spare minute, well, I'm working on THE BOOK.

It's quite a life of seclusion.  I emerge from the loft to pee and grab a few crackers, or a Russell Stover's raspberry/dark chocolate pumpkin, and then...back to the loft.

I started writing in earnest around Sept. 1.  I want this book done by Jan. 1.  I'm beginning to think that's a bit optimistic, solely because the holidays are coming, and I'll have to actually get dressed.  I'll have to do some laundry and hang a wreath or two.  Maybe roast a turkey.  If people didn't have to eat, or have clean underwear, I'd be a much faster writer.

To have more writing time, I'm watching less TV, which I'm sure is a good thing, but I do wonder who got knocked off Dancing with the Stars last week.  And I didn't know the government was up and running (amok) again until I got home from my beach week.  I do still catch Elementary and Blue Bloods, because Jonny Lee Miller and Tom Selleck are counting on me to stay tuned in.   At least, that's what I tell myself.

I'm taking a marketing class and one question that was posed by the instructor was, what are you willing to sacrifice so you can write?   How important is your writing?  How tenacious are you about finishing/publishing your book?  That's really three questions, but she's the boss, so she can ask what she wants.  Here's what I've discovered I'm giving up:

Eating healthy.
Exercising every day.
Cleaning.
Cooking well.  I'm cooking, but I'm just slapping stuff together.
Reading other blogs.
Trimming my toe nails.
Staying on top of emails.
Reading anything other than THE BOOK.
Returning phone calls.
Getting 7 hours of sleep at night.

I wonder if John Grisham or Ree Drummond started out this way. 

I keep at it because I feel called to attempt to publish THE BOOK.  I don't know where that comes from, except God, so I'm stumbling along.  He's never let me down before.

I won't be doing the NaNonFiWriMo exercise in November and probably not the A-Z Blogging Challenge in April, because I'm going to be writing/publishing/marketing.  All these positive, determined statements are part of what I'm learning to declare in the marketing class.  Only God knows what the future holds, but by setting these goals, I'm giving Him notice of my agenda.  He can take it, or leave it.  And I'm sure He will.

OK.  Time to pee.

What obsession is running your life right now?

Beach Girls

I'm at the beach this week with some women friends, and I'm experiencing/learning some wonderful things.

1.  I'm living in a house just yards from the beach, where not a car engine is heard, and the waves lull me to sleep.

2.  I saw horses yesterday strolling on the beach, just like my sister and I were.  LIVE horses.  On the BEACH.  I didn't have my camera at the time, but got pictures later of their footprints in the sand. 

 

 

How cool is that?  I wonder which house they're staying in.

 

3.  I'm writing without interruptions.  I stop only when I can't move my legs anymore. 

 

4.  I'm sleeping in a king size bed with my sister. There's room for two other people in the middle.

 

5.  I've washed dishes only once in four days.    

 

6.  Brownies are available after every meal.  Sometimes brownies are the meal.

 

7.  There are women who stay up to 'til 3 a.m. to finish a 500-piece puzzle.  I don't get it, but God bless 'em.      

 

8.  At the beach, a wardrobe consisting of a bathing suit and PJ's is really enough.

 

9.  In a house full of women, the TV is rarely on.  Nobody cares.

 

10.  There's a toilet here that whines after it's flushed.  Poor thing must be tired.   

 

11.  Fruit smoothies are better in martini glasses. 

 

 

12.  Remember to take off the watch before entering the hot tub.

 

13.  Women can laugh about everything.  And nothing.  In fact, nothing's even funnier.

 

14.  Food tastes better if you didn't make it.  I don't care what it is.

 

15.  It's OK to take a nap after you just got up.

 

16.  Hair spray is a total waste at the beach.

 

17.  At 3 p.m. it's time for chocolate.  

 

18.  We can't remember what day it is.  And we're OK with that.

 

19.  I'm getting so relaxed and ploppy, I'm beginning to repeat myself.  I'm getting so relaxed and ploppy, I'm beginning to repeat myself.

 

20.  I'm so doing this again next year.

 

 

 

 

 

Snippets from the Dugout. And Donuts.

I've been in the dugout for a few weeks.  Writing, reading, and more writing.  I'm taking a marketing/publishing class, which is excellent, but time consuming.  I'm realizing how little I know.

 

In the meantime, my dad has been in the hospital for a bad UTI, then rehab.  He's doing very well at the moment and will be home Thursday.  I thought we might have a glitch in that plan when he fell in the restroom of a large medical facility a few days ago.  I suspected there was a problem when he was in the restroom for fifteen minutes.

I finally asked a man going in the restroom to check on Dad.  I heard Dad's voice the minute the man opened the door.  Together, the stranger and I spotted Dad's shoes poking out from under a stall door.  He was OK, just sitting on the floor after slipping in his transfer from toilet to wheel chair.  "I can't reach the door to unlock it," he said, and I had to smile.  He was just waiting for someone to come in and find him.

I went to the information desk for help and within minutes, nurses came.  Somebody slid under the stall door, freed Dad and settled him back in his wheel chair.  He wheeled out looking a little sheepish.  I was reluctant to let him go behind all those closed doors by himself (he's supposed to have assistance with EVERY transfer), but he insisted he could handle it.

We both learned something.  I decided, when he's with me, he's not going in the bathroom alone again; he decided when he's alone in the bathroom in the future, he won't lock the door.   It's clear we're not on the same page. 

Parents.  They have a mind of their own.

The government partially shut down today, and so far, my life feels the same.  I know there are organizations that are not open today and that affects people who work in those places.  I hope the Hatfields and McCoys start working together soon, because it's not fair to all of us who pay their salaries.  Maybe it's just me, but I don't like paying for things that don't work like they're supposed to.

Has anybody seen the new show Hostages?  Oh my word, I can't write or fold clothes or even munch on chocolate chips while I'm watching it.   It's full of suspense and twists and cute Dylan McDermot.  Although, he's a bad guy.  I think.  As we learn about his past, it's getting murkier.  Check it out, Monday nights on CBS.  Be there or be square.

I'm thinking about Christmas already, because I'm writing a book about Christmas.  And giving.  And partridges and hens and pipers and drummers.  It's very noisy in my head.  Is Christmas on your radar yet?

If not, here's a picture to get you in the mood. 

What Christmas carol item is this?   Hmmmm....