I got 1822 yesterday. It felt good to get back to writing after the one week hiatus.

How are you?

It was a gorgeous weekend. The high was in the lower 70s. No need for a jacket. I loved it.

I had my RWA chapter meeting on Saturday morning and then went to lunch with the gals. Then it was back home and Man and I ran around the rest of the day. We didn’t get home until nearly 9. But we did our share of helping to boost the economy. First stop, Lowe’s. We looked at gutters, a storm doors, at paint samples, at power tools, at plants. I got a lovely ivy for my desk at work and a new pot. Then it was to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Yummy. We even stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond and I got a new storage cabinet – the kind that sits over the toilet. The usefulness for the one I had expired. It was rusty and gross and in need of replacing.

Then we headed to the mall. I had a spending bug really bad this weekend. I think it was part Spring Fever and part just wanting to part with some cash. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to the mall but it was so enticing. I ended up at Coach while Man went into Eddie Bauer. We both came out a little poorer. Then it was on to Nordstrom’s where we both looked at shoes. I petted a lovely pair of leopard print Betsy Johnson’s. MmMm. I didn’t buy them, though. We headed to Dillard’s next. He was in search of a new belt but they didn’t have what he wanted so we decided to head home. Last stop was JCPenney. The store has been remodeling lately and they have a HUGE jewelry section now. We browsed. Not that we’re in the market for anything but it’s fun to look.

Got home late and exhausted!

Sunday he had to go to the office and I went grocery shopping. It was  light week for me but I still spent the budget amount of money. Figures. I got a whole fryer chicken, though, and we had my mom’s friend chicken for dinner. It was just the way I remember Mom’s and full of tasty goodness. Golden, crispy crust and juicy perfect meat. My mouth is watering at the thought.

We went BACK to Lowe’s for a $2.00 item (mistake). I ended up getting that new storm door (WAHOO!) – they will come out in the nex few days to take measurements and see what else we need. And then I’ll get it installed. I CAN’T WAIT. The one I have now is awful. The screen is being held together with duct tape and the dumb thing won’t shut all the way. So out with the old! The new one has a disappearing screen and OOO I love it. I can’t wait to get it. Man couldn’t resist the power tools and he ended up coming home with a new drill. And we got flower seeds and herb seeds (I’m going to try my hand at growing my own herbs) and a bunch of other miscellaneous crapola we needed and wanted. haha

Went to the Farmers Market and bought fresh fruit and veggies. Came home. He put together the new cabinet while I cleaned the litter box and repotted the plant. Then I cooked dinner and finished laundry and by 8 pm, I was exhausted again. But we had a great, full, weekend and it was awesome and I loved it and I detest the fact that today is Monday. Ah well. It’s Spring Break! I hope to take at least one day off to take the kiddo back to the museum. That’s what he wants to do anyway.

And so. I think we can officially say that winter is over! We may have one more cold snap but that’ll be it. I’m SO ready for warmer weather (but not the hot as Hades summer). Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

Now…it’s back to reality. Boo.

I can honestly say I surived the week! The client open house is behind me and now I can get back to my normal routine.

*Mik kisses Mini* I’ve missed you so…

It’s been long week and I’ve already put in my 40 hours. So today is going to be a brain dead day for me. I feel it coming on…

SO! How are YOU doing? How was your week? Did you get everything accomplished you wanted to? Cuz I sure didn’t. Talk amongst yourselves while I got collect myself. And HAPPY WEEKEND. WAHOO!

First – Happy birthday to my friend and colleague, Devon! Hope you have a fantastic day!

I’ve noticed a huge increase in spamming lately. On the blog, via email. I think I’m deleting about 20-30 spam comments PER DAY on the blog. And don’t get me started on how many there are via email. It’s annoying.

And what really ticks me off is someone has been using my email address to send spam. I get spam from me to me. And when I look at the message emvelope, is shows the real IP address and sender. And that just pisses me off. Because, you know, I PAY for my hosting plan and for my email addresses (it’s an email address tied to my website) and I don’t really appreacite you EFFERS using it to sending your spam. I’ve blocked numerous IP address on the host, but you know that doesn’t do much. It doesn’t stop them from spamming. It’s frustrating there’s nothing I can do about it except deleting the mail box (which I’ve had to do once before).

So here’s a message to all you spammers: You suck. You’re like annoying little gnats that need to be squashed.

I wonder if spammers get spam? You know what? Maybe we should all band together and send THEM spam. We could all push SEND together. Of course, that might blow up the Internets.

Busy day ahead and time to dash. I’m glad I have Starbucks.

But will be much of the same as yesterday. Though, I think a little calmer. I might actually get a lunch hour today. Which means I’m going to be writing. I really want to get back to my story.

Yesterday was hectic, too, but I was actually able to get some work done. We had this photo shoot at work for some professional head shots and some candid photos for our upcoming marketing campaigns. I took some photos and had a lot of fun with it. We’ve worked with the photographer in the past, and he’s super. He knows how to chat people up to make them feel comfortable.

A week or so ago I read a blog where Sourcebook editor, Deb Werksman, talked about branding and career arcs. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately and trying to figure out my direction, what sort of writer I am and want to be, and where I want to be in 5 years. I’m a true Gemini and as such I tend to be “of two minds” about EVERYTHING. It maddening sometimes, actually. So I’m trying to force myself to focus on the end goal and figure out what the process is to getting there. I want it to be flexible enough that I can roll with it when things to go as planned but rigid enough that it keeps me on my goal course. And I know me, so I know I won’t be able to set monthly goals. I think what works for me is more generic goals. Like, “I want to write three books this year,” as opposed to, “I want to write 4000 words per day.” 

So. That’s where I am on the writing front!

I think I sat at my desk all of 15 minutes yesterday which meant I didn’t get anything done which also meant I didn’t get a lunch which ALSO meant I didn’t get to write. By the time I got home, late, and got dinner cooked and the dishes done I was beat. I needed veg time so Man and I watched RocknRolla with Gerard Butler. So all this to say a big fat zero for me yesterday. I hate that but I knew this week was going to be crazy. More of the same today. I will most likely get a big fat zero again. I plan to make up for it, though, by Friday. I need to finish that novella!

So. Time for me to run but have a super Tuesday, y’all.

It’s dreary here – and very rainy and blah.

Good weekend. Got a lot accomplished. I caught up on contest work so that made me feel much better to know that nearly half the scores are in. Saturday was kind of a lost day since the kiddo had a basketball game at 3 in the afternoon. Really puts a crimp in doing anything. So we ran an errand in the morning and then I worked on the contest. We got back and grilled burgers and chicken. It was all yummy.

Sunday morning we got up early and went to the new Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. It was really cool. I’m a member so everything we did was free. Except for the Saturn poster I bought the kiddo – but even with my membership I got a discount. We went to the planetarium and watched a show on black holes. We had a lot of fun.

After dinner, Man and I sat and watched the entire Academy Awards from start to finish. I’m so glad to see Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges win! I thought Avatar would do better but then I expected The Hurt Locker to do as well as it did. And kudos to Kathryn Bigelow for being the first female director to win an award.

And that’s it for me! Really brief today. Time for school/work!

UPDATE: Yesterday’s word count: 4130. Busted the 27k mark. I’m getting closer…

SO. Here’s something to ponder. I noticed the other night at basketball practice that Moms are the minority parent there. It’s mostly dads. I think I was the only mom there, tapping away on her Mini with her iPhone in her lap. Yeah, I looked cool doing it, too.

At soccer practice, not a dad in sight. Mostly moms. And you know what? We were all sitting in our respective cars. I was tappinga way on my Mini with my iPhone in my lap. Yeah. Looking cool doing it, too, but no one saw me there. However, I do love the fact that I’m getting so much writing done at these various practices.

Anway, I digress. Is soccer a “mom” sport and basketball a “dad” sport? Is soccer the suburban mom thing while basketball is the suburban dad thing? I’m just wondering if I’m alone in the observation.

And that’s all I got. It’s Friday. Thank goodness.

Have a smashing weekend ya’ll.

Busy today and yesterday but I managed another 1000 words. Not as much as I would like but something! Tonight is soccer. You bet I’ll be sitting in the car with the Mini. I hit the 24K mark yesterday and hoping to get past 25k today. I’m determined.

A warrior never quits.

No time to blog – but I got 1878 yesterday. I broke the 23K mark. I’m nearly halfway there! That is, if I make it to the 50k mark, which I’m thinking I will. Yay!

I completely forgot to blog yesterday. Just flat forgot. I have so much to do and not enough hours in the day. But I think that’s the norm these days.

This weekend was good. Friday night, Man and I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. And while I think it was a good movie, I don’t know that I’d put it on my keeper shelf. I wasn’t emotionally invested in the characters. I didn’t really care all that much about them. And I watched the movie with somewhat of a mild curiosity to see where it was going and how they were going to wrap it up. There were two things about it that bugged me: For one, the fact they never notated whether or not Daisy and Benjamin were married. I’m assuming they never did marry, which, at the time period of the movie, was rather taboo.

The other was the entire story about the clock which was a giant missed opportunity, in my opinion. They could have done something with that but instead they just said, “Oh, and by the way, that clock was replaced.” Which, if you’ve seen the movie, then you know what I’m talking about.

So, even though I wasn’t head over heels about the movie, it DID make an impression on me.

On Saturday, the kiddo had a basketball game. We got his pictures and, naturally, he takes an awesome picture. I don’t know how that kid manages to look spectacular in every single picture, but he does. He’s totally photogenic. After basketball, he had a soccer game. And the weather was just beautiful for it. So he went on to his game with this dad and I had some errands to run with the Man.

Since he was planning to work all day Sunday, we wanted to go hang out together Saturday afternoon. We had a late lunch, went to Lowe’s, went to Best Buy, went to the mall. We walked around awhile and did some window shopping and then went home to collapse and watch more Olympics.

I got the grocery shopping done early on Sunday and then came home, unloaded, started laundry. Then I went to the Farmers Market for fresh fruit and ran a couple more errands. Got home and sat down and focused myself on writing. I got somewhere around 3000 words Sunday. And then another 1800 Monday at lunch on my awesome Mini. That thing ROCKS.

So all in all, a good weekend. And tonight is basketball night which means more writing for me on the Mini. WOOT. I’m about halfway done with the novella. I should have the draft finished in a few more weeks. It’s good progress and the push I needed.

Anyway – so much to do and so little time to do it. I’ve GOT to focus on paperwork and contest in the coming days. I need more hours in the day.

Hey, good lookin’! I’ll be back to pick you up later!

I have to confess, this was one of my favorite toys as a kid.

Over the past two days, I’ve written nearly 5000 words. And – finally – I feel like I’m hitting my stride with the story. I may yet meet my self-imposed May 1 deadline. Had soccer practice last night with the kiddo. I sat in the car with the Mini and wrote about 800 words.

Wednesday night was a challenge – the kiddo was very cranky and crying about everything at the drop of a hat. I knew an early bedtime was in order. And he cried about that. *sigh* But he went to sleep shortly thereafter, slept so hard he barely disturbed his covers, and was in a much better mood for Thursday.

Fast forward to Thursday night, after bathtime, and I’m drying the kiddo’s hair. I tell him he was in a better mood and I knew he was super tired the night before. He insisted he wasn’t. I told him everyone gets tired and it’s okay to go have an early bedtime.

“A warrior never quits, Mom,” he says.

Which means he hated feeling defeated that he had to go to bed a whole fifteen minutes earlier than normal.

But, really, who knew an 8 year old could be so wise? Even when fatigued beyond all words, a warrior keeps on going. Even when you don’t want to write, you sit down and write anyway. Somehow, we fight through the mental and physical fatigue to get that end product we all crave–publication.

A warrior never quits. Yep. Makes perfect sense.

Have a super weekend, y’all.

I took my Mini to basketball practice with me yesterday. You’d think being in a noisy gym with scads of boys hollering and bouncing balls to be quite the distraction. Not so for me. I actaully found that I could concentrate and ended up getting in about 2300 words yesterday.

It was a good day.

I should have taken the Mini with me all along! Perhaps it will come with me the next practice be it basketball or soccer.

Not much else going on other than I’m ready for this week to be over. Sad, huh? It’s on Wednesday but it already feels like it’s going in super slow-mo.

And I love watching the olympics and one of my favorite events is ice skating. However, it completely annoys me they call the area where the skaters wait for their scores the “kiss and cry”. It’s so dumb. Please stop calling it that. Just call it The Area Where Skaters Wait To Get Their Score. Or something, you know, shorter and more concise.

And that’s about all I got. Just writing trying to make a May 1 deadline. I have two months and I better bust it to get it done and to the editor. Pretty sure I can. Of course, May 1 is my target in case I don’t quite make it.

Happy Wednesday.

It’s snowing here again. Small flakes. I don’t think it’ll be a “winter event” like the last one but it’s definitely snowing again. Most of the white stuff will be south of us. Which is good because I don’t think I can deal with it any more.

Yesterday was hectic from start to finish. I have a feeling today will be, too. We have basketball practice tonight which is probably the most painful hour of my life. I know, that’s a terrible thing to say but, really it is. Sitting on those hard benches in the gym…oof.

I did manage about 500 words yesterday. I also managed to finish a synsopsis for a sci-fi I’d started a while back. Hey at least now I have some direction. I’m also developing an online workshop with a friend of mine so we can start making some extra money. We have the outline down and now we just need to come up with some lectures and examples from fiction.

I’ve been feeling scattered lately. Like I can’t get my thoughts together. I think it’s a case of too many balls in the air. I know once I get past May, though, things will be somewhat calmer for a few months. At least that’s what I’m hoping for anyway.

Time for work. Happy Tuesday!