On the bright side, it is Friday and I am posting, which makes the goal an official success. On the down side, the ipad that contained pictures for what was supposed to be today's post (there was progress on the master bedroom today!) drove off with P, who is off for a guys' night. He won't be back until after midnight, which would make it a) no longer Friday and b) after my bedtime. So you just get a sucky goals update again.
Everything is going well. The cold showers are surprisingly bearable; this is the one that surprises me every morning. They're not something I eagerly look forward to, but they aren't awful either. For the first time ever, I believe that it is possible to learn to enjoy them. I wonder if I'll get there any time soon...
See you next week! (With pictures, hopefully.)
Friday, November 15, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Friday Update. No, Really!
I forgot. I could make lots of excuses; a sick child, a husband working on the weekend, running a fundraiser for the choir, and on, and on, and on. But the fact is that I forgot. Not that I had promised myself to post on a Friday, mind you, but that it was Friday. For two days. Sometimes I feel like I have so many things going on that my brain stops functioning.
So, the goals.
1. No new agent queries submitted, but preparations are well underway for Monday's submission.
2. Writing is going well. I have maintained an average pace of 2,000 words per day (I built up a little extra on good writing days, knowing there would be a few when I struggled), which puts me ahead of the NaNoWriMo pace by two days at this point. Most importantly, regardless of struggles, I have written every day.
3. We've covered the blog thing above.
4. The cold showers are going surprisingly well. The first shock is still intense, but has gone from swearing to tensing up for a minute. Best of all, once I can relax, the cold water is actually refreshing and not at all unpleasant. I have even been able to wash my hair and take my time in the cold water the past few days.
For the most part, a good week. On to week two!
So, the goals.
1. No new agent queries submitted, but preparations are well underway for Monday's submission.
2. Writing is going well. I have maintained an average pace of 2,000 words per day (I built up a little extra on good writing days, knowing there would be a few when I struggled), which puts me ahead of the NaNoWriMo pace by two days at this point. Most importantly, regardless of struggles, I have written every day.
3. We've covered the blog thing above.
4. The cold showers are going surprisingly well. The first shock is still intense, but has gone from swearing to tensing up for a minute. Best of all, once I can relax, the cold water is actually refreshing and not at all unpleasant. I have even been able to wash my hair and take my time in the cold water the past few days.
For the most part, a good week. On to week two!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Developing habits
I remember reading somewhere that it takes 28 days for an action to turn into a habit. I'm not sure about that number; it seems oddly specific and very even and round at the same time. But the basic concept certainly makes sense. If you can do something every day for, say, a month, you should be able to make it a habit. So I thought I'd work on developing some habits this month. (I realize I'm a week in; there's a reason I need a gimmick to develop productive habits.)
Why this month, with all it's holidays and holiday preparations, school events, extra-curricular activities, and general craziness? Partly because if I put it off, it won't get done at all. And partly because November is National Novel Writing Month (check it out at NaNoWriMo.org.) The idea is that you write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. This comes out to 1,667 words per day, which for me is about two hours of writing at a nice, steady pace, with occasional short pauses for thought.
I've done NaNoWriMo every year since my daughter was one year old. Every year I've managed to write the 50,000 words, sometimes just hours before the deadline. The first four years of words, with extensive editing throughout non-writing months, became a novel that I think is publishable--as soon as I can find an agent to represent it. So the first habit I'm developing this month is agent queries. Most agents have a 6 to 12 week response time. My goal is to submit one query every week. That way, I'll have 8 or so queries out at a time, with responses coming in and queries going out at a good pace.
Habit number two is the writing itself. While I have always completed the 50,000 words, it was never at an even pace. Two years ago I fell 10,000 behind and caught it up in one marathon day of writing. This year, I mean to develop the habit of writing every day. The goal is to write between 1,667 and 2,000 words every day, but the important thing will be to sit down and get words down on every day, no matter what.
Third, I'd like to become more consistent with this blog. I think liking it to the above two habits should be manageable and productive. Blog writing can be a nice "cool-down" from working on the novel, a way to wrap up the writing session. On the other hand, maintaining a post every day seems daunting and unmanageable in terms of projects. Hence the combination with the query habit--I will aim for one post per week. I can submit a query on Mondays, and post on Fridays. Once the habit is established, I will work on more frequent posts, but for now the important thing is to start posting with some regularity.
Fourth is a habit I'm not looking forward to at all, but one which is important for my health. You see, for several months now I've been on the 4 Hour Body diet, as described by Tim Ferriss in his book. At first, it went swimmingly. I lost 30 lbs. in 3 months, and was feeling great. Then I stalled. Despite sticking to the diet and following all the rules (double checking and triple checking and quadruple checking...), I could not lose another ounce. And I was only halfway to my healthy weight! So I've decided it's time to plunge in (you'll see the pun there in a minute) to some of the optional parts of the weight loss program. I've added the supplements, and the specific exercises he recommends. Now it's time to add the cold showers for cold thermogenesis. Every morning I will wake up and take a cold shower. (Ugh, I'm shivering just writing that.)
So those are the habits I'm developing this month. Do you have a wish-list of habits? Why not pick a few and just jump in?
Why this month, with all it's holidays and holiday preparations, school events, extra-curricular activities, and general craziness? Partly because if I put it off, it won't get done at all. And partly because November is National Novel Writing Month (check it out at NaNoWriMo.org.) The idea is that you write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. This comes out to 1,667 words per day, which for me is about two hours of writing at a nice, steady pace, with occasional short pauses for thought.
I've done NaNoWriMo every year since my daughter was one year old. Every year I've managed to write the 50,000 words, sometimes just hours before the deadline. The first four years of words, with extensive editing throughout non-writing months, became a novel that I think is publishable--as soon as I can find an agent to represent it. So the first habit I'm developing this month is agent queries. Most agents have a 6 to 12 week response time. My goal is to submit one query every week. That way, I'll have 8 or so queries out at a time, with responses coming in and queries going out at a good pace.
Habit number two is the writing itself. While I have always completed the 50,000 words, it was never at an even pace. Two years ago I fell 10,000 behind and caught it up in one marathon day of writing. This year, I mean to develop the habit of writing every day. The goal is to write between 1,667 and 2,000 words every day, but the important thing will be to sit down and get words down on every day, no matter what.
Third, I'd like to become more consistent with this blog. I think liking it to the above two habits should be manageable and productive. Blog writing can be a nice "cool-down" from working on the novel, a way to wrap up the writing session. On the other hand, maintaining a post every day seems daunting and unmanageable in terms of projects. Hence the combination with the query habit--I will aim for one post per week. I can submit a query on Mondays, and post on Fridays. Once the habit is established, I will work on more frequent posts, but for now the important thing is to start posting with some regularity.
Fourth is a habit I'm not looking forward to at all, but one which is important for my health. You see, for several months now I've been on the 4 Hour Body diet, as described by Tim Ferriss in his book. At first, it went swimmingly. I lost 30 lbs. in 3 months, and was feeling great. Then I stalled. Despite sticking to the diet and following all the rules (double checking and triple checking and quadruple checking...), I could not lose another ounce. And I was only halfway to my healthy weight! So I've decided it's time to plunge in (you'll see the pun there in a minute) to some of the optional parts of the weight loss program. I've added the supplements, and the specific exercises he recommends. Now it's time to add the cold showers for cold thermogenesis. Every morning I will wake up and take a cold shower. (Ugh, I'm shivering just writing that.)
So those are the habits I'm developing this month. Do you have a wish-list of habits? Why not pick a few and just jump in?
Friday, October 11, 2013
Progress?
We found Spark!
Sort of.
She's living outside, a few houses down from us. There's a series of very natural, wooded yards there, and plenty of mice and chipmunks. Which Spark is eating. In fact, she hasn't lost any weight, despite being in charge of her own food supply for two months now. She looks a bit bigger, if anything, since her coat has filled in considerably. So she's probably staying warm despite the chilly nights.
Unfortunately, Spark appears to be entirely happy with her current situation. She takes off running as soon as she notices us, and won't eat any of the food we leave out. She didn't come near the live trap, either. She is, in fact, acting completely feral.
We've decided to back off for now, and not risk chasing her off from the area. Hopefully, she'll be a little more open minded about food and traps once it gets colder, and harder to hunt. She might also decide she doesn't like snow, once it gets to that point. At the very least, we'll be able to track her movements a little more effectively with snow on the ground.
Household and yard projects are continuing, though the sheer number of them is overwhelming at times. And progress-prohibitive. I do make progress daily, but it's in bits and pieces, spread out over all the various jobs. So no single job is moving forward sufficiently to post update photos. Should have something soon about the sewing machine restoration, at least.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
An unexpected project
"I could probably get more for it if I just scrapped the metal... But it's nice that someone will enjoy it."
"Oh, I will!" I was already rearranging furniture in my head, choosing the perfect spot for mynewsidetable.
"I did mean to restore it. I just never seemed to getaround to it."
Well, it would need a little cleaning, maybe some repairs to theveneer, but "restore"?
He walked over to the table and began to lift the lid. "Do you want help carrying it home? The machine is stillixn there, so it's pretty heavy."
And there it was. A dusty and scratched up but nonetheless beautiful vintage treadle sewing machine. P. walked over at that point and the two of them took the cabinet off the base so each could carry half, and off we went. I held K.'s hand across the street, and must admit that she wasn't the inly one skipping once we got to the sidewalk.
The best part? The machine is a Singer, and they're currently celebrating their company history. Their website allows you to type in a vintagem achine's serial number and tells you when it was made. So, ladies and gentlemen, I am now the proud owner of a Singer 66-16 Redeye manufactured in... 1912!
Unfortunately in my excitemend I failed to take a picture prior to its being dismantled for transport, but here are the befores of the pieces.
The treadle:
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
More interruptions
Spark is still missing. After two weeks and no genuine sightings, I'm starting to lose hope that she wants to be found. Or that we'll find her in the next week, at least. Why the deadline, you ask? Apparently, one of our 'neighbors' called the neighborhood HOA board and complained about our "ugly signs". The board member who called me was very understanding and kind, but did say they needed some sort of timeframe to give the complainers. Another week seemed reasonable. So there's that.
The rest of the weekend was spent on a fairly major project with great but not really photographable results. We found the early stages of mold in the basement, which felt very, very damp. So I set off looking for a dehumidifier. Silly me, I assumed a hardware store would have something decent.... Turns out the Home Depot by us only carries three models in-store, and all three were on back-order. At all their local stores. But I could drive thirty miles to a store that had one left. Lowe's was also sold out of all the models large enough for our damp and extensive basement, but their other store had a floor model left which they were willing to sell. And this was only a 10 mile drive. Sold!
Apparently, we got lucky enough to get not only the last dehumidifier in the area, but also a good one. The thing has reduced the basement from damp to pleasant in three days (the readout has dropped from 80% to 30%). While that was running, we also bought and installed bathroom fans in both the bathrooms. Working in the attic was h highly uncomfortable, but dad did most of that, saint that he is.He also did the 'scary' parts--cutting holes in the roof for the vents and switching out the fuses for GFI ones. S far, everything is working beautifully, and the house feels great.
Now I just have to clean up the mold. It's just the start of it really, that pale grey film that looks like dust. Hopefully, that means almost everything is salvageable. Updates on that as I figure it out. Oh well, rearranging and reorganizing my basement sewing room was on my list anyway.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Life's Interruptions
I meant to work on the yard every day, and post regular updates. But just as soon as I'd gotten started, life decided to throw a fairly giant curveball. One of our cats knocked the screen out of an open window and disappeared. She's been missing for a week now, and the search has been occupying most of my time and energies. Ads are all over the internet, signs and flyers all over the neighborhood. We've checked under the neighborhood's decks and shrubs repeatedly, walked around and around during the day and the night, with treats and flashlights and scent markers. We make the 20 minute drive to the shelter every couple of days. And nothing. No sign of Spark.
So there she is. If she's out in the world somewhere and you see her, let me know. She's spayed and short-haired. Probably not as overweight as she was when she left. She's missing one nail on her back foot, but has all the others. She likes to play fetch. We miss her.
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