Last Day

School begins tomorrow for my son, and this is his last day of summer vacation. We've had such a full summer season with family and friends and gardening and my writing, I will be glad to get into the fall swing of things.

The temps last month were too hot for gardening, so we let it die back a bit and plan on a later fall garden. Not too many items, but definitely companioning them again because it worked so awesomely well.

I also got to go to my writer's meeting again this month after being away for so long. The lecture subject was about how to ramp up stories with big characters and make those stories commercial and very marketable. I get that, and I'm glad I went. Great information I can tweak my current projects with. ;-) And my local writing chapter is having a retreat in Nov again. I think it will be great to get in to the B&B early this year (rather than coming in late from work like last year) and just write for hours on end.


Now on to getting ready for tomorrow.

~R

New Job & Moon Day

Hubby got a PT job today, YEAH!! And we get to go to the Flight Museum this weekend for their wonderful annual "Moon Day." I can hardly stand all the great news and things! ;-)

~R

Friday

I love Fridays, and not just because of the obvious end-of-week relaxation. They are are wonderful day to begin weekend projects, party, and visit places. They are also a great day to finish things hanging on from the week. And today, especially, was a good day for me, because I made my decision and told the evil stepmother's associate I would not sign any papers for her benefit.

Happy Friday the 13th. Now to plan my fall garden.

~R

Evil Stepmother

The spring harvest is awesome and nearly done. Plants are starting to die back, our bean plants are growing nicely to add nitrogen back into the soil, and I'm still writing my page-a-day. If the heat stays reasonable (for Texas, at least) I might have a good chance at a fall garden.

I also got an interesting call this week. Seems that there is a misconception that I actually like the business partner my late dad was married to when he passed away two years ago. Now there is an issue she "expects" and "needs" me to just bow out of so she can get more money. Never mind that this person did not respect my dads wishes regarding my sister, me, and our families as to his last requests. And since choosing not to probate my dad's will, she's trying to take the easy way out. I refuse to cooperate. Why should I help a rich woman who has hated me for almost 30 years?

~R

Summer Is Here

Happy Solstice everyone!

~R

Wrapping ... with Music

Along with our garden project (which is going really strong, BTW) I decided to make wrap pants. My hubby loves to wear these on the weekends, at faire, to drum circles (where Ive also been dancing 1-2 times a month), and to generally putter around the house. They're oh-so-comfy, cotton, and easy to care for. What more could he want? :-)

Creating seems to be at the fore: the garden, pants, writing (still at least one page per day), and plotting. I keep getting ideas for a YA story, and I keep jotting notes and tucking them away for the future after I complete my current two projects. Could be fun.

~R

Impatience

Okay, I confess, I could not wait. The zucchinis were staring at me, and when I actually lifted the giant leaves to see the smallest one was 18 inches long (no kidding, I have pics) I just had to bring it in for dinner tonight.

Yummy zucs will be cooked with a little salt, pepper, garlic, onion, rosemary and oregano. Oh yeah!

~R

Are We There Yet??

How many parents have heard this from their kids? Now it's my turn. As I look out over our humongous green veggie garden it looks like a wild jungle with LOTS of ripening veggies. I even have two pumpkins in the volunteer patch. The plan was to plant in March and harvest in June/July. At this fast rate of growth, I hope we can make it to June. But no matter, I'll pick whatever we need when it needs to get harvested.

~R

Spring Planting

We've started a huge veggie garden in the yard, a lot bigger than in previous years. We'll still have some things in pots and the herb plot is going strong. With Merc going direct today (YEAH!) things will get easier as far communication and transportation (y'all know I keep up with Astro stuff). I'm also planting by the moon from my Almanac and boosting all the little plants' with "companions" around them. Sort of like writing a story from an outline that you've pulled in different elements to use. I sat in a couple of lectures and have read a lot about the companion planting technique over the years, but I've never really tried it to this extent.

Along with gardening to help keep down the grocery bills, my work has kept me running. Writing new pages is hard, and forget about editing right now. All focus is on the basics of life. And it's amazing how much "disposable" income is revealed when you really look at a household budget. So far, so good. One day at a time, lots of baby plants to nurture, one page of writing at a time. Eventually I think it'll all turn out right.

~R

Equinox Day

Happy Equinox day everyone! The days will be longer and nights shorter from now until spring.

~R

Chaos Rules My Life

So many birthdays this month plus loss of hubby's job does not make for a great prospective Valentine month. His attack plan is to chase lots of job options right now. Hope things will be better soon.

~R

Stormy Winter

Home from work and settling in to write and edit. Snowflakes are just beginning here and there, just a few to get the kiddos excited but not enough to stick on the ground. Probably won't last very long, and I look forward to lots of mini snow people in the neighbors' yards (and mine). Rather than balmy, the temp should be lower for a real feel of winter.

After the nice retreat my local writers group had last month I'm ready to chill and get all the chaos out of my head and into the story. Work has ramped up, the holidays are in full swing, I really have baking fever (the need to bake cookies), plus lots of pages to get edited. Writing first, at least one page per day as I promised myself. :-)

~R

Carrying On

So, less is more, right? Yeah, sometimes it is when you only have limited time to write or get something else important done. It all adds up in the end. Those day of 105, 160, 116, and 114 words all put together create a scene. And the more scenes that appear make a chapter, and chapters turn into completed manuscripts. That's the idea anyway.

NaNoWriMo is coming up in November. If you're not familiar, it's when writerly folks put pen/pencil to paper or fingers to keyboards and create like crazy for 30 days straight toward a goal of 200 pages. It's actually a bit over 6 pages per day if you work it out. Not a problem for most folks who are used to a daily job of turning out pages. Not so much for us folks who work and have extra life obligations. However, a great challenge is to focus and discipline yourself in order to achieve those 200 pages. Taken a little at a time, plus having a plan and outline to guide and work with, it's not as daunting as first thought.

I usually do NaNo and get it done, but last year I fell short. Next month I'm doing it again and hopefully will make that 50k goal. I also have holiday baking to organize and schedule and a bird to tackle right after the big spooky rush of Halloween. And after I finish our costumes and contemplate a couple of calls for submission I think I might attempt.

Let the fun begin!

~R

The Balance of Dharma

It's Sunday night, and I haven't finished everything I wanted to do this weekend. It really doesn't matter, because all the stuff that needs doing and that I'd love to devote a bit of attention to will still be there tomorrow and the next day. Rushing around too much causes headaches I don't need, so I'm going to try and keep on an even course. For the next month I'm going to pick one thing in the house that needs taking care of, one thing for work, one for family (not counting meals), and one thing for me.

This, rather than a dozen items on my daily to-do list, hopefully will keep my body, mind and spirit in balance. And this along with the joy of my family will help me to better write when I have those precious minutes ticking away. And now time for a little peace and quiet.


~R

Where Did Sumemr Go?

Not the usual season. I'm talking about all this #$%^* heat that has pushed away what should've been an enjoyable 2-1/2 months. I know it will end eventually and we'll be off water rationing. I just hope rain comes soon! Exhaustion preempted several 'field trips' this summer though I made it out to a few places before the heat got to me. I'm really thinking positive thoughts for all the local farmers and their crops.

Yesterday I attended a great lecture about publishing given by a local RWA chapter I rejoined after being away since '96. Lots of questions and insightful answers were give by Karen Whiddon, Shayla Black and Sophie Oak. These ladies were knowledgeable and more than willing to give information and direction regarding their take on trad and e-pubbing and self pubbing. I was hoping I'd connect with another writers in the group and be able to talk about the industy and our work. Though it was very obvious there were circles of friends that only wanted to stay within their circles (myself and several others who were new to the group sat off to one sit of the room), the lecture was definitely a benefit to pre-published and published authors alike, and I'm very glad I went.

This month editing has been slow, and I'm contemplating a title change on one story along with some refining of the plot. Reworking two other first drafts and writing one new story will be my goal the rest of this year. Teaching is going well too. I just finished another online 'World Building' workshop and will start another in a week at Savvy Authors ('Feng Shui for Characters') in about a week. Head on over and check it out if you're interested.

So, today is family day and rest time before another busy week begins. And school starts tomorrow for my very excited kiddo! Okay, on to catch up with more reading.

~R

The Long Wait Is Over ... for now

After nearly two months of wilting heat and weeks of triple digits we finally have rain today. I stood in the slowly falling drops for about five minutes early this morning, just soaking up the relief of not having to face another day with winds that burned my face every time I went outside.

Yes, it's raining. Hopefully it'll stay awhile. I'm so doing the happy dance because it's finally RAINING!!!!

~R

Ready, Set ...

Getting ready for tomorrow (Monday). So much to do like laundry, pre-make lunches, get my music together for my classes, make sure the week's dinner menu is done, and watch the new Netflix movie we've been procrastinating about for several days. Oh yes, and our SciFi club is having a crew dinner in costume. Now, what to go as ...

~R

Fun Was Had By All

Busy day starting with one of my RWA chapter writer's meeting, then on to a visit by another group we're with to another group's meeting then socializing, and home.

The afternoon meeting was a sedate, interesting group, and we found many friends we already knew. I was fortunate to also reconnect with a dance partner (Les) from waaay back when we were with the same belly dance group. She's still lovely as ever, and I was so glad to see her again. Turns out we have common interests, and we also talked about dancing together again in the future. Yeah!

Next week after out SciFi meeting another group is meeting at the same location ... so all I have to do is hang out then maybe Les and I do a bit of dancing again. She told me of several functions and we connected on a forum where I hang and do research for my SP stories. This is going to definitely be fun.

Writer's meeting means no writing today. Will try tomorrow for a few pages.

~R

Life & Stuff

I really don't like arrogant people. I mean, what reason can they possible have for narrow opinions and risking someone's safety?

Yep, I had a difference of opinion with someone, and I'm in process of checking out the facts. My day job entails a lot of watch dogging, and my #1 concern is my student's safety and good health. Exercise can be dangerous if not done correctly, and instructors should always keep preventative measures in place. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Fun can come with a price, and I gladly keep watch over my classes.

The reunion and dad's memorial went well. Stories were told and family members reminisced. There was a table laid out with my dad's photo, flowers, his favorite candies to share, a memorial book to sign, and extra stationary for anyone who wanted to write to dad because hey didn't get to say goodbye. After dark and our weenie roast supper, we burned the letters and the smoke rose to heaven and messages went to dad. Everyone cheered, and we waved to the night stars and dad. It was good and brought some closure.

Subbing several additional classes over the next two weeks, so I might only be able to post a line or two in my entries.

~R

Oh. My. Goodness.

Exhausted isn't the word for the whirlwind that is 'the beginning of school.' Day one was as expected: lots of parents escorting their spawn onto the grounds, lots of vehicles parked where they shouldn't be, lots of confusion because some families couldn't be at meet-the-teacher night last week.

I am so glad we parked up the street and walked.

My kiddo is excited to be back in school and to see friends. I am ready for my schedule to settle back down. My day job is still going well, and I think I've figured out my writing time. I don't have nearly as much as before, but the few hours per day will be put to good use. Now I'm looking forward to a little quiet time and maybe a chick-flick before school lets out.

Still need to do a bit of shopping for the family reunion and my dad's mini memorial tomorrow. Maybe that movie will have to wait a few days. (sigh)

Page count ... 7 new ones.

~R