Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Quick TT Today

Last full day of freedom before Kindergarten graduation tomorrow. Taking the day off to eat out, go shopping, and relax. It’s a beautiful, sunny day!

 

Page-a-Day Progress:

Days in: 10

Total pages: 18

 

Last week:

  • continue Page-a-Day Challenge
  • deep clean house
  • catch up on critiques – one more to do
  • submit some poetry – didn’t have time for this

 

This week:

  • continue Page-a-Day Challenge
  • finish crit
  • submit some poetry
  • summer routine
    • start parts I can do myself, so everything doesn’t change at once
    • sit down and explain charts and summer plans to B
    • Monday – implement in full!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

My Palette of Color

The poetry collection I’m working on is all about color. Not just what it looks like, but it what it feels like, and evokes the other senses. I’ve mentioned them briefly before, included them in goals, but hadn’t shared one here. So here is one for your enjoyment and understanding:

 

Enlightening White

a picket fence for the perfect house

dandelion seeds, loose on the wind

cold milk after a warm brownie

the scent of a baby just out of the bath

splashing water on your face upon awakening

journal pages, waiting to be filled

the softness of angel wings

a spring bursting forth from the rock

crunch of snow, crackle of ice

belief, in God or Man or Sun

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tuesday Tally: Slow and Steady

Last week’s goals:

Goals for this week:

  • continue Page-a-Day Challenge (see my progress here)
  • deep clean house
  • catch up on critiques
  • submit some poetry

 

It’s been refreshing having a goal of one page a day. It’s something I’m comfortable writing even over the weekend (which I used to avoid), and rather than stressing about how much I should be writing, and panicking at being behind, and writing nothing, I am making progress every day. Something is better than nothing. Not as awesome as high-productivity days, but I can’t always count on those.

We’ve already decided to abandon our 80% complete gaming rule. Turned it into grinding, and doesn’t take into account all the games we’ve finished and traded in.

Speaking of grinding, I think that’s what happened with Trinity Coven. I had boiled it down to how many words I needed a day. It became all about the numbers, and lost the fun.

Three cheers for Progress, Fun, and Rain. (I love rain. beautiful rainy day today. got the windows open. smells fresh and wonderful.)

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Page-a-Day Challenge

page

Page-a-Day Challenge Begins!

The purpose of this challenge is to write every day. One page. Free to write more, but not stressing about unrealistic goals. One page a day, every day, is 365 pages in a year! At an average of 250 words/page, that’s 91,250 words, the length of a complete book. I’m taking on this challenge because I need to relax and enjoy the process, while still getting words down every day.

I don’t normally write on weekends, but I’m going to try it out for this month. Show my commitment to myself, and prove it to my husband.

You can check this blog post for my progress, or follow my updates on twitter. The hashtag is #padc.

05/15: 2 pages

05/16: 1.5 pages

05/17: 2 pages

05/18: 1 page

05/19: 1.5 pages

05/20: 2.5 pages

05/21: 3 pages

05/22: 2.5 pages

05/23: 1 page

05/24: 3 pages

05/25: 1 page

05/26: 0 pages :(

05/27: 1 page

05/28: zero

05/29: nada

05/30: zilch

05/31: nought

06/01:

06/02:

06/03:

06/04:

06/05:

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06/15:

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Tuesday Tally and video games

Last week’s goals:

  • create custom workout for EA Active
  • create summer schedule to include writing time
  • relax, read my bliss book
  • take some time to read and enjoy Trinity Coven

Goals for this week:

 

Like story? Play video games? Have a PS3? Play Heavy Rain. Intense, completely immersive. Makes me think. Not many games I keep thinking about for days after putting down the controller. Each time I have to balance whether to take a break because the emotion and adrenaline is so intense, or keep going because I have to know what happens next!

My husband and I have decided not to buy any new video games until we finish more. Trying to keep an 80 percent completion rate. Got a few games coming out next month, and some already out which we’re waiting on, so I need to take a break from Sims and play some consoles.

Games I’m most looking forward to this year: Alan Wake, Sims 3: Ambitions, Lego Harry Potter, and Civilization V. Are you a gamer? Which systems do you have? Any favorite games on the brain?

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mommy Time

06/14/04  My Baseball PlayerI didn’t get flowers or jewelry for Mother’s Day. My husband knows me better. He got me a card, and SimPoints for the Sims 3 store so I could buy the new Sun, Surf, & Sand set. My hubby loves me. :-) My son made me a card at school, and with classroom points bought me a green tea masque.

I love being a mom. It gives me purpose. Even if I accomplish nothing else with my life, I know I’m raising a good boy. I’m making a difference in his life. I may not be a perfect parent (if there is such a thing), but his eyes light up when he sees me. His hugs are the best part in a day. It’s been amazing seeing him learn and grow so much this past year.

Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m good enough for him. But then he looks at me with such unconditional love and I know I wouldn’t want anyone else to take my place.

This summer I want to make sure he gets my time, as well as making time for myself. To that goal, I’ve created three sheets. Links included if you want to see or use variants for yourself.03/05/10 B the snake charmer

1. A chart with the weekly routine: chores listed for both of us, reading, bath days, and blank spots for learning and play. I’m making magnets with different activities for both learning and play, so we don’t get stuck doing the same thing every day. This will also give him choice, so he can create part of his own schedule for the week.

2. A daily schedule. B already helped me decide when during the day he wants to do things. We included meal times and bed routines (which will change in summer, moving his bedtime from 8pm to 9pm), mommy/son times, and separate down time (for me to recharge/write/nap/whatever, while he watches a movie or something).

3. A reward chart. (Created using DLTK’s custom charts.) Rather than a straight allowance, we’re going to reward B for what he accomplishes during the week. He can earn 25 cents for each complete five in a week (reading, learning, and chores) for a possible total of 75 cents. For example: If he misses a day reading, he can still get rewarded for doing all his chores. Now we just need to buy stickers.

I’m also going to look into swimming lessons if B is interested. That is our survival plan. Much more organized than Spring Break. I don’t think B will have a problem with a schedule. He already has certain routines at certain times, which he doesn’t vary from (won’t even accept snack before 7pm) since he learned to read a clock. If it goes well, we’ll create new schedules next school year.

*first pic is B at three months old. second pic was taken this last March

A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms following my blog.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Owning my Health

I think Wendy hit it on the head in last week’s comment, when she tied lack of focus into lack of sleep. April was an awful writing month. I think two things contributed to this. Health and stress. Allergies, then my son’s sickness, and getting sick myself (just recovering for those concerned). Plus the self-inflicted stress of falling further behind on my writing goals.

I’ve spent way too much focus on how much do I need to write to finish, rather than enjoying the process. Where did the passion go? I’m going to release the deadline. Be free. Breathe easy.

Weronika is inviting writers to join her in a page-a-day challenge from May 15th to June 15th. I think the timing is perfect. One page. No stressing that I’m falling behind on looming deadlines (even if self-imposed).

If I stress less, I’ll probably be healthier. But I’m not relying on that alone. I need to own my health. I’ve come up with five ways I can do that:

  1. drink more water – keep a water bottle at my desk. if it’s close, I’m more likely to drink it
  2. exercise – walking has been great for lower body, but my core and upper body are weaklings
  3. eat a more balanced lunch – I don’t send my husband to work with just a PBJ, so why fall back on that myself? If I don’t eat enough at lunch, I end up snacking on unhealthy stuff through the day.
  4. if sleepy, use caffeinated soda as last resort. get active with Rock Band, or take a nap!
  5. less repetitive gaming (*coughfacebookzooworld*) so my wrists last longer

 

Last week’s goals:

  • clean physical space (corner bedroom) – some improvement
  • write something

Goals for this week:

  • create custom workout for EA Active
  • create summer schedule to include writing time
  • relax, read my bliss book
  • take some time to read and enjoy Trinity Coven