To say I'm terribly at managing my time responsibly is a terrible understatement. Really. It's ridiculous. Especially because my priorities might be a tad skewed. For example, in order of what I'm finding most important right now:
- I have spent most of this week reading almost non-stop. A bunch of books I had on hold at the library suddenly came in all together so I went from having one library book to six. All with waiting lists, which adds to the pressure of reading them fairly quickly so the next person can get it. I've finished three books so far this week and returned them, only to get a call from the library this morning, letting me know three more books are now waiting for me to pick up. I just can't catch up. *sigh*
- When I'm not reading, I'm trying to write. I'm working on a completely new and secret idea that is really, really exciting me. It's almost overwhelming how badly I want to sit and write until the whole story is out. But my lovely children love to "help" me write, so I try to write when they are both elsewhere. (naps, school) It's making progress slow, but I'm loving the potential of what I have so far.
- My house is insanely messy. Last week, my whole family got sick. Thankfully not all at the same time, although there was a little overlap here and there. But one right after another we got sick and the entire week was spent either taking care of someone or being sick myself. Not a lot of time left for cleaning. And now with the avalanche of library books and distracting secret story, I'm really not making much headway. Bless my patient husband for not completely losing it everytime he walks in the door to find the house looking exactly the same as it did when he left.
Those are the main things on my plate. Add in silly things like eating, exercise, or showering, and my day is pretty much gone. Sadly, I end up spening an entire day concentrating on just one thing, rather than appropriately spreading it out through the day so a little bit of everything gets done each day. I honestly don't know how full-time authors do it. They all say you sacrifice something so writing is a priority, but still. Huge respect for those busy, busy people.
If only I could stick to one of the millions of different schedules I've made for myself, then maybe things wouldn't feel quite so overwhelming. I just keep telling myself I'll figure it out eventually.
Right? *hopeful face*
RIGHT? *looks at you desperately*
How about you, lovely readers? Ever feel like there's just too much to do in a day? What distracts you, and how do you still manage to get things done anyway?
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
A Note of Positivity
Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you're enjoying your fall season so far. I have been. (Except this week. I was sick with a head cold and then a stomach flu. Blah.)
Today, I'm going to do something a little different. It's going to be a list. When I was a sophomore in high school, I had math with my friend Aubrey Anne. We both hated math and were easily distracted and somehow we started writing up a list of things to be happy about. Several of our friends contributed to it here and there, but the majority of it was written by us. Before she transferred schools, we were up to 1,000. (You read that right.) As high school became harder to handle, I would add to that list, trying to cheer myself up, and eventually my own personal list was around 1600-1700. I still have it - it's in a binder in my storage tub full of high school stuff. Anyway, Aubrey and I were chatting on Twitter the other day and she felt like blogging, but couldn't think of anything positive to blog about. So I mentioned starting a mini list of Things to be Happy About. She loved the idea, and asked me to contribute. I've been wanting something fun and positive to blog about as well, so I agreed. Now, once a week you'll get a list of 10 things that make me happy, and I'll link to Aubrey's blog so you can see her list as well. Some things may be personal to us, some may be things that make you happy as well. But the point is that in a world full of tragedies, hatred, and plain old awful negativity, once a week this will be a place to find something happy. And don't worry, I'll still talk about the writing I'm up to in between my lists. So here we go.
1. The holiday season. Doesn't matter the holiday; if it has a season, I love it. Halloween and fall leaves, Thanksgiving and pies, Christmas and twinkling lights - I love it all. There's such an ambiance about it all that I find comforting and fun.
2. Stephen's Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate. I love hot chocolate in general, but this is my favorite at home kind. It's so, so yummy and as the weather gets colder, I'll end up having at least one cup a day. It's my version of coffee.
3. Rainy afternoons. I don't actually like being out in the rain, but I love rain. I open my windows and fill my house with the sound of it falling and the fresh crispness it gives the air. I find it inspiring, and I always end up pulling out a notebook or my laptop and just writing for an hour or two.
4. Snuggling with my kids. This doesn't happen often, since they aren't really cuddly by nature. They prefer to be up and around, checking things out and playing. They've been this way since they were babies. But when they are really sleepy or sick they like to be cuddled, with blankets and stuffed animals and everything. Sometimes it lasts ten minutes, sometimes it lasts an hour, but I take it when I can get it because it's pretty rare.
5. Pictures of at-home libraries. Little book noooks, huge rooms with vaulted ceilings, built in shelving or ornate bookcases - I love them all. It's like you get a taste for someone's personality in that one snapshot, just by seeing how they like their books arranged, their reading atmosphere, etc. One day, I will have a photo of my own to share.
6. Twitter. Oh yeah. I'm in love with it. I'm still kind of a lurker on there, but I'm trying to reach out more. But I love seeing the friendships and jokes between authors I love, seeing articles that spark conversations from people all over the place, and the comfort offered by complete strangers when someone is going through a hard time. It really is a community, and unlike other social networks I've used in the past, I actually feel connected to this one. It's lovely.
7. Pillows. Sparky and I both love our pillows - we have several that make a pillow mountain on our bed. (That is, when I actually end up making it properly.) However, Sparky leaves for work a little over an hour before I wake up with the kids for school, and in that hour, I steal his pillows too until I'm in a lovely, soft, squishy cave of pillows. It's my favorite part of the morning.
8. Cake. Or, more specifically, cake from a local grocery store about a block from my house. Their bakery in general is fantastic, but their cakes are simply heavenly. Light but moist cake, just the right amount of yummy frosting, and fresh fruit in the fruit filling. So, so good. And they make these little teeny cakes for like, $6, that I'll get every now and again just for fun. So, so cute.
9. Those rare times when my entire house is actually clean. It doesn't happen a lot, because I have two small children and I tend to attack rooms individually rather than the house as a whole. But sometimes I get into a cleaning frenzy and for a couple of days my house is really, very clean. It's just so pretty. And there's no guilt there when I spend an afternoon writing or reading, because there's no cleaning to be done. Always a plus. :)
10. Good hair days. It sounds slightly shallow, but honestly, sometimes it's the one thing that keeps a good day from being a bad day.
Well, there's my list for this week. Click here to see Aubrey's list. And feel free to share your own list in the comments! We could all use a reminder of things to be happy about, right?
Today, I'm going to do something a little different. It's going to be a list. When I was a sophomore in high school, I had math with my friend Aubrey Anne. We both hated math and were easily distracted and somehow we started writing up a list of things to be happy about. Several of our friends contributed to it here and there, but the majority of it was written by us. Before she transferred schools, we were up to 1,000. (You read that right.) As high school became harder to handle, I would add to that list, trying to cheer myself up, and eventually my own personal list was around 1600-1700. I still have it - it's in a binder in my storage tub full of high school stuff. Anyway, Aubrey and I were chatting on Twitter the other day and she felt like blogging, but couldn't think of anything positive to blog about. So I mentioned starting a mini list of Things to be Happy About. She loved the idea, and asked me to contribute. I've been wanting something fun and positive to blog about as well, so I agreed. Now, once a week you'll get a list of 10 things that make me happy, and I'll link to Aubrey's blog so you can see her list as well. Some things may be personal to us, some may be things that make you happy as well. But the point is that in a world full of tragedies, hatred, and plain old awful negativity, once a week this will be a place to find something happy. And don't worry, I'll still talk about the writing I'm up to in between my lists. So here we go.
1. The holiday season. Doesn't matter the holiday; if it has a season, I love it. Halloween and fall leaves, Thanksgiving and pies, Christmas and twinkling lights - I love it all. There's such an ambiance about it all that I find comforting and fun.
2. Stephen's Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate. I love hot chocolate in general, but this is my favorite at home kind. It's so, so yummy and as the weather gets colder, I'll end up having at least one cup a day. It's my version of coffee.
3. Rainy afternoons. I don't actually like being out in the rain, but I love rain. I open my windows and fill my house with the sound of it falling and the fresh crispness it gives the air. I find it inspiring, and I always end up pulling out a notebook or my laptop and just writing for an hour or two.
4. Snuggling with my kids. This doesn't happen often, since they aren't really cuddly by nature. They prefer to be up and around, checking things out and playing. They've been this way since they were babies. But when they are really sleepy or sick they like to be cuddled, with blankets and stuffed animals and everything. Sometimes it lasts ten minutes, sometimes it lasts an hour, but I take it when I can get it because it's pretty rare.
5. Pictures of at-home libraries. Little book noooks, huge rooms with vaulted ceilings, built in shelving or ornate bookcases - I love them all. It's like you get a taste for someone's personality in that one snapshot, just by seeing how they like their books arranged, their reading atmosphere, etc. One day, I will have a photo of my own to share.
6. Twitter. Oh yeah. I'm in love with it. I'm still kind of a lurker on there, but I'm trying to reach out more. But I love seeing the friendships and jokes between authors I love, seeing articles that spark conversations from people all over the place, and the comfort offered by complete strangers when someone is going through a hard time. It really is a community, and unlike other social networks I've used in the past, I actually feel connected to this one. It's lovely.
7. Pillows. Sparky and I both love our pillows - we have several that make a pillow mountain on our bed. (That is, when I actually end up making it properly.) However, Sparky leaves for work a little over an hour before I wake up with the kids for school, and in that hour, I steal his pillows too until I'm in a lovely, soft, squishy cave of pillows. It's my favorite part of the morning.
8. Cake. Or, more specifically, cake from a local grocery store about a block from my house. Their bakery in general is fantastic, but their cakes are simply heavenly. Light but moist cake, just the right amount of yummy frosting, and fresh fruit in the fruit filling. So, so good. And they make these little teeny cakes for like, $6, that I'll get every now and again just for fun. So, so cute.
9. Those rare times when my entire house is actually clean. It doesn't happen a lot, because I have two small children and I tend to attack rooms individually rather than the house as a whole. But sometimes I get into a cleaning frenzy and for a couple of days my house is really, very clean. It's just so pretty. And there's no guilt there when I spend an afternoon writing or reading, because there's no cleaning to be done. Always a plus. :)
10. Good hair days. It sounds slightly shallow, but honestly, sometimes it's the one thing that keeps a good day from being a bad day.
Well, there's my list for this week. Click here to see Aubrey's list. And feel free to share your own list in the comments! We could all use a reminder of things to be happy about, right?
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