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Fractured Thoughts A journal about my life. |
Thursday, December 12, 2002Well, I decided that I would take a break over thanksgiving, so I haven't written anymore on the novel.
December's are just way, way to busy! Plus, my laptop is at the repair shop. James found it one morning smoking and smelling of burning plastic. There's been a short in the power plug part and we thought it cleared up. We hadn't had any problem with the connection in several weeks. Sometimes the connection wouldn't make contact and it had to run on battery power. No big deal, just annoying if you weren't paying attention and the battery ran low and forced a shut off.
Anyway, so we were unable to retrieve any info off of it because when we noticed it the battery was nearly gone and the power cord wouldn't connect (except to burn parts unseen). I thought that my only copy of my novel (except a 30-somethingK word back up) was on there, but just yesterday I realized that I had saved the final version to disk so that I could upload it on this computer for the NaNoWriMo to verify the word count. So, now I have no excuse. Except that December is murderously busy.
I spent all day yesterday wrapping gifts. I have one or two left to wrap, then three packages to put in the mail when our Christmas cards are done, which we should work on this afternoon(maybe). Plus, I got a call from a teacher wanting me to substitute Friday. I haven't subbed in over 3 years. I'm gathering a bag of goodies and games to play to fill in extra time.
AND, my sister, who now lives about 2 hrs away, is moving to Tucson, AZ just after Christmas. THIS Saturday is the only time she has available for us to see her before she leaves. I'm taking a casserole, a salad and pumpkin pie for lunch. No biggie, but the salad I want to have takes forever to make. It's a fresh brocolli salad that is yummy, but the brocolli needs to be cut up and bacon pinched up (imatation bits are nasty) and green onions sliced. I don't know when I'll find the time to make it, but it is a delicious salad.
ALSO, we haven't had a vacation yet this year, so we decided to skip town for two weeks over Christmas. I'm so looking forward to it, but that means time washing clothes, deciding what to take, and packing. And with a 13 month old, that means packing everything but the kitchen sink!
Anyway, so that's what's going on this month. I really want to work on my novel some, I definately don't need to be away from it for a whole month, but I'm not sure when I can squeeze time in to read it.
On top of all that, my body is griping over all the junk that I've already eaten since Thanksgiving. But with all the yummy stuff around it's hard not to eat it. I'm trying to limit it because I don't feel well half the time, but you know how that goes. James and I both are going to try not to ruin our 30+ weight loss this year. So far we've done well to keeping it bouncing around the same 5 pounds. Ahh, I'll be glad when the New Year is here and we get back to 'normalcy' around here. I was looking forward to fitting back into clothes I wore on our honeymoon 8 1/2 years ago.
Dawn posted this at 11:37 AM.EG1: 50,124!!!!!! I DID IT!!!!
Wednesday, November 27, 2002
I made 50K. Go me. 1910 words today. I wanted more, but my brain kinda shut down. That and it has been so long since I've done research that I've forgotten some things. I'm going to have to take some time and check some things out.
So, the good news is I made 50K, the not so good news is that I'm about half-way. Imagine, me writing a 100K book! When I barely made 50K in the first draft, I didn't think I had longer books in me, but I'm quite the wordage gal now. I'm sure most of it will get cut, but, still, cul!
I have my nifty winner's picture and if I weren't so tired, I'd post it tonight.
Kudos to Chip who made 50,8?? today about 6 hours before I did. Go you!
Wow! I never could have imagined that I'd write 50K in 26 days. That's just one more day than the 2k a day average I was shooting for. Cul....now to get some sleep so I can work more. I still plan to write everyday this month, but I won't feel presured to write more that 1k if I don't want to. :)
Dawn posted this at 12:55 AM.EG1: 48,214 words!
Monday, November 25, 2002
1096 yesterday and 1711 today. Should make it to 50k tomorrow.
Chip has passed me today! Go you! I got complacent and slowed down. It looks like it will come down to who will go out the farthest tomorrow. Of, course there is always the chance that he's already over and not posted yet. (fingers crossed) We hope that is not the case. :)
Dawn posted this at 11:09 PM.EG1: 45,407!
Saturday, November 23, 2002
Another non-impressive day with 1342 words added today.
Chip is closing in, better get to work! Heheheh!
Dawn posted this at 10:25 PM.EG1: 44,065!
Friday, November 22, 2002
I made my goal of 44K today. I did write yesterday and managed 1058 words and today wrote 2456. I'm still keeping up with my 2k a day average. :)
In the alabama list, someone already made 50k, lucidscreamer. She is the only one ahead of me. I think if I stay on track, I'll come in second in the AL list. Go me!
Dawn posted this at 11:24 PM.EG1: 40,551 words!
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Whoohoo! Broke 40K today with 3487 words. I'm back on my roll!
So this guy, chip, sends me a private message and wants to race me to the end. We were within a word of each other, but since I hadn't posted in three days, bam-o and I'm well in the lead. Heh, heh, and he still thinks he can catch me. I'd like to see him try! :) Eat my cyberdust, chip!
Dawn posted this at 11:34 PM. EG1: 37,064 words.
No I didn't do that many words today. :) I haven't posted since Saturday. I haven't been producing many words per day though. 1119 on Sunday, 1038 on Monday and 2473 today. I ran into a little snag where a character needed a push to make a decision. I knew what he was going to decide, I just needed more of a reason for him to decide it. In doing that I had an odd experience where a character appeared suddenly and I had no clue what to do with her. It's weird, 'cause in my mind she walks in to the doctor's office with a baby in her arms. She's faceless, wearing nice clothes, around 20 years old, but that's all I knew about her.
The next day, I still didn't know what this woman was doing there. So, I erased her and brought in Mick Henry. He's nothing more than an extra, but he served his purpose. It was slow going, but I got it worked out. I can't say that I've ever had that happen before though, I mean a person just walk on my mind's stage and sit there, patiently waiting to be told what to do. She'll haunt me, I tell you, she will.
Anyway...sorry, sometimes I let my lunacy out of the cage. Does anybody ever even read this journal? Uh-well. E-mail me if you care. I'm going to bed.
Dawn posted this at 12:10 AM.EG1: 32,434 words!
Saturday, November 16, 2002
Still cooking with 2181 words added in the car today.
Had a great day. Saw the chiropracter, took Xander to the children's museum, saw a bunch of old friends and teachers at a reunion today. Whew! So now I'm soooo tired. We had to get up at 5:30 this morning and left around 6:30. Ugh. I'm not a morning person at all!
Dawn posted this at 10:59 PM. EG1: 30,253 words.
If I had realized that I was only 100 away from 2k today, I would have kept going a bit longer. Too late now, the laptop is shut down and ready to go on a trip tomorrow. I have a reunion to go to. Details later... :) Should get some work done in the car on the way there or back.
Dawn posted this at 12:01 AM.EG1: 28,353 words.
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Moving right along with 2,150 today. I'm still amazing myself. :) Ta Ta!
Dawn posted this at 11:26 PM.EG1: 26,203 words!
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Over halfway to the 50,000 mark. I know now that this novel will be at least 60k though. Possibly much longer. Not sure yet. I'm not experienced enough to guess how much of the plot there is to write.
I've been in the top spot for my state in word count for two days in a row now! When I started this thing, I had no idea I'd do so well!
Dawn posted this at 11:45 PM.EG1: 24,461 words!
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
A headache tonight meant not much done. I did manage 1239 words though despite the blasted headache.
More good news though to follow from yesterday's good news. I've now lost 30 pounds since I started thinking differently about food. Food no longer controls me, I am in control. No more snacking, no more binging. I now eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full (I'm not perfect at doing those things, but I'm doing well enough to lose 1-3 pounds a week.) :) That's all that matters. Oh, and walking often too has really helped me. I haven't had an asthma attack in over a year! Although I do wheeze some. Whoohoo!
Have a good night, ya'll!
Dawn posted this at 11:59 PM. EG1: 23,222!
Great day today! 3115 words today! Whoohoo!
Also, more great news: Xander took his first steps tonight. Isn't life grand? :) Have a wonderful day!
Dawn posted this at 12:14 AM.EG1: 20,107!!
Monday, November 11, 2002
Whew! Made my goal of 20K by monday!
The baby caught a cold Saturday so I only got 1012 words in. Today I managed 3130 though! :)
Dawn posted this at 2:00 AM.EG1: 15,965!!!
Friday, November 08, 2002
Cleared 15K! Go me! Go me! :::dances around the room::: Another 2, 149 today! Whoohoo! I'm tired...:::snore:::
Dawn posted this at 11:26 PM.EG1: 13, 816
Thursday, November 07, 2002
Another 2K day with 2044! I'm trying to keep up the 2K a day average. I didn't make it yesterday, but I ain't cryin'. :)
Dawn posted this at 11:24 PM. EG1: 11, 732 words!
Still going well. :)
Dawn posted this at 12:31 AM.EG1:10,450 words!
Wednesday, November 06, 2002
Sweeet! I've been keeping track of my ranking by searching the NaNoWriMo author list. I've been searching only the people that admit they are from Alabama and then having them sorted by word count. I started in 5th place out of 11, last night I moved up to 3rd and tonight I'm 2nd out of 20!
I know it really doesn't matter, but hey we have to take pleasure where we can, right? :) Right now I'm just going to glory in this and let it propel me onward! ;) Nite! (er, mornin')
Dawn posted this at 1:51 AM. EG1: 10,450 words!
Another 2, 450 to add to the total today. Wow! I keep amazing myself. I didn't know I had them all in me. Not sure how much longer I can keep this up for though. I've been waiting until after the baby is in bed, grab some caffine-filled drink (hot chocolate or tea) and start typing away. Tonight I wanted to get a jump start with the caffine so I read some while I sipped my tea. I was only going to read a chapter, but then there were only 20 pages left, so I used up a good hour of writing time to finish the book. Uh-well, I got plenty of words in anyway.
Oh, and if you didn't notice, now I'm going to actually post my actual word count. I've just been looking at the thousands and the hundreds, but now I'll be putting the exact thing.
I'm pleased because I'm through the beginning section. I've sufficiently (I hope) developed my characters and developed the problem. The last thing I wrote was the problem coming to a mini-climax which will lead into an even bigger problem. I was hoping I would make it to 10,000 before I completed this beginning section. I barely made it.
I know that there are some sections in the origonal draft that I want to include in this one, but I'm fighting the urge to look in there. I know I'll copy/paste huge chunks then. Especially since I'm sorta competing in this NaNoWriMo, I want to be fair and have all my words written during this month. So, later I'll morph the best of the two drafts into, hopefully, a third and mostly-final draft. That's the plan anyway.
You know, I really didn't expect to be in the running to actually complete the 50,000 words this month. But, I'm on track to make it-IF I can hang in there and keep plugging out that wordage. However this plays out, I've surpassed my wildest dreams anyway. What I've written these last few days is far superior to the first draft. I'm pleased no matter how anything else goes! TaTa!
Dawn posted this at 1:40 AM.EG1: 8,000 words!
Monday, November 04, 2002
Wow! I surprised myself by cranking out 3300 words today. Go me! And I'm still in the set up or the beginning. In the first go through, the first really huge problem hit at about 2000 words. I'm at 8,000 and I'm still not there yet. I'm building more before I get there. That book I bought has helped me tremendously! All wanna-be novelists should get it: You Can Write a Novel, by James Smith, Jr. Excellent book!
So, so far the NaNoWriMo is going great! I'm so excited to finish a better draft of this book!
Oh, and since I'm on the ego trip, let me just report that I'm also still losing weight. 25 down and, uh, ahem, more left to go. :) It's been really great eating what ever I want and still losing weight. You'll have to e-mail me for the secret. ;) TTFN!
Dawn posted this at 11:38 PM. EG1: 4,700 words.
The total as of last nights caffine-induced sprint of 1200 words now brings the count up to nearly 5k. I was unable to post after I finished last night due to the ISP being down. I think it was their usual weekly down time.
I've been unable to write so far today. The hubby is out of town this morning for an indeterminate amount of time. Leaving me in charge of the little squirt. It's been great, we played, a little rumble-tumble, had story time, then he had his before-nap juice. Now, sigh, now he's supposed to be napping. I don't get it. I do everything his daddy does, but he just won't go to sleep for me. I could snuggle up in the recliner with him, that's worked before. But I don't want him to be spoiled to think he has to do that everytime I put him to sleep. Parenting is so difficult at times.
Right now he's in his crib at me and if he knew any obscenities, he'd probably be spouting them off to me. Instead he does his nana argnannar baby-babble grumbling at me. I tried for 30 minutes to get him to sleep. He missed his chance.
I'll likely be posting again later after my writing is finished for the day...
Dawn posted this at 12:15 PM.EG1: 3500 words.
Saturday, November 02, 2002
Another 1300 words eked out tonight. After spending around 2 hours working on characters, scenes and plot, my brain just couldn't function well. It did get going toward the end, but then I started getting physically tired too. It's past my bed time!
I can tell that I am improving. Maybe not in the quality of words, but in the organization of the story and in the story building itself. I'm no master storyteller yet, but I'm getting there. One step at a time...
Dawn posted this at 11:21 PM.First- A big thanks to Amy who sent me a cul picture frame/fountain for my b-day. I've been wanting one of those. Thanks! And Xander thanks you for the really cul wind chimes too!
Friday, November 01, 2002
Second, the big NaNoWriMo started today. I eeked out a slightly impressive wordage for a starting day: 2200. I can't say that I'm all that impressed about the quality of the words. I mean, that 2200 represents the first 2 chapters! Not good. I'm still working with the multiple viewpoints. The first draft of this story was from one POV, this time I'm trying a few others and it's just...well...different. I really like seeing the story from other angles though. I've been very one-sided with this story. My main dude was just winging it on his own. All the events centered around him and nothing else really went on much. I'm adding some sub-plots, developing some minor conflicts with semi-major characters. It seems good in my head...we'll just see how it is in the end. But the way it stands right now, I think I'm gonna need a 3rd re-write just to get it right. It's much better, but still needs work.
Anyway, I'm going with the flow now...just word surfin'. Ta!
Dawn posted this at 10:14 PM.Been busy with Xander's birthday and all. We had a great birthday party with family. Xander ate cake for the first time in his life and enjoyed tearing open the packages. He kept signing his equivalent for "more". Can you believe he's a year already? It boggles the mind.
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
I've been writing lots for the library. In one week I wrote 3 articles for the paper. I've been writing some book reviews to encourage people to come check out some books, our check-out rate has been slow lately.
Right now I'm trying to write a puppet show. I'll be putting it on for the children on halloween. I'm trying to make it funny, but chances are it'll turn out lame.
I've also joined NaNoWriMo. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 60,000 words during the month of November. I doubt I'll write that much, but I'm aiming to write everyday during Nov and maybe I'll reach 30,000. I'm re-writing the only novel I ever wrote. I'm going to be adding to it. Before it was only from one characters perspective but now I'm adding more perspectives in and it's adding some sub plots. I hope it will be much much better. The book, "You Can Write a Novel" has been so helpful with organizational tips. It has really helped a lot.
With the tips I learned in there I'm going to definately reach my goal: To be published before I'm 30. Less than two years to go...
Dawn posted this at 12:37 PM.Whew! Glad that's fixed. It had lost my template and I just picked a new one. I wanted to do that anyway.
Saturday, October 12, 2002
Yesterday was my 28th birthday. I had a good but tiring day. My mom came over and brought me presents from her and my cousin. I got a 3 1/2 ft tall scarecrow, a scarecrow doll and two yard signs for fall/thanksgiving. She also gave me $20 to buy a silk scarf. This is in addition to the shirt she bought me earlier in the week.
We left around 12 to go to a funeral of a friend's daughter (she was 23 :( ). After the funeral, I went to Wal-mart to pick out my scarf (a black and silver one with a tiger). Then we took family portraits (they came out great). It seemed to take forever because the girl working there was stuck alone cause the manager had an emergency that morning. Then I went to blow the rest of the $20 at books-a-Million and got two books: The Celtic Book of Names and You Can Write a Novel by James V. Smith, Jr. I got the latter because he offers a unique system to keep up with characters and the plot. That's one of my main trobles is that I get confused with everything. I got the first one to help me with my novel.
Then, last night we went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. Poor Xander didn't have any dinner because we didn't plan on being out that long. I ordered a sweet potato with my steak and shared the potato with him. We also ordered a side of steamed veggies and he had some carrots, squash and brocolli. We also gave him small bites of bread and James shared some of his chicken. Xander really seemed to enjoy all of it. I think he loves food like we do...poor guy ;).
After we got home around 10 PM, Xander was extremely tired 'cause he had missed his nap. Once he was in bed, James gave me two presents: a great bible study book and set of mirrors to see Xander in his seat while I'm driving (I promised I wouldn't drive off the road while watching him, hehe). We relaxed awhile, it was nearly 12 when we decided to go to bed. Then we finally got a hold of my in-laws who'd been trying to call us all day and when we tried to call the phone was busy. They both sang me "Happy Birthday" and said they would be bringing me a present when they come for Xander's b-day.
Before going to bed, I got on-line and found an e-card from Amy (Hi, Amy!). It was the only e-card I got which means my sister forgot my b-day again. She and I are both forgetful about b-days so I don't blame her. In fact- I forgot her new hubby's b-day on the 8th, er, rather not forgot, but I didn't do anything about it ::ducks::.
So, even though I was tired last night, I think I had a very good b-day.
Dawn posted this at 10:32 AM. Grr...I've tried to post here several times but Blogger was having trouble. I think it's fixed now...
Dawn posted this at 10:13 AM.Had a really freaky moment at the library today. I found a series of books that I was very intersted in because it was vaugely similar to my completed novel. I went to the shelf to find book one and found book two. The summary on the back is very similar to my story, even the character's name is the same! I checked the published date and it said 1991, I wrote mine in '98. To my knowledge I had never seen that book before. Really weird. I'm definately reading that series!
Thursday, September 19, 2002
Dawn posted this at 7:19 PM.SC: 10,200 words
Tuesday, September 17, 2002
Didn't get any work done on our little vacation. Had a great time despite the cold we all caught from Xander and the non-stop gogogo daily. The guys were in their seminars from 8:30 AM to 10 PM with a lunch and long dinner break. We generally didn't see them until dinner. Us ladies (and Xander) spent our mornings in one ladies class and our afternoons sightseeing.
Breif recap: We saw 3 black bears total. The first two being already high up in the trees when we arrived on the scene. You could barely make out black patches of fur around the leaves. The third we saw with the guys on the last day of the trip. We hiked to Grotto Falls where you can walk behind the falls. On our way back my in-laws saw a tree moving and stopped to wonder what it was. It had obviously been something big by all the ruckus it was causing. James got some great video footage of the young bear climbing down out of the tree, playing and searching for food on the ground and then moving off. It hovered around the trail for a bit, letting many people get pictures. I was concerned the entire time about getting between the momma bear and the young one, but many of us concluded that he was probably just old enough to be on his own.
We also saw two young deer that wandered around the path on a hike in Cades Cove. They came up to about ten feet away. I got some fairly good shots of them too, although it was dark in the forest.
The other two exciting parts of the trip were my accident with the van and my mother in-laws fall. On Wednesday we had just gotten back from Cades Cove and I was so thankful to be getting back to pick up the guys. I had been nervous all week about driving in traffic and on the curvy mountain roads. I turned too soon (on the highway in Pigeon Forge you have to make u-turns to get anywhere on the other side of the street), so I had to make another u-turn to get back to the other side of the conference center where the guys were at. I didn't swing out wide enough for the other cars to come around me. A guy in a car came around me (to my side of the car), we sat waiting for traffic a bit longer. I didn't even look because I figured he had gone on already. I got a break in the traffic and made a sharp turn out to the inner lane, at least that's what I intended to do. All of a sudden the car starts shaking. The first thing that comes out of my mouth is, "Aw, man! I'm so stupid." I knew what had happened: the guy in the car was still there and I'd hit him. Well, really I scraped about 6 feet along the side of our van and only scraped the corner of his bumper. Luckily it was an older model car and a metal bumper. Not much damage on his part. I'm not worried about our van, we probably won't even fix it. It was the fact that it happened at all. So, my MIL got out the cell phone and called one of Pigeon Forge finest and after much debate the other man involved decided to file a report (since we had the same insurance companies). He talked like it wouldn't cost much to fix it, just sand it out.
So anyway, then on Thursday we went to the North Carolina part of the park to do some hiking. We stopped in Cherokee for gas and a bit of lunch before hiking. I slipped off the step as I walked out of the gas station when I paused to tell the attendant to have a nice day. Just slipped, no big deal. So then I was walking to the car and my MIL had Xander in her arms. There was a van parked between the building and our van. I went one way and my MIL went the other. I heard her cry out, or thought I did, when I turned back, she wasn't where I thought she'd be if she'd fallen. I heard a truck go by on the highway and somehow it made a similar sound that I'd heard just a moment before. I turned back toward our van thinking I was hearing things. When I got to the front of this other van, I realized that my MIL was not near our van, or anywhere to be seen. I came around the front of the other van and there she was laying on her back with Xander still clutched to her chest. I hurried over, set my Dasani and sandwich down and took Xander from her. He'd looked up at me and started crying. I think he was more scared than anything. The MIL told me later that she had been trying to hold him with her left hand and get the keys to the van from her purse with her right. She had stepped in a small hole in the concrete and her sandal heel stuck in it. She said she was falling straight forward and managed to catch herself with her right hand and shift her weight to the right, so Xander didn't hit the ground. She scraped her knees and cut her hand. The woman working at the gas station rushed out and helped her up. When she realized that her hand was cut, the attendant rushed in and came out with hydrogen piroxide, ointment and a bandaid. She probably didn't want to be sued, but she was being extra nice anyway.
So that was the exciting stuff on our trip. I was so glad to be home. On the trip back Friday, Xander's naps kept being interupted and he was so tired and cranky Friday night that he'd scream alot despite my efforts to try to coax him to sleep. Poor guy, it was a rough trip home for all of us.
Not sure when I'll get back to writing. Right now we are struggling just to get back to our routine of walking. We walked Sunday and Monday, but this morning we were just too tired. We took a friend to an interview for a job last night at 9:30 (she got the job and is working the night shift). She didn't finish with the orientation and the drug test and all that until 2 AM. The place is an hour and a half from here (they offer bus services from here) so we didn't get home until about 4 AM. We were way too tired to get up and go today.
James and I both stayed the same all week, weight-wise. I was so pleased that we were able to stick with this eating plan while we were gone and didn't gain weight on our semi-vacation! Who-hoo!
Dawn posted this at 11:34 AM.SC: 10,000 words (Yeah!)
Monday, September 02, 2002
Not much writing work over the weekend, long story that boils down to two things: 1) I was tired again and 2) we waited all day Saturday for some people we kept thinking were going to be here any minute and they never showed. It was one of those things that you don't want to be interrupted in the middle when they get here. James is now mowing the lawn that he didn't get to finish either.
Xander is learning so much. Did I mention the way he took his grampa's hand to sign please when we were at a restaurant and he was hungry? He did and his grampa was so impressed. I think before then Grampa thaught that we were moving his hand for him. Yesterday morning I had a few minutes to check e-mail. I sat down at my desk with Xander in my lap. He took my hand and signed "please" 2 or 3 times. I finally overcame my shock and said, "What do you want?" Immediately he lifted his eyes to Scorch, my Beanie Baby dragon. I picked it up and he smiled and his eyes lit up. He played with it while I checked my e-mail. Kids are amazing! :)
Time for Xander's lunch...TTFN!
Dawn posted this at 11:56 AM.I found this web site from Deb Osorio's journal, Purple Haze. I thought it odd that I got the same thing she did. Maybe they all come up that way..?
Friday, August 30, 2002
Dawn posted this at 9:45 AM. Ohh! I didn't mention that I lost 3 pounds this week after two weeks of only losing one pound per week. Whoohoo! AND that's considering James parents were here and I splurged a little. We did do a lot of walking on Tuesday and I only ate two meals. (I wanted to be really hungry for Lambert's) Although one pound a week is good and I wouldn't mind if I consistantly lost that, but 3 is even better. I have about 50 I'd like to lose and that would take me about a year then. By then I'd get pregnant again and start the cycle all over. But if I work like I did last time and only gain about 30, then lose most of it in the first six weeks like last time I'll be in great shape! Of course, murphey wouldn't allow that though...
Anyway, I'm babbling...TTFN!
Dawn posted this at 9:36 AM. SC: 9,200 words
I'm so pleased with the way this is going now. Something had been niggling at me for awhile now and when James and I took our walk this morning, we talked breifly about it and he helped me solve it. I've been struggling with the fact that the two main characters motivations were weak. He helped me to strengthen them. I also said I needed an antagonist since the 'bad guy' isn't really in the picture yet. He helped me there too. Things were just going too well for my characters. I need to backtrack a bit and add a bit of conflict. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow morning! :)
I'm thinking about changing the look here, so look for changes soon.
Dawn posted this at 9:08 AM.SC:8,200
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Still plugging away. A couple more writing days and I've inched the word count up a bit. Had a good writing day today. That antsy feeling of "Let's hurry up and be done writing today" or "Oh, how many words was that, am I done yet?" is about gone. Just got to keep going.
We went Tuesday on an exhausting trip down to the coast. First we went to Bellingrath Gardens and I got some gorgeous pictures. Then we went to Dauphin Island (very cul place) and rode the ferry across the bay to Ft. Morgan. Then we let Xander get his feet wet in the gulf. At first he was scared (and tired). But I started laughing at every wave and he quickly got the idea that it was fun. He was really enjoying walking on the wet sand and the waves splashing at his feet by the time we left.
Then we went to Lambert's Cafe (Home of the throwed rolls) for dinner. They litterally do throw the rolls to you. It's so cul. They also have 'pass arounds' which are additional veggies that you can have all you can eat. The day we were there they had fried taters and onions (yum), black-eyed peas, tomatos and macaroni, surgum and apple butter (for the rolls, yum!). It was delicious. There are only 3 locations; one at Foley, AL and two in Missori. You're missing something if you've never been.
Dawn posted this at 1:56 PM.SC:6,700 words.
Monday, August 26, 2002
Missed a few writing days. Friday afternoon I was running ragged. It was such an exhausting week. Saturday I slept in. After a lunch date with my mom and some friends I got to work painting (more later). I managed to finish it by 10 PM Sunday night. Sunday morning I just could not get myself up early enough to write. So here it is Monday. I worked on it some today, but I'm running out of gas. I had to fight with myself to get any wordage at all. But I think the story is beginning to take shape. I'm working it out further and further.
James' parents are here for a visit. We are talking about taking a day trip to the beach tomorrow. I'm taking the laptop along to hopefully get some work done in the car.
About the painting project: I decided that it would be neat to draw the map from Winnie-the-pooh of the 100 Acre Wood on Xander's sliding closet doors. I drew it freehand from the picture in about 45 minutes. I thought it looked great, but James encouraged me to paint it. It looks much better. I never knew that I could do something like that. It was very satisfying work; a great confidence builder. I'll take pictures of it soon and put it on Xander's site.
I'm working on another one on his wall. It says "Xander's Room". The "Room" looks like blocks and sitting on the blocks are Pooh, Eeyore and Piglet. I'm planning to add Tigger hanging from the 'X'. I don't think it will look as good as the other.
Now I'm considering doing this to make some money, but I don't know if I could make much after all the time involved in doing it. We live in a poor area and I don't know how many people could afford it either. A friend did ask me if I could paint a stepstool for her 3 year old daughter. She likes to sew, so I think I'll ask her if she could finish one of the cross stich projects I started, or sew an outfit that I bought materials for, but never sewed.
Anyway, I want to leave you with this quote from my 'quote a day' thingy on my desk. I've been reading this everytime I sit down to write.
"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." Walt Disney
Dawn posted this at 12:36 PM.SC: 5,200 words.
Thursday, August 22, 2002
Still working everyday, still walking everyday. :) I'm starting to lose my desire though, the 'getting started novel high' has worn off. I'm still trying to keep myself in the chair for an hour a day though. I've got to find some other time though to get a short story sent off though. I don't want to not write on the novel because I might not get back to it.
My progress on the novel slowed down considerably yesterday and today. The day before yesterday something was nagging me. Then I happened to be reading a couple of things about dreams and it occured to me that I needed a dream sequence. It allowed me to put in a bit of forshadowing as well as some other information in the dream. It was awkward for me to write and took some time. Now the scene I'm currently working on will take a bit of thought as well. They are meeting up with some other characters, one of which I haven't given much thought to yet. I hadn't planned on this character being a major part in it, but it may turn out that he will be involved in the main characters lives. We'll see.
Xander's pictures are fully up at our family website. You can check them out here.
Also, I'm considering another part-time job. This is one of those internet jobs that you can do at home in your own spare time. I'd basically working off commission of advertising (yes, I'd make money off those annoying pop-ups, isn't that terrible!?). BUT part of the job involves writing non-fiction articles for the site. An actual writing job! I'd get paid for writing!! I haven't gotten it yet. I have to send a resume and an article. I'll let you know how it goes.
Dawn posted this at 11:06 AM.I hadn't wanted to say anything here yet, but I think it's been long enough. James and I have been walking two miles every morning for more than 4 weeks now. I've lost about ten pounds, but I can tell that some of my clothes are fitting much better too. I put a dress on that two months ago was about skin tight and now it is just a bit baggy. Whoohoo! We are also learning how to eat to live, not live to eat. It's amazing how little our bodies can live on. We've learned to tell when our body needs food. We're still working on the 'stop when you're satisfied' thing. It's hard to break our concept of 'this is how much I should eat'.
Monday, August 19, 2002
Let me give you an idea of how much I could eat. We'd stop at Wendy's and I would get 2 junior bacon cheeseburgers, a Biggie fry and a frosty. I would still want even more food after that. Now, a lot of times I'm satisfied with just the burger and a drink. I'm beginning to feel full with much less food.
Anyway, on the writing front: I've created some time for me to write everyday. So far it's working great to write between 5:30 and 6:30 AM. James and Xander are still asleep and lately Xander has been sleeping in until almost 7, giving me time to lay down and try to nap for 30 minutes. Although, I'm usually on such a buzz from writing that I can't calm down and sleep. So far SC has 3400 words and climbing. I'm aiming for it to be a novel, but since I'm not a big word count person, I'll be happy with a novella. I'm just not as wordy as most people, nor do I develop a complex plot. I'm hoping that both will get better with practice.
It feels so good to be cranking out words again. :)
Dawn posted this at 11:43 AM.Just finished working on Misfit Magic. I've added 400 words and polished it up a bit. I'm now looking for a place to send it to. This story now has springs on it. When it bounces back from one place, I'm going to send it right back out to another.
Wednesday, August 14, 2002
We just finished having a donut sale/ lock in for the older kids at the library. Monday morning we got up at 4 AM to sale the donuts (raised over $500 for the library!) then that night we met at the library at 8 to have a lock-in for those that sold the donuts. I stayed up till about 3 AM and would have stayed up longer, only Xander woke up at about 2 and I decided to lay down with him so that he would sleep. Poor guy's been having colic trouble nearly every morning around 2.
Our website is partially up. You can see Xander's Wal-mart portraits. I still have to upload the portraits taken with his grandparents though. Here's the link to our family website. I'll probably get the rest up soon.
Dawn posted this at 9:56 AM.I had just finished my mail and had a few minutes to catch up on journals (I wanted to see how Diana's wedding went, and what new project Erin has started) and blogger came up. I'd forgotten that I had it set as my home page and I decided that I would update here.
Monday, August 05, 2002
So much has happened I don't know where to begin. The SRP at the library is over (YEAH!) and we are settling into a routine without that extra work. Xander is growing like a weed. He is crawling (still slow though), standing on his own in his crib and learning bunches. We are working on teaching him to sign "please" (put open hand on chest and move in a circular motion) so that he can communicate. Children can learn communication through actions before they can verbalize anything.
The first day he resisted us taking his hand and signing "please" for a piece of graham cracker. By the third day, not only was he not resisting us, but he was also moving his hand that direction on his own (after we touch his arm). Then, one time I decided to wait a little longer to see if he would do it on his own. He started reaching for my hand. I put my hand on the highchair tray where he could reach it. He picked up my hand and pulled it to his chest! I laughed so hard I thought I'd bust! I woke James up from his nap just to tell him about it. Xander still hasn't done it on his own, but today is only day five of teaching him this.
Just a bit of writing news. I haven't worked on my latest project in quite a while, but I was making quite a bit of progress. I've made some deep revelations about my writing and why I struggle so much with certian areas. I have trouble with antaganists (bad guys). I just can't get into the head of them. I'm starting to see them as people, though. I know that sounds funny, but I always pictured the bad guy as this evil dude that I couldn't understand because he's just so evil. If you think about it from the bad guys point of view though, they're not so bad. It's just that they want something so badly that they'd do anything to get it, even kill for it.
The other thing that I discovered is that as far as the story went, I was goddess. Meaning I controled the world, the environment, etc. But when it came to the characters, I'd act like I wasn't in control. I'd heard so much about "characters having a life of their own" that I took it too literally. I wanted the characters to evolve on their own; for Items of the person's character to be revealed from the story. But I am in control of both the characters and the story line. I am goddess over all (when it comes to my stories). :)
I also need help with plot. My poor brain just won't go beyond the ordinary. Oh, I come up with some extraordinary ideas occasionally, but ideas are not whole stories.
Anyway, I've been reading despite the fact that I was so busy with library work. I finished the Hobbit and I'm in the Lord of the Rings. It's kind of slow, but I'm just getting to the part where Frodo has left on his journey. I think things will pick up now. I had hoped to finish it by the time the movie released to video tomorrow, but that's not happining. I will, however, finish it before I see the movie.
Xander took several sets of Walmart portraits. He had some taken, then he had some with my in-laws, then some taken with my mom and I. We are planning to have more done in September. James b-day is September and we decided to have family portraits done ever September, then have Xander's portraits done in October around his b-day. I'll see if I can put up a few on my other website real quick and then post the link here. TTFN!
Dawn posted this at 11:20 AM.It's been awhile and a lot has happened, so I thought I should put a note here.
Tuesday, April 30, 2002
First of all, the big thing this week: A young man we know was shot Saturday night and he died Sunday. His family is obviously pretty upset and we've been spending time with them. The young man's (who would have been 20 this fall) father is an elder at our church. They have 4 children and Alton was the youngest. They are a very close family. All in all though, I think they are handling it very well, but I suspect they are still in a state of shock. It was very sudden.
Alton attended college in Huntsville, AL. He was with two of his friends and they were getting gas in their car at a station. Someone in the area started shooting. Alton ducked down but the bullet went through the door and into the back of his head. He was the only one hurt in the area. His best friend is in total shock and keeps asking when Alton will wake up and talk to him. I can't imagine witnessing something like that. It's a terrible world we live in. I'm told this is the second shooting in the area in 2 weeks.
In better news, Xander has a tooth! It made it's appearance the day he turned 6 months. I could feel it beggining to cut through the gums. The next two days it was about the same, then yesterday it poked up more and today it has poked up enough that you can see it. Xander is also eating rice cereal, applesauce, and mashed potatoes. No canned baby food for him. It's so easy to make this stuff at home. For applesauce, just slice off a chunk of apple, put it in the microwave for less than a minute, then scoop out the apple 'meat' from the peel. Viola! Yummy applesauce. For the potatoes, I peel and cut russet potatoes into chunks and boil for about 20 mins. Then I mash them with a bit of the water from boiling. They are yummy too. As for the rice cereal, he eats 'Cream of Rice'. He loves it mixed with some breastmilk or apple juice.
That's about it for now, other than getting ready to have company in a few weeks. Also, we had planned to go visit James' parents this week, but with the death in the 'family' (church family, that is) we post-poned it.
Well, it's time to go out for a walk before Xander's dinner. Ta Ta!
Dawn posted this at 7:35 PM.Oh, and since the last post in March, we've been to South Carolina and back. Xander did great the whole trip. He woke up hungry an hour from home and I let him drink watered down juice and suck on his pacifier and he was a real trouper about it.
Saturday, April 06, 2002
We went to help James' aunt and uncle move. The best part was that they gave us a bunch of items their children had outgrown. We came home with a high-chair, a trycycle, a bike with training wheels, a bunch of books, a large toy firetruck and some 2 T to 5 T clothes for Xander. I don't think he'd have many clothes at all if it weren't for them. They're so good to us.
Dawn posted this at 5:32 PM. I just finished reading The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt (Anne Rice's sister). It was very good. There was one short lesbian scene though that I thought she could have left out. Also, I almost needed to keep a dictionary handy. It was set at the beginning of the dark ages and many of the terms for things she uses I had no idea what they were. I had to laugh at one place because she talked about the 'faggots' that were placed under the woman chained to a stake. At first I pictured people lying there; it was about a page later that I laughed out loud at my stupidity. I'm not used to that word being used for that meaning. :)
Sometimes she lost me in the tangled web of the politics too. One central character was the pope and there were two rival factions that wanted to gain control of Rome. Trying to keep straight who was who and who was double crossing who made my head swim!
But despite the above mentioned items, I thought it was an excellent story.
I've been being lazy lately. Xander got a cold that hit full force Tuesday and Wednesday. I got it Wednesday and James' slowly got worse until yesterday and today he's pretty bad.
So, I've been spending my time reading and playing video games. A local rental place is going out of business and they were selling their NES and Super NES games for $5 a piece. We got Monopoly, Othello, a baseball game, and Wizardry. I've been playing Wizardry mostly. It's pretty good, although the maze is truly a place to get lost in. I killed off numerous parties before I got a good group (3 fighters, 1 samorai, 1 thief, 1 mage). I used some battle tactics, i.e. choose battles carefully, to gain exp and levels. When I was creating characters, I was surprised by that samorai. I was aiming for a nuetral Human fighter. I ended up getting 50 bonus to add to my rolls! I couldn't believe it. I've tried since to re-create another one, but it must have been a glitch. I'm not complaining. I named him Wicked, because he is a wicked figher. I later realized that only 3 people could actually fight, so I dumped a fighter from my party and gained a cleric and I'm happy for his healing spells and his AC lowering spells.
My March dare didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped, but I am glad I did it. Even though I didn't completely meet my goals, I did have more days of working on those things than if I hadn't been doing it. Instead of the normal approximately 4 hours per month I would have spent on writing, I think I spent about 15. This new story is beginning to take shape and I'm learning as I go along how to create a world. Having the world created is helping me understand the characters more fully. And understanding the characters will help me know what they are going to do. I need to do some more work on it so I can get to writing. Not sure when I'll make time to do it. I'm behind in housework and behind in my work at the library. And this blasted cold is still hanging on...
Dawn posted this at 5:28 PM.I got a new 'do' today. I love my long hair but I was tired of the plainness to it. So, on the spur of the moment, I got that new cut done. It's the new cut that looks like the hair has been curled, but not. It doesn't look too bad, but $50 was a bit high. We'll see how it does everyday.
Tuesday, March 19, 2002
I had another wierd dream about a week ago. The surrounding area was a bit foggy-like, but I knew I was at a place sorta like a college campus, like in the 'quad'. I walked up to a picnic table carrying some books and sat down. There were several faceless people sitting there fawning all over Wil Wheaton. I started talking to him like we were just best buds and he thought it was great that someone finally just 'talked' to him. I was telling him about my current story idea that I'm working on. I was all excited about it. I don't remember his reaction about it, though. That's all I remember about the dream.
I've been working on a new story. I've been jumping around from different ones and I'd chosen one to work on, but the other idea just wouldn't leave me alone. It's been floating around in the ether for a long time waiting for more ideas to add to it and finally I've got some more story. Most of my time lately has been spent in world-building. It's a fantasy world and I've been creating a whole planet for it. I've even drawn two hemispheres of it and I'm working on the three human races that live there. There's also a couple of non-human sentient races that I'm working on developing. Not sure if I want to go with some traditional fantasy creatures or with something totally new.
Anyway, I don't have a title yet, but the world is called Saria, so I've been calling the story, "The Sarian Chronicles." I still don't know a whole lot about the plot, so it'll be awhile before I actually get to write it. Basically, I have the beginning, but where the characters go from there to resolve their situation is not clear. Plus, the 'how' of how they get into this situation isn't clear to me either. I hope with more brain-storming sessions and world-building sessions it will become clearer soon. I'm itching to get writing on these.
Meanwhile, I've been reading more. Right now I'm reading, "The Inadequate Adept" by Simon Hawke. Pretty funny. Reminds James and I of Rocky and Bullwinkle where the narrator will interact with the characters (and, in this case, the reader too).
Happy St. Patrick's day, a bit late! In my family this is an important holiday, we are proud of our Irish heritage!
Dawn posted this at 3:57 PM.We're back from galavanting around again.
Friday, March 08, 2002
Xander's doctor appointment went well. He has a very minor birth defect. No surgery needed, unless we wanted to do cosmetic surgery. We feel it's not necessary and he can opt to do it when he's older if he wants. I'm just glad it's nothing serious.
Well, I'm on day 8 of my March dare. I'm doing very well. I missed one day of doing my sit-ups and push-ups so I did double the next day. I realized that I could do more than I'm doing, so I upped the ante a bit. Starting yesterday I've been doing 15 push-ups and 20 sit-ups. I was finally sore today in my tummy muscles. Maybe in another week I'll up it again.
The only area that I'm doing poorly in is the eating healthy bit. While we were in Montgomery I was tempted sorely by all the yummy food the town has to offer. They have Cinnabons! I love Cinnabons and we had to come home with a box. Heheh. Yum! The last one was eaten this morning, so I'm doing better from this moment forward. :)
The writing department is going fairly well. I did practically nothing but that on the entire trip from here to B'ham. I talked a few things over with James on the trip from there to Mongomery and he convinced me I really should work on an older idea that I've had. It's one that I feel more comfortable writing in some aspects (I know more that will happen in this story than any other I've worked on), but uncomfortable in other aspects of this work. Anyway, I have 1200 words already.
Good news! I found a paperback of my most favoritist fantasy author. Tamora Pierce's "Song of the Lioness" series was the first fantasy stories I remember reading. It's one of the very few books that I've read twice and would love to read again (as soon as I get hands on a copy). Several times I looked in card catalogs to find more books that she's written but never found anymore. I gave up and forgot about it. I wish I'd have thought to search the internet! I picked up the first in her "The Circle Opens" and I'm almost through with it. In her Biography section in the back there's a sff.net website address. I've read about all her other series and can't wait to read them. Check out her website!
Well, Xander wants to eat, gotta run!
Dawn posted this at 2:40 PM.I had a really odd dream the other night. Since during the time I was pregnant, I often dream about having children and always boys. I guess this is because I'm so hung up on the idea of 'preserving the family name' since James is the last in his line to produce male children. I do want girls too. Anyway, in this most recent dream, I had two twin boys about a year old. I also had a little baby that I refered to as my 'little man'. We call Xander that, probably picked up from Nikki's journal. Anyway, this wasn't a just a baby, he was a funny-looking 5 inch little man. In the dream I loved him (he was after all, my child), but secretly, inside, I thought he was disgusting looking. He spoke to me in a thought speak.
Saturday, March 02, 2002
I was apologizing to him because I'd forgotten about him. I'd been spending more time with my other boys and I felt genuinely sorry. He forgave me, but he was sick. He started throwing up things. The first to come was pieces of oranges that were as big as his body. More stuff came out and I was amazed that they had fit into his tiny body. I remember being surprised that I didn't feel sick, watching him expel all this stuff. I asked him if he was okay and he said he was. He made me feel more guilty when he told me that he'd been hungry and had eaten that stuff even though his stomach wasn't ready for it. Then he ate from me and again I was amazed. Amazed that he got anything from a nipple that was nearly as big as his little head.
Tres Wierd. My dreams always are. As James says, "It'd be weird if you didn't have a weird dream."
Dawn posted this at 6:07 PM. Day two of my March dare and I'm going strong. Yesterday I did my minimum amount of exercise, read two chapters in a current book on writing, two writing exercises from said book and wrote over 300 words on an old fantasy novel I dredged up. I don't know much about what happens and I'm about to run out of what I've plotted but I'm just kinda going with it for now. I don't know if I exactly ate healthy, but I did eat less. We skipped lunch 'cause mom was taking us out to an All-you-can-eat bar-b-que place. It's the best restaraunt in the whole county, nearly the best in the state (can't beat the chinese place in Tuscaloosa we like to go to, Trey Yung's). I didn't stuff myself, but I was full.
Today was a beautiful day and we went for a walk in addition to my minimum exercises. So far I've read a chapter of my writing book and plan to read another in a moment. I think I've done well eating less too. I'm planning on getting in to writing something too. Probably just an exercise. I'm not exactly 'in the mood' to write today. I forced it yesterday but I didn't feel like writing then either. I've got to get that joy back, that urge to write. Until then I'm not going to force myself too often.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be tough days to keep up with the dare. We have Xander's doctor appointment in B'ham then we're planning to go to Montgomery until Wednesday afternoon. I'll take the trusty laptop so I should be able to get some work done in transit. I should be able to keep up with it, but it will be difficult.
Dawn posted this at 5:32 PM.I had a scare yesterday. James had the van, so I had to strap Xander's car seat into the tiny Pulsar. It is difficult to fit it into the back seat, so I had to put it in the front (no air bags). I wasn't used to him being right there next to me to look at and I was distracted. The second time I peeked over at him, I glanced back to the road and found the car dangerously close to the edge of the shoulder. That particular section of road had a deep gully with no railing. After I righted the car, while my heart was settling back down, I noticed a Police car coming toward me from the opposite direction. He, of course, hit his lights and I slowed down and pulled over at a pull-out.
Friday, March 01, 2002
So, after being scared wit-less, I had to suffer the humiliation of admitting to this officer that I was making eyes at my baby while I was driving. He said that he thought my baby would appreciate it more if I'd stay on the road and told me (as if I didn't already now) that that gully was deep and that it would have swallowed my little car and I could be hidden down there for days. I said, "Yes, sir, I know," as politely as I could and tried to convey just how much it had rattled me without being fake. I gave him my license, expecting a ticket, or at least a warning. At one point in the conversation he had leaned closer to me and asked if I was okay. I wondered why he asked me that. I told him I was just a bit shook up over being that close to driving off the road. He gave me my license back and told me to drive carefully. I assured him I would.
As I pulled back on to the road, a cynical voice in the back of my mind said, "It would be just my luck if I had some of my lunch left on my face." I took a chance to glance in the rear-view mirror and sure enough, there was a large dollop of bar-b-que sauce from my sandwich. No wonder he'd looked at me so closely. He might of thought that was blood on my lip. Now I can see the scene through his eyes. A few toys and diaper bag thrown in the back, baby seat strapped into the passenger seat, a woman driving wildly and a spot of what looked like possibly blood on my lip. With all the domestic abuse in the world, he may have thought I were a victim. But Xander seemed blissfully happy in his seat, so maybe that had assured the officer that things were generally okay.
Within about five minutes I had gone from fear to embarrassment, to guiltiness and then back to embarrassment. Where's a large hole to crawl into when you need one?
This came at such a bad time when I've been trying to erase the words 'stupid', 'dummy' and 'idiot' from my vocabulary when referring to myself. I have a terrible habit that when I make a mistake I will verbally call my self one of those demeaning words. I've read that many times the self-esteem of the parent will be reflected in a child's self-esteem. I don't want Xander to grow up saying those things about himself. Besides, it's not true that I'm those things. I may be clutzy, and definately absent-minded, but I'm not intellectually challenged.
I could go on and on there, but let's just leave it at that.
I'm daring myself to do 4 things during the month of March:
1) Read or study my Bible daily
2) Eat less and healthier everyday
3) Do some form of exercise 6 days a week: Minimum of 5 push-ups and 10 sit-ups and go for a walk everyday that the temp is over 60 degrees.
4) Some writing related activity 6 days a week: Writing, editing, or reading about writing. I'm going to try for actual writing once every three days or more.
I think these are 4 simple things that I can do everyday. Hmm...that makes an acrostic...my March R.E.D.S. dare. ;) I'll keep you posted. Right now I'm off to work on some writing and that will be two out of the four done for today.
Dawn posted this at 1:23 PM.Well, last week we came home from Arkansas with a new computer. 950 mhz, 30 GB hard drive and 128 MB of RAM. Nice. Plus a Cannon scanner/fax/copier/printer. With a computer desk and printer stand; all for only $400! Nice deal. So, it's taken us a while to get it set up.
Friday, February 22, 2002
I'm still using my laptop, but the thing frustrated me so badly that I finally used the recovery disk and wiped the hard drive back to the way it came. After I backed up files, address book, inbox etc. But I forgot all the music I downloaded from Napster. Uh-well, it's probably better that way anyway.
So now I have very little music. Since most my CD's were stolen last year and all the Napster stuff got wiped, I'm down to a few CD's by artists that aren't my favorites. I'll live I guess. :)
Oh, I just thought of something... I might have those Napster songs after all. Hmm...I wonder if they got put on a backup CD I made and then decided to back up a different way. I'll have to check there.
Well, Xander is still growing. At his last appointment this past week, he weighed 13 pounds and measured 23 inches! It's going by so fast. He's sleeping almost 9 hours at night too. I just wish I'd sleep that long. He's got me trained to wake at 6 even though he sleeps til 7 now. LOL.
My work at the library is slowly increasing as the summer inches closer. I'm beginning to get things ready for the Summer Reading Program. ::sigh:: My work is never done!
Dawn posted this at 6:31 PM.The new story is finished, roughly speaking of course. The hubby read it through for me. I asked him to just read it for pleasure and tell me what he thinks about it first, before really diving in and hacking it up. He said he thought it was cute. Hmm, well, I thought W.G. Rowland's story, "The Great Wizard Joey" was cute and it won GRAND prize at WotF. Heheh. I could only wish my story would win that. ;)
Thursday, February 07, 2002
But I'm way, way, way ahead of myself. This story has a long way to go before it's even ready to think about being sent away from my hard drive. :) A long way before it's even sent to a crit group. I'm trying to constantly remind myself that it is a work in progress, a diamond in the rough so to speak. A lot of work left to polish it up.
We're going to visit James' parents again this week for a couple of days. We're trying to work around feeding schedules so that James and I could get away for dinner and possibly a movie while the grandparents watch Xander. I'm looking forward to it. I just hope Lord of the Rings is still showing so that I can at least see one of the two movies I've been wanting to see. I guess I only have to wait till May before I can see Harry Potter. I saw that it will be on video May 23rd. Hmm, does Pay-per-view on Dish Network show movies earlier than the video release date? I'll have to keep my eye out for it.
In an effort to more wisely use my time, I've started watching either news (can they talk about anything other than the 'war' or Enron?) or PBS University channel while breastfeeding. I'm watching shows on Writing, History and government. Occasionally I've watched some language shows, but if you don't catch program one and follow the entire series, it can get very difficult. The trouble is, though, that I'm learning so much, my brain can't process all of it, so I'm forgetting a lot. Uh-well, even if I only remember bits and peices, that's something.
Now I'm off to finish a crit for my group!
Dawn posted this at 5:56 PM.::sigh:: Xander is still teething. He's fussy right now. Wouldn't you know it, just when you get in the middle of something...
Wednesday, February 06, 2002
He slept 8 hours last night! Whohoo! He did wake up around 11 and cried briefly for his pacifier. But, he'd been waking up around 3 or 4 and doing the same thing. I was worried about him when I woke at 6 and hadn't heard a peep from him. He's growing so much. I took him to the health dept, where a friend of my works, on Feb. 1. He weighs 12 lbs. 10 oz. already! His doctor predicted that he'd be twelve pounds at 6 months. He's gone from being at about the 20th percentile, to nearly the 50th!
We went to see James' parents last week. They paid for our gas so they could see their one and only grandson. Since then I've been trying to find a balance between writing, reading, Xander-time, hubby-time, housework and pleasure time for myself.
That's right, I've been writing again! 3 days worth this week and 2,200 words. I have to admit, I'm not pleased with it, but I'm trying to keep a good attitude about it. It's a work in progress. I didn't think about this before I started writing, but I realized that the piece is difficult because it's set in a time long ago. It's a "Once upon a time..." piece.
I've discovered the best time to write is in the morning, during Xander's second nap. I'm more alert and so far, Xander does not fuss during these two naps. As the day goes on, he becomes increasingly more fussy. He wants to stay up longer therefore causing him to be tired more therefore causing more fussiness. I've worked out a system where I let him stay up from 6:30. I get him up at 6:30, feed him, let him play, feed him a bit early at 8:30, then bath and massage, devotional and bed around 10. I've managed to find the right balance where he's not too fussy and yet tired enough to sleep.
'Balance' that's my new word for today. I'm constantly trying to find balance. If I spend too much time on housework, I'm too tired to funtion as a wife and mother. If I spend too much time being wife and mother then the housework piles up. If I spend too much time on all that I lose my sanity 'cause I'm not spending enough time relaxing and just hanging out with me. I think I've found the right balance, at least for now.
Dawn posted this at 6:10 PM.I've been watching Fox News. I really enjoy watching the Fox Report. But I was very displeased to see "Rat Returns" referring to Johnny Walker Lindh returning to America. I understand that he is a traitor, and he should be held accountable for his crimes. I agree that he is a traitor. But the news is supposed to simply report the facts. "Just the facts, Ma'am." When I saw "Rat Returns" at the bottom of the screen, I was a bit irritated.
Thursday, January 24, 2002
I also watch "Fox and Friends" at 6 AM. That is a show that is designed to be opinionated. It is an editorial show and that is where they can freely express their opinions. I don't think they should be expressing their opinions when they report the news.
I do admit though, that I could be wrong and they could have put the "Rat Returns" up during the "Fox and Friends" show. I'm so bleary eyed in the morning that I tend to confuse things sometimes.
Anyway, I'm getting back to walking more and eating right again. I'm feeling good and I'm not going to step on the scale tomorrow. I usually weigh in every Friday, but I'm feeling so good about what I'm doing, I don't want the cycle taking the downward turn again. It always happens: I feel good, I step on the scale, hadn't lost any (or sometimes gain) and then I give up again. So, I won't do it. Maybe weighing once a month would be good.
Xander slept through the night last night! Usually we have to get up and put his pacifier back in his mouth at 3, 4 or 5. But he was still soundly asleep when I got him up at 6 AM for his first feeding of the day. He was fighting sleep so badly yesterday. He kept wanting to be up, looking around. Even when he did sleep it seemed like he'd force himself awake again to watch the world around him.
Wierd dreams kept me from sleeping well last night. But I do feel more rested today, now that I'm up, than I have in weeks.
Dawn posted this at 1:23 PM.Grr! This thing lost an entire post! Let me see if I can remember what all I typed. ::sigh::
Saturday, January 19, 2002
I wrote a children's book today. It was an idea that I got while playing with Xander. I'm not finished with it yet. This is the third one I've written. The first was in college for Children's Lit class. We had to write, illustrate and make our own book. The teacher said she thought mine was so good that she considered sending it to a publisher. My only regret is that she kept it. I keep thinking I'll ask for it back one of these days.
The second was a poorly made, thrown together one for summer school I taught two summers ago.
I doubt that I'll illustrate this recent one. I'm not the greatest artist. That first one that I made involved stick figures. Not something that would win a Caldecott medal.
Well, Xander's up crying as usual. Like clockwork, an hour and 5 minutes after laying down for a nap.
Dawn posted this at 9:01 PM.Waaahh! I heard that after it's 201st episode, X-files is getting the ax! I know the show hasn't been it's greatest since David Dachovney left, but I remained a faithful viewer.
Friday, January 18, 2002
Speaking of Waaahhh! Xander is awake and crying.
Dawn posted this at 10:32 PM.Whew! Just got back from an envigorating walk a while ago. The weather was great and it was nice to be out.
Thursday, January 17, 2002
I was planning to make this entry and then do some writing, but mom called and we ended up talking for 30 mins. So, now there's not enough time to do much. I'll work on it later. I've got to get some hours in at the library. I'm so behind! Still trying to catch up hours from my time off after Xander was born.
I've decided to write when ever I feel the urge. I need to lear to love it. I'd grown to hate the whole writing process. Too much going on in my head while I'm working on a story. 'Who can I sell it to?' 'Will it be good enough to sell?' 'How long will it be?' 'Is it going to fit this market or that market?' 'Am I writing this scene well enough?' 'Is my grammar proper here?' 'Am I being redundant?' They are all good questions to think about, but at this point I don't think I should dwell too much on those negatives. I need to focus on writing for the love of telling the story. I need to write because I *want* to, not because I force myself. I shouldn't be concerned with word counts or selling it, but getting the story out of my head.
Well, anyway, you get the picture. I'll keep ya posted.
Dawn posted this at 2:50 PM.Here's my first post to my new blogger. I thought this would make it easier to make posts to my journal. And believe me, I need quick and easy right now. Thanks to Lazette. It was her spiffy new blogger that gave me the idea.
Wednesday, January 16, 2002
Yesterday I took time to read everyone's journals, even the 'on hiatus' ones. It's good to be back reading and posting again. I plan to post more again.
Ron Collins' Jan. 14th entry was very encouraging.
I've been thinking about my writing again. I read a story I wrote a while back and I couldn't believe how horrible! I realized that writing is something I think I'd like to do, but don't really want to put forth the *work* that needs to be done to do it.
Also, after much introspection, I realized that my characters are flat. I recently read "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King (a record 7 days to finish it). He mentions in there that the most brilliantly written character in a story is still only a bag of bones. Well, then, mine characters only amount to the tiny toe bones. My characters are reflections of me and I'm a person who is not interested in much of anything. I'm not an art fanatic, a history buff, or a have any interest in politics. Nor am I a highly intelligent person. Therefore my characters come out very boring, much like me.
So, what am I saying? Am I saying that I'm going to give up and quit writing? No! This means I'm going to have to open up and broaden my horizons a little. I'm going to start reading more, learning more, doing more. This in the past has been difficult for me. I've had the desire to read things and learn more, but once I actually do it, my brain shuts down and says: "Sorry, not interested." I'm just going to have to put my head in gear and get to work.
Another problem with my stories is that they stall out. I get a great beginning, or a middle, but the ends are totally and completely lost to me. I make up endings that seem cliche or ones that make you say, "I saw that coming a mile away." I'm hoping that once I stretch my mind a little and learn more about the world around me that this will fall into place. Also, I need to let the guys in the basement loose a bit, maybe even up their pay. (If you don't get it, read "Bag of Bones".)
"Bag of Bones" was a good story. Although, I was talking to my husband about it and he said, "I don't like Stephen King, he wanders too much." I replied, "Yes, but he does make the wandering interesting." "B of B" is the 3rd King book I've read. "In the Eyes of the Dragon" was first, then "The Green Mile". I plan to read "Hearts of Atlantis" next.
Xander is doing fine. We've definately traded the colic for teething though. "Teething already?" I hear you say. Yup! Teething at 2 months old, I can't believe it either. But, he has all the classic signs: drooling, chewing on fingers, waking up from naps, diarrea, and waking up from naps early (when he wakes up he frantically tries to chew on something). We've tried encouraging him to use his pacifier or teething toys instead of his fingers. It's a battle.
James has been sick with fever and achiness. I'm trying to keep Xander from getting it, so I've been taking 'night shifts'. Xander has difficulty sleeping for more than an hour at a time. If we're lucky he'll sleep from midnight to 3. Before James got sick we were taking turns staying up with him. But now, I'm the one who's been up for several nights in a row now. Most of the time Xander and I share the guest bed where he can lay next to me and I can just put the pacifier in and go back to sleep. Some nights it seems like he's fussy every ten minutes or so.
But, ya gotta love the cute little guy! We've started this little game. He smiles a lot when I'm changing his diaper (and for good reason). But sometimes he'll look me right in the eye and stick his lip out in a pout. I'll say, "Awww, what's wrong?" and he'll grin really big back at me. Sometimes, when he's not smiling, I'll pout at him. If I can get his attention to look at me right in my face, he'll smile back at me. :) He's so precious!
Dawn posted this at 5:13 PM.
