M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 14

Goals for the First Week of Summer!

You should have seen me yesterday, grinning like an idiot. that is, when I wasn’t sleeping!

This week will be busy.

Get to the 1/3 point of my new book
Go shopping with Mom—twice!
Make reservations for dinner with the Wet Noodle Posse
Dentist
Lunch with a friend
Start on the cleaning/decluttering of spaces that don’t get used much.
make something fun from Pinterest
clean/cook/exercise

THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

We made it! And I love this day, with all the summer stretched in front of me!

My goals are

1) write a novel and two novellas

2) hit the beach

3) move Josh back to San Antonio

4) spend time with Mom

5) enjoy Trish’s visit

6) not freak out over my first big book signing at RWA

7) not freak out over my first Harlequin party

8) launch my second Boomtown book

9) lose weight!

It’s going to be a good summer.

Countdown–1 More Day–10 Things I CANNOT Do This Summer

I can get in really bad habits in the summer, and while it IS my vacation, I also like to challenge myself to see what life as a full-time writer will be like a few years down the road.

Here are some bad habits I canNOT do this summer:

1) Play Candy Crush. Not even one game. Too addicting.

2) Buy dip. For parties, sure, but for the house–nope nope nope

3) Bake more than once every 2 weeks.

4) Drink sugary drinks. I’ve found The Perfect Strawberry Lemonade recipe. It has 2 cups of sugar in it. Nope, only on special occasions. Same with mojitos, margaritas, cosmos…

5) Watch TV or movies during the day (unless it’s raining, then it’s permissible)


6) Go out to eat lunch more than twice a week. It’s a treat to have the time, but it’s a lot of calories and can get pricey,too.

7) Be on Facebook or Pinterest before I get my word count for the day. So it will be FB during breakfast, then Mac Freedom, then word count, then FB as a reward!

8) shut myself off from everyone. I tend to do that, and I need to make an effort not to

9) Let my guitar calluses fade. That is one painful process.

10) Watch the clock–I need to relax and enjoy!

Countdown–2 More Days–10 Things I Want to Do Daily This Summer

I have goals, and in order to do that, I need to have a schedule, or at least a routine. Here are ten things I want to do daily this summer:

 

Walk
Write
Keep house clutter-free
Enjoy my back yard
Read
Nap
Prepare at least one meal
Drink lots of water
Sit with my windows open and listen for my owls
Play guitar

Countdown–3 More Days–10 Lunches I Want to Try This Summer

 

I eat a lot more fresh veggies during summer, because I can run to the grocery store real quick in the mornings. I also know I need to make it easy so I’m not more tempted to just run to Whataburger.

Here are some of the lunches I want to try.

jalapeño pimento cheese
regular pimento cheese
chicken bacon avocado salad
cucumber salad
any variety of chicken salad—hunting for the perfect recipe!
cucumber strawberry salad
turkey cheese lettuce lunch wraps
cheesy baked tomatoes
lemony cucumber cream cheese sandwiches
avocado quesadillas

You can find the recipes HERE.

Countdown–4 More Days–Top Ten Books I Want to Read This Summer

I’m so far behind in my reading goals, it’s not even funny. I plan to read a LOT this summer.

Meg Benjamin’s Konigsburg books (catch up)
Fleeta Cunningham’s Santa Rita books (catch up)
Inez Kelly’s Country Roads books (catch up)
Molly O’Keefe’s Boys of Bishop books
Molly O’Keefe’s historical
His Temporary Wife by Leslie Garcia
Pretty Reckless by Jodi Linton
The Return of Brody McBride by Jennifer Ryan
Robyn Carr’s Thunder point series (catch up)
Jill Shalvis’s Lucky Harbor books (catch up with the ones I already have)

I’m going to need a longer summer!

Goals for the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL

 

Now that it’s here, I’m ready for it to slow down. This is my favorite week–the whole summer is in front of me full of possibilities.

This week, I’m keeping it simple. I always try to avoid writing the last week because I’m just beat, but my schedule wouldn’t allow it this year.

Survive! My room is mostly ready. I’m throwing out a LOT of stuff, which should make starting the year easier!
Participate in Joni Hahn’s launch party
Work on oilfield book
Finish short story

 

Countdown–5 Days–Ten Drinks I Want to Try This Summer

 

Field Day today–I’m going to need lots of fluids–nonalcoholic during and alcoholic after.

Something about summer makes me want to try new things to drink. I’ve made watermelon tea and sweet tea the past week. Here are some others I want to try.

Flavored water
watermelon tea
strawberry lemonade (in search of the perfect recipe. I like Wendy’s best right now)
pink lemonade party punch
blackberry sage cooler
peach flip (peaches, lemonade and Sprite)
orange ginger fizz
raspberry sunrise smoothie
strawberry mojitos
perfect sweet tea

Countdown–6 Days–Movies I Want to See This Summer

 

 

Today is my talent show–weeks of planning for an hour’s worth of crazy stress.Then one more tough day, and then smooth-ish sailing.

Usually I watch a lot more movies at the theater in the summer, but there aren’t too many I want to see this year, so I’ll catch up on other movies from Netflix.

X-Men (Days of Future Past)
Secret Life of Walter Mitty
American Hustle
Lone Survivor
Pompeii
The Monuments Men
Enough Said
Austenland
Mud
Say Anything (I’ve never seen it. I know, BAD.)

What movies have you seen lately?

Countdown–7 Days–TV Shows I Want to Watch This Summer

 

Today is the Whole School Field Trip. At least it will be over by noon, and then I’ll have practice for the talent show.

Every summer I pick a TV series to catch up on. This year it’s Boardwalk Empire, since Amazon made that deal to show HBO shows. I love that time period and I’ve been itching to see the show.

Here are the shows I’ll be watching this summer!

Outlander. I’ve been waiting for YEARS for this! Naturally, it begins RIGHT before school starts!
Longmire
Falling Skies
Rizzoli and Isles
Witches of East End
Under the Dome
Boardwalk Empire (catch up on Amazon Prime)
Revolution (catch up on Netflix)
Game of Thrones (catch up on DVD)
True Blood (catch up on DVD)