Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 161
February 23, 2015
Sleet Day
We have a "snow" day today. Technically, It's mostly sleet and ice, but that's actually more treacherous on the roads than snow. Most of the schools in the area are closed, which meant my yoga class was cancelled. The class is done at the church, and the church follows the school district, so if schools are closed, so is the church. Although I do like the yoga class, it was kind of fun to actually have a real snow day, in that there was something I didn't have to do. And I got to sleep in, which is nice on a cold day. Now I'm sitting in my office, watching the cars going up and down the main street. There's ice on the road visible from where I'm sitting, but the way a lot of these people are driving, it must not be visible. Some cars are creeping through the intersection, but just as many are flying by. There hasn't been a wreck at this intersection yet, but I have heard plenty of sirens.
You know when Jim Cantore on the Weather Channel is broadcasting from your town, it's going to be an interesting weather day. Actually, at one point I think he was broadcasting from the edge of my neighborhood.
I haven't done a Monday Movie report in ages because I haven't really watched a movie in ages, but I finally caught a showing of About Time on HBO that fit my schedule. I'd planned to see this at the theater, but then the reviews sort of turned me off enough that I didn't make the effort (as I recall, it was a busy time and wasn't at my neighborhood theater). I have a love/hate relationship with a lot of Richard Curtis's films. I really enjoy both Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill up to just before the endings, and the endings practically ruin things for me, so I've learned to stop watching before the end. For someone known for romantic comedies, I have to say that he does a lousy job of writing romances. What makes his movies work for me are the relationships between friends and family members. I always find myself wanting to be part of that group of friends or a member of the family. Some of the romantic relationships in Love Actually worked because each story was essentially a short story told in small pieces, but I have a feeling most of them would have fallen apart if they'd had to carry a whole movie.
But About Time isn't actually a romantic comedy. It was reviewed as one, and the reviewers thought it failed as that. But I think it's actually a coming of age story told through a fantasy twist. In the story, the men in one particular family have the ability to travel in time within their own lifetimes (there are other restrictions that come up later). They've used this ability for various things, but using it to be wealthy and powerful always ends up making them miserable. When the father in this story tells his 21-year-old son about the power, he says he's mostly used it to read (and re-read) more books, which sounds perfectly rational to me. The son decides to use it to get a girlfriend, with varying results.
Mostly what it comes to is the power to give himself a do-over. If he screws something up, he can go back and fix it. But then there's the problem that fixing it doesn't always work -- he often acts on the basis of what the woman says she wants, going back in time to do what she said she wants, but it turns out that even this isn't what she really wants. And sometimes fixing one thing messes up another thing. There are some amusing montages of him making various attempts not to mess something up.
There is a romantic relationship at the center of the story, as he uses his power to meet and get things right with a woman who fascinates him, but it's not really a "romance" in that it's not about them getting together. It's just part of his life journey to meet and marry someone and have children and generally be a grown-up, and ultimately have to face problems without getting a do-over.
It's funny in places, but it ended up leaving me a sobbing mess (in a good way). It's the kind of story that makes you think about your life and the choices you make. At one point, he takes his father's advice to live each day twice -- once getting through it, and then once he knows how it's going to come out, going through it again without worrying about it, enjoying every moment and making the most of it. Of course, the obvious lesson is to go through life that way without having to do it a second time.
I don't think I'll be buying this one to watch again and again because it's not that kind of movie for me. I'm not sure watching it again would actually be pleasant. But I'm glad I watched it the one time.
Also, if you're playing the Doctor Who/Harry Potter game and spotting cast members, the score goes pretty high. Almost everyone in the cast has been in one or the other (or both).
Now, after a weekend spent organizing my bookshelves and downstairs closets, I need to do a little more straightening and tidying work (it's funny what a mess organizing can create), and then I hope to get a lot of writing done because I tend to feel more creative on cold, gray days.
You know when Jim Cantore on the Weather Channel is broadcasting from your town, it's going to be an interesting weather day. Actually, at one point I think he was broadcasting from the edge of my neighborhood.
I haven't done a Monday Movie report in ages because I haven't really watched a movie in ages, but I finally caught a showing of About Time on HBO that fit my schedule. I'd planned to see this at the theater, but then the reviews sort of turned me off enough that I didn't make the effort (as I recall, it was a busy time and wasn't at my neighborhood theater). I have a love/hate relationship with a lot of Richard Curtis's films. I really enjoy both Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill up to just before the endings, and the endings practically ruin things for me, so I've learned to stop watching before the end. For someone known for romantic comedies, I have to say that he does a lousy job of writing romances. What makes his movies work for me are the relationships between friends and family members. I always find myself wanting to be part of that group of friends or a member of the family. Some of the romantic relationships in Love Actually worked because each story was essentially a short story told in small pieces, but I have a feeling most of them would have fallen apart if they'd had to carry a whole movie.
But About Time isn't actually a romantic comedy. It was reviewed as one, and the reviewers thought it failed as that. But I think it's actually a coming of age story told through a fantasy twist. In the story, the men in one particular family have the ability to travel in time within their own lifetimes (there are other restrictions that come up later). They've used this ability for various things, but using it to be wealthy and powerful always ends up making them miserable. When the father in this story tells his 21-year-old son about the power, he says he's mostly used it to read (and re-read) more books, which sounds perfectly rational to me. The son decides to use it to get a girlfriend, with varying results.
Mostly what it comes to is the power to give himself a do-over. If he screws something up, he can go back and fix it. But then there's the problem that fixing it doesn't always work -- he often acts on the basis of what the woman says she wants, going back in time to do what she said she wants, but it turns out that even this isn't what she really wants. And sometimes fixing one thing messes up another thing. There are some amusing montages of him making various attempts not to mess something up.
There is a romantic relationship at the center of the story, as he uses his power to meet and get things right with a woman who fascinates him, but it's not really a "romance" in that it's not about them getting together. It's just part of his life journey to meet and marry someone and have children and generally be a grown-up, and ultimately have to face problems without getting a do-over.
It's funny in places, but it ended up leaving me a sobbing mess (in a good way). It's the kind of story that makes you think about your life and the choices you make. At one point, he takes his father's advice to live each day twice -- once getting through it, and then once he knows how it's going to come out, going through it again without worrying about it, enjoying every moment and making the most of it. Of course, the obvious lesson is to go through life that way without having to do it a second time.
I don't think I'll be buying this one to watch again and again because it's not that kind of movie for me. I'm not sure watching it again would actually be pleasant. But I'm glad I watched it the one time.
Also, if you're playing the Doctor Who/Harry Potter game and spotting cast members, the score goes pretty high. Almost everyone in the cast has been in one or the other (or both).
Now, after a weekend spent organizing my bookshelves and downstairs closets, I need to do a little more straightening and tidying work (it's funny what a mess organizing can create), and then I hope to get a lot of writing done because I tend to feel more creative on cold, gray days.
February 20, 2015
The Great Closet Purge
Funny thing I forgot to mention about Wednesday's choir adventures: I'd collapsed at the back of the sanctuary for the Ash Wednesday service when one of my choir kids came in with his family and enthusiastically headed straight to sit by me. His dad gently tugged him away and said, "I think she needs a break from you right now." I think I could have dealt with him, but still, you've got to love the perceptive and understanding dad. Oddly, that's a kid I have to correct a lot, so I guess it's nice that he still wants to be around me.
In lieu of painting yesterday, I purged my closet. I ended up with two of the big green "lawn and garden" garbage bags full of stuff to donate and one tall kitchen-sized bag of stuff that probably needs to go in the trash, unless I find a place that wants stuff just for rag or other recycling purposes, since these things all have either bad stains or holes. Meanwhile, I put a lot of out-of-season stuff in a big suitcase and stashed it in the upstairs closet. That cleared out enough space that I emptied all of the space bags and under-bed bags (aside for the good ones for the sweaters that require special handling) and still have room on the closet shelves for my hat boxes. I couldn't really follow the "if you haven't worn it in a year" rule because there were good things lurking at the back or at the bottom of the piles that I'd forgotten I had. By getting rid of a bunch of stuff, I found good stuff that I can still use. I'll have to do one more pass on the "good" clothes to convince myself that there's no saving those suits, and that will require trying things on. I also need to go through the handbag collection. I was pretty ruthless with the shoes. If they aren't comfortable, I'm letting myself ditch them. I guess feeling kind of woozy made it easier because I wasn't prone to nostalgia. I was strictly basing decisions on whether I will ever wear that particular item again, not on where I might have worn it in the past.
I do have one suit I'm pretty sure needs to go and that it will be hard to let go of. I bought it in my mid-20s, and it was a jacket, skirt, and slacks combo that was rather 1940s (I could imagine Agent Carter wearing it). It was a tiny houndstooth print in navy and white, with the jacket being a short "Ike" jacket (big shoulders, of course), and the pants were high-waisted and wide-legged. I wore this suit on my first trip to New York. I'd gone to D.C. first and took the train to New York, and of course it seemed like the perfectly appropriate outfit to wear on a train trip. I just needed a navy fedora to go with it. I felt like I should be in a black-and-white movie. I got a lot of compliments on that outfit from random strangers. Now I feel like the shoulders are just too huge, and the pants have that "mom jeans" waist. But man, that suit made me feel like something else -- all grown-up and sophisticated.
I have two other suits I bought in New York on that trip that will also probably have to go. They served their purpose in my life at that time, but I can't imagine wearing them again.
Now I need to find a good place to donate all these things. Most of the charities I've looked up want "gently used" items for a resale shop. These are probably more suited to "well, if you're desperate, these will cover your body and keep you warm" use. A clever seamstress might be able to remake the suits into something worthwhile. Otherwise, there are a lot of old t-shirts.
It feels really good to get essentially a carload of stuff out of my life. That may almost spur me to finish purging my office. At the rate I'm going, getting the house ready to show will be the hard part. Then almost everything will be sorted, and a lot of it boxed up, when it's time to move.
Now, though, I need to spiff myself up a bit to go to the library. Normally, I'd hike there in jeans and a sweatshirt, but the teen librarian at my branch just e-mailed me and said she got an ARC of the upcoming book at a library conference, and she noticed I live in the city and wanted to set up some programs this summer. I told her I actually use her branch and would be by today, so she told me a good time to meet with her. And so it begins ...
In lieu of painting yesterday, I purged my closet. I ended up with two of the big green "lawn and garden" garbage bags full of stuff to donate and one tall kitchen-sized bag of stuff that probably needs to go in the trash, unless I find a place that wants stuff just for rag or other recycling purposes, since these things all have either bad stains or holes. Meanwhile, I put a lot of out-of-season stuff in a big suitcase and stashed it in the upstairs closet. That cleared out enough space that I emptied all of the space bags and under-bed bags (aside for the good ones for the sweaters that require special handling) and still have room on the closet shelves for my hat boxes. I couldn't really follow the "if you haven't worn it in a year" rule because there were good things lurking at the back or at the bottom of the piles that I'd forgotten I had. By getting rid of a bunch of stuff, I found good stuff that I can still use. I'll have to do one more pass on the "good" clothes to convince myself that there's no saving those suits, and that will require trying things on. I also need to go through the handbag collection. I was pretty ruthless with the shoes. If they aren't comfortable, I'm letting myself ditch them. I guess feeling kind of woozy made it easier because I wasn't prone to nostalgia. I was strictly basing decisions on whether I will ever wear that particular item again, not on where I might have worn it in the past.
I do have one suit I'm pretty sure needs to go and that it will be hard to let go of. I bought it in my mid-20s, and it was a jacket, skirt, and slacks combo that was rather 1940s (I could imagine Agent Carter wearing it). It was a tiny houndstooth print in navy and white, with the jacket being a short "Ike" jacket (big shoulders, of course), and the pants were high-waisted and wide-legged. I wore this suit on my first trip to New York. I'd gone to D.C. first and took the train to New York, and of course it seemed like the perfectly appropriate outfit to wear on a train trip. I just needed a navy fedora to go with it. I felt like I should be in a black-and-white movie. I got a lot of compliments on that outfit from random strangers. Now I feel like the shoulders are just too huge, and the pants have that "mom jeans" waist. But man, that suit made me feel like something else -- all grown-up and sophisticated.
I have two other suits I bought in New York on that trip that will also probably have to go. They served their purpose in my life at that time, but I can't imagine wearing them again.
Now I need to find a good place to donate all these things. Most of the charities I've looked up want "gently used" items for a resale shop. These are probably more suited to "well, if you're desperate, these will cover your body and keep you warm" use. A clever seamstress might be able to remake the suits into something worthwhile. Otherwise, there are a lot of old t-shirts.
It feels really good to get essentially a carload of stuff out of my life. That may almost spur me to finish purging my office. At the rate I'm going, getting the house ready to show will be the hard part. Then almost everything will be sorted, and a lot of it boxed up, when it's time to move.
Now, though, I need to spiff myself up a bit to go to the library. Normally, I'd hike there in jeans and a sweatshirt, but the teen librarian at my branch just e-mailed me and said she got an ARC of the upcoming book at a library conference, and she noticed I live in the city and wanted to set up some programs this summer. I told her I actually use her branch and would be by today, so she told me a good time to meet with her. And so it begins ...
February 19, 2015
Attack of the Germs
Last night wasn't as bad as I feared. Two of the church staff members who work with kids filled in for the preschool class and one of the moms stayed to help in my class, plus both of my teen helpers, including the one who's been away for knee surgery, showed up. Still, I think my kids sensed fear, so they were utter brats. One girl was openly defiant about everything. The moment she was told not to do something, she did it again, just for the fun of it. The boys were really hyper and wanted to do nothing but run around and try to kill each other, and one little girl was behaving well but screaming everything she said at the top of her lungs. I gave up on lesson plans and just passed out rhythm band instruments. Then it was a lot of fun when it was our turn to go learn about the harps. I should have made a recording of me saying "Don't touch until you're told to do so" so I could have played it on a loop. The defiant girl had to be constantly restrained by one of the teen helpers because the moment she was told not to touch one of the instruments, she reached for it again or reached for another instrument.
However, I have decided that I want a Celtic harp. It's a stringed instrument that I can play even without developing calluses, and I could probably play and sing at the same time. Because I need more hobbies.
Of course, after mentioning my fear of getting sick yesterday, guess who seems to be coming down with a cold. So far, it's just the lurking sense that Something's Not Right, with some sniffles and a foggy head. Therefore, I have made an executive decision to postpone today's planned day of finishing the painting projects. I have to sing in a small ensemble Sunday morning, so I don't want to risk triggering anything. When I already have sniffles, working with paint may not be such a great idea, and when my head is foggy, I don't think climbing on ladders is too smart, either. I'll find something else to work on, like purging my closet and cleaning my office. The deadline for having the house ready hasn't changed. I'm just shuffling when I do which projects.
Yesterday I cleaned off the bathroom countertop and re-caulked the bathtub. It's amazing how big a difference that made. I suspect the old caulk had been there since the house was built, and it had stained in ways that even bleach wouldn't remove. The new caulk is supposedly anti-microbial and mildew-resistant, which probably didn't exist when the house was built in 1984.
I also need to do some writing and work on a marketing plan for this summer's book to share with the publisher marketing team. They're focusing on the teen and school markets, so I think I'm going to focus my marketing on the steampunk community, both teens and adults. It's on the steampunk bestseller lists at Amazon already, which is a good sign. I have high hopes for this book, and I really would like to sell the rest of the planned trilogy.
However, I have decided that I want a Celtic harp. It's a stringed instrument that I can play even without developing calluses, and I could probably play and sing at the same time. Because I need more hobbies.
Of course, after mentioning my fear of getting sick yesterday, guess who seems to be coming down with a cold. So far, it's just the lurking sense that Something's Not Right, with some sniffles and a foggy head. Therefore, I have made an executive decision to postpone today's planned day of finishing the painting projects. I have to sing in a small ensemble Sunday morning, so I don't want to risk triggering anything. When I already have sniffles, working with paint may not be such a great idea, and when my head is foggy, I don't think climbing on ladders is too smart, either. I'll find something else to work on, like purging my closet and cleaning my office. The deadline for having the house ready hasn't changed. I'm just shuffling when I do which projects.
Yesterday I cleaned off the bathroom countertop and re-caulked the bathtub. It's amazing how big a difference that made. I suspect the old caulk had been there since the house was built, and it had stained in ways that even bleach wouldn't remove. The new caulk is supposedly anti-microbial and mildew-resistant, which probably didn't exist when the house was built in 1984.
I also need to do some writing and work on a marketing plan for this summer's book to share with the publisher marketing team. They're focusing on the teen and school markets, so I think I'm going to focus my marketing on the steampunk community, both teens and adults. It's on the steampunk bestseller lists at Amazon already, which is a good sign. I have high hopes for this book, and I really would like to sell the rest of the planned trilogy.
February 18, 2015
Fending off the Germ Attack
I actually managed to achieve writing yesterday! I rewrote the first two scenes to fit with what I now know is the real plot of the book. I don't know if I'll get much done today because I have a lot of work on the house planned and it's choir day and I have to do some lesson planning. I also found out that not only will my co-teacher be out sick, but both of the preschool class teachers will be out, and so far we haven't found any substitutes because everyone else is sick or has sick kids. Fortunately, we already had planned for tonight to be the time the harp group comes to demonstrate, so that gives us an activity that takes up most of the evening, plus some bonus adults, but not all the kids can do that at once, so we need at least one other adult. I may kidnap the first parent who shows up.
My main plan for the evening is to do a late Mardi Gras parade (we're doing our pancake supper tonight, then having the Ash Wednesday service, so I figure Mardi Gras lasts until the service starts) and let the kids march around to "When the Saints Go Marching In." I have the CD from the band I once sang with in the French Quarter. I may even get wacky and let them play rhythm band instruments along with it while we march. We're working on matching the rhythm in a song. Some of them can find the beat, but most of them don't yet seem to realize that there is a rhythm in a song. When I get the younger kids, I have a book/CD story song thing about riding on a train to visit Grandma, so there are lots of motions and "whoo whoo" things to do along with the song.
And then as many sick people as seem to be around, I plan to cover myself in hand sanitizer and take extra vitamin C. I'm still expecting to come down with something at any minute, after all the coughing and hacking that were around at last weekend's convention.
Tomorrow is going to be another (and I hope my last for a while) big painting day, so today's fun around the house is doing some prep work for that. I found actual floor space in my office yesterday, which was very exciting. Even in just half an hour of work, I can see a real difference, so I need to make a point of doing those half hours. I just have two and a half weeks to get the house ready to show.
My main plan for the evening is to do a late Mardi Gras parade (we're doing our pancake supper tonight, then having the Ash Wednesday service, so I figure Mardi Gras lasts until the service starts) and let the kids march around to "When the Saints Go Marching In." I have the CD from the band I once sang with in the French Quarter. I may even get wacky and let them play rhythm band instruments along with it while we march. We're working on matching the rhythm in a song. Some of them can find the beat, but most of them don't yet seem to realize that there is a rhythm in a song. When I get the younger kids, I have a book/CD story song thing about riding on a train to visit Grandma, so there are lots of motions and "whoo whoo" things to do along with the song.
And then as many sick people as seem to be around, I plan to cover myself in hand sanitizer and take extra vitamin C. I'm still expecting to come down with something at any minute, after all the coughing and hacking that were around at last weekend's convention.
Tomorrow is going to be another (and I hope my last for a while) big painting day, so today's fun around the house is doing some prep work for that. I found actual floor space in my office yesterday, which was very exciting. Even in just half an hour of work, I can see a real difference, so I need to make a point of doing those half hours. I just have two and a half weeks to get the house ready to show.
February 17, 2015
Deadlines
I have given myself a deadline to get my house ready. I'd like to have it on the market by spring break, so that's three weeks from yesterday. This week I need to finish the painting (the kitchen, the trim around the house) and get the office clean and clear enough that there's access that doesn't require dance skills to get to the upstairs bathroom. Next week, I plan to have the plumbing issues taken care of, and once that is done, fix the kitchen floor (self-stick vinyl tiles seem to be the best solution for a quick and relatively easy spiff-up that doesn't require removing the old floor). Otherwise, there's a lot of cleaning, sorting and purging. Having a deadline should help me focus and get stuff done, and having an endpoint makes it easier to deal with. When it's all over, I'll just have to maintain the clean (and be prepared to make myself scarce for showings). And then I'll get the fun of moving. Yay. The trick may be finding something to buy. Houses like mine seem to be selling within a couple of weeks, and there's not much else coming up for sale. But it's likely more will start showing up around spring break, and it's possible that any new buyers might not want to move in until near the end of the school year.
In the meantime, there will be another book out. Book 2 in the Fairy Tale series, To Catch a Queen, will be coming out March 3, in e-book, paperback and audio. Here's the cover:
It's available for pre-order at iBooks and at Amazon.
I will eventually get my web page updated, but in the meantime, description and samples are available at these sites with previews.
In the meantime, there will be another book out. Book 2 in the Fairy Tale series, To Catch a Queen, will be coming out March 3, in e-book, paperback and audio. Here's the cover:
It's available for pre-order at iBooks and at Amazon.
I will eventually get my web page updated, but in the meantime, description and samples are available at these sites with previews.
February 16, 2015
Midwinter Break
I'm feeling very virtuous because I got up this morning to go to yoga, even though it was cold and drizzly and I was in "recovering from a convention" mode. But there is a strong possibility of a nap this afternoon.
My bathroom looks rather nice. There are a couple of spots I'll need to touch up with a tiny brush, and I need to do some cleaning and put everything back in place. I still need to do the kitchen and a couple of the living room walls, but that will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit and it's not so damp.
I would say I had moderate amounts of fun at the convention. I went to some panels I wasn't on and got some good info and ideas, but the social scene was kind of quiet. There were some people I hoped to talk to and never really got a chance. The room parties got shut down early. So mostly this amounted to a midwinter break for me -- a whole weekend to recover from home improvement projects.
I want to get some writing done today because talking about books does inspire me, and I did get the opening of the book re-planned last week. It's a good day for it. After a nap (because I really need a nap), I can snuggle under a blanket and get down to work.
My bathroom looks rather nice. There are a couple of spots I'll need to touch up with a tiny brush, and I need to do some cleaning and put everything back in place. I still need to do the kitchen and a couple of the living room walls, but that will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit and it's not so damp.
I would say I had moderate amounts of fun at the convention. I went to some panels I wasn't on and got some good info and ideas, but the social scene was kind of quiet. There were some people I hoped to talk to and never really got a chance. The room parties got shut down early. So mostly this amounted to a midwinter break for me -- a whole weekend to recover from home improvement projects.
I want to get some writing done today because talking about books does inspire me, and I did get the opening of the book re-planned last week. It's a good day for it. After a nap (because I really need a nap), I can snuggle under a blanket and get down to work.
February 13, 2015
Sign from Above?
The bathroom is now painted. I'm going to have to do a second coat in the areas where the roller wouldn't reach because the brush doesn't seem to do as heavy a coverage. I've decided to do the trim and any touch-up work later. It turns out that this paint has almost no odor, so sleeping next to a room that's just been painted won't be an issue. The main reason it's good to be out for a couple of days is not having to worry about drying and having my bathroom not really that useable (draping all over everything, the shower curtain down).
I'm already mostly packed for the convention, so after doing that second coat in the tricky spots I'll be able to just put on decent clothes, hop in the car, and hope I can check into the hotel in time to take a shower before my 4 p.m. reading. I'm actually ahead of my planned schedule, mostly because I also decided to do the kitchen later.
I woke up this morning from a dream in which I'd decided I needed to move to Nashville. I'd figured this out because it had the kind of scenery/terrain I like (true), closer to the kind of weather I like (also true), and a lot of the kind of people I like (also true), and I already know someone there because a friend from here moved there. But I don't think it was a Sign From Above dream because the next part of the dream involved me searching for real estate listings there to see what kind of house I could get with my current budget, and I couldn't get the search to work. When I put in my search parameters, I just got random pictures that weren't of houses. Then after that I couldn't seem to find a computer to search on, no matter where I went. From there it transitioned into one of those "returning to an office job" nightmares. So while I think I could live in Nashville and enjoy it, I'm not sure why I'd want to move there at this point in my life. I am still tempted to do the real estate search and see what comes up.
And now the first coat of paint should be dry enough for me to do a second coat.
I'm already mostly packed for the convention, so after doing that second coat in the tricky spots I'll be able to just put on decent clothes, hop in the car, and hope I can check into the hotel in time to take a shower before my 4 p.m. reading. I'm actually ahead of my planned schedule, mostly because I also decided to do the kitchen later.
I woke up this morning from a dream in which I'd decided I needed to move to Nashville. I'd figured this out because it had the kind of scenery/terrain I like (true), closer to the kind of weather I like (also true), and a lot of the kind of people I like (also true), and I already know someone there because a friend from here moved there. But I don't think it was a Sign From Above dream because the next part of the dream involved me searching for real estate listings there to see what kind of house I could get with my current budget, and I couldn't get the search to work. When I put in my search parameters, I just got random pictures that weren't of houses. Then after that I couldn't seem to find a computer to search on, no matter where I went. From there it transitioned into one of those "returning to an office job" nightmares. So while I think I could live in Nashville and enjoy it, I'm not sure why I'd want to move there at this point in my life. I am still tempted to do the real estate search and see what comes up.
And now the first coat of paint should be dry enough for me to do a second coat.
February 12, 2015
Painting Week Continues
My fun yesterday was applying spray-on texture to the walls that previously had wallpaper on them. The result isn't perfect (I don't think the stuff works as advertised), but it'll do once it's painted. The original paint job for this house was so sloppy that anything I do, however amateur, will be an improvement. They did a terrible job of mudding over the drywall tape (the tape is visible in places), and I think they pretty much painted by standing in the middle of the house and waving a paint sprayer around.
Today is taping, prepping and priming day, but I also have to get some stuff done to prepare for ConDFW this weekend. I'm so looking forward to having this phase of the project over with so I can get my kitchen and bathroom back to normal. Right now, my laundry room contents are in my dining room and there's plastic all over the bathroom. After the weekend, I really need to get my act together on the cleaning and other work because I've noticed that all the houses like mine are selling almost immediately. I was worried that there were too many on the market, but they're going fast. My problem may not be selling the old house, but rather finding a new house. There are currently three on the market that aren't my ideal but that I could probably live with.
I'm really looking forward to this weekend's convention, but mostly as a mid-winter vacation and recovery period from the Week of Painting. I don't have a lot of panels, so I may be spending my off time just hanging out in my hotel room with the knowledge that I'm not having to do any housework or home improvement projects. I may catch up on reading and sleep and occasionally emerge to socialize.
But first, there is sanding to be done.
Today is taping, prepping and priming day, but I also have to get some stuff done to prepare for ConDFW this weekend. I'm so looking forward to having this phase of the project over with so I can get my kitchen and bathroom back to normal. Right now, my laundry room contents are in my dining room and there's plastic all over the bathroom. After the weekend, I really need to get my act together on the cleaning and other work because I've noticed that all the houses like mine are selling almost immediately. I was worried that there were too many on the market, but they're going fast. My problem may not be selling the old house, but rather finding a new house. There are currently three on the market that aren't my ideal but that I could probably live with.
I'm really looking forward to this weekend's convention, but mostly as a mid-winter vacation and recovery period from the Week of Painting. I don't have a lot of panels, so I may be spending my off time just hanging out in my hotel room with the knowledge that I'm not having to do any housework or home improvement projects. I may catch up on reading and sleep and occasionally emerge to socialize.
But first, there is sanding to be done.
February 11, 2015
Writing Amid Chaos
The crazy busyness of my life right now has inspired this week's writing post: How do you write when you have a lot of distractions? When life is going according to plan and you don't have a lot going on, it's a lot easier to fit in writing time. But what about when life is a little crazier? There are times when you're sick, when you have sick family members, when your day job is requiring long hours or travel, when you have a book being released and have to do promo work, when you're moving, or, like I am now, you're getting a house ready to sell and doing a lot of cleaning, organizing, and repairing. Can you still fit in some writing time? Maybe, but it takes some strategy.
One thing to try is scheduling your other obligations and your writing -- you'll paint the bedroom from this time to this time, and then at this time you'll do an hour of writing. You need to be realistic here about what you can really accomplish and which projects are do-or-die. If you're on deadline with a book, then that might have to be the priority, and you schedule other stuff around that. If you absolutely have to finish the work project, then you may have to reschedule the writing accordingly. I do find that setting a writing appointment makes it easier to make myself fit a bit of writing into the day because otherwise all those little tasks will expand to fill the available time.
Once you've set aside time to write, you may need to do something that helps you change gears. Otherwise, even though you're sitting down with your pen or your computer, your brain will be off mentally comparing paint colors. It may help to find a sensory trigger -- a visual, scent, or sound that takes you immediately into the world of your book. It may be a picture that reminds you of your setting or characters, a scented candle that evokes the mood of the story, or a piece of music that brings the story to life in your head. You may have to work to establish these triggers. It will take a few times of looking at, smelling, or listening to these things as you get down to work before you start associating them with your writing. It can also help to establish habits or rituals that separate your writing from the other things going on in your life. You may want to change clothes, move to a new location, make a pot of tea, meditate for a moment, light a candle, play some music, etc., to signal to yourself that you're in writing mode.
Of course, during some really trying times, switching gears entirely isn't an option. That's when you need to give yourself permission to lighten up -- unless you're on a deadline, and even then if you have something really serious happening, you should talk to your editor and see if you can work something out. It's better to do that as soon as you know there might be a problem than on your deadline date when your book is only halfway done. I've heard that over and over again from editors, that they'd rather you let them know that you've had some life crisis and may need more time well ahead of your deadline. If you don't have a deadline, then you can lower your expectations while you're in crisis mode. You may only manage to write a page or a paragraph, or you may just get some ideas jotted down. I'm repainting my house this week and going to a convention this weekend, and I realized that trying to write wasn't working, so I outlined some ideas and I'm listening to music that reminds me of the book while I work. I'm hoping that means next week I can sit down and write with some pent-up ideas and end up being more productive than if I forced myself to squeeze in work this week.
This only works, though, if you have a good sense of the stop date for your crisis. It can be dangerous to your productivity to let it extend indefinitely. If you know that your project will end two weeks from now and then you'll get your life back, it's okay to just put your writing aside until you can breathe. If you do that for an ongoing difficulty, it's too easy to get into the habit of not writing. There's always going to be something going on in your life to get in the way of writing and it will become an excuse.
One thing to try is scheduling your other obligations and your writing -- you'll paint the bedroom from this time to this time, and then at this time you'll do an hour of writing. You need to be realistic here about what you can really accomplish and which projects are do-or-die. If you're on deadline with a book, then that might have to be the priority, and you schedule other stuff around that. If you absolutely have to finish the work project, then you may have to reschedule the writing accordingly. I do find that setting a writing appointment makes it easier to make myself fit a bit of writing into the day because otherwise all those little tasks will expand to fill the available time.
Once you've set aside time to write, you may need to do something that helps you change gears. Otherwise, even though you're sitting down with your pen or your computer, your brain will be off mentally comparing paint colors. It may help to find a sensory trigger -- a visual, scent, or sound that takes you immediately into the world of your book. It may be a picture that reminds you of your setting or characters, a scented candle that evokes the mood of the story, or a piece of music that brings the story to life in your head. You may have to work to establish these triggers. It will take a few times of looking at, smelling, or listening to these things as you get down to work before you start associating them with your writing. It can also help to establish habits or rituals that separate your writing from the other things going on in your life. You may want to change clothes, move to a new location, make a pot of tea, meditate for a moment, light a candle, play some music, etc., to signal to yourself that you're in writing mode.
Of course, during some really trying times, switching gears entirely isn't an option. That's when you need to give yourself permission to lighten up -- unless you're on a deadline, and even then if you have something really serious happening, you should talk to your editor and see if you can work something out. It's better to do that as soon as you know there might be a problem than on your deadline date when your book is only halfway done. I've heard that over and over again from editors, that they'd rather you let them know that you've had some life crisis and may need more time well ahead of your deadline. If you don't have a deadline, then you can lower your expectations while you're in crisis mode. You may only manage to write a page or a paragraph, or you may just get some ideas jotted down. I'm repainting my house this week and going to a convention this weekend, and I realized that trying to write wasn't working, so I outlined some ideas and I'm listening to music that reminds me of the book while I work. I'm hoping that means next week I can sit down and write with some pent-up ideas and end up being more productive than if I forced myself to squeeze in work this week.
This only works, though, if you have a good sense of the stop date for your crisis. It can be dangerous to your productivity to let it extend indefinitely. If you know that your project will end two weeks from now and then you'll get your life back, it's okay to just put your writing aside until you can breathe. If you do that for an ongoing difficulty, it's too easy to get into the habit of not writing. There's always going to be something going on in your life to get in the way of writing and it will become an excuse.
February 10, 2015
Painting Week
The Week of Painting has begun. Yesterday I obtained paint and painting supplies, so I guess I'm really going to do this. The main thing that needs doing is the bathroom, in part because it's a non-neutral color and in part because of some sheetrock repair that was done when the new heater/air conditioner was installed. When I bought the house, there was a pinkish and teal "Southwestern" pattern wallpaper in there. When I was using the downstairs bedroom as an office, that didn't bother me much. When I switched rooms, moving the bedroom downstairs and the office up, that wallpaper didn't work adjacent to my rather Victorian blue-and-white bedroom. I ripped out the wallpaper and painted the walls a bright blue (if you use the plain blue wallpaper screen on a Mac, it's about that color) with a soft beige color wash over it. I was planning to use the sheetrock repair as an excuse to repaint with a slightly different shade of blue because the original paint came out a bit darker and brighter than I really wanted. I just couldn't decide on a paint color. I've had cards of paint samples sitting in that room for years and was never sure about any of them. Since I'm planning to sell soon, I figured I might as well just do a basic white, especially since I also have to repaint the laundry room because there's a bit of sheetrock repair in there from a plumbing repair.
I was then trying to decide which white was closest to what I needed, but then I got the clever idea of taking the piece of sheetrock that was cut out of the laundry room to Home Depot and telling the guy in the paint department that I needed that kind of paint in that color. He ran it through the scanner, and now I have paint to match, and it's enough to take care of most of the normal-height walls in the house -- the ones that are problem areas, like in the kitchen. The original painters didn't do a very good job because there are spots where the tape is clearly visible, so I'm doing some mudding over it before I paint. Today's fun is finishing the sheetrock repair in the laundry room. I've already touched up the spots around the new thermostat. Tomorrow I get to apply new texture to the walls that used to be wallpapered and to the patched areas. Thursday will be primer day for the spots that need it. Then Friday morning I'll paint before heading to ConDFW, and that way the paint can dry thoroughly while I'm out of the house.
This is where all the work I've done with Habitat for Humanity is paying off. I learned all kinds of skills for painting and preparing for painting, as well as observing how to deal with sheetrock.
Meanwhile, I guess I also need to get ready for the convention. I need to find something to read and maybe get together some promo stuff. And I got the new book re-outlined yesterday, so I hope to do a little writing. I'm finding it hard to fit all the home repair work and the writing in because it's hard to shift mental gears. I need to find a piece of music that tells me it's time to write this book so I can shut off the part of my brain that's figuring out the best way to paint that particular wall.
I was then trying to decide which white was closest to what I needed, but then I got the clever idea of taking the piece of sheetrock that was cut out of the laundry room to Home Depot and telling the guy in the paint department that I needed that kind of paint in that color. He ran it through the scanner, and now I have paint to match, and it's enough to take care of most of the normal-height walls in the house -- the ones that are problem areas, like in the kitchen. The original painters didn't do a very good job because there are spots where the tape is clearly visible, so I'm doing some mudding over it before I paint. Today's fun is finishing the sheetrock repair in the laundry room. I've already touched up the spots around the new thermostat. Tomorrow I get to apply new texture to the walls that used to be wallpapered and to the patched areas. Thursday will be primer day for the spots that need it. Then Friday morning I'll paint before heading to ConDFW, and that way the paint can dry thoroughly while I'm out of the house.
This is where all the work I've done with Habitat for Humanity is paying off. I learned all kinds of skills for painting and preparing for painting, as well as observing how to deal with sheetrock.
Meanwhile, I guess I also need to get ready for the convention. I need to find something to read and maybe get together some promo stuff. And I got the new book re-outlined yesterday, so I hope to do a little writing. I'm finding it hard to fit all the home repair work and the writing in because it's hard to shift mental gears. I need to find a piece of music that tells me it's time to write this book so I can shut off the part of my brain that's figuring out the best way to paint that particular wall.
