Alathia Paris Morgan's Blog, page 3

New Year’s Resolutions, Affairs, and Exercise!

We all know that by late January most New Year’s resolutions have died out or slowed down. The majority of the good ideas or plans that we make during the holidays to start��the new year out right; fade quickly because we are not completely committed to the idea. I mean how many of us really want to go on a six-eight week diet? Or exercises that will make us lean and sexy and��motivate us to rise at 5am each morning? Despite most of our good intentions;��the resolutions leave us long before they have become a habit in our daily lives.

This year I did not make any big resolutions for two reasons: #1 I hurt/broke my ankle the week of Christmas so that made exercise a no go for a resolution. #2 I always have an allergy��reaction to Cedar pollination, which equals a huge cold/cough Kleenex pile that makes resolutions never happen in January. So instead I��did something that has motivated me to��get with the exercise as the problems above are resolving.

I had an amazing day dream…I went to a convention and met the man of my celebrity dreams and of course he wanted to date me and eventually marry me. Then I woke up to reality where the real problems stand between me and my imaginary future mate.��Starting with��the fact that I’m married��and thus have to take my husband out of the picture. (Writers have all sorts of stories running through their brains.) I have had three children so my body shape is long gone, I would have to get toned, pluck the eyebrows, and possibly shave my legs on a regular basis. (Like twice daily instead of every few days.) Then I realized that all of these things that I was writing on a check list were things that I really need to do anyway simply for me.

While those that have personally met me know that exercise is equal to saying a bad word in my house. I have decided to do this for myself. Now don’t go expecting drastic changes to my appearance, there will be no dresses or heels worn in the��remaking of my oversized body. Before anyone thinks that this is sad because I am changing who I am for… oh wait myself. There are always things that we all wish were different and many of those things are not changeable. Some things are and since that is the case I am��going to work toward the goal that if I were to meet my fictional boyfriend, I would feel great about myself instead of��wishing I had worked out more or eaten one less piece of cake.

All that said I am told that without exercise it is a real possibility that I could be diabetic in the next few years or months.��If that were to happen I would have a much larger lifestyle change than just a few ab��or butt workouts. So in the long run I would like to live longer and feel better about my total image than looking in the mirror and wishing someone could change things.

Also in case of a zombie outbreak do you really think that I could make it more than a month? Out of shape people do not survive when you need to��outrun zombies. Just saying that I have more than one reason to get in shape. So what will be your motivation��that will help you work toward whatever goal is important to you?

Violence, Church and Zombies. Oh, My!!

So this is the warning that this post might bother the sensitive or conservative in thoughts or ideals. I did name my blog unique life views for a reason so here goes.

I have been watching the The Walking Dead for the first time ever since they had a New Year’s marathon with all of the episodes. I thought that this would be a good time to get started and see what all the hype was about. Well, five days later I had finished all four seasons and caught thru season five. When I first left home to go back to real life, I kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see zombies coming after me. While looking at all these people who are just living life, I have been mulling over just who would survive an earth shattering problem. No, I don’t believe that zombies would really happen, but World War III or after all the riots lately, well anything could really be possible.

Now, so far you have been asking why the big warning? I was at church today and was thinking about the ladies in the choir. I mean really how many of them would last if there were zombies? Would we really see many Christians or church goers that survived six months or even a year? Yes, I know I’m supposed to be paying attention to the service and I was in a round about manner. It tried to focus until the preacher got up and started speaking. What he had to say sent me into another world solving question.

He started out by mentioning something about all of the violence in the world and what effect that has on our personal lives. He eventually got to his point about anger….which is where I didn’t hear much else because I was stuck on the thought of violence and Christians.

So my rabbit went trailing away… Violence is seen by so many Christians as wrong. They try to cut it out of their lives by saying that videos and games with violence will make people prone to violence. Now, I have watched a lot of The Walking Dead episodes(almost 60)��filled with violence and have no compulsion to walk out and hurt people or zombies. So now comes the true trail that my bunny is hopping down while I sit in church. Do Christians as a whole not really remember their beginnings? (This is��not an accusation, but more of a questioning of what we truly think.) I mean if we were to make a show about the��defeat of David’s enemies or what kind of man Abraham was from actual Bible descriptions most of the church world would be appalled at the way in which events really happened.

Now I’m about to really veer off the path a bit. So when��watching TWDead��I paid attention to the people that were left in the world as millions died and the zombies chase both the good and the bad. Why were the��majority or those that survive the ones that we see as morally bad? How come those that��are taught to turn the other cheek weren’t the ones��running the zombie world? Simply because they are so scared to be taken out of their comfort zones. I mean we don’t see any of the billionaires surviving because in a world were the toughest win; its not the meekest or the richest��that make it.

In watching there are many moments when you think as you watch, could I really run faster than someone else so that I don’t die? Or would��you help as many as you could? See that is what the main characters of this show do time and again. Help��others even when it isn’t always the best for the whole group. Now am I condoning everything that they do acceptable for a Christian? No. On the other hand what do we do in our present world that helps and��doesn’t hurt others?

Are there ways that we can be strong, moral, role models helping others with what life dishes out before the world changes?�� Instead of preaching about anger or against violence, why not preach on how to change the world of those around you? Now, I’m not about to preach or judge anyone. If you have seen the commercial about helping one person and they pass it on,��small actions do make a difference.��Let’s be��proactive in our good deeds. Take the intentional force and use of power��and do something good everyday.

May the good force go with you!!

Lazy Thoughts Come With Guilt.

I find myself actually relaxing. Amazing I know, but it does happen. Last year I felt that the whole first four months were lazy months. Then I started writing my first novel and everything accelerated and hasn’t stopped since. I needed a few days to simply recuperate and refocus.

Christmas becomes so busy with end of year sales goals and trying to make sure that I have delivered everyone’s gifts before the holidays. This year I decided that I would add extra stress to the mix by buying a new car and trying to write my second book. I haven’t even tried to write on it for almost a month. Knowing that I didn’t have the time to actually do a good job for the few minutes that I had, I moved on to other projects that could be completed.

Now only two days after all of our Christmas parties are done, I have finally moved back into writing mode. I was distracted by reading this set of books called the Game of Thrones. I can’t imagine why I was immersed in a series that most people have fallen in love with. I didn’t think that I would like it as much as I have though. Since I made it halfway through book four, I realized that my writing was going nowhere and needed to be put back on the front of the shelf.

I need to get motivated since I am supposed to have this book finished by February. At the moment that seems a little optimistic so I will try my best to get it done. I just have so many ideas, but putting them down and fleshing them out is the hard part for me. I know that after several books it will get easier, yet I am still only a third through with this newest novel. Guess I should quit blogging and start writing huh? Let’s see what the new year will bring.

HOT NEW RELEASE!Two brothers. One impossible Choice. An...

HOT NEW RELEASE!

Two brothers. One impossible Choice. And no secret stays hidden forever. ONLY $0.99! Forever His Baby by Morgana Phoenix http://smarturl.it/ForeverHisBaby

Add to your TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/bo…/show/23753149-forever-his-baby

This story was amazing!!! Lilly finds out that she is expecting her best friends baby, but his brother steps up to take on the responsibly so that Lilly is accepted by the town. I love how the town busybody throws them a baby shower and they leaver her something that everywoman fears will happen in her bedroom when she is hosting a party. You have to read the book to find out what happens.

Every book that I have read from this author had been a great read and well  worth the time. I would recommend this book because the characters are real and deal with normal everyday problems.

For me when I read a novel I want to be taken to a new place that shows what people are really made from. Each book/story can take you inside the motives to give a different person’s perspective on how they handle life. This story does just that with a little  of sass and romance to keep the reader returning for more.

I  read it straight through and couldn’t put it down. I hope that we see another story from this set of characters.

12 Days of Ebooks Christmas Countdown: Day 3 – Ding Dong! Is She Dead?

alathiamg:

I was featured on the blog, check it out and read about Heather’s other featured books during the 12 days of Ebooks for Christmas.

Originally posted on Heather Reviews:

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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like – Cookies!

Originally posted on Interpreter of Inspiration:

Long ago and far away, in a time well before now, I earned the nickname MFS.  It stands for Martha Fucking Stewart.  This was well before any allegations of insider trading; at the time, she was still the pinnacle of homemaking; she was a walking Pinterest post.

I was challenged to write a cookie exchange blog post by Caroline over at Ice Cream for Zombies.  Kind of an Author Cookie Swap.  While you’re checking out the recipe she posted, make sure you poke around and read up on her latest publications!  I decided to post the recipe that earned me the MFS title.  It happened something like this…

I was at the table, mindlessly decorating gingerbread snowflakes while talking with friends.

Me: “Blah blah blah blah….”

Friend: “Will. You. Just. STOP?!”

Me: *dumbfounded stare* “Huh?”

Friend: “You just decorated that entire tray of cookies without looking down once, and…

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Accomplished: That feeling of satisfaction.

When I come to the end of a long day, I always evaluate how great a day it was by how much I got done. If I still have a long to-do list, but the entire house is clean then I feel accomplished. Most days I have a revolving to-do list with the top priorities that are urgent to the things I would like to get done that day.

I have learned through the years that the more I have scheduled; the more that I get to take off my list. When I am hurrying from thing to thing, I tend to be better organized and multitask more to make sure that everything gets done. When I don’t have a lot to do, I wind up having spent the entire day reading a book or playing facebook games, but the laundry hasn’t been done. Not that reading a book or leveling up on the computer are not important tasks in my life goals or anything, they just don’t count toward my children having clean clothes for school the next day.

Lately, I have been trying to become more involved in the world around me because I just didn’t have enough going on with a business to run, book to write and three children to manage.

I have started volunteering twice a month at the local recycle center. Now nine months later, I have another child to worry about since no one else wants to be responsible for the recycle center and I can’t just let it become overrun with donations.

I have also committed to a leadership team of 14 people to learn about and do a community project that will benefit our county. It has been interesting to learn about all the components of a small rural community and how much each person actually contributes to the whole picture.

Now, I have gotten pulled into the local genealogy group to do their facebook and webpages since most of the women on the board don’t even have an email address. I just hope that they know what we are doing to advertise for them.

I want to join the quilt guild and work on my many unfinished quilt tops so I am trying to squeeze that in once a month. If I can get my current one done, I’ll post a picture of it.

With all of this on my plate, I am beginning to think that I need to say no to any new people because they that are pulling me away from my reading and writing time. Instead, these past few months I have completed things that I had on my want list for some far date in the future. Now, while I don’t think I can really add anything else to my full plate, I am going to take advantage of this overwhelming list of tasks to make sure that they are all finished so that I can have that wonderful feeling of satisfaction.

Instead of looking at the whole picture and being depressed that it will never get done, I simply prioritize the next day so that I can get the most out of it possible. There are some days that you just have to say screw it, tomorrow is a fresh day with no cliffhangers. No plot twists that leave you scrambling, yet twists are sometimes the best plots because they have unexpected outcomes.

So while I may not have crossed off the to-do list today, I am full of satisfaction that my life’s dash on my tombstone will be filled in with the words, “It was never boring”. I am off to bed after a full day of working on my office, laundry and social media advertising. Tomorrow is a new day for the rest of my story to write itself, I can sleep in satisfaction.

What writing does for me.

 I found this cartoon as I was working on my NaNoWriMo project. I feel like this everytime I get a few paragraphs that work well together. Yea, me. I wrote the world’s best selling three paragraphs. This happens to me when I actually get to sit down at the computer. I realize that the entire novel be composed of great paragraphs, but when that one scene comes together it does feels great. Then reality comes to visit and I crash back to earth knowing that I have to actually finish writing the whole novel first. It seems to be a rollercoaster of ups and downs depending on who gives you that uplifting word or the depressing statement about why you did something to your novel.

The whole point of writing a novel is to express a point of view about a story. Some people write simply to make money and while that would be wonderful, I feel the need to express the ideas that have been hanging out in my brain for months. The ideas just need a way to get on the paper and then out to the public.

So far one of the biggest questions I have gotten asked repeatedly, is why would you want to write? Well for me personally there is so much that needs to be said. Yes, I know others have written books before me, so wouldn’t they have already used that idea you ask? They may have, but I know there is always room for improvement no matter how overdone the story is. I tend to look at the world through a unique point of view so I might have more humor to add to a scene or a little sass for when times get tough. While the characters of my stories will probably fall in love, they will go through hard times to get there. Real life is never easy so why should the stories that I write be all daisies and butterflies? It doesn’t have to be and that is what makes writing so much fun.

I have found over the past several months as I have been writing that I really miss the outlet that comes from writing when I don’t write for a few days. I have always been a reader and when I go for a few days or as long as a week without reading my mood becomes nasty. Now, I also have these moments when I haven’t written in a few days. The best way to describe it is an outlet to express what I am feeling or thinking when I have to keep all of my thoughts and ideas inside so that I don’t offend the people that I am working with. If I always speak my thoughts, then the customers wouldn’t want to come back and I would be out of a job. Since I have to keep a lot of that bottled up, writing is one way to express what is going on in my life without anyone saying that my ideas are wrong or shocking.

When you are able to express what is on the inside, it makes being yourself a much easier accomplishment. So if you hear a scream of excitement, don’t think that my novel is finished. Just know that it was a really great paragraph that needed to be written.

Life after the Pirates.

I have had a bad week, if you could call it just a week. I have realized that I have a lot to be thankful for even during this bad time. I am so thankful that all I lost were some papers and pictures. While I will miss them, it is not the end of the world because I have my three precious children and husband still with me. The pictures would have been nice to help us remember all the fun that has happened over the years, but we could have lost so much more. People survive fires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes with nothing, but the clothes on their backs. I think that I can survive the computer Pirates that thought they needed them more than we did.

I was beginning to have a pity party because of all that I had lost, when I realized that this experience was a good one. I can be thankful that I have learned to back up my work so that when it is more important later on in my career something like this would be completely devastating.

Then I discovered that I had managed to back up the last books that I had been working on, when I thought it had all been lost. The knot in my stomach has melted in relief. It is like the huge stone that was on my back and I didn’t even know that it was there. Now that it is gone I feel such relief.

So thank you Pirates that did this for showing me that my family is more important than stuff that we all hold onto. I felt like a piece of me had been lost that was irreplaceable. It was just parts of stories that I was thinking and working on over the last ten years, but they were part of me.

I didn’t lose my home or my family so I am very thankful during this holiday season for those blessings. I will be looking for things that I have taken for granted in the past that I can be thankful for now. I can start working on getting back on track with my current work in process.

The terrible, horrible never ending week.

So my bad week started last Wednesday evening. I had known for a while that my computer need to be backed up and cleaned out. It had been running slowly and getting worse for a month or so. When I went to do all that fun computer mumbo jumbo, guess what I found? Yep a virus. Not just any virus, Pirates were afoot in my computer. It had spread from my home computer to my newer laptop and I believe that it is on my phone as well.

I then called the computer guy to see when he could start work like now of course. It was a 911 urgent text, so this nice guy came the next day and got my computers. It felt like I was giving my children away to a stranger for the weekend. He brought it back on Sunday and I of course got started checking it all out. I started backing it up to a drive so that I wouldn’t lose all that important stuff again. Wait!!! The virus was still there. Now, I know that he took lots of viruses off of my computer, but this one was made just for your personal stuff and multiplied if you try to open or download it. The Pirates wanted me to spend almost $800 for a simple code that would unencrypt my own work. Needless to say, I will not be paying for their services and the computer guy is going to wipe the computer since it can’t be saved anyway.

Two and half days with out my computer and then my child came home from school sick with a fever, cough and diarrhea. Yeah team!!! Just what every mother wants to have for the weekend.

Then today since I was home with the sick child, I come back into the room and go to turn on the tv. Nothing happens and I assume that I must put new batteries in the remote. Oh, no. It was the tv that I earned from my job less than two months ago, not turning on anymore. Wait that is not the end. They can come out to fix it, but without the receipt they will charge me to fix it and for the service call. Why wouldn’t they charge me because I was given this awesome tv because of my hard work? Just the way my life works most days, although it is usually just one crisis at a time.

I can only attribute all this fun stuff to my world having been happy lately while life has been good. Now of course I am pulling out my hair trying to make everything work out.

I am thankful that we are healthy or almost back to that, with a laptop that works and time to work on my book that needs writing.

Rant over, resume your normally scheduled life. I know that I am trying too.