Fri. Aug. 2, 2024: A Humid Start to the Month
image courtesy of JackieLou DLvia pixabay.comFriday, August 2, 2024
Day Before Dark Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron Retrograde
Partly cloudy, hot, oppressively humid
I can’t believe it’s August!
You can read the latest on the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.
Wednesday morning, I only had three more chapters to finish the edits on “Too Much Mistletoe” so that’s what I did. Proofreading the whole story and adding the author note is next. It’s just over 18K, not quite a novella. But it didn’t make sense to keep going, although I already know I need to change a character name in the proofread. I’m making some changes in the character moving forward, and she’s introduced here (and will grow to be a big part of the series), so I need to get it right.
Headed out pretty early to the store to pick up a few things for the weekend, since I won’t get the chance to go to the store today.
Did a large coverage turn around on Wednesday to bump up my pay a little; it helps, but still isn’t anywhere what I expected or needed to make this pay period.
In the rainy afternoon, I headed out to tarot circle, which was lots of fun. We have such a big group lately.
Home, cooked dinner, trying a recipe I made up as I went along. It tasted good, but it was too fussy, and I doubt I will do it again.
Slept reasonably well, although it was humid and oppressive when I woke up. No one wanted to eat much, not even Bea, who ate her breakfast in several visits to the plate, instead of gobbling it all up as soon as it went down. I hope that means she feels secure that there will always be food.
Did a morning Lammas ritual, baked cornbread, ate it with blackberries for breakfast. Wrote and posted on Kemmyrk about the 30-year anniversary, which you can read here.
Did some social media rounds for Lammas. Grabbed a few scripts for the opening days of the pay period. Most of the day, though, was spent in enjoyment and reflection. I did some reading. I played with the cats. Bea still keeps her distance from humans, although she enjoys room service and maid service. She is hanging out more, though, in the room, and watching the daily interactions. The other cats have accepted her as the Cat in the Sewing Room and rarely fuss. By the time the doors are opened and formal introductions are made, I think they will be used to each other.
It was hot and sticky and not good sleeping weather. I managed to sleep in bursts, with weird dreams. Moved to the couch by 4:30. Bea was very busy in the sewing room. She is perplexed as to why Charlotte, in particular, is so attached to a human.
I am headed out for the library to research the 1908 Balloon race this morning. It’s supposed to be very hot, so I’m glad I’ll be in the cool. But they close at 1, which means I’ll come back and be a lump on the couch for the hottest portion of the day.
Although I have 2 coverages (maybe even 3) to turn around today; I might decamp to the Clark to do so if it’s really miserable, once the library closes.
I’m also backing everything up umpteen times before Mercury goes retrograde on Monday. Last Merc Ret, my laptop died and I had to buy a new one.
Let’s take a look at our July stats, shall we?
New Material: 32,352
Edits: 141,034
Adaptation 19,115
Proofreading 68,250
Client Work 19,300
Professional Development 5 hours
Marketing 3-1/2 hours
Research: 3 hours
What does it all mean? I had a little over a week of out-of-office stuff, built around my show, the Farmers’ Market residency, the large poem, the last hurrah for the cohort. So that was all important and wonderful, but doesn’t really fit into the above categories.
The New Material number terrified me – 32K written in a month is way under what I need to be sustainable. But the Editing number more than makes up for it – just over 140K in edits, just over 19K in adaptation, and just over 68K in proofreading. Looking at the overall numbers, it’s a good month’s worth of work, although it was mostly working on material already written to prepare it to go out into the world.
The client work was on the low side, so there’s no surprise that income was lower than expected and wanted. Some of that is out of my control – we were told to expect work that did not materialize. I definitely made use of the time, but that doesn’t help my financial situation in the moment.
5 hours professional development is reasonable, even a little on the high side. But it felt good and right, and what I learned will be applied moving forward.
Marketing was way too low, but that was expected, since I spent time in professional development to recalibrate.
Research was mostly focused on the 1908 Balloon race. I need to track research time on projects, too, to get a better sense of it.
The takeaway was that July was a solid month in everything except finances, and that has to be adjusted moving forward. Hopefully, some of what I learned in the workshops will help with that.
Tomorrow is all house-and-home stuff, although I might do a coverage if I don’t get all three done today. Sunday will be quiet, in spite of the new moon, and then I’m going to the Mount in the late afternoon, unless the thunderstorms are worse than predicted. The poetry group from Troy is coming to do ekphrastic work in the sculpture garden, and I want to support them.
Monday, Mercury turns retrograde, so buckle up for the rest of the month. Stay low, stay quiet, go shopping in for bargains and in thrift stores, but not for big ticket items like houses, or electronics. Give yourself a lot of extra time when traveling. And try not to sign any contracts. If you have to, be extra careful of the details.
Since it goes retrograde in my 7th house of partnerships, there’s a chance it will be a somewhat rocky road. I will stay as quiet as possible, without being able to do it as a silent retreat. I may stay off social media as much as possible, too.
I have two coverages to turn around on Monday; let’s hope there aren’t any glitches. And let’s hope a lot of coverages come in for the next two weeks!
My primary focus next week, though, is to finish my Llewellyn article and send it off, to work on a short story, and to dig into the revisions of THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE.
Have a great weekend!
