Getting Out…

A moment just watching….

Today, instead of moping… and to give both myself and Fluffle (poor kitty boy… I wrote a post about him and why we both need) a break, I took a drive down to Winterthur. Sunny, but there’s a cold breeze out on the hillside. Still, the scenery has been inspiring. Hopefully, some of the scenery will help inspire some creativity that doesn’t involve my cellphone camera.

Because of the Fluffle matter, my writing has been close to nil. I also haven’t been reaching my editing or beta reading goals (BIG apologies, You Know Who). I have managed to keep the ROW80 blog scheduled (though that was a close thing).

I think, in general, I’m doing quite well. While I’m not making a ton of forward momentum, I am still keeping up with things that would mess up other people if I let them slide. And… I am making a point to do some self-care when things are so, so crazy.

Crazy how? Well, tbh, none of it is extraordinary. There is just a lot of it. Some is a bit absurd, such as having to cut 4 mm pills in half to give Fluffle the correct does of one of his medications (of which there are six). We won’t discuss the success I’ve been having trying to get get him to actually take those 1/2 pills….

There’s also the long-distance event planning for Dad’s Celebration of Life service. And coordinating the trip north when my son has his Junior Formal the night before. (If you’re local and coming to the service, please don’t be offended if I seem a bit tired and out of it.)

There’s normal stuff too, of course. Normal cleaning, decluttering, yardwork, housework, car maintenance… All the stuff that won’t wait even when you wish it could.

Cranberry Lake

And there’s all those things I really want to get done: writing, drawing, reading…. the stuff that takes the stolen moment, needs at least a quieted spirit to reach its potential.

That stuff is where I’m most lacking in progress these days—the stuff that the ROW80 challenge is supposed to be about. Does this mean I’m failing at my goals?

Or…

….

I don’t know. I just know I am going to keep trying to find those moments of beauty and creative energy. They sustain me.

How are you doing?

(This post is part of the A Round of Words in 80 Days Writing Challenge. To learn more, to join, or to check-in on our other members, look here.)

Trying to Reset

A day late again, but March….ing on.

I don’t remember a single March in the past 15 years that hasn’t been chaotic. This one is looking to be no exception. After all… November came in like a lion, but until Dad’s Celebration of Life service on Palm Sunday weekend, the lambs are too busy rollicking in my head to settle down and rest.

That isn’t to say I’m not finding moments to settle and rejuvenate. As I mentioned in my last post, I am learning to see my limits better. In fact, I made a MOO (Me Only Outing ) to Winterthur last Thursday for some reset time. It helped… it helped a lot.

Capturing Moments in the Café

Friday was probably the most productive day I’ve had in a long, long time. Several little things that had been waiting in the wings got done. (Though, Thursday evening I spaced and missed the monthly business and process meeting with the SJWA.)

Saturday was even good, and officially that had been a planned “date day” with the Leader of the Opposition Party (actually, he and I disagree very little, but the term always makes me grin to use it). We managed a bunch of errands and figured out plans for the back yard that have been languishing since we arrived here.

Sunday… not so good. I forgot to get a WeWriWa post up on my name blog, but I did get a few things done and checked out another group in the area (this one dedicated to traveling, since I’m such a … homebody).

I’ve been waking up a lot earlier lately, and I think this sleep reset is doing something with the way I am able to function as well. I used to be a night person, but now… 4:40am waking times seem to be my regular. No alarms, just the body says “Hey, brain time.”

Thing is, I’m not set up for that at the moment. I guess that needs to be the next step: a way to make those hours in the morning more useful. Though, I haven’t quite figured out what that is without compromising some of the things that make my journey on this blue-green ball of rock worth living for….

Someday.

For now, focus needs to be on just check off boxes on my todo list. And… editing. I’m with Alberta on this… March is, even if there is no website saying it anymore, NaNoEdMo. For me, that’s also a first run of tying in pages. Double damage.

Though, TBH, I’d really rather be back at The Grotto watching these beauties:

I like the trees reflecting over the water

Always Catching Up

And always getting further behind

This post is even late. Sorry, not sorry. I am starting to recognize that I can’t do All The Things no matter how hard I might want to. Getting the majority of it past the “Started” phase feels like a major accomplishment.

An even bigger accomplishment, I’m starting to learn is how to not even start a thing. How to say No and set small limits when I do accept a task…. It’s not as easy as I would like it to be, but I’m finding the short-term discomfort of not “pleasing everyone” is more than made up for by the decreased angst and disappointment of looming deadlines, late deliveries, failed efforts…. and all the stress that those things bring with them.

So, along with my other ROW80 goals, that is my major WIP at the moment: Me.

At LandLubber’s in Atlantic City this December

How did I do since my last check-in (typed in the comments of the Facebook thread)? Well, here’s my list of “updated” goals with annotations:

• Continue to freewrite daily; aim for at least three pages or 20 minutes BICHOP There’s been some writing accomplished. Very little. I slept a lot from being sick this weekend.
• Maintain the ROW80 blog and update pages and info as I can Posts for the next week are scheduled
• Spend an hour daily, five days a week, sorting computer files (photos, notes, etc.) While I didn’t achieve a full five days this week, I did get a lot of photos (and some notes) sorted. 1/2 progress
• Spend an hour daily typing in notebooks, five days a week If I managed two hours all week, that would surprise me, but I did type in some stuff
• Reading… focus on reducing the “presently reading” list by finishing the library books (the hold up here is that several are non-fiction for research purposes, and those can be slow going when I’m taking copious notes or cross referencing details) I finished two books on my TBR… just in time for another book to be picked up at the library
• Update name blog and test it for “digestibility“ Mostly I’m just doing posts for the Weekend Writing Warriors (and I have a First Friday Photo post scheduled as well. That said, I finally fixed my timezone issue. So real progress here
• Learn the ins and outs of the Fediverse (Mastodon, Diaspora, etc.) Nothing; I’d ditch this task if I didn’t feel it will be necessary in the long term
• Maintain a weekly sabbath, a day where I do not NEED to do anything at least If sleeping most of Saturday away having fever sweats under the blankets counts, then yep. Even if it doesn’t… I do feel better than I have in a while, and that’s no bad thing.

That’s about all there is for now. I am off to make some late lunch and get some laundry done. See you all on Wednesday