That's How It Goes.

Not quite as impressive this week, but I am still plowing ahead.

I. READING

A. Weekly goal

1. Read my assigned blog posts as a ROW80 sponsor.  I think I did this.

2. Read ten hours a week in one of the books I am reading.  Let’s just say, yes.  

B. Goals for the Round                           

1. Have finished reading five books.  I have finished four actual books, but I also did finish the manuscript of that friend of a friend. I don’t know how many words it was, but it is in a two and a half inch ring binder, so I’m counting it.

II. WRITING

A. Weekly goal

1. Work on my novel, “Tale of an American Woman”. Started chapter 33. I really need to stop being distracted and just finish it!!!

2. Edit “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”, the second book in the Bible Stories in 40 Days series. Finished! And this week I did contact my publisher and he is excited to see it as soon as it is really ready.

 3. Write two blog posts here and three posts to my other blog, The Dino Chronicles. Yes, I blogged on schedule.  

B. Goals for the Round.  

1. Have finished the first round of edits for “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. Finished!

2. Start editing my novel.   I don’t know how I will get this done, but I am not going to despair yet.  

3. After reading that manuscript of a friend of a friend (I should give it a title, huh?), write a critique of it. This is not the only brand-new goal that I added just this week, but this one I actually did. I wrote a one page evaluation of it and re-wrote a two-page section to give the author an idea of what editing she needs to have done on this thing.

III. REACHING

A.      Weekly goal.

1. Promote either one of my books on one other site or in person. I personally talked to three women this week about my books, telling them where they are for sale and offering to get them a personal copy. I also emailed five friends to tell them I am working on the second devotional in the series and that it would help that second book if I had some more reviews of the first one. All five of them got back to me that they are on it. I think that is a good percentage.

2. Comment on my assigned blogs for ROW80. I think I did this.   

3. Research markets for an hour. No, not really.  

4. Walk several streets of town, taking pictures and blogging about it.  Umm, I don’t think I walked at all. Right now I am obsessed with the tearing down of our old hospital, so I walked around those two city blocks four times.

B. Goals for the Round

1. Have submitted three pieces somewhere. Yes, I submitted my third piece to Splickety Love and heard back within two days that they rejected it. On the upside, I heard from an online magazine that I sent a piece to in March and they wanted to let me know that they have sent my piece to some committee for consideration, so I can at least take that article off the rejection list and put it back on the still-waiting list.

2. Have sent a copy of “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days” to my clergy-friends for their input. Yes, it is in the hands of three of them.

3. Have finished walking every street in my town.  The weather last week was abysmal, but the forecast for next week is looking better. I am going to keep going and see what I can get done before it snows.

IV. PERSONAL

A. Nonprofit – Tumaini Volunteers – First of all, you have heard we have been granted tax-exempt status. Which is the tip of the iceberg. Our new immediate goal is to write a business plan which we can present to potential large donors. We are having a meeting next Sunday to work on that.

B. Sewing -- Finish one project this Round. Yes! Have sewn two things.

C. Church –

1. Get addresses for our college kids and find them all mentors.  No change here, but I still am doing better than other years.

2. Write our children’s Christmas program. I know, who does this? With one week to go in the Round, I added another new goal. I know this won’t happen this Round, but I wanted to write it down so that I wouldn’t forget it for next Round.

And that is how my life goes. Basically around in circles. But what’s a girl to do?

 My biggest distraction of the summer. This was the ER entrance of the old hospital in my town, as it looked in July.

 Here it is as of last Thursday. Needing some emergency services itself.