Second Chances, and third, and fourth . . .

This week’s big achievement was my radio interview on Advantage Radio Ministries. It went ok. I whine more about it below, so I won’t whine here.

I. READING

A. Weekly goal

1. Read five other blog posts a week.  Yes.       

2. Read ten hours a week in one of the books I am reading.  Yes, I think I did.  

B. Goals for the Round                           

1. Have finished reading five books. Still at three.

II. WRITING

A. Weekly goal

1. Work on something five times a week.     

a. Work on “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”, the second book in the Bible Stories in 40 Days series. Yes, it took me most of the day Friday to write one entry, mostly because I get so easily distracted and ended up reading everything I could find on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which had nothing to do with what I was writing about.    

b. Write on my novel. No.

c. Write my blog posts. No, I only blogged twice in The Dino Chronicles and once here.

B. Goals for the Round.  

1. Have finished the first draft of “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. No.

2. Have written half of my novel.  No.

III. REACHING

A.      Weekly goal.

1. Promote either one of my books on one other site or in person. Yes, I had my radio interview on Tuesday. It went ok, would have been better but on the recording it sounds like my phone was cutting in and out and I don’t know what that was all about.  

2. Comment on two other blog posts.  Yes.

3. Research markets for an hour. Yes, a long time ago, I found a link that lists a bunch of different markets, so I have been reading up on those.   

4. Keep up on social media, responding to all messages.  Yes.

5. Contact one organization about a speaking engagement. Hmm? I don’t think I did anything here.  

B. Goals for the Round

1. Have submitted three pieces somewhere. I am still at one.

2. Have booked three speaking engagements or book signings. I haven’t added any since the radio interview I just had. Well, I do have an interview at our local newspaper this week. It is for our nonprofit, but I am sure I can slip the book in there too.

IV. PERSONAL

A. Exercise - Continue exercising four times a week, including running on the treadmill.  Yes.

B. Nonprofit - Continue working on Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., applying for tax exempt status by the end of the Round.  Nah, I don’t think I did anything with the nonprofit this week. My daughter did hear from the IRS. She is all bummed out coz they told her it would be another 90 to 180 days before we find out if we are tax exempt or not. I told her she should have expected that, considering how the federal government works. She has been working diligently on the fundraiser and I am waiting in the wings for her to put me to work.

C. Sewing - Finish two projects this Round. Yes, well, or at least I finally finished one thing. The curtains for my bedroom in the basement.

Here are the curtains, and also the link to my radio interview. 

Several Changes in Schedule this Week

I work on most of these goals on Friday, my day off from the day-job, but this week I had to work on Friday. I went into work on Monday, thinking this is going to be one long week, but as it turned out we had extra people that day, so I volunteered to go home. So I did some of my Friday things on Monday, and since that was so long ago, I forgot what I did.

                                                                                             

Wednesday night was also the first time I attended a meeting of our new writers group. It went well, and I hope that as the group evolves we are all able to help each other out.

The last thing that happened this week, which was out of the normal routine, was that I went to an educational seminar for work yesterday. As I mention below, I sold six books (without trying!) and also talked to a few people about our nonprofit.

So here’s how the week really panned out.

I. READING

A. Weekly goal

1. Read five other blog posts a week.  Yes.       

2. Read ten hours a week in one of the books I am reading.  No, I don’t think I did.  

B. Goals for the Round                           

1. Have finished reading five books. I am at three. Last night I finished “Miracle at Tenwek”. Finally.  

II. WRITING

A. Weekly goal

1. Work on something five times a week.     

a. Work on “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”, the second book in the Bible Stories in 40 Days series. Yes, I wrote one more day.   

b. Write on my novel. No.

c. Write my blog posts. No, I only blogged twice in The Dino Chronicles and once here.

B. Goals for the Round.  

1. Have finished the first draft of “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. No.

2. Have written half of my novel.  No.

III. REACHING

A.      Weekly goal.

1. Promote either one of my books on one other site or in person. Yes, I was at a conference for work yesterday and sold six books, so I am going to count that.  

2. Comment on two other blog posts.  Yes.

3. Research markets for an hour. Yes, I really think I did, I just can’t remember now what.  

4. Keep up on social media, responding to all messages.  Yes.

5. Contact one organization about a speaking engagement.  Yes, I mailed out letters to two churches.

B. Goals for the Round

1. Have submitted three pieces somewhere. I think I am still at one.

2. Have booked three speaking engagements or book signings. Still at one, the radio interview this Tuesday. Wish me luck.

IV. PERSONAL

A. Exercise - Continue exercising four times a week, including running on the treadmill.  Yes.

B. Nonprofit - Continue working on Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., applying for tax exempt status by the end of the Round.  YES, I worked on our Business Plan some more and sent it out to two people I know, one who is in marketing and one who works for another nonprofit. They are going to look at what I have so far and make suggestions.

C. Sewing - Finish two projects this Round.  Not yet.

One hundred fellow medical professionals at Saturday's conference. I should have sold more books, huh? I would probably have to write medical books for that to happen. 

Vacation is a-coming

I started planning our vacation for this spring. We are going to Missouri, and not to Branson or the Ozarks. I hated Branson the one time we were there and since we are going in early spring, I don’t know what the weather will be like in the Ozarks. So we are staying at a place halfway between Hannibal and St. Louis. It doesn’t really matter where we go, just so I get out of town!

When we were in Missouri in 2001, taken from a riverboat. We didn't spend much time in St. Louis then because it was so beastly hot. No more summer vacations, I am shooting for spring or fall. 

I. READING

A. Weekly goal

1. Read five other blog posts a week.  Yes.       

2. Read ten hours a week in one of the books I am reading.  Yes.

B. Goals for the Round                           

1. Have finished reading five books. Still at two books.

II. WRITING

A. Weekly goal

1. Work on something five times a week.     

a. Work on “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”, the second book in the Bible Stories in 40 Days series. Yes, but I am picking up the pace. I wrote two half entries. I know, oh, boy.   

b. Write on my novel. No.

c. Write my blog posts. Yes, I blogged three times in The Dino Chronicles and once here.

B. Goals for the Round.  

1. Have finished the first draft of “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. No.

2. Have written half of my novel.  No.

III. REACHING

A.      Weekly goal.

1. Promote either one of my books on one other site or in person. No, not really.

2. Comment on two other blog posts.  Yes.

3. Research markets for an hour.  No.

4. Keep up on social media, responding to all messages.  Yes.

5. Contact one organization about a speaking engagement.  Yes, I emailed the South East Wisconsin Festival of Books.  

B. Goals for the Round

1. Have submitted three pieces somewhere. I don’t know. Even though I write down everything I submit in a notebook, I think I have lost track of something. Hmm?  I should find out what I am doing.   

2. Have booked three speaking engagements or book signings. Still at one.

IV. PERSONAL

A. Exercise - Continue exercising four times a week, including running on the treadmill.  Yes.

B. Nonprofit - Continue working on Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., applying for tax exempt status by the end of the Round.  YES, but I don’t know what. It seems that all I do is work on the nonprofit, so once again – hold it, let me say that we had a long and productive meeting last Sunday and ever since I have been thinking about all the things we covered.

C. Sewing - Finish two projects this Round.  Not yet.

On my list of 40 things to do in ’14, besides the spring vacation mentioned above, I have starting whittling away at cleaning my basement. It is a large basement and contains a large mess. This is not one-weekend project. Trust me.

Maybe I am a slacker, but that's the way it is

I didn’t do quite as good this week. I think I am in the throes of menopause and it is starting to take a toll – the headaches, fatigue, sleeplessness, crankiness, mood swings. People who know me would say that none of those things are new for me, but it is all at a much higher degree right now. I’ve talked to one of our nurse practitioners but I think I need to be more serious about it and get an actual appointment.

I. READING

A. Weekly goal

1. Read five other blog posts a week.  Yes.       

2. Read ten hours a week in one of the books I am reading.  Yes.

B. Goals for the Round                           

1. Have finished reading five books. I finally finished reading “Ragged Hope”. I also started and finished “My Journey to Kilis”. That was a great book – a short easy read which I will have to write a review of on my other blog.  

II. WRITING

A. Weekly goal

1. Work on something five times a week.     

a. Work on “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”, the second book in the Bible Stories in 40 Days series. Yes, but I am still very slow. I wrote half of one entry. I do only have twelve entries left, so if I could keep up that break-neck pace every day, I should be able to finish it in another month, right.   

b. Write on my novel. No.

c. Write my blog posts. Kind of.  I blogged twice in The Dino Chronicles and once here.

B. Goals for the Round.  

1. Have finished the first draft of “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. No.

2. Have written half of my novel.  No.

III. REACHING

A.      Weekly goal.

1. Promote either one of my books on one other site or in person. No, not really.

2. Comment on two other blog posts.  Yes.

3. Research markets for an hour.  No.

4. Keep up on social media, responding to all messages.  Yes.

5. Contact one organization about a speaking engagement.  Umm, no.

B. Goals for the Round

1. Have submitted three pieces somewhere. Still at one.

2. Have booked three speaking engagements or book signings. Still at one.

IV. PERSONAL

A. Exercise - Continue exercising four times a week, including running on the treadmill.  Yes.

B. Nonprofit - Continue working on Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., applying for tax exempt status by the end of the Round.  YES. My daughter found online a template for a business plan which she would like us to use. I spent all morning Friday working on that.  

C. Sewing - Finish two projects this Round.  Not yet.

As far as my list of 40 things to do in ’14, I realize I am a putz, but that is how it is. I’ve seen programs that outline how you can read the Bible in one year. That is so unrealistic. I am so sorry, God and Bible-readers everywhere, but I could never read the whole Bible in one year. My goal for the year is to read six books. I know that is pathetic, but that is just how it is. I love reading the Bible – or at least some parts of it. Honestly, some books of the Bible are so boring it is painful. If you have ever read the whole thing, you know what I am talking about. If I could pick and choose which parts to read (most of the New Testament and a few of the shorter books of the Old Testament), I could get through much more of it. As it is, I kind of jump around from a boring book to a more interesting one. Which means, I just finished Numbers (after several months of trying to stay awake) and have crossed that off my 40 things in ’14 list. I am on to something in the New Testament, so I should finish that quicker. Last time I read the entire Bible, it took three and a half years! I know. Slacker.  

I am also sick of winter. We have already shoveled off the deck once this winter. Hubby eradicated the snow again after I took this picture. I just don't know where we are going to put any more of it.