Getting my life back

Since I posted here on Wednesday, an unprecedented event for me, I must have had a good week. Right? Meh, as my son would say. The mix of color on this week’s goals works for me though. A little bit of balance.

As usual Green highlight is goal accomplished. Yellow highlight is at least worked on. Red print is a total failure.

1)    Send emails to the rest of my contacts regarding the new book and asking for reviews. I sent emails to the final ten people on my contact list. Heard back from one of them, and also from three of the people I had previously emailed.   

2)    Set up two more book signings. Umm, first of all, why is the word more in that sentence. I didn’t think I had any book signings scheduled. Oh, that’s right. My daughter’s talk on September 25 and the craft show in November. So, then, no.  

3)    Write three thousand words on the new novel. I wrote 2,048 words, so that was pretty good, I think. I also spent about an hour doing research on-line while I was coloring my hair Friday night. A year ago, I promised myself that I was done coloring my hair, but it is just taking too long for it to completely grey. I have about six different shades in my hair, so I added some frost, a seventh shade.

4)    Pick a better working title for the new novel. I have come up with about six titles, but they all have been taken already. I want to use the word river because the river plays a big part in the novel, but evidently everyone uses river in their title. So far the only one I can come up with is “The House Beside the River”, but that seems very dull to me. I am going to come up with a better list this week and post all my options here for you to vote on.  

5) Work on two items to submit:           

a) favorite quote and reflection for work calendar, Sept 15 deadline. Done. I picked a quote by Mother Teresa – “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” It really shouldn’t be that hard to add a few sentences reflecting on that.

                        b) poem on aging, Oct 20 deadline. Not done.

6) Post three times to my other blog, The Dino Chronicles. Done. I also changed the theme of the blog to match more closely my website. I’m seriously thinking it is time to hire a professional to set all my social media up with the same theme. But I hear cha-ching, cha-ching when I think that.

7) Non-writing things to do:

a. Scan a dozen of my mom’s old pictures into the computer. Scanned 23 of them. I scored Mom’s photo album from the 1940s, so looking at all those oldies makes it more fun.

b. Wash two or three more windows. I only have five left! And hope to do them today!

8) Bonus goal! I ordered new business cards for myself and bookmarks for the novel.

With Labor Day tomorrow, I should be able to get extra stuff done this week. Also, extra staff has been hired at the day job, and now that they are nearly trained, they are actually lessening my work load. Hopefully, I’ll start coming home from work with some energy left at the end of the day. It’s been a grueling year at the day job and I’m ready to get my life back.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to load myself up with goals here. I want to get my rhythm back first.

1)        Promote the new book, “Where the Sky Meets the Sand” once every day, or a total of seven tasks for the week. Anything from signing up for a book signing to giving someone a flyer about it.    

2)        Write three thousand words on the new novel.

3)        Commit to the new title for the new novel. 

4)        Work on the poem on aging for Oct 20 deadline.

5)        Post three times to my other blog, The Dino Chronicles.

6)        Read four other blogs and comment on three of them. Time to get back in the community of writers.

7) Non-writing things to do:

a. Scan a dozen of my mom’s old pictures into the computer.

b. Go through one box of my mom’s stuff and discard what I can.

c. Work on the nonprofit, Tumaini Volunteers. Not sure yet what I will do on it this week, but there is always something.

Have a great week and a great start to fall, wherever you live. 

One of the scanned pictures. My mom (on the right) with a friend in 1942.