ready to be put down

Last Sunday morning I came down with a cold. I thought I could power through it, but I have been pretty useless all week. Coming home after work every night and pretty much going to bed with an ice pack on my left foot to try to settle down the pain there. I woke up Thursday morning with a new pain – in my right arm, for no apparent reason. It is continuing to get worse, kept me up half of last night, along with the incessant coughing. Yup, I am a wreck. If I was a horse, they would have shot me a long time ago.

But us humans power through.

Here’s my list of goals for the next three months. I think I need to date each one though when it is accomplished for the Round, so I don’t have it in my head that I did this much each week. It’s all about what’s in my head, I guess (in addition to all the snot).

Green highlight is goal accomplished, yellow highlight is goal at least worked on, red lettering is goal not even attempted. Maybe I’ll try a Smiley face if the goal is all done for the Round. If I didn’t give it any color, it’s because I couldn’t really work on that goal for whatever reason, and I just didn’t want to drag in another color. 

A. WRITING

J1. Finish a final edit on my novel, “The Truth Beyond the River.”  Done, on April 5.  

J2. Continue tweaking my book proposal / query, as needed for each literary agent I intend to contact next. Done, and mailed April 6.  

3. Write eight chapters on my next novel, which I am giving the working title of “New Old Spies.” Not started.

4. Write a piece to submit to the Guidepost Magazine Writers Contest (deadline June 10). Not started.

5. Write three posts per week for my other blog, “The Dino Chronicles”. Done. And this week posted an extra time on this blog!

 

B. REACHING

J1. Continue sending that proposal / query to each next agent on my list. Mailed out a proposal on April 6.  

2. Submit the polished piece to Guidepost’s Contest. Nope. Gotta write it yet.

J3. Submit a poem I wrote a while back to the next issue of Voices on the Wind Poetry Journal (deadline April 20). Submitted on April 12.    

3. Promote myself or a piece of my writing (whether it be promoting one of my books, submitting a piece somewhere, saying something brilliant about my writing on my social media, etc.) once a week. In March, “Where the Sky Meets the Sand” was named one of the finalists in the Grace Awards. It is down to three books which the judges will read and decide on. I was asked to send each of them the Kindle version of the book. I wasn’t sure how to do that at first, but I must have gotten it right, as two of the judges replied that they had opened it.

C. READING

1. Read the daily assignment in “Today’s Light” Study Bible.  Reading nightly, but am still over a week behind.

2. Read the daily devotion in “Jesus Calling”.  Done.

3. Finish reading three other books.  I just started reading “Escape the Coming Night” by Dr. David Jeremiah. It’s a “message of hope in a time of crisis”. These nonfiction books, no matter how good they are, seem to take a long time to get through, but I’m going to give it a shot.  

D. REMAINING

1. Physical

a. Increase my water intake. Hmm? Since I came down with a cold last Sunday, I have indeed really been pushing the water.  

b. Cut way back on my sweets intake. Hmm? Since I am drinking so much water and juice to combat this cold, I don’t have room for much else!  

c. Do whatever my specialist says to do that is going to heal my heel. Really working on it, wearing my boot, icing it, but the whole staying off it thing is pretty tough.

2. Home fires

a. Clean out my mom’s papers. Not yet.

b. Do a major cleaning of one of my closets. Not yet.

c. Plant my garden. What was I thinking with this goal? I won’t even see bare ground in my garden for another two months! And we are in the middle of yet another blizzard right now.

3. Tumaini Volunteers

a. Write the Policy and Procedure manual. Not started.

b. Host two merchandise sales. Had one.

c. Return to Kenya this Spring! Just counting the days. Applied for my e-Visa last Sunday and got the confirmation yesterday.   

This week, I have church Monday night and I leave right after work on Thursday for a conference for work. Not sure yet when I will get home. But after I do, I need to start packing for Kenya the following Thursday. Man, why do I put so much on my plate????