once again, overbooked

So much for having a productive week. At least there’s not an outrageous amount of red. Green highlight is goal accomplished, yellow highlight is goal at least worked on, red lettering is goal not even attempted.

A. WRITING

1. Finish another edit of my novel, “The Truth Beyond the River.” I’ve been plugging away on it, through chapter 34.    

2. Continue tweaking my book proposal / query, as needed for each literary agent I intend to contact next. I have decided to put this on hold for now. I am going to a writers’ retreat next month and I will work on it then, when I have experts around to guide me.    

3. Write nine chapters on my next novel, which I am giving the working title of “New Old Spies.”  Nadda, still haven’t looked at it.

4. Write two inspirational pieces for the page-a-day calendar at my work.  I wrote the second one! Thinking about doing a third, but the deadline is September 15, so I best get on it.    

5. Write two posts per week for my other blog, “The Dino Chronicles”. I posted two times.

B. REACHING

1. Send proposals / queries to the next agents on my list.  See #2 above.  

2. Submit the two inspirational pieces to my work calendar.  I submitted the second one that I wrote.    

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. Hmm? Nope.    

C. READING

1. Read the daily assignment in “Today’s Light” Study Bible. Yes.

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

3. Read five other people’s blog posts per week and comment on two of them. I read five and commented on three, I think, I’m pretty sure.      

4. Finish reading three books. I read one and am still working on “Emma” by Jane Austen. Still plugging away, but I might actually make it. There are 55 chapters and I’m on chapter 44.         

D. REMAINING

1. Physical

a. Increase my water intake, averaging 60 ounces per day. I’ve been trying.   

b. Lose five pounds and three inches around my waist. I’m feeling kind of fat again today. No idea how to melt that roll of fat around my middle. I don’t know what I was thinking when I posted this goal.  

c. Exercise four mornings a week and three evenings a week. I did five mornings and three evenings.  I also had a much-needed massage on Friday. Man, I wish I could afford that every week. It’s amazing how good one feels when one’s muscles are all relaxed for a change.     

2. Home fires

a. Scan 100 of the old pictures I have around the house. I had to re-organize the hundreds I already scanned, and then I did scan 51 new ones, half of those however I still have to edit and title and such. Easier to organize as I go along.  

b. Wash all of my house’s windows.   Done with just over half the house and don’t know when I’m going to finish.   

c. Do a major cleaning of one of my closets. Not yet a closet, but am working on painting the living room, so I’m counting that.  

d. Host my brother-in-law’s wedding at my house on August 4. This should have stars and fireworks!   

3. Tumaini Volunteers

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

b. Host two merchandise sales. We had one the first Saturday in August, but we have also sold over a hundred dollars’ worth of stuff at a store in town, so I’m calling this goal met!  

c. Do a thorough inventory of our current merchandise. Yes, yeah!

d. Apply for grants. Not yet, but I think we are holding off on this for now. Have a meeting next Sunday to discuss.  

e. Raise enough money ($5,000) to start the first segment of the community center. Let’s be optimistic. We raised $585 in July and another $350 in August with over $6,000 in the bank, so we are getting there. (That money in the bank has to cover our other expenses, so not all of it can count towards the five thousand, maybe half of it only.)   

Looking at this week, I only work at the day job on Thursday. We have to finish painting the living room and then I have to put it all back together again. We also want to take a ride one day and I have a haircut appointment out of town on Friday. On Saturday, we want to go to an art festival in the town 40 miles away. Uff-da! How do my days and weeks get so full?

How about you? Are you continually over-scheduling yourself? Or do you find a happy mix of busyness and down-time?  

One of my photo albums from when I was in high school, I dug it out to scan a picture to my niece, so while I had it out, I pulled out all the pictures and started scanning them.