things have gotten crazy

Boy, folks, I don’t know. Things have gotten crazy. I still feel like I am living in a movie with bad acting and no plot. Well, except there is a plot – “we’re all gonna die!” No, not really. But whatever, I’m keeping it together, but my goals have totally run off the rail. I’m okay with that. I need to do what I need to do and not fret about things beyond my control. Life goes on and I’m going to quit rambling now.

I do have to interject here, though, that I did begin journaling my view of the pandemic (titled “Covert Corona and how Chris is coping”). Instead of doing much else writing, I have written over 6,000 words there. Too bad everything isn’t that easy to write.

Here's how my goals came out for the week. Green highlight is goal accomplished, yellow highlight is worked on and red lettering is a failure. Looks like it was an all or nothin’ kind of week.

WRITING     

1)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”. No.  

2)        Finalize the “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”. No.

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.” Yes.

4)        Post here once. Yes.

REACHING

1)        Continue to spread the word about “To Find Justice”. No.   

2)        Look at my website. I know I’m not ready to update it – that is so time-consuming, but I at least want to get some thoughts on what I want to do with it. No.

READING

1)              Read up to 50% of the novel I started late last week, “Unbroken.” No. I read up to 37% but had to stop because it is so dark and depressing. I started something else, a cozy mystery, so may return to “Unbroken” after finishing that. Maybe.

2)        Read six other blogs and comment on three of them.  Read seven and commented on four.

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree some more. Yes.   

2)        Work on a quilt. About ten years ago I cut out squares for a Peanuts quilt. Yes. I sewed six rows.  

3)        Cancel our spring vacation reservations. Yes. 😞

 

I’m going to step back and live life next week without stressing about goals and things I should be doing. I may have a bit more time off from the day job this week (a long story), so I should make big plans. But, nope, my only plan is to keep on living.

WRITING     

1)        Continue daily updates on “How Chris is Coping”.     

2)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.”

3)        Post here once. 

REACHING

1)        Write a blog post about the idea behind “To Find Justice”. 

READING

1)        Read up to 75% of the cozy mystery, “Never Con a Corgi.”

2)        Read six other blogs and comment on three of them. 

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree. 

2)        Finish sewing the initial rows of quilt squares.

That’s it for me. Are you being forced (encouraged) to stay home more? Are you finding that makes you more or less productive? Are you and your loved ones staying healthy?

things change quickly

I just read over last Sunday’s post here, and my, have things changed.

We had planned on going to my brother-in-law’s this weekend but stayed home due to the coronavirus outbreak. I was also supposed to have a church meeting to discuss the Easter dinner and whether or not we would host it yet. Well, Monday night, all of us on the planning committee started texting back and forth and came to the realization that the dinner was canceled without our say, thanks to COVID19, and so we canceled Tuesday’s meeting as well.

I was supposed to work a few hours at the day job on Friday but didn’t. You would think that working at a medical clinic, we would be more busy. But mostly what we are busy doing is calling patients and telling them to stay home and not come in for their routine appointments. Also, we had been fielding a lot of calls from panicky patients asking what to do, but even that died down by the end of the week, as people apparently figured it out – stay home, stay home, stay home.

Not sure what this week will bring. Our manager already said that some of us might have to start staying home as well, but who knows what that is going to look like. Take vacation pay, take off without pay, apply for unemployment? I’m not going to worry about it.

I do have to say, and maybe this is what everyone else is thinking too, but doesn’t it feel like we are living in the latest apocalyptic movie? Like, how is this really happening?  

Anyway, you would think I would have gotten all my goals accomplished, and then some. Instead, I have spent way too much time reading articles on-line about this (and previous) pandemics.

So, here's how my goals turned out. Green highlight is goal accomplished, yellow highlight is worked on and red lettering is a failure.

WRITING     

1)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”. Have read through half of it.     

2)        Finalize the “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”. Did not work on it.  

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.” Done. Actually I wrote an additional post on Saturday, sharing some more thoughts of mine on COVID19.  

4)        Post here once. Done.

REACHING

1)        Continue to spread the word about “To Find Justice”.  Blogged about it on Friday.

2)        Look at my website. I know I’m not ready to update it – that is so time-consuming, but I at least want to get some thoughts on what I want to do with it. Nope, did not look at it.

READING

1)        Finish reading “Ice Cream Murder”, the cozy mystery, I’ve been reading. Finished.

2)        Read six other blogs and comment on three of them. I read six and commented on three.

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree some more.  Hmm? I don’t think I did.

2)        Clean out the medicine cabinet and linen closet in my bathroom. Done. And actually I washed the bathroom walls and ceiling as well. 

3)        Discuss with my kids what we are going to do with the nonprofit. Hmm? Yes, I should say that I did. We didn’t come up with a definitive plan, but I think that will have to wait until we know when COVID19 is going to be done messing up everyone’s lives.

That was last week. Nothing extra is on the scheduled for the upcoming week, as you may have guessed. So I have no excuses.

WRITING     

1)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”.    

2)        Finalize the “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”.

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.”

4)        Post here once. 

REACHING

1)        Continue to spread the word about “To Find Justice”. 

2)        Look at my website. I know I’m not ready to update it – that is so time-consuming, but I at least want to get some thoughts on what I want to do with it.

READING

1)              Read up to 50% of the novel I started late last week, “Unbroken.”

2)        Read six other blogs and comment on three of them. 

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree some more. 

2)        Work on some quilt squares. I started these a couple years ago, just making squares out of random fabric I have laying around.  

3)        Cancel our spring vacation reservations. I’ve been putting this off, but I think the reality is that nothing will be moving yet in four weeks.

 

I hope you are staying safe and healthy, staying home and making the best of it. I am blessed to live in a house in the middle of four acres of woods. I can at least go out and get plenty of fresh air. And visit with friends like this one, lazying in my front yard. 

keep your sense of humor

My goofy youngest grandpuppy in my backyard two weeks ago

How is everyone doing? Anyone been in contact with someone with COVID-19? Does everyone have enough toilet paper? Are you keeping a sense of humor? 

I am trying to keep calm about it, not falling for the craziness. But working in health care, I do see and hear things that the general public does not. I’ve lost some sleep this week. I’m looking forward and thinking that some upcoming plans might need to be tweaked. I’m trying not to think that my husband’s age puts him in the higher risk category.  

But panic and hysteria do nothing for anybody. Hubby and I have always tried to keep a reasonable supply of basics on hand liked canned foods, extra bottled water, and – yes – toilet paper. I’m looking at our finances, my hopes for retiring in just over a year, and praying that I don’t lose a bunch of money in my retirement account due to an economy tanking over this pandemic. But life will go on.

Anyway, here's how my goals turned out. Green highlight is goal accomplished, yellow highlight is worked on and red lettering is a failure.

WRITING     

1)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”.  Still not. Don’t know what’s wrong with me. This shouldn’t be that hard.      

2)        Write a “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”. (Not sure why I’ve had this under the “reaching” tab for all these months.) Finally worked on it.           

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.” Yup.

4)        Post here once. Yup.

REACHING

1)        As soon as “To Find Justice” is published on Amazon, I need to spread the word about it. Posted it on my other blog and all my social media.

2)        Look at my website. I know I’m not ready to update it – that is so time-consuming, but I at least want to get some thoughts on what I want to do with it. No. It’s just too ugly to even deal with right now.

READING

1)        Since I just read a weighty novel, I’ve started something light – a cozy mystery. Would like to get half-way through that. Am at 71%.

2)        Read five other blogs and comment on three of them. Read five and commented on three. Maybe I should up this one?  

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree some more. I’m back as far as my 8^th great-grandfather, born in 1601 in Hügelheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. I do take it all with a grain of salt, because, really? Those records from 400 years ago were accurate??

2)        Wash the walls in our spare bathroom. Done.

3)        Remember our nonprofit? Tumaini Volunteers? I need to inventory the merchandise we have left for sale and take it to the store in town which has been selling it for us. Done.   

4)        BONUS. I cleaned the hall linen closet, something I was hoping to do a week ago but knew I’d never get the time then.

Next weekend we were planning on going to my brother-in-law’s, but that will depend on the whole Coronavirus track. I have a church meeting Tuesday which I have to go to, because we will be discussing whether or not to host the community-wide Easter dinner. I think that’s it for the upcoming seven days. Hopefully, things don’t fall apart in my little corner of the world in that time.

WRITING     

1)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”.    

2)        Finalize the “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”.

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.”

4)        Post here once. 

REACHING

1)        Continue to spread the word about “To Find Justice”.  

2)        Look at my website. I know I’m not ready to update it – that is so time-consuming, but I at least want to get some thoughts on what I want to do with it.

READING

1)        Finish reading “Ice Cream Murder”, the cozy mystery, I’ve been reading.

2)        Read six other blogs and comment on three of them. 

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree some more. 

2)        Clean out the medicine cabinet and linen closet in my bathroom.

3)        Discuss with my kids what we are going to do with the nonprofit.

That’s about it for now. Hope you are staying healthy and safe wherever you are.

Gone by in a Blur

Yet another week gone by in a blur. I had Monday off from the day job, so in addition to cleaning through the whole house, I got my hair cut. I think it is adorable, just wish I could take a decent selfie.

Friday, after working all day, I went to the high school musical with Hubby. The kids always do such a good day and Hubby needed to get out of the house. His broken arm is healing well, but still going too slow for him.

Yesterday, my daughter dropped off her dogs – my grandpuppies. They are pretty well behaved – just two incidents of getting in the garbage and one of pooping in the basement. The only thing is that they don’t get along with cats, so we had to lock ours in the garage, which always makes me a little sad, coz I hate doing that to my sweet Cheshire.

Anyway, here's how my goals turned out. Green highlight is goal accomplished, yellow highlight is worked on and red lettering is a failure.

WRITING     

1)        Read through “To Find Justice” one more time. Done! Yeah! I also changed the title of it.  

2)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”, in anticipation of getting back to writing on it. Nope, still haven’t looked at it.  

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.” Done.

4)        Post here once. Done.

REACHING

1)        Prepare to self-publish “To Find Justice” on Amazon. I did it! I just said, this is enough dragging my feet. I published it as an e-book only. Started doing a print version, but things ran amok, plus it is really too short for a book; I just wanted to see how that works.

2)        Write a “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”. Nope.

READING

1)        Finish reading the novel “In This House of Brede”. Finished! Another Yeah! It was much better than I thought it would be, but was long.

2)        Read five other blogs and comment on three of them. Read five and commented on three.

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree. I worked on a couple of the cousins’ families, uploaded a few pictures to my family tree on line too.

2)        Clean the medicine chest and vanity in the spare bathroom. Done.

3)        Wash the walls in our spare bathroom. Nope.  

Not gonna lie – it looks like I rocked. Now for next week. I have to work again this Friday, getting Tuesday off instead. On Saturday, I also work, just in the morning, and then have plans to meet two high school friends for lunch. Tuesday evening, I have to help with stuff at church, and Wednesday night I have to bake a pan of bars for a funeral Thursday. Yikes! Don’t know how much extra I’ll get done, but here goes:  

WRITING     

1)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”, in anticipation of getting back to writing on it.   

2)        Write a “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”. (Not sure why I’ve had this under the “reaching” tab for all these months.) 

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.”

4)        Post here once. 

REACHING

1)        As soon as “To Find Justice” is published on Amazon, I need to spread the word about it.

2)        Look at my website. I know I’m not ready to update it – that is so time-consuming, but I at least want to get some thoughts on what I want to do with it.

READING

1)        Since I just reading a weighty novel, I’ve started something light – a cozy mystery. Would like to get half-way through that.

2)        Read five other blogs and comment on three of them. 

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree some more.  

2)        Wash the walls in our spare bathroom.

3)        Remember our nonprofit? Tumaini Volunteers? We really haven’t done anything with it since I got back from Kenya in October. I need to inventory the merchandise we have left for sale and take it to the store in town which has been selling it for us.  

That’s about enough. How about you? Are you on track with your goals? Or are you feeling overwhelmed right about now?

(Oh, and also, I about lost my mind posting this blog. I don't know why the formatting is messed up. I redid it three times and couldn't get it right. Just so you know and in case you hadn't noticed. It makes me totally crazy!!!!!!! Because it looks so tacky.)

Getting Stuff Done

First selfie with my 35 mm camera, back in the fall of 1980.

This past week was more of the same craziness. All went well, though.  Two meetings on Tuesday – one at work over the lunch hour and one at church in the evening. Friday, I checked off mammogram at eight a.m., oil change at ten a.m., appointment for income taxes at eleven a.m. and RV show out of town in the afternoon. Yesterday, I met two old friends for lunch. I got up early today and got right to work, even though my daughter came up for a couple hours, she actually was more of a help with the housework, than a hindrance.  

My daughter with her two dogs in my back yard today. They are such snow-babies.

 Here's how my goals turned out. Green highlight is goal accomplished, yellow highlight is worked on and red lettering is a failure.

WRITING            

1)        Read through “Finding Justice” one more time.  No.

2)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”, in anticipation of getting back to writing on it. No.         

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.” Yes.

4)        Post here once. Yes.

REACHING

1)              Research self-publishing “Finding Justice” on Amazon. Done.

a.     I started reading through the author’s agreement on the Amazon website.

b.     I thought I should look into other novellas that are out there on Amazon, so I found one and read it. It seemed comparable in length and feel to mine.

2)        Write a “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”. No.

READING

1)        Finish reading the novel “In This House of Brede”. Still up to only 83%, but if you read 1a above, you’ll see I got distracted reading something else.

2)        Read five other blogs and comment on three of them.  I read five blogs and commented on three.

REMAINING

1)              Scan and dispose of pictures from yet another old photo album. Yes.

2)              Wash the walls in my spare bedroom. Yes! Even washed the floor! This surprised me – so ambitious. Thank you to my daughter for helping. 

The cleaned spare bedroom. I still need to figure out curtains. 

Now for the upcoming week. I usually have Fridays off from the day-job, but this week I work all day Friday, but am off tomorrow. I am pretty psyched about that, thinking it’s like having an additional day off, when it really isn’t, but you know how we play those games in our heads.

Other than that, nothing going on, so I should be productive. Plus, spring is in the air. The forecast for the next ten days is for highs ten degrees above normal, with little precipitation. Yeah!   

WRITING     

1)        Read through “Finding Justice” one more time. I have got to get on this!

2)        Read through my novel-in-progress, “Ice Cream Spies”, in anticipation of getting back to writing on it.               

3)        Post three times to “The Dino Chronicles.”

4)        Post here once. 

REACHING

1)        Prepare to self-publish “Finding Justice” on Amazon. One more week and I’m going to put it out there!

2)        Write a “thank you” section for the end of “The Truth Beyond the River”.

READING

1)        Finish reading the novel “In This House of Brede”.

2)        Read five other blogs and comment on three of them. 

REMAINING

1)        Work on my family tree (I haven’t done that in a while. Another relative died this morning, so that always jars me into working on it.)

2)        Clean the medicine chest and vanity in the spare bathroom.

3)        Wash the walls in our spare bathroom. (I really overdid it on that bedroom, so hoping to ease back this week on the house cleaning.)

How is your weather? Better or worse than normal for this time of year? Does the weather play a role in how many of your goals you accomplish?