Why I Do What I Do

It is with some regret that I have decided to forego NaNoWriMo this year, again. With all that is looming on my horizon, there is no way that I can take on another project. I will just have to come up with my own novel writing month after the first of the year, when I actually have a month to myself. Coz, yea, that will happen, said this woman never.

So these are my goals for the next few weeks, as I can only take life a few weeks at a time.

• Blog about my trip to Africa. I have started and have two posted already. I have an outline for the next seven posts, so that takes me to November 8.
• Finish posting pictures from the trip on Facebook and other social media.
• Write a summary of my trip and financial prospectus (is that the word I want?)
• Work on a power point presentation of the trip.
• I have one date for a talk – December 11. I need to try to line up some more, I suppose.
• Decide on this year’s Christmas program for church. Yikes! If we are going to do it, I really need it together within a week or so. It is almost November! And those kids need time to practice. Man, I don’t know if I can pull that off this year.
• And because I have all kinds of spare time:
• Edit my third devotional
• Edit my novel about Kenya now that it is fresh in my mind again
• Start pulling together notes for a potential second memoir

 Ok, maybe all of that should take me until the end of the year. This is why people need a vacation after they come home from vacation. Not that the trip to Kenya was a vacation, but if I would have worked harder while I was there, I would have a few less things to do now. Oh, well.

I did this week update my website and had a sale of Kenya goods at my work, so I have been doing a little bit. That above list is just pretty big though.

Enough. Here are a few pictures of why I do what I do. And now you can see why I do it. 

Getting Back in the Saddle

I arrived home a week ago from my trip to Kenya. It was an amazing two weeks, and you will have to follow those stories on my other blog.

As you can imagine, I am having a hard time getting back in the swing of things. Plus I have a monstrous mess in my office and on my dining room table. Things from the trip and things already accumulated for the next trip. Tomorrow at work, I am having a sale of my Kenyan purchases and need to get my inventory inventoried before that. I have my expense report from the trip written up and managed to even make my outgo match up with the money I took from the ATM throughout the trip. I do need to write up a report though with what I accomplished over those two weeks and what my recommendations are – raising $4,000 to implement the chicken project at the school at the SIDP (previously the IDP camp or internally displaced persons camp, but now that they are settled in this community, they are now, just since I got to Kenya, Settled Internally Displaced Persons, kind of an oxymoron, if you ask me, but whatever).

Ok, so what of my writing goals this Round? I was going to jump into NaNoWriMo and write my second novel, but having just returned from Kenya, I can see all the changes I need to make in my first novel. Also, I had mentioned to my publisher back in August that maybe another memoir would come from this trip, and it may have, so perhaps I should write that. Or finish that final edit on my third devotional and get it published early next year.

I don’t know. I need to figure this out soon. Or not. As they say in Kenya, hakuna matata.

Warthog!

Meerkats!

Simba!

a failed finish

I believe there are a few more days left in this Round, but I am calling it quits today. I leave for Kenya in two weeks, and the list of things I have to do between then and now is so ridiculously long that I have no idea how I even sleep at night. So that needs to be my entire focus for the next two weeks – no writing, no blogging, reading only what is necessary (chicken books so I can help my Kenyan friends to raise chickens) and catching up on sleep (even banking some extra sleep for the trip!).

So here are the goals I started with and how I finished. Not much green on this list, but I’m not going to beat myself up over it.

1.    READING

a.    Read and comment on my weekly assigned blog posts as a ROW80 sponsor. Yes, pretty much as scheduled.

b.    Finish reading “Shantarm”.  I am somewhere around page 740 out of 936 pages. I need to finish the chapter I am on and just put it away til I get home.

c.    Finish reading “Twelve Extraordinary Women”. This is for my Tuesday morning Bible study, and considering we average about three weeks per chapter, and skip some weeks altogether, and even though there are only twelve chapters, I don’t know how I ever thought we would finish this. We just finished chapter three!

2.    WRITING

a.    Write two blog posts here and three posts to my other blog, “The Dino Chronicles” every week. I was pretty good posting here two a week, but averaged less than twice a week on “The Dino Chronicles”.

b.    Finish writing “The Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days” and do one quick edit of the whole manuscript. Yes, I finished writing it, but no, I only edited half of it. (This list of goals is starting to look pretty bad.)

c.    Write a proposal for my novel. And name my novel! No, did not, as I decided instead to do some editing, but since I didn’t get through an edit of the whole thing, I will say epic-fail.

d.    Write 10,000 words in my new novel and come up with at least a working title for it.  As mentioned previously, I changed this to doing research and writing the bios for the main characters and a loose outline in preparation for NaNoWriMo in November. I don’t know that I can say I accomplished that even.  

3.    REACHING

a.    Have submitted three pieces somewhere. Submitted one thing – a poem to Wilda Morris’s poetry challenge.  

b.    Have posted weekly updates to one of my social media. I still just have to go with a big “no” on this one.

4.    PERSONAL

a.    Nonprofit organization

                                         i.    Get enough donations to pay for my trip in October. I have reached one-third of that goal, which I guess is okay, as my goal was set intentionally high. Let’s say I have enough money to pay my expenses while I am there. I do need to write up a budget for myself though so that I can be accountable to the organization.

                                       ii.    Finalize some sort of itinerary for my trip. No, not so much. All I have is the October 12 date with my Compassion child.

                                      iii.    Host a friend-raiser to get awareness out in the community. No, not at all.

b.    Physical

                                         i.    Work out–seriously- three times a week, in addition to my morning exercises. This was pretty hit or miss. I would do okay for a couple weeks, then fall off the wagon. And then my bursitis would flare up again. All in all I would have to say, another fail.

c.    Church

                                         i.    Get addresses and mentors for our college kids. Since I have the best start to this that I have in five years, I will say I finally accomplished something. I have addresses for nine of our ten college kids and mentors for eight of them.  

                                        ii.    Get addresses and mentors for our military kids. I thought this might be a challenge, as both of our boys just finished basic and last I talked to their parents, they even didn’t have their addresses. I will keep working on it. I have one woman who wants to mentor one of the boys, so that’s a positive note too. So, I’m saying neither a success nor a fail on this one.

And that is where I bid you all adieu until sometime after I get home from Kenya on October 18. I will try to post updates on my trip to my other blog, “The Dino Chronicles”, so follow along there. Or you can like Tumaini Volunteers on Facebook, as I will post there as well.

Hoping you all have a good, strong finish to this Round of ROW80 and look forward to catching up with everyone next month.

The beautiful Kenyan wilderness - see why I can't wait til I get back there? 

and that's how the day job goes

I have had a bad week at work so far. I get tired of feeling like I am the only one working, and I know that is just my perception. Certainly my co-workers are working just as hard, but more efficiently, and that’s why they have the time to sit around and visit and laugh, while I am inefficiently getting further behind on my work. Ok, so I work in a medical clinic, for a physician who averages at least 20 patients a day. Several of my co-workers work with providers who average 8 to 12 patients a day. So, they do as much work as I do, right? There’s certainly no reason why they shouldn’t get to sit around and tell jokes and be on Facebook, while I am still trying to catch up on my 20 plus patients. Or maybe I am just slower than they are. Which is why, when I complained to my manager and showed her a pile of papers that no one else took care of, she addressed the pile instead of asking the rest of the staff to do it – which is their job and not hers. Like I said, it’s been a bad week at the day job.

Did I do any work on my goals?

I’ve kept up on my ROW80 sponsor duties and have blogged here and on my other blog. I didn’t edit anything on my novel and I haven’t read too much of “Shantaram”. I haven’t visited anyone’s chickens, but I did order two books on raising chickens. I don’t remember doing anything with social media. I did get another $110 in donations for my trip to Kenya. I also have not worked out or walked on the treadmill. My Achilles is finally feeling somewhat better, but I woke up Monday morning with bursitis in my hip again. Can you believe it??

So I guess the only productive area has been in getting mentors for my church’s college kids. Of 14 kids, I have addresses for eight of them and have nine of them matched up with mentors. I even managed to talk my son into taking one of the boys, just because he lives near where the boy is going to school, and maybe that will be a bonding thing. Plus I think they have a lot in common. Not that I have a hidden agenda, but it would be good for my son to get involved in stuff outside of his work (which even though he is an engineer, it’s interesting that his complaints about work parallel mine).

And that’s all I got. I haven’t gotten much sleep the last four or five days, so since I am writing this Tuesday night to post in the morning, I think I need to get to bed.

Are you crossing all your goals for the Round off of your list?  

Why I do what I do - coz when these kids go off to college, I don't want them to lose their way. 

powering through

When does this Round of ROW80 end? I probably should figure that out, huh? So I know when I have to cut these goals off.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this Round the first of July, I leave for Kenya the day before the next Round starts, so I won’t be starting that Round until sometime after October 20 – I think I should at least give myself a couple days to get over jetlag before I worry about writing anything intelligent here.

In the meantime, what did I get done last week?

1. READING

a. Read and comment on my weekly assigned blog posts as a ROW80 sponsor. Done.

b. Read 100 pages of “Shantarm”. Read about 80 pages, so that was close.

2. WRITING

a. Write two blog posts here and three posts to my other blog, “The Dino Chronicles”. Done.

b. Edit 13 chapters of my novel, Jenny’s Story. . I edited I believe 15 chapters. Yeah!

c. Give my novel a better name than Jenny’s Story. So far I have “The Way Home”, “Finding the Way Home”, and “Family Matters Most.” Any of those catch anyone’s eye?  

d. Not do anything on my new novel, the working name of which is The Abbey. I sure hope I can make this goal! I just think I have too much going on right now, so this needs to wait until I get back.  Hey, I got this one!

3. REACHING

a. How about if I post one update on each of my social media. And that’s it. I need to take a break from this I think. I did one update. Again, yeah, me!

4. PERSONAL

a. Nonprofit organization (which right now is all about my trip to Kenya in October)

            1) Visit one more friend who raises chickens. Did not.

2) Read a couple chapters in the book I just downloaded to my Kindle on raising chickens. Read two and a half chapters. The book I have (because it was free) is pretty dry, not exciting reading. We’ll see how it goes.

3) Post a go-fund-me page update. Done. Read it here.

4) Message our Kenyan contact Izzo just to say, hey, can’t wait to see ya. Done. And he says that he can tote me and my friend wherever we need to go, as long as we pay for gas. I also heard from Compassion regarding visiting the Compassion child I sponsor and that trip is all ready to go.

b. Physical

1) Work out three times. I walked on the treadmill once, walked down my road once, and walked a half mile in town, so I think I got it.

c. Church

1) Get mentors for the college kids and military enlistees from our church. I have four of our 12 kids lined up. That’s not a bad start compared to other years.

And that’s all I got. I’m actually writing this Friday night (which means, I really powered through all these goals!). I have a wedding out of town Saturday night and have made the responsible decision to not take my laptop with. There just is not going to be time to bother getting it out until I get back home around noon on Sunday. My goals for the coming week will just pop up as they come.

Have a great week! And power through those goals!

From the wedding last October, which started my marathon of four out-of-town weddings in a year. The one this weekend is the last one. "sigh". Have one last wedding in two weeks which isn't technically out-of-town, just about 15 miles up the road. 

long ways to go

Here it is, Wednesday already and even though I had Monday off due to the Labor Day holiday, I don't feel as if I got much accomplished.

I edited six chapters in my novel, Jenny's story and at least wrote down a few ideas for titles ("The Way Home", "Finding the Way Home"). I read maybe 20 pages in "Shantaram" and have posted to both blogs as scheduled. I even subtly worked my trip to Kenya into today's post on The Dino Chronicles.

I also did talk at Tuesday morning's Bible Study group about some of the supplies I've been asked to gather to deliver to the school in Kenya. Oh, and I think it came up since I posted last that I am speaking to the kids from Kinship about the kids in the school at the IDP camp in Kenya. I'll ask our kids to write letters to the kids over there and then have the Kenyan kids write letters back. I think it will be fun for both sets of kids and hopefully educational for them too.

I haven't done any chicken research or have I posted a go-fund-me update. I did message our Kenyan liaison a long message but haven't heard back from him. I did walk on the treadmill once and I have got a few of our college students from church matched up with mentors.

I guess I did a few things so far this week. We'll see how the rest of the week pans out. This Round is winding down and I have a long ways to go.

(Sorry that I don't have a better picture today. I ran out of time this morning as I had a seven a.m. meeting and am posting this from that meeting! Shame on me. But that is one of the joys of the internet - multi-tasking!)

slowing down

First off, I need to let you know that my E-visa was approved and emailed to me. I printed off a copy and put it with my passport and other important papers for my trip, so at least that much is done. I cannot believe that I leave for Kenya four weeks from today!!! Yikes!!!

What can I come up with this week?

1. READING

a. Read and comment on my weekly assigned blog posts as a ROW80 sponsor. Done.

b. Read 100 pages of “Shantarm”. I read 68 pages, so at least I am getting close. There is no way I am going to finish it though before I leave on my trip, and I am sure not hauling this hefty book with me.

2. WRITING

a. Write two blog posts here and three posts to my other blog, “The Dino Chronicles”. Done.

b. Start the proposal for my novel, Jenny’s story. I did research some agents, and then decided that I really should edit it one more time, on the totally off chance that an agent gets back to me that they want me to send them the whole thing. I know, but a girl has to dream big. So, I did edit six chapters.

c. Do research on my new novel, The Abbey. I actually did look up some websites on the Vietnam War. 

3. REACHING

a. Post three updates on any of my books to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Posted twice, I think, I’m pretty sure.

b. Write a complete update on my website. Done.

4. PERSONAL

a. Nonprofit organization

1) Research raising chickens. I visited two flocks of chickens. A friend of mine has a son who has four hens and a rooster and her next door neighbor has 15 to 20 hens and a rooster, along with two pigs. I have definitely crossed pig-raising off my list. They stink so bad.

2) Contact our liaison with my questions about raising chickens in Kenya. Not.

3) I have an idea for a fund-raiser at work. Whenever I have come back from Kenya in the past, I set up a day to sell all the arts and crafts that we brought back. My co-workers go crazy over that stuff. So I thought I would offer them a $5 off coupon for every $25 they donate to me before I go. I need to roll that out this week if I am going to do it. I put up signs at work and sent all my co-workers an email. Two people have donated, and two more say they will. I also got another large donation on the gofundme account.

b. Physical

1) Work out three times. Walked on the treadmill twice.

           

I think that I really need to cut back on some of these goals, and concentrate on what really needs to get done. Some of this is just going to have to wait until I get back from Africa and have caught up on my sleep!

1. READING

a. Read and comment on my weekly assigned blog posts as a ROW80 sponsor.

b. Read 100 pages of “Shantarm”.

2. WRITING

a. Write two blog posts here and three posts to my other blog, “The Dino Chronicles”

b. Edit 13 chapters of my novel, Jenny’s Story. If I do 10 chapters a week (and since I did only seven last week, I am three behind), I can finish it before I leave for Kenya.

c. Give my novel a better name than Jenny’s Story.

d. Not do anything on my new novel, the working name of which is The Abbey. I sure hope I can make this goal! I just think I have too much going on right now, so this needs to wait until I get back.  

3. REACHING

a. How about if I post one update on each of my social media. And that’s it. I need to take a break from this I think.

4. PERSONAL

a. Nonprofit organization (which right now is all about my trip to Kenya in October)

            1) Visit one more friend who raises chickens.

2) Read a couple chapters in the book I just downloaded to my Kindle on raising chickens.

3) Post a go-fund-me page update.

4) Message our Kenyan contact Izzo just to say, hey, can’t wait to see ya.

b. Physical

            1) Work out three times.

c. Church

            1) Get mentors for the college kids and military enlistees from our church.

And that should about do it. We also have another (our fourth in a year!) out-of-town wedding next weekend, so that might slow me down a bit. We’ll see.

Have a great week. Power through those goals. This Round is winding down already!

My husband's brother's family at his nephew's wedding in Dallas in June. Glad we at least only had to fly to one of these weddings.