Thursday Thoughts - Gratitude

I realized, as I sat down to write this, that I'm a very selfish person. I think, in a way, we are all selfish. How many of us take things for granted that we shouldn't? I take a lot of things for granted. I just wanted to share some of the things that I am truly grateful for.

I'm grateful for a place to live. I've been homeless, so I know what it's like to not be sure where you're going to sleep. I have two places where I can sleep, eat, shower, and take care of all the other daily things you're supposed to do. I have friends in both places who are willing to share their living space with me. So I am very lucky.

I'm grateful that I have the ability to buy food. I've lived on food banks and little to no money for food. I know how hard that is. I'm on food stamps, but that just means I'm lucky enough that the state understands how poor we are and that we need the additional help to buy food. I'm grateful that I have this program to help me out.

I'm grateful for my husband. I don't know what I'd do without Himself. He's my anchor in this sea of chaos I call life. He encourages me to follow my dreams. He inspires me by following his dreams. He is my life.

I'm grateful for my friends. I don't have that many close friends. I'm not a social person. But I am grateful for the close friends I do have, and even those people I've connected with on Facebook and Twitter that may not be close friends but are friends nonetheless. I'm grateful for their friendship and the companionship of my close friends when I need them.

I'm grateful I have my laptop. My life is tied up online for the most part because I don't have the ability to get out and do a lot. My laptop is the key to that life. I'm grateful I have one that works well enough that I'm able to write and get online. It's not the top of the line but it works for me.

There are so many things in my life that I have to be grateful for. Think of some of the things that you're grateful for and share them with us.

Um...yes, I'm still alive

*cough, choke*

*removes spider webs*

Uh....hi?

I haven't had much to say lately so I haven't been saying it. Which is quite apparent since the last time I posted a blog post was in November. I feel rather bad about that and I appreciate all of you who have stuck it out during my blog absence. I can't guarantee how frequently I'll post but I will be posting more often.

A lot has gone on in the last four months. Himself has had a few more contracts come his way. I've been told I'm not allowed to go back to work, so I'm dealing with that. I've started writing full time since I have so much free time. I finished a first draft in less than three months. I've now burned myself out on writing but the first draft of Burning Dreams is done. That's the book I started in November, won NaNoWriMo with, and then scrapped at the end of December and started over fresh in January.

I attempted the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest this year. I didn't make it past the pitch phase. Which is fine. After everything was all said and done, I realized Only A Name, which I thought was finished, really wasn't finished and needs a total overhaul. I'm going to try it again next year, probably with Only A Name again since that's the book that starts everything.

I've also moved. We were living in a small town pretty far out from where we needed to go for shopping and Himself needed to go for work. It was a pain getting to my doctor appointments. Now we live in town and everything is within a 20 minute drive of our new place. We'll have new roommates by the 15th, but for right now it's just us and the cat in the house.

Reidar didn't take too well to the move at first. I think he was rather offended by the fact that I wrapped him in our bath towel and held on for dear life as we drove him back from the old house to the new. We didn't have a cat carrier for him and I needed some way to prevent him from tearing holes in me while Himself drove. He hid himself on a shelf in the bathroom and wouldn't even acknowledge my presence for the better part of a week. He's resigned himself to the new place and has since gone back to flopping on me every chance he gets, but for a while I was beginning to think my cat was going to hate me forever. :D

Things are progressing forward at a slow pace, but good things are coming our way. We're slowly optimistic that things are going to continue getting better. We've embarked on a new chapter in our lives. We're going to see how this one will be written before we progress on.

And because the butterfly is so symbolic of how I feel right now, this picture was posted by user seiyastock on www.morguefile.com.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni lives

Hey everyone!

It's been a rough week.  The reason there was no post last week was because I was in the ER.  Again.  This time with a massive infection in my lower leg.  It got so bad they actually admitted me Monday.  I got to spend a wonderful two days in the hospital (ugh...more hospital bills) and the rest of the week off from work.  I go back to work tomorrow.  I anticipate another Talk with my manager about my attendance issues but really, when the doctor says stay home and I've got FMLA to cover my job and vacation days to cover the time, I'm staying home.

I'm trying something a little different with the writing.  I'm actually outlining a novel.  I know, I know.  I'm a pantser.  What am I doing outlining something?  I'm trying to pin down the story so it doesn't go all over the place.  I mean it already does go all over the place but I need it to not go all over the place quite so wildly.  So I'm trying to shoe horn the story into a workable whole by outlining it.

Well, that's it for this week.  Back to work tomorrow so not as much time to focus on writing but at least I'll have a paycheck.  Here's some music videos for you to enjoy.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni will remember to make posts regularly - one of these days

Hi everyone!

One of these days I'll actually remember I'm supposed to post weekly and then I'll actually have well thought out blog posts.  For now, you're stuck with my rambly posts as I try to figure out what I want to say.

I'm trying to figure out where I want to take my blog.  I know my blog is supposed to be part of my platform for when I get around to publishing something.  Whether I self-pub or go the traditional route is still up for discussion.  I may try the traditional route and then go self-pub if I can't get anywhere with the traditional.  Or I might self-pub and try to go the traditional route for later books.  I don't know.  I haven't decided.  I don't have anything I'd consider ready for publication anyway so I'm trying not to worry about it too much at this point.

But what is my blog going to look like?  Right now I'm not sure I'd want to publish me, given how random my blog posts are.  And how depressed I got for a while and published to my blog.  I don't know.  I don't want to delete my blog and I also don't want to start over with a new blog.  So I guess I'll just leave it as it is and hope for the best.  At least I know that I've got a few loyal readers who don't seem to care that I'm rambly most of the time and depressed once in a while.

At the very least you're all polite enough not to tell me you mind, which I do appreciate.

Life in general this past week has been life in general.  I actually ended up sick most of last week so I didn't work too much.  I've got to keep from missing any more time for a while so my attendance doesn't get me fired.

On the plus side, being home sick let me get some writing done.  I got almost 20 pages done on the current WIP.  I also found out I can transfer my stories to my kindle so I can read over them and decide what I want to do with them.  I can even leave myself notes on passages if I want.  So I'll be putting ONLY A NAME and CRACKED WORLD onto my kindle so I can read over them while I'm at work and make notes on weak parts.  I'm also working on getting SHADOW WAR written.  I've been calling it BLOOD WAR, but that's the second book in the duology...assuming I write both books.  I may end up only doing one book for these characters.  I don't know yet.  It all depends on how well the first book turns out.

I'm doing a lot of reading still.  I'm slowly working my way through the books on my kindle.  I expect to get through them by my birthday, at which time I'm hoping to acquire more Amazon gift cards so I can buy even more books for my kindle.  I'm going to make that request from my family and friends if they want to get me anything.  My birthday isn't until May, but a girl's got to think about these things, y'know?

Speaking of birthdays, I have to figure out what I'm going to do for Himself's birthday.  His birthday is in March and I know what he wants but I don't know if I'm going to be able to get it for him.  He wants a Nook.  He also wants the pieces to put his computer together.  He might be out of a job by then, so I'm wanting him to find a permanent day job that will keep helping us pay bills.  I don't know what's going to happen so we'll have to wait and see.

That's enough rambling from me tonight.  Here's some music videos for you.  (I need to broaden my music knowledge...I'm running out of ideas for music videos.)

Sunday 'fess up...Anni's not having luck with a good title this week

Hey everyone!

Well, it's Sunday again.  And since one of my personal goals is to keep up on my blog this year it's time for another post.

I know.  You're all very excited, aren't you? *grin*

I had my usual week.  I worked. I read.  I wrote.  I played Sims 3.  Oh wait.  I wasn't supposed to admit to that last one.  Uhhhh...just pretend I didn't say it, okay? *shoves her Sims 3 disks under the blanket*

Okay, okay.  We all know (or if you didn't you do now) that I have a Sims 3 addiction.  Finances being what they are I haven't been able to indulge in feeding my addiction by buying all of the new Sims 3 titles.  I'm woefully behind.  I only have World Adventures and Ambitions.  But Ambitions is my favorite expansion out of the two and I love playing it.

I enjoy building lives and screwing with them.  I love the fact that with a few keystrokes I can make my Sims wealthy.  (Boy wouldn't it be nice to do that in real life?  Or click a few buttons and have your dream house built for cheap?)  I just love messing with my Sims' lives and making them live out my dreams.

In a way, playing Sims 3 is also like writing.  I create characters, give them lives, and then do my best to disrupt those lives.  I tend to do it on a grander scale in my writing than in Sims 3, and of course I have more opportunities to cause problems for my characters in my stories.  But it's still the same thing: build the world and then do my best to disrupt it.

I've also been reading a lot since I got my Kindle for Christmas.  My new favorite story is READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline.  Himself brought home the book on CD, a copy of which he'd borrowed from a co-worker.  It took us a week to get through it because of a lack of time to sit and listen to the bloody thing (it's 2 CDs, and runs about 16 hours or so).  I was hooked.

Now I'm not much of a 'book on tape/CD' person because I'm not great at listening and retaining stuff.  I prefer to read.  So I used up what was left of my gift card and bought the book for my Kindle.  Warning if you do buy it for your Kindle...it's $12 on Amazon.  Really expensive.  But to me it was worth it.  I absolutely love this book.  I've actually reread the thing three or four times now.

Here's the best synopsis for the story, better than what I could write.  It's got a lot of '80's pop culture references, and given that I was a kid during the 80's I recognized some of it.  Mostly what I remember is when it went into reruns for a while.  The story does bog down in a few places, but there are some really intense spots that make up for it.

I've got the rest of the books I bought with my gift card to get through too, though I keep getting sucked in to one or two titles and want to read them multiple times before I move on.  I expect to get through the rest of my new books soon...if I can stop reading READY PLAYER ONE, that is.

Writing...writing...writing...oh yeah!  That thing I do when I'm not doing anything else.  Actually, I've been doing a lot of writing.  I've started on another one of my projects.  I'm writing a lot of the back story right now, though I'll probably edit most of it out.  The important thing is to actually get it written first before I worry about what will and will not make the cut.

So here are some random music videos for you.  Everyone have a great week!

Sunday 'fess up...Anni is alive

Hey everyone!  Long time no post.

Life has gotten a little better and a little worse all at the same time.  I'm no longer in danger of separating from Himself but we're in danger of becoming homeless.  Twitchy is still jobless and is in danger of losing her house.  If she loses the house we're out on the street with nowhere to go except some really cheap ass hotels because we don't have anyone who can afford to take us in.

Writing is going okay.  I've done another edit on ONLY A NAME and it's out to my last remaining beta reader, who plans on getting to it at some point this month.  I'm in no hurry but I'm grateful she's willing to take a look at it for me.  I especially think the ending is weak and needs help.

Work is work.  I'm out of customer service again and back in collections where I was happier.  I'm hoping I'll start doing well at work again.  I'm excited and scared at the same time.  Things have really changed since I left and it's a whole new world that I'm coming back into.

Nothing much else to report so here's some music videos for you to enjoy.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni really is trying to keep up on the blog

Wow.  It's been a while.  Sorry, folks.  I'm still in the middle of some rather rough stuff so I've been neglecting a lot of things.  I'm still on Twitter a lot under @annikkawoods, so if you're on Twitter & you don't already follow me, please feel free to drop by and say hi.

Therapy is going well.  I've got another week and then I'm back to work.  I'm actually looking forward to being back to work.  It just reinforces the whole schedule thing that I need in my life and while I'm nervous I'm not as broken down about it as I was two months ago.  Himself and I...let's just say he's part of the rough stuff I'm going through and leave it at that.

Writing...well, not too much has been done.  I've done a little work on ONLY A NAME, but because my hard drive is dying (seriously enough that I can't turn my laptop off if I want it to turn back on again) I haven't done much in the way of writing.  I got the verdict back from my beta readers and the Halloween story just won't cut it.  I'm going to attempt Christmas stories instead, and that gives me some time to get them written and perfected.

And here are this week's music videos.  Enjoy!

Sunday 'fess up...Anni is beginning to think that nothing good is going to happen to her

Hey all~

This week's 'fess up is brought to you amidst panic attacks, fights with Himself, and major stress.  I'm having a really bad time of it right now because our financial situation has not improved.  In fact it's gotten worse.  I don't know what to do anymore, other than go back to work - which is a no-no according to my doctor.

Writing is sporadic right now because of my emotional state.  But I did get a story finished that I'm going to polish and then I'll probably post it close to Halloween, since it's a Halloween story.  It's just a short blurb in one of my UF stories, although I'm beginning to think they're more Para Rom stories rather than straight UF stories.

I'm keeping it short this week, so here's the usual music videos.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni's week went better

*waves*

Hey everyone.  This has been a fairly long week.  Himself is finally back on his feet after his mom's death.  I'm due back at work today after a full week off to help take care of Himself until his depression was back under control.  I've also had an interview with Aaron's RTO for a manager trainee/customer service rep.  Here's hoping I get the job so I can get out of the call center.

I've been working on CRACKED WORLD this week.  I'm absolutely thrilled because my damn writer's block finally broke.  I put ONLY A NAME on hold because I was too frustrated with it.  I'm going to try to finish CRACKED WORLD and a few other projects before I go back to ONLY A NAME.

I've finally decided to try to epub a few of my short stories.  I'm getting them polished up and ready to go.  I don't know when I'll get them published but I'll keep everyone informed.  I'll provide a link to them when I get them up.

I had a phone interview for Aaron's, and then I got the in face interview.  So that makes me excited.  I'll know by the end of this week if I've got the job or not.  Wish me luck!

Some music videos for you to enjoy have been added.  See y'all next week!

Sunday 'fess up...Anni is hurting right now

Hey everyone.

If you've read the blog for a while, you know Himself went in April to say goodbye to his mom because she'd taken a turn for the worse.  She hung in there for another four months before finally receiving an end to her pain and illness on Friday night.  My mother-in-law has finally passed, bringing with her death a more extreme closure to our lives than you might expect.

I used to be close to my mother-in-law.  But events over the past few years drove us apart and for a time even made it so she refused to speak to Himself, let alone me.  But time and her own growing sense of mortality allowed her to forgive Himself and they started talking again.  She refused to have anything to do with me, blaming me for everything - including "stealing" her son away from her.

What's interesting is I'm sad she's dead.  I'm hurting for Himself, who's hurting bad enough over his mom's death.  I'm also hurting because she died with that animosity still between us.  I'd have liked some more time to hopefully work things out with her so we could at least be civil to each other again, for Himself's sake.  I'm sad because Himself really has no other family - his sister...let's not get into her right now, just accept she's out of the picture; his grandmother preceded his mother in death; he doesn't know if his biological father is alive (and he doesn't really care either); and now his mom has passed.  He for all intents and purposes has no family now other than me.

I'm also relieved she's dead.  Not because I hated her.  I loved her in spite of everything.  I'm relieved because she's no longer suffering.  She was in such poor health that she barely recognized Himself when he went to see her in April.  She's finally at peace and no longer shackled to a body that had stopped working right several years ago.  Himself isn't quite ready to accept that at this point (which I don't blame him...I didn't want to accept it after MY mom died), so right now we're just kind of taking it one day at a time.

On the writing front, I'm putting ONLY A NAME on hold for a while.  I want to focus on some of my other projects because I'm to the point where I hate looking at OAN.  I want to delete the whole thing and forget it ever existed.  Not that I'm going to.  I'm just going to ignore it again for a little while and see if my attitude improves and I can finally get it polished and ready for publication attempts.  I've got the same problem with my Beauty and the Beast retelling.

So I'm going to find other projects to work on.  I'm going to find other stories to tell.  And hopefully, one day, when I come back to both of these projects I'll be able to put the kind of care and attention into them that they deserve.  Otherwise they're both going to get deleted and I'll probably kick myself for that in a few months once I've changed my mind about how horrible they both are.

Work is work.  I'm taking a couple days off to deal with Himself and losing my mother-in-law.  Then I'll be back to work.  I'm actually doing better than I was, though I'm still not where they want me.

Music videos for your enjoyment.

Sunday 'fess up...the Monday edition

Hello everyone!

We've had two days of some rather spectacular thunderstorms so I opted to avoid being online last night (and I forgot in lieu of other panic inducing issues Saturday night and Sunday morning).  So we're a day late but here's the SFU anyway.

No soapbox this week, I promise.

My paycheck didn't show up on Friday.  It didn't show up on Saturday.  No mail on Sunday.  We have a lot of bills to pay off of my meager paycheck and they were all running late.  This made us very, very nervous.  Thankfully my check showed up on Monday (today) so we were able to get some of our bills paid.  But we had one major expense come up that's wiped out the money I was expecting to have for food and other random but necessary things.  I've had to ask my dad for help and I NEVER ask him for help anymore because he can't always afford to help me.  We'll get to see on Wednesday how much he can help us.

Yes, my work offers direct deposit.  Yes, I've signed up for it.  I don't need another panic-inducing weekend like this past one.

Nothing new on the work front.  Same old, same old for me.  Himself is still job hunting.  We're hopeful that SOMEONE will eventually realize he's perfect for their company (or at least very good for their company) and will hire him soon.  We have to keep that hope up or we'll drown in our depression.

Writing is going okay.  Still working with getting my critiques done, after my email went and ate the most recent chapters.  ONLY A NAME is on hold until I get the critiques and beta reads done for it.  The Beauty and the Beast retelling is getting darker and more violent, which is what I want, so we'll see how that goes.

I don't really have that much to report this week.  So instead I'll leave you with more music videos.  Enjoy!

Sunday 'fess up...Anni is ONLINE again

Hey everyone!

Yeah, I'm back online.  This time my missing blog posts weren't by my choice.  My internet bill was one of the bills I put off and, well, it got cut off like my phone.  I paid the phone and the internet on Friday, only to find out that our router bit the dust.  We found this out because I couldn't get the internet to load up even after I made the payment and we finally hooked Monstrosity up to the hard line.  Yeah, that didn't go over well either.  We're the source of internet for the whole bloody house, and now we have to wait for a while until we can get a new router.

The good news is that when we get the router, we're going to get another external hard drive and we're going to set up some kind of wireless network dump thing.  Basically Himself and Nice Roommate are going to put together something kind of like Dropbox, only it's going to be localized and only for the house.  That's going to be seriously useful.  (No, I'm not a techie.  I just like techie things.)

Another good thing this week is I went in to pay the phone bill and walked out with a new free phone (and a 2 year extension on my contract with Sprint, but I love them so I don't mind).  This is my new phone,  Best part is it's purple.  The guy tried to sell me on a touch screen phone with a QWERTY keyboard attached but I wasn't in a position to pay $50 to walk out with it.  I got it because I was grandfathered into the upgrade plan where you got to upgrade after 1 year instead of 2.  I'm not complaining because I've wanted an upgraded (TOUCH SCREEN YAY!) phone for a while.  I'm still playing with it but so far I like it.

In spite of not being online, I did get some writing done.  I'm still trying to work out how I'm going to start my darker version of my Beauty and the Beast retelling.  I know where I want it to go and how I want it to end, but for once it's the beginning that's stumping me.  I'm hoping something good will happen over the next week and I'll figure it out.

We had a rough week when it came to extra expenses.  Himself was driving home from taking Nice Roommate (who doesn't have a car or license right now) to work when our tire blew out.  We're very lucky we pay the extra money every month to have roadside service.  Geico sent someone out to help put the spare on and on Friday we got a new tire for the car.  Well, new to us.  There's an awesome guy we go to that sells used tires that aren't horrifically used.  They're in good shape and last for a while.  We've been going to him from the time we had our minivan.  We also found out our emissions test is due by the end of this month.  We've lost the little card they sent us so we have to find it before we can take the car in to get the emissions checked.  But that's for the next paycheck.

Himself is still job hunting.  My employer is hiring for my same position (they're aiming to fill the 2nd floor by the end of the year...assuming the government doesn't default and screw us ALL out of jobs), so he's going to take another shot at getting on there.

That's pretty much it for this week.  Here's some music videos for your viewing pleasure.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni actually got stuff done this week

Hey all!

This blog should be back to its regularly scheduled...schedule now.  I'm getting the hang of the new job - albeit slowly - so I've got more energy and focus now.  I'm also determined to keep up with those things that I enjoy, to help me get through the stresses of my life right now.

Himself is still without a job.  He's applied several places and we have high hopes for interviews but we won't know until they happen.  I'm haphazardly looking for another job since I won't take a pay cut just to get out of a job I don't like.  I can't afford my bills on what I make now.  I don't want to think what it'd be like if I was making less money.

I FINALLY got back into my writing this week.  I finished all four critiques for my critique group, and I've given the new chapters a once over.  I'll get into doing the actual critiques on them over the next week.  This week I've been tweaking my world building stuff, making sure everything is plausible and makes sense.  Yes, I know I write fantasy.  But if the world doesn't have some semblance of reality to it, if you get pulled out of the story because the details are off, that means I'm not doing my job right.

Some music videos from one of my newest favs...Immediate Music.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni's not feeling good these days

Hey all.

I'm being plagued by constant anxiety/panic attacks these days because of all the stress that I'm dealing with.  Himself is still without a job and all the bills are now falling on my meager paychecks.  I'm letting Himself use the laptop more, when he wants it, so he can do his job hunting.  We've got $20 to last us for gas for two weeks and a tank that's only a little more than half full.  I had $40 for groceries to last us for 2 weeks and now we're fighting to keep Twitchy out of our food because she doesn't seem to understand that our food is OUR FOOD.  We want out of here so bad, but we're so broke we're not getting anywhere.

To make it worse, I had to pick and choose what the most vital bills were to get paid.  This means my cell phone's been cut off.  Thankfully for Himself, our Nice Roommate is letting him use his phone as a contact number until I can get the phone bill paid and get them turned back on.  Otherwise Himself would be utterly out of luck for the next two weeks.

In the meantime, I've been working slowly on critiques for a new critique group I'm in as well as reviewing the critiques given to me on Only A Name.  Between the ladies in my critique group and KD Sarge, I'm learning where the weaknesses in OAN are and hoping to eventually get them fixed.  I haven't done much writing because I just haven't felt like I'd be able to get anything done.

Just some music videos to round out today's SFU.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni has nothing this week

Yeah, I've got nothing.  I'm too keyed up about Himself leaving to be of much use to anyone this week.  I didin't even manage to get my Writing Wednesday blog post done.  I'm surprised I managed my FFF post.

I cracked the Beauty and the Beast rewrite but progress is slow because I'm not focused on writing right now.  Went to the zoo today with Himself as our last major outing.  There's pictures on my Flickr page if you're curious what the Boise Zoo is like.  Animals and plants from the zoo

Ended up leaving work early on Friday because of a headache.  I was almost literally crawling out the door the headache was so bad.  After a rather large dose of caffeine and Tylenol it finally went away...about 4 hours later.

This is going to be a really short post because I'm trying to spend what little time I have left with Himself before he goes to California.  So here's some music videos to close this out with, as always.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni almost forgot to make her post

Yeah, this last week has been a whirlwind of training, sorting things out with Himself leaving for California, and my depression flaring so bad I almost started crying for no reason during my lunch break on Wednesday.  It wasn't a pretty picture, and it wasn't an easy week.

On the writing front, I've started a new project.  I'm fleshing out the characters and building the world.  I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to integrate this new stuff into Aleran or if it's going to stand on its own in a world of its own.  I've got plenty of world to explore still on Aleran (since that's the name for the whole world and not just one little part of it), so I could possibly make it part of a different continent than the one I primarily work with.  I just don't know yet.  It's too early to tell.

On the work front, it's going well.  We're finally getting into the deeper stuff for training so it's actually getting more difficult and more interesting all at the same time.  I'm looking forward to being able to take live calls soon, and testing out what I've learned.  I need to remember to take my little reminder notebook to work though, and put the most vital bits of info into it.

On the vlog front...still no decent web cam so no vlog for now.  I'll let you know when I get it back up and recording.

More music videos...just because I can.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni needs a vacation from life

Seriously...anyone know of a good vacation from real life?  Aside from writing?  Oy.  This has not been one of my better weeks.

Not much writing got done.  I tried to edit my Beauty and the Beast rewrite and something in it just doesn't seem to work.  I've pawned it off on a couple of people to beta read.  So far no comments.  I think I know one of the problems.  My issue with it is trying to either remove it - which I suppose would work but dang it I LIKE the idea - or working it in even further down the storyline.  I don't know yet and I'm waiting for the verdict from my beta readers before I do anything more on it.

Only A Name hasn't been worked on much this week.  I worked on it for a while last night but I'm still not happy with it.  I'm determined to get through the edits by the end of May and have it ready for beta readers in June.  We'll see if that happens too.

If you're wondering WHY my writing sucked this week, go read my "V is for Very, Very Grateful" blog post.  It gives all the details as to why I've spent yet another week out of work.  I am not really looking forward to the backlog of emails, issues, and idiots when I go back to work on Monday.  At least I've only got two weeks left before I migrate to customer service instead of collections.  I'm very excited about that.

Vlog is recorded as usual.  This time I used a picture of Malad Gorge as my title screen.  I haven't been there for a while but the view from the bridge is spectacular.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni's got a face full of cat

Yeah, writing this with Reidar sitting on my chest so he's blocking my face with his body is a little difficult but he's being a clingy little fluff ball tonight.  So I guess I'll work around him.

This week hasn't been overly exciting.  I missed a couple of days because I was taking care of Himself, who's having a rough time right now.  I got stuck with my boss and HIS boss listening in to me while I took a call.  Talk about nerve wracking experiences.  It's the third time they've done this to me...mostly because I'm a pretty decent collector but also because I was gone the first half of this month so two of my calls have to be with my boss sitting next to me as I take them.  I've got one down and one to go.

I finished my shawl/afghan thingy this week.  You can see it in the vlog.  I've started Himself's afghan as well now.  That one's going to take me a while because it's a lot bigger than my little shawl thingy.  But I intend to have some fun with it.

I've decided that for my title screen on the vlog I'm going to showcase places in Idaho.  I'm rather fond of my home state and I'd like to show it off a little.  There's a good chance, if I run out of pretty pictures, I'll probably head over to Washington (where I also lived) and find pictures from there too.  But Idaho's got a lot of nice places so we'll have to see what I can find.

On the writing front, I FINALLY got one of my scenes rewritten that's been bothering me.  Two scenes, actually.  Now I'm planning on spending most of today working on the third scene that I need to fix now that I've changed things up a bit.  I'm hoping that this batch of edits will be done soon.

Vlog is up as usual.  As are some music videos for you to enjoy if you wish.

Sunday 'fess up...HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY WEEK

Hello my lovelies!  Boy has Anni had a good week.  Very busy, very stressful, and very LONG - but still good.

I did a lot of overtime this week.  It made for some long days.  I got a couple really good days in the fitness center too.  I'm working on trying to make it in 3 days a week for my regular workout and one class as well.  So 4 days a week in the fitness center.  I haven't consistently managed it yet but I'm trying.

We got our car paid off.  We get to go get the title on Thursday.  This is one less bill for us to pay.  Although we'll have a new car payment soon enough.  We need two cars.

We've also gotten all of our court costs from our nightmare paid off.  All I have left is my traffic fines and my reinstatement fee.  Then I can legally drive again.  YAY!

My biggest news is in regards to my writing.  I FINISHED ROUND 1 REVISIONS ON ONLY A NAME!  It comes it at 348 double spaced pages and 95,677 words.  I am really proud of myself.  Now it's going to sit and gather dust for a few months until it's time for round two of the revisions.

We've got a line on a 3 bed 2 bath trailer that we could possibly get into by the beginning of next month.  This means we'd have an office as well as getting out on our own again.  We've got our fingers crossed on this one.

Going forward, I have some big plans.  I've got a bunch of writing projects I want to play with.  I'm also going to start posting stories on my WordPress blog.  I'll be posting Magic Mondays - high fantasy, mostly my Aleran stuff but some random bits as well - and Freak Fridays - my paranormal and urban fantasy stuff - on WordPress.  Writing Wednesdays and SFU will still be posted here.  On the SFU posts I'll link the posts from earlier in the week on my WordPress blog.  I'll also post them up on Facebook and Twitter.

Vlog is posted as usual.  Added my story links & some video links as well as the vlog this week.  Enjoy!  If you read my stories, please leave me comments so I know someone's actually reading them?  Please?  Thank you!

Deirdre's Legacy
A Murder of Crows
Mama's Angels

Please pardon my absence

I know it's been a while since I posted here.  I've been sick, finally got off my LOA and back to work, and mostly been offline because I've had stuff to do.  I'm not even really working on NaNoWriMo much right now because of everything going on.  I hope to remedy my rather deplorable word count soon.

I've been reading a lot and will have a few books to add to the book blog.  I'm not going to add Sense and Sensibility, Jane Eyre, or Little Women because I mostly read those to remind myself of how awesome the stories are.  However, I must also add reading Little Women depressed me a little because of certain circumstances in my life but that's neither here nor there.

On the good news side of things, I've been able to reconnect to one of my oldest friends.  We sort of fell apart after I got married and have had minimal contact with each other.  We recently started emailing and chatting on AIM more and now we've discovered that we're two completely different women than we used to be.  We actually like each other again and are looking forward to when we get to see each other again, though it'll be a while for that.  She lives about 3 hours away from me now.

Things are going to be very tight financially since I found out most of the two weeks I spent on my LOA is unpaid, so if I can't pay the internet I might drop offline again for a couple weeks until I can get it paid.  Other than that, life is simply plodding on as it usually does.