Today is "blah."
I couldn't sleep last night; around midnight, after finishing my book -- which was the only reason I had managed to stay up as long as I had since I was dreadfully tired -- I had the realization that the end of October is near. I'm one of those people who hates when time seems to fly by so quickly I feel unaccomplished, so I started thinking of the goals I had set for this year. Namely, I had wanted to complete the 2nd and 3rd drafts of IE. I figured I would aim for 10/31 (so I could concentrate fully on NaNo in November) and whatever I didn't manage to get finished I could finish up by 12/31. This is exactly what happened last year during the first draft. I started in April and wanted to finish by 10/31. I didn't, but from 12/1 to 12/31 I did finish. I really didn't think I would be only 6 chapters into the 2nd draft at this point in this year. Blah.
So, the point is: up all night. Extremely tired. I get VERY cranky when I'm tired. I think I'm low on iron, which would explain the excessive tiredness for the past few weeks. Blech.
Anyhow, shopping went well today -- bought 3 pairs of pants and a pair of boots. This is a HUUUUUGE deal for me, as I wear a large size pants in tall, and when I can find the width/style that fits, I inevitably can't find them tall enough. I feel like I'm fighting floods all year. And, I wear a size 13W shoe, which makes it impossible to find comfortable shoes. Thus, I wear sandals most of the year. It sucks when it snows. But today, I managed to find not one, not even two, but THREE pairs of boots in my size!!! I bought the black ones because they made my feet look the smallest, and called it a day. Very exciting. Very exhausting.
Now I'm home. Psych isn't on (sad face), I can't seem to concentrate on endochondral ossification so save my life, I'm extremely anxious about my failure to finish IE, and all I want to do is go to sleep but I have midterms next week. Double blah.
It's gonna be one of those weekends, I think....
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Where does the time go?
Not only has it been two months (ok, 2 days shy...) since I've posted on here, but it's already almost the SEVENTH month of 2009!! I can't believe how quickly time has FLOWN.
I still have a gazillion things to do before winter hits. Namely, finish the Christmas stockings, teach Austin to ride a bike, work my ass off in school so I only have 3 classes left by the time 2010 starts, lose some weight, and get a job. That's a lot of big things, and I can't do a lot of the little things on my list until some of the bigger ones are taken care of. So, I guess I'd better get crackin'.
A couple other MUCHO IMPORTANTE things to add to my list: finish the 2nd draft/total revision of IE!!!! Finish the first draft of Vaampyr/A&G. Finish the first draft of Sawyer (untitled works tend to take on the heroine's name, in this case, Sawyer Jackson, Ph.D.).
Speaking of Sawyer, SuNoMriMos is not going too well. School is CraZy and I only have about 6K done so far; my goal is 60K by July 31. This could get ugly. Luckily, finals are tomorrow (woot!) so I will have almost 3 whole weeks of peace, where I'll only have one online class to deal with. I plan on getting LOTS of writing done, LOTS of working out in, and even working on my Christmas stockings ☺ Then, July 20, I'm going to be in class M-F from 1:30-5:45pm. Could be worse, but 4 hours a day sucks big-time. Oh, well. I'll get the class over with and be ready to apply for graduation!!
In other news.... no, that's about it. Life is dull. I'm watching my high school classmates post pictures from around the world, where they're living the single life or having a blast with their spouses, many of them having children, most of them loving their jobs (or at least having one)... and I feel left out. Gotta get on that, but not quite sure how. My bro is in jail, so I haven't been able to see Lillie in a while, which makes me SOOOOOO sad. I miss her so much :( She's getting huge, walking, and her hair is so curly it makes me want to just play with it all day. Hopefully I'll get to spend more time with her soon. That alone would make up for the left-out-edness.
That's it. Life is boring. Not much to say. If I get around to it, I may post an excerpt or two from my revisions. That could be fun.
I still have a gazillion things to do before winter hits. Namely, finish the Christmas stockings, teach Austin to ride a bike, work my ass off in school so I only have 3 classes left by the time 2010 starts, lose some weight, and get a job. That's a lot of big things, and I can't do a lot of the little things on my list until some of the bigger ones are taken care of. So, I guess I'd better get crackin'.
A couple other MUCHO IMPORTANTE things to add to my list: finish the 2nd draft/total revision of IE!!!! Finish the first draft of Vaampyr/A&G. Finish the first draft of Sawyer (untitled works tend to take on the heroine's name, in this case, Sawyer Jackson, Ph.D.).
Speaking of Sawyer, SuNoMriMos is not going too well. School is CraZy and I only have about 6K done so far; my goal is 60K by July 31. This could get ugly. Luckily, finals are tomorrow (woot!) so I will have almost 3 whole weeks of peace, where I'll only have one online class to deal with. I plan on getting LOTS of writing done, LOTS of working out in, and even working on my Christmas stockings ☺ Then, July 20, I'm going to be in class M-F from 1:30-5:45pm. Could be worse, but 4 hours a day sucks big-time. Oh, well. I'll get the class over with and be ready to apply for graduation!!
In other news.... no, that's about it. Life is dull. I'm watching my high school classmates post pictures from around the world, where they're living the single life or having a blast with their spouses, many of them having children, most of them loving their jobs (or at least having one)... and I feel left out. Gotta get on that, but not quite sure how. My bro is in jail, so I haven't been able to see Lillie in a while, which makes me SOOOOOO sad. I miss her so much :( She's getting huge, walking, and her hair is so curly it makes me want to just play with it all day. Hopefully I'll get to spend more time with her soon. That alone would make up for the left-out-edness.
That's it. Life is boring. Not much to say. If I get around to it, I may post an excerpt or two from my revisions. That could be fun.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Spring is almost over...
What to blog about? Not much has changed, hence the silence.
But finals are coming up (I have 2 papers due this coming week, 2 regular "not final" tests... then the week of May 4th I have 3 finals and another paper due), so I'm hitting the crazy part of the semester. I tried to stay ahead, or at least on track, for each class, but some classes have been easier than others to stay on top of.
So, we're going to Six Flags tomorrow for opening weekend and I HAVE to be ready for my Monday test AND have my Monday and Wednesday papers due. Oh, and read about 6 neuropsych articles by Monday's class. Yay, rah.
Writing? I don't have time for that! But as soon as the semester's over, Mandy and I are starting the plot-fest for SuNoWriMos, our own personal Summer Novel Writing Months. My goal is to write at lesat 50K on a NEW novel between June 1st and July 31st, and Mandy wants to write a whole first draft, though I'm not sure what her word expectancy is. It should be fun! Since I'm taking 12 credit hours this summer, I have to take a smaller writing load, but I seriously need to up the writing time this summer because I haven't ticked a SINGLE item off my 2009 writing to-do list :(
Reading? I probably spend too much time doing that. I've recently read 2 Jodi Picoults that I hadn't read before, and now I have read all of her novels and own half of them. I am reading 2 fantasy novels, as well as Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. And, of course, re-perusing my 3 extra credit books, My Lobotomy: A Memoir by Howard Dully, My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, and A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. They are all good books and I have enjoyed reading them. I probably should have started the reports back in February when I read them though! Just for fun, I am including a picture of my newly-acquired books, thanks to Half Price Books and the Doubleday online book club ☺ I seriously need to finish my schoolwork so I can get to reading. My TBR pile is HUGE!!! To be fair, I guess two of them are re-reads, but I'm still looking forward to them!!
I'm pretty excited for summer for other reasons, too, though. Swimming pools, sunshine, tanning, the end of my advanced neuro class... Angels & Demons (the movie), Star Trek (the movie), and My Sister's Keeper (another movie) all come out in May/June, and I'm stoked! I'm NOT so stoked about allergies, sinuses, and bugs.... but alas, I guess I'll take the bad with the good when it comes to weather. I just can't wait to graduate (May 2010 baby!!) and move to Florida where it will be a lot warmer, a lot more of the time. I'll just have to find a good allergist ☺
But finals are coming up (I have 2 papers due this coming week, 2 regular "not final" tests... then the week of May 4th I have 3 finals and another paper due), so I'm hitting the crazy part of the semester. I tried to stay ahead, or at least on track, for each class, but some classes have been easier than others to stay on top of.
So, we're going to Six Flags tomorrow for opening weekend and I HAVE to be ready for my Monday test AND have my Monday and Wednesday papers due. Oh, and read about 6 neuropsych articles by Monday's class. Yay, rah.
Writing? I don't have time for that! But as soon as the semester's over, Mandy and I are starting the plot-fest for SuNoWriMos, our own personal Summer Novel Writing Months. My goal is to write at lesat 50K on a NEW novel between June 1st and July 31st, and Mandy wants to write a whole first draft, though I'm not sure what her word expectancy is. It should be fun! Since I'm taking 12 credit hours this summer, I have to take a smaller writing load, but I seriously need to up the writing time this summer because I haven't ticked a SINGLE item off my 2009 writing to-do list :(
Reading? I probably spend too much time doing that. I've recently read 2 Jodi Picoults that I hadn't read before, and now I have read all of her novels and own half of them. I am reading 2 fantasy novels, as well as Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. And, of course, re-perusing my 3 extra credit books, My Lobotomy: A Memoir by Howard Dully, My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, and A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. They are all good books and I have enjoyed reading them. I probably should have started the reports back in February when I read them though! Just for fun, I am including a picture of my newly-acquired books, thanks to Half Price Books and the Doubleday online book club ☺ I seriously need to finish my schoolwork so I can get to reading. My TBR pile is HUGE!!! To be fair, I guess two of them are re-reads, but I'm still looking forward to them!!
I'm pretty excited for summer for other reasons, too, though. Swimming pools, sunshine, tanning, the end of my advanced neuro class... Angels & Demons (the movie), Star Trek (the movie), and My Sister's Keeper (another movie) all come out in May/June, and I'm stoked! I'm NOT so stoked about allergies, sinuses, and bugs.... but alas, I guess I'll take the bad with the good when it comes to weather. I just can't wait to graduate (May 2010 baby!!) and move to Florida where it will be a lot warmer, a lot more of the time. I'll just have to find a good allergist ☺
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Hello, 2009!!
I thought I’d start the year with a note.
The end
OK, no, I’m joking. Kind of. I don’t have much to say, but I have a Boyz 2 Men song in my head, “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” It’s so true. 2008 flew by, and I feel like I didn’t get much accomplished during the 366 days (it was a leap year remember?) past.
That’s not totally true, since I did finish the first draft of IE and write 60K on the first draft of another novel (Vaampyr). And I passed statistics in the summer and got another semester and summer term under my belt. And got out of the old house and into … well, another one I don’t like too much but is “ok for now.” Oh, but at 9pm last night we got satellite, so I can now watch TV!
What didn’t I do in 2008? I didn’t get any closer, really, to publishing anything I’ve written. All the shorts I sent out got rejected big-time. I expected it, so I’m not too bummed. Just stating a fact. I didn’t graduate like I had hoped. I didn’t end the year with a job. I didn’t have a baby like I wanted (although, since I didn’t have a job for a third of the year, that might not be a bad thing). I didn’t learn anything new, like I always want to do – a language, a sport, a workout. I didn’t travel anywhere new – I’ve been to Miami before. And I didn’t lose any weight. Actually, I gained back 25 pounds I had lost in 2007 and THEN SOME.
So, what does 2009 mean to me? It means working hard on my writing. Novels, shorts, whatever I can do. I am determined to finish the 2nd drafts of both IE and Vaampyr, and write at least one polished short a month. Plus, I’d really like to get started on my next novel. And finish the first drafts of my two Unfinisheds. So – 5 novels, 12 shorts; 365 days. Well, 364, cuz I had a lot to drink last night and probably won’t be writing today ☺
What else does 2009 mean to me? I SHOULD be graduating this year, as long as my financial aid works out like it should And if I graduate, then I SHOULD be moving to Florida. That’ll be awesome! I would love to get pregnant, but who knows if that’ll happen. Some of my best friends are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant, again leaving me in the dust L It’s all good though. I have my kitties and puppy for now. And Lillie, who possibly will be spending more time with us in 2009 (yay!!!).
And I’m going to learn something new. A few years ago I crossed Pilates off my list, and another year yoga. I own a guitar and a keyboard but can’t play either – maybe I’ll make one of those my New Thing for 2009? I’ll let you know how that works out!
Well, I’m off to finish the first day of the new year. So that exactly one year from today, I can blog about all the stuff I DIDN’T cross off my 2009 list. It’ll probably include most of 5 novels, 12 shorts, guitar/piano… you get the picture.
The end
OK, no, I’m joking. Kind of. I don’t have much to say, but I have a Boyz 2 Men song in my head, “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” It’s so true. 2008 flew by, and I feel like I didn’t get much accomplished during the 366 days (it was a leap year remember?) past.
That’s not totally true, since I did finish the first draft of IE and write 60K on the first draft of another novel (Vaampyr). And I passed statistics in the summer and got another semester and summer term under my belt. And got out of the old house and into … well, another one I don’t like too much but is “ok for now.” Oh, but at 9pm last night we got satellite, so I can now watch TV!
What didn’t I do in 2008? I didn’t get any closer, really, to publishing anything I’ve written. All the shorts I sent out got rejected big-time. I expected it, so I’m not too bummed. Just stating a fact. I didn’t graduate like I had hoped. I didn’t end the year with a job. I didn’t have a baby like I wanted (although, since I didn’t have a job for a third of the year, that might not be a bad thing). I didn’t learn anything new, like I always want to do – a language, a sport, a workout. I didn’t travel anywhere new – I’ve been to Miami before. And I didn’t lose any weight. Actually, I gained back 25 pounds I had lost in 2007 and THEN SOME.
So, what does 2009 mean to me? It means working hard on my writing. Novels, shorts, whatever I can do. I am determined to finish the 2nd drafts of both IE and Vaampyr, and write at least one polished short a month. Plus, I’d really like to get started on my next novel. And finish the first drafts of my two Unfinisheds. So – 5 novels, 12 shorts; 365 days. Well, 364, cuz I had a lot to drink last night and probably won’t be writing today ☺
What else does 2009 mean to me? I SHOULD be graduating this year, as long as my financial aid works out like it should And if I graduate, then I SHOULD be moving to Florida. That’ll be awesome! I would love to get pregnant, but who knows if that’ll happen. Some of my best friends are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant, again leaving me in the dust L It’s all good though. I have my kitties and puppy for now. And Lillie, who possibly will be spending more time with us in 2009 (yay!!!).
And I’m going to learn something new. A few years ago I crossed Pilates off my list, and another year yoga. I own a guitar and a keyboard but can’t play either – maybe I’ll make one of those my New Thing for 2009? I’ll let you know how that works out!
Well, I’m off to finish the first day of the new year. So that exactly one year from today, I can blog about all the stuff I DIDN’T cross off my 2009 list. It’ll probably include most of 5 novels, 12 shorts, guitar/piano… you get the picture.
Friday, December 5, 2008
NaNo's Over -- Now what??
Well, I did it. I wrote over 50,000 words in 30 short days. It was tough, but I loved it. But now I have this nagging question.... What do I do now?
I picked IE back up and made some drastic decisions about it. Instead of 3rd person, past tense, which has ALWAYS been my preferred writing style, I've decided to switch to 1st person, present tense. I feel like the whole thing flows more smoothly, and readers can connect with the MC much better this way. My opinion was backed up by my loyal reader, Mandy... and I *will* make her pay for the 80,000+ words I now have to revise!!!
So, here's my goal. I want to have IE finished by the new year, the rough draft that is. Then, I'm going to spend January revising her. And revising her. And revising still. And Mandy's going to help. And then I'll revise again.
THEN... my goal, as crazy as it sounds, is to have it revised to the point where I'm not ashamed to show it to people... and submit it on February 2, 2009, to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, found here: http://www.amazon.com/abna . I know it's a really long shot that I'll have anything actually finished by then, and this contest was part of the reason I wanted the first draft done by Halloween. But it's at least a goal that will keep me moving towards finishing the first draft by 12/31. Even if she doesn't get polished enough to submit by 2/2/09, she'll still be pretty damn close. Case in point: Since NaNo ended, I've already written 5,038 words on IE and done some revision on the tenses that I mentioned earlier. That's pretty good, considering I took the first two days of the month off from writing.
So, there are my writing goals for the forseeable future. I'd love to including finishing Vaampyr in there, but I want to focus on IE first. I WILL work on Vaampyr whenever possible, like when I get burnt out on IE for the day. But IE is much closer to being done than Vaampyr, so it's my main concentration right now.
In the new year, I'd like to finish IE (totally), finish Vaampyr totally and give her a name, start my next novel (hopefully to be a series of novels), and complete at least one polished short story per month. Plus, shop those shorts around. Oh, and I'd like to revise the small stack of shorts I have ready right now, and shop them. AND, I'd like to get the rough drafts of my two Unfinisheds done.... it'll be a busy year, but I'm really getting into writing mojo lately so I think I can do it. Especially since I can't afford to be in school right now, so I have a lot more free time than I have in the last several years.
Nothing new besides all that. Still job-less, still school-less, still Lillie-less... and still pretty upset about all of that. But I'm writing, and that's really important to me right now.
I picked IE back up and made some drastic decisions about it. Instead of 3rd person, past tense, which has ALWAYS been my preferred writing style, I've decided to switch to 1st person, present tense. I feel like the whole thing flows more smoothly, and readers can connect with the MC much better this way. My opinion was backed up by my loyal reader, Mandy... and I *will* make her pay for the 80,000+ words I now have to revise!!!
So, here's my goal. I want to have IE finished by the new year, the rough draft that is. Then, I'm going to spend January revising her. And revising her. And revising still. And Mandy's going to help. And then I'll revise again.
THEN... my goal, as crazy as it sounds, is to have it revised to the point where I'm not ashamed to show it to people... and submit it on February 2, 2009, to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, found here: http://www.amazon.com/abna . I know it's a really long shot that I'll have anything actually finished by then, and this contest was part of the reason I wanted the first draft done by Halloween. But it's at least a goal that will keep me moving towards finishing the first draft by 12/31. Even if she doesn't get polished enough to submit by 2/2/09, she'll still be pretty damn close. Case in point: Since NaNo ended, I've already written 5,038 words on IE and done some revision on the tenses that I mentioned earlier. That's pretty good, considering I took the first two days of the month off from writing.
So, there are my writing goals for the forseeable future. I'd love to including finishing Vaampyr in there, but I want to focus on IE first. I WILL work on Vaampyr whenever possible, like when I get burnt out on IE for the day. But IE is much closer to being done than Vaampyr, so it's my main concentration right now.
In the new year, I'd like to finish IE (totally), finish Vaampyr totally and give her a name, start my next novel (hopefully to be a series of novels), and complete at least one polished short story per month. Plus, shop those shorts around. Oh, and I'd like to revise the small stack of shorts I have ready right now, and shop them. AND, I'd like to get the rough drafts of my two Unfinisheds done.... it'll be a busy year, but I'm really getting into writing mojo lately so I think I can do it. Especially since I can't afford to be in school right now, so I have a lot more free time than I have in the last several years.
Nothing new besides all that. Still job-less, still school-less, still Lillie-less... and still pretty upset about all of that. But I'm writing, and that's really important to me right now.
Friday, August 1, 2008
My First Blog/August Goals
That's right, ladies and gents...
I'm a blog virgin.
What can I say? It's just never felt... right ☺
But, it's the first day of August (where has the time gone?) and I'm pleasantly surprised with my writing accomplishments for July. Plus, my senior year (FINALLY!) at IUPUI starts in 20 days. So, I figured I might as well join my fellow writers, students, and everyone else out there who blogs... What the heck, right?!
For my First Blog, I figured I'd lay my goals for August out on the table for all to see. Feel free to kick my butt to keep me in line with them, too!
Writing Goals:
I'm a blog virgin.
What can I say? It's just never felt... right ☺
But, it's the first day of August (where has the time gone?) and I'm pleasantly surprised with my writing accomplishments for July. Plus, my senior year (FINALLY!) at IUPUI starts in 20 days. So, I figured I might as well join my fellow writers, students, and everyone else out there who blogs... What the heck, right?!
For my First Blog, I figured I'd lay my goals for August out on the table for all to see. Feel free to kick my butt to keep me in line with them, too!
Writing Goals:
- Write at least 15K on Isaac's Eyes (see WIPs for more info).
- Write at least 2 completely new short stories this month.
- Get off my bum and revise/edit my current completed shorts and search for somewhere to market them!
Other Goals:
- I don't think I can get too far behind in my classes since they don't start til the 20th -- but even so, I would like to start strong.
- Make it to the gym. That's it. I won't quantify it, because I never go as often as I'd like.
That's it! In a nutshell, there's my August. Work, school, and writing. I can't believe it's fall already and I'm not looking forward to Indiana autumn weather -- hot, humid, and all around gross. Yuck. But, what can I do besides keep working hard and waiting til the day I can apply to the University of Florida for graduate school?
It's time for the 5pm commute home. Peace out ☻
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