Archive for previous entries this month
July 1, 2008
I like this one!
Vision is done and up. The Vision back issues are updated, along with the PDF version of the last issue. The county work is done. I got some questions off to a publisher.
And I still have twice as much stuff left on my list than what I've done. Yes, I'm already behind, and we're just a day into the month. I'm sure this isn't right... except that it is starting to sound pretty normal for my end.
There, got a couple more things done. One more before I go to bed, I think. But right now, I'm going to upload this before I forget again!
July 2, 2008
Flowers
It's late. Very late. I don't know how it got this late, in fact, except that I was watching some of Ingrid Betencourt (sp), who is a remarkable woman.
right now, though, I want to get to bed. So I'll fix the archive stuff tomorrow, I hope. Didn't get nearly enough written today, and I don't think I like what I did, so I may change it tomorrow.
But I need to sleep for a while now.
July 3, 2008
Interesting colors
That was taken back in may when Russ was home. I really loved the layers of clouds and the various colors, part of it because of the car windshield.
Not a particularly good day. Guy is ill again, and there is nothing I can do for him except hope he gets better. It's hard to say how this will go, but my intuition says that it's not good. I don't know where he is right now. He was out in front of the house until sunset, but when I went out to get him and put him on the porch, he had disappeared. That might be good -- that he felt well enough to head somewhere else. Or it might be bad and he crawled under the porch.
I know there is a point where you just can't do any more for the cats. I've done the best I could for Guy. I know it.
But I wish Russ was home. For me, at least, even if there is nothing more we can do for Guy.
This has totally screwed up my work day, of course. I am desperately trying to get work done on the nonfiction book, and every time I start to make some progress, something else comes along and pushes me straight back out of it. It's a good thing that I am obsessed with writing every day, and that (aside from the newsletter for DAZ) I had already told myself I could work on nothing but this book. Otherwise, I think there would be no hope at all.
I am finally over 20k on it. I need 40k more. Normally, for me, that wouldn't be a problem. A week's work, maybe. I'm looking at two months and hoping I can get it done in time.
Uck.
July 4, 2008
Lady Jane's Day
Yes, today is Lady Jane's birthday. And so we have fireworks. Everyone knows that.
She's sixteen. I kept thinking she was older -- but that was her mother's age. That's Willow with her. She's about five and still acts like she's a wild thing. Will not be picked up, rarely allows to be petted... kind of makes you wonder why she's in the house sometimes. But then, suddenly, she'll turn into a sweet tiny little thing. I think she has split personality problems.
It's loud here tonight. Finally calming down -- a bit earlier than usual, actually. It's only coming up on 11 pm.
I got the newsletter done this afternoon. I've been working on the nonfiction book, and it's moving along. Still not as fast as I would like it to be, but pretty good anyway.
And that's my report for the day. Things are not great here, but I'm getting by.
July 5, 2008
Mourning Dove
Not a great day again. Guy had to go to the Vet today, and it doesn't look as though he's going to make it back home this time. Poor cat. At least he had a few months of good food and pets after he showed up here. I'll miss him, though. It was great to go outside and have him rush up and greet me. We were making plans to make him a full house cat, too.
I wrote today, at least. Got about 1500 words by the end, so I finally seem to be making some progress on the book. It's been a fight. Stress, depression, general miserable stuff -- I'm working despite it, but I'm not working well.
July 6, 2008
Storm
We had an odd storm this afternoon. It was very hot, oppressive and miserable when I got up. We started getting watches a little afterwards. I checked the radar, and it looked like a good sized storm heading our way, but nothing too drastic.
I was talking to Russ on the phone when it started getting worse -- not really horrible, though. I've seen far stronger storms and it didn't even rain that much -- but a little bit into the phone call, the sirens went off, which meant a tornado had been spotted in the area.
Not much I could do about it. I don't have a basement. I stayed on the phone with Russ and while I disconnected the computer, he kept watch on Weatherbug.com for this area and let me know how things were going.
It went by pretty fast. The tornado was apparently about nine or ten miles north of me and moving northward, so nothing to worry about there. I haven't seen any reports on it, but I guess it was out by Stone Park. (That's for Russ and Nancy, if she's still reading!)
And that was the whole excitement for the day. Upset my writing schedule, but I'm still getting my 1000 words done. I need to start doing more than that, but right now I'm happy to be getting anything at all that doesn't give me a horrid headache while I'm working on it!
July 7, 2008
Rose
We lost Guy today. He had cancer as we feared. It was difficult news to hear, and know he was never going to come back again. He wasn't here for long, but he had been a wonderful cat. The only good I can say from all of this is that he didn't starve or freeze over the winter after he'd been abandoned, and he isn't curled up some place now, miserable and in pain, because no one was watching out for him.
But it is still hard. He was a true bright spot in the months since Russ left, and there really haven't been many of those. I suspect there won't be any for quite a while.
I am working on the book. It is moving along better than it had been -- though this has slowed me down again. It seems like every time I start to make some progress, something else comes along to drag me back down.
It's been a tough few months. I don't think it's going to get much better this year. Maybe next year.
July 8, 2008
Challenge Picture # 92
I am not terribly surprised to find that I've had a headache all day, fought depression, and generally can't get much of anything done at all. I've only written a few hundred words, and though I did get some work done on the DAZ newsletter, it was like my brain just kept freezing up.
I am really tired of things going wrong, though.
July 9, 2008
Zaphod holding down the books for me
Sometimes it's a wonder I get anything done.
July 10, 2008
Cute bird
It is almost 4:30 am. I have just, barely, written my 1000 words for today. Well, for yesterday, actually -- but I count a writing day as the time between getting up and going to bed. Except during date-specific challenges like NaNo.
Gah. My mind is wandering.
I wonder if I just go beat my head against the wall for awhile, if it will make writing this book any easier. I don't think it could make it much worse. I haven't yet reached 30,000 words. It's closer, but it's moving so slowly that sometimes I think it's getting longer instead of shorter.
I'll get through this. I almost feel as though the book is about to make a change and start moving better. I can only hope so. It's been a monster of a fight so far, even if I have liked a lot of what I've written.
I need to get out of writing nonfiction for a while, though. I think I'm really going to enjoy getting back to fiction when I'm done with this. I have mentioned that I'm not allowing myself any other projects until this one is done, right? It's a real challenge!
July 11, 2008
Fun food
Oh my. Very late.
But I reached 30,000 words, so that counts for something.
I need sleep.
If I can write about 1500 a day, I can have this draft done in three weeks. That's far better than I hoped.
I just need to sleep for awhile and come up with some more things to write about.
July 12, 2008
Sleepy kittens
I am working on the book. It's going better, but I'm still worried about the word count and how to fill it out. I think the 1500 words a day is going to work for a while, though. I hope long enough to see me all the way through.
And that's the news from me. There is nothing outside this book right now.
July 13, 2008
The new room
I am happy to report that for at least one day the writing has gone well. My 1500 words a day weren't too bad. It took me a while to get them, but at least it wasn't a complete war this time. It probably won't be that good tomorrow, but I can hope so.
Now, off to bed for a few hours, though. I'm not quite as exhausted or annoyed as I have been lately, so that's good.
July 14, 2008
Blue Jay
Thank you to Nancy for pointing out that this wasn't updating the last few days. I've reloaded everything and it seems to be fine now. I have no idea why it had a problem.
I'm still working away at the book, of course. I'm almost up to 35,000. This is the oddest work I've ever done, I think. It's coming to me in bits and pieces, but it's falling together finally. I need at least 25,000 more words, and though I'm a bit worried about that number, I think I can do it.
Edmond is going to the vet tomorrow for a shot. He has very sensitive skin, and he's losing fur and getting sores because of bug bites. This even after I put the Frontlline stuff on him -- but he lost fur where I applied it, too.
That's it. I hope that this one loads better than the last couple days!
July 15, 2007
Pip day!
This was Pip's 14th birthday, more or less. He was handed to us by a neighbor who had seen him tossed into the weeds. He couldn't have been more than four or five days old, and we had to feed him with a little bottle for several weeks.
But here he is, all these years later, and doing well. We ordered pasta from Pizza Hut to celebrate. (grin) And I had some nice yogurt ice cream stuff that I shared with him later. Of course, he fought me all day when I wanted to get a picture of him. He wasn't too happy when I got the one above. Goofy cat.
I am over 36,000 words on the book. I've set up my timeline to finish on August 6th. I keep changing that date, but it still works pretty well for me. And it brings the number of words needed down to just over 1000 a day. That's a really good thing. I don't feel quite so overwhelmed by it now. If things keep going well, I might even go back to work on some other things at the same time. Or I might still wait until I'm done with the first draft. That's probably the wise answer. (Have I ever really been wise?)
It also cooled off tonight, which has helped.
Overall, I think I'll just call it a night while everything is going so well!
July 16, 2008
Cute Zaphod
The work is still going pretty well. I almost fear I'll curse myself by saying so, though. I've made it to 37,000 words, and though I'm still a bit worried about coming up with enough stuff to reach 60,000, I feel a bit more confident of it than I did when I couldn't quite make it to 25k.
Tonight I'm also working on the newsletter, which I'll need to get done tomorrow. No problems there that I can see, either. So, for a change, tonight I seem to be pretty calm and feel like I'm making progress. That will probably change by tomorrow night, but for now I'm going to think really good things.
July 17, 2008
Hiding
I am happy to say that I'm done with the newsletter. I need to upload it to the test spot, so I'm writing this now to save having to call up the FTP program again later.
I have not worked on the book. (Didn't I say something about cursing myself yesterday?), but I still have some time yet tonight. Despite storms trying to stop me from getting stuff done, I managed to get the newsletter done before midnight. I count that as a win for the day.
So, I'll get this done and uploaded, look for something for dinner, and then get to work on the book project for a while. That sounds like a plan to me!
July 18, 2008
A long walk
I either started out my day or ended my day with a long walk. It was at dawn. I haven't been to bed yet, so you can count it as either way.
I need new shoes. But other than that, it was a nice walk and I hope to do it again tomorrow.
The book is still going fine, too. I, on the other hand, am dead tired. Going to bed now. Will upload later!
July 19, 2008
Morning Walk
I went for a walk at dawn again today. It was pretty nice. It's so cool and refreshing in the mornings, unlike the rest of the day around here.
So today I'm going to do a set of pictures from the walk... and then a set of pictures from the storm we had this evening!
First the walk:
And now the storm!
July 20, 2008
Stormy Night
I did not get out on my walk this morning, and I probably won't be able to on Monday morning either -- mostly because of the weather. We are having quite some storms!
I had two short power outages tonight, and had to turn the computer off in the middle of real work. That's annoying. And now I'm having trouble getting back into it again. Ugh. Falling behind on the book. I'm about a day and a half behind already. I must get back to work!
It's a lot cooler than it was earlier, at least. I'm looking forward to stretching out and being comfortable tonight!
And I hear the thunder again. Best get this done and up and see if I can get anything else done before I give up for the night!
July 21, 2008
Morning Light
I went for a very short walk. It was still too damp and the clouds looked a bit worrisome, too. So I didn't go far, but it was still nice!
The book is going pretty well. I almost hate to say that because I don't trust myself with it yet. But it is over 40,000 words and though I have fallen behind because of the storms, I'm still managing to get it done.
Oh, and the storm... found out it did serious damage across the river and there are people without power. I guess I got lucky!
July 22, 2008
Moon shot (hand held!)
The walk this morning would have been nicer, but there were no clouds and the sun was coming up right into my face. I did most of the walking with my head bowed. I have to remember to take a cap with me.
When I turned around, though, I saw the moon still up and got this shot. It's really pretty spectacular for a hand held camera shot.
There are not a lot of people out along the path, but I've met with one woman a couple times. She's heading one way while I'm heading the other. She says there are a lot of deer in the spring and fall. That's something to look forward to!
Book is going all right. I will be happy to get it done. I'm up to 43,000. That last 17,000 or so is going to be a problem.
I did get most of the DAZ newsletter done today, though. That, at least, is ahead of time!
And now... back to work. It's 4:30 am and I have about an hour before I go off on my walk! Then I'll be back and work for a few hours until the Schwan's guy makes a delivery around noon, and then off to sleep for a few hours... and back to work.
I have a very boring life.
Except for the pictures.
July 23, 2008
Blue Jays
Well, we're in the midst of another thunderstorm. It doesn't seem to be much of one, I'm glad to say, but it is making growling noises outside.
I had another nice walk this morning, but my shoes are killing me. The bottom of my feet feel almost raw, so I'm not sure I'll be walking in the morning, even if the weather clears up.
Need to get a bit more writing done tonight, so I better get to that before the weather turns worse and I end up having to turn the computer off again!
July 24, 2008
Morning Colors
I have just finished the work on the newsletter, and since I need to upload it, I thought I had better do this and get it uploaded as well. I walked a bit this morning, but it was sprinkling a bit and damp, and I decided not to go too far for fear it might rain. I did see some baby raccoons, but it was still too dark to get a good picture.
I am holding my own against the book, which is good. Only about 14,500 words to go. I will be happy to be done with this one and get back to fiction! Though, I admit, it has been a good change for me in some ways. It has made me realize that I really like the fiction writing and want to get back to it again!
I'm counting down the days. Less than two weeks to go and I'll be done with this draft. I hope, in fact, that once I get closer to the ending, I'll go faster again.
So, that's the news. Nothing much, really!
July 25, 2008
Morning
Working. That's all, just working. Not sure if I'm going to do my morning walk since I have blisters on the bottom of my foot. I think I'll just pass for a couple days and see if they clear up.
The book is still moving. I don't know if it is moving well, but at least it's better than nothing at all. I'm nearing 48,000 words, so only 12k to go. I have some 'must do' sections that will take maybe 3 to 4k, so I guess I'm doing all right!
And yeah, I think I'm going to go off the bed now and skip the walk. Maybe I'll go for one later. I think I need to walk to the store for something anyway!
July 26, 2008
Cute bird
I am happy to say that the book is about 300 words short of 50,000. That means only 10,000 more to go to meet the minimum number of words. I am cautiously optimistic that it is going to come together without much more trouble. I'll have it completed in early August.
(Forces myself not to do Happy Dance until I'm actually done with the beast!)
The next big question is if I can get it edited well over the next few weeks, and then if the publisher will actually like the finished work. I'm happy with it, though, so that counts for something!
I don't think I'm going for a walk again today. My feet are better, but I'm not feeling particularly well. I'll start back in on Monday.
Other than that, all is well.
July 27, 2008
Tonight's storm
I did go for a walk after all. But then I spent the entire day feeling horribly ill, so I'm not sure it was such a good idea. I don't think the walk is to blame, but I wasn't feeling well before I started out.
I spent a good amount of the day in bed. I am heading for bed again in a moment.
I did spend a good amount of tonight sorting out the chapters for the book. I'm going to lose a few hundred words, but over all it went better than I had expected. I am nearly done. I was beginning to think that I would never reach this point!
July 28, 2008
Sgt. Floyd Monument
I didn't go for a walk today. This is from earlier this month. I've just been feeling up and down for the last few days, and I hope that this clears up pretty fast.
I am still getting the writing done, at least. Less than 10,000 words to go! I actually feel some hope for this at last!
But that's about it!
(Except that I forgot to upload this yesterday. Brain is taking a break, apparently.)
July 29, 2008
Morning Walk
I went for a walk this morning, but I think it was a bad plan. I've been miserable the rest of the day, curled up in bed and barely sticking my head out. I had to get up to do some work, though, so here I am. I may be better for it.
But plainly, having been in bed most of the day, I have no news. I need to get a couple things done and then maybe crawl off again.
July 30, 2008
Pip
I didn't go for a walk this morning. I didn't get much done either, except to find out where a huge amount of space on one of my hard drives had gone, so that's good. I'm tired and shaky, and only up long enough to do this.
Sleep is a good thing.
July 31, 2008
A fun picture
End of the month... how did it get to be the end of the month! AAAIIIEEEE!!!!!!!!! Too much to get done!
But I'm getting there. I'm late getting this up, but only because I needed to get the newsletter done as well, and now I can post them both and move on to the next have-to-do-it-now thing on my list.
Though I may take a break for a short walk!