Happy Mardi Gras 2016

This was the parade I got today when I left the house around noon.

Our flock of wild turkeys! They nest in the creek bottom behind my house and have been coming up in our yards to eat grass or bugs in the grass. For those not familiar with these birds when they're alive, the tall lean ones are the hens and the tom is the one with the spreading tail feathers. And my cat Mustard stalking forward, the idiot. And then standoff in the third picture, which soon had four of the hens watching my cat. I finally got him away from them before bloodshed.

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The BookWorm

2013 In Review and 2014 Plans

Last night or early this morning, I had a dream featuring my dead cousin. He was murdered back in October, and while we had been inseparable as children, family circumstances separated us in our teens. I never knew the man he grew into. In my dream, we were digging garbage out of my house and yard, sorting stuff out for recycling. Nicky drove up in a battered truck wanting to confront someone he blamed his problems on. He didn't look like the last pictures I had seen of him, the full head of hair threw off my recognition. I woke up when I realized he is dead.

What a way to start the end of the year. But it was a positive dream. I was rooting out what doesn't work for me and I'm not blaming anyone else for my faults. My finances, health, and writing are not where I want them to be thanks to my choices.

Same song, same lyrics, every year.

But if you're expecting me to go dig up what I swore I was going to do in 2013 and beat myself up for not doing it in this post, nope, I'm not doing it. I do have changes on my mind and I have already tweaked my KanbanFlow checklists, so this is more what do I have to look forward to than what I regret.

Writing including Blog posts: I shunted off the original work again, despite having a productive word count. That's okay, I'll pick it up for 2014. Blog posts I wrote and typed and never posted (as you can see by the post-dated post I've been posting today). I can post daily--see Discipline Under Fire--so I don't think posting every week is an impossible task. So Tuesdays will be my blogging day and I'll compose in Blogger's editing window, so I won't gather typed posts that I don't post.

Three writing projects at once is too many. I never should have let the Muse team up with the Perfect Girl who thinks everything must be done as son as I think of doing it. However, bouncing between two projects hits the sweet spot. Rather than concentrate on meeting a word count--even though I will track it--I'm making a list of what I want to work on for 2014.

• First draft of Strix: Forget the Sun
• Second draft of Stellar Gift of Death
• Post TDKR: Weapon of Shadows
• Post Part of the Night: the Wayne Legacy
• Rough draft of the next story in Signs and Portents

Health: I'm officially a diabetic now, my Achilles tendons have been tight every morning I get up for weeks now, and my hips have been tightening and causing me pain. I have to exercise and I have to overhaul my food choices.

The Primal exercise program I developed worked well until I stopped doing it. :p So that's where I'm starting tomorrow with that mix of body-weight exercises and yoga routines. Plus the elliptical machine since my blood sugar and weight are so out of whack I need more exercise to bring it down.

I know what to do food-wise, but I didn't buckle down during the holidays. Holidays are over now, so no more excuses.

Finances: I refuse to beat myself up for what has happened, so my goals for 2014:

• Pay off car
• Get current on all bills
• Stay current on bills
• Reward car payoff with laptop purchase
• Remodel bathroom

That's all I'm putting on myself for 2014. Now I have writing, posting, and cleaning to do.

Have a happy New Year, everyone!

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The BookWorm

Hiatus Over

Thanksgiving is over. And the break between it and Christmas is probably the worst time to reestablish my groove, but I need to find balance again so my brain stops feeling like it must bounce around like a kangaroo on speed.

I'm prickly and grumpy and attempting not to take it out on anyone, which only fuels the itch to go find a punching bag and hit it. Violence, my default setting. That I'm pushing forward with changes is the true culprit and what the inner Beast wants to shred. Maybe I gave it too many changes today.

• Monday yoga routine
• New bra that I thought fit but it pokes me in the arm just like all the rest
• New purse that is a Christmas present but is fraying my last nerve because I can't keep it on my shoulder
• And I'm still annoyed that I left $20 worth of books I bought for me at my sister's in Texas!

*Inhale* Okay, admitting that has eased off the desire to claw at something. But it sucks that my first post in so long is bitchy and whiny.

• Despite not exercising, eating too much, and not measuring, I only gained three pounds since the last time I weight back in August.
• I finally found a website that explains why underwire bras stab me in the arm: I have a petite torso.
• I spent quality time with my family, especially my nephew.
• My coworkers told me how to fix my purse issue, so I can continue to use it without aggravation.
• My shoulder pain is finally clearing up enough to work out again.
• I worked out!

So why the hiatus? When I last posted I was attempting therapy with the Inner Committee on the whole fear of success issue. The therapy fell apart followed by the daily scheduled. Enough chores were avoided to cause a cascade effect on my life, which led to kangaroo brain on speed. Basically while I scrambled to keep up, I didn't want to blog about what a worthless failure I am. And the Inner Committee got off the hook and successfully avoided therapy for over a month.

I need to start it again because I had to be closing in on something uncomfortable for such an extreme reaction. Some time soon.

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The BookWorm

Happy Turkey Day!

My baby sister is hosting this year, so after today, I'll probably be offline until Sunday. Have a great holiday everybody!

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The BookWorm

Happy Summer Solstice

Remember when I said I couldn't count on extra time in the morning? That's because I'm not going to sleep until 10pm and not waking up on time since I haven't had eight hours of sleep.

The aggravation is my fault because I should be using the Bedtime Helper program on my computer to shut it off. If I had more sleep, I'd probably remember to turn it on. :p But nope, I've been relying on the office window cue and the sun hasn't been setting until 9pm.

So I'm celebrating the fact that we start losing daylight from this point until Winter Solstice. Happy Summer Solstice everybody!

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The BookWorm

Two for two

Thank you to all our fallen heroes who paid the ultimate price. Happy Memorial Day to the rest of us enjoying the holiday.

It's been an interesting weekend, like a mild version of the Chinese curse. :p Friday, it finally dawns on my parents that they need to tell me what my paternal grandfather had done Wednesday that FINALLY made Dad put his foot down and tell Mom she wasn't going down to his house to help his father any more and consequently I don't have a second job any more.

It lasted longer than I thought it would.

By Sunday, the senile old bastard (and before I hear any grief about that, my great-grandparents and my step-grandparents were the ones who loved me and my sisters like grandchildren should be loved and they're all dead.) cut Dad out of his will because Dad wasn't jumping up to go help him. I don't feel sorry for him; he has spent a lifetime building up this karma.

Second not-good surprise: my aunt by marriage tried to arrange a blind date for me. I nipped this in the bud, but the real irritation--besides the why don't you believe me that I'm HAPPY single, damnit! feeling--was I told her that's not how I want to meet this guy. Mom and I outlined a plan that wouldn't put my on display and make all my self-conscious freak-out flare up, and she completely ignored it for a group thing with her church who I've only met two other members of! So who would have my back if it totally flopped? Bueller? Anyone?

So far, my weekend clean-off the project list task has been having the best progress. I cleaned up the outline for Stellar Gift of Death, put a door draft guard on my front door, found out that I can't put off dental work any longer and scheduled it for June, watered the big plants in the yard, cleaned the fridge and freezer and rearranged the shelves, cleaned out the pantry and rearranged the contents slightly, caught up on dishes, and have dusted 2 rooms. I still have 21 items on my list to do on top of my usual chores, but if they don't get finished, they'll be ready to pick up next Saturday. If I don't have a new second job by then.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hail Zulu! Hail Rex! Happy Mardi Gras!






http://www.freesparkle.com

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The BookWorm

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm leaving town tomorrow morning and will probably be offline until next Monday. Take care everybody!

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Holiday Roundup

Now that it's been a whole week, I can finally talk about the trip. I promise the next vacation I have I will not have a massive paper that I must do and will be able to blog more regularly. Or at least when things happen so I don't have to depend on my fuzzy brain.

Mom and I left Wednesday morning November 21st. The drive wasn't that bad despite not leaving as early as I wanted to, the day before Thanksgiving, and a 55-mile stretch of I-10 closed due to an exploded gas well. (No snarky comments about how my stupid state puts Interstate highway systems over or very close still-working gas and oil wells. I made enough of them until I'm sick of the topic and it's all fixed now.) We found a Paulito's an Italian grill and pizzeria that has the absolute best chicken Caesar salad on the planet. I could eat it every single day.

Atticus and I invented a new game now dubbed Up-Down. We were dancing during Hairspray's credits (and Christopher Walken can sing and it's not scary). Neither one of us could do the twist--me the carpet, Atticus is only 16-months-old--so I showed him how to do the squat to music. Then Thursday morning Elmo covered up and down on Sesame Street, and when Atticus would squat, the grown-ups chorused "up down." Now he says "up" squatting down and "down" coming up. Unfortunately, we never got it on camera.

Pictures I am proud of getting will go here as soon as I get them off my camera.

However the baby caught the crud and passed it to me. Mom blames the forty-degree weather that hit. There was frozen rain where we were in Austin and snow just west of the city. But we didn't get to leave until Monday morning because the nasty rain and cold was heading to Louisiana.

It worked out well. I kept Atticus and they got to shop. I got to go to Best Buy, Ikea, and Half-Price Books (I would seriously consider opening a franchise in Louisiana if I had the capital.) and got the stuff on my list and then some.

Books: all the South Beach Diet stuff, couple of medieval Britain reference books, the Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr first edition in hardback, a book on Celtic mythology, and a couple of historical mystery anthologies that had been on my list for a while.

Ikea: replacement lamp that I forgot to find lightbulbs to fit it in the store (HINT: if buying lamps at Ikea turn around and find the lightbulbs to fit. Found the lamp on clearance and luckily Mom had the bulbs to fit it at home since they didn't work for something else), spotlight lamp for the computer desk with green spotlight bulbs that had very confusing labeling, present for Kay depend on if I see her at Christmas or closer to her birthday, and another set of Benno shelves. I love those shelves, no deeper than a DVD case and much taller than any selves I can get locally so it matches better with the entertainment center, and I can fit more of them into the space I have available. I think after this purchase I will be buying more for free shelves instead of replacing what I'm currently using to hold the DVD collection.

Best Buy: Dad gave us Christmas gift money early, I actually went to their Black Friday sale, and got a TOMTOM! WOOT! Course, I haven't had time yet to set it up and use it yet. I'm hoping this weekend. Also bought Hot Fuzz (hyseterical) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit on DVD, Van Halen 2 disk collection, Harry Potter 3 Soundtrack and Doctor Who soundtrack (more about this one later) on CD.

Beyond that, I kept Atticus occupied and my crud at home while Mom and Kai had fun in the stores. Atticus also totally got into the live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Either he's fascinated with Jim Carrey in green make-up or Cindy Lou reminds him of his big sister, Lauren.

Got home safely and plunged into finishing school work for the semester. I haven't even really started unpacking yet. Need to do that tonight.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Home from Texas

Yeap, I'm back. I will report on the trip and other stuff when I don't have a looming deadline hanging over my head. Play with baby or write paper, which would you chose?

Also need to think about this and answer: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2007/11/nanowrimo-day-25-on-goals.html

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/