I’ve loved long showers since I was a kid (much to the chagrin of my parents, as you might imagine). The average time I need underneath that warm, inspirational spray is twenty to thirty minutes, and while I might try to be quicker if I have to, I’ll often postpone a shower just so I can take a properly long one.
During the week, I do take a couple of quick “wash & shave” showers before work (no wet-hair involved), but even on those days, I have an alarm set on my watch for the time I need to be out, and I’ll push those 15 minutes every single time.
The thing is, my mind relaxes in the shower, and it’s one of the few places on earth that no one bugs me. I have ideas, and they just sort of explode in that warm, humid cocoon of steam. My brain goes a hundred miles a minute, and I often solve problems, make plans, plot stories, plot series, get to know characters, and I come out with both a laundry list of ideas and at least a half-formed plan on how I’m going to work on all of them.
It’s exciting, exhilarating, and I wish I could go to bed at night with the same enthusiasm (and results). This weekend, I took a shower, and came out with a whole plan for how to incorporate some flash stories in with a Christmas idea I had earlier, and also some epiphanies into my current drafts and characters. It was fantastic, and I’m excited to get to work on making those ideas reality.
Are your showers inspirational and fun? If not, where do you go, or what activity inspires you in a way that nothing else can?
I’ve been writing rather sporadically lately (fiction too, not just these blog posts). With fiction, I’m working on a tale of the old(ish) west, wherein a woman (or two, actually) runs away from her life on the east coast to find herself and hopefully make space in a male-dominated world here in my home state (newly minted just then) of Montana.
The part I’m working on is her journey – getting from point A to B, which in the late 1800’s was not a comfortable or particularly “fun” feat, though most of it would have been accomplished by train. Uncharacteristically, I had the first two-thirds of her travels planned out with a nice/odd little meet and hand-off, but when I got to the final third leg, I was stumped.
Not being Tolkien (or particularly liking descriptive passages of the landscape spanning more than a page or so), I had to take a break and figure out what I wanted to make of that final leg of the journey. I did some brainstorming and outlining (yes, I used AI for that, because it is very well-suited for such things and without that kind of efficient help, my very long-winded notes and research would most definitely never have been organized). I did a little more granular plotting, and got sidetracked by yet more research (because history is fascinating, which is why I have a history degree).
Then a couple nights ago, I sat down to write. My method for that when I don’t know what to write (dictation is useless if I don’t have some idea of where I’m going with a scene), is just to write the next word that logically follows the previous one, and keep typing, and eventually I find my way back into the story flow.
Well, I found my way into the flow that night, all right. I overshot my writing time by a good fifteen minutes just because I really had to get all the things out “on paper” before I left them to stew for the night. And I ended up with a nice little plot point that will add depth to my heroine’s story, fit in nicely with one of the overreaching themes of the book (that of how difficult it was for women to do anything on their own back then), and it will add a nice amount of both internal and external conflict to that first act of the book.
Not that I was thinking about any of that while writing, of course. Once you get into a writing “flow state”, the story literally just writes itself for the most part – I’m just the typist. And that is what makes writing so much fun.
I could have forced myself to keep writing when I got “stuck” on that part, and when I was younger, I probably would have. I’m glad I didn’t in this case, because the result was so much better than it would have been if I hadn’t waited. Patience was key, and I’m really glad I waited and just did more creative work “around” the story instead of bulldozing through. There’s a time for the bulldozer, of course, but in this case, it definitely benefited from a more patient touch.
Have you been rewarded for waiting lately? I think we should all be rewarded more often for that, don’t you?
As I mentioned in my resolutions post, I’m focusing on short and micro-fiction so far this year. I’m also working on creating a daily writing habit, so 50 words per (week)day is my minimum. I’m quite enjoying it even though most of the daily words aren’t going anywhere, and others need to be fleshed out into longer short stories.
But I have written a few things that I really like as micro-stories, and those, I’m turning into exclusive bookmarks and cards for my new online shop. I wouldn’t sell them as just a single tiny story, of course, but packaged into a handy bookmark (I love the prototype I’ve been using) or a card to give to someone else? That seems like the perfect use for these bite-sized bits of fiction.
As a bonus, it allows me to explore my love of paper crafts and it’s starting to make me more excited about sharing my stories with the world again.
To start this endeavor, I used a little story I call “How it Ends/How it Ended” to create a batch of simple bookmarks with a cover, two pages, and a back cover bound by a grommet at the top that allows the pages to swing out for reading. It took a bit of finagling to get things formatted and positioned correctly, but I’m really quite pleased with how they turned out in the end, and I’ll be making more bookmarks with different micro-stories throughout the year.
While I was making those, I had an idea for a card to go with the story. I think we’ve all been in a position at one time or another of seeing or running into a person within our normal sphere of life that we never quite talk to or chat with, but it feels like we know…or should know them.
Well, “How it Ends” is one of those “missed connections” stories. So I’m creating cards that read “I Think We Should Meet” on the front, and then when you open the card, you’ll read that little story, and then under the story on the right side of the card, it simply says, “Hi”. A little gift to tell someone that they’re someone you’d like to know – or at least like to talk to once in your life.
I love this on several levels…it’s self-publishing at the smallest denominator, it allows me to create both a story and a physical, hand-crafted object, and it’s something I think some people might actually find both entertaining and useful. I’ll be playing with different types of bindings and formats over time, which will be a lot of fun.
It’s allowing me to write, finish, and publish on a micro-level, using the smaller bits of time and mental energy I have available after the intensity of the day job.
Adapt and change – that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? With my current day job, I simply don’t have the mental capacity to write and publish larger works on a regular basis (though I am still working on them when I do have more energy). By changing how I work and what I’m working on, I’m enabling myself to still do what I love, on a different scale, and when my circumstances change again (eventually I’ll be able to retire), I can change up my focus and processes again.
An important life-lesson for me to remember, as I tend to think that if I can’t do exactly what I want, how I want to do it, then I should just not do that thing.
I need to be more flexible, and this is a great step in the right direction, methinks.
Have you adapted a process in order to continue doing something when your circumstances changed, just in a different way? Share your story (here, on social media, or if you’re reading via email, feel free to hit “reply”)! I’d love to hear it!
Oh! And while we’re on the subject of change – the Brazen Snake Books site has a completely new look! I’m working on incorporating a store there, so there are several links that don’t work simply because I haven’t built the store out yet. But it’s coming! Check it out if you’d like, and let me know what you think (or if you run into anything that doesn’t seem to work).
That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.
As you may have guessed, I’m still trying to get my new routines settled. This means that for the past two weeks, I’ve been doing my “50 words per day” during the times I’d normally be writing a blog post.
It takes awhile to establish new routines, so I expect (hope) this will get better going forward. I’m writing a lot more regularly now, and my “50” words often come in at 150 – 250 per day once I get going, which is exactly what I was hoping for with that resolution.
The other thing that took some time and focus last week was a site hosting issue. My old web host (A Small Orange) was bought years ago by one of the huge conglomerate services, and I’ve been wanting to move my sites to an independent host for several years now as the service and support through that big conglomerate has gotten increasingly worse. I’ve just been too lazy to pull the trigger, as I’m currently running four active and a couple inactive sites, plus email with special configuration for the majority of my domains. Needless to say, the thought of moving all that was a very daunting thing.
The old host gave me an annoying shove when they raised their price around $7 per month. I was already paying nearly $40 per month, so that was excellent motivation to find a new host. I spent several hours last week researching web hosting and potential hosts, going back and forth, and finally settled on GreekGeeks, which is an independent hosting company that seems to be proud of its independent status (so less likely to “sell out”, hopefully), and also had more good reviews than bad when it comes to customer service.
GreenGeeks isn’t the cheapest host out there, but I’m a “get what you pay for” believer, so I wasn’t looking for cheap, just less expensive. They have a good deal running right now, so I bought a year’s worth of hosting for $60, which is over $20 less than one more *month* would be with my old host. After that, it triples to right at $200 per year, but it’s still $300 less than I’d pay with the old host. Win!
The best part though (so far), is the free migration service. I requested it and figured they’d move one site, and I’d have to do the others plus my email accounts manually. But they have some sort of very cool tool, and one hour after I requested the migration, I got an email saying it was done, and telling me to repoint my nameservers. I did, and everything just…worked! I do use WordPress and cpanel, so obviously the tool is specific to that, but that saved me *hours* of work…had I known that was possible, I’d have switched hosting a long time ago.
So, here we are on the new host, the sites are running well, and now since I’m thinking about the technical bits, I’m thinking it’s a good time to update my templates. I have one picked out for my author blogs, and just need to purchase it. I was kind of at a loss for the main BSB site though, because I also want to install WooCommerce and set up my own web store, so I want a theme that will work well with that. Hmm.
Then while browsing the GreenGeeks blog, I found this article, specifically on WordPress themes for selling books! Huzzah! There are two of these I really like…can you guess which ones? Which one is your favorite?
I have vacation time that I need to use up from the day job (use it or lose it!), so I’ve scheduled one day off per week for the next four weeks, and I’ll be working on these template updates, the store setup, and some publishing tasks that should (if all goes well) result in some new stories coming out this quarter, as well as the newsletters picking up again.
So that’s what’s going on, and why blogging is kind of sporadic at the moment. There are good things to come though, methinks. I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching, and making decisions on what I want to prioritize and spend time/focus on, and it’s time to get back to treating writing as a business, rather than a hobby.
In the past, I’ve thought I needed to have wide blocks of time in which to do things, and sometimes that’s still true (the template changes, for one), but increasingly I’ve been focusing on making the most of smaller blocks of time to get “a little bit” done every day. For right now, that’s working, so I’m rolling with it for more than just writing.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what I’ve been writing during my daily micro-sprints, and some of those have been for the Magpie stories. So that’s encouraging, and I’m excited to get some of these little bits polished up and available to buy in several formats, hopefully from my own store on my own site as well as everywhere else.
Don’t you just love the fresh feel of a new year? I’ve been a bit busy, hence the lateness of this post, but better late than never. And I have been making progress on my goals already, which is the important part.
January is probably my favorite month. It’s my birth month, which may have something to do with it, but it’s also a new start, and often cold and snowy, which means plenty of time to hole up inside with hot drinks and warm blankets.
I’ve had some rough starts in recent years, but this year feels different. Better. Like it actually *wants* to be a good year, rather than just another obstacle course of challenges (or at least a somewhat easier obstacle course, anyways).
Regardless, I’ve decided to take it easy on the goals this year, and while some are fairly lofty, they should all be attainable even if I fall off track here and there. Nothing too rigid, nothing too demanding, just things that will eventually get done if I’m even 75 percent solid with my routines.
If you’ve been here for a few years, you know that I make a decent sized list of goals, and then pick three to dub actual “Resolutions”. Resolutions are the top priority – they get the first pick on the daily/weekly/monthly schedules, and they get more of the focus than anything else.
All the other goals are just “goals”, and I work on them after I’ve gotten the Resolutions taken care of for the day/week/whatever.
This year, my big three are:
1. Improve my handwriting through daily practice
This one stems from my increasing inability to read my *own* handwriting, which has just gotten worse over the years as I’ve moved most of my documentation and communication online. I decided I should do something about it, and I have to say, I’ve actually been enjoying the daily practice sessions so far (and yes, my handwriting is improving, slowly).
2. Pay off as much debt as possible.
I am a spender, not a saver. My family was poor when I was young, but unlike a lot of people in that situation who tend to be very apprehensive about spending money later in life, I enjoy spending now that I have money, and I have a too-cavalier attitude about not having enough (mainly because I know I can deal with not having enough if need be, not that I particularly enjoy it). However, I also realize the value of living within one’s means, and of saving and investing as well. And while I make a good living now, I’ve overspent far past my own comfortable limit lately, plus I’m paying off medical bills, and I need a new pair of glasses (not cheap, even with my insurance). It’s time to be responsible and pay down my debt/build up some savings. *sigh* Boring, but necessary.
To that end, I’ve found a new budgeting/finance software – Moneydance – that is somewhat more sophisticated than what I’ve been using (but not too much), and will allow me to do my weekly balancing a bit easier, but also to get a good snapshot of all my debt and our investments in the same spot. While I’d rather not see all my debt in one spot (depressing!), I need to. Knowing it’s there and having to look at those balances every week is motivating to me to get it paid down. So, much like doing a weekly balance/budget was motivating to me as far as getting a handle on my finances, this is the next step.
3. Write a minimum of 50 fiction words per day.
Fifty words is only a good paragraph or two, but it’s the daily practice and repetition I’m going for here. For the past several years, I’ve had a hard time with longer fiction, because I often don’t have the mental capacity for it after working all day (the hazards of a job that requires a lot of troubleshooting and puzzle-solving). So I decided that this year, I’m going to focus on short form fiction. Fiction of a length that can fit on bookmarks and inside cards. And if I happen to get some work done on my longer drafts too, that will be great, but short is my focus for the year.
So far, I’ve written at least 50 words every weekday (though not the weekends yet – I’m still working on scheduling that), and most days, over a hundred words once I get going. I’ve got three micro-stories written and waiting to be put in cards, and another good start that may well end up as an actual story with a bit of editing.
This writing resolution goes with one of my lesser “goals” this year, which is to create cards and bookmarks for sending/selling. I’m still waiting on a bit of equipment to come in for that, but I’m excited, because I’ve wanted to get back into paper crafting for awhile now, and using it as a publication outlet for my micro-fiction is the perfect way to do that. Limited edition cards and stories – it feels like a nice artisan way to continue writing and publishing. I hope to have the first cards done by the end of the month.
So those are my big three resolutions for the year. If I can accomplish these, and hopefully some of my lesser goals as well, it really will be a year of creativity, art, and growth. I can’t really think of anything that would be better!
Do you have any specific goals to work toward this year? Or are you just going to wait and see what happens?
Either way, I hope your year is off to as good a start as mine, and that it will be a year of health, growth, and prosperity for us all!
Recommendation
I came across this video on YouTube last weekend, and while I’ve been doing artistic things for as long as I can remember, I found this interesting and relevant to this year’s creative goals. Check it out if you have some time, and let me know what you think:
That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.
Creativity Calling It’s that time of year again, when the big Thanksgiving family gathering is just a few short days away (one, by the time this posts), and the gift-giving-est time of year looms larger. Needless to say, I have been doing everything *but* writing lately, and I’m actually okay with that. If I were focusing hard on writing 1600 words a day, I wouldn’t have gotten my dad’s birthday gift done on time (I nearly didn’t anyways), and I wouldn’t be anywhere near ready to put my advent calendars together (which I’ll have done by the time you read this) so they can be distributed and to their rightful recipients before December 1st.
I wanted to make things to include in the calendars this year (instead of buying all of it), and that takes time. So I spent the time, and enjoyed it a lot, and I’m really not sorry I prioritized that. I honestly think that being creative in these other ways is helping me want to get back to the writing. And making things always makes me feel a connection with generations past, which is the mindset I need to be in to write the story I’m currently writing.
There’s a lot going on in general, but also a lot shifting in my head at the moment, and I think it’s a good shift (at the tail end of several not good shifts). I’m not sure where everything will end up, but considering I’m not dealing with constant pain and anxiety any longer, it seems like it’s flowing into a more productive and creative state of mind.
Writing News
I’ve actually written less this month than I did last month, and now I’ve completely lost the nightly writing habit, too. Needless to say, I’m not going to win…or even finish NaNo this year, and I’m fairly certain this will be the last year I attempt it. I love the idea and the philosophy, it was a great help to me for several years, and I think it’s a fantastic way to get that first novel finished. But, it’s not for me anymore
Even though I’m bowing out of NaNo, I’m not abandoning the story I started. It comes first in the series I’m already working on, and I think writing it first is still how I want to tackle the whole thing. Madeline is the family matriarch, and her story is at the heart of all those that will come after. So I’m going to keep working on her story a little at a time, and move into the rest of the series from there.
But first…it’s almost time to send out Christmas cards, and I always send out a flash story with my cards. I have this year’s story written, but I need to edit and polish it up a bit, so that’s what I’ll be working on for the next week or two.
Recommendation(s) Whether you’re in the US celebrating Thanksgiving or somewhere else just celebrating a normal Thursday, I found this recipe while looking for traditional sweet potato casserole recipes, and I’m going to try it, with the small change of using both strudel and marshmallows on top, in stripes (my MIL will really want the marshmallows). I’ll let you know how it turns out, but I suspect it’s going to be incredibly good!
That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.
This excerpt is in draft form, and as such, undoubtedly contains typos among other grammatical issues, plot holes, reminder brackets, etc.
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“Going to Kansas City, ma’am?” Another porter checked her tickets, and then raised his eyebrows. “All the way to Montana, eh? It’s wild country out there. Are you traveling alone?”
She gave him a small smile. “I am, but there are people waiting for me when I get there.” She offered nothing more, and he nodded, marking her ticket for the first stop and tipping his hat as he held a hand out to help her up the stairs.
The train was surprisingly full already, and she walked slowly behind a man with his arms around two scantily clad women who seemed to be happy enough in his company. They passed into the sleeper cars, and she spotted an empty seat in the last section of the general seating car, across from a well-dressed, nice-looking man and a fresh-faced young woman with flowing blond hair and a fetching blue dress that matched her sparkling eyes. It was hard to say whether they were a couple or not. They seemed to be disagreeing about something as Madeline approached.
“May I sit here?” She asked, putting her valise and basket on the seat when the young woman nodded. She sat down across from them and looked out the window at the bustling sea of people still on the platform. Most were undoubtedly waiting for trains yet to come, as hers should be departing any time now. Taking a book out of her valise, she found her place and began to read as the woman and man exchanged a few more words, and the man got up and left.
“Where are you off to?” The young woman asked. Madeline looked up and closed her book.
“Rural Montana – a town called Meadowlark,” she said cordially. “I’m taking a position as a school teacher there.”
“Really?” The young woman smiled. “I’m going to Montana too! I hear there are a lot of single men out there, and I aim to meet as many of them as possible.” She gave Madeline a coy sidelong look and leaned forward, lowering her voice. “I’ll be honest, because you may not want to sit with me once you know, but I want to become a woman of the night. What do you think about that?”
This excerpt is in draft form, and as such, undoubtedly contains typos among other grammatical issues, plot holes, reminder brackets, etc.
From Madeline Ellison’s Journal, to begin our story:
May 24, 1917
There aren’t many things I’ll miss about Boston. Least of all, Mr. Preston Chaswick, who has made it his personal mission to take every cent my father left me, whether by marriage or murder. I don’t think he cares which, honestly, which is why I’m leaving on the first train tomorrow, disappearing into the great American West and protecting myself from the fate he would force upon me if given the chance.
I very much doubt the small town- settlement, really- will be much of an improvement over the bustling port this city has become, but it will be different, and quite out of the way, and most importantly, devoid of Mr. Chadwick, and thus a far superior place in which to continue living.
Meadowlark is a very small town, as I understand it, and I’ve accepted the position as teacher for their little school. There may be as many as ten students to start, and my room and board will be provided by the town. I’m sure it won’t be anything so grand as the family house I grew up in here, and I shall miss the great staircase with its wide wooden bannister, the well-endowed library I’ve spent so many hours traveling the world in, and the view of the harbor looking out from my desk as I write this.
However, all this will be taken from me soon enough if I stay, so no point in prolonging the inevitable. The Ellison family was once one of the grandest, most respected families in Boston, and now father’s affinity for wartime gambling has left me, his only surviving family, no way to pay his debt but to marry or sell all that we own.
If I’m honest, I’m excited by the chance to travel, and experience new places and culture. It will be an adventure to ride the train all the way across the country. Perhaps one day I’ll meet someone not so disagreeable to settle down and have children with. But if not, I’m happy to keep my own council and ensure the next generation knows their letters and numbers.
I’ve packed simply – just two chests and a valise, and sold anything else I could that wouldn’t be too obvious. I’ve written a letter to father’s solicitor instructing him to sell the rest and the house once I’m gone, and to use the money to pay father’s debt. I’ll leave the letter with the staff to be delivered tomorrow, along with envelopes for all the staff with a couple week’s pay and their termination notice.
I’m leaving no forwarding address, and while I regret leaving the few friends I have without word, I think it’s best, at least until I’m well settled in my new home and position.
The fog is rolling in over the harbor, and I think I shall turn out the light and watch it, probably for the last time. Not living by the sea is the only thing I may well and truly miss.
Boo! Happy Halloween! As you read this (if you read it Tuesday the 31st), I’ll be frantically scurrying around finishing up the prep for our Halloween yard haunt. Or handing out glowing bags of toxic waste (okay, candy, but the bags will be glowing) in our bright yellow hazmat suits (thank goodness they don’t breathe – it’ll be chilly out there this year). We’re doing a Radioactive theme, so UV lights and glowing slime are the main attractions. Just the thing to make our zombie baby crew happy. I’m not sure the skeletons are all that impressed, but the campers and banjo players seem content enough.
Fingers crossed the slime turns out. As I write this, it’s still not made, and I only have internet recipes and a bunch of ingredients waiting for that sweet, sweet chemical reaction. We shall see. I really should have bought more blacklights. And tonic water. Hmm.
I’m planning to create a scrapbook layout in my journal to commemorate the event with photos, so I’ll post a pic of that online once I have it done. This coming weekend, probably.
Next Stop: The Land of Writing Madness Wednesday is the first day of November, which is also the first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or “NaNo” for short). If you’ve been reading here long, you’ve heard of it – I’ve participated on and off since 2004 – and I used to win (write 50,000 words in a month) regularly when I first started, though not so much the last few times I participated. Tempest and Desert Heat were both NaNo novels, as were several that were never published.
This year, I’m getting back to the keyboard with a fictional memoir/story prequel to the book I’m currently working on, in order to establish the backstory I need for my current novel draft already in progress (I know that might sound a bit convoluted, but it makes sense to me). If it turns out to be a decent draft, I’ll clean it up and publish it. If not, I’ll still end up with the backstory I need, and hopefully a much better daily writing habit than I currently have (and much faster than the 250 words a day I’m doing now).
Do I know what’s in the story yet? Um, no. That’s the whole point – Madeline Hunter needs to tell me her story, so I can tell her great, great granddaughter what she went through, so that Lauren and her daughter Maddie (named for Madeline) can make it through their own story. While I know some of the highlights (and low-lights) of Madeline’s story, I need all the juicy details that one can only get directly from the character as she’s moving through life while I watch and type.
I’ll be posting excerpts every Friday of my writing for that week throughout the month, so check back then (or watch your email/social media) for those posts if you’re interested in following along.
Will you be discovering someone’s story this month?
Recommendation(s) Head over to the NaNoWriMo site at nanowrimo.org, and check it out! Even if you’re not normally a writer, you can be in November! My husband participates in NaNo whenever I do, and just deletes his drafts after…I don’t even get to see them. So, don’t be afraid, jump in and give it a try!
Already signed up for NaNo? My username is “outofwords” on the site (I don’t know if that profile link will work or not, but you can try it, if you’d like). Look me up – let’s connect!
That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.
Cycling and “Cycling”
Like most people, I go through cycles in life. I do or am interested in something for awhile, then my interest turns to something else or circumstances dictate that I change paths, or I cut my hair and keep it short for a decade and change and then decide to grow it long again.
I find it fascinating that I keep cycling around through the same basic interests (so, the more things change, the more they stay the same), but each cycle takes on a bit more nuanced and focused form. I learn more about what I like, what I’m capable of, and what I want, and I bring the focus in tighter the next time I cycle into that habit/routine/interest/whatever.
For example, when I had long hair before, it was just…long. And a lot. Now, I’m conscious about keeping it cut and styled certain ways. When I kept/collected houseplants before, I bought anything that I hadn’t tried before. Now I’m quite a bit more picky about what I want to try growing, and what I want to spend money on (hopefully I’ll be even pickier next time, as I’m well and truly out of plant space).
Another cycle I go through (and this is a “we” cycle with my husband), is going to the gym. We go for awhile, then decide to workout at home, then go back to the gym (or one of us might, and the other works out at home), or we take months at a time off (the worst part of the cycle). A couple years ago, I decided we should go back to the gym, so I bought us a gym membership and off we went…except shortly after, I fell walking the dogs and really bunged up my knee. We finally went back, and then I had eye surgery and was out for a couple weeks. Then winter came and neither of us wanted to leave the house after work in minus zero degrees. Then I had surgery, and just when I was getting back to the gym, had another one.
Needless to say, our gym attendance has been extremely sporadic this “cycle”.
So, we’ve canceled our membership again, and last weekend, we bought a used recumbent exercise bike off Facebook. Our “workout” last night was to rearrange the workout room downstairs to fit the bike in with the treadmill, the total gym and our weight set, and to make sure the TV still works so we can watch while we workout at night.
Moving a couch, table, exercise equipment and a bunch of zombie babies around is a pretty good workout, incidentally. Especially when your muscles have atrophied from nearly 6 months of inactivity.
We now have a nice place to workout at home, and as soon as the TV remote dries out (corroded batteries, etc), we’ll make sure the Fire Stick still works and have entertainment while we’re getting in shape. Cycling, in more ways than one. Hopefully this one sticks for awhile – I actually much prefer working out at home, even though the motivation is still just as difficult to find some days.
Writing News
The good news is, I’ve been writing. Steadily. Nightly. I’m getting a good 250-300 words a day, but the key is that I’m doing that on a very routine basis now, which is awesome. It’s not a good enough pace for NaNo, but it’s a start, and I feel good about it.
My goal is to bump that up to 500 words per day over the next week. Training, as it were. I’m working on a short story that I’d like to finish by the end of the month. I think I have a decent shot at it, if I can bump up the volume.
The bad news is, I’ve gotten nothing more done on the publication side of things, which means there’s no way my alter-ego’s DBV collection will be out in print in time for Halloween. Someday, I’m going to have all the bits and pieces falling into place at the same time, but…this is obviously not that time. Or point in the writing cycle, if you will.
Recommendation(s)
We have a very thick mattress, topped with a 4 inch mattress pad and even deep sheets don’t really stay on well. I finally ordered some elastic sheet clips a couple of weeks ago, and after looking at all sorts of them, I decided on the cheapest $6 clips from Sopito to try.
I wish I’d have done this sooner! They’re a little hard to get on due to our frame, but once they’re on, the sheets (and the mattress pad) stay put! Woohoo!
I got these from Amazon, but I’m sure they sell them elsewhere if you prefer. If you’ve been on the fence like me though, just do it! I haven’t been so excited about elastic and clips in…well, ever. LOL
That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.
