I finished typing the 1st draft yesterday. I know what direction I want the 2nd draft to go in, but I have more research to do. I have no idea about a market yet.
My goal for April is to type the 2nd draft and to have a market to query.
Jane
I’m still working on typing the 1st draft.
My goal for April is to finish typing the first draft and do character sketches and figure out dates and time of year.
5 Minute Memoir
I rewrote this and retyped it. I like the beginning and the end, but I don’t like the middle. I rewrote the middle in my head while walking yesterday so we’ll see how that goes.
My goal for April is to rewrite and retype. Read 5 Minute Memoirs from previous issues. Rewrite and retype.
100 Items In 30 Days
I wrote the first draft, but I need to type it. I didn’t read any Kindle publishing books.
My goal for April is to type the first draft and figure out layout/chapters, read one Kindle publishing book and work on other books.
I’m happy with the progress I made in March.
I have a long way to go, but I’ll get there one step at a time.
In the last week five people have clicked on my contact page.
Honestly, I didn’t even know I had a contact page.
It’s not an April Fool’s joke.
I’m serious.
I’ve noticed every once in awhile people have clicked on my contact page and I wondered why I didn’t receive anything in my inbox and then I forgot about it.
This week when five people clicked on my contact page and I didn’t get anything in my inbox a red flag went up. Maybe I should take a look at it.
I found my contact page. Untouched and unusable. Unusable is my version. It looked unusable and nothing like what other people had on their blogs.
After an hour or two of guessing and swearing, google and my WordPress helper, I erased the old contact form and put a different in it’s place.
I hope it is usable.
I apologize to the people who might have been trying to contact me or may have clicked on it by accident. Thank you for bringing my contact page to my attention. I appreciate it.
I feel better now knowing if someone wants to contact me he or she can. I hope.
I am also very embarassed that I had no idea that I had a contact page.
Three weeks ago I sent my hand bag out to get cleaned.
Yes, cleaned. And the zipper repaired.
Over seven years ago I spent over $250 on the purse pictured below in Las Vegas. I pondered on it for over a year and finally bought it. I didn’t want to spend the money, but I did and it was totally worth it.
I bought it at Brighton and with my purchase I get two free hand bag cleanings a year. I call Brighton in advance to let them know I’m sending my hand bag and they clean it and send it back to me.
I received my repaired hand bag back yesterday and as I am putting items back in it this morning I’m wondering if I really need to put back everything that was in it.
This is the perfect time to declutter my purse.
This is what I took out of it.
What do I really need?
My wallet.
The next question is do I really need everything in my wallet?
No. I found five cards that either were expired or the store has closed.
My checkbook. I need this, although I am getting a new checkbook cover. One that expresses who I am. I have one picked out, but I didn’t buy it yet. I hate the one I have now.
I have two coin purses. Do I need both?
The coin purse that has fearless written on it has miscellaneous cards in it. Grocery cards. I don’t use them. I usually give the cashier my phone number. Bank ID cards.
There’s also a bunch of junk. A bank card I haven’t banked at in years. A rewards card for a store that closed two years ago. A discount card for a thrift store that I don’t go into anymore. Place cards from a wedding my husband and attended seven years ago. And a card from the jewelry store we bought our wedding rings at 13 years ago.
All of that junk is in the garbage.
The coin purse with the xoxo on it is all of my room keys from the Vegas hotels I have stayed at. I have been to Vegas nineteen times.
Why do I keep them in my hand bag? I don’t know. I think I’m going to put them with my Vegas stuff in my upstairs cubby. I rarely show them to people and I don’t get them out to look at.
I think I’ll be ok.
My hand bag has two pockets on the outside. One on each side. In one pocket I have my counselor’s card in. I haven’t seen her since before the pandemic. I think I’m going to put them in my desk drawer. On the other side are a couple of loyalty cards that I use frequently and gift cards for Wendy’s and Culver’s and my library card. I also put my key fob in one.
I’m keeping my small flash light (it comes in handy), gum and dental floss.
That’s it. I really don’t have a lot in it.
I’m glad I took the time and went through it. It feels good and it’s lighter.
My hand bag looks amazing and I can’t wait to use it today. I missed it.
I’ve had this hand bag for seven years and I have never thought about buying a different one. I love the leather. I love the hearts on it. I love my matching wallet.
A couple of weeks ago I cleaned out my filing cabinet. I took all of my old writing files out, put them in a tub and in the basement.
This week I decided to put my financial files (credit card, doctor…..) in my filing cabinet. I kept the folders in a bin in my closet. Why I don’t know.
Silly isn’t it?
My files drive me crazy and have for years. I don’t like them. They are old and misshapen. The tabs have been been written on both sides. They look like crap.
My files didn’t make me happy. I hated filing stuff. I hated the way it was organized.
I hated everything about it.
So I took an hour and I changed up everything.
I had a box of new files in my closet so I swapped the old files for new ones. I wrote each file name on a new tab with my very colorful markers.
I renamed some of the files. I changed credit cards to mastercard and american family to insurance.
I changed how I organized them. I used to have the files alphabetically. Now I have them by group. My flex spend account is next to my doctor file. My 401k files are together. My house files are together.
I’m happy.
I now love to file things and look at my brightly colored tabs. It’s so much easier to file paperwork. I file paperwork right away instead of throwing it in the closet.
I finished writing the first draft of 100 items in 30 Days.
As many of you know in October I let go of 100 items in 30 days. About halfway through October I wondered why I wasn’t taking notes for a book about my experience so I started taking notes and sticking them in a file.
I have the first draft written in pencil and my goal for March is to type and revise it.
I’ve decided that publishing (traditional or kindle) is going to be my main goal for 2021.
I”m crazy excited about this book and all of the possibilities. More books. A journal to go with the books. Classes.
The sky is the limit.
I have always loved to organize things and have thought about sharing this, but I didnt know what to do.
My wedding dress has been in a box in the basement for the last 12 years.
Will I ever wear it again?
I don’t think so. I would have to lose 20 pounds to get into it and I don’t see that happening.
Then why do I keep it?
I don’t know.
Usually I don’t think about it or even remember it’s down there, but yesterday I moved all the items out of one room in the basement so my husband could put up shelving to organize stuff better.
Every so often I think about letting it go.
I could donate it to the hospital. They have someone make funeral dresses for babies who are born stillborn. I know this may sound morbid, but it needs to be done. Bless the person that does this.
Sometimes I think about giving it to the thrift store or bringing it to the consignment shop, but that gives me a bad feeling in my stomach.
I never opened the box since it came back from the company I sent it to to get it cleaned to preserve it or whatever they do. I think about opening the box but will I wreck any thing by doing so?
I dont open it.
I sometimes wonder if I let go of my dress does that mean on some level I am letting go of my marriage?
When I think about letting go of my dress this is the question I ask myself. Will letting go of the dress unravel my marriage and will I end up divorced?
I know it’s a little silly to think this way. I think I’m a little superstitious in this respect.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Do you still have your dress? Why?
My mom thinks I should keep it because maybe I will celebrate 25 years. I would be 69 and my husband will be 67. Will we even be alive then?
I’ll probably keep it.
Just wanted to share what thoughts were rolling around in my head this morning while I lay in bad and write this.
Maybe I will look at what is in the box this morning as I’m putting stuff the shelves in the basement…
I am grateful for pretty much everything this week.
My husband was stuck at a food warehouse in Temple, Texas for three days this week.
It was a nightmare for him and the 200 other drivers stuck at that facility and the millions of other people in Texas.
There a ton of things I am grateful for.
Heat. Running water. Electricity. Bathrooms. Clear roads. Stores that have food on the shelf. Gas stations that have gas. Fast food restaurants that are open and have food. Showers.
The little/big things we take for granted every day.
I usually don’t worry about my husband, but this week I was worried. He doesn’t carry a gun. I was worried about someone stealing his gas during the night ot looting. Some of the drivers had been waiting since Sunday to get unloaded. You never know what can happen. People get pissy…..
I’m grateful the National Guard was there during the day handing out food and water.
I’m grateful for H E B for providing the drivers food and water and having a bathroom for the drivers
I’m grateful to all of the truckers every day for all they do. If they weren’t out there doing what they do we wouldn’t have what we have. Clothes. Food. Gas.
I’m grateful for the people who go the extra mile for my husband.
I’m grateful that my husband is on his way home and that I have another day with him.
He’s the love of my life and I would be lost without him.
A couple of weeks ago I read an article on line “Why Throwing out the ‘Old Bananas’ is Imperative to Your Success” by Gabrielle Garrett.
According the Gabrielle you’re only suppose to have 3 or 4 projects (ripe bananas) that you are currently working on on your desk. If you have more than that you are putting those projects on the back burner and they are rotting. They need to be removed because they are taking up space in your mind and on your desk.
I totally get that.
My office is filled with rotten bananas. Unfinished novels and short stories. Non fiction books. Essays.
She’s right. They are clogging my mind and office.
After reading the article I decided to put all of the files in my filing cabinet (children’s book ideas, essay ideas, novel ideas) in a bin and put them in the basement.
I had essay and short story files that I worked on once in awhile on my desk and on my coffee table. I picked out two that I wanted to work on and I put the rest in two small bins with a list of what files are in the bin.
The four writing projects I choose to work on are as follows:
Jane
I started writing thos novel for NaNoWriMo last November, but didn’t finish the 1st draft.
My goal is to have the first draft finished by March 31, 2021.
5 Minute Memoir
I’ve been working on this essay to submit to Writer’s Digest for the last two years. (really rotten banana!) I keep changing direction and never finish.
My goal is to have this finished and submitted by March 31, 2021.
If You Didn’t Like The Way The Election Turned Out
This article idea came to me after President Biden won the election. I have a bunch of notes, but I need to complete the essay.
I would like to have the 1st draft of this done by March 15, 2021 and a market in mind to submit it to.
100 Items In 30 Days
As I was letting go of 100 items last October I wondered why I wasn’t writing a book about it.
I was thinking about writing a Kindle book. Actually 3 books. I don’t know anything about Kindle so I don’t know if it’s going to work or not, but I want to see what my options are.
Book 1 100 items in 30 days
Book 2 The next 100
Book 3 Decluttering your work life
The first handwritten draft of book 1 is almost done. Book 2 and 3 are a bunch of notes in a file.
My goal for Book 1 is the to finish the handwritten draft by March 1st and the typed draft by March 31 and to read five books on Kindle publishing.
Wow! I have a direction.
Now I have to come up with a schedule. I’ll have to think about this for awhile. I’m not sure what is going to work, but I will figure something out.
I sold the end table last week. It was just a dumping ground for my unfinished writing projects.
I replaced it with the six cube organizer pictured below. A cube for each of my writing projects.
It’s not organized the way I want it to be, but for now it works.
My office isn’t completely organized. I’ll write about it when is it.
I feel good about my four projects and my direction.
