This week I wandered back into my semi-normal schedule. What’s normal for each of us is always changing though, right? Normal for me isn’t what it used to look like, maybe because I’m not quiet back there yet. But, if I try and force my life back into the tight space it used to be I’m bound to find trouble. My mission has now become finding the new normal. Flexibility is important not just physically, but mentally too.

Speaking of changes, what do you think of my new theme? My little blog turns one tomorrow, so I thought I’d start year two off with a little change. Flexibility and change. I will use that theme and stay fresh, alert, and move my new normal right on into the future.

The Goals – week-3 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done
• Weekly progress in word count, editing, and/or plotting- done. Last Sunday I stated this goal needed to be a priority and boy did I ever. I found the foundation for the second half of a story I’m building, so much fun. AND I joined two critique groups. I even shared my first submission and critique with one of the groups. That is huge progress for me.
• Finish reading current craft book- I spent no time with Margie this week. WEEK-4 PRIORITY
• Workout a minimum of three times a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done.
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Undulation: standing in Open Stance, wave the spine- from top to bottom and then bottom to top. Sense the spaces between your vertebrae. The mental focus will help release chi that may be blocked in the spine. Practice in all stances.
• Finish the Nia Sanjana-routine bars and start the Nia Opal-routine bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- no progress WEEK-4 PRIORITY
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- done. Tuition was due this week, busy times.
• Organize something in the house each week-  done. This week I did make my appointment at the resale shop, so those four-large boxes are out of the house. Yeah! I also organized one junk drawer. It’s a little drawer, but I did it. I need to make a habit of this, I have a bunch of junk drawers.

What you might have missed here this week:

Spotlight: The Witch’s Dream By Victoria Danann

Each step in the writer’s journey is another test of our endurance. It can be an opportunity for failure, sure. But, it can more importantly be an opportunity to chose our passion and prove to ourselves we are in this for the long haul. Any time our daily schedule changes, whether it’s your number of tasks from week to week, summer to school year, new job, change in work schedule, we choose to keep moving forward. I don’t think it occurred to me, until this week, how much my schedule is about to change. It’s time to put a polish on my commitment to this journey. First I need to remember, I can’t do it all. Somethings need to be given up, priorities need to redefined. It’s time for creative re-scheduling. I’m tempted to get stressed out by the whole mess, but instead I’m looking at this as an opportunity to fine tune my day and move forward in a whole new way. It’s time to re-commit and empower ourselves to go after what we want.

Exciting times.

This week I let go of something for the time being, my Saturday posts, Links of the weeks. I love finding fabulous blog posts, I learn so much from bloggers every week. I hope to find my way back to these posts sometime soon. One thing I always did in those posts was add a video at the bottom. Normally it’s suggested music from my hubs, but this summer and for the next couple of weeks I wanted to share my fav routine from SYTYCD. For now, I’m going to include these videos at the bottom of my Sunday check-in, so don’t miss that below, this week’s is incredible.

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 11-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $5.89 (total so far: $58.92) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $1.61 (total so far: $8.58)

The Goals – week-9 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- I did it, well, for #1 anyway. I’m 1/2 way, not bad.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- none again, boo. WEEK 10 PRIORITY
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- done. I spent 3-days editing this week.
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I finished another read through, Wahoo!! Now I need to check in with beta readers and see if they can take a peak.
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- I continued my participation in pitch camp this week and I have developed answers to some typical publisher questions.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- Since I only read through VN#1 this week I still have not made any progress here, but that should change this week. WEEK 10 PRIORITY
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- I did it, I finished Plot & Structure.
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done with calorie explosion on day of birthday party 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Across Punch: start in the ready position, and simultaneously bring one fist and forearm across the body, palm down, while the other elbow and forearm draws back to maintain vertical alignment. Look where you punch and exhale while you punch. Engage the whole body by pushing down with your feet.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I’m still no finished the movement notes, but I made significant progress this week
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- WEEK 10 PRIORITY
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- I finished the next round of invoices, made a short speech at the school wide parent meeting and a slew of other things. Full week, but I got it done.

SYTYCD – season 9, top 8

Cole & Allison were superb this week. The contrasts from soft to hard are magnificent. If we lose Cole next week I’m going to be very sad.

What you might have missed here this week:

Flash Fiction #22 – Something in common

Today I’m hosting family and friends to celebrate my two son’s birthdays. These happy occasions take a ton of time and I have some to spare, ha ha. I save event to-do-lists from year to year and boy do they come in handy. I have listed who to invite, where to get the cake, who has card tables they can bring, don’t want to forget to order the balloons or pick them up…all the way to the thank you notes. This year I attempted to do more things early to save my precious writing time. I’m pretty well prepared for the party, but I didn’t get much done this week on the giant list below. I tried and for that I need to let myself off the hook.

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 10-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $5.36 (total so far: $53.03) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $2.14 (total so far: $6.97)

The Goals – week-8 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- I spent no time on this task this week, other than thinking I needed to do it. WEEK 9 PRIORITY
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- no writing this week, I’d get sick about it except I KNOW next week will be different. WEEK 9 PRIORITY
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- done. I spent 3-days editing this week.
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I have not yet finished my current read through, maybe next week and then it will be off to a beta, again.
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- I participated in a pitch camp this week and I greatly improved my logline.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- I originally planned for this goal to be done Mid-August, then by Labor day and now the plan is early September. I still have about 5,000 words left to write.
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- I only have one more chapter to read, but it didn’t happen this week. WEEK 9 PRIORITY
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂 Not sure how I pulled this off this week, but I did. I can tell you, however, today I wont be counting my calories.
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Outward Punch: start in the ready position. Your elbow pushes your fist from the palm up to palm down with a full extension of the elbow out in front of you at shoulder lever. Reverse move back to the ready position. Sense the stop. Benefit: strengthens your core as well as your arm and will enhance your sense of personal power.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I didn’t finish the movement notes, but I made progress and I’ve got to be happy with that
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- No progress here, it slipped through my fingers WEEK 9 PRIORITY
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- I didn’t have to do anything this week. What? Yes! But I wont be so lucky next week. I need to have the next round of invoices out by the end of the month and I have another parent meeting.

I’m looking forward to relaxing back into my normal routine this week. But first, I’m going to celebrate my boys. They’re now 3 and 6, how did that happen?

I’m hoping we all have a nice smooth week, daily progress, hard stuff first, loads of writing and tons of fun.

All lovely things come to an end, eventually. The end of summer is getting closer, total bummer. I’m thankful Michigan has a law regarding the start of public school, not before labor day. Sure, it keeps families vacationing longer, but it also ensures we have the whole month of August to enjoy, very nice. I’m trying to not freak out about how my days will change. I might need to add mommy chauffeur to my goal list. All the running around will make my days tighter, and although I’ve improved my time management, I’m going to have a real test of my skills this fall. I’ve worked hard on building my writing momentum and I have no desire to slow down. Some things are impossible to avoid.

I want to give a special shout out to my youngest, he turns 3 today. Quarter after four o’clock in the afternoon three years ago you finally came out of my belly at a tremendous speed. You were over a week late, but I’ve forgiven you for that. You are a joy in our lives and I love you very much.

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 13-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.96 (total so far: $47.67) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.54 (total so far: $4.83)

The Goals – week-7 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- glad I didn’t put a due date on this goal, because it’s giving me a roller coaster ride. My list of possibilities is growing, though so that’s something.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- 1,188 words, I think I might have deleted more words then added this week, bummer. I’m going to have to do a read through before I can figure out where I’m going, which halted my word count this week.
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- done. I spent 3-days editing this week.
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I finished my beta’s notes and I’m in the middle of another read through, great 2-simultaneous reads throughs. Let’s hope I keep the stories from crossing 🙂
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- I made a bit of progress this week on the synopsis and I’m looking forward to giant leaps next week. The yahoo group Marketing for Romance Writers will hold pitch camp this week.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- With about 5,000 words left to write on VN#2, I’d like to see this goal begin after labor day.
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- a whole chapter done, I’ve moved at snails pace on this one, but I only have one chapter left now.
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Upward Punch: start in the ready position. Your elbow pushes your fist from the palm up ready position and spirals the forearm bone to a full extension with the palm down. Reverse move back to the ready position. Sense the stop. Benefit: strengthens your core as well as your arm and will enhance your sense of personal power.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I wrote out the bars for the next song in the routine, next week I’ll need to document the movement.
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- finished the 1st book and now I have just one book left to read and just over a month before my certification is up for renewal. I think I might just squeak by on this one.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- Done, just one parent email and one trip up to the school to pick up the mail. Yeah for another slow week.

I’m hoping we all have a nice smooth week, daily progress, hard stuff first, loads of writing and tons of fun.

My first normally scheduled week in weeks. What a relief. The first real test of my new plan, hard stuff first. I started the week diving into edits and the notes from my lovely beta reader and I sprinkled in several things that I usually push till the end of the week. Did I feel more on top of my list? Did I feel less stress?

Typical things happened this week. I started out strong, the week got away from me at the 3/4 point, and I struggled in the end. Apparently, pacing is not just for your prose. For week 7, I’m going to work on hard stuff first and forward movement all week long.

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 13-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.96 (total so far: $40.71) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.54 (total so far: $4.29)

The Goals – week-6 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- a couple ideas are brewing, but I’m not going to rush it.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- last week I was short by 1,295 words and this week I was short by 843 words. Better, but still a miss.
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- I spent 6-days editing this week.
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I got through a giant chunk of my beta’s notes this week. Next week I hope to finish those notes and start another read through.
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- got some new inspiration this week and made more progress on the query.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- I’ve been saying all along: at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August. Mid-August is almost here. Shazbot! I still have about 6800 words to go.
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- a whole chapter and then some, I’m so close to done I can feel it.
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Downward Block: start in the ready position. Bring one fist and forearm across, down, and out, blocking the area in front of your groin. Return to read position and repeat. The non-blocking arm remains in the ready position to maintain vertical alignment.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I added the movement notations to the bars I documented last week and made my mirror notes. One more song and I’ll be in the cool down cycle!! I also did a couple of practice teaches on the first 6-songs this week. Each week I’m getting more comfortable.
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- I have two books to read under the self-directed learning category to finish my PDUs and I’m almost done with the the first.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- one parent meeting, a small deposit, wrote a couple of checks and created/sent one invoice. Easy peasy, done.

I’m hoping we all have a nice smooth week, daily progress full of writing and loads of fun.

Two weeks into the new plan, get the hard stuff done first. Did this week go as well as last? I was out of town for 3-days, did I let go of the rules and just try and make the best of it? Totally. By the time I got home and back on track with the evil day job the week was almost over. Did I get anything done?

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 13-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.96 (total so far: $33.75) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.54 🙂 (total so far: $3.75)***

The Goals – week-5 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- It’s time to listen to my instincts here. I have not been able to say this is done, because the titles I’ve picked aren’t sitting right with me. They feel boring. Maybe they describe the theme of each book, but my gut says that’s not enough. So, it’s back to the drawing board. The decision might be a step back, but this will lead to the final step forward.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- not done, I added 1,705 this week. ***I’m considering offering myself a make-up. If I write a total of 6,000 words between week 5 and 6 I’m going to call both weeks good and money in the Wardrobe jar.***
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- this goal got another pass this week, but this will be the last pass. Check out the news two lines down.
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I got notes back from the 2nd beta Friday night and I am excited. First, I’m now pretty certain I will get this baby to shine enough that I will query with it. OMG. Her thoughts and notes hit on my worries and I can already tell they will help nudge in the direction that will fix what I’ve been worrying about.
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- I tweaked things a bit this week, but now that I have beta notes I will dive back into this goal.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- not a whole chapter, but I did get a good chunk read again this week
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Inward Block: start in the ready position. Bring one fist and forearm across, up, and in, blocking the side of your face. Return to read position and repeat. The non-blocking arm remains in the ready position to maintain vertical alignment.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I got the bars drawn for the music in the next song, no movement yet, but it’s still progress.
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- I have two books to read under the self-directed learning category to finish my PDUs and I’m now 1/2 way through the first.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- I had way too much to do this week here and, after being out of town the first several days of the week, it almost got ugly, but I did it. Monthly reporting, deposits, budget meeting, board meeting, yuck, but it is done. Next week should be easier, after Monday when I’ll have 1 small deposit, a report to run/analyze and a parent meeting. But then I should be done here for the week. yeah.

I don’t have to go out of town this week, freaken fabulous 🙂 Hope something goes a little easier for you this week too, have a great one.

Last week I declared frustration is not welcome here. I was, well, angry that a couple of my goals were not getting done week after week. My priorities for the past many weeks have been: write first. I was not always prepared to write when I got the time, which dragged out my time needed to get to my word goal. By the time I got most of my goals done I was running out of time for the last two. So I tried something new, one I’m sure you’ve heard before. Hard stuff first. It felt strange, but it worked real well. So, did I write this week?

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 14-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $7.50 (total so far: $26.79) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.00 🙂 (total so far: $3.21)

The Goals – week-4 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- I decided to change and to keep my current titles a dozen times this week. More fermentation needed.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- done, I added 3,025 this week
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- I finished my latest round of edits on Voyage Novu #1. Wahoo!!
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- I sent my beta the file on Tuesday and in time for her plane ride 🙂
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- to be done after feedback is received from 2nd beta
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- progress slow and steady again this week.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- not a whole chapter, but I did get a good chunk read
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Outward Block: start in the ready position. Bring one fist and forearm across, up, and out, blocking the side of your face. Return to read position and repeat. The non-blocking arm remains in the ready position to maintain vertical alignment.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- you may need to sit down because I made progress on this goal this week!! 😀 I updated my mirror notes (notes I hang on the mirror to help me practice teaching a class) and charted a whole new song in the routine!! Six done and 4 to go. The last two will be easier as they are in the cool down cycle.
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- keep sitting, because this puppy is making progress too. Not only have I finished the latest e-class, but I’ve discovered a less strenuous way to finish the credits I still need. Oh, the relief feels good.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- This week was finally an easier week and I kept up with it too. Yeah.

Back to work for me. Hard stuff first will be the rule again this week. I hope I get to write this week too, hope you do as well. Have a fabulous week.