Each round I take what works and leave the rest behind. Through the four rounds last year I discovered, although I can write in the afternoon, I make the most progress in the morning, before I dive into evil day job monotony. I’m thankful I have a job and family that allow me this kind of flexibility. Over each round of 80-days I’ve tweaked my morning routine and this round is no different.

I’ve shifted my schedule once again and made time for reading my writing craft book before I dive into writing for the day. Read on to see how it worked out.

The Goals – week-1 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done
• Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting- I wrote everyday this week and added 3,255 words. A little everyday, not bad for my first week back at it. The real win here is that I read from my current craft book a little bit everyday. Woot! I didn’t spend a lot of time each day, but I did make steady progress. I hope to finish this book next week, now that I’m almost half way through it, and get back to my Margie packet.
• Workout a minimum of three times a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done, huge improvement over the last two  weeks
• Daily Nia study (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I didn’t hit this everyday, but I did get two-days in. I need to fine tune my schedule to give this goal a fighting chance.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- crazy busy week  for this goal, but I finished all my reports and provided the numbers our parent population needed to approve a new class for this coming fall. Yeah!  I wish I could say next week will be better, but nope, the next several weeks will be ugly. I’ll need to keep this in mind as I plan out my days.
• Organize something in the house each week- I made significant progress this week. I organized the front closet and one junk drawer in the kitchen, that leaves one more junk drawer to go…in the kitchen 😉

I feel like I made significant forward movement this week and that makes me very happy. I’m ready to take on week 2, where once again, I’ll keep what works and leave the rest behind. Here we go.

But, before you go, check out what you might have missed here this week:

Review Prophecy of the Undead by Fiona McGier
Beer and Groping in Las Vegas by Angela Quarles PLUS Fun with 10
Special Guest Naomi Shaw author of Unexpected Lessons

Over the last couple of days I keep finding myself stopping mid-thought or mid-action with my emotions filling me and stopping me cold. In that moment, I feel powerless except in my ability to send support and strength through thought and prayer. There are other things we can do. I for one will be looking for other ways to support the families of Newtown and until then, I will hug my own family and make sure they know I love them.

That conversation puts my goal list in perspective, but I still want to see them done and I’m not giving up. I’ll be back for another round of 80-days in January, there is still much to do. Now, let’s see how I’ve finished this forth round of the year.

The Goals – week-11 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done. I love this goal, so glad I made it a habit this year. It keeps my characters close and my creative energy flowing.
• Weekly progress in word count, editing, and/or plotting- done. It may surprise you that I didn’t edit this week. Nope, not me, I wrote. I started something new and got just over the 2k mark, not much but it’s a start, and I’m looking forward to writing more this week.
• Finish reading current craft book- This goal was sadly ignored this round. I need to find a way to make this a priority in my WEEKLY schedule.
• 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- Balance Finger. Standing on one leg, challenge your balance and use your hands in space for support. With your palms facing down, press your middle finger – the power finger – down towards the earth, keeping your other fingers extended straight out. Benefits: practicing the Balance Finger integrates the upper body with the lower body and directs energy through the center of your palm to the center of the body.
• Finish the Nia Sanjana-routine bars and start the Nia Opal-routine bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- are you ready for a surprise? I finished this goal. Not only did I finish the Sanjana bars, but I started the Opal bars. Wahoo!!
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- done. No meetings, just a couple of bills. But I get to handle tuition payments this coming week. Joy. Always love trying to fit one more big thing into a busy week.
• Organize something in the house each week-  last week I talked about the sad state of my writing space, my dinning room table. Last Sunday, I looked around and spotted an over stuffed bookcase in my front room, the adjoining room. You have one of these bookcases, right? The ones where each row is double or triple stacked with books. I went through the case and found books to donate and all the unread books which I’ve moved to a different spot. I cleared a whole shelf and now I have all the kids crayons, books etc on that shelf. Love the simple and free solutions, but I’m not done yet. My writing space needs more help, but this is a great start.

Hope you all have a fabulous week and get to hug the ones you love. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year too. Before you go, be sure to check out my posts from this past week, some long waited for books and a review. It was a great week here at casa Maylee.

What you might have missed here this week:

Spotlight: MASTER CLASS by Cassandra Carr
Spotlight: Her Heart’s Secret Wish by Juliana Haygert
Review: Rescuing Lacey by Rebecca Heflin
Spotlight: The Cat’s Meow by Stacey Kennedy