Kicking The Icks…

Well, this week has been a total wash for me. I won’t go into the gory details of it all. Just let it suffice for me to admit that I spent more time in bed than I did out of bed this week. Still, I’m not at 100%. I am, however, feeling better than I have in a while now. So, that’s a plus for me. I don’t like being all sickly. It is just completely contrary to my nature and my writing suffers for it.

Of course, back when I was working at a day job, I used to think that if I had more sick days, I could do more writing. Of course, when you’re really not up to par, the writing suffers. I know that now. This week, I couldn’t focus for more than about ten minutes at a time. So, it seemed that, just as I was getting into the groove, I would completely lose it. There were days I only wrote five sentences. I don’t call that being very productive.

So, what’s a writer to do? I can’t just keep staying in bed. Well, I suppose I could. Technically I can work in bed if I take my laptop. But that defeats the purpose of being in bed. So, we won’t do that. Instead, I’ll huddle up in my office with a blanket and the cat and put on my glasses and just put the words on the screen. I can always edit them later.

I need to start work on the second week of The Artist’s Way today as well. I know that the program works. I’ve done it before. I am still deciding what I can afford to do for my Artist’s Date this week. It is cooling off here in Texas and I really love the idea of getting out and maybe going to the zoo but, the funds aren’t there for it. So it may end up being an afternoon tea by myself here at home instead. Of course that could be a treat for me.

I have made an effort to get my ducks in a row for keeping all my research notes in some sort of order. I think that is going to be a key to working with this new work in progress. Funny thing is that my mom and my husband will likely tell you that I am the least organized person they know. Of course, when it comes to projects, my desk may look cluttered but I can find what I need when I need it. Unless my husband or my stepdaughter decide they can’t take the piles on my desk anymore.  Then, it takes me a week to figure out where everything went.

I am absolutely determined to make this a better week than the last. I’m tired of feeling tired all the time. I want my energy level back up. I want to get back to exercising, yoga, and enjoying some of this fall weather. The cool and non-rainy weather is generally short-lived in East Texas so, there are plenty of things I would love to do before the rainy season.

Planning to do a video later to put up on the YouTube Channel. I haven’t done one in a while now and I need to start making it a regular part of my schedule. I just keep wondering what to talk about when I do them. Me rattling on may not be such a good idea. I’m almost certain to get myself in trouble if I do that. Left to my own devices, unedited, who knows what I would get myself into. So, I shall have to come up with a list of topics to keep myself out of trouble.

All I can say is that it feels good to have the energy to get back on the keyboard. This series I am working on won’t write itself.

Organizing The Creative Life…

I live in a little two-bedroom duplex at the moment. It isn’t a house. We hear the neighbor’s kids all the time. We hear them banging things around. (I’m sure they get tired of hearing Lee’s surround sound as well. I know I do.) But, the space is okay for now. I think that, after two and a half years of living here, we need to do something to spruce the place up though. There isn’t much that you can do in a rental unit.  I would love to be able to paint and change the carpet but, I can’t.

I’ve been sidetracked trying to figure out a way to reclaim the front of the house from our attempt at a candle business. (Great product but we weren’t able to market enough and will likely be a while before we can attempt to do it again.) There is a shelf taking up much of our space in there that is full of boxes, supplies, and various odds and ends. My husband likes for things to appear neat at least. So there are various things neatly stacked which could have been thrown out. Guess who gets to go through it all and listen to griping when I want to throw it away? Yep, you guessed it, me. Doing that and removing the shelf to the utility room is going to be the only way to reclaim that area though.

East Kentucky I grew up in these hills.

Fall always seems to bring out the nesting side of me. I think it comes from all the years living with my mom who started decorating for holidays around this time of the year. Halloween is just around the corner and it was one of the big ones for us. Mom always did crafty things to spruce the house up. I remember all sorts of paper ghosts and pumpkins gracing tables and being hung from the ceiling in our house. And then somehow, the house always smelled of spices like cinnamon (I am remembering a certain electric potpourri pot in the kitchen that likely contributed to that). Maybe it is no real surprise that this time of year is a time when I start to settle in, decorate, celebrate, and yes create new things.

Aside from the reclamation of the dining area, my office is the next order of business. I did take time this evening to try to figure out what is wrong with my monitor and desktop computer. Of course, this resulted in figuring out that whatever the issue is, it is unusable for me now. So, I cleared it away from the desktop to make room for notes from research. Oh the research this new series entails for me is going to be rather insane. So, I suppose the extra space is a necessity. I’m just glad that we bought Atreyu (my laptop) because I would have no workstation right now without him.

I don’t know what else will come about this weekend. Hubby will help with Operation Dining Nook Reclamation this weekend. So, I plan to get some serious work-time in on the series while it is just me at the house for much of the day. Sometimes, the solitude can be a good thing.