Another day

I got a little work done on BBL last night. Not a whole lot of work, but I plan to work on it a little more tonight. I just can't get excited about working on it. I'm hoping that will change at some point, 'cause it is really hard to work on it when I really don't want to.

I emailed that private company about employment yesterday. Now, I am waiting to hear back. I will be looking a little more tonight before I sign off. No matter what I do, it means relocating. Which I am more than open to, I just hate the hassle of packing up all of my crap and moving it. And, trying to find a good, affordable area to live, when I know of nothing in the area. But frankly, I'll live in a box if it means moving out of my parent's house once and for all. They are wearing on my nerves. After basically living on my own for the best part of 7 years, it's tough to move back home again. Most of all though, I just really need a REAL job.

On the current job front, it looks like I will be taking the Journeyman's test for plumbing, as soon as the next one comes up. I only recently got my apprentice card, but since I have been doing it for so long, they are going to try to bypass the waiting. One of my goals is to get my Master license. Someday.

Yeah!!! Internet is back!!!

I've been gone a couple days because a giant tree fell down the road from my house and knocked out the phone and cable lines. No internet and no TV. What is a girl to do? I couldn't work on BBL at all because my mom was on my laptop all weekend long working with her Israel pictures. I didn't work on it Friday either. Peanut and I spent ALL day playing games. We played Mario Party on Gamecube for like 8 hours or something. I had a blast! I want that game now!!! Then, we played Age of Mythology on my laptop, but we were too busy having fun to open up BBL and do work.

But, it looks like I need to get busy with it because Dad was online late last night (when the phones FINALLY came back on) and started looking up information on self publishing, which is the avenue that he is pursuing for this book. Little does he know, this could very well end up being only 20 pages. I'm only on page 15, and I am pretty far through this outline. And, it has taken me forever to get those 15 pages. I'm worried now about disappointing my dad at this point. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around these characters and get them to help me write this story. I don't know how else to do it. When I try to force it, it comes out sounding forced in my writing, as evidence in my earlier stories that I wrote in college (VERY, VERY BAD).

I've ended my reading marathon. I started a book Thursday night and it sits, unfinished on the nightstand. I spent Saturday and Sunday watching DVDs. Today, with only 4 hours of work, I came home and sewn patches on some of my jeans that were really badly torn up, so that I'll be able to use them as work jeans without showing everyone my ass.

In not so happy news, my application to my #1 choice agency was declined :( I still have one out there and I plan to contact a private company today to see if they are hiring. Which is what I am off to do now. Here goes.

Books, books, books...

Well, I started and finished 1 book after blogging yesterday. I WORKED today!!!!! But, I imagine I will read at least 1 more book tonight. Haven't picked it out yet, but I have plenty to choose from.

I won't be working again tomorrow. I had previously made plans with Peanut, and that is what I am gonna be doing. I need the money, but I need the time away too. Spending the day goofing off sounds like much more fun to me. We'll be playing games most of the day, but I am probably going to torture her with BBL, in hopes that she can give me some ideas and hopefully help me improve what I already have. Maybe she'll write the whole next scene for me ;-) It's one that I really don't want to write.

It's really hard writing BBL to begin with, but Dad has been reading it as I am writing it. I've never let my parents read anything I've written, but especially not anything that isn't done. It's very hard for me to work like that. I like it to be done with before anyone reads it. Hell, the only person who has read anything that I've written before is Peanut. Frankly, I prefer it stay that way. But, this is his story, so what can I do? Dilemas, dilemas, dilemas.

Well, I am off to make supper and then read.

More reading....

I read 2 more books after blogging yesterday, so that makes 3 for yesterday and already 1 for today. Jill Shalvis was the author of the book I read today Room Service. A good read. I am not usually real big on HarlequinBlaze books, but I love Jill's books, so I picked this one up. I wasn't disappointed. I've already picked out the next book on my list. A historical by Cheryl St. John. I read one of hers last night and I just found another that I had in my pile, so I thought I'd start that one next. It's sad to see how little of a difference has been made in the pile despite all of the books I've read this weekend and week. 10+ books since Saturday. Damn!

Didn't work today either. At the moment, I am burying my head in a book just so I don't have to think about the bills I have sitting on my desk and the non-existent funds I have to pay them. If I'm buried in a book then that's my reality, not the crap going on in the real world. I never have to do drugs or drink large quantities of alcohol to cope. Give me a book and I'm a happy girl. Probably not the best way to cope with it, but it could be worse.

Off to bury my head in a book. Here's to hoping there is work for me tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

Still reading....

Well, I know I haven't blogged in a couple days, but seriously, blame the authors who keep me entertained more than my own writing. I've not only not blogged, but I haven't even turned on my computer to work on my own WIPs. Damnit! And, I'm about to get sucked into another book! I read 3 and a half books on Sunday, and 1 and a half last night. I've already finished one today and am preparing to start another (no work today:( ). I really can't afford to not work, but what can you do when there isn't any work for you?

Anyway, enough on my money issues, back to something good! Although one good thing about not being able to afford new stuff, it makes you read from the TBR pile that has been taking over your books shelves for the better part of a year. I was going to say put a 'dent in' but it would take years of reading a few books a day to put a dent in my TBR pile. Some are still packed in boxes (try 3 large boxes) and 3 full shelves (each 3 books deep). To say I have my work cut out for me is an understatement.

Reading Patti's book, Through a Crimson Veil, kick started me. I FINALLY finished the first book in the series, Crimson City, after many, many months of trying. I locked myself in my room and refused to answer the phone or anything until it was finished. Then I went back to the Night Tales series by Nora Roberts. Books 3, 4, 5 and 6, done. Loved the books. Book 6 was a little different. It was written before the others (1985 vs. 1990-2000) and took place in a different place, obviously with no connection to the chacters in the first 5 books. I had fallen in love with the other characters and was a little dissapointed with the lack of their appearance, but it was a good story none the less. I knew to not expect them in the story, but I missed seeing them. McKettrick's Choice was another great book. Patti, Nora Roberts and Linda Lael Miller each have a number of books in my 10 top list. Not much room for many others, although there are a couple others in there. They are the writers that I rush out when a new book is coming out. I don't have to know what the storyline is (though I usually do, 'cause I can't wait until it is coming out to find out the storyline), I just buy the book because they wrote it. I haven't been disappointed yet. They are the authors that rarely make it to the TBR pile. I usually read their books the moment I receive them.

Well, enough of my writing. Time to get back to the books.

WOW! A wonderful read!

I finished Through a Crimson Veil last night.... at 2am. I couldn't put it down. An awesome read! Highly recommended! I am so glad that I read the series out of order. I'm just upset that I didn't read it earlier. I'd been itching to read it since the day I picked it up from the bookstore, the day it was available.... MONTHS AGO! I woke up this morning with the story still in my head. It will be joined with one of Patti's other books, The Power of Two on my top 10 reads list. I can't wait until her next book comes out and her first book is re-released. I only hope that someday someone will enjoy something I wrote a fraction as much as I've enjoyed reading Patti's books.

Reading Patti's book has kicked me into reading gear and I plan to start another book this morning. McKettrick's Choice, by Linda Lael Miller. I've read the other 3 McKettrick books and enjoyed them immensely. She's beginning to write the stories of their decendents now. I'll be anxious to read those when they are available.

I guess the writing is going to take a backseat for a couple of days. I'll get back to it on Monday for sure. I keep getting ideas for LU, but I can't really work on it until BBL is finished, so I now have page after page of notes of ideas waiting for the end of BBL. Let's hope I get finished with it soon.

It's snowing and blowing like crazy here and the roads are horrible. And, I have to take my truck to the garage today to get it inspected. I'd rather just stay cozy warm in my house and watch the snow outside.

Reading today

Last night, I really wanted to read a book. Not just any book. It is the 3rd book in a series, Crimson City. I had planned on reading all of the books in order, but from my rants earlier, you've seen that I simply cannot read the 1st book in the series because something always comes up EVERY time I pick up that book. I've been dying to read Through a Crimson Veil by one of my favorite authors, Patti O'Shea, ever since I bought it. I really truly intended to read them all in order, but obviously it didn't happen. I will read all of the books, but I couldn't wait another day to pick up Patti's book. And, I wasn't disappointed. I picked it up and got sucked right in. The only reason that I didn't read it the whole way through last night was because I could no longer keep my eyes open and I had to work this morning. I'm sitting next to the book right now and itching to pick it up again.

I worked like crazy today. I did a full day's worth of work in 4 hours and then another 6 hours of work after lunch in 4 hours. I am exhausted. I've also cut the hell out of my hands. I had a couple of cuts on my hands when I started today. Now, I've got at least a couple on each finger and half a dozen on each of the backs and palms of my hands. I think I lost a couple of quarts of blood today. They are really going to be sore tomorrow.

Well, enough typing. Time to get back to reading. I'm only a few chapters in, but I highly recommend it already... can't wait any longer. See YA!!

I did get some work done on BBL last night. 2 pages. Not what I had hoped for, but by the time I finished those 2 pages, 2 and a half hours later, I had a monster of a headache. I got through 1 of 2 very difficult parts that are back to back. I'm not real happy with the last page that I wrote last night, so I'll probably end of re-doing it for most of tonight, hopefully without the headache. I'm also hoping to get past the most difficult part, which is coming up next. Remind me never to attempt writing a story that isn't mine, EVER AGAIN!

I worked for most of the day by myself. But, I got a lot done, even though I was hunched over, and bent in half, in an attic all day long. I think I am a couple of inches shorter now. I'm not sure if I'll ever stand up straight again. Oww!

Now, I have a question.... if you are remodelling a house that has been burned, and the house was without electricity for months, would you open the fridge door? The smart answer? NO! The idiot contractors that we are working with? Sure, why not. HELLO! Anything that is in there would have been long past spoiled! Why did I present this question, you ask? Because they actually opened it this afternoon. Idiots! I was in the attic and I had to leave and go outside for a while or risk losing my lunch. You would think they'd be smarter than that.

Well, it was a weekend of reading, anyway...

I finished The Davinci Code last night. It was pretty good. I was convinced that one person was the "bad guy," in the end, I was wrong. But I was able to guess the purpose of one of the characters pretty quick. Overall, it was a really well written book. I enjoyed it. I would talk about it more, but I don't want to give anything away for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

The only bad part was that I didn't work at on on BBL, but in my defense, my mom was on my laptop all weekend doing her Israel pictures. She finally finished them a little before 9 last night and I really wasn't in the mood to start writing then. I plan to log off here in just a minute and eat dinner, then sit down and write for no less than 2 hours. I'd like to be done by 9 or so, but if I manage to get into the story I may write longer. The first part that I have to work on tonight should go fairly smooth.... it's the next part coming up that could give me a headache. Wish me luck. See ya'll tomorrow.

Reading and Writing the weekend away

Well, I am up to chapter 30 in the DaVinci code. It's pretty good so far. I hope to get a bunch more read today. My mom has been using my laptop to name and edit the 300+ pictures that she took while in Israel, so I don't think I'll get much writing done today. The writing goal will have to wait until tomorrow I think..... It takes her a while to do the edits and naming; she worked on it for about 5 hours yesterday and only got 25 or so pictures done. If I have to, I'll just stay up later than usual tomorrow night to work on BBL.

Dad gave me a final deadline for the first draft of BBL.... April 1st, so I need to get working on it. I made some good progress on it last week, I'm just hoping to get the time and inclination to work on it and get it completed in the next month. I got a bunch of ideas for LU last night, so I can't wait to finish BBL, so I can get back to work on MY book. It's just too hard for me to work on 2 separate stories at the same time. I was expecting LU to be long finished by now.

Napping all the time

I took another nap yesterday. I seem to want to sleep all of the time. I don't know why. I have another day off today, so we will see if I end up sleeping the day away again. I did manage to start The DaVinci Code yesterday and am getting ready to open it up again. It's pretty good, but hasn't sucked me in yet. We'll see if it does. I'll probably end up starting the 3rd book from the Night Tales series at some point this weekend. And, by Sunday evening, I WILL have worked on BBL for at least 3 hours.

Dad is playing tonight, so at least I'll get out a little tonight. My dad keeps saying that he's worried about me, that I need to get out more and hang out with people. First off, I am pretty much a loner. I could stay in a room all by myself for months at a time and be fine with it. Yeah, there are times when I want to hang out with people, when me, myself and I are beginning to get on my nerves, but I like to be by myself a lot. I'm really shy and don't make friends easily, so that makes it tough too. Plus, the friends I do have live a good distance away from me, and I don't expect them to want to hang out with me all of the time. They have their own lives and friends that live close to them to hang out with. I hang out with my parents' friends more often than I hang out with my own. I've only been home for a week, and already I think I need to get away again. I just keep wanting to shout "GET OFF MY BACK!" Any suggestions?

Home today

I am home today. No work. Although after the hard day I had yesterday, I could use the day off, but I need the money right now. But, I didn't have a choice. So, I hope to get some stuff done today.

Yesterday, I didn't do any work on BBL or LU. I came home from work, took a shower and fell asleep. Yep, by 6:00pm, I was fast asleep. I worked hard yesterday and did some damage to the knee. Note to self: Kneeling on washer to drill hole at odd angle through thick wall puts a lot of pressure on knee; knee will not hold your weight once you get down.

I spent most of the morning cleaning so far. Mom is coming home from Israel today. I was expecting to go to work, so I've been up for a while now, and got a good bit done.

I plan to read some of The Davinci Code today, I'm anxious to see what all the hype is about. I'd like to work on LU a bit; I got an idea for the next part of the story 2 nights ago. I may work on it for a bit, but once again, I feel like I'm gonna fall asleep. I hate being tired all the time. What is up with that? I've slept more in the last week than I had for months.

Yeah ME!

I did it! 3 hours... actually a little more than 3 hours of working on the story. I managed to get 3 pages done in that time.... pretty good for working on BBL, but the best part is that I don't have a migraine. I felt it starting toward the end, so I'm glad the 3 hours was up when it was. The story is progressing. I don't think it'll be the 200+ pages that my dad is hoping for, more like 60 if I am lucky, but I tried. Hopefully if he doesn't like how short it is, he'll have time before the CD release to find someone who can write it how he wants it. I don't think I am cropping any of the scenes. I feel like I am writing them as long as I can without the scenes sounding redundant. Without them being my characters, I am following his outline and there isn't much I can stray from it, 'cause I don't know who these characters are. I still don't have a song list for the CD, so that is making it hard too, 'cause I am trying to incorporate pieces of the songs into the story.

Anyway, enough of me droning on about the difficulties of writing this. I am just proud of myself for working on it when I didn't finish the book I was reading last night. With only 2 chapters left, I was very tempted to keep reading and put off the writing, but I didn't. I stated that I would work for 3 hours on the story, and work on it I did. Yeah ME!

OK, enough discipline for tonight. I am off to finish reading my book! My goal for tomorrow.... let's see, at least 2 hours of writing, and I'll allow some reading AFTER those 2 hours. That's all after ripping out an old boiler and installing a new one. My butt is gonna be dragging tomorrow night, but I am determined to finish BBL, so I can work on LU!

If I Hear That Damn Saying One More Time....

OK yes, the Steelers won the Superbowl. Horray for them. But if I hear, "one for the thumb" one more time, I'm gonna have to hurt someone! They sing it in a damn song; they say it on the radio every time they break from the music; they say it at every commercial break on the "what's coming up on the news" commercial. So they won the Superbowl for the first time in 20-odd years. Whoo hoo. I'm just damn tired of hearing about it.

As for my productive weekend... I didn't do a damn thing but sleep. I took a 5 hour nap on Saturday, right after blogging, then was fast asleep by 10pm. I slept 'til Daddy woke my ass up at 9am. Then, I fell back to sleep Sunday around 11 and slept on and off 'til after 5. I managed to stay awake for a couple hours before falling right back to sleep again. I was able to stay awake today though... a good thing considering I was working.

Will I get anything done tonight? Reading, maybe. Writing, maybe not. I just don't feel like it tonight, and if I don't feel like writing, it usually comes out really crappy and I have to re-write it later anyway. I really need to find some motivation where BBL is concerned. I have told myself that I can't work on LU until BBL is finished, and I just don't want to work on BBL. It's not my story and it is so hard to write. I manage to give myself a migraine everytime I try to work on it. Hopefully, I will work on it some tomorrow. I guess it depends on how much I get into the books I am reading, and where I am in those books tomorrow.

I know! OK, here is my declaration. If I finish the second of the "Night Tales" books tonight (which shouldn't be hard) I will not start another tonight, and I will not start another until I have worked on BBL for at least 3 hours tomorrow. It must be 3 hours of REALLY working on it, even if I only get a little done, as long as I give it a real effort. I have written it here for all to read, and will stick to it.

I'm Baaack!

My trip was a blast! It was busy but relaxing. I took 2 yoga classes, a first for me. I also took a bellydancing class, that was different, but fun. AND, I took a Tai Chi class. I had 2, count 'em 2, massages. One Tuesday and one Wednesday. Then I had a Reiki (sp?) session on Thursday... that was different.

Each of the four cabins hosted dinner 1 night. All of the ladies there were a lot of fun. I don't think I laughed that much since I was in college living with Peanut and taking Robert's class. Stories were told; jokes were told. They are all extremely powerful women. Being around them was good for me. I think I have finally seen the light in a difficult situation. I can finally say I'm done being a doormat in a situation I should have been rid of YEARS ago. I wish I could get back a letter I wrote a month ago and rewrite it, not leave the choice up to him. 'Cause it is MY choice. I'm done.

On the WIPs, well, I didn't get real far. I was able to do some progress with BBL... 3 pages, but they are 3 quality pages, and I needed imput from my dad that I couldn't get 'cause I was out of cell phone range before I could truly progress further in the story. LU, well I opened the file. Does that count?

I read a great book, Jamie by Lori Foster. And started a the "Night Tales" series by Nora Roberts last night. So far, I'm really enjoying it. I had trouble putting it down to go to sleep last night, but since I had to get up at 7am, then drive all the way home, I needed to sleep some.

The problem now? I just got the DaVinci Code when I got back (a mailing mixup is what took so long). I'm gonna be reading 7 books again. The "Night Tales" series is 6 books long, but I also want to read The Davinci Code. Grrr. Plus, work and write? There goes my sleep for a few weeks!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a good week.