Multitasking, Pros and Cons...

There are some things in life that I can channel all my focus into at once.  Writing.  Reading.  Cooking.  CSI: NY.  Other things I have to 'multitask' at.  Like anything cleaning related.  Laundry and dishes are two big ones.  Picking up around a room can be thrown in there also.  I'm just not a tidy person, I fall behind in my chores quickly...mostly because I become too focused on things like writing and reading.  It bothers Mr. Janney, but not enough for him to help out with these chores so he doesn't complain.  Which is really kind of weird, but I guess we all have our quirks.  (Right +MJ Bush ?)

Maybe someday I'll even organize my books...

Today I have a few things I want to get out of the way before I focus on writing.  I thought I was done with the laundry until I started to tidy our shared computer room.  Only one sweater is mine, one sweatshirt of his, and random oddities that still make me scratch my head.  Like the box of plastic forks and spoons!  I have no idea where they came from or why they were on my bookshelf.  I'm not sure if this is a pro or a con of today's multitasking.

Some might find this the hard way to do things.  For me it's the best way.  I do dishes a bit at a time because
to stand at the sink too long hurts my lower back.  It always has.  It's probably something to do with the angel.  Silly I know, but hey - it works and why knock it if it works?  Like that thought? Give it a tweet!

Laundry is something I usually do one day on the weekend, but given our three day weekends recently and our less than reliable water flow - I do it whenever I can anymore.  And since the last time waiting until Monday bit me in the rear, I space it out over the three days now.  Whenever there's enough water pressure anyway.

I saw an infograph on Google+ today about how multitasking isn't good because it lessens the quality of your content.  When applied to being online, this may very well be true.  I really have to stop having an internet window open while I'm writing as it's distracting and therefore they person behind that that picture is very right.  (I'm not sure I could find it again to link)  I'll do some social media items while working on chores - even though like now I've been at the computer long enough that the dryer has been done for quite some time and I've neglected to go switch loads around.  And eventually, I'm going to have to learn to put my phone away as well, because those little alerts are just as distracting as an internet window.

Once I'm done here, and I get those weird little laundry surprises done along with some dishes, I'll be opening my files and writing away as I have the house to myself today.  Mr. Janney drove himself so I don't even have to worry about picking him up later.

It's a good day.



2014 ~ Emergence.

The Unmerciful Circle of Life

I must admit to a certain amount of melancholy today.  My Facebook post this morning certainly reflected that.  "Sometimes in the morning when I check Facebook on my phone, I'll scroll quickly through the 'top stories' before I switch to most recent. This morning I had two statuses 'side by side' that really made me stop and pause. Posted roughly 6 hours apart, one was a new mama sharing how she and her hubby were falling in love with their firstborn...the second one was another mama sharing the devastating news that her daughter had just lost her fiance. I rejoice with the first, and mourn with the second. And I really have no words to describe my mood at the moment, maybe later."

I am certainly happy for my classmate who had the baby.  It is her first and a fulfilled hope I understand.  I can't wait to see the pics she will post as her baby boy begins to grow and mature.  Not having children of my own, I watch my friends' children grow with bittersweet joy.

But the grief for my other friend, who is only a little younger than I, who just lost her fiance is the dominant emotion at the moment.  Because that's something else I understand.  I didn't marry until this past summer, at the ripe old age of 37.  I had given up on romantic love a long time ago, and Mr. Janney was a surprise.  And as much as there are times when I want to sell him (and his Xbox!) to the nearest traveling circus - I can't imagine life without him.  Well, I can but that's beside the point.  And here is my friend, having found 'the one' - and in a heartbeat, he was gone.  I'm not sure the full story, just that he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and that an EEG revealed abnormalities.  That was on Friday.  This morning I read that he passed away on Saturday.

When Mr. Janney and I were discussing marriage one night on the way home from his parents, well it was more of an argument really, one of the things he was saying in an attempt to say that things in our relationship were fine as they were was that he loved me ... 'maybe' forever.  Maybe?  That lit a spark in me.  We had just come from a funeral for his 90+ great-grandmother.  I very vocally reminded him that 'forever' could be over in heartbeat because we don't know what the future holds.  There is nothing guaranteed.  All sorts of unplanned random crap can and does happen all the time.  (It's 2014 - who dies from pneumonia???)  Needless to say it was a really quiet weekend after that conversation.  As in, I spend the rest of it in a different part of the trailer and just let him think.

By the end of the week, we were married.  Did we rush?  After being together for almost 5 years and living together for just over 4 - why piddlefart around?  Have I questioned it since then?  Ever since the purchase of GTA 5, more than a little.  Do I have peace about it?  Ever since my last drunk, yes.

Because life is not meant to be lived hesitantly.  Tweet it! :)

In my novel, when Craig brought up the idea of eloping, Angela of course needed time to think about it.  She was surprised, not just by his question but by how possible it was.  He had just proposed to her that afternoon, and should she be willing they could be married before the end of the day.  Naturally she was a little intimidated by the notion, but as they passed through Simmons Crossroads later that day, the intersection where her brother had met his death, she was reminded how quickly life could be over and gave into the spontaneity her fiance was offering her.  A chance to have a wish/desire fulfilled in a heartbeat (or as long as it took to fly to Vegas).

Ironically, this scene was written and 'set' before my own 'quick' marriage.  Whether it was a glimpse into my own future and I didn't realize it, or just my characters mirroring my emotions/mindsets, I may never fully know.  I know that in the second novel, set four years after then end of the first, the events that happen cause Craig to ask Angela is she regrets how quickly they married.  You'll have to wait for her answer (and the events that brought it up), as I don't want to spoil things to much for you.  Yet.

No matter where life finds you today, appreciate those around you even if they frustrate you, and don't hesitate to live to the fullest.

2014 - Life to the Fullest

Life's Distractions Are Time Consuming

I don't know where to begin.  Not really.

I guess for starters, I haven't been to get to the library to get my professional looking picture taken yet.  The

the next three years of my life signed away...but it's a sweet ride :)

photographer had a speech to prepare that day, and I ended up being taken around my small town car shopping.  But if all things happen for a reason, my newish Buick Le Sabre is worth the change in plans.

And then there has been work.  9 to 9 and a half hours of it.  And since we had another three day weekend this week is looking like it's going to shape up to be about the same, if not more of it.  There are rumors that our three day weekends could last for a few more weeks, but with the lack of a "Purple Hat" in our area there is no way to get any reliable information.

I did not blog.  I did not write in my novel - I may have gotten a sentence or two written in one project or another, but nothing of any substance!  I haven't been on G+.  I haven't done much Tweeting.  I have done a lot of Facebooking, as that is sometimes the easiest way to unwind after a long days work.

This past weekend was very relaxing though, as my husband essentially gave me a 48 hour date.  He took me out, pampered me here to home, and even fixed me breakfast in bed yesterday morning!  How I wish the 'love bug' would bite him more often!

And here we are on Monday, the last day in our three day weekend.  I have taken my husband to work, done one blog post, two once this one is done and posted, and about three loads of laundry.  And once this is done, and this post shared everywhere I usually share my posts, I think I am shutting the internet window down and just working on my novel.  All the while hoping and praying that another one of life's distractions doesn't come knocking on my door.  It's terrible I know, but sometimes I crave solitude.  Not for too long, just enough time to myself to be by myself - it helps me appreciate people a bit more ;)

2014 ~ Wild and Crazy!!

How Serious is too Serious?

So, this author needs an "official" author's photo of herself.

Hmmm.

How does one decide how to present themselves officially?  I want to be taken seriously, and as much as I like selfies - I'm not sure that's the image I want to project at the moment.  Although, there is a lot of "do-it-yourself" to self publishing.  Friends advise to get a professional pic done.  Well, I can't afford that - but I can fake it.

BEST selfie EVER!

So tomorrow I'll be traveling to a local library to have a "friend of a friend" take some pictures.  I don't even know her, except through his Facebook posts, so I'm taking a leap of faith here.  But the only thing he's ever steered me wrong it has been "Flappy Bird", but let's not go there shall we???

This is another case where I have to climb out of my comfort zone and meet someone new.  I can handle this!  Once again, it'll be in a library, so it's not that much out of the comfort zone.  And of course, I'll post pics, as well as whichever one I end up choosing.

Besides, isn't that one of Facebook's purposes?  To network and make new contacts and friends?  (Facebook, you might want to pay attention to this blog post - just saying')  So far, so good.

As for writing, I was bitten by the creative bug this week at work.  A simple conversation with coworkers in the cafeteria early one morning steered one portion of my book onto the right path.  What I had just wasn't working.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good.  I mean, I didn't even want to write it!  It was "meh", at best.  I filled up a lot of blank paper at work during slow moments, because all the loose ends the other path had created were suddenly coming together and all the dots were being connected.

And of course, as always, it also brought up new questions.  Like "Why did that character do that?"  Hmmmmm...I don't know yet, but I'm going to find out!

I'll have to get that one coworker's name so that I can give him a shout out in the acknowledgements when I finally get all this whirlwind in my head written down.

2014 ~ Turning One Page After Another

A Quiet House Causes Much to be Accomplished

Maybe not when it comes to actual story writing, but this past weekend while my husband has actually been out of the house, I really did get a lot of writing things done.

I finished blog posts here, as well as at my joint blog (you can read the latest post here).  I also finished a questionnaire for my fiction coach +MJ Bush who should be calling me shortly.

And I even managed to write my Author Bio.  How exciting is that?  Which I'll need when the librarian starts publicizing our presentation in March.  Of course, I still need to write a short Bio, but the afternoon is young yet.

I never before realized how much I need some semblance of quiet in my writing area.  I can handle soft music (R.E.M. is playing at the moment) and I can even handle Mr. Janney playing Halo Wars as long as it's a relatively quiet game.  There is no concentrating during GTA 5.

I'm hoping that this is a turning point, that'll he keep on going to work with the welder and we're both still hoping he gets the security gig as well.

It's like I can breath again.

Breath, write, think, write...it's all the same thing...

2014 ~ Full Of Possibilities

Did You Feel The Earthquake Today at Noon?

Of course I just had to get that in there!

Ok, so there was no actual earthquake.

But it doesn't take a genius to grasp that today was an important meeting.

On a personal level. Because I really liked meeting Carol. She's pleasant and likable. Funny, and a fellow Trek fan!  (woot woot!)  She's definitely the leader of the two of us; whether that is my own insecurity speaking or an accurate fact I can't say for certain! Regardless, this is the start of something pretty awesome!

I hope her phaser is set on stun!

On a fun level.  Because like I said, she's just fun!  She brought Star trek toys for us to play with.  Hey, you're never too old to just have some fun!  Even in the library!  Of course, the librarian we were meeting with had to bust out her stern face and put us overgrown kids back on track.  Focus!  We had to focus! And afterwards when we went to the Mad Hatters Cafe and Co-Op for a coffee and Whoopie Pie - we somehow ended up participating in a Stress Management workshop!  I can't even begin to describe that except to say there were a lot of giggles and I could have sworn the presenter had been reading from my secret blog!

On a professional level.  Because our meeting at the Spaulding Memorial Library was to set up a joint presentation!  I'm so excited I can't even think straight to tell you the truth!  I'm not one hundred percent certain what Carol has in mind for our presentation, but since she's the more experienced author with more books released than myself, I'm more than willing to let her lead and just go with the flow.  We do have plenty of time to put our heads together again.  I'm sure it will be a blast since great minds think alike and we do seem to have a lot in common!  <<March 22nd, 1pm if you want to save the date>>  Don't worry, I won't let anyone forget - plus there will be a write up in the newspaper too!

Great minds really do think alike.

All in all it was a great experience.  One that I'm glad happened.  It was encouraging at a time when it was needed.  Of course now, I'll have to turn my focus back to the blog post I started for Broads of a Feather and get that posted so that we can do a collaborative post about midweek.  And then, who knows?  I might actually pull my voice memos out and get a few scenes written for the second novel in my series!  Of course, knowing my eternal sense of good timing - that will be about the time Mr. Janney decides it's time to call me for a ride home.  Maybe I should turn the ringer off????  Just for a bit?  I'm sure he won't mind.  Much.

Just kidding Mr. Janney.

Maybe. ;)

2014 ~ Back In Focus