Weekend To Do: 6/28 - 6/30

It is late and it's been a productive day for the most part but now I want to climb in my beanbag, read and doze off as well as deep condition my hair.

But before I do I want to jot down the task for this weekend:
- Think about camp
- Panic about camp
- Camp
- Have meltdown about camp
- Realize it'll be alright... camp
- Camp, camp, camp
- What is lif- CAAAAAAAAAAAAMP
- WHERE ARE YOU GOING?   YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT CAMP????????
- Camp. PERIODT.
… … …

- Sleep

But no really I do want to keep the weekend simple as there are planned things such as:
- Hair
- Concert
…. … ::whisper:: camp /silence

Ideally I'd also accomplish these other things:
- Finish "The Book of M"
- Finish index cards for TYW
- Lock down opening
- Know how potential projects end (I feel like I know this for Year Two but new story... no idea)

However for the most part I'm going to try not to work myself up, seeing as a promotion for a balance transfer had me panicked earlier.  Got one big credit card balance left... I'll be glad when it's paid off. ..   But I'll sit down and figure out finances later as well as a new budget to put myself on in order to get things paid down this year.  Just gotta be patient.

Late Update - Past Weekend to Do

I don't know how I managed doing this daily.... But I'm going to keep at it.

So this past weekend I didn't manage to finish reading "The Book of M" but I did make it to the Goo Goo Dolls/Train concert and had a GREAT time.  Ran into an old coworker and was joined by a friend.  The weather was beautiful despite all the earlier rain  making me doubt I would even go.  AND watched Toy Story 4 with the family.

WARNING: Have Kleenex.

At any rate this is going to be a short post.  Will hopefully have a more thought out plan for this coming weekend given camp starts Monday.

Weekend To Do 6/22-6/24

It's been a while since I've put together a weekend to do list.  And I don't really have too much I want to capture since I've been trying to do things as they come to me such as:
- posting/selling manga series (successfully listed "Planet Ladder" yesterday)
- posting for pool
- ordered security key fob for car
- project orders
- mattress order (granted it's convertible furniture, still counting it though)

And other things such as reaching out to me/checking in.  Doesn't seem like much but all the things listed above have been an item I've needed to do for over a couple years now (if not longer).

However that said this weekend I'd like to get around to
- updating some post
- post another manga series I'm not reading for sale
- attend concert
- finish reading a book
- library
- write
- rest

Mostly generic but I'm okay with that.

Speaking of rest, I've been staying up pretty late.  I think another one of those things that as I get back into the world of writing daily but night owl hours are to go strong.  I haven't added anything to the Angel story this week but maybe I will this weekend.

Also one of my books arrived today (6/21).  And while I'm excited to read it, I'm curious about Redemption and #TLS, wanting to read those more.

4 Projects Are On The Way ^_^

It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten bound copies of my projects, years in facts. And during one of my down days I decided it was time to order copies of the first draft and have them bound so I can hold them and also work on them.

They are all a bit staggered but I should have all in hand by next week and will post a pic then. But for now here’s proof copy pic... be warned that these aren’t the bee’s knees in cover design and a couple of the summaries I winged at 1-2 am in the morning. So grammar issue galore but I’m happy and excited 😊 -

Fanfiction - Terrible at Finishing

Today (technically yesterday) I got a notification through my email that someone was following one of my stories for updates.  And I was shocked.  For one it was for my take on a Book Four for Avatar: The Last Airbender which I thought had been something I'd started a few years ago, turns out I started the story over 9 years ago!  Didn't realize so much time had passed but thinking about it now, it makes sense, I think I was still in my first apartment when I discovered the show.  But two, like, it's been so many years are they thinking I might return to it.  Admittedly I am curious about it now so I might check it out.

At any rate I was suddenly musing over my various incomplete DOOL fanfiction from my soap days and part of me wanted to be like "Dear Reader, don't read any fanfiction by this author as there is a high chance she'll never complete it.  However her original fiction... … …."

^_^

Halfway Through the Year 2019 Goal Check

And I forgot to blog again yesterday, even though I had the below ready to go... I really need to just be in the moment of now when things hit me to do -_-.  Anywho, without further delay...


Like most I started the year off strong and in March I fell off for various reasons.  But I don't discount even the little things I got done during this time period.  That said I figured I was due for a halfway through the year check in.

So in skimming my goal post I had the following listed:

- Release a book

- Complete an open project (WL, TYWL, JfFW, Y2)

- Complete second draft of TYW (this has rolled over for several years, hopefully this will be the year I get my ish together)

- Travel to a new city

- Read 25 books

- Pay off 2 debts

- Blog 2x/wk

As well as some other ideas of using a calendar to mark how frequently I exercised, meat-free days, etc... And it's funny to note that I remarked keeping it simple so I wouldn't fall off the wagon.  I iz off the wagon but I've still been doing things here and there just not keeping track on it with the caledar as much as I wanted to.

So I finished the first draft of "The Year We Lost" back in January, that said I'd still like to complete another open project (I'm looking at you 'Year Two"...)  And I'm still working on the second draft for The Three Year War.

I've paid off more than 2 debts this year!  And looking to knock out at least two more before the year is out.  That said I do have some upcoming things I'll likely need to throw on a credit card (car repairs and some other car related items) BUT I'll be doing so on one of the cards I've restricted myself to using.

For the blue items I feel like I'm on track for both of these.  At least I hope I am for the blogging one since for a while I was blogging every day so I'm hoping that at least's put me on par for the amount of entries I'd need to have with doing 2 a week up until this point.

Catch & Release

Well I forgot to blog yesterday :(  Or rather I remembered but then I would procrastinate and try to get in just one more thing or find a reason why it wasn't convenient to do so.  Lesson learned.

But no worries just going to post what I meant to yesterday in a very 'not as great as it sounded in my head' type of way.

SO I had this sort of realization regarding a mouse (which turned out to be two, so mice) Saturday night.  Friday night while watching a movie discovered we had a mouse.  I want to try the no-kill route but I also don't know if I can handle what to do with it.  So I get two traps, one that's no kill but with an option for a glue board and then a d-con trap which once set can just be pitched once the mouse goes in.

I reckoned that if the mouse went into the non-kill trap I'd take it around the corner to the park and set it free there (in hopes it wouldn't come back).  Was up late Saturday night and sure enough it went in while I was watching "Fight Club".

Maybe it was watching the movie or maybe I was just in a sort of deep thinking mindset but I wondered about the headspace of the mouse.  Did it think it was going to die?  Now that I write this, maybe it's my writer brain going... because there was this wonder if the mouse might just drive itself to the point that it might try to end it's own torture or what if I had set the glue trap, would it have gnawed at it's limbs to get free... And that did just make me sad since that felt like a slow torture too.

Then came the idea of thinking of what if we all are in some sort of cage either by our own design or higher entity (God, aliens, whatever floats your fancy) and if we just hold out a bit longer we'll be set free?

So Saturday night the mouse, once it got in, was definitely freaking out, trying to get out, I mean I could just tell from the sound.  Even with me walking it didn't be still sometimes.  However when Sunday morning rolled around there was silence.  And of course my mind went to all sorts of crazy places like "OMG, what if there was a rat too and it went in the cage killed the mouse" or "what if it just ended it all" … but this was not the case.  Moving the couch I discovered there were two in the trap.  And a bit of mouse poop on top telling me that the second one might've tried figuring out how to help the other before it too wound up in the same place.  But they kept each other quiet.

Was the one quiet now that it wasn't alone?  Or was it just that it was day?

Perhaps I'm overthinking (which is a prerequisite for being Denise) but there was something good in knowing that without knowing the mice had chosen to live (as neither entered the d-con trap which is still set).  I've got both traps down still as my grandfather is worried that there are more but I really think it was just the one (well two).

I tried to get a picture of both but one came out blurry and you can only see the body in the other.

I'm weird... I know...

As a side note Church service on Sunday was GREAT and the message really hit home/solidified where my headspace had been a bit for the week and what I need to do.  Also saw MIB International with my nephew which was also great having that time with him.  So I was very thankful for the small things yesterday (and today).  Bit bumpy today but worked on staying the course.

Learning & Re-learning Lessons

I thought about this earlier today as I came to some realizations/conclusions.  But some odd years ago, or actually a few times, I resolved myself into recognizing that I didn't have control over a situation and the best thing for me would be step back and let it go because it was so toxic.

And today I reached the same thought again.  Each time I do reach this thought and whole heartedly lean into something in me becomes free/ less burdened.  It reminded me of this video I'd see a while ago that I might've posted on here before but I needed the reminder because this has definitely been a week.

Why Worry?

In other news checked out "The Darkest Minds" and "The Hate U Give" yesterday evening.  And planning to pick the book back up.  Years ago I started reading "The Darkest Minds" but never finished and now I'm curious about the story even though there were parts of the movie that didn't work for me.  And I'm pretty sure I read this author before years ago but can barely remember the story, I just remember she wrote the novel for a friend and that resonated with me since MD had started off as a book for a friend.

And I cried several times watching "The Hate U Give" which has the same actress from TDM in it as well.

At any rate, trying to work on binding another book, the zombie novel currently.  Going to try to get to that since I need to finish laundry when I get back in.

Here's to continued growth, gratitude, and GA.

Random Observation - Movie Watching

I've seen a lot of movies or have at least gone to the movies every weekend for the last four weeks and I've tried to make time to watch the stuff I've rented from the library.

That said I wanted to take some to acknowledge the movies I've seen recently -

Library rentals:
- Chi-Raq
- Kin
- Ralph Breaks the Internet

In theaters:
- Dark Phoenix
- Godzilla: King of Monsters
- Aladdin
- John Wick Chapter 3
- Endgame (x2)
- Captain Marvel (x2)

Southwest flight:
- A Start is Born

Netflix/Hulu:
- Always Be My Maybe
- Fyre (I think I watched the festival documentaries this year... I know I watched both platforms take)

And I think I've remarked on others before now.  I think.  At any rate will likely be seeing a couple films this weekend (either at the movies or rentals).

Of all the movies there is nothing that stands out like ZOMG!  But I will say "Kin" did interest me /made me curious about the comic.  I cried watching 'A Star is Born' and I'd never seen any of the previous iterations of it.  Teared up with 'Endgame' too.  'Always Be My Maybe' had some LOL moments.  But in general nothing really excites me as of late.

On another random note I've been trying to curtail my spending.  I like to get the vanilla soy steamer at Starbucks (which is basically hot soy milk w/ vanilla and whip cream) so I've been doing my own take at home and today I added some cinnamon in it, GAME CHANGER, definitely going to make some more later ^_^ … I'm sure this probably isn't anything new, I just hadn't done it before.  And part of me is tempted to try nutmeg in the future.

One Down, Three More To Go

Life has been a bit crazy as of late.  Without going into details been working on trying to recharge and how to better manage my reading/writing time since sometimes doing that helps.

It occurred to me some time ago that I hadn't made any proof bound copies for some of my projects so today I finally sat down and start going through the task of doing just that. AND just got one done today, my last project "The Year We Lost" has officially been submitted and proof copy ordered.  Will hopefully get it before the month is out.

Next up I think I'll work on getting a bound copy of #TheLastStop.  Will plan on working on that tomorrow.  And hoping to get a cover done for the other two, but working on that.

I haven't gotten much writing in as of late but hoping to change that around.  Starting with getting back on track with my blogging.

Lync Short Story: Angel (June 2019)

So originally I wrote the following snippet in May -  

She wandered the maze at dusk.  Rumor was that’s when the fae were most active.  Her ghost believe the opposite.  Only at night did her memory return.  Only then would she reunite with her former life.  Never could she recall the reason why.  This dance of the maze at every dusk.  But that was by design of the fae.  “I find that by trying to prevent a prophecy you fall right into it’s path.” 

But then didn't touch it again until yesterday and created this - 

Her father named her Angel because her mother worshipped el diablo. So Angel wore her cross like a second skin: Attended all services and prayed at every chance, but even Jesus could not fill the space left behind by her mother… As time slipped past Angel could no longer remember how she’d died or when it happened. Only that she was. She wandered the maze at dusk.  And at night her memory returned; reuniting her with another life, one with both parents. She kissed her cross, grateful for the curse.

And today tinkered with a few words to leave it at -

Her father named her Angel because her mother worshipped el diablo. So Angel wore her cross like a second skin: Attended all services and prayed at every chance, but even Jesus could not fill the space left behind by her mother… As time slipped past Angel could no longer remember how she’d died or when it happened. Only that she was dead. She wandered her maze at dusk.  And at night her memory returned; reuniting her with another life, one with both parents. She kissed her cross, grateful for the curse.