Not the Plan

Apparently I’m getting to know the people at urgent care.  Yesterday Ken had an attack of kidney stones.  We spent three hours dealing with urgent care and then getting him prescriptions.  It was a long day.  He and I both napped when we got home.  His and my list of things to get done – didn’t get done.

A good thing from yesterday – yarn arrived in two boxes.  One box was my order from Herrschners which was part of my Christmas gift.  The other box was yarn to finish a project I ran out of yarn for.

Last night after my napping and general grumpiness about the day, I organized the yarn.  I got projects organized for taking to work (for lunch hour and training crocheting) as well as got the yarn organized for the project I ran out of the yarn.  I even managed to get a couple of rows done on the project.  It has 15 or 16 balls of yarn attached to it.  My plan (and we know how well plans go in this house) is to work on the computer for a bit this morning and then go back to crocheting.  The blanket I’m working on is for my youngest and she will be here in a few weeks.

It was a bad night for me with waking up a lot of times.  The weather is also very damp which means I’m aching a lot.  My gout and arthritis are not happy right now which makes me want to do nothing but sleep.  However, I have to go back tomorrow so I’ll try to stay awake.

Once I’m done on the computer, I’ll work on a crochet project and hope to find something interesting to watch.  I may have to resort to DVDs rather than tv.  It might be a good day for movies as Ken will be wrapped up in football.

The blanket for my daughter is heavy and warm – which means I sweat a lot while I work on it.  Each row is different so I can’t just crochet and crochet.  I have to stop after each row to determine how many stitches of each color.  It’s turning out beautifully but it is definitely time consuming.  The nice thing – I’ve got two more like this planned and I have already taken the time to write up one of them so I have the color changes already written up.  I am working on the second one in the hopes of making it easier to work with.

Hopefully my plan for the day works.  If not, I’ll go with the flow.  However, it would be nice to have things happen the way they are supposed to – for a change.

Unplanning My Next Year’s Goals

My year has certainly not turned out the way I planned it.  This is one of the reasons I don’t like to make long term plans. 

It isn’t that my year has been worse – quite the contrary – it just hasn’t turned out the way I planned.  I could be disappointed in myself and the events of the year but that would be ridiculous.  I was supposed to submit to contests and publications at least four to six times each month this year.  I didn’t.  I was supposed to get my poetry books, romance book, and meditation book all published.  I did this.  I did more than this.  I got eleven books and two crochet patterns published. 

In looking back at my year, because that’s what we do at the end of December, I find myself very satisfied with what I’ve accomplished and am looking forward to the accomplishments of the coming year.  I have four books in progress that I want to get done.  I’m certain these will get done and published. 

Knowing me, there are other stories rattling around in my head that will find their way onto paper and into publication. 

I keep telling myself I need more balance in my life – equal out the time I spend crocheting, writing, working, spending with family and so on.  I’m not sure that is true.  I think having the imbalance helps me accomplish things.  When I’m so focused on one or two things, I get them done.  Very little gets in my way or stops me from accomplishing what I set out to accomplish.  Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what I want to accomplish but once I do – it usually works out in the end – even if it isn’t the way I planned it. 

When I look forward to the next year, I know I want to write, crochet, spend time with my family.  I think I’ll leave the details of how that works out to the future and just enjoy the journey I’ll be taking in the upcoming year.

Out the Window… completely…

I’m one step away from finishing a project.  I just have one small step before I am done.  It will probably take me an hour.  Last night I was supposed to finish the project off and start on other projects for presents. 

This did not happen.  In my head (my damn brain never stops working), I had a scene I wanted to get written.  It kept playing over and over.  I couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

I meant to work on the project but I got distracted.  I opened my computer and started writing the scene.  I meant to work for an hour or so and switch over to the project. 

My sister called to ask me stuff.  I talked to her for a little bit before returning to my scene.  My friend called for a little bit.  She wanted me to read the scene to her.  I read a small bit to her before she said I should just email it to her.  I went back to writing.  I wanted to finish the scene before moving on to the project.

My middle daughter called to talk.  We chatted and she called me out on being distracted.  I was, I wanted to write my scene so I could get to my project. 

By the time I was done with all the phone calls and the scene, I was too tired to finish the project.  I will finish the project tonight.  I will.  I’m determined. 

Unless of course the scenes that are bouncing around in my head demand to be written, in which case, I might not finish the project until this weekend.  In which case, my plan will go out the window again….

Completely Unproductive

My evening was completely unproductive.  I meant to work on editing and writing.  I planned to get a chapter or two written on the next Wayfarer novel. 

None of that happened.  I talked to all three of my daughters and one of my sisters.  I spent the night on the phone and video chatting.  It was an interesting change of pace.  By the end of the evening, I was tired and ready for bed. 

The lack of writing last night just felt odd.  I’m so used to having my time to myself and editing or writing that to be engaged in other ways just felt odd.  Not good or bad, just different.  I spent a lot of time talking with my two daughters in Georgia.  We video chatted, I got to see one of the grand fur babies – the other was camera shy. 

I like video chatting because I get to see my girls rather than texting or talking.  I get to see their faces and their place.  It is always a good thing for me.  I feel more connected with them. 

Tonight I plan to write and edit but you just never know what will happen…