Foolish Mortal Making Plans

Finished an afghan and started another, this was in my plan for yesterday but driving to Prairie Du Chien wasn’t.  My middle daughter needed some help so we met her in Prairie Du Chien.  I woke up with a well thought out plan in order to get some tasks done around the house and with crocheting.  Before we left to meet her, I got some of the projects done – paid bills, clipped coupons, made out a grocery list.  The rest of my plan – out the door.

We got home early evening and I was able to finish off the afghan for my niece and start another one for my youngest daughter.  I did a sample, took pics, and sent it out for approval.  Then I tore it apart and did it for real.  What does this mean?  For starters, I had to make some decisions about how I was handling some of the yarn – it is multi-colored and the yarn can’t easily be carried.  In order to use as little yarn as possible, I had to decide when I was cutting off and when I would carry it along.  Next I need to find a clipboard, ruler, and highlighter so I can keep track of where I’m at.  I’ve found a highlighter – multi colored so that helps.  Ken found me a clipboard just now.  Next is a ruler – I have a big one but can’t find a little one.  I could improvise but I’ll have to see what I can find.  I asked Ken and he is great at finding stuff.  He just brought me the PERFECT one.  He’s so good!

Today I plan to have a quiet day.  I want to watch West Wing (yes this is my current binge watching program) and crochet on the afghan.  My daughters will all be home in a little over a month.  If I could finish this afghan for her to take home – that would be wonderful.  It’s a corner to corner graphgan.  For those who don’t speak crochet – corner to corner is like it sounds – instead of working across and afghan, I work from one corner to the widest point and then back to the opposite corner.  A graphgan is a picture which has been turned into a graph.  Each square on the graph because a stitch (or in the case of the corner to corner a set of stitches).  It will be my first of this style.  I’m liking how it’s turning out so far but we will see how the rest goes.

Next I want to look up a temperature blanket.  This will require some research so I can find out the daily high temperatures for the years each of my daughters was born.  Then I will create an afghan based on the temperatures.  One row per day in a color designated for the temperature.  It should be interesting to see how it works out.

Ken was busy yesterday and today.  His list of things to get done was interrupted as well.  Still he managed to get a package to the post office, run errands this morning, and work on laundry and other household chores.

We’re both hoping to settle in today to relax – him watching football and me crocheting and watching West Wing (or other stuff).  Oh and Sherlock is on tonight!  I can’t wait to see the new episode!

Indoor Activities

It’s in the negative numbers outside.  I’m up early(ish) and have done a search for my daughter on knitting patterns.

Yesterday I managed to finish one more gift and make a good start on another one.  The plan today is to finish the gift and move on to another project.  I’m hoping to make a good start on the second project I have in mind but I’ll see how the day goes.

Ken will be watching football all day.  I’ll hibernate in the living room to watch West Wing while I work on crochet projects.  It’s too cold to do anything other than stay inside and keep as warm as possible.

The week will be busy but I only have four days of work this week.  I’ll be off for eleven days and I’m hoping to finish a couple of projects.  My daughter and I will be working on batch cooking for a day or two.  We’ll do video chatting with the girls in Georgia for the holiday and gift exchange.

My hope is to get a few projects done for my daughter while she’s here.  There are projects I want to work on which she needs to be here for so I can make sure things fit appropriately.

During our lovely frigid weather today – crocheting, West Wing, and quiet.  Doesn’t sound like a bad day to me even if the temp outside wasn’t horrible.

Snow Day!

While the weather outside is cold and snowy, my plan is to work on more holiday gifts.  The last package went to the post office this morning.  Ken tackled the roads in his truck – I think my car would have gotten stuck in our road since we’ve not been plowed out.  We got about 5 – 6″ of snow and they’re calling for another 1 – 6″ depending on who you listen to.

The weather for today is supposed to be more snow.  The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be frigid with below zero temps.  This seems like the best time to turn on Netflix and work on a crochet project.  I’ve got two or three left to do for holiday gifts.  Then Ken gets to do the wrapping.

The meds for my sinus infection kicked my butt.  I’m done with them for now but I think the sinus infection isn’t gone.  It may be time to go back to an ENT to see if he’s got other options he can give me or better drugs.

I’ve been sleeping a lot.  I get up and do a couple of things.  After which I feel like I’ve run a marathon and want a nap.  I keep reminding myself this is my body’s way of telling me it’s healing.  I need to slow down and let my body recuperate.

Since I don’t do well with cold air, I’ll be staying inside and crafting.  I’ve got a number of projects to finish for the holidays and a few others to finish in general.  It’s something I can do while I’m resting.  Ken’s filled the humidifier with water and essential oils.  I’ll put on Netflix with West Wing or something else and crochet and nap throughout the rest of the weekend.  Hopefully by Monday I’m feeling more human.

Sleep, blessed sleep

Sleep was the order of the day yesterday.  I dozed until after 11 in the morning.  I worked on the computer for a short period of time updating the checkbook and such.  We had lunch (or breakfast for me) and watched West Wing.

He put up the Christmas tree while we watched.  I meant to crochet but I didn’t.  After the tree was up he did other things and I napped.  With supper, we watched Diners, Driveins, and Dives and then West Wing again.

He went to bed and I thought about going to bed.  Instead I worked on editing a manuscript.  Once I started editing, the night slipped away from me.  Still I made it to bed before midnight.  Apparently I needed sleep yesterday but not today.  I woke up early this morning and am up, showered, dressed, and ready to face the day all by 8:00 am (or 8:20 as it is right now).

Ken’s wrapping gifts and I’m going to crochet today I think.  I have a few things I want to get done but we will see.  I’ve not written in a week it may be time for my brain to kick back into gear and work on writing.  I edited the fourth and fifth books of the Wayfarer series over the last few days.  They aren’t done.  I need to swipe through them again once I get the edits in the computer.

Before his game starts, I may see if he wants to watch Babylon 5 or West Wing but if he doesn’t I might just decide to make it a writing day.  I’m feeling ambivalent about it which could be good or bad for the writing.  I could open the file and the words could just flow or I could putz around and not accomplish anything.  I’ll have to see how the morning goes.

If I’m not knee deep in writing, this afternoon while he watches football I’ll work on getting the edits on the computer.  After that it is a matter of getting all the pieces together.  Wayfarer Negotiator and Wayfarer Wedding are the next two in the series.  I have the cover for the one but need other pieces in order to publish.

As much as I slept yesterday, I wouldn’t mind a nap at some point today but I’ll have to see how the day goes and how involved I get with what I’m doing.

Times Awasting

I need a clone.  With all my responsibilities, I need a clone or a longer day or to somehow stop time so I can get more done.

This morning I spent two hours working on the business end of writing.  Mostly I compiled data about sales so I could see how that would help me for marketing.  I told Vicki yesterday that I’m getting steady sales with an average of about 45 books a month for the last three months.  This is great as I’m just getting started but at the same time I have done very little marketing.  The thing for me is to figure out how to market and where to spend my money for marketing.

This led to another analysis of sales – which books are selling the best.  By knowing which book is selling the best I can either choose to put more money into marketing that book (because it is popular) or I can choose to let it grow on it’s own (because it is popular).

When I’m done with this blog, I’ll be heading to the recliner to put my foot up because my foot is doing better and I want to keep it that way.  While in the recliner, I can write and listen to music or crochet while I watch tv or listen to a book.  I’ll probably write for a time because I have a new book going and there are scenes I want to work on.  If Ken and I opt to watch something together I’ll try to pull out my crocheting but we usually do that when we’re eating so I might be busy eating.

If only I had a second me, I could work on all of it at once.  I have three crochet projects started and several in the works.  I have a half dozen writing projects started and actively working on plus all the other ones that aren’t being actively worked on.

It promises to be a full day one way or another and that is with only the writing and crocheting demands.  Two of my daughters just bought a house so they are calling with questions.  My sister is writing a paper so she will want me to edit it for her.  I’ll slide those in because it’s family and they are important.

We’ve been watching West Wing and in their they’re always saying – “What’s next?” That is my life right now.  I’m done with this so what’s next.