April 13th, 2005

So it’s that time again, time to see how well I did with my resolutions during March.

• Writing – The only major work I’ve done is on YWGYSL. I did a brainstorming exercise, wrote a couple of scenes with old characters and indulged myself with a small short story. March had 23 writing days but Sophia was off for 6 of them leaving 17. My word count total for the month was 14,092. That’s 935 words more than in February (13,157) and 431 words more than in January (13,661). It’s nonetheless a shortfall of 2,908 words. Total words for the year thus far is 40,910. That isn’t anywhere near as much as I’d like. Must do even better!
• Blogging – I took a hit here, as I expected I would, when I determined not to spend so much time online. I managed to blog twice a week every week but the last one. One week was a three blog week. I’m ambivalent about counting this a failure because I was still reasonably faithful, I’d rather have the word count and the books read, and I think most of my posts were long and involved enough to compensate for being a little sporadic. There were a couple of posts I worked on for two or three days in snatches before publishing them. I’m still going to aim high and try to get three to five posts a week, but I’m not going to lie to you about this having slipped as a priority.
• Reviewing – I took a different tack with this in March, reviewing a number of short stories from different online sources instead of a book or a printed anthology. I did this only twice during the month, but both times were rather lengthy and involved. I continued to get feedback from authors whose works I reviewed, which is most gratifying. In January and February I managed three reviews, so I’m going to try and do at least three in April, also.
• Losing Weight – I have good news here as well. I lost another 2 pounds in March and am beginning to really feel the difference in the fit of my clothes. I have another 6 pounds that I consider must lose, and being almost halfway to the minimum goal (which was 10) before summer is making me very hopeful that I’ll have the must lose plus the hopeful 5 off before fatty fat season rolls around again. That would rock. I’m approaching this weight loss thing from several directions, and I think it’s working. Perhaps at some point I can get into more detail about that.
• Walking Sergei – I did ok here. I walked him a total of ten times. At the beginning of the month I did very little but the last week I walked him four times, so there’s still hope. I was also out of town for several days, so it’s not as bad as it looks.
• Exercising – I started attending a regular yoga class again. It has done me worlds of good. I’m still hoping to stick with the mini-yoga routine in the mornings, but I was erratic about it this month. When I started attending class I found that I was not nearly as limber and strong as I need to be and the mini-yoga was sometimes a little much after the soreness of a full session.
• Learning a New Craft – The herb garden experiment proceeds. I have no clue what I’m doing but I’m merrily planting seeds and watching them germinate and wondering whether I’ll kill them before they are ready to go outside and also, how you put them outside and how you tell where a good place for them is and all that. A simple book on herb gardens would be nice, though I have no idea when I’d read it.
• Simplifying my Life – I’m still working on this, but I do believe I’m making progress. The ramifications of living simply touch every aspect of what I do. It’s not just about breaking free of the consumerist mindset, although that is a large benefit. It’s about being organized, about feeling comfortable in my skin and with my things, about having routines and knowing that things can run smoothly, and about getting enough time back to do things I want to do like teaching Spanish at the Montessori school.
• Submitting for Publication – Nothing yet. I’m still waiting to hear from Viable Paradise and right now I hope they don’t get back to me too quickly because I don’t want to be deflated in my momentum on YWGYSL when (if, I mean if!) they reject me. When I have three short stories written, I’ll send one out. Really. Just watch me.
• Listening for the Voice of God – I think God wants me to speak up about what I believe in from time to time. I have no idea why he thinks this is a good idea, as speaking out invariably leads to trouble. Also, I love my church.

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