Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm a bit early, but I'm going to be up to my elbows in holiday meal prep and visiting family so I'm wishing you a happy holiday now. I'll be back with a new post on Monday, 12/2.

This I know for sure...

Like most people finding time to exercise on a consistent basis is a struggle. Even though I have a treadmill and a rowing machine, not to mention hand weights, in the furnished part of our basement, I still have a hard time getting down there to use them. You would think it would be easier since I don't have to commute to a gym to work out.

I tried getting up earlier, but as I already get up at 5:00am Monday thru Friday and at 6:30 on Saturday, I still wasn't getting the consistency I wanted especially now in the winter months. The alarm would go off at 4:15 and I'd shut it off and snuggle back down into my warm blankets until the second alarm at 5:00am. (My alarm clock has two alarm settings.)

I've also learned it's hard for me to exercise on an empty stomach. I've read and heard from various sources that it's better to exercise on an empty stomach, but it doesn't work for me. I don't seem to have enough energy to get through a good heart pumping workout. And there's no way I'd get up even earlier so I could eat breakfast beforehand. (Know your own limits, I always say.)

Not to mention that after getting up at 4:15, I'm ready to go to bed at 8:30pm. Not that I stay up all that late - usually I'm in bed with the light off by 10:15 or so, but still who wants to feel so tired that an 8:30 bedtime sounds like heaven? Not me.

So for right now, especially as the holiday season gets underway, I'm content with the usual three days of exercise I manage each week. Maybe in January, I'll make it one of my 2020 goals to get up to four or five days a week. 

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress): I wrote about 15 pages of new material smoothing out a couple of scenes. I didn't expect to need to write new material, but those pages make the story better. 

Quote of the Week: "I don't believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be." ~ Ken Venturi

What I'm Reading:  I finished the Kristan Higgins book I was reading last week, but haven't started anything new yet. I've been reading magazines that have piled up the last couple of months. 

Random Thoughts:  We are having a much smaller Thanksgiving gathering this year. While I'm sad that not everyone can come, I'm looking foward to having less cooking, not to mention the clean up after the meal, to do. 

Random Photo of the Week:

                             Mrs. Green likes to try out the blanket I'm making.

"Frogging" a Manuscript

I was working on a blanket this past weekend I'm crocheting for an upcoming baby shower when I realized the pattern just wasn't looking right. (I can't locate a copy of the pattern so I'm trying to duplicate it using a photograph.)

As I was frogging it back a few rows, it dawned on me that undoing those rows and reworking them is a lot like revising a manuscript. You take out, add, or change scenes, sentences, characters, dialogue and such to make the story better much like when you pull out rows of crocheting (or knitting) to make the pattern better, the stitches neater, tighter, or smoother.

While I hate when I have to pull back rows in my crocheting to fix something, it's infinitely easier to do that, even if I have to do it multiple times to get the pattern right, than it is to revise a manuscript. There are days where I feel like the changes I've made to a story the day before still need to be fixed/reworked. As frustrating as it can be, it's all worth it as the process makes for a better book (or blanket 😀) in the end.

This I know for sure...

I try really hard not to complain about the winter weather. I live in Upstate NY after all. Snow is to be expected. We average over 100 inches of snow every winter. It's not really the snow I complain about so much as the people who drive at excessive speeds putting themselves and, more importantly, others at risk when the roads are snow/ice covered.

That being said, we don't usually get much snow in November, usually 2 inches or less. 17.2 inches fell within two days this week. I'm hoping this isn't a sign that we're going to have a higher than average snowfall.

I'll be buying a new shovel this weekend just in case. 

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress): I only managed five pages last week due to commitments that took up my usual writing time. I should be able to get back on track this week.

Quote of the Week: "Action is the foundational key to all sucess." ~ Pablo Picasso

What I'm Reading: I started reading Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins this past weekend. I'm really enjoying it.

Random Thoughts: I've been making a lot of different kinds of bread the last few weeks. Last week I made a chocolate walnut twist bread recipe for the first time. It came out really well. We ate a loaf and a half within the week. I gave the other half of the loaf to my sister who stopped by for a visit. I will definitely making this recipe again.

Random Photo of the Week:

                  This is a photo of the chocolate walnut twist bread I mentioned above.
 

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day in the US. A huge thank you to all who have served in the military.

This I know for sure...

We had our first snowfall of the season yesterday. I shouldn't complain because the first snowfall is usually around October 23rd so it's late this year. It wasn't a lot, just enough to coat the sidewalks and such.

What is so crazy about the first time it snows and there's even the tiniest bit of accumulation is that people seem to forget how to drive in the inclement weather even though they've lived here through previous winters. The number of cars you see off the road or in ditches those first couple of snowfalls is astonishing.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress): I finished writing the pages I needed to fill the gap I found while working on revisions. Now it's back to revising the remaining pages. I'm not sure how much I'll get accomplished. I have a lot of commitments this week that will be eating up my usual writing time.

Quote of the Week: "Action is the foundational key to all success." ~ Pablo Picasso

What I'm Reading: I started reading Wrapped Up In You by Jill Shalvis over the weekend. It's the eighth book in the Heartbreaker Bay series. 

Random Thoughts: Continuing on from last week's Random Thoughts bit, we didn't have a single trick or treater this year so I'm really glad I didn't purchase any candy. 

Random Photo of the Week: 

                                            A birthday card I made for a co-worker.
 

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Participants try to write a 50,000 word manuscript between November 1st and November 30th. Or they may try to do 50,000 words on a current manuscript.

I've never participated because November is a crazy hectic month for me every year. There's the Thanksgiving Holiday and all the baking and prep work that goes along with that, I have a couple of family birthday events, and we usually have out of town relatives stop in for early holiday visits.

While I'm not officially doing NaNoWriMo this year, I am setting a goal of getting about 150 pages of new material written. I say "about" because I think that's all I need to write to finish the current manuscript I'm revising and also add a few more pages to finish another manuscript. I really want to have both done by the end of November.

Getting everything written by the end of this month will allow me a bit free time in December that I can devote to making my holiday cards, baking, and working on the blanket I'm knitting (which I haven't had time to work on in a couple of months other than adding a row here and there) without stressing about how I'll get everything done.

This I know for sure...

I thought I'd take a fun and informal poll today --

If I got rid of everything that didn't "spark joy", I'd be on the side of the road with my mom, holding my cats and a box of doughnuts (or maybe a box of cookies). 😄

If you got rid of everything that didn't "spark joy", who would be with you and what would you have? 🤔