Where’d That Track Go?

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
— Will Rogers

There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk.
— Guy Gavriel Kay

We're not lost. We're just headed somewhere different.
— Emily X.R. Pan

Look for chances to take the less-traveled roads. There are no wrong turns.
— Susan Magsamen

You know, it’s really hard to get back on track when you can’t find the track. It got buried somehow, or it’s covered in weeds, or maybe it was taken out by a rock slide.

I think the train is missing too.

It doesn’t take much to throw me off my game, and last week it was a lot of little things.

There was a change in my son-in-law’s work schedule, which meant there was a change in the babysitting schedule. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my granddaughter. But I had my week planned around the old schedule.

And I have to I admit I was a little pre-occupied. I had car problems, it was extremely hot and humid, and I had to do some planning for a stitchery thing that’s happening today. Sounds kind of pathetic as excuses go when I lay them out like that, but it’s all I’ve got.

So here I sit on Saturday night, struggling with this post because I need to get it finished. I won’t have time to work on it in the morning (like I have in the past when I'm struggling), because I have someplace else to be.

And when I say struggling, I really mean it. I started this earlier in the day, so I had plenty of time to work on it, but I keep deleting the words as fast as I write them. I keep segueing into these whiny, angsty side stories that serve no purpose other than to let me vent and fill up the space with words.

So I have no sage-like words of wisdom for you today. No pithy comments or helpful hints. Just the observation that life is like that sometimes, and all we can do is carry on.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

Still don’t have a lot to report, but at least I got all my blog posts done last week.

NEW WORDS:
Blog Posts – 1,551+844+347+655=3,397
Poetry – 0

Total words: 3,397

Goals For Next Week:
Bring that total up – maybe try to add some bonus words.

EDITING:
0 pages
Due to time constraints, I did not get any editing done.

Goal For Next Week:
Get back to work on Magickal Mayhem.

MARKETING:
*sigh* No Marketing, unless you count the second poem I sent to be immortalized on a picnic table, but it’s a non-paying thing.

Goal For Next Week:
Submit two flash stories and one poem.

TECH & TRAINING:
No training, but there was a bit of tech. The granddaughter wore me down and I signed up for Disney+. After spending a couple of frustrating hours trying to get it to stream on my Toshiba FireTV, I turned to my good friend Google and learned that only Toshiba TVs made after 2018 have whatever it needs to stream it directly. Mine is a year, maybe two, older than that.

So I bought a Roku streaming device, but I haven’t had a chance to install it yet. Maybe it’s the annoyance factor that’s holding me back.

Oh! I forgot, I leaned how to customize the cut/paste in Word so it’s less annoying. And I finally got the document settings to stay when I open a new document.

Goal For Next Week:
Set up my Roku. Keep customizing Word.

POETRY WEDNESDAY:
Totally cheated by offering a poem/form I’d done previously, but it was so long ago that probably no one remembers.

Goal For Next Week:
Find a new form to share on my Wednesday blog post.

CRAFTING:
The granddaughter and I made hedgehogs out of pinecones and felt. Hers had a pink face, but I wanted mine to look more realistic so I gave it a black face. Hers looks better. LOL

I worked a bit on the cross stitch tablecloth I picked up at the stash sale, but only a little. The rest of my crafting time was spent getting myself organized for today – I’m joining five other ladies from my stitchery guild in a sewing circle at Lang Pioneer Village as part of a living display showcasing trousseaus. I bought a pair of pillowcases to embroider.

Goal For Next Week:
Work on the cancer afghan I started before my break. Get the sewing machine working and finish my skirt and blouse.

WHAT I’M READING:
I seem to have my reading under control, only one book last week. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, by Phaedra Patrick, was a delightful (I was going to say charming) story of a widower who, on the anniversary of his wife’s death, decided it was finally time to deal with her belongings. Hidden in her closet he finds a gold charm bracelet he can’t recall her ever wearing. He becomes intrigued with it, and sets out to learn more about the individual charms. In the process he learns his wife had an entire life he knew nothing about.

I liked the way he forced himself to keep moving forward, even when he didn’t think he wanted to know the truth. And I loved his own personal growth. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Goal For Next Week:
Update my Goodreads account!

GOAL REVIEW:

Once again I didn’t get as much writing done as I’d hoped to, and I got no editing done. My desk needs cleaning off again because I kept printing stuff and then leaving it there instead of whatever I was supposed to do with it.

Kind of slacked off on the crafting and gardening too. I should really post a picture of how sad and pathetic my garden looks, and I have no idea why.

I have to admit, I’ve been pretty pre-occupied with the stitchery thing at Lang. I don’t know why it’s making me so nervous. I guess it’s just I’ve never done anything like it before. If you want more details about it, check tomorrow’s post on my Other Blog.

Happy writing.