When things go awry, if they are mostly an inconvenience to you or a threat to your ego, instead of getting furious, can you laugh? Sometimes the even the best-laid plans, the most carefully planned events can turn out quite differently than planned.
— James Martin
It's sometimes too easy to point fingers when circumstances dramatically go awry, but as an addict, I'm ultimately responsible for my own decisions, no matter how benign or tragic the consequences.
— Moby
Is it dangerous to plan too much? Yes, we all need to plan, to have a plan, but life goes on regardless of our plans and we know only too well what happens to so many of the best laid plans of mice and men!
— Leslie W.P. Garland
Despite the fact that I was still house-sitting halfway through Tuesday, I had figured on getting my plan of action worked out last week so I could finally get myself back on track.
I should have known better. *sigh*
It was another one of those weeks where I felt like I was really busy, but I didn’t get all that much done, blog posts aside. That’s just the way it goes sometimes I guess.
I had a frustrating time with my cell phone last week. I seriously regret getting this phone in the first place – it’s given me nothing but problems. But my service provider was upgrading their service and I was kind of forced to upgrade my phone. I was talked into this phone by a fast-talking saleswoman, so it’s really my own fault. As soon as it’s paid off I will do my research before deciding on a new phone – no salesperson will be involved. I might even switch service providers.
And then my car went on the fritz again. I had this sensor lighting up my dashboard with warnings about the four-wheel drive and ABS brakes. This happened on the weekend, but fortunately the dealership was able to take it in first thing in the morning. Still, the back and forth took time out of my schedule that I wasn’t counting on.
After I was home again there were a few errands to run for my elderly father-in-law, and a out of town trip to Fabricland to buy the rest of the material for the ballgown I’m making the granddaughter for the Father/Daughter Ball. The theme this year is disco, and she sent me a picture of a dress with an asymmetrical, long bodice out of this glittery material, with an underskirt of netting with a regular hem. She requested sequins, so I found some blue (her favorite colour) sequin encrusted material for the top part and rainbow chiffon for the underskirt.
The weather turned sticky and overcast, which kind of tanked my energy, and Friday I took the daughter and granddaughter on an impulsive road trip to a fancy garden center close to Toronto. Many plants were purchased, for a fairy garden as well as a hanging basket, and though there were regrets over the amount of money spent, there was no question of putting any of the plants back.
So not only did I not get back on track last week, I wasn’t even aboard the train.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
WORDAGE REPORT
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
The word to describe last week would have to be – confusing.
There was a lot of back and forth between the two households, but surprisingly enough, I accomplished less in my own home than in my daughter’s. But still, I got my blog posts done with time to spare, but not much else.
My plan for the week was to not only get my blog posts done early, I was supposed to get the blog posts for this week done early so I’d have guilt free time to work on the granddaughter’s dress. Plus we have a holiday weekend coming up and it would be nice not to have to worry about blogging. But of course that didn’t happen.
Still no new words outside of the blogs, but as I was driving my granddaughter home from her guitar lesson, I was struck by an idea of how to fix my very first NaNo, Driving Into Forever. The big problem I have with that story is that I don’t like the main character. I find her boring. And if I find her boring, you can bet any readers will too. But I think I’ve figured out a way to make this character more interesting. Too bad I had neither the time nor the energy to work on it last week.
The weather has turned muggy and overcast, the two things that really sap my energy. And I’ve looked at the forecast for the week ahead and it’s not looking promising. There’s only one day showing sun next week so it’s not boding well for productivity.
NEW WORDS:
2325+827+380+906=4,438
UP 519 – words from last week
I’m not surprised. I did a little better, word-wise, on all my blog posts. And I found a better picture to illustrate Winter’s Child. While the poem I included in the introduction was the basis for the idea for the story, that picture was what I based the actual winter’s child on.
I feel like I was better organized when I was at the daughter’s and that’s something I’d like to try and recapture this week. But I don’t think it’s going to happen because I only have a couple of weeks until the Father/Daughter ball and I really need to focus on getting the granddaughter’s dress finished. So once again it’s going to be blog posts with nothing else.
My writing mojo seems to be in short supply since I got back home. My enthusiasm has waned a great deal lately. Of course some of that could be the change in weather, but the rest – sheer mental cotton candy.
Goals For Next Week:
Find a workable routine to generate more words.
EDITING:
0 hours
I may not be any closer to editing Elemental Spirit, but I have a few ideas for editing Driving Into Forever. It occurs to me though, if I can get myself organized, I should be able to work on both of them. How’s that for being ambitious?
Goal For Next Week:
Figure out the prophecy; get editing Elemental Spirit.
POETRY:
Last week’s form turned out to be a little trickier than it looked when I picked it, and I really struggled with the example. But I muddled through, and the poem turned out better than I thought it would. It still took forever to write though.
There was a poetry gathering in the park last week that I was not looking forward to because the mosquitos are really bad this year. I guess others felt the same, because it was a small turn-out. I dowsed my clothes and chair, and even my Tilley hat, with Deep Woods Off and went anyway.
I wrote a somewhat fluffy poem for June’s poemwork – quick and easy – and I had time to spare to fix my poem for last month. Still isn’t quite what I hoped for, but it’s much better.
Goal For Next Week:
Find another new poetry form to share.
CRAFTING:
Well . . . that was a bust. Did not get a chance to set up my baker’s rack, nor did I get the loot from the stash sale organized. I did hem four pairs of pants for my father-in-law, and I was given two more that are going to require machine hemming, so they’re going to have to wait until I get the granddaughter’s ball gown done.
I did start the picture square on my sampler, and then when I was at the stitch-in at the library I decided the stem and leaves of the flowers would look better in two strands, so I started picking it all out. Saturday was grey and miserable, so I watched another few episodes of The Witcher while I finished picking what I had done.
I started the stems again, still didn’t like what I was doing, and picked it out again. Then I decided I’d be better off doing the flowers first, so I started them figuring I could use a different stitch for the outline to define the petals.
Well, that didn’t work so I ended up picking that stitching out as well. Using two strands, I outlined the center petals in a slightly different shade of the colour and finally, that seems to be working. What a pain in the butt!
I did get up to Fabricland for the netting for the granddaughter’s dress. Actually, I got some navy blue netting that matches the satin I was going to use for the lining, and they had rainbow coloured chiffon on sale that would look cool with the blue sequins. I still don’t have a clue how I’m going to sew a zipper into the sequin encrusted fabric though.
Goal For Next Week:
Get working on the granddaughter’s dress.
WHAT I’M READING:
My Kindle got a good workout while I was house sitting, but I’ve slowed down again. However, I have read Justice for Mackenzie, Justice for Mickie, and just started Justice for Corrie in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes series by Susan Stoker.
Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good reading habits.
THE WEEK AHEAD:
I don’t even want to think about all the stuff I need to get done this week.
The daughter (and granddaughter) and I went to a big garden center on Friday, and I need to get the plants planted ASAP. The granddaughter and I picked out some plants for our fairy garden, and the overflow is going to go in a hanging basket (that I had to go out and buy) which will hang from a shepherd’s crook . . . somewhere.
I am really trying to get ahead on my blog posts so that when things come up unexpectedly, as they often do during the summer, I won’t be staying up extra late to get them done. Despite my good intentions, it didn’t happen last week, although I have picked out my poetry form already.
The priority for the next couple of weeks, however, is going to be the granddaughter’s dress for the Father/Daughter ball. It’s in two weeks. Last year I started a couple of months in advance – I have no idea what happened to me this year. It’s not going to be as complicated as last year’s dress, but it still requires a lot of planning. I was given a picture of what she wanted, and told she likes sequins. But I like a challenge, and this one will certainly be that.
Track? What track? Every time I think I’m getting closer to getting back on that track, it’s washed out by a flood or a landslide or something. Maybe one day . . .
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