See Sonnjea Run

Yes, it’s true: I’ve taken up running. I used to swear that I would never run. A clever person once asked, “What if someone was chasing you?” and, after careful consideration, I replied that I’d run if the someone chasing me was really, really ugly.

So you may be wondering who exactly is chasing me. In a word: gravity.

In the past I’ve swum, lifted weights, done Pilates and yoga, and walked. My favorites are weightlifting and Pilates, and I belonged to a gym for a while and went to a Pilates studio religiously for years. But when Mr. Fix-it went back to school, the budget for hoity-toity Pilates went right out the window, and the gym followed close behind. So for the past 4 years, my only consistent form of exercise has been to walk the dog.

Maybe walking three to five miles a day with a dog is enough to keep a 25-year-old fit. It is not enough to keep a 45-year-old fit. I haven’t gained any weight, but everything is soft and squishy and I don’t feel strong like I used to.

Unfortunately, Mr. Fix-it is still in school, so until the stimulus package includes gym, yoga or Pilates dues, I had to think of a free way to exercise. Running, aside from shoes, is free. And I’m always up for a good excuse to buy shoes.

My goal is to complete a mini-triathlon by the time I’m 50. I figure if I start now, I might just cross the finish line in five years…

[WMML: Our sushi man has a crush on us.]

Three Words:

I. Am. Done.

Taking a week off from writing to let everything settle, then I’ll start the rewriting and editing. The goal is to have it completely polished and prettied up and off to my agent by Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, woo-friggin’-hoo!!

[WMML: Got my first cooking-related injury in two years… and it wasn’t while I was cooking, but while I was doing the dishes. I think the moral of the story is clear.]

Novel Thoughts

No, I’m not using blogging as an excuse to not finish the novel. Today is the last day of helping Mr. Fix-it prep his presentation for a conference tomorrow, and I’m filling in a lull between editing Power Point slides. I can’t work on the book because just as I get my head focused on the scene, a new slide is ready to work on. So, blogging it is!

BTW, I friggin’ hate Power Point. I know most of you are Windows people, but I have to tell you I love my Mac and most of its apps. One such, Keynote, is Mac’s presentation software and it blows Power Point out of the water. Sadly, Mr. Fix-it’s presentation had to be done in Power Point because of the hardware constraints of the conference. Boo hiss.

Anyway, back to the novel. I think the first draft will be done in about two days. It’ll be a wee bit light at that point, but then the editing, slashing and plumping up will take place and I think I’m in really good shape length-wise. Content-wise, of course, I think the whole thing is garbage. But that’s what I always think right about now. And I just can’t express how happy I am to have written another novel. I really didn’t think I had any more stories to tell, and that made me very sad, so even if this one joins the others in my pile of unpublished works with dozens of really positive rejections, I’m thrilled to have added to that pile! And this one has a catchy hook! Whether or not it’s catchy enough to sell remains to be seen, but it has one and that was my goal.

And no, I’m not telling you what it is.

[WMML: I discovered that if you scratch Koji’s rump while he’s stretching like up-dog, it makes him lick his nose. Continually. Dogs are fun.]

Fortune

I was at a meeting where the discussion topic was fortune, which is an interesting word: You can go out and make your fortune. You can have good fortune, misfortune or fortune cookies. Fortune can smile upon you. Or not.

But no matter how you define fortune, whether or not you possess it is inevitably a matter of perspective. The other day, I was bemoaning the fact that our house needed a thorough spring cleaning even though it’s fall. I was scrubbing and mopping and dusting and washing curtains and floors and walls and feeling really sorry for myself.

Until I shifted my perspective. I realized I’m damn lucky to have a house at all, and I should be grateful for that and consider it an honor rather than a duty to take care of it. I don’t get all giddy about the prospect of scouring toilets, but I am a big fan of indoor plumbing, so I can either believe it’s unfortunate that I have toilets that need cleaning or fortunate that I have toilets. I’d rather feel fortunate, I’ve decided.

When I become really fortunate, I’ll have toilets and a housekeeper to clean them.

[WMML: The banana bread that just WILL NOT GET BAKED. I have no idea what’s happening inside my oven right now. It seems like it’s 350 degrees, but the banana bread is still all squishy and gooey. It’s going on 2 hours now…]

What I Did For My Summer Vacation

Travel? Nope.
Home improvement? Nope.
Killer tan? Nope.

I’ve been gone from the blogosphere almost exactly 3 months, and what do I have to show for my time away? Not a heckuva lot in tangible assets, really. But it was an excellent summer.

1. Mr. Fix-it worked from home most of the time. Woo hoo for a) not getting up at 5 am and b) having him around more.


2. Koji is now on Phenobarbital and hasn’t had a seizure in 7.5 weeks. Really big woo hoo, as Mr. Fix-it and I are now able to leave the house… together… for more than five minutes at a time. And the best part: Koji is back to his old, silly self, playing and having a great time. He needs to lose the 10 pounds he gained, but he’s back to running with Mr. Fix-it, so it’s a start.


3. I wrote another novel. Okay, it’s technically not quite finished, but the end of the first draft is in sight, and my totally realistic goal is to have it done, polished and off to my agent by Thanksgiving.

It’s that last one that’s kept me from blogging. Some people can’t chew gum and walk. I can’t write and write. If I’m writing blog posts, I’m not writing novels. And vice versa. I’ll try and post more frequently, but if I’m a slacker and you just can’t stand not hearing from me, check Facebook. I can usually muster up a sentence or two.

[WMML: NSO nicknaming their new Great Dane friend “My Little Pony.”]