Thursday, July 21, 2011

Projects, Projects, Projects

So much to do! Not only am I rising early to ride before the heat index climbs over the century mark (not an easy task), but the extra daylight has inspired a huge increase in my artistic motivation.

Most afternoons find me heading to my office, laptop, kitten and dog in tow. I grab a bottle of water from the barn fridge, turn on the fan, boot up and get to work. Each day, I spend a couple of hours seated at my desk. Even if I am blocked, spend some time watching the kitten explore, flip through an old New Yorker, or scan the pages of one of my horse books, somehow, just being in a place I set up for writing, sets my fingers typing and, eventually, the words flow. And it's a good thing, because I actually have prijects!

I am working on a rewrite for my sister (she had a book ghost-written! I'd be offended if I didn't get to fix it). For myself, I am revisiting my last short story honing it for hopeful publication. On the re-read I actually liked it more than when I had let it sit. Shocker! I have also been asked to help with the memoir/biography of someone I love and admire. Such an amazing opportunity and project. I am ecstatic over it!

All of this, while adding to my daily workload, actually helps me. I work much better under pressure, a trait I discovered while juggling work, a farm, a commute, and school. The more I have to do, the more structured I become. Too much leeway leaves me floating along in a lazy daze. And the enthusiasm I have for these projects will carry me through those times when my motivation and creative juices lag. Just as my goal to show before the season is out, gets me out of bed at the crack of dawn.

Less time to worry, means less time to obsess over the realization (almost daily,, it seems) that everyone around me has published their work. Nevermind the fact that nearly all of these tomes are self-published, they are a constant reminder that if I want to be a writer, I have to write!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Off and Running

These days it seems that my cup runneth over with everything but sleep. The house is cluttered. Wedding gifts that have not found their place perch upon the stacks of paper piled during the pre-wedding chaos- they must have bred during the honeymoon, becuase there couldn't possibly have been that much... Clothes litter my closet and the bedroom floor, unpacked but unwashed. Hey! I did one load of laundry last week.

The vegetable garden is being slowly rescued from the weeds- I keep uncovering tomato plants. But only a couple of pepper plants survived. The beans grew well an are about finished, cucumbers are coming, and I harvested the first zucchini. In these days of sun-baked rainlessness, water dancing occupies a chunk of the day. The dance doesn't beg the gods for sky moisture, it involves the dragging of the hose, hooking up sprinklers, and making sure all of my plantings get a good drink. It's good when I remember to turn the hoses off, too. Unlike last night, when the weltering heat was unrelieved by the ceiling fan and I roamed the house closing windows, and turning on the AC. As I pushed the panes closed in the guest bedroom, I heard the sprinkle of water against the house. Needless to say, the front lawn is well-soaked.

I have multiple writing projects and I have actually worked on them. Amazing! The office in the barn is functional now. Imagine my surprise when, all ready to work, I attempted to plug my laptop into the only outlet in the room, to discover it had only two prongs. My plug had three. Hmm... It was a quick switch and now we are ready. Except for an expired Microsoft Office subscription and I can't find my disc or product code from the copy I bought a couple of years ago. Minor problem.

We have been trying to catch up with friends and family, filling them full of pictures and tales of our adventures, and generally slipping back into the mundane routines of life.

The only glitch, or glitches in this reintegration are our lovely dogs (and an uber-demanding kitten). In our absence, the dogs decided that sleeping until 7:30 just would not do. They want to be up and out at 5:30! I am very sorry for our housesitters.

I have decided to roll with it and get up. It works out well. I can get the horses in, tack up, and get in a good ride before the bugs and heat are really horrible. This schedule is ideal. Except for one little thing...

A Dance with Dragons, a tome I have eagerly awaited for FIVE years, has been published and it's 900+ pages beckon every free moment. Unfortunately, that usually means bedtime. But once I start, I CAN. NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN.
The dogs don't care.

Diet Coke and coffe consumption are up. Generally, I think I am handling the heat, sleepiness, overall frustration with the mess that surrounds me, the drops that need to go into MR. W.s' irritated eye(ER visit. Not fun) four times a day, the kitten's demands, and barking dogs very well. Though, I might be getting slightly testy by the afternoon... Maybe I should pencil in a nap.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Dust is Settling

The wedding is over. It passed in a blur that require pictures to remember correctly. We were blessed with perfect weather, great food, a future broadway star singing my processional, and an awesome band, who put up with my inability to choose music with calm assurance.

Not to mention the week of celebratory events that led up to the big day, a bachelor dinner for Mr. W. (my sister and I spent the evening at the mall picking up last minute items for the honeymoon- which was, in its own way, a perfect way to celebrate), a barbeque in our backyard for the wedding party and out-of-town guests, the rehearsal and dinner, wedding, and brunch the next day. By the way, Serevan restaurant is THE BEST!

Then the honeymoon, which provided so much blog fodder, material that I will gleefully torture my readers with in the coming days. Again, magical, but also an opportunity to broaden my horizons and see more of what the world offers. A humbling experience, to say the least.

So now we are back, slipping ourselves into a routine. For me, that means committing to all of those things I neglected during the whirlwind of wedding planning. My office is finished, the desk beckons, and my project list demands my attention. It is time to discipline my scattered mind, manage my distractions(I admit that I am not strong enough to ignore them completely, but the skills I employed that got me through college must be dusted off and used again), and give the work I love a chance to blossom.

Failure is guaranteed if I don't try.

With the kitten I found before the wedding still here-and biting at my ankles as I type-I am pushing off into my other world, full of fresh imagery and new ideas, and determined to stay out of my own way.