Musings, Daydreams, & Speculations

Someone pinch me because I’m not quite sure this is really happening right now – my book, this labor of love, is available for people to actually buy on Amazon, right now!  What?!?!   I checked my notes and I’ve been working on this baby since 2011, that was the same year my son was born and he’s SIX!  What??!?!

I have a bad habit of inconsistency.  I start projects or goals with so much gusto, so much energy but usually, I fall off in a matter of weeks. I’m very consistent in my inconsistency too as I’ve had this bad habit for years (decades really).   Here are a few examples: I started meditating daily a few months ago.  I was doing great, hitting streaks in my meditation app and feeling calm, centered, and positive.  Then something happened (who knows what it was – but I was probably sick or missed a night) and bam, the streak was broken and I was out of sync. Now, a normal person would probably just start back, but this is a hard concept for me to grasp so instead I just quit meditating altogether.  I haven’t even opened that app since.

Exercise is another one that I do this with ALL THE TIME.  I will start with a routine or a plan, and I’ll get – maybe 3-4 weeks and then something will happen and I’ll miss a day, or I’ll get sick, or go on vacation or…you get the idea…and I’m off track and out of sync and I just can NOT get back into it.  I have a mental block that keeps me from just jumping back in without panic, without overly worrying, without breaking down.  It’s annoying and I’ve realized it needs to stop.

You guys know how much I love TV right?  It’s a deep love that has been around for awhile so when one of my old favorites showed up on Hulu, well, you know I had to binge watch and then another old favorite showed up and then…well, you get the idea.  First, it was Perfect Strangers, then Blossom, then Full House….oh my!  I was hardcore 1990s up in here for weeks, but it was funny – I kept having the same thoughts over and over again so here are 7 things I learned while watching old sitcoms.

I’m on a quest this year to take better care of myself and my health.  This includes spending time in the kitchen cooking meals with real food.  If you love to cook this isn’t hard, but I hate to cook…I’ve had panic attacks in the kitchen while trying to cook.  Even just thinking about cooking can send me into cold sweats, but ordering in or eating crap food makes me feel crappy and keeps my weight at a place that doesn’t make me happy.  When I eat more veggies, more protein, and other real foods I feel better.  I have more energy and I get more done.  I have more overall patience and can take care of others better because I’ve taken care of myself first.

Courage

My word of the year is Courage so my nutritionist asked me to take that word and apply it to the kitchen, food, exercise, and my health in general not just my writing goals.  We came up with a list of ways to do this including trying new foods (both at home and when going out or ordering in), cooking more meals, and being more creative when it comes to meal planning and shopping.  So, I took some of my Christmas money and bought a cookbook called The Can’t Cook Book! By Jessica Seinfeld and I went through it and picked out one recipe to try.  Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings and it was fairly easy to make and was super tasty so we added it to our monthly rotation of meals.  Then I picked out a 2nd recipe (who am I?) and tried that one – this time Chicken Drumsticks with various marinades – we chose the Mustard Rosemary option and I cooked those.  Again, fairly easy and really yummy!

I’m learning how to play the guitar!  My brother gifted me one of his old guitars – a Fender Squier Acousto-Electric – with a lesson book and DVD, some new picks (red, of course), and a really nice soft-sided case.

The first day back home with my new instrument, I held it in my hands and strummed some with both my fingers and the pick.  Tim, my brother, had tuned it for me so it sounded good but I did not.  Then I popped in the DVD and started, very slowly, working through the first lessons about how to hold the guitar and how to play certain notes using the strings.  Within 10 minutes my usual negative self-talk started – it said things like, “You are too old for this, why did you think this would be fun?” and “Wow, you suck – you’ll never learn this!”  I can be really mean to myself, but I’ve been working on this kind of negative self-talk with both my nutritionist and my therapist over the past year so I knew it for what it was – resistance, fear, and nervousness.

Announcement time!!! My Reader’s Group is officially open and when you join you’ll get my short story anthology, The Hit Parade, for FREE….yup, three short Young Adult coming of age stories totally free!!  These stories all feature characters from the YA novels that I am currently writing or will be writing in the near future – so click below to read more and join today!

Sometimes being an adult can really suck – dishes, laundry, bills, work, responsibilities – they all pile up and keep coming like a runaway train.  We can’t always take a vacation day (or week or, let’s be honest, a month) when we get stressed out so it’s always a good idea to have some fun activities around to bring out your inner child. 

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?  Stressed out and anxious – especially when looking at your to-do list, project lists, goals, or general environment?  I know I do.  I was telling my therapist a few weeks ago that exercise and decluttering my messy apartment felt insurmountable.  Like I just couldn’t get past this unseen hump of “too hard” to actually start again.  She told me to start simple.  Really, simple.  Almost stupid simple.

My debut novel isn’t 100% ready to be published yet, but I have already started working on my 2nd novel.  Right now I’m still in the very beginning – or outline mode – but before I blink, I will quickly be descending into research, drafting, and revision modes so I already started a Pinterest board to help me.   

To read more about how I use Pinterest to help me write my novels, visit the blog at the link below! 

Are you a writer?  Or an artist?  Photographer?  Musician?  What do you use to create your art?  The blog post this week is all about the tools, programs, items, and stuff I use to create my blog posts, my short stories, and my novels.

I love television...seriously, I freaking love TV and although sitcoms are my jam, I do watch dramas....check out the list (with GIFs) on my blog below.

Did you make any self-care resolutions or goals for 2018?  Why not?!?!  Just kidding, but seriously - we all need to fit in some self-care during the day, read my blog post for some sneaky ways to do just that.  What’s your favorite?

Here’s my last blog post of 2017, where I’m talking goal setting, tarot spreads, and what’s in store for 2018 Quarter 1....what goals are you making?  Do you use tarot to help you plan?  I would love to know!

Do you choose a Word of the Year to help guide you? 

How is everyone’s December going?  Is everyone else as crazy busy as I’ve been lately?  Trying to finalize the editorial revisions of my debut novel, day job stuff, kid stuff, holiday stuff, shopping, and food buying - it’s nuts!  What are you doing to take a few minutes for self-care?