Ah the eternal question with me, which am I doing? I started writing not one but two new projects this week, thinking I could get up at 5 am and do some editing on Raya's story. I have to revamp the whole damn thing. It's in first person and in order to make it work I have to put it into 3rd...I think. I'm still in the experimental stages with this one. Anyhoo, I am being a whiner and not wanting to do all that work unless I can just focus on that and that alone. At least that is what I am telling myself. Yet two TWO new stories are banging around in my head and want to be written.

Yet I HAVE to finish Raya and get her out there for consideration. Maybe I'll take an entire day off next week and do it. Althought it didn't work out so well for me this week.

Sigh. Whine. Now I'm annoying myself. I hate it when I do that. See you all later this week, hopefully with an answer. Bye!

Okay, so as far as the resolutions go, doing much better now that I'm in my own place and trying to pick up day shifts. Ahh the joys of being a substitute teacher...

Really.
I'm serious.
One of the great things about it is the lack of stress that regular classroom teachers have. When 3:30 comes or the end of day bell sounds, I'm out the door right behind the kids. No meetings, No staying after class to do correcting for marks, no fighting with the computer to input grades and comments. I really like it. I do.

It's just the money isn't as good, or as steady and you can't really get a loan from the bank out of it.  But it does give me plenty of time after school. Which I have been using this week to write, trying to get my word quota in. I may have to rethink this strategy. After working with the kids all day, coming home to clean up briefly after my cat and take the roommate's dog for a walk, visiting with her kiddies and then coming back to my space to write...the brain isn't in tip top shape. But I am getting it done, darn it. I'll get used to it, I know I will. I'm just in the headspace that it HURTS! Which I know I will get past. Patience youngling, I will gets to it. Slowly. And on the plus side, I know now that I am definitely the dog's hero.

Okay, so I have been keeping with my goals of walking a km per day...sort of. I didn't walk yesterday in one straight km, but loops around the Winnipeg airport. The day before, diddo, but Toronto and Halifax. And yes, I am a bit homesick for the Maritimes already. But today, I was sore from hefting my 60+ pound suitcase around, plus a cat and two other bags. So I decided to go for a swim. I know, sounds extremely backwards, but hear me out. When I am sore, it actually helps me to use the sore muscles a little more. So I thought that swimming would be a gentle way to use said sore areas again without the strain of heavy lifting. Yes and no. I am not in the best of shape to begin with and have a tendency to overextend myself in the excitement of the moment. Today was no different. Ah well.

On the plus side, the three plane rides I had to endure (my cat flies better than I do!) gave me plenty of time to finish Sherilyn Kenyon's Dark Side of the Moon. A couple of things annoyed me about this book. One, the heroine commits her life to the hero after knowing him for only 24 hours. Tell me that's not a recipe for disaster right there, but its a romance novel, so maybe? I had a hard time with it. It's one of the problems I'm having with rewrites of Raya's story. The timeline is too short for the two of them to fall in love. My second issue is the heroine's acceptance of the supernatural world that she is suddenly thrust into. I couldn't get behind the sudden transition from 'This is ridiculous' to 'I'm not letting you face the Daimons alone!' She's too quick. Again, 24 hour timeline. Hmmm, something to watch in my own writing.

2 down, 98 books to go (52 on my ereader and counting! I love that thing! Thanks Santa!)

Finished the latest of Laurell K Hamilton's offerings, Divine Misdemeanors. I liked it, although I thought the ending was a bit of a let down. I wanted more clues hidden throughout the book so I could have figured it out along with the main character. I guess the biggest problem I have with her books is that I want more mystery along with the magic development. Hmm, something to keep in mind with my own books. Something I will definitely keep in mind once I get back to my place and another copy of my files. I've been trying to get my roommate to send me the files, but Goddess must be interferring for a reason. I should just take it easy and get back to work when I get back to work. Ah well.

Been very busy with the 'rents, cousins and visiting/meeting the offspring of said cousins. I've been happy. I have got to learn to just relax and enjoy the moment.

I don't know if I'm doing it right, with these resolutions this year. I don't look at it as 'this is what I'm going to do everyday, right off the bat.' I'm more of a 'this is the ultimate goal and what I want to do by the end of the year' sort of girl. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't rightly know. I've discovered that it's mostly what's right for you. At least its been in my experience. I get everything wrong on the first dozen tries. Not a 'git er right the first time' kinda person, I guess.

So what does this rambling have to do with my life? I haven't managed to do my walking every day since i posted. Mostly because the Maritimes has been hit with a snow storm. About 15 inches in the last 24 hours. I could walk in it, but I don't think I'd make it very far. But a km isn't that far, so I really have no excuse. I just haven't done it. Meh, there's always tomorrow. And my writing. I was going to do some editing so I've been digging around, to find the file and what should happen but another story idea pop into my head. This one has a swords and sorcery feel to it in modern day setting. Hmm. And as usual, it won't let me go until I've written it. I've only got about 500 words. I am not in a space where I can get a whole lot of alone time. But I'm trying. That's the important fact. Never stop trying.

 Okay, Resolutions for me usually involve my weight, and other things that never seem to get done so here's me revamping my goals for the year. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. SMART goals...yeah the teacher training kicking in.
 
So without further ado

1. Walk one km a day. Rain or shine, sleet or snow... lots and lots of snow.

2. Write 1000 words a day. More importantly, Write. Every. Damn. Day.

3. For the year 2010, read 100 books. New books (as in new to me).  This will be tracked somewhere on this site ... I haven't decided where yet. Professional books count, as in Teacher professional, so books on the brain's development, reading strategies and such will count. Towards reading. And research books too on subjects, but they have to be books, not Wikipedia.  

4. Submit 3 books for consideration. Seeing as I have two I need to revamp this year, this goal is doable and not so scary. All about the not scary but forward moving this year. Yes siree bob. Forward.

5.Write 250,000 words or 5 first drafts. My books tend to come out at the 50k mark, which puts them on the short end of the novel stick, but too long for novellas, which end up around 30-40k, hence the word count goal. But if I keep to the thousand words a day, I'll surpass it. On the other hand if I fail miserably, I have a back up.

6. Blog once during the week and once during the weekend.  It might end up a Friday-Saturday combo, but it'll work. This is not excessive. Blogs do not have to be long, they just must be.

And there you have it folks. My goals for 2010! I'm bowing as you read this. Thank you, thank you. Will I keep together past the 27th of January? We will see. Probably in the blogs. See what I did there? Wove in success in the assignments AND accountablity. Nobody does it like me, I tell ya. Nope. And that's probably a good thing.