Yikes! It's been a while

I'm a very bad blogger! It's been two weeks since I've posted. No wonder no one reads this thing, lol. What can I say, life gets busy. Sigh. Not a real excuse, but true nonetheless.

8 random things...

I found this over at Marjorie M. Liu's blog! Good times.

1. I'm double jointed in my thumbs. I can bend them behind my hands. Yes, it's gross to see but a neat trick to entertain and gross out the kiddies.
2. I love sushi and sashimi. Love it! Would it eat it every day if I could afford to and had a decent place here.
3. I had two short stories published in regional magazines in Canada when I was in high school. They were bad. Very bad.
4. Gollom was my favorite character in Lord of the Rings. He made me cry.
5. When I was young and visiting my grandparents' farm, I used to play with garter snakes
6. I have fibromyalgia. It sucks.
7. I have yet to find a John Irving book I've really enjoyed reading.
8. Sunflowers, pansies, Calla lilies and orchids are my favorite flowers. Tho I also enjoy Peruvian Lilies as well. If my husband wants to charm me, a bouquet of wild flowers will make me smile.

I'm not tagging anyone else, but if you want to post eight random things about yourself and link back here, go for it.

News & Updates

The RWA National conference is quickly approaching. I have my ticket, I'm registered. Now I just need to make sure I've saved enough for the room, food and a little fun. I was hoping to have my book finished enough to go after an editor or agent appointment but the book is being very difficult and I'm still in first draft land. I may still try to snag an appointment, but if not, there are a lot of workshops that look very good. I think the timing for me to attend this year is perfect!

We are embarking on the next phase of renovations. Two years ago we added a half story to the house. Over last year we re-did the heating/air conditioning duct work in most of the house, installed a new furnace and air conditioner, insulated, wired for lights and outlets, and put up wall board (dry wall, gyp-rock) in the new loft, roughed in stairs to the basement and up to the new loft, and did some work outside with the soffits and such. This year we are gutting the middle of the house. The two bedrooms will have some minor work done, but the pantry, bathroom, third bedroom/office will be gutted and reconfigured. This week I had to pack up my home office. We're moving all the things we don't need for the next year to the basement and setting up the office temporarily in the living room. I'll post a picture when we're done moving the office. Last night we set up some temporary shelves on the wall above where the computer desk is going. This way my writing books and coaching books will be close at hand.

I spent last week going through files, and piles of paper and computer programs and crap. I tossed a lot. I kept a lot. It's a draw as to which pile won. The hubby was hoping the toss pile would be larger. I think was being a little contrary and keeping more than I really needed to.

I'm also purging my books. I have between 20-30 bankers boxes of books - text books from college, self-help books, religious books, cook books, sewing project books, regional interest books, biographies, literary fiction, romance, mystery, thrillers, movie tie-ins, research books, more romance, paranormal & fantasy, books on counseling theories, life coaching books, books on organization/time management, women's fiction, inspirational fiction, historical fiction, more romance... the list goes on.

I've read most of these books, but I have about 100 or so in my house that I haven't. We're going to move the books to the bedroom - still in their boxes - but I decided that I really should look through the boxes since most of them haven't been opened since we moved 5 years ago. Now I'm inventorying the books, numbering the boxes and discovering that there are a lot of books I have no intention of ever reading. So, these books are going to be donated somewhere. The hubby is happy about this. He doesn't understand my need to surround myself with books. Which is fine. As long as I store them neatly and I don't spend my entire paycheck on them, he and I can live in a sort of harmony. *grin*

It's actually freeing to be letting go of things. It makes room for new experiences. It takes away the clutter. It feels like I'm starting fresh. I know that eventually those empty boxes will be filled again with books and that at some time down the road I'll be purging books again, but today when I look at those boxes I see room in my life for new stories and new information. And I like that feeling.