Round one of “A Round of Words in 80 Days” started on Monday. I meant to do my goals post on Sunday, but we were away. Better late than never, right?
No WIPpet Wednesday post from me today. All I’ve been doing is reading over a manuscript, trying to figure out edits, so there’s no new writing to share. I haven’t been getting much done recently. The kids were home for two weeks, and we’re now on their third day of no school when they should have been back. It’s not the weather; skies are clear here, and the roads are fine. Temperatures aren’t even that bad right now. But our part of the province (as in, the entire island portion) is having something of a power crisis, and all schools are closed to conserve.
Long story.
So here we are, still at home, still together 24/7. We’re getting a little bored. There are books to read, of course. The kids and I are almost through Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and they’re enjoying it. There are new toys, but even they lose their appeal after a while, and Ike has perfected his “annoy everyone while also playing with new toys” technique. In light of this, today seemed like a good day to break out my new self-adhesive googly eyes and vandaleyes some stuff around the house.
Oh, eos, you so cute!
I’d look like that, too.
I am Aslan, hear me google.
…you get the idea. It kept us busy for a while, anyway.
So here’s hoping that school schedules and power supplies get back to normal soon, and I get a chance to get back to work!
ROW80 Goals, Round 1 – 2014
Round one runs from January 6 to… some time in March, I guess.
Writing goals:
- Edit Bound, get it ready to go for editing by February 10 (I know, that sounds like cleaning the house before the cleaners come. Just trying to save myself some money and get as much educational value out of this as I can). Spend 2.5 hours per day on this while it’s the main focus.
- Work on short stories, unrelated projects while that’s away. 1.5 hours’ work per day, or 1000 new words.
- Outline book 3 of this trilogy
Reading Goals:
- Read ARC I received recently and review for February 10
- Read over another friend’s book for him
- read one novel and one non-fiction book per month (more if possible, this is the minimum goal)
Personal Goals:
- Put phone away when kids are around (no Twitter, Facebook, etc. when I should be spending in-person time with family), block Twitter and Facebook during writing time.
- Once my back can handle it, exercise four times per week (walk dog when it’s nice out, Pilates when it’s not.)
- Make short, prioritized to do list every evening before bed
- Make weekly meal plan and shop accordingly to try to eat better (and save money by not eating out/wasting food)
- Prepare everything we need for taxes so I can get that in as soon as AJ gets his forms from work.
- Talk to my dad (who’s a finances-and-tax type guy) about what I need to keep track of for business purposes
- Get out to visit my parents once they’re settled in Corner Brook
- Get a chiropractor
- Plan our garden (you really can’t plant here before June, but we can plan!)
I guess that’s enough for one round.
Who else is doing ROW80 this round? Either way, what are your plans for the near future? And what do you think I should stick googly eyes on next?
disregard the prologue 
January 9th, 2014 at 9:36 am
I have that same NARNIA book! My son readit from cover to cover last year.
I’m ROWing it again, too. However, my ROWing has been stalled. Today is the first day my kids went back to school (temperatures). My kids also had 3, unexpected days off. Let’s just say, the extended vacation would have been more fun if we could have gone somewhere/gotten energy out.
Good luck this round!
January 9th, 2014 at 9:42 am
I hear you. My kids were so bored the past few days, but they still whined and stalled when it was time to get ready to go this morning.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:11 am
My favourite was the Harry Potter. Looked like it could have been meant to be.
Days off school for no power is a new excuse to me! Dead fish probably only works so long. (You can tell I don’t have children, right?).
Good luck with the goals. The personal ones are really good, and even if you fail on a few of them each week, you are still miles ahead for even trying. So just keep doing as much as you can.
January 9th, 2014 at 9:09 pm
Hi, Kate! I like your goals, especially your ‘get a chiropractor’. You’d be amazed at how much easier life is when your back isn’t constantly hurting.
About what to vandaleyes next, have you never wondered what a Mountie would look like with googly eyes? I mean, he’s gotta sleep sometime, right? ;-D
January 9th, 2014 at 9:20 pm
He would KILL me. I’ll give it a shot. 🙂
I had a wonderful chiropractor a few years ago, but he’s in Ontario. That’s one of the inconveniences of moving. I think there’s only one around here– fingers crossed they’re taking new patients!
January 9th, 2014 at 9:38 pm
I hope they’re taking new patients, too. And I’m so glad I was able to spark an idea that may lead to mayhem. I do so enjoy reading about mayhem. You’ll need to tell me how that goes, if you live long enough.
January 9th, 2014 at 9:40 pm
With the last strength remaining in my dying fingers, I will post.
January 9th, 2014 at 9:56 pm
Yay! I can’t wait to hear about it. 😀
January 9th, 2014 at 11:34 pm
A formidable–and impressive–list of goals!
Our kids have been out the whole week as well. If your kids liked Neil Gaiman, you might give The Graveyard Book a go. It won the Newbery, Carnegie, and Hugo awards. And more importantly, I really liked it.
Good luck with your ROW!