Giving myself permission to breathe

Last night, I didn't get to bed until 1 a.m. I finished my writing for the day at around midnight and went into the kitchen to do the dishes. (I wasn't tired so I figured I might as well get them done.) So at 1 a.m., I finally crawled into bed. The problem was, though, I couldn't sleep. I ended up tossing and turning. I just couldn't get comfortable. (You would THINK after several months of falling asleep all alone in that big bed, I'd figure out how to get comfortable by now!) I knew I could probably just turn on the lamp and read or go sit on the couch and watch TV, but I was determined to try to get some sleep. I had to get up at 5:15ish in the morning, since it was a school day. (When summer vacation starts next week, I'll still be getting up early in the morning, just so I can have uninterrupted time to write. It just will be a little later than it is now.) I was worried about waking up on time AND being a zombie all day since I was getting to sleep so late, but I figured the alarm clock would wake me up, so didn't dwell on that concern.

And, actually, the alarm clock didn't wake me up. GAH! It was 7:30 when I woke up! The first thing I noticed was the daylight in the windows and I was thinking , 'Wait a minute, there isn't supposed to be daylight yet.' That's when I looked at the time. And I couldn't remember if I had woken up and, in a haze, turned off the alarm then went back to sleep, or even if the alarm woke me up at all. I didn't remember it happening.

So I got out of bed and got Jennifer up. Jesse was already awake (he usually wakes up at this time). I explained the situation and she kinda freaked at first. Then I told her she was not VERY late for school and she relaxed. (Her school starts at 7:55. I usually get her up to get ready at 7.) So I got her dressed and had her eat a little breakfast, since by the time she got to school, it would be past breakfast. (The kids at her school get free breakfast. Yay!) Her dad got up to drive her to school and I took care of the baby while he got ready. After she was on her way, I tried to think of what could be wrong with the clock. Later, my husband was looking at it and testing it at different times. He thinks one of us accidentally hit the "off" button, or something.

I spent a lot of time working on the Revisions book today. But, mostly, I was fixing up the chapter I wrote yesterday, as well as another chapter. I also logged in at Facebook, but after it got to be too much of a distraction from the writing, I stayed off of that account and decided to log back in there tomorrow. But the good news is that a writer friend of mine, who is on there, has invited me to guest blog on her blog. Yay! We talked about the post I made at the DC blog today and also about other things related to it as well as to the book, and she told me exactly what she'd like to see for a guest blog post. How interesting people are getting "sneak peeks" of this book on blogs before it comes out! I'll have to spiffy up the excerpt she would like to use. I told her I'd be available for that in 2 weeks.

Also for the Revisions book: I MIGHT have a new title. Yay! I have been really having a hard time coming up with a good title for this book. I've been brainstorming over it for months. And, today, one title popped into my head: WIP It Good: Tips and Techniques for the Revising Writer. The whole "WIP it" part is kinda funny, though. I couldn't stop laughing about it.

Of course, "WIP" stands for "Work-In-Progress." The first part of the title is a play on the popular song "Whip It." (Hey! I have another novel planned called Sometimes Love, and those two words come from a John Cougar Mellencamp song. I don't just look to songs for book title ideas, though.) Anyway! Yes, the title made me laugh and even blush a little. Even though I am NOT into that stuff. But, it was catchy. And very appropriate since the book's audience is for writers with a first draft of something or something that they need to "whip into shape."

Still, I had to get some input on that. So I asked my publisher what she thought of it. Her response? "Sounds good to me." Yay! I also asked my friends on Facebook. You can never get too much feedback on something!

Anyway, enough about the writing stuff. This isn't the writing blog, after all!

We have a water heater problem. Apparently, we no longer have a lot of hot water. I discovered this the hard way: While I was showering. The hot water went out about 5 minutes after I stepped in! And there I was, all soaped up and shampooed. GAH! It was NOT pleasant trying to rinse off with cold water. I think I shrieked a couple of times and worried I was going to go into shock because the water was so cold. You can bet I moved VERY fast! And started to ponder cutting my hair since it takes FOREVER to wash and rinse long hair. So at first my husband thought a fuse was blown. He tried the reset button on the water heater and we waited to see if that did the trick. Tonight, as I ran the water for the children's bath, I saw that it did not. (In order to ensure that the children don't freeze to death with what little hot water they CAN get for a bath, I run the hot water until it's gone then let the cold water bring the temp down. I have resorted to taking baths, too, because of this, and that's how I draw my baths. Even if it means I only have enough water to cover my legs. At least it's not freezing!)

So now we think we just need a new water heater. We'll have to call the landlord and hopefully it will get put in very soon. This situation is very aggravating.

I recently ordered two books from Amazon and they arrived today. One is called The Wisdom of the Native Americans edited by Kent Nerburn and the other one is Circle Of Life: Traditional Teachings Of Native American Elders by James David Audlin. I got these books purely for research but Native American studies is a subject I have long been fascinated with (which explains why I have an MG book with Native American characters. Or maybe it will be a YA. I haven't decided yet). I'll probably post my thoughts and comments here after I read them. Or write up a review to send into Associated Content.

I took Jen to her baseball game today. She hit a homerun! Woot! I didn't care if the parents looked at me weird while I was clapping and cheering, "Go, Jen, go!" as she ran those bases. I was proud of her and wanted her to know it! After her game, she and Jesse got to snack on some Goldfish crackers. Jesse loves the Goldfish crackers so I was happy to give them to him. Not so happy when he later threw them all up on the dining room chair. Ugh! That's the first time he ever threw up after eating Goldfish crackers. (Not the first time he's ever thrown up, though. He's done plenty of that since the day he was born!) When I told my husband about it, he shared my confusion as to what made him throw up. I mean, he hasn't been sick. He eats Goldfish all the time. He seemed to be cheerful and active before it happened. Well, maybe he was just being too active and got too excited, or something. Jennifer got upset and thought he might be sick but I assured her he's probably not sick.

Well, I hope not. All the same, we all kept a close eye on him. He seemed better for the rest of the evening.

I am beginning to think that it's okay if I don't spend all day working on the writing. Or writing in every free minute I have. Gotta make room for other things in life, too. Like...reading a book. seeing a movie. Going out for coffee. Taking a walk, reading friends' blogs and just doing something else BESIDES writing. I don't want the writing to be an obsession. As it has been known to be in the past. I really think that if you get a lot of the writing work done in the day and accomplish something, it's okay to just relax for a while and put it all away until next time. Just take a break from it and enjoy the other things until a new day arrives tomorrow.