The death of a streak

Well, my streak of writing 500 words a day died after 147 days.

What happened?

Short answer is, life happened.

Longer answer is more complex.

I came off an intensely busy summer - a son who graduated from college, underwent dental surgery, and got married in a matter of weeks; three wonderful but intense back to back workshops; a vacation with Don.

I finished a 90,000 word novel at the end of August. It was intense and somewhat draining.

I've been helping to care for my inlaws and dealing with other issues on the homefront.

The upshot? I think I drained all my reserves - physically, mentally, and most importantly for this post, creatively.

So right now I'm taking some time to recharge. Don, bless his heart, sent me to a local hotel for a couple of days. From now until Monday afternoon, I'm responsible only for myself.

Hopefully, that will get the creative brain up and running again. Yeah, I fell down. But I'll get up and start another streak soon. I did it once - I can do it again.

Lots of things going on!

I've added links to my Livejournal and new Facebook pages to my list on the side. Check them out - I'm going to try to keep things current. Emphasis on the word "try."

Tomorrow Don and I head to Tennessee to see our oldest son John graduate from college. Where did the time go?

So right now I should be writing my column and packing and stuff. Why is it that I keep getting distracted?

One Step at a Time...

Those who know me know that this was a stressful summer.

I had seven people living at my house at one point - that's a lot. My youngest was getting ready to go off to college, my oldest was spending his last summer with us (he's getting married next June). Plus there were health issues with a family member.

I was stressed. Something had to give, or I might have cracked.

What gave was Weight Watchers.

I've been on Weight Watchers since October. In July, I'd lost 40 pounds. Not a small thing.

But I quit going to meetings. I quit counting points (in Weight Watchers, food has points). I didn't go hog wild - for example, I didn't consume a whole cheesecake in one sitting - but I wasn't being as rigid as I was.

Last week, I started back. I started counting points again.

Last night, I went back to my first meeting in 8 weeks. I only stayed long enough to weigh in and see how bad the damage was.

Fortuantely, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. In 8 weeks, I'd gained 3.8 pounds.

Next week, I'll stay for the meeting.

One step at a time.

Repairs update

AC unit, security system and dryer are all functioning.

Still no word on 2 computers. :-)

My brain is as crazy as ever.

Breakdowns

Okay, the latest technology isn't working count goes something like this:

-- 2 computers in the shop after refusing to turn on.
-- an AC unit that is making ominous rattling sounds
-- Security system that got hit by lightning
-- Dryer that won't dry

Hopefully everything will be fixed by the end of this week!

Life juggles

Sometimes I feel as if I'm juggling a ton of glass balls.

There's the Christian ball.
There's the wife ball.
There's the mom ball.
There's the daughter-in-law ball (inlaws live with us).
There's the writer ball.

And there are countless other ones as well.

My problem is balancing all of these without losing my mind. Sometimes I feel I'm doing great in one area but two other balls are crashing to the floor. Sometimes I want to drop ALL the balls and run away from them.

It would be nice if I could be Superwoman, and cover all the areas of my life without a hitch - but it never seems to work out that way.

Am I the only one to feel this way?