A Time For Everything

There are places with lower temperatures and snow and ice, so I really shouldn't complain, but... I'm sick of the cold. Even just a ten degree increase would be welcome!

I wanted to work in the back yard this weekend, but it was too cold and then wet to brave it. Had it been sunny, I might have attempted some raking, but alas, yard work will have to wait a couple more weekends. I haven't forgotten that I need specifics for the year, but until I can go out and assess the yard, I can't.

Cold temps and rain aside, it was a good weekend. I got a lot accomplished and a couple of my goals for the year are looking bright.

I spent several hours Saturday morning working on my proofreading info located on the blog. I decided what I was willing to do and not do, revamped the verbiage accordingly, and thought up monthly specials to entice new business. Then I updated my website as well so all information and pricing and specials are the same across the board. I also have a couple of jobs lined up, with another prospect (a series bible) in discussion. Needless to say, I'm excited about the opportunities. I've just remembered that I need to go post some free ads to generate some February jobs...making a note...

On another goal note, I have read 19% of my 3 million words and we're only 4% into the year!

Last topic for the day...a movie! DH and I went and saw The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch on Sunday morning/afternoon. I loved it and DH enjoyed it as well. The film is about Alan Turing whose mathematical genius was directly responsible for cracking the Enigma machine and helping shorten WWII by more than two years and saving over 14 million lives. I give it two thumbs up and a ten on the rating scale, but for no logical reason other than I love Ben, thought he did a brilliant job, and the fact that I love that historical time period. However, the film is up for and has already won many, many awards, so it's really not just me.



If you've seen it, what did you think?

P.S. I posted this before I'd gone outside this morning and what do I find--warmer temps. Hopefully they'll stay in this vicinity for a while.

Just gotta get through the day and then it'll be the WEEKEND again.

Sonshine will be having friends over Saturday for the next round of Dungeons & Dragons and I'm looking forward to putzing in the yard some more. My goal is to get the back lawn mown and weed whacked. I don't mind the mowing, but I have never been able to properly wield the weed whacker. I can whack if I really have too, although it's not pretty, and Sonshine's gotta earn his keep somehow, right?

I have the last of the brush pile on the side of the house to dispose of. Last night, I broke out the chain saw to cut the larger branches and limbs into truck-bed lengths. Tonight, I'm going to work on raking up all the leaves that have been smashed down and wedged into the grass and ground so that it can all go to the dump first thing in the morning.

Once all that's done, then I have to start digging up the bush and tree stumps along there. Not a fun or easy task. Thankfully they're not large, not are there very many of them. Not sure what my plan is but it'll probably involve a lot of water and the roto-tiller, though *not* at the same time--churn up the dirt and pull out what I can. Then soak the dirt until it's soup and pull out some more. What do you think?? Any other suggestions?

The goal of all that effort is so that I can put in the flower bed I've been dreaming of for years. I want to plant all bulb flowers, so I definitely have a few months to put in the work. Plus I'm borrowing a page from AWESOME REGINA's book and asking for labor for Mother's Day in lieu of gifts.

And while I'm catching my breath between bouts of manual labor, I'll be proof reading and fixing a friend's website.

What are your exciting plans for the weekend?

As I mentioned last week, my writing group's biennial conference was this past weekend. I wasn't interested in most of the workshops, which was all right, since I knew I was going to be needed in my capacity as a board member.

But I did get to attend three workshops and I got something important out of all three. In addition, one definite proof job and as well as the possibility of a future job fell in my lap. Thank you, Angi Morgan, for talking me up. I appreciate your confidence in me and my abilities more than you know. I also received an opportunity to expand my repertoire of services. Amy Atwell, author and founder of Author EMS, also spoke at our conference and discovered she had a need that I could fill. So I spoke with her and have an invitation to contact her at the end of the week. WOOT!

My favorite program, however, was the talk by Cindy Dees. Not because I was specifically interested in the topic, which was informative and timely, but because Cindy is so dynamic and funny and awes me with her depth and breadth of knowledge on so many different topics. And I got to sit across from her at dinner and soak up more of her knowledge and humor.

The conference was a success on multiple levels and I was add my thanks and appreciation to the conference coordinator, Lara Lacombe, who did a fabulous and thankless job with amazing grace.

I arrived home Sunday afternoon happily exhausted and with lots to think about. I'm still processing.

And if I'm this pooped after only two and a half days, what am I going to be like after the four/five days of RWA's national conference??

I have all these things I want and need to do, but -- like everyone else -- only so many hours in a day.

Many people, like DH, tend to give up sleep to gain some time. Unfortunately, that's terribly counter-productive for me as my body requires a certain number of hours of sleep every night to function properly during the day. I mean, I can stay up late every now and again, but if I stay up too late or do so too many nights in a row, I pay for it in the end and I find, unless there's no help for it, that it's really not worth it.

Over the holidays, my proofing jobs dried up. I wasn't that upset about it as there was a lot going on and I was glad to not have deadlines. Now, however, though I haven't advertised, the jobs are trickling in again. It's good since I can use the money, but I'm not ready yet! I have some ideas and some research to do, but, alas, time and work wait for no woman.

I guess it's time to really get serious about my schedule, especially the early morning. I need to make a detailed list of the jobs I need to work on and make a plan to get them done.

I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning!

Just a few short years ago, I had spare time. I could lounge and watch TV. I could spend hours online, reading fan fiction or interacting with my online friends. I could write these blog posts on the fly the morning they were to be posted. I could spend hours and hours just writing.

These days I find that have much less spare time to do more enjoyable things. I catch a few TVshows here and there. But the days of reading for hours on end are no more. And online interaction happens only via Facebook. My blog posts have to be thought up and the bulk of it written in advance by a day or two and then read and tweaked the night before.

Now that I'm proofreading for money--that's basically my second job. So that of course eats up a lot of time. And even though business at the day job is down (as it usually is this time of year), it seems as if there's more to do. Well, there sort of is since we've implemented a few processes and systems to track and document what our employees are working on. It's good for cash flow, but bad for me.

It seems cooking and housework are low priorities these days, though laundry is a must. I've made it clear to my boss that I want to work from home. Then I can cook and clean here and there during the day. He's promised to make it happen.

While I really need my beauty sleep, I may have to give up half an hour or so of it per day for a while. With my goals of reading and writing and weight loss, I think I'm gonna need it.

But you know, I really hate being this busy. It doesn't work for me.

What about you? Is your life moving along at an acceptable rate?

Okay, so I've got this groovy new software for tracking my money and divvying it up for bills and savings and emergency funds. But I've got to wait for the money to come in before I can do anything with it.

And I've got this exciting new career as a freelance proofreader to help augment my day job income. Except, it seems as if I do a lot of waiting for the jobs to show up...

Luckily I haven't had to wait (much) for payments once the jobs are done. But, man, I badly want out of debt and some savings built up!! I know these things take time. I do. But ugh... Okay, enough whining. I shouldn't have gotten into so much debt in the first place, right? Right!

I think I scared off one gal the other morning. We emailed back and forth a couple of times and then she asked about cost. Actual cost was almost double what she estimated. Haven't heard back from her, and it's been almost two days... I also had a guy e-mail me and when I told him how much, I never heard back. You know, a simple, "I can't afford that right now." would have been polite and courteous. And I would have understood. I'm not the most expensive proofreader on the planet, but services aren't cheap either.

I've thought about adjusting rates again. I mean, several jobs at a slightly less expensive rate are better than no jobs at any rate, right?  I'll see how it goes. I've only advertised one place and the rest have been word of mouth jobs from my critique partners. That was before I raised my rates. One job (still waiting for it to arrive) since I upped them.

On the other hand, I've been reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I've gleaned that faith is a core component of achieving your goal. The other thing is, I'm a good proofreader. I'm worth what I'm charging, which is not the cheapest, but not the most expensive deal in town either. Tough call, though. In addition, I've been listening to some marketing webinars. Mostly for DH and targeted at the IT industry, but some things cross industries. And now I've got a few marketing ideas. I have to be careful still since I'm only one person and still working that day job.

In the meantime, I'm trying to expand my range of services, which will, of course, increase (hopefully) the inflow of cash.

What services would be helpful to writers, freeing up their time to actually write??

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

My blog has been so full of Nashville, I haven't had a chance to talk about anything else. So let's see...

There's finally a new band director for Sonshine. It's late in the game, sadly. I don't know about other schools, but for us, band never really took a break it seemed like school was out, but within a few weeks, there section camps to attend once a week, then twice a week, until the few weeks before school started when everyone would come together and work as a full band. The guy is a former Marian, which I think is definitely going to help--if he uses that persona and doesn't take any guff from anyone. I haven't met him in person though he's called me on the phone. This year, however, I'm not going to be as charitable with my time. Sucks for him, but I have other fish to fry.

Like my new business. I finished a couple of projects and I'm waiting for a couple of proof jobs to come in. And I've been honing my skills at a few other tasks so I can expand my offerings. The goal is to make enough money so I can quit my day job. Right now I have to be careful not to ramp up too fast, because I do still have work to do at said day job. Especially at the beginning of the month (hello, August)--there's payroll, and invoices, and reminder packets, and reconciling all the bank statements. I also have to train the new guys to handle my biggest on-going project. We have one client that I provide the bulk of the support for. So until the newbies are up to speed, I can't leave. Everything else, I could do from home. Which is the first goal. Get out of the office and work from home.

I haven't talked about my weight loss effort for a while either. It's...coming along. Slowly. Very slowly, if at all, to be honest. I haven't really gained anything back, but nothing's coming off either. While in Nashville, I walked a lot. Everyday for three days. Hours and hours. I realize you can't really keep that up especially with a day job, but I figured since I'd started, I would keep going. The goal was to walk an hour a day in two 30-minute chunks. That's all well and good, but all that calorie burning makes me hungry and I haven't been doing a good job and monitoring calorie intake. Nor do I walk twice a day every day. Sometimes, yeah, but I'm still building strength and endurance. So I listen to my body and when it says it needs rest, I give it rest. So the next step is to get back to counting calories and find some exercise that burns more calories in the same amount of time and/or alternate walking with some other type of exercise.

 And on a final note, we're having an awesome summer. Read mild!! After the last who-knows-how-many HOT HOT HOT summers, this one's been fantastic. We've even had rain in July. Now that we're looking down the barrel at August, I'm sure it'll heat up, but hey it's August and it's supposed to heat up. But I guess we'll see how it goes.

So, dear friends--how are YOU??

A few months ago, I decided to turn my time and talents to proofreading. I added a static page to this blog (the link is just to the left) outlining my services and rates, and though things were slow to take off, they finally did. I'm not overwhelmed or anything, so that's good.

I talked to my hubby about it and he was supportive. This past week, we had another conversation and he advised me to file for an Assumed Name Certificate, aka a doing business as name, as well as opening a checking account for the business.


Today, I researched the process and cost of filing my Assumed Name Certificate: fill out a form, take it to a courthouse, and pay $20. Simple enough. Now to get it done.

The other thing I checked out was whether or not I have to collect sales tax. And unfortunately I think I do. It's not difficult. I do it for DH and my business, so I know what and where and how. But it's just something I'd hoped to avoid.

The final consideration is what my assumed name should be. As an unofficial freelancer, I called my little business Put Your Best Work Forward Proof Reading Services, but now that I'm going official and legal, not only is it too long, but it doesn't really encompass everything I do or what I may want to offer in the future. Tell me what you think of:


So far I proofread (the scope of which you can read on the static page), I'm creating a series bible for two different series for another author, as well as updating websites, and my critique partner requested I learn how to format manuscripts for self-pubbers. That was seconded by two other authors. Who knows what else I may add to my repertoire in the future. The C.P. stands for critique partner, as in I'll read like a C.P. and not just a basic proofreader--if you want me to.

So your opinions are requested and welcome. What do you think of the name I came up with? And if you have suggestions, I'd love to hear (read) them.

Last night DH, DD and I watched Sonshine get inducted into the National Honor Society. I'll admit I was surprised because while he's smart enough, he's not always diligent enough in keeping his grades up. But hey, if they want him, so much the better for college applications.



In the last couple of weeks, we've also attended the Band Banquet and the Spring Concert.




We're on the downhill slide toward the end of the school year and we're all very glad.

In other news, the plants and flowers I planted are doing well! Nothing has died on my watch, so that pleases me. In fact, the Gerbera daisy my daughter gave me several months ago re-bloomed. That surprised me because that one just looked like it was going to wither up and die on me. But with a little TLC--okay, just regular waterings--it decided to stick around.



They don't look so great, but hey--it's alive and blooming. I'll take it. An aspect of flower beds and gardening I'd forgotten about and hadn't taken into account: weeding! But I've managed to stay on top of it despite all the rain we've had and all the watering I do. I need to get after the stuff growing beneath the bird feeders now.

In years past, when DH and Sonshine go work the fireworks, I've taken on projects around the house. Don't you know it's just easier to get it done without the men around asking questions and just generally getting in your way? I've got a couple of projects in mind: re-organizing the master bedroom closet or adding a shelving system to the living room. I'm really leaning toward the closet just because the need is greater. Believe it or not, DH has way more clothes than I do and they're smushed together on his side of the closet.

My proofreading is going well so far and I've gotten another awesome project creating a series bible for two different series for an author friend.

It's been a while since I talked about getting out of debt, but most of the money I'm earning from my new "career" path is going to go towards paying off debt. I mentioned a specific credit card a few months ago and that bad boy will be paid off at the end of June. I'll roll its payment over to another debt. Anyway, I'm so excited about this. It feels good to be able to truly actively work at this, rather than just pay monthly and wait for things to get paid off in due time. Speaking of paid off--we'll also make the last car payment in June as well. Of course we're going to need to put some $$ into the all the vehicles soon. Now I just wish I knew something about investing. Something else to learn in due course.

And that's all for now...time to get Sonshine out of bed and off to school.

How are YOU???

Where to begin? First another apology for not posting Monday or Tuesday (like I said I was going to), but it's been crazy and here's why...

Writers retreat!!! The writers retreat portion of the weekend started Friday and continued through to Sunday. I had to cut my attendance short, but was loads of fun as well as productive while it lasted. Plus I made a new friend.

Writers group meeting!!! Writers group meeting on Saturday was fantastic as always and I had a great time visiting with my lovely friend Nancy.

Saturday evening was Sonshine's band banquet which is why I had to leave the writers retreat. Sonshine received two honors: Outstanding Junior Band Member (as in freshman, sophomore, junior, senior). He's gotten Outstanding Freshman and Outstanding Sophomore as well, so here's hoping the new band director will love him just as much! He also received Outstanding Jazz Band Member.

The really fun part was giving the band director her gift: a cardboard stand-up of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. She was ecstatic. She'd been trying to convince our local Office Depot (Tony Stewart's sponsor) to give her theirs. But as I learned many years ago on my quest for a standup of my favorite driver, stores and bars are not allowed to get rid of those things. I wish I had been able to get a picture of her face when she saw it, but this will have to do.



Annual JAG weekend!!! Sunday I headed back to Dallas to hang out at a friend's house for part of the annual JAG weekend, which also started Friday. Many years ago, a group of women met online in chat rooms and forums to discuss the TV show JAG. JAG aired from 1995 to 2005, so when I said many, I meant it. Though I'm not sure exactly when all the fan hoopla started, but at least by '99.

Anyway, they formed friendships and eventually decided to meet in person. I was not among the original group, but was adopted a few years ago. Believe it or not, fellow members of my writing group were among the original group and when they learned my online fan girl identity, they invited me to a get together about five years ago. And the rest is history. We have gals from Tennessee, Minnesota, and somewhere in the Midwest who drive or fly here to attend. No pics, though. I just enjoyed the day.

And on top of all that--my proof reading business has suddenly taken off, thanks to my wonderful CPs who have put my name out there. I took on a client who had to have her manuscript turned in to Harlequin by Tuesday, so I worked all weekend in between all the other activities, staying up late and getting up early to get her manuscript read twice. WHEW!! And she's paid me already. I am Snoopy dancing with excitement. My goal with this endeavor is to pay off our debt. I'm finally on my way.

I also have two other proof jobs lined up as well as a project to create a series bible for two separate book series for another author. I'm now booked through the middle of June. Can you say WOW!!!

And if all that weren't enough--and despite my binge eating all weekend--I lost some more weight and fell into the 130s range. WOOT!!!

So what's going on your world???

First of all, there's a lot a bad juju out in the universe right now. From all the random, illogical violence happening across our country to the meteor hitting the atmosphere over Russia to some tragic deaths closer to my heart, it's been a wicked week. Hug the ones you love and tell them you love them.

Now what's this change I speak of?

Well, it seems every 12 to 15 months I have a sort of writing freak-out wherein I question my pursuit of publication. I know what writing entails. I know what a good story needs. I know about deep point of view, turning points, the black moment, and goals, motivation and conflict.

What I can't seem to do is pull all of that together to write--to finish--a book of my own. I reach a point at which it seems impossible to actually pull all of the elements together into a cohesive whole.

I've also come to the conclusion that I really enjoy the beta reading/proof reading process and I've finally decided to change tacks and give that a go.

To that end, I'm hanging up my shingle for proof reading services--see the text gadget at the top of the column to the left.

Way way back in the day, I sold Tupperware. I loved Tupper. I used Tupper. And I needed a way to make some extra cash, so I tried selling it. But somewhere along the way someone said to me: Some people are meant to be great Tupperware ladies and some people are just meant to be great hostesses.

I think that can sort of apply to me here. So I'm going to stop trying to write stories for publication, at least for the moment, and help others make their stories the cleanest, best stories they can possibly be.

Have you ever changed career paths?