There’s a time for honing my craft and a time for polishing my tools.

Writing has taken a back seat for the last couple of days and sadly, my blog, too has suffered. I’ve been busy following through with something I read recently. To paraphrase, it said that successful people have the right tools and those tools are up-to-date.

Being rather literal minded, I realized this meant that the time for putting off getting some problems fixed with my computer (my main tool) had reached the critical stage. Fortunately, I was able to find a local gentleman who got my computer running as it should again for a reasonable price.

Time for a commercial break

I’ve recently found myself in need of some services, for now, lawn care and computer repair. I’ve realized from past experiences that I prefer to have someone with references. After requests for recommendations proved less than optimum, I let me fingers do the walking with a Google search and came across a site called Thumbtack.com. This site is similar to others I’ve tried, but tends to match you up with local small business people, which I like, instead of corporate conglomerates. Through them, I found a gardener who is amazing and this computer repairman.

End of commercial. We now return you to our regular programming.

(Right now I am sending up bucketloads of gratitude that I was given the opportunity a number of years ago to increase my typing speed exponentially because right now, my thoughts are flying so fast that slow fingers would be smoking right now!) I’ve also been reading one of my many books on writing and have begun a Holly Lisle course as well. Both of these sources have a number of things in common, which prompted me to order a 3 foot by 4 foot magnetic white board, a selection of colored pens, bright and shiny magnets and 500 5 by 8 index cards which, conveniently, can also be used for my recipe box. But I digress.

Several sources agree upon a story board of some kind, whether it’s a wall of paper, a cork board or, my preference, a magnetic white board which can be used either to affix the aforementioned index cards or drawn on with the pens, or, which will probably be my choice, a combination of both.

Which brings me to the last few days. I’ve been in a frenzy of ordering, not only the white board and accompaniments but also some additional memory for my computer. Although my new tech got it running at something close to its original speed, I have now upgraded the operating system twice and have a tendency to have twelve websites, six spreadsheets and elevendy-seven word documents open at any given time, not to mention email and a couple of pdf files, just for kicks. My poor computer with its measly 4 gig of ram (which, when I bought the thing a few years ago was screaming fast!) is begging me for mercy on a regular basis. By Thursday, I should have myself four, count them, four two gig ram chips, thus doubling my short term memory (the computer’s actually. Mine is already ferkakt after too many years of gathering information which I might someday use!)

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Thus ends what was supposed to be a short explanation as to why I’ve been neglecting my readers as well as the characters in my book who only just got through a crisis at my last writing.

I also needed to give myself a swift kick in the buttocks to get back to the gym. I’ve barely managed once a week for the last couple and that is simply not acceptable. If nothing else, my knees are not at all happy and have made their displeasure clear in the only way they know how. I’m tired of them voicing their displeasure with creaks and pain so off to the gym I go.

With any luck, said white board will be installed on a wall which recently gave up some old file receptacles that had long outlived their usefulness. The best part is, my office is slowly beginning to resemble a writer’s den rather than an accountant’s office. Truly a much more fitting mood for a room which has books stacked to the ceiling on two sides plus a free standing bookshelf on another. Even the calculator has found a new home when I’m not working on my own or a client’s bookkeeping. It slumbers in the recently cleaned out file drawer in my desk, patiently waiting it’s turn to support me in my endeavors.

I trust I haven’t made your eyes cross with tonight’s ‘brief’ ramble

My eldest fur baby just reminded me that I’m once again still at the computer typing after 2 AM and with the recent spate of chilly nights, her old bones would prefer that I do my job and warm up the bed for her, so I will leave you with tonight’s gratitudes.

1. I am grateful for opportunities to learn and grow and improve how I do the things I do.
2. I am grateful for the evolution both my life and my office are making from number crunching to word smithing and story weaving.
3. I am grateful for visits from my daughter and a light at the end of the tunnel saying that my son-in-law will be home in the foreseeable future. I really am missing his warped sense of humor!
4. I am grateful for progress, slowly but surely, towards my goals.
5. I am grateful for the days when I simply finish chores as it gives me less reason to procrastinate.
6. I am grateful for a week of restocking my freezer. I let it get woefully empty over the last few weeks and it is long overdue for some new options. (I’m also looking forward to those weeks when I only spend thirty or forty dollars at the grocery store because most of what I need for the week is neatly stacked in that freezer.) On the agenda for this week and next: Spicy chicken stir fry, chili, spaghetti squash and spaghetti sauce.
7. I am grateful for the time I’m spending watching crime shows as it is making me do a better job (or so I believe) of getting into my antagonist’s head.
8. I am grateful for a return to my gym, routine. There’s an outfit in my closet that I’d love to be able to wear on our cruise in April, but it is going to require a significant reduction in body mass if I wish to actually succeed.
9. I am grateful for my furry roommates who have been very cuddly these days and make sure I never have the chance to feel unloved.
10. I am grateful for abundance: new ideas, inspiration, joy, love, friendship, exciting scenes to write, learning, new horizons, harmony, peace, health and prosperity.

Blessed Be

And now for some shameless self-promotion:
I’d love it if you’d visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SheriLevensteinConawayAuthor?ref=aymt_homepage_panel. I’ve created this page as a means of positive affirmation and would be very grateful if you’d “like” it or leave a comment! I’ve also launched a web page at www.shericonaway.com which links to this blog as well as my daughter’s, HeathersCulinaryAdventure.wordpress.com. Though the website is still a work in process while I try to navigate the software to make it interesting, don’t hesitate to visit and even offer constructive criticism if you’re so inclined. Thank you!