Not in the plans

Yesterday I landed in the ER after I felt bad --numbness and tingly on the right side, a black hole of emptiness in the center of the chest, dizziness, nausea, S-L-O-W thought process. My reaction? I lay down, until much of the feeling passed. Then drove to work. Just another day.
My friend at work --who happens to be a nurse-- heard all this and insisted I call my doc, which resulted me ending up in the ER for hours, undergoing all kinds of tests. Final diagnosis --all tests for a heart attack turned up negative, but now they suspect the beginnings of a stroke.

Lessons learned:

1. 37 isn't too young for a heart attack or a stroke.
2. With women symptoms don't have to be on the left side, could be on the right or any where else in the chest cavity.
3. It's not as dramatic as in the movies, instead the symptoms can creep up on and catch you unawares.
4. None of this was in my plans, my resolutions or my lists. Yet it happened. Life happens. So I'm going to stop putting off things for later and just do what I want to do. Such as write the story I want.
5. I need to take care of myself. Sometimes life gets busy, and exercise time falls by the wayside. Or life stresses me out, so I indulge in comfort foods --fries, nachos etc. Well, payback can be a bitch. So I am going to make me a priority.

So I guess I learned a few new things (part of my resolutions) but in an unexpected way. Sometimes the universe knows better what I need. And I definitely needed this wake up call.

Another list

Speaking of lists, here's a great one I came across on author Marjorie M. Liu's blog. While all of it is relevant, I love #5.

Let's hope I've linking success here:

Marjorie M. Liu's List

Lists

I like making lists. All kinds of lists --from grocery lists to lists of books to read. When I'm stressed, I make lists --of things to do, pros and cons, solutions, options. Lists help me think, calm me down.
So I decided to end my week with a list. A list of what I've accomplished this week. I'm hoping that will help me keep on track with my goals, show me where I stand before its too late.

1. Finished editing my manuscript Wild Fire. Yay! Still too raw from the experience to say whether I really hate the book or am just sick of it and actually like it. Anyhoo, I did send it off to a reader. That's a step in the right direction.

2. Rewrote my short story as a poem and submitted it to another market. Waiting to hear back.

3. Wrote 1,055 words on a new short story. Not finished yet.

4. Read two books --a J.D. Robb and an Inspector Ghote mystery. Looks like I'm into crime and detecting at the moment.

5. Signed up for a food writing class, which starts next week. I like food, I like writing...should be a good combination. But homework!? Looking forward, feeling nervous.

6. Asked the hubby out. Waiting for him to pick me up after work, so we can explore downtown a bit, have dinner, a conversation before we go pick up the kids and resume the chaos that's called family.

Here's hoping for a great weekend all around!

Late Resolutions

So, I've finally settled into 2010. I no longer automatically date my checks 09 and "Happy 2010!" trips and trots off my tongue easily. I've had time to reflect on the past year and dream on the new one, and these are my resolutions:

1. Laugh more --esp. in situations where the only other option maybe to cry or lose it. Given I've two kids, two cats, two dogs and the typical male of a husband, I'll have to recite this one as a mantra on a daily basis.

2. Learn something new --while publication has been a life-long dream, I can't let it consume me. One of the most important things I did last year was to realize that I can and do have more than one dream, one hope and I'm going to continue to build on it.

3. Write more -- regularly and more than my WIPs. I'm going to have fun and explore other forms --poems, short stories etc.

4. Send my words out to the world. I'm not going to let rejections, long periods of silence and my own doubts pull me back. I'll keep sending my writing out. To that end, I've already submitted and got rejected on a short story this month (while the rejection was very kindly worded and I appreciate it, an acceptance would have made my day). Anyhoo, I'm thinking of reworking the piece into a poem and sending it elsewhere.

So here's wishing for all kinds of wonderful this year....

An Early Resolution

Two-thousand-nine is almost done

And twenty-ten will soon be here

When "Auld Lang Syne" is sweetly sung

We'll welcome in a brand new year

 

Our hopes and dreams will rise anew

In promise of a brighter day

We will commit to see things through

And clear those hurdles in our way

 

Fresh words will flow from brain to screen

And characters will spring to life

With writing always crisp and clean

And pages full of hope and strife

 

To all my friends and friends-to-be

Successful wishes I now send

And hope before next year is through

We all will smile and write THE END

My new room

I got my own room today. One of the upstairs bedrooms is now my study / den / retreat / whatever I want to call it but it's where I'll WRITE relatively undisturbed.

Once I wrote in the bedroom and pretty much cluttered up half of it, but after we had all our floors redone (courtesy hurricane Ike) the bedroom looked so nice without my junk...

So I moved into the dining room because we never use it anyway. Well, twice a year. BUT - it's right between the kitchen / living room and my husband's study (where he leaves the door open and cranks up the music) and with all the carpet gone everything is much louder than before. Plus it's hard to be in the middle of an intense scene but have someone stop by to see if you know where the [insert item] is or when the TV is drowning out all rational thought.

So - I'm moving out - er up - to where I'll have a door and the opportunity for peace and quiet - I've promised my family I'll show up every now and again.

I finally framed all those contest finalist certificates so I can hang them up over my desk and use them for inspiration. But I'm wondering what else I need to put in there - books, knick-knacks, computers, printer, paper, toner, promo items, iPod, trash can, new lamp, comfy chair. The latter because I like to proof read a hard copy every now and again, it's amazing what the eyes will spot on paper and especially if you change the font.

Hmmm what else - any suggestions?

What's in a blog?

I'm cheating a little today. First I'm going to tell you all about the request for a full I received recently, that would be the full I made a significant plot change to.

I've been editing like crazy all week!

Secondly, I'm going to tell you about my other blog which really describes how I've felt for the last week. Except I forgot to mention I had dental work done that tore up my mouth and put me on antibiotics!

Check out:
http://rosesofhouston.blogspot.com/2009/08/escaping-doldrums.html

and everyone have a great weekend, I have a story to read and another one to finish!