Blog

So I’ve been really quiet around here. That’s really a result of distraction. Here are all the things I’ve been doing that are not writing blog posts:

Writing: I finished a long-awaited revision and finally feel really good about that manuscript. Pretty sure it still needs some work, but I don’t think it’s going to need another full-reimagining. I’ve organized and started up on another huge revision. That’s not going well, for factors that I have nothing to do with the book.

Garden Ninja: Drew’s business is overflowing at the edges. Tax-return season is our busy time of year. The Christmas season is our slow season. Last Christmas season Drew had no gaps in work, and I feared for the busyness that would sprout in the spring. Well, that busyness is here. We’ve never had more than a four week turnaround ever–now we’re 100% booked until June. This is a great problem, really. Better too much work than not enough. It’s given Drew occasion to drop some of the work he didn’t want to be doing and focus on the stuff he really loves, which is a happy thing. But it also means we’ve been very, very busy.

Health: That’s not the reason my revision is stalling, though. New medication aside, I’m still getting sinus infections. I’m still way too allergic to things I can’t avoid. (Being allergic to dust mites is really like being allergic to the inside of people’s houses, including my own.) This last week I have finally gotten desperate enough to beg both my insurance and my doctors to please give me a shot once a week for the next three years so that I can function in my life. And I hate shots. The insurance said yes; the doctor part comes later today. I’m really hoping this helps, because I haven’t felt 100% normal in five years.

That last part may be the chief cause of my silence, because I don’t want to whine about it constantly, but it’s kind of hard when I’m this sick. So I post pictures of flowers instead. One of those is coming later today. It’s a very pretty one. (LJ people should check my photo blog.)

Other things: I’ve been trying to read a lot less online junk. Fewer blogs, fewer status updates, more international news. I’ve been succeeding on the news and failing on the social networking, but I’ve been letting myself slide while I’m sick. Once I get feeling better again (like I was a month ago, not all better) then I’ll make myself be more focused again.

Also, it’s spring! At least, it is in my backyard. My tree has buds on it. There are crocus growing in my flower beds and tulips getting all green and leafy. My rhubarb is coming up, which feels a lot like a resurrection, since that spot has been nothing but dirt for the last several months. I planted seeds in little Jiffy trays by the back door, and they’re sprouting, including the tomatoes. (Still waiting on the peppers, but the package says they take longer to germinate.) The cucumbers are looking the healthiest, and more thyme seeds came up than I thought I planted.

Spring will be the last season we haven’t tackled in our house, though the maintenance tasks look a lot less intimidating than the winter-prep ones did.

I’ve also been scaling back on a lot of my weekly activities. I had way too many activities, so I just couldn’t focus. I was raised to believe that I needed to be a 100% participant in every activity I joined–and I’ve decided that’s something about myself I need to un-learn. If I’m going to have a brain left to write, I need to not be scheduled every minute. Some things I can drop by occasionally. I need to pick only a couple things to attend every week. I think there’s some more scaling back I need to do, but I’m resisting, because I really love all the people involved in all of my social events.

I made a list of priorities a few months ago–which things I had to keep and which things were lower on the list. After the essentials (work, church, family). Then the top few social things that are most important to me. Everything else I’ve been letting slide if I don’t have the time/health/energy. I’m hoping to get back to a couple of those things when I feel better, but mostly I just feel less stressed when I have fewer places to be. Also, the writing is progressing much quicker, now that I’m not so scheduled.

Big update, but I think that’s it.

Today is one of those days where I just mentally check out. It’s not that there’s anything wrong, but I’ve done a lot of floating around. I think it’s the change in weather. I went out in the not-freezing temperatures and stood in my backyard for thirty minutes. If my brain were present, I would have been garden-planning for spring. But as-was I just stood there, looking at the bulbs that are coming up in the backyard, and the not-yet-melted glacier still living in the shadow of the fence. I want to believe it’s spring already, but I know I’m going to be betrayed.

I think I’ve posted about this before, but I love zenni.com.

I just bought a pair of prescription glasses plus a pair of prescription sunglasses (not shades, but full glasses) for a total of $36 including shipping. The pair of glasses I already have from these guys are holding up better than any others I’ve ever had. By a lot. Also, they’re the only glasses I’ve ever liked. (The new pairs are for Drew.)

If you wear prescription glasses, you should seriously think about ordering from these guys next time. If you already have a pair of glasses, it’s not that hard to figure out which ones will fit your face. The price/quality ratio is truly ridiculous.

I rate video games 1-5 stars. A five means I was utterly delighted for every last moment of the game. Four means I loved it. Three means I liked it, despite deep flaws. Two means while it had some redeeming qualities, I was not impressed and may not even have finished. One means it made me hate all video games without prejudice.

Video Games I’m Currently Playing:
Skyrim

Video Games Played in 2011:
Bastion *****
Halo Anniversary Edition *****
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1 *****
Grandia 2 ***
Gears of War 3 ****
Lost Odyssey *****
Enchanted Arms *
Xenosaga **
Assassin’s Creed **
Portal 2 *****
Mass Effect 2 ***
Portal 2 co-op *****
Mass Effect ***
Rainbow 6 Vegas Co-op **
Final Fantasy X-2 **
Bioshock 2 *****
Borderlands: Mad Moxie’s Underdome *****
Oblivion *****
Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned *****

RPG campaigns for 2011:
Shadowrun-based Mass Effect game
IK Bard’s game
Pathfinder IK Giants conversion
Pathfinder Shadowscapes conversion

2010 video game list is here.

2008-2009 video game list is here.

I don’t review books, but I do keep a list of what I’ve finished during the year. I’m a very picky reader, so it’s a good bet that if I finished a book, I recommend it.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jaquelyn Kelly
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Solar Storms by Linda Hogan
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
If It Kills Me by Tara Creel
The Ostrich and the Rose by LeeAnn Setzer
The Andela by Lesley Hart Gunn
Heir of the Line by Eric James Stone
The Garden By Lesley Hart Gunn
Angel Streets by Ryan Alleman
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Exit by Nabiel Kanan
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Doppelganger by Marie Brennan
After by Amy Efaw
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
The Thimble of Doom (working title) by Lee Ann Setzer

2010 list is here.

2009 list is here.

2008 list is here.