I feel like I'm in one of those spring fogs that you see at 4 am.

Cold and blurry,

I hurry through the dark night

For the cows call me.

......

Okay, I shouldn't attempt haiku poetry when I'm sleep deprived.

Since I last posted, things have turned upside down - quite thoroughly.

First, my dear Alpha Squad (Mary Katherine @ Sarcastic Scribblings and Lia @ The Singing Writer) are graduating high school together this weekend! Tomorrow I shall be charging my way out to Ohio to see them. It will be so weird going back after being away a full year.

As if that wasn't curveball enough, I got an even bigger one.

As of three weeks ago, I've been employed full time at a conventional dairy farm about 30 minutes from my house. It's a far cry from the living history career that I've been pursuing for the last three years, make no mistake. But, it's money in the bank and not a moment too soon, for the federal government is now demanding it's money back...

I'll be totally honest in that I definitely jumped off the deep end when taking this job. I'm working about 50-55 hours a week, 5 1/2 "days" (I get three half-days, and they are staggered), and 6 hours of sleep is now a good night for me.

Hence my blogging, and especially my commenting, has been rather uncharacteristically helter-skelter these past weeks....heehee. Sowwy guys. I pray this doesn't become status quo, but please don't be concerned if I suddenly disappear from time to time.

And now - since I love to kill two birds with one stone - I shall end with a tag!

I can't believe that spring is almost over already...

This one was a double tag!

One of my dearest bloggy friends, Sarah @ Plain and Average tagged me for this cleaning fest! You view her post HERE. Thank you so much, Sarah!!
And then my dear fellow RW collaborator and favorite Aussie blogger Melissa Gravitis also tagged me! You can view her post HERE.


Here are the rules:
1) Link back to the person who tagged you.
2) Share the picture.
3) Answer the questions or even pick and choose which ones you answer.
4) Tag 3 other writers and inform them that you tagged them (via comment/message/email or hey, even carrier-pigeon or smoke signal; I’m not picky).


1. Dust-bunnies and Plot-bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

So to copy from my post from the beginning of the year:

1. Keep up with my goal that I set up on the Year-Long NaNo group - write at least 50 words a day. I know, such a pitiful small little goal. But I haven't been able to hold any kind of a goal lately, so let's try to see if we can get this small one, huh? So far, it hasn't been going so hot....

I have since scrapped this goal entirely. Especially with my new work schedule, this isn't happening. It's going to be back to the old Sparki system again....

(Sparki meaning that I write when I get the inspiration and the time. I know, it's a terrible system...) 


2. Enter both Camp NaNos and do a proper NaNoWriMo. Due to my disaster in grad school, I never participated in NaNo this year. I want to change that.


I did participate in April Camp NaNo, which was great fun! 

Even though I'm working these crazy hours, I'm still going to attempt July Camp NaNo (at least that's the plan). July is going to be the big test for November though. If I fail this July, NaNo is going to be scrapped again.

3. Actually enter my writing into something other than my blog or RW. Whether that means entering a blog post into Project Canvas or entering a writing contest. Just get that blooming writing out there!

Well, I can safely say that I've accomplished this goal!

Just after I made that goal, I did a guest post for Project Canvas about pen names, which you can view HERE.

As for entering contests? No. Not happening, at least not in the foreseeable future.

4. FINISH ONE WIP from my WIP list that is on the blog. I don't care which one, just finish SOMETHING this year...

Well, considering that we are almost half way through the year (already???), I still have time!!! (I think...)

So, I'm going to revise my writing goals slightly for this year:

1. Make progress on at least WIP, finish if possible. 
2. Participate in July Camp NaNo (and November if possible) 
3. Finish my Tag To-Do List. I will do this even if it takes me the rest of the year! Upcoming tags are as follows:
              1. Another Period Drama Tag (I'm almost done with it, Elanor! PROMISE!!),
              2. The Nameless Tag of Doom
              3. Lilah Music Challenge,
              4. February Fantasy "What If" Tag (I got tagged in April, so no worries on time!)
              5. Get to Know Me Writers Edition Tag
              6. The Fictional Portal Tag


2. Which Stage Are You At? Expound!

a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)


Okay. I don't like these "expounding" options. So, I'm gonna be a huge rebel and create my own.

A. Airing out the Room (Inklings of the story)
B. Blueprints Layouts (planning the story)
C. Straightening the Books on the Bookshelf (Research)
D. De-cluttering the entire room and filling in the holes in the wall (drafting/writing)
E. Scrubbing and Taking out the Trash (Major editing)
F. Dusting, Sweeping and Polishing (Minor editing)
G. Cleaning out the Closet (Some combination of all of these)


So, to go through all the WIPs:

It's a Matter of Faith: G.
Fair Winds: E (Sassy Devil) and D (Fallen Angel).
Shattered Chandelier: D.
Rose of Culmore: D.
Seeds of an Orchard Invisible: G.
From the Cave: D.
The White Rose: C.

Brother! I'm really bogged down in cleaning up this WIP list. Wish I had been a little more diligent in keeping up with the clutter! 


3. Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share one to three snippets you love!)

I'll truly go into the back of the closet and share a snippet from...

Fair Winds: Sassy Devil


Ciara placed a smile on her face. “Grace! How would you like to be on a ship with Uncle, right now?”
“Be with Uncle right now? On a ship too?" Ciara nodded as Grace squealed in delight. She followed Ciara as she went to their bedroom to fetch their trunk “Like Father used to be?”
Ciara paused as she reached down beneath the bed to blink back tears. “Yes, Grace.”
“Will we see strange places, Ciara?”
“I think so.” Ciara heaved the trunk onto her bed and moved to the clothes-press.
“And will we bring back fancy dresses and smelly powder?”
Ciara laughed as she opened one of the drawers. “You mean spices? Maybe, if Uncle has Navy business in the East.” Ciara and Grace threw their meagre clothes in the trunk.
“Will we see men with swords and black eyes?”
“Black eyes???” Ciara stopped as she put her diary into the trunk.
“Indeed, like Mister Timbers talks about.” Grace said as she put her old dolly in the trunk.
“You mean pirates?? I most certainly hope NOT!!!” Ciara slammed the trunk shut and locked it resolutely.
“Why Ciara?” Grace reacted in surprise at her sister’s outburst.
“They are…very bad men, Grace. They are dirty, thieving, violent scoundrels determined to ruin anybody in their way.”
“Like the highwayman that robbed Cousin Cindy last spring?”
“Worse.” Ciara lifted the trunk off the bed and headed toward the door.



3.5. Bonus: Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self! (and share a picture!)

My writer self really does need to do some spring cleaning.

My notes are still scattered everywhere between multiple devices and notebooks. My computer desk is a disaster.

The only place that I did any kind of cleaning was a place that I never wanted cleaned in the first place.

In the beginning of May, Shaxpir glitched really bad on my computer and my interference made it ten times worse. In short, the program wiped itself and everything I had on it got lost.

Now, don't panic, everyone!! Because of my lock-out scare during Camp NaNo, I had a decent backup. I did lose some minor world-building notes, but compared to what it could have been, I came off easy!

In spite of all the fatigue and busy-ness of my life, my muse did manage to restart a little this week. It's now exploring the world and characters of my old Amish WIP, It's a Matter of Faith, because of the dairy environment I've been immersed in, LOL. I highly doubt that I shall do much with it...though I've said that before.

I'm going to leave this tag open, as I must be off. I need to go shopping for some shoes for the graduation (cause there's a dance afterwards!)

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine