An update

I've been so neglectful of my blog this week and I didn't even realize it! We're 9 days into the month and I've hardly done anything. And it's not for lack of things going on. Actually, it's probably because there have been so many things going on.

Of course Jarrod is home, which has been great! So any extra time in the evenings has been spent with him. And last week I actually had a little bout with something and ended up going to Urgent Care. Nothing big, but I've been a little under the weather this week and extra tired. Getting back on track now, though. Then on top of that, I'm co-hosting the engagement party for my brother-in-law and future-sister-in-law this weekend, and since I haven't been feeling 100% I've been a little behind and playing catch-up now. But now things are coming together and I'm thinking it's going to be a great party.

OK, since this is such a lame blog post, we're going to step it up for the rest of the month. I'm not crazy enough to think I'm going to stay on top of it this week with the party, so we'll say 10 posts by Thanksgiving. Yah, I like that plan.

What a month!

Wow, I almost can't believe I did it. I posted the same number of blog posts in 1 month as I did in 5 months last year. Although, 19 posts doesn't sound like that many. I remember when my friend Nancy Ray did 100 posts in 100 days. Now that's some intense blogging! But still, making sure I stayed on top of it this month was a challenge. And as you can see, I just eeked by. No extra posts just for good measure. (Now I may just have to post something tomorrow to throw the whole thing off!)

 

I had to consciously think about it every day and say to myself, "Ok, I posted yesterday, so if I don't post anything today, then I have to tomorrow," and so on. Staying on top of a job with crazy hours, trying to have a life and writing about it is a lot to keep up with. I have a lot of respect for people who do it all and do it all of the time.

 

I would like to continue the trend. However, I think 19 posts a month, at least for the time being, is a little ambitious. I'll probably stick to the 10-15 range. I did like having a goal I had to stick to. It made me write even when I really didn't have anything I felt like writing about (i.e. This post is not about anything). But I'm proud of myself and hope to continue to grow over the coming months... even though I know they're going to start getting very busy with the holidays coming! And who knows, maybe I'll be able to get working on the "project" I talked about a couple of months back.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Today is my anniversary... with blogging. It was one year ago today that I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep so I started writing. And appropriately, I couldn't sleep at all last night. I should have gotten up and written this post then. But here I am now. I really can't believe that I've been doing this for a whole year now. But at the same time, I can't believe I haven't been doing this longer.

Going back to that first blog entry, I really do feel that I've grown over the past year. (Granted, I did write it in the middle of the night.) But I hope that's evident in my writing and not all in my head. I'm at the point now that I really want to do more with it. I'm not sure of the exact direction that will take at this time, but I'd like to make sure it's at least moving forward.

I see that last year, between this time and the end of the year I wrote 19 posts. I'm going to make it my goal to write that many in the next month. So far, the most I've written in a month is 9. But like I said, I want to start pushing this forward!

Not all of them have to be full blown blog posts. But I plan to post something for each of those days. I think that'll be a good start. It'll make me think about it more often and push me to write, even if I don't have anything in particular in mind to write about. It'll be a bit of a brain exercise as well. We'll start this off at the beginning of September.

...this is gonna be fun!

This schedule is cutting into my blogging time

So I'm a week into my "normal person" schedule and still have another week yet. And I'm not gonna lie... it's been a little difficult getting used to it. As I'm sure everyone is aware, my usual 4am start time is not ideal. But now that I'm used to it, I have a bit of a hard time getting off of it.

Even though I'm starting 3 hours later than usual, by the time noon hits, I still get that automatic feeling that it's time to go home, making those final hours incredibly long. But the real difficult part is having so much less time in the afternoon. Usually I have plenty of time to run my errands, get home, watch a little TV or even take a tap, do some cleaning and have dinner on the table by the time Jarrod gets home. When I'm on this schedule, I feel that I'm so rushed for time. I had to run to the store today, and by the time I was done, I had about half an hour before Jarrod would be home. I tried to get in a quick nap (because another difficult part of switching schedules is being extra tired merely because your normal routine is mixed up) but hardly drifted off before he was home.

So needless to say, my blogging time has taken a hit! I should actually be getting ready for bed now to try and make up some sleep, but I figured I'd rather make the time for writing now. But don't get me wrong. I'd much rather have a normal schedule than the super early morning one I'm on now, but when I do finally get to do that, I am going to miss some of the freedom allowed with going into work so early. So for now, I'll try to appreciate this time that I have where I get to drive into work when the sun is actually up.

Blogging and a Birthday

Well, I've been saying lately how busy it's been and how I haven't had much time to write, and all of the sudden this morning I realized how much I've missed it! I'm sitting here and I have the feeling like I forgot something and I realized, it's my writing.

Writing is very cathartic to me. I have a tendency to bottle things up and not talk about it, but sitting down and writing gives me the opportunity to express my feelings and let things out. I think I've been kind of stuffed up lately and it's giving me a headache, so I need to start getting things out. I'm making a mid-month goal for myself today: to write a post everyday for the next 7 days. I'm not sure if I'll stick to that or not, but we're going to give it a shot.

And there are so many things that have been going on lately that I can share! Just to name a few... I just spent a wonderful weekend in Asheville with my sister for her bachelorette. Her wedding is now 10 days away! I've decided to make a couple lifestyle changes recently. And finally, and where we'll land today, it's Rylie's first birthday.

You first met Rylie last September when Jarrod and I brought her home from the SPCA. Well 9 months later she's doubled in size and she's just as much a pain in the behind! But she's my sweetheart and keeps me on top of my cleaning and makes our little twosome a family. Hopefully now that we've made it to the 1-year mark, she'll start to grow out of some of her puppy-ways and become the well-behaved dog I know is in there... somewhere.

Jarrod and I will celebrate by sharing a delicious meal this evening in her honor. Sorry, Rylie, no people food for you. We tried giving her a special treat on Christmas (and by "we," I mean Jarrod. I was against it from the beginning) and the poor dear spent the afternoon throwing-up in the yard.

So Happy Birthday, Sweetie. (Don't piss me off today!)