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Is apparently bellydancing. Whenever the weather gets tumultuous, I have too many headaches, and so I asked on Facebook who my local weather god was so I could lodge a complaint, and also what was the opposite of a sacrifice, so I could do one of those? One of my friends suggested going Indiana Jones on the local weather god's temple was the opposite of a sacrifice, so I ought to find a fedora and a whip and go pillaging. Another friend suggested belly dancing was the opposite of a rain dance, and so I ought to dance some more.
Maybe my other friend was right. Even though it's still chilly and bitingly windy, the sun is high in the sky, the clouds are fluffy and white, and the sky is blue, and I can tilt my face into golden sunlight and find a moment of peace.
Work was not so good last week - I spent most of it working from home, but I dragged myself into the office to get work done, and it's been pretty good. I like the days when I am busy so the days go fast, so I can get things done. I always feel better about my life when I've accomplished something useful or so I can cross something off my to-do list, and having tackled some big projects this week really has made me feel better.
Most important of all...I finished my first draft of my novel!
It's a little over 94,000 words, and it's awful, and I need to rewrite it so, so much, but it's finally finished. I am pretty sure this is the first actual original novel that doesn't have any discernible hints of fandom in it since...ever. I remain stubbornly proud of the novella I wrote for Cody while we were dating, but this is my first actual original novel. Now I need to get it printed out and bound up and I need to buy the mother load of all red pens and mark it up like mad. I also plan on reading Virginia Woolf's Orlando and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night before I embark on the massive rewrites (I am sure someone has guessed what this novel is about now). I think I will try to tackle the angel novel again, and I reckon if I split my time between writing the new novel and editing the old novel, I will be more productive. I won't give up on writing fanfiction, because it means I'm writing every day, but finally finishing this first draft has been a relief.
My heart-sister BenTen called me up and said she needed to send me the first five chapters of her novel, and I said I'd finish my novel in exchange for those first five chapters, and we struck a bargain, and my end has been held up. I think I will step back from the original novels in general, because we're going to visit my parents in a couple of weeks (I am soooo excited) and I wrote some cool stuff the last time I went traveling, so I want to go with a fresh mind and see what inspiration strikes while I'm roaming Hong Kong and Beijing.
I started up with intermediate belly dancing this week, which is going to be a real challenge, because honestly, I'm not that coordinated. At least, I'm coordinated enough to be a decent martial artist and hula dancer, but as it turns out, moving your hips in a figure eight while sustaining a shimmy is pretty hard and takes a whole new kind of coordination that I just don't have you. I figure if I practice a little bit every day, that will help. I am also working toward improving my flexibility by stretching every day, and as it turns out, I can get my scripture reading done while I am stretching, and it's a pretty good meditative place to be first thing in the morning.
I've started listening to the BBC Radio 4 Drama version of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which has been simply amazing. I unpicked the baby blanket I was crocheting because I'd messed up the pattern, and listening along to the radio drama while I work is pretty awesome. In some ways, it's even better than watching TV and crocheting, which I cannot explain at all. I do remember I did pretty well crocheting Christmas lists and listening to books on tape (read by Richard Armitage no less), so that's good.
Cody and I went to the temple for the first time in a long time yesterday, which was pretty wonderful, and then afterwards he took me out for gyros. We'd originally planned on going to the temple on Friday night, but he was too tired after work, so he came home and we hung out and then I conned him into taking me out for pizza. Keith, the guy who works at the pizza joint, likes to make us surprise pizzas, and last night he made us cheeseburger pizza, which was basically loads of meat and cheese, and then hamburger toppings on the side like lettuce and tomato and pickles. As it turns out, pickles on pizza? Are kind of delicious. It was a good day.
I was super proud of myself on Saturday - I got the house cleaned and most of the laundry started while Cody was doing his morning workout. Our flat really is easy to clean, but sometimes it's difficult to keep the place from getting dreadfully uncluttered. Perhaps the most peaceful moment of my week was when I was in the kitchen baking cookies while Cody prepped his Sunday school lesson. It was oddly domestic and probably the closest I will ever get to being one of those nice Mormon mommies on one of those Mormon mommy blogs, but it was a nice, peaceful moment, me baking cookies and singing hymns (hymns - I know, right? But they're the only ones I can sing from memory with any dependable sense of melody).
I also got to talk to my parents about going to visit them - I am sooooo excited - and more about buying a house. I'm lucky to have the parents I do, because they can talk me down from being stressed about doing grown-up things, like buying a house for the first time.
Today was a good day - I learned good things at church, and it was a peaceful, calm, productive day. Here's to being more peaceful and calm and productive.
Maybe my other friend was right. Even though it's still chilly and bitingly windy, the sun is high in the sky, the clouds are fluffy and white, and the sky is blue, and I can tilt my face into golden sunlight and find a moment of peace.
Work was not so good last week - I spent most of it working from home, but I dragged myself into the office to get work done, and it's been pretty good. I like the days when I am busy so the days go fast, so I can get things done. I always feel better about my life when I've accomplished something useful or so I can cross something off my to-do list, and having tackled some big projects this week really has made me feel better.
Most important of all...I finished my first draft of my novel!
It's a little over 94,000 words, and it's awful, and I need to rewrite it so, so much, but it's finally finished. I am pretty sure this is the first actual original novel that doesn't have any discernible hints of fandom in it since...ever. I remain stubbornly proud of the novella I wrote for Cody while we were dating, but this is my first actual original novel. Now I need to get it printed out and bound up and I need to buy the mother load of all red pens and mark it up like mad. I also plan on reading Virginia Woolf's Orlando and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night before I embark on the massive rewrites (I am sure someone has guessed what this novel is about now). I think I will try to tackle the angel novel again, and I reckon if I split my time between writing the new novel and editing the old novel, I will be more productive. I won't give up on writing fanfiction, because it means I'm writing every day, but finally finishing this first draft has been a relief.
My heart-sister BenTen called me up and said she needed to send me the first five chapters of her novel, and I said I'd finish my novel in exchange for those first five chapters, and we struck a bargain, and my end has been held up. I think I will step back from the original novels in general, because we're going to visit my parents in a couple of weeks (I am soooo excited) and I wrote some cool stuff the last time I went traveling, so I want to go with a fresh mind and see what inspiration strikes while I'm roaming Hong Kong and Beijing.
I started up with intermediate belly dancing this week, which is going to be a real challenge, because honestly, I'm not that coordinated. At least, I'm coordinated enough to be a decent martial artist and hula dancer, but as it turns out, moving your hips in a figure eight while sustaining a shimmy is pretty hard and takes a whole new kind of coordination that I just don't have you. I figure if I practice a little bit every day, that will help. I am also working toward improving my flexibility by stretching every day, and as it turns out, I can get my scripture reading done while I am stretching, and it's a pretty good meditative place to be first thing in the morning.
I've started listening to the BBC Radio 4 Drama version of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which has been simply amazing. I unpicked the baby blanket I was crocheting because I'd messed up the pattern, and listening along to the radio drama while I work is pretty awesome. In some ways, it's even better than watching TV and crocheting, which I cannot explain at all. I do remember I did pretty well crocheting Christmas lists and listening to books on tape (read by Richard Armitage no less), so that's good.
Cody and I went to the temple for the first time in a long time yesterday, which was pretty wonderful, and then afterwards he took me out for gyros. We'd originally planned on going to the temple on Friday night, but he was too tired after work, so he came home and we hung out and then I conned him into taking me out for pizza. Keith, the guy who works at the pizza joint, likes to make us surprise pizzas, and last night he made us cheeseburger pizza, which was basically loads of meat and cheese, and then hamburger toppings on the side like lettuce and tomato and pickles. As it turns out, pickles on pizza? Are kind of delicious. It was a good day.
I was super proud of myself on Saturday - I got the house cleaned and most of the laundry started while Cody was doing his morning workout. Our flat really is easy to clean, but sometimes it's difficult to keep the place from getting dreadfully uncluttered. Perhaps the most peaceful moment of my week was when I was in the kitchen baking cookies while Cody prepped his Sunday school lesson. It was oddly domestic and probably the closest I will ever get to being one of those nice Mormon mommies on one of those Mormon mommy blogs, but it was a nice, peaceful moment, me baking cookies and singing hymns (hymns - I know, right? But they're the only ones I can sing from memory with any dependable sense of melody).
I also got to talk to my parents about going to visit them - I am sooooo excited - and more about buying a house. I'm lucky to have the parents I do, because they can talk me down from being stressed about doing grown-up things, like buying a house for the first time.
Today was a good day - I learned good things at church, and it was a peaceful, calm, productive day. Here's to being more peaceful and calm and productive.
