Friday Rainy Fiver

1. Blasted email won't work today! Can't get in or get out for day job and for my main freelance email. This will be fun.

2. Work is almost all done for freelance. Finishing up two projects today and then another begins Monday, but for the weekend, I'm caught up!

3. Guest room is spotless, hubby cleaned his office, and the rest of the house is clean. Just our bedroom (laundry) and bathrooms. Then I need to buy food and we are ready for company.

4. Behind on Netflix movies! Need to catch up this weekend. Can't wait for new episodes of the Office next week! Woohoo!

5. Writing will continue into this weekend and into next week. Sample chapter work continues, need to place some platform-building articles out there, essay rewrite, and need to read a pile of books and start work on the novel revision plan. Plus short story MFA work to catch up on! Yikes.

And I'm off to the rainy beyond.

Currently listening to: The Anthem (Filo)
Currently reading: RSS feeds

Let's Just Wait Until 350 Posts To Switch

Got slammed today with day job work and freelance work and little niggling details that only I can attend to. So what's new?

The bookshelves are up and every single book fits on a shelf! Happy day! No piles under the coffee table and on side tables or stacked behind the couch in the living room, no more books stacked three feet high on my reading table, no more books stacked in a maze pattern on my office floor, no more books stacked in the hallway or on the floor in the guest room. Everything is on a shelf. And boy, do I feel accomplished.

Put another 25 books on hold at the library yesterday and put myself on the list for a Kindle. The rumor is that the wait is no longer at six weeks and since I need to read the new Jodi Picoult, but have four feet of bookshelf space left, I don't want to use up my shelf space on a one-time read. Plus, the traveling coming up will require lots of books and not enough room for them all. So the Kindle was a logical choice. Ordered April 2, 2008, let this blog be a measurement of how long it takes.

It comes with a book cover, a USB cord, and a power cord. It automatically updates with subscribed newspapers and magazines, and if I'm thinking of a book, I can order it direct from the Kindle (in the US). Fully recharges in 2 hours. Easy on the eyes.

The reviews from friends who own one are impressive. Everyone loves their Kindle. And even though seeing Shan's iPhone made me REALLY want one, I'm still waiting for the new 3G network until I buy. Plus my Blackberry will do fine for this year.

In writing news, getting my brain wrapped around my three projects and good thing too. A major trip is now looming on the horizon (bigger than London) for this month and if I go, I will get tons of writing done. Found a major research paper using the King County library extended academic research database, and pulled down a pdf, for free! It deals with the subject matter I'm working on for my YA novel.

Sister in law comes in tomorrow, must go vacuum.

Currently reading: New Oxford Guide to Writing
Currently listening to: Hillsong

301st Post For This Blog

When television shows get to 300 episodes, they get a cake and a party. Hello?

I got chocolate chip cookies last weekend, so relax.

I wanted to move the blog to the new domain by this 301st post, but I'm not done tweaking the new digs, so everyone will just have to wait.

In today's news wrap-up, I'm still fascinated by the debate over receding Google clicks. As someone who uses Google's ads to generate income and to advertise my own business, I will continue to follow this closely.

The fizzle of freelance writers? The New York Observer observes a trend.

And the specialization of book clubs, which is a trend I am a part of. My "book club" is simply five writers who talk writing, but we always take a poll and ask what everyone's reading and then discuss. The last meeting was a heated debate on "The Other Boleyn Girl" and continued reverence for Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love." Good article, anyway.

Busy day today, so will get to it. Essay work is on deck right now!

Currently listening to: Hillsong
Currently reading: New Oxford Guide to Writing

Back to Work, Back to Work, Back to Work, Work, Work

Yup, I had a three-day weekend. Very nice, I might add. Trying to burn up my vacation because it all restarted today for the next year. Since I get 4 weeks a year with my job, it seems I will be taking more vacation than I've ever had in almost 15 years of freelancing. Well, sometimes freelancers just take a day off, but most of the time, we work!

I get all of next week off (my last five days from 2007 vacation), which works out nicely because my sister-in-law arrives Friday night. We can't wait.

Had a fabulous weekend with the sis and we shopped and gabbed and brainstormed and watched movies (August Rush, which was pretty good in spite of the crazy photography), and I think she's well-stocked with work clothes (as am I! Found a suit at J. Crew!) and a few ideas on things to accomplish in April.

I finished up multiple projects while she was here, which just started to bug me and so all in all, it was a very productive weekend. Snowed, sleeted, hailed, rained, thundered, lightninged, blew, and blustered all weekend. We still have hail crust on the ground. They say it is to be 60 degrees by Friday.

Bring it on. I bought new flip flops.

Today is finishing up more little stuff (multiple freelance and work projects), sign up for AMWA's spring education conference in May, finish tax papers for the CPA, and begin to get the books off the floor and onto the bookshelves!

Yep, they arrived yesterday, in good shape, and I can't wait to have a shelf for every book in this house. Plus, now that everything can be shelved, I can start weeding out books that can be sold or given away. Woohoo!

This week, I aim to begin the first sample chapter for the book project. We're still in limbo waiting on the publisher's editorial committee, but I like to get something down before they ask for it. Plus, the essay needs revising and I've got to begin a novel revision schedule and master plan.

The client from last week (I quit their project; not their fault at all) offered another lucrative project yesterday and so I need to get the specifics going for that today as well.

Currently listening to: Mighty to Save (Hillsong)
Currently reading: New Oxford Guide to Writing