Friday Sunny Fiver

1. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy! Yep, the weather is heating up and we are so happy! Rumor has it that Seattle will hit 70 in the next few days. Perfect for a trip east to hike in the mountains tomorrow (if I get all my to-do list done).

2. Had a good week in spite of all the stress. It is not easy to have guests and try to keep up with my deluge of work, but I did it and I'm proud of myself. I have one more big call today for a regular client and then I have homework for my CME course through the American Medical Writers Association. Oh fun.

3. Found THE pair of shoes to go with the suit at Nordstrom Rack. They are beautiful and will help as I stand up in front of the entire group of my colleagues for my presentation in May.

4. We've decided to skip the trip to mainland Europe and instead try to catch Les Mis in London and get to a football game while we're there. Hubby would really love that. Which works well, because I don't have time to figure out a quick overnight trip to France in my obsolete "spare time."

5. Taxes are done finally, closing the books on 2007 will feel great. Waiting on the CPA to finish. Woohoo!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Currently reading: client material for conference call
Currently listening to: Filo & Perri

The Tortoise Always Beats the Hare

A lot of people are talking about money these days, with a looming recession (fine, it's looming) and gas, food, and prices for just about everything else going up, up, up.

Slow down. Breathe. Don't panic.

If you're dealing with cutbacks, then cut back. Drop the cable, lower the cell phone bill, get rid of the extra bells and whistles on your cell and your home line, heck, drop the home phone line if you have to, sell anything that isn't nailed down on Amazon.com (my family sells their DVD collections when they're done and they make good money) and then you don't have to store it.

Quit going into the middle of your grocery store. Just shop the outskirts (and the canned food aisle) and you wouldn't believe how much money you save. I did this and forgot to buy a whole lot of processed food. I missed it, sure, but my checkbook enjoyed the reprieve.

Stop shopping for fun. Don't go to Amazon.com (if you have my problem with books) and ignore the GAP sale emails. Shop in your own home if you're bored. Dig out a closet and see what fun things you can find. If there's nothing fun in there, sell it.

And above all, remember, a slow, methodical purging of waste from your life is better than multiple overhauls of closet, pantry, or offices that cost money, time, and energy.

The tortoise always beats the hare.

In news today:

A great piece on Heather Armstrong, THE parenting blogger from the WSJ.

And more WSJ, with news that Katie Couric might leave?

And a funny piece by the Guardian on falling in love with Wikipedia.

Not much today. Things to do, places to go.

Currently reading: Making of Story (LaPlante)
Currently listening to: Rihanna

Pouring On the Inside, Sunny On the Outside

The projects are flowing in this office, which is good and slightly terrifying. I keep getting an email with great offers for both writing and editing. It's kind of fun actually.

And outside the weather is warming up for sure. They predict Seattle will be back to "warm" by Friday at 67 and warmer on Saturday. But Friday marks the warmest day since last October for us Puget Sounders. Brrrr. We're ready.

Yesterday went and got mani/pedis with the sister-in-law. She being from Georgia knows how important pretty feet are, plus she broke one of her nails the other day. I skipped the mani, and was filled with high trepidation about the pedi. Not a fan of salon pedicures. Yes, I watched that horrible talk show about those women who scarred their legs for life from some mysterious bacteria. But everything looked okay, so I went ahead. Well, bad idea. My feet look great, but the pedicurist drew blood. I hate that. Two things in my life are sensitive: my toes and my teeth. Don't mess with either.

But I can't really complain about my little wound. Hubby came home from soccer with oozing strawberries on both his knees. He's so proud of those too, which is even more funny. My little wound looked like nothing in comparison as we were up pouring hydrogen peroxide on his wounds about midnight last night. Oh the fun of living with a soccer maniac.

Variety reports that Ben-Hur will be remade into a miniseries. We'll see if they can beat the unbeatable Charlton Heston.

This is a scary prospect.

And an interesting look at the Pulitzer winners announced yesterday by a fellow freelancer.

Currently reading: European Urology February 2008 issue
Currently listening to: Filo & Perri

Feeling Feisty

Yup, my energy is coming back after having just Monday off. (And I get the rest of this week off too!)

Decided on a domain name for my new publishing venture, and have been brainstorming content for its launch in May. The new blog digs are almost ready (probably May). I didn't get much done on my first quarter goals.

Left on the list from Q1 (with new additions):

My April list:

1. Moved the blog; need to tweak it for publication.
2. Build new publishing venture site and content (has its own mini list).
3. Outline plans to revise novel.
4. Editorial postcards need to go already (by May 1).
5. Finish building corp writing site (has its own mini list).
6. Hire my VA for data entry.
7. Update www.realbrilliant.com eZine.
8. Implement decisions on blogs for both biz sites.
9. Corp site eZine writing.
10. MFA class work catch up for February.
11. Essay class (finish the most recent essay for my essay coach)
12. Daily study for DANTES and CLEP and reading/research schedule (my list of books is over 50 titles long).

My work is cut out for me. Just as I get to feeling accomplished, I see this list.

Must get to it.

CNN reports here on blurring of lines between professional and amateur writers. Interesting read.

Project Runway moves to Lifetime after one more season due in July. Boo. Hiss.

Perez Hilton has conquered Europe. He will write a Gossip Girl column for ITV.

And I'm out! Happy Tuesday.

Currently reading: Making of Story (LaPlante)
Currently listening to: Filo & Perri

And the Week Off Has Begun

And I'm online with the UK chasing editors for work.

It's just life. I will soon finish a series of work for another client and then my SIL and I will have a la-dee-dah day at home. Or we'll go to IKEA.

I have brainstormed a blogging platform for my writing. This blog will stay here for the time being as my brain dump, but a new, pro blog will be going up soon. See the scaffolding?

In today's news roundup:

Bloggers who blog to death in the New York Times. An article on how writers are scrambling to keep up with the neverending steam of news.

And then, my good buddy Allison Winn Scotch has the paperback version of her first novel coming out on 4/22. Check Amazon here.

And that's all for today!

Happy Monday!

Currently reading: Annie John (Jamaica Kincaid)
Currently listening to: Hillsong