Miscellaneous Meanderings

Well, I'm up, I've had my coffee, and I'm feeling better. Not Pollyanna positive, but better. Today, I need to get the beginning of AFF off to author Melissa James for the critique I won in Larissa's auction. I'm kind of low-key excited about finding out what she thinks of it. I'm still not in a "let's jump in and write!" mood, but I'm feeling less of the urge to dump and delete everything and run off to Cedar Key where there are no phones, no cars, no problem.

Realized also that I haven't offered a submission update lately. HOTM is still out at four houses (hmmm, so far I'm 0 for 6, LOL). TAC is still at SIM. I try not to let the waiting and wondering stress me out, but you know I do.

Our renovations at home have stalled out as a result of the holidays, but I'm hoping February will have us back to work on that. I won't let anyone but my mother in the house right now because it looks so bad, and some days, letting her in is iffy. I will be so glad when we're done, at least with the main living area so I can have friends over again. My friend Pam thinks the upheaval of renovation -- being unable to keep things organized and really clean, feeling isolated because it's such a mess all the time -- coupled with a little teacher burnout and the writing stresses is at the core of how I've been feeling the last few months. She may be right. In the past, I've always handled stress well -- but I wonder if I've overloaded my coping ability this time around. I do know that things that would never have bothered me before now tend to make me very edgy and that the moods tend to have a spiral effect to them. I find it difficult to pull myself up from the down moods (and I know I'm driving the wonderful CPs insane -- I'd dump my whiny self if I were them. But I'm working on less whining and moaning and feeling bad, out loud at least. I swear.). However, I've started exercising again -- walking with a friend a couple nights a week and I'm trying to work the treadmill back into things -- and that's helped somewhat. Did I mention I get addicted to the exercise high?

We're planning a trip later in the spring, and I'm looking forward to that. There are only four more months of school, and I'm really looking forward to that. Even better right now -- no school Monday. I get to sleep in again tomorrow. And I'm most looking forward to that!