Monday, May 07, 2007

Monday Mumbling

When people say to me: "How do you do so many things?" I often answer them, without meaning to be cruel: "How do you do so little?" It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever. ~ Philip Adams

Call for help:

I got a juicer this weekend. It was a used one from my husband's aunt who no longer wanted it. This particular aunt is very well-to-do and discerning in her purchases, and this juicer is top of the line.

I've always wanted a juicer, but wasn't willing to spend the money on a really good one. Now, I have one and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. Anyone out there do juicing? Send me some recipes, would you? Thanks!

Moving on...

I gardened this weekend. It was wonderful. I completely redid the two gardens in front of my house. I wish I'd thought to take before and after pictures, so I could show them to you and you'd all ooh and ahh. Well, maybe not, considering most of the plants are about two inches tall. Nearly everything in the northeast goes to ground for the winter so things have only just begun to emerge. However, in another few weeks, it'll look stunning. And I really love the smell of cedar mulch (actually I prefer the smell of cocoa shell mulch -- mmmm, chocolate --- but it gets too hard and plants can't grow up through it after a while).

I did manage to get some writing done, and met the weekly MayNoWriMo goal by the skin of my teeth. I was remarkably uninspired this weekend and mostly stared at the computer or played games.

I have discovered one thing: writing a murder mystery type book gives me the opportunity to have my characters say things they wouldn't otherwise. Like, "That isn't rust, it's blood." Yup, the hero just advised the heroine that the innocent looking implement she found is not old and beat up, but is instead a murder weapon. They don't know who was murdered yet ... but they will soon, because a the heroine gets to find a body in the next scene! Nothing but good times ahead...

The ladies in my MayNoWriMo group posted goals recently. Here's what I wrote -- y'all can help keep me accountable :-)

I plan on having my novel (My 2005 NaNoWriMo novel, BTW) polished and ready for submission by July. I plan on having my MayNoWriMo novel first draft done by June 2nd. I have a novella of 25,000 words that I just finished and want that polished and ready for submission by October.

Not to mention my standing goal of submitting two short pieces every month somewhere... though with the craziness this month, I may not make
it.

As I read over what I just wrote, I wonder if I've lost my mind...
I want to have my novella submitted by October if possible because November is NaNoWriMo month, and I don't want to miss it. I even have the story idea for it -- it's called "The Cartoonist and the Cat Lady". Okay, that title will probably change, but you gotta start somewhere.

And those are the days of my life. What did you do this weekend?

Have you entered my contest yet? (C, I put your name in this week for you). If you haven't, leave a comment here. Good luck!

5 comments:

Allie Boniface said...

Love today's quote!

anno said...

I loved today's quote, too. It sounds like you made excellent use of the unlikely coincidence of sunshine and weekend. Maybe we could see pictures of your garden in a couple of weeks?

groovyoldlady said...

Isn't that weird? I usually ignore the quotes.

But this one really got me too!

Hey...I've got a great, painful murder weapon for you. I'll post a pic on my blog...

Anonymous said...

That is a great quote!

Yeah, you do get to say fun things in murder mysteries. :)

Ceri Hebert said...

You're too busy. I can't get half the things done that you do. I'd love to do some gardening, but our yard is hopeless. It doesn't help that we rent and we have no control over what the other tenants do. But we have rose bushes to replant and a bush to replant.

My writing is back on hold for more proofreads on Finally Home. Man its weird, in a good way, to hold my own book in my hands.

evjyr-every vegtable juicer yields refreshment (with my juicer I just toss things in randomly. I love beets and carrots though, they're a staple when I make juice. And I like sweet, fruity juices best)