Thankful Thursday

It’s been a while, but I told you, right? Busy, busy, busy. NaNoWriMo is totally taking over my life. I love it though! The planning is super fun, and so are the forums and the swaps going on. WOO! SO PUMPED!

I’ve neglected Thankful Thursdays for a few weeks. NO MORE. It’s time to get thankful! *digs deep in pockets for gratitude*

I’m thankful for:

• 

  This. In Red. Ha!

  NaNoWriMo coming up

• Inspiration and encouragement (to write!)
• Having enough
• People who go out of their way to help
• Perspective
• Cool things to distract me (wedding planning, swaps, forums)
• Finally getting starting writing about writing
• Upcoming professional website+blog (WOOT, WOOT!)
• Stamps (Totally gonna get one with my logo/address instead of using letterhead and printer ink; and SO gonna get others like “From the desk of” and others that make me feel legit and fancy. LOL)
• 

  Meet Samson the Samsung. He’s a photographer, tweeter, email retriever and send, AND an operator. Ding, ding, ding, ding, diiiiing! We have a WINNER!

  New phone! (I’ve been using a basic Nokia for almost a year now)

• Spray cleaner for my glasses (No idea where the one I KNOW I have is, but I bought another one)

How about you? What are you thankful for? What do you have to be excited about? How was your week? Talk to me!

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Thankful Thursday

Lots of things have been happening. I’ve been acting on things more than thinking about them lately. I’m holding myself accountable. I need to do what it takes today to be happy and fulfilled tomorrow.

Here’s a little slice of goodness from my week:

• Got to the grocery store, FINALLY.
• Picked up three movies to watch. Babe and I are whipping through tv shows and movies like nobody’s business and it’s getting harder to find things we haven’t seen yet AND would like. May soon resort to the classics. Haha.
• Doing much better with water consumption.
• Finally proved that I’m not completely inept, and I DO know how to throw and catch a friggin’ football. (I just refuse to put in full effort when I bored, nearly to death, and simply tossing the ball back and forth. Give me a challenge, and I will accept!)
• My application to be ML (Municipal Liaison) for my region (The Bahamas) in NaNoWriMo was accepted. WOOT, WOOOOT! So exciting!
• On the FINAL round of edits for my food flash for the Food & Drink themed short story competition. I’m letting it rest for a week before taking my last look at it, doing final tweaks, and sending it off.
• Finally working on a story I had resting for months. I think it’s been months. I’ve decided that some of the suggestions in the critiques were way off base. They wanted me to give them more story. Backstory, really. That is NOT what a flash piece is about. I decided to make it even shorter. Cut it from almost 1200 words to under 1000. That is MAJOR.
• Planned my entire ML month – In-person events, online events (Twitter hashtags/chats), created a blog, listed blog enough blog post ideas to post 2x/week until the end of the year, created a Facebook page, and secured venue for in-person events. All I need to do now is plan my novel (which I started months ago).
• Projects, projects, projects! Lots of things to work on. I love it.
• Positive feedback. I’ve been doing a lot of critiquing on Scribophile, and sometimes I think I may be taking things too far, BUT I want to be honest. Makes no sense posting work for crits if you don’t want the good, bad, and ugly, right? So I go hard. A lot of people seem to appreciate it, and send me the nicest little messages, thanking me for my help. One woman even said I’m a great editor AND writer, and called it a “power combo”. WOW. Mind. Blown.

How about you? What are you thankful for this week? What has you feeling great?

Oh, it’s Friday?

Wordless Wednesday

Look at the goodies Babe brought back for me from her way-too-long time away! Cute shorts, a shirt that says “It’s owl good” *giggles*, cool notebooks, pens, coloured sharpie markers, highlighters, Twix minis, lime green cell case, two brightly colour tees you can’t see, a tank you can’t see, a booklight, beer mug double-shot glass… Loving it!
Yes, everything is backwards. Makes it more fun. 🙂

 

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful for:

• Having my Babe back 🙂
• The invitation to join the flag football team started by my sister’s work. Babe and I both went to practice yesterday evening, and had funnn! Everyone thinks I suck, but whatever.
• Supportive family and friends.
• Getting closer to making a decision on the job I’m going to take, and being able to share it with you all.
• The little things that inspire smiles and create good, happy feelings
• My ability to budget, manage cash, manipulate Excel/Numbers, and make financially sound decisions (when I want to).
• The gift of words.
• Hobbies.
• Use of a car while my cousin (boss) is away, so Babe and I can do errands, grocery shop, and have date nights.
• The date nights that we will have tonight and tomorrow night… Because when you don’t own a car, but have the use of one, you’ve just GOT to take advantage of it.

How was your week? Shared any cool photos on your blog? Give me the link! What are you thankful for this week? Any plans for the weekend?

 

Thankful Thursday

Hey, y’allllll! It’s Thursday againnnnn!

I’m thankful for:

• Generic brands. Ordered a new battery for my laptop – not from Mac – from Amazon for under $20. Yeaaah!
• Patience. I only have a little, but it is usually juuust enough.
• Awesome great-grandmother. She gives me $20 and one meal per week. I may not be working, but I fo’ DAMN sure ain’t gonna starve! Haha.
• Cousin who probably really doesn’t need me, but has me answer phones in his office a few days every week. I need the out-of-the-house-ness, computer use, and pocket money.
• Babe. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And funny. And sweet. And takes me to see movies of my choice. Last night, we saw People Like Us. It was pretty good, although we were kind of annoyed by the guy the whole time. The ending totally made up for it.
• The surprise that’s coming, but I know about it. Only I and the surprise-maker know. We are excited. In two weeks, I’ll tell ya what it is.
• Writing buddies. They entertain me, give me work to do (critiques and edits)/practice, share resources, and other awesome junk like that.
• My good sense NOT to sign up for the website dealio yet. I don’t need the extra expense, even if it’s tiny. I can wait a little longer to do it. Maybe I should buy my domain name though… Hmmm… See how good it is to talk things out?
• Transportation for the next week. We can get to the grocery store with ease. Yay!

How has the week been treating you? What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

You’re ready aren’t you? You know what day it is! Let’s go!

Today, I’m thankful for:

• An oscillating fan (It is hoootttttt up in here!)
• Rain (It’s cooling the earth a bit)
• Cereal (Such a quick and easy fix)
• Yogurt (Snackedy, snackedy!)
• Water bottles (The individual, reusable ones. If they didn’t exist, I would never drink any water)
• Yoga (Calms me right down)
• Online communities (Particularly writing communities; lots of great links, tips, and resources are shared)
• Birthday cakes (How else would we celebrate birthdays?! Nothing would do quite like a cake does.)
• Third piece of my 4 year old niece’s birthday cake (I was the first aunt to get cake! Only a cousin and her dad were before me. Special auntie!)
• Progress on my ROW80 goals (Yeah, I know I’m not checking in on Sunday and Wednesdays like I’m supposed. That is just WAY too often for me. I MIGHT decided to do once per week for the duration of the challenge, but no more than that.)
• Blog buddies + their posts + their comments on my posts + their encouragement. Y’all rock!

How about you? What are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday

It’s been a looong day of driving, traffic, and unpleasant heat. I really don’t like errand days. Even more than that, I reeeally dislike days that feel unproductive. No matter how many errands I do, it doesn’t feel as concrete as getting work done on the computer, or on Xandy (my Neo2). Oh, well… These things can be deceiving, right?

Today, I’m thankful for:

• Company for my mom while she’s away having (more) tests done
• Patience
• Kindness
• Cold water
• Being 95% done with my character profiles (YAY!)
• Babe doing the grocery shopping
• New opportunities
• Balance (which I have totally mastered!)
• Two living great-grandmothers (One will be 95 the day after Mothers’ Day, and the other is just the most amazing person I know)
• New (green ladybug) charm for my Pandora bracelet 🙂 For no reason at all. Babe loves me.

Were you productive today? Would you rather be on the road, or in your office? What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

Things I’m thankful for:

• ABC (Awesome Blog Content) Award from Nicole at Three 31. I don’t have to tell you how great it feels to have followers – commenting followers – on a blog, do I? I didn’t think it could get much better than that, but there are AWARDS. And they come from followers who actually LIKE you/your blog. I love it. Awards are great for boosting blog-esteem, making others feel good, and spotlighting other blogs you follow. I can’t decide if my favourite part is sharing the award with others, or seeing who others share it with because finding new blogs rocks. The people I’m passing this on to are listed at the end of this post.
• My March and (first part of) April goals/timelines are on my whiteboard. It reflects what is in my planner. I have a LOT of writing to, and now I feel like I can stay on track.
• My Neo2 arrived! I don’t have it in my possession yet, but hope to meet up with my brother to get it today. How much more will I be writing? A LOT more!
• Steakout tickets for Saturday. It’s not really that big a deal for most people, but I looove steakouts! Hahaha. Something about getting a steak dinner for $10, knowing that the money is going to a charity, someone’s medical fund, someone’s tuition… Everything about it is great.
• Red Cross Fair on Saturday. So, basically, after stuffing myself with the steakout lunch, I’ll head over to the fair. My sisters used to take me to the Red Cross Fair every year, secretly. Why was it a secret? Far too much to explain in this post. BUT. I can go without it being a secret, and maybe they’ll show up to. I LOVE fairs. They always have yummy things like sky juice (gin, coconut water, and sweet milk), conch fritters, and other bad, bad things. Hahaha.
• M&Ms. I left my lunch in the fridge at home this morning. Fail. M&Ms though? Always a pack in my bag.
• I can see 10% more of my desk than i did yesterday. Operation: Organization. Getting there!
• Finding the Color Run! (I wish I could remember which blog I saw it on, but I don’t.) It’s a 5k run, and volunteers spray participants with color at each kilometre. *squeals with joy and excitement* I haaave to do it! Definitely the one in Orlando (December) because it’s close to The Bahamas, but it would be nice to do it in New York in August. Hmmm…
• Fiiiiinally finding the coolest bookmarks EVER. The only one I have is “Believe” and I owned “Dream” and “Let Love Bloom.” One of them is somewhere in my aunt’s house, and the other is probably in Canada, owned by some random stranger. *sighs* Anyway, I found the manufacturer or something. I hope I can figure out how to order them. They’re cool! Interlocking magnetic bookmarks. Genius.

And now, for the sharing of the ABC Award… Here we go:

• Ashley at A Small Place – Artsy goodness!
• Vix at Victoria-Writes – Writer with great music suggestions!
• Laci at My Perfectly Imperfect Life – Very honest, and lots of pictures. 🙂
• Lily at Lily in Canada – Just… Hilarious.
• Thriver at The Running Thriver – Super duper inspirational and encouraging runner.
• Jerry at Where Do Gaybies Come From? – Awesome (two) dad stories.

Now it’s your turn! What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

It’s Thursday. You know how I roll on Thursdays, don’t ya? *does the dance of thankfulness*

Here we go, one thing for every finger:

• Awesome friends (and cousins) who step in whenever they’re needed
• Last night’s dinner (Which reminds me that I was supposed to have leftovers for breakfast. Oh, well. Appetizer tonight.)
• New running tanks (They feel SO GOOD!)
• Weekend fun coming right up!
• My new nook cover
  

  Liiiiime spankin' green! ❤

• Great writing resources online, including blogs and writing/critique groups
• Babe’s support
• Neo2 on the way, and should be here by Tuesday! WOO!
• Chocolate cake (which I reeeally hope they have today)
• Lots of work to keep me busy

Off topic, but read this post on 20 life-altering concepts that you can embrace TODAY. Includes:

1. Simplify everything
2. Let go of attachments
3. Focus on the task at hand
4. Action is the answer

Read it, read it, read it. Maybe all of it isn’t for you, but there’s probably something there that speaks to you. Something that you can grasp and run with to make your life better. *does masterful tap steps* CHAL-LUUUUUUUNGE!

What are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday: Guest Posting

Happy Thursday to you! Hope your week is going well, and you’ve found at least 3 good reasons to be thankful. Whether you’re thankful to God, the universe, a family member, a good friend, or just plain ol’ thankful, I hope you are. I’m thankful for love, blogging, and blog buddies.

I usually have a nice little list of things I’m thankful for. Not this week. And it’s not because I’m not thankful. I AM. For SO much. But it’s the week of looooove. I’m in love with the most amazing person in the world, and I’m sharing the short version of the story of us. To read the story, show some love to Victoria over at Victoria Writes. She’s a blog buddy of mine. We follow and comment on each other’s blog posts. And we’re both writers. She’s REALLY good. So when you hop over there to read my guest post, be sure to check out some of her posts. Spread the (blog) looooove!

To my regular blog readers: There’s a little (or big) surprise at the end of the guest post. I’ve been keeping the secret since Christmas day, and decided to unleash it and let it run free, but that’s where you have to go to find out the big (or little?) awesome secret!

Vix, thanks a mil for the opportunity to guest post. I know it’s not always easy to let someone else cook in your kitchen. I appreciate it. Much blog love to ya! 🙂

Thankful Thursday!

It’s a busy day for me, y’all. I have lots to do. Including writing. I have 3 articles to write for work before the end of the day, and (of course) my own project. Did I tell y’all that in addition to short stories, I’m writing a novel? I may share more info later, but I may keep it offline for a while longer. I think I need it to take more shape first. Alright, so let’s start this Thankful Thursday party! WOO!

I’m thankful for:

• Amazing dinners that I go home to. Babe gets down in the kitchen pretty much every night so that I don’t have to get home after a long day at work to cook for us. And no complaints either. The other night, we had a great dish of beef strips, mashed potato, asparagus and carrots. It was sooo good. Last night, we had chicken fettucine. WITH mushrooms. Looooove!
• A great weekend. See Weekend Recap for details.
• Getting back into running. I haven’t gone all week because it’s been ridiculously busy and I’ve been super tired, but I’m back on it tomorrow.
• Nail appointment today. I really don’t like having them done, but they’re sooo pretty after. 🙂
• Improvement in water consumption
• Music. Especially by Nerina Pallot, Scala, Sarah Blasko, and Austra at the moment.
• Special treats. Like chocolate cake, ice cream, warm hugs, and sweet kisses.
• My dad. Today is his birthday. I can really say that my dad loves me, wants the best for me, and does everything in his power to make sure that I am comfortable, healthy, and well taken care of. I can honestly say that my dad has played a huge part in my life from the very beginning. He made sure my school fees were paid, my clothes were paid, I never went hungry, I took vitamins, I went to the doctor when necessary, and I was never alone or without support. He made decisions that I did not like, but I was never tossed in the backseat. Even as an adult, he is almost always the first person I call when there is trouble or uncertainty. My parents aren’t even together, and I know that he is one of the first people my mother calls for help. And he always answers. Everyone can’t say that. I can. How awesome is that?!
• Having enough. Not too much, or too little. I have enough.

Hope you’re feeling thankful today. If not, I encourage you to get in the spirit! If you’re reading this post, that means you can:

• Read
• Get internet access
• Be thankful too

So get on it. Let me know what you’re thankful for today. 🙂

On another note, I’m on a hunt. I want a new writing device. I would use it exclusively for my novel (and possible short story) writing. I don’t want another laptop. Or a desktop (Blech!). I’ll settle for a netbook if I have too, but something like the Neo2 or Dana (overpriced, in my opinion) would be cool. They just seem like old models. No updates in a while. Do you know of any other products like them? I can’t seem to find anything else. Not knowing what exactly to search for is probably a part of the problem. “Neo2 competitor”? “Writing device”? “Writers favourite gadgets”? I really don’t know. Nothing is working. HELP! Please let me know of anything you have used, heard of, stumbled upon, or magically found by searching on my behalf 🙂 Many thanks for your efforts!