Updates and goals

Well, the bookcases taller than three feet are all in the bedroom.  I couldn’t keep Kathryn out of them, and can’t really anchor the cheap, knock together ones to the wall.  So, no wall of bookcases full of books in the living room for me.

The bedroom is still very nice.  All of the clutter that doesn’t belong there is out.

This week, it’s the living room and hallway to get cleaned up, and the kids’ schoolroom area to set up.  Not nearly as much work, there.  Just a few boxes to sort…and a clutter-loaded desk to clear out.

On the other hand, my department head emailed me and told me that one of my courses didn’t “make,” there were dozens of students looking for a seat in a different course, so he opened another section of Composition II, and gave it to me.  I’m glad to still have two classes for the semester, but…I don’t have the textbook redone for Comp II, and it’s set for 10:00, instead of 8:00 (a problem, because it either splits my office hours, or makes sure I get home an hour later).

So.  Goals for the week:

1. Get the textbook rewritten for a traditional class, since it’s set up for an online class.

2. Get the living room completely clutter free to make keeping up with housework this semester easier.

3. Get the hallway cleared out so that my kids can have someplace to run when it’s raining (like it has been for the past week).

I probably won’t have any time whatsoever to work on either of my novels (Highway to Tartarus or Resurgent), but if I do, I will work on one.

Been busy

Unfortunately, not with writing.

Our bedroom has been so cluttered with things that don’t belong in there that we couldn’t walk through it.  It only got worse when the clothes rack we had for our dress clothes* collapsed, and we had to put everything in a great big box.  Eventually, things were stacked even with the surface of the bed, jammed between the end of the bed and my husband’s dresser, four feet away.

Not restful.  And not much I could do about it…until last weekend, when we put up closet hardware in the wasted closet space in the end of the hall bathroom.

I’ve gotten all of our dress clothes hung up (and can see how much needs to be handed off to charity) now.  And that gave me the energy to get two-thirds of the rest of it out.

I’ve still got a lot to do–the winter clothes never got packed away, more like tossed aside; there’s a lot of stuff dropped in the eighteen inches between my side of the bed and the wall that needs to be cleared out; there’s about four boxes of stuff out of the living room that needs to be sorted; and last, we need to get more of the bookcases shifted around.

I got one of the shorter bookcases shifted back to the bedroom, and a four-shelf bookcase set up in the living room and stacked with books.  And I feel…better than I have in a while, emotionally.  I suppose books, even when I can’t really read** are my security blanket.

So.  Since I didn’t achieve any of my goals last week (except getting the last of the carpet out of the utility room), I guess the writing goals can just carry over to this week.

Update: Andrew pointed out that, with a two and a half and a not quite five year old, a tall bookcase is not a very good idea.  So much for that until the kids are older.

At least it reduces what I still have to do.

*Our bedroom closet is full of a fat little electric water heater.  There’s really no room for two people’s clothes.

**I say I can’t read, but it’s more like I can’t read paper books.  If I do, I get so far into it that I don’t notice what’s going on around me–not good when you’ve got two small children running around.

Sorry!

Yesterday was a very long, very busy day.  I got about two square yards of carpet ripped out, had a bit of stubborn padding to try to scrape up (and succeeded–white vinegar works pretty well as a carpet glue solvent…but it’s pretty stinky.  Sent my cats absolutely batshit insane trying to get away from the smell).

And then…the kids decided to act up around bath time.  Long story short, my son threw about half of his bathwater out of the tub onto his sister while she was sitting on her potty chair…and I was stuck in the kitchen in the middle of a job I couldn’t stop until I finished.  Little girl was as wet as if she’d gotten back into the bath with her brother.

I did get one story finished last night.  I’m kind of in the middle of plotting another one.  No, I didn’t get the writing I wanted to done.  I got a little bit done in the kitchen and pantry, but not as much as I’d hoped.

So…for this week:

1. Finish getting moldy carpet out from under washer and dryer.  It’s literally making me sick.

2. Finish redoing the textbook.  Things were as rushed and hectic as I assumed they were going to be last week.

3. Write as many stories as I can get written.

Goals…and a free book

Survivors is free for download until Friday of this week.  If you don’t have a copy of it, now’s the time to get one.  Let me know what you think of it.

I spent a good bit of time last week trying to get the pantry and utility room cleared.  And the kitchen cleaned up a bit, and got a little bit of decluttering work done in the living room–my knitting is now consolidated in a 12″x14″x24″ box.  I’ve got a little rearranging work to do in the kitchen and pantry, and a lot more decluttering work to do in the living room, but it’s coming together.  Finally.

I got a little more writing done…but got derailed pretty bad by some personal life happenings.  I’m going to try to compensate for that, but my ninth wedding anniversary is coming up this week.

So…goals.

1. I’d like to write at least half of the stories I have left to write–about five stories.

2. I need to finish the revision of my textbook and get that posted in my Blackboard site.

3. I’d like to finish up getting the kitchen and pantry rearranged for greater efficiency, as well as declutter in the kitchen.

I’m not going to put any more on my weekly goals list, because between child care and an upcoming anniversary, I probably won’t accomplish even that much.

Life sucks

I got some of my goals achieved last week, but not all of them by any means.  I no longer need to worry about the stupid textbook, but I still have the sequel to The Godshead to write.  The living room furniture is rearranged, but still needs to be decluttered.  Badly needs to be decluttered.  The closet didn’t get done, nor the clothes moved.

So.  I have two goals this week.  Get the closet put together, and the book I’m working on written.