I saw the link to 12 Truths I’ve Learned from Life by Anne Lamott in one of my Facebook Groups. I found it interesting and thought I’d share the link for you guys. It’s a TED talk, so you can listen or read it. I read it myself, and am going to go back to listen to it after I set up this blog.

A couple of my favorite lines:

1. Every writer you know writes really terrible first drafts, but they keep their butt in the chair. That’s the secret of life. That’s probably the main difference between you and them. They just do it. They do it by prearrangement with themselves. They do it as a debt of honor. They tell stories that come through them one day at a time, little by little.  Yes, this! It’s exactly what I’m doing now. It’s a messy, ugly thing, but I’m giving it my commitment every day I can, even if I’m only actually writing an hour or two at a time.  And slowly, I’m hearing the whispers my characters again. Each day, each hour, each minute I put in the time to listen and type, the voices will get louder.
2. Publication and temporary creative successes are something you have to recover from. She goes on to say MUCH more about it, and I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, for instance when she says, The most degraded and evil people I’ve ever known are male writers who’ve had huge best sellers. That is not my experience. However I do relate to many of the other things she said. One of my biggest surprise successes was The Plus One Chronicles trilogy. I woke up one day, and out of nowhere, it was taking off on the charts. I thought I was seeing things. I had to have someone else look to tell me if it was really happening. And even then, I couldn’t fully grasp what it meant. Eventually, I understood the full implications, and then, it became a frantic race to replicate it, when in all truth, it’s not something we actually can predictably replicate. That kind of sudden, out of the blue, success is as elusive as fog–we can see it, we can almost touch it, and then it shifts and sways and vanishes, only to reappear a mile down the street. A book that is a success in the moment today, may go unnoticed and unappreciated if it came out one year later, or earlier. Chasing success can be crazy-making. What created more havoc for me was the internal pressure of expectation. Both real pressures (have to make money, pay the bills, worry about making more money if someone in the family is sick–Real Life happens to all of us) and the perceived pressures of not letting anyone down; fans, family relying on me, people telling me if I did it once, I could do it again. All that pressure fills and fills until it’s an oversized balloon ready to burst. Anne is right that creative success is temporary and it can be destructive. Writers do better, in my opinion, when we can keep all that outside of our writing space. I think someone who does that well is Nora Roberts. I don’t know her, but my impression of her is that she can separate her author/businesswoman persona from the writer who sits down at that keyboard and writes a story.

Wow I had a lot to say today, LOL! Anyhow, I think this is worth a read or listen if you’re interested.

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

My weekend highlights were Turbo, new washer and dryer, temporarily repaired tooth, cookies and words! A busy one!

First, my dentist was awesome. Despite my worries that the cracks in the tooth around my old filling went too deep to save the tooth, all I needed was a crown. Yay! Ninety minutes of drilling, etc wasn’t fun, especially for my neck, but worth it. The temporary crown is on, and I’ll get the permanent one in two weeks.

Saturday, I went to see Turbo while Wizard stayed home for the washing machine and dryer delivery. I’m surprised he didn’t seem to mind because he’s our grandson’s #1 fan. But Wizard told me to go have fun and not to worry. So I did and OMG that boy is a fountain of amazing energy and curiosity! We played and played and played while his dad went into the office (tax season) and his mom got some meal prepping done. It was so much fun, but by the time I got home, I was exhausted, LOL! Although I will say this about my Grandma Skills: Turbo loves playing cars and trucks, and after raising three boys, I am really good at playing cars and trucks! So there I was, crawling all over the house, making engine sounds with my cars. I should have had Special K video it to show you all, LOL!

When I got home, the washer and dryer were all in, set up and ready to show off their skills. So far, the machines have worked great through four loads of laundry. We are both relieved after a year or so of struggling machines that sometimes worked, and sometimes refused.

Sunday, Wizard went off to race with middle son, and I hung out with Maggie, made cookies and wrote some words. I’m reweaving the story, using some old scenes (with rewrites), writing news one and beginning to see a really solid big pictures. It’s a slow and tough process but as long as I stay on track, and keep believing in myself, I’ll get there. I’m already past the 250 page mark Once this book is done, I’ll get over the invisible mental mountain that I dropped in my own way.

Oh and the cookies! I really craved something that had a “chew” to it and dark chocolate. Because I had all the ingredients on hand, I made these oatmeal pumpkin cookies but I substituted a heaping cup of dark chocolate chips for the pecans (I can’t eat nuts with the temporary crown). They really satisfied my craving, so it’s a win for me.

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF! Let’s jump in with sharing five random things about our week.

1. I feel much better after starting the week sore from various things, including sudden weather changes. Yay!
2. After months and months of struggling with my washing machine and its mysterious spin cycle, my dryer announced his sudden retirement. We bought a new set that should be delivered Saturday. I chose a simple Maytag top loading set that should fit in my laundry room and hopefully will work without complaining.
3. I broke a tooth Wednesday night. Ironically, I think the molar cracked while I was eating the healthy granola I made a few days ago, then part of the tooth actually broke last night. Side note: The brownies I made did no damage Anyway, I see the dentist this morning. That should be a fun visit. I have no idea if the tooth can be saved since it broke around an old filling. The good news is I’m not in pain (they would have gotten me in right away if I was), and at least it’s in the back of my mouth so no one can see it.
4. I’m on a soft food diet until the tooth can be fixed. Guess what? A brownie is soft! But I miss my salads and hard fruits. Not eating meat doesn’t bother me at all. I know I’m weird.
5. I made a little progress on my book! It’s still slow, but Wednesday and Thursday I really did move forward and feel good about that.

That’s my five things. We had originally planned to go see Turbo Saturday. I may go by myself and Wizard will stay home for the delivery of the washer and dryer (he offered), or I’ll change it to Sunday. I’ll talk to Turbo’s parents and see how things work out. Now I’d love to hear five random things about your week!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I have a secret. Judging by all memes and rabid hysteria on social media, I guess I’m taking a big risk by telling you all this. But, honestly, I can’t hold it in any longer.

Girl Scout cookies are boring. Dry, stale and generally not worth the trouble.

There. I said it.

Do you hate me now?

P.S. We’ve bought a lot of Girl Scout cookies over the years to support the kids of friends and neighbors. We’re not terrible people! Really  

Happy February! I’m late getting the blog up because of “user error” Which is what happens when I try to do something at 9:00 o’clock at night

Good weekend and a short blog We went to Middle Son’s for Super Bowl yesterday and had a fun and relaxing time. Dinner was great, and I adore their two dogs Jett and Hazel. Maggie did okay with them too. I’m not at all into football, but even I could say it was a good game. But the dogs mostly kept me entertained while the others yelled at the TV

Toady, I’m hoping to get to the gym and back to the book. We’ll see if Monday decides cooperates with my plans!

**Add Update: It’s cold and windy here today, and I’m pretty sore, so I skipped the gym. I’m pushing a bit too hard, so I may have to rest a week with just stretching, walking and a little core work at home. It’s about time for a shot in my elbow too. I’m icing it today to see if it’s just particularly cranky from a RA flare or it’s the tendon. However, this all is minor stuff. I’ve just learned over the years to pay attention when these little flares happen before they become a real problem.

How was your weekend?