And it’s a big accomplishment.

I’ve kind of gotten a job. But it’s not a real job. Except it is.

So…

I’m a pretty big deal on pinterest. I have a huge following and have been trying to work that following into a way to make money. I’m working on my shop and marketing my artwork on pinterest… and I’ve actually managed to start selling ten times what I used to sell. (haha. I just had an email notice pop up on my screen telling me I just sold a print. :)) BUT pretty little art prints aren’t really the way to fame and wealth. Or even the way to a stable income. I would have to sell 20 prints a week just to squeak by, really… and I’m happy to be selling 5 or 6.

Ok. First let me give my etsy art print selling it’s due.

YAY! I am selling on etsy! OMG, I’m actually selling regularly. People want my little paintings! I did it! I managed to pull together my product (which I’ve been working on for years, if not decades) with my pinterest audience and stopped being so squeamish about selling myself. YOU GO GIRL. That is quite the accomplishment.

Yay me.

Ok. I am proud.

Now moving on. It’s still not enough to earn a living, enter that there job I was talking about.

I finally got brave enough to respond to one of those offers I’ve been getting in my email. People randomly email me and ask if I want to pin their stuff for money or shoes or whatever.

Except this time it was a major company and they asked if I wanted to pin for their marketing company. They would represent me and I would pin from the shops that they work for. So I said yes I’d try it. And I talked to the agents on the phone and started doing this.

And holy crap. It’s working out. I’m following their process and actually making money. Like, ENOUGH money to get by. At this point, it’s still pretend money, because they only pay once a month, so I’ll get a lump sum, and the pretend money aspect means I am in danger of not really accepting that it’s true. This is why I’m writing about it here. I’m not really ready to talk about it much irl yet.

I think it’s going to work out. I think I don’t have to be a starving artist/waitress/writer anymore. I think. Unless it’s not as good as it seems, because it does seem to good to be true. It seems like the perfect dream job, where I get to work from home, work on my art and writing, be there when my kids get out of school or have sick days or school holidays. I don’t trust this, that’s it’s a perfect dream job, and it’s not hard either, although it’s harder than just pinning for fun. I’m trying to accept the good thing, even though I don’t believe it. 3 months ago

This is a plan for the diligently happy. Today I accomplished taking an hour walk with the dog, and doubled my progress of daily goal of steps per day. I accomplished my goal of practicing my sewing. The days not over, All is well that ends well. 4 months ago

Just call me bah humbug but I find christmas way too stressful. Almost as stressful as moving… no, not even. I take that back.

But I am glad that it is over and done with. Made all the presents. Bought other presents. Baked cookies and went off to family celebrations. When it came down to it, I dropped a lot of tasks that I’d set myself.I made cookie dough for the the grownups in my house, but we had so many cookies from visiting my aunt and my mom that I didn’t feel the need to make them. So now I have cookie dough and can make cookies for new years without much work at all. yay.

I also made paella for a dinner party that my uncle wanted to have. paella and a cheese and cracker plate, salad and my own raspberry vinaigrette. The paella was delicious. No picture. too busy cooking. bad blogger.

I also managed to take my mommy vacation of a novel series marathon. Which just means that I holed up in a chair or in my room and read for a day or two in between the social engagements. Sometimes I stayed up too late.

The planning for christmas is hard, but once it happens, it’s pleasant. So it’s not as bad as moving, which is not pleasant.

Now I’m hoping to settle down and get some work done… well, here’s to hoping. I have to make my plans for the new year and get going. 4 months ago

Christmas drives me crazy. So much doing and business and the deadlines…

And then the internet went down and my sewing machine broke and I got a stupid cold that makes me head hurt and my joints ache.

But, I got the machine back up and running though it made me take a break on the sewing all last night. I was just too tired and not thinking well and it was dark and S told me to figure it out in the morning, which was what I needed to do. This morning after messing with it for an hour or so, I rethreaded the whole machine and it started working again. Wow, what a difference in how fast a sewing machine makes the work go. I was freaked out because I still had to sew my son’s present, a stuffed shark, and had left it til last because it was big. Worried about not getting him the present. But I fixed it and now I can breathe, although I still have to do his present.

However, I have already made
my daughter’s pair of friendship dolls, one brown with pink hair and one pink with black hair.
a DIY game board with two sides that they can fill in with their choice of activities, a pile of blank cards and a pile of blank money. I also gave them my gaming dice (am I really going to take up D&D again? I think not.) If I have time, I will paint the blank board with colors, instead of leaving it just white with sharpie lines. Or maybe I’ll give them the paint and let them do it themselves.

two mini bows and arrows made out of popsicle sticks and q tips.

a set of felt food (eggs, pancakes, syrup, bacon, cookies)
a set of felt monster hunters; hero, werewolf, godzilla, spider, snake.
I’ve also made cookies for school,
decorated the christmas tree
made dinner every night
and done all the sundry child duties, like bed time reading, refereeing bickering yadda yadda
done a little christmas shopping both online and in stores although we are not doing so much retail shopping this year.
plus I got a free sofa and tv and dresser on craigslist. I gave away so many of my things when I moved from michigan I have to start from scratch again. 4 months ago

Life is wackadoodle. There are no guarantees. Am I going to take the risk and go after what is important?

Yes.

I’ll give myself nine months. That’s not very long, but it should be long enough to see something is going to work and if there is movement at all. Any way, I can also work on other paths of movement.

Lately I’ve been trying to take my slow baby steps towards movement.

My shop is back up and running.
I printed out and packaged and sent an etsy sale.
I responded to some fan emails. Yes. I have fan emails. I have a folder where I put my fan emails. It makes me feel like I’m not just shouting into the void to know that I connect with people.
Opening a dialogue with the one “fan” she actually gave me some leads to look at for the agent search. Plus she told me it only needs to be 80% done to be sent out and I should query it now. That makes me feel good, because I think it is more like 90% done.
Researched out another agent.
Figured out how to get the drafts of my novel onto my kindle, so now I can read and think about my work without being tied to the computer. Yay.
Also started taking advantage of one offer sent to me to pin stuff to my pinterest board. Mama needs a new pair of shoes. Literally, they’re offering me a new pair of shoes if I pin ten things. Luckily, I like ten things in their shop and I’m looking through the stuff that I might want. Do I need ballet flats, walking boots, slip ons? They are all flat shoes. Yay flat shoes. I’m sick of the spike heel movement.
I printed out some paintings that I thought I might like to sell in my shop. (I need to start listing my new things. Need to do the photo shoot, the photo editing, then the listing.)
Painted a bazillion paintings to catch up to my 100 in 100 days creative challenge. Ok, not a bazillion, more like 40 or so. That’s a lot though.
Posted about my challenge paintings and pinned them on my 100 in 100 days challenge board on pinterest. Interesting to see which things get the most response.
Put all my paper supplies into my cabinet which sits underneath my craft cabinet. Not totally organized, but at least it’s getting there.

I think I am slowly moving forward towards being in action. I am getting ready to be a professional… something.

Plus I’ve made a million meals and taken care of kids for a googoolzillion hours. You know. 5 months ago

I think my life is fucking with me.

Every time I start to get geared up, something drops in my lap to slow down my forward momentum.

Fine. Two months ago, I had planned to really sit down and work on my writing and art career once both kids were in full time school, then I found out I had to move.

Fine. I worked constantly trying to get the move together, pack, clean, set things up, donate, and actually move.

Okay. So I finally move and set up the house and get the kids registered for their new school and they start school so I can get back to work and what happens? This school district takes A WHOLE WEEK OFF for Thanksgiving. Yo. Thanksgiving is just one day, people. I have a problem with that. So life is full of distraction and kids wanting attention and lunch needing to be gotten and stircrazy kids needing outings and blahteblah. So now I’m back with school aged kids actually IN SCHOOL.

So I have so far:
Gotten everybody a library card
Visited the beach because we’re in Florida and we should visit the beach
Unboxed various boxes and found places to put things although all the boxes are still not unpacked.
Worked on the kids room a bit more.
Made dinner many times. Cleaned up many more times.
Watched a few Walking Deads
Continued to work on my studio, which is now covered with a layer of working detritus, because I started working before the studio was totally set up.
Painted a bunch of new paintings, new series I like to call Vintaged, because it’s based on old paintings/photos and using my old materials from before I put everything in storage, some a decade or two old. I think that counts as vintage art supplies.
Painted some paperclay miniature houses.
Relisted a bunch of things that were expired on etsy
Posted a bunch of my 100 in 100 days creative challenge pieces on my blog and on pinterest.
Read a bunch of books.
Took photos of lots of things.
Looked through my notes from this summer when I was starting to research agents for my book, back before I knew I would have to move and back when I was planning to start all this business in September, when both my kids would start school full time.

At this point I am here, trying to get my head together so I can figure out how I can start moving forward again, instead of just catching up and putting things back together.

I really need to move forward. 5 months ago

fed kids and made lunches
created a pin board of world domination muahaha on pinterest. secret. no peeking.
read through lots of business pins, blogs, posts.
downloaded a blogging and biz workshop, read half
started a weebly.com website. stopped. not sure if i want weebly or just want to pay attention to my blogger blog, and add static pages there. why make it separate? not sure.
talked to uncle about plans for world domination muahaha
joined a website with free digital kids books
went through a couple of boxes and found lots of old artwork, supplies and writing
found the work i did with friends on a creativity book we wanted to write but never managed. it was based on a workshop we created.
emailed the friend about it.
feeling like I didn’t get much done productively, but laid the ground work for moving forward.
relisted four pieces on etsy
photographed and edited a bunch of art i’ve done this last month or two
spent time with the kids
had G read some star wars
made spaghetti w homemade tomatoes and sausage
tried to chase down the cat who got out of the house. was unsuccessful 6 months ago

Dressed, fed and made kids lunches
Took kids to first day of school (yay!)
Met kids’ teachers and saw kids’ school. It and they were nice.
made tentative list for Plans for World Domination (What are we going to do today, Brain? Same thing we do every day, Pinky, try to take over the world.)
Relisted 4 items on etsy
Researched Coney Island. You’d figured I would have done this years ago, considering a book I was writing took place there, but no. Also, I don’t think they had that neat google earth feature where you can take a virtual walk around a neighborhood.
Wrote about 1200 words in my lame nanowrimo. If I can write 2500 a day, I can still win. I can do that. It’s not unusual for me to write 3k a day. So it’s still possible.
Reorganized kids rooms to put a shelf for toys up, baskets for toys, and put their clothes in shelves for easy access.
Emptied and tossed out 4 boxes.
Found an outdoor chair and footstool that someone was throwing out in the alley and picked it up for my temporary studio chair. I needs to recline while I am taking over the world.
Found an old stored box full of art, artifacts and photos from back in the day when i had an actual life, not just a mom’s life.
started black beans soaking, cooking.
Made turtle brownies.
Welcomed kids home. They did not want the turtle brownies. Fricking fracking kids.
Registered for a library card. Think I’ll get my mom to take me and sign up. I still have my voter’s card from last time I lived here, so I think I’m good on identification. 6 months ago

Got kids a “reservation” for the neighborhood school but missed registration on Friday. Damn. Must register on Monday instead.

Took all the boxes out of the study. Moved furniture, desks, shelves, cabinets.
Put away many boxes of books.
Set up “sitting area” as a holding place, until i get a chair.
Put up some artwork
Set up art cabinet.
Checked out a neighborhood yard sale. Just full of junk much like the junk we just got rid of 1200 miles away but none of the junk we actually need.
Reopened my etsy shop.
Put the boxes back in the other side of the office/studio so I could go to sleep in the bedroom.
Scheduled family date with brother and sister in law for today
Cooked pork with apples and mustard sauce.
Dumped about 5 empty boxes.
Put up the light blue tapestry over the blocked windows. Makes it much prettier and it matches the walls and trim, almost magically.
Did two drawings with ink and pen from three years ago… still good. And a jar from the room and gouache from three years ago and water from the sink in the room.
Showed mom the studio and got her thinking about plants to put in there. She’s the plant lady.
Took photos of the room.
Borrowed chair from living room to make studio a functional work area.

Every little thing I get done means I am closer to being done means I am closer to being able to get back to work…although it is very hard to work when there are little kids monkeying around all the time. Step by step. 6 months ago

Drove 1200 miles in a packed car with me, S, two kids and a cat, with little to no drama. Yay.

Stopped in Georgia to see uncle, aunt and cousins. Good break.

Landed in Florida, reunited with uncle, mom and step dad.

Got kids fed and set up to sleep despite nervous energy.

Fell deeply asleep.

Woke up next morning, found coffee and other necessities

Started clearing out the kid’s room so they had a place to sleep.

Moved a million boxes and such into appropriate places.

Set up kids’ beds

Found their stuffed animals in the boxes that were shipped.(All the boxes got here before us.)

Put all the boxes of books and art and stuff in my new studio which still needs to be set up but might take a while.

Utilized my 7 days duffel bags with 7 days of complete outfits, shoes, socks, undergarments, jackets etc. That was a good idea. There was no digging around in boxes looking for something to wear. Also a good idea, labeling the shipped boxes with letters and making a list of what was in which box. I found the stuffed animals on the first try, no searching.

Revel in my own organizational cleverness despite my exhaustion and stress. I DID make it easier on the other end. Thank you me-from-the-past. You know, thank you me-from-three-years-ago, too. Because most of those boxes in storage were actually organized and labelled and easily put into the right place. A few boxes are just “toss everything in” kind of boxes, but not the majority.

Sleep again.

Wake up, get coffee, get back on line. Is it time to start going forth in my new life 1200 miles away. 6 months ago

noon
showered
fed kids
dressed kids
fed self but not enough
washed and pack set of silverware for donation
out on curb: kettle, kids chair, kids bikes, vases/bowls, stools, etc
three bags for donation
swept
two bags of groceries
set up mini wagon for 3yo across the street
Now What?

3pm
made lunch for kids
ate lunch
sorted my socks
packed my 7day bag
zipped my 7 day bag (that was tough)
s took last load to charity
talked to mom
packed the printer for storage
s went to store last load.
called mom
put kids storage out to curb
packed my road trip clothes in back pack
packed kids’ road trip clothes in their back packs 6 months ago

Halloween
Fed kids pre candy dinner
Fixed kids costumes
Took kids trick or treating
Washed black gunk out of G’s hair
Kids in pjs and to bed
Packaged missing accessories for etsy order
Dumped three boxes into garbage
started kids’ car bags
cleaned off desk
finished packing art portfolio suitcase
found places for journals
made another bag for donation
talked to mom on phone
posted halloween photo and video to facebook

NOVEMBER 1
11am
Sewed bunny legs for the stuffed animal I’ve ignored the whole time I lived here. Will finish details on stuffed bunny and stuffed snake while I am in the car.
Started last shipped box.
Got kids to school
Emailed Dad
Wrote over 2k words for nanowrimo. Don’t know where this story is going.
Ok time to get dressed.

3pm
got dressed
ate breakfast
packed boy duffel (7 days of clothes)
packed girl duffel (7 days of clothes)
sorted kids socks and underwear packed
packed craft cabinet, finally done.
packed last box of assorted crap, toys, sweaters, girl beautybox
put away sewing machine for car/storage, depending
sorted my purse
took down tapestry over the bed
three bags of garbage
kitchen box
kinda skipped lunch
went through bathroom for stuff
makeup
packed bag for neighbor
going to go pick up the kids from the school bus.

5:30
Picked up kids from school bus
treats for all
met Gr and helped her take out the lingerie dresser, some pans, her lamps, glasses and the pillows/duvet set.
Made kids dinner.
Got a glass of wine for me.
Cleaned out the kitchen island drawers
Made a box to go to the curb/give away
Got S to take the last shipped box to post office.
Cleaned off the desk
Started the computer/charger bag
did I mention panic?

10pm
Finished packing my car bag
packed my project bag, with things for kids, books to read to them, crafts.
Put some boxes on the curb
S delayed the departure another half day-whole day. (of course, because he procrastinated for a month. I must admit I did say, “I told you so.”)
Brought the garment bag up to fill with last minute things.
Gave girl a bath and washed out the last of the pink
Collecting all the car bags in the living room, ready to go. Almost ready.
Taking a break, now that I know there’s still time.

I have to say, I’m deciding to take it easy now. I have been so stressed out. We should have been gone yesterday. Right now just have to clean up, donate and pack the car. Of course there will be last minute things. But I’m not going to stress about that. 6 months ago

3pm
Decided that we will leave on Friday morning instead of Thursday morning which not only gives us one more day, but relieves some of the pressure of managing Halloween.
Got kids up and dressed and out to school with costumes.
Got dressed myself.
Finished sewing my burglar’s mask.
Swept garbage in living room.
Ate, but not enough
Delegated S to label and ship the last 5 boxes. Still under my original estimate for shipping. Still have $50 left to ship anything that won’t fit in the car.
Started the kid’s travel backpacks. Should stick in one change of clothes, books, pencil case, notebooks, travel games etc, toys.
Delegated S to take load of donations to the charity.
Packed up the donations.
Went to kid’s school Halloween parties/parade.
Brought kids home.
Dropped clothes off at old job for coworker
Said goodbye to guys from work
Left new address for tax stuff.
Came home got kids some snacks. 6 months ago

1pm
showered and dressed
packed the last box of kids toys
labelled FOUR boxes of kids toys/clothes
Sorted drawer and file cabinet of paper
Sorted art into art portfolios
Sorted underwear
Ate breakfast at lunch time
Went on line to check on how my nyc peeps weathered the hurricane
returned library books
MAILED 4 boxes
Reviewed my list of boxes and marked which were mailed.
Taped up two boxes of books to go to storage
Sent S out to get batteries, advil and a cat harness
Sorted bag of kids activities/toys for the trip
Panicked over all the stuff that needs to fit in the car.
downloaded pictures of kids halloween costumes that i made.

2pm
Sold oak chairs
sorted red toybox for donate and toss
not hearing from people who want to take my stuff and so beginning to panic. Please come take this shit I don’t want it anymore.
Keep seeing more stuff I need to take and feeling overwhelmed.
collected kitchen set to donate.
found doll family and boxed up furniture inside dollhouse to donate.
tossed a basket of garbage
lots of panic.

7pm
talked to friend who bought the couch, scheduled pickup
cleaned off bookshelves.
took bookshelves to porch
picked kids up from school
prep and put the lamb we defrosted into the oven to roast w potatoes, garlic, onions and red wine
sorted toys to throw away
filled garbage bags.
talked to guy who is taking the bunk beds. scheduled pickup
cleaned off kids dresser
bunk bed guy came, started clearing out the beds, blankets, toys, crap.
carried out mattresses
emptied out the last of the junk from the beds while he took the mattresses in his car.
tried to help him dismantle beds.
other friend shows up for sofa
take her and her boyfriend around to see if she needs anything else.
she decides on the nice table no one bought YAY a side table YAY a lamp YAY some frames YAY and the lingerie dresser YAY.
the boyfriend helps the bunkbed guy carry his bunks to the car (they all work at the same place. not me, as of sunday, I don’t work there anymore YAY.)
Tried to get as much of the stuff she wants out as possible. sofa, coffee table, bookcases and all the little stuff I gave her.
Cleaning up and dumping things into boxes as I went. (I now have too many random boxes full of stuff and my organization is gone.)
Friends left with stuff, felt relieved to see it go to good home.
Fed kids.
Sat down with lamb and wine.

9pm
put pink temporary hair coloring in the girl’s hair.
painted girl’s fingernails superhero pink
sprayed black in the boy’s frodo hair
got kids in pjs and cleaned up for bed.
transferred new bed mats from living room (no couch) to bedroom.
swept up remaining toys garbage from kids room.

I’m tired and there’s still so much to do. Damn, Frodo needs a Sting. 6 months ago

I am looking forward to the seemingly endless process of packing and moving being OVER.

Tailored G’s halloween costume so it is no longer ladies clothes hanging on a boy. Hey, it’s frodo, where else was I supposed to get a silver mithral shirt, white blouse and vest? But it works.
mithral shirt
vest
cloak

Sewed I’s halloween superhero costume using felt and the left over silver/mithral shirt.
super hero skirt (pink felt and silver skirt)
super hero shirt (pink shirt appliqued with silver star)
silver mask
button on cape

Packed a week’s worth of clothes into my duffel bag
Brought up one suitcase for clothing and necessities to last whole family for the trip.
Cleared out the dresser with all my stationery supplies
Straightened out my craft cupboard. There is more room for stuff in there. This needs to be packed tightly.
Made breakfast for dinner
Called sister to make sure she is ok in the hurricane
Messaged uncle and got phone number for our drive down 2/3 of the way.
Tried Frodo costume on G
Took down art from the wall and put into crate.
Let lady who wants to rent come look at apartment.
Got together couple of bags for woman at work.
Repacked my box of clothes.
Repacked two boxes of books. Decided those can be stored until later.
Decided my sewing machine can be stored until later. Ouch.

I need to make a list of what needs to be done in the next couple of days. I keep forgetting that we have Halloween too. I kind of planned that not much would be done on Halloween. 6 months ago

10am
Thought I’d keep track of what i’ve done this morning. besides sit around and mope.

drank coffee, ate muffin
got kids out to school,
moped,
wrote mopey email to friend,
asked for advice about mopeyness, was told to trust my process, look at my history and that I always got things done.
read 43t comment who told me I was organized and would sell the things and would get it all done.
taped up two boxes,
tossed out lots of kids school papers
almost finished cleaning off the dresser
brought out china to porch
met lady who bought the china.
showed her the plates, washed a plate off because she thought the newspaper ink was a permanent stain
i counted out the money she handed me
i stuck it in my pocket.
I waved good bye and said, “enjoy the china”
I came here and posted about it. :)

4pm
swept up
cleaned off the campaign desk
threw away a million papers
photographed campaign desk
photographed brass lamp
talked to a lady who wanted to buy the brocade arm chairs.
coordinated her pick up
went to work
made some money (less than I made today from craigslist, though)
talked to K about taking the desk, showed photo
got K’s email to send her pics of other desk, for her sister
showed A pictures of side tables and lamps. she doesn’t want the side tables because they’re too big, but she might take another one.
talked to C about the bunk beds, which he can’t afford right now, but I’d be willing to have him send me the check in feb, and he’d be willing to trade me some floor mats so he could take the beds now (get everything out) and my kids would still have somewhere to sleep/camp.
ate
came home
vacuumed the vintage brocade arm chairs
lady came to take them away,
handed me money
stood there and talked with her.
Now i have to make dinner for the kids. 6 months ago

Must keep track of stuff I’ve done.
got kids off to school
showered dressed ate
spent a long time online
emailed re selling bench (no response yet)
edited mom and pop chair photos
listed mom and pop chairs
got email re mom and pop chairs
sent email re mom and pop chairs.
cleaned up kids’ desks
photo’d and edited kids desks
listed kids desks
swept a bit
Cleaned out more bookshelf
stepped on box full of stuff from bookshelf. undid all the sweeping i’d just accomplished.
had 4 cups of coffee, two muffins and half a bowl of soup
argued on line about politics
resisted crying.
got call from woman who wouldn’t pay 100 for my china. she looked again, is willing to come see it. back on the hook.

3pm must go pick up kids from bus stop

5:30pm
picked up kids from bus stop
dealt with a temper tantrum
gave kids snack
made baked chicken legs
helped boy w homework
swept some more
put one rickety chair on street
repacked one box and managed to add a whole bunch of loose stuff
brought a suitcase out for desk materials too sensitive to ship
got new sturdier boxes from garage
brought out boy’s toy box
helped girl with spelling
gave kids dinner
ate a chicken leg while standing over the stove.

I suppose because I got so little done today, due to moping, that I’m trying to make up for it this evening. I have a lot to do.

10:30
repacked three boxes
taped shut two boxes
ate brownies
listened while G read
sorted kids clothes
got out kids clothes for tomorrow
swept
started packing inventory for boxes so i’ll know what’s in what box and what we’ve lost if boxes go missing.
emailed someone interested in the kids’ desks.

also these last two days, some things i forgot
sent in absentee ballot
made a bunch of little paper clay houses and figures
made a One Ring out of paper clay for Frodo costume
made a mask for pink superhero costume

WHY IS NO ONE BUYING THIS SHIT I”M SELLING? THEY KEEP ASKING ABOUT IT BUT NOBODY IS PONYING UP THE MONEY! 6 months ago

1pm
Got kids out
Got dressed
ate
started new donate bag of kids clothes
cleaned out kid’s dresser
sorted boy’s keep/ship/donate clothes
brought up holiday stuff from basement
sorted holiday stuff to keep/toss/give away
brought up xmas tree
brought up pretty baskets etc from basement for B
packed picnic basket with keep stuff for storage at R’s
packed another box of kids books to ship.
cleaned and photographed kitchen table
Listed kitchen table on CL
cleaned and photographed mom and pop chairs
cleaned and photographed side tables
photographed hanging stained glass lamp shade
edited photos
talked to mil about cross country trip and leads on donating furniture
talked to woman who wants the china
talked to woman who emailed about chairs
packed up pink typewriter for storage

Now it’s time to stop for lunch and a fresh pot of coffee

9pm
made lunch
ate lunch
packed up kids decorations
listed kitchen table
listed wooden bench
talked to lady who wanted china, she was too cheap. Can’t sell for that so I said no.
piled up all the stuff that is going to storage, including china
sorted through more kids clothes
cleaned out kid’s shelves
helped G w homework
fed kids
did bedtime with kids
made brownies
made muffins for the morning
got clothes ready for morning
endured pounding sinus headache all day

need to go have some tea and watch a movie in bed. maybe sort a few more clothes. 6 months ago

Mon and Tue I don’t have to work so I try to get a lot done, unless something interferes, like last Tue.

Wed, Thurs and Fri I work about 4-6 hours each day, so I get a bit done, not too tired, and I can progress, but slowly.

Sat and Sun I work a lot, very hard and sometimes a double, so I am worn out when I get home and get very little done. But the anxiety builds that I am getting nowhere. Ugh.

Last monday I got so much done, and keeping track of it here really did help me. I should probably do that again today. Well I haven’t done anything yet but get the kids off to school, so… 6 months ago

10am
Got kids out to school
Got dressed
had coffee and a small donut (doesn’t count as eating, missy)
Sorted Ivy’s underbed rolling bin for toys to keep and donate/toss
Sorted the bin-rack for toys to keep/donate/toss
Searched cape patterns on pinterest
Set up doll crib with mattress, pillows, blankets (to donate)
Sorted out big basket of crap/toys that’s been in the corner forever
Started a travel case of toys for Ivy to enjoy on the trip down.

1pm
collected all the wooden blocks into a baggie
collected set of kai lan duplo into a baggie
collected a magnetic Melissa and Doug ballerina set into a baggie
collected all the many beanie babies into a grocery bag
collected all the random stuffed animals to be given away into a bag
separated doll’s clothes into keep and donate
collected hair ties and barettes from all over and put away
Swept under G’s and I’s beds for toys and crap.
ran back and forth trying to collect and find complete sets of toys
found a starwars fighter jet AND an Obi Wan figurine. Decided to let G keep it even though I had been planning to give it away. He’s just getting back into Star Wars.
set up doll bed with mattress, pillow, blanket and old crappy doll that looks really cute and vintage in the repurposed old doll dress.
set up tiny doll cradle with mattress, pillow and a felted wool blanket and the tiny target baby doll in her original pajamas. I even found her own hat. Go figure, everything really WAS under the kids’ beds.
Rolled up the train tracks mat/rug
Separated all the toy food I found into food and tea sets/cooking utensils
Found a plastic box filled with size four girls pajamas under I’s bed. Where was that last year? I guess under I’s bed. To donate.
Collected all the random legos. Those legos are a mess.
Collected all the random doll shoes. You’ve got to be kidding me.
Set up a wardrobe box with doll clothes and accessories. Barbies are in there too, but they might need another home.
Added mini dolls to Ivy’s travel set.
Found various travel toys, like etch a sketch, a marble game, quiz cards and added them to my bag of road trip activities.
Set up I’s doll house, which is being donated, was surprised to find all the furniture neatly set up inside. Minus dolls. She likes to keep her dolls. She’s okay with the doll house going. She wants a better one. I did add a cluster of Little People to the doll house, although I almost wanted to keep them, since she loved them so much when she was little.
had coffee and another small donut. (that’s still not eating, missy, you are going to crash if you don’t eat.)

4 pm

Took whole car load of toys, clothes and household goods to the charity.
Found some things there that I can use for halloween costumes, like a perfect vest for frodo, except for that I need to size it down for a boy, a good woven throw that can be used for frodo’s cloak although I need to dye it, a gold shirt that I can possibly adjust to make a mithral mail shirt and some details on a pink superhero’s costume.
Went to drug store and got pink temp hair dye, black temp hair spray (for pink superhero and frodo) and a box of glow sticks for superheroes and magic swords that glow blue when trolls are about.
Picked up kids from school bus.
Chose fabric to make pink superhero cape. Negotiated w I to sacrifice half of a throw blanket.
Cut out pink superhero cape which needs a fastener but works very well and has a great drape to it and is very cozy.
Ate a peanut butter snickers. (still doesn’t count as eating. my stomach hurts.)

6pm
Swept up the detritus of my packing in the kids room.
Threw out a big bag of garbage
Helped G with his homework
Made kids dinner (leftovers)
Made myself some linguine w clam sauce (which they won’t eat)
Finally ate. Still not a very good diet. When I get anxious, I have a hard time eating.

8pm.
Said I was going to rest. Sat down and browsed internet a while.
Had G do his nightly reading
Tried out I’s halloween costume of pink superhero. She’s opinionated and wants what she wants, even though we could make the costume better. But it’s her costume.

Tried out G’s halloween Frodo costume of old moss green cords (will cut shorter) white shirt of mine, the new/old vest I found. Pinned the vest back and wow, it’s perfect.

Tried out the woven throw/cloak. It did not work.

Went into my closet and grabbed an old oversized soft dark moss green sweater I’d been planning on donating, said, “that’s the perfect color and texture, I wonder if it would work?” turned the sleeves inside out and sliced it up the front. Draped it around his shoulders and GASP Frodo was standing in my living room! Still need to fit the vest, cut the shirt and pants (no hems, it’s just a costume), then cut and sew the thrifted silver shirt into the mithral armor. Make a paper Ring and a cardboard Sting, somehow affixing blue glowstick to it. Maybe I’ll just paint it blue and then tape the sticks on for trick or treating.
Put kids in pajamas, sang songs, put to bed.
I should stop now, but I’ll probably go around throwing things away, at least. i don’t know what I will be able to do tomorrow, because I have a stupid appointment. I’ll have to bring a book and my journal and some paints so I can do other things while I wait. 7 months ago

emailed uncle
got boxes
packed up plants and wagoned them to neighbor to give her. then packed up harry potter potion jars in a picnic basket and set them up to wagon over tomorrow.
friended neighbor on fb
made rice krispie treats for son’s special day at school. They do this for moving and other special things, like birthdays. I was not clear of this until a few hours ago at bedtime when my son asked me to make treats for (nut allergic, dairy allergic, egg allergic) class and then told me why. So made S go get supplies at grocery store and whipped together treats.
worked 6 hours
fed kids.
helped son put toys in a box to ship.

too tired now. much to do tomorrow 7 months ago

But before I went to work, I wrote a short synopsis of my novel for this open call submission (that I am still not convinced I want to do, because I don’t want to be Epublished, I want to be PUBLISHED published. With an agent and an editor and books in the store and everything. But then, if I do happen to get picked up by this epublishing opportunity, it will be easier for me to be published published and to get an agent. It will be a first step. Okay, back up. This entry is about keeping track of things I accomplished. So.

I went to work and made money.
I wrote my synopsis
I started my query letter
I gave away a car load of stuff to a friend of mine in preparation for my cross country move.
Oh and I’m counting what I did last night before I went to bed since I stayed up til 2am to do it. I did a read through and quick edit of my novel up to page 122. I finished smoothing out the bad rumples of chapter 2, deleted chapter 3 and chapter 4. Oh shit. I don’t think I changed my chapter numbers after I deleted chapter 3.
I also made my kids food that they are actually eating. Well one of them is. Darn kids.

I still need to do some editing tonight. It actually feels good to get in there and work on my book. I think I am getting prepared for my new life as not-a-waitress-but-a-writer. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I need to take the shot. 7 months ago

You’d think that with a whole day off yesterday I would have gotten SO MUCH DONE.

But no.

Anxiety rises with the length of the to do list, particularly when there is a tight deadline and much has been left unsaid.

So I’ll tell you the truth here, in a misplaced topic, even though it is not out there in the public yet and this is the internet where nothing is private and I can be easily found in the digital world… We are moving back to Florida. Very soon. I am going to give my notice in to work tomorrow. They don’t know there, although I’ve hinted to some people and told two other people that I’m going.I wanted to wait until my manager comes back from her weekend trip, and I’ve also been waiting until it was confirmed that I was going.

Even though I’m afraid to commit to this, I have to get moving because I want to be back in florida within a month.

So yesterday, I started getting the ball rolling on packing and selling things on craigslist. Cross country trip means we’re going to have to release a lot of our stuff. That’s okay, I have other stuff still in storage down there, and really it’s just stuff.

So I cleaned off the deck or photo shootable area, and cleaned off the kitchen table for another photo shootable area. I dug out all the china, counted them up and looked them up on line. This is a good, complete, pristine set of china. Hoping to make some money on it. Now I have to check the photos, wrap it all back up and list it. blergh.

Now that my photo shootable area is good, I’d like to set up a harry potter potions area. I want to sell the stuff I made for my son’s party. It’s coming on Halloween and these are good decorations. I can even throw in some floating candles! And if they want, wands and owls.

Oh, I’ve moved into my list of things to do. Back to what I’ve done.

I also talked to my mom. Have to call my uncle and confirm that we’re coming back.

We had some big talks, me and the kids, about moving. The boy is excited for warm weather and new adventures. The girl is sad about giving up things. THe tears over the toy riding horse, oy. She never even plays with it!

What else did I do yesterday, besides making brownies to cheer a girl up?

Well, mainly I just got started. Sometimes that is the hardest part.

Oh wait, there’s more.

I packed up some kids’ costumes and dress up clothes to give to charity, early enough that maybe some kids might have something to wear for halloween. Although the girl had a hard time letting go of the two tutus, crowns and one set of wings, that she never plays with. I’m going to have to pack up things without her around. :(

I packed up another bag of clothes to take to the charity. I need to get all the stuff out that I’m not keeping and not selling, so that the packing and selling is simplified.

Must put on the big girl pants and take care of business.

Oh, I also made brownies to cheer a girl up. Not me, the crying one who likes pink and doesn’t want me to sell the china set with pink rosebuds, or anything else. 7 months ago

Butterfly costume achieved. Tutu bought, butterfly face painted, antennae made.

Jack o lanterns hollowed out, carved, put outside and lit.

Candy bought and put into halloween bowl.

My costume scrapped and gone for the easy “witch” which consists of last years hat, a black dress and boots.

Gift prizes for G’s first grade Halloween party bought and packaged.

Ivy’s fall festival attended

G’s first grade halloween party and costume parade attended.

Trick or Treating completed

and for mom, I managed half a snowflake outline, plus a bit of indexing plot, plus another type of outline dealing with goals, consequences, costs, etc.

I never finished the bigger goals of planning or fancy halloweening, that’s ok. I finished.

Now on to nanowrimo. It’s only 1:45 and I hit my 2k word count goal today, and I still have about an hour and a half of writing left before the kids come home and I have to make dinner, play doh for Ivy’s preK class, and help G with his homework.

I’m working for the rest of the week including the weekend, and I picked up a shift for monday night, so I’m hoping I can keep the writing going even when I have to work on top of mom duties. Wish me luck. 18 months ago

I painted a self portrait art journal page.
I emailed a writer lady in my town to suggest meeting up for nano.
I got both kids up and out to school today.
I paid the babysitter for his week of pickups and covering the odd times when the kids are out of school and I am still in work.
Finished my book (one more done and going back to the library)
I wrote a blog entry
I made salmon cakes with chilpotle mayo and lime/pepper rice
I got stationery supplies for nanowrimo
I worked on homework with G
I worked on my snowflake outline for my novel. Got to level three.
I got together a writing folder to keep my notes and logs together.
I started packages of kids’ photos and drawings to send to the grands, aunts, and uncles.
I put away some of my clothes (some not all. this is a really big job)

...and the day is not over yet. I love my day off. 19 months ago