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Archive for June, 2013

Fitness Friday – Back on Track!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 28, 2013| 8 Comments »

Finally! My plateau seems to be over, at least for now. I’ve been struggling with the same 2-3 lbs., going up and down, up and down, until I thought my head was going to explode. It would have been easy to just quit, believing that my workouts weren’t doing any good, my change in habits not helping. But I kept on even when I was feeling a little discouraged. Because you know what? Things would have been a whole lot worse if I went back to my old habits. And the perseverance has paid off. I was happy when I got back down to my lowest weight. So I was even happier when I saw, this morning, that I had lost even more. So this is a lesson to all of us. Don’t give up. Don’t think a plateau means you’ve stopped losing weight. Maybe it’s just your body resting for a bit. If you do hit a plateau, you can sometimes get past it by eating things a little differently. For instance, you can cut down on carbs and eat more protein. Or you can do exactly the opposite, cut down on protein and eat more carbs. Change which veggies and fruits you eat. Drink more water. Just do something DIFFERENT. This has always helped the Weight Watchers members I taught when I worked there. But the most important thing is to not get discouraged. If you continue to expend more calories than you take it (unless you’re eating too LITTLE and your body thinks you’re starving it), you’ll eventually lose the weight.

I also want to invite all of you to comment here about your own weight loss/healthy living struggles. I do want to encourage anyone who needs it. Sometimes just putting it out there and sharing with others helps. So every Friday, when I post Fitness Friday, feel free to share your own stories in the comments. Let’s do this thing together, okay?

I haven’t been sharing stats since my weight has been all over the place and wouldn’t settle down. But I’m back to sharing now. So here it is.

Stats for this week:
Beginning weight: 193
Today’s weight: 169
This week’s loss: 2.5 lbs.
Total loss: 24 lbs.

P.S. Update on my dogs. My old dog, Chipper came back yesterday, and he’s still home. However, Duke did not come back. We looked again at his broken harness, and both hubby and I determined that it HAD been cut. So someone must had tried to steal him that night and just couldn’t get hold of him, and it might be those same people that have him now, although there’s no way to know. We’ve canvassed the neighborhood, and no one will claim to have seen him. 😦

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My Heart is Broken – My Dogs are Missing

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on June 27, 2013| 16 Comments »

Let me start from the beginning. We acquired a puppy when someone dumped him off at our house. Most of you have seen the pictures. He’s a lovely mixture, but I think he might mostly be pit bull. He’s a very rambunctious fellow, and he just can’t be still. We had him on a long run with a nice doghouse, lots of shade, toys…he was a happy dog. But he was always pulling on his collar, wanting to get to us when we weren’t right there beside him. Worried that he would damage his windpipe (he was starting to wheeze), we switched him to a harness instead of a collar, and that was working out really well. Keep in mind, he still had his collar ON, it just wasn’t attached to the lead. Yesterday morning, my cats took an interest in what was going on outside on the deck. It turns out that Duke was loose, on the deck. I went to check out the harness, and it was split in two. My husband thinks it broke, but it looked cut to me. I was going to put the leash on Duke’s collar and lead him back to his run and attach it by the collar. No collar. Now, he had been hooked up to the lead on his run by this collar for months and he hadn’t gotten out of it. So why was his collar suddenly gone? And why did his harness look cut? I honestly believe someone tried to steal him. Stealing this dog would be hard because you can’t get HOLD of him…he’s too feisty. Which is also the reason I had to leave him loose all day yesterday. We had nowhere to put him, and no way to get him anywhere. He’s strong and big, and there’s no way he would let us put him anywhere. So on the way home from work, I purchased another collar for him. When I got home, he was not there. My son looked everywhere. In the woods. Up and down the road. Nothing. He wasn’t there this morning either. But I swear I think I heard him barking this morning from the direction of my nephew’s house. That was the first place my son drove by yesterday, but he couldn’t see anything. My nephew expressed interest in him before when he saw pictures on Facebook. I don’t want to accuse my nephew unjustly. But if I had to venture a guess as to who might have my dog, he would be the first in my mind. So now, what to do. Do I upset my brother by suggesting my nephew might have him? I don’t want my son going down there because there might be a fight, and that scares me. I don’t want to get the police involved because I could be wrong, plus it’s family. Oh, I didn’t mention…my other dog is missing, too, so I’m sure they went together. Chipper is old and has been loose for a long time. He doesn’t ever get into any trouble, but with Duke by his side…. I’m praying they come home. Part of me hopes my nephew has them. Part of me hopes he doesn’t, because of the family thing. But if I had to say either way, I’m leaning toward him having my dogs.

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My Cover Artist – Anya Kelleye

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on June 26, 2013| 29 Comments »

I’ve wanted to be an author all my life. I got sidetracked for awhile, but I finally embraced the self-publishing, and then ebooks. But what to do for my covers? So my bestie, Anya, started playing around with Microsoft Word and created covers for three of my first books. She’s a very creative person and always has been. When it looked like I was in this author thing for the long haul, she purchased a program called CorelDraw so she could make more professional covers. The first ones she produced with this program were pretty good, but we both agree we might change them when she has the time. She’s asked me if I want to change the covers of Club Blood and See Me that she made with Word, but I still really love those covers.

So now, her career has really taken off better than mine. She’s been contacted by several authors to do covers, business cards, bookmarks, posters, FB banners, etc. This just shows what happens sometimes when you’re a genuinely NICE person. She started all this to help me. I had to MAKE her start charging me for covers. So now, because of something really nice she did, the good karma is coming around. Am I jealous? Heck, yeah! LOL, no, not really. I wish for my bestie all the blessings in the world. She deserves to have this career. Her day job is driving her crazy (at least I LIKE mine), and she needs out of there so she can let loose her creativity. Right now, she works well into the night sometimes, just to get everything done. And she puts up with me wanting to change this and change that until my cover is the way I want it. I’m probably her pickiest author.

Anya, you are the best. I’m so happy that you’ve put yourself out there and got some awesome authors to put their covers in your hands. And if any of you are looking for a cover artist, Anya’s prices are very reasonable. Check it out! PRICING

Pssst! Anya didn’t know I was going to do this post. Don’t tell her, okay?

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New Release – Flight by J.R. Pearse Nelson

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 25, 2013| 2 Comments »

My good friend, J.R. Pearse Nelson, just released the third in her Children of the Sidhe series, Flight. I’ve followed this series all the way to this novella, and I think this one is my favorite. Now would be a great time to pick up all three novellas since they are all priced at .99 right now. This is a great deal for a great set of books!

Click HERE to learn more about the series and where to buy. 🙂

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Sunday Stuff 6/23/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on June 23, 2013| 9 Comments »

I’ve got my motivation back. I wrote 1410 words on Thursday. Since I skipped Friday and Saturday (Saturday I had stuff going on all day, and I don’t know what the heck happened Friday), I wrote today. Sunday is ALWAYS one of my writing days off. But I had to make up for the other two days. Before I knew it, I had churned out 2276 words! I had expected to write about 1000, so that was great.

I’m going to try to be more conscientious about what I’m eating this week. I’ve been stuck on this plateau for several weeks, so I need to do something to kickstart weight loss again. Sometimes, it just takes changing up the TYPES of food you eat rather than changing the amount of calories you eat. We’ll see what happens. And I need to drink more water!

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Fitness Friday…And Other Stuff

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on June 21, 2013| 14 Comments »

Weight loss can be so frustrating. I’m continuing to work out with weights four days a week. I added an extra five lbs. to some of the machines yesterday, so that was cool. I’ve been walking on the treadmill for 15 minutes in the mornings. I WAS walking about 45 minutes in the evenings, too, but my foot has been acting up again. It’s usually better in the mornings, but by the afternoon, it’s hurting too much to walk. This is a chronic problem and usually goes away on it’s own in about three days. I’m also eating less and TRYING to eat better, although eating better is a slow going thing. But I’m STILL not losing weight, even with all these changes I’m making. I sticking right at the 172 mark. The scale goes up and down all week, only to settle at 172 on Fridays. Maybe I’ve just hit a natural plateau since I lost so steadily for the first 21 lbs. I saw this happen a lot at Weight Watchers when I worked there. I’m not giving up. I know it has to come off eventually. If you expend more calories than you take it, you have to lose weight, right? I just need to make sure I’m eating ENOUGH. If you don’t eat enough calories, you body thinks you’re starving it and hangs on to fat. I’ve seen this happen, so I know it’s true.

Some pretty good news. Most of you know I was upset because hubby got disqualified from a great paying position in the company he works for due to some *#&$*&#$’s who have a beef with him. And then they put him on second shift on an entry level job with low pay. Well, apparently, human resources (I expect there was some help from the union) said they couldn’t do that. So, even though he couldn’t have the premium job back, they had to let him choose from three different jobs in the plant. Now here’s where I can show you what a decent human being my husband is. There was one day shift job he could have taken, but he would have bumped several people out of their jobs into other jobs, which would have made them unhappy. So my husband took a job where there was actually an opening. He’s going to be back on third shift (YAY!) and making about the same as he was before he got that better job. Thanks to all of you who sent good thoughts and prayers our way. 🙂

I actually wrote on my WIP last night…the first time in over a month.

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Final ROW80 Update 6/20/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 20, 2013| 17 Comments »

Well, this has been an interesting round. Life has dealt my family and me a few blows, but we keep coming back fighting. How has this affected my writing? It’s really made it hard to write, to be honest. I’ve felt so emotionally drained for the past few months, which also makes me feel drained physically. But I keep trudging on with most things. Just not so much the writing. It doesn’t help that I have a complicated plot, and I’m trying to figure out how to tell the back story. Which is really a story within itself.

I’m not going to take time off from writing between rounds. I’ve had enough time off. And due to the financial situation we’re facing with my husband’s pay dropping, I’ve got to produce more work. Book sales are in the toilet right now (I’m lucky to make $100 a month lately), and I know I’ve got to produce LOTS of work to make any decent money. I know I can’t make enough to live on right now because the market is glutted with self-published books, but I would like to make enough to have a good supplement to our income. So it’s time to stop whining about my plot or how little time I have and start getting to work like this is a real job. You know, like I USED to.

How was YOUR round this time?

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Life Keeps Knocking Us Down

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2013| 23 Comments »

As if we haven’t been through enough. After my husband recovered enough to go back to work, he was assigned to a new position at his work. It was a $3 an hour pay raise working on the only machine like it in the country. He has been doing fine on the job, but his supervisor, as well as the next boss up the command chain, told him today that he wasn’t cutting it at the job. This is not true. Their shift is producing better than any other. The supervisor has had it in for him for awhile, and the other boss is a real jerk (all the people in the plant feel this way). The boss wanted my husband to use his vacation days for while he was out of work instead of actually taking vacation. But he was on sick leave. He NEEDED a vacation. Now the boss is getting back at him. So he got bumped down to the job that people just starting in the company get hired to do. But here’s the worst part of all. They put him on second shift. He’s always worked thirds (except for a short stint on day shift). When he’s on thirds, I get home from work, he is either up or will be up soon, and we spend the evening together until he goes to work about 10. Now that he’s on seconds, he will be gone before I get home from work, and he will come in after I’ve already gone to bed. I won’t see him much at all except on weekends. This is a big deal for me. We’re going to have to tighten our budget even more (it’s already squeezed to the limit), but that’s a minor thing compared to the horrible work hours.

There’s no chance of him getting back on the other job because the two bosses are determined to make his life miserable. Now he’s going to have to be careful or he could actually lose his job. But, there is a chance that at some point he MIGHT get back on third shift. Please send good thoughts and/or prayers that he will soon be back on third shift. I can’t stand the thought of being away from him that much. And he will miss church every Wednesday night as long as he’s on second shift. They KNEW he hated second shift, and that’s why they put him there. The only bright side to this whole thing is that the second shift supervisor on this particular job really likes him and has wanted him on his shift anyway. At least work will be easier for him there. The bad thing is that he’s considered a “utility” person now, so they can move him around anywhere and on any shift at any time. As a Christian, I’ve always tried to keep my faith strong and believe things work out like they are supposed to. This is really hard for me right now. I feel like we’re being kicked just as we’re getting up from the floor. I’m trying to stay strong. I’m trying not to cry. I know life isn’t all rosy all the time. I KNOW there are people who are struggling with much bigger and more serious issues. I feel selfish even feeling this way. But I can’t help it. I’ll miss my sweetie while he’s on second shift. 😦

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WIP-So Far, So Good

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 18, 2013| 6 Comments »

Well, so far, my plan for the week has been adhered to. EVEN with obstacles. I had everything all planned out, workout, supper, cleaning the kitchen, reading my WIP and making notes. Then hubby comes up with “We need to watch something on the DVR”. (It’s getting full.) With an exasperated sigh, I acquiesced, stating that I had my evening all planned out, but that I would adjust things and just work a little later. Then, during an episode of Falling Skies, he FELL ASLEEP. Yeah, he really wanted to watch this with me.

Anyway, I did read my WIP and DID take notes. I wrote up a character list, which I should have already done, but I usually end up introducing characters as the story goes on, and it’s easier for me to add them to the list later. I wrote up some notes, which really means, I wrote up a list of questions, some I could answer, some I couldn’t yet.

Okay, so tonight I planned to do some rough outlining. Then I remembered I was supposed to work late tonight, trying to fix our computers. The last time I tried this, I was here until after 8:00. *head desk*
Oh well, if this doesn’t go smoothly tonight, I’m not staying that late. I hope not, anyway. Grrrrr.

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Writing Plans for This Week

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 17, 2013| 8 Comments »

Well, it’s time to jump back in the saddle and start treating writing like a job again. My plan for this week is Monday – reread what I’ve written so far on my WIP and take notes. Tuesday – outline a little (I’m a pantser, but this story is so complicated, it needs a little outlining). Thursday-Saturday – write!

Do you all ever plan your week, or do you just fly by the seat of your pants and try to wedge in some writing time between everything else?

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