it's working (slowly)
wednesday, january 23, 2019


this has definitely been a better week, despite some busyness (and yes, i know, it's been a few since my last post, but no, i'm not heading back into the land of silence). some things that have kept me busy:

i'm now a week or so ahead on basic/backup videos for the channel. this stuff takes a huge chunk of time. there's the setup (i have to move stuff into my space, set it up, turn on lights, etc), the actual filming, and the breakdown. but the biggest chunk of time is the editing, which can take an hour or more for 30 minutes of video. uploading is slow because of our current internet speeds, but i usually do other things while that's going on. personal prep (putting on makeup) can take me 1 1/ hours, so doing at least two videos in a day is time saving in that i only do that once. i do aim for 3 videos some days, just to make sure i have backups and so on, but most days i don't manage it. i am managing to stick to mondays and fridays as filming days for the most part (i did have a last minute video last week, but that was because of timing), which is what i've been aiming for. more than that eats up too much time and makes it harder to reach other goals or do other things that need to be done.

i managed all my planned workouts over the past week. i did make a new total body, trying to cut back the time for days when i'm having headaches or other issues that make it harder. turns out that "cut back" workout isn't as cut back as i thought...and it focuses mostly on lower body because lawd i hurt from the waist down later that night, especially butt and legs. yeouch. i was considering creating a third total body workout with more focus on the upper body, but i tried increasing my dumbbells early in my regular workout (i reduced them later for the rest of it) instead, and that seems to have helped. i still may develop that third total body workout just for a little variety, but at this point, it's not necessary. i haven't needed to use my not feeling well alternative since deciding how to handle low sleep days yet, but i do have the dvds out and ready to go.

not expecting much, if any, changes when i weigh in and measure next week. even if i had managed to keep up for the whole month (and not miss the second week), these kinds of changes are a bit slower than losing 1/2 a pound a week early in the journey.

hubs bought brown rice! one of his christmas gifts was a new rice cooker. it's a smaller cooker, but it works for our now smaller family. i've enjoyed having ti again. one of the really nice things about it is the little bit of extra chew, but it also has more flavor than white rice. still need to get barley and a few other things, but it's nice that hubs is on board with getting back to our healthier diet enough to pick up brown rice over white (which is cheaper). we've been eating whole grain or whole wheat spaghetti when we have, but most other pastas are standard (again, because of the expense and most not being available in store brand). this particular goal will probably be one of the slowest ones to work on just because of the cost of healthier food, but we should see more fresh fruit, at the very least, come summer. really looking forward to that. :)

hubs has also been working on his idea of what qualifies as a vegetarian meal, and most of our meals this past week have been vegetarian. i'm honestly quite proud of him for stepping up. :) i'm also managing to replace most sweets with protein/fiber snack bars. this month will be a bit harder for me as valentine's and easter both have some of my favorite sweets. and it's not that i want to cut them entirely, it's just a matter of (not having) control. i'd love to be able to claim i can have a bag of candy in the house that i will eat gradually over time, but that's an area where i struggle.

and speaking of control, i am seeing some progress in my beauty buys, but not quite enough yet. it wouldn't be an issue if we didn't have an over $100 increase in rent coming up in march, but we do, so it is. i have done pretty well this month, only bought re-buys (moisturizer, for example) and a couple things on sale for the most part. and i'm counting this month's extras against next month. next month, even if it goes on sale, the only way i can buy it if it's not a repurchase is if it's being discontinued...and maybe not even then. and i'm starting some new things for the channel that will push my to use older things as well as the new shiny toys.

and finally, writing is still the hardest slog, for some reason. i need to do a check of the submissions from the end of 2018 and get back to hunting and submitting. haven't touched that at all this year. i've just figured out a day to do crits and beta reads, but that hasn't happened yet either. the writing is happening, though still a bit sporadically. last week sucked, but this week already has a great start to it. more importantly, however, is that the desire is coming back. the excitement over the stories and words is building again. using specific play lists is helping too. i'm just beyond thrilled, though, that i'm FEELING the love of it again. it will still take time to get the habits in place—that's why authors always say to write even when not inspired. inspiration, muses, etc, these things will not carry you through when you don't feel like writing. but if you want to be a published author in any capacity, you have to see writing as a job and do it almost every day, no matter how you feel. there are days when it's only habit that will take you through.

so the persistence and focus on goals is working, though slowly (and more slowly in some areas than others). i wasn't too happy with myself a couple weeks ago, but this week, i'm pretty pleased. i haven't let any downtime or distractions (needed or otherwise) completely tank my progress.

some other really good news? we received our health and optical insurance cards. doctor appointments and such are on the list to be figured out and scheduled. this is a good thing since i've been fighting sinus b.s. for awhile now and really need my bp meds (as does hubs on that last one). for the optical, it looks like we'll not pay anything if we do it right. the doctor appointments and meds are a bit trickier (and another reason a cutback on buying is necessary) since our co-pays are percentage based on some things. makes it harder to plan, but i've got to get us in, hopefully next month. cross your fingers for us.