I can't believe it. I recover from a sinus infection to get a virus. It hit Rick too. We went to Doctor's Care over the weekend and the doctor said that's been happening a lot lately. Apparantly, this cooler weather that people wished for during our long, hot summer is a breeding ground for infections, viruses, and all sorts of nasty things that take you down. Not pleasant.

On the one hand, it's good to have some time at home. It's a rare privledge to have time in the mornings and afternoons when you aren't chained to a desk, so to speak. But on the other hand, I feel miserable, so I really can't do much with this time. I've worked on my writing some when my head wasn't hurting. But otherwise, it's been sleeping and watching TV. And by the way, there is nothing decent on. I'm not sure whether mornings or afternoons are worse. Mornings you have a choice of bouncy, too-perky chat shows or "paternity tests gone wild!" trash TV. And the afternoons are soaps and judge shows. Who's guilty. Who's innocent. Who really cares?

In a way, it makes me gain an appreciation for having a day job. Unless I'm working on a writing project or the house needs care/cleaning, there's really not much to do. Hmm. And if I'm in pain then cleaning/house care is out, so there you have it.

The one good thing that's come out of this is I had a chance to go through Move again. Sick or not, you know I'm going to take advantage of extra time to work on writing projects! It turns out that my publishers want a minimum of 60K words now, and this novel is around 54K - so I need to add a few chapters. And so, the work shall continue on this project. I'll get there.

Another good thing is extra time with the birds. I feel a bit bad about disrupting their schedule, but they're taking it well. They've been wanting to come out a lot, and I've been letting them. Ollie's been singing up a storm this morning too. It's always good to have extra time with them.

As for the rest of today, I guess I need to make lunch and see if there are any little things I can get done around here, like lanudry or something. I might as well knock something off my "to do" list while I'm here. Days off are rare and if there's any way to take advantage of it despite my ill health, I better do it.

That's all today. Take care.

Bye!

I think what I really need is to cut my life back to basics and take stock of what I have and how to best nurture the things most important to me.

Fall is naturally the busiest time of year for me, and coiencidentally it's when people want to "get together" the most too. Football season is usually the excuse for this - "let's get together to watch the game!" And I've been a social butterfly these past couple of months and participated in all sorts of gatherings, visits and get togethers.

But folks, this butterfly needs to retreat to her cocoon. No offence, but the Carolina's bye week didn't come soon enough for me this year. I need to sit out a few. The season is going on, but my "to do" list and my schedule don't get it. There are things I need to tend to around the house and with the technology committee at church. I know I said I was going to take a hiatus from my in-progress writing projects, but I really do want to get back to them with as few distractions as possible, and that means I need to put my nose to the grindstone and get things done now. And if you want me at my best during the busy holiday season, well, I need a break.

I mean no offence, of course. I just need some time to myself every now and then to catch up, rest up, take stock, and move on. I need to recharge my batteries and right now I'm running low. I've come to the conclusion that I must be an anomoly, because this seems to be a need that not many other people have. Other than my family, only Rick and one other person has admitted to needing time to themselves. It seems others actually clamor to fill those empty spaces in their lives to the point where there's no quiet, no hiatus, no opportunities to simply "be" and exist in communion with the Lord and the world. Doing, doing, doing. Well, I admire their energy and their tireless dedication to their social schedule, but I'm not afraid I can't operate like that. My life is very full right now and all the "blessings" keep me quite busy. It can be a challenge to find those moments and days with an empty spot on the calender. And they aren't usually give, so it looks like I'm going to have to take them.

I'm burned out. I need to clear off my plate to I can be true to my priorities and focus on what really matters - not on what the world says should matter.

So I'm starting today. I'm sitting out the USC-Florida game. I know, it's a big one and how could I. It's simple, really. The need for quiet in my soul outweighs "the big game." As I said, I need some time to catch up on some stuff around the house and with church so I'll be free to resume work on Move next month when I end my writing hiatus, and what better time than by focusing on that while the rest of the world (around here) is tuned into the big game. Plus, I still have Feathered Frenzy to finish, and I already have an idea for my next writing project which is a novella I hope to start in 2013. And promotion work on my already published works never ends. So there's lots to do there and I really need to get focused and get back to work on my writing soon, and taking care of the other things on my plate will really help with that.

I know life won't always be like this. I'm quitting volunteer activities in 2013, so I won't have to make decisions based on things like this soon. That was another decision I made this week. I need fewer meetings in my life and the truth is that I need to focus my time away from work on home, family and writing and that doesn't leave time for much else. I wanted to be more involved at church, and I will certainly continue to be a greeter and help with activities as I can, but I can't be bound to a committee anymore. It just doesn't work in my busy life.

As for the rest - well, eventually I'll retire from work, so that won't always be eating up most of my weekdays, but that's far away as I'm not even at the halfway point of my career. Frankly, I do have concerns about being bored if I didn't work, but those aren't concerns I need to ponder now or any time soon. Until then, it's the immovable object in my life and I have to work around it. Those aggrivations and annoyances aren't going to stop and I have to march on and do what must be done because it's my responsibilty and financial support, now and in the future. That's a reality for most people and it's something that should be easy to understand and respect.

Yes, life is busy, and sometimes it won't give you what you need so you have to take it. That's what I'm going to to today. Because if I don't take care of myself and my needs, then I'm not much good to anybody else, now am I?

That's all today. I hope you have a great weekend.

Bye!