So I’ve been away for awhile, can you blame me? I’ve been burping, rocking, changing and cuddling an adorable baby. Cuddling is a lot of work you know! And sooo worth it <3

Summer recap: 

I have something to confess… I’m a scheduling, organizing, list-making freak.
Sometimes I spend more time making a schedule than I do actually following it. I regularly sort and re-sort my cupboards (hey, I live in an apartment and want to make the most of the space I have!) Every night I make a list of the things I have to do the next day. Sometimes, after I turn the lights out, I remember something I need to do and I am SURE if I don’t put it on that list I’ll forget. So I get out of bed and write it down, just in case.

Half the time I only get 7 out of 10 things done on that list and follow the schedule 3 out of 5 days. “Well then, what’s the point of those lists and schedules?” You ask.

Back when I first got married I didn’t write any lists or follow a schedule. I tried to remember the things I had to do. My memory sucks. I found myself remembering to do things past the deadline and sometimes I ran out of clothes because I didn’t get the laundry done. I started to get frustrated, nothing was getting done!
“I think I know what the problem is,” I told my husband (he had to listen to me complain about it) “I need a schedule!”
And now I get 7 out of 10 things done 3 out of 5 days a week!

Photo by EvelynGiggles Some Rights Reserved

Here are some scheduling lessons I’ve learned:

1-Be realistic. The key to a list/schedule is knowing your limits and how much time it takes to do things. If you know you can only get three things done tomorrow, don’t count on five. If you get three things done and, hey, you have more time! By all means, do five.

2-Give yourself wiggle room. If you know something is going to take you an hour count on an extra ten minutes. Scrubbing the shower might take longer than you realize.

3- Always do the most important things first. If you HAVE to pay that bill today, do that first, don’t re-organize the pantry. You might get carried away and the bill won’t be paid.

4- Don’t get discouraged. Know that there is a possibility that the baby might get sick or you could have to take a phone call. If nothing on your list is done, just try again the next day.

5-Take breaks. If you don’t put aside some time to relax you might burn yourself out before getting things done. Just make sure you make it a set time. If you decide to relax and surf the web, you might end up doing it an hour longer than you meant to.

You might ask where my authority on this subject come from, I have a mother who has managed to homeschool all nine of her children and has a business helping people organize their houses. She is the master of schedule making! I’ve learned a thing or two from her.

Esther Jane Pringle was born February 7th 11:31 pm (half an hour before her due-date) 7lbs 12 oz

She’s beautiful! (I’m totally not bias because my husband agrees with me!)

Her middle name is Jane for three reasons:
1. My husband’s middle name is John and Jane is the female version of the name.
2. It means “God is gracious.”
3. Jane Austen, Jane Eyre… need I say more? The writer/reader in me could not resist!

My blog has reached 1,000 page views!!! (1,004 to be precise)
Maybe this is a silly thing to celebrate, I know there are some blogs that recieve more views than that in a day. But I am celebrating because of all those 1,004 people who viewed my blog, perhaps I have, in some small way, affected some of their lives.
So, I shall now do the happy dance in my bubble of joy! (The baby is joining in too, though that might just be in response to the music I’m listening to)

I have some big news! I’m 16 weeks pregnant! (The baby is 13 weeks in this picture)
My husband and I want the gender to be a surprise so we are trying to come up with girls and boys names we like. It’s a lot more difficult than I would have thought. I like names that have meaning and when you think about naming a human being it makes the responsibility a serious one. The baby is due February 8th so I am hoping to get my book Silver Blood all polished up before then.

For the past month or so I have been working with my sister in-law who is expecting a baby this December. She has a Masters in English and has been extremely helpful with editing. In fact, she’s been doing most of the work. I recommend her skills! We will be finishing up soon. I had hoped this to be the last big over-haul before sending out query letters to publishers but I recently read a chapter on editing in the book “From Inspiration to Publication.” put out by Writer’s Institute Publications. It mentioned some things to look out for in a manuscript that I had not thought of before. So I fear I shall have to tackle my book with editing one more time.

There’s a quote from a friend of mine that makes me laugh and sums up how I feel about editing:

“Writing is the fun part, editing makes you wonder what was wrong with you when you wrote it…” – Karoline Bondyra

Editing is not my favourite part of writing. However, in the past few months I’ve slowly enjoyed watching my story get better and better. I have learned to love thinking of new ways to improve it. I’ve learned that there’s fun in improving, not just creating.

Is there any part of writing that you did not like but have learned to enjoy?