not your ordinary princess: sick

Monday, January 31, 2011

sleep, bad drivers, and rainy days

It was a dreary day today.

I actually happen to like Mondays for the sole reason that I work a 7-3 shift. I know that most people flip at the idea of having to get up earlier, but I love it. It means that I get off an hour earlier than normal and for some reason, that makes all the difference in the world when counting down minutes until I can go home.

Unfortunately today my coworker was ill and was late arriving to work. He still wasn't there when I left, but I had to leave. I thought that a 7a - 4:30p shift was long enough. Not to mention things were pretty dead at the store. I blame the dreary weather.

Going home was an adventure in itself. As I was attempting to turn out of the parking lot (left, I might add) there was someone across the street trying to turn right. This person stops, as he should, and then sits there as no cars are coming before he turns. I know that he has the right of way so I don't make a move because I know if I do, I'll cause an accident. But he just sits there! Finally he turns and I turn after him. Then he decides that crawling would be the better thing to do instead of driving at the speed limit.

Unfortunately this douche bag won't let up. I can't get around him because I'm on a one lane road. It's just irritating the mess out of me. As luck would have it, I have to follow this loser onto the high way. He tries to get onto a high way of 60mph going only 30mph. I really thought he or I was going to cause an accident.

Luckily he sped up (but just barely) and I only had to follow him for another mile before he got off the highway. I know it's a rainy day, but it wasn't even raining when I was driving home! There was no need for the ridiculously "cautious" driving.

Gah, anyways.

The 2010 fiscal year is finally over. Yesterday started the 2011 fiscal year and I couldn't be more excited. I crunched all the numbers for last year and it's a proven fact that I was the best performing head of my department for last year. We had three experts in my department during last year and I out performed the other two. I was pretty happy to find that out. I'm really excited to start this new year and see how well we can do.

I only have a few screws to tighten up before we're running at maximum efficiency and full speed. :)

Now I'm working on some notes for the story that I'm currently working on. That will probably take me all night. I only got three and a half hours of sleep last night but it doesn't really bother me. I actually feel pretty great. Getting up this morning was hard, but once I got going I was fine and barely felt tired at all!

I've come to the conclusion that I don't require a lot of sleep. Actually, I really don't like to sleep. I feel like it's such a waste of perfectly good time where I could be doing something constructive. Sleeping is not constructive, not in my book. To me, it's the ultimate lazy act. Now, I do know it's required of humans to sleep so that they don't die, but I don't think it should be used as a favorite pastime.

Gah, I've spent enough time on this thing. I've got to get back to work.

lindsayallison

Thursday, July 22, 2010

sick

I'm so frustrated. I have been doing so well in the health department lately. I haven't been sick or even warning signs of sick the past several months. For those of you who know me, that's quite an accomplishment.

I woke up this morning, I had coffee and a muffin for breakfast. I went to work and started feeling really odd. My stomach was hurting so bad! It was weird! I had a decent breakfast!

I started to get hungry so I went to lunch. I had pb&j, (single serving) potato chips, and a soda. I felt lots better so I went back to work. My stomach started to hurt again! I was very confused.

I got off work today and I was so sore! I'm usually sore after work, so I didn't hink anything of it. I just went home, sat down and tried to relax. But a couple hours later, I wasn't feeling relaxed, I was feeling more achey than sore! So I had some dinner and then tried to lay down. That didn't help either. Now I have aches, a headache, and I am having a really hard time focusing.

I really hope that I'm just over tired. I'd hate to get sick right now when I'm up for a promotion again. :(

lindsayallison

What I'm Reading...

Here is the complete honest truth: I have not read a novel in some time. I have a pile of books I want to read. Most are old titles of Karen Hawkins (What did you expect?) that have been collecting dust and diet coke cans for a couple of months.

As I bought three more books today, I realized that I need to actually read these things. It’s important for writers to spend time reading as well. You have to be caught up on what the market is trending, what readers are reading, and what is making and impact and what isn’t.

I have been so bad about this. It’s appalling really.

I used to bring a book with me to work to read during my lunch break. It was great. THEN I got a smart phone and started spending time on that during lunch instead of reading. I think this needs to stop. I really need to spend my time appropriately and reading some of these novels I keep spending money on.

So that’s the new plan then. I am going to pick up that novel I’ve started three times and keep putting down and actually finish it. I think it’s also time that I expand my favorite authors list. I need to read more than two authors on a regular basis I think.

What I'm Working On...

I have been working on lots of different things lately.

January I was working on some old projects that I don't care to spend a lot of time talking about.

As part of a writing group that was formed during last year's National Novel Writing Month, I was part of a writing challenge for the month of February. We came up with a 20K challenge. Yes, that's right. We wanted to write 20,000 words in the little month of February.

I spent most of February working on THE novel, "The Curious Tales of Lost Girls." This novel is a dark piece and it's really hard to get these words out. So the fact that this thing is about half done is quite a huge relief to me at the moment. I have a love/hate relationship with this novel at the moment.

Because it's so dark, that once I completed the 20K, I moved on. I edited/revised an old short story entitled, "Far Away." You can find the short story in its entirety posted on this blog. It's a sappy, romantic piece that I wrote a couple of years ago. I am so pleased with the final product.

After that I moved on to a "novellette" that I started a couple of years ago called "Home for the Holidays." I am happy that it's finished. I am NOT happy with the words it contains. It's currently a piece of crap and so I will let it simmer for a bit before I start the editing/revising process on that one.

Now that March has started, the group has come up with another challenge. Short stories from writing prompts! One per week! I'm currently finishing an old short story (it only had 400 words) while I let my "real" short story for this week form in my head. The first one is another sappy, romantic one about soulmates.

I haven't completely decided on what this new short story is going to be about yet. The writing prompt was "It's 1969, you're 17 and normally quiet and reserved. How did you spend your summer vacation?" I think the title is going to just be "1969". I like the simplicity of it. I know I want to write about a young woman, but I'm not sure where to go beyond that. There was so much going on that year! But what to throw her into?

Character of the Month

Kallista James has been on her own for pretty much her entire life. When Kallista was born, her parents had not been ready for a child. They had been very young and wanted to continue their partying ways, so they did.

At the age of five years old, Kallista met the girl who would become her lifelong best friend, Jade Bennett. It didn’t take long before Jade’s parents realized Kallista’s home life left something to be desired and they took her under their wing. Kallista flourished like never before in the Bennett household. She was close with the whole family, including Jade’s older brother, Chris.

When Kallista was sixteen, her parents were killed in a car accident. In a moment of intense grief, she found comfort with Chris. After sharing an intense kiss, Chris confesses his feelings for her. Before the teenagers can explore their feelings, a fight with his parents sends Chris packing, swearing never to return.

Kallista moved on. She dedicated herself to her schoolwork and to her photography. After graduation, she made a name for herself as a photographer. When she goes home for a summer vacation, she finds herself face to face Chris once more. Now all the feelings she thought she was over have resurfaced and she must find a way to deal with them and him before disaster strikes.