Finally! Snow...

/

There's white stuff on the ground that, if my Mid-Western upbringing recalls correctly, is called "SNOW." We haven't had a real snow here in my part of North Carolina for almost 5 years. Yesterday Blair and I were reading in the library with a hard rain outside and suddenly--POOF. It was snow falling instead of rain. I walked around the house, staring rapt out of every window, reluctant to miss a minute of the fresh beauty. When the kids next door ran outside to jump on their trampoline, sending snow flying, I considered joining them and frankly am mad at myself that I didn't. 

It's not a hard enough snow to keep Blair home for the day, although you wouldn't know that from the frantic broadcasts of the local media. They're playing up the "danger" aspects of the snow for all it's worth. Still... I have power which makes it easy to be smug. A couple of friends are 10 hours plus w/out power and I suspect not enjoying nature's miracle as much as me.

OliviaRight now I'm ensconced behind my writing desk at the front window, admiring the wisps of snow that flurry the air whenever the wind blows. The snow is untouched in front of our house except for tiny kitty paw-prints from the aptly named "Snowball," our neighbor's cat. Celine Deon is singing in the background, Lucy_Cat is sniffing the radio where Celine's voice is coming from, and at last sighting, Olivia was passed out upstairs. 

I hope the snow lasts. Once every five years just isn't enough.

The Cleansing Flight of Bees

/

Did you know in the winter that bees venture outside the hive to take a "cleansing flight" where they release bee poo all over fresh fallen snow? I didn't either.  But now that I know, I'm thinking of having some sort of bumper sticker made.

I'm all about bees these days. A character in the middle-grade novel I'm working on is a 11-year-old girl who keeps bees. It didn't long for me to realize I know little to nothing about bees other than, "they're yellow-ish" and "they sting." I ordered some books about bees from Amazon and am fascinated by what I'm finding. A few quick facts:

  • A queen bee can lay 2000 eggs a day
  • Even if fed and given shelter, a bee will die if isolated. 
  • You can tell a bee's age by the condition of the wings
  • If a bee can't be an asset to the colony she is expected to kill herself or be kicked out / killed by other bees.

I have to admit that while reading about bees I'm thinking, "Hm. Wonder if we should keep bees?" The fact is though, I'm terrified of them. I've never been stung and have mentally worked that possibility into being along the same catacylsmic line of "rattlesnake bite" or "thermo-nuclear war." 

I'm off to read more now. There's a whole world of cleansing flight information just waiting to be discovered.

How to Achieve Scheduling Zen

/

www.freefoto.comLooking at my day timer, it is apparent that I am losing the scheduling battle. Today I flipped to March and was all but blinded by the numerous appointments I've written down and highlighted in hot pink.Who the heck scheduled all this stuff when I wasn't looking???

Some appointments are practical in nature - a hair cut or visit to the allergist. Some are work related - speaking at a writers' workshop or attending a Toastmasters meeting. Some are monthly obligations - my radio show, board meetings. Some are weekly exercise dates - hill runs on Mondays and trail runs on Thursdays, and yoga 2-3x/week. Still others are social in nature - dinner and a play with friends, a jewelry party, brunch with friends we've not seen in some time. And then there are the random events - our classes on Egypt, sub-committee meeting with the Animal Protection Society, speaking to middle-graders about proper pet care, a meeting with a local writer who wants advice on how to submit to magazines, a mastermind marketing meeting.

But it boils down to rarely if ever having a free day where I just sit down and work, focused and non-stop. I realize few people have the type of job where they work uninterrupted but I'd make the argument those type of days are rather vital in the life of a writer.

The fact is, we all lead busy lives. And that's not going to change. I try to look at it as the things I'm "signed up" to do are there because they're important to me. Staying home 24/7 doesn't broaden my understanding of the world. The more I'm out in the world, the more I have to write about.

But I'm considering setting aside at least one day a week as a "non-schedule" day. Just crossing it off the calendar so I know that day there is no exercise, no meetings, no phone calls, no doctor appointments, no drive time. I'll treat it as an "out-of-office" day and just disappear as if I'm at an all-day conference and can't be reached. 

The issue is figuring out what that one day should be. Fridays are actually looking promising, although I prefer to be available to clients that day in case we need to touch base before the weekend. Wednesdays are an option... if I can juggle a few things around.

How do you all manage your schedules--doctor prescribed medication not included?

Dena