Closet: Worse Than Ever

O.K. It’s official. I am never going to get to the bottom of this closet. I am trying. Honest. Lately I’ve taken on a few challenges and the closet has again become a great place to stack, stuff and bury crafty things.

Aside from crafting, and working, I decided to take the ATP written test.  The FAA has changed regulations that will make getting an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate more expensive in the future. So, I jumped on the let’s-take-this-test-before-the-end-of-the-month band wagon. This involved a fair amount of studying and stress. Just to make it a bit more challenging, I  previously scheduled a trip to Texas which cut into the time available to complete the test. All in all, it resulted in a couple sleepless nights, a tiny bit of crankiness, and a passing test result. Phew.

The revisions to my novel that the editor requested were finally completed. Editing is so much harder to do than writing. Sitting down to write is even harder. It was a relief to send it back to the editor.

Getting the test and edits out of the way made travelling that much more fun. San Antonio was the site of the Romance Writers of America national conference. Motivating, inspirational and just down right awesome. It was like Nora Roberts was speaking directly to me when she said, “Quit fucking around and sit down and write.”  There was an opportunity to meet with editors and agents to pitch our books.  Pitching your book is terrifying and exciting. Again, I have received what I consider good news, “let’s see” – not a rejection.

 One thing that makes it ‘The Great State of Texas’ is that my daughter lives there. What can be better than to play tourist with my baby girl. We had such a lovely time while we managed to visit most of the items on the top ten things to see and do in San Antonio. There was also some serious work done on Tex-Mex food, margarita’s and cupcakes. Of course we took a selfie with the Alamo!

Lest you think I have completely neglected the sewing room; I did finish a quilt for one of the pilots I fly with. Making quilt was especially meaningful for me, as he just finished his Instructor Rating. This is what a happy successful applicant looks like with his happy instructor. (Upgrading from two stripes to three.) And the baby quilt featuring airplanes, naturally.

 

Distraction Project (a.k.a. Creative Avoidance)

Whenever I feel pressure to complete a task I, basically, freak out. Generally, this is best noted by the creative ways in which I can distract myself from achieving said goal, and occasionally by a full blown 2-year-old-style hissy fit. So… I mentioned that I sent my book to a publisher and an editor…. The editor liked it! And, she wants a re-write. This is incredible news. It is not a rejection. Amazing. So, instead of writing, I’ve been painting. I know. Pathetic. I have to say, painting this room was on the to-do list, just way down the list.

It all started with a trip to a couple of my favorite stores, Hobby Lobby and Home Depot. It should be against the law to visit both stores in one day. Plus, I keep seeing all these great ideas from Found This Painted That. The Laundry Room Makeover is complete.

I picked up this tray at the thrift store for a dollar or two that needed some help… So I painted the bottom with chalk board paint. It’s so cute now! I need some chalk so I can write inspirational messages to myself.

 

Before…

Painted the walls, the trim, the door and hung my cute new hooks on the walls and voila! I also learned an important paining tip. The trim may look white, but it’s actually not just plain white. Many of you are shaking your heads at me, the rest will try it yourself and realize. I ended up with Swiss Coffee and it looks beautiful with the Cozy Cottage walls.

 

Ok, I’m going to work on the book. Right now.

Thankfully Near the End

Here we are in the final stretch, as they say, nearly finished with November and National Novel Writing Month. I have achieved the heretofore mythical word count, and can boast 52,502. Now I’m in the process of procrastinating about the final edit. The sad news is, most publishers actually want more than a measly 50,000 words. Sigh. Of course I have lofty aspirations of actually getting my little book in print. Well, actually, I want someone to pay me and put it in print. I do want it all.

On the procrastination front, because I’ve done so well here, I can recommend baking. Cake, cupcakes, and a lovely batch of cookies just last night. You can justify this activity easily; one must eat! What better than a morsel of chocolately deliciousness full of brain stimulating energy. The side benefit of cookies and cake: running. You must! You just ate half a dozen oatmeal-chocolate chip-coconut-pecan-cranberry cookies. Running is good for you. It’s not healthy to sit in front of your computer for such a long time. See. I’m an expert. If you need any tips or procrastination ideas, or even a good rationalization, I’m here for you.

This little gem has also assisted me in the procrastination arena. I found her sitting in a thrift store begging to go home with me. What could I do? Besides negotiate for a lower price and ask sweetly for the young man to find a way to fit it into my car? She’s a rugged little beauty that will sew through some things that I can’t subject the electronic machines to.

I also attended a baby shower this weekend, and naturally had to take a little something along. Because I can’t wait to give something away once it’s made, she already had a quilt and diaper bag weeks ago. I didn’t want to arrive empty handed so I whipped up some bibs. I breezed through the images on the internet, gathered up a little inspiration, a general idea of bib shape (haven’t used one is quite a while) and some scraps and went to town. I was rather pleased with the results.

Bringing home a new sewing machine, complete with cabinet, required rearranging the furniture in my little crafting/computer room. Sadly, some of it ended up back in the closet and while it’s still organized, it has lost it’s spacious open feel. The advantage is that everything is now in one location.

 

A Fine Day for Procrastination

There are just two weeks left of NaNoWriMo. You’d think I’d be frantically typing away at my ‘Great American Novel’. Instead, I’m resting on my 45,225 words and procrastinating about the rest. While this annual competition, scratch that, event, challenges the writer to complete 50,000 words, reading submission guidelines tells me 50,000 is woefully short. Sigh. So, I’m working to write an actual, full sized, adult novel, not stopping at 50,000 because that is the challenge, but stopping when it’s really decent. Good, I don’t know.

To that end, of course, I’m procrastinating. In a very creative way, but procrastinating all the same.

I was inspired by http://foundthispaintedthat.wordpress.com/. When my friend asked did I want a pile of spray paint she decided not to use, I said: YES! I’ve been spritzing up all kinds of fun stuff.

This little shelf was a thrift store find priced under three dollars. Originally a dirty chipped white, I sprayed on a bit of mocha colored spray paint, then rasped around the edges for a distressed look. The white paint made the ‘antiquing’ easier. It’s perfect in the sewing room. I pulled some wooden spools out of one of the boxes in the closet to display.

 

I’ve been saving jars that have an interesting shape, thinking that one day I’ll find a use for them. I painted the lid, glued on a large bead for interest and scrubbed off the label. The most difficult part of this job is getting the glue off the jar. These will make perfect Christmas gifts filled with a sugar scrub or bath salts or candy or hot cocoa mix or…

 

Now I have only a few minutes left to write before I get ready to go to work. Excellent job procrastinating.

Three Weeks Left: National Novel Writing Month

NaNoWriMo continues. It is as hard as I thought it would be to write 50,000 words. Well, to write 50,000 words into a cohesive story. 34,387 words so far.

It is difficult to stay on task, to not procrastinate, to not creatively avoid writing a novel because you have other things that are so important to do right this minute like updating a blog or baking a cake.

Now I will get back on task and bake a cake. No, wait, stop. I will, really, write right now. Really.