Reapers and Awards at the Row80 Check-in 1-29

Week 3 for me! This week turned around and I’m on the upswing from our previous check-in. I hope to continue that trend. Woo hoo! Go Row! If you are interested, you can see my original goals here. I could still use more time available to me, and a lot more sleep. How about everyone else?  I am using a lot more caffeine these days than I used to. Coffee, coffee, coffee. Overall, I’m feeling good because I am moving forward. My goal: to start moving forward at a quicker clip than I have been and build that buffer I keep trying to get in place for the blog. I have my plan for next week, I just need to implement it.

I have seen some fabulous art on the many blogs that I’ve visited this week and it has taken me back. I love art, even studied it a little while in school. Practical application, that is – not art history. I recommend you visit Lesann Berry’s blog and see her fantastic coverage on Andy Goldsworth. His work is immensely inspiring. Also, a fantastic artist worth watching is Phil Hansen. I can see his work being featured outside of someone’s office like Conan O’ Brian’s. You can find Phil featured on the blog of The Midnight Novelist. On a side note, my DVR has cheated death for some time now, pixilating many of my favorite shows. It has finally succumb leaving me without for an entire week (insert sobs here). My DVR is dead!

In honor of my fallen DVR…

Here is my run down for the week:

❤ Write forward on my WIP every day. Three out of five is okay. I’d like to do better.

❤ Write 2100 words a week on my WIP (an average of 500/day). I actually managed 2991 words this week. I was hoping for more, but I’ll take what I got.

❤ Complete & fully participate in Bob Mayer’s Write It Forward Workshop. I feel that I am running behind the class this week. Every time I sit down to read I’m interrupted to the point I end up falling asleep reading at the end of the night. But I did manage to finish the lesson and only need to write it up right after I finish writing this blog.

❤ Blog 3x a week, plus one Row80 update. Done! 3 blogs, plus 2 guest posts. One of which I had written a couple of weeks ago. A total of 5456 words. This total does not reflect this post. This also almost brings me current on my guest post commitment. Funny how they both landed in the same week. One got pushed back due to the SOPA protest.

❤ Comment on/visit/retweet at least 12 blogs a week. I lost track of my numbers here, but it is FAR more than the 12, by leaps and bounds! I’ve been working my way through my entire follow list at least once.

❤ Discover at least 1 new blog a week. Check and double check!

❤ Read 2 new books and finish the one I am on. I actually plan on reading the one tonight! I am looking forward to it. At least, I hope it happens that way and I don’t fall asleep. 🙂

❤ Exercise 3x a week. I threw in exercises here and there, but failed to get any solid exercised at any one point.

❤ Make more time for the family.  My kid has made comments about wanting and needing more time with me. We just hung out and watched what they wanted this week. My eldest was sick so we stayed inside. The winds picked up over the weekend and since my youngest is asthmatic we were still hanging indoors.

-oOo-

Now the moment that just possibly you all have been waiting for??? Drum roll please!

I have pretty shinnies to hand out today. Three wonderful bloggers have bestowed upon me two fantastical awards. Thank you mates!!!  Its.Sall from Slices of My Soul handed me the Versatility Award at the beginning of the month. I’m finally getting around to passing it along. I know I can be such a slacker at times. Goodness. Head over to this soul searching blog for a daily dose of deep emotional thoughts and poetry. But, thanks to my holdout I can do this all at once for Ben from Story Multiverse also passed this pretty puppy to me. Huzzah!  Ben currently has a very interesting story line running on his blog and if you stop by there it is sure to pull you in. Thanks to both of you. You have made me feel soo very special!

In addition to this fantastic award the beautiful modernmiracleme has given me the Kreative Blogger Award. Woot Woot! I’m doing the Snoopy Dance. I feel so lucky. Thank you so very much! I am tickled pink. Visit her blog for beautiful uplifting messages.

Both of these awards come with requirements. The Versatility Award requires that I tell you seven things about myself, The Kreative Blogger asks for ten. Well – I have already given you seven facts about myself both here and here. You may find even more unrelated to any award here. To make it interesting I will give you three more, in addition to the seven I’ve already listed, to equal the ten required for the Kreative Blogger.  Of course I have technically given you more than that already in the posts listed above. So you can take it as an act of kindness or simply pretend that I don’t know how to count. 😉 Whichever makes you happiest.

My three things…

1.) When I was very young I used to have a life-sized Spiderman cutout swinging across my room. My father brought him home from a 7-11 promotion for me and I was so thrilled I wanted him up on my wall. The hall light would cast his shadow deep against my blue curtains, freaking my neighbor out. She thought some guy had gotten into our house at night. 😀

2.) At one time I owned three little Buicks all at once. Two 1962 Skylark hardtop coupe and a 1962 Special convertible. The Special is essentially the same car with very minor differences. It had a bench seat in the front instead of bucket seats. It also didn’t have the cool long chrome trim running off the back tail lights. I also picked up a 1961 Skylark after an accident that I parted out.

3.) While accompanying a friend on her visit to a local psychic (not my visit), the lady decided to give me a little insight into my future as well. She told me my father would die soon (check), that someone at my husband’s work was interested in him (unconfirmed), that I had three guardian angels (I have 3 deceased siblings) and how old I would be when I die (I didn’t want to know this but she told me anyway). Should I believe her? What she told my friend ended up being fairly accurate.

Now for the fun stuff! I get to pass the Kreative Blogger award to at least 6 people and let them know they have received it by posting on their blog. I will do the same for the Versatile Blogger, which is to be distributed to 15 other bloggers. We’ll see what I can do.

And the Kreative Blogger Award goes to (In no particular order):

Karen McFarland: A blogger focused on the now. You’ll find her talking about issues well suited for today’s news weekly. She also manages to host many wonderful guests.

Krystal Wade: New up and coming YA novelist, she posts wonderful teasers from her novel every Sunday, great funnies on Friday and a nice blend of personal and young adult fiction the rest of the week.

Laura Stanfill: Laura blogs about everything from her life to helpful hints and information for her fellow writers.

MG Miller Books: Author of Bayou Jesus, Mike may be a little behind schedule on the blog, as of late, due to book commitments, but this man’s a treasure trove of great stories.

Valkyrie Rising, Prudence MacLeod’s Blog: Always a ray of sunshine, Prudence will delight you with tales of people watching and discussions of various views, among other things. This lady is well worth the visit.

SHarper Blog: Author of King’s X. Stephen has recently introduced a new game relating to your book or WIP on his blog. It’s really cool. I recommend you wander over there and take a look.

Story Multiverse: I just introduced you to Ben up above. Can’t wait to see where his story goes.

Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride: Beautiful blogger. If you can only tune in for one day, don’t miss her flash fiction Fridays. Amazing stuff!

And the Versatile Blogger Award goes to:

A Digital Magician: This stop is all kinds of geek, which I love! He’s got games and sci-fi, but more importantly for a techno challenged blogger like myself – tweetdeck and blogging advice.

Deidra Alexander: Deidra always has something fun and witty. Her blog is a total hoot to follow.

Different Corners In My Life: A fun blog following the daily ups and downs in a writer’s life.

Jennifer Oliver: I’ve known Jen for a while now. I really like this new diary she introduced. I hope she continues it. I highly recommend you pop over and check it out.

Molly Pendlebury: Just getting her blogging feet wet, she’s stepped out of the gate with a bang! I am impressed and expect to see great things from her. After all, Kristen Lamb was her mentor. 😉

Shannon Esposito: Fun weekly Dear Abby posts for your pet.

Staring Out the Window: Fantastic writer with many great stories on the Hoover Dam.

The Midnight Novelist: An eclectic site full of fun videos, reviews and features.  Karen is one of my newest finds!

Waiting For The Storm To Pass: Another healing soul filling her blog with beautiful words and song. Heart Stacie.

That’s all she wrote folks! Thanks for coming, for your continued support and wonderful comments. They are always greatly appreciated.