In which I wax poetic about the benefits of exercise

Not really.

Exercise is NOT poetic. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

If I had been born about 100 years earlier, you wouldn't be reading this blog about my determination to lose all the baby weight...and a little more for health's sake.

You wouldn't know what a BLOG was, but that's irrelevent right now.

I'd more than likely be a farmer's wife (or a rancher in the Wild West; after all my husband is a visionary) breaking my back and sweating over the virgin soil of a new land. No matter how many kids I had, my waist would be tiny and I'd be more worried about cholera and scarlet fever than I would about whether my figure was still an effective seduction tool to use on said rancher husband.

I was kidding about the seduction part - don't really have to worry about a husband who doesn't find me attractive. He likes gray hair and wrinkles...

So I'm nearly halfway through the month - good lord is it really only one more day to the halfway point? My 50,000 word goal is turning out to be closer to 80,000 because I am guaranteed to reach the former by the end of this week. Sooner if I stop procrastinating and writing other things - like this blog.

Anyway, I got to thinking as I've gotten closer to my NaNo success story. It takes a lot of discipline to do what we writers have done this month. I know. My hands are on the verge of a physical breakdown any day now. Been doing regular stretching exercises and figuring out how much money to budget toward wrist braces in case of carpal tunnel.

The point being that writing as much as I have this month has really given me pause to evaluate other areas in which I LACK the discipline to reach my goals. Or I just go at it half-adz* and hope to God, He'll carry me the rest of my lazy way.

I'm lazy. I'll admit it for the world to see. Confession is good for the soul and if I have it out in public, I can't hide behind my excuses anymore.

Thing is, as a follower of Christ, I'm made in His image. Heck, as a created being made by God's hand, I'm created in His image. And I'm doing a pretty poor job of representing Him, because I'm pretty sure "lazy" isn't anywhere on His list of personality traits. I've got work to do if I'm ever going to look remotely like the God I serve.

Someone will say, "But isn't that His job? To mold and make you like clay in the Potter's hands?"

Sure.

He's not going to mold and make me into His image if I don't want to though. So I have to actually want it first of all. Then I have to take those steps toward becoming pliable in His hands. He'll meet me halfway. He'll give 100% if I give 100%.

And let's face it - I am SHORT of 100% by quite a bit...there might not be a number small enough to mark how far short I am of the goal.

The important thing is that I KNOW I'm short. And I'm running like the hounds of hell are after me to finish the race. I'm dead to laziness and just settling for getting by. I'm running into the arms of my Savior and I'm going to spend my life (the rest of it anyway) proving that I'm not a half-assed* sort of person. He doesn't just have part of me; He's got ALL of me...every last sorry piece.

Of course, I'd like it if there was PHYSICALLY less of me to offer. Those love handles are just not something I really want to offer up on the altar of sacrifice.

Or they're something I'd love to see burn on the altar of sacrifice.Depends on perspective I guess.

All in the name of becoming more like God obviously.

 

 

*We've all heard the phrase that something was done "half-ass," but few people stop to wonder what such a ridiculous expression could possibly mean. The term "half-ass" evolved from "half-adz." An adz is an axelike tool with a curved blade used for shaping wood. If you were wealthy and paid top-dollar for a new fireplace, the mantle would be shaped using an adz in the front as well as the back side, which isn't visible. However, if you weren't wealthy and wanted to save money, you could have only the front visible portion of the mantle shaped, this cheaper job being a "half-adz" job. (See: Half-Assed)

NaNoWriMo 2011

Tried it last year. Got to 3500 words and stopped. Don't really know why. It might have been pregnancy, or the moving cross-country thing, or maybe I just didn't care much about it at that point.

Sorry. I should probably explain why I am rambling on about something that happened this time last year.

National Novel Writing Month in November. Say that three times fast..

I know what you're thinking. "You just DID a novel writing weekend. Are you insane?"

Either that or, "A novel in a month should be a breeze for someone who just clocked 27,000 words in three days. Right?"

Yes and no...respectively.

I am insane. That has already been proven. One of my favorite quotes is from E.L. Doctorow. He says that,

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

I am a writer; therefore, I am schizophrenic. See? Easy. I listen to voices in my head all the time. Sometimes they tell me to kill people...sometimes they tell me to maim and seriously disable someone...sometimes they tell me that I need to seriously get a life...

Sometimes they tell me to change the world.

It's a good thing the voices only allow this stuff on paper isn't it? Okay, minus the changing the world thing...

So I am competing in another contest and since the question about my sanity has been answered, I will address your other concern.

I had a weekend of no kids, no (okay very little) husband, no meal making, cleaning, laundry, yard work, or other distractions of any kind...

This contest is all about writing when life is still going on all around you. Making the words flow when babies are crying, husbands are bellowing for dinner, and that leaning tower of laundry in your room is about to perform a successful coup of your supposed bedroom sanctuary.

I am not doing a fundraiser this year. My body, brain, and life are too massively uncoordinated right now. I blame my smalls and my husband...mostly. :0)

I am writing 50,000+ words in November - starting at 12:01am on the 1st and ending at 11:59pm on the 30th. No prize money is being doled out, but a whole heck of a lot of satisfaction at my accomplishment will be felt.

So if you all want to support me in this endeavor, send me flowers, chocolate, HUGS, chocolate, did I say flowers, offers of babysitting (always welcome, though payment would be in the form of a meal or three...), a bottle of champagne to celebrate, PRAYER (mandatory if nothing else is), and did I say chocolate and flowers? Oh, oh. And hugs...

I will be updating sporadically whether by video or blog (or both) and you will get to see a glimpse into my craziness as a hopeful writer/author!

See you!

On Writing with the Voices in My Head

I hear voices in my head...seriously.

They tell me stories and pretty much dictate exactly how they will look, act, and feel on paper. The only time they control me is...well all the time I guess.

As long as I am in writer's mode anyway. Which pretty much is all the time. Just most of the time, I manage to suppress the voices when I am wearing my other hats - like mommy, wife, etc.

But yeah. I do hear voices. Some people don't believe me.

Others might want to have me committed.

I just say the voices are relatively harmless in that they only manage to deprive me of sleep, sustenance, and real relationships...that last one truly does impact my marriage at times. It's a good thing I have an understanding spouse. He's brilliant about handling my voices.

Honestly. I woke him up one night at two in the morning to tell him that I'd been awake for hours trying to argue the voices into sleeping until a more decent hour. His response?

Sarah, they aren't going to go away just because you are arguing with them. Just write down what they tell you and go back to sleep after they stop talking voluntarily.

 Of course, I don't think he was truly that coherent. But close enough. :-P

Of Planting and Harvesting

For the most part, gardening was a bust for us this year.

I have a lot to learn about the wonders of growing vegetables. How not to kill them being on the top of the list. We got an abundance of peppers - the hot ones - cherry tomatoes, and beans. BEANS.

Not that I am upset about the produce we did get.

It would just be nice if the carrots, corn, tomatoes - the big ones - peppers - the sweet ones - and beets had survived. I KILLED them. :(

This winter, I will be researching how not to kill my veggies. Because it's corny to say that I have no green thumb...especially when I have green BEANS coming out of my EARS.

And even I winced at the utter cheese in that last joke. :)

Cheers