I really thought I’d be feeling more talkative by now.

Truth is, though, I’m not.

I’m not going to apologize for that. I’ve used my words here at home, during a week when the children both had colds, and there seemed to be more than the usual amount of conflict.

We’ve been practicing conflict resolution during the last few weeks, and learning how to try to meet everyone’s various needs peacefully.

It’s taken a lot of attention, and a lot of energy, learning new ways of being and relating.

If that doesn’t leave a lot of room right now for long and pithy goals updates, so be it. We’ll make it up on the microfilm….

Which really means that time invested in family peace now will almost surely lead to more writing time, somewhere in the future….

You get 10 points if you know the microfilm reference (and I will write 500 words on a subject of your choice to the first correct answer!).

In other news, on Saturday, after some shopping, the kids and I went to Waterford, the oldest continuously incorporated village in America. We visited with some longtime friends, and took a stroll along the Harbor. which runs alongside the world-famous Erie Canal.

A man and his daughters had found a turtle, and offered us a good look. We walked up along the lock wall, and discussed the awesome power just on the other side, and why the wall is shaped as it is. Annalise read a sign, and we studied the foot and hoof prints in the cement walkway, and how they represent the mulepath of old. We symbolically walked about half the length of the canal via the brick path that traces its route, and we sang the Erie Canal song.

Annalise made a young friend of about 2, and we watched her family catch a bass and a sunfish out of the canal.

We looked at several boats, but the locks were not in use during our visit, so we didn’t get to see the immense lock doors open, or the lock fill or empty of water, which is a beloved pastime for us all.

Then we went back to our friends’ home for the main attraction – the addition of two outgrown guinea pigs, Midnight and Blaster, to our family.

For those who wonder how this unschooling thing works, how children can learn without a curriculum, this one day may hold a clue.

In it, we covered history (the Erie Canal, which was vitally important to New York‘s development; and Memorial Day – the reason and bunting); science (guinea pigs, painted turtle, fish, locks); math (comparison shopping and budgeting; figuring out the guinea’s cage), English (reading various things); and a good deal of easy, natural socialization – the thing so many people seem convinced can’t happen without a classroom, when, in truth, Jeremiah and Annalise are comfortable talking and interacting with people from newborn to the very aged.

And that was just Saturday!

Round 2 Goals:

Reading:

• Read at least as many books as the number of the month (4 in April ; 5 in May; 6 in June) from my bedroom To Be Read piles.
• This goal has been attained for this month.

• Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
• I am adding another article to this week’s goal, because I finished last week one short.
• I read 10 Reasons Not to Wait Until Retirement to Travel.
• I read Square Foot Gardening on a Shoestring!
• I read A Little Butterfly Told Me, and shared with Annalise.
• I read Radical Unschooling: the Negative Post. I found the criticism to be extremely general, presumptuous, and tinged with personal biases, as were several of the comments. Again, I’ve noticed that people who feel they have been attacked are quite often very defensive and on guard for an attack….without seeming to realize that the attack may be more a matter of their own perception than any intent on the part of the accused “attacker”.
• I readCritiquing the Radical Unschooling Critique: Real Negatives or Gross Generalizations? I loved this insightful article by my young and wise friend, Idzie. It articulated the response I had to the Negative Post, above.
• I have attained this goal for this week (and caught up from last week, too!).
• Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
• I read Scrambled, and commented.
• I read Flash Fiction Friday:May 25 , and commented.
• I read You’ve signed a publishing contract…what’s next?, and commented.
• I read Naked Yoga, and commented.
• I read Family Friday: Field Trips, Birthday Parties, & Riding Bikes and liked.
• I read Writers’ Workspace(s), and commented to offer a guest post…..
• I have attained this goal for this week.

Blogging:

• Complete the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge.
• Continue posting to One Minute Writer; #Friday Flash; The Lightning and the Lightning Bug; Weekend Creation Blog Hop;Unschooling Blog Carnival;Trifecta  and other hops and challenges that intrigue me.
• I have continued with the Story a Day May Challenge, and I have gotten caught up from last week’s missed story.
• I wrote and submitted my entry, Jim Burton – So Much More than a Dad, for the June Unschooling Blog Carnival.

Networking:

• Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
• I am continuing with the Story a Day May Challenge, as noted above.
• I have submitted my entry for the June Unschooling Blog Carnival, also as noted above.

• Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
• I have been commenting on most of the blogs I read, and have been sharing them here, and sometimes elsewhere.
• I have been working on answering a rather overwhelming array of comments…if I haven’t gotten to you, I will – I promise! It just may take quite a while – we’re into our travel season!
• I have been sharing my blogs through LinkedIn and on the ROW80 page.

• Do 3 guest posts and  host 3 guest bloggers this round.
• I still have Elizabeth Anne Mitchelll‘s wonderful post waiting to publish. I am going to schedule it today or tomorrow; it will definitely post on June 1!
• Still looking for two more guest posters to hop on the Soapbox I’ve provided. The only guidelines are positivity and kindness – the rest is entirely up to you!

Submitting:

• Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
• As noted above, I am currently participating in the Story a Day May Challenge.
• Also as noted above, I previously participated in the One-Minute Writer Challengewith my post, One-Minute Writer: Love.
• As noted above, I entered my post Jim Burton – So Much More than a Dad in the June Unschooling Blog Carnival.
• I have attained this goal for this month.

 Learning:

• Use Twitter and Hootsuite at least one day a week.  Learn more.
• I am changing this to “Twitter or Hootsuite”. There’s too much redundancy in trying to do both…
• I am running Twitter today. I have to admit, I am liking it more, but it still feels inflexible and counterintuitive to the types of flowing conversation I love on Facebook.

Self-care:

• Add JOY to every day!
• Monday: A relaxing day at home, surrounded by loving family. And a little time to myself.
• Tuesday: A little more time alone, and some hometending. Bought and began playing Cake Mania 2. Got back to kids’ reports.
• Wednesday: Hometending, Worked on reports (so that I won’t be doing them at the very end of the month). More Cake Mania 2.
• Thursday: Cake-doing. Relaxing. Stating my needs clearly.
• Friday: More stating my needs, attempting to do so respectfully and non-reactively. Hometending. Medium. Weeding (I love weeding!).
• Saturday: Erie Canal, guinea pigs, visiting friends, cake-doing, Medium, and leisurely conversation with Jim. Time spent happily (and a bit not so much) with Miah and Lise.
• Sunday: Hometending, Writing. TNG and Medium.

• Add movement to every day, too!
• Monday: Very little movement – I was really sore from the weekend.
• Tuesday: Hometending and unpacking.
• Wednesday: Hometending and more unpacking. Body feeling better and better rested.
• Thursday: Hometending.
• Friday: Hometending and weeding.
• Saturday: Hometending, walking along the canal, shopping, carrying groceries and pig gear, setting up guinea house.
• Sunday: Hometending, a little mowing.

• Add self-decorating to every week
• I wore a smile, anti-frizz cream, and the kiss of the sun this week. 

• Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
• Monday: Writerly stuff – enjoying being alone and with my family.
• Tuesday: Began new story sequence that’s been rolling around in my mind for a while. More solitude.
• Wednesday: Added another story to the sequence. Putting the house back in order. Time alone with Jim. Began Medium.on Netflix. It was a former favorite, but I missed the last season or two due to not receiving CBS. I am starting over at the beginning, and will work my way through the series. =)
• Thursday: Kept writing the story sequence – it’s taken hold of me! More Cake Mania.
• Friday: More story. More cake frenzy. More hometending, which brought me pleasure. Flowerbed weeding.
• Saturday: Hometending cake-doing, story writing,Erie Canal, Guinea pigs, photography!
• Sunday: Hometending, cake-doing, collage-making, rereading old story stuff, new story writing.

• Add all these for my beloved others, too!
• Jeremiah: Conversation and cuddles. Gave him a game credit. TLC for his cold.Erie Canal;assorted goodies; yes to mowing and guinea pigs.
• Annalise:Conversation, cuddles, and tickles, and TLC for her cold.  Erie Canal; assorted goodies; yes to guinea pigs and a blanket fort..
• Jim: Appreciation and companionship.  A cleaner house.

Administrative Stuff:

• Write and submit third quarter reports for both children.  These are due on June 1, 2012.
• Both reports are written and, as of Thursday evening, submitted to the school district via email.
• Annalise’s report.
• Jeremiah’s report.
• This goal has been attained.

Jeremiah awoke just as we started finding some motivation –  the coffee helped, and he asked if he could mow the lawn –  so far, the new mower is solidly in our win column!

Jim and I have been working through  a major household issue –  the level of clutter and just ickiness in common spaces, and we had a long talk where I really tried to peacefully express why i don’t feel welcome or at home in those spaces.  Jim listened, and we decided we’d spend 15 minutes in cleaning those spaces, letting the kids know they were welcome to help or clear out until we were finished.

Everyone helped according to their nature, taking frequent breaks   Jim decided to upend the couch, and an eclectic junkyard was revealed…and duly processed.

Related articles

• VIDEO: Grand Mariner returns to Erie Canal for another cruise season (troyrecord.com)
• High water closes eastern stretch of Erie Canal (troyrecord.com)
• Adventurers to kayak down Erie Canal (wivb.com)
• Mild weather helps canal open early (wivb.com)
• New York is vying to become global high-tech hub (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Crusing the Canal on the Colonial Belle (donnellysph.typepad.com)
• New York vies to be tech hub (toledoblade.com)
• Leaders to discuss shoreline property (wivb.com)

For me, the weekend was about deepening and broadening my perceptions, and learning from some very wise unschoolers. For Miah and Lise, it was learning to play Gaga Ball, exploring ropes courses, and the freedoms of nature.

For all of us, it was connecting with old friends and making new ones, and being amongst other people who share a common belief that children learn best what they learn naturally, for reasons of their own, and that, in order to create a world where mutual respect abounds, children must know how it feels to be respected, so that they can offer that to others.

Reading:

• Read at least as many books as the number of the month (4 in April ; 5 in May; 6 in June) from my bedroom To Be Read piles.
• The Shelters of Stone – Completed.
• I have attained this goal for May.
• Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
• I read only two articles last week.
• I plan to read 4 this week, to balance things out.

Blogging:

• Continue posting to One Minute Writer; #Friday Flash; The Lightning and the Lightning Bug; Weekend Creation Blog Hop;Unschooling Blog Carnival;Trifecta  and other hops and challenges that intrigue me.
• I have reviewed the theme for the June Unschooling Blog Carnival, and am already contemplating my Tribute to Jim.
• I have, for the first time in weeks, posted a One-Minute Writer post, “Love”.

• Create a “flow chart” for posting to shanjeniah and The Unfettered Life.  Use these, and adapt as necessary, throughout the round (with allowances made in April for the challenge).
• I have decided to use the flow charts more to guide me when I want to post but am a little fuzzled on subject matter, at least for mow. Perhaps they will become more a part of my blogging, or perhaps not….time will tell…
• I’ve fallen a story or two behind on my Story A Day May challenge – the weekend used all my mental focus, and I didn’t have access to the Internet,
• Again, I plan to catch up this week, and have decided that, as long as I have 31 new stories by month’s end, I will count it as a goal achieved. There’s no point in punishing myself for placing family and peace at the forefront of my life!
• Add pages/ edit sidebar layout on shanjeniah.
• I added several new header images I am rather happy with…the top of my pages felt a little stagnant and outdated; now they’re freshened up. =)
• I deleted all my challenge icon widgets – there were a LOT of images in my sidebar, and I felt it was really cluttered.
• At a later date, I plan to make a slideshow of the images, and use that as a single widget.
• I am hoping to do the same for blog hops, fests, and carnivals; my blogging awards; and where I have been published online.
• The first step, as with the challenges, will be to create a contact page for each category, with more info, and the icons and links back to the sites.
• It’s my hope that the end result will be visually appealing in a clean, uncluttered way.

Self-care:

• Add JOY to every day!
• Thursday:Releasing my angst about getting ready; having most of the car loaded before I slept. Mowing and hanging with my family.
• Friday: Allowing the day to unfold as it would; frozen caramel frappe. Being amongst unschoolers, and in nature.
• Saturday: Flowing with the mood; helping Miah make deviled eggs; time with kids; being inspired, challenged,broadened, and deepened throughout the day: watching kids play Gaga ball; Banangrams and Artist trading card making; an earlier sleep when I needed it.
• Sunday: Photographing ropes course, lady slippers, and people I treasure;speaking from my soul; releasing the desire to control the pace of our departure; chatting with people I may not see again for some time; embracing it all.

• Add movement to every day, too!
• Thursday: Mowing, hometending, packing.
• Friday: Packing, setting up camp; walking.
• Saturday: Lots of walking (with a very sore knee. Tending camp and puttery hometending at the lodge (the adults worked communally to keep things reasonably orderly.)
• Sunday: More serious hometending (making coffee, washing dishes; cleanup of outdoor eating area and lodge common areas. Packing; breaking camp; loading car. Lots of walking.

• Add self-decorating to every week!
• I decorated my outer self with sunshine and tumbled and tousled curls courtesy of my anti-frizz cream.
• I spent far more time decorating my inner self with: new ideas and perspectives; deepening and broadening horizons and understandings; the delights of a communal weekend; questioning my assumptions; and laughter.

• Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
• Thursday: Writerly stuff; preparing for weekend. Time with Jim.
• Friday: Driving, camping, friendship and kinship.
• Saturday: Personal and parental growth; time to be with the kids; kinship; nature. Creating and games playing. Deepening my ability to accommodate.
• Sunday: More growth; watching the kids challenge themselves. Photographing people and nature. Driving; music; NPR. More accomodation.
• Add all these for my beloved others, too!
• Jeremiah:Saying yes to the McDonald’s Playplace, barbecue chips, and pocket money; helping him buy the ingredients for his planned cooking projects; accepting his offered help; playing games and watching him play when requested; helping him with his cooking project; inventing division questions when requested; snuggles and cuddles and conversation.
• Annalise: Saying yes to Mcdonald’s, a stuffed friend, and gummy worms; freedom to explore; helping her exchange phone numbers with a cherished new friend; finding lost shoes and a diamond-shaped rock; exploring lady slippers and playing Poohsticks: being nearby when she used unfamiliar bathrooms and the ropes course; creating an artist trading card for just for her; snuggles and back scratching; food and conversation; appreciating her chalk art and meeting Sugar Cube the spring pony.
• Jim:Was a bit left out, since we were only together for small parts of Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. I gave him couples tine; was careful with how I used money on this trip; and making sure the car had gas enough to drive it today. Coffee, affection, and conversation.

That’s all I have to report, this time. I’ll have more to say, next time…..

Love –

It’s about more than three little words….

‘Show, don’t tell‘ is vitally important here. So often, people say, “I love you,” but their actions say something very different. With love comes caring, and caring is a verb, a way to describe actions that give the other importance and value, that help them to truly feel your love in a way that words  can’t express.

Related articles

• What Do You Want? (whisperofangels.wordpress.com)
• ADVERBS: Friend or Foe? (romanceaustralia.wordpress.com)
• Writers: How Did You Find A Writers Group? (justanotherworkingwriter.wordpress.com)
• Writers, and Parents: Show, Don’t Tell (blogs.berkeley.edu)
• Showing and Telling (jaylt.wordpress.com)
• There’s always someone who loves more (franinwonderwords.wordpress.com)
• Writing a Better Call to Action (marketingprofs.com)

Someday, I may get back to the long, rambling essays I often write for these updates.

Today, though, is not that someday, and here’s why:

• I have a headache.
• I have a living room filling up with miscellaneous camping supplies. The children and I are attending the Always Learning Live May Symposium in Massachusetts this weekend; our first camping trip of the season). First trips always seem to involve more chaos than those later in the season, as we transition…

• I have photos to add and a story to write.
• I have hometending, packing, and organizing awaiting me.
• I am more focused, right now, on the actual goals, and our weekend plans, than on deep musings. It’s getting to our active season, and I don’t want to still my busy mind long enough to get all pithy.
• I have lots of clarity dawning, but….it’s not ready, just yet.

So, for now, I am just going to run down my progress, and add some pictures….

First iris of the spring, and the promise of many more….

Round 2 Goals:

Reading:

• Read at least as many books as the number of the month (4 in April; 5 in May; 6 in June) from my To Be Read piles.
• 
  
• The Shelters of Stone: p 737 of 896.
• Tuesdays With Morrie: Completed.
• I have read 4 of 5 books for May.
  
• Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
• I have read Birth of a Homeschooler.
• I have read 1 of 3 articles needed to attain this goal for the week.

Annalise staged a Snake Show on Wednesday evening…..

• Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
• I read My Day? Mabee not… ,and commented.
• I read Small Talks, and commented.
• I read Open Wounds, and commented.
• I read ROW Check-in #12, and commented.
• I read Book Review Monday: One Hundred Names For Love , and commented.

Sibs with Snakes!

Submitting:

•  Submit at least 10 pieces of flash fiction or poetry this round.
• I submitted my flash fantasy fiction story, “Sarjyn and the Kingdom of Man Above” to the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.
• Within several hours, I received back what appears to be a form letter, and which has me puzzled, as it was an attempt to sell my a writing workshop, and contained no acceptance, rejection, or any specific references to the piece I submitted….

Freshly mown front yard….

• I am in the process of investigating a few other markets for flash fiction:

1. Digital American
2. Diagonal Proof
3. Anobiumlit.com
4. Fix it Broken
5. Monkeybicycle

• I have submitted 2 of 10 pieces for this goal.
• I will continue to investigate the five publications above over the coming days.

Boyo my Heart!

• Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
• I have a rough draft of my guest post for Elizabeth Anne Mitchell‘s blog,  (a little long at 993 words, I think).
• I will let this piece rest for a day or three, and revisit/revise before offering it to Elizabeth.
• I have separated the very long (2500+ word) essay I wrote as my Cooperative Catalyst guest post into four distinct philosophical threads.
• Next, I will refer back to the letter from the editor (which I have yet to answer -oops!), and check on suggested word lengths as well as the other places he suggested I explore on the blog.
• I will be using this information to polish the thread I offer as my first guest blogpost there.
• I hope to be ready to submit to Cooperative Catalyst by next week.
• I I have revised my 773-word Anything Goes post to a tighter and within the word limit 572 words.
• I am much happier with this version, but will let it sit for a bit before looking at it over again, then submitting.

One Corki-dog; three moods!

• Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
• I am continuing with the Story a Day May Challenge.
• Thus far, I have written a story each day, most of them loosely connected.
• I have not yet written today’s story….first, a hot shower!
• I have written each story just as it comes, and most in about a half-hour.

After the rain,…the rhododendrons!

Organizing:

•  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
• I have edited the text for my post, Outside with Annalise.
• In order to watermark the photos as a batch, I needed to download them to my Picasaalbums, then reset the syncing feature to include watermarks.
• The photos are synced to my Picasa Web Albums, with watermarks, and I have edited and updated Outside with Annalise.
• I have also updated the post Birthday Party Weekend – Part One.

Johnnies jumping up…such sweet tiny faces!

• Take clips from first Penzu notebook.
• I have taken all clips from the December 3 and 4^th writings.
• I have begun taking clips from Dec. 5 and 6^th.
• This leaves 9 posts left to clip for this ROWnd.

• Input Chameleon’s Dish to Scrivener.
• I have input original Chapter 9, into Scrivener.
• I have found the next three chapters, and done a quick edit/reformatting of Chapter 10 (which will become Chapter 3), and Chapter 11 (which will be Chapter 4). It is now ready for inputting to Scrivener.
• I have added Chapter 3 to my Scrivener Chameleon’s Dishbinder.
• I have rough edited and reformatted Chapter 12; it is prepared for its future addition to my Scrivener binders.

• Create story arc for Blood and Breath.
• I have added Chapters Eight and Nine to the story arc.
• As I suspected, the reconstructed version is drifting from the direction I know the last draft took. I’m a little sad about it, but accepting. It’s like a semi-rewrite, and I imagine the story will end up better for it.

Snake charmer…and flinger!

• Clean up computer downloads, documents, photos, and other clutter – move it or lose it!
• A few weeks ago, I placed all my writing-related files in a folder labeled Writing Bullpen.
• This was a definite improvement over searching through all my document files for them.
• However, there were dozens of files there, and they were not organized.
• I have deleted redundant or unnecessary files, and organized the rest in subfolders.
• My Writing Bullpen is now a well-organized home for all the writing projects I currently want close to hand.

Marketing:

•  Explore marketing articles on my Facebook Writer Page.
• I read What Mascara, Thai Food,and Julia Child Can Teach Us About Social Media Success.
• Add useful articles to my shanjeniah Marketing Articles  page.
• I have added the above article to my page, and will be returning to read more here.
• Use this information to help define my direction; adjust as needed.
• I feel new awareness and ideas spinning and coalescing; I believe, by the end of the next ROWnd, I will have at least the framework of a marketing plan!

The unsettled eastern sky at sunset, May 16, 2012….

Self-care:

• Add JOY to every day!
• Monday: Easy family day; allowed myself to express my feelings when I needed to.
• Tuesday: Again, stated my needs and honored myself by doing so; time alone in a reasonably clean house.
• Wednesday: Mowed the front lawn with new,self-propelled mower, easing calmly into packing for our weekend camping trip. Breathing.

• Add movement to every day, too!
• Monday: Puttery hometending; packing.
• Tuesday: Hometending.
• Wednesday: Hometending; mowed front yard; began gathering camping supplies.

Recent art by Annalise, who is making artistic leaps, just now…

• Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
• Monday: Family time; writerly stuff.
• Tuesday: A few hours of sweet solitude!
• Wednesday: Mowing; walking around the yard in the early morning; photographing nature and family life; attending a snake show.
• Add all these for my beloved others, too!
• Jeremiah: Snuggles, tickles, and spelling help; deep conversations; photo ops; lots of second chances; and saying yes to him using the brand-new mower.
• Jim: Honesty; even when it was hard; appreciation; conversation.
• Annalise: Seeing her as she really is; attended and photographed her snake show; time with me in my room; saying yes to her own tent for this weekend’s camping trip; snuggles and spelling help.

Both kids spent time experimenting with stencil spin art…..they got quite good!

So there are my accomplishments for the last three days. I may or may not do a Monday check-in (it won’t be Sunday, as we will be returning home then, and, after two days camping in the company of other unschoolers, I know from experience that we will all be blissfully exhausted.

I will not have regular (and perhaps no) internet access over the weekend, so I won’t be as visible as I generally am. I have structured my writing so that I can focus on things that can be done offline suring the weekend. Although this is a symposium, and there will be speakers I want to hear, activities I want to participate in, children to be with, and social gatherings to attend, I know that there will also be the freedom to read and write.

I’m planning to write my Story a Day (in a notebook or in LibreOffice); to finish The Shelters of Stone if I haven’t before then; to begin a book review or two (I have a growing stack of books waiting for their turns); and to work on the children’s quarterly reports, which are due on June 1. I may do some, all, or even none of those things.

May the rest of everyone’s week be joyful and productive!

Namaste!

Why not  visit the other ROWers?

Related articles

• ROWin’ On…ROW80 Update #12 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWing Toward My Dreams… Row Update #11 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWin’ in the Rain – Goals Update #6 (shanjeniah.com)
• Just Rowin’ Along – ROW 80 Goals Update #9 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWing into the Surge – ROW80 Goals Update #7 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWing Mellowly Down the Stream – ROW Update #5 (shanjeniah.com)

So, today, I am tired and restful in a messy house, filled with plans for the one ELance Proposal I REALLY want to write, and moving in that direction. It’s requiring four computers, used intermittently, to do the things I want to accomplish, freelancing goals-wise,at the moment. Jim is generously loaning me his little, basic, but totally not cluttered Toughbook, which I am using now. The tablet can be good for stashing notes and lists of priorities, and quick checks and updates. There is information I want from the old desktop, where I wrote before purchasing the laptop. I want to move those files, but haven’t found an efficient method of doing so yet. And the laptop that was formerly mine is just stuffed absolutely full of so much stuff, I may never again have it clear (unless I replace the whole hard drive and operating system!).

My plan is to purchase a newer, smaller laptop, and then, a few months later, a modern, flash-enabled tablet with full browsing capabilities. Then, perhaps, a smaller, more compact printer. The goal is to have an entire, fully functional home office that can be stored in a very small physical space. This way, I will be able to work from our travel trailer, or a coffeeshop, or anywhere else, and not be using a great deal of space that is soon to become very valuable and will certainly be shared.

But, until then, I’ve decided to move forward on my writing and freelancing plans. I’ve been waiting so long for all the conditions to be just so, and I no sooner solve one issue than I seem to discover another one (or more, sometimes!).

I think a good part of it is procrastination, or fear of having easily what I’ve dreamed about for so long. Lingering echoes from far back in childhood that say this is a waste of time, nothing but a frivolous pipe dream.

Now I am beginning to step up and realize that, no matter the value anyone else ascribes to it, it IS my dream, and I am cheating myself by not taking the time and making the investment to begin, well and truly and imperfectly. And that not only cheats me, but also those closest to me, who will be better served by a more fulfilled me, and also those who might benefit from my talent for the art of language.

So, no matter how I need to jury rig things, how much longer it takes to accomplish even a simple writing task at the moment, I AM beginning. Time to start, to get my feet wet, to make happen what I envision by getting a move on and doing as much as I can.

It may take time to get my portfolio of previous work ready for public viewing, It may take a lot of inventiveness to get things written and submitted in a format that is useful to others.

But lifelong dreams are worth the effort and exertions and growing pains of achieving, and, for every job I DO successfully complete, I will have a ready sample of CURRENT work for that portfolio.

There’s nothing wrong with exhibiting my past masterworks, so long as the quest to do so doesn’t become a means of stalling on creating new ones, of claiming my own personal right to achieve my dreams, or of sharing the gift of my words with others who may find them valuable in their own lives.

I was thinking about that early this morning, after watching Phenomenon. I have taken many leaps of faith in my life: loving Tim, moving across country, marrying a man I had known for less than 6 months, parenthood, travel across country, Elijah’s death, not sending the children to school, moving toward and into radical unschooling. Getting into an airplane, climbing cliffs, scuba diving. I seem to have good leap of faith instincts. And they are telling me now that this is what I am meant for, to distill life and experience, stir in perspective and observation, season with truth and humor and kindness, and release it into the world. Everything in life has led me to this place where I am going to fully and unabashedly live my freedom!

Round 2 Goals:

Reading:

• Read at least as many books as the number of the month (4 in April ; 5 in May; 6 in June) from my bedroom To Be Read piles.
• The Shelters of Stone: p 614 of 896  - officially beyond the halfway point.
• The Natural Child:  Completed.
• Tuesdays With Morrie: p 39 of  192.
• I have completed 3 of 5 books for this month.

• Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
• I have read and commented on My Best Friend is Having a Baby.
• I read, loved, and commented on A Little Something and a Tuesday Snippet. I’ve known this world for a long time, (in an odd way, I am an aunt to Eden‘s worlds as she is to mine) and I love seeing it evolve!
• I read and commented on a whole lotta nuthin’.  I really enjoyed peeking into Robin’s life!
• I read Lost-  Motivation.  If found, please return to… and commented.
• I read and rated Celebrating Every Step.
• I read An Amazing Feeling and commented.
• I read Green Tea and Five Sentences For Me, and commented.
• I have exceeded this goal for this week.

Writing:

It’s been a jumbly, tumbly kind of few days, here.  The weather has been unsettled, and I am, too…..

For good reason….

On Saturday, my first poem was published in the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.

On Tuesday, my post appeared  on Tiny Buddha.

I have plans in the work for guest bloggers, and guest posts.

Things are moving, on many fronts, and I am…..

Hmmmn…..

Yes, I am.

Round 2 Goals:

Reading:

• Read at least as many books as the number of the month (4 in April ; 5 in May; 6 in June) from my bedroom To Be Read piles.
• The Shelters of Stone: p 428 of 896.
• Peaceful Parents, Peaceful Kids: Completed.
• The Natural Child: p 53 of 175.
• I have completed 2 0f 5 books for May.

• Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
• I have read Wind and Rain, an article about the out-of-doors, rainy-day fun families can have together.
• I read a second article there, but it was not very useful, and particularly poorly edited, so I will not recommend it  (or out it) here.
• I also read  A New Approach, an article by a mother trying out some “free-range” ideas in her family.  This article made me sad, because it seems she’s missed the point of allowing children the freedom of many choices – she seems to be only allowing the freedom as a way of getting more cooperation from her children, and she finishes by limiting electronics (which will likely have led, by now, to electronics being used for all allotted time, and perhaps begged for, or contended over, otherwise…).  There are no further posts on the blog, so I suspect she may have aborted her “experiment” before it had time to prove its merit….
• I have attained this goal for this week.

• Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
• I have read When Does Fan Fiction Cross an Ethical Line?  This is a pretty serious consideration for me in my Star Trek-related fanfic, which is an integral part of the universe I have created, and I really don’t have any answers.  All I know is, I can’t seem to let go of my Spock-passions, and I don’t want to, either! =D  I commented with words to that effect, more or less.
• I have read 1 of 5 blogposts for this week.

Writing:

• Create flash fiction, short stories, dialogues, character sketches, alternate scenes, and poetry for  Chameleon’s Dish.  Wander cow trails, and learn these people and their lives more fully.
• I have written three more stories about Tisira , the main character from Chameleon’s Dish.  
• I  have posted  ”The Huntress in Moonlight” to my Story a Day  blog, shanjeniah.org. 
• I will be adding the next two segments to the blog within the next few days.

• Finish father-in-law letter and send.
• I have given this more thought, and have been constructing portions of it in my head.  I almost have a version cohesive enough to attempt another freewriting, but  not quite.

Blogging:

• Complete the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge.
• Continue posting to One Minute Writer; #Friday Flash; The Lightning and the Lightning Bug; Weekend Creation Blog Hop;Unschooling Blog Carnival;Trifecta  and other hops and challenges that intrigue me.
• I submitted The Huntress in Moonlight to The Storyteller Writing Challenge.
• I am continuing to write a flash fiction story of about 750 words each day for the Story a Day May Challenge.  

• Complete Cooperative Catalyst post and relative links (interviews with both children, and their “day in the life” posts from last year) ; submit to editor.
• I have heard back from the editor; I will be looking at the article again, to see if there are naturally separating themes or portions.
• He has also read one of my blogposts, I’m THAT Mom…Naturally!, and thought that, with adaptations, it might make a good post, as well.
• He has also suggested another writer whose posts I might like to read, and a category or two to explore and comment on, to “introduce” myself to what is an organic community.
• It is quite possible that I will find a home of sorts there. =)

Networking:

•  Explore She Writes; Twitter: StoryDam; Pinterest;and LinkedIn.  Use, develop, evaluate, adjust.
• I posted a link or two to LinkedIn.  It is becoming more natural to use it.

• Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
• As noted above, I have joined two challenges.
• At the moment, I feel these are all I can handle, for now.

• Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
• I am doing fairly well on sharing my blogs. through several means –  challenges, posting comments,  submissions, and sharing via several forms of social media.
• For the moment, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the increased attention, and will be just focusing on adjusting, before I diversify further.
• My essay, Sometimes There Is No Right Way , posted to Tiny Buddha on Tuesday.  It has received nearly two dozen comments and an email, at this point, and I am feeling some pretty major overwhelm.  It’s a big step from where I was, visibility-wise, two weeks ago to where I am now, and I am feeling a considerable degree of disequilibrium at the sudden change after a lifetime of dreaming…
• As a dear friend and I have been discussing, learning curves are messy.  I will adjust, with time and a lot of deep breathing….and eventually I will get to over 30 comments waiting for me in various places….really!

Submitting

• Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
• As mentioned above, editing and research are being considered prior to formally submitting a piece, but the lines of communication has been opened.

• Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
• As noted above, I have participated/am participating in two challenges thus far, for May.
• This leaves one challenge left to enter, prior to  this month’s end.

Photography:

• Watermark all photos that appear on my blogs, and all those I post going forward; begin watermarking favorites not on blogs.
• I decided I am satisfied with the batch watermarking, and this will make it possible to quickly mark all of my pictures within the next weeks, as opportunity presents itself.

Learning:

• For WordPress, create a running list of questions; work on finding answers!
• During dinner with Eden Mabee, she answered one of my questions –  about how to replace the standard header text.
• I have successfully changed my header text.  It may or may not be permanent, but now I know I can do it, so it will be a simpler matter to change it if I decide  to, at some later point.

Self-care:

• Add JOY to every day!
• Monday: I allowed myself a mellow day of puttering, both in my writing projects and in my hometending. A simple day spent with my beloveds.
• Tuesday: Joy Abounding! I slept in, and, although I woke with a headache at the time t’ai chi was starting, and although it was a damp and somewhat dreary day outside, I was basking in the company of my Syster, Eden Mabee.  When you’ve been friends since you were four and share writing dreams and motherhood and a lifetime of shared memories and interwoven stories, hours can slip by….and then, I was greeted in the driveway, a little after 2am, by my family.  Chatted with the children until 5:30am. Sweet day!
• Wednesday:  Another mellow, wet, restful day of puttering….I feel my energy slowly returning.  I’ve had some bug writing developments over the last several days, and I am feeling a need to lay a bit low and absorb them.  Why is success scarier for me than failure?

• Add movement to every day, too!
• Monday: Puttering around the house and yard.  Moving furniture and bicycles.
• Tuesday: Moving from building to car, and car to building, and grocery shopping…..not a big moving day…..sometimes, that’s exactly what I need.
• Wednesday: Puttering with hometending; moving more bicycles –  yes, there DO seem to be an inordinate number of them here –  and I still haven’t moved my own!

• Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
• Monday: Reading and writing, puttering with storyworlds and blogging.
• Tuesday: A rare, lovely day with a dear friend.  Utterly rejuvenating.  I wrote my story, but, beyond that, I simply enjoyed the company and the unrolling of the moments.
• Wednesday: Reading, writing, lolling with the kids, absorbing the nearing of a lifetime of dreaming, and puttering.  A hot shower awaits me, after I post here.

• Add all these for my beloved others, too!
• Jeremiah: Finding his bigger bike, saying yes to lots of cooking.  Conversation and cuddles, and patience when he needed it.
• Jim:  A harmonious home, companionship, and consideration.  Laughter.
• Annalise: Finding her bigger bike, serious and mature conversation, help when a fall spoiled her baby mosquito study, patience when she needed it, imagination and laughter.

 It seems to be one of those periods where I am doing things, but there is really relatively little concrete to report.

Much is happening beneath the surface, and there is no telling, really, what will evolve from here.

I know, though, that it will involve love, and writing.

And I know that I will keep on ROWing, with trepidation and daring, and remain present not only to the misty path ahead, but also to the rocky, swift, twisty places I am traversing right now…..

Until next time, I leave you with 5 more followers to get to know….

• Maggie Mae
• turkischland
• healthdemystified
• rameshnanda
• knowthesphere

And the ROW Linky, for keeping up with all the other ROWers….

Related articles

• “Growth and Juggling…..” ROW80 Goals Update #3 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWing with my Nature…Goals Update #8 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWin’ in the Rain – Goals Update #6 (shanjeniah.com)
• “The Huntress in Moonlight” – Flash Fantasy (shanjeniah.com)
• Just Rowin’ Along – ROW 80 Goals Update #9 (shanjeniah.com)

Sometimes There Is No Right Way | Tiny Buddha: Wisdom Quotes, Letting Go, Letting Happiness In.

The Storyteller Writing Challenge

*    *   *

Are you a Storyteller? What inspires you?

What stirs you to pick up your pen, open your word doc. and write?

I offer TWO prompts for you to CHOOSE from:

 An Image prompt and an Other prompt. 

1. THE Image PROMPT

For this weeks image prompt, tell us what is evoked by this image.

What is this haunting environment? What story tumbles from your imagination?
Why is she there? Who is she?

The Talented Artist this week is - Artist: Agus - http://psdholic.deviantart.com/

“The Huntress in Moonlight”

Copyright 2012 by Shan Jeniah Burton

She seemed to have forgotten  I was there….

I sat on the wide  branch, my back pressed into the trunk – cushioned and cool where the  mosses caressed my shoulders; rough and warm where my lower back pressed against bare bark –  watching her.

She never seemed to  notice her  beauty,  yet she wore it naturally, with  ownership  I had never seen before.  I couldn’t pinpoint  what differed  from the beautiful, petulant queens of the high school court…Shirana,  Beverlee, and Aspen, who made the boys slobber over themselves like fools, and dismissed the rest of us with something that might have been contemptuous if they didn’t look at  walls and teachers  the same way…

~~ Perhaps  those girls believe  their appearance entitles them to privilege.  I find that attitude most – illogical.~~

I clutched my head,  nearly falling. “H-How —?” I asked, pressing myself backward, as if Tisira was going to attack.

I felt her, now. She was amused – and concerned that maybe she had lost my friendship.   She found me enjoyable and interesting.

She walked a little away, her tank top revealing just a bit of a midriff that was slender and muscular. Her long skirt swayed  with her, and she bowed her head to study her toes, making her short, shiny black bob fall across her face…

She was silhouetted by the enormity of the full moon, which leaning in  as if to tell Earth some wonderful secret….

A sceret about Tisira, maybe……

Without  warning, a small flock of birds winged straight at us.

I yelled, and this time I did fall out of the tree- well, half fell and half rolled, but, still, I hit the ground with a rattling, graceless thump.

When I looked up ,  Tisira  had a small, hawkish raptor  perched upon her shoulder.  She was whispering to it, and the bird seemed to be listening. The rest of the flock circled, then landed in several trees around the edges of the clearing.

“I am not a human high school student,” Tisira said. Although I hadn’t seen her move,  she was  offering me a hand up, which I gladly took.  Hers was calloused and strong, and I noticed a long, fine scar running from the back of her hand to just short of her elbow. “I am a Tacivaarii Huntress.”

In my mind, there was a sense of what that meant, but I could also tell that there was more – much more than I could ever understand.

“You read my mind, and command birds of prey.”

She steadied me as my knees threatened to collapse.

“It’s not reading your mind, exactly.  I could, but I wouldn’t.  I share the strong thoughts and feelings you project outward…..Father says that I always will, no matter how hard I attempt to shield myself. I’m sorry it troubles you.”

She helped me to sit  on a low stump where, hopefully, I could keep from further embarrassing myself with my clumsiness.

“As for the bird, I don’t command her. We have a symbiotic relationship. We share information about prey, when there is mutual benefit in doing so.  And we share feelings, sometimes.”

“Tisira – I don’t understand. About you, about this huntress thing; about reading my mind – or whatever the hell it’s called; about that bird. But most of all, I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”

“There is something within you that needs to know, Sarah.  You care, and feel, and seek.  We are kindred, in ways that language can’t express.  You’re ready for what I am, and what I have to offer –  a symbiotic relationship of our own.”

That made me nervous. We were a long way from help – there were no houses for at least a mile in either direction. No one to run to for help, no one to hear me scream -

Tisira looked at me with glowing eyes, as the bird cried into the night….

And suddenly, a lynx crouched where she had stood…..

For a moment, I stared, and then a shaky  whisper emerged.

“Wh- what do you want with me?”

Related articles

• British ornithologists track cuckoo birds migration route (phys.org)
• I is for Intuition (shanjeniah.com)
• Point of View vs. Perception (leonawisoker.wordpress.com)
• Going to the Birds (dirtnkids.wordpress.com)

Excerpt from  my 12/3/99  Writing Practice:

(…And musings from today, 5/6/12)

I’d write more and better, if only…:

• I had a brand new computer… (my Sweet L’il Lenovo does everything I need, and then some.  It’s not brand new.  It’s a returned lease laptop, and I bought it on Ebay  for a mere $117.99). 

• A room of my own… (I’m not sure why I thought this was a big deal, when it was just Jim and I then, and our work schedules allowed me time alone most days).  Now, I have a cubby of my own, about 8′ by 10′, made from three wall bookshelves bolted to the wall and each other, with no door, and in clear sound range of our common living areas.  I have two active children who do not attend school, and mess and noise and work come with them – and I find writing time and space far more easily than I did, back in 1999).

Sweet morning message. =)

• Nothing but free time… (Free time is one of those concepts that far too often goes un – examined.  How much of my time MUST be given to other things,with no choice on my part?  Very little, really.  These days, I find that pockets of time exist in each day, without ignoring my family or the things I choose to do to maintain our home, and support our lives.  I choose to use some of these pockets to pursue my passion for writing.  I use the rest of my time for living richly, giving to my loved ones, and being present in my life -which provides me with a steady source of things to write about! ).

Lemon Juice Invisible Ink, made by Jeremiah.

• More writing books… (When  I wrote this, the Internet was a smaller place, and I didn’t really know how to use it for writing information.  Over the last few years, I have given away all but my most precious writing books, and I have become a lot better at finding information specifically suiting my needs of the moment, which saves time, mental clutter, and physical space).

• More writing friends…  (While I love having a network of friends who write and know how it is to live twice at once, with words and ideas always spinning in their minds, writing is still a solitary affair.  No number of friends can help, if I am not willing to give myself fully to my writing, during my writing times.  No lack of writing friends can keep me from doing that, either.  Whether I write or not is my choice, always).

Annalise and her new “Sedona Sunrise” quilt – a gift from her Oregon gramma.

• A part-time job… (Hmm…  ’nothing but free time’ AND ‘a part-time job, too’?  Clearly, I wasn’t thinking logically.  It seems, now, like I was looking for excuses…because writing is a thing that fits very easily into the spaces that exist in life – IF I choose for it to.  If I insist on perfect conditions, then I will be focused more on the lack of perfect spaces than on all those little pockets of time that COULD give me imperfect writing spaces aplenty).

After the equine nuptials in the front yard…

• More support at home… ( I think what I was wanting here was for Jim to be as excited about my writing as I had convinced myself I was, to stroke my ego and tell me that, yes, THIS was important, to validate me and my choices.  Now, with more people in my home, and two of them young enough that their own pursuits shine more brightly than anyone else’s, I’ve realized that I need to be my own support.  I validate my own truth and passions when I choose to write.  If I take my passion seriously, my family will, more or less, accept the statement, “I am going to write now.”  Not in moments when they need me; but in other moments, when they are pursuing their own passions.  If my validation and support come from myself, primarily, I will not bemoan others’ focus on their own lives, and I will be free to delve as deeply as I choose into my own passion).

Playing with numbers…sometimes it looks like schoolwork, but generally not. This was joyful play for Jeremiah.

• Lots of sales… (Again, there seems to be a certain lack of logic here.  Lots of sales…of WHAT, if I’m not willing to take my writing seriously enough to create whether I am selling anything or not?  Today, I write because – well, I write.  I have since I was seven, and I was creating stories in my mind, playing with words and ideas, in toddlerhood.  Writing is as essential to who I am as my gender and utter left-handedness.  I can choose to scribble in order to fill notebooks that I then stuff into an ever-growing pile in a dark cabinet, where no one sees them…or I can know that my drive and desire to write are about sharing my soul and my truth and my fantasies, offering them up, generously, casting them out upon the tides of life and trusting that at least some of them will be carried to fertile places where they can grow and thrive for someone else.  I can choose to do this freely, and, in time, also receive payment for some of these word-seeds.  But money is not and never really has been a very good motivator for me.  I tend to find richness in many other things, and living simply brings me more joy and peace than a swollen bank account ever could.  Now, I write, and I share, out of the essence of who I am, because I believe that our unique selves are the greatest gifts we can offer to anyone else).

First-ever try at “formal” division.

• A guarantee it’ll be good… (Again,I don’t seem to have been seeing this logically.  ”Good” is a very broad and vapid word.  It’s not passionate, deeply true, delightful play….it’s just ‘good’.  In truth, my best writing comes when I simply pour forth what’s inside me, whether deep ponderings about my life or fictional romps, or something else. When I open the gates and let my words and ideas out, there is generally something ‘good’ there – and now, to me, ‘good’ is less valid an assessment than “true for me, right now, and something I feel strongly about sharing”.  The more I share, the more easily I can tap into my truth again,and again…).

Impromptu lemonade stand.

List of Ways to Increase Writing Time:

1) Write for 10-20 minutes as soon as I get up.

2)Take 10 minute writing breaks during housecleaning, or after each chapter in a book I’m reading.

3) Fill one practice notebook each month, as fast as I can.  The challenge makes me WANT to write, and doing it fuels me for the next time.

4) Spend one afternoon (3-4 )hours at a cafe in Eugene.  Write.

Potential Lemonade Tycoons…living in a rural area! =)

5) Skip one TV show.  Write.

6) One night a week working for Newcomers.  Write.

7) When Jim’s driving, write.

8)While doing laundry, write.

9) Write for 20 minutes before bed each night.

10) Clean desk and have projects ready to work on – always.

11) Carry notebook and pens everywhere.  Whenever I get a chance, write.

12)Take notebook into the woods.  Write.

Signage…

13) Write freehand first-  less excuses, and can use typing time to revise.

14) Issue projects as challenges to be met – then find a way to meet them.

15) Reward system :  I need to write for 2 hours today before I can…Make the goal worth the time –  and don’t give in!

16) Listen to Writing Down the Bones  or another book on writing while driving.  When I stop, take 5-10 minutes to write down ideas before leaving the car.

There seems to be a sort of desperation, or at least clutching, in the above, and a sense, too, of force and penance.  It’s really prevalent in all of my posts during this period.

He thought he could stump me! =D

The assumption seems to be that writing time is near impossible to find, and that one must force oneself to do it.

It’s a lack mentality, and fear based.

It’s the pattern of my childhood, which is unconsciously lived well into my adulthood.

Today, I know that finding time is as simple as each choice.  It’s a few minutes of doing what I love, or a few hours.  My time is exactly as abundant as my life; so is everyone’s.  

Jim found this note when he got up. Sweet surprise.

I don’t force myself to write.  I come here to revel in words, in thoughts, in feelings, and in sharing.  There is treasure, here, that I can carry into the rest of my moments and hours, making them richer.

I come now from a place of peace and abundance and love.

It makes all the difference. 

Reading:

• Read at least as many books as the number of the month (4 in April ; 5 in May; 6 in June) from my bedroom To Be Read piles.
• The Shelters of Stone: page 315 of 896.
• Dumbing Us Down: Completed.  
• Peaceful Parents, Peaceful Kids: 210 0f 267.
• I have completed Book 1 of 5 for May.

• Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
• I read  this article on advising our children in ways that support their growth and independence.  As with  most of Peter Gray‘s articles (and his lectures, which I have caught in part at NEUC 2010 and 2011, and plan to again this August), it resonated strongly with me, and I plan to comment within the next few days.
• This goal has been attained for this week.

• Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
• I read Hooks to Hang Hamlet On, a thoughtful consideration of how popular humor can warmly introduce classic literature, and commented.
• I read Did You Ever… ROW?  and commented.
• I enjoyed sharing the short, darling Book Quote of the Day: The Last Unicorn with Annalise.  This is one of her favorite movies; and she conducted a stuffed unicorn wedding just yesterday, so this was a perfectly-timed gem for us!
• I read War Post: May 2nd Mashup and ROW Goals and was moved to comment on this deeply honest, intense post.
• I got a taste of our Yellowstone  home in the delicious A Vegetarian Road Trip Across America.
• I read and grokked The Solitary Writer.
• I read two stories at May Shorts.
• I read Two Doors, and commented.
• I have exceeded this goal for this week.

Annalise took this picture of her new horses, acquired at the yard sale…

Blogging:

• Continue posting to One Minute Writer; #Friday Flash; The Lightning and the Lightning Bug; Weekend Creation Blog Hop;Unschooling Blog Carnival;Trifecta  and other hops and challenges that intrigue me.
• I have chosen to participate in the Story a Day May Challenge. My entries are listed under Networking, below.
• I submitted “After Supper” to #Friday Flash.
• I am letting the image from The Storyteller Writing Challenge seep into my subconscious story wells until tomorrow, when I will write it as my May 5 Story a Day May entry.

• Complete Cooperative Catalyst post and relevant links (interviews with both children, and their “day in the life” posts from last year) ; submit to editor.
• All four of the related posts I plan to link to my post are now  updated, edited, and embellihed with links and images.
• I have finished editing the actual guest post.
• Next, I am going to take a deep breath, gather my courage, and write to the editor with the news that I have, at long last, written something I am ready to share…

• Create a “flow chart” for posting to shanjeniah and The Unfettered Life.  Use these, and adapt as necessary, throughout the round (with allowances made in April for the challenge).
• As mentioned at the last update, I have not found any type of rhythm for this.  It might be the May Challenge, or that the structure is too intrusive for my “pantser” inclinations.
• I have decided to set this goal aside.  I may pick it up again later, when I am more ready for it, but, for now, it just seems more restrictive and guilt-inducing than useful.

• Add pages/ edit sidebar layout on shanjeniah.
• I have added a page titled  My 2012 Challenges.
• This will allow me to remove the clustered clutter of the challenge badges on my sidebar, during the coming weeks.
• I have a basic page, now, with links to all the challenges, and badges for each.
• I plan to add links to my grouped post for each challenge.
• I will also experiment with creating a slideshow using these badges, to place into a widget (so that I get to publicize these great challenges and  keep my collection of pretties, too).

Big tough wolf!

Networking:

•  Explore She Writes; Twitter: StoryDam; Pinterest;and LinkedIn .  Use, develop, evaluate, adjust.
• I visited LinkedIn, reviewed my contacts, and shared “Everdeep”.
• I intend to return during the coming weeks and leave some messages for connections I have been eager to catch up with.
• I visited She Writes, and this time lingered long enough to get a better feel for how the site is set up.
•  I also discovered that I have seven comments waiting to be answered there.
• I will be working on answering those and following up with specific groups during the coming weeks.

• Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging effort.
• I am participating in the Story a Day May Challenge.
• May 3  - “Everdeep”.
• May 4  - Bus Station”
• May 5 – not yet posted.
• May 6 – not yet posted.
• I have looked at this week’s Storyteller Writing Challenge.  The photo prompt struck me with instant recognition!
• I will be writing this as one of my Story a Day May posts.
• I have a slightly too- long story, and will be revising it after posting my goals update.

• Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
• I am continuing to expand my comfort zone here.
• I have been sharing posts via LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google Plus.

• Do 3 guest posts and  host 3 guest bloggers this round.
• I have my first guest post waiting to be formatted and scheduled.
• I plan to host Elizabeth Anne Mitchell‘s guest post on May 18 or 19.
• I have a theme for my return guest post, and will be writing it soon.

Saturday evening, in the yard with horses…

Submitting:

•  Submit at least 10 pieces of flash fiction or poetry this round.
• To celebrate the inclusion of my poem, 4AM Call, in the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, I am preparing to submit a flash fiction piece there.
• I have tentatively selected my piece, “Sarjyn and the Kingdom of Man Above”, originally written for the Storyteller Writing Challenge, pending rereading and potential revising.
• I have submitted 1 out of 10 pieces toward that goal.

• Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
• I completed all elements of my Creative Catalyst guest post package, as noted above.
• It’s a rather large amount of material, so I began by sending an email to the editor for direction on how best to proceed from here.
• The long-standing ice has been broken.  I’m taking some deep breaths before delving into the next submission – my Anything Goes piece for the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.
• I have a rough draft I think I really like, and will soon be rereading and revising over the next days, prior to taking the leap and submitting it.

• Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc; at least 3 each month.
• I am participating in the current ROWnd of ROw80 - obviously…
• I am also challenging myself with the Story a Day May Challenge.
• I have a story in progress for the Storyteller Writing Challenge.
• I also have several less intensive challenges; these are listed at My 2012 Challenges.

Happy girl.

Photography:

•  Organize all photos on hard drive/move to organized Picasa web albums or delete.
• I have synced all remaining folders in my My Pictures file to my Picasa Web Albums, with privacy settings until I sort and edit them.
• Once the editing is complete, I will be able to delete these files from my hard drive.
• This will leave only a few random photos that have wandered off into the crannies of my computer, to track down and gently rehome…

• Watermark all photos that appear on my blogs, and all those I post going forward; begin watermarking favorites not on blogs.
• While adjusting visibilty settings on my Web Albums, I found a way to add watermarks to complete albums with just a few clicks.
• I will next evaluate both watermarks.  If I am satisfied with the batch mark (I don’t see a way to customize the text or color, although there may be one), it will save me a few hours’ work.

Marketing:

•  Explore marketing articles on my Facebook Writer Page.
• I read this article on creating a sell sheet.
• The site it came from,  Bryan Thomas Schmidt, is packed with useful information.  I will be returning.

• Add useful articles to my shanjeniah  Marketing Articles page.
• I added the article above to my Marketing Articles Page.

• Use this information to help define my direction; adjust as needed.
• The shape of the marketing to come is becoming a bit more defined.
• I’m not ready to say much about it, yet, but I know for certain that it will have more by far  to do with passion and purpose than it will to do with making money (not that I will turn down payment; but it will never supersede following my passions.

Dog in the yard…..

Organizing:

•  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
• I have edited the existing text and added many, many links to my post, Learning Nothing….The Final Frontier.
• This is a larger and more involved update than I had originally thought, and I need a bit of time away from it, before adding the few paragraphs of new text and doing photo edits and additions.
• I am therefore going to set it aside for a little while, and begin reading and assessing the following post – sometimes things go better for me if I remember the pacing that was so vital as an Old Faithful Inn waitress!
• I will add these edits in, assembly-line style, so that I can do them in a rotation that first expands, then, later, contracts.

• Take clips from first Penzu notebook.
• I have taken another clip, which appears above as the intro to this update.
• This leaves 14 more posts to clip to attain this goal.

• Input Chameleon’s Dish to Scrivener; complete story arc for Blood and Breath.
• I have input Chapter 1 Scene 4 of Chameleon’s Dish.  This completes the inputting of Chapter 1 – a step in the decidedly right direction! =)
• I have added Chapter Six to my story arc.

• Clean up computer downloads, documents, photos, and other clutter – move it or lose it!
• I cleaned up my Dropbox file, adding folders for all categories and shifting all free-floating documents into appropriate folders.
• I also cleaned up my Homeschool Adminstration file, adding folders and categorizing as needed, and condensing some stray folders.
• I added a Videos to Edit folder to my Documents file.

The Corkster!

Self-care:

• Add JOY to every day!
• Thursday:  Did not fight with the mower.  Good kid time.  Hot shower.
• Friday:  Allowed myself to be tired and somewhat indolent. M*A*S*H with Jim.  Khan Academy division with Miah.  Lise’s newly improved note-writing skills.  Unicorns.
• Saturday: One mile walk with Miah.  Hometending.  Saying yes to many treasures at a yard sale.  Seeimng my poem in print, and money in my PayPal account.   Sharing that with those I love.
• Sunday: Moved futon to backyard.  Gassed mower, several failed attempts to keep running –  water in air filter, maybe?  Grass i getting pretty high –  Miah had a tick.  Removed.  Hometending.

• Add movement to every day, too!
• Thursday:  Attempted mowing (mower uncooperative).  Hometending.
• Friday: Hometending.  Took things slow; tired day with achy head and back.
• Saturday: Walked about a mile with Miah.  Hometending.
• Sunday: Moved futon to backyard.  Gassed mower, several failed attempts to keep running –  water in air filter, maybe?  Grass is getting pretty high –  Miah had a tick.  Removed.  Hometending.

• Add self-decorating to every week!
• Yup –  there’s still blue in my hair, and I am wearing my sequined shirt.

• Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
• Thursday: Lots of family time. Reading and writing abounded.
• Friday: Photography.  Stating my needs clearly.  Intimacy.  Watching them learn, learn, learn!
• Saturday: Walking; being with the kids, lots of reading; taking a submitting leap. Tickles and important conversation with Miah.
• Sunday:  Lise’s lilacs on my desk. A focused but relaxed day. A tidy bedroom that awaits Jim’s weekend.  Creating.  Sleeping in when I needed it.  The moon.

• Add all these for my beloved others, too!
• Annalise: Unicorns, time together outside, tickles and hugs.  Yesses all over the yard sale; 17 new horse models, with tack.   Detangling her hair.  Let her use my fancy camera to take movies of her horses.  Yes to independent walks.
• Jim:  Time together.  M*A*S*H.  A calm if messy home.  I made a snack and brought it to him in bed.
• Jeremiah:  I stayed together when he fell apart.  Long, deep, conversation. Playing with Khan Academy and division together.  Yes to monkey platter plate, calculator, UNO,  and lemonade pitcher at the yard sale.  A long walk together.  Patient tick removal.  Hugs and cuddles and tickles.  Talk about growing up.  More freedom to walk farther, alone.

“This is my best side….”

It’s been a week filled with Big Learning.  Notes from Annalise.   Miah learning how to divide during a 17 minute Khan Academy video.    Venn diagrams ad the Olympic rings.  Reading.  Invisible ink made from lemon juice.  Homemade lemonade and a stand.  Independently  walking to explore a yard sale and an 1800′s cemetery.  Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.  Continents and philosophy.  The Mayan calendar, and ours.  Manifest Destiny and the Revolution.  Euros, pounds, and yen.

There’ve been some upsets, most handled peacefully.  That’s still something we’re learning, and, when there is so much other growth going on, the way can get bumpy for a while, as we readjust…Oh, and I made money writing, too! =D

 Sima garo provides!

 Please Allow Me to Introduce Another 5 Followers:

• ladyromp
• wordsbydesign
• gratefulmomsofmany
• charismaloy
• Author Thelma Cunningham

Photo Credits:

• Images of model horses and wolves by Annalise S. Burton.
• Video filmed entirely by Annalise S. Burton.
• All other photos by blog author, Shan Jeniah Burton.

Related articles:

• 6 Ways to Stomp Out Obstacles to Writing that Novel (jessicaschaubbooks.com)
• ROW80 Goals Update #11 – “Wide Horizons” (shanjeniah.com)
• ROW80 Goals Update- “ROWing with the Flow” (shanjeniah.com)
• “Growth and Juggling…..” ROW80 Goals Update #3 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWing with my Nature…Goals Update #8 (shanjeniah.com)
• “Life Blooms; I ROW” – Goals Update #4 (shanjeniah.com)
• ROW80 Goals Update #9 -”Live Writing” (shanjeniah.wordpress.com)
• ROW80 Goals Update#10 – “Expansion and Immersion” (shanjeniah.com)
• ROWing into the Surge – ROW80 Goals Update #7 (shanjeniah.com)

My Story a Day May post for May 3!