Tag Archives: Blood and Breath

by

Just Rowin’ Along – ROW 80 Goals Update #9

Lise sleeping in the front yard….a new hobby.

I don’t have a lot to write tonight, beyond  my update.  No real reason; I’m just in a  quiet space, now, deep in processing mode, because things are happening, thoughts are swirling, and I really don’t want to put into words what isn’t ready yet.

I do, though, have news, and a few tidbits;

  • My poem, 4AM call, is being published in the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  I will make $3.00 for its publication –  my first paying gig in several years! =)
  • My life has been rich in family over the last days.  The collages here will attest to the mellow, peaceful flow going on here….smooth, rippling waters, with just a few swift currents.
  • With the wide array of goals I’ve set, I’ve been feeling like a few things are slipping away from me each week.  Not in an ignoring them way, more in a tucked into the corner way.
  • Today, I had a sudden idea to  use a tin to hold slips of paper with my goals categories written on them.
  • I experimented with pulling a slip from the jar, and working on that category’s goals.
  • When I have made measurable progress on each goal in the category, I set the slip aside and choose another.
  • I won’t return slips to their tin until all have been selected, which will make me feel a bit better, I think, about how I am balancing them.
  • I may stop using this method as I wrap up a few more of the goals, and feel that I’ve attained some form of equilibrium for those remaining.

Growing things….

Round 2 Goals:

Reading:

  • Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
  • I read the wonderful A Lucky 7 ROW, and made a long and personal comment (when you’ve known the author since you were both 4, it’s hard NOT to be personal!).
  • I read the inspirational and thought-provoking Fun Ways to Network.  I shared on Facebook and Twitter.
  • I read the celebratory  100,000 , shared on Facebook, and commented.
  • I read the delicious self-affirmation in Happy New May, Dear ROW#80 Friends, and commented.

Jeremiah communes with Elijah’s tree.

  • 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 added to the scene I have been working on, but think I will set it aside for a while and begin a new one, soon.
  • Pull material from 750 words posts not part of the Chameleon’s Dish first draft.
  • I have clipped one entry of about 650 words. and will be posting it both at The Unfettered Life and to in my Sunday update, here…
  • Create essays, stories, and other pieces based upon these writings.
  • I will be posting that piece both at The Unfettered Life and  in my Sunday update, here…
  • Locate, rough edit, and format all chapters of Chameleon’s Dish.  Input into Scrivener. 
  • I have located Chapter 9 (which will eventually be Chapter 2) and created a LibreOffice file for it.  I have also reformatted it for easy transferring to Scrivener.
  • I began to create a Scrivener project for Chameleon’s Dish-  Rough Draft by adding the first scene of Chapter 1, and setting up the basic project structure.
  • Finish father-in-law letter and send.
  • I added more notes to this letter draft, and still have about a quarter of the letter as written to mull over and make notes on.
  • Once the notetaking is done and the letter has had a few days to rest, I will begin writing a revised draft.

Jeremiah, Warrior of the Broken Sword

  • 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 am having some trouble getting into the blogging flow… I think I just have too many other projects going on.
  • I am therefore going to use the flow charts only if I am at a loss as to what to write, and want to work on one of my blogs.
  • I will try to do the Monday highlights at The Unfettered Life at least twice a month, because it will make reporting that much better.

Networking:

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
  • As mentioned above, I joined the Story a Day May Challenge.
  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
  • I have commented on and read four posts.

Annalise’s current round of chalk art.

Submitting:
  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
  • As mentioned above, I will be writing a story a day for the month of May.
  • That leaves two to join for May.

Photography:

  •  Organize all photos on hard drive/move to organized Picasa web albums or delete.
  • I have cleared my recent downloads, and also some redundant and empty files.
  • At this point, the remaining folders have some redundancies, as well as photos that have not yet been uploaded  to my Picasa Web Albums.
  • My focus, going forward from this point, will be to go through those folders, uploading and deleting as appropriate.  Some of these have been waiting for quite some time, and it will be a relief  -  an likely fun, too – to deal with them!
  • Watermark all photos that appear on my blogs, and all those I post going forward; begin watermarking favorites not on blogs.
  • I  added watermarks to all the photos in my Picasa Collages Album, and synced to my Web Albums.
  • Next, I will find the posts which use these collages, and replace with the watermarked versions.

The artist with her creations…..

 Learning:

  •  Get Scrivener  downloaded; begin learning by inputting  Chameleon’s Dish.
  • I have input Chapter One, Scene 2, into the existing novel format.
  • I was apprehensive about adding additional scenes past this point, because the existing format only has two, and I could not easily see how to create them.
  • I toyed with the program a little, and found that by clicking to the place  in the main binder where I want to add a scene or chapter, then clicking “Add Text”, I can add as many scenes and chapters as I need.
  • I added Chapter One, Scene 3 in this manner.
  • From this point, I expect that the adding of scenes and chapters will flow more quickly, naturally, and easily.
  • I will be doing minor reformatting and editing as I go, but anything major will be waiting for next ROWnd’s rewrite.
  • Use Twitter and HootSuite at least one day a week.  Learn more.
  • I used Twitter  -  just Twitter, without the HootSuite platform for several hours on Tuesday afternoon.
  • I am becoming a little more comfortable with this platform.  I might even feel at home there, someday!
  • For WordPress, create a running list of questions; work on finding answers!
  • I have added my big question regarding last night’s domain name SNAFU (I somehow assigned the domain name to my new Story-a-day WordPress.org account, “stealing” it from my writer blog –  gulp!).
  • This issue seems to have ironed itself out! =)
  • I have added ideas to try for two of the other questions I already had on the list.
  • I will experiment, at some point, and see what that yields…..

More Lise and her chalk art – so glad I took the pictures before it rained!

Organizing:

  •  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
  • I have reread Learning Nothing….the Final Frontier in preparation for editing and updating.
  • Next, I will begin a fairly major edit/reformatting of this piece.
  • Input Chameleon’s Dish to Scrivener; Complete story arc for Blood and Breath.
  • As mentioned above, I have moved both of these goals forward.
Self-care:
  • Add JOY to every day!
  • Monday: Skipped hometending; lazy at-home day; lots of outside Lise time.
  • Tuesday:Attended t’ai chi class and brought Miah. Stopped to see two pairs of Canada geese, one with several little yellow goslings, at the creek on Coon’s Crossing Road.  Snuggles and love with Lise.
  • Wednesday: Outside time with Lise and Miah; photography; being clear about my needs; sleeping in after two poor nights’ sleep; coffee with Jim.
  • Add movement to every day, too!
  • Monday: Mowing, outdoors stuff.
  • Tuesday: T’ai chi class –  a surprisingly thorough workout!
  • Wednesday:A little more mowing; mellow hometending; outdoors activities with both kids.
  • Add self-decorating to every week!
  • Big time self-decorating.  Jim helped me to bleach a section of my hair and add vivid blue dye….
  • It isn’t just how I pictured it, but I’ve learned a bit more about the process, so next time will be better.
  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
  • Monday: Reading, writing, relaxing, and simply BEING.
  • Tuesday: More reading and writing; joined the Story-a-day Challenge; t’ai chi; a couple of hours of solitude; color for my hair; TWO hot showers!
  • Wednesday: Reading and writing; outdoor photography; taking the time to consider a vivid dream.
  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
  • Jeremiah: I invited Miah to join me for t’ai chi.  We had lots of fun and good, private connection time.
  • Jim: Coffee and companionship; help with the lawn (a bit much still for his broken hand); and the suggestion that he should get a new riding jacket to replace the leather one that has now been cut off him twice; and honest and open communication regarding or not-quite-aligning visions of our family’s future plans.
  • Annalise: Lots of snuggles and tickles; attended several animal weddings; toured her most recent chalk art exhibition, commemorated with photos; listened to her reading.

 Administrative Stuff:

  • Write and submit third quarter reports for both children.  These are due on June 1, 2012.
  • I have revised Jeremiah’s Reading section.
  • I have written Jeremiah’s Writing/Spelling section.
  • As we are now officially into our “fourth quarter”; I will be stepping up my focus on getting these reports finished and sent – it felt good to have them completed early, last quarter, and I am looking forward to that feeling –  maybe even sooner, this month!
  • Cleanup email folders/organize, move, read, delete, act upon as needed.
  • I have deleted over two dozen messages from my Transactions in Progress file (some, almost a year old!), leaving only those I need (hotel and campground confirmations; receipts for services I no longer want; etc.
  • This leaves only a few files with a couple of messages in each; after which I will begin reading and acting on what’s left.
  • I also intend to set aside a bit of time every so often to weed through these folders, so that they won’t get so congested in the  future.
  • Input two writing practice notebooks to Penzu.
  • I am now up to page 26 of 120 in notebook #1.
  • Given the time left in the round, this, too, will likely become a greater focus in the coming weeks, especially as I complete other goals.

A girl and her dog…..

At my last post, I skipped  introducing any of my followers, mostly because it was late, and I was very tired.

Tonight, though, I have 5 more  interesting people to recognize: 

I’ll maybe be more talkative, come Sunday…or maybe not.  Quiet times are a part of me.  Good stuff happens in the quiet times….

Some of the other ROWers may be more wordy….why not take a look around?

by

ROWin’ in the Rain – Goals Update #6

Excerpt from 750words, June 8, 2011 - 

Today is a much, much happier day. I feel like I have struggled my way back to a place of calm and something approaching acceptance of the present moment. And keeping my focus on this moment and no other, the action I can take now, and no other, helps me to feel far less overwhelmed with what, looked at as a whole, complete situation, is utterly and completely overwhelming.

This moment, and no other. This action, and no other. So here I am, writing my 750 words, because that is the action I am taking in this moment. And, after, I will return to some tidying in the house, then maybe try another method of getting the kids’ quarterly reports to the school. Later, when it cools down from the 90 degree temperatures we have right now, I’ll hook up the printer, because submitting the reports in writing may indeed be the route I end up taking, much as I disagree with it.

Deep breaths. Short bursts of activity. Letting things go, or just working on a small part of the whole, in short bursts, helps me to remain calm. Giving myself the time and space to just be, to leave things undone, to decide for myself what is worthy of my time and attention and energy. Understanding that sharing a home with others means there are both others to help me….and others who sometimes do things that trigger unpleasant emotions in me.

Understanding that those emotions might very well be responses to old, entrenched patterns I am not yet even aware of. Learning to slow down, get still inside myself, and attend to the feeling and the associations it brings up. Going into those, until I get deeper than the surface emotion, to the place where I can find what I need in this situation – or if I need anything. Often, all I need is to acknowledge the feeling and its source, and all the perceived wrongness and angst of the moment just fades away.

When there is a need, understanding what it is is hugely helpful, because none of us can fill our own needs if we don’t understand what they are. That’s evident in our society, and very prevalent in my family of origin. Buying things and doing major home additions and renovations, as stand-ins for the need that goes unacknowledged and untended to.

So I am learning to understand my needs, and that it falls to me, and no one else, to tend to them. I an responsible for meeting my own needs.

How I do that depends on the situation and the nature of the need. Sometimes I am at a loss, in the moment, on what to do, except that I need to accept this moment just as it is, and surrender to it rather than fight it. Then, anything I choose to do will be from a place of acceptance, and all my energy can then be channeled to productive measures rather than flailing against life as it is.

This has been particularly difficult for me over the last three or for days. I’m hormonal, and it is very, very hot, and we have been busy, and the kids seem to both be getting ready for pretty major growth spurts.

If I can remember that all of these things tend to lead to a feeling of imbalance for me, separately, I can perhaps be patient with their combined disequilibrium.

If I can remember that it is also disorienting for the children, and that they really need my stability, calm, and patience, perhaps everything else will flow more peacefully through our lives.

Of course, in order to be in a state to provide that calm for them, I do need to nurture myself. There are in fact no housework police arriving on a daily basis to evaluate my daily portion of household chores. The world will not, in fact, come to an end if I choose to skip cleaning sometimes, or do the minimum amount I can live with, if I just am not up for doing more.

There are so many things that are of greater value than housecleaning. Creative expression, hugs and kisses and tickles and cuddles, putting one’s feet up and enjoying a cool day, feeling peaceful and happy to be just where I am, just now. Bliss. Laughter. Joy. Discovery. Time to ponder. Time to wonder. Time to embrace my own passions, and time to help the children embrace theirs, and Jim his. Time to be kind, and courteous, and generous – to myself and to others.



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.
    • 

  • I have finished book 4 of 4 for April, Hold On to Your Kids.
    • 

  • I have now completed my April book  reading goal!
    • 




    

  • 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 Laughter of Children and Clouds, commented,and am sharing here.
    • 

  • I have read the deep truth and courage in Words…words,words,words, written by my dear lifelong friend, Eden Mabee.  
    • 

  • Because she is my friend – and so much more – I wrote two long comments.
    • 

  • Because this post is incredible, I am sharing it to Facebook.
    • 

  • I read the poem  Shame, commented, and shared on my Facebook Writer Page.
    • 

  • I have completed this goal for this week.
    • 





Writing:




    

  • Create flash fiction, short stories, dialogues, character sketches, alternate scenes, and poetry for  Chameleon’s Dish and Blood and Breath.  Wander cow trails, and learn these people and their lives more fully.
    • 

  • I now  have 489 words in the group dialogue scene for Chameleon’s Dish, and a much better sense of where this piece is headed.
    • 



    

  • Pull material from 750 words posts not part of the Chameleon’s Dish first draft.
    • 

  • I pulled a complete essay, which appears above.
    • 



    

  • Create essays, stories, and other pieces based upon these writings.
    • 

  • I have included excerpts from these writings as part of these updates (see intro, above), and they have informed other writing I have done since reading them.
    • 

  • I will be focusing more on these as I finish the A to Z posts, then the essays and book reviews that have been queued up behind them.
    • 



    

  • Find all chapters of Blood and Breath.  Input into Scrivener; possibly begin rewrite.
    • 

  • I have created a story arc for Chapters 2 and 3, as a preliminary step.
    • 

  • Next, I will begin creating flash fiction as the basis for scenes in these chapters.
    • 

  • In the meantime, I may shift my inputting focus to Chameleon’s Dish, because I have a completed rough draft of that novel.
    • 

  • I will consider my options, and change my goal if indicated.
    • 





Blogging:




    

  • Complete the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge.
    • 

  • I have edited, embellished, and scheduled T is for Toxic People –  Y is for Yelling.
    • 

  • I have written Z is for Zoo.
    • 

  • I have now completed the writing for this challenge, and have 1 post left to edit, embellish, and schedule.
    • 

  • The last post may take a while longer….I found many pictures I want to include, but they will need editing and collaging before posting….and that may take an added hour or three beyond what I usually need for that process.
    • 






Networking:





    

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
    • 

  • I posted to the Weekend Creation Blog Hop, as noted above.
    • 



    

  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
    • 

  • I read this “article” (biased, ill-informed, and rather poorly written) on unschooling.  I commented.
    • 

  • I have answered a few comments on this blog.
    • 

  • I have shared Freedom, the 2009 post I edited on The Unfettered Life.  I posted it on Facebook.
    • 

  • I also shared G is for Growth and H is for Happiness, both from my A to Z posts.
    • 

  • I have resumed the process of answering my blog comments –  another ball I released in order to focus on the A to Z challenge.
    • 









Submitting:




    

  •  Submit at least 10 pieces of flash fiction or poetry this round.
    • 

  • I have reviewed the submission guidelines for the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  I plan on assessing several of my existing flash fiction pieces, in preparation for submitting.
    • 

  • I have decided to make “Twice-Coupled” my first submission, and will begin preparing it in the next few days.
    • 



    

  • Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
    • 

  • I have reread my Cooperative Catalyst rough draft, which I had not looked at for a month or two. I will let it rest a few more days, then begin polishing it, as I finish the pieces that I intend to link it to.
    • 



    

  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
    • 

  • I have submitted to the Storyteller Writing Challenge twice, and once to the Weekend Creation Blog Hop. 
    • 

  •  This goal has been attained for April.
    • 







Photography:




    

  •  Organize all photos on hard drive/move to organized Picasa web albums or delete.
    • 

  • I synced the pictures from last weekend to my Picasa Web Albums, and deleted the file from my hard drive.
    • 



    

  • Learn how to watermark pictures.
    • 

  • I did it!  I learned how to watermark, and designed one I can be happy with.  It may change over time, but I like it, for now!
    • 

  • This goal has been attained!
    • 



Marketing:




    

  •  Explore marketing articles on my Facebook Writer Page.
    • 

  • I explored a free copyrighting service, and have decided not to go that route.
    • 

  • I read this interview on publishing and marketing to Kindle.
    • 



    

  • Add useful articles to my shanjeniah 
    • 

  • Marketing Articles page.
    • 

  • I added the above article to my Marketing Articles page.
    • 



    

  • Use this information to help define my direction; adjust as needed.
    • 

  • I am beginning to see a shape and scope for my marketing efforts.  Nothing more than a sense of it, yet.  I will keep learning, and pondering…
    • 











 Learning:




    

  •  Get Scrivener  downloaded; begin learning by inputting first an essay, and then Blood and Breath.
    • 

  • I have begun the creation of a story arc for the remaining chapters.  I am midway through Chapter Three in this process.
    • 



    

  • Use Twitter and HootSuite  at least one day a week.  Learn more.
    • 

  • I opened  HootSuite on Saturday…and closed Facebook.
    • 



    

  • For WordPress, create a running list of questions; work on finding answers!
    • 

  • I remembered that I joined a SheWrites group for WordPress Bloggers.  I will be checking it out during the next week or so, to learn more about how to use this blog platform.
    • 



    

  • Begin learning about how to publish ebooks.
    • 

  • I have saved two articles that deal with this topic, and will be researching them through the coming weeks ( they are long; I will read them in sections).
    • 





Organizing:




    

  •  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
    • 

  • I edited and updated the first of my Unfettered Life 2009 posts, Freedom.
    • 



    

  • Take clips from first Penzu notebook.
    • 

  • I have moved another entry to my LibreOffice clip files – a stream-of-consciousness essay that wanders interestingly.
    • 

  • I have deleted the file from my Penzu journal (as I do with each entry as I mine it for clips, because I am not ready to upgrade to Penzu Pro.  This keeps my single free journal from becoming unwieldly as I add to it.
    • 







Self-care:




    

  • Add JOY to every day!
    • 

  • Thursday:  Staying home; lawnmowing; reading; writing; working in my room.
    • 

  • Friday: More lawnmowing; finished April book reading goal; old blogpost reminiscing; coffee with Jim
    • 

  • Saturday: Listening to Jim and the kids assemble and fly a wood glider plane kit; lingering coffee, with Jim and alone; the rain we so needed; saying yes to Lise in the rain and in my library; saying yes to the candlelit invitation….
    • 

  • Sunday: Old picture editing; coffee with Jim;  time  with Miah looking over the typical course of study for his “grade level”; time playing and snuggling with Lise;  hometending; warm clothes on a chilly,damp day.
    • 



    

  • Add movement to every day, too!
    • 

  • Thursday: Lots of mowing. Hometending.  Yard cleanup.
    • 

  • Friday:Lots more mowing (including the steeply pitched hill; a real workout!); Hometending; climbing dome flipping; yard cleanup.
    • 

  • Saturday: A bit of mowing (ahead of soaking rain we desperately needed); hometending; other stuff.
    • 

  • Sunday: Hometending (too wet to want to be outside).  Played with Corki-dog and Annalise.
    • 



    

  • Add self-decorating to every week!
    • 

  • I decorated myself this week with sunkiseed skin, windtossed curls, and many dimply smiles. Oh, and i wore the prettiest color –  blue – every day.
    • 



    

  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
    • 

  • Thursday: Working in my library, home, and yard.  Reading and writing.  family time.
    • 

  • Friday: Working in home, yard, and my library.  Reading and writing.  More family time.
    • 

  • Saturday: Jim.  Candlelight. All the above stuff,too.
    • 

  • Sunday: One-on-one time with each family member.  Hometending. reading and writing.  Listening to the rain and the train whistle.
    • 



    

  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
    • 

  • Jeremiah: Grown-up conversations; exploring and learning together in my library; coffee and snuggles together.
    • 

  • Annalise: Tablet coed arrived, and I got to watch her begin to claim the tablet for her own.  It was mine, and is loaded with lots of goodies like a 3D Brain, painting and light art programs, YouTube App, and a keyboard….I need to check to see if i left anything important stored on it (she lost the previous cord when I loaned it to her, so I couldn’t do it before I gifted it to her at Christmas.  She is loving it!
    • 

  • Jim:  His heart’s desire; a cleaner house; a happily thriving family.
    • 









 Administrative Stuff:




    

  • Write and submit third quarter reports for both children.  These are due on June 1, 2012.
    • 

  • I have completed the Reading section of Jeremiah’s third quarter report, to date.
    • 



    

  • Cleanup email folders/organize, move, read, delete, act upon as needed.
    • 

  • I winnowed my Homeschooling items folder from 60+ messages to just 19.
    • 

  • I will return at a later date and designate new homes for the remaining messages.
    • 



    

  • Input two writing practice notebooks to Penzu.
    • 

  • I am up to page11 of 120 in the first notebook.
    • 



    

  • Pay remaining balances for summer trips to Unschoolers
    • 

  • Rock the Campground and Northeast Unschooling Conference.
    • 

  • I woke in time to call the campground Friday –  but forgot to do it!  I seeem to be going to sleep a little earlier (about 3am; pretty early for me!), and rising earlier.  I plan to get the number and post myself a note so I remember tomorrow…
    • 





 Excerpt from this week’s 750 Words ~~




Oh, I liked that post. I don’t like weathermen, though, who tell us “trust me, we’re going to hold off the rain as long as we can.”




Sorry, Jason, you don’t have that ability, so far as I know. Ok, minor rant over. It’s been a slow and rather lazy day of mellow productivity and big heat (recordbreaking over 90 degree April day, but with a breeze that kept it from being as oppressive as it might have been. And since it’s been a dry spring, it wasn’t at all humid.






Which makes it weirder that a meteorologist would offer to attempt to hold off the much-needed rain.




Oh, it looks as though my battery is getting low…..I want to get my 750 words in, so I am writing, writing…. I did do some writing today, and some reading, and some tending in the home and yard.




Ok, I have enough battery to get me through. I am happy with what I’ve written tonight; it does seem that the words are coming slowly. And yet, they are coming. Sometimes that needs to happen, I think – the lull, the refilling, the pause between the inspiration and expiration; the pause in the heartbeat, the instant of held tension just before orgasm breaks over you…. I’m tired, and the images are here. And I have 750 words. =)~~










In other news:


    

  • I was nominated for my fourth blogging award today.  I will reveal the details when I have a post ready; since I am in the midst of my Z post, this update, and backed-up reading, commenting, and essay-writing, that may take a week or three, but I will get there (this is an award I have quietly coveted  since seeing it on a blog I really enjoy).  This is a new award for me. =)
    • 

  • I will be contacting my prospective guest bloggers before month’s end.  If anyone else is interested in guest posting, or hosting me as a guest blogger, feel free to drop me a comment anytime!
    • 

  • I will have an announcement of something new coming by the end of May, so stay tuned!
    • 

  • I forgot to introduce any of my followers with Wednesday’s check in.  Oops!
    
I remembered this time, though, and so…
    • 



May I introduce you to….?



And now, for the Link Treats:



 
















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							  by  					

				
ROWing Mellowly Down the Stream – ROW Update #5

	


	
	

		
Miah and Lise enjoy the new coziness of my library. =)




Excerpt from 750Words, June 10, 2012~


Got less than 20 minutes left to get this in under the wire. So, tonight, nothing fancy, no corrections, just typing, to see how fast I can go, and if I come up with anything even remotely worth remembering (or even editing!) LATER!


The “problem”, if it can be called that, is that I finally had a day cool enough to move around the house without dripping sweat, and took full advantage to wring further order out of the chaos of our existence. And, once I had shifted into that that mode, I forgot, over and over again, that I still wanted to get my writing done.


I am not at all upset by it, although I really like doing these words each day, like the challenge of getting to 750 words each day, and find the act cleansing.


Sometimes, our physical space needs some cleansing, too, and sometimes I need to care for my emotional space and our home, and focus most of my energies on moving those things further along……So I got the house into a better shape, culled some of the overflowing abundance of our herd of stuff, and generally took action myself to help us all be able to ,live more easily and comfortably in this space- not to mention moving closer to the goal of thoroughly streamlining each of our possessions, so that the move into a travel trailer, or even preparing for our continuing fair-weather adventures, can be much less stressful as we go along.


Over 200 words now, and about 13 minutes to go. Will she make it,. or will she not? Will any of this be legible or worth the effort, when she’s done….well, I’m her, and I thing the process is definitely worth it, even if I don’t make it or write anything deeper than surface…


It was a physical plane kinda day…maybe there are deep thoughts going on beneath, but mostly, I tried to concern myself with presence or consciousness today. Wow, I an almost half done, with about 10 minutes to go….getting there. I do love the self-imposed pressure of a good challenge every now and then.


Back wall of my library. I like the way it's coming together.


Life is a blend, more and more. It can be hard to remember, in the lulls where things just seem somehow to be difficult and languid, that there will be more up and exuberant times, too, times when my energy and focus allow me to do a lot in a very short period of time, and in a state of flow.


Just as I am learning how my body moves through patterns of hunger, energy, and health, I also go through processes of being best suited, in certain moments, for certain things. I(f I can learn to sense them, know, them, attend to them and honor them, it would seem that my efforts, in each moment, can be more and more directed to those things that really flow easily in that moment.


Maybe that’s the secret that the ad agencies, religious sects, and governments would rather we not learn – that there is no magical political program, no magic product or bill, no technique to be bought that can give what simply attending to what we are ready for in that moment can…


Wow, a bit of shotgun philosophy, wrapped in the typos and missed keys, and Jim’s voice booming loudly beside me as he comments on the Tonight show (Bill Cosby, so we’ll keep it on till TNG comes on. Wow, almost 600 words, but it looks like I am fast running out of time and my not make it after all….but I sure as hell have been giving this my best effort.


Would’ve been better without the technological missteps…erased needed programs on this machine, took too long to find the site on the tablet, and so here I am,. Extremely last minutes, trying to get these words whacked out…


~~




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.
    • 

  • I am reading book 4 of 4 for April, Hold On to Your Kids, and am on on page 213 of 280 (Wednesday 10:51pm).  I find this book vexing on several levels, and thus far disrespectful of children and their abilities, so the reading is less than joyful!
    • 



    

  • 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 weeded out several articles with broken links, or that I didn’t find useful.
    • 

  • I archived two items to explore in greater detail at a later date.
    • 

  • I shared this link on my Facebook Writer Page, as a possible submissions market.
    • 



    

  • 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:
    • 

  • Disjointed - commented and sharing here.
    • 

  • MORE voices in my Head  – commented and sharing here.
    • 



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 am adding Blood and Breath to this goal, as well, as a way to help reconstruct and/or revision the missing chapters.
    • 

  • I have written a flash fiction scene that may be the foundation of the epilogue for Blood and Breath. 
    • 



    

  • Pull material from 750 words posts not part of the Chameleon’s Dish first draft.
    • 

  • I pulled the excerpt that appears at the beginning of this blogpost.  I liked what it said about blending and balancing, times of intense writing, and times when other things draw my focus.
    • 



Blogging:




    

  • Complete the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge.
    • 

  • I have written rough drafts of all posts through W is for Wonder.
    • 

  • I have edited, embellished, and scheduled posts through Saturday, April 21, S is for Self-Awareness.
    • 

  • I am nearing the end of the creative part of the process, and am looking forward to having more time for other projects –  and reading others’ posts, too! =D
    • 








My newly organized and relocated bookshelf, in triplicate.









Networking:




    

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
    • 

  • I have entered  the Storyteller Writing Challenge.  
    • 



    

  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
    • 

  • I haven’t commented on as many blogs this week, thus far-  I have been called away by nice weather and outdoor occupations; my new room; reading; working toward the end of my A to Z posts;  my flash fiction piece; and the rest of life.
    • 

  • I plan to be a very active reader and commenter as soon as I have written my final A to Z post.
    • 



Submitting:




    

  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
    • 

  • I have submitted twice so far this month, leaving one more to post in order to attain the April portion of this goal.
    • 

















 Organizing:




    

  •  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
    • 

  • I have changed the layout of the blog, and added a page for Jeremiah, at his request.
    • 

  • Next will come adding a page for Annalise, and diving into the editing process.
    • 



    

  • Take clips from first Penzu notebook.
    • 

  • I took another rough  essay from the notebook.
    • 











My writing area - spacious, embracing, and welcoming - also, close to the doorway and accessible to the common spaces.


Self-care:




    

  • Add JOY to every day!
    • 

  • Monday: Relaxing day – home and yardtending; coffee with Jim;  hanging with the family; reading; writing; claiming  my space.
    • 

  • Tuesday: Began mowing lawn;  family time; reading; story creating.
    • 

  • Wednesday: Home and yardtending; one-on-one time with all family members; reading and writing; reclaiming my space.
    • 



    

  • Add movement to every day, too!
    • 

  • Monday: More raking, yard cleanup, hometending.
    • 

  • Tuesday: Finished raking front yard; began mowing; hometending.
    • 

  • Wednesday:Finished mowing front lawn; cleaned side yard and began to mow;  hometending; claiming my space.
    • 



    

  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
    • 

  • Monday: Family time; reading and writing; owning my space.
    • 

  • Tuesday:Lots of kissing and Jim time; lots of kid snuggles; reading; story creating.
    • 

  • Wednesday: Owning my new space; lots of time with Lise; home and yardtending; pursuing goals; Big Bang Theory.
    • 



    

  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
    • 

  • Jim - Coffee, conversation; what he really wanted.
    • 

  • Jeremiah - Questions answered; snuggles given; conversation.
    • 

  • Annalise - Snuggles; play; talk; being near each other; new cord for her inherited tablet.
    • 





Administrative Stuff:




    

  • Write and submit third quarter reports for both children.  These are due on June 1, 2012.
    • 

  • I have written the Reading section of Annalise’s  report.  That was fun – she is developing her independent reading skills quickly and joyfully!
    

    • 



    

  • Cleanup email folders/organize, move, read, delete, act upon as needed.
    • 

  • Cleaned out, then deleted, CComputer Info, which was a duplicate and unneeded file.
    • 



    

  • Input two writing practice notebooks to Penzu.
    • 

  • I have input up to page 9 of 120 in the first notebook.
    • 




    

  • Jim has cleared us to pay for the rest of the campground fee.  Now I just need to be up before noon to call the lodge and pay them –  easier said than done!
    • 





One of the things that surfaced in my cleaning was an animal drawing book Auntie Mouse (Eden Mabee) gave to Jeremiah several years ago. Annalise enjoyed exploring it - here is her first effort - a duck. Quack!


o, it’s been a mellow few days for me, ROW goals- wise. I’ve been busy with the transitions in my life – creating a writing space, beginning the process of yard care and the outward movement of our lives that is a natural outgrowth of thedoftening of spring; two children learning and growing at a currently frenetic page (game card creating; beading; allosaurus; dog genetics; online tech research; lots of talk and play; animal art – among many other things).


Ans I have been engaged in projects that are a bit longer range – finishing my A to Z blog posts, and my last book of the month. Writing a piece of flash fiction that seemed to have a mind of its own.


Making a neglected and hugely cluttered little cubby into my own personal writing nook, with the full support of my family.


My family…


have loosened up a bit about the state of the house, and have spent some time reframing and redefining what will help me. Then, I simply told everyone what would mean the most to me – one of the things I love is to get up to a shiny kitchen (often, what greets me is diametrically opposed to that).


And, since I shared that little dream, I have woken each day to a cleaner kitchen, courtesy of Jim and Jeremiah.


Annalise helped me with my raking, and with yard cleanup and dog waste removal. Miah took the recycling to the curb, and both children have been making a greater effort to help with indoor tidying.


It’s a bit of a lull, pace-wise. I feel things filling in, and I know that a surge of writing is building.


These peaceful times always seem to be the waiting for the seeds to sprout – and sprout they will.


Let’s check in on the rest of the ROWers!








Grubby shirt; sleepily happy girl who spent a good part of her last week outside.




Related articles


			


	

	


		
			

	

				

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“Watersdeep’s Edge” – A Storyteller’s Writing Challenge

	


	
	

		




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:














Source within the picture.










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






Where is it? What story tumbles from your imagination?

What is she doing? Who is she?






You decide.

—————————————–


“Watersdeep’s Edge” - copyright 2012 by Shan Jeniah Burton


The stench of the pyres – for her son, her sire, and so many beloved others, caused her to retch each time she was minded of them, seared her each moment she left herself unguarded.


They twisted into the burning of her chosen Solemate, lost now to her, somewhere in the vastness of Everdeep.


To him, now, she was only madness…


She was stirring the huge stewpot, in Osiraan’s greatroom, bursting with a jumbled mass of Tribed and untribed, – so many faces blank, such a stench of burning and pain.


Shinjao took the ladle from her hand, and added stew to the handful of herbs in a wooden bowl. .


“Eat, Huntleader.”


She shook her head, trying to hide the dizziness. “Others have greater need.”


“You are three days past birthing, Huntleader. You ARE Huntleader, and Kai, and needed. If you don’t eat, I will sit on you and force you.”


She offered the bowl, but Jeniah didn’t move.


Shinjao drove her down and away from the cookfire – thick furs beneath her; Shinjao’s weight above. The spoon forced past her lips,and she spluttered, then swallowed.


The stew was laced with arytana nectar, and piqued her hunger. She allowed Shinjao to feed her, taking the spoon greedily, and the other woman chuckled. “You are a fine Huntress. There is more than enough. Of stew, time, support, and sleep….”


The words were like new fog. “Sleep?” She recognized the subtler taste of nightbalm, and knew she had been fooled….”No – the fires….”


“Will be there until you find healing. Sleep, dream – and begin to heal.”


~~She was standing on a rocky promontory, waves reaching almost to her shod toes. The seabirds cried raucously, tossed and wheeling in the stiff wind.


 


The reeky,  fertile scent of Watersdeep filled her nostrils, scrubbing away the char of death…


 


She was in garb more useless than any Mother would have demanded she wear, even when she most wanted to impress her Court. One of those new contrivances meant to keep rain off was in her right hand….and, in her left, the cast iron keys to the Kai’s Courtyard- Hallii’s killing grounds.


 


Grief constricted her soul; tighter than the laces that entrapped breath. She was apart from all of life, bereft. Liacivaar dead; Tacivaar – so many others.


 


All pointless… the damage Kaitiiraan and Tacivaar had birthed.


 


What profit had it been? Mother had poisoned her, and lost her throat…. Jeniah could still taste her blood, curdling, and she retched, gasping for what air she could draw into her compressed lungs.


 


Her breasts throbbed, and her milk let down suddenly, soaking the bodice of the dress, meant for the child who would never suckle. Her womb clenched, its emptiness tearing into her soul.


 


Tacivaar  had asked, cajoled, manipulated, and finally forced her to conceive his Truestborn.


 


It had taken longer for the old Huntleader’s machinations to kill him, but they had, as surely as Mother’s.


 


And my child, too – “Liacivaar,” she cried, to Everdeep, to Watersdeep…..


 


She yearned for her child, for her Chosen.


 


The wind whipped the long, spray-damped skirts; hobbled her legs.


 


All gone – freedom, Huntleader, child, sire, lover – all gone with nothing left but duty she hadn’t chosen, and did not want.


 


She felt something welling up from her depths, and she did nothing to stop its coming. “Sima garo provides…”


 


The screaming arched her back, drew her tight against the bones and lacings. She set her legs wide despite the layers of sodden cloth and ill-suited shoes. The seabirds cried answer.


 


Huntlust broke loose, and her arms swung out. The keys vanished beneath the breaking waves; the umbrella bobbed wildly, attracting the birds.


 


She clawed and tore away the clothing, until she stood naked on the wet rock, at last only herself, and nothing other.


 


And then she dove, sobbing, into the sea, letting the salty waters close over her.~~


“You will be fine, now, sisterkin,” Shinjao whispered, as she crawled into the furs to stroke Niah’s quaking back. “You have found your tears, and can cleanse now for healing.”




OR








2.THE Other PROMPT






TIMED WORD ASSOCIATION: Heat, Car, Longing.




Write whatever springs to mind from these three words, in 3 minutes:


No cheating or editing! Lets see what happens.




—————————————–








We are parked at the drive-in, a movie neither of us wanted to see, at least not really, blurred through the heat-fogged car windows.


Heedless of nothing but longing, not even the treacherous gear-shift, we do not realize we’ve dislodged the  shifter –  until we hit the police car parked behind us…..and we’re still tangled in our clothes as he approaches, his light a neon sign of our shame –  and then my elbow hits the car alarm button on my keys, as though to seal the legendary nature of our dalliance.





			


	

	


		
			

	

				

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“Life Blooms; I ROW” – Goals Update #4

	


	
	

		




A busy day today. Up after not really as much sleep as I wanted, to get ready for co-op. Jim got a ride to work, so the kids and I headed to Hannaford and bought the supplies for the flarp we planned to make.


We got to co-op early, and there was a group of church children doing an activity in the room our tweens usually play in. So it was an unusual day, at least for a while.


The project went well…..a bit of chaos, and a bit of panic because the food coloring stained the counters of the church kitchen (thankfully, a good scrub with a little bit of borax on a scrubby sponge fixed that problem.


Making flarp with our Live and Learn Co-op gang!


It was a pretty day, a little unsettled, but the filtered light was good for making the colors of the flowers really pop, and so I got pictures of those.


I had a walk with Jeremiah (a tradition of ours), and another with Annalise and her friend Gabrielle (who was wearing roller skates). The kids had Shield Battles, Simon Says, and a girls vs. boys romp through the church and grounds.


Annalise and friends Gabrielle, Aleia, and Alana create flarp art.


There was ball play, and flirting, and then we came home, and both kids fell almost instantly asleep,. until I needed to wake them to go get Jim, because, at the moment, we are car-sharing, and we were his ride home. ~excerpt from Thursday’s 750words post ~




 Oh, and an invitation to Gabrielle’s seventh birthday party on Saturday…




Flarp fun with Jeremiah, Logan, Nolan, and John!






Where there was a bounce house, marshmallow shooters to make, necklaces and bracelets to bead, delicious foods to sample (Miah loved the veggie sticks, I loved the rice noodle dish, and Lise was crazy over the watermelon).There was a tire swing and a gazebo “shrine”, and the company of good friends, a house filled with interesting things,  and cake and ice cream and presents and love and laughter, and hiding out together, and snuggling, and many varieties of play, and computers and Netflixfor those who wanted them…


Springtime tulips....A welcome splash of color on a cloudy day.


And mostly lovely weather that had only a little, much needed rain…




A busy second half of the week, and, fitting into the spaces around those hours were other parts of living –  home and yardtending; snuggles, hugs, and play; lots of conversation; some stress and conflict and hurt feelings; tending to myself and my family; and shifting to the rhythms of a busier season.




More lovelies!








And there was reading, and writing, and claiming my dreams.




Round 2 Goals:


Reading:



    

  • Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
    • 

  • Completed for 4/11.
    • 



    

  • Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
    • 

  • Completed for 4/11.
    • 

  • I read K is for Transplant, and was deeply moved to comment.
    • 





M'boy!




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 had an idea of what may be a far better prologue for my story, and one that will foreshadow some of the important conflicts.
    • 

  • I am letting this idea simmer for a while, to dream on and play with, until I can’t wait another moment to write it, and then I will begin!
    • 



    

  • Pull material from 750 words posts not part of the Chameleon’s Dish first draft.
    • 

  • I have separated the June 9, 2011 post into one snippet and a complete essay, perhaps needing minimal editing.
    • 



    

  • Create essays, stories, and other pieces based upon these writings.
    • 

  • I have reread and done a rough edit of the first original essay pulled from this area.  It seems to need a few additional paragraphs, and some polishing.
    • 

  • In the meantime, I will decide whether I want to post it on my blog or look for a market to submit it to.
    • 



    

  • Find all chapters of Blood and Breath.  Input into Scrivener; possibly begin rewrite.
    • 

  • I have input Chapter One into Scrivener.
    • 

  • Next up is creating a story arc for the rest of the novel, and playing with characters and settings.
    • 



    

  • Finish father-in-law letter and send.
    • 

  • I am still allowing ideas to surface and be written out via my A to Z posts.
    • 

  • There seems to have been a reason I chose some of the topics, although I wasn’t aware of it at the time.
    • 





Gabrielle and Annalise enjoy birthday tire swing fun at Gabrielles's house.




Blogging:




    

  • Complete the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge.
    • 

  • I have written the rough drafts of my posts up to letter V, leaving 5 to write.
    • 

  • I have edited, embellished, and scheduled up to P is for Playfulness, leaving 10 posts to complete before meeting the challenge.
    • 

  • 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 posted both flow charts, and will begin easing into using them as I finish  the A to Z writing.
    • 

  • My goal remains to be using both flow charts by May 1.
    • 





Naomi and siblings Carson and Olivia model for me.













Networking:




    

  •  Explore She Writes; Twitter: StoryDam; Pinterest;and LinkedIn .  Use, develop, evaluate, adjust.
    • 

  • Am beginning to add connections and get braver in posting to LinkedIn, even posting my first link on Thursday.
    • 

  • I have pinned a couple of items on Pinterest, to test the Chrome extension I installed last week. Added a new board, Time Images.
    • 

  • I joined the Story Dam Facebook Page.  I’ve peeked around a little bit, and will be learning more, and likely interacting more, on future visits.
    • 



    

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
    • 

  • I have looked at Shah Wharton’s latest Storyteller Writing Challenge.
    • 

  • I will let the words and image seep into my awareness for a day or three, then write.  I know I only need to do one, but both tempt me.  I’m a glutton for storytelling, I guess! =)
    • 





Jeremiah loves exploring the principles of physics - anytime, anywhere.




    

  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
    • 

  • I realized I haven’t been posting my A to Z posts on the Row80 Facebook page, so will be posting 2-3 there each day until I catch up.
    • 

  • So far, I have shared posts up to F is for Food there.
    • 

  • I am reading ROW80 update blogs and A to Z  blogs, as I can manage them.  There will be considerably more blog reading once I have finished my fourth book (in progress) of the month, and/or I get all of the A to Z posts written (I am up to V, at the moment).
    • 

  • I am mustering my bravery to begin posting links to my writing at the Story Dam Facebook Page and She Writes sites.  Soon, I think!
    • 





Marshmallow shooter making!




    

  • Do 3 guest posts and  host 3 guest bloggers this round.
    • 

  • I have posted a note to the ROW80 Facebook Page, seeking guest slots and guest bloggers.
    • 

  • If that doesn’t pan out in a day or so, I will write a separate blogpost with my request, and widen it to include The Unfettered Life, which would be an ideal place for fellow unschoolers to guest post.
    • 

  • I now have three guest posters……next up, working out schedules! =)
    • 



Submitting:




    

  •  Submit at least 10 pieces of flash fiction or poetry this round.
    • 

  • I am currently  pondering which pieces of flash fiction and poetry  I will submit to the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  They accept previously published work, one piece at a time.
    • 



    

  • Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
    • 

  • I am allowing the thoughts to coalesce for my Anything Goes submission on becoming/being a blogger.
    • 



    

  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
    • 

  • I have submitted once to The Storyteller’s Writing Challenge.
    • 

  • I am contemplating posting there again this week, and also to Chuck Wendig‘s Terrible Minds Flash Fiction Challenge.
    • 





Those bouncing young Burtons....








Photography:




    

  •  Organize all photos on hard drive; move to organized Picasa web albums or delete.
    • 

  • I deleted all redundant photos in my download file, after assuring I had a copy of them in my Picasa Web Albums.
    • 





Marketing:





    

  • Add useful articles to my shanjeniah Marketing Articles page.
    • 

  • I added two links to this page, with brief descriptions of both.  The first was on Book Promotion; and the second on creating a Rough Sketch of a WIP, which I believe will be useful later, when I create pages or blogs for my  WIPs.
    • 



    

  • Use this information to help define my direction; adjust as needed.
    • 

  • I am letting the ideas from the articles I read seep into my awareness.
    • 





Birthday cake!




Learning:




    

  •  Get Scrivener  downloaded; begin learning by inputting first an essay, and then Blood and Breath.
    • 

  • I have input all the available chapters of Blood and Breath into Scrivener, and will next be creating a story arc for mapping out the action in the missing chapters.
    • 



    

  • Use Twitter and Tweetdeck at least one day a week.  Learn more.
    • 

  • I am replacing Tweetdeck with HootSuite, which is much more to my liking.
    • 

  • Future goals updates will reflect the change.
    • 

  • I am running Hootsuite today (Sunday) -  a very, very quiet day thus far…
    • 



    

  • For WordPress, create a running list of questions; work on finding answers!
    • 

  • I have created a rough list of questions to start with; next will come the learning the answers part, and, of course, more questions!
    • 





Yumminess!




    

  • Begin learning about how to publish ebooks.
    • 

  • I have begun reading here.  There is a lot to absorb, so I will be reading in stages.
    • 



    

  • Begin research list/research for  Chameleon’s Dish second draft.
    • 

  • I now have the beginnings of a research list. Next step is to look through the links I browsed in the rough draft writing more carefully, and gather them in a central and more accessible location.
    • 



Organizing:




    

  •  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
    • 

  • Both children have been asking for some of my online space to share what they want.  Since The Unfettered Life is intended to be an unschooling/life blog, I am going to begin by creating a page for each of their  creations, and help them to add to them as they wish.
    • 

  • This is likely to necessitate a change in layout, which I had been toying with, in any event…
    • 



    

  • Input Blood and Breath and Chameleon’s Dish to Scrivener.
    • 

  • The existing chapters of Blood and Breath have been added.
    • 

  • Next, I will begin gathering and rereading the chapters of Chameleon’s Dish.  These are all in my possession, but not yet gathered in one place.
    • 



    

  • Clean up computer downloads, documents, photos, and other clutter – move it or lose it!
    • 

  • I cleared a number of redundant photos from my Downloads file.
    • 





Lovely bits of Gabrielle's home...








Self-care:








    

  • Add JOY to every day!
    • 

  • Thursday: Attended Live and Learn Homeschool Co-op.  Organized and orchestrated group Flarp making activity.  Lots of social  connection with like-minded moms and kids.  Photographed children and spring flowers.  A bit of reading and writing. One-on-one time with both children.
    • 

  • Friday: Recovery day from Thursday.  Reading, writing, uploading and editing photos.  Coffee in bed with Jim.  One-on-one  time with both kids.  Home and yard tending.  Worked in my new space.
    • 

  • Saturday: Very busy day! Friend Gabrielle’s seventh birthday.  Attended her party; lots more unschooly socialization with moms and children we love, and some dads, too.  Watching Lise and Miah enjoy tire swing and bounce house and time with friends.  On-on-one time with both kids.  Beaded a necklace.  Took a lot of pictures. A bit of work in my space.
    • 

  • Sunday: Coffee in bed with Jim.
    • 





More tire swing fun!




    

  • Add movement to every day, too!
    • 

  • Thursday: Shopping.  Lots of movement at co-op.  Walks with both children, orchestrating activity,  and cleanup (we rent space in a local church, and so must tidy and put things to rights before we leave if we want to remain welcome tenants (which we do; the space is perfect for our needs – we even have access to a large kitchen and yard).
    • 

  • Friday: Half an hour each raking and working in my new space.  45 minutes of hometending.
    • 

  • Saturday: Birthday gift shopping.  Lots of walking, swing-pushing, and similar activity at party.  Helped with cleanup.  Worked a bit in my new space.
    • 

  • Sunday: One hour hometending.  35 minutes yardtending – raking (nearly done!); dog waste removal, and yard cleanup.  35 minutes working in my space – it’s coming along, and I plan to post progress pictures on Wednesday.
    • 



    

  • Add self-decorating to every week!
    • 

  • I decorated myself with a necklace and headband on Thursday.
    • 

  • I wore the necklace I beaded on Saturday until bedtime.
    • 



    

  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
    • 

  • Thursday: Social time with like-minded people of varying ages.  Photography – children and flowers in bloom.   Writing. Planning and orchestrating an activity. Time with both kids.
    • 

  • Friday: Home and yardtending. Reading and writing. Working in my space.  Editing photos.  Coffee with Jim. Time with both kids.
    • 

  • Saturday: More social time.  Celebrating.  Photographing children and decor.  Beading.   A little working in my space. Time with both kids.
    • 

  • Sunday: Yard and hometending.  Working in my space.  Reading and writing.  Editing photos.  Goals update.  Coffee with Jim: snuggles with both kids.
    • 





Girl eats Dandelion, #1




    

  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
    • 

  • Jim: Coffee and conversation.  Flirting.  Being on time or early when picking him up from work.  Home, yard, and childtending.
    • 

  • Annalise: Snuggles.  Sharing in her imaginative play.  Helping her with reading and spelling. Conversation.  Arranging to go to Gabrielle’s party, and giving her the freedom to choose the gift.  New Littlest Pet Shop friends.  Pushing her on the tire swing.  Bringing beading supplies home so she can bead when she wants.
    • 

  • Jeremiah: Snuggles.  A soda while out shopping.  Answered his questions about driving.  Conversation.  Hanging with him at the party when he wanted me nearby.  Beading together.  Helped facilitate his cooking.  Honored his sleep patterns, which are currently a bit out of sync with everyone else’s.
    • 





Girl decides dandelion is not for her!












I am loving this writing. I am making myself a happy, peaceful place in which to focus my writing energies, and less removed from the life of the rest of the family. I can be nearby, even carry on conversations with the children, but still have a measure of privacy and room to myself.~ Excerpt from Friday’s 750 words~


I am so glad I realized I needed a writing space, and that there was this little tucked-away corner of the house just collecting debris……










had no idea I was going to write a flash fiction piece for this one. I couldn’t find a way to begin an essay on vision; maybe I’m not quite ready for that.


Everything I wrote felt like lecturing.


So I deleted, and it occurred to me that what I was meant to write about was Henry and Nockatee.


And that is what I did.


Every time I write one of these little pieces, I connect more fully with the characters, and in a more visceral sense.


Maybe it’s because so much needs to be accomplished in a very small space. Maybe it’s because I’m not trying to create an entire novel, just to create a vignette.


It occurs to me that doing a slew of these BEFORE starting a novel would give me a much better sense of the characters and their interactions and motivations.


OOOH! I want to do some of these as the basis for each scene in Blood and Breath’s missing chapters…


If each scene is an embellishment of a flash fiction story, there will always be a degree of conflict and resolution, and probably tautness, too!


~excerpt from Sunday’s 750 words~






 And now, for five more fans…please, step forward, and take a bow!



 


















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I is for Intuition

	


	
	

		




500 Words On….Intuition.


“The Stars Are Fire”




Kirana wondered at the strange bits of feeling and imagery that flitted like nectar-sippers through her mind, there, hovering, but, in the instant that she reached to catch them, just for a moment, were gone. They left only formless echoes, and a sense of something lost – something that could not be named, and that was irreplacable.


She didn’t mention these moments to Mother, or Father, or Kiral Leonard, or to Rachyl. They seemed – private, and the type of thing she might write into a journal, if she could write.


She could allow these things into her mind when she was alone with Seth, and whisper the tiny fragments and shards she remembered into his waiting ears. When she did, he would giggle and writhe and coo at her, as if thanking her for the sharing of this mystery, the trust she put in him not to reveal it -even though he was not nearly grown enough to do any such thing.


For the first years of her life, she had shared this knowing with Tisira, as Tisira had shared hers with Kirana. It seemed they had been doing that since they were in the womb – and, perhaps, even from the moment they were conceived, for Kiral Leonard said that they had come from one fertilized egg that had split to form them both….


Now, though, Tisira was lost away in space and time, and there was only the dimmest sense of her. Kirana felt as though she had lost her shadow – her twin was not vital to her living, but she had always been there, connected to Kirana as Kirana was connected to her.




She was not someone else, without Tisira here, but she was – focused? – in a new way.


What she could feel of her sister said that Tisira was, too.


Sometimes, when Seth did not choose to be with her, and she could not distract herself  - by playing with Andrew at one of the active games he most liked, or watching Rachyl with the sensate plants or her loom, or at chess with Kiral Leonard (which Father maintained would “stultify” her native abilities, but he maintained it with a subtle twinkling in his eye that made it teasing, and he never suggested she decline), or with reading with Father, or learning Huntskills with Mother – she sat alone and wondered if this newness was a thing she wanted, and a part of her resisted the change…..




Another part felt as though it Breathsource and Bloodsource were new-birthed, and that she was younger even than Seth, who had seen far less than a sunround.


Sima garo provides, Mother would say, and believe. But she said, too, that each person must come to their own beliefs, and Kirana did not know that she believed in sima garo as Mother did.


She sat, high in a tree, in Lynxform, and watched the stars through the breeze-dancing leaves, breathing in arytana and opening herself to any knowing that might come.


ANd then, as though right beside her, Tisira’s voice, in her mind, as it had always been.


~The stars are fire.~


That, and no more.


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“On the ROW Tour” – Goals Update #2

	


	
	

		


Usually, I have a mini-essay to place in this space, but this time, I’m going to do something different, and just post a bit of one of my 750word rambles through my own mind…a  self-guided tour, if you will…..


~~This really feels good. I could see it as a daunting list, if I wanted to value myself by the list.


I am preferring to look at it more as a tour guide. Something that will help lead me along the path I have chosen, giving me options regarding the direction and sights I will explore along the way…..and thatallows me to backtrack, take an alternate route, stop and linger, and still to have the freedom of moving and vistas that truly draw me….


Aha!


I’ve been trying to find a graceful way of including my collection of new followers in a blog post…I think I have it…they’re along with me for the adventure, but the purpose is to delight in their adventures, just as I intend to……


So I will be their guide, but never their director. I invite them along, and am truly glad to have them along to share in the adventure with me.


Crunch time….I am about to lose my win streak if I can’t write a lot of words, and pretty damned quickly.


I say I don’t like writing this way, but, in a sense, I think I really do…….there is a tension and censor turning off…as I just delete and correct- ha!


But it does put me in another space, one where whatever is at the top of my head pours out of me…..a nice garbage and roses dump…..


Ah, things are moving along nicely. I don’t want to lose a 64 day streak, and the time is running out….five minutes left t type, and a bit over 200 words to write.


Can I do it?


Well, there were four more….and there were five more!


Yeah, sometimes, it’s desperation, just putting down any words at all to reach that goal….


Why?


No one is making me, after all. The police will not be knocking on my door tonight (at least I hope that they won’t).


I do it because I want to. That’s it, the whole entire reason. I want to challenge myself, aand I want to then meet that challenge.


The type of thing people can do when they aren’t overloaded, overburdened, living too much in the to-do list and not enough from their passions…


Because I have freedom, I can make this goal, and strive to attain it, even when it’s a bit stressful to do so. But I won’t make it tonight……..ah well. Such is life.




 ~~


Here are my goals, arranged in categories for this round: Reading:



    

  • Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
    • 

  • Done at4/4 check-in.
    • 

  • I read several more posts, commented to most, and, in some cases, shared.  I will list them toward the end of the post.
    • 



Writing:




    

  • Find all chapters of Blood and Breath.  Input into Scrivener; possibly begin rewrite.
    • 

  • Searched our old dinosaur of a desktop, used mostly by the kids to play games too old to play on our newer machines.  I found a treasure trove of chapters –  from two other works in progress.
    • 

  • No Blood and Breath….so now I will be looking for ways to extricate the info from the external hard drive, unless Eden Mabee happens to have chapters, which she may.
    • 

  • On the plus side, I now have two “new” WIP‘s  to work into future ROWs…..
    • 



    

  • Finish father-in-law letter and send. 
    • 

  • I have spent more time considering this.  Nothing written down yet, but I think I have a tone in mind, and also how to phrase why I object to the way he approached his concerns.
    • 





Blogging:




    

  • Complete the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge.
    • 

  • I have written a rough draft of L is for Learning, M is for Money,  N is for Names, and O is for Openness.
    • 

  • I have edited and scheduled I is for Intuition, J is for Jeremiah, K is for Knowledge, and .
    • 



    

  • 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).
    • 

  • Flow chart for shanjeniah has been completed and posted.
    • 



    

  • Add pages/ edit sidebar layout on shanjeniah.
    • 

  • Following the example of KM Huber and adapting it to my own needs, I created a page for challenge goals, schedules, and my current flow chart.
    • 

  • This will make it easier for my to create my posts, and also for others to see the framework of my writing activity, if they choose to.
    • 



 Networking:




    

  •  Explore She Writes; Twitter: StoryDam; Pinterest; and LinkedIn .  Use, develop, evaluate, adjust.
    • 

  • Have begun learning more about Twitter through HootSuite, which works more intuitively for me, and is far more inclusive and flexible than TweetDeck.
    • 

  • I used HootSuite to join in on an hour long StoryDam Twitter chat.  I enjoyed it, and next will be checking out their Facebook Group.
    • 



    

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
    • 

  • I have continued to post my Blogging From A to Z April Challenge posts through the first week.
    • 



    

  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
    • 

  • I have been commenting, and have plans to begin sharing posts through StoryDam and She Writes within the next weeks.
    • 





Submitting:




    

  • Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
    • 

  • I have been invited to submit a 200-700 word essay on becoming/being a blogger to the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  If accepted, this will be a paid ($5.00) essay, and my first since joining ROW80.
    • 



    

  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
    • 



Learning:




    

  • Use Twitter and Tweetdeck at least one day a week.  Learn more.
    • 

  • I’ve learned enough to exchange Tweetdeck for HootSuite, for the reasons I listed above.
    • 

  • I  streamed my Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and WordPress accounts to HootSuite on Thursday evening.  I enjoyed freeing myself from the constant lure of Facebook, and turned HootSuite on when I went online today.  It may become a daily tool.
    • 



Organizing:




    

  • Take clips from first Penzu notebook.
    • 

  • Began by clipping relevant parts of first post, moving them to my word processing program, then deleting it from my Penzu Jourmal to avoid confusion.
    • 

  • Second post to word processor, and deleted from Penzu.
    • 





Self-care:




    

  • Add JOY to every day!
    • 

  • Wednesday – Cleaning up with the kids, snuggles, being outside with Annalise.
    • 

  • Thursday- Morning coffee with Jim; hometending; chatting with writers at StoryDam; treating myself to HootSuite upgrade.
    • 

  • Friday - Snuggles with both kids, tickles with Miah, Madeline with Lise, hometending while embracing the always-shifting chaos.
    • 

  • Saturday - Took kids shopping at*8Target**.  Parked in last spot at side of building so we could walk.  I enjoyed the trip and their joy in their new possessions.
    • 

  • Suggested to Annalise that she might like to offer a sheet of stickers to a little girl who was having a difficult interaction with her mom in the checkout line, and that shifted both of their energies to a happier place, which brought me joy.
    • 



    

  • Add movement to every day, too! (it’s a tired week, so not LOTS of moving, but a couple of hours a day spent in hometending/yardtending sprints of purposeful work).
    • 

  • Wednesday – Hometending and yardtending.
    • 

  • Thursday - Hometending and yardtending.
    • 

  • Friday – Hometending.
    • 

  • Saturday -Took kids shopping at Target.  Parked in last spot at side of building so we could walk.  Loading and unloading the car, and minor hometending.
    • 



    

  • Add self-decorating to every week!
    • 

  • A small, symbolic beginning.  Cleaned my top dresser drawer Thursday, and found two sheer and lovely scarves I had forgotten about.  At about 10pm Friday night, I wrapped one around my waist as an impromptu belt, and I then held myself straighter, more aware of my posture.
    • 

  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
    • 

  • Reading and writing every day.
    • 

  • Happy moments with both children over the last few days; together and individually.
    • 

  • I have realized that everyone else in the family has a space in the house to call their own – except for me.
    • 

  • We have a “room” created from bolting three large bookcases together, with two facing into the space, and the third, facing into the living room proper.  It had been set up as a hobby space of sorts, but tends not to get used.
    • 

  • I have decided to claim this space for a study – type area.The family agrees that this is fair, and, over the next months, I will be playing with tidying up and arranging my new space. =)
    • 



    

  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
    • 

  • Annalise - Read 2 Madeline, helped with watercolor studio, snuggles, “mini-monk” made to order,  watched Weird True, and Freaky with her. Shopping trip on Saturday: candy, sneakers, cute socks, stuffed bunny, and assorted trinkets.
    • 

  • Jim - Doing without the car Wednesday through Friday, so that he could have the car (he doesn’t like sharing, because he often ends up waiting at work).  Being on time to pick him up Saturday.  Kissing.  Coffee and conversation
    • 

  • Jeremiah - Snuggles, tickles, setting things up on his laptop so he can make purchases more easily (he always asks, and understands about account balances!).  Ordered the 3DS battery he’s been needing.   Watched Shorties Watchin’ Shorties, That 70s Show, The Big Bang Theory,  and part of Nova:Hunting the Elements with him.
    • 

  • For the family - Helped orchestrate (with Miah and Jim), the purchase of a blue Wii.  Also ordered enough controllers for everyone to have access to one, at the same time, and Wii Family Game Night.
    • 





 Administrative Stuff:




    

  • Input two writing practice notebooks to Penzu.
    • 

  • A small beginning:  I typed in 4 out of 120 pages in my June 2ooo Writing Practice Notebook.
    • 

  • I began writing this notebook, from nearly 12 years ago, in the midst of a particularly volatile argument with Jim –  one of the standout blowups of our generally peaceful union….
    • 

  • I am finding a lot of perspectives in reading the many pages long rant I wrote then, with my feelings when we argue now.  Some patterns have shifted vastly; others are much as they were back then, and represent areas where we are still stuck in volatile patterns…..much food for marital and relational thought – and feeling, too.
    • 



Please note:  I did not include categories or goals that I did not work on during this time period, in order to simplify.  A full version of my goals can be found here.






******************
















 And a further tour of my Week 1 Wednesday-Saturday ROW.




Blogposts I read :







Another Excerpt from 750Words:


~~So, there is another 500 words written. And nearly 750 here, already.


I am liking how these pieces are coming together. They are natural and largely unvarnished, and not too long to take a huge degree of focus from other things…..


it just occurred to me that I am now more than half the way through the alphabet – not with completed and scheduled posts, but with rough drafts written, and the ideas explored.


It’s taking about a half hour apiece to write these, and another hour or so to edit, add images, links, and tags, categorize, and schedule.


And lots more people are finding their way to my words and some of them are enjoying them…..


I am grounding myself, and preparing to soar, all at once…~~


Something New: Tour of Followers:




I would like to recognize those who have taken the time to visit and follow me here.  Beginning today, I will list 5 followers per week, until I’ve introduced everyone.


If you can, please take a few minutes to visit one or more of these bloggers.


This week, please meet:











Photos – I have some lovely watercolor art and other things the kids created this week; unfortunately, I keep forgetting to charge batteries for the camera, and so I do not yet have pictures.  I plan to charge the batteries soon, and add the pictures during tomorrow’s writing session….






 Lots more ROWin’ going on!


 



			


	

	


		
			

	

				

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A-ROWing We Will Go….Update #1

	


	
	

		
ROW 80 Round 2 – Goals Update #1


Here we are, at the very first ROW check-in of Round 2.


It’s been a tumbled, tousled, and transformative time, here, in my real world.


I am writing a lot, reading some, and readjusting to Jim’s work schedule and a return to car-sharing, at least until our big old Dodge truck is repaired, we buy a second car (we have decided we want a used Subaru Outback; but are not yet really ready to go beyond that, and setting a budget for the purchase).


Today, Jim’s first day back to work, found us very low on milk (a staple around here!), and also coffee creamer (a far greater tragedy, on the whole!).


Transformation in the air....


We’re all a little unsettled, like the weather today.  Fits and starts of chilly rain and wind gusts, then a time of no wind and brilliant sunshine…..


Thankfully, I am more able to flow with the burly transitional energy than I used to be.   I am more in tune with my own energy, Jim’s, and the children’s. too.


Over the last few years, as I have become more peaceful in general, I’ve moved awayfrom long bouts of fury and futile yelling and punishing…..and of course, I would have to enforce my rules, and the punishments for them, in the name of “consistency”.


Now, I try to step back from my own feelings, and remind myself that feelings are fleeting, and I will feel happier feelings, at some point.  And, for this moment of feeling, I am better served by trying to find an action I can take to improve whatever has me feeling uncomfortable.


Sun and shadows...and the winds of change.


When the children are feeling less than loving toward each other, as siblings will, at times, I’ve moved away from policing the dispute and making decrees about how it will be resolved.


These days, I listen to both sides of the dispute, and try to help each child to understand the other’s point of view.  I offer suggestions to ways they might resolve the issue, and a neutral energy to help defuse the tensions or rages of the moment.


Usually, they can then work out an equitable resolution, and return to peaceful coexistence within just a few minutes.


So, today, I am breathing deeply.  I’m tired, and a little growly.  Knowing this, I am taking steps to resolve some mental, emotional, and physical clutter.


Rays of light and hope......


I am breathing, and remembering that this unsettled place, like the weather, will smooth out ahead, and there will be a return to ease and comfort.


And, until then, I will remind myself that just this type of unsettled , intense energy is what is needed to give birth……and, for certain, we are, in this moment, each birthing our future selves, and the lives they will live.


So, here, for your exploration, are my “labor pains”:


Here are my goals, arranged in categories for this round:


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.
    • 

  • I am a little less than 50 pages from the end of my first book for April, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter  by Sue Monk Kidd.
    • 



    

  • Read at least 3 articles or blog posts a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
    • 

  • I have read this blog article from my Read Later Fast Chrome app - a stuffed-full of intentions space.  Saved the article to my Facebook Writer Page because I want to respond to it.
    • 

  • My second post read was on a scrap craft card.  I have shared it on my Facebook timeline and my Writer Page, because it has inspired an idea for me.
    • 

  • Third post read was this, on the effects of spanking.  Also shared to my Writer Page.
    • 

  • Fourth (and bonus!) article was on digital learning in schools.  I was moved to share on my Writer Page for possible future material, and also to comment on the post.
    • 

  • I have sorted several other saved posts there, some archived for later attention,and others deleted.
    • 








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 one flash fiction piece (about 500 words), for the Blogging from A to Z April Challeng, letter H.  The piece will post on Monday, April 9.
    • 

  • I have created another flash fiction piece, using a different viewpoint character, for my Blogging From A to Z  I is for Intuition post, which will post on Tuesday, April 10.  Already, I feel new bits and perspectives on the story emerging, and I will be eager to move amongst my characters, getting to know each of them better.
    • 

  • I have had another idea of a rich vein to draw from.  Because of the existing Star Trek canon, I have a very good idea of what Spock was up to from the time he began sensing Jeniah to the time when they were finally able to physically consummate their bond.  What I don’t have is an equal awareness of Jeniah’s life throughout these years apart, yet connected.  It’s led to an imbalance and feeling of being stuck when I write from her POV, and so I will be writing some flash fiction and poetry that explore her  journey during those years.
    • 

  • I used the flash fiction approach to Jeniah’s life for the rough draft of my A to Z Challenge K post, K is for Knowledge. I am quite happy with the little vignette I got from it. =)
    • 



    

  • Pull material from all 750 words posts not part of the Chameleon’s Dish first draft.  
    • 

  • I have pulled the June 2011 posts up and imported them to LibreOffice.
    • 

  • I have highlighted and edited up to the third  post.  I found the seed of a couple of essay ideas, a few rough but complete essays I wrote but hadn’t returned to, and  a complete essay I think I posted on The Unfettered Life.
    • 

  • I am using a different color for each essay thread, so that it will be easier to separate them when it is time to move them to blog drafts or to Scrivener.
    • 

  •  I think I will create an essay and/or unschooling page here at shanjeniah for pieces like this, as well as preparing some to submit.
    • 



    

  • Create essays, stories, and other pieces based upon these writings.
    • 

  • I have written about 300 w0rds on the “seed idea”, and will let them rest a day or three before returning to reread them.
    • 

  • I was able to move the first essay to Scrivener  -  and find it again.  I even think I have a basic sense of how it works (no, I’m saving the tutorial for if I get stuck!).
    • 



    

  • Find all chapters of Blood and Breath.  Input into Scrivener; possibly begin rewrite.
    • 

  • I believe all the files for this WiP are on my external hard drive.  The only problem is that the hard drive is not currently working.
    • 

  • If that retrieval methods doesn’t pan out, I will be scouring memory sticks and the hard drives of our other computers, to see if I backed up there (I wrote the draft in 2009; memory has fogged a bit, since then.
    • 

  • All other methods exhausted, I will rewrite the draft as best as I am able.  Since I had the majority of the plot worked out, that would result in a draft that would be more evolved than a rough draft, and a bit less evolved than a revised second draft.
    • 

  • On the positive side, I have found a complete version of the Prologue.  It’s oddly formatted, which I will want to fix, but it is a starting point! =)
    • 

  • I have input the Prologue into Scrivener.  I managed to format it more or less as intended.  I am feeling really cool about that, and as though rewriting won’t be a horrific challenge, if it comes to that.
    • 

  • I found Chapter 1 – whole, complete, and in WordPerfect format.  My Sweet L’il Lenovo now has a free program the can read WordPerfect files. The chapter will need some editing before being moved to Scrivener.
    • 



    

  • Finish father-in-law letter and send. 
    • 

  • I had a dream the other night involving a maze in an unfamiliar place which I understood to be my father-in-law’s house (although not like where he actually lives).
    

    • 

  • I am going to let that dream be for a bit, and see what it evolves into.
    • 







Blogging:




    

  • Complete the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge.
    • 

  • I have scheduled the posts for April 1-9; letters A-H are edited and will post/have posted on their assigned days.
    • 

  • I have written rough drafts for letters   J  and K; which will be edited, then scheduled for April  10, and 11, respectively.
    • 




    

  • Complete Cooperative Catalyst post and related links (interviews with both children, and their “day in the life” posts from last year) ; submit to editor.
    • 

  • I have completed and posted both children’s interviews from this winter.  There are even pictures.  Annalise is here, and Jeremiah here.  In the interest of full disclosure, I had these posted up before the beginning of the round.
    • 

  • I have retrieved Annalise’s “day in the life” post, and edited the text.  In a day or three, I will add some relevant images and add the links before posting at The Unfettered Life.
    • 

  • I have also edited and added links to Jeremiah’s “day in the life” post, and will be adding images next.
    • 



    

  • 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 created a flow chart for this blog, and will pretty it up and post it within the next few days.
    • 

  • I have also created a flow chart for The Unfettered Life .  I will post after I add a pretty and inspirational image or two.
    • 



    

  • Add pages/ edit sidebar layout on shanjeniah.
    • 

  • I started small by creating a draft page for my online content.  Next will be tracking down a few links.
    • 











Networking:




    

  •  Explore She Writes; Twitter: StoryDam; Pinterest; and LinkedIn .  Use, develop, evaluate, adjust.
    • 

  • Started this goal off small.  I reset my forgotten She Writes password, and read this post there, sharing on my Facebook Writer Page.
    • 

  • I have saved a post on Twitter Best Practices to my Writer Page, to explore further, and asked for help in learning it, because it flummoxes me.
    • 

  • I got brave and reentered my Pinterest account.  Looked around –  there is a lot of empty real estate and possibilities there…..room to grow, and to explore.
    • 

  • I created one new board and got out of there, to return with a Chrome extension, and some images to pin…..and maybe to check out my followers (who seem to have come although I rarely visit there!).
    • 

  • I found and installed an extension, so now I can pin from any site, and I am planning to explore using it to save images for my posts.
    • 



    

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
    • 

  • I posted a One-Minute Writer post early Monday morning (see Blogging, above).
    • 

  • I read up on Shah Wharton‘s Storyteller Writing Challenge.  I found the photo prompt compelling, and will let the idea sit for a while, freewriting on it later tonight or sometime tomorrow.
    • 

  • I wrote a 508 word rough draft of my as-yet untitled story for the Storyteller Challenge.  It will get a bit of resting time before reread.
    • 

  • My Flicker of Inspiration post is up, as noted above..
    • 



    

  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
    • 

  • I have  commented on and shared several blogs, as posted above.
    • 

  • I am continuing to challenge my comfort zone by offering my words to a wider audience.
    • 

  • I am just starting to notice that my posts are beginning to be shared and commented on by people I don’t know, even online.  It’s an interesting and slightly terrifying experience, and I am still absorbing it.
    • 

  • My book review for Last Child in the Woods was reblogged on Learn From Nature.
    • 

  • I have been experimenting with adding a greater variety of tags, categories, and links.  I think this may be at least part of the reason for the spate of new activity, and I will be checking my stats sometime over the next few days to see if I can learn more there.
    • 



    

  • Do 3 guest posts and  host 3 guest bloggers this round.
    • 

  • I’m in the process of making plans for a guest post exchange with Eden Mabee, who is a ROW80 sponsor this month, and whose bravery I admire!
    • 

  • I am officially requesting guest spots, and guest posters willing to diversify! 
    • 














Submitting:




    

  •  Submit at least 10 pieces of flash fiction or poetry this round.
    • 

  • I have a “seed idea” for my 2012 NaNoWriMo  novel;  I will explore this further and develop through flash fiction I submit for publication in places other than my own blog.
    • 

  • I have had another “seed idea” regarding Jeniah’s personal timeline (see Writing, above), and will be writing some of these as submissible pieces, as well as some posted here for more immediate feedback.
    • 



    

  • Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
    • 

  • I have developed the “seed essay idea” (see Writing, above) into a several hundred word freewriting.
    • 

  • I have highlighted several passages from my June 2011 750Words.com posts.  Some I will develop further, and others are ready to share as they are.
    • 

  • Next up will be beginning to research essay markets for these posts.
    • 



    

  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
    • 

  • I am currently participating in the A to Z Challenge, as noted above.
    • 

  • I have an entry for the  Storyteller Challenge in progress, as noted above.
    • 

  • I have an entry for the Flash of Inspiration hop in progress, as well, as noted above.
    • 

  • My Flicker of Inspiration Character post, Spock – A Most Logical Character.  That is one submission for the month, thus far.
    • 







 Photography:




    

  •  Organize all photos on hard drive/move to organized Picasa web albums or delete.
    • 

  • I have made a cursory sweep of my meager My Pictures file, deleting all files that are already on  my Picasa Web Albums.
    • 

  • Most of my pictures are in my Documents and Downloads files.  That will be a more involved process.
    • 

  • I have deleted from my Downloads all loose (not in folders) pictures I know to be on Picasa web albums.
    • 



    

  • Learn how to watermark pictures.
    • 

  • I have downloaded the Picasa help page for watermarking, and skimmed it.  Next will be attempting the process.
    • 



    

  • Watermark all photos that appear on my blogs, and all those I post going forward; begin watermarking favorites not on blogs.
    • 





Marketing:




    

  •  Explore marketing articles on my Facebook Writer Page.
    • 

  • I have reposted three articles to the top of the page, so that I can find them again easily,  I will begin reading them during the next several days.
    • 



    

  • Add useful articles to my shanjeniah  Marketing Articles page.
    • 

  • Use this information to help define my direction; adjust as needed.
    • 



Learning:




    

  •  Get Scrivener  downloaded; begin learning by inputting first an essay, and then Blood and Breath.
    • 

  • Scrivener was downloaded ahead of the round, because I got nervous.
    • 

  • I have input one essay, and will continue with others, experimenting with the drafting process on smaller pieces first.
    • 

  • Use Twitter and Tweetdeck at least one day a week.  Learn more.
    • 

  • For WordPress, create a running list of questions; work on finding answers!
    • 

  • Begin learning about how to publish ebooks.
    • 

  • Learn what I can do with my domain name.
    • 

  • Begin research list/research for  Chameleon’s Dish second draft.
    • 
























Organizing:




    

  •  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
    • 

  • Take clips from first Penzu notebook.
    • 

  • Input Blood and Breath and Chameleon’s Dish to Scivener.
    • 

  • Began with Prologue of Blood and Breath.
    • 



    

  • Clean up computer downloads, documents, photos, and other clutter – move it or lose it!
    • 

  • Began decluttering photo and document files, as noted above.
    • 





Self-care:




    

  • Add JOY to every day!
    • 

  • Monday – Writing time, flowerbed cleaning, trip dreaming, snuggles with Miah, listening to Lise read aloud!
    
Tuesday – Allowing myself a home day, hanging and grilling outside, all together, skipping hometending, tried computer outside.
    • 

  • Add movement to every day, too!
    • 

  • Monday – Hometending, decluttered yard and front flowerbeds, raked large flowerbed.
    • 

  • Tuesday – tired.  Moved around in yard and garden.
    • 

  • Add self-deorating to every week!
    • 

  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
    • 

  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
    • 

  • Lise: admiring chalk art, yard work, gardening together, reading time.
    • 

  • Miah: Morning snuggle, TV time, computer and website building talk.
    • 

  • Jim: Watched the Whitney Cummings  standup he’s been wanting to share with me, flirted and kissed.
    • 







Administrative Stuff:




    

  • Write and submit third quarter reports for both children.  These are due on June 1, 2012.
    • 

  • Cleanup email folders/organize, move, read, delete, act upon as needed.
    • 

  • Started cursory sweep of several files while searching for Blood and Breath chapters.  Deleted obviously unnecessary and unwanted items.
    • 











 So there it is – the contractions and striving that will help me to reach my goals.Jim is home from his first night back at work, and we are settling into our evening.   We’re watching Nova: Hunting the Elements, which the kids discovered after Annalise watched Nature: Humpback WhalesTime to sink back into the rhythm of my life…..You can find the other ROWers’ updates, here! =)


Rebirth.......




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500 Words On….”The Unpredictability of the Fallow Land…”

	


	
	

		


500 Words On…..“The Unpredictability of the Fallow Land“


~The unpredictability of the fallow land, left to wonder on its own, never failed to send her into fits of grins every year as July ducked her shoulder to the fortunes.~




How silly the whole business of planting seemed to her, the waiting, the backbending effort that so seldom seemed to carry any joy or delight for those who toiled at it.


How very different from life in the Huntlands.


And how very impoverished, to make one’s living from changing the nature of Aletris, stabbing at her, digging those damnable furrows into her skin; scarring her.


So the empty fields delighted her as they lay, and as the grass and weeds grew up in them, and the small wild things that were good to eat and challenging to Hunt returned to the little hollows and pockets the farmers never noticed….




And yet, out there, in the Huntlands, was food aplenty, without any need to alter Aletris – it was the food that was freely offered, but only to those who knew how to procure it. Food to Hunt, food to forage, food that filled all the needs of her body and her soul in ways this food, grown in the wounds of Aletris, could never do.


She wondered, once again, if there was some way to tell the Untribed, to encourage them to change their way of life, to live fully in peace with Aletris, and honor sima garo utterly, knowing that enough food was provided, without these efforts to be certain of it by damaging the planet herself.




Efforts which were, still, despite all their fanciful imaginings, dependent upon Aletris, and her nature.


No one could direct a planet; no one could force food from Aletris if she did not choose to offer it, and there would be an end to how much she would provide, if forced too often ….


She thought to mention it to Konii, and once she did, but Konii only looked at her with her purple and dreaming eyes, as though the words were in some other tongue – Tacivaarii, perhaps, and she could not understand – and then she had turned back to her Books….




She had wanted to tell Rachyl, because she thought that Rachyl would understand, and be able to help her know what was the best thing to say to the others. Rachyl was a healer, and worked with the natural plants, the sensates, the healing herbs, and the minerals. She valued the balance of nature in ways that most Untribed did not, and she also understood the world she lived in…


But, just when she thought she would, Rachyl had gotten herself with child – of a Tribed man, no less, which would infuriate Mother if she learned of it – and was all aglow and absorbed in the child to come, and the life she hoped to create, one that would span both worlds.


So Jeniah contented herself in honoring the furrows in her own way, in the long hours spent lying upon them, sunning herself, waiting, and taking, through her skills and as Aletris intended, her meals from the wounded place, and hoping it would offer some small healing.






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ROW80 Round Two: “Eyes Scanning The Horizon”

	


	
	

		
I’m still in the process of absorbing what the my first ROW80 round meant to me,  and how it has affected the way I approach my writing goals.  I expect that the process will continue for quite some time.


I feel more ready to explore it in writing, though – and this seems a very good time and place to begin….


Since Round 1 ended, I have been busy, but in a somewhat more flowing and less driven way than was prevalent the last few weeks of the challenge.


I’ve been finishing up and getting around to bits and pieces and projects that I laid aside as I worked on attaining the last few goals:


 


    

  • I have posted my topics schedule for the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge, and I am working on this post, although there are likely several more sessions to go before it’s completed.
    • 

  • I have the A and B posts in rough draft form.
    • 

  • I am in the process of claiming the  three blog awards bestowed on me during the course of the last round.
    • 

  • I have been setting up and gathering materials and ideas for the next round.

    Annalise and Gabriella, post plaster puppy making.....
    • 

  • I have finished two books, and begun a third.
    • 

  • We have, as a family, visited friends in an adjoining state, a trip meant to take place the weekend immediately following Jim’s accident. There was, of course, packing and unpacking at both ends, and much joyful chaos between….
    • 

  • I’ve written three 500 word blogposts – for a giveaway to celebrate my 50th fan of my Facebook writer page.
    • 

  • I have gathered and edited pictures, and made some collages.
    • 

  • I have written  my blogpost for this month’s Unschooling Blog Carnival.  I intend to go back and add more, as I work through these projects.
    • 

  • I have posted a book review, and have a rough draft of another.
    • 

  • I have downloaded Scrivener (thank you, Eden Mabee!), installed, read a little, and peeked timorously at it from a for-now safe distance (I tend to need to ease into these new technological tools).
    • 

  • I have cleared space on my hard drive, and Jim’s (prior to the arrival of my Sweet L’il Lenovo at the end of last November, I worked most often on Jim’s Panasonic Toughbook, and I have left too many files and programs he doesn’t use on it.  It’s a bit of a mission for me to clean it up for him as I am doing hometending on my own machine…..
    • 

  • I’ve printed up a couple of forms Jim has needed for accident-related stuff.
    • 

  • And, of course, there has been homtending and parenting and learning facilitation and just being together and shopping and and and….
    • 





Studying the effects of plaster....




The time since the last round ended has seemed to just flow as an easy, floating time of very mellow productivity…..with a few torrents of activity and emotion thrown in for seasoning.




I’ve taken a lot of time for enjoying myself.  I have relaxed.  I have sat in Sylvia’s sunny kitchen, and watched girls make and later paint plaster puppies, and watched boys make slime worms and sour ice cream…..There was time for conversation, and snuggles, and fun, and treasure hunting.  There was time to play outside while the weather was nice.  Time for hot showers and quite a bit of TV.  And yet, all of that up there got done, too…….And that may be the second coolest thing I have gotten from A Round of Words in 80 Days…




The certainty that it is indeed possible to write – a lot and well-  while still honoring my energy level, my needs and those of my family, having as much of a social life as I desire, and living a rich, joyous, and passionate life.  It is possible to set goals I truly wish to attain, and to move toward them, and attain them, even when life becomes incredibly complex.






And so, with that fact firmly in mind….


Here are my goals, arranged in categories for this round:


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.
    • 

  • Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
    • 

  • Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
    • 



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.
    • 

  • Pull material from 750 words posts not part of the Chameleon’s Dish first draft.  
    • 

  • Create essays, stories, and other pieces based upon these writings.
    • 

  • Find all chapters of Blood and Breath.  Input into Scrivener; possibly begin rewrite.
    • 

  • Finish father-in-law letter and send.
    • 





A new type of toe touch......










BWAHAHAHA!!!







Networking:




    

  •  Explore She Writes; Twitter: StoryDam; Pinterest; and LinkedIn .  Use, develop, evaluate, adjust.
    • 

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
    • 

  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
    • 

  • Do 3 guest posts and  host 3 guest bloggers this round.
    • 





Submitting:




    

  •  Submit at least 10 pieces of flash fiction or poetry this round.
    • 

  • Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
    • 

  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
    • 





Two happily plastered girls!






Photography:




    

  •  Organize all photos on hard drive/move to organized Picasa web albums or delete.
    • 

  • Learn how to watermark pictures.
    • 

  • Watermark all photos that appear on my blogs, and all those I post going forward; begin watermarking favorites not on blogs.
    • 





Marketing:




    

  •  Explore marketing articles on my Facebook Writer Page.
    • 

  • Add useful articles to my shanjeniah 
    • 

  • Marketing Articles page.
    • 

  • Use this information to help define my direction; adjust as needed.
    • 





Happy Plaster Zombies!






Learning:




    

  •  Get Scrivener  downloaded; begin learning by inputting first an essay, and then Blood and Breath.
    • 

  • Use Twitter and Tweetdeck at least one day a week.  Learn more.
    • 

  • For WordPress, create a running list of questions; work on finding answers!
    • 

  • Begin learning about how to publish ebooks.
    • 

  • Learn what I can do with my domain name.
    • 

  • Begin research list/research for  Chameleon’s Dish second draft.
    • 





Just plastered.






Organizing:




    

  •  Edit all 2009 posts on  The Unfettered Life.  Consider layout and design changes.
    • 

  • Take clips from first Penzu notebook.
    • 

  • Input Blood and Breath and Chameleon’s Dish to Scivener.
    • 

  • Clean up computer downloads, documents, photos, and other clutter – move it or lose it!
    • 





Self-care:




    

  • Add JOY to every day!
    • 

  • Add movement to every day, too!
    • 

  • Add self-deorating to every week!
    • 

  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
    • 

  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
    • 





 


Plastery joy! =D




Administrative Stuff:




    

  • Write and submit third quarter reports for both children.  These are due on June 1, 2012.
    • 

  • Cleanup email folders/organize, move, read, delete, act upon as needed.
    • 

  • Input two writing practice notebooks to Penzu.
    • 

  • Take critters to the vet; renew Corki’s dog licence.
    • 

  • Pay remaining balances for summer trips to Unschoolers Rock the Campground and Northeast Unschooling Conference.
    • 









Cleaning up......I love those two heads. =)




So, now I have a new set of goals.  As with the last round, they’re based on what I want to learn and do, so working on them will be not a chore but a joyful avocation.There’s a lot of variety here, so, whatever I’m in the mood for, I should be able to find something on this list to tickle that particular fancy….




I feel good about these goals, and how they will form the skeleton of my body of work over the next 80 days….I’m eager to delve in, and happy I have other projects and activities to keep me busy over the intervening few days, as the Round 2 countdown ticks down.














Before I go, I want to take a moment to acknowledge some of last rounds ROWers who have inspired, amused, informed, intrigued, and even become friends.  There’s no particular order here –  I love you all!




Washin' and a-grinnin'!









Rebecca J. Fleming (and Judgmental Dog,  of course!)














And, of course, my first friend, my syster, the one who tempted me into Simon and Garfunkel, Star Trek, a-ha, Middle Earth, and this challenge….who knows exactly scary and dysfunctional and un-nice I can be, and who loves me anyway. =)



I am sure there are a few of you who have slipped my mind….and more I will meet in the course of this round.Now, I gather myself, shake myself off, tidy up the matters-in-progress, and take a moment to look behind, at where I have come from. Then, I breathe deeply, until I am relaxed and flowing with the energy of my own soul, and look to the terrain ahead, the new, hazily beautiful horizon….




Early Springtime Tree.....






As Annalise, almost 8,  so aptly said, last night, “I’m made of bravery…….and water.”


I lower my hand, and step forward, into that new vista.


What vistas await the other ROWers? Find out here!






 











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