An uphill climb

My husband gave me a great gift today, the gift of  being abandoned. Not forever, just a few hours. Yesterday we took off for Turkey Run Lodge in Indiana, about a 3 hr drive from our farm in Central Illinois. Our primary goal ? To get off the farm, to stop working on the farm, to stop talking about the farm, to stop talking about other peoples farms. With son Jason at the helm we left after morning chores and arrived here just before supper time. This morning after breakfast Keith went walking on the twooded trails and I got busy...on my book.

Yes, the same book I have been working on for 16 months. It has been moved to the back burner since just before Christmas but as of this morning I am happy to report it is on the front burner, flames turned on high and contents boiling over onto the stove. Nearly 6 hours of uninterrupted writing, rewriting and editing has made me  happy, happy , happy and dare I say it ? HAPPY ?! So many hours strung together without phones or housework, animal care or family concerns, paperwork or whatever. I needed the first hour to remind myself of the characters names and some other minor details like the plot, but after that words came plodding out of my fingers. I can't type so words rarely "fly" out of my fingers but I have learned how to hunt and peck quickly.

My newest goal is to weasel a few friends and family members into reading the finished draft sometime in March and April before I send queries  into agent land in May.  May 17th to be exact, my 52nd birthday. The entire book writing process has been an uphill battle. Wes ? Can you demonstrate a minute please ?

Thank you Wesley.. Such a good boy.

The biggest problem for me has always been time. I enjoy writing very much so of course it gets done last or second to last as horse riding "jockeys" for last place.  Pa dumb ching . But this must stop, or start, as writing is not just a pastime but must become an additional  source of income for us as we as now totally self employed. To not write makes no sense. I have the skills (rudimentary my dear) and we have the topics, so many many of them , and when coupled with the market which seems very open, well ...opportunity knocks. Time (there's that word again) to put down the broom, or the vacuum and pick up the laptop. Time to get organized and disciplined. Time to decrease TV watching EVEN MORE. Time to get crackin', get serious, and get busy.

Time to take a nap.

Just a short one. Then its back at it, and very soon another excerpt from my book. Until then here is a reprint I posted on my blog back in September  http://midlifefarmwife.blogspot.com/2010/09/book-what-book.html

Bone Marrow Soap

This soap making thing...my learning curve has tuned into more of a Tilt-O-Whirl ride with one of the really scary carnies at the control. You know the one I mean. Tattoos on each finger that spell out "wicked boy", Elvis hair from the Valium- crushed into- his- peanut- butter- sandwich days and of course the carnie would be wearing a Pink Floyd T-shirt but Floyd would be spelled "Floid" because the T-shirt was made by a friend of his. Yeah that is what my newest batch of soap looks like.

I tried the PVC pipe trick to make round bars. That part went OK.

Why thank you. I love the table too. Son Jason made it for me
for Christmas last year
 It seats about 30 as long as folks don't mind lap sitters.

 It was the coloring past that went AWOL. My intent was swirls. Instead I got this,

Can anyone tell me the number for 911 ?

Charming huh ? Like The bruised leg of a gangster that has been at the bottom of Lake Michigan for 3 months. It was suppossed to look beautiful and elegant like this

http://shop.beekman1802.com/images/1230395722606-2104052638.gif  (Oh I love those Beekman boys)

So the hardest part of this deal is...how to price it ? Or better yet what shall I name this batch of soap. "Ecchymotic Essence ?" or "Purple Repugnance ?" And shall I cut it across the grain or with the vein ? I've said it before and I'll say it again...(in a deep crop sharers voice) "No-body knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows the sorrrrrowwww. " Yeah, I hear ya, maybe I shouldn't have left that great paying night job.

Running on Empty

I've been in an accident. Yesterday afternnoon about 5 pm I ran head head on into a brick wall. I did not see it coming. There were no flashing warning lights. I had worked an extra shift last Wed night then my 12 hour weekend night shifts. I slept a little Sunday morning and gotten up about 1:30. Visited with two sons, and one daughter in law, checked on new baby pigs and then Keith and I went for a walk west of our house where this picture above was taken. That is when I hit the brick wall. Don't see it ? Look harder, its right there.

I very suddenly felt so bone weary I thought I would lie right down in the cow pasture in which we were standing and take a nap. I was Dorothy in the poppy field. Unable to resist the pull of heavy sleep. I turned to Keith , mumbled something about "goodnight", crawled back under the electric fence and stumbled upstairs back to bed. I slept 13 hours. This left Keith with all the evening chores. THIRTEEN HOURS ! What a waste of time.

What happened ? Well, the answer is simple. I work much harder than most women and I don't work near as hard as the majority. I juggle work and farm and a little grand kid care and some elder care. I handle paperwork and deadlines, family events and yardwork. I have even been known to go to church, on occasion.  I do laundry, dishes, make lots of  farm related phone calls to folks like the Illinois Department of Health and I fake a lot of meals but I'll be honest, I haven't dusted in weeks and the toilets are completely on their own.

I am woman hear me snore. THATS what happened yesterday.