And for starters…

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emotions, happiness, happy, heatwave, hurricane, melancholy, movies, sequels, storms, story, storylines, time, tornado, Writing

why did my computer restart yesterday and I was logged out of EVERYTHING?  I’ve had to log back into sites that I haven’t logged into in, well, forever!

Okay, so now that that’s off my chest… it’s hot here!  It has reached 30 degrees the last several days.  I, personally, am loving it because I hate the cold and, frankly, you can’t have everything!

After everything I have gone through this year I think my wanting to be happy is the least I could ask for.  Of course I’m not there yet.  The specialist’s appointment is on October 11th.  Just over 2 weeks away now.

I’ve been trying to write.  I’m working on a “sequel” to a movie that I fell in love with many, many years ago.  Of course I’m changing character names and the year and some of the storyline but it’s one of those movies I found on DVD and still watch almost 30 years later.  It’s one of those movies where you always wonder what happened to them after that night because they’re so young and have their lives ahead of them.

It’s worth a shot anyway.  Maybe it will be one of the many that will remain always and forever on my unpublished shelf but I will have satisfied my curiosity!

The storm at work has not settled either.  I will bring news on that when I have it.

I really do feel like I’m in the eye of a tornado and I just keep swirling around and around sometimes even feeling sick.  Up until just now I always felt I was on that ship that was tossed about in the midst of a hurricane.  Maybe the tornado is a better comparison.  I don’t really know.

Every emotion is jumbled with the next.  Every time I want to move forward, I end up backing up.  Every time I want some peace and quiet the storm gets louder.

I wonder if and when it will ever end.  I have a wedding to go to next Saturday.  That will instill a little hope, I hope.

After that, it’s Oktoberfest here and that always makes me melancholy as well.  I think because I used to be out there.  I used to love going and I haven’t been in such a long, long time.  It’s like everything.  Every good thing seems to come to an end.

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My day off…

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good idea, happy medium, idea, medium ground, The Writer, time, time to write, too much thinking, working on it, Writer's Digest, writing magazines, writing time

and I’m having difficulties writing.  The Sunday after my last procedure was much like this… I just wanted to do nothing!

For me, that’s difficult because when I want to write I can’t find the time.  When I have the time, my brain seems to need the break.

How do I find medium ground?  How do I write when my brain tells me it doesn’t want to?

And it’s not that I don’t have a good idea to write about… I’ve started to write it.  But I get a few sentences down here and a few down there and I just feel like everything has been a string of interruptions again.

My mind, at the moment, is not a help to me!  I do way too much thinking and there’s been a lot going on.  Between my pathology reports and waiting, desperately, for my specialist appointment on October 11, my daughter deciding to not go to school but accepting full-time at work, my own work issues and a multitude of other things that are a basket full of good and bad mixed I’m on overload… definitely!

At some point it would be interesting to write a memoir on all of this but I’m not sure I’d ever get to writing it!

I went to Chapters on Saturday and found 3 new writing magazines as well as a number of journals they have on the topic of writing… one is titled 500 Writing Prompts, there was another there with 300 and then there was one titled Complete The Story which was also awesome.  There was also a journal titled Why I Love You.  All of these are really cool because the first two have the writing prompts or story starters.  The latter asks questions about your relationship, if you’re in one.  On Saturday I bought the magazines and the 500 Writing Prompts.  Today I went back and bought the other two because I am a sucker for these things!

So I have managed to write at least something today!  I can say that I have succeeded!  The day is not over, however, and I’m tired already!

There’s a Lighthouse…

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cancer, escape, light, lighthouse, notebook, sunset, trailer, Writer's Digest, writer's workbook, writing idea

In the harbour, shining faithfully, pouring its light out, across the water…

Those are the next words that Garth Brooks sings in his song When You Come Back to Me.

I have kept that lighthouse in my sights though, I must admit, it has disappeared from sight a few times.

And here I am, sitting at the trailer again, looking out the sliding door towards the lake; a lake that from the lookout is royal blue but from the beach is green.

I wanted the escape to wind down from my vacation before I go back to what could be unpleasantness at work.

As you know, I had my procedure the last time I posted and the results were in yesterday… I picked them up last evening.  There were no malignant cells in the samples he took (he took 2 this time!) which is excellent.  That means he got it all in March.

I’m going to remain cautiously optimistic until I see him in a month.

In the meantime, maybe I can try my best to get back to some of my writing.  I have had ideas, I just haven’t been able to write anything… is that any big surprise?

I just bought a copy of Writer’s Digest Writer’s Workbook and look forward to sitting and reading through parts of it.  It even has worksheets inside.

So while I walk around the park and take pictures and try to relax I hope my brain will be, once again, working on the story that I’ve been wanting to write.

Maybe I’ll go to the beach for the sunset after all… I’ll just dress warm!  And make sure I pack my notebook!

 

An unpleasant ride…

Tags

anxiety, beach, biopsy, Creative Writing, creativity, depressed, distractions, fleshing out an idea, overwhelmed, pictures, story, story idea, storylines, sunset, vacation, Writing

Well, all my friends and followers, it is finished, again.

All the anxiety build-up crashed around me yesterday after the procedure was over.  It hurt more than last time and last evening I felt depressed.  I was hoping so much that he would have a look and tell me that there was nothing there to biopsy but, instead, he took tissue.

I don’t know what that means.  I don’t know if he was erring on the side of caution or what.  Unfortunately he doesn’t say much at the time.  All he said at one point was that he was still looking, which I took as a good sign.  And he also said he didn’t see anything alarming, but then why do the biopsy anyway?  The comment about nothing alarming might also have been in answer to the question I asked during our brief chat beforehand.

So I get to spend two weeks waiting and watching for the Pathology report to come in.  Then it’s even longer to October 11.

After a reasonably decent sleep I feel relatively okay and the majority of the pain I was having yesterday has subsided.

I hope to sit down and continue to flesh out a story idea I had.  I have multiple tabs open on both my browsers… contests, etc. and I’d like to take a closer look.

Vacation is one day from the first week being over already.  I have difficulties believing that.

So much I want to do and too many distractions.

I also had a fabulous weekend at the trailer… take a look…

The first day the water had some white-caps and the second day everything was so calm it was almost like glass.  Of course I had to share some of my sunsets as well.

I didn’t get much writing done there though… no, I wasn’t impressed by that.  I did get some ideas fleshed out, which I now want to work on further, but that was it.  I actually wanted to start writing.

We don’t always get whatever it is we want… life is certainly a roller coaster and I don’t like roller coasters.  I like to know what’s coming at me all the time… not knowing what’s around the bend is a huge distraction for me and though we don’t have control over everything, I don’t like surprises either!

This year has been way too much for me to handle.  I must admit that it felt awesome being by the lake on the weekend and I didn’t want to leave.  I’d still be there if it wasn’t for duty calling!  It’s always something.

So now I will go and spend some time resting.  I have been busy doing some things this morning that were necessary.  Yesterday certainly took its toll and I have to respect the boundaries my body is setting and not overdo things which, as some of you know, I’m famous for!

 

Anxiety++

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anxiety, cancer, Confessions in the Mural, Creative Writing, escape, free ebook, Kindle, Labour Day, trailer, Twilight Zone, work, Writing

I don’t even get to have the anxiety on the side!

I don’t think I have ever known anxiety like I have in 2017.  And it just keeps getting worse!  I am down to 37 hours before my procedure appointment and the anxiety has definitely made itself known starting with a mini attack yesterday afternoon!  Best case scenario is he takes a look and there’s nothing to biopsy.  Oh how I wish for that answer!

Anyway, as for work, well, it was a Twilight Zone week last week and I am now on vacation.  It ended on a good note on Friday and you know how bad it’s been.  The stress was greatly reduced this past week.

I’m hoping to get plenty of writing done in the next 2 weeks but I really need to eliminate this anxiety first!  It’s definitely taking its toll!

I did escape to the trailer this weekend, however.  It was Saturday to Sunday and I came back early for a bridal shower but it was awesome!  The weather was a bit cool but it was sunny!  AND… Saturday night was “Halloween” because the resort is closed by Halloween.  Had I known I would have taken my costume along and got right into it… oh well, I did go into town, got candy and some of the few decorations that were available.

There way more than 50 kids and that’s all I bought candy for so I put my empty bowl inside and went to the beach (for the second time) for the sunset.  It was beautiful!

So speaking of giving away things, this weekend, for the last long weekend of summer, I am giving away Confessions in the Mural on Kindle from September 1-4.  Here are the links…

Amazon.com:

Amazon.ca:

So make sure you get your copies before it runs out!

As I said, I hope to get some writing done!  I also plan on heading back to the trailer in a little under 2 weeks and I’m going to stay until the afternoon sometime!

When you come back to me…

Tags

anxiety, back pain, bad week, Creative Writing, essential oils, fatigue, Journal, lack of sleep, marking, not writing, sleep, writer's block, Writing

Garth Brooks sings “There’s a ship out, on the ocean, at the mercy of the sea.  It’s been tossed about, lost and broken, wandering aimlessly… and God somehow you know that ship is me.”

That’s me… I’m the ship.  I’m the one at sea and the rudder is stuck with a hurricane heading straight at me.

Things have reached a serious point of stupidity.  Stupidity that, not only do I have no tolerance for, but I don’t have the time to fix it either.

It is truly amazing how much better I sleep on nights that I don’t have to get up and go to work.  Unfortunately I don’t do a very good job getting to sleep half the time but at least I manage 8 hours on those nights and I can tell it’s been a better sleep.

I have had an incredibly bad week and I’m weighing ALL my options.  I can no longer keep waiting for employers to get organized and figure out what they’re doing.  Stress is taking its toll on me.  It’s affecting my sleep, my back and my general well-being.  I’m finding I’m sliding into a depression after suffering much over the years and always managing to pull myself out.

Over the last week or so I haven’t even been able to write again and my journal entries are repetitive and short.  I’m no longer identifying my emotions or solutions or anything.

Even the teaching is starting to exhaust me… maybe it’s simply related to two 12 1/2 days a week or maybe it’s actually related to the job stress decreasing my sleep and making me grumpy!

I have been trying to use my oils to keep me in balance and keep my mood elevated.  I have increased my Vitamin D as well.  I have even been turning to chocolate!

I do hope that my next post brings something more positive.  Either I’m writing again, or something has caved in!  In just over two weeks is my next procedure and I really don’t want to be in this state going into that… the anxiety from that is enough!

I need to go sit and do some marking… focus on the career I do like!  Try to forget about the one that’s adding a dimension of misery to my life.

Therapeutic Writing

Tags

Creative Writing, cross bridges, crossroads, devil you don't know, devil you know, frustrations, grass isn't always greener, Journal, NaNoWriMo, what-if?, work, work stress, writers, Writing

As you all know I have been having an awful time at work.  I have personal stuff going on that you are aware of. My partner-in-crime is also having a tough time with family things right now so we are truly in the same boat.

I have continued to journal every day to get my frustrations out of my head, though they remain.  I haven’t worked much on my NaNoWriMo story and really do need to get back to that as, it too, was actually very therapeutic and I miss it.

On a happy note, I applied for a job on Saturday and I got a call yesterday to set up an interview.  It’s set up for Wednesday at 1:00.  I don’t want to jinx it but, on the job front, it’s the happiest thing ever!  There are questions I could have asked on the phone, like how many hours, but I figure, if nothing else, it would serve as practice.  If it works out, great, no complaints here.

I’ve journalled about that and it feels good, it feels right.  It would be cool.  I would learn new things and be able to teach them a thing or two about various disease processes, far more than they might know from anywhere else.

And so many people right now are playing the “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” and “better the devil you know”… well, the devil I know is starting to show signs of his tail and horns so I think, in this instance, the devil I don’t know can’t be any worse.

So that’s where things are at in this moment.  Of course I have concerns not only about my vacation but, more importantly, how this could impact my procedure at the end of the month.  I would love to be able to say I can’t start until September 5th but there are other boundaries to cross before I get to that point and I have to stop getting ahead of myself… I think we all tend to do that and for those of us who are writers, we often play the “what-if” game until our minds are numb.  It’s part of who we are as writers because that’s what we do every time we sit down and make up more of our stories.

We push that into our real lives because that’s how we operate.  And it’s not always a good thing.  It leads us to anxiety and builds up our expectations beyond where they should be.

It’s who we are.  So I shall move forward, like always, and cross bridges when I get to them and try, as hard as I can, to keep this particular line in mind rather than allowing it to run wild!

 

Depression has struck…

Tags

Creative Writing, depression, Editing, headaches, NaNoWriMo, short story, time for me, time to write, unhappy, walking, work upset, Writing

I have been trying hard to not let my situation get to me but it has.  As the list of what is making me unhappy at work grows so do my feelings of frustration and my stress levels increase.

I have been writing but my time is limited because of the kitten and his need for constant attention, just like a little kid.  That takes away my feeling of home being my refuge.

Today I wrote almost a thousand words yet I feel unfulfilled.  I feel like it was forced.  I edited a short item I wrote and entered them.  Again, it feels forced.

I managed to win Camp NaNoWriMo with 20,000 words but considering I had 13,000 or so of those words done before July 10th it took me over two weeks to finish… so unacceptable in my mind.

I have also been managing to get headaches daily, again.  I’m supposed to be walking which is easier said than done.  Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating for that nor is the location of my home.  Not really conducive to walking around here.  I would have to drive somewhere to walk which doesn’t entirely make sense but there it is!

I just can’t believe that my job has come to this.  I just can’t believe that he can be the way he is and how some patients can be the way they are.  Up until a few days ago I was asking myself if it was just me and it took some thinking to determine that it was two or three years ago when I first heard my great boss say he was getting tired of the C-R-A-P and I agreed, fully.  Demands were higher, people want everything yesterday, they want to argue with you.  They hate the system and the wait times.  The list goes on and on.  I thought the transition would make things better but it has not.  It has, however, brought to light those feelings of being tired of dealing with the C-R-A-P that was spoken of so often.  There’s paper everywhere, not enough time in a day and just no patience to deal with the patients.

I will carry on.  I always do.  Unhappy right now… yes, definitely.  Determined to make a change… just as definitely!

 

The Roller Coaster Won’t Stop!

Tags

bad boss, Chapters, Creative Writing, day job, day job sapping energy, defining a writer, emotions, everyone else comes first, The Writer, work sucks, Writer's Digest, Writing

I think I have met my quota on emotions…

Happy
Sad
Annoyed
Amused
Agitated
Angry
Downright P.O.’d…

and that’s just a single day!

Yes, I have been the first five this weekend, and maybe a bit angry, probably just mad vs. angry… but nothing like last week at work.

I don’t know what’s worse… working for someone who uses the wrong words or someone who doesn’t listen to his employees and I mean ask our opinion but not listen to our answers or shoots down what we have to say!

Then I spend a weekend where I am stuck catering to everyone else… and my writing time is what suffers… all the time.  This afternoon and last evening I was agitated again.  I find that I’ve been experiencing that more lately which is a good sign since it had been a while since I’ve experienced that.

Once again I wish I was writing more . The second week of my vacation I wrote almost 15,000 words.  This week I couldn’t even make it to 18,000 words… I couldn’t even add 3,000 more.

I went to Chapters today and got a copy of The Writer and Writer’s Digest.  The single article I managed to read in The Writer was titled “Defining a Writer or, You Know You’re not a Writer When…”  Joni B. Cole talks about people who say they’re not a real writer for this reason or that but more importantly knowing you’re not a Real Writer when… you don’t want to be a writer.  She means getting busy… days, weeks, etc. when you’re not writing and, essentially, you don’t miss it.  That pretty much explains my agitation but does little to buy me more time to write!

As I was writing a journal entry about my agitation a title on the front of Writer’s Digest caught my attention.  “Is Your Day Job Sapping Your Creative Energy?” Well doesn’t that TOTALLY cover everything off…? don’t ask, I had to go so I had to stop writing and didn’t have time to read it.  That is my intention though… maybe that will make a good follow-up post!

So here I am at 8:30 on a Sunday night having no desire to go to work tomorrow and all the desire in the world to spend the day writing!

Today is it…

Tags

Creative Writing, inspiration, job postings, job search, kitten, NaNoWriMo, vacation, vacation is not vacation, vacation over, Writing

and I feel like I’m at the end of a trial and I’ve had my freedom and here comes the sentence!  And there’s seven weeks to go until the next one… unless I get a new job that doesn’t start in the fall and I end up taking my two weeks notice time as my vacation.

I applied for two jobs Friday and Saturday.  The first one fits me to a tee and it doesn’t start until October 16th.  Everything I would change jobs for!  The second one would be, possibly, a step up but mostly a step sideways.

It has been a creative two weeks when I had the time… with the kitten it has kind of added an entirely new dimension to things and taken me longer because I’ve had less time.  Now I wish I’d had more time.

I have written 12,000 words this week.  I’m quite proud of myself.  I found a story starter and got myself going.  It’s Camp NaNoWriMo this month and I love camp.  You set your own word limit.  I set myself 20,000… don’t think I’m going to have an issue getting there.  Just going to take longer to get there now that I’m back at work.

Well apparently I’m doomed to not getting anything done this morning before I have to go because of the kitten, who has a name now by they way… Tigger!

So long, for now… 😦