Updating the ME!

It's been a good week (despite the ongoing battle of the alarm clocks with The Wife!) I am feeling great - I've been working the new "Life Plan" ya' see . . . damn that's a crappy name. Life Plan . . . sounds dull as dirt, don't it? Maybe I should refer to it as my: Destiny Trail or Existencial Pathway. Nah, too much of a mouthful. Anyway, it's working pretty well. I wake up early each day, exercise, do the work thing, shop for and cook dinner, exercise again, then meet my writing goals for the day. Did I mention those goals? I don't recall . . . I ramble so much on this blog!

I have set a minimum writing requirement of 1,200 words per day before my lazy, old, ass is allowed to go to bed. That's not really much for me, I can usually get that in about an hour or so but it's a way of keeping myself consistent. I've been knocking it out every night this week with no problem; actually grabbing an extra 500+/- words each day. I've also set aside a specific writing time each night (from 8:00 p.m. until I get the minimum words) so that it becomes part of my schedule. I get no TV, books, or internet until said words are complete. I'm also trying to do some editing after the writing each night but that's been less succesful. I'm usually finishing the writing up around 9:00-9:30 and I'm pretty tired by that point. I keep wanting to just go and chill for a while before bed, so the edits have been moving slow. I think that'll get better after I get the whole schedule working a little smoother. I've also started back in on the agent hunt. I've updated my lists and am putting "Slayer" back into the process starting Monday. I was about ready to just shelve it as "not good enough" but hell: I got three requests for partials on it from major agents. How bad can it really be, right?

Right.

I actually have a whole program outlined for breaking into publishing. Step one is fairly simple: keep everything I've completed in the mail to at least two places at all times. I figger that oughta cover 'er! While that's happening, I'll be writing more novels and editing others that will just get added to the constant cycle of submissions. Daddy always told me: "If you fling enough crap at the wall, some's eventually gonna stick!" How's that for a brilliant strategy, eh? It's like the lottery - Ya gotta be in it to win it! If I put them before enough folks, I'll eventually find someone who believes in them and wants to take me on (I hope!)

On other fronts: the vegetarian thing is working out really well for me. It's been about three months now and I (much to my own surprise) have no desire to return to eating meat. I eat great tasting food, in good-sized portions, and I no longer feel sick and bloated for hours after eating. All the things that prompted me to go to the doctor in the first place: back aches, sore feet, constant headaches, tiredness, a variety of intestinal issues (too nasty to talk about on a polite blog!) and just feeling old and worn out have all gone away. I've lost (last time I checked, which was two weeks ago) over thirty pounds and my body is completely pain free (other than a touch of soreness in my legs from the exercise!) Lack of pain is a remarkable thing! I'm actually starting to feel like 39 is not halfway to the grave. I feel better than I have in a very long time. Hell, I feel better than I can ever remember. Even when I was thin I never felt "good". I always got there through starvation diets that left me feeling weak, sick, and constantly hungry. When I was 20 or so, I weighed in at 160 lbs and was running my own martial arts studio, exercising 5 hours a day, every day. Even then I was always tired and felt . . . blah! I was a fat kid and had lost the weight through the extreme exercise of Tae Kwon Do coupled with eating nothing but a single sandwich each day and drinking only water. Sure, I dropped the weight and looked good but I was in no way healthy. Worse, once I closed the studio and took on a full time job so I could afford to pay my rent and such: the weight started climbing again. It took a while because I was working construction at the time (still lots of physical activity) but it climbed about 10 lbs. each year. I was about 180 when The Wife and I started dating, 190 by the time we got married, and around 230 by the time my son was born. Moving to office positions made the weight climb faster and I've spent the last ten years yo-yo-ing between 220 and 280 on every silly-ass diet I could find.

The thing that always killed me was that when I lost weight, I alway felt worse than when I was heavier. I was one tired, cranky, miserable S.O.B. (just ask The Wife!) and exercise was always next to impossible for me. (Try jogging with a hundred or so pounds on your back when you're already exhausted and every joint in your body hurts before you take the first step!) I gave up on diets entirely. I realized they were never going to work. I resigned myself to being fat and decided the way I felt was just part of growing old. (Old? Dude, Im not even 40 yet!) Imagine my surprise over the last few months! I did the vegetarian thing mainly because I was concerned about cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks (all of which are SERIOUSLY common in my family). I wasn't planning on losing weight and I certainly never imagined the difference it would make on my general health but damn, it feels goooooood!!!

Hmmm . . . interesting. I hadn't planned to blog about all this today but it just sort of came out. I'd just planned on telling you that I'd gotten a good bit of work done on "First" this week. See what happens when I let my mind wander? (Bad mind, bad!)

Another family gathering at my house this weekend, which should be fun, albeit a little crazy. It's funny how differently we do things when we have different families over. Last week, it was The Wife's clan, so we did burgers, dogs, chips, etc. They're pretty straight forward folks who don't do anything "unusual". This weekend it's my family and I'm doing Shish Kabbob with maybe a cucumber/tomato/red onion salad and a few different types of appetizers. We're a family of cooks and love trying new things. We always try to do something unique whenever we visit each other's houses. Big difference in personality too - The Wife's family are pretty quiet, serious, folks who engage in conversation. My people are loud, boisterous, would-be comedians who spend hours telling hugely exaggerated tales and outright lies, laughing our asses off the entire time.

Can you guess why The Wife and I don't always see eye-to-eye on things? ;-)

Have a great weekend all!

Later!