Let's Write the Winter Blues Away

The sun was out today, but it's like eight degrees outside and we're all still surrounded by snow. I want out. Not just out of the Midwest, but out of winter. I'm done with it. I will gladly trade in my snow boots for spring dresses and my winter hat for... well, anything else not winter related. 

Enough complaining though. Compared to the Big Picture, I'm still immensely grateful for everything else. Even on the days I feel totally lost, I can still spend my day writing. The one-year anniversary (I'm deeming it a publish-aversary from now on) for Unfolding Life is coming up and I've been working on a series of posts about that for next month. I seriously can't believe it's getting close to being a year since I first embarked on that journey. Crazy, crazy times.

Even with all this work I managed to get that grant application in on time. I've got my fingers crossed until the recipient is announced in April. And there's no slowing down either--a lot of literary journals have their submission periods closing this week, so I'm getting everything organized to send out tonight and tomorrow. I don't care how much I tell myself at the end of the every night that all this unpaid and unappreciated work isn't worth it. I still wake up each morning believing that it is, and that's all that counts.

What are you working on this week?

The Last Visit Before Spring?

I'm buried up to my knees in snow here, but for me that's a good thing--I can't get out until the snow melts, which means I can get more work done instead of finding excuses to leave the house. Sometimes Mother Nature knows how to work in my favor (though I'm sure others in the area probably don't agree). Hopefully it's the last visit, because I have way too many spring/summer clothes I haven't been able to wear yet. Well, without looking slightly ridiculous, anyway...

National Poetry Month is just a week away and you know what that means--calls for contributions. I'll post more on Wednesday, but I'm going to continue the Poetic Confessions series of posts I started last year. Hopefully, I'll get some other contributions so that no one has to see me drone on and on all month long. I would also love to get more guest posts so that I can provide all aspects of poetry and what people write, think, love, hate about it all. That post will probably come on Friday.

See... a little planning goes a long way. April should be a great month here at TSW.

Birds!!

If anyone wants to check out the pictures of the cardinal that lives in the tree next to my dining room window, go to Picable and you'll find those pictures (among others). One or two look a little funny because I have plastic over my windows to keep out the winter chill (which it does NOT do). Enjoy anyway.

Christmas Shopping

I'm sad. I have 99% of my Christmas shopping done. I know it would be total hell to shop closer to Christmas, but that really is when you can get the better deals. And that's when the deals are so good that you don't feel as guilty when you buy something that you really don't need. I have no excuse and plenty of guilt when I do that kind of shopping online, which I have banned myself from until I reach a specific savings goal... trust me, that'll take some hard work with my winter gas bills!

I'm also going to be trying out a new schedule beginning next week. Which might be hard, considering it's the end of an article cycle and technically I will have little or no work to do, at least for the first half of the week. But I am optimistic. And I really need to learn how to work eight hours in a row. You know, just in case this whole writer thing doesn't pan out. Eh, who am I kidding? I'll never give up writing, even if I starve (which, at the moment, I can afford doing). And you kiddies out there shouldn't give up on your dreams either!