Sacrifices

No, don't worry. I'm not talking about food or animal sacrifices or anything. (Unless you're trying to impress the writing gods or something...)

We all have to make sacrifices to get our writing done. But it can really be hard sometimes. For this entire week, I've been trying so hard to meet my goal of finishing my entire book on the 10th of December, but as tomorrow swiftly approaches, I just don't see how I can possibly edit thirteen more chapters tonight.


I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong. I've sacrificed so much time this week for my writing! Okay, maybe I didn't wake up as early as I planned to every day, but I did a lot of other stuff. I stayed up late to get my work done. I didn't go to the movie theater last Sunday with my mom, sister and dad! I even skipped watching two episodes of the TV show Glee to get my writing done! (I couldn't resist watching the most current episode of Star Wars the Clone Wars with my brother, though...)


So, maybe I set too big of a goal for myself. Or maybe I just didn't execute my 'plan' correctly. Or maybe it was just a bad writing week. It sounds silly, but some days when I'm practicing my violin it's just randomly worse than other days. Same thing with skating. Some days I'm really focused, and other days, I completely lose my balance doing simple things.


It's easy to get discouraged when no matter what you do, you feel like you won't finish soon enough, or won't get good things written down. But, I've found that going around and feeling sorry for yourself isn't the way to get what you want done, done. Trust me, I've tried it.


Luckily, I happen to be in a very good writing mood today, so even if I don't finish on the tenth exactly, maybe I could extend my deadline to the end of the weekend or maybe even Monday. Either way, I've still got a lot of work to get done, so I should get back to it.


What are you guys planning for the weekend?


--Jess

Where's the Snow?

WARNING: This post discusses the topic of global warming.


Okay, I don't really know where you guys live, but in the area of Ohio that I live in, there is no snow on the ground. I remember when it used to snow at Thanksgiving around here. But it's already December 5, and I have no idea where it could be.


I'm sorry, but I'm a winter girl. Winter is my favorite season... steamy hot chocolate (mixed with coffee :) ), an inspirational snowy landscape to look over, and not having to go outside... Don't get me wrong, I like being outside but that usually means I have to write on paper instead of my computer. I remember about two or three years ago when it didn't snow until after Christmas. That was probably the most sad thing ever.


(The funny thing is, I really don't like the cold. But winter means I can stay inside, and my mom doesn't really want to go anywhere because it's cold. So that means I can sit around and write all day :) )

Anyway, I'm getting really worried because it's raining outside. I could go outside in a t-shirt and be fine. And if I stayed out there for too long I'd get cold. But I remember when winter meant going outside in a sweater and freezing to death when in contact with the winter air. This is our backyard:

Does this look right to you?

(If you look closely enough, that long rectangular object in the top right corner of the picture is an example of what a bad photographer I am. That's kind of besides the point, but still.)

I know that the human-caused global warming topic is kind of (sometimes very) controversial. And I really don't want to discuss things that go against other people's beliefs, but I personally think that we are making an impact on our environment.

So this December, my goal is to turn off all the lights when I leave a room, take short showers (instead of my usual half hour...) and do everything I can to better the environment! I really want it to snow this Christmas!

So, what season do you guys like? Are you a fan of winter?

--Jess