Usually, the animals wake me between 5:30 and 6:30 to remind me that they are in need of food right now. Today, it was 6:05 AM. Instead of feeding everyone, keeping my eyes closed to keep the light out and surrendering to the call of my covers, I started the coffee pot and got busy. The first thing I did was strip the sheets off the bed, and with the help of Tommy the Cat, put on fresh sheets so that tonight, I will be rewarded after a long day with the sensual feel of freshly laundered Egyptian cotton.

I wish I could tell you why I was so inspired before the sun had actually risen. I have always been a morning person, true, but for the last few months, I wasn’t an early morning person. I think it’s a sign that the blues are beginning to leave me a bit. I’ve reconnected with some old friends and have made a few new web friends in the past couple of weeks. Talking with these amazing, strong, and inspirational women has helped me more than I can say. I finally wrote a column for All Things Girl after an 11-month absence. And I decided to not replace my fish.

I know that not replacing the fish that left while I was traveling may seem like something odd, but for me, it was a sign that the part of my life was over, and it was time to move on. See, the ex-boy insisted that I needed fish since they were shown to reduce blood pressure. Well, as my Cuban girlfriend, who was house-sitting for me when the fish expired put it: all they did were raise my blood pressure! (Believe me when I say that the story of their expiration is humorous…I must tell it to you soon).

Anyhoo.

Yesterday, I went through the arduous task of dismantling the 10-gallon tank, which went promptly to the curb. Then, I moved the cedar chest that was serving as a tank-stand into the spare room and out of my dining room. Later last night, my dear Cuban friend came back over and helped me further rearrange the furniture in the dining nook of my kitchen. Eliminating that bulky chest and the fish tank opened up this amazing space in there. We moved the China Cabinet and then pulled the leaf out of the kitchen table. WOW. Seriously. I never knew that those few things could make my kitchen/dining area so much more inviting. So, this morning, when I stumbled into the kitchen to feed the remaining creatures of The Menagerie, I felt as if I had the space to really breathe.

I know that Mondays come a bit too often for most of us, but today, Monday was a welcome day. A fresh start with an smorgasbord of opportunities. A day to be celebrated and embrace, instead of a day to hide myself back in the covers.

It’s a beautiful day out there. I hope you are able to find the blessings in your day. If not, maybe the lovely harmonies of The Mamas and the Papas will put your day on a better path. Love and Peace, baby!

Instead, I am up and sipping on my second cup of coffee.

I’ve fed the animals, have spent some time in mediation and have caught up on my email and the overnight Twitter feed.    I am making some mental lists of tasks to accomplish this week.   I am determined that this week will be productive.

I mentioned the WayBack machine recently, and in reviewing some almost decade-old posts, I was amazed at the sheer volume I was writing.  I was traveling this past week and though I didn’t have much time to write, I did have some quiet time to think and in questioning myself as to how I was able to be so prolific, I realized that I was doing the bulk of my writing early in the morning.    It was also a time before Social Media sights, like Twitter and Facebook.    All this thinking led me to a few points to ponder.

• When is my mind the freshest?  Mornings.  In order to accomplish this, I need to get to bed earlier and get up earlier.   My second freshest time is right before I go to bed.
• What is my true goal:  to be a better Social Media person or be a better Writer?  To be a better writer.  To take these ever-flowing, copious thoughts and put them to paper.
• What’s the point of getting up earlier if I’m going to linger?  That’s the point.  I can’t linger and surf and play.  I need to spend a dedicated 15 to 30 minutes writing.
• How can I stay caught up on things?  Discipline.  Focus.  Goal Setting.  List Making.   A trusty egg-timer.

I know I shouldn’t try to add too many habits into my days at one time if I hope for them to stick, but I believe I have a plan.

• I need to return to spending an hour on Sundays to review my schedule, updating my task list, and setting mini-goals for the week.  If you must know, I still believe in many of the habits I began when I was subscribing to the Covey methods for organization.
• I need to spend a small out of time meditating each day.
• I need to utilize my mornings better, and spend 15 to 30 minutes doing personal writing.
• I need to trade Scrubs re-runs at bedtime for another 30-minutes of writing.
• I need to turn distractions off during my writing time, including Tweetdeck and my email window.

The last several months have been more difficult than I could ever express, though I finally wrote a little in my column for All Things Girl.   Besides rebuilding my faith in myself, I also need to embrace some other principals, like courage and passion.  I am a strong woman with some solid goals. Thing is, there is only one person who  can accomplish my goals, and that is me.

I am also a smart woman and know that the best way to help myself is to also allow myself to lean on my friends.   I cannot continue to hide the good, the bad, and the ugly from those people who love me.  If I allow my friends to hold me to my goals, so if you see that I miss more than a day or two here, please feel free to call me on it.  Comment.  Email me.  It’s all part of me trusting that other people honestly care about me as ME instead of pretending to care because they want something from me.

I am a creative being and know that Life is a journey.   I know that my spirit wants to grow and achieve.  I know that with each day, I have a little more faith.  And it feels right.

Much love to you and yours.

You’ll find interviews with Joshilyn Jackson and Philip Anthony-Rodriquez. And so much more.

Teaser Tuesday

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Instead, there was Thibault. A cipher. A con man. Or much, much worse. Deals that didn’t happen. Relationships that didn’t exist. What kind of man did all that? What was it he had to hide?

and

How do you put away something that is as true to you as the beating of your own heart? how do you put the truth behind you?

Reckless, by Andrew Gross.

Want to know more about Andrew Gross? Check out the interview in All Things Girl. Want to know more about Reckless?  Listen to Andrew tell you about it:

Wow.

I took some time and read through some of the older postings.      I found a link to the first post I made for “World Without Weblogs” for World AIDS Day, organized by Brad of Brandlands who passed away this past year.  Hard to believe I’ve followed folks like Zeldman and Jim McCormick and Eric Brooks for almost 10 years.  Back then, there weren’t very many blogs and the blogging community was pretty small.   This was long before Twitter and Facebook.   We all “knew” each other.  Everyone supported each other’s writings and the ability to read so many personal stories was comforting and refreshing.

During the first three years of my blog, I met people like Lee and Melissa through my blog – people that have become some of my best friends.

I also found the logo from All Things Girl from 2004.  With the 10th Anniversary of ATG coming in August and a re-design scheduled for the September issue, it’s exciting to see the growth.

2004

Current Logo – Revealed Oct. 2007

New Logo – To begin with redesign Sept 2010

I hope you’ve had a good weekend.  And have a great week.  I’m traveling tomorrow….

The editor for this upcoming issue for Arts seems to be AWOL, so I’ve been reviewing submissions for Arts, and am feeling very inspired by the wonderful images. In the early days of the zine, I had submissions in the Arts section often, but as the quality of digital photography has grown, fewer of my images make their way into our digital pages. We made a decision at the last redesign to treat each of the editors like anyone else: we submit to the issue through the editor of the section just like anyone. I’m giving my photos a quick glance-through, though!

A new redesign is in progress, and one of the things we have decided to do is close the reviews section and move all the reviews into the blog. We’ve been without a reviews editor for four issues now, so it’s a group effort. And to be honest, it’s almost as if we are competing with ourselves by putting reviews in both sections. We need reliable reviewers, though, as we are offered books to review all the time but just don’t have enough time – or people – to actually do the reviews.

Today is one of those thinking out loud days.

To see where I am on my 2009 focus, you can find my column in the Everything Girl section. Happy Reading!

I am shocked, however, that just stretching, doing light cardio and focused lifting that insists upon stability is effective.  Effective in that I am losing weight, I am gaining flexibility, my core is growing stronger and my stability (when doing isolated exercises) is growing.  It’s why I knew I needed some professional help to get me started – and keep me motivated.

The word of the day, today, seemed to be “isometric“.

But damn, it’s hard, to feel like I am starting back at the beginning. Base Camp One.

In Other News:

The Jan/Feb 2009 Mid-Issue Update of All Things Girl is now live. Some really fabulous stuff.   Part Two of our interview with Laura Bell Bundy, Man of the Moment Ben Bailey, some really fabulous short stories and poetry, as well as the introduction of a new columnist and other goodies.

While you are there, be sure and check out my  contribution to the Arts Section, which is, frankly, an image I cannot get out of my head:  the sheer volume of homeless in DC.  He lived outside the Navy Memorial Metro Stop, below $2,000 a month condos steps away from one of my favorite DC spots for dining….

On a more upbeat note, do check out my column, What’s In Your Heart.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday.  Hope your week is wonderful!

Besides my column, there are some other wonderful things in this issue of All Things Girl.  Please, do, check it out….  And on that note, it’s time for bed.  Sweet Dreams.

From the inside looking out, though, it hasn’t been very quiet at all.  I’ve made major progress with this house.  There are boxes full of unused kitchen utensils and trash bags full of clothes and linens.  All of the “droppings” from my oldest that were in the living room and kitchen have been deposited back into her room.  I’ve also done some slight rearranging in my bedroom and introduced new cookware into my kitchen.

I’ve also been doing a lot of woolgathering.   In 2008, my guiding principals were Passion, Courage and Forgiveness and the ability to embrace those words was an amazing way to bring a level of focus.  Moving into 2009 means  the contemplation of new words…even though the current words are dead-on still.  2009 will be a year of change no matter what due to the upcoming 18th birthday this summer of the oldest.  So, what did I decide?  Well, you will have to wait until the January issue of All Things Girl comes out (which will be January 3rd).  But I would love to hear from you what your resolutions / goals / or focus will be in 2009.

Much love to all of you as we say hello to 2009.