mistressofmuses

I am NOT looking forward to the "arctic blast" we're supposed to get tomorrow. ;-; Sounds like we may have a couple of days where the high temperatures could be below zero. I hate it already! At least the heat is fixed, and we still have the forbidden space heater from my mom. Dreading having to get out to go to work, and dreading the night-time dog outings. Ugh.

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Cy was sick for a couple days early in the week, which wasn't fun. Somehow, for better or worse, he seems to time it for my exact weekend - he's done it a couple times now! At least that means it's not the worst hardship when I have to get up with him several times overnight and end up with only a few hours of sleep, but it sucks that it means I spend a chunk of my weekend napping.

This time was just some sort of stomach trouble. Couldn't keep food down, obviously uncomfortable, wanted to go out more often than usual. It started with an emergency bathroom trip at 5:00 on Monday morning, and then it was pretty clear when it finally stopped for him around 4:00 on Tuesday morning when he stopped grumbling and fell asleep. Glad it ran its course pretty quickly, but man is it not my favorite to stay up all night for it. (Alex sleeps through everything. I always get up a couple times a night to tuck Cy back into his bed, because he's a spoiled monster who wants to be under a blanket and still doesn't like having to sleep on his own bed. Usually I fall right back asleep within ten or so minutes, but if I have to take him outside, I'll be all the way awake, and it's usually a couple hours at least before I can get back to sleep.)
I'm also just always worried that any illness or injury could be The One. He's old, and doesn't bounce back like he used to. (Plus he had the big mystery illness that nearly killed him many years ago, so I'm always afraid the instant there's a Symptom, heh.)

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On a more positive side, writing and reading have been going really well this week! I've actually now finished three books and am working on a fourth! Granted, one of those was one of the ones that was incomplete from last year, and one was a novella, but I'm actually on pace-ish for a much more ambitious total than the original goal of 25. I don't know that I will manage to stay at that pace, but I'm riding the enthusiasm as far as I can.

I already mentioned a tentative plan to alternate novels and Wayward Children novellas, at least until I get through a few of the books that were "high priority" for various reasons. After completing those "high priority" books (Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Never Say You Can't Survive, and Trouble and Her Friends), then my plan is to alternate novel - Wayward Children novella - ebook, all from the TBR list. For the ebooks, I'm starting with the humble bundle of horror books. We'll see how I do once I'm trying to read more serious ebooks, since ebooks have historically been a struggle for me. (I've done well enough with the lighter romancey ebooks, but partially because it's not terribly hard to reorient myself in the story/remember where I left off, and I'm less concerned about forgetting minor details that could be super important. With some of the denser novels, I'm a little more concerned about missing details, but hopeful that I'll maintain my focus!)

While the goal I set at the start of the year was to get through 25 books, mixing my TBRs with fluffier ebook fare, that would barely put a dent in the TBR list, so I've set a "stretch" goal of sorts. I'd really like to get through 44 of my TBRs. 40 that I already have, plus the four new releases that I'm most excited for this year (which will jump the line as soon as I get them.) That's just under a book a week, which is not historically a pace I'm good at maintaining by any stretch. Though some are novellas which may go much quicker, others are longer and denser. That also isn't counting any of the fluffier ebooks that I still intend to use as time-fillers, or any of the books I read with Alex or Taylor, which wouldn't be part of that 44 book goal. 

I've also written almost every day for the last week, and while I don't think I'll finish the rough draft of the current WIP, I also can't be mad that I'm moving along at a steady clip.

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I'm trying to decide about participating in NaMoPaiMo next month. (National Model Painting Month.) The woman who organizes it has had a really rough year, and the last couple months have been especially terrible. Her horse died just a few weeks ago, and her family home is in Altadena. While it's still standing for now, she's watched a lot of familiar places burn down. She's still planning on running the event, though. That makes me want to participate, because I want it to feel worth it to her, and it's often a big fun social thing for the hobby, but... I also know that historically, putting my energy toward that means that it is the ONLY creative thing I end up doing. I'm doing so well on my reading and writing goals that I don't want to put those on hold for a month (also knowing that such a long break means I often struggle to reestablish the routine.)

My project from last year - the art deco/stained glass peacock horse - has also done well at a couple of shows (including getting first place in his class from a really well-known artist), which is super flattering, and makes me want to do another. (Alex suggested I do something in reds, since I have blues/greens with the peacock and purple with the wisteria one... maybe roses? I could try and put together a stained glass-ish rose pattern... It's a little tempting to do something really dramatic like a dragon, but it's also relatively common for people to do dramatic resculpts of horses into dragons, and so I'm afraid one that just has a dragon painted on it will look quite basic in comparison, haha.)

I should decide soon, since ideally I'd get whatever I need to prepped before the challenge starts on February 01.