Monday:

Aquacize in the morning, which was lovely.

Then back to our old coffee shop… the renovations are complete and it’s back, but no more real food – just snacks – and it’s pink and green. (I like green, but bright pink walls?) Very modern-looking. And the couches are gone, replaced with a pair of wingback chairs at each fireplace. My friend and I are returning to the shop we were going to while this place was under renovation, because at least there we can get an actual meal. We’ll have a writing meet at this place on Saturday and decide if we like it to keep coming or if we should just find somewhere else for keeps. I finished my overdue report, at least.

Got groceries, then went to pick up my husband from work. We went to Indigo and he got a book, then we had dinner at a Taco Time that had been done up to look like it was actually in Mexico with stucco walls and everything – except the “stucco” was molded plastic. (Weird but kitschy.)

Then meeting at the church (congregational development) and then home and hanging out before bed.

Sunday:

Morning was good, with church and then lunch due to it being the 50th anniversary of the consecration (a church is consecrated after the mortgage is paid off). The bishop was there too, and he preached. It was cool.

Afternoon wasn’t so hot, as we then went to Costco for a few things and then home and I had to do work and didn’t want to. I spent a lot of time procrastinating and feeling upset.

In the evening my friend found an ad on Kijiji of someone looking for a male guinea pig to act as stud, and that was fun to try and dissuade them from that. Breeding is dangerous for the mother guinea pig, and it was fairly obvious from my e-mails with this person that they aren’t responsible (e.g., they were hoping to find a satin to breed with their satin female, and you can’t do that as satin-to-satin breeding results in a lot of really nasty birth defects and genetic nasties). The funniest part was their “parting shot” where they said I wouldn’t have my four boys if it weren’t for breeders.

No, no I wouldn’t, because guess what? All four of my guinea pigs were rescues. In other words, nobody wanted them. Batman and his brother Robin (who died the day after I brought them home) were probably a result of an accidental breeding and were surrendered to the SPCA, where they lived for nearly a year. Bubble and Squeak were given to me by a family who didn’t have time for them anymore. And Bandit was surrendered to our rescue over a year ago by someone who didn’t want him anymore.

This is the result of backyard breeders (i.e., hobbyists, not “puppy mills”): I end up with a crapload of piggies to look after because people are irresponsible and can’t be bothered to research stuff like health concerns. (Also, remember poor Sandy of last year’s fame, who I nursed constantly from when I brought her home until she died in August. That’s another unwanted piggy, right there.)

Pardon the rant. On the bright side, the ad is gone from Kijiji now. Not sure if the breeder took it down or Kijiji did, but my friend and I alerted other folks to it and everyone reported it and contacted the breeder to point out how bad breeding is.

Saturday:

Nice day at home. Tried to avoid work but didn’t quite succeed. We had Subway for dinner.

Thursday:

Adderall-induced indigestion/nausea all day, accompanied by a headache. Made it really difficult to think clearly, so didn’t get much done. Decided to take a medication break, so will be “cheating” on my medication rule for the next little while. But I really seriously can’t take it anymore. The break will last about two weeks, if past patterns continue (that’s about how long I manage without it before I crash and burn).

Tried a new recipe for the guinea pigs who have calcium in their pee, mixed half a cup of hay dust/bits (stuff left in the bottom of the bag) with 2 Tbs wheat germ and a small jar of organic sweet potato baby food. Gave each pig (Batman, Bubble, and Squeak) 1/6 of the mixture. They loved it! This is a nice low-calcium alternative to pellets. Squeak hasn’t had calcium problems, but I thought I’d try it because he hasn’t been eating his pellets lately. I’m going to feed it for the next week and see how their weights go (they’ve been holding steady anyway, which is good, but now a better food might help more) and if they don’t lose I’ll know I’ve found a solution to the problem! :)

Wednesday:

Overall a good day. Started reading a new book, A Perfect Mess.

Had shift tonight, went to the workout room and had a nice time with the recumbent bike and Acacia: The War with the Mein.

Tuesday:

Finished report that was due. Made chicken soup for dinner.

I had canned lentil soup for lunch and forgot to have toast with it like I normally do. That was a bad idea, because then later I was starving and there wasn’t anything snackish that I actually felt like eating. sigh

Monday:

Husband had a migraine.

I went into town for the afternoon and had my regular knitting time with my friend and got groceries. I have a good friend there; I vented to her about some work stuff, and when I stopped she said, “Breathe.” I told her I needed to vent because I hadn’t really done that yet except for when I had a meltdown while I was ironing, and she asked if the cat was in the room while I did that; when I said no, she said it doesn’t count then because there has to be at least one other living being in the room to hear you. :)

Sunday:

Husband had headache all day.

Okay, if you look at my Saturday “tiny note” (Why do they call them that? So many of us write long notes!) you’ll see that I’m working on two novels right now.

Relevé is fine, I’m just working on the first draft right now, so it’ll solve itself as I go (also, I made a sort-of outline this time so I know what’s supposed to happen and in what order).

Tumbling is also going well. It’s exciting to have finished my paper edits and to be entering them into the computer! But I do have a couple of concerns, and so I want to ask my fellow book lovers (some of whom may have a better idea about this than I do) about them.

When I wrote Tumbling, it was for NaNoWriMo (2008 “winner”). I had my characters, and I had the main plot, but that was about it. I wrote by the seat of my pants, and I finished, and now there are three plots and a theme. As someone who tends not to think much about theme when she reads, and who still tends to write short stories more often than novels or novellas, I’m not used to having more than one plot, and I’m certainly not used to having to consider my theme.

On top of that, I’m worried about the pacing. I’m not sure how to go about making sure that it works.

So, teammates… have you got any words of wisdom about theme, plot, and pacing for this first-time novelist? I thank you very much in advance and offer you a Golden Badger for any responses!

(And now I must go edit a report. With a cat sitting on my right arm. Splendid, isn’t it?)

Saturday:

Writing meet! Three people came, which was great. :) I got work done on Relevé (book two of The Möbius Strip) and started entering my written changes into the computer for Tumbling (book one).

I have lots of work on my plate right now, last week I had a report due on Friday (got it done on Thursday), then one due this coming Monday (got it done on Friday), one due on Tuesday, one due on Friday, and one due on Saturday. The reports are turning out to need a lot of work, probably partly because it’s a new template so they’re getting used to it still.

Batman did some more chirping! It had been raining, and then he chirped. I crept across the living room and poked my head in the guinea pig room, but it was too dark to really see, and he stopped before I was able to actually go in. But I’m pretty sure it was him because the other three were sitting absolutely still (though Squeak did run away when I stepped into the room and turned on the light), and Batman acted really spooked, racing around the cage the way he did the last time I was in the room when he was chirping (I got video that time, I forget if I shared it – here: http://youtu.be/XZRpuH3zFjQ). Bandit looked really scared, and he was breathing kind of hard, so I petted him a little through the bars of his cage.