Tag: writing

I’mmmm Baaaack!

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Ooof. It’s hard to look at the last post on The Goon Room. 18 months. E-i-g-h-t-e-e-n months since my last post. How does that even happen??

Well, I kind of know how that happens. It starts out getting busy, then deciding to jump back into posting by making a list of the things you’d want to post about / should post about (i.e. kiddo milestones, holidays, etc). And all of a sudden the list seem reeeeaally long. And then the phone rings and now the list is pushed back. Then the list just seems too daunting to tackle and well, 18 months goes by.

So here we are; January 2019. A perfect time to create a resolution to get back into posting. I spent two full days last week creating a master to do list for several areas of our lives and then compiling due dates and schedules together into one, color coded calendar. It’s so pretty. And organized. And just realistic enough I should be able to stick with it and actually catch up on all the life that has happened in the last 18 months + post about all the stuff happening now too. If all goes as planned, I’ll be caught up by June if not earlier. Keep yo fingers crossed.

It could get a little nutty trying to keep track of old information (i.e. birthdays) and new stuff, so I’m working on a system of titles. Hopefully it will make sense, if not, comment and I’ll clarify!

In the mean time, if you want to see what I’m up to work wise, click on over to my business IG page; @bw_concepts1 or my new business blog; www.bw-concepts.com. I’ve got some lofty business goals for both BW Concepts and the water company – and my color coded calendar is going to keep me on track to reaching those goals. So like and follow and comment and tell your friends who need my skills – please!

Thanks for reading – sorry it’s been so long and I promise to make it up to you!

Happy New Year 2017!

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Wowza. It feels like it was yesterday I was sitting here typing away and thinking about the past year. And yet there’s been a whole 365 days since I wrote this post about my resolutions for 2016. What a year it’s been!

My goals for 2016 were simply written, but given what we did this year, were not always easy to tackle! I wanted to 1. Have No Negative, 2. Have Less Noise and 3. I’ll Do Me. I think focusing on those things allowed me the time and space I needed to do the things I really wanted to do. Well, except one…

I failed miserably at the Less Noise part. It  was supposed to include no long term volunteer commitments for this school year which should have allowed me to just jump in where and when I wanted to. Instead I am Auggie’s class room mom, his soccer coach, was a committee member of the school auction and now the co-chair of the St.Mary’s Centennial Gala. So, yeah. I probably should have written “take on too much” and then when I did the opposite, it would have been helpful. But I have to say, it is all really good. I worked with and am working with people I love and while I was in no way qualified to be a soccer coach, we had an amazing time!

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Given all those commitments, we were neck deep in remodeling our house. Which is one of the reasons my  posts here have been sporadic at best. More on the other reason to come. But for the house, here’s what we did in a nutshell:

We boxed up 3/4ths of our house

Moved out with the other 1/4 of crap

Gutted our house

Put it back together

Moved it all back in 6.5 months later

We are still finishing the final touches… for now. They say when you’re house is done, you die. So I guess the upside is that we’re going to live forever because the list of “phases” keeps growing. I think we’re on phase 15. With about 25 more to go…

from this…

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To this in just 6ish months and many many dollars

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Despite all the house craziness, we were able to get away a few times. We traveled separately and together and it was all awesome.

Mexico

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Disneyland

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Montana

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San Diego

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Oceanside

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One of my main goals for 2016 that I didn’t really write down was to start my writing business. It’s funny, I’m not where I thought I would be, but where I landed is so much better. I finally returned the email I wrote about last year. I negotiated a deal and started the freelance writing “course”. I worked through the exercises and geared up for my first call with the woman who wrote the course. I was so excited to hear her expertise and get her insight….and then she blew me off. And then rescheduled our call. And when we finally did get to talk, she yawned at my work. Like for real. It made me so mad that she was so dismissive of me and my goals – I never finished the course or contacted her for our next meeting. No Negative. See? I got one of them right.

And I’m so glad I did. Instead of moving forward with the course, I contacted friends. Friends who write, friends with small businesses, friends who are just damn good at being cheerleaders. I asked for their opinions, I made a few deals and I got busy writing. And it is awesome. I’ve made contacts and work seems to keep finding me (www.bethwand.com!) It’s a huge and exciting challenge, and  it makes my soul happy.

What’s in store for 2017? I think I’m going to keep working on that Less Noise part. And also:

  • Balance – How do you get it all done?? I have no idea, but I’m going to keep working on finding balance, maintaining balance, and most importantly and most difficult for me is letting a few things go in the name of balance.
  • Reconnect – It’s so easy to fall away from old friends when your lives take different paths. Even when your lives take the same path, there’s always something to distract us. This year will be a good year to reconnect with some friends and keep the momentum of contact going.
  • Keep thinking about and working towards Less Noise, No Negative and I’ll Do Me. I think those things got us pretty far in 2016. Here’s hoping 2017 is juuust a little quieter.

 

Think It. Say It. Do It.

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Think it. Say it. Do it. This is my plan for this year. These are the words I need to remember. To live by. To DO this year.

For years there has been something bubbling, churning and working in my brain and in my heart. I’m not 100% sure what it is. It’s a drive, a need, a passion but it’s fuzzy. There’s no definition. It’s like a magic eye picture and I can’t cross my eyes enough to get the full view. But it’s there and it’s stirring me into action. My problem is I don’t know what action to take, what to do or how to do it.

What I do know is that I’m on the right path. While the map doesn’t make sense, I somehow instinctively know I’m headed in the right direction. I know because in a conversation I had with a good friend a few weeks ago, the words that came out of my mouth made perfect sense despite the fact I hadn’t really thought them. The words came from somewhere other than my brain – somewhere that knows the answer but can’t clearly communicate it. My heart? My gut? I don’t know. All I know is that when I said this, the picture became a little clearer:

“I need to have more confidence in my writing. I have ideas all the time, but I don’t commit them to paper because I can’t quite make it all come together. And then I will read it somewhere written by someone else. Exactly what I was thinking about! They were able to put into a cleverly written prose what I didn’t. It’s not that I couldn’t, it’s that I didn’t. I need to let others be the judge and get out of my own head”.

So I’m in. I’m going to put one foot in front of the other no matter how many things are on my plate. No matter how tired I am. No matter who has what going on that is more important, pressing or time consuming. I’m going to start finding the answers I need to get to where I want to be. Where is that? I’m not totally sure. But I’m going to find out and I’m going to enjoy the ride getting there.

Suggestive Literature

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I have a problem. I am very totally and completely influenced by Baylor’s book Curious George Visits the Chocolate Factory. I can’t read it without craving a big box of chocolates. I can feel myself starting to drool when reading the descriptions of each type of chocolate. I can smell the sweet smell when George sneaks into the candy room.  Nothing else will stop the craving, it has to be a box of chocolates. Particularly See’s Candies…which is why I stood in their store last week and happily hand-picked each one of these little beauties…what? I can’t drink the bottle of wine I really really want, why not substitute with candy?

I wish I was as influenced by the tales of George’s other adventures….but unfortunatly despite reading and rereading and reading again Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon Race and Curious George and the Dinosaur Dig I have no desire to become an archaeologist nor hop in a balloon. Maybe if George wrote Curious George Finally Writes the Whitty Memior He’s been Dreaming About Despite Having Two Kids, Running a Business and Trying to Stay on the Acceptable Side of Sanity it would have the same effect as the damn chocolate factory story. AND my butt wouldn’t get so fat so that would be nice too.