Every Now and Again

I seem to remember I have this page every year or so. I actually had a hard time finding it and then getting in this time. Quite a bit has happened in the last almost two years. To sum it up, we rehabbed our 1920's red brick house, bought 2 acres and a Fifth Wheel, and built a house. More specifically, sold the 1920's house, moved into the RV on the property we bought and lived in it while we built a house on the property we bought. We are living in the house, even though it is not complete. My mom came for a visit and needed somewhere to stay. She went into the RV; we went into the house. It was done enough to have everyone over for Christmas this past year. It will eventually be completed. Eventually. As for other things, we now have 3 dogs and a 4th will be added once the house is done. The plan is to get one for Randy's mom that stays at our house. I am kinda looking forward to having a tiny hiney around. I now work as a Card Dealer for a local card room. I have been playing poker for almost 20 years and this allows me to sit in on games I would never be at. I have been playing at least twice a month and even took a trip to Vegas to play in the WPT Mystery Bounty. I am still dealing so we now how that went. I am also getting back to writing and my recording studio just got its door this week. Not really motivated to get it together because I would then need to make time to record and I am not there yet. I have a couple of family trips coming up that I am looking forward to, one of them the house has to be ready for......

So, This Is 45

Today is my 45th birthday. It feels like a milestone for me and I am not sure why. I do feel like I am currently at my best. I am finally doing what I have wanted to do for 20+ years - writing and voiceovers; I celebrate 19yrs of marraige in just over 2 months; the hubs and I have a solid game plan for the next 1-5yrs; I am on a health journey that I have fought to be on for the last 7yrs - fight with myself and not wanting to give up what I know I need to give up. I have also come to the realization that I am just not the girlfriend type. You know what I am talking about. The women that have a group of women that go out with for drinks, or coffee, or a girl's weekend. Or even on their birthday. I honestly don't know if I have ever been that type. Maybe when I'm old I will have some blue haired friends I drink coffee and play shuffleboard with. For now, though, I am content to have birthday breakfast with the babe, snuggle on the couch with the fur kids, and sneak a peek at where everyone else is going and what everyone else is doing. We will get there. And when we do, we will enjoy it more because like cheese and wine, life gets better with age. For now, this is it as I still need to have my quiet time - Randy whisked me away for an early birthday breakfast today - and I have a book to continue editing the audio on. TTFN

Over The Last Month

There is a lot to do when starting a new business you plan to run as a business. Names to register, accounts to open, business opportunities to pursue. All of that has been happening since my last post. I have also read a couple of books, picked up two voiceover accountability partners and lost 10lbs. All on purpose. This past Monday was the start of week 4 of our new way of eating. Part One was to get rid of ALL the things in the house that could tempt us. If it had sugar, flour, or rice in it, it made it's way into a box and out my front door into my little sister's waiting van. Four boxes by the way. Four. For the first two weeks, I was very strict on what I ate and what I did. Not eating any white foods - sugar, flour, rice, pasta - was not as hard as I thought it would be because, well, I had removed the temptation. I decided at the end of week 2, which coincided with a family baby shower and BBQ, that I would allow myself one day to eat what I wanted without feeling guilty about it. I did and in the process gained back 2lbs of the 12lbs I had lost in those first two weeks. The following week I decided I was tired of not enjoying my morning coffee and went back to my creamer - International Delights, Sweetcream. The difference this time, is that I only put in enough to cover the bottom of my mug, instead of filling it up about 1/4 of the way with creamer. Having a day - Saturday - that I know I can eat what I want, helps me stay on track for the week. The convo in my head goes something like this: Sunday and Monday - crickets, cause I just ate whatever I wanted two days ago Tuesday - "Seriously? Do you want to undo all the work you've put in? Cuz that's what will happen. Give in now, and you will keep giving it and 'start over Monday'" Wednesday and Thursday - "Good job. You've made it to the middle of the week and look, only three/two more days to go. You totally have this." Friday - "Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I can make it to tomorrow." Saturday - Can't think of what I actually want to eat that has been off limits all week. Randy has been doing better than me, in that he hasn't had anything we agreed to get out of the house since we started. His shirts are getting loose, he is able to wear shirts he wasn't able to a month ago, and he has moved his belt two notches. Super proud of him. For both of us, it is a new way of eating; a new lifestyle we want to live by and our agreement to one another is that our decisions are ours and we won't give each other a hard time for what we are choosing. I am looking forward to fitting back into the little dresses I was able to wear 5 years ago that have been in plastic bins ever since. As for my voiceover work, I am finishing up the book I was asked to record - it has a contract end date of 12/31/21 - and my website went live yesterday. I am getting organized with my time and making time for all the things. Over the course of the next month, I will have a weekly blog post, YouTube video, and podcast go live. In order for people to want to hire me for my voice, I have to give them all the ways to hear it. Wish me luck. TTFN

It Is All Coming Together.....

.....And not how I thought it would. This time last year, I was thinking of writing again. I have wanted to be a published author for 20+ years and with my new found time, I decided I would push through. In April of 2020 I joined an online community of writers, Stop Writing Alone. With them, I entered into a novel writing contest (I wrote 27k words in one weekend), I "won" NaNo (50k words in November), and I have 5 - yes, 5 - works in progress (WIP). In August, I began my voiceover coaching with Such A Voice. Being a voice in a full-length animation film has also been a dream of mine for 20+ years. To see them both come together at the same time, is awesome and overwhelming at the same time. Since my last post, I have made some adjustments with my time and schedule. Time blocking has always been my go-to. It was what I was known for in my real estate office. Planning and time blocking. I have recently discovered the concept of time blocking - setting aside set hours to get something done and then moving on to the next thing when time is up - is no longer working for me. I know. I was shocked, too. What I have discovered is setting aside full days for specific categories. I have four categories my week is divided into - Catch All, Voice Over, Writing, Catch-Up. Two days are devoted to writing and two to voice work. Monday starts my week with Catch All and Saturday ends it with Catch-Up. I get all the mundane done on Mondays - laundry, vaccuum, groceries, etc - and Saturdays are for finishing up anything that can't wait until Monday. Right now, it is a lot of homework for my Theology class. Oh, I don't think I mentioned that. Randy and I are in our second year of Theology School being taught at our church, Celebration, and being taught by Dr. Michael Heiser. I have tried this new schedule for a couple of weeks now and am finding a freedom in my days I was not expecting. Instead of feeling like I can only do an activity at a certain time, there is freedome in when I do the activity that day. There is no more feeling like I messed up my whole day if I miss a time block....because there aren't any. And....this past weekend I received my demos and it is a pretty cool feeling to hear yourself doing what you have always wanted to do. On the same day, I booked a job. Knowing that this will be our moneymaker, I am having to remind myself this needs to be my focus. Writing is still in the mix - see above - and I am gazelle focused on making my voice acting career a success from the beginning. Which means.... Milwordy is on hold. I have not written much since the conclusion of NaNoWriMo in November and I have to remind myself that that is okay. Goals change and I am learning to be flexible with it. It may be something I get back to later in the year. For now, honing in my skills on Audacity and booking gigs is my focus. I am glad to have you on this journey with me. I can't wait to see where it takes us. TTFN

The First Week of Milwordy

We are a week in and I am already behind. And I am not surprised. Earlier this week I sold a set of china that I had listed on eBay. The buyer was only 6hrs away and considering the liklihood of their safe arrival, we decided to hand deliver the boxes. She of course was appreciative and I lost a day. That and I was behind by 1400 words before Sunday. All that to say, I have 7k words to get in by the end of today. Which, I mean, let's be honest, it's not going to happen in one day. I am one thousand words in for today and I am feeling the pressure of getting caught up. If I can get 3800 each day this week, which is totally doable, I will back to goal by the end of Saturday. In other news, Randy and his dad got the door built for the house they are building in Green Cove Springs.

Pretty sweet, huh? This house is going to be fabulous when it's ready and I can't wait to get it on the market so the new owners can start to enjoy it.

Milwordy and Such A Voice

As October comes to a close and November begins, some exciting things are happening in my world. 1. Such A Voice: I have always wanted to be a voice in a full-length animated film. This month I have started VoiceOver Coaching to be able to do just that. Back in August I took my second intro class with Such A Voice and found that it is still at the top of my list. (My first class was years ago before I moved to FL.) I signed on with them shortly after that class and after buying all the equiptment neccesary, I have started my coaching sessions. I am uber excited to see where this leads and can't wait for you to hear my voice while watching a movie, skipping through commercials, or listening to an audio book. Who knows, I might even be a voice on the next video game you or your kids play. 2. NaNoWriMo: November is known in the writing community as National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo and for the first time ever, I will be actively participating. This past April, I joined an online writing community called Stop Writing Alone Podcast - yes, she has a podcast - and have been more intentional in carving out writing time. Every month, there is an opportunity to join the "Happy Campers" with more focused times and accountability within the group. It really has been cool to just let the words tumble out of my head onto the keyboard through my fingers. Within this group, there are a number of us that are participating in NaNoWriMo and will be cheering each other along the way. To be considered a winner within the NaNoWriMo community, you have to write 50k new words between Nov 1st and Nov 30th. Not gonna be a problem because of, well, see below. 3. Milwordy: Never have I ever heard of this until earlier this month. Yes, it is a made up word and it means what it sounds like it could mean. A million words. What it doesn't tell you is that those words are within one year. Yes. One Year. So even though 50k is need to "Win" in November, in order for me to stay on track I must write 83,334 words in November. Yikes and WooHoo all in one. My goal is to stay ahead with 85k words a month so that on the days I fall behind, I will have extra words in my bank to cash in. There is also a community of writers for this, it is just WAY smaller. One of my Happy Camper friends jumped at the opportunity to join me, so we will start our word count for this when we start NaNo. 4. YouTube, Podcast, Website: All three of these are in the works. With getting the equiptment needed for the voice coaching and the start of Milwordy, I decided now would be the perfect time to launch all the things. Because why not? It's not like I am not still selling real estate, mentoring three newer agents, taking a theology class at my church, and all the above mentioned things. Let's just add in a couple more. They are all still in the works and I will be able to be found where they will all collide at voiceandpen.com - just not yet. Still working on it. (Actually, depending on when you read this, it might just be there.) I would like to thank my friend Nicole Rivera, our fearless leader over at the Happy Campers and the voice behind Stop Writing Alone Podcast, as she designed my logo. Which is better than I had imagined it. I would add another point and I think that is enough for November. Hopefully by the end of the year, I will have my demo ready for some voice work and will be working with a literary agent to get my written words in your hands. Who knows, I may even self-publish. Until Then, TTFN

So Much On The List And Yet.....

Have you ever had so much to get done and yet nothing seems to get done? Is it an overwhelming sense of not knowing where to start or does it come from knowing it won't all get done so you don't do any of it? Whatever it is, that is where I am right now. The items on my list seem to never go anywhere no matter how much I work on them. Of course, there are no items on my list that are one and done. They all - ever last one of them - are repeats to do everyday and I don't want to do any of them. Not one. What I have found myself doing in crocheting. It is the one thing on my list that is not important and has a deadline in 4 months, so it absolutely makes sense that it would be the one thing I seem to be doing consistantly. Well, maybe not the one thing. My morning routine has been consistant - up, dogs, coffee, quiet time, run, shower, upstairs to my office by 9am. Then it starts. The "I have to get all of this done today....." so I sit and just stare at my laptop. Then my eyes drift to the books I should be reading, the book I am in the middle of writing, the voiceover work I should be prepping, the class work that needs to happen, and then I see the yarn. And that is where I start. The yarn. I will say that I play an audio book while I am working on the blanket, but come on. There are so many other things I need to be working on. I didn't even mention the Master Class subscription I have, or the videos I need to watch for a training I am doing for my church. Forget the journaling and the organizing. Nope, we are going to forget all of that and crochet. Tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow will be different. Maybe tomorrow I will actually work on things that need to be actually worked on. Like, now. Probably not, but one can hope.