Stepped on the scale this morning to discover I’m within one pound of my goal weight.

YAY!

This means if I am conscious of my eating and I walk, I don’t need to go back to the awfulness of recording everything I eat. Stay tuned about how this works out over the long run.

The holidays are approaching. That is generally a time when I stop paying attention and I gain weight. We’ll see if I can change that pattern this year, for the first time in many years.

I did write yesterday, though it was only about 1000 words. It was also really slow going. I had thought that was just my brain being finished with the writing marathon and wanting to be home. But no, as soon as I started driving, my brain thoughtfully let me know that I’d started the chapter in the wrong place.

This happens to me when I push, instead of waiting for the words to just flow. I think I know where I’m going but writer brain isn’t sure yet.

So this morning, I’ll throw out much of what I wrote yesterday and start again. Still hoping for 3000 words, we’ll see. Will spend part of this afternoon or evening doing a hard pass through the mad science story, so Blaze can have that.

One of the things that I changed recently was I came up with a board on which I list most of the bigger tasks that I need to do for the month. Then I copy off the ones for the week, as well as the smaller tasks (like write the newsletter) onto the weekly checklist.

I didn’t have this new system in place for very long before I left. However, looking at the board, as well as my to do list, makes me feel as though I know exactly where I need to pick things up. I’m rather pleased by that. I feel as though I can go to the library this afternoon and actually be productive, instead of flailing and trying to figure out what I need to do next.

While I was at the writing retreat I got into a bunch of good habits. I’d like to maintain some of those, such as walking 10K steps a day. Went to the gym this morning to get in steps. Will need to be diligent about walking around for the rest of the day. Don’t want to have to go back to the gym later tonight. It’s just a lot more difficult to get in steps out here on the property, particularly when it’s pissing down rain. We’ll see.

But now, I think it’s time for the fiction. What are you working on today?