A Desperate Attempt at Productivity Disguised As A Live Blog

Good Morning, Y'all.

The last time I attempted a live blog to show how little time I have to write and be productive, I somehow wound up being... pretty productive. So this morning, when I woke up feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with no idea where to start, I thought I'd try this again in hopes that history will repeat itself.

Here are my goals for today, in no particular order:

- Write at least 1000 words, in spite of the fact that this ms hates me and the characters act like they're too cool to talk to me.
- Pay bills
- Have some photos of my son printed up for my sister-in-law
- Go to the post office
- Finish making my mother's Christmas gift
- Order Christmas gifts for various peeps
- Cook dinner
- Unload the dishwasher

And here's how things are starting out:

5 a.m. - Husband's alarm woke me up, which it usually doesn't. My first attempt at cracking my eyelids apart tells me they're puffy and in no mood to be open. I try in vain to fall back to sleep as my husband gets ready for work.

5:30 a.m. - Husband is in the kitchen, VERY NOISILY loading the dishwasher. I jump out of bed to tell him I'll do it later, when the baby is AWAKE, thank you. He runs it anyway.

6:15 a.m. - Remember that thing about the baby being awake? Yeah. He starts stirring as soon as my husband opens the garage door to leave for work.

7:00 a.m. - Still haven't fallen back to sleep, and the baby is now full-on babbling in his crib. I get up to wash my face and brush my teeth.

7:30 a.m. - Baby is lying in his crib, just chilling. I'm washed up. My hair is combed, but still looks like a wild rat's nest. Since I can't hide under a blanket and avoid Monday altogether, I decide to live blog.

That leads us to now. I'm about to go get my son from his crib. Be back in a bit.....

8:50 a.m. - Baby is changed and fed. Which sounds so easy. But, like his mother, the boy does NOT like to be kept waiting for food. He does this the entire time I'm prepping it:

But at the first sign of pancakes in front of him, suddenly:

And somehow, he still thinks he can fool me with those crocodile tears.

As for me, I'm currently getting ready to eat my breakfast while he watches a video in his playroom (the disaster area you see behind the high chair), and order some photos online via Walgreens. Excuse me, pancakes await....

9:40 a.m. -  I'm fed, dishwasher is unloaded, prints are ordered. I've donned my SAHM uniform of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I even went as far as to put on some concealer, because that 5 a.m. wake up call is written all over my face, in the form of horrendous bags under my eyes.

I am gross today, guys. My hair, my face, my clothes. I am the total package of grossness. And that's *after* putting in a modicum of effort, which makes it especially depressing. But, my errands aren't going to run themselves, so I'll just brace myself as I prepare to go out in public....

12:12 p.m. - Baby and I went to Walgreens and the post office. Discovered it is freakishly warm outside compared to yesterday's downpouring coldness. Which is awesome, except it made getting a 23-pound kid in and out of his car seat and stroller 4 separate times while overdressed extra fun. Plus he decided to kick his shoe off as we were leaving both places.

Had some time to kill before lunch when we got home, so I took the baby for a walk around the neighborhood. Currently we're in my office, and he's pulling at me and whining as I write this. Just turned around to find he'd dumped a bunch of stuff in the middle of the floor. Don't even know where he got it from. Guess it's time for lunch....

1:30 p.m. - Both baby and I have had our lunches. We Face Timed with my mother, who's working from home today. He's in a clean diaper and DOWN FOR HIS NAP AT LAST! The dirty dishes piled up in my sink are giving me anxiety, but I'm not going to touch them. I never know how long these precious napping moments will last, and with 10K left to write, I can't afford to waste any.

2:50 p.m. - 490 words written. The lawn service for my neighbor across the street just started making a huge racket in their front yard with a machine that sounds like 50 chainsaws buzzing simultaneously. I'm sweating bullets that they're going to wake up my son.

And also eating ice cream, because if he wakes up, at least I've had ice cream.

4:15 p.m. - BABY IS UP AND MY WORD COUNT GOAL HAS BEEN MET! 1051 words total. I know it's not a lot, but for a pokey drafter like me, it's a victory!

8:25 p.m. - I read a bunch of books to the baby, then fed him dinner. I LOVE that he now picks his favorite books from his collection and brings them to me to read to him. It makes my authorly AND my motherly hearts happy.

Next I made dinner for my husband and me while Andrew watched Shrek in his playroom. I ate my food where he couldn't see me, otherwise he would've gone into full-on mooch mode. My husband was not nearly as wise.

I also washed all the dishes and wiped down all the counters while my husband played with our son, because it stresses me out to go to bed knowing there are dirty things in need of cleaning in the sink. Then we brushed the baby's teeth and put him to bed. Now I need to get in the shower, maybe write some more, then read a little to wind down for bed.

Oh, and I ate more ice cream. Because tomorrow, I'll need to start all over again.

Hope YOU had a productive day too, Peeps! Feel free to tell me about it!

A Day In The Life: My First Live Blog in Eons

Hi Everyone!

So last night after a zero-word count day, I had a mini-meltdown on Twitter where I vowed that today would be laundry, cooking, and sleep-training free so I could actually get some writing done. I intend to stick with that vow and take some time for me, myself, and I.

My one goal for today: WRITE. Any amount of words at all. And blog, because it's been far too long. My biggest obstacle in doing this, of course, will be my son. So let's see how I fare.

8:00 a.m. - I have already changed a poopie diaper and fed Andrew. I am currently eating a bowl of cereal while he sits in his bouncy chair watching Super Why and the Super Readers. Because, an adorable cartoon about solving problems with books? YES PLEASE.

8:05 - Andrew starts fussing and sucking his thumb, which usually means he's getting tired. So I stick him in the bathroom for a nap.Yes, I said the bathroom.

He sleeps best in total darkness, and it's the one room with no windows. Now would normally be the point where I deposit him in his crib and spend the next 30 minutes to an hour alternately letting him cry and comforting him until he falls asleep, because he HATES his crib. He's been sleeping in a Fisher Price Sleep-n-Play ("sheepie") since he was born, and it's been a hard habit to break.

But today is all about me. So sheepie naptime in the bathroom it is.

Geez, Mom, I'm trying to sleep over here!

8:15 - The bathroom is quiet, I'm done with my cereal. TIME TO WRITE!!!!

9:07 - 346 words written and I hear Andrew stirring in the bathroom. Hoping he'll find his thumb and go back out if I ignore him for a little bit.

9:09 - Nope. He wants out.

9:15 - Brought my laptop down to the living room, put the baby on his Einstein mat hoping he'll amuse himself for a bit.

9:28 - He rolled onto his belly. Is now spazzing because he doesn't know how to return to his back. *sigh*

9:52 - Stopped to give Andrew his Prevacid. Had to change his pajamas because he spit most of it out all over himself. Not that I'm complaining. What's cuter than a naked baby?

10:40 - Andrew had a random bout of crying and thumb-sucking, which told me he was still tired. Unsurprising, after his so-called "nap" this morning. I flipped on the vacuum to relax him (I swear, this works like a charm. White noise is a GEM) and put him back in the bathroom. Took the opportunity to wash and prep his bottles, because when he gets up again, he's going to be hungry. (hint for moms who bottle feed: pre-filling bottles and pre-measuring formula can be a lifesaver if your baby thinks waiting is for the birds like mine does!)

 Am now terrified to turn the vacuum off in fear that he'll wake up as soon as I do.

11:11 - He's up again. Total word count is up to 622.

11:48 - Fed Andrew his bottle. Tried to put him in the bouncy chair, but this was the reaction I got:

Currently shoveling some lunch down my own throat while he watches TV in his sheepie. I am still in my pajamas. I have not yet washed my face or combed my hair.

12:32 - The fussing and thumb-sucking is starting again. Total word count so far: 960

1:07 - Took a break to change the baby and play with him, because making him smile is the best part of my day.

He's now back in the bathroom for a nap (fingers crossed) after I caught him doing this:

1:26 - Andrew is asleep in the bathroom. I swear to you, it's not normally this easy to get him down. I may have to scrap crib sleep training altogether until I finish this book. Which, BTW, I just HAD AN EPIPHANY ABOUT HOW TO END IT while washing my face. Hooray!!

2:30 - Remember that time I shunned housework and let my son sleep in the toilet and did a live blog to prove how little time I have to write, only to have said son nap like a champ and let me get 1336 total words written by 2:30 p.m.?

2:49 - He's up again. Time for another feeding!

3:45 - I caved (been doing a lot of that today) and loaded the dishwasher and made the bed. The sight of dirty dishes and rumpled sheets makes me twitchy. Andrew ate and is amusing himself in the bouncy chair. I'm going to attempt to order some Thank You cards from Shutterfly while they're still having a New Year promo.

THE NEXT DAY...

So I know this blog is technically no longer "live," but I felt like it needed some sort of conclusion. I ordered my Thank You cards and then got too wrapped up with dinner prep, subsequent dinner cleanup, bathing Andrew, and and attempting to have him sleep in his crib to do more blogging.

That last part didn't go so well, and today I'm exhausted. Since I didn't do any laundry yesterday, I had to make up for it and do two loads this morning. It's now 12:24 and I've yet to write a word. Andrew is napping, but I'm pretty sure I just heard him stir, so it will probably be a while before I can get to the WiP.

And that, my friends, is a day in my life as a writer and stay-at-home mom. So tell me - what did you do today?

Live From CT... It's the Race Against Time!

Morning, peeps!

So I'm off from work today and tomorrow (hooray!). My sole purpose for taking these days off was to not lose my vacation time - and, of course, to work on my (as yet untitled) third manuscript.

But naturally, there are a million other things on my To Do List that are demanding my attention, and I won't be able to write with a clear head if I can't get at least some of them crossed off. So, I'm going with a live blog today to keep me focused.

Here's what's on the agenda

- Iron the 13 dress shirts cluttering up my laundry rack (because yes, my husband has more clothes than I do)
- Do a load of laundry
- Dust and vacuum my family room
- Write a blog post for my company's blog on healty eating tips for kids in school (remind me again how someone with no children got roped into this?)
- Get the ink cartridge for my printer refilled (way cheaper than buying a new one)
- Make a Wal-Mart run
- Balance the checkbook
- Buy, clean, and cook a couple pounds of chicken
- Send query letters for ms #2

It's 7:43 a.m. right now.... Off I go to start that load of laundry and eat some breakfast. Be back later!

8:11: Laundry is in. Put a bunch of clothes away. Currently sitting in front of the computer eating cereal (EnviroKidz Leapin' Lemurs Organic Gluten-Free Chocolate-n-Peanut Butter Puffs, just in case anyone was wondering) trying to not sound like an idiot for this Work Blog thing.

9:40: Work Blog Post has been drafted and sent off to my co-worker. (The one who said "You're a writer - wanna help me with this?") And for the record, writing about stuff you're not real familiar with? Yeah. Not so easy.
Anyway, laundry is in the dryer and I'm off to tackle those dress shirts!

11:15: Guys. Things aren't looking so good for ms #3. Thanks to trying to iron in between copious texting with my sister-in-law, I've only done 6 out of 13 shirts. I have not yet showered or brushed my teeth.

I feel the crabby setting in.

This might get ugly.

12:45: I've ironed all 13 of those mothereffing dress shirts, all while fielding phone calls and texts from both my husband and sister-in-law regarding some ridiculous family drama.

I'm starving. My back is killing me from standing at the ironing board. I'm still not showered. And I still have to go fold the clothes that finished drying about 20 minutes ago.

Happy Freaking Monday, people. Happy. Freaking. Monday.

2:27: I'm fed, showered, and dressed. Which seems to have helped with both the aching back and the crappy mood.  Next line of business: Get my butt out of the house and over to Wal-Mart.

6:21: I managed to get to Wal-Mart and buy most of the items on my list. $90 later, I went to Stop & Shop to pick up a few more things. Halfway through checkout at S & S, realized I'd managed to forget something on the list, and then had to make another trip through self-checkout with said elusive item.

And what happened when I got home, the minute I'd finished putting everything away? Oh, that's right. Got the "I'm on my way home" call from my husband. (Which means there will be no writing tonight. Though I love him dearly, I can not write, or send queries, while he hangs on me and talks to me like I'm not doing anything else.

*Sigh*

At the very least, I made dinner in the crockpot yesterday. Because if I had to cook right now, I think there'd be some acts of violence happening in this small Connecticut town.

So let's declare the winner: In the battle of Time vs. Gina & The Manuscript... Time Emerges Victorious

Live Blog with Me, Won't You?

I'm off from work today, weeee!! I have quite a to-do list though, so I thought today would be a perfect day for a live blog to keep me on track. Here's what I need to accomplish:

- Wax my eyebrows (yes, I do it myself because I'm not letting anyone else near them with a substance that can leave them seriously misshapen)
- Wash towels and empty the dish washer
- Get bloodwork
- Go to the post office and mail a package
- Make a dropoff at Goodwill (finally got my husband to clean out his closet- yay!)
- Go to a 1:15 doctor's appointment
- Get birthday gifts for my sister-in-law and cousin
- Christmas shop
- Start creating a photo calendar for my sister-in-law of all the pics I've taken of her son. You know, because I'm obsessed with his cute little face.

And most important:

- WRITE! Write anything, any number of words... because once I finish this chapter, the next one is already written and that's basically a 2000-word freebie. YES!

Wish me luck!

8:06- Dishwasher is emptied. Eyebrows are waxed. Might have been a little overzealous with the right one. And, um, guys? Is it bad if the wax drips off the spatula and down your nose? Please tell me I won't have to wax my nose from now on, too.

8:10- Eating my lame, gluten-soy-and-dairy-free breakfast of a banana and sausage links. Will be hungry again in an hour. But at least the towels have already gone from the washer to the dryer.

10:22: I was right. I'm starving. Therefore gagging down snacking on a plum. I'm also showered and dressed, and helped (or attempted to help, they may have hated my advice) my CP's polish their one-line pitches for tomorrow's Operation Awesome Pitch Contest. Off to get blood drawn now- better add that to the list!

4:39: I am pooped. I spent half an hour in the waiting room at the doctor's office, despite being the only patient in said waiting room. From there I went to the mall and picked up birthday gifts for my sister-in-law and cousin. Following that, I drove to the nail salon my godmother likes so I could get her a gift certificate for Christmas. After that I hit the post office, and then finally made my Goodwill drop.

Now I still have to squeeze in some writing time, cook dinner, and get started on that calendar. I think I'm fading here, guys. Let's see how I fare...

8:00: *Sigh* I made dinner. I cleaned up the mess. I peeled and cut carrots for my husband and I to bring as snacks for work tomorrow.

And I wrote. It was only about 200 words, but my goal today was to write anything at all amidst all this madness, and I'm calling that a success.

I'm officially exhausted. Signing off for tonight, see you Monday, peeps!

It's a Nice Day for an Anti-Procrastination Live Blog!

Good Morning, peeps! I never post on a Saturday, but due to popular demand my critique partner Leigh Ann encouraging me to do one of these live blog things, and given that hers are so much fun, I've decided to give it a whirl.

(Though once everyone sees how boring my life is, I may wind up with people begging me NOT to do these!)

So here goes:

6:53: My eyes crack open at the sound of my husband puttering around the house. He's getting ready to take his car for service, and I immediatly curse his name because I've only had 23 minutes more sleep than I would on a weekday.

6:56: Give up on trying to go back to sleep and take my temperature, the first thing I've done every morning for over a year now in my quest to be a mommy. Temp is 97.9. So far so good.

6:57: Get up and brush my teeth so I can kiss my husband goodbye sans morning breath. He leaves and I tell myself I'm going back to sleep.

7:30: Nope. Sleep didn't happen. Get up and strip the bed, throw sheets/towels in the wash, and put clean sheets on.

Next up: Eat breakfast and get as much done as I can before my mother comes to pick me up so I can get my car, which spent all day at the mechanic yesterday. And... I'm off!

8:15: Go downstairs intending to eat cereal for breakfast. Remember my doctor has asked me to wean myself off of gluten, dairy, and soy products. Total suckage. Opt for scrambled eggs instead.

8:20: Run back upstairs for an emergency internet search: Is ketchup gluten free? (Answer: All Heinz Ketchups, with the exception of Heinz Organic Ketchup, are free of gluten-containing ingredients. Huzzah! I can have ketchup on my eggs!




8:35: Transfer towels from washer to dryer and bring some dry clothes from the laundry rack (best invention ever) upstairs.

9:31: Face is washed, hair is combed, eyebrows are plucked, eyelashes are curled, and monster zit on my jawline is concealed (sort of). I'm ready to be seen in public!

11:27: Guys. This gluten-free thing is going to kill me. I am starving and have no idea what to eat for lunch. A sandwich is out because, well, it involves bread. Ugh. And? My car just set me back $1000. Yeah, that hurt.

1:45: Managed to scrounge up organic chick peas, green olives, a tomato, and tuna fish for a salad. Pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Upstairs bathroom is sparkling clean. Now I need to clean the downstairs bathroom and swiffer my hardwood floors and then - AND THEN - I get to write! Weeee!!

3:15: I've achieved "Monet" level of clean with my house. Meaning both bathrooms are disinfected, and at first glance, the rest of the house looks relatively neat and clean. Look closer, however, and you'll see all the bedrooms' furniture is a little dustier than it should be. The hamper is not quite as empty as it could be. The fridge is begging me to go grocery shopping and relieve its sad, empty state.

But you know what? My husband isn't home, and I'm going to write now. ANTI-PROCRASTINATION ACHIEVED!