The Small Things Blog Hop

Happy Friday! Once again I'm posting as part of VikLit's blog hop. You can sign up to participate on the link at the bottom. It's a great way to remember accomplishments don't have to be anything major in order to celebrate them and to pick your spirits up if you're feeling a bit down.

There are all kinds of awesome things to celebrate this week. Not only did I post a more successful, calmer, less eye-rolling video blog, but I finished the first draft of my fifth book! Oh yeah, I'm doing "virtual" cartwheels (because I'm too old and out of shape to do real ones). The book deals with mind control and is something I started back in November, but hit a major writer's block on for months. One of the best parts is that the first draft sits at 80k words, which is much heftier than my other books usually start out being. And as if it was meant to be, I got the edits back on my fourth book the very next day!

To celebrate, I went with a friend to see the Beautiful Creatures movie. FINALLY. I'll share my thoughts on the movie in next week's video blog.

Yesterday we bought my son-in-law's old Mustang as my commuter car (the Tahoe is a gas guzzler but a necessity for living on a road that doesn't always get plowed in the winter). The car may be an older model, but it's my very first Mustang and I've wanted one for as long as I can remember!

I finished reading two books this week (it's an amazing feeling to find time for this once again). On my second vlog I reviewed Beautiful Darkness (the sequel to Beautiful Creatures). I plan to review Lauren Oliver's Requiem (that I devoured in a little over 24 hours) also on next week's vlog.

We also finished my son's science fair project, which means we are DONE WITH SCIENCE FAIR FOREVER!

Oh man, that is such an amazing feeling. And not to beat a dead, overweight horse, but there were those five pounds I lost on the first week of my diet that has me doing a happy dance. It won't be long before I'm allowed to have an ice cold beer...I can taste it already!

Celebrate the Small Things Blog Hop

Once again, I'm flabbergasted that it's Friday. How does time slip by so quickly? Is losing track of time a sign that you're going insane? Anyway, I'm here again as part of the awesome Vikki's blog hop (see info below on how to sign up). Another great week went by with many things to be thankful for. 

Career wise, I did sign up for my first writer's convention in Madison, Wisconsin this April and discovered I will meet a few Twitter friends while there. Yay! Although I'm a bit freaked about having to drive five hours by myself and then navigate through a big city (I'm a country girl after all), I think all the information, classes and networking will make the trip well worth it. I also revived a story on mind control that was nearly completed and made it into something I'm really excited about and can't wait to get out there. I know it's time to work on the sequels to Shymers and The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life, but I feel a lot of pressure to complete them and writer's block has kicked in. I hope to tackle them this summer when at our lake home where my mind is bit more relaxed.

And finally, I created my first video blog. It was almost as painful as dental surgery. Almost. But I have heard so many people say that they love it when they get to "meet" their favorite authors and see them in person, so I thought I should give it a try. I was super nervous when doing it and seemed to roll my eyes an excessive amount of times. I promise to work on that with my next installment.

If you watched that video then you already know I started an intense diet this week. The weight loss won't be anything too dramatic, just a chance to lose those last extra pounds that exercising and watching what I eat don't seem to touch. But my favorite foods/drinks are Red Bull, ice cream, chocolate, alcohol and pizza/pasta, none of which I can consume for probably an entire month. This diet has taken more will power than I thought I was capable of. It's day four, and I haven't cheated. Not even once. But I nearly went postal last night when my son found the Snickers ice cream bar I hid from myself in the freezer and seconds later I found a Red Bull my husband put in the soda drawer. Really? I hope my family can work with me a little better in the weeks to come. And I hope after I adjust to these smaller portions of food, I will no longer feel like this all the time...