Good Grief

I almost didn't want to post anything because it's been so long, but then I feel like I need to. If for no other reason than to break the 'perfection' cycle that I have in my brain. It tells me, 'Well, you're not doing that perfectly, so you just need to stop doing it all together.
So for my first Grateful shout out, It's going to Marla Cilley. The Flylady.

I don't know how many of you have heard of her, but she has helped me a lot. I discovered her website years ago. Now, I wish I could tell you I have all my routines down and my house is spotless all the time, but I can't say that. But I can say, she's made me aware of my streak of perfectionism I didn't even know was in there.

It's that wee small voice that tells you not to do something because it might not be perfect. I hadn't posted on here because I didn't have time for a few days and then the perfectionism monster reared it's ugly head. So here it is, Nov. 20th. I allowed that dang monster to control me and not post on here for 10 days because I'd gotten a few days behind. It's an insidious creature, perfectionism. I thought it didn't exist in me at all and that's why my house was always a wreck, but she explains on her website, that isn't the case at all. We put things off because we can't do them perfectly. That was when it hit me that she was talking to me. Huge revelation. So now, the routines I do have established are helping me keep some amount of peace in my house. I'm doing the 'Before bed routine' which basically means do as much as you can do the night before for the next day. I never go to bed without laying out clothes for the next day and locating everything, including shoes for me and my daughter, the autistic one. Backpack is by the door and anything else I need to walk out the door with. I have to say, mornings are spent eating and reading before I leave in the morning after we're done brushing teeth and hair.Hardly any running around trying to find this or that before the bus comes. It's pretty dang peaceful. :)

Now that it's close to Christmas, she has Holiday Cruising Missions to Cruise through the holidays. It's great to help you do a little at a time so the holidays aren't so stressful. I haven't done every mission, but I've done a lot of them and have my lists of what I've needed to buy ahead of time for Thanksgiving and Christmas as far as baking goes. So now that I've bought a little here and there, I won't go broke trying to buy it all at once.
Here's her website. If you've never heard of it, and you have trouble keeping a clean house, you need her. www.theflylady.net

Another grateful shout out goes to my friend Calista Taylor. She's been a friend of mine on Twitter for a while and I also met her on Agent Query Connect a few years ago, when I first was learning the in's and out's of writing. She has been an invaluable source of support and a friend I can bounce ideas off of. She's been writing longer than I have so she's already been down a few of the roads I'm traveling down now. She helped me with a problem that's been plaguing me for about a year now in my MS. The solution was so simple, but I hadn't thought of it or anyone else I'd talked to about it. It resulted in my having to rewrite most of it, but I really feel like this is what will work and work well. I sent her my newest first page and she gave it a thumbs up. Coming from her, somebody that really knows, I took that as a huge step in the right direction.
I'm happy to report that as of this afternoon, I finished the first chapter in the newest revision with 17 pages worth of MS. I also started with a different main character and I think that helps it tremendously. So cheers Cali! I'm SO grateful for you! You can follow her steampunk romance blog at www.asteampunkreverie.blogspot.com. She's written a series called, "Viridis" of which I've read the first one and the second 'Devil on a Sparrow's wing" I'm almost halfway through with. They're ebooks, so you need to download them asap. If you like steamy romances with a mystery twisting around, you'll like this. :) This is NOT a YA book. It's an Women's fiction book, just to make sure you understand...steamy.

I'm going to stop at two grateful shout-outs so my arm won't hurt so bad from typing.
I'll try to get back on here and shout out more things and people I'm grateful for. :) Hope you have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving if you're in the U.S.