 | 15 Dec 08 |
Good morning! Sorry I’m a bit late. I thought about posting last night, but I’ve got a cold that’s really done a number on me. So I thought it would be best to kick off this post after a fresh cup of coffee and a good night’s sleep.
It’s raining here in Southern California. First time it’s really felt like something besides summer. I love it! I have copy edits to work on and I’m going to work on them in my new family room. I’m going to drop the kids off at school, come home and light a fire in the fireplace, and work. I can’t wait. 
My family room isn’t really new. It’s the same one that came with the house when we bought it eight years ago. It’s a room that we never really used, even though it’s off the kitchen and much cooler in the summer than the formal living room. That room used to drive me nuts. I always felt like it was wasted mortgage. Even in the new-house-decorating mania I was in several years ago, I couldn’t seem to make that room work.
Then, a week or so ago, the family and I were in WalMart by the electronics section looking in the discount DVD bins. My husband grabbed my arm and said, “Let’s get that TV” and pointed to a $1500 LCD. I gave him the you’ve-lost-your-damn-mind look and kept on rolling. He insisted. Swore he heard them announce that TV up at the front of the store for $500. I looked at the kids. They shook their heads. None of us had heard it. But hubby has man-hearing, which my son hasn’t grown into yet (you know, the kind that can tune out everything while still picking up on electronics deals and sports scores broadcast from a radio on the other side of the parking lot). Turns out hubby was right. Mongo TV was $500, so we bought it and mounted it above the fireplace in the family room.
The TV position necessitated moving the furniture to face the screen (and therefore the fireplace, which had previously fallen into the trap of being an untapped resource. Many a time I’ve watched shows on HGTV and listened to real estate professionals lamenting homes that had fireplaces and didn’t showcase them properly. I’d scowl and think, “You come over here and figure out what to do with that room! I dare you.”). The change in furniture position opened up more floor space, which necessitated more furniture. The windows needed new curtains, too. And I think the wall below the chair rail needs to be a different color to tie it all in together. After all, it’s now the most popular room in the house. It should look fabulous.
Since the kitchen flows off the family room, I think new tile is in order. And maybe matching tile in the washroom or maybe not. I should probably pick up a new washer and dryer, too. (I’m dying over the Kelly Ripa commercial touting a washer and dryer that can wash AND dry in less than 36 mins…) The new tile in the washroom should probably complement the W and D. Foreclosures in California are over 300%. You can’t give away a home right now. So I figure, why not return to tackling all those projects I wanted to do 8 years ago and lost steam for? Get a pseudo new house out of it.
Well… I didn’t actually lose steam for them. I lost time. I gave it all to my career. Revamping the house just fell by the wayside. Who has time to shop for new tile when a book is due? And pleasure reading? Wassat? Going out without feeling guilty? Who does that? 
I’m a magazine hoarder, I’m afraid. I find it hard to throw away magazines. I have nearly 4 year’s worth of RWRs stacked up. Crazy. And yet out of all those issues, one from October 2007 caught my eye when I was cleaning out my office (yes, the family room makeover spread like a cancer). Serendipity is my friend. One of the articles on the cover was “Surviving Your Career.” It was written by some of my favorite authors and it’s full of gems like:
“There are times when you simply have to turn off the computer and leave your career behind while you invest in, pursue, experience or commit to something else. Sometimes the best way to refill the well is to dig deeper, and sometimes you have to build a new well.”
– Connie Brockway
and:
“Our spirits need to be replenished. So the next time you’re having a hard time dragging yourself to the computer, maybe you should ask yourself… What have you done for you lately?”
– Lisa Kleypas
And you know what? An odd thing happened when the makeover bug bit me. Story ideas started popping into my head. Bits of dialogue. Fun scenarios. Not a ton, like I used to get, but still more than I’ve had in a while. How cool is that? I’m thrilled! So is hubby, despite the mile-long Honey-Do list I gave him this weekend. I’m crazy busy with work right now, but from here on out, I’m going to make sure to take more “me” time. Tackle projects and goals I’ve put off for too long. Whatever they happen to be. And to do it without feeling guilty about it.
So, there’s the first item for my New Year’s resolution list! What about you? Do you have anything on your list yet?
Sylvia Day is the national bestselling, award-winning author of seventeen novels. A wife and mother of two, she is a former Russian linguist for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. In addition to her novels, she’s written numerous novellas and short stories for both print and electronic-original release. Sylvia’s work has been called “wonderful and passionate” by WNBC.com and “wickedly entertaining” by Booklist. Her stories have been translated into Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Czech, and Thai. She’s been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the EPPIE award, the National Readers' Choice Award, and multiple finalist nominations for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award of Excellence.
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I laughed out loud a “man hearing!” That is so true and hysterical – but good for him! And no one got hurt in the rush for the $500 TV.
You are so right about well-refilling, Syl, and it can be so difficult to step away from the computer and do just that. But you reminded me that we have to, and I’m putting it on my goals for next year. Read for fun and redecorate!
Great post!
by Roxanne St. Claire December 15th, 2008 at 9:05 amI’m looking forward to getting my RITA pile. I’m kicking off my year of pleasure reading with those! I always find a new must-read-more or two every year.
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 10:31 amWow, over the weekend I wrote down my goals for 2009. Which is weird because I never do that, even though I’m a nut about making lists.
On my list:
Finish my two wips.
Send out queries.
Set manageable hours for writing each day.
And a whole bunch of boring stuff like losing weight.
by HollyD December 15th, 2008 at 9:10 amLosing weight has been pre-printed on my list the last three years, I swear. Maybe I should handwrite it on there, too. Double the motivation. And guilt…
The awesome thing about lists is how accomplished you feel when you check things off!
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 10:29 amOkay, ‘man hearing’ cracked me up as well. And *so true*!
I’ve been doing a lot of purging in this house as well. Which is usually brought on by viewing the house porn over on HGTV. We just finished getting a new roof on the house this weekend, finally, and we’ll be tackling some of the interior stuff next year.
Mostly, I’m building more time in for fun this year. I’m not going to overbook myself so much that I can’t stop for a day and go to the movies with my husband and friends, or have time to sit in a restaurant and just enjoy stopping for a bit.
by Toni McGee Causey December 15th, 2008 at 9:47 amLOL @ house porn. And yay! on the new roof.
Which reminds me to call someone out to inspect our roof tiles for cracks…
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 10:27 amOoh, reading for fun. That’s a good one. And maybe in my own genre for a change! I can’t remember the last time I read a romance. Mostly I seem to read cooking/food magazines, which I also hoard and pile around the house, to my husband’s great dismay.
by Louisa Edwards December 15th, 2008 at 10:25 amI try not to read in the genre I’m writing in, which has made it doubly tough to pleasure read this year since I’ve been writing fantasy, urban fantasy, historical, and paranormal.
Cooking/food magazines get me in as much trouble as HGTV. I want to make everything, just to see if it tastes as good as it looks. *g*
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 10:34 amFor me, I desperately want to get more productive when I’m at the computer. Then I would have more free time and less guilt!
I need to work on my house. We started early this year, then just stopped.
Losing weight? Did I tell you all that the gym I’ve belonged to for something like twenty years partially burned down over Thanksgiving weekend? I’m taking that as a sign, LOL!
by Jen Lyon December 15th, 2008 at 10:57 amWatch HGTV, Jen. It’ll get you running around redecorating in no time.
Yikes! on the gym burning down. Does take away the guilt-for-not-going factor though…
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 12:03 pmGotta switch browsers — the one hooked to this email doesn’t refresh — I kept seeing Friday’s post.
Remodeling. My advice — bite the bullet and do as much as you can all at once. We did the kitchen piecemeal — tiled the floors first, done to match everything, but when we wanted new countertops, we wanted to go with a new colorscheme, and felt more limited in choices.
Will that washer-dryer fold and put away, too? We got a new set a year or three ago (time flies, doesn’t it), and I advocate a stainless steel drum in the washer regardless of make or model, because it can spin much faster, thus getting more water out of the clothes, thus drastically reducing dryer time.
I’d love to make more changes, but with retirement on the horizon, I look at stuff and think, “what will I do smarter in a new place?” knowing there’s no point in doing anything new right now.
by Terry Odell December 15th, 2008 at 11:03 amStainless steel. Gotcha. Thank you! I didn’t know about that. We’ve had our present washer and dryer since before my son was born. We got our money’s worth out of it, but now it’s time to move on…
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 3:55 pmGood for you, Syl! I’ve got some time on my hands now! I’m going to tackle my wine closet. It’s become the catchall and I have to go on a safari to find my wine!
But for me? I took yesterday and today to just veg. I’m really enjoying it.
by Karin Tabke December 15th, 2008 at 11:45 amA wine closet. That must be a California thing, LOL! Treat it like shoes, I say! Two of the most important things in life!
by Roxanne St. Claire December 15th, 2008 at 1:35 pmVeg!! You deserve it. You worked your @ss off this year.
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 3:56 pmI love my piles of RWR magazines. Sometimes I go back now that I know a little more and some articles are more meaningful now.
by Amanda December 15th, 2008 at 3:01 pmSo glad to hear I’m not the only RWR hoarder.
by S.J. Day December 15th, 2008 at 3:53 pmI think you’ve more than earned the time off. Sounds like you’ve had fun with your living room. Enjoy
I have no idea what my resolutions are yet for 2009. I’ll figure that out in 2009.
by Greta December 15th, 2008 at 4:05 pmFunny! Man hearing. Love it! Great post, SJ.
Natalie, just poking in her head from deadline hell.
by Natalie R. Collins December 15th, 2008 at 9:28 pmI tend to immerse myself in research between books, but it’s all non fiction and completely different than what I’ve been working on. I also go to a bunch of movies between books, and shop
by allison brennan December 15th, 2008 at 10:24 pm