on this day

I have slowwwwwly started to think about trying to get some of our sentimental crap taken care of. I know logically it’s not crap, but sometimes when it’s everywhere and needs to go somewhere, it can seem overwhelming. Maybe that’s why its alllll over.

I’m starting with Broderick, because I figure that he has the least amount of stuff to try and take care of. And within that category, my first step was finally finding and ordering a baby book for him. (He’s only almost 18 months old, after all.) I wanted something really simple and cute and not super baby and just basic. I found this one, which I love, and I’m excited to start filling it out and putting some pictures in it.

source: lucy darling

Since I need pictures for his book anyway, I also started our family yearbook for 2014 so I didn’t have duplicate photos and so I could in theory take care of another item on my sentimental clutter to-do list. After much debate, I chose the “Year of Us” theme from Shutterfly.

I also had to try and figure out when some of these big firsts happened because I have kept track of some of them in our five-year memory book and some of them in my head. Helpful, right? Thankfully, that’s where Facebook and my text messages come in. I have a lot to go through but I have been looking to my texts to see what happened on what dates so that should I accidentally delete said texts, I will have the milestones written down somewhere.

The “on this day” feature on Facebook has helped a lot too, including telling me when he first slept through the night for the first time. It’s also a fun reminder for me to see what has happened over the course of my Facebook life. And let’s be honest, was there life before Facebook? I’m just not sure…j/k. Of course there was. I have sentimental clutter to prove it.

happy birthday, l.c.

Sunday was my 29th birthday. That means Whitney and I have one year to finish all of the goals we set for ourselves. Some of those goals seem readily achievable. Others, well, realistically they might not happen.

Aside from being the day I became another year older, my birthday marked another occasion of sorts. The mayhem at work is officially done. I’m sure there will be other pockets of insanity going forward, but we’ve made it through the transition of leadership, the building expansion, the ribbon cutting, and the public reopening.

Both of these facts have me feeling more motivated than ever to fulfill those goals in the next year. The big ones on my mind are about my writing and my health. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve fallen way off the wagon again in terms of exercising regularly and eating well. I’m optimistic I can change that now that I may have the possibility to create more of a schedule that isn’t dependent on total mayhem 40 hours (and beyond) each week. And it couldn’t come a moment too soon.

As I nursed a hangover from having way too much fun on my birthday (for a woman who is no longer in her early 20s and can’t bounce back as quickly) it really occurred to me that I haven’t been treating my body like the temple it is. That needs to change.

I also signed a contract to publish my third book on my birthday. That means I need to focus on finishing my next couple of projects if I want to fulfill my dream of writing and publishing two new books each year.

There’s a lot to do, but hopefully I’m up for the challenge.

clean house

Our house is generally in a state of chaos because of all of the work we have been doing on the house, and on top of that, several of these projects are generally half-complete for a while so stuff for said projects builds up. But as the number of projects we are working on is starting to dwindle, it’s probably time that I start making an effort to clean the house more often (and finish unpacking, but that’s neither here nor there.)

I’m happy to report that my laundry being done and put away on the same day has been amazing, so I am hoping that the cleaning schedule I have put together (after a ton of overthinking, obviously) will be just as good.

Mondays: Pick Up + Whitney Laundry
Tuesdays: Dusting + Bedding
Wednesdays: Vacuuming +Broderick Laundry
Thursdays: Bathrooms + Bathrooms
Fridays: Basement + Cleaning/kitchen rags

You’ll see that the schedule I came up with kind of corresponds with the laundry schedule I made (which maybe has changed since I published it once I realized when we needed clothes on certain days). So now, my clothes are done on Monday so I’m ready for the week and recovered from the weekend, and Broderick’s laundry gets done so that he has pajamas for the weekend. Additionally, bedding gets done on Tuesdays after I dust because I am a weirdo and that’s how I’ve always cleaned, and bathroom laundry gets done the same day bathrooms are cleaned.

As far as other chores that need done, the kitchen will be worked on every day or every other day, and I’ve decided that dishes will be done in the morning and at night. I have long debated with myself whether it’s more efficient to do each dish as it is used or if it’s better to do them all at once. In the end, I decided I don’t know if it really matters how long it takes but when I want to do them, and I’m fine with them building up and doing them all at once vs. doing every single dish right away.

So, we will see how it goes…

travel dreams

I almost accomplished my goal of booking a vacation somewhere I’ve never been. And by almost, I mean I researched flights, created a day by day travel plan, and verified I had enough vacation time available. It was a pretty exciting couple of weeks while I imagined taking this trip, visiting many places I’ve never seen.

I have a bit of what I like to call the Belle Effect, meaning I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, and I want it more than I can tell.

But unfortunately this year those travel dreams aren’t possible. I do have a few travel plans and with wonderful people, but they’re all to places I have already been. (I do have a business trip to Indianapolis tentatively scheduled, which would technically be a new place, but… I’m not counting it. The point of this goal was to challenge myself to go somewhere new on an adventure and experience and see new things, not work.)

So because this goal won’t likely be accomplished until 2016–which is fine, because I don’t turn 30 until June 14, 2016–today I wanted to share a few of my dream adventure scenarios.

1. Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina
In this trip, I’d likely travel mainly along the coast visiting places like Savannah, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach, while also going inland to places like Atlanta, and Raleigh/Durham. In a bonus scenario, I add on a few more days and visit Kentucky and Tennessee.

2. Alaskan Adventure
For this I’d fly into Anchorage, where I’d take some sort of whale viewing expedition and another trip north to Denali National Park (home of Denali, aka Mount McKinley). I also imagine I’ll be able to reach into streams and pull salmon out of the water, and it’s very probably I’ll find a husband, because I’ve been told men outnumber women there. (I also hear the men are away half the year working, which is really an ideal situation for me. I kid, I kid.)

3. The UK
I’ve been to London and Birmingham, but in this scenario I spend two full weeks on the islands and visit the north ends of Scotland, the southern coast (including Jane Austen spots) and potentially even visit Ireland, though I need to make sure I have enough time. I’d also like to return to London for a couple of days to see and experience many of the things I didn’t have a chance to that first time around. This is actually the trip that would most likely lead to me sending a letter home stating that I’m starting a new life abroad, and would someone please send me my cats and books posthaste?

If you were planning a trip somewhere you’ve never been, where would you most like to visit?

 

let’s do the time warp…again

As you know by now, the point of our blog is to achieve certain goals before we turn 30, which seems like kind of a big milestone. But I think as we go forward on our 30th year, it’s kind of fun to see where we’ve come from, something I’ve been thinking about lately. And I think that my childhood books play a large part of that, remembering where I was and who I was when I read them for the first (or 20th) time. I finally got these unpacked! Look how pretty they are:

You don’t see the Laura Ingalls Wilder books because they will have a special place, but I’m excited to have the rest of these friends out and not stuck in a box. Particularly, I would like to point out the Princess Diaries book by Meg Cabot, because on Tuesday Meg Cabot released another Princess Diaries book after six years, and even better, it’s a book for adults.

What I think is kind of random and cool about the Princess Diaries books is that I have bought pretty much every book on its release day, including the newest. It’s kind of crazy to think about how much has changed since I started doing that.

It used to be that they would come out during spring break and I would get them and read them while I was out of school. The last book was released while I was on my first (and only…) work trip, and I bought it and read it on the plane home. And on Tuesday, I bought the book while carting my 17-month-old around in a stroller. Crazy, right?

Now hopefully I get a chance to read it with that whole 17-month-old thing…

project management

Today is a better late than never kind of day. (Sorry, I completely forgot it was Tuesday and my turn to post!) Work continues to be a good kind of crazy. I’ve also kept busy managing writing projects after hours, which is what I’m going to write about today.

Despite my hectic work schedule of the past few weeks, last week I finished the final draft of my third novel and sent it to my editor. I followed that up by turning in the final draft of my Christmas novella over the weekend. Both are pre-contract, so I can’t speak in absolutes about either, but I’m optimistic they will be in your hands to read before the end of the year.

I’ll admit I wasn’t entirely sure I’d meet my personal deadline of having both projects to the publisher by the end of May. I did it by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin, but I still did it. I wonder if the former journalist in me needed to have that deadline or if I’m finally starting to get the hang of this whole “let’s be a novelist” thing.

One of my big beliefs as a writer is that you have to keep going. You have to keep working on something. While my natural inclination is to want to take a huge break after finishing each step of the novel-writing process (and there is more to it than writing) that won’t work. Laziness begets more laziness. (At least in my world.)

Fortunately, there are so many elements of writing that I feel I can be productive even if I’m taking a break from one part of it. For example, right now I am working on some upcoming marketing efforts for both of my completed novels and these new stories. I am also creating character sketches and an outline for my next novel, which I intend to write over the summer. On my writing blog (www.change-the-word.com) I frequently share posts about my process (plotting, writing, editing) and how I’m continuing to shape my craft, because that’s what it is.

I’m keeping busy, and it feels good.

dirty laundry

In my pre-Broderick life, I read so many great things about the benefits of cloth diapers. They were cheaper, better for the environment, and had benefits for baby, as well. Even better, I had a friend who gave me her cloth diapers to use with Broderick, meaning that we didn’t have to make the initial investment right away.

I forgot one very important thing when it came to cloth diapers–that I DESPISE laundry. Like seriously. It is the worst. So, cloth diapers were not for me. Lesson learned.

I recognize that laundry isn’t that hard of a chore, and it’s a necessary one, as eventually you run out of clothes to wear. But the way I was doing it just wasn’t helping me get this particular chore down. Here’s how it normally goes down:

1. OH, the pair of pants/shirt/cardigan I want to wear is dirty (i.e. has baby snot on it. Cute that Broderick knows that he needs to wipe his nose. Not cute that he does it on my shirt. And one time my mouth. EW. #overshare)
2. Wash and dry/line dry laundry promptly.
3. Let it sit in the basket in the laundry room for several days while I go back and forth from the basement to get what I want to wear.
4. Have Nathan ask me why I don’t just bring up the basket.
5. Bring up basket.
6. Clothes sit in basket in bedroom for several days.
7. Realize that I need the basket to put my dirty clothes in.
8. Put clothes away.
9. Put dirty clothes in basket and start laundry.
10. Repeat. (and multiply times about 8 between Broderick’s clothes and all of the household laundry.)

As part of my attempt to create a cleaning schedule (more on that later), I’ve tried to take the advice of blog posts I’ve read that suggest to do one load of laundry COMPLETELY (wash, dry, fold, put away) each day rather than do tons of it all at once. And I think that is something that can work for me. Here’s how I broke it out:

Mondays: Bedding
Tuesdays: Whitney
Wednesdays: Bathroom towels and rugs
Thursdays: Broderick
Fridays: Kitchen and cleaning rags

Only time will tell whether this will work, but I am optimistic. I’m willing to try anything that makes laundry better.

Now, if only someone (cough, Whitney) would take care of this laundry room…no wonder I don’t want to spend any time in there. And you can’t even see the half-destroyed wall behind the washer and dryer. #keepingitreal

survival mode

It was a challenge to come up with something to write about this week. I’ve gone a bit into survival mode while I tackle the final major round of edits on my third novel and a lot of activity is culminating at my day job, too.

That means there hasn’t been any exercising, and I’ve been eating whatever I want (though I am trying to watch my portions). I organized my desk on Friday night, but otherwise I’ve run the dishwasher once a week, vacuumed every other week, and dusted surfaces whenever necessary. My to-do before thirty list is still looking pretty long.

This happens. Sometimes, despite the best of our intentions, we end up sliding back. What matters most, I’ve come to realize, is how we deal with it when this happens. You can give up, you can get angry, or you can cut yourself some slack and acknowledge you’re human while trying to come up with a new approach to achieve your goals.

I’m trying to go with option three.

So, short post today, but hopefully within the next couple of weeks I’ll be better able to focus on self improvement and have lots of updates to share. Until then, cheers.

six months down: where we stand

We moved into our new house a little more than six months ago, and I feel like we’ve made a ton of progress (which obviously helps with my DIY goal.) I feel like all of my posts for the blog could be and probably are the same, but that’s because I’m really focused on getting the house somewhat right before I am able to focus on other things (also known as EVERY OTHER THING.)

So far, I’ve completed the following projects:

• Remove wallpaper and paint the basement (which let me unpack some of our books, the ultimate goal in my life.)
• Paint living room and half of hallway. (This took kind of a while because of the furniture moving required and also the navy blue paint…)

• Paint dining room. Lesson here is to consider the amount of paint you’ll need for a room or you’ll end up having to get more with hardly any wall left to go.

• Remove wallpaper from the entry and most of the kitchen.
  • Here’s a new DIY tip I learned on this project: Sometimes when your steam cleaner breaks and you have no idea how you’re going to take down the wallpaper otherwise, just pull it and it comes off in sheets in about five minutes. But then you have a gluey mess left behind. So you have to spray it constantly with water and dawn dish soap and scrape it off by hand with a putty knife. See below: left side is no paste and right is still gross.

• My office wallpaper is gone.
• Broderick’s room has wallpaper down, paint and just needs new curtains and art.
• My closet is now a glorious place that keeps my clothes organized and is pink and pretty.

We’ve also had the following problems come up:

• Replace French doors that didn’t close with sliding glass doors that really aren’t that clean, yet somehow birds still fly into them.

• Replace oven.
• Fix leaky window well: this is on our list for Memorial Day weekend
• Fix leaky bathroom: also a surprise that our bathroom fixtures are leaking down into the storage room. The only benefit of the leaky window well was that we discovered this because we were checking on the other leak.
• LIGHTBULBS. Good grief, we have lightbulbs burning out all of the time.
• Electrical panel and other misc. electrical things: Lesson here: get a home warranty plan.
• The backyard, which desperately needed grass seed.

When I was typing up this list, it didn’t seem like a lot but it’s been a lot of work and all things that make a huge difference for us. It will hopefully eventually get to the point where we can stop for a while, which means you might get to read posts about something other than DIY from me…

the new me

Two weeks ago I mentioned that I would be changing one of my goals. As I explained in this post, while love and romance are all well and good, I don’t want to force it. I also don’t want to put myself in a position where I believe the only way I can find self-actualization or meaning in my life is to find a man.

So here’s my new goal: Build a platform for my pen name.

I’ve known for several years that I wanted to write under both my name and a pen name. As an author, your name is brand like Coca Cola or Pepsi. When people pick up a book by Laura Chapman, they expect to read humorous women’s fiction with some romance. But there are other stories I would like to tell, and I need an avenue for that.

What does creating a new platform entail? For one, I need an online and social media presence. I’ve already taken care of an email address and a Twitter account, from which I’m already tweeting. I will also need a website, perhaps a blog, and of course networking. In addition to creating an email and Twitter account, I actually entered the Avon Fan Lit contest under my pen name (which I won’t divulge just yet, because I’m still building). I also created character sketches and a plot outline for my first book, and I am two chapters into the story.

It isn’t a lot just yet, but I’m taking the steps so that once I finish the book that will be published under this name, I’ll be ready.