Quiet Keystrokes and Midnight Ramblings

I am a "doer".  It has been demonstrated time and time again that it is very difficult for me to stop working on projects, even when I know I need to take a break.  This blessing/curse has become exponentially more apparent now that I work from the comfort and confines of my own home, and Mr. Kawaii and I are constantly trying to find little ways to help me switch off at the end of the day. Constantly being surrounded by work in my personal space makes it so easy to do "one more thing", remind me of a project that I wanted to get done today or give me ideas for new projects that I hadn't even thought of during my working hours.  Bits and pieces of our home business can be found in our home-office, our dining room, can be seen from the dining room and kitchen... all of the rooms that are most frequently used during the day for work and for rest.  It's as easy to get distracted by work when I'm checking my personal e-mail as it is to be distracted by it ...

My writing has taken off this past year, and although I won't go so far as to say that I'm a writer "in demand", I have somehow begun to amass a long list of deadlines and due dates.  Now, I'm not complaining - having a list of writing assignments and requests makes me feel useful and respectable in a way that is incomparable to any other job/career I've held.  But it does make me pause during the first week of the month when I write all of the deadlines on the whiteboard above my computer and when I'm done the board runs over with colors, bullet points and underlined important projects. Managing deadlines can be tricky, especially when other opportunities pop up mid-month, a family member falls ill or the sun comes out and calls to you through the window.  It's probably the most difficult task I deal with on a week to week basis, and I have to force myself to not push things out "until tomorrow".  Some of the things that help to keep me on ...

What a whirlwind adventure this year has brought to me in writing!  I had hoped that this year would propel me into the world of an writer, but could never have expected just how much progress I'd be able to make in becoming the authoress I've always dreamed of being.  As I sit and reflect on how much I have to be thankful for this year, the list is astoundingly long. I've been given the blessings of a career change, the opportunity to write both online and in print, the completion of one novel and the beginnings of a second, a position creating content for a wonderful company on the verge of exploding in a joyful mess of growth and progress, the support of friends and strangers, and even more that I can't think of right now. This year hasn't been all roses and double rainbows, and it certainly hasn't been the easiest year for our family; but it has been a year of personal and professional growth, a reminder that I have an incredible family to lean on when t...

This month has been a whirlwind of activity for those of the Kawaii household.  Some pretty big changes have taken place and we are now helping a family member get back on their feet.  Trips to the Social Security office, the Department of Health and Human Services, GoodWill and various other places have filled up my days and left very little time for writing. I have forced myself to put out a couple of articles this month through Associated Content and have been able to chronicle my drive for a slimmer waistline through another blog called A Smaller Bottom .  Unfortunately, I was forced to miss the 2nd meeting of the writing group I started due to working on moving our family member into the house, but I look forward to meeting up with the other authors again soon to discuss their amazing writing. As things settle out, I look forward to pressing forward with the novel writing.  I even have it marked on my calendar and scheduled out over the next several weeks w...