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I swear, the title of this post is extremely accurate. It reflects *exactly* what is going on in my head at the moment. What went on in my head yesterday, when I was supposed to post this. Topical Tuesday. I even had a topic (St. Lucy's Day), or exams (very topical for me, since I am going through them at the moment, albeit in a very different way than I've ever done before because I'm not taking them this year, but rather grading them... I swear, I'd rather take them!), or even the weather (we're having spring, I'm sure - all our lovely snow seems to be melting! Drat!)

But no. Before I had the chance to transfer my ideas to paper (or, more accurately, screen), they ended up in fhegiakfiutygihbhjgilwdjafgyg and *poof* I forgot the whole post. Until now. When I write it, it will still be up for an hour and a half before the next one (and much better one, I'm sure) ticks in. Not that it is a huge loss. I'm sure today's actual post will be much more thought-through and well-written than this one, not to mention the topic will not be lkhjefiudshfjkhfuiryifkdghfshdgfj.

In the meantime, though, let me muse a little over cbnsdjkghdgcsdcuhjasdgj:

Papers that need to be graded, need to be graded.

Jobs that need to be done, need to be done.

In English, you cannot write "they claims" and expect to get away with it. It are annoying!

Sometimes you have to make sacrifices. Sometimes they suck.

Friends are essential.

Suck it up!

Can you have your cake and eat it too? Won't we always try?

What's in a smile? When a person lights up when seeing you, should you draw hasty conclusions?

We want what we can't have, we hold on to what we don't need, and sometimes it's impossible to see the difference.

It doesn't matter what you believe in. Believe.

Yoga and boxing.

Wsdofhudgfiuweyjkcfjdyfuweudpqwuiryfwyfuvjgai.

DOH!!!

Am I meant to be blogging today? (Hart here) Forgive me. I am disorganized in the best of times, and so while I KNEW I had to blog as of Wednesday, yesterday I had some excitement and it went right out of my head. Want to see?

See? Wouldn't YOU have gotten distracted? Wait... you don't know about Alyse...

You see... I'M ALYSE! My Cozy Mystery series with Berkley Prime Crime is under the pen name Alyse Carlson-- Alyse was one grandma, Carlson the other... They wanted a pen name, and because my other stuff is darker, it seemed smart from a branding perspective, too.

Well YESTERDAY, I got my first ever 'headed to the shelf' book cover, and THAT is why I forgot about blogging. So I thought I would give you a little odd trivia and a few funnies.


Trivia #1: I ALWAYS put on sock shoe sock shoe (erm... when I am forced to put on ANYTHING, I mean)--You see, I am a little like the princess and the pea... if there is ANYTHING in my shoe besides my foot and my sock, I am MISERABLE (it is the same philosophy that caused me to give up pajamas, actually—wrinkles, lumps, things going different directions? It all makes me NUTS. And if I put my socked foot back on the ground, I might just pick up one of those passengers that makes me nuts—and somehow the sock STICKS to stuff more than the foot, so it is more likely to make the transfer.

I am completely convinced this one has a true story behind it. Can you imagine? I mean even if it was your wine-drinking girl friends, and not the tea-drinking little old ladies... though probably it would just be a tears of laughter, never-let-you-live-it-down if it was those wine drinkers.


Trivia #2: I may be overweight, but my cholesterol level ROCKS. I just got it back this week from my annual check up (for which I am still avoiding the mammogram) and it is 1.8. A number under 2 means my GOOD cholesterol is HIGHER than my bad—an unusual state of things as I understand it. There are only 3 ways you can increase that good cholesterol... exercise regularly, eat the less normal kind of fiber (the kind found in oatmeal... I can't keep straight soluble versus insoluble, but oatmeal is one of the few sources of one of those) and drink red wine... I do all three of those nearly every day.

This totally cracked me up--Planking is a funny little amusement... not that I do it, but it isn't unlike some things I've done to get a laugh, but this is just hysterical...


Drat! And I've run out of time! HA! So I suppose I will post and call it good... or maybe I will add little surprises later... the gift that keeps on giving...

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours

Yup, come on, don't be shy now. Take a deep breath, step forward, and admit to the world what your freaky foible is, 'cause I know you have one. *nods* (Ha! And here you thought I was going to say something naughty! Fooled ya!)

See, everybody has at least one slightly out there habit, and if you say you haven't, then you are either lying, or in denial. Even the most straight-laced person will have something in their character that marks them as a little quirky.

Of course, most people have more than one foible, and, another of course, most people won't admit to having even the one, but those crazy little quirks are there, trust me. It could be something as small as a little tic when you are nervous, or perhaps the need to double check that the cooker is switched off before you go to bed. Maybe you can't leave the house without systematically checking that all of the windows are closed, or perhaps you will only drink your coffee if it has been stirred clockwise.

The list of possible habits is literally endless. So maybe a habit isn't strictly a delusion, but I'm making it so to fit today's theme, so there.

Now, having been delusional for most of my life, I don't have any problems identifying what my foibles are. Or even admitting to them (quite obviously). I've never been diagnosed, but I suspect I'm a little obsessive compulsive. Well, probably quite a lot obsessive compulsive, to be truthful. I will check my bag three or four times before I leave the house, just to make sure that I have everything I need. My front door will be jiggled for about ten seconds before I start to walk away, and more often than not, I will retrace my steps and give the lock an extra jiggle just to be on the safe side.

This habit of checking means that everything takes that little bit longer to do. In my job, for example, I have to cash up the tills, prepare a banking and count and check the contents of the safe. I can just about curb the urge to count the banking twice, mostly because that has to be checked by a second person anyway, so my back is covered. But for the other things, like the cash floats and what not, I always count them twice. Sometimes I have triple checked them. Just in case. *shifty* Luckily this only really takes an extra five or ten minutes or so, but still, that's five or ten minutes that could be spent doing other stuff.

The thing is, I suspect that my slight OCD  can be linked to my general procrastinating nature. In my quest to put things off indefinitely, I seem to have stumbled onto the perfect way to fulfil my dithering needs. You see, the more I check stuff, the more time it takes, and the more time I spend doing one thing, means something else can be put of that wee bit longer.

It's not a proven theory (mostly because I've only just really thought about it in these terms), but surely the two things are related? And I can't help but wonder if my OCD-ness may also be to blame for my love of monotonous games. OCD, explained most simply, is the need to do things repeatedly, and I am extremely prone to silly games like bubble shooter and bejeweled blitz. I think the repetitiveness is the draw, because heaven knows that I have no love for computer games as a rule. PlayStation? X Box? Wii? Nope, no interest at all. Silly game where you have to make three bubbles in a row to make them disappear? I'm your gal. Not only do the monotonous nature of these games fulfil my OCD needs, but they are also brilliant for procrastinating purposes. A 'quick' game of bubble shooter can last for hours. Seriously. It's amazing how time flies when you are determined to keep going for as long as you can.

Anyway, that's one of my foibles. I say 'one' because I have many, but I'll save the others for another time (which is another way of saying I am putting them off for the time being, but I guess that doesn't come as a surprise *shifty*).

Image permission.

Writing Wednesday: Make Writing a Habit

Happy New Year everyone! Today I wanted to talk about a very significant lesson that my youngest daughter has taught. Yesterday, she and I reviewed her weekly homework sheet. Every day, my daughter is to read for twenty minutes. She sighed, put on a sad face, hunched her shoulders and went to her room to choose a book from her personal library. Zionne has always had difficulty reading. She mixes up the "b" and the "d." Her short term and active working memory are not really developed where she remembers consonant blends and word clusters. She tries so hard to sound out the words and fails to comprehend what she has read. It breaks my heart to see her struggle with her reading.

I felt really bad for making her read but I told her, "Zionne. In order to become a better reader, you must read regularly." I picked up the book and told her that I would read all the odd page numbers and she can read all the even pages. We continued back and forth for about half an hour. I asked her questions and she seemed to get the gist of what was happening in the Cam Jansen book.

I suddenly had an epiphany. How can I preach to my daughter about the importance of reading regularly when I don't even follow that same principle when it comes to writing. It was an eye-opening experience. I sat at my desk flabbergasted that I, an educator, am making excuses about my writing. I enjoy writing and haven't written a single thing in over two weeks. Yes, life happens but many people have overcome the obstacle of a busy schedule, career, family, etc.

So what I have done is make writing an everyday activity by putting it on my "To Do" list. I plan to make writing a habit. (Thanks Tami!) I don't want to say it is my New Year's Resolution because I never, ever fulfill those. Rather I want to incorporate writing into my day. I am going to use several suggestions made to me. I plan to use my voice recorder on my iPhone 4. I am going to keep a little notepad or small notebook in the car or in my purse. I am going to write for at least 20-30 minutes each day. I think I may even hide in the bathroom for a little privacy.

I know it is going to be challenging but I am optimistic that by just writing a little at a time, I can make it a lifelong habit.

What are some things that you do to make time for writing?