When I set my goals for this year, I pledged to continue the things I thought worked last year, which includes posting regular updates. It’s a new month, so here the next report! Like last year, each goal is paired with some specific tasks based on the notion of trying to replace a bad habit with a good one.

So, how did I do…?

Write more, rant less. My tasks are: listen to non-political podcasts or audiobooks every week; spend at least one lunch break a week reading one of my ebooks instead of the news; continue to spend at least half of my lunch break writing; give myself a monthly quota of blog posts about things I love; set specific monthly writing goals in each check-in.

I listened to both the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast and Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me only a couple times. But I’ve been very busy at work with the sorts of tasks that don’t go well with listening to podcasts or audiobooks. Of course, I was so busy (and tired from being busy), that I spent a little less time reading my usual politically-oriented news sites. I listened to a lot of music off my iPhone during work. I finished reading Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle though it was slow going until I vented last week. Then the rest of the book flew by.

I did very little writing during lunch throughout the month, though I think I got in a bit more than in January.

My specific tasks, including the quota for blog posts about things I love were:

• Set a date for the next Cthulhu Pony game and the next Steampunk game. Done!
• Get four chapters of edits done on Book 1. I got through two, so half done.
• Write at least four blog posts about things I like instead of rants or critiques. Done!
• Finish entering copy edits in the next two issues of the fanzine. Done!
• Pick a few days every week, set a word count goal, and use Scrivener’s cool word goal widget to keep track. Completely failed.

It was a so-so month on the specific tasks front.

Take care of myself. My tasks are: get back in the habit of waking up on weekends at nearly the same time as work days; get back in the habit to making weekly meal plans together; get back in the habit of setting up my pill-minder every week.

Until I got sick last week, I was doing much better at keeping my sleep schedule in order. We did so-so on the meal plans, but a bit better than January. I have continued to use the pill minder.

Enjoy time with friends. My task is to make an effort at get-togethers to ask leading questions.

We had a few more chances to hang out with friends this month. But I have not managed to change my conversational habits. I did enjoy all the times we were hanging out, though!

Paint, draw, and make music. I haven’t figured out a better task for this one, yet, but I’m hopeful that someone will suggest something or I’ll find something I can start doing.

I re-designed my my author web site and worked on book cover designs. I’m going to count those!

Specific tasks for March:

• Finish the re-plotting of what was formerly book two into book two and three.
• Keep plugging away on the edits for book one.
• Write the fight scene I keep procrastinating on.
• Write at least four blog posts about things I like instead of rants or critiques.
• Draw something.

Being under the weather

Now a bit of “What I had for breakfast” blogging: Early last week someone in the office was coughing. They’ve moved a lot of people around to different offices and cubes, and the other business unit that shares our building has hired a lot of new people, of whom I’ve met maybe two, so I don’t know who it was. It seemed tacky to go wandering up the hall to figure out who it was. Also, I figured if the person was contagious, I was less likely to catch it if I didn’t go track the person down.

Wednesday night I started having a tickle in my throat. By Thursday morning I was coughing, but I didn’t have a fever. I had a big deadline that day which required using one of the tools at work that does not run well when working remotely, so I went in. By the end of the day I felt completely worn out. So I didn’t walk home. I headed to the nearest bus stop and took the bus home. The six block walk from where I got off the bus left me as winded as those days when I do the full five mile walk home and alternate walking double-time. And the coughing was much worse.

Friday is my usual work-from-home day, and I’d hit all my deadlines, so I worked on low stress projects all day. My symptoms just kept getting worse and worse through the course of the weekend. I wasn’t sleeping well. I had some weird dreams while not sleeping well.

Saturday morning I was feeling so mentally discombobulated that I was afraid I had gotten mixed up about when I last took some cold meds and might have somewhat overdosed. So I didn’t take anything for several hours. My eyes got really itchy and swollen and red, to the point that I couldn’t focus on letters on the screen. So I figured that the meds were probably cleared out of my bloodstream by then and I could take some antihistamines. I started keeping notes of when I was taking what after that.

By Sunday I was super cranky. My husband deserves a medal for putting up with me that day.

There is no indication this has a bacterial component, so I probably won’t try to get in to see the doctor before my already-scheduled appointment Friday.

I’ll be glad when this is over.