Realizations and Celebrations

I'm having a tough week.

It is three months until my current main contract may or may not end- it is the way of contracting that I won't know for certain for another month or two. I don't have another contract right now, so I decided I need to start really looking for one. Friday, I made a plan for doing that, and it is a bit...daunting. I've come to realize that I was far more burned out by the events of early 2014 than I'd really acknowledged, and that led me to be a bit slack about building the contracting side of my business. Since that is the side that pays the bills, that was a mistake. Friday, I looked that mistake in the face and acknowledged what it means. It wasn't particularly pleasant to do that, but it was necessary.

Meanwhile, sales of Unspotted aren't as strong as I'd like. I have some reviews lined up that should post soon, and that will hopefully help. I also started a GoodReads campaign for it, trying to help it find its audience. In the process of doing that, I discovered that there were somehow two extra editions of the book on GoodReads. I've got that cleaned up now, I think, but it was frustrating and the end result isn't exactly how I'd like it.

And I'm in the lull period of sign ups for my Better Projects class. This is completely predictable: there's a spike when you first announce, another one right before the early bird registration ends, and (if you're lucky) another one right before registration closes. But it is still a bit demoralizing. I'm working hard to get the word out and sign people up, both because money is good and because I really believe in this class. It is hard to be hustling hard on something like that and not see the pay off yet.

In other news, our construction project is almost done, but we discovered a problem with drainage, and have decided that we have to fix out patio to resolve it. One the plus side, we get the new patio we wanted but decided we couldn't afford. On the negative side- more money flowing out of our accounts. Also, Mr. Snarky is spending his day today digging up a bush that is in the way of the new patio. I am not sorry to see the bush go. I am extremely allergic to its flowers. But, we have this huge to do list of other chores that I'll now have to do essentially on my own, since he is out in the hot sun digging up a bush.

To top it all off, I put off filling my birth control pills prescription until the last minute and then discovered I'm out of refills. GAH. That was an entirely avoidable mistake.

So, I'm in a bit of a funk.

But, my calendar says that it is time to launch the Tungsten Hippo Turns Two birthday celebration, so launch it I did! Nothing pulls you out of a funk like a celebration, right? And this is a good one. I'm giving away a copy of the next Annorlunda Books release (the one after Okay, So Look) to everyone who is on the Tungsten Hippo mailing list by November 1. I think the Tungsten Hippo mailing list is pretty cool, too- it delivers the week's recommendation, quote, and any other posts, short ebook related news and announcements, and a randomly selected bonus recommendation to your inbox every Sunday morning. So, join the celebration, get a fun email every week, AND get a free ebook November 1.

Also, some of our best friends have family in town, so we met them at the beach yesterday afternoon. There was much boogie boarding. I wish I had gotten a picture of Petunia's giant smile as she got to join in the boogie boarding fun with a brand new board she and Mr. Snarky went and bought before the beach trip. It was pure joy. Pumpkin had a blast, too. The water felt wonderful, and we had a nice meal at Rubio's afterwards. Pumpkin even agreed to eat a quesadilla there.

Then, after the kids were in bed, Mr. Snarky and I reassembled our entertainment center and celebrated by watching the England-Wales rugby game. Before the game, the players were all wearing shirts that said "tackle doping." I was clearly tired, because here is the transcript of the conversation Mr. Snarky and I had about that:

Me: "Tackle doping? What does that even mean?"

Him: ????

Me: "How do you dope a tackle?"

Him: ?!?!?!?!?!

Me: "OH! Tackle DOPING.  I get it. It is about doping, not tackles."

Him: shakes his head in disbelief.

So, life is full of good things and fun moments. I am trying to keep those in mind, even while I put my grubbies on and go and tackle that to do list.