Summer break is over, and that makes me sad. But let's get back to business!
What happened with July's and August's Goals?
Keep writing Escape from Shin-Osaka, the last book in the Hikoboshi Series. Note: This is now titled The Fate of Shin-Osaka. I thought I would be at 50-60k by the time August was over and I've definitely made my goal! Now I just need to finish it so that I can move on.
Keep up with Italian on Duolingo. I kept up with this and I will continue to do so.
Send my oldest child off to Italy! She left and returned! And she had a great time despite lots of stomach troubles while she was there.
Host friends and family at the beach house. My parents came to the beach house in July and that gave us a great preview of what it will take to host people there. Then in August, my cousin and her family came for a week but stayed in a hotel. Still, we had them over often until they had to leave early because her son got covid.
Continue to stay on top of my fitness routine. I finished the Power Zone Pack challenge and felt like I gained back some of my fitness from having covid in April. I then continued to work out on a regular schedule. Next week, I start a new challenge!
I will continue to ignore my sales and not stress over my published books. I did okay with this. I caught myself checking sales once or twice and looking at my review numbers. It's hard not to look when it's something I've been doing for almost a decade now.
Reading, watching TV, and knitting. I definitely read and watched TV. But knitting isn't really happening. I think I realize that I do a lot of my knitting when I'm not writing. And since I was writing pretty much all summer, not much knitting got done.
September Goals
Finish The Fate of Shin-Osaka. Okay, I have about 20k left to write, and I'm at the last act of the book. I need to finish this and be done with it already.
Post some promo for Pets in Space 7. Yes, I'm in Pets in Space 7! My book, Myra's Big Mistake, will be featured in there with plenty of other great books. There'll be more news about this tomorrow on the blog and in my newsletter on Friday. I would like to post some excerpts and some quick Instagram/FB Reels.
Get caught up on all my back blog posts. I have a lot to share in TV and Book Chats. So I hope to get those written and posted before the end of the month.
Stay on top of my Duolingo Italian. People, I hate to say it, but I don't think Japanese is going to happen this year. I just run out of time every day and I don't want to be working 100% of my awake-time every darned day. It's too much. So I'm going to stick to the Duolingo Italian. It's too bad the Duolingo Japanese sucks or I would have stuck with that.
Stick with my new low-sugar diet. I decided on my youngest's birthday (July 12) that I would cut out sugar almost entirely from my diet. Sugar I'm allowed to have: some dark chocolate, maple syrup as a sweetener in salad dressing, alcohol, a little fruit, and that's pretty much it. No desserts. No ice cream. None of that stuff that I love. I miss cake already. But I know this is for the best. My body doesn't react well to sugar anymore. I should probably cut carbs too, but at this point, I need them or I start to lose my mind. So, low-sugar it is.
Continue with my fitness goals. I'm not doing as well with this this year as I did last year. Covid really threw me off, and I believe I have a mild form of long covid now because I'm battling depression and weight gain almost every single day. So I need to stay on top of my fitness and continue to be active every single day. Taking time off is not an option especially since my mental health really relies on it.
Reading, TV, and knitting. The usual here. I've started a rewatch of LOST. Maybe I shouldn't do that to myself, but I really miss that kind of storytelling.
Make it through this month in one piece. Honestly, September is going to suck. My kids are super busy with marching band and field hockey. My husband is going to be out of town a lot. I have doctors and dentist appointments. I'll be happy if I make it through without a nervous breakdown.
PS) If you want to see more moments from my summer, please follow me on Instagram or make sure you're signed up for my newsletter. I include photos there too.
That's it for this month! Have a great September everyone!
