Monday morning goal making

Okay. No more mucking about with job applications for a little while.

Here's what I'm doing today specifically and this week in general:

Today I will do our taxes. I've put it off for two reasons. One is that I know we will owe and I don't want to give the government my money until I absolutely must. Two is that I really don't want to fiddle around with it. But I will and it will likely be ugly.

But before I do our taxes, I will exercise. That will begin as soon as I'm done here.

I will then write two articles for Helium's current contest, rate for twenty minutes and then by the end of the day I will get 2000 words done in The Cabin.

This week I will finish The Cabin.

My baby is now puking. I must run.

Thursday night... she's home!

Back again. Tonight we went and picked up Annemarie from the airport. She had a good trip it sounds like.

My writing report:

I have written two articles today, maybe one yesterday, for http://www.helium.com/ That's all! I've also rated a bit, which is a good thing. I was not a chosen winner in the Pulitzer Center's Citizen Journalism contest, which is lame, but the author who won deserved it. Her writing was flat, but she had some impressive inside perspective that was useful.

But I am in the top 3 of the contests I was fighting in last week. It should be finalized tomorrow, and right now I am only two points off the leader. One of my articles is not being rated very kindly, which is odd, because it is quite good.

I am going for the win in another contest this week as well, so wish me luck.

For tomorrow I plan on writing for Helium after the dentist (yes, one more time... sheesh) and then rating for a bit. Thereafter I shall work on The Cabin. Finally! I am not so sure I'll get it done this month.. okay, probably not, but I am going to get it done in the next couple of weeks. All of these plans are contingent on whether I hear back from the editorial team about The Mars Betrayal. So we will see.

Also, I got a call from the company I interviewed with last week. I had a feeling about what they were going to say. They didn't offer me the job. Surprising, but not, if you know what I mean. That's okay. I actually have been invited to an interview for a Teaching Fellows job in Austin, so that's interesting. I accepted, but it is on April 26th, so we will see what happens before then.

I just really need to work hard on my fiction. I have to learn this art and I have to do it well.

That's my writing report. Here's the etcetera:
For the last few days, I've not been getting enough sleep, which has translated into my being quite tired. I've also been refurbishing the lower level of our kitchen cupboards. They looked old and run down, so I sanded them, painted them a satin, ashy black and then reinforced the hinges. They look totally brand new and they actually look really good. I really wanted to get this done while Annemarie was gone so I could surprise her with it.

So when she got back tonight, she was surprised and very pleased. She, like me, loves the color and thinks they look amazing. Oh, I also rebuilt a corner which had been a problem. I think it looks almost pro, which sort of surprises me as I had to do it with a skilsaw (handheld jittery thing), a hand saw, my pocket knife, and no clamps or straight edges. Nor am I good at detail work. But this task was clearly blessed! It looks really good and very nicely finished.

We just watched August Rush, which is now one of my all-time favorite movies. Guess who's not a cynic? Yes, I am an unabashed sap. Annemarie hadn't seen it before, and I was anxious (dumb eh) to see what she would think. She liked it as much as I did. For many of the same reasons. It's pretty silly how self-conscious I am about how much I love that flick.

Anyway, it's late and my dentist appointment is early. I must to bed.

I'm gonna write a bestseller.

carpe somnium

Just stopping in quickly on this Tuesday evening...

to record my day. And yesterday.

For writing, I have basically been fighting on Helium to finally win a category. I have written my very best to this category, and so far it is okay. I truly feel like my stuff is the best in its titles. I would really like to place first, overall first, in one of these contests for once. So this is the week I am going for it.

Anyway, today we took Annemarie to the airport so she could fly to California (LA) to see a friend of hers. This is actually the first time Annemarie's been away from the the kids and me for any more than most of a day. So it should be very fun for her, and may involved tears from kids, but it will certainly cause no harm in anyone. I miss her, for sure, but I have been kept busy with the kids and other work.

I sent some writing samples to Nature's Sunshine yesterday, as I had applied to a part time job there. I could use the extra work, particularly if they allow telecommuting. I also got an e-mail from Lena at Mountain Reservations, (where I interviewed last Wednesday) telling me that they would not be doing second interviews and that they would send word by 5PM tomorrow. So I am actually kind of anxious now. I know that I would love that job. I know that I would not love the commute. But the work looks awesome, as do the people, and the money is vital. So if they offer me the job, at a good salary, I will take it. For sure.

I also, finally, got my first advance payment today from Cengage Learning, the ones publishing the graded reader series. Wahoo! It was a spectacular feeling. Seriously, I got kind of weepy. What a wonderful thing to get paid pretty well for doing what you have dreamed of doing all of your life! I am still so excited that I might even make a typo!

But it's late and I have much to do around the house. I love my job; I love my family; I love my life. Ain't it sickening?

carpe somnium

(I'm going to be a bestselling author.)

I know, I don't usually post on Saturday

I just wanted to stop in and say I'm beat. Why?

I headed out at 9:45AM to pick up a U-Haul pickup. I then drove to a local ranch and hand-loaded (shoveled) a few hundred pounds of manure. Thereafter, I drove back home and unloaded said manure into my garden. Wee! I had to do some pretty fancy maneuvering to get the truck backed right up to the garden, but it paid off! I just had to shove the stuff out and it fell right where I needed it.

So then I cleaned out the truck (a messy task) and drove it to Home Depot. I bought twelve bags of large bark nuggets, then went home and unloaded them. Then I cleaned out the truck again, drove the truck back to U-Haul and then came home.

I ate lunch.

Then I started carving out nasty, useless sod from around a couple of trees. I did the math and it was about 150 square feet of grass that I removed, including some dirt. This took a long time, particularly because my wheelbarrow's wheel was low on air.

It turned out I should have filled the tire, because it exploded as I was pushing a load of dirt and grass to the hill I'm making. Annemarie was kind enough to call around to local stores to find a replacement, but in the meantime, I filled large buckets with the detritus I was removing and then hand-carried them to their destination.

I zipped out and purchased a tough tire that can't get a flat, then came home and had to do some quick MacGuyvering to get it to work. Then I finished the removal process.

Oh, I put on soup for dinner for the family at some point during all of this, but I don't remember when.

I raked the dirt even and spread out my bark. I had just enough.

Whew.

So why do I share this? Because... er.. I don't know. I just wanted to record it. My back is sore (but not thrown out, don't worry) and I am beat. Now I have to go and get kids bathed.

And yet I love life. This pain means I pushed myself and broke some limits. Bathing kids means I have kids, and I made the wise choice of marrying their mother nearly ten years ago. So basically, I'm in Heaven.

carpe somnium

Just a quick update

Today was Friday, and it was a good one. I spent my morning and early afternoon sending out job applications to postings in Austin. While I did that, Annemarie read over my second draft of The Mars Betrayal.

She had some great, very useful thoughts and suggestions, so when I got to it, I was able to make some changes.

Anyway, after sending out about four or five job applications for Austin, I had lunch and then went and gave blood. Woohoo. That went fine, as it usually does. I got home and put some water on over the gardens and compost. It is getting close to time to roto-til it all up.

So then I got to work on The Mars Betrayal. I finished it off just before dinner and then sent it off to the editors. One of them got back to me to let me know he got it.

And that's it. We just watched Find Me Guilty. It was pretty good. Vin Diesel really did a good job.

Gotta run, it's late and I have a lot of work to do outside tomorrow.

2:30 AM, Thursday night/Friday morning

Well, it's late. But it's finished. The 2nd Draft of The Mars Betrayal, which is really a massive rewrite from the ground up, is finished. I knew I had to have it done today.

So now I'm listening to Men at Work on my streaming radio and writing about it in my online chronicle. (my pretentious way of saying 'my blog.')

Anyway, I feel good about it, but felt pretty good about the first draft. I obviously had no idea about what I was doing when I first wrote it. I really hope I know more of what I'm doing now. I think I addressed the issues pretty well and am fairly confident there are no plot holes.

The main issue now is that it seems long. I didn't check, (kind of scared to) but it looks like it's probably 18,000 words long.

In any case, Annemarie will read it in the morning. I hope to have it sent off tomorrow afternoon or evening. I never actually heard back about a deadline for it, but I wanted to get this off fast.

So now, unless other crap comes up for next week, I will put a pile of time into The Cabin. I am still supposed to finish it this month. The first draft, that is. When I say "supposed to" that's just by my goals.

Today I also wrote three (or four..?) articles for www.helium.com. One was a poem. And the three articles I wrote for the last contest are doing well. Two are #1, and the other is #2. The problem is that the two #1's are 1 of 2. This means that they don't count toward contest points. Arg. Titles need to have three articles to become competitive. Ugh. And the #2 is 2 of 3. So it has like 2 points.

Peh. Oh well.

I wrote a fun article about media's role in elections today, but it is an initiated title, so it's not active yet. I'll put a link to it when it goes active. I am kind of hoping it will get featured on the homepage.

As for yesterday, it was fun. Dentist was not, but it wasn't too bad. The numbness wore off just before my interview. By the end of the interview, the pain was blinding. I went to a 7/11 and got some advil in me. That really helped.

So the interview went really well. I met two ladies in it: Lena and Laurel. They are quite different from each other, but they are both top-notch. I felt it went well, as we were actually able to have a good conversation about the job and the work that would go into it. They seemed to like me as well.

At the end of the interview, they had me do a test. I won't go into specifics, simply because that seems unethical to me, but I was asked to edit a paragraph. When they came back, I gave my strong opinion of the paragraph and they said my answer was perfect! So that was nice.

Hopefully they will get back to me next week. I would like this job (particularly if it pays well), but I don't look forward to the driving up and back every day. I will miss the family if I have to do that. But we will take it as it comes.

After the interview, I went to my (hehe) audition. That actually went well too! The dude said I had a lot of inherent talent for acting. I need some training on technical areas, but I can't (and don't want to) pay for that with money or time right now. But it's something to look forward to at some point.

It's late. This is a long post. I have to go to bed.

Gonna be a bestselling author.

carpe somnium

Tasty Tuesday!

Look! Two days in a row! Tomorrow I will try to make it three, although it is set to be a beast of a day... More on that later.

Today I wrote three or four articles for Helium. I rated a pile of mostly okay stuff also. I also finished re-writing Chapter 4 of The Mars Betrayal. It's feeling good so far. Tomorrow's Wednesday, and if I get any writing done it will be a miracle. So I am going to shoot for finishing this rewrite on Thursday. I will exercise that morning, come home and eat, and then get right to The Mars Betrayal.

Anyway, I am trying to place high in a contest at Helium right now. It is the in the Real Estate category and I have a few things to say about that, so I've written three articles for it. I would really like to get one more written tomorrow before I head up to Salt Lake City.

Okay, so tomorrow, here's what's on the plate: Exercise in the morning, but only if Annemarie gets to bed at a reasonable hour. She's burning midnight oil like mad these last two days, trying to get a translating job done on time. So if she's up as late as she was last night, I will need to stay home and exercise here. If she goes to bed earlier, I will head to the Rec Center.

Then I will print out two resumes and one cover letter.

I have a dentist appointment at 11 AM for a cavity to be filled, then I will get home and try to churn out one more article for the http://www.helium.com/ contest.

Thereafter, I will head up to Salt Lake City. This is because I have an appointment for an interview with a company up there. The job is a content and copywriter position. I, obviously, think I can do the job well.

But I decided to take advantage of being in Salt Lake and I am going to drop off a resume and cover letter at the Church office building up there. I have applied again for the Assistant Editor job at The Friend magazine. This is the third time they've posted the spot, and I don't aim to give up. So the first thing I'm going to do in SLC is drop off a resume and hope to meet someone face to face. That is my dream job (if I'm going to work for anybody other than myself) so I am going to get after it.

Then I have my interview at 3PM. After that, I have, I kid you not, an audition at 5PM. I sent off for some info on a talent management agency and they have called me twice to schedule auditions to see if they want to represent me. You see, I must think I have talent. Actually I probably do, not that I want to 'make it' in Hollywood or anything. I wouldn't mind doing some ad spots though. Those babies pay the bills well.

So the audition is supposed to be about a half-hour. I will jet out of there as fast as I can and come screaming back down to Provo. This is because I have two visits to make as part of my work in my church. My first visit is set for 7PM.

Big day? Yes. I hope it goes well. I believe it will, as long as I keep my wits about me and remember to enjoy it.

So that's the plan. It's late and I really ought to go to bed. Maybe I can get some writing done tomorrow.

To anybody who is actually reading this, please know that I really appreciate the support and well-wishes. So far this has been a great experiment.

I'm gonna be a best-selling author.

Carpe somnium

Not a Manic Monday

It's late, but I need to record my writing work for the day.

I had to start my day, after exercising, with a jaunt out to the DMV, Driver License division so I could do a road test on my scooter. That took about an hour and a half, maybe two, because I had to wait forever. The test itself took less than five minutes and I passed with only three points off (I hit a cone a titch... watch out for the dangerous driver!). But I was at that place for an hour-- all for only a five minute test thingy. Yeesh.

Anyway, I then took the older boys out to Spanish School. Usually Annemarie does that but she is getting close to a deadline with her translation and she has a lot to do. Plus, I needed to go to the herb shop and resupply with some things. I really mean herbs, not anything illegal!

So when I finally got home, with lunch for Annemarie and I in hand, we ate together. I fiddled around with some applications for jobs, surfed a bit and did e-mail. Then I got to work. I wrote five articles for Helium and rated quite a bit. These articles were specifically to replace some lame ones that I wrote early on in my career at Helium. The lame ones were deleted, so I redid them and lengthened them. I am now at 810 articles there. By the way, tomorrow is the day that the Pulitzer Center decides who will become citizen journalists. So cross your fingers. I really don't know at all if I will be accepted, but I think I have a chance. My writing style is accessible and I used plenty of information in my piece.

By the time I got done with Helium, it was actually dinner time.

After the kids got to bed, I finished chapter 4, which is a big, important one, of The Mars Betrayal. It went well. This chapter is supposed to ramp things up. I may need to shorten it some, though, because the word count is getting up there and there is still a fair amount to go.

Anyway, I really have to get this book done! Tomorrow I think I will be able to spend most of my day on it. I will do some Helium in the morning, but then I think I can devote at least four hours to The Mars Betrayal. Gotta get it done as soon as possible. Maybe tomorrow!

I actually got a response from one of the jobs I applied for. This one is in SLC. The lady who I imagine runs the recruiting/marketing show would like to meet with me on Wednesday or Thursday, so that is hopeful! I may have to take the van and strand Annemarie and the kids at home one of those days in order to make this meeting though. But Annemarie said that will be fine. The thing is, if I need to meet her in SLC, I really can't take my scooter.

That's all for the day. I have to get to bed. See you tomorrow.

Carpe somnium and I am going to be a bestselling author.

What I did Friday

Today I spent my writing time on www.helium.com and on advancing The Mars Betrayal. I spent the first hour and a half on Helium, doing some rating and other such stuff.

Then I read through the completed skeleton of The Mars Betrayal. I penciled in some changes and then hit the PC. So I've finished three chapters now and am well into chapter 4. It's going well, although I had wanted to finish this week. I will try to get chapter 4 done tomorrow, despite it being Saturday. Then on Monday I hope to finish this second draft. That way I will read through it Monday night and have some others read through it as well. Then I will send it along.

I will also do some Helium stuff tomorrow and Monday. I think all of my responsibilities with ChartedCourse are fulfilled for now. I know there will be more to do in a couple weeks, but The Mars Betrayal needs my attention.

Arg. I really want to get to The Cabin. I'll make the time. I will.

I'm going to write a bestseller.

This is goodnight to anyone who is reading this. I recommend the movie August Rush. If you're a cynic, you won't like it. If you glory in your un-cynical nature, you will love it. Let it work its magic. This is probably number 2 or 3 on my list of favorite movies. Love it.

Yikes, a few days behind

The week has been okay, but I have been unusually tired during the afternoon, which is usually my solid writing time.

Anyway, I sent off the finalized User Manual to ChartedCourse. Hooray! Apparently launch for the Program is set to happen on the 20th. Good for them.

Today I finished the restructuring of The Mars Betrayal and I am excited to write it up. That will be tomorrow's job. I will get it all done tomorrow. You might ask why. Well, we writers got an e-mail outlining the timeline expected with our books. They're looking to have them in sales packages come mid year. So maybe July. That means that we need to get stuff done quickly. I need to have this draft ready immediately, and it needs to be good. So I have the skeleton redone and am going over it to make sure there are no plot holes and that characters are motivated well. I am still trying to find a way to flesh out the villain some, but that's kind of hard with the length limitations I have.

I'll find a way.

So with the second, good draft done, I will probably need to submit an art brief regarding artwork I think would work, and where I suppose it ought to go. Then I need to work up some proposals as to what the expository subject matter will be. I'm not sure, but I think I might put together a chronicle of the history of space travel over the last four or five decades.

I still fully intend to finish The Cabin this month. I'll squeeze it in. I'll probably start working on it after kids are in bed, in order to get my 5000 words a day.

Now, onto something more personal. I am, blessedly, back in touch with a wonderful lady who is pretty much my oldest friend. I don't mean that she is older than any other friend I have. I mean she is the only friend I have that has been my friend since I was seventeen. Aside, of course, from the folks I grew up with in the Foundation Faith of God. In other words, Jena is the first friend I made outside of the FFoG.

Anyway, she sent me an e-mail and we have been e-mailing lots this week. So Jena, if you're reading this, thanks for sending that e-mail! I'll keep the mushiness to a minimum here on this blog.

So she lives in Austin, which is a place we've actually (I kid you not) been considering as a place to relocate to. Right now I am heavily into a job search. I even interviewed yesterday for a job I don't really want, but that I could do and probably enjoy doing. And I would enjoy the regular $$ that comes from an 8-5 job too. But what I was going to say was that we've seen several possibilities for employment in Austin, and we like the looks of the place and the housing values down there. Our $$ will go farther down there than here in Utah, and we need a bigger house.

But now it's late and I have to run. I really need to get enough sleep tonight. Of course, I've been up late folding laundry. Oh well. Now the pile's gone anyway. If you don't have four growing, insane kids, you don't know what it is to have a pile of laundry. Whew.

Reporting on my Monday

Okay, it didn't go as well as I had hoped, but lofty ambitions are good.

I was able to get the User Manual finished to the best of what I can do. Still waiting on one more image so I can finish it up.

I headed out for a couple hours, as it turned out, to get some resumes dropped off, as I wanted to try to drum up some more clients for my Proofreading biz. I got some contact info for a Nuskin guy, and then headed to Nature's Sunshine, a big but local herb and health company. I take a massive pile of their herbs every day already, so I know they're good. It turns out that they are looking for a part time copywriter. So I applied for the job! I would expect to hear back about it, although it's a little below my current level. The work would be pretty simplistic and the pay ain't gonna make me millions. But, the thing is, that's fine. I need the work and the money and I can do good work for them. Hey, maybe I'd get a discount on all the herbs I take...

Then I tried to switch over my Drivers License to Utah, as my current one is from Alaska and it is expiring in a month and a half. I need to renew before it expires, as I don't want to have to do a driving test. That didn't happen, because the office here in Provo doesn't do state switch-overs. Arg. I'll probably get it done tomorrow, because I plan on taking the older boys out to Orem to do their Spanish School.

So I got back and went right to work on The Mars Betrayal. It's coming together well; I am still reframing. I didn't get it all reframed, but I will finish tomorrow. I am now at a point where the chapters that are left are pretty well in sync, but I will tweak tomorrow so it is all seamless and has no more plot holes. Then I will do at least one chapter in it.

This means that today I could not work on my passion project: The Cabin. Arg again. I pray I will be able to make the time tomorrow to do so. I really want to get this done. I will have it done by the end of March. I will. Because I want to have it ready for submission by the middle of May.

But that's all for now. That sort of outlines my day tomorrow as well, so I will report on how well it goes tomorrow night. By the way, we have been watching Season 4 of the Office online in order to be caught up when it comes back on TV. That show is genius. And, yes I'm a sap, but I really admire how nicely they're doing the Jim/Pam thing. The show has its heart in the right place. Steve Carell is amazing.

I'm going to be a bestselling author. *Keep telling yourself that.* Okay.

That's all! Thanks for tuning in.

My plan for Monday

A new week, a new day, lots of stuff to get done.

A final report on last week: started a massive rewrite of The Mars Betrayal and am confident in its direction. I did get some work done on The Cabin during the week, and I even did just over a thousand words on Saturday. I also did some work for ChartedCourse, applied for a few jobs, got one response on a part-time freelance job and am now waiting for more information, and tried to professionalize my business. Finally, I won some cash from Helium and broke 800 articles last week.

I'm looking at getting into some real estate invesment this week.

Today I will do the final work (yes there's more) on the ChartedCourse member manual. I'll also get some info from Blake on what he needs me to do next. My guess is that I need to get to work on the other manual; the one for directors.

Then I will continue with the re-framing of The Mars Betrayal, with a plan to finish the reframing and then do chapter 2. Then I want to spend at least two or three hours (maybe more...) on The Cabin. I am eager to work on this book, more than I have been for any other project. I want to do a good job! I want to see where my character is going.

So that's my day. I'll report later.

Reporting on my Thursday

Thankfully, the pain of the last weekend has faded mostly away. I am still getting the occasional spasm, and sneezing still kills, but otherwise, I'm good.

So today was a nice day. I had to stay up a little to get what I needed to done in The Cabin, but that's fine. I can't finish it this week, particularly since I need to get lots of stuff done in The Mars Betrayal in a short period of time.

I started my day, as I planned, by getting to work on The Mars Betrayal. I wrote a new chapter that should take the book in the correct direction. I've ramped up tension and have tried to explore my characters more. In the first version, I know that I allowed the vocabulary constraints to affect the story telling I was trying to do. Not this time. I will tell the story and then work on the vocab. So I spent about 2 and a half hours on this project and stopped at noon to help Annemarie get out of here on time to get the older boys to their Spanish school. Lily, our only girl, went and had a play date at a friend's house, so it was just me and the little guy, Nathaniel. We took a walk, which I really enjoyed, then he got to watch a little Baby Einstein.

While he watched that, I had some lunch and read a little in the Book of Mormon. It's a good book, I tell you. When he was done, Annemarie was back, so we put him down for a nap and I went to get Lily so that Annemarie could read the chapter I did this morning. When I got back, she pointed some things out but mostly approved. Then I took a nap.

I did this nap thing because I haven't been sleeping very well. I think it may be stress related, as well as due to not sleeping at a consistent hour. Anyway, my nap was just over an hour, which was fine, but a little long. I ate a snack of raisins and then took a reading walk in the brisk afternoon. Annemarie had left to pick up the older boys, taking the other two, just as I woke up, so I was on my own.

With my walk done, I read a little more, but then got back to work and wrote an article on www.helium.com. Hey, I'm in second place in a contest that will finalize tomorrow! Isn't that shocking? I'm at 801 articles. I really hope to hit a thousand this year. One a day will get it done. I also rated quite a bit, as I feel like my citizenship on Helium has been sad.

Anyway, I then opened up The Cabin and started to go through it so I could pick up the thread. But it was dinner time.

After the kids were in bed, we watched the first episode of this season's The Office. Then I wrote in The Cabin. I did just over two thousand words in just over an hour! Woohoo! I got rolling, and it felt great. Mike is an enjoyable character to work with. I'm interested in his story.

So I did what I set out to do this morning. Making goals, doing them, and now reporting on them. It's a divine pattern. Now I need to hit the sack. Tomorrow I need to exercise, hit the chiropractor one last time, and then do more on The Mars Betrayal, The Cabin and www.helium.com. Hopefully I will get one of the jobs I've applied for. I would like the one at The Friend, as it's in my chosen field and pays well. But I would take the Testing Supervisor job here at BYU as well.

I need to stop. This is long. If you've made it this far, you are either a true friend or family. That's practically the same thing.

My dream. My bestseller that I WILL write.

carpe somnium

Making a plan

I'm here to make a plan for my day.

More and more I have found myself uncomfortable with my abilities as a novelist. I have too often found myself feeling like I am in over my head, and that I really don't understand well the art and process of crafting a novel.

This has recently been demonstrated as a truth, since I just got comments back on The Mars Betrayal. It has major issues that need dealing with. So I am going to get back to work on it and I am going to make it better.

I will become a better novelist. As I do so, I will get closer to being able to write that bestseller I am going to compose.

Today I will put 2-3 hours into The Mars Betrayal. That will be my work for this morning.

I will then rate at www.helium.com for about thirty minutes. I will then write an article on the site and then rate a little more.

For my afternoon, I will (unless this gets derailed by job applications, which I will report on tonight) work on The Cabin. Gotta finish draft one and then get to work on revision soon.

So that's my day. I will report on it tonight. Gotta make daily goals and do them and report on them. That's how I will take the steps needed to become a better novelist and successful as a writer.

And an addendum...

I forgot to say two things:

I have applied for a few jobs in the last week and a bit. I reapplied to the job at The Friend, as well as applying to a few others. I want that job at The Friend. I just hope they see that I really can do it and would be the best guy for the spot.

And I am going to write a best-seller. I may be in the midst of that right now. But it is a fact. I will be a best-selling novelist.

Pain pain and now none

Wow, the last four days have been nutzo. It's Tuesday night and today was the first day I was able to write since last Thursday. Here's why:

I woke up Friday morning with a sharp pain in my upper back. I tried to stretch it out, as I have woken up with soreness before. No good. I thought that maybe I had pulled something a little the day before when I was exercising, so I figured I would just grin and bear it. I had been planning on heading to Salt Lake City to take the older boys to see a friend's car show, but I couldn't go in the morning due to misinformation. Then, the pain continued and I ended up having to cancel the entire trip.

As the day went on (I'm telling this oddly.. oh well), the pain grew more intense and would actually lay me low every so often. I could barely move! It would flash and stab like a cold knife into my spine. So I found a chiropractor that was low-cost and that could see me that afternoon. Turns out this is a great office and quite a find. But anyway, the chiropractor was very good, but the adjustment didn't help. In fact, by the end of the day, the pain was also in my chest and I felt like my sternum must be cracked open. I began to wonder if the chiropractor had done some damage.

So I basically lay like an invalid in my easy chair for the rest of the day. I thought maybe I could sleep it off somewhat, and went to bed full of hope. No luck. I didn't sleep much, mainly because I couldn't get into a spot where it would stop hurting. Ibuprofen was having little to no effect as well.

Saturday was Hintze's (son number 2) birthday, and we had a good party planned. He had some friends over and it was a nice, fun time. My dad came down at the end of the party and stayed for a couple hours. Now, my father is the Manager of the Neuro-Critical Care unit at the University of Utah hospital. He knows his stuff well. So I told him about the pain and he named it: intercostal muscle spasms. He guessed that I had maybe a somewhat separated rib.

And the pain was as strong as it had ever been. This was insane. It would come and go, like I imagine labor contractions do. I doubt it was as bad as contractions, but this was like nothing I had really ever felt before, mainly because I saw no end to it.

Saturday was another rough night: A few hours of sleep and I ended up on my easy chair. It seemed being somewhat propped up relieved some of the pressure. Sunday morning dawned and I had meetings at Church from 7 AM until noon, and that was a long morning, let me tell you. It seemed the pain was lessening though, although it had begun to move more to my chest and away from the back. It hurt to swallow. Not like a sore throat, but like I was cracking open my chest with each swallow. The muscles, you see. These muscles are used to breathe (I had been breathing shallowly for three days by this time) and to help get food down the throat.

So I spent most of Sunday afternoon and evening in my easy chair, dozing and trying not to move. Sunday night was better. I still ended up in my easy chair, but I got a little more sleep and the pain was mostly in my left shoulder by Monday morning. Throughout Monday, the pain was still strong, knocking me down a couple times and still making mealtime a painful, laborious process.

This morning I went to the chiropractor again. Soon after that adjustment, the pain in my left upper torso was fading to a dull ache. Now, it's just a little tender. I don't really know what caused all this, but it was quite an experience. I'm still getting a spasm here and there in my chest, but it is mostly gone.

Anyway, because of all this, I was only able to really write today. I finally made it to 800 articles on www.helium.com. Check me out at: http://www.helium.com/user/show/45690

I am also going to rate every morning now for about a half hour. This way I will be able to get my rating stars back and feel better about the money I make from them. Tomorrow is a big day. I am going to get into The Cabin like mad, because I am going to try to finish the first draft this week.

I have been falling behind on my fiction reading the last few weeks, as I have really stepped up my reading of scriptures and other sacred and Gospel-related texts. I feel good about this, but I miss my novels, and I have quite a list I am trying to get to.

Tomorrow I will exercise, but I think I better lay off the weights for another day or two. I'll just stick to cardio.