I’m just 75 miles away from riding 1,000 miles on my mountain bike this year (between sometime in June, I think, and now). The best news is that I’ve lost 20 pounds and had to go find some new professional clothes for a live presentation I’ll be giving a week from tomorrow night because I’m swimming in my old clothes. My sis told me about a sale at her favorite professional clothing store so I went there and bought two three-piece outfits, plus a necklace, bracelet and a couple of scarves for just a little over $200 (after a 55% discount). I cannot believe how good I look in them.
I got a few other professional clothing items at a discount store, too, so I have at least six new outfits in the proper size. I realize I’ll probably have to do this again as soon as I lose another 20 pounds, but that probably won’t be until springtime. The clothes I just got are fall-type clothes, so come springtime I’ll get a few more outfits and see if I can get these new ones taken in (at a reasonable cost) by a seamstress or tailor . If not, I can donate them and get more. (Yes, I’m committed to losing more weight now, not just interested in it.)
In Other News…
It was a crazy day today because the power company was outside on our street all day long with people on power poles messing with connections, assuring us we’d lose power between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., so I took off at 9:15 a.m. for a four mile walk, then came back and shopped (as mentioned above). After that, I went to Orting to ride my bike for 15 miles. So I was far from idle! I just wasn’t able to WORK (write, email, etc.)
As far as I can tell, the lights never did go out at our place: I don’t see any blinking lights on appliances or clocks but I wouldn’t have been able to do anything online anyway because at any moment whatever I was working on could have been plunged into darkness, so as far as I’m concerned, I was power-less today since I couldn’t rely on electricity. The signs were big and bad outside: POWER OUTAGE BETWEEN 9 AM AND 3 PM TODAY!
Right…
Oh, well!
What else? Hmmm… I managed to edit something for Chris Galbraith (Chuck’s Automotive, Seattle) this evening and proofread two documents for the Assaraf folks, but that was it for this day. Not exactly a lucrative day. I spent more than I made today. (That’s an oddity, thank God!) But I needed to do it unless I wanted to be the talk of the town (in a bad way) next Thursday night at Umpqua Bank where I’ll be speaking on how to write your own riveting 30-second elevator pitch (commercial), how to write a core story that will turn listeners into loyalists and “viral sneezers”, and how to write a compelling professional bio.
My publisher is a little behind on my books because she has had a bout of illness, but she says she’ll have them both uploaded tonight so I can order a proof of both of them to be sure they’re perfect before I offer them for sale… or send them out to the winners of my last contest. Just know, winners, that they’ll be on their way shortly. I promised them sometime in November, so I hope to be able to get them out in early November. If everything looks great in the galleys, that should happen! WHEEE!
