Yay, Me!

I was sooooo good yesterday. When I stop slacking, I really stop slacking. I got large portions of my living room tidied. I got my grocery shopping done. I was even ready to write early -- but then as I was making tea in preparation for writing, I realized I couldn't remember putting away certain grocery items I knew I'd bought. I double checked the refrigerator, then went back out to the car to make sure I hadn't left them in there. I ended up putting the tea in a thermos and heading back to the store. Sure enough, the bag with those items was still there. After rewinding the event in my head, I think I know what happened. There was only one lane open, the express lane, so I had grocery guilt for checking out with my reasonably full cart, even though that was the only option. The person in line behind me had something like two items. After the checker finished bagging my groceries, he turned to check out the next person instead of putting my bags in my cart (like they usually do in that store). I put my bags in my cart myself, getting all that were there, then when I turned to make sure I had all my bags, there was one more bag sitting there. I thought it was the next person's bag, since she was already paying. It turns out it was my bag, and the checker must have moved it up from the little bag rack below the counter while I was putting the other bags in my cart. I know he saw me looking at it, so I don't know why he didn't say anything and let me walk out without it. Grrr. It's only a couple of miles to the store, but still, it takes at least fifteen minutes to get there and back.

So, I ended up being later than I planned to get to work, but that didn't matter because I finished chapter four and chapter five. It was more than 6,000 words, about 25 pages. I'm now approximately one-quarter through with the book (though I suspect this one will run slightly longer than my usual 100,000 word target).

But the really good thing (sort of) is that I now know I'm definitely in writing mode with my brain in the book because I can't get to sleep. The moment my eyes close, my brain kicks into gear, revising the parts I've just written (the subconscious is great about coming up with ways to enhance existing scenes) and playing out the parts in the story that come next. It took me about two hours after I got to bed before I was finally able to sleep, and even then I kept waking up and having a hard time getting back to sleep again. That's part of why I tend to write so fast when I'm really into a book. I'm so desperate for a good night's sleep, and the only way to get it is to finish the book.

I don't think I got my thirty minutes of exercise yesterday, though I did do some exercises with wrist weights and some crunches while my spaghetti sauce was simmering (yes, I even cooked!).

Now that I know what happens next and have rehearsed it in my head (repeatedly), I may even get to work right after lunch instead of goofing around until my usual three o'clock start time.