Go, Me!

I had a rather full weekend. Friday was quite a productive day. I did five loads of laundry (and put it all away and remade the bed), made a loaf of Irish soda bread, baked a truly evil pecan fudge pie (new recipe), and finished the first draft of my book.

I already know that it will need revising, and the big climactic action sequence definitely needs work. It seems that I made too foolproof a plan. I was so careful to have the characters think of contingencies and be smart about it all, and then after I wrote it I realized that a perfect plan executed flawlessly makes for less interesting fiction. I don't have to make the characters dumber, but I can have them run into something unexpected that throws a monkey wrench into the works. Even the best plan can't account for absolutely everything that might happen in a chaotic system where other people have free will. I also have a lot of tinkering to do earlier in the book to set up what comes later. My mom calls this "Bill and Tedding," after the running gag in the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, in which the time travelers keep getting out of sticky situations by telling each other to remember to go back in time later and put the thing they need in place. And then the thing they need suddenly is there. So now I need to go back in time and put all those things in place.

On Saturday, there was a get-together with friends, and that evening I finished knitting the cape I've been working on for months. So, yet another months-long project completed in the weekend.

Sunday morning, I was the soloist in the choir anthem for church, so I went to bed early Saturday night, adapting to the time change at bedtime. I was supposed to lead the preschool Sunday school singing, which meant getting to church a little earlier, but it turned out there weren't any kids because it was the start of spring break. Instead, I ended up getting a Harp 101 lesson and then I practiced my solo with the organist. I'm really glad I had the time to do that because I'd only heard the accompaniment on the piano, and it would have been frightening to hear it on the organ for the first time when I was performing it. I got to run through it a few times with her, then a few times with the choir and even with the microphone, so when I actually sang it, I was rather calm and confident. It was almost an out-of-body experience. People have told me it was good. I think it was okay and they weren't just being polite. But because I'm a raging perfectionist, there are things I know could have been better (and every time I have a solo, the sermon seems to end up being about perfectionism).

I spent Sunday afternoon reading a book I've been asked to provide a cover blurb for.

So, not bad for a weekend. It's supposedly spring break this week, but that only affects children's choir and dance. I still had yoga and still have a choir rehearsal. I'm eager to dig into revisions on the book. Now that the story is out, I can concentrate on making it better. I can also go back to doing more piano practice since I don't have to worry so much about practicing a solo.