Hmm, it was hard to come up with a ROW80 theme this week. We have President’s Day (grade-school children in tall hats and fake beards, reading patriotic poetry), Mardi Gras (wild, bead-throwing, it-stays-in-Vegas revelry), and for some of us, Lent (religious, penitent, swearing off – gasp! – chocolate).
Then I remembered…Fasnacht Day, originally a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. It is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday (the same day as Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras). A fasnacht is a deep-fried (in lard) pastry, like a donut, often dusted with sugar. The fasnacht tradition has sort of merged with the Polish paczki (a donut filled with jelly that was traditionally eaten the week before Lent), and so fasnachts are often filled with creme or jelly now, too.
Perfect theme, I’m thinking. Who doesn’t love a donut? Or even better, an excuse to eat one? World unity through donuts.
Good thing “not eating donuts” isn’t part of my goals. But how did I do this week?
My goals:
1. Check-ins on Sundays.
Done!
2. Blog posts on Tues/Fri schedule.
My husband Paul and I co-wrote a Valentine’s Day post about “foibles,” where we got to expound upon each other’s little…well, let’s call them “eccentricities.” It seemed to strike a chord with a lot of folks, who enjoyed the mutual teasing we inflicted on each other shared. Friday was a quick re-posting of 19th century indoor toilets. I was writing a post about Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, but WordPress stopped cooperating and I lost material, grrr. I’ll post that this Friday instead.
3. Research/write new historical mystery for WWBC group; work on sequel to first book.
I spent the first part of last week revising and expanding upon my antagonist’s profile for my WWBC group. He just wasn’t enough of a bad boy, so I bumped up his personality a few more notches on the Mean-O-Meter, and upped his street cred by having him kill a couple more people. I love my work.
While Piper rips to shreds reviews the profile, I spent the rest of the week using post-Its and a story board to arrange my scenes for the other novel I’m working on, Unseemly Pursuits. So those cats have been herded (mostly). It’s not complete, but I need to start writing and let the process itself open up new possibilities. That’s always a tough leap for me; I want it to be totally plotted out ahead of time, but I end up changing it along the way, anyway.
4. Support fellow writers/bloggers.
Balancing writing and social media is definitely going more smoothly these days. Used to be I just …couldn’t …resist …checking my email …must …read …her blog post …now! But I’m able to set them aside for times when I come up for air during writing sessions, or before/after writing. What a lot of fab bloggers and writers there are out in the blogosphere!
5. Exercise.
This week was about the same as last week: I got one dedicated walk, and ran up and down stairs on several days. Also, I don’t know if it counts, but I took the youngest and his friend to an indoor pool/mini-waterpark yesterday afternoon and did some swimming. It didn’t seem like much at the time, but I slept like a rock last night! The goal to exercise more consistently continues to elude me. Sigh. I really need a walking buddy or a destination, like Jenny Hansen is doing. Go Jenny!
So how are my fellow ROWers doing! Hope all of you have had a great week! Hope you get to enjoy a donut!
Until next time,
Kathy
Nice job, Kathy! Especially moving the WWBC project forward, totally (making me look bad) inspirational. I keep posts I can’t get to but want to read as active tabs in my browser and generally by Sunday am able to catch up (which I did earlier this morning). You are right on about there being a host of awesome bloggers out there.
Have a great week 🙂
LOL…leave it to Gene (the guy who surpassed 7,000 freaking words this week) to tell you you’re making him look bad.
Thank you, Gene, for that quick giggle. The both of you completely inspire me!
I’m with Jenny on this one, Gene! It’s gonna be a cold day in hell before I make YOU look bad, LOL. Thanks for the support!
I’m not an official ROWer, but I have to plan a little bar mitzvah every day, knock out something for blog — even if I’m not hitting submit — and work on my WIP. I’m 200 pages in and have checked in with my writing partner. And I even exercised and (wait for it) shopped for clothes. I hate shopping. But I got some great deals. Thank you Presidents Day!
I’m glad to know you had some WP struggles this week. Misery lives company. I couldn’t get things to pst n Thursday. Frustrating.
Good for you fr making your goals. And I got my King Cake last week when I was in NOLA! 😉
Loved your pic with the beads, Renee! Enjoy your King Cake!
Fantastic week Kathy! Wow, your work on both novels sounds intense and amazing! I am so jealous…storyboarding…ahhh!!!
Consistent exercise alluded me again last week as well so I feel ya…it’s hard and it’s always the first thing to go. I think as long as we keep striving, it’s all good.
Here’s to another BANG up week on tap for you!
And HELL YES to the fasnacht! YUM!
That’s the first thing I did today – got a donut! Thanks for the kudos, Natalie!
I have to say that I’ve never heard of the fasnacht. But I do love a jelly donut. Now I’m hungry Kathy!
But you did Rock the Row last week Kathy. You got a lot of your goals met. I here your pain with conflict. I too am trying to bump it up a notch or two. It sounds like you’re getting there.
I like your check-ins Kathy. I never know what food you will be tormenting us with. LOL!
Have a great week girl! 🙂
Kind of sad, how fixated I am with food, LOL! Thanks for the visit and support, Karen!
World unity through donuts – I love it! And I love donuts, though I don’t allow myself to eat them because I can’t stop at one.
Exercise isn’t just what one does in a gym. Swimming is awesome exercise. You’re moving and that’s what’s important. Stairs, swimming and a walk all elevated your heart rate and that’s 3+ workouts for the week. I think that’s great! Wishing you another great week ahead!
Thanks, Marcia! I’m hoping to plant some lettuce this week – hope that will count as exercise!
Thanks for Fasnacht Day and donuts through the ether. Hard to beat either one. Enjoy stopping by your blog, although I don’t comment regularly but always enjoy your writing style.
Karen
*eyeballing those donuts*
I’m TRYING to lose weight, chickie! Could you help a sister out and not post those grand looking “Fats-knees?!”
You helped me figure out the rest of my post for tomorrow, my dear. THANK YOU!!!
I love the slogan: “World unity through donuts!” I’m on board.
Great job with your goals. Since I tossed exercise off my goal list this round (stupid mono), I’m no help as an exercise buddy. I could eat a donut with you, but that wouldn’t really help, would it?
Best wishes, Kathy! Have a great ROW80 week.
Wow, Julie, that’s a shame about the mono! Hope you’ve been recovering ok. Here, have a donut. 😉