Muse Conference---Are You Here?

A few weeks ago both Nikki and I encouraged you all to sign up for the FREE online writers conference hosted by Muse-it-Up. I hope there are many of you here, wandering down the virtual halls with me. I was so excited. It's my first conference in forever, and I was really looking forward to it. But....life got in the way, so instead of being online all day, I'm getting to do little snippets here and there. There is one Workshop that I refuse to miss, however. The Book Factory, led by author Kerri Nelson. Even though we've just started, I thought I'd share the first thing she shared with us.

The first principle is breaking your day down into 15 minute increments, and finding 15 minutes here and there to dedicate to writing. The exercise she asked of us was to write down our day in 15 minute increments to see where we could squeeze out some more writing time.

So after fighting it all day yesterday and today, I finally wrote down what I did.


6 am- alarm #1 goes off. Hit snooze.


6:15 am- alarm #2 goes off. Hit snooze.


6:30 am- alarms #3 and #4 go off. Hit snooze. Twice.


7 am- wake up to my own voice screaming in my head, "Wake Up! You're going to be late!" Wake up 14 year old and 11 year old. 6 year old decides to wake up, so I send her in to snuggle with Daddy.


7:15 am- get dressed, encourage kids (loudly) to get up and get moving. Get breakfast for 14, try to get 11 to get into the shower.


7:35 am- rush 14 out the door to pick up rest of carpool. Leave 11 home, staring at the wall in a drowsy haze, still not in the shower.


8:10 am- get home from dropping of 14, rush 11 and 6 into clothes, hair done, breakfast eaten. (11 never did take a shower.)


8:35 am- take 11 and 6 to school.


8:50 am- still in the $#@! traffic getting my kids to school. Yes, they will be late.


9:00 am- get home and make breakfast for 4 year old and 3 year old while hubby takes a shower to prep for job interview.


9:15 am- do dishes while keeping 4 and 3 from killing each other and/or having a cereal fight. Try to get 3 to go to the bathroom (potty training).


9:30 am to 10:30 am- sit at computer and go through email, facebook, and blogs. Open Word and choose a project to work on. Close Word when 4 and 3 start screaming in the other room, and give up the computer to 4 so he will stop fighting with his brother. (It doesn't work, by the way, because 3 decides he wants the computer, too.) Try to get 3 to go to the bathroom.


10:30 am to 12:30 pm- variations on housework, kids, and cheering on hubby as he continues job search. Try to get 3 to...Sigh. Clean up after 3 has major blow out from refusing to go to the bathroom.


12:30 pm- make lunch and clean up from lunch, including the pile of melting ice from 3's enjoyment of the in door ice dispenser on the fridge. Try to get 3 to go to the bathroom


1:00 pm to 3:30 pm- variations on the mommy theme. Try to get 3 to go to the bathroom.


3:30 pm to 11:00 pm- welcome home kids, prep dinner, get kids started on homework, run 14 to choir practice carpool, have dinner, get kids to finish homework and do a job or two, send 14 to youth activity, send 11 to scouts, do dinner, get 3 little ones ready for bed, clean up 2nd poop accident of the day, still trying to get 14 and 11 to finish homework and go to bed, chase 6, 4, and 3 back into bed multiple times, finally get 14 and 11 to go to bed.


11:00 pm to 2:00 am: spend time with hubby, detoxing from day in front of computer watching a movie or TV show, send hubby to bed, think about writing, get disgusted with myself because I didn't write one blasted thing all day, open up Word and type two sentences before I fall asleep.


2:00 am- Wake up with a stiff neck and drool on my chin, stumble down the hall and crawl into bed.


Rinse and repeat.



If I give up one of these things, I find time to write. If I write, something (usually housework) goes to the bottom of the list. So I will never post pictures of my house. Ever.