On a Break



Arnie has no problem relaxing...even on my laptop!

I'm a huge FRIENDS fan. I own the whole series and still watch even though I can pretty much say the dialogue along with the characters. Remember when Ross and Rachel were "on a break" and that became something of a catch phrase?

Well that's kind of where I am right now.

On a break.

Me and writing. We are on a break.

See, I've taken on too much over the past few years. This year alone, I have 6 published works releasing.

That means I've been on a constant deadline for a very long time. And that was a real blessing--I'm fully aware of that. I've been so blessed to get the opportunity to write those books. I love each of them dearly and can't wait for readers to read them. I've loved (almost) every minute of it, except for those long sleepless nights toward the end of each deadline when I fear that I've lost the ability to write.

But a few months ago, I took a hard look at my life--and I didn't like what I saw. My super wise grandmother told me that she feared I was WRITING about life instead of LIVING it.

Yikes.

And the truth is, she was right.

Somewhere along the way, between working full time for NFT and writing on a constant deadline, I'd become a shell of a person. I regularly missed family dinners and get togethers and reunions with my friends. I rarely went anywhere. My excuse? "I have to work. Sorry. Maybe next time."

Even worse, I realized that when I did get together with my family and friends, I WASN'T PRESENT. Not really. My body was there, but my mind was with my manuscript. The tension that I carried with me, knowing I was running behind (as I always was) on a deadline prevented me from really enjoying those moments.

There was always a little piece of me that thought if I wasn't at work, then I should be writing. Or editing. Or working on galleys.

And that piece kept me from being fully present in my own life.

From fully being able to have a good time and live in the moment.

How awful!

So I'm on a break. Sure, I have galleys for two more books that will be due soon, but other than that, I'm taking some time off. Time to live. Time to enjoy life. Time to unpack my house that still has boxes in every room because I haven't had time to unpack even though I moved months ago.

So for a couple of months, I'm on a break. A friend told me recently that I needed to learn to relax. You know what? That is exactly right. I don't relax very well because I always have this idea that there is something else I should be doing.

So I'm going to  take time to smell the roses. I'm going to sit in my backyard and read books. I'm going to watch movies. I'm going to paint my kitchen. I'm taking a tap and ballet class for fun. I'm going to cook new recipes. I'm going to spend more time with my family and see my friends as much as possible. I'm going to stop taking myself so seriously and laugh a little bit more.

And when I come back to my laptop, things are going to change. I'm not going to let myself get overloaded again. I'm going to be more selective when it comes to saying 'yes' to projects. Even better, I'm certain my little self-imposed sabbatical will make my future books better.

I think I'll come back inspired and eager to get back to work. I already have some book ideas brewing in my head that I'm sure will need to come out soon.

But for now...

I'm on a break.

Back to the Blog

Well, I've been on a blogging hiatus for a couple of weeks. Life has gotten crazy hectic again.

I'm working a lot on the Summer Scrubs program, which is rapidly approaching. I've already ordered scrubs for all of the students (364 sets of scrubs, thank you very much) and am anxiously waiting on them to get in. They have to go to the screen printer by July 1st, so time is ticking.

And I turned in roughly 1/3 of my novel to an editor last Friday. It's okay, but I'm not satisfied with it. I think in my quest to make the hero a "dream guy" I unfortunately didn't make him quite real enough. Even the best of us have flaws. :) So now I'm trying to come up with a better, more believable character for him that makes him believable yet dreamy just the same. Any suggestions? I'm just hoping that the editor will like it enough to want more, even though hero man is a little cardboard right now. We'll see.

To top it off, I got a brown recluse spider bite last week. It's been pretty awful, but I'm happy to report that it's beginning to heal.

And the song of the day today is Closing Time by Semisonic. Might seem like an odd choice. But I've always liked it. And just for the record, despite what it sounds like, it is actually about being born, not about a bar closing. :) Seriously, I looked it up.

But I've always particularly liked the line "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Truer words were never spoken!

Belated Blog

So I actually wrote the following post a week ago and had "blogger" problems, so am just now posting it.....

I'm writing this from my hotel room in downtown Mobile. I'm here for a week of "on site" work. (as opposed to the weeks of "from home" work I've been doing for the past few months)

The 2 day event I've been planning for the past few months is this week, and thus far, everything is going well. Of course the event doesn't start until Thursday, and there will be many a fire to put out between now and then!

This event is such a cool thing. I will definitely post pictures later in the week. We will have a mock disaster staged in the parking lot of the Civic Center. (I have a towing company bringing 2 wrecked cars tomorrow and they will put them together as if they were just in a car crash) Both days, the Fire Truck and Ambulance will be on hand, just to add to the drama of the scene.

As the busloads of students get to the event, I will put them into groups and place them in a staging area where they will hear speakers from area hospitals while they wait their turn.

Then they will be taken one group at a time, first to an area where there is a tape player set up. There they will hear a 911 call. (I played the role of the 911 Dispatcher...) Once they've heard the mock call, they will go to the scene of the accident. (kind of gruesome, with a body lying on the concrete by the cars...he is portraying a drunk driver)

Then they will go with the EMTs and actually learn what they would do for the victims. (in this case, it will include CPR, intubating, and delivering a baby!) The students actually do this hands on, working on special mannequins. In exactly 10 minutes, a siren will sound and the students will take their "patients" into the ER. (every 10 minutes, a new group moves into the exhibit.)

In the ER, students will learn to start an IV and other things that would go on in there. From there, they go to radiology/lab, where they look at x-rays with a radiologist and check out the patient's labwork with a lab tech. From there, they go to surgery where they have to amputate a leg, among other things! Then they go to the patient's room, where the nurses will teach them to give a shot and listen to the baby's heartbeat. (the baby they delivered earlier at the accident scene) Then it's on to respiratory therapy for some breathing treatments for the asthmatic boy who was in the wreck, as well as a stop at the Pharmacy to learn how the Pharmacist plays a role in the treatment. After that, they go to Rehab, where they learn to do Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Exercise Physiology. Finally, they stop at the discharge nurse/case manager, to learn what the orders will be upon the patient's discharge from the hospital.

As you might've guessed, this event is meant to introduce students to various healthcare careers, but in a very cool and exciting way. The students who attend (I'm expecting 1000!) will be hands on through the whole process, from getting the "patients" out of the ambulance, all the way to discharging them.

This is my 4th year to plan and coordinate the event, and it is always a nervewracking time. Over the course of the 2 days, I will have around 300 volunteers, as well as 1000 students and around 75-100 counselors and teachers who will all be relying on me to make sure everything runs smoothly. It's a high pressure couple of days, especially working out the inevitable kinks on Thursday morning. My favorite part will be Friday afternoon, when things are running on their own and I will actually have a chance to go through all the exhibits and watch the event in action. But there is a long road ahead of me between now and then!

Beginning at 8am on Thursday, we will have a new school group every 10 minutes for several hours. Ditto on Friday. Between parking buses, making sure the food and drinks for volunteers are replenished, and directing the numerous volunteers to their spots, it is quite a hectic couple of days.

But still a great event! See below for a few pictures!


This was the mock car crash--we put a little plug in to tell kids "don't drink and drive" by making the cause of the crash driving while intoxicated. In our scenario, the drunk driver didn't make it.


Another view of the accident scene. You can see the fire truck in the back.


Ambulance on the scene--the kids got to pull the mock victims out of the ambulance just like in a real emergency.


This is just a shot of some of my artwork! I drew and painted pictures for each career represented, and the ambulance is one of my favorites!


More of my artwork! This was in the Emergency Room exhibit.


This is the "Surgery" exhibit. The kids got to amputate the "leg" of the victim. (also see a view of more of my artwork in the background!)


Nursing exhibit--students learning how to listen to the heartbeat of a newborn baby.


Nursing exhibit where there students learned to give shots.


Pharmacy Exhibit where the students learned what goes on in a Pharmacy.