bumps in the road

Even best laid plans have a tendency to go awry. There are unpredictable factors you can’t plan for, can’t foresee. So the best way to move forward in any venture is to expect the unexpected or at least train you brain to deal when things going off course.

You know how you can be headed somewhere, to do something specific and then suddenly you forget your purpose along the way? You could just stand there, unable to recall, or give up and go do something else, but it’s often helpful to retrace your steps. To remind yourself of what you were after and why. Focusing on your goal helps you get back on track.

While I was on mat leave, I was able to easily keep to a blogging schedule. My time was a little more flexible (especially when the baby was napping well). Now my time is a lot more structured. As I settle back into my day job, I realize that I’m going to have to shift my expectations if I’m to keep up. Blog ahead, schedule posts, put more thought into planning. Basically, be prepared. I knew things would be different, but until I found myself experiencing it, I didn’t know how exhausted I’d be. I didn’t know how difficult it would be to make time for blogging. But I haven’t let myself lose sight of how important it is. I knew I’d have to find a way to make time. Giving up on it altogether wasn’t an option.

The blog isn’t quite back to normal, but it’s getting there. I’m adapting to the changes that are happening. Or trying to. It’s still something I’m working on.

Sometimes writers encounter bumps along the road as they’re writing. Major life events, lost writing sessions (sorry, I know how cringe-worthy the very thought is) or just plain suffering through a major case of writer’s block. The important thing to remember is that these things happen. They’re bound to happen. We can’t let them trip us up for long and we definitely can’t let them stop us altogether. We have to find ways to get back to our primary objectives. To return our focus, even if it has to be modified to accommodate change.

There’s a world full of curveballs out there, just waiting to be thrown your way. They could come at any time. When they do, don’t let them break you. Nothing is so insurmountable that you can’t work at it over time. Keep your goals—be they writing goals or otherwise—always in view and when something takes your eyes off them for a moment, go ahead and take it in, but then go back and reminder yourself of why those goals were in your line of sight to begin with.

 

P.S. Speaking of bumps in the road, I can't seem to format the font in this post, nor can I seem to upload the picture I was going to include. Since my goal is to post something today, I'm not going to let these little bumps in my bloggy road stop me. Do your thing, post. Do your fonty, pictureless thing.

friday5 for January 18, 2013

Yeah, okay, I know this is being posted a day late, but let's pretend it's still Friday, okay? I had snippets of this ready to go and then on Thursday evening, when I was planning to get it finalized and schedule it for Friday posting, I was suddenly hit by the kind of head cold that makes you feel like your brain is an expanding balloon, pushing desperately against the sides of your skull as it tries to make its escape into the frigid winter air. So I apologize, but believe me, a Friday5 post assembled on a feverish brain would have looked something like this:

1. Bananas!
2. Pants!
3. Ghosts!
4. Cartwheels!
5. YA book rec = Books are amazing!

Exciting with all those exclamations, and certainly to the point, but not exactly representative of what the Friday5 is all about... so without further ado, I present to you, the belated Friday5:

1.  Let's start with the exciting news that Jennifer Lawrence is hosting SNL tonight! Remind me to set my PVR, okay? Because I highly doubt I'll still be awake. Actually, I'll go set that right now. Okay, I'm back. I love me some J-Law. And not just because she's our Katniss. If you read any interview with her (any interview), you will find yourself completely in love with her before you can even figure out what's happening. She's funny and down to earth and I really hope they write some awesome skits for her because we know she can pull off the funny.

2. The Divergent movie train keeps chugging along! Shailene Woodley (whose first name I can't spell without intensely staring at it) is talking a bit about playing Tris. I still think she's a great choice for the role. Whenever a popular book series is adapted for film, there are going to be issues/nay-sayers along the way, but so far I'm feeling optimistic about Divergent and I'm definitely hoping we'll see some images from filming as things get rolling later this spring. Especially some shots of Four!

3. First Lucy Hale played Robin's kid sister on How I Met Your Mother, now it's Ashley Benson's turn to play a HIMYM sibling--is there a way we can get the other liars on this show too? Ashley will be playing Barney's sister, who develops a thing for Ted... sounds about right. The episode airs on Monday and I think our dear Hanna's gonna rock it!

4. It's the Kristen Bell baby bump, you guys! Veronica Mars's baby is incubating away and what a sweet reminder that a baby Bell (not the cheese) will be here before we know it (okay, there's a little way to go, but that doesn't make it less exciting!) Kristen and Dax Shepard are quite possibly going to be the most fun parents ever. I can't wait to see pics of their little family later this year :)

5. This week's YA book rec is a no-brainer. I've been anticipating the release of Shades of Earth by Beth Revis since I finished A Million Suns (book 2 in the Across the Universe trilogy).

I am totally digging the green planty goodness on this cover!

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.

But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.
(Summary from Goodreads.com)

If you haven't read these books yet, I just have to ask, WHY AREN'T YOU READING THEM RIGHT NOW? If you aren't up to date on a trilogy, the release of the final book is the best time to catch up because it's all compulsion and no waiting! These books are solid YA sci-fi fun with drama and romance and mysteries and crazy spaceship antics thrown in for good measure. You can't go wrong!

Well, I'm still feeling fairly under the weather so I'm going to go take it easy. I suggest you do the same. Happy weekend!

pretty little recap: still not better and definitely up to something!

Huzzah PLLers! Another new episode without having to wait months in between! I'd say it feels like Christmas morning if the real Christmas wasn't still so fresh in my memory... Regardless, there's much to discuss so let's see what lovely gifts The Powers That Lie have bestowed upon us...

3.15 Mona-Mania

Mona's train of crazy has no breaks! Let's see who she's carelessly running over this week! As always, please ignore the typos (and blame my netbook keyboard, not me).

Previously on PLL: Crazy Mona! Creeper Toby! Dead Garrett! Alison's secrets! So much DRAMA!

Fig.1. Example of someone who is up to something!
Photo credit: ABC Family

Aria is watching one of those above the fireplace TVs. They look great when they're off, but aren't they a little too high up on the wall? This probably isn't important... I should be paying attention to Mr. Aria being TOTALLY CREEPY! Watch out, Aria. He may or may not kill girls your age.

The non-Aria liars are doing a little more digging in the scary school basement. Aaaaannndd there's a terrifying hooded guy (PROBABLY Creeper Toby) who appears from the shadows and books it. Creep-o janitor is gone, Hood-o is gone and A had left yet another message for our liars, telling them to move it along.

Ah, the bike accident victim from last week. I'd semi-forgotten about that. Apparently he was up against Spencer for.. something.. captain of something? Maybe Creeper Toby sabotage? He's an A-teamer, but he also, in addition to that, but separate from that, actually does love Spencer?

Crazy Mona is claiming Creep-o janitor was stalking her. It's a pretty convincing story. We should probably believe her. Oh right, the whole crazy thing... and my cat just climbed onto my laptop. She doesn't seem to understand live-blogging.

Lucas hair is looking pouffy again, but at least it's more of a styled pout and not the voluminous pouf from last week. Anyone else starting to get the feeling that Lucas is just a nice guy who got in too deep with the wrong people? Or is he just a really good liar? He just looks too innocent...

Ah, Paige. Where've ya been? Do you even serve a purpose anymore? Should we still suspect you of doing A-teamish things? I want to think she's just a good girlfriend for Emily, but seriously, why are we pretending she didn't try to drown Emily that one time??

Aria is walking a dangerous line bringing up Mr. Aria stuff with her mom. She needs to be more subtle and seem less suspicious. I'm not surprised Aria hasn't mastered this skill. Aria doesn't do subtle. That said, tonight's outfit hasn't burned through my eyeballs yet.

Uh oh. Crazy Mona is treading into Spencer's territory. This would be a bad situation if I didn't love competitive Spencer. Heh. Hasting's face. Spencer is all about the mental spankings. It's one of the many reasons she's awesome.

So I'm confused. At this point, are the liars assuming Crazy Mona is still A any of the time? All of the time? None of the time? I know they know A is more than just Crazy Mona at work, but does that mean they no longer attribute A messages to her at all?

Where's Hot Caleb? I miss him.

It's hard to believe anything Crazy Mona says. You know, because of the crazy. But that's probably why she's telling the truth. Not curve-ball-y enough for PLL.

Aria's black dress might be cute if she wasn't wearing that belt. Another belt would even be fine, but that one? Ugh. She totally Aria'd it.

Mr. Aria is totally creepy now. The way he lurks. Was he always creepy? No, this is definitely new. It's like Aria's suspicious questions (dammit Aria! Be more inconspicuous for once!) switched on some sort of evil mode in him. Suddenly he's sleeping with a knife beside the bed and sits in a dark room staring at the wall, only for his head to swivel around backwards when Aria comes home from school... Ah! That'd better not happen!

Time for a Creeper Toby scene! Ah, the massage, it's once of Creeper Toby's many tactics for easing Spencer into a lazy comfort zone where she doesn't question whether or not he's been acting extra stab-y lately. Suspicious phone call. Suspicious looks. Creeper Toby is definitely going to slip up and show Spencer his nutso side one of these days. It's just bubbling beneath the surface, waiting to Creepy-explode.

Not sure if I'm right about Lucas or not. Again, he might be lying. but it does seem like he's just in too deep. Which is exactly why he's the mastermind. He has to be. HAS TO BE. Even if it's never proven, I'll always believe it at this point.

Oh Aria. Change your belt. Or just remove it. It's hard to concentrate on creepy Mr. Aria's ever-increasing psychopathic behavior when your belt is all up in my grill.

Seriously, where's Hot Caleb? Why is Hanna not making out with him?

Paige appears to be having some sort of panic attack. Apparently the events of Halloween seriously messed her up. Which seems weird. You'd think the Nate thing would have messed her up more.

Spencer vs. Mona. It's showtime! I still don't really know what they're competing for. Some sort of...history club? Knowledge club? Trivia club? I wasn't paying attention, okay? I just know that Spencer wins at life and therefore must win at this.

WHAT ARE THE BOTTOM 3/4 OF ARIA'S JACKET? Aria, you are making that outfit worse, not better!

Meredith is actually being helpful? And snoopy? (as in, sneaky, not the dog) More info is revealed... and Mr. Aria is not looking any better. I think Meredith has her own suspicions, but if that's true, why is she with Mr. Aria again?

For someone who is apparently now afraid of life, I wouldn't think walking around in the dark woods is something Paige would wanna do... and now the tire is slashed. She should know better. Emily should too. And yet, she's chasing after the scary hooded guy in the woods. WHO IS CREEPER TOBY! It's weird, it sort of feels like, "No worries, ladies, it's just Creeper Toby!" but wait, Creeper Toby is NOT a safe guy. All bets are off! Creeper Toby might have listed "murder" as one of his extra-curricular activities on his college apps for all we know!

Spencer is going for the kill. Or the Hastings-spank. Or rather, she was. No, Spencer! Don't choke! SPENCER NO!

I hope they do something insane with Mr. Aria because I don't think I can ever go back to seeing him as just a normal show-dad.

Well, since the Hastings-spank didn't fly, it's time for the Hanna-spank. Speaking of Hanna, where's Handma tonight? And WHERE'S HOT CALEB? I am not well pleased, PLL. I love your crazy crazy secrets, but I need Hot Caleb! Next week you owe us a Hanna-spank, involving Hot Caleb. And yes, I did mean for that to sound dirty.

The A team is going to come for Hanna. Hot Caleb had better have her back. And he's better not be on the A team. We've discussed this, PLL. That's not allowed!

Something about Emily putting Paige to bed on her floor is too parental, even with the kiss.

Who ever thought we'd end up with a Meredith-Aria bond. Maybe Meredith can take her shopping and buy her some less disastrous outfits...

Crazy Mona and Mr. Aria! What's that all about? And more creepy doll masks! Not okay, PLL! Not at all! Sometimes the stuff the hooded A-teamers do is so random and weird, it makes me wonder if they get handed A-ssignments (get it, A team? A-ssignments?) from the head A and are like, "Oh man! You want me to bury a doll mask in the woods? Why can't <insert name of other A-teamer> do that? I'm exhausted from all the lurking in basements and randomly slashing people's tires for no reason!"

Well, that's it for this week! A whole episode with no Hot Caleb. There is a Hot-Caleb-shaped hole in my heart and I'm going to need extra Haleb scenes next week if I ever hope to fill it :(

But until then, I plan on returning with a Friday5 on Friday (knock on wood) so please come back for that, and with any luck, I'll be in good shape to return with a regular post on Monday. Things are slowly settling into a groove. More on that later :)

pretty little recap: she's SO not better

Despite my bad blogger tendencies as I settle back into work, I did manage a little time to live-blog (well, live-type and post a day later because OUR INTERNET WAS DOWN FOR SEVERAL HOURS. Ahem. Apparently I get testy when that happens...) the return of our dear PLL, which is looking just as insane and awesome as always. Regular blog posts to return soon, but until then, let's dive into the...

3.14 She's Better Now

Crazy Mona's back, my PLLers (is that a thing?), and despite the title of this week's episode, she is very much so not someone you would classify as "better."

Previously on PLL: Confession time. I totally was only half-paying attention during the episode where they introduced all this Vivian Darkbloom business. So every time it's mentioned, my brain goes all, "??!?????!" I really need to rewatch it--or maybe it never made much sense. I blame Aria. Oh PLL, welcome back!

Photo credit: ABC Family

We open with...is that an A-teamer on a skateboard? Those guys are so skilled. Oh, it's Crazy Mona. She's very resourceful in her escapades. I'm pretty sure if I were Hanna and I woke up to find Crazy Mona was SOMEHOW in my room, I'd get the hell out of Dodge..

Okay. Whoa. What is going on? I guess the skateboarder wasn't Crazy Mona? Editing-confusion. So another A teamer, maybe? Whoever it is... Creeper Toby no likey! Creeper Toby angry! Creeper Toby SMASH! Oh Creeper Toby. Seriously, welcome back, PLL.

Emily and Mr. Emily...blah blah blah Alison. Blah blah blah house arrest because the world is out to murder you, apparently.

Hooray for Spencer and Aria! Aria is at her best when she's with Spence. Her outfit does not disappoint. Stripes and...some sort of animal print? Sure, Aria, you weren't drinking in the morning again...

Wait, where did Hanna's grandma come from? Did she get introduced during that scene with Emily and Mr. Emily? Cause I totally wasn't paying attention to that conversation... I'm not imagining things, right? Hannah's Grandma (Handma?) came out of nowhere, right??

I'm glad we're not pretending the Mr. Aria and Alison thing didn't happen. Because that was super random and I NEED ANSWERS!

Hmmm. Crazy Mona looks normal enough to me. They should probably trust her. Oh wait, the whole insane-o A thing. Yeah, okay, the cold-shoulder seems appropriate.

Back when I was in school, cell phones weren't really a thing yet (except for the gargantuan Zack Morris phone). Do teachers really confiscate them as often as TV would have us believe? I would definitely keep my phone out of sight if there was a chance it would be taken from me. That would drive me nuts.

I also wouldn't use it to film somebody so openly in the hall, especially somebody who was previously-and-probably-still-is crazy sauntering down the hall with a large knife (with or without a brain on the tip). Again, I'd get the hell out of Dodge. I guess I'm just flighty like that.

The shirt Aria is wearing beneath the striped blazer totally has cheetahs or something crazy on it. And that's in addition to the animal print skirt. That's phenomenal. Aria is a phenomenon.

HOT CALEB!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss/love you Hot Caleb. Be on my TV all the time, okay?

More Halloween episode references! Hooray! Oh yeah. Aria did stab her kidnapper. I'd forgotten about that. Good stuff, PLL. This is why I love this show. They give you enough to keep you from getting frustrated. Plus Aria's wardrobe, which makes you question your own sanity/wardrobe.

Is Creeper Toby acting differently now that we know he's on the A team? Or was he always like this? I guess they couldn't make him too aggressive before or we'd have known he was up to something. Spencer probably assumes he just skipped breakfast or something. She's always letting him off the hook!

More creepy dolls. Why PLL? Why???

Aria + Ezra = snooooooooze. It's not like I have a problem with these two together, but like the Emily and Mr. Emily scene, I just have a tendency to tune out... until there's a creepy "It's a boy!" basket waiting outside! Things are heating up in the whole Ezra-Alex Mack-Baby scandal and Ezria might get interesting!

Spencer's green and rainbow-y "running shirt" is awesome. Sweaty Creeper Toby is not. "Not exactly a bubble bath." LOVE IT. I'm so using that sometime...

Jason's hair is super voluminous. I wonder if he uses some kind of styling product on it?

HOT CALEB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love his plea for Emily to feed him. Hanna should totally be making out with him 24/7. Every minute she spends scheming with the liars is wasted makeout time!

Speaking of makeouts, we move on to Spencer and Creeper Toby in a hot tub. I honestly can't tell if Creeper Toby's frustrated look at the end of this scene is because Spencer's getting her suspicion on or because he was hoping things in the hot tub would go from hot to handsy. No, Creeper Toby, just no.

Aria and Mr. Aria scenes would normally be potentially boring, but the whole Alison thing definitely has my attention. Nice digging, Aria, you phenomenon, you. For a split second I was disappointed with the lack of any revealing info, but the Mr. Aria double-take at the end was a nice, suggestive touch! That sounded dirty. I apologize.

Lucas is rocking some seriously voluminous hair too. I wonder if he's been using Jason's styling products? Is pouffy dude hair in style right now? I'm not really diggin it.

HOT CALEB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that guy has awesome hair. I promise I won't Hot-Caleb-squeal for the rest of the season. It's just been a long break :)

Aaaaand Aria is wearing an American flag skull shirt with a studded jacket. I get that this show has a wardrobe department full of crazy crap like that, just ripe for the Aria, but what teenage girl has all this random crap in her closet? I guess Aria does. Her parents should stop giving her an allowance if she's going to spend it on random crap she could probably cobble together out of upholstery fabric and old mittens. She probably does that too. Grow up and get a job, Aria.

Is Handma a thing now? Like, is she part of the A team? What is going on?? Don't get me wrong, she's gets major points for randomly singing. And bonus points to Hanna for excusing it away with "Because she can." I'm definitely team Haleb, but I think I'm also team Handma now.

Sneaky Emily might want to give Mr. Emily a few minutes to leave before crawling out the window. Rookie mistake, Sneaky Emily. I feel like that whole phone switch is going to come back to bite her in the A team, if you know what I mean.

Mr. Aria and Alison! Extortion? Is this just about Meredith? Before, I felt like we were to believe something happened BETWEEN Mr. Aria and Alison, but maybe she's just looking for a little cold, hard Mr. Aria cash.

Oooh Creeper Toby vs. Creeper Motel/Janitor Guy. You won't win with either of these gents, ladies! Stick with Hot Caleb. Or even Jason. His hair is pouffy, but he is generally less creepy.

Ah! Explosion-y fire! Commercial break!!

Emily and Mr. Emily again...... yeah. Where's Emily's mom? Where's Hanna's mom? Was I not paying attention when these things were discussed? Furthermore, where's Aria's mom? Did all the PLL moms get mom-napped? Why is nobody on top of this? It was probably A!

Pouffy Jason. Is his shirt just open for no reason? Yeah, I guess that's fine. But it feels a little forced. "Hey Spece, just hanging out on my porch here with perfectly chiseled abs peaking out from behind this designer shirt. No big deal."

Wait WHAT?????? Jason + injury + Crazy Mona = WHAT????? I take back what I said about Jason being less creepy than Creeper Toby.

That's all for this week, folks! Things are only going to get nuttier and I can't wait!

quick post from my phone!

I've never posted from my phone before so this is a bit of an experiment for me....
Apologies for the lack of a Friday5 yesterday. I had good intentions! But Thursday and Friday were my first two days back at work and they left me feeling more wiped than I'd anticipated.

The blog may be a bit wonky over the next few weeks as I settle into the new routine but I promise I will post and I will get back to my usual schedule as soon as I'm able! Plus, there's a new PLL on the horizon so I'll definitely be recapping :)

Thanks for your patience, my dear bloggies. Things should be back to normal soon!