April Wrap-Up

I thought April was going to be a quiet month.  I have never been so wrong.  And by the looks of things, May is going to be very busy as well.  Yay.  And I'm only adding things to make it more busy.  On purpose.  Because why not spend May running around like a lunatic so June can be even more relaxed??

That's probably not how this stuff works, but I'll give it my best shot.  Here's to being super busy and embracing the stress.

Writing Updates

So I participated in Camp NaNo this month

Me, planning:  So, I usually try to write half an hour every night at least, breaking on Sundays.  Let me set a goal of 14 hours.  That should do nicely.

Me, starting April:  Hmm.  Looks like I have some very busy days, plus a camping trip.  Let me take it down to 13 hours, just to be on the safe side.

Me, halfway through Camp:  Ugh...I'm very busy, behind, and now I'm so sick I can't get out of bed.  There's no way I'm going to make it.

Me, the last week of Camp:  I GOT THIS!!!!

Me, the last day of Camp:  Well, that wraps this month up for over 15 hours of editing time.

So yeah.  It went well.  I managed to finish that nasty first chapter and get it going pretty smoothly, and then plunged deeper into the book.  A few new scenes have already been written, and now I'm just going through scene by scene and making the needed tweaks.

Reading Updates

I finished Of Domestical Duties.  Really, overall, it was a great book.  A lot of the language, and a few of the directions, were very much written for the time the author was in.  But still made me think a lot about marriage, the roles of the husband and wife, as well as just being in the workplace - especially because I have a boss that I need to obey, and also have people under me, so I could have application from both the "Masters" and the "Servants" sections.  :)

I finished ODD one Sunday afternoon, and decided to celebrate by turning right around and grabbing another book from the shelf - Spiritual Mindedness, by John Owen.  I'm 9 chapters in, and let me tell you, it's great.  Mr. Owen has not only motivated me to work at keeping my thoughts on Spiritual things, but is providing some great guidelines and "prompts" for doing so. 

I also re-read Half-Blood.  Mid-month a nasty stomach bug went through my family...and I got the worst of it.  I spent one day in bed, throwing up, and generally feeling nasty.  But I wanted something fun to read, to I grabbed this one and re-read it - mostly because it's short and I knew I could read it in a day.  But fun??  No...this book is painful to read...

General Life

I did my first ever Trail Challenge!!  I took my Friesian Pepper, and picked up Sarah, Evan, and a friend who brought the TWH she just bought from me.  We camped overnight, and Hannah and I rode, and Evan and Sarah got to chill at "base camp" and rant and fangirl with each other.  XD

I placed second in overall time (Hannah third) for completing the trail portion of the challenge.  And then I came in third for the obstacles (Hannah and Spirit didn't do as well during that part, simply because they are still new to each other and working out the trust issues...but considering that, they were amazing!!)

Which finished Pepper and I out with a reserve champion!

I mean, is this not a beautiful place to camp?

A nicer section of trail - some parts were very steep and narrow!

Ribbons!

I also took my cat, Ragnar, for a car trip - I was running out to get Wendy's, and decided to take him with me, since he enjoys car rides.  The folks at the drive-thru loved him, and he soaked in all the attention!

In the Blogging World

A (quite large) number of bloggers participated in Camp NaNo during April (I wanted to link to their posts, but I needed to get this post finished by the beginning of May, and I didn't want to leave anyone out).  Some of us reached our goals...some way surpassed them...and others couldn't quite make them.

But you know what they say...never try, never fail.

So a shoutout to my fellow NaNo campers, and to those who decided to step out this round.  Be happy with your acomplishments!!!

Have a great May, y'all!!