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xerinmichellexWhat did I do all day yesterday and again at 7 o'clock in the morning today, and wish to never do again? That's right, shovel snow!
The big, bad winter storm hit us in Chicago during the wee hours of the morning yesterday and continuously-with-a-capital-C snowed for 24 hours. According to Tom Skilling, our faithful weather man, we received 12 inches of snow. The mounds at the end of our driveway beg to differ. The trick to dealing with continuous snowfall is to stay on top of the shoveling so you don't have 12 inches of snow to shovel all at once. My mother and I, every couple of hours, trudged outside and shoveled the snow like it was manure. Dear readers, I wish I was shoveling manure, because there is no way a freakin' cow could dump enough feces in two hours to match what was just cleared off the driveway. I am over winter.
It stopped snowing a few hours ago allowing me to clear off the dandruff from above. (Seriously, the angels/the big guy upstairs need to invest in some Head and Shoulders.) Unfortunately, because of the below freezing temperatures, there is a nice coating of frozen snow I could not lift up. The perfectionist I am, I don't care anymore. Besides, the mounds of snow were mocking me, and threatening to avalanche. I was given no other option but retreat.
Because of the snow, the earth in Illinois decided to shake it off earthquake-style--as one normally does in this sort of situation. We bypassed it here in Cook County. The 3.8 quake happened in DeKalb, a couple counties over. Trust me, if it did hit here, I would not be wasting my time in writing this post when I have suitcases to pack and flee Illinois. There was no serious damage from what I hear, just a jolt of shaking that awoke the DeKalbians at 4 o'clock in the morning. Again, I'm glad it avoided Cook County because I would be the one to panic and gather up all the cats and bunker down in a doorway. I panic at tornado warnings, even though I've never experienced one. Micro burst, yes. On a school bus, no less, when I was in middle school; and then our bus driver dropped us off at the neighborhood entrance that was littered with tree branches (I am not kidding), told us good luck, which was followed by my next door neighbor having the bright idea to terrify us thirteen-year-olds as we walked to our respective houses with the information that micro bursts happened in pairs, so we best be getting home before another one hit, which would most likely throw us off the street and into a tree. Thanks for that, Mr. B. But I digress.
I am slowly editing through my WIP. I completed a chronological read-through last weekend, which includes me taking notes to document where plot holes have formed (there is a major one I just plugged up) and places where things need to be added (I speak good technical words). My goal is to add another 10,000 to bring the word count up to 80,000. Okay, I don't want to insert 10,000 words of crap--I just know there are places where I can fill it out more. So, the maximum I want to add is 10,000 words. I've already added 1,000--9,000 more to go!
Fingers crossed I can have this manuscript finished by the beginning of March. I am itching to start my next project. Query Hell...not so much.
The big, bad winter storm hit us in Chicago during the wee hours of the morning yesterday and continuously-with-a-capital-C snowed for 24 hours. According to Tom Skilling, our faithful weather man, we received 12 inches of snow. The mounds at the end of our driveway beg to differ. The trick to dealing with continuous snowfall is to stay on top of the shoveling so you don't have 12 inches of snow to shovel all at once. My mother and I, every couple of hours, trudged outside and shoveled the snow like it was manure. Dear readers, I wish I was shoveling manure, because there is no way a freakin' cow could dump enough feces in two hours to match what was just cleared off the driveway. I am over winter.
It stopped snowing a few hours ago allowing me to clear off the dandruff from above. (Seriously, the angels/the big guy upstairs need to invest in some Head and Shoulders.) Unfortunately, because of the below freezing temperatures, there is a nice coating of frozen snow I could not lift up. The perfectionist I am, I don't care anymore. Besides, the mounds of snow were mocking me, and threatening to avalanche. I was given no other option but retreat.
Because of the snow, the earth in Illinois decided to shake it off earthquake-style--as one normally does in this sort of situation. We bypassed it here in Cook County. The 3.8 quake happened in DeKalb, a couple counties over. Trust me, if it did hit here, I would not be wasting my time in writing this post when I have suitcases to pack and flee Illinois. There was no serious damage from what I hear, just a jolt of shaking that awoke the DeKalbians at 4 o'clock in the morning. Again, I'm glad it avoided Cook County because I would be the one to panic and gather up all the cats and bunker down in a doorway. I panic at tornado warnings, even though I've never experienced one. Micro burst, yes. On a school bus, no less, when I was in middle school; and then our bus driver dropped us off at the neighborhood entrance that was littered with tree branches (I am not kidding), told us good luck, which was followed by my next door neighbor having the bright idea to terrify us thirteen-year-olds as we walked to our respective houses with the information that micro bursts happened in pairs, so we best be getting home before another one hit, which would most likely throw us off the street and into a tree. Thanks for that, Mr. B. But I digress.
I am slowly editing through my WIP. I completed a chronological read-through last weekend, which includes me taking notes to document where plot holes have formed (there is a major one I just plugged up) and places where things need to be added (I speak good technical words). My goal is to add another 10,000 to bring the word count up to 80,000. Okay, I don't want to insert 10,000 words of crap--I just know there are places where I can fill it out more. So, the maximum I want to add is 10,000 words. I've already added 1,000--9,000 more to go!
Fingers crossed I can have this manuscript finished by the beginning of March. I am itching to start my next project. Query Hell...not so much.
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-10 05:23 pm (UTC)Good luck with the editing. My issues with word count are the same as yours--I always need to add more.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-20 04:19 am (UTC)As for the snow, damn. I live in Florida, so I've only ever seen snow in the form of shaved ice, cotton, and that stuff you can spray on your lawn to make it look like there's snow. Though I would like to eventually live in a place where it snows.
Fingers crossed for your manuscript!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-20 03:41 pm (UTC)Until you receive a foot of it, then you'll want to move back to Florida. :) We've just been informed this morning there is another snow storm on its way. Yipee! /sarcasm