I've been in a trough lately...

...but I lost 10 pounds in February.

Nothing much happened yesterday...

...aside from my doctors appointment yesterday morning. I found out that I shouldn't get a support belt because wearing it all the time would cause my muscles to atrophy.

Today I'm having lunch with Chloe.

It's about time

I wrote a new poem yesterday. Finally.

Both yesterday and today I had to drive 1 1/2 hours to the va hospital for doctors appointments. Makes me long for health insurance.

Well I'm back...

...to not writing everyday (m-f). I need to stick with it, especially since I'm not otherwise employed and it's like my job.

Yay

Hi Bill,
We'd like to publish your poems "Alone" and "Walking" for the upcoming issue of Arts Beat.

See. If you just keep plugging away, good things eventually happen.

Last week was birthday week; our granddaughter turned 15 on Sunday; our oldest grandson turned 14 on Wednesday; and our twin daughters turned 36 on Saturday. Lots of celebrating!

I got back on track with my diet and exercise yesterday. You can always start over.

Another

Well. I wrote yesterday. Today I got another rejection. I need to update my submission-tracking document.

I pigged out yesterday and went over my planned calorie total. Back to the plan today.

Nada, nada

No rejections yesterday, but I didn't write either. I'm going to put in my half-hour today as soon as I log off.

I weighed three pounds more today than I did yesterday. I hate it when that happens.

It wasn't I

Saturday I received a notice announcing the winner of a chapbook competition I had entered.

Yet another

Yet another stock rejection yesterday, but at least the day had one success: I was still 231 when I weighed myself. I'm glad I am sticking to my new routine and am eating heathier (and with smaller portions).

Thanks, but no thanks

Well. Another stock rejection. Still nothing new written. I need to get in gear. Starting next week (m - f), i'll st aside at least half-an-hour every day to write. It'll be a start.

Same old, same old

Well. No new submissions or rejections yesterday.

I weighed 231 this morning.

Called off

The poetry circle didn't meet lat night. It's going to be re-scheduled. We had four inches of snow yesterday and the roads were a little dicey. I know I certainly didn't want to be going 30 miles on back roads.

My weight has plateaued at 233 for the past several days. I'd like to lose at least a pound by Friday.

The Dummer chess club meets after school today. It's fun going up there and being challenged by eager 4th and 5th graders. I've actually lost one game and tied another. If I fall asleep at the board, I can get in trouble, so this is good practice for my ability to stay focused and concentrate.

Another rejection

I got another rejection this morning. It sounded very polite and impersonal.

I didn't send out anything new yesterday. I decided to wait till some of my backlog clears up before I do any more. Now I just need to concentrate on writing new things.

A new week

Well. Here it is a new week, and I'm feeling sort of like being a slacker. It's below zero here and I just want to stay warm. I don't think I'll be sending anything out today, unless I can find someplace that accepts e-mail submissions.

Sorry to say no

"This is sincere, but not great poetry. It doesn't elevate my understanding of God, though it's very human. Sorry to say no."

I got an e-mail response to my e-mailed submission from the day before yesterday. It could've been worse, I guess. At least it was prompt.

Two is enough (maybe)

So. I e-mailed off another submission yesterday, this time to a Christian magazine. We'll see. I explained to them that I consider myself a believer, but added, Lord, help my unbelief. I didn't explain, that, while I consider Christ to be my personal savior, I consider all paths to be equally valid for the individuals concerned. To me there is only one God (yes, even science or reason can be included). So I'm born-again as a very non-standard believer. I follow Christ more than I do any Christian church.

I weighed 233 this morning. That's down three pounds since Wednesday, too fast.

Out of names

All right. I did send off another submission yesterday. Now I have a problem. I'm out of names and addresses to which to submit. I've been using the current issue of Poets&Writers to find submission opportunities. Now I guess it's back to Poet's Market, and I'll just have to hope that it's not too out-of-date.

I typed up the three poems I wrote the other day at the arboretum, and I put them in a file named NewPoems. I guess that's where I'll accumulate stuff until I get a response about my manuscript.

I started a food diary yesterday. I want to track my caloric intake. Also, I signed on to Spark People yesterday, and it says that to lose 41 pounds by October 15th, I just need to limit myself to 1790 calories a day. If I succeed, I'll be down to 195 pounds, the lowest weight I've been at since my cancer surgery in 1989. I'm really committed for the long haul this time.