ronni

10 random things.

/ ronni

Selfie Game
10 Random Things
(you may or may not have known about me)

one
I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist. I have ideas on the way certain industries are run, and the way certain institutions are upheld. But I don’t talk about them too much because well, conspiracy theorists aren’t looked upon very favorably. And I don’t believe the really out there stuff, although I find it fascinating.

two
I hate when I’m in a car with someone, and the driver has a drink and keeps drinking it when the car is moving. I don’t know why this bothers me, but it has for at least twenty years now.

three
How am I talking about stuff in multi-decades ago? I am truly in denial about how old I am, until the neighbors start making noise and I want to put on a robe, wrap my hair in curlers, and wave my cane.

(I don’t really have a cane.)

four
I never used to consider myself anxious, but I’m finding that I feel it more and more, especially when I go out. I am such a homebody, so I’d rather stay inside or in the neighborhood. But it’s getting to the point where even crossing Grand Ave to get my favorite sushi ever freaks me out. The street has four-way stop signs, but people rarely wait their turns, and they speed up so fast they nearly run the signs. All the time. Every time I have to cross it, I worry it’s going to be the last thing I ever do. I try to do everything on the side of Grand Ave I don’t have to cross to get to. Even if the sushi place on that side costs more.

Maybe that’s a normal fear and not exactly anxiety. But explain why I had to close my eyes and take deep breaths when I was at Damon, North, and Milwaukee, one of those diagonal and SUPER heavy with traffic intersections? I used to be able to sit in the passenger seat and be OK, but the other day, I started sweating and freaking out. So much was going on. Loads of pedestrians, bicycles, cars, and I don’t remember a bus but it wouldn’t surprise me if one was around. It was just too much.

Disney is going to be interesting next week. I guess the best I can do is make sure I am on top of things with my medication and remember to breathe.

five
I don’t like being in the kitchen to cook or fix my plate if other people are in there. Everyone gets in my way and I want to be free to move around as I please to satisfy my weird food quirks in peace.

I feel the same way about buffets. It’s part of the reason I rarely schedule buffet meals at Disney World anymore. The kids take forever to decide and their parents take so long to put the food, and also kids are little and easy to trip over (not a good idea with a plate full of hot food). I like all-you-can-eat options, which is why we tend to go for the “family style” restaurants, where they bring platters of food to you, and you can request refills on whatever you like.

six
I tend to wait until the last minute to pack for trips or vacations. I think it’s because I am so superstitious, I worry about things falling through. It’s weird, I know. But I guess the thought of having to unpack stuff depresses me more than rushing at the last minute to make sure I don’t forget all the stuff I need.

seven
Piggy backing off #6, I’ve inherited more of my grandmother’s superstitiousness than I thought. Hers was way more traditional, like, don’t use scissors on Sunday or the devil will get you. Or don’t throw hair away because a bird will make a nest with it and give you a headache. Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe those aren’t so traditional? Although I think the scissors one was based on not working on Sundays and keeping them holy. My superstitions are based more on really random things. That I’m too superstitious about to even mention here.

I used to think I was smart, bucking them by loving Friday the 13th, and by owning a black cat. But I guess some things like got hardwired whether I wanted them to or not.

eight
Notebooks, pens, and bags are my weakness. I even have a bag from The Strand that looks like a composition notebook. And it’s filled with notebooks.

nine
Sometimes I get irrationally angry when I have to use the bathroom.
What? I can almost always think of something better I’d rather be doing!

ten
I love learning about writing craft. I mean, really love it. I read craft websites all the time. I try to apply the things I’ve learned to my own writing. It’s interesting to see which things are timeless, which only apply to certain things, and which are pretty useless. I enjoy learning so much, but I don’t know if I should pursue that MFA. The thought of graduate school has been in the back of my mind for years and always gets louder whenever it’s “copyedit the Loyola program sheets” time, but I have a lot lot lot of thinking to do before even considering it. I just want to be amazing writer who crafts amazing stories. So I have to think. And think. And think.

Ok then, that’s ten. Next time you hear from me will likely be a Disney trip report! Only one week till I’m there! So excited!

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mornings feel weird.

/ health, ronni, wtf

Grounds at Cawdor Castle

I tend to have a really hard time falling asleep at night. Unless I’m completely exhausted–mentally and physically–or unless I’ve had a sleep aid. I toss and turn, my mind runs a million ways, and my bladder wakes up big time. (My bladder is already active as it is, but at night she’s often out of control.)

Screen Shot 2016-07-13 at 10.37.45 AM

I don’t get up for work until about 845am. (I start at 9 and I work from home, so I can get away with such things.) Most mornings I wake up before my alarm, but this morning, the alarm woke me up. I thought, since I’d gotten so much sleep the night before, I’d be ready to take on the day. But no. Not really.

Mornings almost always feel weird and hard for me. Even if I sleep for 9–10 hours, my body feels heavy and my brain feels super foggy. I drag myself out of bed and pull on pants and a tank top because I feel like I have to (there’s something icky about working in pajamas to me, unless it’s my writing). I brush my teeth, and trudge into the living room to log into work, and the whole time I feel like I’m moving through a thick, grey cloud. Sometimes I have to spend some time cleaning up after the cats, and that just adds to the sense of “wtf.”

I started taking this Endorphinate AR. It’s supposed to promote calm, well-being, mental clarity, and give me energy. I can always tell when it starts to kick in, because that heaviness begins to lighten, I feel more focused, and I am ready to start work. And usually it’s great! But some mornings, like today, that and my anti-depressant kicked in at the same time, and now I feel REALLY out of sorts. The rush from the medications has knocked me off balance, so I *still* can’t focus. Which is why I have about 100+ pages to read and I’m writing this entry instead (although to be fair, it *is* lunchtime!). It’s going to be another long work day. Once the 9–5 job is over, I have hours of freelance work to do. Plus some revisions I want to toss into my book—but that will likely move to the back burner for now because I have to put the paying work before the dreaming (praying that this will someday very soon be paying) work, you know? And the next few days are booked solid with paying work.

Plus I have chores to do.

And it’s Adam’s birthday. I want to help him celebrate it.

I’m not ungrateful for these things. Just a bit tired. I’m going to Disney World next month and I worry this fatigue will carry over to my trip. That won’t be good. I have to make sure I eat well while I’m there.

So maybe it’s just that I have a lot on my mind. In general, I don’t get enough rest. I lay awake at night, my mind racing with all the stuff I want to accomplish. And I feel ready to do them *then* but I have to work my 9–5 job, so I make myself go to bed. Eventually I fall asleep, with this mindset that I’ll get a lot of rest and be ready to tackle everything the next day. Work. Freelance. Writing. Family. It takes a while for me to fall asleep unless I am totally done. (Sometimes that’s as late at 4am. Last week I was up until 6am two nights in a row, and then worked a full day both days, plus freelance.)

Then the morning comes. I log into work. I stare blankly at the screen. I copy edit, but read the same words over and over because I don’t trust that I’m seeing properly through my grey, foggy mind. And that to-do list I made the night before? It looks big and daunting and like, there’s no way.

Then oh say, 815pm comes, and my brain and body are like YAASSS LET’S BUST OUT ALL THE THINGS! And then the next thing I know, it’s 1am, my brain is still on high speed mode, so I make my to-do list and try to sleep so I can do all that stuff the next day instead. Since I have to get up early and all. (And I know 845am is not even that early but trust me, it always feels early to this night owl.)

I wake up like, “God granted me another day, with a job and my health. I should be grateful. I am grateful. But I also feel like so much crap. How am I going to make it through?”

(Let the record show that when I wake up on my own though, say around 1030 or 11 or so, mornings are a LOT nicer and I feel way less crappy. Just sayin’.)

I go through this almost every day. And I wonder how people can bounce out of bed on regular non-Disney World days like YAY GOOD MORNING WOO LET’S DO THIS. I wake up wanting to roll over and hop right back on that train to dreamland, since I *finally* made it there and all.

Anyway. Back to work. Till next time….

4 Comments

currently.

/ meme, ronni

Rose in my neighborhood #rose #flower #spring #chicago

reading.
PETALS ON THE WIND – VC Andrews (reread)
JUST KILL ME – Adam Selzer
THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE – Heidi Heilig

watching.
ONCE UPON A TIME

loving.
ColourPop. Cute makeup that’s cheap!

listening to.
Hamilton
Beyonce
Moby

wearing.
capris
yoga pants
tee-shirts
jean jacket

enjoying.
writing
Netflix

eating.
sandwiches
spaghetti

looking forward to.
Aidan’s arrival June 2
Disney World

drinking.
Vitamin Water

needing.
pain killers
to eat better
to exercise more
to sleep right now

playing.
Township

liking.
the warm weather

feeling.
content

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right now.

/ books, life, pictures, ronni, writing

#latergram Driving thru Indiana #winter #indiana #snow #white

Hard to believe we’re already into March, and that it’s been almost two months since my last update. Whoops. I have to say that this winter has flown by, and I’m glad. It’s also been super mild. Thank you, El Nino. We had some crazy cold days, but nothing like winters of past. I don’t have to go out a lot, but when I do, it’s nice that the wind isn’t stabbing my face. It’s also nice that I finally own Uggs, and that they feel like warm, fuzzy clouds on my feet.

It's all about that #ugg life.

No excuse really for me not updating here, except that there’s not a whole lot going on. I did go through that extreme exhaustion phase I go through every January, except this year it lasted clear through to almost the end of February. I’ve also been craving and eating meatballs like crazy. I am not sure if the two are related or not.

I’ve been working, writing, playing games on my phone and facebook, listening to music, sleeping, and watching Netflix. I visited my mom at the end of February, and brought almost all of the laundry that I hadn’t done since the last time I visited her in September. I KNOW. Sometimes I fail at #adulting. But now I have a lot of clean clothes and I vow to never go six months without doing laundry again.

(For the record, I’ve said this in the past so take that vow with a grain of salt.)

Visiting Mommy was nice. She’s doing well. We watched The Oscars (finally, Leo, dang), hung out with cousins and aunts, Aidan was there (!), and I got to eat good food. Corky & Lenny’s, Bob Evans, and Mommy made me Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and corn. Mmmmmm. So yummy. Her kitty cat is so sweet, and visiting Marc’s always makes me happy because yay for snacks I can’t get in Chicago and cheap spaghetti noodles and Tahitian Treat.

It was a nice visit.

On the writing front, I’ve been revising my novel, talking to lots of writerly people, making friends, and well, I’m getting there. In December, I got the news that I’d been accepted into the Writing in the Margins mentorship program. Super exciting. I got my mentor introduction in January and you guys, I adore her. She’s been amazing. It blows my mind that this super successful author is willing to take time to read my novel and work with me to make it the best it can be. I am so lucky and hope one day I can pay it forward. She says 1–2 revisions or so should do it with this novel. It’s crazy that it’s finally nearly done. I definitely did not work this hard on ONLY YOURS, but then again, ONLY YOURS never sold. Or maybe I did work so hard but I just don’t remember. That’s a huge possibility, now that I think about it.

So, I’m dealing with a lot of FEELS in regards to this. I don’t know if I want to go into them here because I need to process them in my own safe space first. Luckily, I have plenty of notebooks and journals such things.

Wanda made me a hat!

Don't ask. It's better that way. 😜

Isn’t it pretty? I get a lot of compliments on it and I wear it everywhere. (The hat, not the face I’m making!) Ha ha. 🙂

This year, I’m making a point to support #ownvoices YA authors, especially authors of color. I thought I could put a limit on the works by mainstream authors that I purchase this year, but well LOL NOPE. Aidan gave me a booklist last weekend and a bunch of them were Dan Brown books. I’m never going to begrudge my child books, so I got him three. And there are some books in series that I already have pre-ordered. But here’s the thing. Buying #ownvoices books by authors of color has been remarkably easy on my budget so far. Not okay. I’m not even going to get started now but I have a lot of feels about that subject too.

*takes deep breath*

So much stuff in the works over here. It’s a bit overwhelming, to be honest. But let’s think about it. When am I not overwhelmed?

Till next time.

4 Comments

taking stock.

/ meme, pictures, ronni

Sunset

feeling: tired

making: time to rest

cooking: nothing, but waiting for adam to make pizza burgers and tater tots for dinner. yummy!

drinking: kool-aid, or water

reading: oldies but goodies

wanting: to have my novel in amazing shape already

looking: like a person who’s been sleeping a lot

playing: disney tsum-tsum and neko atsume on my phone. bejeweled blitz on facebook.

wishing: i wasn’t so tired all the time

enjoying: being able to rest

waiting: for aidan to arrive feb 11, for my timesheets for 2 different clients to get fixed

liking: relaxing and listening to music

wondering: if it’s all worth it

hoping: it is worth it

needing: more rest and more exercise and less winter

wearing: leggings and a tank top

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