Another Transformation

One of my biggest obstacles is being unorganized. The total chaos in my writing room hinders my production, and it's downright depressing. I'm on the verge of being featured on that show about hoarders.

Previously, my work area consisted of a computer desk and a regular desk. Since I didn't have the forethought to take pictures of 'before' the transformation, please bear with me.

The computer desk kinda-sorta looked like this:

And the other desk kinda-sorta looked like this:

Yeah. The effect wasn't pretty. They sat side by side against one of the walls. It seems like a whole lot of space, but I still had no room on the desktop to work. Crazy, huh? AND I had nowhere to put all of my books. I have a whole lot of books. 

I came up with the idea of a long worktable with two bookcases at each end. I recruited my hubby for the task. 

I should have taken photos of the room before I emptied out both desks, but it happened so fast, I didn't have time to think. The desks were removed from the room, all of my stuff (office supplies, reference books, magazines, and desktop doo-dads) was piled on the floor and the remaining furniture, and before I knew it, the worktable was built and installed!

(Sorry about the sun glare) This is my writing room from the doorway.

The octagon is a stained glass window. The worktable is built along that wall.

The futon, piled with an assortment of 'stuff' and the closet. The closet is another story for another day. We won't get into that right now. Besides, I can't reach the darn thing.

My bulletin board, TV, and sewing machine table (also piled with 'stuff')

The table is ten feet long by thirty inches wide--more than enough space. (I hope) I DO have a tendency to want to fill empty space...

The 'L' shape on the right hand side is the perfect space for my printer. 

Considering my husband is an automotive mechanic by trade, I think he did a really nice job. Don't you?

After spending the day in the room, banging into things and knocking 'stuff' over, my husband made numerous comments about all the 'stuff' I have. While I sputtered and explained, I took a good look around. I DO have a lot of stuff!

Visions of the A & E television crew knocking on my door has convinced me that I need to get rid of some things. At the very least, I need to hide it better. 

I'll keep you updated...

Chaos, Crises & Crabs

So you may or may not have noticed that there wasn't a Fun Facts post about Easter. I apologize to anyone who was disappointed. Lately, there has been way too much chaos and way too many crises in my life, and I can't seem to remember what day it is.

My mother has decided that she doesn't like where she is living. Her and my sister are moving, and of course, I'm helping them. My back is killing me. They have accumulated an awful lot of stuff. The details are the most exhausting thing about the move.

Wrong paint. The color in the middle is Imperial Sand. The color on the wall is more like fleshy pink.

John and I needed to do some major renovations to the downstairs apartment in our house. It has been an expensive and very frustrating venture. If you've ever done work in your house, you know that nothing EVER goes as planned.

My daughter Amanda goes to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. We had given her a car to drive while she's down there. The day before I was to fly down and spend some quality Spring Break time with her, someone had stolen her car. Not only did they take her car, but they also took everything in the interior and trunk, to the tune of $3,300.00 in aircraft tools. Oy. Needless to say, our quality Spring Break time was spent doing a bunch of running around and wondering what kind of people steal from other working-class schmucks like us.

They stole the car right from under her nose and her balcony!

The good news is that ten days later, the car was recovered about a mile from her apartment complex. The bad news is that the police did not catch anyone because they didn't wait for the culprits to come back to the car. Three days later, the thief attempted to steal the car again, but broke one of the windows instead. There are still no leads, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

I like to think positively, and remember that there are people who have bigger problems than us.

In the midst of all this chaos and crises, I am querying agents for representation. My nerves are shot and I'm not even halfway through my list.

When I'm feeling like I just want to cry, I remember how delicious the crabs tasted at Joe's Crab Shack on the pier in Daytona Beach, and that makes me smile.

That's me--Queen Crab!