I love reading. Right now I have so many things to read that I barely know where to start. Some I have to read because I’ve made commitments to review them, so they should come first. Some I just want to read and they usually come last. There are piles of books I’ve purchased all around my desk.

I look at the covers and get excited. I read the blurbs and think, oh yeah, this one is next. Then I get something that needs to come first and the things I want to read get pushed back. I do try to read a couple of things at a time but I find that more distracting than helpful. I’m a fast reader and I do better with one book at a time.

The only time I’m not a fast reader is when I’m not enjoying a book. Then it’s as painful as pulling teeth. Why don’t I stop reading? Because, unless it is absolutely atrocious, I try to give the author the benefit of the doubt that it might get better. I think I’ve only ever not read two books. But those two were both out of my comfort zone as far as content and not well written so that was two marks against them.

Back to my to be read pile. Since I also need to write my own books and raise a family, I realise my time is very limited. One way I’ve worked around this is to read in the times that would normally be wasted sitting around times. For example, I have to wait to pick my oldest child up at school and he’s often the last one out (he tends to get sidetracked on his way out the door) so I take my Palm loaded with ebooks, or an actual physical book, in the car with me. If I have my Palm with me then whenever there is a wait I pull it out and read. This has worked well so far and I’ve been able to read more than I could have otherwise. Over Christmas break I barely got any reading done as all of us were home and the only time I was in the car was to rush around from one thing to the next, no waiting.

Hmm. Who knew waiting for someone could turn into a positive thing.

1. It's really hard.
2. I love food. Not just any food, really good, well-made food. If I'm going to indulge it has to be the best.
3. Fitness Bootcamp is kicking my butt. Seriously.
4. I don't crave what I thought I would. No chocolate (:oogle: gasp how is that possible??). I want popcorn (the really good movie theatre kind). If I do have chocolate it can't be just any chocolate bar. I want Purdy's (a Canadian chocolate company that rocks) English Toffee.
5. I'm following this program that has this special fibre (I'm in a study to see its effects on weight loss, diabetes, cholesterol,etc.) and it has 20 times the amount of fibre of metamucil. Think about that for a while!
6. So far I've lost about 16 pounds in 6 months. That's not a huge amount of weight in that time but I am still nursing a baby so I'm told it's good. I had planned on losing more like 30. It's rather depressing, really, but at least it's giong the right way.
7. I have also lost 3 inches on my waist and 3.5 inches on my hips. That makes me very happy.
8. #7 translated into a two pant-size drop for me and I was thrilled.
9. I've plateau'd (that word doesn't look right like that. Have to look up plateau as in past tense...sorry, sidetracked) and that sucks. I lost most of the weight in the first 4 months and now am only inching down.
10. #9 is why I joined a fitness bootcamp last week.
11. Did I mention that bootcamp is kicking my ass? Yeah, I hurt in places I didn't know I had.
12. I've decided that more than losing weight, I really just want to be fit and have energy to play with my kids (no, seriously, I mean it).
13. Losing weight is hard. Being healthy is also hard but I'm (mostly) doing it. Do I indulge every now and then? Yes, but if you don't then you just resent everything else and then go nutso and binge. I haven't binged in a very long time. Now I'm going to have a cup of and go drink my fibre!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens:

I have a lot of stories I want/need to write but when do I find the time. I either need to stay up late or get up early. I can stay up late, no problem. I am a nightowl. Unfortunately my baby is an early morning riser looking for food and I’m the one who provides it. If I don’t get enough sleep then we both feel the effects of that. I am not a morning person but even if I was mornings are for getting my oldest ready for school and trying to find something that will keep my middle child occupied and out of my hair while I try to get the baby back to sleep.

During the day I try to find snatches of time to write but there is just so much going on it doesn’t really happen. When my husband gets home I try to get at least 1/2 hour on my own but there are so many things to do with that 1/2 hour and writing is only part of what I need to do. Some nights I am lucky and I can have a whole hour, with which I desperately try to focus on my writing and ignoring my email, blogs, etc.

Weekends, like now, my dh tries to keep the kids occupied so I can write but I’m not good at ignoring things going on around me and I don’t have a private office. Still, I’m lucky that I am given the space to try. I will keep working on these skills and trying to write amidst the cacophony.

I know this comes with having young children and that sooner than I expect I will have plenty of time. If you are a writer who is also a mother of young kids, or even busy kids, how do you find time to write? What do you do to keep yourself motivated when there are so many other things that need doing?

You Are a Friendly Flirt!

You are quite the flirt, but you don’t flirt with just anyone. And you hardly ever get caught, because your flirting seems so friendly. You’ve got a good thing going. Tons of friends, both guys and girls. And if you do decide to flirt, hardly anyone’s the wiser. Pretty trick!

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