40 X 40 Status

In order to stay on track, I want to give a 40 X 40 status update quarterly. I was going to do this on my birthday, but I forgot. Just had other things to write about, I guess. Nevertheless, here's what I've been working on.

2. Write a book...

- Right now, I'm writing a book about three women and their biological clocks. This book was inspired by my friend Terri. All three characters are single, independent, in their late 30s, and have successful careers. One of them is a single mom, divorced for a dozen years or so. One of them is engaged to be married for the first time. And one of them is single, but desperately wanting a child. My plan was to write this one for the National Novel Writer's Month contest, which says that I have to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I'm way behind! So, I'm not sure that I'll hit that word count by that date. But I'm loving this book, so I'll definitely finish it.

4. Walk two miles every day for a month.

- I started this in September and again in October. I've now decided that not all 30 days have to be within the same month. As long as I do 30 days in a row. Sound fair? So, at least now I don't have to wait until December to try again.

9. Read 40 books I've never read before.

- I've gotten a great start on my book reading. I love to read, so this one was pretty easy. I started reading Sue Grafton's books, thinking that would be an easy way to knock out a bunch of books with the same characters. Once I find an author whose writing style I love, I can read everything they write in no time at all. Unfortunately, I didn't really like Sue Grafton's writing style. So, I only read a couple and moved on. But our local library introduced me to another author that they thought I might like. And they were right! Janet Evanovich is wonderful!

I've read the following books since I started my 40 X 40 challenge:

1. G Is for Gumshoe - Sue Grafton
2. H Is for Homicide - Sue Grafton
3. Through the Labyrinth of Writing Your Book - Anne Wayman
4. One for the Money - Janet Evanovich
5. Sundays at Tiffany's - James Patterson
6. Plum Lucky - Janet Evanovich
7. Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
8. Shattering Glass - Gail Giles (Jeff's library book)
9. Five Alive - Janet Evanovich (what I'm currently reading)

11. Get my homemade card inventory up to 150+ cards.

- I have been making cards! I'm not up to 150 though. I'm up to 45...nearly 1/3 of the way there. Unfortunately, I intend to mail out 15 of those by the end of the week. That will bring me back down to about 1/5 of the way there. And I'll be making lots of cards in the next three weeks to send out for Christmas. Of course, those won't count towards my card count either since they'll be in the mail within a couple of weeks after that. But hey, at least I'm making cards again.

13. Start another blog for my dreams.

- COMPLETED! I've even been pretty consistent with posting my dreams. I haven't touched it in a few weeks though, but I have been writing them down. I just need to type them in! I'll do that. I don't know that I've learned anything from my dreams, but I have friends that find them very entertaining. So, at least it's meeting a need somewhere.

16. Read my bible from cover to cover.

- This is another area that I'm not making as much progress as I expected. But I am making progress. I started with Genesis and am through Exodus. Now I'm reading Leviticus. My original plan was to read six chapters a day. Sometimes I read six. Sometimes I read more. Usually I read less. Actually, that's not true. When I read, I usually read at least six. My problem is, I don't always pick up my bible to read it. I used to read in the evening before going to bed. But I think I'm going to start reading in the morning. I've been resisting going to work in the mornings. I figure if I can start the day off with something more positive, more inspirational, perhaps it'll put me in a better mood for the day.

37. Visit IHOP.

- I had plans to go to the International House of Prayer in October. But things came up for a couple of the people making the trip. So, we've postponed. We haven't set a date. But I also have a few other friends that want to go. So, this will definitely happen.