Hello, everyone!

Welcome to my blog series, Monthly Journal. This post is late too…I know. I’m trying to catch up. Thankfully, it’s only a few days late. If you haven’t been following my blog series, and you’re seeing this for the first time, you can check out the other posts here.

https://melindamariealexander.com/monthly-journal/

Unpacking is so not fun! I’m exhausted, not to mention hurting all over. There is such a mess in my workshop right now. Everything is everywhere. I think it’s going to take me awhile to fix this mess. I really hope I have enough room for everything. Fingers crossed! I really wish I was Samantha on Bewitched right now, just twitch my nose and be done already.

After eight days of unpacking, my whole body was hurting really bad and I had a migraine all day. Having Fibromyalgia, really sucks! I just want to get my workshop unpacked and organized, so I can start making pottery again. It feels like every step forward I take, I end up taking two steps back. I had to take some time off to rest.

While I was resting my arms and shoulders (I have arthritis in my shoulders) I spent some time researching on ancestry, more glaze research and worked on my characters a little. I had a few empty journals lying around, so I decided to use one for my main characters and minor characters that are nice. I started listing all the important information about each character, this way I don’t have to go get my huge series bible, or go upstairs in my office when I need some information, while working downstairs. I can carry them with me, wherever I go. Another journal will have the antagonists, villains, and people who are not nice (haven’t started on that one yet), and the other journal is a catch-all notebook, for things I have to do, ideas about my story etc.

After some much-needed rest, I had to go back to my workshop and do more unpacking.

  I’m plowing through it!

Because I can’t wait to feel clay squish through my fingers again. I can’t wait to make something, glaze it and open the kiln when it’s done. Every time I do that…it’s like Christmas.

So, my book has taken a back seat, because I’ve been busy with my workshop. There’s so much to do! I haven’t worked on my book in a while. I think my characters might be mad at me. Not to mention, all this unpacking and moving things around is taking a toll on my body. I think I’ve been over doing it. I ended up having to take more time off again, because I was in so much pain. Seeing how difficult it’s been for me, my son Nick came up with a really good idea, so I don’t over do it all the time. I kind of think I’m Superwoman, and then I pay for it after. He told me that I should set a timer, and when it stops, I need to stop. So that’s what I’ve been doing. It still causes me pain though, but not as bad. Thank you Nick, your idea was brilliant!

I swear these boxes keep multiplying at night. It doesn’t look like I’ve made any progress. I had no idea I had so much stuff! The other day I was so overwhelmed by the mess and all the boxes, I just wanted to stop. But then I took a deep breath and continued unpacking. This is so not fun! I’m not a fan of unpacking…just saying!

On September 24th, I took another day off from unpacking, and decided to clean my office. I’m not sure why I wanted to clean my office? I could have done so many other things. However, I’m so glad I did. I found some notes for my book, stuck between a pile of papers I needed to file. Not really sure how they got there? My notes seem to disappear sometimes.

On September 28th, I finally started unpacking my inventory. Looks like everything made it through the move…so far. Suddenly, I can see some progress. The boxes are disappearing, and my inventory is on the shelves, along with all my other stuff. It won’t be long now, I’ll be able to make pottery soon. Just a few more boxes to go and then more organizing. Then I can order some clay and new glazes, and start cleaning up…vacuum the floor and wash it etc.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hopefully, I’ll have more time to write, plot and edit in October