I think we all have addictions. I know for a fact I do. Books, chocolate, Diet Coke (baaaad Kay) Those are my comfort addictions, the things I turn to when life gets to me. My newest addiction is the internet. Not a good thing for a writer. Researching is one thing but playing on FB??? That’s a total time suck. So while I work on some deadlining projects I’m cutting my internet addiction time to a self-appointed schedule I hope won’t drive me insane. Will my productivity increase? We’ll see.

What are your addictions? Too much TV? Food? Internet?

Kay

I did a favor for a friend yesterday and wound up being the one to benefit. Not only did I benefit from their company (which I simply don’t get enough of) but I had some time to sit and wait and being a writer, I took my iPad and portable keyboard and wound up getting quite a bit of work done as well, despite the curious stares of passersby. uter:

Anyway, I was thinking of my work schedule, time, kids, family, household chores etc and wondering if sitting down and actually marking off a time-lined calendar would increase my productivity. Granted, I’d have to stick as close to the time alloted as I could but… Hmm…. For those of you who work at home, have you tried this method before? Does it work for you? With school getting ready to start and me being able to have a normal routine again, I’m all up for trying to make the most of my time. Yesterday was proof I could write in a loud, distracting place. I should certainly be able to do it in a quiet one like my home.

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Kay

As some of you know I’ve recently discovered I’m carb sensitive, which basically means every piece of bread or pasta or dessert I put in my mouth might as well be glued to my stomach and hips. No one wants that!

So as I jump into low-carb living with both feet because I don’t really have an alternative, I’ve purchased some cookbooks and looked online for some wonderful recipes. This one is divine for those of us who has to watch our desserts. It’s low carb, low sugar and OMG good. Best of all if you double the portions, you’ve got a great dessert to take with you to church or family gatherings. Stick a little sign on it that it’s diabetic friendly and you’re guaranteed to be a hit! Warning: it’s *very* rich so a little goes a long way when cutting those portions.

Peanut Butter Pie:::

Crust:
1 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped fine
1/4 cup Splenda
3 tablespoons melted butter

Mix and pat in pie pan, bake at 375 for 13 minutes. Cool.

Filling:

1 8oz. cream cheese
1 cup Splenda
1 cup peanut butter (I used peanut butter sweetened with agave instead of sweetener and it tasted great!)
1 8 oz. carton of cool whip

Mix on high speed by mixer. Pour into crust. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Hope you enjoy! Do you have any low-carb recipes to share??? I’d love to have them.

Kay

My daughter has friends over tonight and laughter fills my house every few minutes. I love it.

This week started off as a difficult one with a doctor visit, a migraine etc. All’s well now but knowing dd’s friends would be here had me remembering when I was her age, how my BFFs and I were inseparable. We’d talk for hours on the phone, even though we’d spent most of the day together. And every summer we lived at each other’s houses with my parents and theirs trading us off. :winner: :crowd:

I’m still very close with one of my BFFs from school. We’ve known each other, oh…*doing the math* OMG 32 years now? (Yes, I am that old. Heh.) But anytime I see girls hanging out together, laughing, talking, etc, I think of her. We were in each other’s wedding, spent day after day soaking up the sun by the pool, had classes together. You name it. So much fun.

Female friendships are priceless, precious, and I hope you have someone in your life that fits that spot. If you do, tell me about them. I’d love to get to know your BFF.

Kay

A reader asked me to write about motivational tips. Things to keep us going when, let’s face it, the world is pretty gloomy right now. Why bother writing when the publishing world is struggling so badly due to the economy and piracy?

Why?

What else are you going to do? Do you want to quit, never to realize your dream? Or do you want to write (or sing or paint or whatever) for the sheer enjoyment of it? Because it makes YOU happy? And if you’re happy, it carries forward into the other things you do.

I’m not a sit-back-and-wait kind of person. In fact, this more than anything shows my impatience to move forward, I think. One day I’m going to get to THE END of my journey but the time between now and then won’t be spent mourning things beyond my control but working toward achieving dreams, goals etc. I know a person with no goals. Literally, NO goals. She exists day to day, fretting over this and that and stuck in the same place she’s been for the last thirty years. Do you know people like that? Do you want to be them?

No. No one does.

To borrow a phrase from Nike, JUST DO IT. Whatever it is, just DO it. And when the going gets tough, and it will, keep plugging on because it makes you happy, because it means something to someone else. Not everyone fits into a box. Writers know this especially well. We view things differently than other people, always thinking, analyzing, looking for story angles, emotions, the core of why whatever it happens to be matters.

Why do I write?

Because I know life can be tough, it can be painful, it can shatter us when we least expect it. But I also know we have choices to make. When our hearts are broken, we either pick ourselves up and move on, or we allow a bad thing, or a series of bad things, to break us. Those emotions:: love, sorrow, joy, fear? I loooove writing about them because we can all identify with them.

I’m not sure this is what my reader had in mind when she posed the question to me but… there you go. My motivational tip for the day is to keep moving forward. By kindness, by the scrape of your fingernails. Always with prayer.

Still need something to motivate you? Imagine, just for a moment for those of you who don’t believe, standing before God at the end of your life and saying, “I did nothing.”

That’s motivation enough for me to nurture my talent. I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I don’t have an ear for second languages and my patience is sorely lacking at times. But I can write and I care about what I write, my characters, the problems they face. I like sitting down and getting those emotions on the page. (Heh. When the writing is going well! Talk to me on a day when the words aren’t there and see me frustrated! LOL)

What’s YOUR talent? Your gift in life? You have one (or more). Never think for a single moment that you don’t. Are you going to share it with the world today? Why not?

Kay