Stephany Writes

Categories: Life

Operation Write My Novel | February Recap

After having a very successful writing month in January… February did not go so well. It was a combination of feeling mentally unwell and being busy and just letting excuses get in the way of writing. It happens! It’s the reality of trying to write a novel while also working a full-time job, maintaining a blog, and trying to have a social life. But since I am committed to writing these posts and keeping everyone updated on what the novel-writing process really looks like, here’s my honest recap:

Week 5 (January 28 – February 3)

  • Words written: 4,046
  • Chapters written: 1
  • Things researched: “record sleeves,” “vinyl records,” “filched definition,” “unique drinks to make,” “bijou cocktail history,” “affectionate names in french to say to a friend,” “french foods”

I had such a fun time writing this week, even though I had to really challenge myself to sit down and do it. Some weekends, I just don’t want to worry about writing! But alas, as one of my cheerleading coaches once told me when I didn’t go to practice one evening (I was ten, by the way): “This isn’t a ‘want’ thing.” So I sat down and wrote, and lo and behold, it was fun! The whole chapter involved my two characters meeting for the first time and getting to know one another.

During my writing date, I edited chapter 3, which was probably the most difficult chapter to write. Once I finished editing it, I said to my writing partner, “Are you ready to cry your fucking eyes out?” Because that’s basically what this chapter does. Or, at least, that’s what I want this chapter to do. It needs to have an emotional impact, so I wanted to know how she would react to it. And… once I finished reading it, she told me she needed to take a minute because she was so emotional. YASS. Actually, I needed to take a minute, too, because it really was! Whew. But at least I know I’m hitting the right emotional tone with that chapter.

Week 6 (February 4-10)

  • Words written: 0
  • Chapters written: 0
  • Things research: n/a

Oof, I took a zero for this week. I think I just needed a weekend off after five straight weeks of writing and editing all weekend long. It was a good break and I did not feel bad about taking the zero. I was also in the middle of a depressive episode this week, and I just didn’t have the mental stamina to sit down at my laptop and write about a fun and happy romance. Life happens, and I know I’m going to have weeks where writing is impossible.

However, I did end up editing a chapter because I met up with my friend for our weekly writing date and was able to focus enough to read through one of my earlier chapters. This chapter was interesting to edit because I switched between past and present tense throughout this chapter. This is weirdly something I do often when writing. My novel is supposed to be in past tense but I slipped into present tense for a few paragraphs here and there. So… a lot of my editing this week was fixing my tense mistakes. Heh.

Week 7 (February 11-17)

  • Words written: 1,503
  • Chapters written: 1
  • Things researched: n/a

I wrote the majority of this chapter during my writing date because I was a little busy this weekend, as I had adopted Lila and was focused on getting her settled into her new home. 🙂 A good excuse, don’t you think? Thankfully, I still got my chapter for the week done because it was a short chapter. I wasn’t able to edit any of my previous chapters this week, which puts me a little behind. I may need to add in a few extra writing sessions soon so I can catch up.

Week 8 (February 18-24)

  • Words written: 0
  • Chapters written: 0
  • Things researched: n/a

Oops, another goose egg for the month. I don’t even have a great excuse for this one, only that I had a busy weekend and in the free time I did have, I didn’t feel like writing. I feel like I’m getting into more of the “meat” of my story and it’s typical for me to lose steam now. This is when I started really doubting myself and having such resistance to writing. This week, I couldn’t push through the resistance.

During my writing date, M. and I spent the first hour having a super deep conversation about dating, relationships, and the baggage we bring to each. It was cathartic and necessary but it also meant that I didn’t really feel like beginning to write when I knew I only had an hour to get anything down. It’s a silly excuse because getting any words down is better than getting no words down but alas, I did not do so. I think I may add in an extra writing session once a week throughout the month of March to help me catch up from a very lackluster February. Oof.

Categories: Life

And Then There Were Three

I’d like you to meet the newest member of my little family. This is Lila. She is nine months old, and I adopted her this weekend from a rescue.

I’ve been thinking about adopting another cat for a while. Originally, my plan was to adopt two kittens, preferably siblings, but then Eloise came into my life in the most serendipitous way possible. And I think adjusting to cat mom life with one cat who was just out of the kitten stage, rather than two rambunctious kittens at one time, was exactly what I needed.

But I wanted Eloise to have a sibling. I waited until she was settled in her new home and comfortable with me before beginning a search. It’s been a little over two months since I adopted Eloise and in that time, she has blossomed and has become my little shadow. Last week, a friend came over and kept remarking about how different Eloise seemed from the first time she met her. She’s now queen of the castle, just as I had hoped.

I had been following my shelter’s website for a while and continuing to fall in love with kittens, only to see their pictures removed the next day. I finally decided to take a trip to the shelter with a fellow cat-loving friend on Saturday just to look. Maybe I’d find my furever friend, maybe not.

Lila was the first cat I saw. She was one of their newer rescues, arriving at the shelter a week ago. Like Eloise, she was found by a cat rescuer. Lila showed up one day outside the rescuer’s home and while she was trying to coax Lila inside, Lila was attacked by a tomcat. Lila ran away but showed up at the rescuer’s house again a few days later, and this time, she was able to trap her and bring her inside.

Lila’s cage had a warning. It said, “I’m shy. Please go slow and play with me in my cage.” How could I not fall in love with a cat who had that warning on her cage? Kindred spirits, I tell you.

I stuck my fingers in the slats of her cage and she immediately came up to me and rubbed against them. Then she flopped down in a playful manner and continued to rub her face all over my fingers. She was so in tune with me from the beginning, so playful and adorable.

It was instantaneous love. I tried looking at the other cats at the shelter, and also tried to convince myself that it was crazy to adopt a cat so soon It felt so spontaneous! (This is also how I felt before adopting Eloise, ha.) But I also knew that if I left the shelter without her, or if I looked on their website next week to see her picture gone, I would be devastated.

When it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. You know?

I took her home on Saturday and have spent the weekend trying to introduce her and Eloise slowly. Eloise hasn’t been too keen on our new family member just yet. The one time I brought Eloise into the room with Lila, Eloise took one of her toys and when Lila tried to get it back, Eloise batted at her head and hissed at her. Sooo. It might be a process for them to fall in love.

Lila, though, she’s been an angel. She’s spending a lot of her time hiding under my bed but will emerge if I sit down on the floor and call to her. She will come up to me for pets and even flop down in my lap, and it’s honestly the sweetest thing ever. It warms my heart.

Of course, I have some reservations. I worry that Eloise will think I don’t love her enough. I worry about them never actually getting along. I worry about the financials of taking care of two cats. I worry that I haven’t handled the introduction as well as I should have. I worry that I may be turning into a crazy cat lady. (<– okay, that’s a joke. I don’t care if I’m a crazy cat lady!)

But it’s normal to have these worries, especially if you’re like me and seem to thrive on worrying about every possible worst-case scenario. It’s not a small step to take, adopting a cat, and it’s going to take some time for all of us to get used to this new normal. I am so, so happy, though, to have grown our family with this new little baby. Lila is the perfect addition, and now we are a full-on girl power home.

Welcome to your new furever home, my little lady love. I’m so happy you’re here.

Categories: Life

Monthly Recap | January 2019

New year, new recap style! I like to keep everyone on their toes when it comes to how I’m going to recap my month. 🙂 In this recap, I’ll be talking about what I read, watched, bought, and listened to, as well as talk about the highs and lows of the month. At the end, I’ll detail a few things I’m looking forward to in the following month. Let’s get to it!

READING

I read 15 books in January, which is the most I’ve ever read in a month. Three of the books were on audio and I participated in a readathon, so I think that had a lot to do with my high number! My top three reads were:

  • We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, a WWII novel that was unlike anything I’ve read in the subgenre and stands out as one of my favorites.
  • Act Like It by Lucy Parker, a really fun romance novel that had likable characters, realistic dialogue, and not-too-steamy love scenes (so I’d feel comfortable recommending it to people who aren’t into the romance genre but want a fun, light, easy read).
  • The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, a fictionalized account of a real-life women’s spy network that operated during World War I.

WATCHING

  • Big Little Lies – I was (lovingly) guilt-tripped into watching Big Little Lies, the HBO miniseries based on the book by Liane Moriarty. And I loved it, aside from a plotline that wasn’t in the book but they put in the series and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. But, other than that, I thought the series was extremely well-produced and the casting was spot-on. I also have all of the heart-eyes for the soundtrack.
  • Cheers, season 1 – I don’t know what possessed me to start Cheers, other than never knowing any references to the show that I felt I should understand. Plus, young Ted Danson! Young! Ted! Danson! He’s a damn hottie in Cheers. I finished season one in January and am looking forward to starting season two.

BUYING

  • Flights to Ireland – I never expected that I’d be planning a trip to Ireland this year! But the flights were so cheap that it would have been a mistake not to book. This was actually not my biggest expense of January, though, if you can believe that!
  • Cat dancer toy – For $2, this is easily the best toy I have ever gotten Eloise. She loves it and I have to hide it from her because if she sees it, she’ll meow at me until I bring it out and use it.
  • Car insurance at half the price – This is the most boring adult thing I could add to this list but whatever. I have been using Geico for car insurance since I started driving but their rates were becoming astronomical so when I found out I could get the same coverage for half the price using a different (well-known) company? Hells yeah. I signed up right away and couldn’t be happier.

LISTENING TO

  • Unladylike’s two-part series on diet culture was fascinating, especially learning all the ways white supremacy has had a hand in it. I really encourage anyone to give it a listen.
  • For episode 69 of Good Christian Fun, the Gilmore Guys reunited! It was so fun to have the Kevin + Demi rapport back on my podcast feed. They just work so well together. I truly enjoyed every minute of this episode.
  • Stuff You Should Know’s episode titled The Great Finger in the Wendy’s Chili Caper was so much fun and crazy. Lots of twists and turns I wasn’t expecting!

THE HIGHS

  • Having a major breakthrough in therapy and actually crying in her office for the first time! I have been going to her since August and have never cried. I’ve come close a few times but have always held back. I don’t even know why! It’s therapy! You’re supposed to cry in therapy! But it’s just hard for me. I hope this is the first of many breakthroughs.
  • Doing the #24in48 readathon. While I didn’t come close to reading for 24 hours, I still had so much fun participating and getting as close as I could.
  • Going on a book-buying spree using gift cards! I picked up seven books to add to my bookshelf. It’s so funny how just a few years ago, I never bought books unless they were on Kindle but I recently got the urge to have bookshelves full of books in my home and I’m slowly building up a solid collection. I’m nearly out of space on my tiny, three-shelf bookshelves (I can only really use two of the shelves, though) and it’ll be time to upgrade to something bigger and much nicer.

THE LOWS

  • January was a very spendy month – one-off things, like auto insurance and plane tickets and new tires for my car. It’s made me feel a bit anxious, so I hope February is quieter for my bank account.
  • My blood work came back with some troubling numbers. The short of it is that I’m on the cusp of pre-diabetes (type 2) and if I don’t get control over my eating habits and start exercising more, things could go downhill fast. My doctor and I worked out a plan and I’m going to work hard to lose weight and eat healthier, and get retested in six months.
  • Eloise fell into a pattern this month of waking me up at 4AM to play and sometimes to be fed. And I was getting up with her and feeding her because it was much easier than waiting her out. I’ve started giving her lots of playtime in the evening, filling up her bowl at night (she’s more of a grazer anyway so it works better for her), and not getting up when she meows at me at 4AM. Mama is tired!

ANTICIPATING…

  • Potentially attending my first Silent Reading Party in downtown St. Pete. Just have to summon up the courage to go!
  • Going on a walk every day in February (five days in and so far, so good!)
  • Filing my taxes and crossing my fingers I get a decent return this year

What’s a high and/or low of January for you? What was the best book you read this month?

Categories: Life

Monthly Recap | December 2018

Books

I read 11 books in December to bring my yearly total to 134. I’m interested to find out if I can even come close to that number again, but I’m also not worried about doing so. Reading is my happy place, but it’s not a competition and I don’t read to fulfill any kind of arbitrary numbers goal.

I started December reading Starry Night, my first Debbie Macomber book, and it was just okay. I like my romances to be steamier and this book was a little too cutesy for my liking. I read Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty’s latest, and loved it. Such great characters and a unique plot! I listened to Rest in Power, written by the parents of Trayvon Martin, which was such a hard but necessary read. I read Alyssa Cole’s latest contemporary romance, A Duke by Default, and found it so charming and lovely. Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis was a reread for me, but I loved it even more the second time around. I heard mixed reviews about The Great Alone but I ended up really liking the novel. It started off very slow but hit a turning point where I couldn’t put it down. I read my third Christina Lauren novel, Dating You/Hating You, which was so much fun and I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading it. I finished off my goal of reading four classic novels by reading The Catcher in the Rye, which I did not enjoy one bit. Arrogant white male protagonists are not my cup of tea, I suppose. I listened to What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan on audiobook and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was really interesting to read about the culture of China, both historically and present day. I read Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, and loved it so damn much that it was my favorite read of the year. That’s a must-read, in my opinion. And, finally, I finished 2018 by reading One Day in December, which I received from Book of the Month. It was a good read, but not a standout.

Movies

The Princess Switch (★★★☆☆) – This movie was really, really cute, if also really, really cheesy. It’s a Netflix original starring Vanessa Hudgens. She plays two characters: down-on-love Stacy who lives in New York and runs a bakery and Lady Margaret, a duchess who must marry a man she doesn’t love in two days. Stacy and Lady Margaret run into each other on the set of a baking competition that Stacy is competing in and discover they look exactly alike, so they decide to switch places for two days. Lady Margaret wants two days to not think about her impending wedding and all the responsibilities that will entail, and Stacy wants a few days to live like royalty. Well, as this is a romantic comedy, Stacy ends up falling in love with Lady Margaret’s fiance and Lady Margaret falls in love with Stacy’s best friend and trouble ensues. It’s completely implausible, but was a cute Christmas movie I watched while wrapping presents.

Podcasts

I loved the episode of How Search and Rescue Dogs Work from Stuff You Should Know. Fascinating!

I found myself enthralled by the Death, Sex & Money episode, When a Banker Was Called to the Convent. What a beautiful, funny soul Sister Josephine is.

On Hysteria, the founder of Moms Demand Action came on to talk about gun control and how much progress has been made in the past few years. It was really interesting!

This American Life just released an episode called The Room of Requirement, which seemed like a love letter to libraries. One of the stories was about the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which sits right on the border of the US and Canada and is a meeting place for people who aren’t able to leave the US due to Trump’s Muslim ban and their families (who come in via the Canada side). Another story followed a woman connecting with her favorite children’s librarian who brought her hope and inspiration when she needed it. This episode is one of TAL bests, I think, and totally worth a listen.

Posts

I revealed that I’m an Enneagram Nine and what that means for me personally.

I introduced Eloise to the blog!

I made my annual Christmas list as well as talked about my favorite present-day Christmas traditions.

And I completed another round of “Best of…” posts, which is always my favorite series because it allows for such great reflection on my year.

Highlights

> I received the honor of employee of the month at work, which was such a surprise! I mean, I definitely deserved it because I work damn hard at my job, but it was still quite the shock to hear my name (and all the nice things our CEO had to say about me!)

> My mom and I spent an evening together shopping for Christmas presents and then stopped at Steak n Shake for dinner where we enjoyed some very delicious peppermint milkshakes. Best decision!

> I adopted Eloise! Her “gotcha” day is officially December 8th, and my life has not been the same since she came home with me. Life is just so much better now!

> My mom and I had a second Christmas shopping adventure, this time at the mall and this time finishing with an outstanding cannoli cake. We did December right, that’s for sure.

> I finally went to the doctor in mid-December after spending two weeks with a terrible cough that wouldn’t go away and was keeping me up at night. She treated me for bronchitis, sending me home with a z-pack and steroids, which healed me right up! Thank heavens for modern medicine, am I right?

> I upgraded my phone to the iPhone XS and I’m oh-so-happy to make that decision. I’m part of the “iPhone Forever” program through Sprint, which means I can usually upgrade my phone for free whenever I want, so I decided to take the plunge and do it. (What can I say? I desperately wanted Portrait Mode.)

> We had a really fun holiday day at work! We had a cookie bake-off, had a Secret Santa gift exchange, and everyone wore ugly Christmas sweaters. It was so much fun!

> I met up with my mom and Chip at PetSmart for holiday pictures with Santa. Chip was a little apprehensive about everything, but we got a great photo of him with Santa. (And he looked so handsome in his Christmas bow tie!)

> My girlfriends and I had our annual fancy dinner and Secret Santa gift exchange. It was such a great night!

> My mom had me, my brother, and my nephews over to make Christmas cookies and it was so much fun! I ate a good amount of cookie dough and even the littlest nephew was happy to get in on the action. I can’t wait to do it again next year.

> I spent Christmas Eve baking cookies and then went out to dinner with my mom and stepdad at a fancy steakhouse. It was our second year doing that, so I think it might be our new tradition.

> I already talked about Christmas Day in a previous post, so suffice it to say, it was a lovely day and I felt very loved and happy.

> The day after Christmas, a good friend came over to meet Eloise and Eloise actually came over to her and let her pet her. I was so surprised that she was so friendly! We also ate pizza and watched Ellen’s comedy special on Netflix, so it was a solid night.

> I spent New Year’s at a house party with some friends, and actually got a little emotional as we counted down to the new year, champagne in hand. I have such a blessed life and great friends and I was just so grateful to have such a fun start to 2019.

What was a highlight from December for you?

Categories: Life

Meet Eloise

I shared some very exciting news on Instagram yesterday, and now it’s time to share it on my blog. Prepare yourselves, friends, because there are about to be a whole lot of cat posts and pictures on this blog! Please meet my new little ball of love, Eloise Joy. She is around 6-8 months old and was a stray who needed a good home, and I am so blessed to be able to be the one to give that to her.

As many of you were aware, I was planning on getting kittens sometime in the new year. I thought that would be the perfect way to start 2019 since 2018 started on such a low note. However, that’s not exactly what life had in store for me.

Last week, one of my mom’s coworkers texted me about a cat her friend, K., had rescued. She was estimated to be around six to eight months old, a former outside cat who showed up on K’s back porch a few weeks ago in rough condition. She was skin-and-bones with matted hair and was being bullied by one of the other outside cats. K was able to coax her into her garage. K is a cat lover to her core and fosters kittens for a nearby rescue all the time, so she was well familiar with how to take care of Eloise. She fed her, bathed her, and took her to the vet so she could be spayed and dewormed. She also got a round of shots. Gradually, as the weeks progressed, Eloise fattened up, her hair and whiskers started growing back, and she became a snuggly ball of love with K.

And, boy oh boy, did K want to keep Eloise. Unfortunately for K but fortunately for me, K already has a cat and this cat was not a fan of Eloise. He told her in no uncertain terms that K was going to need to find a new home for her.

I met Eloise on Friday, a week ago. She was reserved with me, not quite sure what to make of this strange woman in the only home she’d ever known. She never really warmed up to me on Friday, although she did let me pet her while she was eating and played with me for a short period of time. But even with her reservedness, I knew. She was meant to be mine. We were meant to find each other at this point in time.

On Saturday, I texted K and told her that I wanted to bring Eloise home. K was overjoyed, saying all she wanted was for her to find a good home before Christmas.

And it’s been quite an interesting week for me, learning the ropes of new cat motherhood. 🙂 Eloise is a sweetheart in every sense of the word, but she’s understandably very skittish and unsure of me right now. She spends a lot of time under my bed, although she gets braver as each day passes. Yesterday was the first time she came to me for pets and even let me hold her. Slowly but surely, she’s warming up to me. I have no doubt that she’ll be ruling the roost, running all around the apartment, and getting into lots of trouble in no time.

For now, I am so grateful to have her in my life. I already love her immensely and I miss her the whole time I’m at work. I can’t believe how everything worked out. It feels like this was exactly the way it was supposed to happen. This was the cat I’ve been waiting for this whole time. I was meant to be her human and she was meant to be mine.

Serendipity at its finest.