Vacation lists

Today, Saturday, was the first day of my autumn vacation.  I take a week before the holiday season really starts and then one in January when it’s finally dying down.  It’s about the only way I can stay sane.  Well, given my last post, I’m not entirely sane, but that’s okay!  I’m on vacation now!

A little tip: When you’re too poor to go somewhere sunny and beachy on vacation, stay home and pretend you’re rich and don’t have to work.  What do you do with your day?  (I, apparently, drink too many caffeinated sodas and stay up until 5:30 in the morning the first night.)  I would like to be the sort that rises in the morning, has a cup of tea (ok, it would be ice tea with tons of sugar and lemonade or other juice because I kind of hate tea), and leisurely starts my productive day.  However, I am actually the sort who gets woken up at 11:10 by a phone call from her mom, rousting her out of bed in time for lunch, eats Chinese food, wanders around Goodwill, and then proceeds to do nothing constructive the rest of the day.  It was nice, though.

When I start a vacation, one of the first things I do is make a list.  I know there will be a lot of down time, times when I’m playing Plants Vs. Zombies or reading or watching tv.  I also know there will come a time when I am sick of doing those things (I know, amazing, right?).  So then I can go to my list and see what I can cross off.  I put all sorts of things on my list, knowing I will not finish all of them, but I will feel great if I get about half of the things done.  (I am reminded of Allie Brosh on Hyperbole and  a Half saying CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!)

Here is my list so far:  (of which, I’ve done none)

1. Do dishes, including emptying the dishwasher and scrubbing all the pans that collect on my stove
2. Take out trash, the easiest and most ridiculously hated chore
3. Vacuum.  I used to do this weekly, once.
4. Wash patio door glass.  Yep, it’ll rain immediately after I do this.  I know.
5. Oil change for the car.  My poor, abused Tesla Stubbyhorn.  Yes, that’s its name.
6. Finish third story for next short fic collection, and
7. Format and publish it at Smashwords and Amazon
8. I suppose if I type in “make cover for short fic collection, I could check it off, but that would be cheating since I’ve had that done a month now.
9. Edit some chapters in Ethne’s book.  (This won’t get done.  Look how sloppy that goal is.  How many chapters?  What kind of editing?  Just cutting out the crap in the draft?  Rewriting?  Writing new chapters?  Pathetic.)
10. Start setting myself up for NaNoWriMo.  Only one month away!  I’ve figured out that I’m not a pantser, so I will try a more definite outline this year.  Plus I have to pick some character names because I’m not happy at all with the two main character names.  (Remember how problematic Jezra’s name was? That was constantly distracting.)
11. Build a sheet fort in the living room.  This is a holdover from my last vacation list.
12. Write in aforementioned sheet fort.
13. Get the house really cold and watch a movie with hot chocolate and a whole nest of blankets on the sofa.
14. Clean bathroom.  Actually the second or third most likely thing to get done.
15. Laundry.  In order of importance, this ought to be first.  However, since this is a random list, here it is.
16. Read a book.  Doesn’t matter which one.  Just not Sherlock fan fiction.  Something I can admit in public.  🙂  Also note that Mystrade fan fiction does not count as NOT Sherlock fan fiction.
17. Format and post a story on literotica.com.  This is part of my marketing strategy.  If I publish a new collection, I ought to pop up somewhere else online to try to gain readers.
18. Think of new marketing strategy, since this one isn’t really working 🙂  Find a few other places to post, for instance, or check out some of the review blogs.
19. Oooh!  It’ll be October!  Decorate for Halloween!  (Who am I kidding?  My tentacle stocking has been hanging up continuously since I made it, my tablecloth has been my spiderweb one since last Halloween and there is a furry monster wreath with a devil sitting inside it hanging across from my front door.)
20. Finish creepy circus altered book and post a blog about it.  Uhm, remember to take photos.
21. Watch the 2 movies I rented and return them by Wednesday.  (Sherlock Holmes 2 and Albert Nobbs)
22. Hem the new pants in the closet.  Important!  Can’t wear capri pants all winter!
23. The printer needs new ink.  Not sure if this will involve buying some or just finding a box I have stashed somewhere.
24. Try not to go too nuts at the office store.  I still do want a legal notepad with a spiral top.  Hrm.  And pens.  New pens.  Because the 483 pens I already have aren’t enough.

I think that’s enough for the time being.  When I start sinking in office supply fantasies, it’s time to stop the list.  So as you can see, I should not be bored, even if I never leave the house.  My loving mother always thinks I’ll be lonely and bored, but I think that’s projection.  If nothing else at all, I have the joy of procrastinating against every single item in this long list.  With what?  What could possibly be left?  Well, that’s yet another list.  🙂