Writing and reading

I said last week I'd tell you how often I wrote. Sadly, it was not three times. But it was two! And I'm finding that I'm able to get about 5 pages done on the days I do write, which is half a chapter. I'm really happy about that. I'm seven chapters in now, a little over 30,000 words, and I'd say about 1/3 of the way through the story. That has me on track for somewhere between 90-100,000 words, which is perfect! The first time I've hit a normal word count! Woohoo!

I've finally started reading more. I actually moved my laptop from the kitchen to my office so I'm not as tempted to spend every spare second checking blogs and email and Babycenter.com. So now I actually read! Shocking! I just finished "The Glass Castle" for my book club (which I just realized I can't attend, I'm SO bummed!) and it was incredible; I highly recommend it. Then I finally read Kristin Billerbeck's latest, "Split Ends," which was classic Billerbeck and very enjoyable. Now I'm starting in on Camy Tang's first novel, "Sushi for One?" and am thoroughly enjoying it. It's so wonderful to rediscover reading.

Oh, another awesome book I finished recently (though it took me about two months to read it): "It's All Too Much." Can't remember the name of the author, but he's the guy frm HGTV's "Clean Sweep." He helps people declutter and organize. It was a fantastic book. It really helped me to figure out why I'm a pack rat and what I need to do to get over it. Dan and I are itching to do a whole-house purge and clean, and while I was looking forward to having the place clean, I wasn't looking forward to the process. But now I'm totally psyched. I'm thinking of doing a garage sale where nearly everything is a buck or less. Talk about priced to move! A friend of mine did that and, if I remember correctly, she sold everything. Anyway, if you're like us and have a garage so packed you can't park your car, or you have a storage unit, or every room is chock-full of stuff that doesn't necessarily belong in that room, I strongly recommend the book. It has a great cleaning and organizing plan and is very encouraging.