Windmill Musings

I know those seem like the same but they have to do with 2 separate things for me right now. First, making progress means that today, I've filled the majority of the "big ticket items" in the first 9 chapters of my book. I "put it down" - this novel writing -  for about a week to let my mind wrap around a few ideas before I set them in stone. This first novel (whether it ever gets published or not) is a mystery and I have to make sure I don't have too little or too many clues involved - and I also have to make sure ALL my characters are believable with the right amount of flaws in each one. They have to be interesting enough to be realistic but mysterious enough for the reader to be excited to read the next page wondering how they will react or what they'll do! So today, I came back to my story, this time starting with chapter one. I have a good start at filling in the details around the "big ticket items" that make them stand out - and give my

Today has been uber productive and its only 11:38 a.m. I went to bed earlier than usual so I was up earlier than usual, 6:30 a.m.! So not normal for me but those of you who know me even a little bit know I'm a true night owl.  But by 8:30 a.m. I forced myself out of bed and onto a walk. Today is a late afternoon work day so I was able to get almost a full walk in (which is 3 miles or more now). However, I did a shorter walk because I had signed up to do a workout webinar with the 49ers and Special Olympics. I had no idea what to expect and as I have to admit I'm not in the best shape, I didn't want to hurt myself before work.  On my walk, I finally listened to the first of 4 "A Bit of Optimism" podcasts that Simon Sinek started a few weeks ago to help through all the events happening around us. The first one was with Christina Tosi & Will Guidara. What an amazing couple - and rightfully the couple that Simon went to to share about relationships.  It was so go

Nowadays those three words can mean so many things, a lot of which we can be nieve to. But for me and my current life, its a 2-folded meaning.  Recently, I shared about how I felt my life was good. All the ways I know I'm blessed. But one thing I didn't mention was how I got to this space by not worrying about what others had or what others thought I should do. I stuck to my guns and moved forward in what I knew I should do. And I succeeded in accomplishing the first 3 steps. Now I'm working on the 4th and 5th: creating a better retirement plan and buying a new car in cash in the next 6-9 months.  The latter has gotten many "whys" and many "wouldn't it be better to build credit to finance?" As I've explained for hundreds of times now (and I'm sure it'll go thousands soon), I don't want to live a life with payments (outside of a mortgage). Necessary bills like electric and internet, phone service, etc, are one thing, but for things I c

My assumptions were correct. Kathy Smith workouts have ability to keep me focused, moving, and encouraged. Today is Day 1. I've made some good habits over the last 3 months, one being just getting out and walking my neighborhood. Kathys first workout was just walking. So I put the two together and.... ....aye yi yi I'm feeling it! From one 40-minute walking workout. I couldn't even finish my 3 miles and had to cut my route short. That's a good marker for a good workout and a good way to check progress. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's workout and can't wait to do this one again, which is scheduled for next Wednesday. It's a 1 week cycle over 2 weeks (1st 7 workouts repeated a second week). I'm tracking my process but what inches or weight I'm down I'll post at the end of the 2 weeks. I'll hold off on posting my starting "dimensions" for now. But it's lunch and then work from home time now.  Again, I hope you find som

Today is one of my 2 work days. Its my "early" day of the week (12-4). So when I get home, its around most peoples getting off work time - but its a current novelty for me. And even though my work is very part time, I'm finding myself wanting to be more and more active - and so wanting to enjoy being out when its still light and great weather.  So here I am on another walk today. My day started with the same walk and then a 45 minute latin class. I just want to be outside today so I am. Tomorrow ill do a similar walk and then begin a 14 day trial. I grew up with Jane Fonda-style aerobics. But who i really loved was Kathy Smith (look her up, she's awesome!). Now she's mastered an over 40 workout for women, and if it's as good as I think it is then ill have found something and someone to keep me consistent.  This walk will be shorter but it will accomplish what I need it to in order to keep positive progress. I've been disheartened to see so much negative an

About to go on a 2-3 mile walk then take my bosses Latin fitness class. Then I'll have about 1 hrs to get ready and leave for work. I also am starting a Kathy Smith women over 40 workout and meal plan - which is more in line with what my Dr and a nutritionist friend have recommended in the past. Whats great is ive realized my current meal track is about 75% in line. I just have to improve what im eating by about 25%! As I'm walking in this moment, I'm making the decision to 1) walk 2 miles this morning and 1 after work later, 2) listen to an audio book during my walks, 3) make sure that I get my mind right and prepared for each day during this walk even if it means I pray the whole time, and 4) find an accountability partner. So far during Covid-19, I lost 4.7, gained 3 back and lost another lb. So I'm at 2.7 lost. Though I've been mostly at peace in multiple ways, I know that my body likes to shut down with any kind of stress. Armed with that knowledge, I will be d

....to feel so relaxed and unstressed. I really can't or shouldn't complain about this Coronavirus "staycation." Yes, I've returned to work - part time - slowly but surely we'll truly open again. Also, educating myself to the real issues of the world and our country, and this time helps me to fully see outward and live a loving life. I know I'll still make mistakes - we all will, we live in a fallen world, one that can never be perfect but can always be better.  I have lessened burdens and given up a hold on things that I can't control, other peoples perceptions I can't help, and accept my flaws and perfections equally. I've made new friends and some long-time friends are growing stronger. And a big one as I've already shared is I have no financial burden.  A friend recently asked if I was doing good. I said I was. They didn't believe me and accused me of not telling the truth. But I really am. Better than I think I have ever been. And

That's the number of steps today that it took me to walk around the neighborhood (3.0 miles and 7,593 steps) and to finish a latin fitness class (4,007 steps) that my bosses have started. I'm beat!   But I laughed at myself because that's about 1/10th of the steps we need to take in a day to better ourselves, work on our issues, help others more and just be good human beings!  If I can improve myself everyday making 11,160 steps forward, I wouldn't be so much of a work in progress. Ha! But today I decided that though I have a pretty empty house to enjoy for about another four or five hours (my landlords left to stay overnight with some friends in Monterey; they'll be back by tonight), I'm going to use today to get out and do something fun. I'll be careful to social distance but I think its time that I trek to my favorite beach and even if I have to stay in my car and just drive the whole time, it will be good for my soul to just refresh. I've been heavy-

Today has been productive but done in a relaxed and systemic way. I've done a lot today but I also feel like I've done nothing. You lnow, that feeling. I'm finally able to sit down and spend time with my characters, moving them along in their fictional lives. As I do so, I realize that there's a little of me in each one. One loves salami, one loves wine, one has a particular car scent that they will only use, and one loves a good mystery. Its funny how sometimes a writer puts a little of themselves in their characters. I chalk it up to the saying "you write best what you know." All of this is coming to me as I'm focusing on a character that needs more substance and the first thought I had was adding a flaw that I have to him. I'm amused at the thought that a lot of little bits of me will make it in to this first foray into really pursuing authorship. Whether authorship is a word or not, I'm looking forward to writing more words and spending time wi

Okay, it took a little longer than I expected but here is the selected passage I'm choosing to share online. It is part of my chapter 3 but it could move once I fill in some things.  This is the introduction of one of the major characters in the story (and potentially, if I'm successful at this, in multiple stories). Again its a rough draft so this exchange may change in the final copy but it does its job for now. From The Secret of the Windmill, Tiffany Ellen Pereira, publishing date to be decided... “Jeff Davis?” I asked. “That name is familiar.” “It should be. He’s famous,” Gina said. “Famous?” “Yes, Detective Jeff Davis is -“ Gina started before I interrupted. “The detective who solved the Creighton Place murders!” I said excitedly. “Wow, I didn’t know he was living here. I followed that case from beginning to end.” “He is a very good friend of mine, and he’s very private. The case made him very famous, deservedly so, but he hated the attention,” Robert chimed in. “When it

I just returned from a 1 hour and 15 minute walk around the neighborhood. I'll admit that I've been very much a lazy butt in exercising. I had done so well in the first 6 weeks of this and then once a few things related to my personal life blew up and I started back part time to work again, that went by the wayside. I blew up my best laid plans.  This week, though, I recommitted - as always, I'm sure I'll take a few steps back and have to recommit again - but I'll recommit until its a habit. That's what we do. We mess up; we fail; we falter; but then we get up and keep getting up until we succeed. However, some of us choose to stay in our state. We like being a victim; we like the attention we get; we crave it; we don't want to lose that acknowledgement. Maybe its because we don't get what we "need" on a daily basis; maybe its because of how our personality works; maybe its because we've had a trauma and its how we've learned to cope; m

Yesterday, the foothills that are 6/10ths of a mile from my house were burning. Someone set 6 separate fires along the side of the hills. Luckily, a neighbor noticed and was able to stop him before he did anymore. Right now, they say its 80% contained. Luckily, they were on it and we didn't need to evacuate. But it was a scary few hours. Over 90 acres burned at the time. I jokingly called it Jumanji level 7b. Though, it was nothing to joke about. I learned something really valuable during those few hours: there are very few "things" I "own" that are important. When you have a fire burning less than a mile from where you live, you only have time to grab the most important. Today, because of that epiphany moment, I took another load of "stuff" to Goodwill that were not "important" in my life! Then, having receiving an unexpected blessing, I bought a new printer and scanned in 4 big binders full of files, documents and some work notes I wanted t

When you are restructuring a story so its better than the 12-18 year old self that wrote it, sometimes you have to throw away pages and pages of words that used to mean something. It hurts a bit to throw away those words that were so important to you - but they don't do any good anymore, they don't add anything to your story. They have to go. Completely. This was the first 2 hours and 36 minutes of my "work" time today. Pages and pages of written words had to be discarded. Then I took a break for an hour to do some studio work. As I finished texting some students about restarting their lessons, I realized how much getting rid of unnecessary words in my story was a metaphor with getting rid of unnecessary things in my life. What a parallel to real life right now. Covid-19, the attrocious action that led to current riots, friends and family who are going through difficult times right now - all of it is making us get rid of unnecessary things or habits, or is bringing

As I sit down a bit earlier than planned today, I realize that I'm that excited to "work" today. The next 4 hours or so will be devoted to chapters 5 & 4, and I'll spend an hour or so of it with the studio business of getting back to contacting students. I've been given the OK but not to book. This is a new normal for us and as Juan and Cari are implementing their new procedures, I'm very happy to be a support for them and work my way back and beyond to where I was before. But patience is a virtue so I'm leaning on that to help me move forward in the best possible way and help them work out a clear vision. But last night, my characters ran through my mind and a new idea sprang forth. Something that wouldn't be hard to implement and would make for a more interesting resolution. However, until I fix chapters 5 & 4, I won't know if it will work 100% or if I need to modify. But it's definitely going to be a part of The Secret of the Win

This blog is connected to my Facebook page. It is how I will use Facebook in the meantime. I have uninstalled both Facebook and Instagram on my phone. It will not be easy for me to log on to either now. If I don't see your post or respond fast or at all, that is why. I need to focus on the positive and doing what I can in my "real" life (not my "social online" life) to help love this world and EVERY SINGLE PERSON in it. I need to share my gifts in the dance industry. I need to write and share/publish my stories. I need to volunteer to help when and where I can. I need to contact my friends and family directly, and not through social means.  My friends, my family, the people I've worked with know who I am deep to the core. It's time I trust that, and not get sucked dry by the negative of the world. I may very well return to instagram and facebook when I can travel again to post positive pictures and cool things I've learned. But I'm going to work