Virtue Quest

Quick note about today: I know much of the U.S. has suffered from interminable blizzarding, but here in the balmy Pacific Northwest, the weather has hardly dared dip below 40F. Till today. Indeed, even as I speak, it snoweth! God be praised! It snoweth!

Yes, I know it has nothing whatsoever to do with virtue – except the virtue of joy!

Right. Onto the list:

• Woke without my alarm because I’d left my phone (AKA, my alarm clock) upstairs. Still, it was 8:05, so I was basically on schedule
• Morning prayer, and mass, but no evening prayer
• Helped my mom out a bit, since she was totally wiped out from a long day on Saturday
• Worked a 5-hr shift
• Realized en route to work that I’d left my wallet at home; continued driving anyway with flagrant disregard for my criminal status
• Had dinner and a movie (the new “Alice”) with some good friends
• Home around 11pm; asleep by midnight

Back to ye olde daily grind! What could be better?

• Woke with my alarm at 8am
• Paid some bills
• Some reading, some writing – including a post for this blog!
• Prayed in the morning, but not in the evening
• Neglected to call a friend when I told her I would
• Went to work for about six hours
• Cooked dinner for my mom
• Some planning for next week, while Dad’s away and Brother’s in town
• Got to bed early, about 10pm

Feeling better now, I’m glad to report! But my dad headed off this morning to help my aunt and uncle deal with some health issues, so I get to help my mom take care of the house. And next week, my brother is coming into town just to hang out with us. So I hope to post a few times next week, but please forgive me if I’m a little slack!

Anyway, here’s yesterday, as best I remember it:

• Woke up on time for the first time in three days
• Normal Friday conversation with a friend on the east coast
• A little reading
• Sorted out some details about Dad’s trip with him and Mom
• Worked an 8-hr shift
• Turned in another job application; had a fun little banter with the manager
• Watched a little telly (finally saw the new episode of “Lost”)
• Scribbled some notes for a new take on an old story idea
• Posted a couple final notes to the Catholic Writer’s Conference
• I don’t remember if I spent any time in prayer – mea culpa!
• Got to bed a little after ten
• 

• Woke up early – about 6:30, I think; then returned to bed till after 9
• Scrambled to get to mass on time – I arrived during the opening prayer
• At work for 5 hours
• Some commenting over on the Catholic Writer’s Conference forums
• Wrote a post for this blog
• Dinner and conversation with some good friends
• Some time web surfing before bed – about an hour or so
• Prayed while driving, but said neither morning nor evening prayer
• Bed around 11-ish

Yesterday was, well, a bit nuts. So I’ll catch you up on the past couple days:

• February 26:
• Woke up about 8am
• Prayed in the morning, not in the evening
• Had a phone conversation with a good friend on the east coast
• A little re-writing on the novel
• Worked about 8 hours
• Came home to a poker party, at which I won more than I lost
• Got to bed around 1:30am
• February 27:
• Woke up about 8:45
• Phone call with another good friend
• Worked for about 7 hours
• Phone call with yet another good friend
• Phone call with a fourth good friend – thank God for good friends!
• Watched some telly (“House” I think)
• Prayed in the evening, not in the morning
• Posted my submissions to the Catholic Writer’s Conference Online
• Got to bed around 10pm
• 

Bit of a crazy morning this morning, but here’s yesterday:

• Woke up early, about 6:30, had breakfast, then back to bed till my alarm went off
• Didn’t pray in the morning, but did pray in the evening
• Worked about 8 hours
• Rewrote a passage for the critique group
• Wrote a post for Coalition for Clarity
• Did a little job searching
• Helped clean the house for tonight’s poker party
• Watched some telly (“Burn Notice” – go Fiona!)
• Finished reading a bad translation of Tao Te Ching – working on a post about that
• Got to bed around 11

One of the results of not playing computer games is that I don’t use my computer much at night. So, I haven’t been on the computer to write up my daily inventory before I go to bed.

The daily inventory gives me a reality check, though. It’s a way of seeing my behavior more clearly. But because it’s a good thing to not be on the computer late at night, I’m going to try doing the inventory in the morning instead. So, here’s what yesterday looked like:

• Woke up about 8am with my alarm
• Didn’t pray
• Had the day off from work, but had a job interview
• Took a nap after the job interview – I’d been out late at a movie (“Shutter Island”) the night before
• Did some job searching
• Printed out the first six chapters of my novel; I’m submitting a couple passages to an online critique forum later this week, so I’m doing a quick re-write
• Wrote a post for this blog
• Watched a little telly (latest episode of “Lost”)
• Had dinner with some friends
• Some reading
• Went to bed around 10:30

I know I have been less than regular about these inventories. That itself is a sign that I’m stressed and tired. I think I have too many plates a-spinning. Still, I’m grateful for all my friends who keep my head pointed in the right direction, no matter how dizzy I get. Thank you!

On to today’s list:

• Woke about 6:30, then back to sleep till 8
• Good talk with a friend on the phone
• Morning prayer and some meditation, about 30 minutes total
• Eight hours at work
• Finally got through to a receptionist and set up an interview for another job
• Family dinner tonight
• Couple hours of TV after dinner (“Leverage” season finale)
• Going to pray and get to bed ASAP

Yes, I know it’s late. I took an unintentional nap late this afternoon, and it’s thrown my whole day off. Woke up after 8pm, thinking it was after 8am – confusing! But I’m aiming for bed by 1am, so that I don’t screw up my sleep schedule too badly.

Anyway, here’s the list:

• Woke around 6:30, back to sleep till 8-ish
• Took my car into the shop – needed a new clutch
• Walked home; that contributed to the 8100+ steps today
• Spent most of my walking time also praying
• On the phone most of the morning and early afternoon: interviews, work, family conversations, a bit of coaching from a friend
• Some reading, mostly research for the novel
• A bit of comment-box debating
• No actual words onto the page for either the novel or the ebook today
• The aforementioned nap
• Some telly with my parents this evening
• Bed soon, I hope!

• Woke up at 6:30; went back and dozed till my alarm went off about 8
• Applied for a couple jobs before leaving for work
• Worked about 8 hours
• Got into a couple debates in comment boxes on other blogs
• Watched some telly (“The Mentalist”) to decompress after work
• Some reading
• Some writing on my ebook
• Stubbed my toe something wicked while sitting down to write this post
• It’s late; I’m off to bed now