Ahh.

I'm currently sitting in my living room, enjoying the bright and shiny atmosphere that is a result of all the hard work my family and I have put into getting things in order. The brand new TV doesn't hurt, either!

Remember a while back, I wrote about the shamrocks I was selling at work for Jerry's Kids? Well, my company was having a contest to push us to sell more -- every 200 you sold, you got an entry to win a 42" Plasma TV. I never -- ever -- win anything, so I just went about my business, selling shamrocks for the charity. Well, on Friday, the president of our company came in, helping to carry this big ole box. I immediately assumed my co-worker had won, but when Mr. President said my name, my jaw hit the floor. For real? I actually won something? And something so BIG? I still can't believe it. He even told me I did a good job for selling so many -- I was the top seller in my district!

Of course, I had to rearrange my living room to make room for this thing -- which is why having a brother is so awesome! We finished up yesterday, and I couldn't be more thrilled. My new TV is so pretty. And it was FREE!

Anyway.

Thanks to everyone who tossed their suggestions for reigniting my inspiration my way. I'm still working on it. Sad to say, I haven't TOUCHED my novel in over a week. Other than a few minutes ago, when I paper-clipped chapters together in the mammoth-sized pile of papers I printed off a couple weeks ago. How sad is this? I have two Chapter 5's. I don't know how it happened, or how I didn't realize, but there are definitely two of them. Something to fix when I get to the revisions, I suppose.

So, April is more than half over. This realization fills me with dread. I don't think I'm going to make my deadline. My novel refuses to end. It's like the Energizer Bunny. On crack. It keeps going and going and going and going and...going. I'm really going to have to buckle down and write, write, write! Just immerse myself in words until I get this thing finished. I can't WAIT to type those two words -- The End.

I. Am. Exhausted.

Today was a really long day. Okay, okay. So I didn't even start it until noon. But I got a LOT accomplished! Spring cleaning, if you will.

Last week, I got impatient and ripped up the carpet in my hallway. We had a litter of kittens a while back and they shredded the carpet and it looked awful! We kept putting off repairing it for a while, and I kept dropping hints to my handyman dad and brother, hoping they'd come help fix it. They didn't and didn't and I got fed up. I tore the carpet up all by myself, then attempted to put down self-adhesive linoleum tiles. Bad idea. I may have gotten a lot of things from my dad (including my bad temper, unfortunately), but I did NOT inherit the handy gene. It looked ridiculous.

Today, though, my dad came over and fixed it. It looks really pretty and I'm thrilled.

While he was doing that, Dana and my brother fixed our garbage disposal and I raked the yard and sprayed out the litter boxes. Then I got clean up duty. I cleaned up the remnants of tile after my dad was finished, and mopped up water and reorganized my cleaning supplies under the sink after they were done with the garbage disposal. But it takes a lot of weight off my mind to know these things are done. Now, we have to shampoo the carpet and rearrange the living room. It never ends.

I missed writing group tonight. I had the day off and I wanted to go, but we got tied up in house repairs. But it was nice to spend time with my family.

Last week, one of the girls in writing group told me about this website. Ever since then, I've been using it. It's great! I get an email every day -- "You should write 750 words today." Why yes, yes I should. And I was on a five day streak until yesterday! It's good mental exersice. Even if I don't get to my novel, I'm writing every day. And no matter what I write, at least I'm writing. It helps. A LOT.

I haven't written anything for my novel all week, sadly. I am desperate to finish it by June, but I think that desperation is killing my INspiration! Argh! I had every intention on writing tonight, but I'm soooooo tired! How do you guys push yourselves to write? I need some suggestions!