Recognition, However Small

 As we go through life we often take on tasks for which we get no recognition. Some of them are done for fun and others are required of us. Some are even a combination of both.  

Take, for instance, the books I read for authors and publishers. I am given these publications for free in exchange for a review. Most of the time I consider that a privilege. I enjoy reading and it doesn't cost me anything to take advantage of this opportunity.  I am allowed to express an opinion,  and believe me, if I don’t enjoy the book, for whatever reason, I will definitely tell you.

Recently I had the chance to read a pre-publication copy of Across the Shining Sea by Hunter Chadwick. It was not the first book from this author that I have read, and I'm sure it won't be the last.  This book is the first in a series of three, but they will be complete stories, independent of the others. Across the Shining Sea is now available for pre-order on Amazon. 

But what I am here to tell you about today is that this author chose to quote my review in his latest newsletter and on his web page. That tickles me, as just yesterday, I was told that the painting I did for the contest I told you about last fall is now appearing on the information screen at the local health centres.  Even though I did not win the contest, or go into any great description of a good book, I am feeling recognized. It's a great way to start my year.

Organizing My Priorities

 I recently won another book from LibraryThing. This one is called The Beginner's Guide to Organize Your Life. Well, at this stage of life, I'm hardly a beginner, and up until not long ago, I was pretty good at organizing things.

This book seemed to arrive at the most opportune moment. My office/studio has just had a facelift. We had to move everything out of that room in order to repaint the walls and put down a new floor.  Let me make this clear. I live in a 900-square-foot home and this was the room with the most stuff in it. The hallway and every other room in the house soon had extra furniture, boxes and other piles of stuff anywhere we could find a place to set it down. Organization went completely out the window. While I will admit that the desks in that room were often cluttered, suddenly my whole house was a complete mess. I felt like I was living in a hoarder's house. Maybe I was, but usually, my hoarding was confined to just one room. And then, to make matters worse, we had a major storm that created a flood in the basement.  Where were we supposed to put the things that needed rescuing from down there?

As I began to read this book I found all the normal helpful hints about goal setting, building a routine and being consistent. We are told to plan ahead. I already had a list of things I wanted to get done today.  I was ahead of the book on that one. It did mention leaving time for things that might come up unexpectedly. One of my planned tasks did not get done because my hubby had his own agenda as he was reorganizing the contents in the basement now that it had dried out. He presented me with a couple more boxes to go through. That snowballed into making a few more messes than I expected today.

I am supposed to review the book so I need to read it first. I was trying to fit that in, in between other tasks. I sent an e-mail requesting a Kindle version as this book arrived as a pdf file. Every time I closed it or shut down my tablet the darn thing disappeared.  I would hunt it down and find I had to flip through the pages one by one to try to find where I left off. This is not how any previous books I have received in pdf format have behaved and I know the Kindle version is available. I found it on Amazon.  I was able to both forward it to my Kindle and open it in my Kindle app on my tablet, but it was basically useless.  I am now flipping through more than 40 pages.

I had received no response to my message and I cannot see myself flipping through the 109 pages to finish reading this book. I could likely have finished reading it by now if I had a proper Kindle version or a pdf file that was not apparently meant to be an audiobook. The audio part is only available in the UK and the US, not here in Canada. I am assuming that's why I'm having problems with the file.

Then I reached the chapter on time management and prioritizing your tasks.   I decided to take my cue from the book and prioritize my time. I have stopped fighting with the file and written a blog instead of a review.  I feel like I have accomplished something more worthwhile.