Goals check for the week of September 16

Yesterday was a crazy start to the week -- I had my annual eye exam that included having my eyes dilated.  That usually takes forever to go away on me, so I took the entire day off from work of all kinds.  Today is technically the first day of the week for me, therefore.

I had a reasonably productive week last week behind the computer, though not as productive when it came to horse things.  I made good progress on the novel, though, which makes up for the lack of attention the horses got.  (I think so, anyway -- they might not agree.)

Without further ado:

1. Novels: I am joining a friend's writing critique group, so I had to give them a selection to read.  This incentive resulted in many hours being put forth in making sure the entire first chapter was ready to go.  Despite my best intentions, I still had a couple of unresolved things that required research and some behind-the-scenes work.  Now all of that is done, and the first chapter has been posted on the group's online page.  We are meeting tomorrow, so I will find out soon what they think.  They are my first test audience, and I go back and forth between feeling supremely confident and just a little bit nervous.  My husband, Michael, did read the chapter over the weekend, and had nothing but good things to say, but he has heard so much about my vision of this novel and series for so long that he is coming to it with more background than any other reader would.

2. Blogs and websites: No progress here.

3. Other writing projects: No progress here.

4. Books: I finally caved to peer pressure and watched Les Miserables before having finished the book.  Still have every intention of finishing it, but I have a lot else on my reading plate at the moment: a book club book I am finishing, a challenged book for Banned Books Week, and a couple of books I want to read for research for my novel.

5. Horses: The horses were a bit ignored last week.  I didn't go ride until my lesson on Panama on Thursday, but it was a very good lesson.  V. had her lesson on Rondo that afternoon, and then rode him again on Friday.  I didn't ride again on Friday because Panama had a slice on his right rear heel that seemed to be bothering him a little.

I didn't get a lot else done during the week, but getting my first chapter completely in order is such a big deal that it feels like it was an extremely productive week!