Was it just me who stayed up until midnight backing up all my writing files...in case there really was a new virus that was about to worm into my hard drive and ruin all my years of work?  Well, I did it anyway...I just couldn't stand the thought of losing things that cost so much sweat and blood.

Went to lunch today for a friend's birthday -- Chinese.  Cracked open my fortune cookie, read the note -- first impression, woo-hee!  Maybe something will happen with my writing.  Reread the fortune, slapped my head, Oh no!  So what's your take on it?

Fortune:  An unexpected event will soon make your life more exciting.  (Um, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good event and some days my life is already way more exciting than I need). 

It also reminded me a bit of Kazdreamer's general tarot reading for me.  Hmm, maybe the stars are telling me something.  Sigh!  Wish I knew what it was so I could somehow prepare for the unexpected.  LOL.

March in a Nutshell:

Critiques:  One full novel and ten chapters

Word Count:  Grew by 9500 words (Whew!  Not bad for me...if I can do that this month, I'll be finished or close enough that the momentum will carry me through -- I know, I've been saying that for months).

Books read:  (Only 6)

Beastly by Alex Flinn -- Interesting twist to the Beauty and the Beast story.  I liked the story from a beast pov.  Very modern and unique turn to an old tale.
Wild Swans by Jung Chang -- Excellent portrayal of three generations of Chinese women.  I enjoyed learning more about the culture.
Eyes of a Stranger by Rachel Ann Nunes -- Okay, fairly predicitable, I thought.  Although I did like the twist at the end.
Far From You by Lisa Schroeder -- Loved this very well connected and emotional portrayal of a young woman dealing with the death of her mom and the intricacies of building new relationships.  Well done, Lisa.
Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson -- A little edgier and shallower than I like.  A story about getting caught up in the middle of prom planning and discovering that she cared about things she hadn't expected to care about.  I've heard good things about her other books, and just picked up Speak from the library -- I'm willing to give her another shot.
Audrey Wait! by Robin Benway -- Not my thing.  Edgier and shallower than I like.  And I struggled to read this because of the language.  You can roll your eyes, but I know hundreds of teens and none of them use the f word in every other sentence. Cute idea here, but I found it predictable.  I did like the ending when she took control of her life. 

Now I feel bad because I always want my reviews to be positive, which is why I usually just highlight the positive things I liked (even if there's only one or two things) and I don't do many book reviews.  Um, but each of these was obviously interesting enough for me to pick in the first place.  I'm a picky reader.  Just because maybe a book wasn't my thing doesn't mean that you won't adore it. 

Journaling -- Still need to improve here.
Exercise -- Better but still need to improve here.  (Hoping to do some serious hiking next week).

Weight loss -- about 6-7 lbs.  (14 lbs. total)  But the most important thing, I'm eating much healthier and my cholesterol dropped 112 points over the last three months and that's been my most important goal.  I feel better, have more energy, hopefully look better, and am getting much more done overall.  Yay!  Now if I can just keep it up.  I'm hoping having everyone home for spring break doesn't kill my goal.  But if so, I'll just have to start again when they all go back to school and hope to make up my losses.  I'm crossing my fingers here.

Well, hope you all had a great month.  I'm looking forward to April and the "unexpected event", lol.  I'm hoping to finish my WIP, and hope that it's a great, successful, and happy month for all of you!  (And that's no April fool'n).