The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas was an intimidating Classic to face. As my first classic of the year, I decided to go all in with this monstrosity. I felt very timid turning to the first of nearly 1100 pages. The nautical terminology and the heavily used French words slowed me down and I had no idea how I was going to keep up. However, once I really got into the story, I couldn't put this down.

This was a BBC (Badassery Book Club) read for Alice and I. I think we started our plan as a 3 month read, dropped it to two, and then settled on six weeks. I might have finished in 16 days. For my safety, I wouldn't say where she is at other than the fact that she is keeping to planned reading nicely. I have lots to catch up on in the interim anyway!

Alexandre Dumas

I went into Count blind as I had never seen the movie or knew anything about the plot. I really enjoyed the story that way because I had no idea what was coming next. The first time I noticed one of Dantes' costumes, all the pieces started coming together beautifully. I cannot wait to read more of his stuff. 

What this a long book? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to others? I've already recommended it to two people. Would I read it again? Undoubtedly. My Good Reads rating is five stars out of five. This was an epic adventure that ticked all of the boxes for me. There was love (mad/passionate, unrequited) and loss, devotion and betrayal, self discovery, regret, revenge, redemption, and by the end, hope.

Despite Popular Belief...

It's still only Thursday. And since I didn't finish reading a book today, we're going to do a quick 10 minute free write (no corrections) for the blog post tonight because all I really want to do is read "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas. Without further ado, let's set the timer and go because I have a feeling I'll be talking about this more.

I'm sure that I am not the only one that thought that yesterday was Thursday and today was Friday even after repeatedly correcting myself. Here we are at the end of the actual Thursday and it feels like tomorrow is Sunday. I blame the nap I took this afternoon for at least part of my confusion.

If you don't know me, on Thursday and Fridays I will only work 4-6 hours a day because I had worked three ten hour shifts Monday through Wednesday. I worked until noon today. I had high hopes of doing a TON of reading and part of that was to read "A Question of Holmes" by Brittany Cavallaro in one sitting. I got nearly halfway finished before my body told me that it was actually time to go take a nap.

I took myself and my dog (okay so she just followed me, I didn't actually "take" her anywhere) and we climbed into bed. She of course took up Steve's side and most of the middle and generously gave me a tiny sliver on my side of the bed. What a good girl. We fell asleep around 1:30. We woke up many times in the interim due to phone calls and texts but decided to stay in bed. It was warm. It was comforting. And I knew that this rest was needed.

I didn't fully wake up until Steve called at a few minutes before five. Whoops. I probably should have set an alarm. I still felt pretty crummy after waking up but as the hours have progressed, I am doing a lot better. I am surprisingly feeling like I could sleep again soon which is great since I need to be up at 5am tomorrow.

The biggest thing I noticed was that I really didn't feel like writing anything. This happens sometimes, but I've found that when I feel that way, that usually means that I need to be writing. Despite my absolute infatuation with "The Count of Monte Cristo," I decided to do a quick free-write so that I can keep with my writing something every day. Even now, I keep glancing to my make-shift table next to the couch (it's a folding chair) and looking at my book with my 'Silence Please' book mark for Bodlean Library when I was in Oxford a few months ago. It's calling to me. I've never read this story before and I have somehow missed all of the spoilers and it's legit all I want to do.

I've got some decisions coming up that I'm going to take the weekend to focus on. One of the main things that I'm learning is that there is too much for me to do (that I want to do) and not enough time to complete everything. I need to figure out what my priority list is and then make some hard decisions. Ultimately, I think that they will be a very good thing overall for the course of the rest of the year, and figuring them out now, in February is much better than realizing in September that changes need to be made.

My biggest issue is the one thing that is the most important to me keeps getting pushed aside for other things and I'm not taking the time it needs or deserves. I'm sure part of it is fear. Fear that if I start that I will need to hold myself accountable. Fear that if I make the commitment to it, that I will need to follow through. And in order to follow through, I will absolutely need to make some changed that will likely involve me reading less than I do... and I absolutely LOVE my reading time.

The ten minutes are over. I hope you all have an amazing Friday. Tomorrow. Because I totally know what day it is now.

January Progress Report

We are nearly three weeks into the new year, and I am still going strong. Writing my goals down and how I am going to accomplish them has been a game changer for me this year. I know exactly what I want and I know what I need to do to accomplish them.

Let's consider this an update of sorts, a mid-month progress report.

Writing: I've maintained my blog posting to every day, even on days I absolutely did not want to write or look at a computer screen. A great example was last night. Let me tell you, even the idea of opening my computer was off putting to me. But I had made myself a promise, and I deserved to hold myself to the promise of writing. I'd only be disappointing myself otherwise, and I'm worth more than that.

Novel brain storming has been a little slower than I would like; however, I did give myself 75 days of planning so official novel writing won't begin until the middle of March. My plan; however, is to have a full outline before the focused writing starts.

I also have a drabble about Bucky Barnes to complete before my friend's birthday in May. That one should be interesting. She'll appreciate seeing it in writing that after two years I'm finally committing to writing it AND I've given myself a deadline. What have I gotten myself into...

Reading: I've been kicking ass at reading. As of today, I've read 17 books in 19 days. I have one that only has about 50 pages left too. I've added a few unplanned reads along the way, but I'm still pushing to get to the rest of the to be read list I created for January.

What do I have left? I have the three remaining books from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. Four books is totally doable. I think I will also throw in the three novellas that are attached to The Selection series if I can manage it. I know this is a lot, but "The Hazel Wood" by Melissa Albert is also looming in my mind. I've heard mixed reviews about it, but I am still interested.

I haven't even begun to think about what will be on my February TBR list aside from the BBC (Badassery Book Club) read of The Count of Monte Cristo. We have a three month time limit read on it since it's massive... but part of me wants to do it all in one month. If I do that though, I might not read anything else.

Health/Wellness: I've changed my eating habits yet again. Well, not changed... just refined. I'm getting better with my portion sizes and I'm very pleased to be eating very clean. My body seems to like it for the most part. I've also got a daily vegan chocolate and banana smoothie with unsweetened vanilla almond milk that I adore! Eating can still be fun even when you eat healthy.

Fitness: I am still going strong on my 75 hard journey. It's mentally gotten tougher as I feel exhausted all of the time. Two work outs a day is a lot when you don't have a ton of spare time. My pup; however, is enjoying her longer walk in the evening. I'm also doing a Barre Blend workout everyday as well. What I'm loving about this is that it's reintroducing me to ballet. I haven't danced in about 25 years, and I didn't realize how much I miss it. It kicks my butt each and everyday, but I love how quickly my balance and strength is improving (I have a LONG way to go). I'm in the middle of my second week of that.

Planting Flowers: Positive self-talk hasn't been 100% over the past three weeks, but I didn't expect it to. I am; however, greatly improving in that department. I am an intelligent and capable woman and can do anything I put my mind to. See y'all, I did that with a straight face! Progress.

Ultimately, this year is starting out so incredibly strong. I have had some really good boundary work with some of my closer relationships and I'm learning to open up more and allow vulnerability into my life. I'm excited to finish this month off strong and head into our leap year month.

I'm not really a sports fan... but... TITAN UP!