Friday Fandango: Chores & Contests

We're easing out of summer into fall SCHEDULES.

Part of me loves schedules.

The other part of me Hates schedules.

My cousin-in-law, Natalie, blogged about chore lists the other day. Like a good little follower, I went to the website and actually felt all motivated for a minute to download the checklist.

Well, I've been doing the checklist for a week and a half now. Sort of.

The whole purpose of this exercise is to give me MORE TIME: more time to spend with my kids, more time to not feel guilty about my house being a mess. But I don't know. There are daily chores on the sidebar. They are about the only things I was accomplishing with any regularity before. The rest of the house went by this rule: if you notice it looks dirty, clean it.

I don't know if the check list has helped me or not. I can usually accomplish one or two things on the "extra" list every day, so I guess I'm doing more than I was before. Still, I have all those unchecked boxes staring at me. I just laugh at the ones that say, "Spend time on a craft/hobby." Yeah, I'll do THAT whether it's on my checklist or not. I'll write novels over scrubbing a green bathtub any day.

I guess my toilets are a little cleaner. My hand towels get changed more regularly. Maybe I'll be less embarrassed if surprise guests pop in.

But the list hasn't helped my clutter problem. Even though "Clear/Wipe kitchen counters" is on the everyday checklist, I never get them really cleared. I do wipe the parts of them I use for cooking. The other parts have piles of papers and toys and Sunday School crafts on them.

Oh well. I think we'll all live. Can I hear an AMEN?

But I'm going to stick with the list through the end of the year. Maybe it will get easier as time goes on. Maybe once the dashingly handsome sidekick and small geniuses are in school, I'll find myself checking off all the boxes on the list. Maybe ... maybe....

And now that my TRUE CONFESSIONS are over, it's time for FUN.

There are some awesome contests going on all over the blogosphere that you need to enter.

Molly Hall and Dawn Simon, two awesome friends I made at the SCBWI conference, are having book giveaways. All you have to do is follow their blogs and leave a comment. They are so fun, you'll want to follow their blogs anyway. And they're from Seattle, which is the second most beautiful city in the world (the first being Hong Kong, of course).

Krista V., my marvelous blog friend and one of my faithful critique partners, is having a really cool contest where you get to title her WiP, formerly named "Bob." She's getting ready to query that puppy and needs a snazzy name to match the snazziness of the manuscript. The prizes are pretty awesome, too. Query and first page critiques, and if the manuscript goes all the way to publication there are MORE prizes in store.

And I just came across this one today. Author T.H. Mafi (call me Tehereh) is giving away a hundred dollar gift card for books. We all love books, right? So I had to mention it.

Lydia Kang is having a 300's contest over on her blog. French milled soap and other yummies are up for grabs. Check it out.

And last but not least, Kelly Bryson is giving away a dollar, (yes, you read that right) a WHOLE DOLLAR, if you can guess what the dude in the picture on her blog is thinking.

Most of these contests end on Sunday or Monday, so you don't have much time. Forget the chores checklist and ENTER THEM. You could get RICH, get a great book in the mail, start smelling really good, or get a query critique.

If I missed your contest (sorry!), please feel free to mention it in my comments. And I hope you all get done with your work so you can dance the fandango tonight. After all, it's Friday!