Moving Day

I thought moving day was just that. A day to move from one place of residence to another. Well da'gum was I wrong. And not in the good way, like when you open your gas bill in the middle of the winter expeting it be like $400. But when you do open it, you see it is only $245.66. Man, that's the good kind of wrong.

We tried to plan right by preparing the house in May of '13 with pressure washing the deck, new gutters, paint and so on.  Then, a ton of packing. Then, move stuff to storage (two locations). Then staging the house so it looked emaculate. And now today  we have to be out by 5:00 pm.

We closed on a Friday, and they allowed us until Monday to be moved out.  Thst was awesome of them.  But we are about to drop.

We moved into an apartment and only plan to stay there for a few mons while we look for another house to call home.

Then we have to start this moving day thing all over again. BUT, we will not be unpacking ANYTHING Saeeet the apartment unless we need it.

That way, in theory at least, all we will have to is load boxes and only pack our clothes, personals, a bowl, a spoon, and the coffee pot.

But we will still have to endure yet one  more "Moving Day" that will take the better part of a weekend.

When it's all said and done this will have been the most stressful experience we have gone through. Even though we planned right to pack ahead of time. At the very least, it ranks in the top three.

If you are planning to move soon, plan way ahead so you can pack your stuff right ti make it a not-so-stressful experience.

Merry Christmas!!

Twas the night b'fore Christmas and all along the trail,
not a back was hurting, not even ones tail.

The food bags were hung in the trees with care,
In hopes that that Mr. Bear would not find them there;

The campers were sleeping, all snug in their hammocks,
while resting their muscles and bones, from that day's walk;

When out from the woods, we heard such a clatter,
we exited our hammocks to see what was the matter.

Away to my pack I grabbed my coat of down,
I put it on so I would be warm.

The moon was bright and our vision was clear
we all sighed with relief seeing that it was not a bear

Instead of a bear, we saw a man in a suit,
the suit was red and he had on black heavy boots

His back was bent from the weight of the pack,
he said he was beat and had a pain in his lower back


His name was Chris, and he was to hike across the land,
delivering presents to all the boys and girls and he needed a hand


We asked asked as we looked, why so much weight?
With a puzzled look, "I'm new at this and some help would be great,

He looked cold so,I offered him coco, as he stood by the fire,

he said with a shiver, I need to go a bit lighter."

I pulled from my gear a book called "12 steps to a lighter pack" and said here
He flipped through the pages while he drank his coco and I saw in his eyes a tear.

He smiled, and thanked me, "These are tips I have not thought of before"
this will make my Christmas better than before.

"Can I give this to others", he asked, "it will be great, to give the girls and boys,
to go in their stockings, along with other backpacking tools and toys."

Of course I said yes as he drank his last drop,
"The coco was good," he said, "it warmed me right up."

He donned on his pack, easier now that it was light,
With trekking poles in hand, he headed back up the trail,
As he turned, he wished a merry Christmas, and to all a good night.

For Christmas I will be putting my book up for free
"12 Steps To A Lighter Pack" to help you go lighter as you pack amongst the trees.


Go to Amazon and download it fast,
it will go back to 99 cents after Christmas

It will be FREE after Midnight on the 24th.

It should be free on Christmas eve after midnight
Download it then to help you go light.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Gobble Gobble Gobble.

It's Thanksgiving time again and a time to be thankful for the blessings God has bestowed upon you. Be thankful for the good things and the bad as well. As many of you know I have some health issues, the past couple of years, with a cancer scare and now two herniated discs in my neck.

I am thankful that I did NOT have cancer, and that my neck issues are getting better. Think of the good that can eventually come out of the bad. Family is the most important blessing God can give us and we should not take that gift for granted. Be with your family this Thanksgiving and enjoy the time you have with them –regardless of how dysfunctional they may be.

I know it is cliché but you can choose your friends but not your family, so make the best of it, be thankful for everything you have and have a safe and gut filling Thanksgiving.

Eat plenty of turkey, or your Thanksgiving food of choice, watch the ball games and the parade, and then after you have stuffed your gullet with your favorite food, take a break and watch a movie or two.
Take a nap after you OD on Tryptophan while others make fun of you ‘cause you cant handle your turkey.

We all have our traditions, or maybe you can make a new tradition. Play a game after everyone pushes away from the table for “the after-the-dishes-are-cleaned” ritual.

Bottom Line:
Enjoy the time you have with friends and family and be thankful. Find one thing to be thankful for and embrace that one thing.

Be safe and God bless.

Don't Set Goals. Instead, Make a PLAN

If you are a writer you know about setting time aside to write. The kids are running around, so you write at the end of the day. Or maybe you work at a job that allows you to take an hour lunch so you go outside with your laptop or your pad and pen and sit on a bench in a park. Or maybe, just maybe, you are a morning person and you wake up an hour or two early enough to write with a fresh cup of coffee before you start your other day.

For me, I try to set aside at least an hour of writing time. Sometimes I sped my hour in the morning, or maybe in the afternoon. I work from home so I can set my hour of time pretty much anytime I need. But for my "writing time", I only have but one rule.

I don't have to write, but I can't do anything except write.

What that means is, no surfing -unless it involves research for the book I am working on...

No phone calls...

Nothing...

Unless I am writing.

So during the one hour (usually more) that I am writing, all I plan to do is write. But how much should I or can I write. Do I set a goal of 2000 words, 500 words, one chapter, 20 pages? What is my goal?

I recommend to NOT set goals. Setting goals is basically setting the bar. If you set the bar too high, and cant reach your goal, you may experience the feeling of failure or disapointment. If you set the bar too low, you may reach your goal and stop. It's like being in the gym... COME ON... ONE MORE REP... ONE MORE LAP... TEN MORE POUNDS...

There is nothing to push you along to do more. So instead of setting yourself up to pass or fail with goals, make a plan.

The beauty of having a plan is that it can change. If the game plan is to write 2000 words, or twenty pages and that doesn't work, then change the plan. It doesn't matter that you only wrote 1700 words. The plan was for 2000, but hey, that's okay. Why? because the plan can change. Change the plan to 1500 words and then if you end up writing 1800 words and 22 pages, or three chapters, the feeling will be awesome. 

And if the plan doesn't work, then change it until you have a plan that works. Take this post that you are reading. My PLAN was to work on my book Plan Right and Pack Light, but because of the tendonitis in my shoulder I really didn't feel up to it. But since this is my writing time, and I can't do anything except write, I started thinking about my situation. The pain meds are kicking in but I had to DO SOMETHING because I can't do ANYTHING except write. In other words, my plan was not working for me, so I changed it.

I am still writing. I'm just not working on my book, but I am writing. It will not be 2000 words, but I am writing. I did not reach my goal because there is no goal, so I don't feel like a failure. WHY? Because I am writing.

Just make a plan to write at a specific time of day (it doesn't matter when) and write something (it doesn't matter what) for as long as you like.... you guessed it (it doesn't matter for how long) because it is YOUR plan, not mine, not some other writer's plan, it is your plan. If something happens to make you feel like you didn't do enough, change the plan. If something happens to make you feel like you did too much, change the plan.

That is the beauty of the plan, it is ever changing. Make a plan and stick to the plan, and before you know it, you will have written more than you have written before. Well maybe not, but you will have a lot more successes and feeling of accomplishing more. Small victories will win the war. And you will start to feel like a writer and not a wanna'be writer.

Make a plan and write. Write like the wind.

     -Steve

Now available in Books-A-Million and Barnes and Noble

Okay gang, "12 Steps To A Lighter Pack" is really moving now. You can now order it from Books-A-Million and Barnes and Noble. Order it from their stores and pick it up locally, or you can order from their online store:

Barnes and Noble:

Books-A-Million:

Father's Day Weekend Promotion

Father's Day promotion was a huge Success and is not over yet....

I put my book, 12 Steps To A Lighter Pack. on a promotion for a free download and the response was overwhelming.

So far, and it is not even 6:30pm  yet on Sunday, your traffic and patronage helped me reach a higher ranking than I thought possible.


 

Being ranked # 976 and #1 is more than I expected so I want to thank everyone for downloading.

Thank you again, I hope you liked the book. if you have not taken advantage of the free download yet, you have until MIDNIGHT tonight (PST) you better get it now while you have the chance.

12 Steps To A Lighter Pack


thanks again and Happy Father's Day!

Free E-Book in honor of Father's Day

Father's day is just around the corner and I want to Celebrate!!!

 In honor of fathers everywhere, I want to make my book a free download during the Father's day weekend.

The promotion will start at approximately midnight Friday night Jun 14, 2013 Through midnight Monday night Jun 17, 2013 Pacific Standard Time.
(not my choice of time or time zone) That is 3am to 3am for us East Cost folks.

According to Amazon, "...depending on system latencies, it may take a few minutes to several hours for the free promotion to begin and end...."

It will be a free download for all Kindle devices and I ask that you also offer a positive review on Amazon -if you like the book.

Here is where you can go to download the book.






Or from your kindle device, do a search for the title, "12 Steps To A Lighter Pack".

I also have a page for the book so please go and LIKE the page as well.
https://www.facebook.com/12StepsToALighterPack.

Happy Fathers Day
-Steve

Book Announcement -12 Steps To a Lighter Pack

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
RidgeLine Creations LLC
Steven Lowe
steve@swlowe.com

12 Steps To a Lighter Pack     -Shaving three or more pounds from your pack

 
Pick up your paperback copy here:
https://www.createspace.com/4241931

For the Kindle, click HERE:

Atlanta, GA -June 1, 2013 -Local writer and avid outdoorsman, Steven Lowe, announced today the release of his new book, "12 Steps To a Lighter Pack -Shaving three or more pounds from your pack".

Backpackers and day-hikers alike can benefit from 12 Steps To a Lighter Pack.
Within the book are twelve steps each with ounce-cutting steps. If you average four ounces per step, you can shave three pounds from your pack.

About Steven

Steven currently lives in Atlanta, Ga and has been camping since he was a young child. Not long after graduating up to backpacking, he spent many years researching tips and techniques on how to lighten the load on his back. over the years he was able to reduce the weight by fifteen pounds.


There is not one book, one piece of advice, or one class that will teach you all that you would need to know on how to lighten your pack. It takes many sources of information, many years of experience, and many backpacking trips to figure it all out.

 Contact

Steven Lowe
steve@swlowe.com


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