Cool or Clueless? #ROW80 Update

I tell my kids I’m hip and cool. But they don’t believe it. And now I realize, why should they? Here’s a snippet of conversation my husband and I had last week:
Hubby:  [reading news on computer] So Justin Timberlake proposed to Jessica Biel.
Me:  Jessica Biel?
Hubby: Yeah.
Me:  Wait, who is she?
Hubby: You remember Flashdance?
Me:  Oh yeah, Jessica Biel. I remember her. Isn’t she a little old for him?
Hubby: Justin Timberlake’s not that young.
Me: Yes, he is . . . compared to her. What’s with all these older women going for younger guys?
Hubby:  [clicking around a little more online] Wait, she’s young. Apparently, Jessica Beals is the actress from Flashdance; this girl is Jessica Biel.
Me: Oh. [pause] Who’s Jessica Biel?

Celebrity-wise, I’m clueless. I don’t know who’s dating whom, married to whom, cheating on whom, or divorcing whom. I don’t know anything about Snooki, other than she’s from some show called Jersey Shore. I still haven’t figured out why the Kardashians are a big hit. And I have absolutely no idea how many children Brad and Angelina now have. (Do they?)

While I don’t keep up with the celebrity news, I did keep up last week with my novel in progress! I’ll count that as hip and cool in the writer club. Here’s how it went:

• Finish editing Grace & Fire mystery novel and send to reader. Finished January 19.
• Write 2,500 1,500 words per week on young adult novel, Sharing Hunter.  I wrote five days last week, which was pretty dang wonderful. The #ROW80/ #teamsprinty word sprints were valuable — or invaluable, depending on how you look at it. All in all, I logged 9,281 words on my WIP! Yes, I trashed some of those, but I got several scenes written and can feel my story heating up.
• Blog twice a week on Amaze-ing Words Wednesday and Deep-Fried Friday, and check-in with ROW80 updates twice a week. Posted Me, in One Word Only and ROW80 on Sunday and The Fun Encyclopedia: Alphabet Game on Wednesday and I Know I Should Follow Your Blog But… on Friday.
• Comment on at least 10 15 blogs per week (not counting ROW80 update comments). I commented 31 times. Good gracious! I did visit several new places. I will likely be dropping this goal next round because I’m now in the habit of visiting blogs, both favorites and newbies, and commenting when I want.
• Read one writing craft book. Finished On Writing by Stephen King. For those asking what I thought of On Writing, I didn’t get as much out of it as others have. Check out Lesann Berry’s post in which she invites you to share you favorite writing craft book.
• Read five eight fiction books. I have read 10 fiction books, having recently finished Devilish by Maureen Johnson.
• Exercise three times per week. Walk one mile three times per week. I walked 1.7 miles on Tuesday on 2 miles on Saturday. I didn’t get my three times in, but I did walk more than 3 miles.
• Read through Writer’s Digest magazine issue. Finished.

Added goals for last week:

• Research agents and select top choices for pitch session at the DFW Writers’ Conference. I did one pass through the list and eliminated those who definitely don’t match up. I still have plenty of research to do.
• Write and enter a scene for Jenny Hansen’s More Cowbell Dirty Fighting Extravaganza. I sent my entry to Jenny on Friday with the subject line: “Look out, ninjas…I’m fighting dirty.” Regardless of what happens, it was an excellent exercise and fun to write. It made me write a lot more dialogue than I typically do in a scene.

We’re coming to the home stretch of ROW80! I’m already starting to think about how these goals will change for the next round. Hope to see you there too.
So how’s it going for you? Are you feeling cool or clueless with your ROW80 progress? Are you finishing strong? Let’s keep cheering each other on through the finish line; check out the fellow ROWers HERE.