Marriage, Fishing Film, and Whooping: #ROW80

This month, my husband and I are celebrating our 19 years of marriage. Whenever we’re in a crowd, I still think my husband is the smartest, handsomest, and funniest guy in the room. These days, we have a few more wrinkles, more love handles, and more concerns about our retirement account. But we also have two fabulous children, a lot of hard-earned wisdom about relationships and life, and a love that has deepened over time. Rather than keep up this super-sappy, aren’t-we-happy essay, let me tell you one thing we did for our anniversary weekend.
We went to a theatre in town and saw a British film called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

This one has a big thumbs-up from me. I loved it.
Now I hate when someone gushes about a film so much that when you go see it, you’re disappointed because nothing but a personal appearance of the entire cast of the Star Wars trilogy in your living room could live up to that. So don’t go in expecting the highlight of your life, but Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a lovely comedy with interesting characterization, clever dialogue, and a quirky story that will have you rooting for fish. Yes, you heard me correctly: fish.
Speaking of rooting, I love having my ROW80 colleagues rooting for me to succeed in my goals. Your cheerleading has paid off because here is this week’s report:

• Log 5,000 words per week on young adult novel, SHARING HUNTER. This should result in a completed first draft. Well, paint me silver and call me sterling! I logged a whopping 10,331 words on SHARING HUNTER. But don’t start whooping yet . . . because I also wrote 1,176 words on a short story. Okay, now whoop.
• If first draft is finished, edit once through SHARING HUNTER. Waiting on #1.
• Work on pitch and synopsis for DFW Writers’ Conference (taking place May 20-22). Not yet.
• If I get all of that done, edit through THE YEAR OF FIRSTS, my middle grade novel. Waiting on 3 tasks above.
• Read one writing craft book: Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Cleared the first 60 pages.
• Read through March/April issue of The Writer’s Digest. No further on this one, but I had read a few articles already.
• Take course from Tiffany Inman Lawson on 77 Secrets to Writing YA Fiction that Sells from the Margie Lawson Writers Academy. Starting in May.
• Read 10 books keeping to my At-Least-3 Reading Challenge for 2012. On track. Finished GETTING RID OF BRADLEY by Jennifer Cruisie and now reading GRACELING by Kristin Cashore.
• Post ROW80 updates on Sundays. Done.
• Exercise three times a week — length of time to be determined. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I must make this a priority!

So how is your ROW80 week shaping up? Do you need a whoop for your progress? Or a little more rooting for your success?
Be sure to check out my fab fellow writers at the ROW80 link.