Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin...

I've had a terrible time keeping track of days this week. It might be because we haven't done much outside the house. Dinner out a couple times, but no touristy stuff this time. For some reason, Eric didn't appreciate it much when Greg and I agreed it's felt like Saturday all week. :-)

Good Stuff:
- Everyone got here safely.
- Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. Amazing how easy it is when you decide not to be perfect and only do the important bits. Eric bought bread and desserts, and there were no howls of outrage that I didn't make challah from scratch. The only flack I caught was that I didn't make mac & cheese in addition to all the other carbs on the table, and Alex was the only one put out.
- It was great having everyone here. I'm not the only one stressed out these days, and we all needed the downtime to step back and count our blessings.
- The Christmas tree and creche are up. I'm dragging out ALL the Christmas stuff this year. When we un-decorate, I'll let the kids take what they want, or at least call dibs.
- Most of the books are packed. Every time I turn around, I find more of them. I swear they multiply.
- I think I'm getting bookcases for Christmas.
- My cold went away quickly. Yeah for Airborne!

Not So Good Stuff:
- Eric had to work through Wednesday, so he didn't get here until late Wednesday night.
- Alex didn't get here until Tuesday. He decided to stay at school a couple extra days to try to knock out his homework. He still didn't get it all done and had to bring some home.
- It seems like the more I do, the more there is still left to do. There are big open spaces where we've moved things, but still piles of things that need to be dealt with. I need to get more ruthless in my sorting, and I need to keep reminding myself that not everything is moving.
- I've developed plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I'm going to try speed walking instead of plodding running for a while.
- It's looking like I won't be going upstate again until after Christmas. Between getting ready for the holidays and Alex's graduation on the 14th, and then family visiting after, there just isn't a block of time for me to go except late next week, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get enough of a load together to justify the gas. On one hand, that's fine. It's a long, boring drive, and the cats are neurotic when I get home. On the other, it's hard living alone, and at least when I go up there we both get a break from that.
- I dropped out of Nano. It's not really a bust. I got a lot done, but there's almost no chance of finishing the book this year and I have to be all right with that. I'm setting a new target date of Feb. 28th, but Valentine's Day would be great.
- I'm not going to the rendezvous in FL this year. It's the first time I'll miss it since I started going, oh, about 10 years ago. We need to build our emergency fund back up, and frankly, I'm sick of traveling. I've been gone way too much this year.

So I think that's about it. It's all I can scrape out of my muddled little brain. I'd say it will get better now that there are a couple weeks to get things done, but that's wishful thinking! Looking forward to January...

Sail On Sailor

Last night my projected title rhymed with the one up there now.  In the light of morning and a new day, I'm going with this, more positive view on things.  But feelings are feelings, and I cannot deny that I feel as if I've been an utter and complete failure in every aspect of my life lately.  Intellectually, of course, I know that's nowhere near the truth.  I have a tendency to let little negatives build in my mind into major mountains (or crevasses if you choose to look at it from that perspective).  I dislike that I need to remind myself how wonderfully blessed I am in nearly all aspects of my life.   I am so thankful God has not seen fit to remind me in incredibly personal ways just how good I've had it.  So far, I can see it in the lives of so many others in the world.  And I do thank Him regularly for my multitude of blessings across the full spectrum of life. In no particular order (we're experiencing a cold spell, so the first is foremost in my mind at the moment):

I have a warm, cozy home (two, actually), and other properties to benefit from.
I have been able to provide a stable environment for ten gorgeous kitties (even though I'm frustrated by conflict between two of those kitties, I'm doing my best to resolve it).
I have a husband who is healthy, intelligent, and creative, who can do so many things well by himself.
That same husband loves me unbelievably and strives to provide so well for me.
I have wonderfully supportive friends.
I'm able to help others both financially and with my time periodically.
I have way more things than I need.
I can make time to pursue my dream of writing professionally.
I have the luxury of being debt-free, and have been that way since 1999.
Both my parents are alive and reasonably well (both have significant health issues, but they are doing well for now).
My siblings are all good, morally sound people.
My nieces and nephews are maturing at different rates, but the young adults are pulling their lives together and working toward their future.  The teenagers are progressing well.
My stepdaughters are remarkably resilient.
My granddaughters, like my nieces and nephews, are beginning to make their way in the world.

I have been blessed with so much.  I can relate the things, but there are things money cannot buy which enrich my life as well.  I think my angst stems from the knowledge that much of it is very tenuous and can be snatched away at any time from any variety of directions. 

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours.  I know you are all blessed in many ways.  May you find health, happiness, and prosperity throughout this holiday season.  Make time to savor the  wondrousness of things as you push through the busyness.  I love and cherish each of you.

Pre-mayhem

The house is as ready as it's going to get. The Boys get here tomorrow. Good thing I care more about the condition of the house than they do.

Good Stuff:
- I got a lot of cleaning and sorting done.
- Made a Good Will run.
- Word count as of tonight is 37,964. I did nearly 13,000 this week.
- The cats seem to be simmering down. Apparently, my prolonged presence is doing the trick.
- Re-read Catching Fire before I go to see it, hopefully in the next few days.
- Vicky volunteered to do the airport run for me tomorrow. In return, I'm cooking a roast and mashed potatoes for her. And the Boys, of course. And hopefully Alex. Still don't know when he's supposed to get here. Kids.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Caught a cold. Not a bad one, but enough to sap my energy. At least my nose isn't stuffy. That goes a long way toward making it bearable.
- While I kicked butt on word count, the cold slowed me down. Also, I was working off normal NaNo minimums, which means with the days I slacked off, I still need a little over 12,000 words this week. I really wanted to be closer to done by this time. I'm about to the point that if I don't make it, screw it. The only thing keeping me going is I really want to finish the book this year.
- Being single sucks. Stephen, I don't know how you do this day in and day out. I'm used to having help, or at least a cheerleader who comes home from work for dinner and tells me how good the house looks. If I wasn't committed to having Christmas here (and singing on Christmas Eve) I'd pack up the cats and go.
- Our tornado sirens went off at 5:15 this morning. It was a false alarm, thank goodness, but I couldn't go back to sleep after that. Must be a contributing factor to my pity party tonight. In fact, I can safely say that's when the 'single sucks' started.
- Still no news on Vicky's lease, but I haven't been pestering her for updates. That's the least of my concerns right now.

This Week:
- Hang out with Boys and kids.
- Fencing tomorrow! And lunch with my friend.
- Write, for pity's sake!

Happy New Year!

I'm 47 today. Or I will be, about 3:30 this afternoon. Eric came down this weekend and we spent yesterday doing fun stuff. Now he's headed back north, and it's back to the every day for me, except for the cupcake I bought myself. No need to have a whole cake around, calling out for me.

Good Stuff:
- We saw the new Thor movie yesterday and really enjoyed it. Really, what's not to love about Chris Hemsworth half naked and Tom Hiddleston causing havoc?
- I bought a new sweater to wear to church today, but it was too warm for a sweater. :-/
- I usually don't tell many people about my birthday. They tend to make a big fuss about it, and while I enjoy a little fuss, I have my limits. They were stretched today. Our worship leader planned half the music with me in mind, and they sang Happy Birthday in the middle of worship. I do appreciate having my contributions acknowledged because I do quite a bit there, but, well, like I  said, I have limits. Luckily, she got it out of her system and we were able to return to our regularly scheduled worship service. 
- Sent more stuff north. Mostly books this time. I think it might be a good strategy to send all the books I can north so we can see how much more shelf space we need.
- Moved some stuff around downstairs so there won't be big holes where we've moved stuff when the Boys come on Saturday.
- Had a physical with the new doc upstate. She wasn't at all concerned with my weight, and everything checked out a-okay. So far, anyway. I haven't gotten results on my blood work yet.

Not So Good Stuff:
- The Boys come Saturday. Eric won't be back until the following Wednesday. Luckily, his boss is letting him work an extra hour a day between now and then so he can take Friday off. Plus I think Alex will be home that weekend, so maybe I won't have to be the entertainment committee all on my own. Not that they need much entertaining!
- The weather today is very strange. It's unusually warm--in the 70's--but super windy, and you can feel the chill in the wind. Classic tornado weather for this area, which would be bad enough on its own, but Eric is driving today. To say I'm praying like crazy is an understatement. I'd really like for today to continue to be a happy birthday.
- There is so much to do this week, and Eric's visit was too short.
- I'm a day behind on word count, which isn't a huge deal. I can make it up, but I have the house to clean and Thanksgiving/company to prep for. I'm putting together a plan. We'll see how that works. Hopefully I won't get so overwhelmed that I retreat to the TV. Or food.
- I might have to conceded defeat on Nano. Not giving up yet, but we'll have to see how this week goes. I was pushing to get it done because I wanted to finish the book this year, and I could, in theory, make it. I'm almost 25% done with 6-ish weeks left in the year. If I can maintain my pace, there's hope. It'll be a real accomplishment. I've never written a whole book in under 6 months, so to do one in 2 will be epic.
- I've been working on this post almost 2 hours. My phone has been ringing non-stop. It's nice to be loved, but I should run out of relatives sooner or later! Jeesh!

I think that's it from here. If not, it's close enough. Have a good one!

S A T U R D A Y- - - - NIGHT!!~

Heh. That song reminds me of roller skating at the roller rink with my middleschool class. I pretty much stunk (stank??) at roller skating, and always had to hold the wall. Not much has changed in 35 years. ;) lol

It's been a pretty typical week here. Got some housework done, laundry is caught up, other than the load in the dryer to fold and the clothes we all wore today. I have even - mostly - organized and cleaned my sewing space. Weight's been more-or-less steady (up a little, down a little, basically going nowhere) and I'm still struggling with the last remnants of my tummy bug.

Been writing tho, every night as promised in my challenge with my friend Shirley. Shirley, however, has had some family stuff to deal with so - as of yesterday at least - she hasn't written anything yet. She will tho. :)

Went to a 'one stop shop hop' with my friend Deb and her mom today. That's where several quilt shops get together to sell their stuff all in one place instead of a standard shop hop where a bunch of shops get together to run group sales and the quilters have to drive all over everywhere to get all of the freebies/patterns/specials. I spent $8 at the shop hop, but we stopped at another store on the way back... I spent $48 there. Quilted Forest in Forest City is a very dangerous store. Anyway, it was fun to hang with Deb and Norma for most of the day. Not sure when I'm going to get to sew any of my purchases tho. I still have Jean and Wendy's quilts to finish (the tops are done, but I haven't progressed since) and Stephen's to piece. It's cut, just not sewn together. Plus all the other partially done or need to get started on quilts for Christmas presents, etc.

Sigh. Must focus on writing, not sewing.

Tomorrow it's football and the Steelers are most likely gonna get their butts handed to them by the Detroit Lions. Six months ago (heck, three months ago!!) I would have laughed hysterically at that statement, but here we are. I might be able to stretch a quilt while listening to the game, especially if it's as one sided as I'm pretty sure it's going to be. At least it'll be on TV this week so I can cuss at the players instead of just the increasingly crappy score at the update line on the bottom of the screen.

Hmm. Maybe I can move the kitchen table into the TV room (it'll fit) so I can stretch the quilts *and* watch the game! That's a plan!!  The lighting's not the best in there, but I think I can make it work (my sewing lamp is portable, after all) :)

My regular monthly sewing class is this coming Friday - YAY!! - and I'll be there all day sewing (double yay!!), plus the next Friday (black Friday) I am, currently, planning on also sewing at the quilt shop all day since Tanya's having a black Friday sew-instead-of-shop-athon (triple yay!). I ought to be able to make at least a little dent in all of the projects. Oy, I have a lot of projects! Here's hoping either Laura or Bill will be home Black Friday so I can sew. 

Little Miss turns two on Tuesday! It's not possible, yet it's like she's always been here. Such an incredible kid!

Lastly, I received a very nice rejection yesterday. It's progress, right? :)

We're hosting Thanksgiving, and I think I'm pretty much set for that, other than picking up the turkey and whatever I decide to make for munchies. I have delegated pie to my mother and I think I'll ask my father in law to bring pop.

I was still pretty stressy/whiny/cranky/weepy until Bill came home last night and I grabbed him, held on, and he held back. He just smooshed the negativity away, I think. Been better ever since.

It's probably a shift in my stupid hormones, but I'll let Bill take the credit for it.  ;)

Be kind, be happy, write lots!!  {{hugs}}

The Devil Went Down To Georgia

And I stayed here in Texas, all out of bandwidth.  Being retired, I sometimes lose track of days and time, but I lost last weekend for posting.  I missed the updates in email, thinking I'd seen them all on the Air down in San Antonio, I just marked them all as read, and that kept me from getting grounded in this week right away on Monday night. Chiming in early to balance the two weeks. For the last two weeks:

The Good Stuff:

• Even though I was inordinately grumpy at Wurstfest when I couldn't find anything I wanted to do after Mr. L finished playing, he took me home.  Or rather, he took me to Timbo's, which brightened both my mood and the mood of our favorite waitress, Barb (she's the only waitress there -- if she's off, the owner is the server, and he's not the reason we go to his place).
• We finally got a tree all the way down in the driveway in SA.  One of many, but one is good.
• Mr. L declared the bathtub drain complete, so we've been taking showers in SA again.  Yay.  
• Kitten shall be called Daphne.
• NaNo is going well.
• I found a nifty poll plug in for WordPress (WP-Polls) which will do most of what I want to do.  I can't embed a link into an email, though, so I'm still looking.
• Mr. L installed our new medicine cabinet yesterday.  Much nicer and roomier than the chintzy, poor quality one the previous owners had installed.  
• My brother's retirement ceremony from the Army is at the end of this month.  Thankful his family won't have to worry about him being deployed anymore.
• Property taxes half paid.
• Bought and hung insulated curtains in the room intended to be a bathroom on the northwest corner of upstairs -- no more chilly breeze emanating from the room.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• I'm not getting enough exercise. Weight is about the same, but clothes are fitting tighter.  Should I blame NaNo?
• No decluttering done.

The Week Ahead:

• Have I mentioned I need to declutter?
• I need to listen to Module 5 of PLF
• I still have some PLF homework to complete.  I'm having difficulty analyzing my audience.  Other than Stephen.  Stephen is my audience. This is good, but I'd like to expand that a touch.
• Despite the chill, I believe I need to mow the lawn again this weekend.
• Mr. L is taking me to a gun show on Saturday.  We need brass.
• Finish NaNo this week.
• Use the remainder of the month to assess my various writing projects and put together a schedule for revising them for public consumption.

Life in all its bleak and wonderful glory

Sorry I've been gone. No good reason other than I simply didn't post. Should have. Didn't. There's probably some deep-seated reason for that, but I'm kind of tired of introspective right now. Maybe tired of me. I need to get out more and see some sights, take in what's left of the season's sun.

This is the first year in eight that I didn't do National Novel Writing Month. I considered it right up to November 1, but decided not to. Seemed more stress than I felt up to, but I miss it and I hope I will be back next year. 

On Saturday, November 2, I went to Author's Day at the Duncan Public Library in Duncan, Oklahoma. That was a good time. I met other authors and enjoyed shoptalk. Sold some books and used my PayPal credit card reader for the first time -- it worked wonderfully. The money was in my account in minutes. Awesome.

The following Tuesday -- this past Tuesday -- I went back to the doctor. No real news. We're staying the course. Just adjusted the meds a bit more. Overall, I'm doing better. More energy than before, although nowhere close to 100 percent, but better. Still having bouts of dizziness, but fewer and I'm learning what triggers them and how to handle them.

Thursday and Friday, I worked on publishing Red Bird Woman by Gail Wood. It's a beautiful book of stunning poetry. I'm proud of it and glad to add it to the Many Rivers Harbor line. 

Saturday, I attended the writers group meeting and gave the program based on the 2014 Guide of Self Publishing (Writer's Digest Books). It was well received, particularly the page of resources that I shared with them. I'm going to post the resources on the group's webpage and will let you know when it's there. You might find some of the sites and books useful.

Today, I watched church on TV, ate lunch, napped, and attended a smorgasbord at the local Catholic church this evening. It's their main fundraising event for the year, and they will serve three or four thousand people. The line was long, and I got a bit dizzy, but I was able to sit down and did okay after that.

And now I'm posting on Createslate. So you're caught on the past several days. What's coming up this week?

Doing chores. Promoting Red Bird Woman. Getting a few words -- any words -- on Murder by the Mile. Posting a few times on The Books of Stephen B. Bagley and 51313 Harbor Street. Taking my meds. Slowly starting to exercise again. Publish a family newsletter. Keep my head above water enough so that I can enjoy life in all its bleak and wonderful glory. That's enough.

Hope you have a great week!

Oh. It is Sunday.

Hmm. Not sure how that happened. All my days have been catywampus lately.

Good Stuff:
- Made it upstate with another load after a 2-day turn-around. Lucky I'd already gotten a head start on the packing.
- Made it to fencing before I left, and boy, I needed to blow off some steam. I've realized that, while I get more done under stress, I tend to get wound up tighter than a watch spring, and I don't have many good outlets. Luckily, I warned my instructor ahead of time, and we had a no-holds-barred bout for the best part of an hour. I'm bruised and more relaxed.
- It's been clear and sunny here. Quite a change. It's been rainy my last couple times. I finally got up to the roof  to take pictures of the lights tonight. I posted one on Facebook. The scotch in the picture is gone.
- We checked out a Presbyterian church not far from here. It's very pretty and I liked the service. The band is totally not what I'm used to--cello, violin, keyboard, guitar, banjo, and accordion. Apparently, not all the musicians are there every week because the bulletin listed the musicians "today." Not sure where my niche will be there, but it's not something I'm going to concern myself with for a few months.
- We went to Ikea this afternoon to buy my new desk. It's more or less a table with a keyboard tray, but the price was right and it will prevent me from having to move the big heavy desk I have downstate. It will also be easy to move when we move out of here, whenever that is.
- I have scotch upstate and whiskey downstate. Moving is easier with alcohol. Wish I'd learned that years ago.

Not So Good Stuff:
- Words haven't been coming as easily the last few days, for what I'm sure are obvious reasons. I'm officially behind in Nano. Looks like I'll be working on my birthday unless I buckle down this week.
- I bought some herbal stuff for the cats to help with the stress. That was a no go. They wouldn't touch it, even when I put chicken in it. Luckily, I found the pheromone atomizers on Amazon and ordered them in time to get there before I had to leave again. Hopefully it's helping.
- Vicky's landlord doesn't want to let them out of their lease until it ends in May. They're going to try to find someone to sublet their house so they can move as planned, but it's all up in the air right now. Worst case scenario is the house will be empty for a few months and we won't have help with the mortgage. We can manage it but it would be better if we didn't have to. We do have good neighbors who will keep an eye on things, and I'm sure Justin will keep the lawn mowed. Not that it will need much more mowing this year.
- I'm sure it goes without saying that traffic is insane here. It's like drivin g in Italy without the hand gestures, although I've been tempted to teach some. :-) On the upside, when I was driving in yesterday, I passed Santa Claus. He was driving a silver sedan on I-90 W, not far from The Loop.  (That's downtown. I have to pass through it to get here.) He was good and didn't make me wish they did hand gestures here.

So that's about it here. I'm about done for the night except for logging word count. How are y'all?

It's Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Generally speaking, Sundays suck, mostly because LittleMiss leaves us for a couple of days to visit her dad and we always mope around, missing her.

Anyway, TheKid is at work, Bill's in the basement playing D&D with friends, and I'm watching the Bengals/Ravens game while keeping an eye out for the Steelers score - at this moment, they're currently 23-3 against the Buffalo Bills, with 3:23 left in the 4th quarter. So, maybe they'll win one. They really need to win one.

I have the laptop here on my lap to write, but since I have a bad case of the 'who the heck am I kidding?'s over my writing, I'm mostly watching the game, petting MeowMeow, and reading quilt porn, er, The Keepsake Quilting Catalog. I need to make time to sew. I need to make my brain write, I need to wash my kitchen cupboards and scrub my downstairs floors and a million other things I'm not doing.

My class is going all right, I guess, but I don't feel like I'm doing a good job teaching. I have two students. One doesn't need the class - she's confident and knowledgeable and, with one finished novel and another half done, really just needs encouragement to polish and submit. The other is a super sweet younger guy, but I'm not sure if he's writing a novel. I think it's more non-fiction essays and I'm not a lot of help with that. I go in with my notes and I'm ready to discuss everything, but she has no questions (just yup, yup, yup!) and he wants to talk about his own things (as do we all). I keep knocking discussion back to the topics of that class (this week it was characters and working past humps/distractions/etc). I dunno, I just don't feel like I'm teaching either of them anything at all.

I was sick most of this past week (LittleMiss brought home a tummy bug to share with everyone) and lost about 5 lbs in a not very happy or healthy way, but I've started eating again and put most back on. I'm not really counting points again yet - I'm still kinda glurgly and my body's screaming for bland yet calorie dense food - but hopefully the tummy will be back to normal operating parameters tomorrow. I haven't exercised either, there's simply no energy. It's amazing and distressing how a virus can wipe me out so badly.

Had my annual physical and such on Monday (before the LittleMiss bug hit us all) and passed everything with glowing colors, so that's great. My doc was VERY ENTHUSED about my weight loss and wasn't worried at all about my plateau. Said it's due to my hormones and to hang tough and it'd work out fine. So I'm trying to do that.

No news on SPORE, and I have about 2 weeks before NY shuts down booky stuff for year end matters, so if it hasn't received an offer before Thanksgiving, nothing will happen until next year. Still waiting edits for MORGAN. It's not going to go out until January, so the chances of me selling *anything* this year are slim to none. Oh well.

We're having most of the family over for turkey and such, which will be nice, and there might be more people. We've kinda put the word out that we're putting out a big spread, so come on over.

I lost the city council election and was relieved. I have a meeting tomorrow and I look at my agenda packet and think, Gah, I don't want to do this! So it's surely a good thing I'm not locked into another 4 years of it. It was a good experience, a learning experience, but I cannot fathom why anyone wants to do this kind of thing as a vocation. Not and keep their soul. It's draining. It's constant bickering over money and who/how to spend it. Or not. Or why to use this company and not that one, even if the other one's cheaper. Did you know there's a GARBAGE MAFIA in rural Iowa? Seriously. And a asphalt one, too. Have to use the right garbage collection/road repair service or it's trouble. Same with bobcat repair, automotive maintenance, electrical... Crazy. Only this month and next, and I'm done. I do want to make a little quilt (a mug-rug, probably) for our city clerk, tho. She's been a great help.

This coming week, I just want to accomplish something instead of sitting around holding my belly and poofing out fumes. ;)

Only 51 seconds left in the game and the Steelers are still ahead 23-3. Yay!

Hope you all have a great week and Happy Veterans Day tomorrow! {{hugs}}

Runnin' With The Devil

No.  Not really, but that title has been running through my head, so I figured I'd use it.  At least, I hope not!  We're in San Antonio for the week.  Wurstfest, you know.  Or maybe you don't.  New Braunfels' tribute to sausage -- a week long celebration of sausage, beer, and German music.  Shrug.  It's a big deal down here.  Mr. L plays with the New Braunfels Village Brass Band at two church services (Catholic today and Lutheran next week) and in the Big Tent early next Saturday afternoon.  I'll probably go with him Saturday afternoon and next Sunday morning, but this morning, I'm at Panera getting a head start on word count (at least, ostensibly). 

The Good Stuff:

• I'm on track for backwards NaNo.  I got the last thousand words for yesterday after midnight last night, so the count will go on today's total, but I'm shooting for 3101 for the rest of today to stay on track.  Starting tomorrow, my daily goal drops below 3000.
• Kitten made the transition to San Antonio on the front seat (in her carrier) beside me.  For most of the trip, she rubbed against my fingers, which I left draped in the door of her carrier.  For the last hour, she mostly slept.  This kitten just loves to be held and cuddled.
• Rossie was active in the house last night.  Usually she takes a few days to willingly come out from under her chair.  She likes being in San Antonio.
• I got the data plan dropped back to 4GB for next month.
• Got half the front yard mowed this morning before having to put the mower on the charger.  I should be able to finish tomorrow -- just in time for rain on Tuesday (which we need -- SA didn't get the rain Austin and Central TX got last week).
• Half taxes paid for the two big Central TX properties.  Plan to pay the little SA property tax this month as well.  Next month is the big SA property tax, and January will pay the remainder of the Central TX big properties -- by paying half before Nov 1, the other half won't be due until the end of June.  That gives us latitude in case something goes terribly wrong financially.

The Not So Good Stuff:

• No progress on the newsletter preparation (but that's not a huge deal, since November is focused on NaNo).
• I must not be focusing on Mr. L enough lately.  No matter what I do or don't do, he seems unhappy with me.  When we try to talk I can't hear him and he can't hear me.  We discussed the need last night for incorporating a long, vocalized pause before we begin speaking to each other.  It would alert the other person we're about to speak, and it would enable the speaker to get up to a volume the other person could hear.
• In a corollary discussion, the reason long-term couples do not speak in restauarants is not that they have nothing to say or that they don't like one another, the are just tired of having to either say, "What?" or having to repeat themselves.  It's just easier to try not to talk over the ambient noise in most places. Young people do not yet understand this.
• I can remember lying on the living room floor and rolling up to a standing position in one smooth movement and thinking I couldn't figure out why other people could not do this.  Sigh. I'm so sad about that.  There are a few things I miss about my 17-27 year-old self.

The Week Ahead:

• Maintain progress in NaNo.  This is the tough week for me.
• Get yard work done.
• Help Mr. L where feasible with his household repair goals for the week.
• Work with cats
• Pay the little SA property tax (Alamo Heights city -- it should be in the held mail when it arrives on Monday).
• Drool on new MacBookPros as well as the Mini (I need to replace my Mini, and it will be my Christmas present to myself.  I'm seriously considering a 15" Retina MacBookPro as well.  I think I can hold off on the iPad for one more generation.)
• Go to Wurstfest on Saturday and try to have a good time.

Loaded And Locked

The van, that is. The latest batch of stuff is packed and I'll head upstate after church tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to the drive, but I'm looking forward to being there and getting the apartment more put together.

Good Stuff:
- The story I started plotting next weekend came together so easily it freaked me out a little.
- I've got a little over 5,000 words in so far, which is good because I likely won't get any tomorrow.
- I'm looking forward to exploring a little more of my new neighborhood. Not sure how much ground I'll cover, between unpacking and writing, but I hope to get out for some walks while Eric is at work.
- The plan is to go to Ikea Monday evening to buy book cases. I'm kind of excited about that because I've never been to Ikea, and I've heard it's really great. We shall see.
- Eric is going to check out a church for us tomorrow. I don't think there is a Methodist church in walking distance, but there is a Presbyterian close by, and they're practically siblings, doctrine-wise.
- Justin (Vicky's boyfriend) brought some of their things over today. He wanted to store some of it in the garage, which was a disaster area. I say 'was' because he reorganized it to make space for his stuff. While he was doing his thing, I enlisted the help of his friends to move the chaise from my bedroom to the van. It will be our living room couch, solving the problem of whether to try to move the 7' long one in the living room or buy a new, apartment-sized one. I have a picture in my head of how the living room will look with the chaise and the bookshelves we're going to buy. I hope reality matches.
- I got to go tell stories this morning! For a change, not all of my audience was 80+. I had a 12-year-old girl hanging on every story. Made my day, and it certainly made up for the fact that I didn't get as many words today as I wanted.
- I found more stuff to donate. Did not make it to Good Will as planned.

Not So Good Stuff:
- The cats are getting neurotic. When Ryan isn't being Velcro Kitty (which has been a lot lately because we've had rain and wind the last few days), he's chasing Tess. Earlier this evening, Chloe was picking on her, too. They miss Eric, and I keep disappearing on them, so from their perspective, neurotic is understandable, but I don't know what to do to chill them out. The Rescue Remedy didn't seem to help a whole lot. Not sure if I need to look for some chill-out diffusers or what.
- Still so much to do, and The Boys have started counting down to Thanksgiving on Facebook already. They will be here 3 weeks from today, and I only have one more trip upstate after this one. Eric will be back after that and can take stuff back, but not the amount of stuff I can cram into the van.
- Justin and Vicky want to have most of their stuff moved back here by Thanksgiving, which is making me feel a little pressured to get out sooner, even though we've all agreed that we're having Christmas here. It comes down to the cats, really. I don't want to move them any sooner than necessary, and while I could, in theory, move up there and be out of the house before Christmas, what do I do with them when we come back here? It's simpler all around if we stick to the plan. Thanks for letting me talk that out, and welcome to my brain. This is more or less what it's been like for, oh, the last several weeks. Eric's calming influence isn't around. Maybe I need to move the whiskey to a lower shelf in the pantry.

So that's about it here. Hope y'all are having a good week, and don't forget time change!