Welcome to a new, brighter new year. Hopefully.

Hey, everyone.

I know I've been scarce, and I apologize. I'd like to say it'll get better, but, honestly, it'll probably be rare and random for quite a while longer.

Depression during the holiday season is always awful for me. I have a lot of built up anger, resentment, and fear tangled up with Christmas, plus all the regular holiday stressors. This year seems worse than most years, but maybe it's just my imagination. I dunno.

Other than facebook posts, the very few blog posts, some to-do & grocery lists, and checks to pay bills, I've written two things this year: A GhoulBane graphic novel, and a Lars-faces-wereboar (like a werewolf, only a boar) graphic novel. I've made virtually no progress on any novels or other standard narrative since SPORE, which I wrote in 2011.

Some writer, huh?

Most days, my brain is a tangled up mess and I cry quite a lot. Pretty much daily. I try not to let it show, but, well... A person can't hide everything. The one thing I tried to sew for a Chistmas present I completely boogered up, so much it was unrepairable.

It melted. Literally melted. Ten hours worth of machine embroidery, totally destroyed. I cried for two hours and haven't sewn a thing since, except to repair a pair of my granddaughter's pants. Took two seconds to sew a few inches of unraveled seam, and I turned the machine right back off.

I'm trying to get my day organized, trying to get my head organized. I've been using a planner for a little more than a month now, and it seems to be helping. Some. I'm scheduling tasks ahead of time. I have an interview, a questionnaire, and three chapters to read for a friend this weekend listed in my planner. I've scheduled an exercise day. I've scheduled housework.

It seems to be helping me.

I don't know what else to do.

{{hugs}}

I am Whole...

An affirmation we've begun using as part of my Master Keys class, "I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious, and happy" came in handy this week. In addition to the exercise Stephen suggested helps with sciatic pain, this affirmation got my mind off the pain long enough for me to get some sleep.

I got the blood work done, cats to the vet, donated blankets to the vet (woo hoo! now I get new blankets!), got my packages in the mail, got caught up on laundry.

Thank you Stephen and Wendy for your comments on Rhonda's story. With your feedback, we'll get her to be someone people want to read about yet.

Christmas cards are addressed and ready to be put into the mail. Holiday "shopping" is done.

The Week Ahead:

• I have my semi-annual doctor visit this Friday. I'm going to ask about the sciatic pain -- perhaps an x-ray to make sure I don't have an undiagnosed back problem? I'll discuss the pros and cons of another steroid injection in my knee as well as ask for the necessary orthopedic referral to get the process started for the right knee replacement.
• Mr. L has an appointment with his cardiologist on Monday. I'm going to drive him down on Monday and bring him back on Tuesday. We'll take Rossie and Sapphire with us and leave the rest of the kitties here on towers. We're hoping to have a plan of action for what Mr. L can expect.
• In the middle of those two, I'm going to work around the house and yard a little bit at a time to begin to make some headway. We've been so distracted since the end of August, and it shows.

More Limbo

Hanging in there. The weather improved. I got a little yard work done this week. I used the bagger on the mower to pick up leaves. I got the edging and gutter sweeping done. Front hedges are trimmed. I began working on the back yard yesterday and trimmed the fig tree back to a reasonable size. Our rose bush is blooming again. I'm always amazed that it does this in December.

The week ahead:

• I have to head back to Central Texas for a couple of days to get blood work done, pay the water bills, pick up mail, take half the cats in for their annual exams and shots, and do the laundry that has accumulated up there during Mr. L's weekend visits.
• Mr. L plans to demand some answers for what his status is this week. If he gets satisfactory ones, we'll make the next step for how to proceed.
• I'll continue to write, thanks to Stephen's suggestion, I think I've found a way to make Rhonda and her family more likable. I'm reworking the final scene as well as adding some 70s description in to give better setting. 
• I want to add revision to my daily writing process, but my project is in Central Texas, so I need to pick it up.
• I'm really enjoying my Master Keys course. I was thrilled when we had to form a Mastermind, because I already had one here, but I wound up making a new one anyway with a fellow class member, because we're talking about course material, and I thought it would be better to work with someone already in the course. More masterminds is better, in my opinion.

Have a great week. 

Panera is Saving My Data

I increased my dataplan to 12G per month (saving $20 per month in the process), and yet, I'm still in a data crunch. I suspect it's because I had to hook the laptop up to do something, and my 20+ tabs in Firefox sucked up a bunch of data. This is why I don't use the laptop much when I'm on mobile data.

Mr. L is still in limbo about when they will do his procedure. We've had rainy weather here in San Antonio, so the yard work I had planned has been on hold. Both Mr. L and I tend to feel the last three months have been wasted while waiting for this medical issue to resolve. Of course, that's not entirely true. He's been plugging away at things a little at a time, and I have too.


In general, things are good. Lord knows, they could be much worse. We have much to be thankful for, and that extends well beyond the material world. In the three things that matter, we have no complaints:

Health: We both have the hope of improved health, and many do not have that.

Wealth: We have no debt, and we can generally do whatever we want.

Love: We have one another, and we both have a few good friends. When I pray for people in family and my extended relationships, it takes a long, long time.

The Week Ahead:

• Rake and bag leaves (assuming they dry out)
• Trim front hedge
• Edge
• Write 20 minutes per day
• Work with Sapphire

Amazing to think we're rolling into December this week. I did some reflection, and, focusing on the good things, it's been a good year.

Chillin' in San Antonio

Mr. L is feeling pretty good and is getting tired of being in medical limbo. His doctor said three to four weeks, so I'm still feeling patient about the whole situation.  Weather has taken on a welcome and distinct fall flavor here in Texas.

Now that Mr. L has gotten his medical team on board with the testing requirement for the medication he's been asked to take, I feel more confident that we're moving in the right direction.

The cats are enjoying their time here in San Antonio. I'm investigating my Essential Oils starter kit. I really like the Ningxia Red drink. The cats seem to like the Thieves oil when I diffuse it. I'm going to get some Peace and Calming to try with them. I like the scent.

Mr. L ordered a new Toshiba laptop. He's also looking for a new desktop but hasn't found that yet. It's easier than trying wipe his old machines and install Windows 10 on them.

I'm having printer troubles with my ten year old color laser printer.  The one in San Antonio is working okay, but is very slow. The one in Central Texas is not printing correctly, printing in invisible ink (an option I'd love to figure out how to turn off), and it's not printing colors correctly. It has all new cartridges and a new drum. When I get back up there, I'm going to try several calibration cycles to see if that will fix the problem. If not, I may be looking for a new printer.

My WiFi router will handle up to ten connections, and I think I'm exceeding that. So far, I don't have more than ten devices on simultaneously, so I think I'm okay.

The Week Ahead:

• Pull up old soaker hoses in side yard and put out for trash
• Mow backyard
• Trim front hedges
• Trim side bushes
• Snuggle Sapphire daily
• Continue with homework for course -- it's all coming together

Why, Of Course, I'm Still Here

I got overwhelmed by the non-stop travel of October, and the radical change in plans for November set me back a little, but I'm getting adjusted. After spending an unanticipated week in San Antonio last week, we returned to Central Texas to regroup and prepare to be in San Antonio for the next month. I'm looking forward to getting yard work and house work done and maybe a little relaxation.

The MasterKey program has been overwhelming, but in a good way. I worried about traveling and October, but I adapted just fine to that -- probably because I was mentally prepared. The unexpected (but not completely unanticipated) change in plans for November set me back a little, but I'm recovering. In the past, I have not adjusted quickly to unplanned for change. I'm learning how to do that effectively.

I have my knee follow-up tomorrow afternoon. Other than that, I've been doing laundry, paying bills, doing homework, assembling a cat tower (they use it!), and other sundry items around here. We'll take all the kitties with us Tuesday. Mr. L feels well enough to drive, so we won't be trailering my truck (unless something changes between now and Tuesday), and I have been gathering things I wanted to have with me in SA for the next several weeks.

While in Wisconsin, I joined with my Mom as a Young Living Essential Oils distributor. I haven't had time to test out the oils in my starter kit yet, but it will be coming with me to San Antonio, and I plan to begin boning up. This is something I've always been curious about, and I was pleased to learn the purity of Young Living's oils is respected. My mom has had amazing results for a few trouble areas for her. She also learned of a less desirable effect when my dad had a disturbing response to her diffusing too much of a certain oil for too long a time. I took it as a reminder that these things are powerful and one must be cautious until they know how any particular oil interacts personally. Care must also be taken if someone new comes into your home who isn't accustomed to using oils. 

The Week Ahead:

• Catch up on blogging -- with limited access, I took a couple of weeks off
• 6 month knee follow up. I expect this to be very routine
• Continue snuggling Rossie and Sapphire. I'm pleased that after snuggling with me for at least ten minutes tonight, Rossie has spent three hours curled up in the upper "room" of the new cat tower. 
• Begin learning what essential oils can do.
• Get caught up with a few of the Master Key class assignments I've fallen behind on (creating my Movie Poster!)
• Write
• Heading off to bed now. Y'all have a great week now, ya' hear?

Sempre Gumby

Always flexible. It's a good thing to be when you're being pulled in different directions. I'm starting to feel like maybe I can pull off the new normal. I just have to figure out what it is. It seems like it keeps getting interrupted.

I'm developing new routines and my work schedule is holding so far. It's going to change a little next week. I've had to cut hours so I'm going down to three days a week. It's going to hit my paycheck, but it's the case for all of us. The kids seem to understand. I haven't had any howls of protest. Maybe they're all planning to quit right before Christmas. Who knows? It seems like it's about time for crap to hit the fan again, but my feelings won't be hurt if I'm wrong.

I'm hoping, with an extra day off, to start getting some shorts on Kindle. I haven't done anything except decide it needs to be done. I haven't even decided which story to use. I just know I need to get some stuff out there, and banging out some material when I'm working less seems like the logical thing to do. I'm already having visions of steaming mugs off coffee in my garret with snow falling on the big blue spruce outside my window.

It's been really lovely here the last few days--sunny, low 70's, clear blue skies. I had customers at work yesterday--more than the half dozen that usually constitutes a good day shift. There were enough to interrupt me on and off all day. It was great!

I'm heading north this weekend to see my mom. It will be a quick trip. She said something about going over family pictures because they won't make sense without context. All I can figure is they're all from six generations back, and she's giving me way too much credit that I'm going to remember! I'll figure out a way. Maybe text pictures with the info to myself or something. I'll stop to drop some boxes off at my grandma's on the way. She's decided it's time to move to a place where she can get a higher level of care. I think she's been isolating herself in her apartment. She doesn't even leave to get her mail or the newspaper anymore--her neighbors bring them to her.

That's about all we have for excitement. Hope I didn't wear you out. I'm pretty tired. Hope y'all are having a good week.

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Lull in the Storm

We're home for a couple of days before heading the San Antonio in the morning. Cats are happy to be home. Mr. L is still struggling. We hope he feels better after Monday. He took it easy today. I can hear him coughing upstairs as I type.

Assuming all goes well on Monday, we head back here on Wednesday or Thursday, and I climb on the train for Wisconsin on Friday to spend a week with Mom and Dad. I'm looking forward to spending time with them, but I'm also looking forward to getting home and getting into my routine. I suspect changes to my routine over the next few months. I anticipate more trips to San Antonio for Mr. L, and I anticipate needing to drive him. It's an adjustment, requiring us to coordinate schedules more closely.

The Week Ahead:

• Cats and Mr. L to San Antonio. Rossie and Sapphire did well last time we took them to San Antonio. This time, since we're only there for a few days, I'm going to experiment with giving everyone the run of the house. Everyone loves the garden window, so I want everyone to get a chance to use it. Lady loves the back yard. Time out there is in order.
• Truck in for service and troubleshooting the problem that requires us to be in 4x4 all the time (my research indicates it's a solenoid). I would have preferred not to have to drive the entire trip to and from PA in 4x4, but it worked.
• Mr. L's procedure (pray all goes well)
• Schedule next week's blog posts.
• Get laundry, packing, and cats set up for me to be gone done
• Catch the train

Second Month

We've officially been in the Cozy Wee Bungalow for two months. It feels like it's been a lot longer. The main floor has pretty much taken shape. I have some tweaking to do. Ditto our bedroom. My office and the basement are still works in progress. We decided to move the twin beds out of my office (hallelujah!) to the basement. We have enough people coming for Thanksgiving that someone is going to have to sleep down there, and they'll be more comfortable off the floor. We're also putting the rug we had in the living room at the apartment down there, and the electric fireplace got stuck down there for some unknown reason, so hopefully it will be reasonably comfy. The mattresses and box springs have been moved down, but the frames have not. All the stuff that was piled on the beds is in the middle of the floor, so it's back to being a disaster area again. I think I can get it reasonably straightened out this weekend. I'll have more than enough space for a couple of air mattresses in my office for whoever is staying the shortest amount of time. Call me selfish, but I'd rather not share any longer than necessary!

Work is going all right. I've got us on as set a schedule as I can get, which makes everyone feel more secure. I'm getting a little tired of being bored. Days are pretty slow, and the weather hasn't helped much. It won't be for months.  I haven't had any votes on my costume in the last couple of days. So far, I'm going to be a hippie. We have two more weeks of voting, at least in theory. If I keep getting crude write-ins, I'm calling it good. It's gone well enough at this point I can call it a minor success.

Things seem to be settling down, for the most part. I've started adding things back in that I'd stopped doing over the summer because I didn't have time. Writing is coming in fits and starts, but at least it's coming. I'm happy with the quality if not the quantity. Routines are starting to develop. Wednesday is laundry day and so forth. Pretty soon I'll have to start raking leaves. (Note to self: Buy a rake. And a shovel.) Oh, and the van isn't running right. Need to find a local mechanic.

For now, though, I think I might go curl up in bed with my book.

Genuinely Looking Up

We're in Harrisburg, PA, ensconced in our motel. Mr. L is resting comfortably. I think he needs the sleep after this non-stop motion of the last week and a half. Last month, I posted I was contemplating participating in the Master Key Mastermind Alliance. After definitely deciding not to do it, I changed my mind and dived in with both feet. I'm glad I did. If you want to follow my journey, I'm blogging about it here.

I wanted to do it, but I knew it would be a challenge while we were on the trip. It has been a challenge, but it's been totally doable.

The Personality Color Code assessment was interesting. I tested as a Blue, and that means I'm motivated by Intimacy, and it described Blues as "Do-Gooders." Both those terms hold some negative connotations to me, but I realize they aren't really negative. As I read more about this, the designation feels comfortable for me. After a few weeks' contemplation, I paid the extra money for the more detailed analysis of my survey results. While I thought my secondary colors were evenly balanced between Red and White, it turns out White was just a little more dominant than Red, meaning my secondary motivation is Peace (as opposed to Power for Red). Of course, I have characteristics of all four colors (we all do). At first, I was distressed that Mr. L appears to be a strong Red (my guess, I don't think he'd never do one of those surveys), and Reds and Blues tend to have lots of conflicts (because we're coming at the same thing from completely different directions). On the other hand, I'm seeing ways to bridge the areas that concern me, so I'm feeling less hopeless than I was when I first read the examples. (So far, the course isn't much about what "Color" we are, but I find these things fascinating. If you don't, don't worry about it.)

The really cool thing was identifying my Personal Pivotal Needs and meshing those with my Definite Major Purpose. When I needed to answer some questions for Holly's Mastermind participation, and everything aligned, I was ecstatic! The good news for you guys is I'm writing, revising, and publishing short stories each month for ten out of twelve months beginning in November and writing, revising, and publishing a novel at least every two years. (Small eek, but I know it's doable.)

I'm seeing small differences in my attitude and approach, that I believe will become big positive changes over the next few months. (I struggled with several small things that seemed to be conspiring to bring out the negativity over the last week, and I wasn't always successful, but I've seen so many examples of positive changes where I need them. I am encouraged.)

The Week Ahead:

• Pack for the trip home
• Drive safely
• Keep up with my "homework"
• Help Mr. L wherever I can
• Schedule blog posts
• Have a great week

numb

Ever have stuff to say, but it's too overwhelming to find the right words? I'm just back from the church retreat, and like last year, I'm this odd combination of refreshed and tired and overstimulated and over-caffeinated and a little raw. The speakers were really good. Maybe a little too good. It's easier when they spout the same old scripture and verse that just rolls over you and you can move on to the arts and crafts portion. Our church is not like that. They like to dig, convict when necessary, and hug a lot. The hugging is nice.

I had two main take-aways. Yesterday, the founder of a homeless ministry spoke on Genesis 28: 10-18, which is Jacob's dream at Bethel about the stairway to heaven. She said we are the stairways that the angels go up and down, and therefore, everyplace we stand is holy ground. To me, that is amazing and wonderful and terrifying. If I'm a stairway to heaven, I think I must have a couple loose steps!

The second was this morning when a different speaker was talking about how, in her teen years, moving around a lot for her dad's job, she kept people at arms' length to keep from getting hurt, and all her relationships were superficial. I realized I've been doing that. Not intentionally, but because I feel like if I really go deep with someone, all I'm going to do is whine about how my house isn't done and the kids at work are squirrelly and how I left for a church retreat, and when I came home two days later, the house was almost exactly as I'd left it and we have family coming in 6 weeks for Thanksgiving. So, yeah. Need to work on making friendships more meaningful. Just not today. I can't do people anymore today. At this point I just need someone to tell me 6 weeks is more than enough time to finish putting the house together.

Prep and Go

I got everything done on the list last week except for the Kawasaki dealer. I forgot they are closed on Monday. I'll deal with that after we get back. The steroid shot in the right knee really helped. Ahhhh.

As much as I personally don't care for this annual Pennsylvania trip, I have realized this week that I don't want Mr. L to decide we're not going to do it either, because that would mean his health has deteriorated to the point where he can't do it, and I don't want that.

The Week Ahead:

• Schedule blog posts
• Ensure we're as packed as we're going to be for the trip
• Be prepared for a tired, cranky, achy, lashing out Mr. L as he stresses about getting off on the trip
• Drive safely on the trip, relax, and go with the flow

Crunch Time

The next few weeks feel as if they are going to be somewhat stressful. I'm sure they'll shake out just fine, but I do need to do some prioritization.

We saved a ton of money at the swap meet in Decatur on Friday (neither of us saw anything we wanted to buy). We had a pleasant dinner with a friend on Thursday night. The younger daughter did not show, and the grandkids were otherwise occupied. We had a good time with older daughter and her husband.

My right knee is killing me. I'm seeing my surgeon on Monday for a followup for my hand. I hope he'll make good on his promise of giving me a steroid injection in my right knee to help tide me over. Then I hope it works.

Rossie and Sapphire did well in San Antonio. They had the run of the house. Both of them took refuge under the rocking chair, but they also spent a lot of time in the garden window. Sapphire adjusted to the change of venue within 24 hours, so she's getting better at adapting to change. She's still hiding from us, but she's a good-natured kitten otherwise. She has less patience for being held.

The Week Ahead:

• Retrieve Rossie and Sapphire from boarding -- don't forget to get cat food
• Hand follow up and hopefully steroid shot for right knee
• Kawasaki dealer to order a part and get estimates for tires, mounting, balancing, and other sundry items needed to get the bike back on the road
• Pick up prescriptions at Fort Hood
• Finalize details for Wednesday's closing
• Get a haircut
• Do scheduled blogs
• Trip preparation

I'm so glad you're getting settled into the new house, Wendy.

Taking shape

We have another week of reorganizing, unpacking, and general chaos settling behind us. I'm able to pay more attention to every day life matters again--dishes, laundry, cooking--without it being an undertaking. I'm starting to learn where things are. We still have a few boxes, but most of them are unpacked and in the basement. It's about time. We've been here a month.

A couple days ago I was sitting on my bed folding laundry. The windows were open and cicadas were chirping (buzzing? Whatever that noise is.), and I realized this house feels more like home than anyplace has in a long time. Maybe ever. I almost didn't look at it. I saw the listing on realtor.com and thought it was just another flip where the people came in, ripped out the character and soul, and modernized everything. And they did, sort of. As far as I know, the only things original are the stained glass and block glass windows in the living room, and the hard wood floors on the main floor. When the other offer fell through, Eric walked this house without me and brought me back the next day, and I realized they hadn't ripped out the soul after all. The day we closed, the sellers sent us the before pictures. This house needed to be gutted and redone. Someone had paneled or wallpapered every wall. The only bathroom was the one on the main floor and it was a train wreck. Maybe this house feels like home because it's happy to be pretty again! That hasn't stopped the weeds from growing in the back yard, though.

Work seems to be settling down a little. The newbies are getting more confident and asking for more hours. I'm not without personnel issues, of course, but I finally got it through my head that it's not up to me to fix everything. It's actually better for them if I make them find coverage for the shifts they can't work. I'm not obligated to give everyone the shifts or number of hours they want to work. I do my best, of course, but I don't feel guilty anymore.

I get to spend the day with family tomorrow. It's my grandma's 99th birthday. It's not the Official Party because my aunts are out of town, but Dad decided we needed to mark the day, so I'll drive up after church. It's only 3 hours, and I've been meaning to day trip up there since we moved to Chicago. I hope my cousins come, too. It's been too long since we were all together. I think it was my great-uncle's funeral.

That's pretty much it here. I think we're finally through crisis mode, just in time to go back to St. Louis for the Games next weekend, on our anniversary, no less.  It's nice to be able to breathe again.

Contemplation

Someone I know via Forward Motion, so you may know her too, participated in a program last year called the Master Key Mastermind Alliance. She blogged about it periodically, and I casually followed along. The new class is opening soon for 2015, and she's posting about it. If you want to find out more, check out her page here. It's launching in the typical three video format, and I can see a lot of the home based business influence, but the gist of the program is, you can't do many of the things you want to do in life until you get your head right.

The talk of living the dream and trips and money and all that doesn't do a thing for me. Frankly, I have all that. I'm not unhappy about it, but I'm not going to invest my time and effort into trying to get that when I have it. Other people? I totally get that they don't have it, and that's part of their dream -- and it's a good dream. But me? I'm still not right in the head. You can laugh about that. I'm not terribly wrong in the head, but I have things I want to do better in my life, and I realize my subconscious is sabotaging me achieving those goals. The opportunity to figure that out motivates me to look further into this program. I still have reservations, but I'm evaluating it. One intriguing aspect is the up front cost is $1. Everyone invited into the program receives a "pay-it-forward" scholarship from (I guess) someone who has been through the program before.

It seems to be based upon Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich and Charles Hannel's The Master Key System. Are either of you familiar with this? Do you find it remotely intriguing? Not just for the reasons I find it intriguing but as a way to help achieve the dreams you have?

On to the other stuff for the week. Sapphire is a healthy and happy kitten. She's out more. She's playing well. She is meeting and greeting the other cats. She's not scared of Lady or Daphne, but she's not stupidly allowing herself to be beat up by them either. Daphne seems as if she may be afraid of Sapphire, which it amusing, because Daphne has never been afraid of anything before now. Best of all, Rossie is playing with Sapphire, and that's encouraging to see.

Thanks for your brainstorming ideas the other night. I'm going to spend a few days this week looking for ways to incorporate them into Granite Hill stories.

The Week Ahead:

• Take Mr. L to SA and back
• Head to Dallas for the weekend
• Take a friend to dinner Thursday night
• Spend some time with the kids (hopefully younger daughter will come up from Austin on Saturday)
• Swap meet on Friday and maybe Saturday
• Cats will spend a lot of time on towers this week. 
• Rossie and Sapphire come to SA with us, then spend the weekend at the resort.

It's unlikely to be a productive week writing-wise, but family-wise, I hope it's good.

False starts

I keep starting this post. Each time the direction seemed wrong. Didn't seem to be what I needed to say. Deleted each false start. So I'm simply sharing my struggle and inability to know what to write. It feels like there's something profound to say, but the words are wandering around the huge warehouse of my mind, hiding behind stacks of nouns and pallets of verbs.

I wrote this several days back on my blog:

Somewhere inside me ... sometimes I feel that there is something inside me that wants out. It's fighting for freedom. It's trying to claw its way into the light. It's tearing away vast chucks of me, and I'm bleeding everywhere. Whatever it is, it's frantic. It's gasping for breath. It wants to leap into the sky, but it's held back, wings crippled, head forced down. It's fighting for that glimpse of blue, that vastness which lies beyond what we're allowed to see. 

It still feels true.

Speaking of my blog, 51313 Harbor Street, I caught it up. It now has a post for every day since July 1. My goal is to post once day for a year. Or at least have a post for each day for a year. Not sure why. But it's a goal, you know.

Otherwise, this week was a week of doctors and tests. No results yet. Hoped to get them today, but probably won't until Monday or Tuesday. Hoping for the best. Or at least better. I would love to be taking fewer meds.

What else?

Hope to start Murder by the Mile again soon. Been picking at the plot, trying to see where it went wrong. I have some thoughts about how to change it to accommodate a better story. I hope they bear fruit.

This coming week:
- Chores.
- Blogging.
- Editing a friend's story.
- Writing.

Hope you had a productive week, and hope the upcoming one is good for us all.

easier than expected

We got back to the Cozy Wee Bungalow yesterday afternoon with a trailer full of antique furniture from downstate. I think we almost have everything I care about out of that house. All the family pieces are here and for the most part are being pressed into service. The sideboard built by one of Eric's ancestors is extra kitchen cupboard space. The cabinet that used to be my apothecary is a pantry. The dresser made by my great-somebody-or-other is in the dining room and will act as a sideboard, mostly because it's so old we're afraid to try to get it up the stairs, and I can use the storage downstairs. The whole house is a hot mess. The cats are getting neurotic. But every box I toss down the basement stairs gets me a step closer to the new normal.

This has been an odd summer. Except for Scotland, there is nothing we did I'm in a hurry to repeat. Even Scotland we will do differently the next time we go. At this point, I'm keeping my head above water by trying to work as few hours as I can possibly get away with and finding homes for all the stuff out in the open. I did dishes this afternoon and you can't tell a difference because my counters are covered with things that need a home. It doesn't help that the top 2 shelves in all my upper cabinets are too high for me to reach, so they need to house things I don't need much.

It is coming together, though. Slowly. I did write a little short story last week, more for therapy than anything. It's under 2,000 words and might not ever see the light of day again. I hope, in the next week or two, to have things under control enough to start working on the dragon story again. I have to dig out my notes. I'm not sure where they are. That's the story of my life this summer.

On the plus side, I saw Vicky, Erik, and my friend/adopted little sister, Jenn, on Saturday. Jenn, Eric and I loaded almost the whole trailer before Vicky and Erik got there, but the kids moved some of Vicky's stuff to storage. We had to tidy and leave the house before noon for a showing, so we took a two-hour lunch break at Chick-Fil-A. Alex was supposed to come, but he tweaked his back at the gym, and he had papers to grade along with his own homework. Oh, he's graduating a semester early--this December. The school doesn't have the funds to pay him next semester in his GA program, so they jiggled his course requirements so he can graduate. That means he has 3 months to figure out the next step instead of 9. He's applying for PhD programs and looking at the job market. The way they've been jerking him around the past couple of months, I don't see WIU getting any alumni funds out of him. Ever.

Work has been a trial by fire since my vacation ended. At the worst point I was down to 5 staff members, including myself, but that's when they started letting me hire my own people. I got us up to 10, and one of my openers quit last week. It's not a great loss. He saved me the trouble of firing him when I get the newbies trained enough. Thankfully I'm (so far) only working 4 days this week so I can maybe get my house under control. I have more managerial duties now, which suits me, and am waiting for the formal promotion and pay raise. I have to keep reminding myself we've only been open 4 months. It feels like years.

So that's what's going on here. Now that we're done moving stuff, at least for a while, the weather should break and fall can commence. Hope everything is going well in your little worlds.

Not Much

I didn't do much around the house, but I did putter at a few things. I mowed the lawn. I didn't see any sticker burs to speak of. My spring time Preen applications may be making a difference. Or it's just been too dry for sticker burs to prosper this year.

Bills are paid. As you know, the dark kitten came home with me, and we named her today (finally). After considering Misha, Zora, and Zelda with not much enthusiasm from Mr. L, he suggested Sapphire. Or Star (which sounds too much like Tar, which is what we call Tarzan). We'll call her Sapphire, perhaps shortening it to Saff or Fire, but her formal name will be Black Star Sapphire. I found Natasha's ophthalmic drops and applied them. She's not squinting. She also found a way to get up in the window with Rossie this afternoon.

In related news, we've long sensed that Rossie doesn't like her name, so we're experimenting with calling her Rosie.

I didn't unload trailers. I did neither the pool nor the bike. I did a little more work on the Granite Hill series. I'm trying to figure out how to make it mystery or suspense.

The Week Ahead:

• Tarzan needs his shot on Tuesday, and I may take Sapphire with me for an exam (but her eye looks better, and she's more active, so maybe not)
• I have a hangout to attend on Friday
• Stuff to take care of around the house
• Work on Granite Hill
• Help Mr. L as needed

I Can Breathe Again

Yes, my post titles have been passive aggressive hints that it's been lonely in here all by myself. Finally! Wendy posted and cleared a few of the strangling cobwebs away.

The heat pump saga appears to be resolved. We have the vents balanced enough so the front of the house to back of the house temperature difference appears to be two degrees. We'll keep working on that. The drain is clear, but still needs to be moved to it's final location (we haven't been here, and I think the guys are still swamped, so it's not a big deal. If you ask me, it can wait until the attic is no longer 100 degrees -- but maybe before the outside temperature is uncomfortable.

I enjoyed the swap meet. I think Mr. L did, too. We didn't make as much money as last year, but we paid for our spaces and split the remainder between us. We earned enough to pay for next year's spaces, too, so that's not bad. More importantly, stuff we didn't need any more found a new home.  Surprisingly, two old cell phones went for $2, and my 3G MiFi sold for $3. The dog house found a new home for $20. The guy that runs the detail shop behind our shop gave Mr. L a new lawn mower blade and a Holley carb. Both sold, so we'll be able to give him some money.

The dark kitten is available for adoption. When I dropped Rossie off for the weekend, she was huddled in a cardboard box house they'd made for her. I asked them to open the space between her and Rossie's cages. If the two can form a bond, and she doesn't get adopted by the time we get back from Hershey, I'll bring her home.  I'll talk to Dr. Val on Monday. Maybe I'll do it before then, but Dr. Val rightly thinks we have too many cats, so we'll see.

I did not dig sticker burs or mow the lawn last week. I did some watering. I did my pool work at the motel. I rode the bike for 30 minutes at level 2, so that's getting better. I'm experiencing some periodic sharp pains in my new knee. It feels like nerves regenerating. The right knee is giving me problems at night, and I've put a compression sleeve on for the last two nights. That has helped some.

Once I figure out the channels that work on the Roku, it works pretty well. Some channels are easier to work with than others. Getting things set up is time consuming and tedious. Once it's done, I think I'll be able to forget the pain.

Got some feedback on Granite Hill and a good explanation for why it's a character sketch instead of a story as well as why my format won't work for this idea. I am so slow to learn this stuff. It's frustrating. But the feedback should be helpful for helping me plan the series. I'll keep working on it.

Mr. L has to make a trip to San Antonio this week. I don't think I'll have to go with him. I hope to get some stuff done here. 

The Week Ahead:

• Unload trailers
• Pool and bike
• Do some stuff around the house
• Pay bills
• Work on Granite Hill

Where is...

My wise hubby has banished me to my upstairs garret with a piece of cake, a cup of decaf, and orders to write something, so here I am. I can't find anything. I'm tired, work drama keeps flaring up, and I only have half a weekend this week. I'm supremely grateful to have that. Until one of the gals stepped up, I was going to be working every day. It's getting old, but the shop would fold if I left. I'm the only person consistently dependable. There has been progress, though. I got the green light to start interviewing people, and I've hired three newbies since Saturday. Hopefully they'll be at least as good as I think they're going to be and I can get my life back.

It feels like so long ago that we got back from Scotland, which was every bit as beautiful and magical as I thought it would be. It was like being in a postcard for 10 days. The Edinburgh Tattoo exceeded out expectations and made the trip (and dealing with the thousands of people who attended) worthwhile. Apparently, they have different groups every year. This year they had the USAF Drill Team and the Citadel (our Citadel, from South Carolina--remember Shannon Faulkner?) Marching Band. The Citadel had bagpipes in their group and played Rocky Top, which caused me to fan girl all over Eric. He was confused because he doesn't listen to bluegrass and had no idea what the song was! There was a moment our first morning there when I was looking out our B&B window at Loch Leven when all the stress of the previous months disappeared. I felt it leave. Best vacation ever. Scotland is never coming off the bucket list.

I think we're all moved into the Cozy Wee Bungalow. I need to make one more trip through the apartment to make sure Eric didn't miss anything. He's done a large portion of the grunt work on this move. I was working (of course) when the movers got our stuff to the house, so I missed the headboard drama. The 5' solid wood headboard we've had for over 10 years would NOT come up the stairs. That scuttled our room plan. Instead of bedrooms upstairs and offices downstairs, we have one on each floor. Our (now) old bed will become a guest bed. We bought a new bed with a low headboard for our bedroom, and we'll put the mattress set on the bed downstairs. For the first time, I have a slanted ceiling office. It's rather charming if I do say so myself. When I get the boxes unpacked we'll have to Skype so I can show you around. It's going to be a while, though. The furries are settling right in. Ryan is still unsure about the steps going to the second floor because they're hardwood, but everyone is running up and down the carpet-runnered basement stairs. They love the windows and the new smells that come through them.

So now it's past 9 on my Friday/Saturday night, but I still have to be up early. No rest for the weary. I'm heading for bed. Hopefully a day off and some retail therapy will do the trick.

Strangled by the Cobwebs

The heat pump install went well, except when they hooked up our thermostat, it quit working right, so I'm going to have to have them come back and check it, then we may need to have them use their non-programmable thermostat, which would be quite the bummer.

We're getting ready to head to Giddings to set up at the swap meet next weekend. If all we took was what we loaded onto the trailer today (plus the tables we forgot to load first, which we'll fix later in the week), we'd be fine, but we want to load bulky stuff on the 16' trailer as well. Rossie will be boarding with Dr. Valeri and the rest of the cats will be partying at the house.

The dark gray kitten is at the clinic recovering from an illness, then she'll be available for adoption. Walter has had his annual exam and shots and is back outside. Junior is too jumpy to get near after all the trapping and stuffing into carriers, but we'll continue to work with him.

I have the Roku3 installed and am learning it's quirks. It's a royal pain to add a channel. Once the channel is added (enter a code on a website or enter an email address and maybe a password, and finally, if it's a channel we access via DirecTV, I have to log in there and get validated). I haven't mentioned this to Mr. L yet, because I want to see if it's useful (maybe he could use it on a garage TV, for instance, because I think the WiFi reaches out there). At this point, he'd have thrown it across the room. With force. There are a lot of things to choose from. The Amazon Prime stuff works well. I've started watching 18 To Life on TubiTV. I guess it's a sitcom about two 18 year-olds who decided to get married as a result of a truth or dare game. (on the Best of British channel) I guess the lesson is, if you want to have TV a la carte, there's some hassle that goes with it.

I continue to work on Granite Hill. I like the possibilities this series holds.

The Week Ahead:

• Get thermostat problem resolved
• Pool and bike
• Granite Hill
• Dig sticker burs
• Mow Lawn
• Swap meet preparation and set up

Whistling Into the Wind

And I can't whistle.

Been an interesting week. I may have backslid a little, because I only went to the pool once (electing to take care of the air conditioning problem on Monday instead of going to the pool) and rode the bike once. Mostly, I'm feeling okay. The front AC unit for upstairs is dead (compressor locked up), moving our priority for the new system up to Tuesday - Friday for the install. Mr. L found a working window air unit at the shop (one of three units he found there -- not bad) and installed it in the front bedroom window on Friday morning. It works.

I did a little watering for the yard and no mowing. The yard looks a little ragged, but it's too dry and crispy to really mow it. We're keeping the St. Augustine, the baby pecan tree, the peach tree, and the fig tree watered. Everything else fends for itself. Earlier in the week, the pears were not ripe enough to pick. I'll have to check them again.

Rossie is moving about the parlor more while I'm working. Unless I turn to look at her in a way that causes my chair to creak, then she scampers back to behind the cage.  She runs out to greet Ajax when we let him in the room -- and has tried to play with him. She and Lady have coexisted for several hours in the room together. She seems ready for interaction with other cats, so my goal now is to have other cats in the room to give them time to interact peacefully. Rossie is not running from Lady like she was before, which means Lady has no interest in chasing.

We had a set back with the outside cats when Mr. L tried to stuff Junior in a carrier, but they're still coming around. I picked Walter up today, and he didn't like that much either. We'll keep working with them. The dark gray kitten scoffs at my trap. I put an entire can of Fancy Feast on newspaper in it yesterday afternoon and by the time I shut the trap down before bed last night, someone had eaten it all without tripping the trap. I put more in today. Tomorrow night I put my shingle in again, so when the perpetrator steps in to eat the food, he or she will trip the trap. I anticipate a kitty in the trap tomorrow night, but we'll see. I could be foiled again.

Doc is happy with my hand. He confirmed I'm not doing my knee until April and offered an injection to tide me over if necessary. The new knee is getting tired of doing all the work.

After doing some research and discussing it with Stephen, I sprang for a Roku3 box, which should arrive on Tuesday.

The Week Ahead:

• Pool and bike work
• Yard work
• Keep up with blog posts
• More work on Granite Hill
• AC installation

Talking to Myself

Wendy is prowling the hills and dales of Scotland, Tammy is basking in hubby smooches and other such hardships of life, and Stephen is chasing mosquitoes, so I imagine I'm blabbering to myself. That's okay. I do that anyway.

I got two pool visits in, and it really helps. I got two bike rides in, and I had to go to level 2 to get the proper resistance for both knees. Prior to surgery, I'd only been able to use level 1.

I didn't mow this week. Everything's so dry, I don't want to bother the grass. We have watered the St Augustine to keep it healthy. Same for a baby pecan tree we're encouraging, Ms. Peach, and Mr. Fig.

We ordered, received, and installed the missing parts for our "new" lawn tractor. They were all cosmetic, but it's nice to have it complete.

I've been working on Granite Hill series preparation. One huge "success" for the week was nailing done the scope of Book 1 and working on identifying series themes.

Rossie is making incremental progress. That time she spent so much time in my arms was a fluke -- I think she was more afraid to get down with Sneaky in the room than she was to stay with me. The real successes we've seen is she sits up to be petted by us when we approach her, and she's eagerly wanting to come out of the cage when we open it for her to have time in the parlor. Today, I insisted upon petting her before letting her out, and she agreed.

I'm trying to let her out when I'm working on the computer. I've noticed her moving around the room more when she doesn't think I'm watching. If we have Tarzan or Ajax in the room, she will eagerly approach them and ask for attention. Unfortunately, after cursory sniffs, they generally ignore her. It's so sad to see this poor cat begging for attention. I know it can't compare to the pain a parent must feel when their child has social troubles, but it seems like a similar situation on a smaller scale. Rossie does appear to be learning to be a cat again, and that is encouraging.

The three primary outside cats are a hoot. Junior is very vocal in the morning about wanting his Fancy Feast. Sneaky makes sure she's on the porch waiting for her share, and Walter is always on the ductwork peeking around the brick porch supports when we appear at the side porch steps in the morning with three cans of Fancy Feast. I've managed to coax Walter off the ductwork and to eat from the dish between my feet as I sit on the edge of the side porch steps. He seems to welcome petting as much as the Fancy Feast. He still needs to learn to keep his claws in when trying to interact with us, though. Mr. L has been able to pet Junior with both hands but only while he's chowing down on Fancy Feast. Walter will come to be petted even after the food is gone. Sneaky will attack them both, given the chance, so it's fair to say she's the Alpha Cat out there.

We attended the foreclosure auction for the property we're interested in. We were relieved that only us and the guy who was foreclosing on the property showed up. He bid the exact amount on the loan to regain control and title of the property. Since he was the lender, he didn't have to have cash. The trustee is going to take care of ensuring the paperwork is done to return legal ownership to him and she's going to ensure there's a clear title on the property. Once that is done, she's going to draw up papers to sell the property to us. It's a cash sale, so the owner will know he's done with the property, and we'll become landlords and have a fenced place to store the motor home and several trailers (currently stored at the ranch). We know and like the man who owns the detail shop and vehicle inspection station operating from the building on the property, and we want his business there.  He's relieved, because once he found out about the foreclosure, he didn't know if someone was going to come in and tell him to get out. 

Friday, two of three A/C units popped breakers. The upstairs unit appeared to be working when the breakers were reset, but it wasn't doing any heat exchange, so we've shut it down. Unfortunately, it's the unit that services the front bedrooms, so we've been sleeping in rooms that are in the high 80s temperature wise, cooling overnight to 80 degrees by morning. The new heat pump is supposed to be installed beginning on Monday, but they've delayed installation twice before due to their backlog of work. I'll be heading over bright and early Monday morning to make sure we're on their schedule this week -- either for the install or to take a look at the old unit to see if it can be revived (they've jury-rigged an over-temp switch on the unit that I suspect tripped when the breakers blew, and it may need to be reset). Thankfully, the downstairs unit resumed proper function when I reset the breakers. I took that opportunity to change all the filters as well (they were due).

I bought train tickets and made rental car reservations to visit my folks in Wisconsin for the last week of October. I want to begin spending a couple of weeks a year with them, maybe helping out with stuff around the house, and definitely just hanging out and doing stuff with them.

The Week Ahead:

• Pick pears (not ripe yet as of Sunday night)
• Yard work
• Keep up with blog posts
• Work on Granite Hill
• Follow up for hand surgery
• Eye appointment at VA
• Pool and bike work
• Hope the A/C install begins this week. If not, they need to come fix the old unit.

Wendy, I know your trip has been incredible. Looking for a safe trip home and getting the move completed. Tambo, you are wracking up the miles with SPORE promotion. Awesome job. Stephen thanks for your thoughts on that story I was looking at for someone else.  Have a wonderful week.

Country Song Played Backwards

You know the old saying about a country song played backwards? You get the girl, the dog, and your truck back? That's kind of how this week went. You may recall my brand new iMac wouldn't wake from sleep. I reinstalled the original memory in preparation for taking it to San Antonio for the Apple Store to work on it, but once I did that, I couldn't replicate the wake from sleep problem. I left the iMac in Central Texas. When we returned from San Antonio, I reinstalled the memory upgrade I bought, and the iMac is working fine.

Last week, my Logitech Bluetooth keyboard quit pairing with my iPad and iPhone. It wouldn't pair with my iMac either, but it was acting like a key was stuck, but I couldn't find any stuck keys. I let it sit for a few days, and it worked today. The keyboard case doubles as a stand for the iPad or iPhone. The support folds inside the case. I think I put the keyboard in backwards, so the support was resting against the keys. That pressure may have resulted in several keys sticking. Since I hadn't used the keyboard for several months, it took awhile for the keys to let loose once the pressure had been removed. At least, that's my theory. The good news is, the keyboard is fine.

We finished front yard work and watering in San Antonio. We're watering and preparing to mow here in Central Texas.

We're continuing to work with Sneaky, Junior, Rossie, and Walter. We've seen improvements with all of them. Incremental things, but noticeable. Sneaky is playing less hard to get. Junior is approaching us more readily. Rossie allows us to approach her outside the cage, she's attempting to interact with a Ajax and Tarzan, she sat in the middle of the room and groomed herself for a couple minutes today before returning to her favorite place behind the cage, and she leans toward us when we reach to pet her. Walter made an appearance on the ductwork this morning and wanted his Fancy Feast. After he finished eating, he hung around, probably wanting more, but during that time I was able to brush the top of his head. I don't know how to say this, but if Walter were a human, he'd be a studly movie star, and I'd be swooning at his feet. He's that gorgeous of a cat.

In writing news, I regretfully have decided to place Polar Bear on the Loose on the back burner for now. I've been completely unproductive on it for four months, and I think I've identified part of the problem. It's become too much like an extreme animal rights person is writing the story, and that's not me, and I don't want anyone to think it is. It's an ethical matter for now, and until I wrap my mind around it, I'm not going to make any progress. What I am going to do is begin planning the Granite Hill series.

The Week Ahead:

• Begin gathering items for the Giddings Swap Meet at the end of the month. Ensure everything is priced.
• Get two pool sessions in for knee therapy
• Attend the auction for the property we're interested in.
• Mow and water
• Keep up with blog posts
• Spend at least an hour per day on Granite Hill planning (track with TimeSheeter)
• Plan up to eight more short stories
• Continue working with the cats.
• Begin riding recumbent bike at least two days a week

Out

We are all packed. It only took me 5 tries and one suitcase more than I wanted to get it the way I wanted. All the details are ironed out. I have a few more chores to do to get the apartment ready for the cat nanny. It both simplifies and complicates things to have a live-in house sitter, but I'm grateful to have found her.

The house closing was almost anti-climatic after all the drama of the last month. It's the first time the sellers were in the room with us and physically handed the keys over. The guy who did the work is a contractor, so we'll contact him later when we're ready to build a deck. We're also trying to figure out how and where to build an outdoor cat enclosure. The furries have gotten used to being able to go out on the balcony, so I'd like to get them some outside time without losing them. The chain link fence isn't going to keep them contained, and I'm not sure the city allows privacy fences.

We moved 3 loads of stuff to the house. I did 2 by myself. It goes way faster with 2 people. We met the next-door neighbors on one side of us last night. They have 3 little kids (grade school/pre-school age). I'm pretty sure the family on the other side has kids about the same age, so I might get a little grandma training. :-) The movers come for the furniture and a few boxes on the 15th. (We get back around noon the 11th.) I think they will make things way easier and will be worth the extra expense. The good part about having moved some stuff on my own already is I have the route more or less down. We took 2 cars out there Thursday night so we could leave the van in the garage, and Eric took a wrong turn, which almost never happens, so I got to the house a few minutes before he did. It kinda made my day.

Things are finally coming together. Right now, today, the drama has all be worth it. Thanks for putting up with my anxiety.

Mobile Check-In

My last physical therapy session turned out to be Tuesday. I finished with an extension of zero and a flexion of 110. I should gain a little more over the next year. I won't be doing child's pose in yoga anytime soon, but I can do most things I need to do. My flexibility has always been pretty sucky, and it still is. But the left knee doesn't hurt, and the right knee even improved a little as I went through therapy.

My three stitches came out on Thursday. The hand feels pretty good. I wasn't supposed to lift more than five pounds. I can't pour from a full one gallon container. It will take a while to get strength back. My incision was nicely closed. Until today. I trimmed bushes, and I think I used too much pressure with the loppers, and it has separated a little tonight. My doc did such a nice job, and I may have messed up his work a little if this doesn't close back up nicely.

Rossie has chosen to spend most of her outside the cage time each day in the garden window.  She's been a joy to watch in there, because she's so relaxed. We pet her, and she purrs. She and Lady have avoided each other, but Rossie has walked away, and when Rossie has been running, Lady just watches her. So far, so good.

Lady is off the Prozac, and has been demanding attention. She's been carrying things around again. She has been pretty good with the other cats. Nothing to cause me concern in her behavior so far. I didn't like the zombified state she was in, so I'm glad this is working better.

We found a lawn tractor for the store and Jeep wheels for my brother at the swap meet this weekend. My scooter worked well, so my knees never got sore. The battery held up, and I hauled parts to the truck several times to give it a workout. Mr. L bought six wheels, so it took six trips to the truck, but that gave the battery the workout it needed to get an idea how it will hold up at Hershey.

Doing yard work and watering here. That's the agenda for the week.

Saturday can't come fast enough

It's not only because I'm excited to finally get to Scotland. I am. I've already started packing. But more importantly, my phone will go to airplane mode when I get to O'Hare, and it's not coming off until we get back. Frankly, my phone may stay off entirely if the storage on my iPad holds out for picture taking. I'm going to have more than a week when work can't get a hold of me. That is going to be heaven. I'm only friends on Facebook with one person from work, and she's a manager I don't see in person anymore. She's about the last person who pesters me!

I will be posting pictures on Facebook, and I'll pop into Hangouts when I have wifi and/or data coverage. I'm not sure I'll be able to text. Right now I'm not worried about it. I'll figure it out later. It's on my To Do list.

We will, in theory, close on the house Tuesday. It's been a very strange process. The whole thing is in underwriting at the bank, and we should hear from them tomorrow about the time and place for closing and if we have to bring any money. Yes, we may have less than 24 hours notice. Luckily, I've talked with my manager. If I need to adjust my hours on Tuesday, I can work whenever or not at all. That's my short day, and they only have me on the schedule so I can work with people they think have potential.

My food safety class was everything I thought it would be and more. Ten minute breaks lasted half an hour. After our hour (and ten minute) lunch break, we spend 45 minutes filling out a form and ascertaining whether all 40-some of us needed the state license as well as the city. We started testing twenty minutes late, and it was 6 p.m. when I get out. Some of the questions on the test were poorly thought out. This was my favorite:

Jose has used a meat slicer to cut roast beef being for 6 hours straight. After 4 hours, the roast beef is set aside, the slicer taken apart, and the parts are cleaned and sanitized. (They're supposed to be after 4 hours of continuous use, but they just said he sliced for 6 straight hours.) After the parts are sanitized, the machine is put back together and slicing resumes. What mistake was made?

I don't remember two of the answers. They were stupid. The other two were:
- Time and temperature abuse because the beef was set aside. (And out for 6 hours while it was being sliced. Where do you even get a piece of roast beef big enough that it takes that long to cut it? Or is the slicer that slow?)
- Cross contamination with the sanitizing solution. (It was cleaned and sanitized. Nothing was said about being allowed to air dry.)

*sigh* I went with the cross contamination. It's going to be 2 weeks before I find out the results of my test. Today, I don't care as long as I don't have to test again until my certificate expires in 5 years.

At this point, I'm over everything. I have a list and 6 days to do it. Nothing left to do except hunker down and plow through.

Living in the inbetweens

It's a weird time in my life. I feel like I'm living in between times in my life. Finished with that, but not starting that, either. If that makes sense; if not, well, that's the best I can manage in terms of explanation right now.

It's an uncomfortable way to live, of course. The margins of life are always a poor fit for most of us. We have to scramble back and forth, up and down, with a good dose of sideways. And since we don't fit, we never end up being satisfied with where we land.

Anyway, enough of the wandering. This week, I plan on:
- publishing the family newsletter,
- posting on my blogs,
- keeping up on my household chores,
- one medical appointment,
- lunch with a friend,
- haircut,
- and some other odds and ends.

That's my plan. We'll see what works out. Hope you have a productive, contented week.

Ramping up

As if there wasn't enough going on, Dad and Linda came to see the apartment before we leave it. He called me Wednesday, they showed up Saturday, and left Sunday. I'm really glad. They're fun to hang out with, and it wasn't that big of a deal to make the bed and move boxes out of the way, but oy vey, I need another thing! Here it is, in no particular order.

Houses:
No movement on the old one. The realtor organized what I hope will be the final wave of sprucing up.

On the new house, we're down to the VA appraiser. We did the occupancy paperwork Friday, which seems like something you'd do at closing, but I guess they do it early because you have to go to the courthouse to do that paperwork. We got a packet of info from the city clerk about trash days and parking permits and such, so that made it worth the trip. We already know more about living in Berwyn than our building manager told us when we moved in. We are on track to close the 28th, Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

Scotland:
We found a cat sitter! She's the friend of a friend, and the tabbies came to check her out as soon as she walked in the door. Tess pretended to sleep. She played with Chloe and Ryan, and ignored Tess until Tess was ready. She's going to be a good fit.

We have our itinerary and it's been distributed to some of the family members with a few more to go so they can track us down in case of emergency. I'm actively collecting the fiddly bits we'll need (power converters, luggage tags, etc), and probably this week I'll start putting aside wardrobe pieces. We're as ready to go as we can be right now.

Writing:
Not much, under the circumstances, but I'm digging deeper into Peter and Marsali's motives, fears, and needs so I can make sure I have the plot down. It's mostly so I can figure out what research I still need to do so I know what to look for in Inverness.

Work:
Oh my gosh, so much drama. We've been really slow this summer, so management decided to re-do the schedule and cut hours to minimize losses. The manager in charge of that sent me the schedule about noon yesterday, and we divided up the staff. She would contact some and I would contact some. Long story short, the boyfriend/girlfriend duo decided to quit with no notice (she didn't give a reason; he said it was partly that the new schedule doesn't work for him, and partly because he has a personal matter that needs his attention. We suspect he's knocked her up.). Then one of the other shift leaders, who is leaving for college next month, decided it wasn't worth his time to only work 14 hours a week and put in his notice. The irony is we were going to take three people off the schedule and have them on call for a while, but only one is a person who quit. Plus we have one more girl leaving for college mid-August, so within a month, my best closers will all be gone. I'm going to be working a couple of closing shifts a week, and I'm going to have to get the girls who are left to step up their game so we can promote more shift leaders. At least we didn't have to put anyone on stand-by! New schedule starts today, and it will work for a few weeks at least, but it means I have to make sure everyone covering for me can still cover for me. Working with teens is exciting!

I think that's about it, barring any more unexpected family visits. This week we need to concentrate on packing boxes and getting the logistics of moving set up. We're hiring movers to do furniture and some of the books this time. It should go much faster than the last couple of moves. Hope y'all are having a nice, relaxing week. Relax a little for me, would ya?