A lot on the table...

Many goings on. 

Sorted through mss for new story collection, had a late morning hike through the park looking for "tockleburs," dropped by the leaded-glass-lady's outfit, made a longer than expected detour to Sears to have the oil changed in the pickup, then bolted for the gym to get in a few lifts before I'm struck down with the mega-cold that seems to be going around.

Looks like a new job or two might be coming in. That'd be nice. Fingers crossed I can skirt the worst of this--whatever it is. Just got out from under the last bad episode of sinus/throat problems and don't need another one.

Cooking brats tonight. Yeah, that's right. Brats. With sauerkraut. So sue me.

Dreams of grandeur, and less...

Hardly remember getting up this morning. Must be because I woke at 2:00am and didn't fall back to sleep until 5:00am. Bizarre dreams. Kitty comings and goings. Phantom math, calculating the approximate hemorrhage of currency involved in the new office build-out. Funny, but always fantasized maxing out credit cards at the end of my life--a trip to Europe involving heavy meals of wine and pasta. Restful nights in expensive hotels with 5-start restaurants and oyster shells--not now while they can still track me down and make me pay. Drat. Anyway, got up, pushed some paper around, and entered "Dancing with the Devil" in something called the Wild West Literary Contest. Also managed a trip to the bank, a trip to the barber, and a trip to the barber. Ferried some old windows from the kitchen over to the leaded glass shop to be used in the making of the new window in the cottage office. Four to six weeks before any results. Office door? Who knows. Just keep plugging. Meanwhile, at work on the new collection, The Second Time Around. 

 

It's only Monday?

Monday. More clean up, a voice session, more clean up. Took a break mid-afternoon to make a pot of chicken soup. Critiqued a ms. for N, took care of some overdue correspondence, placed a few mss of my own, and tried not to get too far ahead of myself in my thinking. Know this is a topsy-turvy time, but look forward to a bit of stability. Miss the everyday in my everydays.

Mindful of my gifts...

Surprise visit by my cousin, J.J. today. Had lunch downtown and some great conversation. Always a pleasure to see the kid. Always.

Baseboard painted in new office, sofa and bookshelf moved into place. Joint is starting to look serious now. Gonna have to wait for a couple of weeks before the desks are in, but it's one step closer.

Weather came around in a nice way after the cold and wind earlier in the week. Wore shirtsleeves most of the afternoon. Had a chance to talk on the phone to my uncle, see if we might scare up some time to go fishing this spring. Have a photo somewhere of the two of us down on the Arkansas with a stringer of trout. Always loved that photo. Gonna try and find it in the office files and make some new copies.

Sneaked off to the gym for a quick workout, then made the mistake of going to Safeway. Every human being in town got there before I did, all intent on last minute Superbowl shopping. Long lines, expressholes shoving 16 items in the 15 item lanes, college kids with questionable forms of tender...  I saw it all.

Back to Monday, tomorrow. Let's hope the great experiment keeps rolling forward.

 

Saturday...

Woke early, wind piping down the eaves, rattling the lilacs. Worried we were in for another hard blow, but it turned out to be a nice day despite the early bluster. Wrote a while in the early morning, then went out to the garage to do a bit of policing. Cleaned a while, hauled debris from the worksite, then came upstairs to sort through a closet full of old files and such. Took a late trip to the dump. Made it just before closing. Home again to make another drop off at K's--boxes of books and all manner of things for the neighborhood garage sale this spring. Feels good getting organized. Champing at the bit to have it all finished. Eric the Reluctant showed sometime before noon and started the install of the baseboard and shoe molding. Looks great so far. Need to dedicate some time to the leaded-glass window the next few days. Other molding as well. Disappointed to hear the lighted door won't be shipped for another week. Who knows when it arrives. I've seen homes built more quickly, but if it looks the way it should all will be right with the world when it arrives. Haven't done a lick of real work (writing) in days. Need to remedy. Got a call from my cousin, J.J. today, saying he's in town (from Iowa). Looking forward to catching up with him. Having lunch tomorrow. 

Cold snap...

Ice, fog, cold. Tech folks coming and going. Babies coming and going. Meetings. Man, what a day. Never thought I'd hear myself say it, but thank god for that late day meeting. Behind, behind, behind. Looking forward to a sunny day, they keyboard, and if all goes well a trip to Starbucks.

New story in from N. Expect more tonight, more still over the weekend. Should make for a nice diversion.

Tired...

Long, long, long, long, long, long day.

Office empty at last. Storage unit full. Living room full. Cottage office still two weeks from completion.

Dinner with family tonight. Wish I had an appetite.

Quoth the Raven....

Back late from office. Covered 78 floors and six miles today, hauling equipment, garbage, and whatnot. Thought we'd be finished, but still have two loads left. Done with this, project. Ready to move on. Fighting off the blues in a big, big way. 

Jesus H. Christ....

Whatever the hell I posted here last night disappeared by morning. How does that happen? Must be the move, and all involved, that's put the week in a tailspin. Anyway, I'm still here. 

Another fifty walks up another fifty flights of stairs, another fifty bags of trash to the dump and I'm almost in the clear. Gonna be a long hard day tomorrow. Lots of sorting out once the heavy lifting's finished, but at least it'll have come to the end.

Floor in the new office now installed. What's next? Molding? Door? Brick work? It's anybody's guess at this point. Only certainty is, there won't be much writing time between now and the end of the week.

Oh, and by the way, what's that goddamn humming sound? 

It's all a blur...

Another long day. Started so long ago, I can't even remember when. Up early to the office, and after some letter writing, bill paying, and dumpster drops, off to the recycling post to dispose of, among other things: hard drives, computers, a keyboard, a sound mixing board, a printer, patch cords, disc drives and sundry electronics. A full and satisfying day, by any reckoning. Office on West Colorado is all but empty now. Another trip to the Arc ought to do it. Just want to have it behind me and move on. Sold one of my old armoires to a nice couple from Woodland Park. Never been one to fall in love with material things, but realize more and more how much emotion we invest in objects without even thinking about it. Anyway, good to clean house. Good to get closer to the center of things. Haven't slept well the past week, but again, probably to be expected, given everything that's going on. Used to think life would simplify as I got older, but in many ways it's become more complicated. Go figure. 

Take the victories where you can...

Weather cool today. Winds came down from the north and made for temps in the 20s. Best revenge? A six pack on the back porch, imported beer at the ready.

Got close (maybe even finished) with final revisions on "Te Quiero," and "Herald Angel" today. More than ready to push both out the door and move on to something new.

Spent the day painting and insulating the new office. New HVAC up and running. Heat, at last! Going to be a tight window getting everything finished by month's end, but have faith it's going to happen.

Learned tonight my short story "Unseen" was named a finalist in the Tucson Festival of Books.

This pilgrim's progress...

Still spinning the wheels, but managed to get some writing in just the same. Drafted the first 500 words of a new story, made some good revisions on "Dancing with the Devil. Need to put the final proofs of "Herald Angel" and "Te Quiero" to bed tomorrow. Get them out the door and have done with them.

Been re-reading Poetics in my spare moments, absorbing even more this time around. The knowledge is beginning to feel liberating, rather than restricting or intimidating. Halfway through it, and making good notes.

My dad's been on my mind a lot lately. Not sure why, but I welcome the visits. Hard to believe he's been dead almost ten months.

A quarter of the way into T.C. Boyle's The Terranauts, and enjoying it greatly. Look forward to making more progress this week. Haven't had as much time read as I would have liked, but with moving the office it's not surprising. Can't seem to find ten minutes of uninterrupted time lately. Haven't been to a movie in months.

 

Saved by the cat...

Up early to look after little things. Didn't make it to the office until after 12:00 pm, but managed a good bit of housekeeping after I got in. Jettisoned old files, letters, etc., in anticipation of the move. Bittersweet, but no time to get mired, emotionally. Need to get the world in order so I can get back to the keyboard. Feel like I haven't done any worthwhile writing for two weeks now. Good thing is, workmen seem to be keeping their schedules...for a change. So maybe things will come off better than planned.

Haven't slept for a while now. Not sure what that's about. Haunted by gray thoughts and strange, grotesque dreams. Maybe it's just that it's winter. Hard to tell. Could probably use some vitamin D, straight from the source. Haven't been outside all month except to drive from one place to another. Be nice to lace up the boots and go hiking.

 A kitty makes his entrance as I'm writing this. Thank heaven for furry friends. Somehow, they fix everything.

Wednesday, 5:17 pm...

Wild and wooly day. 

Mom left for Albuquerque after a nice, five-day visit. Saw her off, then went to work painting the cottage office. Finished in time for an unexpected visit by Rick, the sheet rock man, and later, Tim the electrician. Hit the gym for the first time in three days, then drove to the office to do some project work.

Need to settle in tomorrow. Get back on task.

Haven't read or written anything for days. No idea what's going on in the world. Not sure I care.

A day late, a dollar short...

Another day lost in translation. 

Revised scripts, put in research, answered some overdue correspondence and got a jump on a new project. Still haven't managed to read the second of the two N. mss. Afternoon lost to meetings, but one with the prospect of new work.

Mom coming tomorrow. Not ready, but never am. Will have to fly by the seat of my pants. Should be an interesting few days.

Cold tonight. Blustery again, though not as bad as before. Snow prediction for Saturday now moved to Sunday. Need to winterize! Man, did I blow that one!

 

 

Here we are, Tuesday...

Not sure what happened today, but here I am. Back at it.

Winds died down, meetings came and went, temps got into the high fifties but no one seemed to care.

Mom coming for a visit on Thursday. Should be fun. Look forward to catching up.

Meanwhile, still behind on my reading. Gotta ramp up tomorrow and get the N. mss out door. Prep a couple of bids. Make plans for what's ahead.

Nice morning, today. Happy for that.