Friday Night On the Town

Hardly. Panera Bread. My write-in starts at 7 p.m.. I am not expecting anyone. That's ok. I'm not really in the mood for company but if they show, I'll be nice and have a good time. I'm always scintillating company, even when I feel like crap... tell me, is crap a nicer word than hell. Cause I was going to say hell and it just seemed like a bad word but I'm rethinking it.

The story has stalled out and I'm now two days behind in word count but oddly enough, I'm not going to kill myself over it. I've wanted to kill myself over worse and didn't, so I think I'm safe. What I really wish is that I had gone down a different route. Toooo late!

I'm a bit put out tonight. It's been a very rough week and I'm so far behind in paperwork that I can't even begin to see the end of the mess. I work three days next week and that should be cause for celebration. But when faced with the daunting mound of files and papers... I almost would rather work than face the holiday season.

I absolutely despise this time of year. There is nothing, nothing, nothing good about it. I have this awful dread of two flipping days! Then four days next month. I hate feeling this Damoclean threat. Oh I know it's just emotion. I'm emotional.. go figure! I sat around most of the day and wanted to cry for no reason. Well, there were a few but it wouldn't have taken much. If I'd moved the same stack of files one more time they would have found me bawling in a corner.

Ok, ok, ok. I've felt wonderful for a month. So what's the deal? I....don't....know. I've changed my hair style. Maybe that's is. I'm trying to accept age gracefully. {wild laughter here} No, I'm going kicking and screaming and fighting it every step of the way. Could be hormones but highly unlikely....unless I forgot.

Really, I'm just very sad. That is the only word that sums it up. I want someone to make me laugh. Really laugh and mean it. Not that fake thing I've gotten good at. I'd like to feel something beside a hollow longing for impossible things.

My God, getting out of a grave is much harder than getting in one.

The Value of Inmates

We're mid-way through the 30 days of insanity that is NaNoWriMo. I'm not doing so well. I think my story is dying and I'd like to put it out of its misery ... but I need another 25,000 words. Or a loaded weapon.

As a result of NaNoWriMo and Thanksgiving, the Asylum had no meetings this month. I'm suffering withdrawal. These are people I rely on to keep me sane and grounded and to slap me around when I need it. They offer me encouragement, affection, and a good talking, too. Some even have lunch with me now and then! So not getting to see them twice a month is difficult. It is also a testament to the value of insane friends. 

If you were to see my writing group together the first thing you'd probably notice is the age range - 18-55. Well, there are only six of us. Then, you'd notice we are all very different. We don't just look different, we exude different. We come from different backgrounds, jobs, and probably faiths. Yet we still like one another very much. Well, I like them very much. Might need to do a poll on this.

I have a personal friend who ridiculed the idea of a "writing group". He felt it a waste of time. After three years of participation in one, I don't know how I ever managed without them. And had I had this sooner, I suspect my writing would have become something more than it is now. 

So writing group won't hurt you one bit. It could help you become a better writer. I could keep you focused and writing. Or it might save your sanity. Of course, the sanity of this particular group is debatable but their hearts are in the right place. 

So, to my wonderful Inmates, I love and miss you. Hope to see you soon!

7 Weird Things

I had a thought this week, while getting in the shower no less. I thought about the odd things we all do and how those that know us probably have no idea that we do them. I tried to think of seven things that I do that would be considered weird or odd, if you don't like the weird appellation. I decided to see if I could come up with seven.

1. I shower in the dark. My kids say this is weird. Not a tub bath, a shower. I like it. I have a nightlight in my bathroom and outside the window, that is in the shower area, there is a halogen light that lights up that end of the yard at night. I never used to take a shower in the dark but after I had the bath redone, I began doing it because I still need to get a cover over the glass. LOL, NO you can't SEE in! I have a frosted pane over it. But I was uncomfortable with it for a bit, even though it was frosted like the previous window. So, until I got used to it, I just turned the light off. Now, I love taking a shower in the dark. LOL last week I bought some tiny battery operated "fake" candles. I now put them on the upper sash of the window. Nice.

2. I can't sleep with my back to the bedroom door. I don't know why. I have never ever liked it. When he was not off working somewhere, Jerry slept on the door side of the bed and I was fine but after he died I had to switch sides of the bed.

3. I don't like things out of place. I mean, seriously. I straighten pictures when I notice them. I straighten chairs. I rearrange my clothes in the closet by color and length. It is due for this again soon. I arrange the items in the pantry by type of food, container, and size. I get in an absolute panic if clutter stays around for more than three days. Seriously, this got worse after Jerry died. So, I'm thinking OCD. 

4. I can tell when someone has been in my house when I wasn't home. I don't know how I know this. I'm seldom wrong about it. Usually it is a family member and they have keys but it still bugs me. I expect them to call me. Becca does because she knows.

5. I have dreams that happen. i.e. I've dreamed people died and they did. This is even weird to me. Science says it is impossible but I still keep doing it. Since my pain is under control and I'm sleeping more, I'm dreaming more. I'm nervous about it.

6. I pray in my car... a lot. Hey, you talk on your cell phone! I'm less likely to have an accident than you. And I'll be ready.

7. Actually, I have been unable to think of anything weird for this one. I may come up with something later. I could put that I know everything but that's not weird. That's just obnoxious. 

So, I will leave it at that. 

What about you?

My Idea of Sexy Music

I know. I know! That is not something you'd generally see on my blog. If I'd said romantic you'd have been fine with it, right? Admit it, you would. Why would I lie?

I have, I think, mostly women on my blog... gee, only women! Anyway, my point is that music can be good music and romantic (for those offended by sexy) I'm pretty picky about my music. I tend to be an oldies kind of gal. When I say "oldies" I'm not just talking 50's, 60's and 70's. I mean.. really old. Jerry and I liked classical music. I got him hooked so bad that when he was driving the truck, he had to have a cd of it with him to play when he turned in for the night. We both though this music was . . . well... romantic...sexy... whichever you prefer. We both liked it.

One of my contacts put up a video of The Piano Guys playing the Charlie Brown theme and I loved it. I'd never heard of them. So when I looked them up, I found a veritable cornucopia of music by them. They are brilliant. I loved it! And they give new meaning to classical rock!

So, tell me this isn't primal. All I can say is WOW!

NaNoWriMo Day 16

Actually, the day is pretty rotten but I'm still afloat. The sun has just now peeked out of the grey morass of clouds. And as shown above, day 16 of NaNo. I've passed the 25,000 word mark so we'll see. It should be down hill from here. Although the stats bar on the site is uphill! I do think my  story is dead. 

I am really sorry I've not been around too much but I'm just really busy. Work is so hectic the last few weeks. We opened the waiting list and have around 2000 apps to enter into the system. So busy. This is not part of MY job. So, I have my other duties on top of this. Mind you, I'm not entering all those apps myself. There are about 7 of us. Still, it is a lot and will take a while.

In more serious news... I'm feeling pretty terrific! Well, really well. Not much pain to speak of... occasional pain in the neck and my ankles have been hurting. Don't know what that's about. Still, over all, I feel really good.

My mood has been a bit up and down but then when is it not? I don't know if I'll ever get that fixed. It is survivable at this point. I am working on a video blog from the last two days. I know how very much you all just love those! 

I'm not happy with my hair! It is a mess. I'm tired of putting it up and have been leaving it hanging. It's so looooong. I don't mind that. I used to have it longer but I had hair problems after Jerry died. Um..it fell out.  But now, I've got stuff growing back that is short. A pain, that. People have been saying "OH! I love your hair down." Now... I am a bit skeptical of flatterers. I like my hair down but find it hard to believe other people feel the same. Jerry loved it down, too. And it is a lot easier to just let it hang. For now, I'll save the updo's for something special. But all that grey is beginning to get me down. So to dye or not to dye... folks, I don't honestly care. Hair color is one of those things I don't obsess over. It just is and I fail to see what all the fuss is about. If I like the color, I'll say so. If I don't like it I won't say much unless you ask me. Then, I'll be kind but truthful. My thing is the less I have to do in upkeep, the happier I am. Time was meant to be spent on things that are important. This isn't much.

The ML duties are not difficult and the write-ins are good for me. If I do it next year, I'll be better prepared and have everything set up before October. But for now... I'm not making huge efforts to "do" stuff. Write-ins are about it. I have a tentative idea for a TGIO gathering but honestly, I don't want to do it. By November 30 you can stick a fork in me.

All right, I'm going to get back to work. 

Blue Monday

I don't really know why I'm feeling so bummed out. I'm not hurting anywhere, well, not major pain. Manageable stuff. Slight shoulder pain is the most noticeable but the weather has changed over night. It's 72 here today and cloudy. So, I'm guessing a migraine is attempting to get a hold on me.

I'm just overwhelmingly sad. Have been for days. I can laugh about stuff, watch t.v., goof off, play in the forums but there is just this hole blasted in me that I can't seem to fill up. And I do keep trying. I've kept busy with the write-ins and writing every night. All my family has disappeared but that's not the problem. I was busier when I had guests but that only keeps this thing at bay for a short time. They call. I call. 

I keep saying that it will eventually go away. It just won't exist anymore. I go around finding things to do, people to talk to, places to go, whatever. At the end of the day, I'm still sitting here with a crater in my life. Please do not give me platitudes, however well intentioned they are.  I thank you in advance for your compassion. It just doesn't really help me. Truthfully, you probably can't.

January 29 will be three years. I can't believe that. This morning, in the bathroom of all places, I had a thought. Life is like a cloth bag of sand. It trickles out slowly through the weave until you punch a hole in it. Then, just try holding on to it and stopping that hole. Your whole perspective of time shifts when someone close dies. What was once long days that seemed to drag on now become days that you didn't even realize had passed. In the blink of an eye, it's gone. Time slips away and the vacancies in it are more pronounced, more obvious to you. You feel them, like something flying past and striking you.

That's the way it feels anyway. And... eventually, you're holding an empty bag.

I'm not depressed. Believe me, I know the difference in depression and sadness. What I feel is not depression. 

I'm don't believe it can be fixed. 

That's the most frustrating thought of all.

Sunday Update

NaNoWriMo Day 12

NaNoWriMo Day 9

Up & At 'Em

Woke up with a terrible sore throat and headache right behind my eyes! Not a migraine, thank goodness but still annoying. Swallowing is terrible! I have a write-in at 1 so must get it together. I'm only posting because ... I have no idea.

It is a sunny, sunny day and 52F. Too cold to go without a jacket. I need to go out and get some supplies but I don't want to go. 

I'm really annoyed about the sore throat. No idea where I picked it up but people come in go in my office and some of the clients, not the co-workers, are just nasty. I handle paper that sometimes looks like I need rubber gloves. So, anywhere. I try to be really careful because of the medicine I take but still, invariable, something catches me. [sigh]

Bummer day in my word count, too. I didn't quite make it yesterday. I just wasn't into it and even though I tried, I got so tired last night I simply crashed. So, today I try and catch up. That's never good in NaNo.

Funky Friday

I'm eleven days into NaNo. I haven't done today's word count and I may not. I've been doing fine but tonight is the first night I've had alone in oh, three weeks. My sister felt well enough to go back to her house tonight. She's doing much better after getting more rest. 

But I realized as soon as the house got quiet that I'm really tired. I've been running on full speed for a while and maybe I've just run out of gas. I don't know. I've been in a funky sort of mood all day. When I'm like this I'm my own worst enemy. I say too much, think too much, and I listen to everything I think. I know. That makes no sense but I understand it. 

My mind is moving at a tremendous rate which is somehow very interesting. If you've read over my blogs you know that my mind has been pretty much out to lunch for a while. But not this last several weeks. It seems that the doors have been opened and the windows throw up and lots of light, in the form of thoughts, ideas, and totally impossible schemes are just pouring in. 

I don't KNOW what that means.  And no, I have no idea what precipitated it. I've learned in my astronomically short life not to questions the good things. Take them for granted. By astronomically I mean my age when compared to the life of stars as opposed to my age compared to yours. We're both pretty  young my way. I'll take as much clearheadedness as I can absorb but it is almost overwhelming at times.

Does darkness creep in or lurk nearby? You know when I even write the word I see it. I can feel it. Darkness. The inscribed word takes on a feeling, a presence, a form. I've described it other places in the blog. Suffice it to say, I know darkness intimately. And the answer to the question is yes. Once it has been a part of you, it always hang around. At the moment, he's over in the corner biding his time. Sometimes he touches me. It is not a loving touch. I have a healthy respect for it because I know that one wrong move and it can envelope me in smothering folds.

Why am I writing this post? If I had the answer to every question I'd have nothing to wonder about and lots of money.  I'd be on a beach in some island hideaway soaking up Vitamin D by the gallon. 

I don't know. It seemed like a good thing to do. I told you, funky mood. All day like this. 

Busy Bee

I called in sick today. My lower back is bugging me. I think I slept wrong but it could be because I spent most of the day yesterday, my day off, not getting up from my chair enough. I spent time writing and chatting online and I actually slept in a little. I went to lunch with Dave, Becca and Sarah. If you've seen the video you know that was fun.

Speaking of videos, is anyone having trouble loading them at Multiply? I've actually started loading them on Youtube and using the embed feature because Multiply just is harder than ever to upload. At least this way they cross over to Blogger when the post does.

Today, I'm working on files I brought home on Monday to work on on Tuesday which I did not do. I'll be done in a few hours I suspect. It is just reviewing them to see if they have all the required documents. Tedious and something I never have time for when I'm actually AT work! And these are people who never read their check sheet, or think they are smarter than I am and that I won't notice unreported items, or they're lazy and dont' show up for their appointment and are missing everything!

So, I'm reviewing files. I have about 25 on my desk at work I need to process and another 25 here I'm working on! It is endless.

The NaNo story is going ok. Not brilliant but it is plodding along. I'm probably putting in a lot of junk but it keeps me moving and I do like some of the lines I've got so far. Simon is a very entertaining character to write. I haven't had to consult my British friends yet but I have spent a lot of time looking up slang terms to use. I forgot that a flashlight is a torch in Britian. My problem is Simon has been a world traveler so long that he's less British and more Cosmo. So, while things from his youth and upbringing hang on, it isn't as if I have to pour colloquialisms into it. I need just enough to flavor it so the reader gets it.

I've managed to beat the darkness back that has sort of crept up on me a few days ago. I still feel relatively good. Pain is still there but minor compared to what it has been. I can deal with it for the most part. My brain is what is shocking! Really. It is as if I got this shot of awake and for the most part I can think! You have no idea how that feels! I simply do not know how anyone can do drugs and keep their brain in a cloud of nothing. I hate it.

Ok, back to work. I need to be done in two hours so I can work on my NaNo story.

I'm sorry I've been MIA again but you all know I do this every year and this year it is more hectic than usual and I'm so excited to be, lol, awake that I just haven't had time to blog!

What A Nickle Will Buy

A Dixie NaNo Update

From The Over 40 Crowd

This was sent to me by a co-worker and I was in tears after reading it. Hysterical tear. If you're offended by swear word, I apologize but hey, I'm not sure I haven't been there a few times.


When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill....Barefoot... BOTH ways...yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
     
But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.  You've got it so easy!  I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!  And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

1) I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet.  If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!  

2) There was no email!!  We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!  Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there!  Stamps were 10 cents!

3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.  As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes!  If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

5) Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!  There were no CD players!  We had tape decks in our car.  We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless.  Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby!  Dig?

6) We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting!  If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

7) There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!!  Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!!  And then there's TEXTING.  Yeah, right.  Please!  You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

8) And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!  It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent.... you just didn't know!!!  You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

9) We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!  We had the Atari 2600!  With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'...  Your screen guy was a little square!  You actually had to use your imagination!!!  And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen.. Forever!  And you could never win.  The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!  Just like LIFE!

10) You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing!  You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!!  NO REMOTES!!!  Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.  Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

12) And we didn't have microwaves.  If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove!  Imagine that!  
   
13) And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long.  Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort.  And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!

14) And car seats - oh, please!  Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on.  If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!  

See!  That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten!  You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1970   or any time before!

Regards,
The Over 40 Crowd

True Story

Tonight my sister and I were just discussing fashion and how certain things just are beyond belief in discomfort. I told her that I felt like the high heel was invented during the Inquisition by men. It wasn't enough to have a woman drawn and quartered, they wanted her to strut her stuff down a runway first.


She said, "No it was a Frenchman, the Marquis de Sade."


She mentioned that the bra was another fashion item invented by men. She said, "Titzling."


I said, "He's German."


I also suggested the heels may have originated with Louis 14, he of the red heels.


She said, "That's one sick bunch."


I asked if she had seen these reports of men now wearing high heels. She said, "Lord yes, and carrying purses."


I said, "God, give me a real man wearing cowboy boots, tight jeans, and a hat."


She said, "There are some men saying the same thing."

To Much Thinking

I'm trying to figure out why, with all the busyness going one around here, that I can't keep my feelings upbeat. I have all these really great people I'm related to, associated with, acquainted with... whatever. They send me lovely notes, funny jokes, and even hugs. And I feel like crap.

No, really, not sick but just annoyingly sad. Every single thing in my life has this overlay of sad. Yes, everything. All the colors are muted by this film of sad. Do you remember seeing books, usually anatomy books, that had these pictures of the skeleton and these clear overlays with different organs and layers of the body. First the internal organs, then circulatory system, neverous systems, muscles, ligaments, dermis... If you do you're really really old. But that's what its like. All this underlying good stuff, overlain by this grey yuck called sad.

Maybe I'm over thinking this. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Well... duh! I have no quarrel with the godliness part. I try really hard. Haven't attained perfection yet. We're all in a hurry to get there without really considering what that means. Once you're done here folks, you're done! So, take your time with the perfection thing, do it right the first time.

No, its that contentment thing. Maybe that's overrated. I have no idea what it looks like really. Sometimes I think I might have clue but I then find I was mistaken. And I keep asking myself, have I always been discontent? Has there always been this habit of seeing everything with that grey film? I don't remember!

I keep saying, to myself mostly, that life was meant to be enjoyed and I need to do that. Well, I'm glad I'm not dead. Does this count?

And Friday Rolled In

Gloomy, cold, and damp. At least it isn't raining but the forecast is
for sun! Right.

I have a headache this morning, only a slight one. I didn't sleep well
last night either. I had a bad moment or two. I went to the cemetery
on my way home from work. Let me just say that cemeteries are not
cheerful places on a good day. On a cold, rainy, grey day they're even
worse. I started feeling a bit down around three o'clock. On an
average day my co-workers don't bug me a lot, because I don't let
them. But yesterday, some of them just got on my nerves and it was
silly things that I'd usually ignore.

Suffice it to say, I finished the day tired and depressed. So, hey!
Why not stop by and visit the dead! Good idea. Not.

Look, I've had a terrific two weeks of no pain, or nearly no pain.
I've been able to think and write. All the stuff going on at the
moment has got me a bit frazzled and I'm thinking that is the problem.

Forget that. I'm lying. To myself. Sleep hasn't been as good this
week. I'm not used to having people in the house and even though
they're no trouble at all obviously, house guest always change the
dynamics of your day. Still, I can deal with that. No, what I think is
happening is November. Thanksgiving is coming. Christmas is coming.
New Year is coming and January 29 is coming. NaNoWriMo is a busy time
for me and keeps me occupied but at the same time, I'm slammed with
this absence, this hole in the holiday, every blasted year.

You've all tolerated a lot over the last x number of years. I'll be
very honest here. There is this woman in my head. I don't really know
her but I see her as clearly as if she were in front of me. If I
thought about it I could probably describe what she's wearing.
Seriously. She appeared the night Jerry died. She stands with hands on
either side of her head, covering her ears, her eyes squeezed shut and
she is screaming. Some days, when it was truly bad, she came out.
These days I try really hard to ignore her. She doesn't stop. I don't
know how to make her.

I know. Can't be good. But there you go.

The Green Thing

I love this! SO true.

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she
should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good
for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green
thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did
not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to
the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and
sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and
over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every
store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't
climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two
blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the
throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling
machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry
the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or
sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we
didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every
room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief
(remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have
electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded
up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut
the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised
by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on
treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup
or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we
replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the
whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their
bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour
taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets
to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget
to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in
order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old
folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a
lesson in conservation from a smarta** young person.

The Green Thing

Oh What a Week

I can't believe I haven't posted since the first of the week! I've
been so busy. I do NOT want to rehash it.

My sister had surgery on Monday and she's been discharged today. She
seems to be doing well but of course now comes recovery time.

Nano, of course started on Monday. I've been trying to keep up with
the regional board and a Facebook group page for the region. It is a
bit hectic but I'm beginning to get a handle on it. I'm answering post
and emails and answering questions for that. I also am writing my own
novel. I'm current in my word count as of last night. Tonight, I'll
have to do my 1666 to stay current. But I'm not giving myself any
grief over this. I'll do what I can and that's it.

I have a write-in to host tomorrow night at Panera. I have a write-in
to host Saturday afternoon at Abbey Road Coffee Emporium. My region is
climbing in numbers. Two weeks ago I think it was about 340-35, have
to check my blogs. Today, it is at 389 people registered with my
region.  That's wild. Of course, I'll never see all of them but the 50
newbies could pop up at a write-in. That'd be a shocker for me! Panera
might be able to handled it and Abbey Road says they can but I dunno!

Still do not have tremendous amounts of pain. I've been saying the a
couple of days the weather was going to change and it did. The hip and
right lower back at my hip has hurt the last two days and it stormed
last night.  The hip felt as if I was begin hit with a sledge hammer.
But neck and shoulder have been just fine. Thank you, God! All over
pain levels are dramatically down. I find myself getting afraid at
every twinge. I've felt so great, so clear headed that I'm terrified
it will go away.

Finally, the lines that were expected for applications dissipated by
10:00 a.m. and now it is a trickle. I'm glad. I can get my own work
done! It was very orderly and no problems but some folks had sat out
there all night! Crazy. Doesn't make the wait any shorter. They feel
like they'll get on faster but there are other things that affect how
fast we process them. So a day won't make a considerable difference.

My friend Loraine is having surgery today. Keep her in your prayers.
She was quite upbeat about it but obviously when you're cut open it is
serious. This is a reconstruction surgery after a colonectomy. Not
sure that's a word but it is what it is. She's been doing very well
since the first surgery and now just wants it all done so she can move
on to other things that are more fun.

Everyone have a good day. It is rainy and gloomy here but the red
leaves across the street are quite cheerful!