Archive for the ‘Life As I Know It’ Category

I like making plans. They look so pretty on paper. Real life tends to make them messy, but at least I have a direction to head, right?

Today is my last day of work! Yay!!!

I have a rather dreadful feeling that DH intends to rip out a chunk of my kitchen this weekend, so that means I need to clear off the counters so he has space to work.

Honestly, the plan is to finally clean the damn house. Since I started working, housework fell completely off the radar and I’m starting to ick myself out here. So that’s the first priority. Tidy first, toss the junk, sort the rest, then scrub. That’ll take the weekend, working in small chunks.

Tuesday will be at the library, at the grocery store, running all the errands that need to be run. I’m on my last roll of paper towels here, and I gotta stock up. We were supposed to go to the case lot sale at the Scott AFB Commissary last weekend, but we blew it off, so now it’s just me and Sam’s Club.

Still have family administrative stuff to do — things to register and de-register for, bills to pay, forms to fill out. Just all the little stuff that falls through the cracks while mommy’s brain is in neutral.

And then? Once all that stuff is either done or sorted by Wednesday or Thursday?

Then, I write.

Yep, I’m the big 4-0 today.

Oy. My knees hurt just thinking about it.

And for my birthday? I GOT A NOOK!!!!! Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! I’m so excited!!! I’ve been wanting an e-reader for years and I’ve really liked this one every time I got to play with it in the store!

I’ve got more to add, but it’ll have to wait until after work. I’m late!

It went well. Really well. Really well as in, the house was packed and kids were sitting on the floor. SRO, baby!!

I think it bodes well for opening a real theatre program at the college. We were their test run to see if there was interest and I think we’ve displayed that there’s ample interest in a local theatre program! It would be great to see it grow because I never want to do another show in that room. We’re actually just co-opting a large room at the school and it is SO not set up for shows. The sound, especially, is awful. When the spotlight runs, the fan is so loud that it’s hard for people in the back to hear. The carpet completely deadens sound. We were on risers, but DH said that he couldn’t see anything on anyone from the waist down. It’s far from ideal.

But the show itself went pretty well, despite the tornado warnings in the area and the torrential rain that drowned out even more sound. The energy was a little low and we didn’t get quite the laughs we were expecting, but overall, I’m pleased.

One more show tonight, then life returns to semi-normal. Whew!

The show opens tonight and closes tomorrow. Our dress rehearsal went disturbingly well. Theatre superstition holds that a bad dress rehearsal means a good opening night. Hmmm. DH tried to cheer me up by asking if the dress could have gone better. Well, I suppose it could have, but it’s not quite the same thing.

I swear. If someone mentions  the Scottish play today, I’m going to run home and hide under the covers.

I’m not even a superstitious person, but around show time, I start walking around ladders, tossing salt hither and yon, letting my OCD out to play in a lot of weird ways.

So say a prayer to St Genesius for me, but whatever you do, don’t wish me good luck!

Since she’s concerned that I’ve lost my mind since I started working. Actually, I do have something interesting to tell y’all. Friday and Saturday, my local RWA chapter hosted a Margie Lawson workshop on Deep Edits: The EDITS system, Rhetorical Devices and More.

She wanted us to bring a piece to work on, handed out her worksheets and a package of highlighters, and off we went. I learned a lot about how to punch up emotional impact, discovered I already use a lot of the rhetorical devices she covered, and yes, people think my stories are weird. I was using “Monster Love,” my Gorgon story, as the guinea pig.

Other than that, I don’t have time to do much more than breathe. We’re in our last week of rehearsals and I need to find a pair of khaki trousers that don’t make me look like a zamboni ran over my ass. Seems like the ones I find that actually fit through the hips hang horribly on the thighs so I look like I’m walking on massive columns. *sigh* I hate shopping.

Anyway, that’s all the news from my end of the world. What’s happening with you?

My dog is in my lap. He’s happy. I’m scratching behind his ears and his head is resting on my arm and he’s making these little grunting groans of happiness.

I’m covered in dog hair — proof of love.

I promise this is the last “I got a job” blog you’ll see. But I had to talk about something today at Beyond the Veil, and since it’s the subject uppermost in my mind at the moment, there you go.

Back to Work.

I’m wavering between “I have this totally under control” and “WTF was I thinking?!”

I have clothes to wear. Nice, non-mom clothes that fit. I had to go to Kohl’s, and of course I didn’t go on a sale day armed with all my coupons, but the damage was minimal.

Dinner is ready. I roasted two chickens yesterday morning before it got hot. One for eating last night and tonight, and I picked the other one and froze it for later use in mac and cheese, or chilaquiles, or stir fry.

I made my lunch and I’m drinking my coffee. I know I’m missing something.

I wrote two articles last night and I’m tackling my crit this morning. I’m blogging at Beyond the Veil tomorrow, though, and have no clue what to talk about. But that’s tomorrow’s trouble. I have enough for today.

While I was writing this post, Terry from Romance in the Backseat let me know that she’s posted my piece about Medieval Werewolves at the Backseat Nightmares blog.

It’s been an interesting week.

I spent the first part of it in a personal-drama-induced haze of nerves and nausea. Thank goodness that part’s over.

Still rehearsing the show. It’s going well.

On Wednesday, I had an interview at a local high school for a position as a library assistant. It’s part-time and just until the end of the school year. I GOT THE JOB!!!

I haven’t worked outside the home in 13 years. I’m freaking out. I start on Wednesday, so today and tomorrow are catching up on all the stuff I was supposed to do last week and didn’t because I was too busy being psychotic. (I see you, April!)

Let’s see….what else….what else….

Oh yeah.

I SOLD CAROLINA PEARL!!!!

Laurie Rauch, my editor at Samhain, sent me an offer last week while I was angsting and I returned the contract on Friday! I’ll fill in further details as I get them. I may even write a 3rd story in Culford, just to see what happens.

Happy dancing for everyone!!!!!

Eva Gale passed me this link and I thought it was awesome: A Father – Daughter Bond, Page by Page.

For 3,218 nights (and some mornings, if Mr. Brozina was coming home too late to read), The Streak went on. It progressed from James Marshall’s picture books about George and Martha (two close friends who happen to be hippos) to middle-school classics like “When Zachary Beaver Came to Town” to the 14 Oz books (which they read four times each), to Harry Potter, Agatha Christie, Dickens and Shakespeare, continuing on, until Kristen’s first day of college.

And now for something completely different!

We have this inside joke in our family. My DH, who is a pretty literal guy, gets annoyed when people aren’t articulate. Nothing is likely to irritate him more than when I say, “That thingy over there by the other thingy. You know, that thing!” It works best if I point at “that thing” while he’s not looking. This can provide me with hours of entertainment.

In an effort to get all of us to communicate more effectively, one of his favorite sayings is, “Words mean things!”

Oh really? Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

Gets him every time. *gg*

Sir Christopher Lee reads Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky.