Baby steps

I decided the cleaning and decorating fairies weren't going to make an appearance here, so I've been doing some at a time. Yesterday before work I dragged the box with my creche pieces downstairs, and today I cleared and dusted the mantle and set it up. I also got the book shelves straightened back up and cleared a space for the Christmas tree. I delegated the vacuuming to Alex, and Eric dragged the tree downstairs and set it up this evening. Tomorrow I'll bring the decorations downstairs, add some lights to the tree, and let the kids put on decorations. With the tree up and squared away, I can start wrapping presents and get them out of my way. I have to remember to leave some space in between the gifts; Tess spent a lot of time sleeping under the tree last year. I guess she thought she was God's gift to us! That's my diva.

I've made a dent in my shopping, too. I mostly have Eric and the kids left, maybe one or two not-strictly-family gifts. The budget is even holding up.

The snow changed pretty quickly to freezing rain, and it's mostly moved out of here. It might be icy tomorrow, but that's about it for now. I figured out last night that we're about sixty to ninety miles too far south for a proper winter. Such a drag, but good to know for future reference. At this point I think we need to move closer to a Great Lake. I always pout when people talk about lake effect snow!

Time for me to go curl up in bed and see if I can catch a weather report.

Saa-nnooowwwwing!

It's so nice to know that I'm still young enough that the first snowfall of the season makes me grin like an idiot! *g*

Calendar check

I was trying to get back into the swing of things yesterday and realized that Christmas is three weeks from today. I'm not done shopping, have not started decorating, have not even started the pre-decorating cleaning. It looks like we'll have three batches of company in rapid succession, but I don't have firm plans yet. The good news is it looks like I'm only working three or four extra shifts.

My walking schedule has been adjusted a little. Instead of getting out the door around 8:00, I'm suiting up right out of bed and out the door about 6:15. Eric wanted to join me, but he has to be to work at 7:30. My method seems to be working--I'm down about five pounds--but I haven't adjusted to the schedule yet. Dark + cold + no coffee = grumpy EJ. That early in the day, the E does not stand for Elizabeth; it's Eeyore. I try to be very clear that while I hate being out in the pre-dawn cold, I do it for him and only for him. I want us both to be healthy and strong until we die (in several decades). I'm sure, come July and August, I'll be very happy with the schedule!

I integrated Scott's changes into my main document yesterday. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. Now I can start tweaking it. Over the weekend I was very happy to have been using WriteItNow for as long as I have. It has a bar on the left side for chapter, event, and character synopsis, which made looking up specific sections so much easier. It has a few limitations, but nothing that can't be worked around. I'm a visual learner, and usually so easily distracted that having a quick reference is a life saver.

So I think that's about it. I didn't get sick this time like I did after my last foray to the Big D, the cats are mostly speaking to me again, and I'm working a double shift today. Nothing like jumping back into the fray.

Thud

Interesting trip.

When I was in the airport Friday, I saw a guy across the terminal. He was big—build like a former linebacker (heavy but not so much muscle) with big gauged piercings in both ears; they were easy to see because his head was shaved. He was wearing a black t-shirt that said on the back, “Trample the weak, hurdle the dead.” Pretty scary guy. When they started boarding my flight, he got on. When it was my turn, I found him sitting in the aisle seat of my row. He was polite enough about letting me get settled, and after we took off he ordered vodka: four mini-bottles. He mixed them carefully with ice and cranberry apple juice, knocked them back, and ordered four more. At that point I was really praying that he wasn’t a mean drunk. He was between me and the door, and big enough to squash me like a bug. Surprisingly, he turned to me and started chatting. Turns out he’s in telecommunications. He even smiled at me in the terminal. You just never know.

Scott and I got a lot of work done. We closed some of the black holes in the plot and moved chapters around, and he has a deadline to get his changes to me. We both agreed that future work together needs to be limited to consultation rather than collaboration unless we have one state line or less between us, and we agreed that we need to get this project over and done with so we can both move on to other things. I also looked over his computer to see if I could help with the technical difficulties and decided he needs a typewriter. Editing is more of a pain, but typed pages can be faxed and scanned!

All in all, it was worth the trip, but I’m just about completely fried at this point. I’m writing this in the airport because I lack the concentration to read! I still have an hour or so before my flight boards, and then I have an hour train ride home after my flight, so I still have many miles to go before I sleep. The good news is that the airport is busy but not swamped, so I can sit back and watch people (or football—the Rams are winning; how’d that happen?) while I wait. I think I’d better relax a little while I can—I have my work cut out for me.