One year ago today I had my first ride in an ambulance, transferring me from our local hospital to the specialty hospital. I was also told one year ago today that I was about to spend the next nine weeks in a hospital bed.
Yeah, right.
Monthly Archives: June 2006
Happiness Shared Is Happiness Doubled (To The Power Of Two)
My day just got infinitely better, thanks to a series of good news shared over the past hour.
I love my friends. It feels so good to be this happy for other people, whatever the reasons.
Of course, I also sat down on the floor and cried because I was laughing so hard. It vaguely confused Liam.
ETA: Okay, here’s the first reason! I can share now that this individual has posted one of the bits of news himself.
ETA AGAIN: And here’s the second reason! (Yes, I’ve been stalking LJs for the past half-hour, can you tell?)
Why was I laughing so hard that I cried? Well, both these individuals had me edit their stories before they submitted them. And when I did these reads/edits, I was under the impression that only one of them would make it into the anthology, so when I got the first call I was happy but also sad for the other individual… who then proceeded to call me five minutes later to tell me that his story had been accepted. And I was also laughing because both of them called me and said, “I wanted you to be the first to know, because you helped make this happen.”
I love my life. I love that I had a small role to play in this incredible accomplishment for two of my friends.
Resistance
I don’t want to write today. Part of this has to do with how sick I’m feeling (go away, you damned cold, go away), and part with the fact that Liam’s not napping this morning. No one ever tells you how tiring it is, trying to put a kid to sleep.
Maybe if I skip the tidying up needed at the end of this first section and jump right into the second part, I wil be more interested in doing it.
No, I think all I want to do today is curl up with a book and read. Oh dear.
Back Into The Swing
Today I felt like I was racing to get nowhere. I hate those kind of days.
I spent the last three hours working, yes, honest to goodness working. I updated that proposal and sent it off (according to my notes I last submitted it in August of 2004 — yikes), and tried to write two more.
And wow, did it ever hurt. I’m so out of practice. Even looking at my old ones, I floundered for ideas and wrote in a stilted, rusty, hollow-sounding fashion instead of the exciting and dynamic style required. A proposal is part outline, part marketing selling tool, and the marketing bit has totally flown away from me over the past two years. My brain hurt (no, really, I needed to take Tylenol), and I wasn’t looking forward to orchestra.
Imagine my surprise when I was called at six to be told that orchestra was cancelled, as our rehearsal venue is unavailable and no one told us ahead of time. This is bad, because we only have a few rehearsals left before July 1, but also a relief, because as a result of struggling with proposals I’m nowhere near the headspace orchestra requires. So because I didn’t get a chance to go out and pick up a few things this afternoon (the proposals took twice as long as I’d expected them to — ah, optimism), I’m heading out now instead.
Swan Sister Update
Total word count, Swan Sister: 10,971
Total words today: 2,196
I started writing around 8:25, and finished at 9:25. This word yield would have been halved if HRH hadn’t been here to get Liam when he woke up earlier than expected from his nap. Mind you, it wouldn’t have been a problem if HRH hadn’t been here, because it was his voice that woke Liam up. However! As an apology he gave me an extra half-hour to write, and thus the aftermath of the death has been dealt with, and we have had the second proposal, and things are moving right along. I think there’s only another eight pages or so to wrap up this section before I shift into part two with a new protagonist, new setting, and new problems.
Wish List
I’m open to gifts any time. Really. Just-because gifts can be even more special than birthday gifts, or Yule gifts, or name-day gifts. There aren’t enough holidays to use as excuses to gift people, in my humble opinion.
Most of my wish list goes out of date pretty quickly as things are added and dropped, so I’ll direct you to the up-to-date wish list under A. Murphy-Hiscock on Amazon.ca. Please use it primarily as a shopping reference; support independent shops as much as you can. They’ll be happy to special order something for you if they don’t carry it regularly. To avoid redoing hard code (i.e. in the interest of keeping my sanity), I have decided to only list this little bit of non-book/music/film related material here below.
I’m not picky; secondhand in decent shape is fine. Gift certificates to Indigo, HMV (any book shop or music shop is fine) and so forth are all equally welcome. Gift certificates to Cellos@go.com to help buy things like cello strings and accessories are great too. My local luthier is Wilder & Davis.
Other:
A high-quality set of kitchen pots and pans such as Paderno or Lagostina
A stand mixer (such as this Kitchenaid model, but any brand would do)
And in case you think I’m materialistic, and measure love by presents… you’re wrong. I just love getting mail, and opening packages. And reading books. So sue me.
Birthday-Associated Fun
1) Liam has a swingset, as of this past Sunday. He helped his grandpa and HRH put it together. Pictures to follow when I get around to it.
2) Liam has a sandbox, as of yesterday. Naturally, he is very interested in eating the sand, much more so than playing with his sand toys.
3) Liam has a seventh tooth, as of this morning. Finally, one of the four that have been lurking and being general pains over the past six weeks has made an appearance, and it’s about time. He also got his first pair of sandals today.
ETA: Okay, I got around to the pictures.
Liam supervises the final touches on the swingset:
Liam’s first time in the sandbox:
