Monthly Archives: May 2008

Done!

Just waiting to hear back about a minor point before I upload it and it’s done. Then we can go pick up the new car.

I’ve got to learn to do this more efficiently; this took twice as long as it should have. I’ll get better at it the more MS evaluations I do.

Argh And Also Sigh

Why, why, why do I always forget that writing the editorial memo takes a whole day?

I’m still not finished this freelance MS review. I have to make it sound more positive, because I’ve come down rather hard on the negative aspects instead of balancing flaws and strengths. I also have to whittle my comments down to be more precise. I have tons of examples for some but not others, and I tend to say the same thing over and over in different places.

I’ll have to finish it next work day. I wanted it done and gone by noon. Grr.

News

Since I don’t know if HRH is going to get around to announcing it: we’ll be picking up our new-to-us car late tomorrow afternoon. It’s a 2004 Saturn Ion 2, black sedan, with A/C and a CD player that will be replaced by the one I bought a year and a half ago, because mine plays MP3s and the factory-installed one does not. It’s an automatic, which is slightly sad because I love driving a five-speed stick shift, but the manual transmission has been tiring me out thanks to the fibro and it’s only going to get worse. HRH’s knees are unhappy most of the time too, so the less pedal work required the better for both of us.

Also, it has a sunroof. Not a selling point, but a pleasant bonus nonetheless.

Liam gets his new car seat at the same time, which has been sitting in the garage for a month. He tested it out when we test-drove the car last week and approves. So do we; it takes a lot less effort to get him in and out of it. Plus it has cupholders, which excites him. I think today is the last day I’ll be driving our trusty 1999 SW1.

Monday

I worked all weekend. Saturday morning we went out and about for a bit, but I worked in the afternoon, chasing the end of an idea for the new YA novel and setting things up for the MS review. Yesterday was eight hours of freelance MS review, and I’ll be finished it by the end of today. Then I can turn to changing the hearthcraft book as per orders.

It’s Victoria Day and a holiday here in Canada, so HRH is home. I’m thankful because it gives me a day to work and I don’t have to pay a caregiver. The weather is rainy and cold, which is unfortunate. HRH and the boy went off to the EcoMuseum this morning but I’ve just had a call telling me that it’s pouring out there so they’re heading to an indoor playground instead. I made pretzels this morning and have already finished my second one. I need to have quick and easy food available to me in the mornings, and the granola bars I make to see me through the week disappear in a day or so, eaten as snacks. There’s a new loaf of bread rising too. Over the weekend HRH reset the vegetable bed, tilled our compost into it, and planted peas, corn, carrots, and onions. I forgot about getting seed potatoes, so maybe next year. There’s corn and sunflowers strewn along the side of the house too. We’ll see what happens. All my herbs are coming back, and we’re going to get peppers and lettuce and maybe some cucumbers. We always end up with one or two leftover tomato plants from other people, and I’m the only one who eats them in the house so there’s no point in planting our own.

One year ago today was the live dual-band gig. The year off has been good. I do miss playing, but I only miss the parts where it was going well. I don’t think anyone misses the time eaten up by rehearsals and travelling to rehearsals and home practice. Even if we’d been in the headspace to keep going, various health issues, work commitments, and plain old timetable incompatibility on everyone’s part would have forced us to go on hiatus anyhow. All those things logically preclude a reunion at this time. I am very much looking forward to being at Invisible’s upcoming show and not having to worry about conserving my voice or energy for our own performance.

Unless something miraculous happens (like an anonymous money order for fifteen hundred dollars arriving in my mailbox) I’m not going to have the new 7/8 cello in time for the Canada Day concert. I’m disappointed, but I’ll live. I suspect it will have been sold by the time I can buy it this summer, so I may not have one at all until this fall. I wonder if a home trial of this one is even worth it. I’m glum about it, because it was pretty much the one thing keeping me upbeat about things this past month.

Right. To work.