Mostly Up

An aside, before I get going: I was chatting with Matt last night about publicity for my book and I mentioned my writing website on LiveJournal. "You have a writing website?" he asked. I really thought I'd mentioned it here, but in case I hadn't, and you're curious, it's here. When I get a chance, I'll probably put a link to it in the sidebar, as well.

So.

I was about halfway through the morning yesterday, working from home, when I got an email from my boss's boss, asking if we could burn a CD for him, put a nice label on it, and ship it.

Well, usually, except that I didn't have any of the necessary equipment (like blank CDs or CD labels) with me, and both of us who have the label-printing software were working from home, so I couldn't just ask someone already at the office to do it for me. So I resigned myself to going back into the office in the afternoon. So much for my plan to wander the neighborhood with my camera.

Down.

Then I got an email from my aunt, making sure I knew I was invited to my cousin's rehearsal dinner, and also letting me know that my grandmother's health has taken a big turn for the better in the last couple of weeks.

Up!

Now that I have my pictures from the Chicago trip all sorted and processed, I thought I'd use up some free print credits from Walgreens that I had lying around. I got the pics all uploaded and placed the order. I decided to pick them up in town, since I was going to have to go out later for my allergy shot and to go back to work anyway. That decision a) saved me shipping fees, and b) got the prints to me the same day. Win-win!

After I submitted the final order, I got the usual confirmation email, which said I would get another email when they were ready to be picked up. I got that second email all of half an hour later.

Up!

Just about then, I got a text message from Adin, celebrating having officially acquired her apartment here in Williamsburg. I cheered, and offered to take her to lunch. She said they were already on their way to lunch, so I should join them there.

Up!

And the lunch location turned out to be right next to the Walgreens where my prints were, too!

Up!

When I got to the office, I had been given some work to do (aside from the CD/label thing, which took all of ten minutes). It's pretty tedious and boring work, but it has a real charge number attached.

Up!

I'd gone in to work still in my t-shirt and shorts that I'd put on in the morning, in mild protest of having to go in when I was supposed to be working from home, forgetting that my office is usually freezing. Shorts instead of pants did not help that.

Down.

After work, I talked to my mom and she offered to take us all out to eat on Saturday.

Up!

And then I made some more fairly good writing progress and decided on a way to handle my file-transfer problems and the dual desire to a) write more stories to sell and b) write a few short standalone stories to post on my site as freebies.

Up!

Didn't get a lot of sleep, though... Penny woke me up at 2 to ask me to tuck her back into bed. And then Matt's work Blackberry went off at about 4:30. He didn't hear it, and I didn't recognize it immediately, so I wound up wandering around the house in the dark, trying to figure out what was making that stupid noise. Maybe I should've just put a pillow over my head -- once I'd found it, Matt had to get up and go work for an hour.

Down!

But overall... a very Up! day. I'm hoping for an equally Up! weekend. (But with more sleep. Where's my coffee...?)

Miscellany

Feeling a little scattered this morning, so I apologize in advance for the randomness of this post.

Vicki was nice enough to loan me her macro lens so I could play with it. I noodled around with it a bit yesterday. I took some random shots of assorted things in the yard, then wound up on our back porch, where I discovered that there were a solid dozen butterflies playing in the tree in the ditch. So I stood on the bench and tried to take pictures of them for half an hour or so. Some of them might have even turned out; we'll see. I may take a little walk at lunch today and see what other wildlife I can find in our neighborhood.

I also made up invitations for Penny's birthday party. Three went in the mail already and two have been hand-delivered. One of them is waiting on the girl's mom to call me back so I can get her address, and another will be delivered this weekend.

I did some writing last night -- or more precisely, I started stripping a story I want to rewrite/convert. The first part of it is going to stay pretty much unaltered, and then I've got half a plot to rip out and two new plots to splice in. It'll be a lot of work, but I think it'll be a pretty good story by the time I'm done, assuming I manage to finish it. I think I got some solid work done last night, at least, and it felt as good to stretch my disused writing brain as it had Monday when I went back to the gym to warm up my neglected body.

Speaking of writing, my book is just a smidge over two weeks from release! (It'll debut the same day as Penny's birthday party, actually. So at least for that day, I'll have something to keep me occupied and away from obsessing about the number of hits and downloads, eh?) I'll be posting cover art, blurbs, excerpts, and such during the week leading up to it, of course. You'll just have to bear with me.

Hey, it'll be a break from random slightly-blurry photos!

From Home

Matt and Penny made it home safely yesterday afternoon. Hooray! Of course, they got home to the realization that Matt's house key had been given to the neighbor feeding the cat, and then given back to me when Alex and I got home, so I'd tucked it safely away... inside the locked house. So they were home, but not in the house, when Alex and I got home. It's a good thing the weather was nice yesterday!

Anyway, it was great to all be back together and home and more or less back to our normal schedule. (A little less for Penny, who'd spent most of the day dozing in the car, so we let her stay up late. But she'll be back on track tonight. And hopefully her blood sugars will level out. They were actually fairly good while she and Matt were on the road, so I have high hopes.)

It occurred to me yesterday that I had absolutely no reason not to work from home for two or three days this week.

We're only delivering one document, and it's a small one that could easily be delivered from home.

I've only got two meetings to attend, and both of them are conference calls anyway, so I wouldn't be missing anything if I called into them from home.

And the actual work that I'm working on at the moment to justify my having a job would benefit from a lack of interruptions.

So: work from home it is! Today and tomorrow for certain, and possibly Friday as well, though I haven't decided on that one yet.

While I try to be relatively good about actually working when I'm working from home, this does give me the freedom to rearrange my schedule in ways that are convenient for me. Such as going to the gym immediately after dropping the kids off at daycare, instead of waiting until lunchtime. The gym is a little more crowded in the morning than at lunch, but then my metabolism's up for the whole day, and I've gotten it out of the way so it doesn't feel as much like an interruption and imposition on my time. (One of these days, I'm going to figure out how to fit an elliptical machine and a weight bench in my house so I don't have to take a whole hour and a half or more out of my day to get in a forty-five minute workout.)

Also, it's worlds more comfortable. I spend half my day at the office shivering. At home, I'm not cold, and I can get away with wearing shorts and a t-shirt. (It could even be a rude t-shirt, if I wanted. Though I don't think I own any rude or snarky t-shirts at the moment. The closest I have is one I just bought that says, "...and that's when I SNAPPED" and has a picture of a camera. Which is cute, but not really snarky.)

Full Schedule

Matt and Penny are due home today! Possibly in time to pick Alex up from daycare, and certainly in time for dinner! I'm happy -- Alex and I have both missed both of them.

We're supposed to finally start our CSA deliveries this weekend, and this one will be the "deluxe" delivery, asn an apology for all the delays. I'm trying not to get too excited, since it's been pushed off and pushed off and pushed off!

Aside from eating delicious fresh local produce, this weekend has no specific plans, though my mom suggested that if Matt was recovered from his vacation and the drive home, we might have dinner with her at some point. Also, Adin is moving to Williamsburg on Sunday, and I'd promised to babysit for her so the kids wouldn't be underfoot while she's moving stuff, but I don't know if or when she'll take me up on it.

Next weekend, Penny has been invited to a sleepover birthday party on Friday night. I talked to the hosting mom last night, and it looks like we'll be able to work around the diabetic requirements -- they only live half a mile from us, so Matt or I will go over to their house to administer shots, and I'll provide an infosheet for schedule and interpreting BG checks. I told Penny about it last night (via iChat), and she's excited all to pieces.

And the weekend after that will be Penny's birthday party! (I need to get on the phone today and order a cake, and I need to get in gear with the invitations!) I'm actually quite looking forward to it -- the party Penny went to a few weeks ago was very loud, but she had a fantastic time. Also, the same day as Penny's party, my novella e-book will be released, which is damned exciting to me, anyway, even if it doesn't involve doing anything!

The next weekend doesn't (yet) have any plans, except Matt has his monthly-ish D&D game. Which probably makes it a good time to do the back-to-school shopping, if I haven't done it already.

And the weekend after that (the last weekend in August), I'm flying to Atlanta for my cousin's wedding. The whole family was invited, but my cousin told me that none of their friends or relatives have any kids, so mine would be the only ones there. It's an evening wedding, which means it'll run until well past the kids' bedtimes, and they won't have anyone to play with, so... rather than pay for four plane tickets so that the kids could be bored and/or sit in the hotel for most of an evening and then spend one day visiting family, I'm going by myself. (I should think of something fun to do Saturday before the wedding -- I'll have until mid-afternoon to amuse myself. I'm about half tempted to go back to the zoo or the aquarium again just so I can see all the stuff I got dragged past, last time, and take my time taking pictures. But then it kind of seems a waste to go somewhere I've already been. Ah, well, I've got a month to think about it.)

Then it'll be the last weekend before school starts back up, and probably also the weekend we celebrate my mom's, brother's, and Sam's birthdays. (Sam's birthday is in July, but since she and John were in Montana all month, and my parents are in Cancun for most of August, we'll have a delayed party.)

Whew. I'm tired -- but excited -- already, just thinking about it!

Quick Recap

I'd be here all day if I tried to talk about the whole trip in detail, much as I'd love to. Feel free to peruse the pictures I've posted (they start here), though, and by all means ask me about it via email or in person if you're interested in more. Plenty of anecdotes to share, but I've been away from work for a week and change and there's a full Inbox that needs sorting, so this is just the briefest of summaries. But with pictures!

Alex and I flew to Chicago on Friday (the 16th). I must say travel worked out really well: since Matt and Penny had driven, they took all our luggage, and I fit all the stuff for Alex and I into a single backpack (filled mostly with Alex's blanket and stuffies.) Matt and Penny picked us up at the airport, and then we waded through Chicago traffic back to Jill's house. Rachael (Matt's sister) and her daughter Celia were visiting, so I finally got to meet my niece!

Friday night, Matt went to the rehearsal for the wedding we were there to attend while I stayed behind at Jill's with the kids. (We were all invited, but Matt and I decided to split up. That way the kids could go to bed at a reasonable hour and be relatively fresh and chipper at the actual wedding, and he could stay out with his friends later. Win-win.) There were some hilarious goofs with the rehearsal and post-dinner socializing -- apply to Matt for details.

Saturday (the 17th) was the wedding. I finally got to meet Matt's old friend Ted and Ted's wife Mindy, who I've been chatting with on Facebook and via e-mail for ages, and their utterly adorable baby Elaine. I also met another old friend of Matt's, Mike, and his wife Kish. And of course I got to see the Pojes again, since we were there for Jason's wedding. Tristan didn't recognize me at all until he spotted the kids.

The plan for Sunday afternoon had been to take the train into Chicago to meet up with Rachael and Rimas and Celia and go see a... giant puppet show... thingy... at Millennium Park. (I don't know how to describe it, but it sounded really cool. I was also looking forward to seeing the iconic Bean. Alas, the kids took long/late naps, and by the time Jill realized we were going to miss the train, it was too late. So we went to the library instead, and the kids got to run around in the kids' area and play. I was disappointed to miss the show (and the Bean) but after the late-evening excitement of the wedding, a slower day is probably just what the kids needed.

On Monday (the 19th), Jill had to go to work, so Matt and I met up with our friend Rachel (not to be confused with his sister Rachael) for lunch -- we hadn't seen her in person since Penny was a little baby, so it was great to get some face-time and hang out!

After that (and the kids' naps) we went to Matt's grandparents for dinner, where Penny was thrilled to play with their dog, Otto.

Tuesday (the 20th), Jill took us into Chicago to see the Field Museum. The kids got to travel by car, by train, by foot, and on bus -- quite the journey! We met up with Rachael and Celia at the museum, and since both Penny and Alex were excited about the notion of dinosaurs, we stopped in the lobby to see Sue, then took them through the Evolution exhibit, which has at its core a huge room of dinosaurs.

Wednesday (the 21st) was another slower day -- Jill had plans to meet a friend for the Cubs game, so Matt took the kids to the bookstore in the morning, and then we all went over to Matt's dad's house that evening for dinner. Once again, Rachael and Celia joined us. (I was disappointed that I didn't get to see Rach's husband Rimas for the whole trip, but he was working like crazy. I'm glad the kids got so much play-time with their cousin, though! Alex is still talking about her, and it's utterly adorable.)

And then Thursday (the 22nd), Alex and I flew home. Jill had brought Cubs hats for both kids from her game, and Alex was enchanted with his -- he insisted on wearing it pretty much the whole time he was at the airport.

Friday, I took a rest day. Well, sort of. My car's Check Engine light came on while I was taking Alex to daycare, so I spent a couple of hours sitting at the repair shop while they checked it out and replaced the doohickey that had stopped working and was causing a couple of cylinders to misfire. I spent the rest of the day in a leisurely pursuit of normalcy -- I did laundry and shopped for groceries, sorted through mail and petted the cat. KT came up and we went out to lunch at a fancy French restaurant I've been wanting to try for a couple of years, now.

Saturday I decided I'd take Alex up to Richmond to see the Children's Museum. We had the most weirdly horrible traffic all the way up (and half the way back), but the museum itself was a blast. Alex had a fantastic time! (Next time, though, I'll remember to bring his bathing suit and a change of clothes -- they have a huge water-play area, and he got soaked -- and I didn't even take him to the outdoor fountain to play!)

And finally, Sunday afternoon, I took Alex over to Braz's, to hang out with him and Adin and the kids. It was noisy but fun, and the kids were all fantastic. Moments of supercute: Alex saying to Henry, "You're my friend!" and also, "Are you two? I'm two, too!" Additionally: Ripley climbing into my lap and announcing that she loved me (this made Alex mildly jealous, but he was content as long as he could be on my lap, too), and Emma sitting on the arm of the chair I was in to snuggle (though she may have simply been after my chips).

(Adin is moving down here to Williamsburg next weekend, and I'm thrilled! They're going to be just a couple of miles from us!)

And that was my vacation, in very brief... Now I'm back to work. I only had 75 emails waiting for me this morning, which is ridiculously few considering I was gone for more than a week, so I guess things were quiet. I'm willing to bet there's plenty of paperwork to catch up on, though!

Here We Go

One more day, and then tomorrow morning after breakfast, Alex and I are off into the wild blue yonder. Not to mention Chicago.

My primary computer access will be my iPhone, so I probably won't be posting here -- the keyboard is just too small for writing more than a couple of lines at a time. I'll probably check in via Twitter, though, from time to time.

Note to self: Call Dad sometime today and let him know the lens filters I ordered for him have arrived.

Note to self: Remember to write up instructions for the neighbor feeding the cat.

Note to self: Don't forget to load and run the dishwasher tonight.

Note to self: Figure out what it is that I'm forgetting.

Two Down

Matt and I spent last night in the quiet frenzy of packing. Three suitcases of clothes and other assorted stuff, the carrycase for Alex's mini-tent/cot thingy, my camera bag, a bag of books and crafts for Penny, a bag for her diabetes supplies, Matt's laptop bag, and a present for our niece. Plus whatever else they might decide to put in the car at the last minute. If they haven't left already, it will be soon. Matt went out last night to get some cash from the ATM and top up his gas tank.

I'm not sure where they're stopping tonight, but I don't expect they'll get there until dinnertime or later. I hope it all goes smoothly. Matt was talking about trying to set up a video chat if the hotel's internet connection is stable enough.

Penny's insanely excited; she was up at 5:30 this morning. I'm hoping that will help her be able to take a nap in the car during the drive. I didn't think to ask Matt if he had any kid-friendly movies ripped to his iPod or on his laptop.

When I took Alex to daycare this morning, several of the kids in his class wanted to know where Penny was -- our morning ritual includes Penny coming with me to drop Alex off and to give him hugs and kisses, and three or four of the other two-year-olds beg hugs from Penny, as well. I thought it was cute that they missed her.

So Alex and I are on our own for the rest of today and tomorrow, and then Friday morning I'll pack a bag with my wallet and phone and a few things for Alex, and then we'll head to the airport to rejoin Matt and Penny in Chicago for a week.

I expect Friday and Saturday will both be slightly crazy -- one of Matt's best friends is getting married, and Matt's in the wedding, so there's the rehearsal dinner on Friday and then the wedding/reception on Saturday. But the rest of the trip should be fairly relaxed and fun.

---

Just a quick addendum, since I don't really know where else to mention it: the layoffs hit my office, finally, after more than a week of breath-holding. We lost four people for certain, and three more got put on furlough (unpaid vacation) for the next month or so, in the hope we'll get work in soon.

Seriously, if we don't get some sizable new contracts soon, the whole office might fold.

...I keep waffling on whether that would really be a bad thing.