Last week, in spite of a nasty RSI flare-up, I finished the sample pages of my proposed Twenty-Somewhere revision (!!!). Today, I sent them off to an agent and an editor (well, technically their assistants). Tonight, I am going to celebrate and relax — by READING!

(And also: by starting my next manuscript while I wait to hear back from said assistants, which will probably take a few weeks. Yeah, this process never ends.)

Over the weekend, Andy and I took a real break by going up to Columbus to visit friends who recently moved there. We brought Riley with us to play with our friends’ dog Dill. Of course, Dill’s definition of play involves toys and chasing and wrestling. Riley’s definition involves walking around and sniffing things. Needless to say, Dill was disappointed.

Also, I totally wanted to steal this “little” Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. Unfortunately, his owners were actually paying attention to him! Who does that?

After doggie playtime, we humans moseyed on over to the Ohio State Fair. Lots of livestock, fried food, and Midway games you can’t win.

What did you do this weekend?

I’m… surviving. The past few days I’ve had almost no free time until dinner, and by then all I wanted to do was eat and then sleep. (Or at least veg out.) For the record, I’ve STILL met my word quotas every day. Despite really really really wanting to skip them and go to bed instead. The WIP is now at 16,000 words.

The reason for my exhaustion: Our move (work, not home) is now exactly 1 week away. But surprisingly, things seem to be under control. (I think.) A lot of that is because my coworker had her college-aged son and two of his friends come be my slaves helpers. They moved furniture around in our new office space, and packed up the basement of our old building. They were great — both as helpers and guys — but it was a little strange to realize that they probably thought of me as “old” just because I’m in the working world and they’re still students. Being considered old = -_-

Fortunately, the best St. Patrick’s Day story ever = ^_^

No seriously. READ IT.

Also, as promised, here are a few pics of Riley’s new next door buddy, Sunny:

Please note that Sunny is a whopping 8 weeks old and already as big as Riley.

Also, he has this weird habit of going to lie in the mulch around the a/c units. Don’t ask.

Also, he always wants attention. Weird, right? It’s like he’s a puppy or something.

The weather here has been pretty awesome lately. A balmy 50-60 degrees and mostly sun. (Hmm, a complete disconnect from my current header image… Oops. Oh well.) Riley’s been having a blast walking around the neighborhood again, and playing with the new puppy next door. They are painfully adorable together. I’ll work on getting pictures.

I’d like to blame the weather for my complete lack of productivity today, but I can’t. I’ve done exactly nothing on my to-do list today, and it’s mostly because I’ve been reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Until page 60, I wasn’t sure if I’d like the book or not, but since then I’ve been completely absorbed. Ford’s prose is simple, elegant, and moving. And I’m so glad, because he seemed like a wonderful person when I met him at a local reading.

My other reason is that things at work are busier than normal, because we’re moving to a new building in a couple weeks. Between now and then, I’ll be handling a lot of logistics, plus after we move I’ll go back to a 5-day work schedule for a 10-week transition period. I’m not exactly looking forward to the reduced writing time, but my work has been very accommodating to me and my writing so far, so this is the least I can do. (And hopefully after the 10 weeks pass, I’ll have figured out a way to make my 4-day part-time schedule work in the new location.)

Furthermore, I’m hoping that my recent consistency and good habits will help keep me on track through the move. Because that’s the thing about being a writer, you know? There’s never a perfect time or situation. So you always have to make it work. Make yourself work.

So yeah, that’s what’s up for the foreseeable future. But hey, at least my workspace (both current and future) has lots of big windows so I can enjoy all this sunshine!

WIP update: I’m roughly 4600 words in. Chapters 1 and 2 are written. Chapter 3 is in progress. I kind of feel like all of it is crap, but my lovely first draft readers assure me that’s not true. Of course, I don’t entirely believe them, but I’m trying to remember that crap is okay for right now. I just gotta get the story down, then I can mold it into something pretty.

I do feel pressure to be polished, though. Even on this blog. It’s very difficult for me to shut off my Internal Editor, even though I know it’s holding me back. In fact, that might be my greatest challenge as a writer. That and my ASDD: Avidly Seeking Distractions Disease.

(Dude, it’s totally a real thing.)

Also, I completely forgot to do my morning pages this weekend. Whoops. I’ll blame my dog. See, there’s a new (ADORABLE!) puppy next door, and Riley has taken it upon himself to announce the puppy’s comings and goings with a rousing chorus of barks and howls. No matter what time of day. Or night. Yeah, it’s awesome. NOT. It also means I didn’t sleep great on Friday night, which means I didn’t function that well on Saturday. There’s still time for me to do my “morning” pages today, though.

In better news, I might be published soon? I submitted my flash fiction piece “How to Field Dress a Deer” to my alma mater’s literary magazine, and I got an email today that it was accepted. Hurrah! More details on that if/when it’s confirmed.

And finally, at the risk of sounding hokey, lately I’ve been reminded that real life/the world around us really does provide the best stories and inspiration. Like Joannie Rochette’s tragedy & triumph at the Olympics. Or like this weird parasitic fungus that infects an ant, kills it, and then bursts out of its head. Or like a twenty-something writer who’s struggling to meet her daily word quotas and just wants to watch some cute rom-coms, goshdarnit!

Oh, that one’s not a good story? My bad.

Dear Riley,

Thanks for putting up with me.

And cheering me on when I stay up late to write.

I’m not going to say too much more, because I wrote you a letter just last week, and you can’t even read. But I wanted to let you know how much I cherish you, how much you’ve enriched my life, and how even though I’m sure lots of people will think, “Omigod it’s just a freaking dog,” I don’t care. Watching you mature from a puppy into a dog this past year has been an incredibly rewarding experience. You’re not perfect, but you’re a lot better than I ever could have hoped or expected, considering I was partly responsible for raising you.

You make me laugh. You keep me company. You create adventure. You remind me not to take anything too seriously.

Thank you. And happy 2nd birthday, buddy.

Love,
Momma