A Twist of Things to Come

I haven't actually looked outside yet, but I know it is. :)

It's funny. My hubby connected with an old work acquaintance this week, and he asked how i was handling the move. My Beloved told him about the other night, when we were walking around some largely deserted streets because fear of Ida had sent many people out of town, when I confided in him that "New Orleans kicks the ass of every other place we've ever lived."

This surprised his friend, knowing that we've moved from a big house in the suburbs to a condo that is certainly not meant for four people. It's true I'm anxious for my house to sell (the contract just extended again!) so we can move somewhere with more room, but the close quarters have not gotten me down. I kind of... like it. I do. I know that may seem weird, but I've enjoyed having to keep everything organized. This place is small enough that,if it starts to get sloppy, we can't walk around each other without banging into something.

I'm actually surprisingly comfortable here. That might change if I thought we'd be here forever, but I'm comfortable with whatever comes.

***

The hubby put down his re-read of All the King's Men long enough to read the chunk of my novel so far. He said, "It's like an action movie in my head." This pleased me a lot because it indicates I've gotten away from my habit of writing about people who sit around and think about things. LOL! Now, I know he'll never feel about my work the way he does about Cormack McCarthy, but I also know he's very, very happy that he's not married to Cormack McCarthy, so I suppose it evens out.

***

Over at GC today we have our first offering from KitchenJedi (also known as brandedeclipse ), called This is How We (and Mary Jane) Do It. It's chock full of her usual wry sense of humor, and some good tips on laundering costumes. I find I was in desperate need of both, and her article made me giggle as well as gave me much-needed info on maintaining the family's collection of costumes. (Which reminds me, I must help the Big Boy find a suitable Doctor Who costume. I suspect he'll want to go with Ten's look.)

I forgot to pimp my own post on CG, again. Yesterday (or the day before, I forget) I wrote about Windows 7 Launch Parties? O_o

I could have scooped BoingBoing on Barack Obama's amazingly consistent smile, if I had not been lazy last night. But I was, erm, lazy last night. ;)

****

I had an epiphany this morning. See, I was stressed with trying to sort out Big Boy's specialist appointments, because he needs them monthly and the doctor here needed forms from the doctor there, and they were faxed from local Dr. to Not-So-Local Dr. last week. Nurse on vacation, etc. and I know how it is, but Big Boy needs his shot and arrrgh. It was finally sorted today, but not until after the epiphany.

I'd been considering driving back to our old place and staying with the in-laws a week so I could see my old nephrologist, even though I miraculously met one here and am already his patient now. I dunno. And we had been talking about our budget, and looking around at places to stay, because the boys really need some space. Evidently each of them, when they go on their walks, have been calling my in-laws and complaining about how much they hate it here. *headdesk*

Then there was the stress of submitting something, and the slightly maniacal way in which I was checking my email waaaay too often and fretting over whether... well, you know.

Ad to that trying to make a budget now that some of our expenses are about to go away. (That's good, but also uncertain because there are medical bills and things we need to pay out of our medical savings account, but I have to find receipts and things.) We started looking at rental places in several different areas, and it was crazy and a little depressing, for various reasons.

Then, out of the blue, my Georgia nephrologist's office called. It seems my old doctor has left the practice, and they wanted to reschedule my appointment with one of the other doctors. (I hadn't canceled the appointment for later this month because I knew we'd be going back for Wee Boy's birthday party and I was still waffling about maybe staying longer just to see this doctor instead of the new one.)

It was like a light came on. I realized, I am exactly where I need to be. Everything I've needed since we've been here has magically appeared exactly when I needed it. It's been like waling on invisible stepping stones. I just have to have faith, ne?

So when my Beloved came home, we went out for our payday pizza night and then for a walk by the lake. It was lovely and just warm enough to be really pleasant. While walking around enjoying the moment, my Beloved's phone rang. It was his dad. Seems that he works with a sister-in-law of a guy who is going to be helping some friends rent out their house in Uptown, at a very reasonable price. (More than twice what we're paying now, but we're getting a crazy deal from the lovely yourprecious.) It's on the "good side" of Audobon park, but slightly outside the Golden Rectangle, where we are now.

Not sure if this will be the place, but it is where we want to be and in our price range, so it's encouraging. I'm just really feeling very relaxed about it, about everything. For the moment, I really believe that next step will be there when we're ready to take it. I'm not even worried about the story anymore. Even rejections help me get to my goals, and I've already gotten new ideas for stories, with markets in mind. *shrug* I'm amazed by how calm I am.

Which is really an atypical thing for me.

So, took a long weekend and knocked out the rest of what had to be done on the house, including the cleaning. That was great!

Had my first severe asthma attack in eighteen years. Not so good. Very not good.

I think the cough I was getting each time we went back to Georgia was actually related to mild asthma, caused by the exposure to extreme allergens. Dust, after the furniture was moved around, and down that had slipped out of the comforters and settled in those hard-to-reach places that were suddenly not so hard to reach.

Breathing was shallow and cough was back by Sunday. By Monday I could not complete a sentence in one breath. We had to stop and buy me an over-the-counter asthma inhaler on the trip back. I didn't have one because it has been so long since I'd noticed any shortness of breath that I didn't attribute to exercise.

This was a mistake. Also, I kept thinking it would get better on it's own once I rested. DING! Mistake number two. Oy.

***

In any case, I am back and the house is not my problem anymore (in that there is nothing else I can do except wait for it to sell). It is good to not be in teh allergy capital of the world anymore.

We have a social engagement this Friday, and I am hopeful we can begin to make friends here. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I can get an inhaler to have on hand and a refill for the thyroid medicine. We have a month to get the boys a pediatrician, so the pressure isn't really on there. I changed our address with all our magazines (to a PO box, on account of our digs here are temporary -- cozy, but temporary).

***

In the move I located a box full of my old sketch pads. Holy COW, I used to be a good artist. I found one sketch I'd totally put on my wall, though it might seem a bit dated. It's in storage now, but I'll console myself with posting the best thing I've done lately (past couple of years)-- the hubby before he was the hubby, reading in a park we used to go to a lot:



I need to get my hand in again.

Spent the weekend trying to finish up cleaning out the house. This was hampered by the fact that it takes at least 7 hours to get there and back, and the hubby had to work. We arrived at 4am, and tried to get going on the work at 10am or so. It was unpleasant, except for the brief times we got to see friends.

Long story short, we have to go back next weekend. But we've learned our lesson, and my Beloved is taking some time off. Also, we are arranging for more solid playdates for bot the boys, so they can get face-time with their friends. Because if there is anything worse than running around cleaning a house and chucking stuff out windows or into boxes, it's having to stop every five minutes to hug a pre-teen whose best friend is at Six Flags. (We called, left messages and sent emails all last week, but his mom keeps her phone turned off unless hse has to use it, and the emails bounced, despite the fact that I double-checked it with her before we moved, and it has worked in the past.)

So, one more weekend, but that will definitely be it. Gah.

***

In other news, GeekaChica Pearce, saw and reviewed District 9 in Neil Blomkamp Brings It, Sets it Down on the Table, and Opens It, Bitch!

BTW, I finally got meet Pearce (aka yourprecious) last week, and she seems really cool. *waves* I knew that already, but sometimes people are alarmingly different from their online personalities. (I could site examples, but discretion forbids.)

***

There seems to be a leak in the water main outside the condo, or else they decided to install a fountain in the street. This negatively affected water pressure, but I was still able to shower, so it's all good.

We've succeeded in making our tiny temporary digs quite livable, which is nice. We're very close to Audubon Park, which is glorious.

Saturday we went down to the Audubon Insectarium, which was great fun. (They let you pet the caterpillars!) It was just after the Red Dress Run, so there were plenty of people wandering about in red dresses, sipping beer. As we were leaving, an adorable, raven-haired college boy in a crimson sarong passed me on the sidewalk, caught my eye and smiled.

I think I'm really going to love this town.

Also, by an odd coincidence, the boys struck up a conversation with a couple of younger boys at snowball stand, and we ended up chatting with their father about schools and such. He ended up giving us a note about his group practice (he admitted to being a doctor and said that he didn't usually do commercials, but since we were new in town and didn't have anybody to go to if we were sick, etc.) even giving us a name of a pediatrician. When my Beloved said, "Yes, we need a pediatrician, and probably a nephrologist, too" the guy got a funny look and asked why.

Turns out, he's a nephrologist. O_o What are the chances? We were not looking forward to driving 700 miles one way for my check ups, and there you go.

We decided to take it as a sign that we are where we need to be. Now we just need to find ways to get the boys involved in things with their peer group, and we'll be set. (They are missing their friends terribly.)

"Oh, Streetcar! " /White-Hot Grease Fires (Prologue) [A.] - The Simpsons

I think we're going to try to hit the Red Dress Run and maybe the Dirty Linen Night. Also, we're two blocks from Audubon Park, where they are having a sneak preview of Disney's A Christmas Carol. Though I don't have much in the way of high hopes for the film, it could be fun.

Not bad for a woman who started out the week in a forest of teetering boxes. Now it looks like a people house in our temporary digs, and we need a family break before the home-schooling and all that starts.

... But I still have to yammer on about it a bit.

We have, like, seven followers on twitter, *snrk* but many more than that on Facebook (36 at last count, I think). So not abysmal.

The cool thing is, we're still getting very regular traffic, even when things are slow (as I'm kind of hoping they will be for the next week, on account of me having to move all crap 500 miles). Of course it still picks up when we're more active, but I do feel like we're out there now, and people are noticing. *g*

Yesterday, I meant to do one of my midday fluff posts and it ended up being slightly longer and more personal than I'd planned. The Collectible Conundrum is basically about geeky collectible ornaments, my sister's love of them and my own veiled envy of her collection.


Today, we have new offering from Alpha Lyra (known to many of you as amy34), Rape and Romance Novels. Speaking as a person who was put off the genre in her teens for the same reasons, I can certainly appreciate the shift. It's definitely a step in the right direction.

***

The next episode of HMOWK is essentially complete, and I have several pages of the next one. It's going swimmingly, thanks in large part to hominysnark, whose very presence in chat seems to unlock hidden doors in the creative part of my brain. Hmm.

I also managed another chapter in the novel. This is kind of embarrassing, but... the "few new chapters" at the beginning of the "re-write" may well be shaping up into a story all its own. So the two novels I had a plan for are probably becoming three, with the one I have written already being the middle one. I'm stuck between exclamations of "Cool!" and "Dang!" Cang? Dool? Coog?

I think I'll go with "Coog." I'm feeling very coog right now.

***

I'm also in complete terror over the move. I don't even have words for how much this is going to suck. Big Boy is more than willing to donate a lot of his stuff to charity because he's outgrown a lot of his toys. I have a feeling we'll be prying Wee Boy's enormous (and somewhat nappy) plush toy collection away from him by force. I mean, the child kept a collection of gummy worms as his 'worm friends" until I sneaked in and disposed of them.

Then there's the books! Oh, God, my lovelies! However shall I rid myself of your wonderfulness?
*sobs*

Still off my game, but getting better, I think. Must be getting better, am taking medicine.

In other news, yourprecious has once again treated us to her cinematological insight, with Bayformers - Product Placement in Disguise. She always cracks me up.

I believe I have progressed in my illness to the "Piss-Colored Glasses" phase, in which life is bad because everything sucks, is ugly or futile. I blame Torchwood. *snicker* I know it's all just between my (aching) ears, but pulling out of that headspace is hard. Especially when the hubby keeps telling me that I should drive the boys up to see Papa this week, since we'll be leaving town soon. But, with the moving and all, shouldn't I be here working toward that goal? Plus, I have no internet access up there whatsoever, so the website might flutter to halt again.

I think I'm going to try some meditation. That usually helps.

Woke up Saturday morning with my ear hurting worse, so I went to the local place that sees walk-ins on Saturday. Met a super nice nurse practitioner, who said both my ears were obviously under pressure (though the one that hurt was worse) and I had a sinus infection.

She gave me one of those Z-pack things and a script for some over-the-counter stuff that you have to show ID and sign for because folks use it to make meth. I hate that stuff, but I was desperate.

Helped the brother-in-law move out this weekend. We gave him our leather couch and chair because my hubby insists that it is horribly uncomfortable. He's hated them since we bought them, but they never caused me any problems. Still, we got the in-laws' sleeper sofa in a trade, and that will be handy. Also, we got rid of a bunch of electronics and things, with plans to give other things away when we leave. It's nice to be getting rid of stuff, though we still have mounds of things to sort.

The Realtor came by and we have a lock box on the door, but we won't be showing it until we're out almost entirely. I think she thought the disaster area appearance of the place after juggling couches and things was the way it usually looked, with stacks of boxes lining the halls and such. In any case, I know it won't show well until we're out, just because there is too much to do before we go.

***

I did something stupid. I was playing that Pirates game on Facebook, and some guy offered to join my crew (you need a certain number of people on your crew to do some things). I said okay, and now he's kind of flirting with me and trying to chat with me a lot. I've been very plain and clear in my profile and other interactions that I am happily married, so he should know better. I don't think he's dangerous, just annoying. Srsly. The first time he tried to chat with me, he asked a question about Pirates and then said, "I just use it as an excuse to meet pretty women." "Oh, thanks and all, but I'm married, with kids." See, I thought that would do it. He's stepped back a pace, but still circling. I should know better by now than to underestimate the desperation of men on the internet. *headdesk* Stupid, stupid.

***

I may be completely loopy on medicine, so there's no telling, but I think I've done well with the writing. I'm trying not to let myself get overwhelmed by the idea of everything I have to do in the next three weeks. I hope we'll have time to sort out the stuff we really want to keep, and find a suitable way to dispose of what we don't want -- much of it still quite serviceable.

This journal has been a snoozer lately, I know. Lots going on, but not much I feel like blabbing about.

We got the boys approved for free, public-school curriculum homeschooling, which could be really fun. It will certainly give us the flexibility to travel some, which will be nice. If we can ever shake off the shackles of our house.

It's not that I don't like my house, but my house is not where my Beloved is, and that blows.

Big Boy dressed in his swim trunks this morning, and unsubtle hint. I hope the weather holds.

***

Anyways, I gacked a video from amy34 yesterday and put it up on the website with some commentary in a post called Buffy vs Edward. Today I'm having trouble finding the source to embed it here (besides, I think it is sizable enough to break some friendspages).

Anyway, it's a real hoot.