I've been working and writing and working, and driving to visit family and driving to work.

Oh, yeah. Also moving. Sort of. We rented a place just before Christmas, and came back from visiting my family to move in. Mostly we've been fixing things and getting utilities turned on and such. The landlord has had the carpets cleaned, so we didn't move any real furniture in today. I cleaned shelves and windows and baseboards, hung a shower curtain, put frosted plastic decals on the bathroom windows in place of the awful lace curtains.

Basically, the house is 100 years old, with an addition in the 80s and some remnants from a redecoration in the 70s, I reckon. I bet it's haunted. After living in cookie-cutter neighborhoods for so long, though, I LOVE this house. It has nooks and crannies and weird little cupboards under stairs that don't go anywhere but the attic. There is a stained glass window and an honest-to-god mechanical doorbell.

The electric, plumbing and windows are all modern. It's well-insulated, too. The best part is that we've rented it for the same rent as a tiny two bedroom apartment was going to cost us. Plus, we didn't have to sign a lease and the landlord cuts the grass.

Also, we won't be changing school districts in teh middle of the year. :) It's just off the main street of this small town, so walking distance to cool shops and restaurants. Also walking distance to a park and the lake, both with bike trails. The library is across the street. It also faces the train tracks that run through the median between the roads downtown, BUT the house is so old and well-built, it really isn't an issue with the windows closed. I was amazed, but we could talk normally with a train going by 50 feet away.

I will post pictures. Honestly, it is perfect. I could write stories about how creepy and cool this place is, and probably will.

There hasn't been enough work to make my hours this week, so it is actually a good time to move. The workflow will pick up next week, probably meaning overtime again.

***

I'm on chapter 23 of the re-write of Form and Void, which is now at about 300 pages and all that remains is the final act, once this chapter is over.

***

He said we'd have a place by Christmas, and we did (at least put the deposits and all down before we left for Christmas). So there we go. My husband is magic. ;)

My vehicle blew a hose on the trip, before we had even made it out of Louisiana. Seriously, the border with Mississippi is less than an hour away from New Orleans, and it broke down before I got there. Popped hose, lost water, overheated. BUT I pulled over right away so no major damage was done.( Cut for the disinterested. May include details of the move, plans for the weekend and my putting-the-kids-in-new-schools angst. )

In other news, my friend Andrina had convinced me to join youwriteon.com and enter an opening chapters contest, so I I did. Your piece has to have 8 reviews to qualify for the contest. You earn reviews by reviewing other people's stuff. I've done six or seven so far, and gotten two reviews in return. (So far they are quite positive.) It's a spot of work, and I'm somewhat pressed for time at the moment, but I'm going to get 8 reviews by the end of the month if it kills me.

So, if anybody would like to read the first two chapters of my second draft, you can find them here:

http://www.youwriteon.com/books/samplechapters.aspx?bookguid=e9d5c639-1dd3-40b8-ac67-b77b426011de

The site makes you register, but it is free. If the direct link doesn't work, you can find it by a title search for "Form and Void." If you see fit to review it, I would appreciate it a lot. :)

So, a while back I was doing some software adjustments, and a girl joined GC and posted to the blog, even though she was only a registered member and an authorized 'author.' Whoops. I fixed the setting and migrated her post to the Forum. I also sent her an email explaining that if she wanted to be a regular poster, she needed a gravatar, and to submit a writing sample, etc. But in a nice way.

Tomorrow I will post a reminder that it is the last day to register for the game paper. Our first contest! Whee!

Let's see, articles I haven't pimped here yet include, The Zen of Doing Dishes by Goddess of All, and Pay It Forward -- Get the Most Out Of Your Ex's Crap by Mv2.3.

***

Basically I'm all antsy about GC because I haven't gotten to write anything for it in an age. It's been FINE without my input, but I wanted to be a bigger part of it.

But then I'm also on the home stretch of this novel, so maybe I'm just ... catwaxing.

***

Also, I'm going to look at a place over near Big Boy's school that is for rent and in our price range. I doubt we'll jump on it, but you never know. Seems like a good neighborhood, even though it's not as close to the park as we'd like. Still, I guess I'll find out, eh?

I'm stoked to be beating the GeekaChicas drum today, because Nightsky's new article, Doctors with Dalek Bumps: Femme Doctors well and truly kicks bootay.

You know why? I'll tell you! It's not just a typical, "Oh, look, women are cosplaying as Doctor Who, only in dresses." It goes enough beyond that, and shares enough personal experience, for it to really make me think. Cosplay and crossplay are one thing, and really not that atypical. But female fans re-imagining The Doctor in their own image is something different, if not something new, and Nightsky's take on it really had me thinking about all the BS I've put up with as a woman who digs scfi/fantasy (i.e. 'boy stuff') for pretty much my whole life.

It resonated, dudes, is all I'm saying.

***

I am now the proud owner of a Louisiana driver's license. The picture doesn't even suck. Go figure. Since I was 7 months pregnant when my last DL picture was taken (after standing in line in Georgia heat for two hours), almost anything would be an improvement.

The tags and things on the vehicles are all nice and legal, too. It feels odd, like my last ties to Georgia are severed. And I have to go back to Georgia Saturday, where I will mooch off friends for a place to lay my head. For a week. Oy.

***

In other news, my homeschooling buddy from the UK's flight was canceled, so she's here for another week. I'm crazy pleased about this, because it means we get to see her off in better form. I'm really going to miss her. She's a pip.

Well, despite NaNo's tendency to chew people up and spit them out, it seems our Amalia The Savage is already finished! Wow, that woman is prolific! On GC, we're still sharing her Letters series, which is related to her NaNo novel and also to discussions of NaNo itself. Today's installment is Letters from the Kings, Another Not-Yet-Of Troy Story. I may speed up posting of this series - once a week may just not be enough!

***

I mentioned yesterday some good things that are going on here for me, but that I've been battling the blues anyway. It's a strange disconnect from reality, because the reality is really good. The darling jedi_diplomat commented that the culture shock really starts to hit between three to six months in (and boy howdy, she should know!) and I think she's right. Things here are becoming familiar, and once-familiar things in Atlanta are becoming distant. I feel detached from my old life (not a bad thing, as it was comfortable enough to fall easily into stagnation) but not entirely connected to my new life, yet. I think some of that is bleeding over into my online presence, too, in the transition from lone fannish blogger to webmistress.

So, erm. Thanks for hanging in there with me. :) I'm going push my way through this phase, see, and whatever comes out will hopefully be better equipped to do what I gotta do than what went in.

***

On the writing front, thanks to a bit of discussion with the lovely hominysnark, I'm on track with the rest of HMOWK, and pretty much back up to the point where I lost my data. If I manage to pull this off, the end is going to ROCK. If I don't, well, it'll still be good, and a fun ride.

I have finally come up with a title for my shapeshifter series, and titles for the one I'm working on as well as the one I have as a complete draft. The first one, I'm calling Form and Void, and the second, which many of you have read swaths of, will be Face of the Deep. I think. I've half a mind to go ahead and name the third one (for which I have only vaguest of outlines) Intelligent Design, though that may just be my snark trying to break through.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.