Archive for previous entries this month
May 1, 2008
The lilacs are coming!
How did it get so busy? I've got too many things I need to get done yet tonight and it's already 11:30 pm. Ugh. I especially need to get the DAZ newsletter put together. The delivery date on these has changed from Wednesdays to Mondays, so I have to have the test done on Friday. I was doing them over the weekend, which seemed to have worked better for me. I don't know what it is about the weekday that makes it seem so much more rushed, but it does.
I have almost all of it written and the pictures gathered. I just need to put it together.
Today started the Story a Day challenge at FM and I actually wrote one after midnight last night and before I went to bed. I hope to do the same tonight, but I don't know if I can.
I guess I better go get other work done first, huh?
May 2, 2008
Rain
Odd day. I was without Internet for most of it. I wrote a short story and played with graphic programs -- learned something about Carrara and something about Paint Shop Pro, so that was time well-spent. I talked to Russ a couple times. With luck, he'll be home for a couple days over the Memorial Day Weekend. Since I haven't seen him since February, this sounds like a good plan. But since he'd planned to be home a couple other times, too, I am not going to count too much on it happening.
They're calling for snow tonight. It's down to 41, and we have a wicked wind, but I don't think we'll see the snow. I can't say I'm sorry. This is way too late in the year to be worrying about white stuff on the ground.
There was a tornado just north of us last night, but not much damage.
That's about everything I have to report. I'm going to go edit some more of a short story!
My 3, 2008
Nice looking brick
I am working on my third short story in three days. I am amazed that I have been able to do it -- both for the imagination part and for the workload side. I don't think I can keep it up much longer, though.
Weather here is better. I'm sure it will be too hot soon, and I'll be complaining about that. But right now -- pretty nice, really.
But that's it for tonight. Want to get this done!
May 4, 2008
Great Cardinal shot!
I spent today doing things like dragging dead limbs to the curb. Clean up is coming soon, so I wanted to get at least one group of them out of the way. I don't think I can get the ones in the back of this house, though. Too far to drag them, though I may try for a few of them.
Odd stuff. The weather is better, though. Now if I could just get the lawnmower to work, things would be great.
All in all, I'd rather be writing.
May 5, 2006
Postcard
I did some cover art work over the last few days. The book is about summer vacations and I suggested postcards on the cover. Then I got incredibly busy (what a shock) and when it came to do the cover, I had only done three of the postcards. So I took some of my other work (like the one above) and made them into postcards as well. I think it worked out pretty well!
I wrote my fourth short story yesterday. That's going pretty well. I'm still editing the other story, but I think I'm down to cutting less than 1000 words now. I should be able to do that! It's always an interesting experience, cutting something that's far too long and seeing if I can still hold on to the feel of the story.
I've been busy lately, though. I think I need a little break -- but I don't see it happening. I guess I'll survive it!
May 6, 2006
Another postcard
It's been one of those days where I just can't focus much on anything. Part of it is the weather. We had a nice little thunderstorm, but the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in an hour, and the pressure change just really bothered me.
My yard is starting to look scruffy and I can't get the lawnmower to work! Gah!
But that's about it. I'm working on the next story, but I know I can't get it done in one day, so they'll start to spread out a bit now. That's good! I do have other things to do! (Like remembering to upload this, which I didn't do last night.)
May 7, 2008
Spring
Isn't that lovely? It's a true sign of spring. That and the thunderstorm yesterday.
It's cooler again today -- only 56f so far, and I don't think it's going to get much warmer. That's all right -- I don't want it to get too warm. The air conditioner isn't set up! I don't want too hot!
I think I have the short story done, finally. The one I am getting ready to submit, not the Story A Day one. This is good. I've had to rework the story several times, but I got it down to the proper word count, so that's good. And I think it's a nice tight little story now, too. I've sent it off for Russ to read. We'll see what he thinks.
So that's it, really. Nothing much to report!
May 8, 2008
Storm
That picture was from a couple days ago. It was just grey and dingy all day today. It looked like it was going to rain, but at best it only sprinkled a couple times.
I mowed the front lawns and the lawn between the two houses. And then the mower died for a second time and would not start again no matter what I did. That's probably just as well, since my back was already starting to give me grief. I can hardly move from one room to another. Getting out of the chair is... challenging.
But I'm glad I got it done. My house looks scruffy enough. I don't need it to look worse!
So, that's about it, really. Haven't gotten a lot of real work done today, and I have the feeling it's going to stay that way.
May 9, 2008
Dancing for the Pharaoh
I just got the newsletter for DAZ done -- at least until Monday, probably. I'm sure there will be something that needs to be added in, but for the moment, it is out of my hands again. Yay! I'm actually a little later today than I would like to be, but I at least got it done.
Now on to other things. Lots of other things. I need to post the 2YN classes for the week. Maybe get a little writing of my own done. Although, writing the newsletter is really a bit challenging some weeks. I've enjoyed it!
My back is bothering me today, though not quite as badly as I expected it to. It was difficult sleeping last night, but I survived it. My hands are sore, too, but not so much that I can't type. (grin)
Okay, off to do other work now. There are still too many things that I need to get done!
May 10, 2008
Book cover
This is a cover I did for someone else. I think the book will be coming out soon. It was fun to do! The postcards don't reflect the stories themselves, but I think it has a nice look anyway.
It got cold tonight. Dropped down to 41, wind chill to 32 -- I swear I saw a few snow flakes go past my window. I really don't want to know about it. May 11th is WAY too late in the year for this kind of weather.
My back is killing me tonight. I want to go to bed, but I know that's going to be miserable, too. I hope that by tomorrow it will be better. It was actually worse today than yesterday, which really annoyed me. This should not be a problem for so long.
Pip was ill today, but he seems to be better tonight, so that's good. I was worried about the poor little guy. He was pretty miserable -- but now he's on my desk sleeping away.
That's it for me. I'm going to go to bed soon. We'll see how long it takes me to be able to get up tomorrow. (You don't want to hear about today....)
May 11, 2008
Female Cardinal
I am considering putting together a website with nothing but bird pictures. Not that I really need a project, but it does sound like it might be fun I can't imagine that I'll get to it any time soon, but I'll think about it.
Back is still bothering me today, though not as much as it did yesterday. I'll assume that's a good sign. I've been tired, too. I think I just want to sleep through the worst of this and hope it's better soon.
Writing has been okay, but nothing spectacular. Art work has been somewhat better. House work is in bad shape because of back problems. It's amazing how much these cats can shed this time of year. And sweeping is... difficult right now.
Gah.
But other than that, all is going pretty well. Russ might be home over the Memorial Day Weekend, which would be nice. He'll be home in about ten days, if it works. Things have not worked in the past, so I'm not really going to believe it until it happens.
And that's it. Time to get a little more work done.
May 12, 2008
Male Cardinal
Hello. I'm early today. I had to come over here to do something else, so I decided that getting the journal done as well wouldn't be a bad idea.
Not that I've anything new to say since last night. Sure, my back is a little better today, so that's great. But I have only been doing work stuff for DAZ so far today, and I haven't gotten to writing or art yet. Or that page I want to do for bird pictures, either. Or filling up the bird feeders.
But, all in all, it's going pretty well. Being able to walk from one end of the house to the other without having to grab chairs is a good thing. Puts me in a much better mood.
So now I'm off to do some work!
May 13, 2008
Cats in the sun
Nothing much to report today. I spent far too much time sorting out some DAZ stuff and working on the newsletter. Have you noticed how that newsletter has taken over my life? This week's is a fun one to do, though. I have to remember to tell people that I need the stuff for the next one early, though.
I can't say there's much else going on. It's still too cold. I wish it would warm up just a bit, though not too much. I think this continued cold (just 48 tonight) is starting to wear me down. I'm going to relax for the rest of the night. Maybe even sleep for a while!
May 14, 2008
Mourning Dove
If all goes well, Russ will be heading toward home at this time next week. I'm trying not to get excited about the idea. It's not happened a couple times already, and things are not all going smoothly now, either. But it would be nice.
I have to make up a list of things we need to get when he's here. Stuff that I can't order in. Most of it will be a Sam's Club run, I think. Huge bags of cat food and cat litter (it's cheaper that way, and can last a couple months -- though not three, I found out!) Since it will be the Memorial Day weekend, I think we should find some good sales on soda, too. Stock up on that while it's cheap.
Ugh. I want to think about fun things, not spending money.
We won't be going to ConQuesT again this year. Money is not good, of course, but there's also too much we need to do here. Since Russ is only going to be here for a couple days, we need to do what we can.
Russ is talking about us moving to the other house this winter because of the heating bills. I've been thinking about it off-and-on anyway, but I'm just not sure how well it would work in general. There may be no choice, though.
We'll see. That's not something I need to think about right now, at least!
May 15, 2008
Rainbow
We didn't have much of a storm today, but we did get a very nice rainbow -- one of the most easily seen ones that's I've ever seen. I got many pictures. This one, with the gorgeous tree, looked nice.
I'm trying to get things done in case Russ does make it home next weekend. Most of the work is centered around the DAZ stuff so that I can get a little a head there and not have to work much on it while he's home.
Someone may come to mow the grass this weekend. That would be really good. I look forward to it.
But now.... back to work.
May 16, 2008
Nefertari
You know, sometimes I think I'm getting pretty good at this 3D art stuff. I like the way this one turned out.
I've finished the basic stuff on the DAZ newsletter and sent it for review. There will be additions, but right now it's gone and I'm going to get started on next week's stuff. It would be nice to get ahead, even if Russ doesn't get to come home next week.
He seems to think he will.
Other than that, I can't say I have much going on. Writing away at a few things. Trying to get stuff caught up before the end of the month. Trying to get house cleaned -- really, it's not too bad.
And that's it!
May 17, 2008
Lilacs
Today was sort of a multi-tasking day. I have been working on the first of a series of pictures (for what will be, I hope, an illustrated novel), and while my poor, slow computer worked at getting things in place, I wrote on a short story. Then, about six, I finally picked up the latest Harry Dresden novel, Small Favors, and started reading it. Time really got away from me after that. Here it is almost 3 am. I've written a bit over 3,000 words, got about half the picture done, and read about half the book. Part of me wants to just stay awake and finish it, but I'm starting to wear down. Time to sleep for a while and then come back and do more work tomorrow.
At least I finally feel like I got something done!
May 18, 2008
Visiting Friends
Okay, so I didn't get nearly as much done today as I did yesterday, and I blame that entirely on Jim Butcher and his latest Dresden File book. I finished it a while ago. Now I have to get back to my things. (Looks at clock) Or not.
Good book as always. It's hard to get back to my own writing after a book like that.
The short story is still moving along -- not quite as short as it had been, but still moving, so I can't complain. I think I finally figured out how to 'end it' though it's not a particularly good ending. But still.... it's better than the novel it has been threatening to become.
Besides that, not much going on today. Russ still expects to come on home on Thursday. I'm still dubious because things keep going bad, and I can't really believe it will that easy.
Right now, though -- I think it's time to turn my concentration back on getting work done!
May 19, 2008
Enjoying the sunlight
I have to put more food out tomorrow. I was going to today, but it was very windy. I decided to hold off. Though now it looks like storms will be coming, so that's not much better.
Pip is asleep on my desk. He doesn't take up nearly as much room as Zaphod does. Pip isn't that much smaller, it's just that he curls up rather than stretches out. Zaphod now has the top of one of the bookcases. He's falling off at both ends. Big cat.
I finished a short story last night and posted it for the challenge a few minutes ago. I want to write at least one more. It would be nice to do four more and make the minimum, but I somehow suspect that isn't going to happen. I'm getting busy again.
I also submitted a short story to a contest. So a busy day despite a blinding headache. Unfortunately, I still have considerable more work to get done -- a couple things for the county, and some DAZ work.
But.... it looks as though Russ might make it home this weekend. Dare I be cautiously optimistic?
May 20, 2008
Pretty, pretty lilacs
I had a not good day. Locked myself out of the house. That was just all kinds of fun, and now I feel sore, annoyed and I think I'm getting a cold. Snarl. Cough. Sniff.
Beyond that, everything seems to be going pretty well. Russ still expects to be home in a couple days. We'll probably drive down to De Soto and maybe go on in to Omaha for no good reason at all. Just for the fun of it.
But right now... just too worn down. Going to bed early tonight, I think!
May 22, 2008
Edmond
I feel better today than I expected to. Stiff and sore, but not so much that I can't move. That's good. I need to get things cleaned up a bit more tonight and tomorrow. Russ is heading home tomorrow night.
The weather looks bad. In fact, it looks as though we will have thunderstorms the entire time he's here. I just hope the weather doesn't stop him from getting here. I guess I'm just a bit too mistrusting right now.
Other than that, nothing going on. Trying to get the DAZ stuff done ahead of time. That's going pretty well, except that the site is having some odd problems.
May 23, 2008
Yeah? So?
Well, Russ will either be home in a couple hours, or sometime late tomorrow morning. It all depends on whether or not he made the flight in Chicago, which looked really doubtful. I haven't heard from him, but that may only mean his cell phone is dead. He's probably going to be stuck in the Chicago airport over night.
I want him to be home. I want to have three whole days with him, relax a little, and have some fun. We're going to go to a wildlife refuge. I'm going to go farther than the house next door for the first time in months. I don't care that it's supposed to rain this entire weekend. I really don't. We'll still get out, we'll get some things done that need to be done, and we'll have a little time together.
I really don't think that's asking for too much. Well, that and that Russ has a good time and doesn't end up sleeping in an airport tonight, rather than here at home.
May 23, 2008
Russ is home!
Yes, it rained. The weather is lousy, which means Russ has a miserable headache tonight, poor guy. We got things done today, though. And we might go to the wildlife refuge tomorrow, if he feels well -- and there will still be one more day before he goes back to New York!
Here are some lovely sunset shots. Had a nice day!
May 24, 2008
Wonderful day!
Had a wonderful day... but now I'm too tired to write it up or even sort out the pictures. Got some wonderful shots. Will post it all later!
May 25, 2008
Coot
We hung around town today, took care of a few things and spent more money than I should have.
Russ leaves tomorrow. Sigh. But at least we had three days together this time. He's not sure if he'll make it back for our anniversary next month or not, but he's going to try. (Year 29)
Other than that, not a lot to say today!
May 27, 2008
Deer
Russ is back in New York. He called a few minutes ago to say that the plane was just waiting for a gate.
The visit was far too short, even though it was the longest we've spent together since last November. We had a good time. We also both found out that we're not used to eating out any more! How odd, after all these years. Next time, we'll only eat out once and eat at home the rest of the time.
I still haven't
sorted out the pictures from the wildlife refuge. I spent most of today
being depressed, but I'll get past it. I need to get back to work. End
of the month -- too much to do.
I'm tired already.
May 28, 2008
Sunset
Another long day, not made any better by not feeling great. I'm going to bed early tonight.
I haven't mentioned it, but I got a late birthday/early anniversary present. Something a bit silly -- one of those portable DVD players. I've been watching things in bed the last few nights before I go to sleep, and I have found it nicely relaxing. I've been going through the Cowboy Bebop collection first -- something short to get me used to this. I like it. It's odd, since the big screen tv is in the next room (a relic from our 'better days'), but I have trouble sitting down to watch it. Mostly, I think, it's because when I finally think about watching something, I'm already tired, and it's a choice between clearing the chairs, firing up the various DVD players and TV. There is an arcane web structure to the entire set up, and X has to be on in order to see Y, but Z has to be on to see A -- various DVD players, VHS, Beta, Laser Disk and who knows what else is in there....
But I can go into bed, plug in the new toy, drop a DVD in, put the headphones on and lay back on the pillows. It's comfortable, silly and fun.
And that's what I'm going to go do now. Watch some Cowboy Bebop and settle in for the night. And hope I stop sneezing and coughing!
May 29, 2008
Storm clouds
We had some interesting storms blow through in the last 24 hours. Not anything like the stuff they're having south of us, but tonight's storm was pretty spectacular, especially with the clouds. I was standing outside talking on the phone to Russ when a big branch came down about half a block away, but as far as I could tell that was about the worst of what we got here. It was already getting dark, though, so I don't know about other branches.
Here are some of the neat pictures, though!
May 30, 2008
Rainbow
We had a short, fast-moving storm blow through here tonight. It was quite odd in many ways -- masses of clouds and blue sky, rain with the sun shining -- and a lovely rainbow. (Double, actually, right there toward the bottom. I got a few pictures, but I also got drenched when more of the scattered rain clouds blew in. Lucky for me that the camera survived it!
I got a lot of work done today. I should have more days like this. Too bad it's come so close to the end of the month!
So, that's about it for today.
May 31, 2008
Going to Earth
So here it is, the last day of May. Except for Russ having been home for 3.5 days (yay!), I can't say there was much else going on.
I have to start focusing. I'm doing all right with stuff, but I'd like to get a little more excited about it. Maybe I can do that in June. We'll see.
right now, though, I'm going to call it a night and go watch some shows or something. I am going to try to start June off with a better attitude. We'll see if it works.