rolanni: (Default)

So, here in the US, it's Thanksgiving Day, which is a civilian festival where family and friends gather together, feast, and try not to have political arguments at table.

We here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory will be working for the first part of the day, then celebrating, simply.  Steve had the foresight to cook the turkey breast and mashed potatoes last night, so we'll need to zap a few things in the microwaves, bake some rolls, open a bottle of wine, and we're good to go on the feasting side of things.

While it's good practice to take a moment to be thankful every day, it's traditional to be thankful on this day.  We've had a lot of things go right for us this year, but for today, I'm thankful for the sun streaming into my office.  I'm thankful for the cats, lounging in windows and sun puddles.  I'm thankful for Steve and a partnership that's spanned more than half my life.

Hoping everyone has a good day, whether it's a celebration or Just Plain Thursday.  Be grateful for something.  Tell somebody you love them.  Call your mom.

I'll see you on the flip-side.

Gang agley

Friday, December 22nd, 2017 02:46 pm
rolanni: (Default)

So, I did jinx my free time, a little.  Wednesday did not take the shape I had envisioned, and I devoted the remaining time to writing (attempting to write, more like) sell copy for "Degrees of Separation"

Thursday morning, having carried my second cup of tea to my office so I could start reading Fifth of Five, and stopping at my desk to check the mail queue -- I changed my day-plans on the spot, because UPS was pleased to tell me that the 200 copies of Neogenesis ordered by Uncle Hugo, long delayed at the warehouse for reasons the warehouse chooses not to share, were abruptly arriving THIS AFTERNOON.

Which they did.

Our challenge at that point became getting the personalized/signed books to the Uncle by the middle of next week, so there would be sufficient time to pack them and put them in the mail before the January 2 pub-date.  Normally we would have taken the weekend to do the signing-and-personalizing, but! Monday is Christmas Day, and there is neither mail delivery nor FedEx pickups on Christmas Day.

That meant that all the books needed to be signed last night, and shipped out today, arriving in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Which we did; and the books got onto Fast Eddie's FedEx truck barely a half-hour ago, bundled up in racoon coats; some of them waving Minneapolis! pennants.

This morning, I went to town to run the Last Errands BC (Before Christmas), and this afternoon, after lunch, I am, byerlady, reading this damn' manuscript and getting on with doing Work.

In other news, with the outdoor thermometer reporting a brisk 14F-Feels Like-12F (aka -10C-feels-like-minus 11C) it is snowing in Beautiful Central Maine.  It's a rather determined looking little snow, and the weatherbeans are calling 1-3 inches this afternoon, with an additional 1-3 inches to fall overnight.

So, among the weird habits I'm trying to adopt so as to make the next fall into the Slough of Despond less. . .all-consuming, is keeping a Grateful Book, as one friend styles it, or a White Stones Book, as I think of it.  The idea is that every evening, you write down one thing that you were grateful for during the day.

Last evening's entry was the arrival of those 200 books and the necessity to sign them, and turn them around fast.  Why? you ask, when it disrupted your whole schedule?

Well, because very few writers get to the point of having a shipment of books to sign for their fans, arriving to disrupt best-laid plans.  It's rare, and it's a blessing.

And, thank you.

 

Monday. . .

Monday, July 31st, 2017 11:20 am
rolanni: (Phoenix from Little Shinies)

Today is Steve's birthday, the celebrating of which we are deferring to the trip to Niagara/Binghamton.  The trip is also my birthday celebration, and! last year's anniversary-of-the-legal-marriage and this year's anniversary-of-the-legal-marriage.

Today, there is vacuuming and vacation packing.  This is a Trip in Three Parts, so packing is. . .interesting in its way.  Usually, we throw the things we'll need at the convention in suitcases, pack a train case, hand over the suitcases to the nice baggage experts at Amtrak and worry no more.

Since we'll be driving to Pittsburgh and overnighting on the road, I have packed an overnight bag, and will today be packing the purple duffle with the items that will be required on the vacation and homecoming leg of the trip.

Tomorrow, I will pack con clothes, since they are more susceptible to wrinkles than cargo pants, polo and denim shirts.

And so it goes.

I need to check my tablet to make sure that I'll have enough to read.  Fifty books on the to-be-read shelf.  Is that enough?  Maybe I should take a couple paper books to be sure I don't run out?  No, wait!  We'll be at a convention.  If I need books, I'll be able to stock up there.  Phew.

I'm really looking forward to this trip:  the convention, of course, and then the meandering road home.  I'm especially pleased to be approaching this whole segment in a state of not being depressed.

On that front, I have backed out of the last application of antidepressants, and am continuing with meditation, which has been helping decrease the noise in my head, even though I'm probably the world's worst meditator.  I'm using the guided meditation at Headspace, which I like very much, even though the occasional assertion that "thoughts are just thoughts" baffles me.  I mean, yes, thoughts are just thoughts, but I'm in the business of turning thoughts into stories, so I'm accustomed to giving thought some weight, so to speak, in my life.

I'm continuing to cut down my exposure to toxic persons, which is, sadly, an on-going task. I've cut back my presence on Facebook and on Twitter, which also helps decrease the noise in my head. . .which is not nearly as frightening as I thought it would be, having lived my whole life with a noisy head.  Maybe that's what's meant by "thoughts are just thoughts."

So, that.

For those who missed the initial announcement -- there is a new patron-only podcast up on the Lee-and-Miller Patreon page -- here's your link.

Also!  Steve and I have unlocked three earlier podcasts so that they can now be enjoyed by everyone.  Go to this link, and scroll down.

And that, I think, catches us all up.  Time to get out the vacuum cleaner and wake up all the cats.

Antidote

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 10:50 am
rolanni: (Default)
It's easy to get down on people. So, here's something to maybe make you feel a little better about random acts of kindness. Many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] andpuff for bringing this to my attention.

Tweenbots webpage

rolanni: (Phoenix from Little Shinies)
Right out straight at the day-job, as we say here in Maine, and then home to cope with the fallout from the income taxes, which just today were released by the accountant and about which just let me say, ow.

Today's mail included a beautiful framed picture of Bubba in his blanket (you have to scroll down a bit -- at least you do in my browser -- to get to the pictures), and an accompanying very nice note from a reader. *Sigh* Made the whole day brighter, so it did.

After writing Those Checks, I did get a little bit of writing done. Not as much as I would have done had my nerves been less disordered, but some words are better than no words. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And, now I've kept Steve long enough away from his supper, so let me get off of this infernal machine and see what's in the kitchen.

Progress on Mouse and Dragon
53765 / 120000


Kiladi had gained his fourth degree.

Back at it

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 07:48 pm
rolanni: (greeneyes)
The news from the vampires is that all systems are normal. This is a Good Thing.

Amazon has finally caught up with itself and admits to Longeye being in stock and shipping, also a Good Thing.

Readers from various locales are reporting receipt of their pre-ordered Longeyes, which is even more of a Good Thing.

...and may you all have a day of Good Things, if not today, then tomorrow.


Progress on Mouse and Dragon
45074 / 100000
rolanni: (Illusionist)
So, this guy made a wrong turn up the Kennebec from Biddeford Pool. Fell in with helpful people, so all's good. Must've been kinda scary for a while, though.

Today was a slice-n-dice day, story-wise. Pieces of three chapters have come together to make one! new! improved! chapter. Also? Shorter. Shorter, at this point in Theo's Saga, is A Good Thing.

When Mozart sits on my lap while I'm at the computer, he wants to, like, lounge over the keyboard and use the mouse as a chin-rest. Hex folds himself up into an Amazingly Small Package, rests his chin on my left wrist and -- goes to sleep. I keep typing; doesn't bother him. Occasionally, he makes with the purrs. He's so quiet that he actually climbed onto my lap at some point today and I didn't even notice him do it. I was writing, lap empty; next time I took stock, I had a cat on my lap, who had apparently been asleep for hours.

In the midst of yesterday's alarums and excursions I believe I forgot to mention that my goodies from Sock Dreams arrived. Yummmm. The chenille arm warmers are as soft as I hoped they'd be and the fingerless gloves pad the wrist brace perfectly, and don't get in the way of my typing. Also? They got here fast. I'll be doing business with these folks again.

Now, time for a brainstorming session
rolanni: (Dr. Teeth)
As reported earlier in these pages, today's weather is stunningly beautiful. I could have ignored that fact -- had intended to ignore that fact, because my ghod is there stuff that needs doing around here! -- but commonsense and a certain disinclination to stay inside and do chores while feeling progressively more ill-done-by prevailed.

I went to Belfast, yes I did; Route 9 (so as to stop at the post office and reap what spoils might be there) to Route 7. There were surprisingly few vehicles on the road, though about a third of those fellow travelers had their deer with them, sometimes visible as just a couple of hooved feet sticking straight up out of the bed of a pick-up; twice on a skidder towed behind said pick-up.

The rain that had drowned East Winslow Thursday, Thursday night, and all day Friday had last night changed to snow along the higher elevations of Route 7, the resulting white cover was far more impressive from a distance than up close.

Belfast was, well -- a sample is behind the cut )

-- which made me happy.

In addition to visiting the sea, I walked up into town and stopped by Coyote Moon, which pretty often makes me happy, because I'm a big, big fan of ooh! shiny! Usually, I treat Coyote Moon as a museum; today I bought earrings -- two pair! -- which made me happy. The last pair of earrings I bought was from the art show at Noreascon Four. The nice lady behind the counter wrapped each pair for me in a piece of tissue paper the color of the sky over Belfast Bay.

I also bought a pair of socks, because socks make me happy; and a set of glass-and-metal mini-windchimes to hang in my office at work, because the sound of windchimes makes me happy, though perhaps the same isn't true of the guy in the office next door. I tried on a black dress with jet beads sewn to the jacket, and a Spanish skirt, but it didn't make me happy, so I left it there.

After that bit of retail therapy, I moved on to the Good Table, where it was my intention to buy a plastic measuring cup for [livejournal.com profile] kinzel. Alas, there were none, but -- I bought a cookbook (I heard that, you in the back), which I hope will eventually make me happy*.

That accomplished, I walked around to the Belfast Co-op because the smells, the shelves and watching the patrons makes me happy, bought some onions and a loaf of multi-grain Borealis bread, returned to the car and so to home.

Arrived, and the packages enhoused, I made myself dinner. I chopped up the smallest of my onions and started it frying in olive oil (which made me happy; I love chopping onions; I adore the sssssssss sound they make when they hit the hot oil; and the aroma), added some canned green beans and then a veggie burger (which, yes, does demonstrate the need of that cookbook). When everything was cooked, I removed it to a white china plate, put provolone cheese to melt over the top and buttered a slice of Borealis bread. All of which, believe it or not, made me happy.

The cats checked in when I got home, and Mozart shifted his base of naperations to the rocker in my office when I sat down to write this blog entry. Scrabble has gone back to Steve's office, the better to Hold the Fort.

I still have chores to do, but they don't seem anywhere near as onerous -- and which I'd better get to.

*One of the things I haven't sorted out yet about the day-job is the vexed question of meals. During my years working at home, I'd gotten accustomed to eating dinner in the middle of the day, and a sandwich in the evening. This makes more sense than at first seems: Steve and I both tend to write best at night, and a sandwich is much easier to eat at the keyboard, if necessary, then a plate of spaghetti.

So, anyhow, since the day-job, I've been taking brown rice and veggies to work -- which is fine; brown rice is one of my comfort foods, but it gets a little boring -- which I eat at my desk while I work, then I come home and get to work and sometime around seven or eight, I have a sandwich...I miss having a real dinner sometimes, is what I'm saying here.

Which brings me to Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two. We have a crockpot, which has been languishing lo! these months. My hope is to have a hot meal when I get home (before I start writing for the day) a couple days a week, which will make me feel less like a grumpy extension of my keyboard and more like a human being.


And now -- those chores.

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