Three Weeks Later
It's been three weeks since my birthday and my engagement to my fiancé and a whole lot has happened. Short version: I've moved to Bothell, we visited my family for them to meet Jeff and I finished my Chill contract (at least the first draft of it and that's what counts).
On the moving side, despite everything, the move was relatively painless as moves go - and I've had a lot of them. That doesn't mean there were problems. There were but they got solved to my satisfaction. I believe, at this point, there are only four boxes that have not been unpacked completely. Two pantry, one closet and one in my office. The two pantry ones are still around because there isn't room for them. The closet one is a "stuff" box, is sitting on the "stuff" table in the living room and I'll get to it sometime in January. The one in my office was unpacked and has been repacked with old filing and random computer parts/literature that I'm not willing to toss out but I don't use - yet. Eventually, it will be closed and stored somewhere.
Not bad all in all. Except for one small problem. While it is unpacked, it is not all organized to my satisfaction. For example, my books... not alphabetized. It took me over a year to do so the last time. I'm hoping to get it done during the month of January. I need to redo all of the clothes in my drawers and closets and, while the kitchen is pretty darned good (thanks to the room mate), there are bits to it that I need to get done.
I foresee a "To Do" list of the house in the future. However, this does not make me unhappy.
For the last few weeks I've been writing my little heart out to get my Chill contract finished. It's due on the 31st and it will be turned in then. However, that is a lot of words. Part of the tight deadline was my fault. I admit it. I procrastinated and, honestly, I work better to a deadline. Much better. I'm proud of the work I'm put into the contract but man, am I going to look forward to not working on anything but TEoP and Amazon gigs for the month of January.
OK. That's not precisely true. January is my "Agent Query" month. I need to write appropriate emails and letters to all of the agents I'm interested in and have my first 50 pages of the four completed books ready to go in case any of the agents are interested in any or all of them.
Plus, I have to do all of the beginning of the year Edge of Propinquity stuff. Moving 2007 to the Archives, getting the 2006 Guest Author stories down, setting up the 2008 stuff, making the new year announcements and all that jazz. Not to mention, write the first Kendrick story of 2008.
On top of that, until I find a decent QA contract, I'm going to be asking for prodigious amounts of freelance work from Amazon to make sure that I can cover the bills now that my Sabbatical Writing Year is over. Oh, yeah. Somewhere in there, I have to sell my condo. Busy-busy January.
The big deal was the five day trip to North Carolina for my immediate family to meet Jeff and give him the once over. It was a good trip. Fun but stressful. It is hard to be "on stage" for days at a time. Jeff had it worse but he worked off nervous energy by playing hard with my nieces so I could spend some quiet quality time with my family. I love my nieces to pieces but boy, do they ever show me that I do not want to be a parent. And they are good girls. Very well behaved and disciplined. (I keep saying that they are in the military already - they just don't know it yet.)
In the end, my parents approved of my husband-to-be and Dad even called Jeff "son" once. My dad's favorite gift was the puzzle that Jeff got him. It was the sleeper hit. Both parents like his politeness and manners and his willingness to help. I do, too. He makes me so happy.
By the end of the trip, we were both so glad to be home. We both felt like we had finally finished finals week exams (mid-terms were at his family for Thanksgiving) and now, we're just waiting for the graduation (wedding) ceremony.
Btw, if I don't do a lot of talking about the wedding planning and stuff, it's because I'm avoiding as much of it as possible. We'll be married in Las Vegas. We're going to have two receptions - one in the Bay Area and one in Seattle. I will post the wedding information webpage URL when I have a lot more information. Right now, it is going to stick to me, my sister, Jeff, the CA reception planners and Heather (the one I will be venting to).
I will do an end of year reflection post in a week or so. I hope everyone has had a very good holiday season.
Tarot Card for the Day: The Seven of Wands
