A real update...

Yeah... haven't blogged in a while. I'm sure it hasn't been missed too much, if at all, but I figured since I've only posted book reviews I would give a more normal post, just in case anyone is paying attention.

So, here goes. Life has been, well... as life often is: crazy. Sickness, uncertainty, business... all of it sort of piled up in this last month. Not a whole lot has changed, but here's the break down.

Reading: I have been reading, as evidenced by my book reviews. The books were pretty decent and kept me entertained, so that's a definite plus. I'm currently re-reading East of Eden. I love Steinbeck. And in a fit of trying to read all the books I've collected over the years, I started reading Flatland by Edwin Abbot. I've only just started that one, so nothing to report yet. It was simply the first book on my shelf that is alphabetized by author... so we'll see how it goes. Seems like it could be interesting.

Writing: I hit a real funk for a few weeks with the writing. I hadn't done any writing (including this blog) since mid-January. This past week it has perked up a bit. I finally brought in some new stuff to my critique group and overall everyone loved it. I got a great suggestion for a first line and some reorganizing and was told that I'm like a "warm and nice" Vonnegut. Hmm... interesting. :) I haven't read Slaughter House Five (I know... I'm not sure how I avoided that either) so that's going on my reading list next. I'm currently about two-thirds of the way done with the novel. Here's hoping that it's finished and ready to go out to agents soon!

Knitting: I've been in a knitting funk too. I'm currently making a blanket for my cousin's baby, due in April. It's EZ's garter stitch blankie. I love the pattern and was totally smitten for the first 3 1/2 pieces, but this last section is just taking forever. And....I still have the angora scarf, Andrew's socks, and the lace and bead shawl to finish. I've felt totally uninspired with all of them. I think I need to make something for myself, but I'm not quite sure what. I've been totally smitten with a glove pattern from Brooklyntweed and a mitten pattern that I dredged from the depths of the pattern stash. I'm tempted to make those, but the 60 degree weather we've been having here hasn't really motivated me too much. We'll see. Maybe I can get the blanket done tonight. If nothing else, I just found out another cousin is preggo, and a set of friends and one of my besties' baby is turning one in a few months. Maybe I'll just make baby things for them instead.

Panic: Ahh... finally something I haven't been putting off. :) The job thing has been, well, interesting to say the least. I'm sort of on hold with the Assistant Editor position. We'll see how that pans out. I just recently got a letter from the district and I have until March 4th to tell them if I am returning or not. I was feeling more amiable to it until I subbed today... little monsters. We shall see. The Superintendent of HR is apparently very excited for me to come back and really wants to talk to me about it. Maybe I can swing a really cool part time gig...like creative writing for Seniors or something of the sort. We'll have to see. I've really been trying to be all zen-like, but it's been difficult. Whatever, at this point, I'm a writer until someone else starts paying me to do something else. What will be will be I suppose.

In other news, the hubs and I are talking about remodeling the kitchen, which should provide some fantastic blog fodder should we actually go through with it. :) I'll keep you all posted.

Ahh...change

Well, what an eventful week is has been. I can't even express how excited I am about the next four years in this country. I hope that President-elect Obama will be able to continue to inspire people the way he did during his campaign. I'm also very glad that the election was uneventful. No replay of the 2000 election or anything. I was a supply judge for my local precinct. That meant I was an election judge, but sort of the judge in charge. Overall it was pretty uneventful. Most people in Colorado had either voted by mail or voted early, so we didn't have a lot of turn out at the polls. That was nice. No one had to wait in line and we had very few problems. Though first thing in the morning there was an altercation between a poll checker and a security guard. It was so ridiculous. Why can't we all just get along? I don't understand why people have to be negative about things. I've felt this way a lot in the last few days as I read friends' and family's negative comments about Obama winning. Regardless of who won, we're going to have to work together to get anywhere and a negative attitude isn't going to help anything. Anyway, I'll get off of my soap box now and get back to my regularly schedule blogging. :) 

Reading: Well, because we had such a slow election day, I was able to get a couple of books finished. I finished Paula, by Isabel Allende. I always love her writing. It is just so beautiful, lyrical and real. It sounds like she's sitting next to you telling you a story. This book was no differnt. The story of it is quite sad. Allende's daughter, Paula, has fallen into a coma because of a rare illness and Allende write the book as a letter to her daughter so "she doesn't feel lost when she wakes up." It's a beautiful story of Allende's life and a really gripping account of South American history, which many of us American's don't know much about. The poignency of Allende finally coming to terms with her daughter's condition is heart-wrenching and the love of their family will make anyone want to be an Allende. Truely beautiful, as always. 

I also finished Warrior of the Light, by Paulo Coelho. Coelho is so inspiring and I usually feel as if I'm not quite getting to the depths of his novels. I enjoyed Warrior very much, but feel like I'll need to read it again and again before the deep meaning really sinks into my life. Given it's format, short one page stories and reflections, I believe that it would be a good book to read just one page a day and really meditate on the meaning of Coelho's words in my life. Sometimes I feel like my brain just isn't quite ready to learn things. Still, a lovely book. 

So, I'm currently in a bit of limbo with my books. I've been keeping a more "spiritual" book on the shelf to read as well as something that I think can help me with my writing. I've picked upOpen Mind, Open Heart, by Thomas Keating as my "spiritual" book. I've been taking a contemplative prayer class at church, and this is the book that goes with it. However, I'm not sure what to read next for my other book. I had started Catch-22 quite a while ago, but haven't been able to bring myself back to it yet, and I don't know if it would be a good influence on my writing right now. We'll have to see. I'd like to read something that I think my own book would sit in the shelf next to... not sure what that is though. 

Writing: Well... the writing has actually been going much better. As I said earlier, I signed up to do NaNoWriMo. I'm currently behind in my word count, (I'm not counting anything that I wrote before Nov 1st) but it is coming along and the pressure of churning out 50,000 words in a month has helped me somewhat to let go of the perfection that I had been seeking. I can't say that what I've been writing is any kind of good, but it's at least out and on the page. I figure I just need to get a first draft done and then I can go back and spend years revising. :) At some point I might get the courage to post bits of the novel here, but we'll have to see. 

Knitting: Well, somthing has to fall of the deep end doesn't it? I haven't been knitting much at all. I worked on my pink prayer shawl some on Tuesday and Wednesday, but just haven't been motivated. Andrew's socks are still confounding me. I think I might have to frog them and start over. It's justnot working to try to double the bottom of the sock. The Mystery Shawl 4, which I now know all the clues to, is also still languishing in the bottom of my knitting bad. I just haven' t had the attention span to work with lace and beads. I'm also working on an angora scarf, which I'm starting to think may be completely impractical as it sheds ridiculously and I think I'll have bunny fur up my nose constantly. We shall see though. I have a deep hankering to make myself a sweater, but am not sure that I have the time or money to currently contribute to such a project. I also don't want to get into more startitis than I already have. I don't need 12 million projects on the  needeles sitting unfinished. I need to get some done before I start any more. 

Panic: I did have some close call panic attacks on Tuesday morning. I was so worried that something was going to go tragically wrong with the election and it would some how be my fault. All went smoothly, except the checker/gaurd thing, and the outcome makes me happy as well. So, it hasn't been too panicky a week. I did get an email from an old professor asking if I would be interesting in applying for an elementary literacy coach job. Not sure how I feel about that. I don't know if I really want to go back to teaching. But I decided that I'd inqure about the application process and see where we go from there. I haven't heard back from anyone yet, so maybe I won't have to worry about making a decision at all. :) The job front still sucks though. Maybe some day someone will call me back. I just keep trying to have faith that everything will work out in the end and that it all happens for a reason... sometimes it's just so hard to keep trekking through the dark though. :/

OLYMPICS! and whatever else...

Now, I'll be the first to say that I am a bit of a TV junkie. There isn't much I like more than sitting and watching a good show, or a terribly bad show, but I can usually restrain myself. For the past week however, no such luck. It has been all Olympics all the time around our house. I'm not quite sure what it is about the Olympics that makes them so hard to stop watching, but I just can't quit. I was up until three in the morning last night watching synchronized swimming. Which, by the way, looks ridiculously hard. Loved the pretty suits though.:) I haven't gotten any writing done because I've been completely engrossed with Olympic action. I have knit some- more posts on that to come, but mainly I've been cheering on whoever is on the screen. Gymnastics, swimming (I love Phelps, he seems so nice), rowing, tennis, badminton, diving, synchronized swimming, table tennis, cycling, volleyball- indoor and outdoor, weightlifting, track, dressage, I have watched anything and everything that is on. I LOVE it! Granted, I haven't really slept or cleaned the house or anything else, but it's been worth it. The tremendous human spirit makes me want to cry constantly. Phelps winning number eight; Dara Torres holding up the race so another swimmer could get her suit fixed; any time the national anthem is played. It's so touching. I don't know what it is that makes me so emotional about all of these things, but I can barely keep it together when all of those Morgan Freeman commercials come on, and if it's the one with Bella Caroli- forget it. Tears abound. Anyway, only a few more days of Olympic action and then maybe life can get back to normal. : )

In other news- well there is no other news. :) Schools went back today. I didn't. Which, was alright overall. I'm actually subbing on Wednesday, so I won't be out of the classroom for long. :) I had an interview at an athletic club, but haven't heard anything back from them yet. So we'll have to see. Went to the wedding of a childhood friend last Wednesday. It was nice, quite beautiful and interestingly enough I learned that I used to be baby-sat by the mother-in-law of one of my best friends from Sunset. The world is quite a funny place. Always too small. It was also nice to catch up with some of my mother's old friends. They are all such lovely women.
I finished my sun ray shawl, while being an election judge for the primaries. That was pretty painfully boring, we had about no one show up to vote. Not that they really needed to, they had mail in ballots and only one contested race. I also finished and blocked the 2008 Summer of Socks socks and am working on another Wendy Knits pair. I am thoroughly addicted to her sock patterns. Quick, cute, and just the right amount of effort. I really love tow up socks now too. I don't know if I'll manage to go back to cuff down socks.
If you are a knitter and don't read Wendy's blog- well shame on you. :) And the book.... well I have about four different beginnings now. Two of them may be viable. We'll have to see. I'll be taking them to my writing group this week for some critique.

Anyway, I'm off to have some dinner with friends. My friend Emma is also struggling with finding a job... we're going to commiserate over some margs at the Rio. :)
Until... well... whenever I get back to this.

Oh... and I believe I know who wrote my first and only comment. :) I'll miss you too E.R. maybe I'll get to see you when I sub.

beginnings...

Why is it that starting something is always harder than finishing it? Ugh... again, no posts in a while and this one will be sans pictures. Maybe tomorrow I'll post some of the knitting that I've finished, but right now it's beginnings that are on my mind. I've been struggling for the past couple of weeks with the beginning of my book. Nothing seems to be working right. It originally started with me waking up, but that seemed too cliche, plus it didn't really get the theme of the book going quickly enough, so I wasn't sure if my readers would stick with me. I tried another beginning. It sucked. I'm working on a third one right now (well... I'm actually procrastinating from working on a third one) and I'm not sure if it's going to work or not. I like it better than the first two, but I don't now if it's there yet. It's just so difficult to get the whole thing going. I have the ending planned. It's going to be great. If I can ever get there. I see now why George Lucas started with the last three Star Wars. Beginnings just suck.

In related news, applying for jobs also sucks. I've applied for a ton of jobs, and heard nothing back. Seriously? I'm well educated, hard worker... blah, blah, blah. I can't ever get a call back? I don't know. I just hate being in limbo. I just want things to be set and on their way. Book beginning set...job set... things are so much easier to work with when they're already in motion.

Anyway... I'll stop complaining and go work on my book some more. If anyone wants to employ me, let me know. :) I'm up for just about anything at this point.