I'm back....sort of.

I've spent the last two days immersed in dusty files and old filing cabinets.  We are half done, but we ran out of appropriate boxes to archive them in, thus I have something of a reprieve today. 

I am, however, moving my office today, so who knows how much I'll actually be online and/or at the computer.  Moving requires not only the physical moving and setting up of things, but also IT coming down and setting up my computer so I'm connected to the servers again.  And when they get to that is anyone's guess. 

All of this means, of course, that I've gotten exactly nothing written since Tuesday.  Woe!  Even at home, I've been much more tired than usual.  I'm not used to this manual labor stuff of moving boxes and files and filing cabinets.  So, no words. :(  But I've been mentally plotting those last chapters in my head, so that's something. 

Also, my Mom has started reading it.  She'd been bugging me about it, so I finally gave her a copy about a month ago.  She called me last night and is up to Chapter 10, or page 68 (these are single spaced pages w/breaks between paragraphs, as people in my family tend to whine if you "waste paper" - whatever.)  For those of you reading (ok, pretty much just for kistha's benefit), she's read up to the Masque.  Which means she hasn't gotten to any of the more explicit scenes yet, for which I am sort of grateful.  I'm kind of hoping she won't comment on them.  I warned her they were there, but I don't want to actually talk to my mother about the s-e-x in the book, you know? 

So far, she is enjoying it and swears that the first chapter pulled her right in. (I have kind of a problem with the first two chapters - not that they're bad, but they're actually my least favorite in the whole book.  People could make some incorrect assumptions from them, because they don't know what's coming.)  But Mom says she thinks they're good as is and warned me I shouldn't mess with them.  I'll wait and see what my beta readers have to say. 

I think part of my problem is, I like the book more and more the further into it I get.  At one time, the Masque was my favorite three chapters.  But last night when she told me she was reading it, I thought "Damn, she hasn't even gotten to the wolves yet!". 

Do other authors experience this, or is it just me?

I'm hoping I'll get to put some time in on it today, but we'll see how the moving of my office goes.  And obviously, the files are only half done, so next week I'm not 100% positive how much time I'll be spending on it, even though my goal was to finish the thing by the 31st.  It's still my goal, I'll just have to somehow try to make it happen!

(no subject)

Secret message to randomeliza - I am totally going to upload the expanded 2-disc score for Prince of Egypt for you this weekend!  I have not forgotten, I swear. 

Weekend plans

This is my friend L's one weekend a year where she doesn't have her son. His father is taking him until this coming Thursday. And since he could sense her stress levels over the phone (her father has colon cancer, and she was told two days ago that "They" think it's time to call in hospice) he is also taking her dog for the week. So she has no kid, and no dog this weekend. But her Mom has insisted on driving over from Eastern Oregon, and her Mom is a whole ball of stress all on her own. L tried to tell her this wasn't a convenient weekend. Her Mom could care less, and expects L to put her up for the weekend regardless. She arrived yesterday, and L pretty much told her "Mom, please leave on Saturday. I already have plans Friday night and am not going to be home, and I really need some "me" time this weekend. I understand you wanted to see Dad - but I can't deal with you right now." So, her feelings are a little hurt, but she's leaving Saturday, as L requested. You should perhaps know that she once threatened, quite seriously, to kill L's Dad, and they split up when L was about 8. they didn't see him for, oh, fifteen years after that. Since hs' shown back up in their lives, her Mom and Dad remain polite but distant.

And yes, I do understand why her Mom would want to come see him and essentially say her good-byes. But anytime L or L2 express their grief or distress over this, their Mom says "How do you think I feel? I was married to him and had two kids with him," and makes it all about her. This is the type of crap L has to deal with.

Tonight she wants to see 300, so I'm going into this viewing just the enjoy the fantastically impossible CGI shots and the gorgeous physiques of the male actors. No historical comparisons, at least I hope. Then we are either going out for a couple fo drinks, or going back to my place for drinks. I told her I don't care which.

Tomorrow is still very much up in the air, but the hope is that Mark's going to get to play paintball as he wants to (but he's sick and it's supposed to rain, so...probably not) and we girls will do something fun and girly like get a manicure/pedicure or something. Followed by (with any luck at ALL) some gaming. (As in the girly roleplay game we do. Except without the added stress and bad roleplay of V and L2, YAY!) But again, this all depends on how L feels. This is, essentially, her weekend. But I'm under the impression that that's what she would like to do as well.

Yesterday, I bought her some relaxing bath stuff and some of the Bare Minerals make-up she'd been wanting, as a pick-me-up. The stress got to be too much for her, and she cried at lunch. There is much, much more to this whole situation, but it boils down to the fact that - excepting her - her entire family is very selfish and "me" oriented, and God forbid she have a weak moment when they're in pain. It makes me very angry on her behalf, so my goal this weekend is to do whatever-the-hell she wants, even if that's nothing at all. She seems to be doing much better today, but I'm sure this is going to remain stressful and emotional until her Dad actually passes. In some ways, it's worse watching someone slowly die than it is to have something sudden and unexpected happen to them.