Smorgasblog

Ok, ok, I know I fell off the daily posting wagon again. Sheesh. You should feel sorry for me, the one who's lying prone here in the dusty road with wagon tracks across her back. It's just been a distracting and tiring couple of days, and though I'm mostly keeping all the balls I'm juggling in the air right now, I've been precariously teetering along the brink of overwhelm (that is, when I'm not apparently lying in the dusty road with wagons rolling over me). Woah. Florid mixed metaphors 'r us. Time to switch topics!

I'm not feeling particularly focused today (can you tell?), so rather than a linear sequential account of the last few days or some rant on a particular topic, I will now offer up a smorgasblog buffet. In other words, in lieu of an actual theme, I will now present a random collection of (hopefully) tasty, or at least palatable blogmorsels that have been collecting in my brain for the last few days. Some may be related to actual events, some may not. Linearity is not a priority. You have been warned.

(Why is it that every time I hear the word "smorgasbord", and especially the phrase "a veritable smorgasbord", I am instantly afflicted by an auditory hallucination of Templeton from Charlotte's Web singing about the Fair? Parents, you just never can quite tell what deep, twisted effect some of those animated movies you so casually let your children watch are going to have, years later.)

So the weekend in Nevada City with my bro and his family went pretty well, although it wound up being just me and Eli who drove up there (Josh stayed home with an unfortunate dose of the barfies, similar to the one that took Eli down last weekend). The drive was uneventful and easy, and there was lots of thrilling cousin time for the boys (there would have been more if J hadn't put himself through so many time-outs for inappropriate behavior, but that's the way it went). Z was walking up a storm, and soooo cute. Due to a combination of circumstances, D & K were more exhausted and stressed out than usual, but we still got to spend some good family time. We went out to eat, wandered around downtown Nevada City, and went to an awesome local pumpkin patch. Cute pix will be posted at some point. I didn't get nearly enough sleep, but it was worth it overall.

I'm gingerly starting to face up to the idea that in a few months, life will become incredibly much more complicated (not to mention sleep-deprived and overwhelming). Whose bright idea was it to add another family member (a chaotic and chaos-inducing newborn, no less)? Oh yeah, ours. I know it will all smooth out and become dealable at some point, and that my ability to juggle, balance, suck-it-up and keep-on-keepin'-on, already honed to a fierce pokey point by the addition of Eli to our lives, will just increase until I am even yet more the multiple gold-medal winner than I already am. But still, it kind of scares me sometimes. I guess I really will find out just how much more I can handle. Stay tuned.

The commute time in the morning seems to be a creative time for me. I think of all kinds of things to blog about, or that I want to try in my story. (I also come up with ideas for CD mixes, think about people I want to touch base with, or problem solve about things I need to do at work or at home.) But I rarely follow up on any of the things I think about by actually writing them down. If I had the chance ever to do the full-time writer thing, here's how I think my routine would ideally go (taking into account my personal physical and creative biorhythms). First I'd get up pretty early (around 7ish would work nicely), get myself and whatever family members might still be around in this fantasy ready to leave the house, then I'd drive somewhere (ideally for no more than 10-20 minutes) and sit down to write for a few hours. Then I would take a break for lunch and a nap (and maybe even a nice walk), and get up in the mid to late afternoon do a few more hours of writing. I'd knock off for a relatively lateish dinner and then give myself full permission to let myself veg for the rest of the eve in whatever way I please, making sure of course to be in bed in time to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Yeah, that would be about perfect. What would your ideal work/creative schedule be?

I'm trying to really take some time these days to notice the slow progression of Fall. The leaves are turning, the air is crisping, the light is softer and sticks around for fewer hours. The weather is more unpredictable. Every day things are a little different. This morning I noticed that the recent rains we have finally had have caused tiny bits of green grass to start poking up through the dry brownness that's been here for months along the sides of the road. Green season is coming! Course it will all be flooded/frozen out soon, but it's good to see the dry brown ending.

I still miss my morning cup of coffee. Both the ritual and the effect. But I know it's better for me not to have the caffeine dependence. And now when I do have coffee (I've been treating myself when I have chunks of writing time), it's certainly more fun (and effective). Today I had a cup of decaf, cos it was so cold out and I just wanted the tiniest caffeine boost. And it was good. But not as good as the "real thing", as they say. Ah well.

Ahhh, there's nothing like coming home to a clean house (especially when someone else has done the cleaning, like an expensive fairy godmother). I wish we could keep it this way all the time, with all the clutter stowed away (or at least neatly piled), the floors and carpets clean, the bathroom fixtures gleaming, the beds neatly made with fresh clean sheets. (Mmmm. Clean sheets. I LOVE the feeling of getting into a freshly made bed naked, with no cat litter grains under me or or rumpled up/pulled out sheets and covers to put in order. Don't you?) I guess it all comes down to priorities, and clearly ours lie elsewhere most of the time. Asi es la vida loca.

All right, that's it for the smorgasblog buffet this time. Hopefully this made up for the last few days of not posting. And maybe I'll do this again sometime, I like the little morsels idea. Sort of the Dim Sum approach, come to think of it.