A Day At the Creek

We spent Sunday morning working and then headed out to our property with the idea of slipping on wading shoes and walking the creek.  It's been in the mid-90's here all week and with all the trees and shade and slightly higher elevation, it's usually cooler out at the land.  That combined with water and no work  made it easy to hop in the car and go.

Here's something: Did you know rocks get really, really slippery when they're wet?  Yeah, we kind of figured that one out when we both started doing 3 Stooges like movements as we tried to maintain balance (and this in only about 6 inches of water!).  We were taking bets on who would be the first one to fall fully down and I was betting against myself when "Boom!" Blair went down, catching himself about half-way. 

"Are you okay?" I asked. 

"Fine.  Just bruised my foot a bit," he said.  We rested a bit and then went on.  We spent about another hour in the creek with no major mishaps, spotted a lot of deer tracks and the paw prints of something that could be either a small bear or racoon (I never got my nature badge in Girl Scouts), and finally made it back to the car.  Thirty-five minutes later, we were home.  Blair, who had been doing outdoor work ALL weekend in the heat, went to lay down for a nap.

I saw he was awake about 30 minutes later and asked if he wanted to go for a walk.  "Sure," he said, swinging himself out of bed.  Then he just about tumbled to the floor.

His foot is, in Southern parlance, "give out."  There's no bruising, but it is swollen.  We put ice on it but he hobbled around for the rest of the night, unable to put weight on it and from what I can see, it looks to be getting worse, not better.  We're hoping things will look better in the morning.

All in all, we got off lucky.  If he had taken a fall at the creek and actually sprained or broken something, we'd be screwed.  The car is far and away up a steep hill and we're out in the boonies.  As I mentioned to Blair when we were both first slipping and sliding all over the place at the creek, "We're not known for being the smartest of people."

I'll keep you updated on the invalids condition.  Mr. Independent will not be a happy camper if he has to rely on me for a few days.  But from my perspective...AH HA HA---the power!!!!!!!!

Answering the Phone

It occurred to me that I'm part of the last generation of people who remember what it was like to have the phone ring and have absolutely no idea who was on the other end.  That seems like such an odd thing now in our days of Caller ID and instant redial.

We have become so accustomed to checking ID when someone calls and then deciding if we want to pick up or not that I forget what it is to just hear the phone ring and just grab it.  I never do that anymore. If I don't recognize the number or it's an unknown caller, then I let the machine pick up as I listen in to see if it's someone I should talk to.

Blair has recently decided he's going to make an effort to pick up the phone whenever it rings, period. I'd like to say I'm joining him in that effort, but I doubt I'll hold to it.  I am not a phone talker to begin with (friends and family know this).  If you call me for a reason and then we end up chit-chatting, that's okay.  But I am not the one you want to call just to pass the time.  I actually get a headache if I'm on the phone for too long.  I much prefer in-person or e-mail conversations.

When Blair and I were first dating, he travelled a lot with his job.  Friends thought it odd that we were so in love, yet on the weeks he travelled we only talked for about 10 minutes on the phone each Wednesday night.  My response is thank God I found another non-phone person to fall in love with.

We know one couple that live and die by their phones.  I was over at her house once when her husband was on the way home from the airport.  He called to let her know the plane had landed.  Fine.  Then he called 10 minutes later to say he had his luggage and was on his way home.  Okaaaaaay....

Then he called fifteen minutes later to say he was about 10 minutes away.  At this point I would have pulled a gun and had it aimed at the door when he walked through.  I mean, Dear God, you're on your way home.  I get it!  Now shut up about it!

I'm also (bearing the wrath of many here) NOT a fan of it being legal to talk on cell phones in a car.  And you can yap at me all you want to about speakerphone and hands-free models, my position remains unchanged.  It's an unneeded distraction when you're traveling in a machine capable of killing you and others.

Now, in full disclosure, yes, I have occasionally used my cell phone while driving.  But rarely and I'm working on making it never.  With approximately a billion places to pull over and place a call, there's really no need.

It's A Miracle the Cats Are Still Speaking to Me...

And they are still speaking to me, although just barely.  Lucy came up to me this morning, tail standing straight up, bright-eyed, talking up a storm--all signals that say "I'm ready to play!"  I kept putting her off and putting her off..."No baby, Mommy's working."  Finally she gave up and curled into a sad little ball in front of my desk, her chin resting on her paws in the classic, "I'm so bored" pose as she heaved a deep sigh.

I couldn't take it.  Here I am writing about how to give cats the good life and I'm ignoring my own precious darlings!  So I got up and played with her for 10 minutes. She was so happy...well worth it.

I worry about Olivia though.  Lucy is vocal and if she wants your attention, trust me, you'll know it.  Olivia is very retiring and might walk around your feet once or twice but she's not an in your face cat.  So I try to watch that I make time for her as well.

Her new favorite game is to hide under our bed while I drag a cat toy that looks like a feather duster along the floor.  She reaches out and grabs it.  This game is more fun for her than for me as I don't even get to look at her while we play.  Maybe I glimpse the occasional paw here and there, but that's it.

So You Think You Can Dance...

Is anybody else watching this new reality show?  I'm completely hooked.  (Shocking, considering I've also been hooked on "Survivor, "The Amazing Race," The Apprentice" and about 50 other reality shows).  But I love this one.  Unlike American Idol, the judge are actually decent human beings who are kind yet honest.  And these people can  dance. It's really exciting to watch them do it.  And informative.  I watch them do moves that it just doesn't seem possible for the human body to perform and yet, when they get in say a Mambo class, the struggle with the steps.  It surprises me...I would think if you could move like that to begin with, you could do just about anything.

So that was my 2-hour break last night.  Actually, I've been disappointed in myself as a nighttime writer.  I had visions of writing sessions lasting until 1 am but I'm finding I'm pretty much tapped out by 7.   Could be because the real panic hasn't set in yet.  We'll see.

I turn in the outline today.  It's...all right.  I'm not estatic about it.  Part of the issue is I'm supposed to outline everything that will appear in a chapter.  Well, in the past week and a half of research, I've hit all the low-lying branches and then some.  So I can outline what I've found. But I'm short about 2000-3000 words in each chapter.  So how do I outline material that I've yet to discover and know what I'm writing about?

I'm sending in some sample chapters with the outline.  Just to make sure we're all on the same page.  I've actually calmed myself down by going with the worst case scenario.  Worst, worst case, I turn stuff in, they hate it and fire me and don't pay me, and I've lost 2 weeks of my life.  I can live with that.  People are dealing with a a lot worse.

So that actually comforts me. Since I know I can live with worst case, it helps me to  move forward and see what else can be done.

I've also got my monthly writers group meeting tonight, which is a bit of a jolt.  It's like, "Uh?  Outside life goes on? Wha...????

Back to the grind! =)