A Rough 48 Hours

The sun is shining, we have the windows open, and I'm feeling much better. It was a rough couple of days. I've still got a touch of nausea but the worst is over. Unfortunately, I didn't quite make it through all my planned events this weekend.

I did go to Page High School with Ed to talk to two creative writing classes. That was fun and I was extremely impressed that the kids not only completed a 10-minute creative writing exercise we gave them, but that several of them volunteered to read their work aloud. And some of what was read was quite good. I'd go back again anytime.

I had planned to stay in GSO for the day until the Green Bean reading at 7:30 on Friday night, but I was so tired I decided to go home and nap for 2 hours before the event. And nap I did. I barely remember laying down before I was asleep. The cats woke me up because they wanted dinner, which is probably the only reason I didn't sleep straight through the event.

The Green Bean event was a lot of fun.  Very small turnout, but the writers who read were funny and heartfelt. The organizer of the event, Jill Yesko, read a piece about accompanying her elderly father to a doctor's appointment where "tests" such as asking him to repeat "Ruby, tulip, dollar" back in sequence to the doctor were performed to get a reading on his mental acuity. Jill talked about first feeling anxious for her father and then feeling shitty as she watched this man who had a brilliant career  struggle to please a condescending doctor over some stupid memory test. 

I barely made it through my time at the Bean. I was feeling pretty sick by the time we left (Blair came to hear me read).  I was up most of Friday night and decided around 3:30 AM there was no way I could teach my Saturday class.  I feel guilty for cancelling at the last minute, but comfort myself that the class would have been a dud if I had tried to teach it--I had zero energy and was focusing most of my energy Saturday morning on not throwing up.

Feeling much better today.  Got lots of sleep last night and am going to take it easy today. Do a little writing, go through some folders and papers that I've been ignoring for the past two weeks.

It's absolutely gorgeous here - mid 7o's today, lots of sun. The bathroom guy is supposed to come at noon to install hardware in our bathroom cabinets. Still no news on the replacement sink. Whatever...

Wishing all of you a sunny and productive and healthy Sunday.

Pummeled By A Cold

Hack, cough, gasp, sneeze. 

Yup, that's me, at least for the last 24 hours. I had a slight headache Tuesday night which I attributed to the excitement of the competition. But I woke up Wednesday morning (yesterday) with a cold that had grown to full-fledged strength in the night. Wednesday is my busy day in town, so I hauled a box of tissues around with me in the morning and cancelled my afternoon appointments to come home and go to bed.

Last night was unpleasant. I woke up every hour with nausea. This morning is better. I slept in (still in bed, as a matter of fact, as I type this) and am probably going to nap again in a few minutes. The nausea seems to have passed but now my ears are completely clogged up. I have an interview in High Point I'm conducting this afternoon at 2:30 so I'm hoping if I take it easy until then, I'll get through it without too much difficulty.

I'm a wimpy sick person. I head to bed at the first sign of a sniffle. But my body just craves sleep when I'm sick. Allow me 48 hours in bed and I'll be back as good as new.

Only I don't really have 48 hours. The only outing I have today is my 2:30 meeting, which is good. But starting tomorrow, the race is on. My friend Ed Schubert and I are teaching two 45-minute classes at a local high school. They're creative writing courses and the teacher wanted to bring in "real" writers to talk about their work, how they stay motivated, the writing process, the publishing process, etc. It should be a lot of fun although I find myself reverting to high school attitudes and calling Ed to ask, "So what are you going to wear?"

Then tomorrow night, Ed, myself, and another friend Pam are among some writers reading our work at The Green Bean, the same downtown cafe where I held my book launch. It will be short - each writer is reading two 3-minute non-fiction pieces. But I have no idea what I'll be reading and so need to spend today combing my files for something appropriate.

Then Saturday I'm teaching a creative writing course through UNCG and I need to prep for that.  Assuming I make it through all this, I believe I will collapse on Sunday. But not for long, as the speed-dating book signing event is Monday. That's quite a lot for someone who is off the charts on the Myers-Brigg test as an introvert.

But for now....I must nap. (Just threw that in there to make all you working stiffs jealous). <grin>.

On to the DivisionToastmasters Contest

Apologies for the blurry picture. Almost none of the shots I took tonight (or had taken) at the Area Contest turned out. Most of them are too dark to post, this being an exception. Here you see me and the other competing members (and one members son!) from our Area Contest.

I did manage to pull off a win although I suspect it was very close. The gentleman who came in behind me gave a fantastic speech--vivid descriptions and poignant ending. Plus, he had a marvelous British accent--so much more fun to listen to than our boring American tones.  So I felt honored to have won--he was good competition.

The next level is the Division Contest which will be held April 10th. Same speech to be given. After that is the District (state) level and then Regionals. I just learned that after District level all speeches must be original. I thought contestants used the same speech up through the finale but that is not the case. Still, one hurdle to be leaped at a time.  District contest first and I'll worry about the next speech if it comes to that.

Check out the hats on our Area Governor and Contest Chair. The theme was "Hats Off!" to our contestants. I was given a beautiful and surprisingly heavy take home trophy which you see me being presented with here. (Thanks to Lisa Lewis for being quick to grab the camera).

So whew! One competition down. And only two weeks to fret until the next one. =)

Area Speech Contest

The Toastmasters area speech contest is tomorrow night. I think I'm ready. I didn't practice my speech at all this weekend--didn't even think about it--and this helped.  I felt fresh and rejuvenated when I said it for the first time today.  And I'm at the point now where the more I practice the more I'm missing slight nuances which is usually a good sign I've got it down and need to stop.  I'll run through it maybe 2 times tomorrow and then just let it go. I'm not planning on using notes this time, so let's hope the blank out doesn't occur again!

No progress on the bathroom, other than I added another coat of red paint today.  One more and I think I'll have it. I called the contractor last week and asked for a return phone call to install hardware on the cabinets.  Nothing. No word on the replacement sink and when that might be in.  Just a vast wasteland of silence...

So be it. I've got other matters to occupy my time.  I'm doing a book signing next Monday night at a speed dating service and I want to come up with a catchy sign for my table which will be situated near the entrance to the room. Something like, "Men leave you, women wear you down, but cats are forever." Only much less cheesy than that.  If anyone has good ideas, please post here or e-mail me.

I lined up the event through a guy in my Triad Networks group who organizes the event. I went home that night and told Blair, "I won't be in until late on Monday, April 3rd. I've got a speed-dating event to go to."  He wished me luck and told me to pick someone good.

Funny guy.