Three years gone

  It's been an interesting, busy, and productive 3 years. I'm licensed, practicing, and loving my  work life. 

I've been diagnosed as having lupus.

I am walking back into my writing life, both professionally (academic writing about nursing and chronic illness) and personally. I have a contract to write more vignettes for an upcoming DCC book. I love writing the vignettes, appetizers for story, the quickies of the writing world. 

I am also realizing that I write in a new genre called Hopepunk. Yeah, we all knew punk would be in there somewhere. 

I found this on  Susan Kay Quinn's blog. It sums it up perfectly.

I don't know about you, but I could use a little hope right about now. Maybe I should write it.

I chose this...

It's been a while, I know. Grad school can do that to you. Takes you out of the world, swimming in a miasma of your own thoughts, distilling you down to that one purpose, one vision, until you emerge more than a butterfly, less than a caterpillar.

I chose this. School, work, school, repeat.
I chose this. Learning how best to help people.
I chose this. Serving those who cannot serve themselves.
I chose this. Seeing a glimmer of hope in every hopeless case.

Do not speak to me of immigration status, incarceration status, gender identification, who they love, who you hate. Do not speak to me of gender preference, skin color, religious inclination, political affiliation. Do not speak to me of language barriers, substance use, lifestyle choices, past lives, future mistakes. That person you despise could be you some day. Broken, depressed, lost. Treat them the way you would want to be treated. Because that is how I will treat you.

Because. I. Chose. This.

And I will choose it again tomorrow.

I can feel it coming...

It's October, and you know what that means. Yeah, Halloween is coming, but that's not it. A multitude of family birthdays? yes, but no. Cooler weather? depends on where you live. In Tucson the high is in the 80's. (I'll wait while you stop flipping off the computer.)

In this house, it means NaNoWriMo is coming. Yes, NaNo for those that know. For those that don't, well it's an annual month of insanity, where about a half million people world-wide try to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.

I told you it was crazy.

What does that have to do with October? Well, I NaNo. October is for plotting, back story, character development, and organization. This year October is also about a master's class in pharmacology. It's taking all of my time right now, but I really need a creative outlet for me.

October also means I am in the thralls of Reindeer games, that annual rush to knit eleven pairs of socks in time for Yule. Yeah, I'm doing that, too.  It's okay, I've go a plan. (stop snickering) Really, there is a plan. I'm going to stick to 1667 words a day. One pair of socks a week. Oh, and school work, and work-work, and ...

OOPS!

Yeah, well here goes. I'm doing it anyhow. I'll be revisiting a story I started a couple of years ago. I didn't like where it went, so I'm doing it again. We're using a poker theme this year. at least I can play poker.

Whew! What a week this has been. Work is well...work. There is not much difference from one night to the next as a critical care nurse. Sure faces and exact details change, but the job is what it is.

Fred's memorial gathering was nice. It was fun to share memories about someone who touched us all so deeply. Fred was an interesting man, and an amazing nurse. We lost a brother, a friend, a comrade. There will never be another quite like him.

We are firmly into school mode. Week two's assignments are done. I proved, once again, that I can write a ten page paper in two days. On to week three!

Game night at Casa Bruss was amazing. Played one new game, and several favorites. It never fails to be a good time. I was so relieved that Game Night actually meant board games. It occurred to me on the way there that it might mean football. Thank heavens I was wrong. I'm not into hockey much...

Reindeer games has begun. The yarn is dyed, knitting has commenced. I promise photos soon.

The meeting of Midnight Home Improvement Society

For those not aware, we bought a house earlier this year. It is wonderful to have a safe-haven of our very own. With home ownership comes the inevitable home improvement projects.

Our first foray was with painting, where I learned that my ability to predict how long it would take was severely inadequate, and that there is no substitute for proper preparation. It is lovely.

This week's project involved lighting. First we took the light/fan combo out of the bedroom, and installed a ceiling light. For this, we needed help, in the form of the brother, who figured out the problem and made it work in about an hour.

Tonight's project was to install send fan unit in the front room. I am happy to report that it worked, although I still do not like being on a ladder.

Oh and the Howard Johnson lamp will be repurposed later.

Just Like Starting Over...

It's been too long; a hard, crazy, chaotic couple of years. Let me recap:

• we moved to Tucson, ostensibly to be near family, but also because of the weather
• we bought a house - nothing quite so humbling as discovering exactly how much yarn you have, and then figuring out where to put it. Oh, and for the record, I do not like palm trees or dogs. I do love my tangerine and apple trees, though. 
• Did you know tangerine blossoms almost smell like jasmine?
• I discovered that knitting is not a top priority in the Desert Southwest. Let's be real, who really needs wool socks in 90°F heat?
• night shift is a survival tactic in the desert - if it's good enough for the coyotes, it's good enough for me
• I have more writing ideas than I can keep up with - working on a viable outlining solution - right now I'm working on a hybridization of the Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method and Lisa Cron's Story Genius - they mesh well together. I'll let you know how it works out.
• the Compassion Project is about 75% written - yes, you read that right, 3/4 of the way there. I'm into the meat of the project. Wish me luck
• I have discovered a wealth of support and chaos that is family
• Hubs has two books doing rather well, and is writing a third and fourth. He is play testing regularly.
• Tucson has a strong writing culture, including a somewhat active NaNoWriMo group - I will be attending camp in April and am hoping to us that time to finish the first draft of the the Compassion Project

Sounds busy, right? You betcha. We have a few straggling boxes left to unpack, two sets of curtains to hang, and built-in book shelves to create. 

So close, and yet, so far...

Crotchety old lady in training

Apparently I have reached that age where I will roll my eyes, shake my head and give disdainful looks. And if you are three teenaged girls riding the electric handicap scooters at Walmart, I will do this, especially when you were seen skipping through the parked cars in the parking lot on the way in. Especially if you decide to play follow the leader through the store, getting in the way of shoppers, like me. And if you have the audacity to be offended by my disdain, I will tell you that it is sad that you feel the world is your playground, that you have now run the batteries down so that other people who need the scooters cannot use them, that they are meant for disabled people to use - not three self-important little girls, and that it is sad that your parents obviously have not taught you needed lessons for the abrupt awakening of adulthood that is headed your way.

And then I will make my way out of the store as quickly as I can, hoping my tires will not be slashed in the near future.