Time (the Revelator)

Hey kids,

About two months ago, when your Nana and Papa were still here, I was working quite a bit. As in 20-hour days, the kind where you work till you can't see straight, drive home for a couple hours sleep and maybe a shower, then back to it. That's kind of the way it is when I'm on a publishing deadline. That's okay, and that's normal. After a week or two of this madness, things settle down for a while, the workload goes back to "hectic" rather than "hellish" and then a few weeks later, the cycle starts all over again.

There's been a hitch lately in the cycle.

There hasn't been as much publishin' goin' on. Business is slow. Scary slow. I've been getting home at decent hours during the work week, and have nothing to work on during the weekends.

I've actually had time and energy to spend part of the evening doing something other than coming home, feeding you dinner, throwing your pj's on you and herding you into bed. We've actually painted, we've read books, we played with your clay (your favorite!) several times this week:


Jellyfish, Gary, Patrick and Spongebob

We've taken aimless drives around the neighborhood, gone out to dinner a couple of times. Those two photos up at the top are both of you helping me roll the dough for Pumpkin Monkey Bread on a lazy Sunday morning.

And I've had some time to myself, too, which is unheard of. Mostly after you've gone to bed, but still. I've watched a ton of DVDs that I've bought over the last year or so, most of them still in their original packaging. I've caught up on a season's worth of Sarah Conner Chronicles on Tivo. I've discovered the magic of my local RedBoxes, those glorious, conveniently located vending machines that dispense rental DVDs for a buck a night. I mean, for a buck a night, I can afford to watch a terrible movie, and not feel too terribly gypped the next day.

And I've found time to read again. In the last month I've probably read more than I've read in a whole year:

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood: Read it again. A while ago I began not re-reading books, because there are too many books out there that I haven't read even once. This one was definitely worth another read.

Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris: I loved the Hannibal trilogy, but avoided this one because of horrible reviews. Who has time to read a bad book? Apparently I do. I'm thinking of renting the equally ill-reviewed movie this weekend.

Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston: I started reading this one back in June, but life got in the way and I never finished it. Done!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: A mystery/thriller. I'm not much of a mystery novel kind of gal, but this one came highly recommended, and I devoured it in short order. The author had the courtesy at least to hand in the manuscripts for two sequels before dying of a heart attack. The second in the series was released in Europe last week (won't be released HERE until August? WTF?), and I ordered it on Amazon UK. It should be here sometime this week. Whoot.

But of course all this downtime has a downside. I fear for my job every day. I've agonized and worried myself into BP levels that would pressure-cook a frozen turkey in seconds. The economy is supposed to be what happens to OTHER people. I'm much too valued an employee to be turned into just another freakin' STATISTIC, right? I've been telling myself that through three rounds of massive company-wide layoffs.

So I keep tap-dancing, shucking and jiving and trying to look busy, waiting for the clock to strike 5-ish, so I can come home to you two, who I hope will never lay me off, buy me out, or otherwise terminate my services. I love you very, very, very much. Sleep tight.