The Beginning of Two Days Off

Today is my usual Studio Day and tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday here in the US.  Today is packed with chores - I'll be driving all over town today picking up pies for tomorrow's dinner, getting appropriate paper for shipping and wrapping my Solstice gifts, checking in at my box store and at Barnes & Noble, and trying my best to avoid the grocery store today becuase it will be true hell.  I did my store decoration yesterday and we got things polished and prepped as best as possible so all my Manager needs to do today is bring up the Christmas tree, put it on the appropriate counter and decorate the tree.  I think he can handle that on his own.  If not, I'll be in early enough on Friday morning to handle things. 

 Our tree doesn't look as nice as the National
Christmas Tree.  We're supposed to be a
nation with separation of church and state, but
every municipality will have their own Christmas
Tree this holiday season.  Go figure...

I did bring some product home to work on today.  I have several things that need polishing that can't be hand polished effectively.  I'll be polishing those today and bringing them back on Friday morning to put back into their cases.  We have a two-day sale running on Friday and Saturday - the E-mail with coupons was sent out last night - so I'm hoping we'll be super busy.  I am going to do as much as possible today before the snow sweeps in.  We're supposed to have icky weather starting at noon and going through the day.  That means I will have to shovel the driveway at least once before my DH gets home, and if it is coming down heavily, it may be more than once.    One more thing added to my already-crowded day. 

This is Ramona Falls at Mount Hood.  Isn't it
just spectacular?  With beauty like this, how
can we be depressed? 

Please do me a big favor and spend tomorrow thinking about those things that you are thankful for.  A day of reflection can do all of us some serious good.  I am very thankful for my DH, who, as annoying as he can be often, is nonetheless my best friend and companion for more than 30 years. I am thankful for my friends, both IRL as well as cyber friends for enriching my life and broadening my horizons.  I am grateful for the Song that permeates my life and allows me to dance through life by giving me gentle leadership and immense love.  And I am grateful for this world in which I live - the wildness and the beauty.  I can never get enough of seeking out the hidden places that speak to my heart.  Mitakuye oyasin. 

Progress?

So, I've been working on this E-newsletter for the past two weeks.  I wrote the first one, then showed it to my manager who promptly tore it apart and rewrote it stating, "I don't know how you managed to get a master's degree with writing like this".  I've always claimed that I am not an author, I am an editor (and not that good at editing either, but much more comfortable with the red pencil than composing the original work).  So I then edited what he wrote, input the changes, and printed out a new copy for him to look over.  More changes ensued.  We've gone through this several times now and have finally declared the newsletter ready for release.  Tonight it will be sent to my E-mailing list from the shop and we will see.  We are doing two intense coupon sales, one on Friday and a different one on Saturday.  The savings for those using the coupons are substantial.  We'll have to see if these will work.  The business has been very depressed and we are losing money for the first year since the 1990's.  At this rate I won't be able to keep my employee employed, will have to switch to a five-day week so that I can work the shop with my Manager only, and basically it will be hell for two years until I can close.  I am looking forward to that like I would look forward to a tooth extraction without anesthesia - NOT.  Sometimes I just hate this economy.  But if this coupon sale helps our dollars, we will have a bit more light at the end of our dark tunnel.  We'll have to wait and see what happens. 

Love that green.  Now we just need some of that
coming OUR way. 

But, I also made some creative decisions.  I got Iris' next chapter betaed and sent back to her and I Emailed Sadie and told her, with contrite apologies, that I am unable to accept her as another beta.  I returned the work I had done on a one-up story for her so far, and said that looking realistically at my time, I simply could not accept another beta right now.  I like her stories, but they will take too much work on my part to bring them up to my standards.  Iris and I have gotten to a good working relationship since we started in May, 2009.  I like her writing style and we are comfortable with each other.  I try hard to allow her voice to sing through in our work, probably not being as picky as I should be, but we are both happy with the end result.  I don't mind helping her out and if I get time crunched, she is fine with having things delayed a bit.  The pressure isn't there.  Taking on another person would eliminate another 1-3 nights of personal time and I decided that I needed that time for my own pursuits - I decided to be a bit selfish.  I actually think that's a good thing for me at this time. 

Anniversaries and Holidays

I'm not ashamed of my age - I've worked hard to get to where I am.  I would happily trade my body in for a younger version, but I wouldn't give up my mind - there are too many lessons I wouldn't want to learn again.  I have friends from all age groups, from 30 years younger than I am to 20 years older than I am.  But I do admit to being alive on November 22, 1963, the day that President John F Kennedy was assassinated.  I was in Elementary school at the time, in fourth grade, and I was returning to the classroom from the playground when we were all called back in to our classrooms.  I know that we didn't truly understand what was happening - a lot of my understanding came later, looking back on the events through the eyes of commentators and historians.  But I remember the funeral.  It was quite amazing - the black horses and the procession down the avenue are still in my memories, colored by the black and white television that we watched at the time.  Yes, I will admit that I am ancient, but I can be a lot of fun for all of that (want to ride roller coasters with me?). 

It was quite the funeral procession.  And there was
no sound - despite the 1000's of people who
lined the avenue.

And I have finished five of my holiday stars so far with more in the works.  I'll be printing boxes this week and starting to get them sorted out so that I know which ones are going where.  I have to get things organized because with this six-day work week, my time is very limited.  I also have to start decorating the store today and tomorrow so that I don't have to come in and help on Wednesday - I have too much to do at home to spare the time to come in.  I am trying to make my holidays low-key and inexpensive.  So far it's working, but we'll have to wait and see if I have succeeded completely by the end of the season.  At least I'm beading and creating again.  I am designing my holiday cards and looking forward to making them, and my gifts are in the creative pipeline.  I'm happy. 

Saturday and the Weeks Grinds Down

It's Saturday today.  It doesn't really feel like a Saturday, but the calendar isn't lying, so I have to trust it.  Saturdays are nice because I only work until 5:00 pm instead of 6:00 pm.  And the other really nice thing about Saturday is that I get Italian for dinner.  Yum. 

 Bascali's Brick Oven is my local Italian food
restaurant.  We get our dinner from there every
week - baked rigatoni for DH and smoked sausage
marinara over rigatoni for me.

Next week is Thanksgiving in the US.  It is one day of the year which we set aside to reflect on what things we are grateful and thankful for.  We are going to join a small group of family for Thanksgiving dinner.  There will be eight of us for dinner.  We'll be bringing green beans and corn and at least one pie.  Eventually we'll be joined by more people who will be coming for dessert, but maybe I'll be lucky and we'll be out of there by then.  Considering that side of the family has eight kids, most of whom are married with children, having a few more people coming for dessert could easily be up to 20 additional people in a rather small living room.  I've spent many a Thanksgiving and Christmas at my sister-in-law's home and have relatively good memories of them, so I agreed to this because it was a small group, and because I really didn't feel like cooking a dinner this year.  I'll cook a turkey for Christmas instead of Thanksgiving and I will love it equally then, as well as be thankful that I finally will be finished with extended hours/days at the shop and through with holiday shopping, etc by then.  I am much more thankful at Christmas time than I am for Thanksgiving. 

I love the look and smell of turkey cooking.  Even
though I won't be cooking this year, I'm already
looking forward to my Christmas turkey. 

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, but it is not a bad thing to reflect on the previous year and those things that make us thankful.  Why not share our holiday with us and take the time to review your own life and what you can be thankful for. 

Hear that ticking?

Time is ticking away.  The last thing that any of you need reminding about is that you're running out of time for preparation and purchase of your Holiday gifts.  I run a slightly shorter time frame than many of you because I focus on Solstice gifts (even though I don't exchange gifts with my DH and some other friends until Xmas).  I am beading every night, but I do have beta obligations for my two authors that cuts into my gift preparation time.  I got my German author current last night.  We have worked together for many months now and are quite comfortable with each other's style and schedule.  My Portuguese author, on the other hand, is a new beta for me and one that I'm not sure I will keep on.  I am not sure that I actually have the time to take on anther new author for a regular weekly beta.  But I will finish the one-off that she sent to me and then re-evaluate.  My time is pretty crowded so I may end up turning her down which would disappoint both of us. 

Time ie ticking away...

I've been working on an E-newsletter for the shop announcing a two-day sale for next week.  I've spent hours writing it.  Then I handed it to my Manager who ripped my writing to shreds.  He will end up re-writing the entire thing, and that's fine with me.  He claims that I have no writing skills and wonders how on earth I managed to get my masters thesis written and accepted.  I don't think that I am a poor writer, but I do think that my conversational style of writing is far different from his and that he wants to emphasize different points for this sale than I do.  So I will let him write his text and we can merge points from there.  I would let him compose on the go in the actual E-mailing program, but the program is a bit tricky and I don't need something sent out to people by accident.  So he'll have to write in Word - something that he's not used to either.  It will be an experience for him...good or bad.  Just as long as I have something ready to send no later than Tuesday morning next week.  Time is ticking away....

A Royal Wedding

I remember Diana and Charles' wedding.  I, like millions of Americans, woke up very early (I wasn't keeping such extreme hours in those days) and sat, glued to the television, while this fairy-tale wedding took place.  And now there will be another wedding in the British Royal family - William and Kate.  These two have a chance - they have at least known each other for many years now and have split once a few years ago, only to decide that they couldn't live without each other.  So once again we get to be inundated with "the dress", "the venue", and "the guest list".  There will be the obligatory kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and the procession through the city.  I wish them the very best - they make a very cute couple (and she has wonderful fashion sense).  I'll probably be up watching this wedding too, and I will hope that I won't have to watch things fall apart several years later as happened to both his father and his uncle. 

I loved the fairy-tale wedding of
Charles and Diana.  And just
look at her bouquet.  It's a good
thing she didn't have to toss that!

I did get a lot of work on holiday gifts done yesterday, at the expense of two stories that I am beta reading for some of my authors.  I'll have to work on Iris's story tonight, but that's just a final run-through before release for posting.  Sadie's story is more intense - lots more red in this one.  I'm still deciding whether or not I am willing to take her on.  At this time of the year, when my time is so limited, I actually think I'll have to turn her down.  It is in a period of assessment for both of us, so we'll see.  But I feel that I probably can't accept another ESL author - it is just too difficult to beta because of differing thought processes and word orders.  ESL authors take a lot of extra time. 

Random Thoughts

I came across this poem yesterday.  It's short and not too archaeic in language, so I quote it here for all of you. 

As toilsome I wander'd Virginia's woods,

To the music of rustling leaves kick'd by my feet, (for 'twas autumn,)
I mark'd at the foot of a tree the grave of a soldier;
Mortally wounded he and buried on the retreat, (easily all could I understand,)
The halt of a mid-day hour, when up! no time to lose—yet this sign left,
On a tablet scrawl'd and nail'd on the tree by the grave,
Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.

Long, long I muse, then on my way go wandering,
Many a changeful season to follow, and many a scene of life,
Yet at times through changeful season and scene, abrupt,
alone, or in the crowded street,
Comes before me the unknown soldier's grave, comes the
inscription rude in Virginia's woods,
Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.

"As Toilsome I Wander'd Virginia's Woods" by Walt Whitman. Public


I read a lot of Tolkien-based fanfic.  I have read hundreds of authors and thousands of stories, but in most of them, this idea of the loving comrade would fit in perfectly.  How would this fit into your personal life?  Would your friends give you a final accolade like that?  As frustrating as my DH can be sometimes, I would have to give him this accolade in the main.  He is going through extreme stress right now, but unlike many previous times, is managing to keep his temper under control and just focus on a future that looks dismal to him.  In his own way he is demonstrating extreme courage because walking into the unknown is something he finds extremely uncomfortable.  So here's to you, my sweet DH...bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade. 
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYL3j27sSH8

And for your entertainment, I have this wonderful video on Dancing Through the Movies.  It is less than five minutes in length, but thoroughly enjoyable and well edited.  Treat yourself - I only wish I had that spark in my own movements, but I never had the true genius that dance movement asks for.  I was a good dancer, but never made it to great, and since I gained my weight, I don't move as well either.  But I'm working on that (the weight, that is - LOL).  Today is my studio day and part of that will be an hour of dance exercise.  I have fun with my exercise regime :-)  Have a flourishing day today and accomplish something - kiss a child, sooth a loved one, bake a cake, listen to a lark.  Enjoy!