Editing::Writing Retreat at Moon Shade Hollow Day 3

Work, work, work. That's all I do around here. ;)

But, seriously, Craig and I spent nearly the entire day in The Little House with fingers flying over keyboards and mice flashing across pads. (Well, Craig is working on his laptop, so technically he doesn't have a mouse.)

We did take a short break to visit the dock before the rain started in earnest.

The rare and illusive Mo, captured on film for the first time in years.

With Hurricane Harvey finally breaking up and moving out of Texas and surrounding areas, Georgia got a nice, quiet, steady rain. It wasn't until after sunset that the rain became solid enough to make a delightfully comforting, steady sound on The Little House's roof.

(That's not actually the moon, but looks kind of like it.)

Oh, yeah. Work. Craig finished his homework, and I managed to get all of the new material incorporated into the manuscript (Hawaii was a bitch and took more than her share of my attention.)

The sole agenda tomorrow is a complete read-through (or as nearly as we can manage) of the manuscript with me making corrections and notes as we go. The next phase once I return to The Real World is a full edit.

I feel I should mention that Craig has been the "wife" on this working vacation. He did all the meal planning and shopping in preparation, and has cooked every meal since we've been here and cleaned up after half of them.

My nemesis

To my credit, I did manage to figure out how to use the intimidating and poorly designed coffee maker, and I walked up to The Big House to fetch some ground coffee. (Why is it "ground coffee" indicates "before brewing" and "coffee grounds" indicates after brewing? They're the same bloody words.)

Editing::Writing Retreat at Moon Shade Hollow Day 2

Last night, I set out my game plan for today. Craig had the punch list I make up for him and was ready for some serious (squirrel!) work. I had a few administrative things to attend to, but most of the day was dedicated to rewriting the new material Craig was creating.

Morning view from the Dock

But that doesn't mean I couldn't take a bit of time to myself to enjoy paddling around the lake before I got to work this morning.

The Dock

We got a LOT of work done. Kit and I drove to Lawrenceville to attend an Xperience Connections networking event hosted by Carole Cheatam while Craig stayed "home" to continue with his homework. It was my third meeting and Kit's first. Kit's presentation was met with enthusiasm, and we both made some nice connections.

By the time we got back to Moon Shade Hollow (about 11 pm), Craig had finished 3/4 of his homework and was taking a nap.

The Big House

Tomorrow will be a full, uninterrupted (I hope) day of writing, rewriting, and editing. My goal is for the manuscript to be complete by the end of the day so we can spend Thursday doing a full readthrough with notes.

Fingers crossed.

Editing::Writing Retreat at Moon Shade Hollow Day 1

Craig Sotkovsky and I drove up to Moon Shade Hollow for a writing retreat. We're so close to getting the first draft of his memoir completely finished, one last push should do it. We chose The Little House for our labor of love. (See what I did there?)

Even after the one hour drive, settling in, visiting with Kit and Billy, and dinner, I was pleasantly surprised how much work we got done. I worked up a punchlist of Craig's homework (sections that needed to be written) and organized my approach for tomorrow.

The fellow who greeted us when we arrived...in the bathroom

P.S. Be sure to click the link and choose "view photos" so you can be totally jealous you're not here.

Homemade Gas Mask

Michael set about making a gas mask to protect his eyes when he's cutting onions (he cooks a lot) and his nose from barking spiders (farts). He worked through several iterations to get something that works.

Prepared for any number of noxious fumes.

It works.

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Tree Eclipsed

For weeks everyone has been agog about the solar eclipse. Special Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses were being sold in grocery stores and other retail outlets. There was a panicked rush to YouTube to find instructions for making Homemade Solar Eclipse Viewing Boxes when the Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses sold out.

Being a good homeschooling family, David took up the challenge and helped the boys build some Homemade Solar Eclipse Viewing Boxes. Then we headed to our local park for a bit of sun gazing.

The Homemade Solar Eclipse Viewing Boxes were a bust, but Michael had brought along his welding goggles (don't ask why he has welding goggles), and those worked pretty well. I did manage to get a picture...of the sun, not really the eclipse. The horizon line must be an optical illusion.

I did NOT look directly at the sun. My phone did.

The most interesting part of the eclipse for me was the shadows being cast by the tree leaves. They were all crescent-shaped and looked three-dimensional.

Not the surface of the moon.

That bit of science lesson being concluded, we headed back home. The only question I have is, what is everyone going to do with their special Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses?

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When Everyone in the Family is Sick

Kitchen window sill. Don't know why it ends up there.

Transportation Freedom!

After overcoming an impressive number of road blocks (see what I did there?) the Focus is now in our name and insured, and Thomas has his license. That means, Thomas now has his own means of transporting himself. Between his jobs and theatre activities, it's come just in the nick of time.

Taking ownership

Mom & Dad's Uber Service now has one less customer.

Taking his wheels for a spin

BooBoo's Passing

We lost BooBoo last night.

After a month of TLC and hanging with his mama every day, he had another blood clot. David took him to the vet, who kept him overnight. He came home yesterday morning, rested all day, then went into distress again last night. We agreed that it was time to let him go.

BooBoo was one of the sweetest creatures I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and sharing life with. There's an empty space in my heart.

BooBoo Sitting Pretty

It's been over a week since BooBoo's emergency hospitalization. Now tell me, does this look like a cat who's on the brink of death? I think not. He's getting around pretty much normally, eating and drinking normally, and (we presume) doing his business regularly (it's hard to tell with indoor/outdoor cats). There hasn't even been a personality change, like can sometimes happen when an animal has a traumatic event. He's still our boy.

Not As Expected

File this one under "things that don't end up like you expected. Last night we expected that our visit to the vet this morning would be to say goodbye to BooBoo. As it turns out, he made a turn-around overnight. He was walking around and gobbled down all of his breakfast. The vet put him on blood thinners to address the clotting issue, and we took him home.

BooBoo at the Vet, ready to go home!

There's a very good chance that, even with treatment, he'll have another blood clot within a year or so. He's got an underlying heart condition that caused the clot, so he's not as healthy as he seems. Sending him to a feline cardiologist (I din't even know there was such a thing) for diagnosis and treatment is beyond our budget, so we're going to have to work with what we've got. Considering most cats don't recover from this particular condition, I think BooBoo's chances are better than average. We'll take him for a follow-up on Friday, and in the mean time spoil the snot out of him.

Resting at home under my desk.

Losing BooBoo

BooBoo dragged himself into the house from outside this evening, his back legs not working, and clearly in pain. David and Michael rushed him to the emergency vet where he was diagnosed with Saddle Thrombosis. It's related to heart disease, but is virtually impossible to diagnose before an attack. He's got a blood clot stuck in his femoral artery that's cutting off bloodflow to his legs. The prognosis for this medical condition is not good. Cats most often do not regain use of the damaged leg(s), and it is extremely painful. We're leaving him with the vet overnight, and will make a decision in the morning. Considering the quality of life he's likely to have if he survives, we're leaning toward letting him go.

Our boy, BooBoo.

BooBoo's allergic to mosquito bites...ears torn up.

Snuggling with his mama.

Helping Mom with her editing.

Something Old is New Again

Michael has had a fascination with the old-style Jiffy Pop, and finally got one to try out. He was very excited about doing it on the stove; he read the directions and everything. It worked, and now he has successfully scratched that itch. What more is there to say?

Before

After

Editing::One Thing Leads to Another

I've been fussing for a while because I needed to reorganize my primary workspace (desk, top of desk, areas around desk, etc.), but have not made time to do that (somehow working on my clients' projects was my priority...go figure). But, a series of unfortunate events (name that series) led to and supported putting organization closer to the top of my to-do list.

First and foremost: my printer. I'm pretty sure this was the hand-me-down from David when his company upgraded his printer, so that would make it about ten years old. It's a color printer, but it gave up printing blue before it was passed on to me. That was fine, because I just figured out which colors not to use on documents if distinguishing colors was important. Then, the red gave out. That left black and yellow. That's just not okay. My business' signature colors include magenta, purple, and green. Just can't make that happen with black and yellow.

Second, I realized I'm going to have to copy and/or scan every single cashier receipt for both my editing business and David's remodeling business, because the ink on those suckers fade pretty quickly and certainly would not survive the requisite seven years recommended by the IRS. That in itself was not an issue, but having my printer/copier on top of my roll-top desk (where I cleverly put it to keep it from taking up valuable workspace) made making numerous copies of receipts problematic. This issue became a bit more urgent since I need (or want, depending on how process-oriented you are) to copy/scan every receipt for both businesses from 2016 before I send all my "stuff" to our accountant to prepare income tax statements for said year.

Taking "first" and "second" together, there was no sense going through the burdensome process of moving a printer/copier that needed to be replaced anyway. So, it was time to get a new printer (business write-off...yay!). Since my business is still "blossoming," being thrifty was important. But, it needed to be reliable and print in color (what's a spreadsheet without color?). Print quality wasn't much of an issue, but speed was a consideration. Where do I go to find such a printer along with consumer reviews? Amazon, of course.

I found it with about 30 minutes of poking about. It was less than $60. I ordered it. It was on my doorstep in two days. I don't care how many people insist Amazon is Satan come to destroy humanity, I love Amazon.

Opening the box is always a gleeful experience.

The reviewers on Amazon may have overstated the simplicity of setting it up. There were two pages, back and front, of the "Getting Started" guide.

Simple Set-Up Instructions

When the printer and the online set-up instructions (in addition to the aforementioned printed instructions) failed to agree with one another, I called on Thomas to finish setting it up. Which he did, because he a good son who loves his mother.

Ready to go.

It now works! I can reach printouts from my yoga ball (without falling off of it), and it's easily accessible for copying! Yay!

So, the resulting benefit of this whole exercise was reorganizing my workspace, which happened (the first photo above). My desktop is uncluttered in a wonderfully peaceful and focus-inspiring way (I can actually put an open MS binder in front of me and work onscreen at the same time). I can get to my pen-and-ruler drawer (doesn't everyone have one of those?) without having to move my stand-up organizer. All of my reference books are within easy reach and I don't have to unstack eight of them to get to the ninth. All of my client files are in an actual filing cabinet where I can easily reach them. I can look up from my computer screen and see my most favorite painting (reproduction) when I need a moment of contemplation. I found the perfect spot for the Family Dictionary. And (covered with a protective hand towel) the new printer has become a favored perching spot for Bagheera and BooBoo (because many writers and editors need their animal spirits).

What more can an editor ask for?

My Zen inspiration corner: Cool antique-y lamp. Origami cranes from dear friends' wedding celebration. Mama Bear pencil/pen/ruler cup. Dinosaur skeleton model (guess where that came from). Incense pot. Reading Girl in the background. Perfect. Back to editing...

Puppy Love

Jenny (12) and Ruger (4-ish)

Helping with the Laundry

Biscuits

Bold Fashion Statement

Our current exercise routine is me taking the kids to the indoor pool Monday through Friday. This was Thomas' attire today. File this one under "they never listen to me when I tell them what to wear in public."

Waaaaat?!?

Sleeping Sitting Up

Please note the title of the book...

BooBoo (9)

Work in Progress - Stairs

Our stairs have been through some tough times and were showing it. Some of the bullnose finish pieces had popped off the front of the treads, resulting in steps that were a wee too short for the average foot (but not on every step, which made them that much more precarious). The older dogs (Jasmine and Jenny) have been having more and more trouble getting up and down them without slipping because of the stairs' hardwood finish. So, time for a re-do.

Thomas agreed to take on the project with David's instruction and oversight. The first step (ha) was tearing the finished bamboo off the treads and risers, ripping off the underlayment, and removing the banister on the open side of the stairs.

That accomplished, Thomas installed new solid wood treads, with David cutting boards to length. Since all boards were straight cut, the front edges of the treads needed to be rounded, which Thomas used a router to accomplish. The outside edges of the first four treads got the same treatment.

Here's the progress so far, along with the (rightfully) proud carpenter.

Ta-da!

The next step is preparing and primering the steps and side trim on both sides. Then painting the treads, and installing laminant on the risers. Finally, we'll be tacking a carpet runner all the way from the bottom to the top so the girls have something easier to climb up.

Bravely forging forward!

Reading and Pizza

It's been a few years since we officially enrolled in Pizza Hut's Reading Reward program. Each student enrolled in the program sets a reading goal for the school year. Each month they reach their goal (as confirmed by teacher), they get a free personal pan pizza.

All three boys are now too old to officially participate, but we've continued the tradition anyway. William is the big "reader" and has met his goal of one book per month almost every month we've been doing this. Thomas and Michael...have not been as consistent.

This is the second month in a row all three boys have earned their pizza. And believe me, they take full advantage of filling up. A personal pizza is not nearly enough to satisfy their lunch intake requirements, even with boneless wings on the side. So, we all split full-sized pies (with a little left over to take home to Dad).

Post-consumption table

Backyard Adventures

Michael enjoys spending a lot of time outside, and during the "school week," that means the back yard. Having plenty of scrap left from taking down a few dead trees, he gathered up some materials and built himself a lean-to.

Front Door

Sturdy door header

View from outside

Flurry of mushrooms...NOT for emergency dining