I have officially hit the pre-travel AAAAAH! phase.

Astute observers of my last week’s activities might put forward the idea that I hit the AAAAAH! phase quite a while ago, but a girl’s allowed to live in denial now and again, and apparently last week was a denial week. On the up side (humor me here) I have made lists. One is a list of Things I Need To Remember To Take To Ohio On Thursday. There are 12 items listed, none of which are things I would normally pack (there’s another list for that). These items are things like gifts and books I’ve borrowed and books I’m taking to let my parents borrow and all the info for me to file our taxes (who? me? procrastinate? never!).

The other major list is the list of Things I Need To Do Before I Leave. This includes “RSVP to everything” (two weddings and a baby shower so far, unless I’ve lost something) and “do the laundry”, which has officially moved to high priority since Matt informed me that he only has one pair of clean underwear left. I was hoping I could hold out on laundry until Wednesday night, giving me the greatest range of clean clothing to pack, but alas and alack, I will have to dress strategically for the next three days instead.

I also need to write the whole month’s worth of pages for the novel, but who’s counting? There’s something to be said for a time crunch… we’ll just hope that this time around, that something is positive rather than negative.

On the up side, Thursday is both my nephew William’s 6-month birthday AND the day I will meet him for the first time. Happy happy! I’m looking forward to the chance to spend time with family in the next week, even if there will be less down time than I originally expected. It will be worth it.

Even if there is a lot of AAAAAH! beforehand.

You know what the worst thing is?

It’s when only one other person in the building knows how to run the phone system, making them the only person who can give you a lunch break.

And then it’s when that one person goes off to run errands and now appears not to be coming back in time to give you a lunch break at anything close to a decent time.

Especially when you’re hungry and sleepy and bored.

Okay, so maybe it doesn’t compare on a large scale with some other problems that could arise. But it still stinks.

Unfortunately, my brain isn’t interested in cooperating. I’ll be taking drastic measures soon.

Mutter.

We went skiing yesterday. Beautiful day, yet again, but more crowded than usual since we forgot that it’s getting into Spring Break season, which means midweek skiing is busy. I fell three times, all for really dumb reasons, but I’m not feeling too bad today. Mostly my calves hurt, but I think that’s because we forgot to make our banana milkshakes last night. We were both pretty much dead tired.

In other news, I keep falling more and more behind on those reading journals (I have 16 to do now – they’re going to be short when I get to them), and I was going to work on them today but the finance department has tons of receipts that need stuffing, so I’ve got to give that priority.

Also as regards the day job, up until now we’ve kept track of how many phone calls we get and what they’re for (i.e. if they’re calling to give us an address change or they didn’t get a receipt or whatever… there were about 15 categories) and now we’re no longer doing that. I feel oddly bereft. I mean, it’s not as if I do all that much anyway, and now I don’t even have to keep track of phone calls? This job just gets cushier and cushier. Before long, I’ll be playing receptionist from home. Hah!

Just in case you were wondering about the outcome of our little vet visit:

She also got stapled back together. These are the consequences of clandestine late-night suture chewing.

She doesn’t like moving around, since she keeps getting the collar stuck on things, so she tends to just stand in the middle of the room and look at us pitifully. Matt got her to lie down on her bed (i.e. helped her) and now she’s looking at us pitifully from over there, but still apparently following the “it’s safer not to move” mentality.

I’m torn between pity and extreme amusement.

When we woke up this morning, we discovered that Shiloh apparently ate her stitches last night. Odd, because they didn’t seem to be bothering her much, and then all of a sudden they’re completely gone (no, they’re not the dissolvey kind) and her wound isn’t quite healed yet. So we’ll take her in to the vet this afternoon and see if she needs to be fastened back together for a few more days or if they think she’s okay. There aren’t any blood or guts or anything, don’t worry. And she doesn’t seem to be in excess pain now that the stitches are gone. Just very odd.

On the other hand, I’ve written 7,500 words in the last three days, which I think might be a record for me. Granted, they’re not words for my thesis novel, but I’m trying not to dwell on those kinds of details. 7.5k in one weekend! Woo!

How’s your weekend?

Yesterday was very productive. Today, so far, is looking good. It’s only 9am and I’m already almost done with my morning fiddle-faddling online, which might be considered a miracle, given my recent sleeping patterns.

And I’m feeling good about making more progress on the novel today, so I’m going to leave you all to amuse yourselves by laughing at my poor dog. It’s been almost a week since the spaying, but Shiloh still looks pitiful, because she’s not a big shedder, which means her hair doesn’t grow back all that fast.

Here’s a side view:

Yeah, the other side looks like that too. They say they shave all that area to be sure they have a sterile surface, and you do have to admit that skin is easier to sterilize than fur. But still. Just so you have the whole effect, here’s the belly view:

Okay, so I’ll admit that I got her to lie down like that because she thought I was about to rub her belly. And I did, right after I took the picture. She’s a sucker for belly rubs. See that little dark mark right smack in the middle of all the shaving? That’s the incision – it’s shorter than the middle joint of my index finger. Amazing how far things have come, isn’t it?

Anyway, she doesn’t seem to mind being shaved all that much, even if she does look ridiculous. Ah, to be free of image issues.

And for those of you who aren’t entertained by my dog’s pitiful state, I keep forgetting to post a link to my friend Steve’s photos from the lunar eclipse a few weeks ago. He had a beautiful view in South Carolina, and posted some of his pictures here. Go check them out. Now! Go!

Random thought for the day: I find that I’m turning into something of a Taylor Swift fan. Hard to believe she’s so young, with that voice.

Now, it’s off to save the world! No really. I’m writing a fantasy novel. It’s what I do.

Yesterday: Finished reading another book; almost finished laundry (see? I knew it wouldn’t be done Monday); printed out copies of critique group’s March pages; 7 mile bike ride (woohoo spring!); cleared out more than one other little thing that’s been hanging about waiting to get done; refilled the propane tank; watched The Simpsons Movie (ha! funny! should have watched it sooner!).

Today: Didn’t want to wake up; wore flip-flops to work (hey, the warmth will only last another day or two before it cools off again, and I’m taking advantage); no receipts waiting to be stuffed (woohoo!); adding new donor addresses to the database; otherwise, I get to read those pages I printed yesterday, catch up on reading journals (12 behind, and counting), and work on the novel. Or at least set myself up to be able to concentrate on it this evening.

Also, the scarf I’m wearing as a belt today makes me feel a bit like a pirate. Arrr! Pirate Betsy!

I just emailed my pages to everyone that needs them; not as much done as I had hoped for, but much more than I feared. I feel good about the progress.

And now, off to a slightly belated birthday dinner out with Matt!

I just realized that I disappeared all weekend. Hardly had time to sit at the computer at all, really, so it’s not as if I was specifically neglecting ye olde blogge.

Friday was one of our good friends’ birthdays, Saturday I had to pick up Shiloh from the vet’s and her Spaying Adventures. She’s been rather drastically shaved, and she looks both pitiful and ridiculous. I’ve been meaning to take a picture to post, but the camera batteries aren’t charged and you know how lazy I am about little things like finding new ones. At least the yellow iodine marks have faded, so she just looks like someone mistook her for a poodle and then didn’t quite finish the grooming job. It’s also quite remarkable to see just how thick and fluffy her coat has gotten. She looks quite naked where she’s been shaved. She was pretty quiet Saturday and Sunday, but today seems to be back to her normal energy levels today. I think we might take her for a walk this evening to burn off the bits of extra energy she’s been storing up while we’ve been making her stay quiet so her innards heal.

Yesterday was Matt’s birthday, and I made him a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and Reese’s Pieces on top and between the layers. It was quite heavenly, if I do say so myself. We also got him a copy of the new Super Smash Brothers for the Wii, and he’s enjoying that immensely.

Yesterday was also Grocery Sunday at church… every spring they choose one Sunday and instead of a traditional worship service, they send the congregation back out to supermarkets in the area en masse to buy groceries and other essentials and bring them back to donate to three area ministries. Last year I think we gathered 1200 pounds of donations, and this year’s load looked just as big. Matt and I usually volunteer to take the money donations (usually from older couples who want to contribute but can’t spend the morning shopping) and take a few youth group kids to a store and shop with them. So we got to spend $360 on food and shampoo and all kinds of other things, load it all up in the car, and take it back to the church. I can’t even describe how fun it is to go through the store and just load up two carts to brimming with stuff for other people.

Of course, tonight is my SHU deadline, so I had to make up for lost weekend time by sitting down this morning and running rough revisions on the pages I wrote last week. Things are going well, and I’m pretty sure I’ve found the right way to segue into the second part of a scene I couldn’t finish last week because it wasn’t flowing right. I’m hoping to be able to finish that scene before I have to send things in tonight, even though it may mean that section gets turned in in its roughest form. But it’s a crucial bit of action, and I’d rather not have to just stick in a few sentences to describe what’s going to happen for my critique group and mentor.

I’m behind in my reading journal, of course. Ten books behind, as a matter of fact, not counting the one I expect to finish this afternoon as I wait for my doctor’s appointment. And I desperately need to make a bank deposit. At least the laundry got started on time this week, though I can’t guarantee it will get finished today.

But I have gotten everything sorted out to make a trip out to Ohio next month to visit with family and some old school friends. I’m really looking forward to that, especially since I get to meet my nephew for the first time.

We really need to clear out the office again… we had people over last night for cake and video games, and all the mess from the living room got stuffed in here. The dog doesn’t even have enough room to lie down and chew on her bones.

Time for me to get a move on. Ta ta!