Aside from one scene that I still can’t find the right way to end, I’m functionally 60% done with the novel revisions. . . maybe a touch more. The numbers are misleading this time around (if you’ll note, I was 48% done on August 5th) since I figure the percentages based on word count, and how far through the document I’ve edited. But this last 12% of material had a lot that needed deeper adjustments than just a quick line edit or wording tweak. Several scenes got rewritten, several got written in the first place, and it became essential to really map out my adjusted timeline, among other things. So I’m feeling quite good about this progress – there’s still a bit more that will need more extensive adjusting, but then it will ease up again toward the end.

At the moment, I’m pretty sure my head won’t explode, after all. Don’t worry, by Tuesday there will be explosion warnings again. Just you wait.

Because I try not to leave you without entertainment.

Because I wouldn’t want to leave you with nothing to do:

I figured out the major malfunction with the novel this week – something I’d identified while we were on the trip, but didn’t have time to fix. It’s been dealt with, though there are still a few things to do to make sure all the plot points have been accounted for. Yesterday I was at The Day Job, but today I’m going to make significant progress if it kills me. So that’s that.

It’s been a rough week in terms of writing, and I’m not sure why. “Frustrated” and “overwhelmed” aren’t the adjectives I’d really like to use to describe my mindset a month before The Last Deadline, but that’s been the deal so far this week. I haven’t been idle, though. The house is cleaner than it’s been in months, and I’m making good progress with catching up on our financial records (it’s been six months since that happened, which probably contributes to the money meltdown I’ve been having recently). I did some reading for my critique partners, though I still haven’t sent them comments and I feel horrible about that.

Randomania:

• I found jeans that actually fit me, waist, hips, and length–and they’re only $50. It might be a certified miracle, and I might be a Wrangler girl for life. For any other tall, thin gals, check out both styles of their Ultimate Riding Jean. They are love.
• While I was at the store looking for jeans, I found a fantastic pair of boots. Too bad I don’t have a real reason to get them, other than their utter yumminess.
• We’re in the market for a french coffee press so we can cold-brew our coffee without as much fuss as it currently takes. Cold brewing leaves out the acid and oils that upset my stomach, but maintains all the benefits of full, rich flavor. Matt usually drinks his coffee iced, anyway, which means up until now we’ve been brewing hot coffee and cooling it. And, you know, I can heat it up if I’m in the mood for hot coffee instead of iced. Unfortunately, to get one that seems like it will serve us well for some time to come, we’ll need to spend a bit of money. See the aforementioned money meltdown to deduce my feelings on that score.
• There’s a fantastic incentive for hosting a Pampered Chef show in September, and I’d love to take advantage of it, but I fear that between The Last Deadline and the money situation, I’ll have to watch it pass by.
• So far, staying on track with the Wii Fit stuff. I am such a push-up weenie.
• I’m going for a bike ride to clear my head before returning to the novel for some manuscript-kicking this afternoon.

We rolled into our apartment complex a little after 5:00 yesterday, having stopped at a grocery store on the way into town to get things like milk and eggs. The whole drive was pleasant (aside from the raging thunderstorms in Kansas, but we were moving west and they were moving east, so it worked out and we got to watch some fantastic lightning) and largely uneventful, which is the best way for a cross-country drive to be, in my opinion.

We unpacked pretty much everything last night, and I even got almost all the laundry done before we went to bed. Go me! Today we embarked on a bit of larger-scale restocking of the kitchen, and stopped into Best Buy on a whim to see whether, since we know they get shipments in Sundays, they might have Wii Fit in stock. And what do you know? They did! So we used a bit of money we tucked away for unexpected loveliness and got one. It’s got functions to let you set goals and track progress and activity levels, which will fit right into our cooperative goal to be more disciplined and intentional about the ways we spend our time. You can even enter non-Wii activities (taking a walk, household chores, etc.) and keep track of all that, too. Very cool.

Tomorrow I’ve got one more bag of stuff to unpack, mostly things we brought back from Ohio after I cleaned out my childhood dresser. Otherwise, there are bills to pay and a whole stinkin’ lot of novel to revise.

How’s your August gone?

I can spend hours–days, even–with my niece and nephew and be appropriately taken in by their adorable cuteness, willing to make a fool of myself in public making funny noises and faces to make them laugh, and be perfectly happy to hand them back to their owners and walk away with nary a twinge of “I want one for myself.” I’m not sure I can express in words how not-ready I am for kids of my own.

On the other hand, less than an hour and a half on a horse this week and I’m all looking up prices for tack and boots and figuring out that it’s much cheaper to adopt a rescue horse than to buy one. And, you know, there are horses in my book, so it would be a research expense. Yeah.

I think that’s rather telling. Right now I have much more of my former 6th-grade self in me than the future mother-type I expect will come out at some point. On the other hand, horses don’t go through rebellious teenage years, so maybe they’d be a better bet in the long run. . . .

I forgot to update yesterday, but we arrived in Syracuse without any trouble. We visited with family yesterday, and I have to say that I’m wiped out this morning. Most of the folks staying at the house are over painting so that Matt’s aunt and uncle can move into their new house next week, and I’m supposed to be working on the manuscript. But I can hardly stay awake. I think I’ll try taking a quick nap and coming back to the writing. Letters and pictures on the screen are blurring together, and I can’t imagine that will positively affect my revisions.

We drove for 22 hours yesterday, from 4:30am mountain time to 4:30am eastern time. Matt has already agreed to split the return drive into two days, which makes me happy. Otherwise, it was a blissfully uneventful drive. We identified the place in Kansas (outside Manhattan) where we almost died two years ago. It doesn’t look scary, but I took pictures. I’ll post them and others from the drive tomorrow if I have the time.

We slept until 11am, went to lunch with Mom and Dad at noon, and then I sat on the front porch and alternately read and watched the lawn crew chop down some trees and feed them into the wood chipper. Doc came over, we all went out to dinner and got ice cream, and came back and played pool. I think I’m almost caught up on all the things that happened online in the last two days. We leave tomorrow at about 8:30 for the next leg of the trip. We should sleep in Syracuse tomorrow night, and we’ll be done with the extended driving for a while once we’re there.

My brain is mush. Time for sleep.

Had run on Friday and Saturday at WorldCon. Found more people I know, good food, etc. Had to leave after lunch on Saturday because our good friends were getting married, so we went to the wedding and did a lot of swing dancing at the reception (whee swing dancing!). Got home late, and I decided against church this morning so that I could a) recover a little bit of the sleep I’ve lost in the last few days, b) get an earlier start on the laundry and, subsequently, the packing, c) get all the things done that need to be done before we leave tomorrow aside from the aforementioned packing.

So far, things are going more or less without a hitch. I’m trying to decide whether it would be better to take a nap this afternoon and accept my shortened sleeping hours tonight, or whether I might actually go to sleep early this evening and not lose that much sleep anyway. I have a feeling the latter is a pipe dream, so I’ll probably be taking a nap before too very long.

And that’s where we stand. Hope your weekend’s been lovely!