So I’m in Houston; no problems with my flight. I was moderately concerned as we took off, which was very odd, since normally I’m very comfortable and happy when flying. But a few weeks ago, a plane crashed on takeoff at the Denver airport, and though I didn’t think of it until the moments right before liftoff, I breathed a sigh of relief when we were safely in the air.

The guy next to me tried to flirt with me, but didn’t do a very good job. I wasn’t rude or anything, he just never did anything other than make comments he thought were witty and ask why I was flying to Houston. Honest. Then, in his last real effort, he told me that if he fell asleep and started snoring, I could just elbow him and wake him up. That was just under halfway through the trip, as drinks were passed out, and since he’d already been asleep and showed absolutely no tendency toward snoring, I just thanked him and refrained from further comment.

Then he noticed my wedding and engagement rings (it’s not like I was hiding them, and he was even sitting on my left), and he said, “Oh, it looks like you’re already married.”

“Yep, I am.”

Silence.

He slept most of the rest of the flight. His sister was sitting on my other side, and I think she was mildly amused. When it comes down to it, I was a little more than mildly amused, but I managed not to show it.

So now I’m waiting at the gate where the rest of my immediately family will allegedly appear in four hours. And I have four hours to fritter away. There are no out-of-the-way seats that also have a power outlet nearby, so I’m camped out in the middle of everything with my feet propped on my new carry-on suitcase, and I’m starting to lose circulation in my legs. I have two books with me, but neither seems terribly, immediately appealing right now. But I could read them and maintain feeling in my legs. It’s possible that they don’t seem appealing because I’ve seen copies of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s new release, Glitter Baby, all over the place in the airport stores, and I’d really like to read it. So tempting to just go ahead and buy a copy. Luckily for my wallet, it’s a fair hike back to any of the booksellers’ from the gate area here. On the other hand, I do have four hours to fritter away.

Decisions, decisions.

Oh, I uploaded the final update of my 2008 reading list – follow the links at the top o’ the page to find the list of 167 books I finished this year.

Okay, putting away the laptop now to save my circulation. Toodles!

Housing issues have me frustrated today. It’s most likely not worth it for us to stay in the apartment where we are now, not with the rent increase that’s coming. . . and we thought we had a good prospect for a place to move, but it turns out they’ve already rented it to someone else and it’s been moved into. Sigh. I suppose we were rather non-committal about our interest, but it would have been nice to have been told, at least.

On the up side, I’ve worked on a quilt Sunday and Monday, just a small one, and it’s coming along nicely. I might have the top finished tonight. We’ll see. I feel good about it.

There’s not much else of any interest. I think I’ve decided that my other priorities are going to overtake NaNo from here on out – there’s just too much to do between now and January, especially since I’d like to start submitting my thesis before residency. So I have a pretty solid start on the idea I was pursuing, and I’ll likely add words to it here and there, but it’s been back-burnered.

You really don’t want to hear about my week. And you don’t want to read about everything I didn’t get done.

So instead I’ll make a recommendation on the music front. I’m pretty sure I’ve posted something about Straight No Chaser before–if you’re unfamiliar, go to YouTube and search for Straight No Chaser and watch a few of their video clips from 1998. They’re fantastic.

And now they’ve reunited and put together a really stellar Christmas album, which is currently available at your friendly neighborhood music retailer or, if you like bonus tracks, head over to the iTunes store and buy it there, like I did.

Think of them if you’ve got anyone in your life who might even remotely appreciate a cappella singing and needs a Christmas present.

They’re endorsed by me! That means they must be good!

You don’t want to know how I’m feeling about my wisdom teeth right now. Or rather, about the holes my wisdom teeth left behind. All things considered, I’m making good progress in recovery. Certain things highlighted, this freakin’ stinks.

We’ve hit a meltdown on both educational and financial fronts this weekend, and are slowly working out of both. These things happen every so often, but they’re not exactly welcome.

I’ve decided to concentrate my NaNo updates on my LiveJournal blog, so feel free to head over there if you’d like to know about the crazy writing that’s going on.

On the agenda for today: way too much. Have to finish laundry, investigate move-out policies and explore an option for moving in the event of the expected crazy rent hike when our lease comes up for renewal, turn the office back into an office (it was a guest room last week), and catch up on my NaNo word count. Anything beyond that is gravy.

I need to write my genre paper, and I’m just not feeling it yet today. Part of the trouble might be that I compiled about 22 pages of material and quotations from my sources, and the paper is only supposed to be 5-10 pages long. I will have to summarize and distill things, and I haven’t quite got a firm handle yet on exactly what I want and need to say. So I’m putting it off for another hour or so.

The book I’ve been reading most recently is Naomi Novik’s VICTORY OF EAGLES. I have to say, I love Temeraire just as much as always. Being just over halfway through, I will say that I wish I liked Iskierka better – she’s impetuous and hotheaded and bent on gathering treasure, and I just wish she had some element that made her lovable despite that, that made me want to forgive her instead of just smack her at times. But then maybe I’m not supposed to like her.

And since I’ve been promising them for almost three weeks now, I’ve finally uploaded some of the pics from our backpacking trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. The aspens were in full color, which made for some really beautiful views.

This is me and Matt (no I’m not really that tall – I was standing uphill).

I love mountain waterfalls. . . see how the area at the base is flattened from the weight of ice through the winter?

Matt and I really are in this picture. . . we ate lunch up here in the middle of all that stark beauty.

Pretty pretty.

More pretty pretty.

And I couldn’t resist a great shot of one of the streams.

What a beautiful weekend.

Oh, what’s that you say? I need to work on my paper now? Well, fine. I suppose I can think about it, at the very least.

There are no longer essential chunks of manuscript missing from my novel. All the big gaps have been filled, and it feels lovely to be able to say that. There are, of course, several threads that I need to be sure are securely woven throughout the course of the story, but most of those will only require a sentence or two here and there. There’s still plenty of work to do (I do have three whole days before I figure I have to mail this off, and far be it for me to not use all my available time) but things are in pretty good shape.

I’ve put off thinking about the wisdom teeth stuff for now; I made my consult appointment and it’s not until October, which means I’ve got time to think about it later.

I have something of a job interview today. Am excited to see how it goes; updated my resume and need to remember to print off my list of questions about the job, since there are several.

This week is busy – aside from that little deadline thing, I’ve got Bible study tonight, I’m accompanying a friend to the doctor to be there for her stress/heart test, I’m working Thursday (as usual) and have a lunch meeting on Friday. And then Matt will be gone this weekend. Lots to think about, lots to do, but my brain is fried enough that I’m not worried. That is the up side of being on your brain’s last legs. Nothing much bothers you.

Have I really not posted since Tuesday? I blame Matt. And, you know, the manuscript. But mostly Matt.

See, he got his wisdom teeth out on Wednesday morning. Yes, yes, he’s a little old to be getting wisdom teeth pulled out. And no, things aren’t going badly–no excessive swelling, no bruising, no infection–but there is at least the usual amount of pain, discomfort, boredom, and malcontent about eating soft foods. Though I must say I make a mean batch of instant pudding, and I’m getting good at peanut butter banana chocolate milkshakes.

Unfortunately, it’s my turn to have my wisdom teeth out in a few weeks. And yes, I do have an excuse for being this old without having them out. Even now, mine are only partially exposed, which means I don’t even remember them coming in. For a while, I’m pretty sure I remember thinking I just didn’t have any. But they’re there, partially exposed, and apparently in danger of collecting plaque and other bad things to have collecting in my mouth, and there’s a risk of infection if I just leave them, and I’m sure I’m telling you all more than you wanted to know.

At any rate, I already knew I was going to be a total wuss about my whole wisdom-teeth-removal-recovery, but now I’m even more apprehensive. See, since mine aren’t exposed, are in fact mostly covered by my gums, I think I’m very likely going to need stitches. I have never, ever had stitches before, especially not in my mouth. If I have stitches, I’ll also have to have them removed. I am not excited about any aspect of the possibility of stitches. In my mouth.

And then there’s the fact that I have chronic problems with my jaw, and I’m afraid that having them put me to sleep and prop my mouth open as wide as it will go for an hour will end up with me being entirely unable to move my jaw, much less chew anything for days (not that I’ll be chewing much anyway, of course). And then there’s the fact that, you know, when I actually open my mouth all the way I have to do this sideways pop thing to get it to close again. I can just imagine them trying to close my mouth while I’m still sedated, unable to do it because it’s locked open. Fabulous.

Matt tells me this is why I’ll have a consult appointment before we schedule the surgery, and that I shouldn’t worry, but I don’t feel anxious. I’m not worried. I’m just realistic, and the reality is that it’s really going to stink. A lot. And it’s going to hurt. A lot.

So now that you all know why I don’t want to get my wisdom teeth out, I should probably mention that the novel is coming along. My percentage meter method of gauging progress is entirely unhelpful at this point, so I’ll just say that I’ve written two scenes, fixed another scene and a half, and still have to fix/finish half a scene and then write two or three legends. Myths. Stories that form the structure upon which an entire culture builds their worldview. You know, the little details are always best to save until last. Oy.

But really, things are going well. Honest.

Because I try not to leave you without entertainment.

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

I started off the day getting an oil change and all the other check the car stuff that seems wise before a cross-country driving escapade. Then I proceeded to the coffee house, where I occupied their lovely leather couch (very comfy), ate a piece of blueberry coffee cake about half the size of my head, and drank my bottomless cup of coffee. Adrianne and Allison showed up while I was there, so on one of my breaks I got to spend some time with them, which was nice. I like having friends to bump into at the coffee shop.

Then I came home with fantastic intentions of doing all the laundry, which didn’t happen. And after some reading, I came back to work on the novel. It’s been a good day. Low stress, fair to high productivity, and generally a good vibe. I’ve hit 40% on the revisions, though I do have to go back and finish a scene in chapter 11. It seems to be flowing better when I bounce back and forth to it rather than pounding on it, trying to make things happen. One more scene to tweak in chapter 13, and then I’m on to chapter 14 for tomorrow. Still a touch behind, technically, but I’ll be ahead by close of day tomorrow.

Here’s another bit of teaser from the novel:

Hoshea’s body twisted in another violent convulsion and then lay still. Lemuel knelt to comfort him, but I could only stare in rapt horror at the spot just above the priest and the boy. Dark as fresh ink and swirled with sick yellow tendrils, the shadow writhed in the air. A heartbeat later, it dissipated. A wave of hate and black rage rolled over me and a shiver ran through the crowd, and then everything lay calm.

Cool, eh?

Finally, this might be one of my favorite signs ever. I took this picture myself. The sign really exists–it’s in the parking lot of Panera Bread on Montgomery Road just east of I-71 in Cincinnati. And I just wonder how many people backed into the pole before they put this up: