Nov 30 2013

Undisclosed loca — no, wait, I’m actually at home.

Rosemary

As has become my personal Thanksgiving tradition, I’ve added some vacation days to the regular holiday days off from the DayJob, resulting in 10 whole days off. And as has also become my tradition I eschew all Thanksgiving celebration, in favor of using the time to hide away from the world and write.

I couldn’t afford to actually go anywhere (downside of a 32-hour workweek), but since my sister took off for New Hampshire to eat turkey with friends and generally socialize, I have the house to myself for five of those days, which is almost as good as going away!

I’ve been hunkered down, pounding away. tearing my hair out, and pacing.

I also had intended to do some lovely hikes, and visit the gym, and then — dammit! I did this thing to my knee that happens every now and again at inexplicable intervals.

The first time it happened, I waited a couple of weeks, hoping it would go away. Finally broke down and saw an Orthopedist, who prodded me and declared it was absolutely a torn cartilage, and spoke to me seriously about surgery. It feels like a torn cartilage, it acts like a torn cartilage, hurts like all kinds of crazy. Then we took an MRI: no discernible injury whatsoever. Nada.

So: physical therapy, bunch of ibuprofen, and I was fine. Next time it happened, I knew what to do, and it was gone in a couple of days.

So, alas, happened again this week, and I was not able to head out to the nearby park to hike in the woods, as I wanted. Nor visit the gym.

Nor drive down to Fairfield to visit some friends for a post- T-day noshfest.

And these were people I really wanted to see! Including two who are home from college, and I don’t get to see enough! Plus: world’s cuddliest cat — and I am suffering from serious lack of cat-cuddles.

Well. I did get lots of writing done. Of course, much editing and rewriting will follow. I don’t know about you, but when I declare that I’m going to write no matter what, the result will always include a certain percentage of, shall we say, dispensable prose. Still, happily, I wrote lots of words!

And so did Sabine! And so did Ann! They both completed their NaNoWriMo goals, hooray!

I’m thrilled to bits for both of them — but especially for Sabine, for whom this is the first book-length work completed.

Of course, you knew she was already a published writer, right?

So, I’m emerging today to do some writing-associated but non-writing tasks. Such as, say, blogging. Hi, there!

And other biz-type things that I really must see to.

Which I must now get back to.

Hope your days of celebration were as enjoyable as mine!

My temporary office in the kitchen.   With view of happy birds, and bonus sunshine.

The workbook to my left is FORGOTTEN ALGEBRA, a Self-Teaching Refresher Course,   by Barbara Lee Bleau, PH.D.   If you are currently in school, and have asked your teacher why you have to study all that algebra crap, since you’re obviously never going to need it — NEWS FLASH! You will need it.