Just checking in

[matril]

Hmm. It's been quiet here for a little while. Not much new happening. My husband got the yearly pink slip, no surprise, but blah. We had a follow-up IEP for Luke regarding home services, and they'll be hiring a full-time board certified home services person thingy in September who will set up regular visits, but until then it's the usual "try to squeeze in a five-minute work session with Luke while the other kids scream for my attention." Well, at least Luke has been very cheerful and affectionate lately. He lost another tooth and is getting that adorable holes-in-the-mouth smile. :D Ryan is being insanely clingy. If I'm sitting down, he absolutely must be in my lap. I wouldn't mind the cuddliness if he just sat quietly, but he squirms and wriggles and smacks his head against me - today, thanks to my glasses getting crushed between my head and his, I got a serious black eye. And he has a very rigid routine of sucking his thumb while grabbing my hair and yanking. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I like being loved, I'd just like to be loved less violently. Emma is also in a (much safer) affectionate stage of constantly saying "I love you, Mommy/Daddy," and it makes my heart swell to bursting. Yay!

I think the real reason for the break is that I've been in a massive writing binge. Perhaps it's a subconscious response to getting a bunch of rejections for my manuscript, so I'm working myself crazy over a new one, but I think the main reason is that it's a much easier story to write. It has been flowing just beautifully - who knows whether it's going anywhere good, but I'm going to just keep writing and see what happens. Seriously, I wrote about 30 pages in three days. It drives my husband batty to see not much more than the back of my head at the computer, but then when he sits to read what I've written, he always finishes with a "Oh, no, you can't just stop there! What happens next?" Which makes me feel less guilty for going at it some more. Which I think I shall, right now. (Oh, and I think I have a title, finally: Other. Doesn't it have a nice evocation, even if you haven't any idea what the story's about?)

Comments

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

"Other" sounds pretty intriguing!

[matril.livejournal.com]

Look for it in bookstores sometime in the next ten years. ;)

[melitusj.livejournal.com]

Hmm. . .

I'd tell you to cut your hair short, but you wouldn't listen to me. So I suppose you'll just have to wait until he grows out of it or something.

I'd like to read this story- but I'll wait until it's done. Besides, I need to get you my comments on the one you've already given me. Lazy me.

[matril.livejournal.com]

Short hair wouldn't make a difference. If I braid my hair and wrap it tight around my head, Ryan roots around and finds whatever tiny little bit he can grab. The shorter it is, the more it hurts. I'd have to shave my head completely. And that will not happen unless I desperately need to buy a watch fob for a Christmas present. :P He used to stuff his hand in my mouth, and he stopped that finally, so I have hope that the hair tugging is just a phase as well.

Yes, send comments about my book!!!!!!!! !!! !!! !! !

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry about your husband getting laid off again - is there any chance that he could look outside the area for a job that might be a bit more stable, now that Luke is getting to program-transitioning age? And do I ever hear you about the hair-pulling - Veronica is 5 months old and has developed an amazing talent for winding up hair in her little fist and pulling for all she's worth. Yay, new sensations! The other day she yanked Daniel's hair pretty hard and he said pitifully "Mama, Wonica pull hair - send Wonica room!" Had to explain that she's too young to understand and that I'm not being grossly unfair, much as it might seem that way :).

I think Other is a very intriguing title - it makes me think of doppelgangers, and as a devoted ghost-story reader (and occasional, mediocre writer) I'd definitely pick it up. Are there doppelgangers in it?

[matril.livejournal.com]

There's a decent chance that he might get re-hired by the same district in a different position. Everyone there loves him; the only reason he gets let go every year is because of his lack of seniority. Stupid teacher's union policies. But if he can get another year in the same district, his job will be more secure. So we'll probably stick around at least one more year.

No doppelgangers, alas - it's an alteration on a fairy tale. "The Other World" is what they call the unseen realm of magic. The title also implicitly refers to the mysterious female Other; at least that's what I'm going for. ;)

[melitusj.livejournal.com]

People get hired/kept for the darndest reasons- I'm seeing some of that myself, but I can't complain- sometimes I works in my favor, sometimes not.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

My brother always liked to hold hair, but he didn't pull.

...On the other hand, when my baby cousin (who did not live with any long-haired people) got a handful of my hair, he somehow managed to slide one along his finger and give himself a paper cut. *facepalm* Apparently I am hazardous.