Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Ouch.

What is the DEAL with Colorado Registration? I registered both our cars yesterday, and it was FREAKING NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!
I was given the advice (by a long-time Denver resident who apparently has had Iowa license plates for twelve years) to just send in for my Wisconsin registration sticker (grand total: $57) and never get pulled over--but of course my anal hubby wouldn't hear of it.

So, YIKES.

I still have the itch to write. But no TIME. Angela had great advice yesterday, but I am one of those guilty-feeling people who hates to neglect stuff that needs to get done. I've always felt that I'm being selfish when I'm writing. (I know I'm NOT, but it's how I FEEL sometimes.)

And I have TONS I'd like to read too.

My current reading list:

1) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis (Can you believe I've never gotten around to reading this wonderful book? Egads!)

2) Rebel Angels, by Libba Bray

3) Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden

4) Giants, Monsters & Dragons, An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose

Well, it's off to the races! December is such a crazy time--I hope I'll be able to enjoy it!

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

I've Got the Itch...

I haven't written a word in over a month. I haven't been able to indulge in the Internet, either (one of my vices) and it's been pure torture.

I read my writer friend's blogs and they all talk about how their WIPs are coming along, and how many words they got out the other day, and I'm jealous. I still have a lot of unpacking to do, and heaven knows my To Do list is a mile long, but my fingers are itching to write, and I have half a mind to scrap some errands and sit down and do it.

I have so much inspiration around me, at present. I just saw the new Harry Potter and although the feel of the movie was a bit rushed and episodic for me (but I suppose it had to be or it would have been a six-hour long movie) it was amazing and fun. It has made me want to revisit old stomping grounds, like my Other World that I invented, and also I now have the desire to traipse through the ruins of Philae with my two turn-of-the-century heroines, which is a good thing, since my agent is waiting for new material from me.

But when to do it, when to do it. Certainly not now, because I have to run the kids to school and then the ADT guy is coming and then I have to get a new driver's license and run to the store and the dry cleaners and THEN I have to unpack some more.

But it's nice to know that my stories will always be here, waiting for me. Patiently.

Now I just need some patience...

Monday, November 28, 2005

All Calm on the Home Front...

*Sigh.*

I just pushed out the door with a stick...erm...I mean sent off the last of my Thanksgiving holiday relatives, and I will admit that despite several moments of chaos/major drama/contention/mortification, it was a lovely holiday.

We are settled nicely in our home in Colorado now. A home, which, up until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, more resembled a construction/war zone than a house.

I am actually sitting here a bit shell-shocked--It's just me and Thing Three in the house (and a few remaining boxes in my office). No construction workers. No plumbers. No dry-wallers. No tile-people. No granite people. No hardwood floor people. Nada. Just quiet, and the sound of Christmas music softly playing throughout the house.

I am sorry I have been a bad blogger. But honestly, I didn't have time to shower, let alone blog. (Not that I could have showered anyway, I had a toilet sitting inside MY bathroom shower--had to use one of the kids showers.)

I was busy trying to get the house in perfect condition for the holiday relatives, and our interior designer, Jody, (bless her heart) who had committed to a certain deadline, was definitely "held to it" by my Hubby and she was even helping me unpack boxes and hang pictures on the day before the deadline. Jody, Hubby and myself were working like dogs, and at any given time we had no less than 20 workers in the house. It was bedlam. It was chaos. It was horrible. But now it's done and now that we have a house we can live in, I have to say it's nice.

NOT NICE: Having to wait in long lines for my vehicle registration/drivers license because I waited until the end of November, decrusting my kids' noses every morning because they still aren't used to the dry climate (and for that matter, having to slather on lotion every half hour on any exposed skin parts) and having headaches from the OH MY HECK BRIGHT sunlight that kills your eyeballs if you don't have super-duper-made-of-lead sunglasses on. (What can I say, I now live in the Mile-high city now!) And boy, is it sure bright up here.

But we're here, and we're happy, and I am off my head with joy because I JUST discovered that I have The Tattered Cover only a few miles from my house, and I found it by accident while I was U-turning (and cursing simultaneously) because I missed my turn-off for the vehicle emissions testing center. So you can bet I will be paying that bookstore a visit tomorrow!

Well, time to feed the kiddo and organize some boxes! I am just glad to have some normalcy back in my life. I've sure missed this!

Lara

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

CHAOS

Okay. I SO hate my life right now.

I don't even have enough time to blog about why. How pathetic is that?

Sorry folks, you'll just have to bear with me on this one...

Lara

Friday, November 11, 2005

I'm BACK!! (Well, sort of...)

I have about 3.7 minutes to do this post, so I will just say that we are officially in Denver and all is well (if you can consider living in a half-finished-remodeled house well--I have a big hole where my kitchen is supposed to be and I have been going between the fridge in my garage and a microwave oven in my laundry room) and I promise to update everybody on Monday, November 14th.

So expect a big 'ole post sometime then. Right now I have to keep the kids off my newly-stained wood floors (they are off school today) and unpack about 7823,987 boxes upstairs, that I haven't been able to do, because I have been locked out of my house for four days straight while they did my wood floors.

Let me just say that the last few weeks have involved a lot of "rolling with the punches" and "creative living/cooking/breathing/etc." but in about two weeks it will all be over and we will have a shiny new house, and I will be able to get settled into a routine. Until then, AAAACK!! (insert gut-wrenching scream of frustration here) and I promise to post on Monday!

Have a safe weekend, all!

Lara