I hate DST

You forget just how many clocks you have until either the power goes off or Daylight Savings Time. At least when the power goes off you don't have to reset your wrist watches and the ones that are battery powered. With DST they all have to be changed. I haven't been out to the cars yet to change them, but most of the ones in the house are all changed.
E has a girl friend and has been rather scarce ever since he hooked up with her. Saturday we're taking them to lunch so we can finally meet the mystery lady. She has a three year old and a six year old. It's made him miss Ritchie a little more. He said that he noticed at work he has his child radar back on and didn't even notice when it had stopped.
Looking forward to Grinnygranny's staff retreat Thursday and Friday. She's going up to Glorieta Thursday morning, I'll drive up after school, spend the night and we'll be back home Friday evening. It'll be the first time we've been to Glorieta since all the renovation. I hope the book store is open and I can set up some book signings in the Spring and Summer.
I'm about half way through reviewing the page proofs. Hope to have it over in a few more days and can sign off. I've found a few revisions, but at 95,000 words that's to be expected.

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y

Page proof came today. Grinnygranny and I will go over them this weekend and get back to publisher. It goes to Cover Design, and then it gets published. Thanksgiving seems a little too soon, but possibly Christmas. Cross fingers.

Slack Jawed Amazement

Sunday I posted a rant on my Greek Shadow blog. I mentioned and commented on the latest interview on a magazine best known for having a staple in the navel of a lovely young lady. Today I got an e-mail from the magazine. They condensed down what I said and asked if they could include it in their "letters" section for an upcoming issue.
I agreed, and am actually a little honored -- I think. On touchy ground with Grinnygranny and it could be a little embarassing for her at work if it got out.

I've got a cold in my nose

• Really rotten timing. Started coming down with a cold Friday. There was a department party at the dept. chair's house Saturday. It was an unofficial goodbye for Robyn as she's going downhill very fast. I had to call and express my regrets as I didn't want to give her this cold.
• I did take Grinnygranny out shopping for black pants and a skirt she just had to have to go with the new BCNM shirt everyone is going to wear. She's going to convention Monday and will be out of town for a few days. E's working evenings so I'm going to be by myself. I like having a few hours after school to to rest up and relax before she gets home from work, but I really hate being alone at night. It just doesn't feel right. Nothing on T.V. grabs my attention and I get restless. The house feels so empty. It takes these few days every year for me to really appreciate her.
• The worst part of having a cold on the weekend is I don't have the enegy to golf. Maybe I'll feel good enough to get in some playing time while Grinnygranny's out of town.

It's here!

• We have the new refrigerator. It's a few inches narrower than the older one, but at least it works. Wow ten years ago we got 20 cubic feet today the same price will only get you 18.2.
• School has turned into a comfortable routine, though without a prep it's hell keeping up with the grading. One of our Ass principles left for an alternative school, and they are revisiting making us all turn in lesson plans. It only takes me about two minutes to edit and print the textbooks lesson plans, but I could do without having to use up precious ink to do it. Since the printer is mine and the cost of the ink cartridges come out of my pocket.
• I'm staying out of things this year, playing it by ear if I return next year or not. A lot depends on what happens with the sales of my book, should the publisher ever send me the galley proofs (it's been two weeks since they said they'd get them to me and I'm getting antsy).
• E's missing Ritchie. Not being able to take him trick-0r-treating this year brought it home to him.

Crash

Had a pleasant weekend. The three of us went golfing on Sunday and though a little sore it was a fine start to the week.
Then I got home yesterday to discover that everything in the freezer was thawed, and the refrigerator wasn't very cold. When Grinnygranny got home we had to go out and buy a new one. It won't be delivered until Thursday. Our little freezer saved some of the food, but we couldn't re-freeze most of what had thawed. I cooked some of the meat so it could be frozen, and the rest was a special treat for the dogs.
It always seems to be something we're having to replace lately.

TGIF

The crazy week is finally over. Looking forward to driving down by the river in the morning and getting some pictures of the balloons to post. The last two days have been really good, but we've had to work, and didn't feel like going to the glowdeos. It is really such a hassle even with the park n rides.
Have a number of errands to do over the weekend too. Maybe I'll get a good round of golf in on Sunday.

Good day

Sunday finally got back on the golf course, not a very good score, but it felt good to hit the ball again.

Monday I napped off and on all day. Needed a really good day of rest.

Today E had the day off so we went and did nine holes. Score was a lot better.

Tomorrow is parent/teacher conference day. Regular school hours for parents to show up and get their students report card and see how they are doing, then back 5:30 to 7:30pm. Gong to make for a really long day. I hope I have a good number of parents even though the time inbetween visits will be good for catching up on grading. With no prep period the papers really stack up on me. Wouldn't you know that this is the year we as a school are focusing on extended response questions!

Thursday is a delay day for more training. Talk about a wasted week for trying to teach anything.

Somewhat back to normal

• Finally living without pain.
• Robyn, who taught next to me last year, left school this week and won't be coming back. She's been fighting cancer -- the battle is nearly over. I didn't get a chance to tell her goodbye.
• Got my one dollar advance in the mail. I was also given choices on my novel. Have them proofread it, which could take up to six months, or have it set "as is", I chose the "as is" having full confidence in Grinnygranny's proofreading ability. They will be e-mailing me the final proofs and when I sign off on them they go to press. The book could be out by Thanksgiving or Christmas.
• Got tied up and missed Southwest Writers today. Helped E install a new fawcet in the master bathroom.
• MIL finally got the stump from the old cottonwood tree taken out. Her neighbors will be happy as they can work on the fence now.
• Had a bit of a bust today on the balloon fiesta. Rain and wind put a damper on the first mass assension, hoping tomorrow will be better and we'll be able to get good pictures.

On the road to recovery

I have never wanted to have a tooth numbed so bad in my life! Root canal done, go to regular dentist in six weeks to start the process for putting a crown on it.
Tomorrow it's back in the classroom and hopefully back to normal.

Tough weekend

Been living off of ant-biotics and pain killers all weekend. Barely human right now. Can't wait until the dentist appointment. I never want to go through this again. It makes me appreciate the medical service we have in this country. I've known a number of dentists who make missionary trips to Mexico and other countries, usually to pull rotten teeth. I can't imagine living for maybe years in this much pain.