Report on yesterday's progress

Sooooo, after battling with my template, I finally settled into work. Ok, well, first I did some research online for the book I'm reviewing (which is also related to the time period of my ms), THEN I got down to work.

The synopsis is now complete. I think. Hate the d******** things. I entered the changes I'd made to the hard copy last week, read it again, then left it alone. After that, I added some more details to my partial. Little historical details I managed to dig up from a primary source. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm obsessed, but I can't help it.

One of my cps now has the whole package - she hasn't read it since the rough first draft, so I'm looking forward to her feedback.

Did anyone follow my link the other day to Loreena McKennitt's website? I love her music. It creates a beautiful mood and is very inspiring for writing. The Highwayman is one of my fave of her pieces - her interpretation is just gorgeous and I almost always cry at the end - which is a little embarrassing when I listen to it in the car.

Last, but not least today, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by Katrina. We're getting tons of coverage up here and my heart goes out to everyone who is suffering. Was so grateful to Stephanie for updating us on Larissa.

Teresa

Currently Reading: Nothing - am between books. So many to chose from!

Something fun

I found this test through Deanna Hoak's Journal.

Pure Nerd 65 % Nerd, 34% Geek, 8% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in either of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 55% on nerdiness You scored higher than 46% on geekosity You scored higher than 4% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid

So - are YOU going to take the test? I couldn't resist *g*.

Sincere apologies...

to those who suffered during my problems with my font. In Firefox it was showing up just fine *sigh*, but obviously not in IE. Turns out it was something I did , not understanding the consequences (which, to be honest, I still don't quite get).

Anyway, it appears to be fixed now!

Thanks for bearing with me.

Teresa

Catching up

Slowly our life is getting back to what passes for normal.

On the writing front, I did manage to edit my first three chapters and my synopsis. I promise, by Wednesday August 31, the partial will be out the door! I really don't have a choice any more - it HAS to go. At my critique meeting the other night, I read out loud the two new scenes I wrote for the partial. Figured that was a faster, more efficient way to get feedback for such a small amount of text. As always, my cps had some great suggestions. All I really have left to do, is one more check for typos/missing/extra words, then enter the changes I made to my synopsis. And print.

Which reminds me, my printer desperately needs the new drum/cartridge installed. I was using it till the very last, but can't very well risk it giving up entirely in the middle of printing the partial. I'm going to my local writers' meeting on Wednesday evening and want to be able to announce the partial is away - great incentive. That, and telling everyone in blogland *g*.

In other news, Sean continues to walk the picket line - he's the one with the lime green t-shirt.

What's that in his hand, you ask? Why, it's my manuscript! I'm not kidding. My devoted hubby is reading my ms while walking the line. Is it any wonder I love him so much? He's facing at least another week picketing, but will also be participating in the live show his colleagues are organizing to keep themselves busy.

Other than that, not much new to report. It's chore day today, and we're hoping to be done in time to enjoy some time outside and have a nice quiet BBQ in the late day sun.

Teresa

Currently Reading: Book for Review
Link of the Day: Loreena McKennitt's The Highway Man

George's blog

I had to make a blog for him - didn't have enough room on my server to do a page over there. There you'll see some of the best photos of him at his cheekiest! There's also a link to the blog I've created with photos of him and Scotty.

Teresa

Thanks for the notes of sympathy...

I really appreciate all the support.

The last few days have been rough - especially the mornings. It's so strange getting up and not feeding the cat out on the deck. That's where he loved to eat. And the house is sooooooo quiet now. Not that he meowed all the time, or anything, but there'd be scratching at the scratching post, claws picking at the screen door, thuds as he jumped off furniture etc. We're slowly adjusting.

I'm really glad I took so many photos of him recently. Sean kept teasing me, but now we have a permanent record of all the cute and cuddly things he did during his last months - and there were lots of them. His personality changed after Scotty died - he became more interactive with me (he'd always been bonded to Sean) and seemed to treat us both more like cats than people (washing our hair in the night, licking us a lot more). At least I spent much of this summer at home (am really trying not to think about the two weeks we were away), so he was able to be outside a whole lot - enjoying the lovely weather.

Anyway, thanks again for your support, cyberhugs and kind words.

Teresa

George :-(

I'm sorry to have to shock so many of you with this news. George was diagnosed earlier today with a large tumor in his lung. We chose to let him go - a difficult decision, but the right one.

For sixteen years he brightened our life, especially the months since November when his friend and brother, Scotty left us. We love him dearly and miss him horribly, but in the end, know he's now in a happier place. He'd only been exhibiting symptoms since late last week and the vet assures us he was in no pain and had only suffered discomfort for the last couple of days.

In a few days, I'll post a new page to my website with some of our favourite pics of the wee beastie.

Thanks to those of you who've left messages of support over the last few days. They've meant a lot - more than you can know.

Sean and I are doing ok. In time we'll adopt more lost kitties and give them homes too. But our hearts need time to heal first.

Teresa

More cat news

We found out late yesterday that George is, indeed, hyperthyroid. So he'll need meds for that - twice a day. Right now we're still battling the bladder infection. It seems to be getting better, but getting the pills in him isn't easy:

How to Give Your Cat a Pill

His appetite is still off, but we're getting a little food in him. His breathing is still a problem too, which could indicate a heart problem - if that's not
better, I have to take him into the vet tomorrow. That's only been going on since they bladder infection started, so it's possible it's just discomfort causing him to breathe like that. We'll see.

We agreed to forgo the treatment for hyperthyroid till the antibiotics are done. I don't think we could take trying to shove TWO pills into him twice a day!

Thanks for the notes of support :-) They're much appreciated.

Teresa - is your kitty still holding her own? I hope so.

Melissa - thanks so much!

Yes, Rene - I saw your question *g*. Will be posting my answers starting tomorrow. I answered most of them Friday morning - kept my mind off things for a while. Also figured that if something else came up, I'd still be able to continue with the session, having already done the work. It's been kinda neat and I was thrilled to see so much participation! As for cats and bizarre problems, George has, until now, been really easy - it was his late brother Scotty who had all kinds of problems - constipation, bladder infections and blockages, diabetes, leakiness late in life (you know you love your cat when you let him sleep on the bed knowing his bladder will leak during the night).

George is snoozing out on the deck right now - he was caught out there during a sudden rainstorm earlier. Sean had to rescue him from under the BBQ!

Anyway, I'd best get going. We've lots to do today.

Thanks again to everyone who has dropped in and is sending postive vibes to George.

Teresa

Cat update...

Well, there's not much to report. We're still waiting for test results. George is eating a little, but still far less than usual. He does have a heart murmur and possibly a mild UTI. They're running a battery of blood work and if that turns up nothing, he has to go in for chest x-rays. He went outside for a while, and has been grooming himself a bit. But he's still clearly not 100%. Very similar to that funny turn he had back in April, but recovered from really quickly. Hmmm.

Sean brought the car back here after its oil change this morning and took the motorbike downtown to do his picketing for the day. In the rain. Poor guy. But it will help get his mind off George.

I spent this morning answering questions for my AAAPro session (I'm the guest this week) - it distracted me a little. Now I'm going to work on the synopsis for my partial.

Teresa, Kelly and Melissa - thanks for the sympathy. It helps a lot, just knowing others are out there sending positive vibes. Teresa - hope your kitty is still holding her own.

Teresa

Not a good week for cats in blogland :-(

Now my kitty is sick too. Hard to define, but definitely not well. He's going to see the vet later today. Not his normal one, but at this point I just need him seen to. Arrrggghh. He was fine before we went on vacation, but has seemed really off for the last few days. Hope it's nothing too serious. I'm not ready to deal with decisions right now. Yeah, then again, like there's a right time for that.

Teresa

Ok - a couple more photos *g*

Sean standing in front of what's left of the tree from which his childhood rope swing used to hang!


Me near the beach.

Quick post

This post has to be quick. I just wasted over half an hour trying to figure out WHY the background over at my research blog isn't working *sigh*. I got it to work with one image, but it was too overpowering, so all I did was change the .gif number to another over at my server, but it won't come up. Arrrrgggghh.

Anyway, no more time to waste.

What did I do yesterday? Entered all the changes I made Tuesday, battled with my printer (don't ask), reviewed a couple more scenes and now have to decide which to insert into my partial and where, to give the best hook for chapter three. Hmmmmm.

Last night I went to my local writers group and read some more of my polished chapter 2 and got some great feedback. Also saw a friend of mine I haven't seen since June! She's pregnant and was having terrible nausea - it's so great to see her up and about again :-)

Below is another vacation photo:




I took it on the way down the highway to the ferry terminal. It's way more impressive in person - our little digital camera can't quite capture it. But you can still see how gorgeous the mountains are.

Must dash!! More changes to input (from those extra scenes) and stuff to mull over. Will have research day tomorrow, so might not post again till Saturday.

Teresa

Currently coming from my speakers: I Want to Come Over - Melissa Etheridge - Your Little Secret

Another catch-up post

Whew, things have been busy! We actually made it to the gym yesterday - definitely needed it. Especially as we went out Monday night to do Trivia, which involved eating at a restaurant that just happens to have a hot fudge brownie à la mode for dessert! Then again, we kicked a** in the game, so it was worth it. We can never win the prize because the 3rd member our our team is the wife of the trivia host, though, like Ben Stein when he joins the game (round two of Win Ben Stein's Money), she has no prior knowledge of the questions. It's all about the glory for us :-)

Sean left for more picket duty about an hour ago. At least the weather has been nice and there's a good place he can park the motorcycle that doesn't cost too much. Hope this all ends soon - I miss my regular CBC programming!!!

Am getting down to serious business with my partial. Reviewed the work I did on vacation and have more changes to make. Then, yikes, the synopsis! The long version needs some revising. Arrrgggghhh. It HAS to go out next week, so I really can't avoid that synopsis much longer. Actually, I've gotten the hang of them, so I really shouldn't complain *g* and the changes needed aren't all that big. Now I just have to hope the office phone stays quiet this morning so I can work. We've got it forwarded it here to the house, so at least I can work at my own computer and George can play outside to his fuzzy little heart's content.

Looks like we've revised our house plan yet again. Have now decided on the Invermere - I like it because I'll get the loft as my office The pic shows a basement as well, but the site we've chosen won't really allow for one, which is fine with us. I LOVE the idea of a loft office - it will be nice and light.

Ok - I'm going to finish this post now and check out the stuff I wrote on my Alphie while away to see how much of it I want to put up here. I may have been babbling too much to make it interesting

Ooops, forgot to mention - I read Nicola Cornick's The Notorious Lord while we were away. It was fantastic! Can hardly wait to get into One Night of Scandal (I picked it up the other day).

Teresa

Drive-by posting

Have to make dinner soon, but figured y'all might enjoy this photo of my dh doing picket duty:

He wants to get a pedometer and find out exactly how far he's walking each morning *vbg*.

Teresa

Yet more pics :-)

Me and my roomie in Reno

Nylah and me on Sean's b-day

Our future driveway!!

The beach a five min drive from our future house

For those who've wondered what agents think about pitching...

Nadia Cornier, of the Creative Media Agency, recently posted Nadia's Top Ten Hints for Pitching at her blog.

Read, learn and inwardly digest!!! This is good stuff.

Teresa

On another topic entirely...

After visiting Kelly's blog the other day, and seeing her post about getting the Fashion History book, I happened to be in a local bookstore and saw the same two book collection!! It now graces my bookshelves as well :-) Thanks for the tip, Kelly.

Teresa

A late night post

Well, not really late *g*, just later than normal for me to be blogging.

We spent most of today catching up on housework/laundry/grocery shopping. Ah, talk about the end of vacation!! But I guess it had to come sometime. Tomorrow I'm back in the office. And Sean may be walking the picket line, depending on what happens at the CBC. Hmm, could be interesting. At least tomorrow's supposed to be nice :-)

Also tonight we talked to my mum about our plans for the future. I kinda hinted at this in July, but didn't want to say anything until we knew for certain what was happening. But sometime next year, we're moving up to the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia!! It's been our plan all along to do so, and all signs seem to be pointing that way for us now. Soooo, off we go. Well, ok, we have to get the house built first. The spot has been chosen (see below), but we have to iron out some stuff about the piece of land and the actual building. Still, it's all very exciting.

We're looking at a Viceroy home - a variation on this model - ours would be one floor only and slightly larger - the MKII model.

This is going to be a big change for me, but it's something Sean and I have been planning since we were married fifteen years ago and the time now seems right. And you can't ask for a more perfect place to write - beautiful scenery, peace and quiet and a fantastic library system (by joining one library in the lower mainland, you have access to 16 others, including the three main ones in Vancouver + I also be near the library at UBC). There are two RWA chapters in the area and I already know someone on the Coast who's interested in forming a chapter with me :-) And one of my closest friends is already living in Vancouver, so we'll be able to see each other lots more.

Yes, it will be difficult leaving all my friends and especially my god-daughter, but BC is hardly the end of the world. Visits will be possible. And did I mention no snow? Or very little? Yay!!!!! I loved snow as a child, but the last few years, I've found the winters here more and more difficult. November always saw me really depressed at the thought of the months ahead. Now, I'm not kidding myself about the amount of rain I'll see during a BC winter, but you don't have shovel rain. Or watch it cover your garden completely.

Of course I have to concentrate on my ms for now and not get too carried away with houseplans etc.

See y'all next week :-)

Teresa

Currently coming from my speakers: House That Love Built - Jeff Healey Band - Feel This

View from our future front porch

Well, we hope this will be it:



T

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Anyone know what's up with unkymoods?

Half the time it seems to be up, the other half it's down! I much prefer doing my moods that way, rather than messing with icons, but if it's not reliable...

Teresa

Another vacation photo

Here's Sean and me at the restaurant where we celebrated Sean's birthday with his family :-)

I'm still really wiped - can't believe this. Well, actually I can. I have blog posts I wrote on my AlphaSmart from the beginning of the conference week, so will hopefully upload those soon.

One good thing did happen to me at the conference. My agent appointment went REALLY well. And I got a request for a partial. Sooooo, I'm going to do some proofing this afternoon and get that off next week.

Happy Saturday!

Teresa

Vacation photo

Here I am with my mother-in-law's llamas - Elvira and Stardust! They're really curious creatures - any time anyone walks near their paddock, they stop munching and watch to see what happens.

As you can see, I also worked on my tan while we were away. My niece insisted on spending as much time on the lake as possible *g* - yeah, tough life.

I'll post more pics over the next few days :-)

Teresa

A really quick post!!

Hey everyone,

I'm home :-) Yay. We had an amazing holiday, but it's nice to be back with the kitty and all my own stuff *g*.

Took lots of photos, though not many in Reno (just never quite found the time). Will post over the next couple of days - deets of the conference, plus pics of our time in BC. The weather there was amazing the whole time - sunny and mid to high 20s (Celsius).

Am catching up on email and blogs right now and have errands to run this afternoon :-)

See y'all again soon!

Teresa