Tuesday, September 28, 2010

My family might be driving me to drink

My sister in law and her husband are in town visiting for a few days, sans kids, so I stopped at the package store to pick up beer and wine. Since you have to make a separate trip, as in you can't buy it at the grocery store, I always buy in bulk. Here's how it went down when I wheeled up with a cartload.

Checkout gal: "Having a party?"
Me: "Oh no, just some family in town."
Checkout gal: "I hear that."

Monday, September 20, 2010

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but something I made up

So I am sitting here while Little Guy naps taking a break from trying to bang out a short story for my class. For this class, we each get to workshop two pieces - the process of which involves crafting a short fiction piece to be taken home, read, and ripped to shreds by the group only to be followed up the next week by a 45 minute in-class discussion about it's suckiness.

I sit in the next to last seat at the table, a full twelve spots from where the sign up sheet started, so I was lucky enough to get a slot for this week, the second week of class. Of course I want my writing to be read and ripped, because I want it to be better, or maybe really really good, or at least to suck less.

Either way, I am committed, so that is what I have been spending my spare time on these days, back to the crack of dawn writing in the wee dark morning hours and some editing during naps. Today I have been working in the playroom which sits on the side of the house where my neighbors are in the last stages of a kitchen renovation so I am writing to the tune of a tile saw punctuated with bursts of Russian. It's fantastic really.

I say all of this to say that writing fiction puts my head into another place. A good place, but also somewhere that makes writing non-fiction, even blogging, a little difficult. So you won't hear from me as much around here. Because I will be busy writing things like

So there was an inevitable association between them that comes about when two people in the same small town fall victim to the same shitty circumstances.

As you can see, I really need to get back to it.


Thursday, September 16, 2010

Don't tell anyone

There's this line in Broadcast News - what do you do if your real life exceeds your dreams?

The answer? Keep it to yourself.

Living in the Boston burbs, eavesdropping on the T, writing fiction, waking up in the perfect neighborhood, leaf peeping trips through New Hampshire, craft beer at the Biltmore, walking to get coffee... but then again, maybe I AM dreaming.

Don't wake me up though.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Back to school

As I write this, I am listening to the end of summer. In Massachusetts, the kids don't go back until after Labor Day, so they have been swimming and biking and running through the sprinkler and eating huge slices of watermelon. Even now, at dusk, there are a half dozen children in my backyard squeezing every last second out of the last day. Yesterday we had a barbeque and I wore white pants. My neighbor made sangria and we had an evening fire. All in all it has been a good send off.

Tomorrow school starts, and fall will follow, with all of its responsibilities. Finish your homework. Bring a jacket. Get the chimney checked. Rake the leaves. Order firewood.

Tomorrow is a bit of a false start really. Girlie only has a half day and she's off Thursday for Rosh Hashanah. Next week will be the real deal for her and for me too. I start a fiction class which will hopefully help me reign in all the crazy or possibly, let it all out. I've been writing a little, working on a new short story, but I am looking forward to the accountability of a ten week class. Little Guy will have two full days of preschool each week, so I will have some writing time. Serious writing time.

Girlie has her first day outfit picked out and a new backpack with a perfect pink notebook inside it. My new beginning isn't quite as well accessorized. But I am excited all the same.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Picture this

I've been having the bloggity blahs lately.

It's been building up, but then I stumbled on a blog the other day that sealed it. I can't remember how I got there. I can't even find the link now. But there it was, some woman blogging about apple picking, with every shot styled like a cross between Anthropologie and Pottery Barn kids.

And I realized I'm over it.

I don't care if this gorgeous bohemian chic woman and her two perfect children picked apples and made perfect pies. I don't want to know how she sewed burlap sacks to carry the apples home. I don't care how her house is decorated. I don't care about her stupid mixed breed dog and his jaunty little scarf.

Today my neighbor brought me flowers. I bought some too, so I made her a small arrangement, mixing the two. I want her to like me.

You, I really don't care about.

You don't know me (unless you do, then of course I want you to like me, a lot).

I'm no goddess, I am a regular person. I make beautiful flower arrangements and on occasion, really ugly pies. And you'll just have to picture that in your mind, if you want to. Because I'm not taking any damn pictures.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Special delivery

So I'm not ready to let some strange guy touch my breasts, but I'm okay if he gives my bread a little squeeze.

I finally took the plunge and got my first grocery delivery today. It could be life changing. I despise grocery shopping. There always seems to be too much of everything and the process of choosing catsup or salad dressing, or even cereal is exhausting. This is especially true in the larger stores, and getting through a big shop with Little Guy these days is almost impossible. So I decided to do a large portion of my shopping online and have it delivered. Pasta, juice, milk, the stuff I buy every week will now arrive at my doorstep.

From the privacy and comfort of my own home, I browsed the aisles, read all of the ingredients, looked up my favorites, and made a permanent list that I can click on next week. I'll still shop my own meats and produce, stuff I want to touch, in person, but it should go so much faster. And the best part is, when I run out of something, I can add it to the list right away. This works great for stuff I don't buy often, like saran wrap.

There is a small fee, but I think I will save money in the end by avoiding the impulse buys and random crap the kids occasionally talk me into. Plus, I'll double up on non-perishables, so I'll get the most out of my delivery money. The only down side is that they package everything in those plastic grocery bags, so I'll have to find a way to recycle them.

I feel like I've uncovered some magic secret. Now if I could only wave my wand over the laundry...