electricgrandmother

stolen laptops at clarion west, II

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Sun, 6 Jul 08 12:52:00 UT

HERE.

God bless Cory Doctorow, Jay Lake (who is lovely, as is his beautiful girlfriend), and William Gibson (another lovely, charming, kind man), and the rest of the SFF community.

We are well loved. It's mind blowing.

stolen laptops at clarion west

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Fri, 4 Jul 08 18:13:00 UT

information here.

Clarion West 1

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Sun, 22 Jun 08 19:14:00 UT

I'm having an amazing time, and Clarion West hasn't even officially started yet. It's been a life-changing weekend. I say that with all seriousness.

I wish you could be here to share the fun, experiences, and joy.

By the way, Connie Willis is amazing! She doesn't know it yet, but she's totally running away with me.

Well, everything starts soon.

Love to all.

thanks!

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Jun 08 12:16:00 UT

to everyone who has offered me some wonderful advice.

Where would I be without all of you? :D

packing advice

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Jun 08 19:53:00 UT

Okay, I am such a liar. It's true.

Anyway, I've started packing. Of course, I need to pack pretty much everything I need for six weeks: clothing, toiletries, office supplies, technological gadgets, some books to use as resources and a few of our writers-in-residence books, linens, pillow, yadda, yadda, yadda.

If anyone has any suggestions on effective packing, I'd love it if you shared your advice.

And yes, I am rolling my clothes to pack them.

OOOH!!! And if anyone has any, "Don't forget to take!" items, please let me know.

Yes, I'm definitely taking a jacket :D.

and this is it

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Jun 08 14:26:00 UT

I leave in less than ten days. And, it's getting intense at my house. And it will be insanely intense once I hit Seattle. Don't expect any substantial blogging, if there's any at all, until August. Of course, sadly enough, this also means that I won't be keeping up on my own blog reading. (As if I have been lately anyway.) As usual, if anything exciting, wonderful, incredible, sad, mortifying, or something I should definitely know about happens, please e-mail me. I'll check that somewhat regularly. At least I'll try.

My best to you all. Have a great summer.

:(

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Jun 08 09:16:00 UT

Algis Budrys (a.k.a. Frank Mason) has passed away...

I think SFF writers should live forever. At least they leave their books behind.

i leave in 11 days

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Mon, 9 Jun 08 00:21:00 UT

*EG freaks out just a little bit*

And then I look at my "to do" list and I see it dwindling.

*EG sighs with relief*

There's still a lot to do.

But the garden's coming along, and I have flowers growing in the flower bed, and my husband will be left with a comfortable home for he and the kids. And they'll be left with some meals for when he's not up to cooking. He's got a lot of support here at home, and it looks as if I'll be surrounded by some absolutely awesome people.

We're almost to the point where any extra done around the house would help, but if I were to leave in, say, a week, everything would still be fine.

But thinking of leaving my kids and Rice still makes my heart ache just a little bit, even though I am so utterly and totally excited.

***

Avadore spent the day with me Saturday. He hung out while I got my hair cut and he came to my writers group who had a special meeting before I left. Avadore decided he wanted to write The Spiderwick Chronicles, so he and I worked on that. He keeps working on it and working on it. He's so proud to be writing his book. Last night he and his grandma worked on it while I cooked a special dinner for my in-laws. (Tenderloin wrapped in bacon, steamed asparagus tossed in lemon juice, potatoes with garlic and parmesan, and a fabulous fresh fruit salad my MIL made. I also made a peanut butter chocolate pseudo pie dessert with an almond crust. My FIL, a red meat lover to his bones, said it was the best steak he'd had in years. It was a fine quality cut of meat, marinated with much love.)

***

There is still more to do on the house. We've lived here a year today (well, we started moving in a year today), and there is still the library to put together and other such things. We seem to be moving at a snail's pace. But I'm hesitant about putting my house together and decorating it in such a way just to have it done. I'd much rather take my time and put it together the way I want it to be. And the longer I live here the more I know what this home is, and what belongs it. It was a sense I had when we bought it, but this sense becomes more and more defined with time.

I also am learning where things belong. A coat tree will be purchased and put by the desk in the entry way. A particular bookshelf will be brought up and put by the long couch. Bit by bit it is coming together and will continue to do so.

***

Clarionites often talk about how hard it is to leave Clarion, and to come home. They also talk about how it's hard to write for a long time afterwards... six months, a year... But I will have my home to come back to, my family, and putting these things in order to look forward to. There will be a garden to tend and harvest, a huge bookshelf to place upstairs and organize. Swimming lessons for Avi, grants to write, a dog to walk, food to preserve, a library to visit, the fair begins the Saturday I come home...

My life is quiet, but it's not empty and without things that need my attention.

w00t

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Sun, 8 Jun 08 08:50:00 UT

Eric Nylund has a blog!

1930's

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Fri, 6 Jun 08 22:59:00 UT

As a 1930s wife, I am
Poor

Take the test!

As a 1930s husband, I am
Superior

Take the test!

Well, at least I know I belong in pants instead of a skirt.

another reason

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Thu, 5 Jun 08 19:41:00 UT

to put on the walking shoes and hit the salad bar.

pow wow

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Sat, 31 May 08 21:31:00 UT

So, there is going to be this HUGE Pow Wow in Seattle whilst I'm there.

WHOOO!

it's another post

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Fri, 30 May 08 19:10:00 UT

Somebody stop me!

But I had to make note of this day:

Today Avadore took a lovely bike ride around the neighborhood together. A long, lovely bike ride, just he and I. It was the first of what I hope will be many.

Also, the kids and I took a long walk to a nearby park, played, and then walked home. Despite the liberal use of sunscreen, we are all a tad bit sunburned. My time outdoors working with the plants probably didn't help.

city living

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Fri, 30 May 08 14:44:00 UT

The person who said they need to make 8k a month just to cover expenses lives in Seattle. Someone who lives a bit north of Seattle pays $1,300.00 a month in rent; they can't afford to buy a house there. He and his wife both work, and they work hard.

Sometimes places like Seattle are tempting, and though I suspect the person who needs 8k a month isn't living an insanely frugal lifestyle, I'm glad Idaho is so economical. We almost doubled our mortgage payment when we moved, and we don't pay $1,300 a month.

I'm not trying to give you the impression that we live in a palace, but we have a nice-sized home for our needs and it's new enough and efficient enough that it doesn't have a lot of issues that will need to be fixed. (Rice and I are not handy, nor do we know a lot of people who are who don't charge plenty for their work. Not that I begrudge them their prices.) It was important to us to buy a house that was economical, would meet our needs, and wouldn't require a lot in terms of money, time, and effort to keep up. Rice doesn't have the skill, I don't have the skill or the back to do it.

I have a lot of wishes for where I live: that the area was more pedestrian-friendly and a bike commute was more feasible, that there were more cultural opportunities, more writer geeks to say hey to, a good academic library nearby... but truly we have everything we need. The things I'd like aren't that huge a deal. They're not a deal breaker. And my mortgage isn't killing us.

but

electricgrandmother@gmail.com — Fri, 30 May 08 14:40:00 UT

the lentils from last night completely rawk in a way they couldn't have even imagined last night.

Mmmmmmm.... Nomnomnomnom.