Life, And Stuff

[ladysprite]

I've realized that, even when I'm posting here regularly, I don't actually talk much about what goes on in my day-to-day life. I write about specific projects that I chronicle for my own awareness, or the witty or alarmingly noteworthy bits of work, or a book or movie that caught my attention for a little while, but there's very little about what goes on in my day-to-day world.

Mostly, this is because I tend to assume no one out there actually cares very much about what goes on in my day-to-day world. I've always been kind of envious of the people who do write normal, my-life-today journals, because I figured people must care about them so much more, to want to know that kind of minute detail about their life.

On the other hand, I write this for myself, too, as much as anybody else, and there's probably some future-me who's going to glance back and read this in three or four years and want a reminder of what the heck was going on. And heck, maybe someone does want to know. Stranger things have happened.



I'm working my butt off right now, in spite of the fact that December was supposed to be a slow month. Last-minute emergency calls from a couple of clinics that I tend to work at frequently have left me with more work and less time. In general, looking back on this year, that's been the case. I had a couple of slow months at the start, but things picked up enough in the spring and summer that I've more than made up for lost time.

That probably explains why I've been dead-exhausted for the past three or four months. Unfortunately, I can't afford to take any time off. The downside of being self-employed is having no paid vacation, and, looking back through my records, I haven't had an actual vacation since... I think 2006. A day off here or there, for a con or a game, but that's about it. It's a dilemma I don't know how to solve - if I keep working at this pace I'm going to break down, but if I don't we're going to wind up in serious financial straits.

Work has been most of what's going on in my life. Other than that... I'm taking informal tap dance classes right now, which are both exasperating and intriguing. I had expected it to be a little easier than it is, which is a bit arrogant of me, but I've played with enough kinds of dance that I tend to slip into lazy thought patterns. I'm likely annoying the heck out of my teacher and classmates with my cycling through frustration and stubbornness, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

Current projects are a handful of quick-and-dirty crochet bits to sell online to raise money for the 3 Day next year, a beautiful green sweater for myself that I started (with tpau's help, because it's half-knit, half-crochet) over a year ago and will likely never finish, and a blackwork-embroidered chemise for the current royalty-to-be. The last one is taking most of my time right now, and is actually turning out to be both easier and more fun than I had thought it would be. I've done blackwork before, but never on a garment, and while the challenges of lining up the waste linen and turning corners mean that I occasionally have to spend an hour or more picking out and re-stitching the same two-inch segment, it's so rewarding to see the pattern coming together.

I've been spending a lot of time working with the Babydolls, too, helping teach choreography. Apparently my skill of picking up choreo quickly is useful when you have to teach half a dozen numbers in not much time, since I can be used as a kind of human thumb drive for routines that Betty writes - download them into me, and then we can have them around to teach while she's working on other projects. I'm trying to also put in some time working with Oberon, in hopes of having him up to performance level again by spring, but with work, rehearsal, tap classes, trying to get the chemise finished, and general life maintenance, that's had to be a bit back-burnered.

Life maintenance is kind of falling by the wayside, if I'm going to be completely honest. I've been spending more time making cookies for other people than dinner for myself and my husband, and that ought to change. I need to get back into the routine of menu planning and meal planning, and stop eating sandwiches and emergency backup dinners. On the other hand, I've at least been keeping up with exercise when I can. It's one of the only things that takes me far enough out of my head, right now.

With luck I'll have the time and energy for a workout tonight - last night's nightmares were pretty rough, most likely a product of having stirred up a bunch of old muck and sediment in my mind dealing with my father and my history. And an hour of cardio kickboxing is probably healthier, in the long run, than just staying up until I'm exhausted enough to not remember my dreams.

Right now, I'm at work. It's cold, but I've at least got internet access between appointments, and a slow morning and plenty of time to type. I've already taken care of the office cat, half a dozen phone calls and consults that had been left waiting, and a stray cat that one of the nurses found. I've got my new Charles DeLint novel waiting for when I finish the internet, and a tray of brownies from a grateful client. I have no idea of what I'll make for dinner tonight. Probably spaghetti and meatballs, since that doesn't require going to the grocery. I'm torn about what to wear to tomorrow's parties - it's too cold to wear something that'll show off the new tattoos, but I also don't know if I'm feeling flamboyant enough to wear the Multicolored Jacket of Awesome. I wonder if the new barrette I got for Christmas will stay in my hair, and if the full-time doctor here is going to get mad that I changed the office cat's treatment plan.

The heat just kicked in. That, and the salt-and-vinegar chips the head tech just brought me, elevate this morning from dull to nice.

This is why I don't write like this too often. Stream-of-consciousness takes over and drives me into random babble zone....