Something New

I want to try something new.  Well, something old remade new, I guess.  I used to be a much more faithful blogger...then came Facebook!  But I don't like Facebook.  Its new algorithms mean I don't know whose updates I'm missing, and that irritates me to no end.  So I will be posting updates here for a while.  In fact, I'm going to try to post once a day for a month!  It may just be a to-do list, or an updated to-do list, but I'm hoping it gives me a little sanity retention.

So, the big news is that we moved to Phoenix.  We just didn't have enough money coming in to survive.  It didn't matter how well I managed our money, or how much I pared down the budget.  There just wasn't enough money.  Because my shoddy, spastic job history mixes badly with a flooded job-hunter market, I couldn't get a job.  A friend of mine DID get me my first paid writing gig (WOOHOO!), but it doesn't pay much.  It looks good on a resume, though, so it absolutely does its work for me. :)  Still, not enough money is not enough money.  We are so far behind financially, we had no way of ever getting ahead in our circumstances.  So we moved in with the in-laws.

Phoenix is HOT.  The first day we were here, it was 100 degrees.  The forecast promises that we're going to settle in closer to 90 for a bit.  In October.  That just strikes me as wrong.  But!  For all that it's hot, and for all that the in-laws don't run their AC (the MIL has juvenile-onset arthritis, and she's gotta be close to 1/4 synthetic material at this point, so the cold is hard on her), the concept of not having to pay rent is a huge relief.  I applied for a job at the school I desperately wanted to go to several years ago but couldn't pay for, and I had really high hopes I'd get it.  No such luck, though.  So far, I don't really like the area.  I DO really like Tempe, though, which is sort of like a bigger, more culturally-oriented DTC.  One of ASU's campuses is there, which means it's also full of everything, as a good college town should be. :)  They have a lot of volunteer archaeology work here, too, so if things go one way, I hope to do that a couple days a week.  Then, even though I never got a field school under my belt, I may still be able to get a job doing lab work.  Field work might not be conducive to family life, but lab work certainly is!

The berrykin is getting huge.  He's super skinny and getting taller all the time.  In the last couple of days, his favorite game has become "Stick my finger in my nose."  He finds it hysterical.  His bottomless pit of a tummy has given way to the typical toddler pickiness, so he eats like a bird.  I have to train his plum-pa not to give him milk whenever he asks for it - he fills up on milk all day and never eats anything.  Boo!  I'm hoping today marks the beginning of a new routine for us.  I've decided to see how long Berrykin and I can share a bed before I go crazy.  One, because I enjoy it.  I get cuddle time while he's sleeping, and that's tremendously helpful for my feelings of stress and overwhelming out-of-place-ness.  It's hard on my back and pelvis, though.  Of course, now he probably won't ever sleep alone again, but we'll deal with that problem when it's actually a problem. :)  Jeremelon has been letting me sleep in, too, but today I got up when Berrykin did and let Jeremelon sleep.  I've been exhausted enough to go to bed at midnight since we got here, which is pretty early for me.  Getting up at 7 isn't nearly so painful this way.  Anyway, I'm hoping this can be our new routine, because we have the house to ourselves in the mornings.  I'm not so sure what to do yet, but I'm sure that will change.  This way, too, I can trade with Jeremelon.  This way, I can spend the morning with the toddler and Jeremelon can take evenings, when I'm more likely to write.

On the writing front, I'm working on a new book.  Working title: Aurora Hesperialis.  It will NOT end up being named that, but I shall be referring to it as AH until I pick a new title.  I've also been futzing with a short story project for a year and a half.  The first story I rushed through to use as a final project for my Women's Spirituality class.  I need to go back and actually write it the way I want it to be.  I also started a second story over the summer, and I want to finish it.  Ideally, I want 13 - 14 stories.  It may stop at 3 - 4 for its original intention, which is to introduce/gain readers to a universe that I'll be writing novels in later.  My intention is to launch them as ebooks to gain extra income without having to go through the lengthy traditional publishing process.  But!  To do that, I need to write at least three novels before they're up for sale.  Or maybe I'll make them novellas...I dunno!  First, I want the shorts done.

And now Berrykin is telling me he needs a new diaper (we're starting up potty training again when we're more settled).  He doesn't say much, but he makes himself very clear most of the time anyway. :)

Until tomorrow!