Sandra Tayler's Blog, page 142

Jitters

Today is Pre-Convention Jitter Day. This regular event almost always coincides with Packing Day. This time around I have several flavors of jitters which make for fun combinations. I can mix I-am-leaving-my-kids jitters with traveling-on-a-plane jitters or alternately, with first-big-convention-and-running-a-booth jitters. I know these are jitters and not things which are logical, but the suppression of blatant illogical nervousness is tiring and has me feeling edgy. I just need to plow ...

The not-so-typical teenager in my house

The following conversation is a shortened representation of what was a much more convoluted discussion. I've just skimmed the essence of what was said to present here:

"He's squashing my life!" bemoaned Kiki. We'd just spend an evening with a writer's group in our home, during which Howard had pulled Kiki aside and corrected her on a particular social interaction. After the group left, Kiki and I washed up in the family room and her woes began to spill forth.

"Yes. Dads do that sometimes." ...

Pets of four varieties

"What is that chirping noise?" Howard called from his office.

"That's Sweetie. We're babysitting him for the next week."

"What?"

"It's a parakeet honey. We have a bird in our house. He's trying to get someone to come talk to him."

"Oh. I thought someone was torturing a computer."

****

Yesterday Bob and Joe the grasshoppers were freed from their glass holding tank. They were quite the adventurous creatures, having been born in Idaho and smuggled home to Utah in a small girl's suitcase. Gleek ...

Thoughts on ambition in the absense thereof

My ambition appears to be AWOL right now. Not surprisingly in the absence of ambition, I'm finding it hard to feel stressed about this. I would probably be more worried about it, but it has done this before. My ambitious drive is somewhat similar to my childhood dog who would periodically escape our yard to wander for a bit. He always came home, just as I know that my drive to create and put myself forward professionally will come back to me. But in its absence I find myself reveling in ...

Gleek's possibilities

I was in my room when I heard the piano music. It was a fairly simple piece, but it was played well and it was far more complex than any of my children could produce. I went to see who was playing. Gleek sat on the couch and Bestfriend was at the piano. The scene made me a little sad. The two girls started piano lessons at the same time, but life around here got crazy, I forgot to remind Gleek about lessons, and they became a chore rather than a joy. We let her quit. Now she can hear w...

Yesterday's Clothes

2005 was an extremely lean year for us. Howard had quit his corporate job and we had not yet released the first Schlock Mercenary book. I watched every penny, knowing that the longer I could make the money last, the longer Howard could stay a cartoonist. All our resources were tracked and carefully managed. This included outgrown clothing which was carefully boxed to wait for the younger sibling to grow. These boxes of clothing sat in a row in our garage, and I kept careful inventory.

In ...

Fashion, Haircuts, and Folk Art

When I look in the mirror these days I feel weathered. Not old, I get too many things done and carry far too many boxes of books to feel old. But the mirror was not showing me things I wanted to see. I kept noticing wrinkles, and other signs of aging. I've always been one who believed that wrinkles add character and create beauty. I've always intended to be a person who doesn't mind them, and treats them as badges of a life well lived. And I have been that person, except lately, when I ...

Church and Conventions

Our business includes attendance at conventions which tend to take place over an entire weekend. We attend a church which reveres the Sabbath day and includes a command to keep it holy. I sometimes feel conflicted by the coexistence of these two facts. I do my best to find a middle ground where I do not forget the Sabbath even when I make business decisions which result in me having to work on it.

In a week I'll be packing up my two oldest kids and taking them to GenCon. This will be...

A normal week ahead

"So did you do anything for Pioneer Day?" Asks the grocery store clerk as she passes my selection of boxes and cans over the barcode scanner. The question is automatic, just a thing for her to say since she has to work on this state-wide holiday.

"Absolutely nothing." I answer. "It was wonderful."

She looks up at me, attention drawn by my non-standard answer. "That actually does sound nice." She sighed. Then my groceries were in the cart and I left the store.

Doing nothing is something...

The cupboard in my mind

I have many metaphors to explain how my mind works. I swap them out at will, using whichever one most aptly describes my experience at that moment. Today I am picturing my life as a workspace with tables, shelves, cupboards, and filing cabinets. I am finally to a place where I am finishing off projects and clearing tables that have been buried for months. I've had time to pull out the contents of the parenting shelves and look at the work that needs to be done there. I've also been...