Sandra Tayler's Blog, page 147

Third day of summer, par for course

Remember how on Monday I said that maybe I'm getting the hang of this summer schedule thing? Yeah. Not so much. It is really hard to have work time all mixed up with family time every hour of the day. My kids are home. I want to take them to parks and museums. I want to run off and play. But I have piles of work to do and I want the kids to go away so that I can get it done. These two desires battle in my brain and make focusing on anything very hard. I've got to figure it out.

The...

First Day of the Summer Schedule

I have survived the first day of Summer break, and not once did I have a desire to flee the house. This is a marked improvement over last year. Even more surprising, I feel like our family is falling into a familiar rhythm rather then me having to enforce a new schedule. Perhaps I'm starting to get the hang of this. (Yes I realize I've just doomed myself by saying it. Please don't remind me that I did it to myself when I'm going crazy next week.)

The schedule goes like this:
Mornings I...

Thoughts on external perception, internal experience, and CONduit

The lobby of the Radisson Hotel in Salt Lake is so familiar that it feels like the living room of a good friend. This is not surprising since I've attended CONduit at this same hotel for at least 5 years. Many conversations with many friends have taken place there.

On Saturday evening there were only seven of us, Bob Defendi, Dan Willis, Eric Swedin, Mette Harrison, Julie Wright, Jessica Day George, and me. Other people drifted in and out during the course of the evening, Including my...

I went to CONduit today

I think that any day where I get to participate in a panel, do a signing where people actually buy my books, read out loud to an attentive audience, go out to dinner with marvelous people, sit around talking for hours, and am not interrupted by phone calls from crying children, can count as a really good day.

Everything went well. I am glad. Now I shall sleep.

Mirrored from onecobble.com.

Last Day of School

I sat in the sunshine on a bench out in front of the school. In a few moments children would burst forth from the building, free for the summer. At the moment all was quiet and a breeze flipped the pages of the planner in my lap. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back. I was at the school early for a reason. I needed to find the principal and have a talk with him. But he was not available for a few more minutes. So I sat.

Sometimes everyone means well and things still go wrong....

CONduit this weekend

I'll be attending CONduit this weekend and they've assigned me some programming.

On Friday at 2 pm I'm part of a panel called "If I Were a Space Pirate." Unfortunately a last minute family conflict popped up and I may be late for it (or possibly absent.) If that happens I've arranged for Eric James Stone to take my place. Eric is a wonderful writer and a good panelist, well worth listening to.

Saturday at 2 pm I'm participating in "Raising Geek Kids." It should be a fascinating discussion a...

RMS Pre-order day

The nice thing about having a week packed with important things is that if I start fretting about one I can distract myself with another. Pre-order days always turn me into a scattered mess. The first few hours in particular are like the first few steps onto a stage. You've practiced your lines, the set pieces are there, the lights are filling your view, but until the audience laughs at the first joke, you just can't be sure it is all going to work together or just be an expensive mess....

Some weeks are not normal

This weekend is CONduit and Balticon. In a normal week having Howard and I attend two separate conventions at opposite ends of the country would absorb all our extra energy for the week. Planning and packing would be the focus for the week.

However this week is also the last week of school. This is a bigger thing than any convention. There are end-of-school things to be done and summer preparations to be made. Normally I would spend the entire last week of school attending year-end...

Appreciating what I have

A week or so ago, my sister commented on a post I made about preparing for the Balticon Art Show. She thanked me for the peek into my life and expressed a little bit of envy for all the cool things I get to do. In particular she mentioned the conventions I get to attend, the podcast I got to participate in, the book layout I do, and organizing panels for an art show. It was a good reality check for me. I am so busy scrambling to get everything done, that I forget how fortunate I am....

Geek Girl Party

My house is full of teenage girls. So far there has been a total lack of nail polish, gossip about boys, hair fixing, and telephone calls. Instead Kiki ran a water balloon toss, a massive battle with padded swords, a showing of Dr. Horrible, and a Super Smash Brothers tournament. Howard supplied double-decker dutch oven pizza. Everyone has been having a great time. I love that I don't really have to run things. I just make sure there is food and supplies, then I get out of the way....