Daylight Savings Blows

I got out of my routine for almost three weeks! First there was the writing workshop, which I will talk about later. Then there was the trip to Texas... which I will talk about later. And then there was the whole 'I-chose-to-travel-outside-my-time-zone-right-when-Daylight-Savings-hit,-and-now-have-no-freaking-clue-what-time-it-is-now-that-I-am-back' thing. Which I won't talk about later, because I am going to talk about it now.

Yeah, so all last week, the first week back, neither the Boy nor I had any clue what we were doing. We were sleeping ridiculously late every day, we could not quite figure out what day it was, and we dragged like a Stanley Kubrick film. It was a surreal week, lemme tell you. The Boy actually napped a few afternoons, just because he was so confused and tired. Poor us.

But the trip to Texas was the best I have ever had since moving to Yankee land. Really. I crammed in a lot-- the first full day there, I spent with my parents, but crammed in four other sets of relatives, and also traveled from San Antonio to Temple. I got to see family and friends that I hadn't seen in years. Some are college buddies that I have seen fairly recently-- one I saw in February, and another last summer, and the last a few years ago, although we have spoken on the phone. Two sets of family I had not seen since my wedding-- almost ten years ago.

And, then I managed to also see two friends that I had not seen since high school... Both knew me back in the sixth grade. I hated Temple, and Central Texas, and really cut the chords as fast as I could. But, Facebook reunited us. And so I got to have lunch with Karen in Waco, and then hit the zoo with my folks and the Boy (I saw two rhinos!). And I got to go have a grown-up evening in Austin my last night in Texas, dinner and then karaoke, and had a great time singing old show tunes with Dylan, several college buddies and the two bridesmaids from my wedding. We did every show tune we could think of and also did a lot of Queen, and the requisite 80s crap. Good times.

Before the trip, I attended the writing workshop. I loved it. Not only was one of my best friends attending as well (so we got to carpool), but it was just a great time. I have a lot of concrete steps to use in my editing process, and.... as part of a writing exercise, I wrote a short story that kinda floored the rest of the class.

Lest it appear that I am bragging, let me hasten to share something that FINALLY sank in. I have been writing constantly for years. I thought I had just done it here and there. I thought that because I didn't count the play writing I have done for my classes. But I have written TONS of scripts. Enough that I really ought to collect them, edit them, and publish a collection of children's scripts. They've all been produced, and many of them re-written. So, was I able to spit out a nice short story that didn't require much explanation? Yep.

Anyway, the workshop was a great refresher for me as a writer, in that it reminded me of the basics of writing, and all the little elements I should be thinking of and working on. I also got some really new ideas, and I am excited to be using them as I work on my book.

My next blog, I will simply share the short story I wrote. I like it, and I hope you enjoy it too.

You can never go home

This week I attend the writing workshop I signed up for. I also will (I think) receive input on the three chapters I submitted as a writing sample. I am a bit nervous, but I am mostly excited. The workshop is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday... although I am a space cadet and booked a flightfor Sunday morning. I already spoke with the instructor, who told me I would be okay missing the last day. It makes me a little cranky that I will be missing it, but I planned a trip to Texas and cashed airline miles BEFORE I looked at my calendar. Like I said, space cadet.

Texas? Oh, yeah, I am going to Texas for a week with the Boy. I have not seen my grandmother since 2007. She is about a million years old, and ornery, and really doesn't like little kids. So, why am I going? Because I need to (read: guilt). Funny thing, seeing her is the reason I have to do this trip-- I cannot take time later on this year because of work and school-- but I am only going to be seeing her for an hour or so on my first full day in Texas. Otherwise, I am cramming in lots of other relatives, friends, and sightseeing.

I have not spent any time tooling around my hometown since I was still in college. I found out, while booking this trip, that the public library building is now a branch of the local college. That building was beautiful. It had a windy staircase to the second floor (adult fiction), and a creepy little hidden stair to the basement (juvenile books). There was a creaky old elevator, and a wide open, sunlit foyer just inside the front doors. There were two entrances to the building.... Yes, that building made quite an impression on me.

There are also parks, restaurants, a train museum, and all sorts of other things. My hometown has changed a lot. I don't miss it. Trust me. I don't miss being a freak of nature-- hating football and country music, dreaming of culture and valuing education. I have no interest in seeing most of the people who are still around. I have a few friends from those times that I rediscovered on Faceborg, and I will be attempting to spend time with them.

I dreamed of nothing else in high school than escaping out of Central Texas. I studied hard, did lots of extra-curricular activities, and bugged the college counselor endlessly-- all to get the hell out of there. I now avoid all calls for class reunions, or homecoming crap. God, I hated high school.

But, sometimes, you just gotta go visit. Maybe I will find that having grown up will make me a little less antagonistic to Central Texas. Maybe I will find that both the town and I have changed. I will never be a country music loving, football game attending kind of girl, but maybe I can appreciate the opportunity to at least see what I escaped and what I miss.

Like what hell happened to the public library.

Anyway, I will be in the writing workshop all day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then gone March 13-19. I may or may not post during that time. Who knows.

My final news is this-- I wrote my ten minute play. It was cathartic, and not just because I managed to cram in all sorts of awful topics into ten minutes, all while avoiding any nudity, cursing, or blood on stage. Anyway, I have to re-title it. The current title is the only thing that displeases me. And then I have to finish formatting it, and then submit it. I hope to do that before the Wednesday, so I can be done with it, and move on to other projects.

Cheers!