Oh, hello, blog. Just haven't felt inspired to write anything. I revised the talk I gave at Nexus Church into an essay and entered it in a writing contest (one that every moron with a pencil will no doubt enter, so I don't expect to win anything), and ever since I finished that editing work, I have felt creatively dried-up. That, and I have been reading about what The Economy (so sick of hearing about it) has done to the publishing industry; namely, while a year or two ago there was a big market for memoir, there isn't any longer (unless you're a celebrity or something). So that made me feel like, ugh, why bother with my book/proposal idea. Of course, I can't let that stop me. If I want to write, I should write. If I can't sell the damn thing the usual way, I'll photocopy it at Kinko's and sell it at interstate off-ramps.

Moving on. I postponed the stump grinder guy, as I was loathe to piss off my neighbors again. We'll reschedule for a more reasonable hour some other day.

We've been having really good school drop-offs with Lauren. After nearly a year of tears (and sometimes clutching me, and one time biting me), she runs down the hall to her classroom, gives me some kisses and hugs and says, "Bye!" I am stunned, and really proud of her. I've been celebrating with a stop at Starbucks after dropping her off. They seem confused by the concept of adding vanilla to a mocha every time I order it. Ah, the trials of suburban life.

Finally, I am having starting-over fantasies of moving to another city, buying a new (or at least newer) house, and working part time. I know. It's just another midlife crisis.

Deforestation

We had 5 dead/dying trees and every last 30+ year-old shrub removed from around our house on Saturday. There was one shrub I referred to as Grimace, because it had the exact shape of that scary, dimwitted fast-food character. There were two others roughly the same size and shape as Volkswagen Beetles. They were just a mess, and had to go. When they were removed, everything below the surface needles/leaves/whatever was dead. So trimming was not an option. I am thrilled to have a clean slate; I’ve wanted those things gone since we moved in. Replanting is going to require a lot of work, and I’m sure we won’t get everything done by the end of the summer, but at least we’ll get it all filled in with topsoil and mulch. I will post some pics when I get them off my camera.

Oh, and apologies to my neighbors for the tree guys firing up the chain saws and chipper at 7:45 am on a Saturday. I thought it would be more like 8:30 when they got started (which I now realize is still early for non-toddler households; when you've been up at 5:00 am for two and a half years, you kinda lose track of normal hours). Oops. Oh, well. Paybacks for all the ATV/car/boat engine-revving at naptime and late-night pool parties which caused me to close my windows on lovely summer evenings. Fair warning: the stump grinder guy is arriving next weekend at 9:00 am – get to bed early on Friday, people.

Buy This Book

I am promoting the release of this book, which comes out today, written by a woman I've never met. But now that I'm on the book-writing path myself, I know how important promotion is, and I want to help out any authors I like and believe in. 'Cause that's what we writer girls do. (and hey, Jen, if you want to pass along my proposal to your agent, that'd be great, too)

Anyway, I've read all of Jen's other books, which are very funny. I love her in-your-faceness, and her willingness to show you who she really is, even the parts most of us might not be willing to share with millions of strangers. I like her rambly, e-mail-like writing style with plenty of parentheticals. We are roughly the same age, so I can relate with her love of all things 80s. And we are roughly the same size, so I can also relate with her last book, Such a Pretty Fat.

I'll be picking this one up for my long weekend at the cabin with my family in June. Jen writes great plane/beach books, but you never feel like you've lost a few IQ points along the way, as I find with most vacation-worthy books. Pick one up today! (how'd I do, Jen?)

Spring Speaking Tour: Part II

I enjoyed my time at Nexus Church yesterday. I think my talk (about family, adoption and the now-illegal Butler County Children Services policy which discriminated against single, gay and lesbian folks for foster placements) went okay. I didn't feel nervous but obviously I was because my voice was "wavery" and my hands didn’t seem to know where to land. I hate that. Anyway, I really liked meeting the people there and hearing their stories. Such lovely people, and so sad what many of them have had to endure.

I also enjoyed the process of writing the thing. It helped me sort through some random thoughts in my head. It also got me writing regularly, which is a good thing. Have I mentioned on here that I am working on a book proposal? (that doesn't feel as scary/pretentious/implausible as saying "I'm writing a book.") Anyway, I hope to use this momentum to continue working on the proposal.