The Week After
Nov. 13th, 2010 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aearwen2Well, after the Week From Hell, this past week has been more or less a relief.
It has been a little over a week since Squeek left his wife, and I think I'm starting to hear hints of the "old" Squeek starting to peek through again. When we speak on the phone, he sounds a lot more up-beat and optimistic about things than he has in a while - and for good reason. The people he's staying with are evidently absolute peaches, just supportive enough to give him some security now, when he's so vulnerable, but not willing to coddle him any longer than necessary. The husband is supposedly a very good person to help find a reasonably dependable car for under $1000, which would mean Squeek would have wheels and a bit of independence. The couple together have some contacts with landlords too, and thus might be of great help when the time comes for Squeek to find his own place to live.
He works at Goodwill Industries, so finding cheepo furnishings, dishes, pots & pans, and all other accoutrements of apartment life will be neither difficult nor costly. The budget I gave him, if he sticks to it like glue, will have him out of debt (except to me) by June, with a healthy savings built up to spend on things he needs or wants. His mental attitude, now that he's out from beneath the "Smother-in-Law", is closer the person he was before he moved north. I am cautiously optimistic on this front.
I spoke to my brother a while ago, and he's now enmeshed in the hassling with lawyers and insurance adjusters and other scoundrels in working through all the settlements that will need to come from his being rear-ended. AZ law works in his favor on this, because his insurance company can't raise his rates on account of the fact that he was faultless in this. Getting a working car out of it seems to be the sticking point at the moment, with the adjusters trying to low-ball the payout to him (and require him to turn in the rental car before he has check in hand to get another.) His neck is still stiff, and he's seeing a chiropractor for that, I guess. No work on the cardiac issues yet. *sigh*
And finally, my friend with brain cancer came through her surgery well. They only removed one of the two tumors, however: the one literally on the surface of the brain. For the other, they're sending her down to Thousand Oaks for some sort of pin-point gamma radiation thingee. AND, because they've ascertained that this is metastacized breast cancer, they're going to be giving her a full-body scan to make sure to find any other little bits of joy that might be scattered here or there. They operated Monday, she was home on Thursday - which was frankly quite surprising to me.
On the home front, we (and by that I mean Hubby - my arthritic arms are no help at all at this point) have started painting the interior doorjambs, windows and the archway pillars in the living and dining rooms in preparation for getting new carpeting. Hubby also started playing with attempting to rejuvenate the mahogany veneer panelling on the walls, and I have to admit that his results are fantastic and will make this place really look great again. Nothing has been done to these walls for over 40 years - they definitely look it, and will benefit greatly from the attention. Not to mention, that it gives me incentive to rethink my decor a bit, while everything is down and packed away.
Writing-wise, I have decided to do a major re-write of my original fiction novel Phoenix, which I had 3/4s finished in first draft form. After spending the better part of four hours brainstorming with my daughter Súl on it (yes, that happened quite a while ago - I think I mentioned it in here back when) I've come to the conclusion that it needs to be a multi-thread adventure/romance piece, and not stick very tightly to a single POV'ed romance. I also need to move my heroine a couple of steps further away from the Dreaded Mary-Sue formula. I'm lucky that I have three folks who are interested enough to help me read through it and either beta or concrit for me before I attempt to submit it. My fanfiction output, as a result, may slow down considerably. It won't stop, however; my Muse is fickle and works on what she wants to work on, whether I like it or not.
Music-wise, I really need to knuckle down and do some transposition work on a number of Christmas carols for the little Christmas play being put on in Halcyon. And, I suppose, somewhere down the line, I'll need to practice them, because I'm the Live Accompanist. It's more busy-work than anything else; and I'm a prize-winning procrastinator. Only one little monkey-wrench in the mix: there's an original song that I need to create harmony and an accompaniment for - and getting someone to sing the thing all the way through so I can at least attempt to write down the melody has been like pulling hen's teeth. Thank heavens I'll not have to take credit for the song itself (words or melody) because, frankly, it doesn't impress me much. Hokay, so I'm a music snob. *'nuther sigh*
I guess we all need weeks like last week to help us appreciate the times when nothing spectacular or upsetting is going on. A Quiet Life ain't all that bad after all - trust me!!
It has been a little over a week since Squeek left his wife, and I think I'm starting to hear hints of the "old" Squeek starting to peek through again. When we speak on the phone, he sounds a lot more up-beat and optimistic about things than he has in a while - and for good reason. The people he's staying with are evidently absolute peaches, just supportive enough to give him some security now, when he's so vulnerable, but not willing to coddle him any longer than necessary. The husband is supposedly a very good person to help find a reasonably dependable car for under $1000, which would mean Squeek would have wheels and a bit of independence. The couple together have some contacts with landlords too, and thus might be of great help when the time comes for Squeek to find his own place to live.
He works at Goodwill Industries, so finding cheepo furnishings, dishes, pots & pans, and all other accoutrements of apartment life will be neither difficult nor costly. The budget I gave him, if he sticks to it like glue, will have him out of debt (except to me) by June, with a healthy savings built up to spend on things he needs or wants. His mental attitude, now that he's out from beneath the "Smother-in-Law", is closer the person he was before he moved north. I am cautiously optimistic on this front.
I spoke to my brother a while ago, and he's now enmeshed in the hassling with lawyers and insurance adjusters and other scoundrels in working through all the settlements that will need to come from his being rear-ended. AZ law works in his favor on this, because his insurance company can't raise his rates on account of the fact that he was faultless in this. Getting a working car out of it seems to be the sticking point at the moment, with the adjusters trying to low-ball the payout to him (and require him to turn in the rental car before he has check in hand to get another.) His neck is still stiff, and he's seeing a chiropractor for that, I guess. No work on the cardiac issues yet. *sigh*
And finally, my friend with brain cancer came through her surgery well. They only removed one of the two tumors, however: the one literally on the surface of the brain. For the other, they're sending her down to Thousand Oaks for some sort of pin-point gamma radiation thingee. AND, because they've ascertained that this is metastacized breast cancer, they're going to be giving her a full-body scan to make sure to find any other little bits of joy that might be scattered here or there. They operated Monday, she was home on Thursday - which was frankly quite surprising to me.
On the home front, we (and by that I mean Hubby - my arthritic arms are no help at all at this point) have started painting the interior doorjambs, windows and the archway pillars in the living and dining rooms in preparation for getting new carpeting. Hubby also started playing with attempting to rejuvenate the mahogany veneer panelling on the walls, and I have to admit that his results are fantastic and will make this place really look great again. Nothing has been done to these walls for over 40 years - they definitely look it, and will benefit greatly from the attention. Not to mention, that it gives me incentive to rethink my decor a bit, while everything is down and packed away.
Writing-wise, I have decided to do a major re-write of my original fiction novel Phoenix, which I had 3/4s finished in first draft form. After spending the better part of four hours brainstorming with my daughter Súl on it (yes, that happened quite a while ago - I think I mentioned it in here back when) I've come to the conclusion that it needs to be a multi-thread adventure/romance piece, and not stick very tightly to a single POV'ed romance. I also need to move my heroine a couple of steps further away from the Dreaded Mary-Sue formula. I'm lucky that I have three folks who are interested enough to help me read through it and either beta or concrit for me before I attempt to submit it. My fanfiction output, as a result, may slow down considerably. It won't stop, however; my Muse is fickle and works on what she wants to work on, whether I like it or not.
Music-wise, I really need to knuckle down and do some transposition work on a number of Christmas carols for the little Christmas play being put on in Halcyon. And, I suppose, somewhere down the line, I'll need to practice them, because I'm the Live Accompanist. It's more busy-work than anything else; and I'm a prize-winning procrastinator. Only one little monkey-wrench in the mix: there's an original song that I need to create harmony and an accompaniment for - and getting someone to sing the thing all the way through so I can at least attempt to write down the melody has been like pulling hen's teeth. Thank heavens I'll not have to take credit for the song itself (words or melody) because, frankly, it doesn't impress me much. Hokay, so I'm a music snob. *'nuther sigh*
I guess we all need weeks like last week to help us appreciate the times when nothing spectacular or upsetting is going on. A Quiet Life ain't all that bad after all - trust me!!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
The Week After
Date: 2010-11-13 11:02 pm (UTC)I am so glad things have calmed down for you - although it sounds as if things will pick up speed as it gets closer to the holidays with the music stuffs you have going on.
Hugs and Love to you,
Vanime
no subject
Date: 2010-11-13 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 03:39 pm (UTC)We really need to touch base, but I lost your telephone numbers when the flood happened. Drop an e-mail about this. :)