Out with the old, in with the new--oh, wait, must finish the "old" first, right

I have at least five ideas for new projects that I am very excited about starting, but, unfortunately, I have several outstanding commitments that I need to finish up (for example, turning in the manuscript for Book #2, aka "The Other Book"). It's not that I'm uninterested in my current projects, but I'm ready to move on to new things.

Oh, and just for the record, Book #1 will be out in late December. We turned in the index and the final corrections a week ago or so and I was told it would be on its way to the printer soon. How about that?

Otherwise, we are having a typical fall here in the Boro, I think. There has been much leaf-raking and bagging (more by MAH than by me). We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving here by ourselves, enjoying our own turkey spread. I have already given my paper for the local women's group--unexpectedly early, as I was filling in at the last minute for someone who had to cancel. It was well received, I think. MAH is now completely on board with the peppermint ice cream thing, and is saying we should be buying multiple cartons and stocking it away in the freezer for later in the winter, when it will no longer be available. This seems antithetical to the whole "diet" concept, but I will probably comply. We enjoyed watching the multi-part documentary about Monty Python (thank you, Netflix), and the first disk of season one of "The Equalizer" should be on its way next. I don't think any explanation is needed for that.

Will try to post here more regularly, again. I do sort of miss it. But, back to trying to finish up "the old" stuff. Ciao!

A glorious day!

What--what momentous event has shaken me out of my blogging lethargy? Has my book been published? No. Did we get another dog? No. Did we win a lifetime supply of bacon? No.

I don't think I mentioned a tragic event that marred our tranquil lives here in the Boro. The passing, back in the spring, of MAH's beloved Casio digital watch. If you know him well, you know the joy he took in his treasured 20-year old "classic" Casio. He never needed to get its battery changed. Yes, it had begun to show its age. To change the time he needed to whack the button on something hard (and mutter a prayer). But he loved it. It fitted him in every sense. And, then, one day, it finally . . . died.

Now, readers, as you will see from the photo below, the Casio was not exactly . . . well, let's just say it's not the watch I would have picked out for him. So when it died, I too mourned, but it was a chance for an, um, upgrade. We looked at new watches. But none of them were satisfactory. We put it off. Maybe we will find one for Christmas, we said. On the plus side, he did actually begin to carry his cell phone around just so to have something to tell him the time (which also made it easier to get in touch with him).

And, then, this morning we stopped by the Kohl's for me to pick up something boring. "You could go and look at the watches," I suggested, jokingly. He had looked at the watches at Kohl's before. But, then the clouds opened and a miracle occurred. When we rendezvoused at the register, he held in hand, beaming . . . a brand new Casio. Almost exactly like the old one.

Yes, there it is. And see the price? Only $25.00. Still a bargain (although MAH pointed out that he paid about $11 for the original. The price has doubled in 20 years. He purchased it at Jamesway. Remember Jamesway?) But wait, when we checked out we discovered the watch was on sale--$18.25, people.  Here they are, side by side:

 
 

Who could have imagined this much happiness for only $18.25?

Bulleted list of latest

• Did I write about our trip to Charlottesville? Don't think so. Will have to correct that.
  
• We saw the "Star Trek" movie--I think I did write about that. Liked it.
  
• Last night caught "Big Trouble in Little China" on TV (finally) (Tivo-ed it nearly live so we could ff through commercials). Had heard this was kind of a "so bad it's good" movie. I think I can agree with that.
  
• Have ordered ten pounds of blueberries from local Kiwanis (sp?) club. Proceeds to charity. Will arrive in a few weeks. Freezer is still jammed with berries. Don't know how we will fit in new ones. Have been accused of being a "berry hoarder." There is some rhubarb in there too now.
  
• Finally finished my involvement with my mother's obsessive writing project. Peace reigns on that front.
  
• Our own raspberries are doing great except that animals tear whole branches off in an effort to get at one ripe berry. Grrr. Must get you photos of crazed squash plants which are taking over our vegetable beds.
  
• I had put Netflix on hold until July 15 in the hopes that my work would be mostly done by then. We'll see.
• MAH is bearing up well under the disappointment that we are not going to Pizza Hut for the buffet lunch, as had been mentioned as a possibility for today. I pointed out that we have a lot of food in the house that needs eating (vegetables, anyone?). I think tonight's dinner will be the last of the frozen wild salmon fillets that we bought last summer through the CSA. These last ones are the most scrawny and ill-shaped of what were, in general, a scrawny and ill-shaped bunch. But it was very convenient to have them available in the freezer.
  

So I never posted here about

actually finishing the book, huh? Funny, I thought I had. Yes, that last week was one I don't think either one of us would want to repeat, and I did pull an all-nighter on 5/31-6/1, but the book was turned in on time, and I think (or thought at the time), that it's pretty good. But most importantly, it was turned in. I wish that I had really been able to comfortably take some time off after that, but no. Which is not to say that I didn't take time off, because I did. It's just that it's not comfortable because I have two more chapters due to other people, and a workshop to teach next week.

And I'm very anxious about the outside reviewer's comments, which I should be getting in a matter of a week or two. I will have a couple of weeks to respond to those, then after that comes the blue line. So it's not like the whole thing is over. They better get someone to review it who knows what he or she is talking about, because I'm prepared to get ornery if I get ill-informed comments.

So, yes, I did relax a little. Took out the summer clothes. Cleaned up the house. Finished that scarf I started knitting when we were down in Florida. We went to see "Star Trek," which was great. We visited Mr. P last weekend and saw David Byrne (again) at Wolftrap, which was awesome (and I looooooved that cocktail he's invented. Must get him to cough up secret formula). Ordered some books and DVDs online. The CSA has started up again, so we've got the Tuesday schlep out to the farm on the schedule.

My mother has been very aggressive in her demands that I work for her on her project, which has been a bit unpleasant. I don't mind helping. I do mind being bullied and guilt-tripped.

So it's been a bit of a let-down because I wished that I could really relax and celebrate my accomplishment, but I can't because there's so much else I should be doing. My fault for saying "yes" to things, as MAH points out. So, yes, it was climactic and anti-climactic at the same time. But David Bryne was great.

MAH says I'm in the home stretch

So it must be true. One chapter left to write, half an introduction, and a preface. The good news is that I think for the most part it's pretty good. It won't be a revelation to most of you, because you have a clue, but it should be useful to lots of people in smaller places, or people who are just nervous about knowing where to start. And I do think even people who are pretty knowledgeable would find something new in it for them. The goal is to finish up the actual writing over the weekend (ahem, well, plus Monday), and then all this week is editing, formatting, etc. Then it gets sent to the publisher over next weekend.

Still have not yet done the emergency trip to Friendly's. Maybe this week. Also contemplating making plans to celebrate on Sunday, assuming I can get it all shipped off in the afternoon. Will keep you posted.

What MAH will be doing this fall

Keep forgetting to tell you that we ordered--at MAH's suggestion--150 tulips bulbs. A nice thought, yes? But not if you have to plant them all. Which is what he will have to do this fall. Just think of the series of posts that will inspire!

Work on ms. delayed yesterday due to mothership drama(s). Today I vow no distractions!

I don't think that's what a pea shoot is supposed to look like

Yes, I know, there should be a picture. But there isn't. Yesterday was the first CSA pickup, so our fridge is once again full of bags of green things. The usual spinach, lettuce and kale, joined this time by pea shoots. Well, really big mature looking stalks. I went to my big green book to look up what to do with them, and the description of tender young stalks did not sound like these grown up things. Also they were described as having a taste like peas/spinach. Ok. MAH does not care for peas, so he was not excited. Um, I don't think we'll be doing much with those. Clearly (in my completely uniformed opinion), they waited too long to harvest them and they are really too old. (Just as I think happened with the garlic scapes last year.)

The rhubarb was not very red at all, so also disappointing. But I stewed it up with some strawberries and it will be good over ice cream. The rest looks delish. Huge bunch of dill. We have tiny tomatoes on our own plants already and the berry bushes are going crazy with flowers and little buds, so we'll see.

Book is progressing slowly, but I think the quality is pretty good overall. The public discourse in our profession seems to dominated by circus animals these days, but that is not my problem, nor are the doings back at the mothership (thank God).

Oh, and a while back I finished a disappointing book about Krakatoa. It had gushing blurbs. Do not believe them. It's an interesting story, but this should have been a long New Yorker article, not a book.

So, that's a quick update, but it's better than nothing. Back to work.