Perspektiv: I Haz It

The weekend was really good--I was able to get back on an even keel with Thing One. She's really an amazing kid--smart, funny, and full of energy. I'm a lucky mom to have her. 

Right now, I'm watching Thing Two demolish a slice of watermelon from his perch on the chair at the kitchen table--a perch he has learned to climb this past week. Further grey hairs are on their way.

I missed my department summer gathering this weekend--we just had too many projects going on around here. Hubby is building a kiln to dry lumber, and our garden and yard were in sore need of some tending.

So we spent the weekend together, and it was good. When I imagined married life with kids, this weekend was what I pictured: working on separate projects, then coming together to chat and eat and just be. Sunday morning involved me getting to sleep in until 8:00, rising for coffee and time to write on the deck before having blueberry pancakes. 

I had a brainstorm of ideas for a YA novel just before I fell asleep on Saturday night, and have filled 4 pages of my 9x12 sketchbook with ideas, including a rough outline for the plot.

Considering that I haven't ever written anything longer than a 6-page short story (once) and my usual medium is poetry, this represents a major change and challenge.  It is going to require quite a bit of research (which I will confess right now is very appealing to me) and collaboration with hubby, whose knowledge of woodsmithing, metallurgy, and machinery will be invaluable.


Coming as it does during the final stage of my bid for tenure, I am wondering if my brain is trying to sabotage me. I went to the Art Institute of Chicago for an MFA in Creative Writing 13 years ago, and NOW I have good ideas?! ARGH.


In other news, I will be sending out my chapbook again at the end of the week, along with a couple of poems for an upcoming anthology about growing up in Ohio. Hopefully at least one of the Ohio poems will be accepted. 

I grew up one mile from Brandywine Falls.  If you're ever in the Cleveland/Akron area, you definitely should check it out. 


And now, back to my regularly scheduled programming: laundry, dishes, prepping dinner (since we'll be at Thing One's very first swimming lesson tonight!), and playing with Thing One and Thing Two.


Life is very, very good.