Thursday, August 19, 2010

A Few Snapshots and News

Yesterday at work, I noticed something rather cool. I work on the 15th floor of an office building and a praying mantis had managed to make his way up to my window ledge. He didn't seem to mind me snapping his picture, although in the one above, he does look as though he's a bit annoyed with me.

Not so with my cat, however. She looks like she owns the world in this photo. She's only half-right. She pretty much owns us.

I don't have much to report right now except that I'm planning to switch gears on the novel-writing front and work on my fourth novel right now while leaving the fifth (the WW2 thriller) to simmer for awhile. The fourth novel, also set during WW2, is much easier to write (not all the twists and turns of the thriller) and I need that right now.

School started yesterday for my daughter. She is a big 5th grader now. She looked quite mature walking up the sidewalk to her school and no, I didn't cry, but I did cry the night before. Amazing how fast they grow.

With the coming of school, I'm looking at settling back into a semi-routine now. I think I function best in a routine, though it was rather nice not to have to deal with the whole getting ready for school thing for a few months.

What's the news on your end?

11 comments:

  1. Between finishing a bathroom remodel, giving 2 presentations at a writers conference, and closing in on the first draft of my novel, it's been a productive summer.

    Firm deadline of 9/7 for 1st draft. Somewhere in there, gotta write a couple of blogs, too. Falling behind!

    I don't think I had an appreciation for how fast time goes until my little baby nieces started getting married and having babies of their own. :)

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  2. Love that he's looking at you! And we had a praying mantis on our front deck two days ago. Do you think it means something? I'd like to think so. :)

    Big girl! I hope she has a wonderful year.

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  3. He looks just a little suicidal to me!
    I thrive in routine too. During school I am much better at juggling things and getting things done, but in summer?
    Nope, not at all.
    And that's why I'm looking forward to school (less than two weeks).

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  4. You're a busy gal, Christine! I must confess, I'm glad I don't have to remodel anything in my apartment - it's a bit of a relief not to have to worry about that, even though there are some things I wouldn't mind changing in it. :-)

    Janna - We actually had three of them on windows on the 15th floor. Slightly odd!

    Aoife - I COMPLETELY understand. I do much better when I have some sort of routine, which is why, when I was a stay-at-home mom after my daughter was born 10 years ago, I barely got any writing done! Since I went back to work and have a full-time schedule, I've finished three novels!

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  5. We have a few more dreary days of summer and then the school bell will sound! I'm estatic to push my 6th grader into the double doors of middle school. Yipee!

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  6. Tamika - LOL! I take it your 6th grader has been a bit of a handful lately!

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  7. What a great shot of the praying mantis....and kitty too!

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  8. I love your cat! And yes they grow so fast, don't they? Enjoy her with lots of hugs and kisses now!

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  9. Your cat looks as relaxed as I like to feel.

    The children don't return to school until September here, so we have a couple more weeks left of the holidays. I'm off work for two weeks right now and am catching up with my writing and reading. Bliss.

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  10. Gingerella - Thanks! I love how he's looking at the camera. :-)

    Terri - Thankfully, she still likes to get hugs and kisses! :-)

    Debs - Oh, two weeks off of work sounds so wonderful! Enjoy!

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  11. Anonymous2:27 PM

    my baby girl is starting 10th grade on Monday...and I can't believe it..

    And I went back to work today after 5 weeks off...ugh.

    Got kinda used to that full time writer thing! LOL

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