Hi all, I hope your day is going well. It's very blah here today as Tropical Storm Ida brings much needed rain to our area. Actually, the weather doesn't bother me too much. The only thing that bugs me about it is that the system is supposed to stall out over the next couple of days. I have tomorrow off (Veteran's Day) and Mom and I were planning to do birthday shopping for Dad. That means we'll dodge the rain. Oh well, we dodged it for the Craft Show last year and we'll do it again. I have two good raincoats.

When I went to the grocery store last weekend, I decided to splurge on something that I haven't had since I was a kid - Little Debbie Nutty Bars. I was so happy with my stash. Well, Rick found them yesterday and he was happy too. So much for my Nutty Bars. I brought some to work but I don't think they have long left now that he's discovered them.Such is life (or rather, your pantry) when you're married. Sure I could get more, but I loathe the grocery store and only go once a week. Additional trips are for desperate situations only, and that criteria is tight given my dislike for the place.

I've discovered many things over the past 24 hours. Well, actually three. First, I need a better place to stash my Nutty Bars. Second, I don't have time or patience to baby people. My life is busy enough and I will not coddle people that are supposed to be responsible, grown adults. They can take care of their own problems and make their own decisions. If they're so set on instant gratification, have at it. They can go on with their bad selves and when the consequences can't be ignored any more, they can deal with them. That's what they get for being willful and having tunnel vision. Every person's life is their own. I'm looking at the big picture in my own life and it seems things are going to be pretty busy for me in 2010, with this work move and all. I have my hands full with my own life and my own business to attend to. I am nobody's keeper and I will no longer tolerate people trying to put me in that role. They should be ashamed of themselves and grow up already. Seriously, I'm surprised that acting so helpless and childish isn't embarassing them to death - but people rarely realize it when they're so emotional that they've reverted to an infantal state. There goes my education again. Ok, that's enough. Let's move on.

The third thing I've discovered is that I'm still a bit stuck with this novel. Well darn, I was all excited about diving in soon. Then again, it could still happen. I'm happy with the research I've gathered and feel ready, but I'm still waiting for things to come together better. I still don't have a clear sense of direction for it. Well, there's no hurry. It will come in good time. I've written the final chapter and Epilogue and will write more as it becomes clearer. While I'd like to write it chronologically, that hasn't happened so far so this one might be more scattered. "Blurry" flowed so well, but I guess every writing project is different. This one already is. The most important thing is to enjoy the process and craft a story I like. In the meantime, I might piddle around with more short stories or check out more contests around here. I've never written much at the end of the year, so it will be interesting to see what I produce and how the holidays influence it.

Hmm. I might be slightly nutty myself but at least I'm ready to get off my rear end and do something. Pitching off other peoples' problems has me feeling a whole lot lighter today. Getting back into my writing over the past couple of days has made me happy and given me purpose. And the Nutty Bars - maybe it's time to let that go.

So it's a gloomy day outside, but not so gloomy inside. My moods seem to be taking more twists and turns than the Foothills Parkway these days and that's frustrating. I'm used to being in a level state of contentment and I really want to get back to that. Sure, life has knocked me down, but I don't want to be down any more. I guess the first step is getting up and I'm doing that now. At least I'm trying to get back on the path to even footing again.

That's all for today. I hope you have a good one. If you're being impacted by Ida like we are, stay dry. If not, be glad. Take care and I'll see you later.

Bye!