The bad thing is, the spouse left yesterday and will be gone for nearly a month. There are plenty of good things to think about, but that does rather put a damper on them. So, time to dwell on the good stuff:
– two new poems written – one posted here yesterday and the other sent off for beta. The one here is more about annoyance and solidarity than poetry but was still fun to write; the other gets into more stuff I want to be working on. I hadn’t written any for weeks, but am not sure if my brain was refilling or if I just wasn’t pushing it enough.
– sign an actual contract last week for the poem to be in the knitting magazine. It’s pretty cool to have something earn enough to require one.
– ordered Stuff, so I have a box to be looking forward to. I did manage to resist a pretty purple blazer (by the simple expedient of wearing a purple blazer I already own) and the silver “Life is an Adventure” pendant (by asking myself how often I’d really wear it, no matter how much I love the sentiment).
– created a long list of things I need and/or want to do over the weekend. Weekends, rather, since most of it either isn’t absolutely necessary or isn’t time-critical and there’s way too much for one weekend. Some of it is fun, like judging my poetry contest or visiting Ximending (they call that “Taipei’s Harajuku”, and it has craft stalls, stores with odd things, and people-watching), and some of it is rewarding, like polishing my silver jewelry with the polish we got in the US (they don’t seem to sell it here).
– decided to go to a wine-tasting Friday. An American coworker is also going, so I’ll have someone to hang with.
– have a monthly dinner with friends-and-acquaintances Monday.
– I have books to read for the first time – some recommended by people I trust (Graceling), some on topics or by authors I like (Patriot Hearts: A novel of the Founding Mothers, Origin of the Specious, Rosemary and Rue) New books, yay!.
– speaking of books, the Gideon trilogy (Linda Buckley-Archer, whose name I add because the American titles of her books are so mundane you couldn’t search on them) and the Mysterious Benedict Society both have books out in less than a month – October 6.
– and I will need to remember to buy them that very day, because on October 7 I’m off to Australia for the World Masters Games, which means it’s also less than a month away. (Uh-oh. I don’t feel like I’m in shape to race!)
Anyone have other pleasant things to dwell on? More are better!
Australia! Cool! I know it’s not your first trip, but then how many Americans can say they’ve been to Oz more than once?
Re: Protein shakes. After workouts and bike rides Mick mixes up Muscle Milk and chugs that down. The yogurt smoothies are just a snack/drink, not a weight training thing. Aside from the pricey snacks, he’s turned over his training diet over to me completely and has been wowed by how much his performance has increased since I started feeding him. Especially withOUT the energy bars and suppliments he used to gobble. Real food, cooked in healthy ways. I make him eat a much wider variety of foods than he ate formerly too. He’s been really impressed by the endurance he has now during bike rides.
Sorry to hear Ted’s gone again for so long. Being able to keep busy and go and do on your own doesn’t mean you especially WANT to for such long stretches, eh? Even I (who dreams of solitude like others dream of Lotto winnings) wouldn’t care to have as much alone time as you’re having to put up with these days.
Btw, how did you make out with the dressmaker? Did you get any more sheaths? ~LA