To Do List Redux

So this morning I was rarin’ to tackle my ‘To Do’ list…but I couldn’t find it.

Not a good sign.

Sure it was on my computer, but I’d already printed it out and added handwritten additions.

And I wanted to be able to cross off items I’d already done. My friend, freelance writer Sandy Smith, asked me if I ever put completed tasks on my list just so I could cross them off.

You better believe it.

Last night I e-mailed the manuscript due today to our editors and was looking forward to ‘checking’ that off. The lost list included work and domestic tasks.

Rather than shuffle all the piles of papers that have sprung to life during the deadline period, I just printed out a new copy…and tossed on one of the piles.

To avoid un-shuffling said piles, I decided a blog on to do lists was in order and went back to find the one I knew I did over a year ago…yep, I’m in repeats.

The first item was the same.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

To Do List

1. E-mail editor manuscript due this week: check
2. Sort out books to donate to library: check
3. Hang more girly artwork in home office: check
4. Get caught up on laundry: never
5. Dip whole body into river of full-time freelance writing: in progress

Has it really been more than a year since I took the item five plunge?

All these months later, I’m definitely entrenched in the full-time freelance writing lifestyle. With my old frenetic life of teaching, advising, writing, and volunteering I needed lists of my lists to keep track of things.

Now, even though things are very different (tho I’m still an aging mom volunteer) I still periodically need a list…or two.

It was nearly three years ago my husband and I decided to make a drastic lifestyle change, giving up lucrative stressful positions at a large university in the mid-Atlantic region of the country to move back close to family, to my husband’s ‘dream town.’ We now live in a middling-size city in Nebraska. He loves his job in this town on the cusp of his beloved West.

And I’ve come to love following my life’s dream of writing fulltime, even though some people still think I sit around eating bon bons all day and watching soap operas….there is James Franco…sigh…but I haven’t watched a soap opera since the early 90’s.

I still miss my students and working at home is definitely work…just work I can do in my pajamas if I want.

Having to do ‘to do’ lists is a good sign…it’s an indication of a balance between my old life and my new.

Truly, I’ll never stop missing teaching college students. I loved ‘em like they were my own children, well, most of them. I do offer up a prayer of thanks every single day I no longer have to grade. I loathed grading, absolutely loathed.

Conversely, I’m fulfilling a childhood dream: being a writer. Of course I envisioned doing it living in Connecticut, surrounded by my ten loving children…sort of a cross between Jean Kerr and Shirley Jackson.

But the prairie suits me just fine.

Murray the Bengal kitty

For quite a long time now, I've been pining for a nicer camera. I kept saying, "the next time we have some extra money..." and planned to buy an entry-level DSLR. I did all of the research and found what I think is the best camera for my needs-- the Nikon D3100. And finally, with our tax return, I bought one-- it arrived today!

Chris isn't as needy and materialistic as I am (also he doesn't care as much about taking good pictures), but he did want a little something, too. His prize of choice? A cat-- specifically, a bengal. These babies are expensive-- a kitten can cost more than my fancy camera!-- so we were looking for possibly an older cat or one that needed a new home because of a move. We didn't find anything on craigslist or on KSL, but when we did a google search for bengal cats in Idaho, we found a breeder in Pocatello who had one of her own pets available for adoption. He is more than a year old (we think almost two), doesn't have as vivid markings as some other, more expensive bengals, and he has all of his shots and neutering done. This afternoon we drove out to take a look, and we came home with a new little family member.

Meet Murray:

I'm not really a huge pet person myself, but I could tell from the first moment that Chris was crazy about him. And honestly, I can't help but love him, too. Our last pet, Schroeder, while absolutely adorable, was not very people-friendly when we first brought him home. He actually spent his first night meowing sadly in a space under the unfinished laundry-room wall. Murray has been the complete opposite-- he has spent most of this evening in his new little cubby in Chris's office downstairs, but then sat with Chris and me while we watched "Bones" reruns for an hour or so. He looked around the couch and the family room for a bit, but seemed mostly content just to cuddle up to one of us.

Chris is in heaven-- I had kind of forgotten how much he loves animals and it's no wonder Murray has warmed up to him so quickly.



One of the cool things about bengal cats is their coats-- Murray's is extremely soft and has a range of colors. He has cool black stripes on his tail, spots on his back and belly, and a lot of orange in his fur. We also like his green eyes and his "mascara".

The boys have been pretty receptive to our new pet-- Tom even included Murray in a short story he wrote tonight. Gordon is an animal-lover, too, and even Neil let go of me for a few minutes to say good-night to the kitty. The boys got a kick out of watching Murray play-- I think he'll be a great fit for our family.

Did I mention that I love my camera? I do. I am thinking about taking an online digital photography course this month. I should mention that I am not interested in becoming a professional photographer or anything, I'm just excited about being able to take better pictures of my own family and use the camera in my scrapbook design business. So exciting!

I love these close-ups-- can't get enough of those eyelashes!!



And with such great subjects as these two cuties, I think this camera is going to get plenty of use!