An apology

If you stopped by the booth near the exit of Christkindlmarkt today, you may have noticed little balls of blue lint rolling around. Unfortunately, the culprit was my sweater. I blush to admit it, but so it is.

You see, one of the casualties of moving has been my wardrobe. I've had a lot of "I know it's here somewhere" moments when getting dressed, so last night, I decided to set my outfit out before I went to bed. I had the perfect sweater in mind for today's signing, but I hadn't seen it since the move, so I started hunting around in boxes hoping to find it.

I didn't.

I did, however, find a blue chenille-like sweater that I have only worn a few times. It wasn't what I planned to wear, but it's a pretty sweater, so I figured it would work. An all-too-quiet voice in the back of my head murmured something like, "There's a reason you don't wear this sweater," but it was late, and I had a signing in the morning, so I dismissed it and went to bed.

This morning, I looked the sweater over carefully. It seemed in good condition. I tried it on. It fit well. I figured I was fine.

Until I got to Christkindlmarkt. First it was the lint on the table, then the lint on the books, then the lint on the floor. Oh, it's so embarrassing! Soon, I was noticing blue dust in the air around me. I felt like Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoons... surrounded in a cloud of blue. Oh, how I wish I knew where my other sweaters were.

And, it didn't stop! Even when I got home tonight, the sweater was still shedding. I left a trail of blue lint as I walked through the apartment, and the red coat I wore all day is now purple. Purple! Honestly, it's amazing there's any sweater left.

But, at least I finally remember why I don't wear it.

Sunday, I'll be signing at the Clinton Bookshop in Clinton New Jersey, but never fear, the blue sweater will be staying home. Permanently.

Things worth caring about...

Okay, my friends, I have seriously, seriously lost my motivation to unpack this apartment. Seriously. (Now I feel a bit like Meridith Grey, but... seriously!)

You writers out there will appreciate the power of a deadline, and I had one. Note the past tense. You see, a friend of mine, cajoled/convinced/tricked me into hosting a cookie baking get together last weekend. It was a crazy idea, but it was also a deadline. My goal was clear, unpack the kitchen, find all the cookie baking supplies and wash them before the bakers arrived. As an added bonus, I challenged myself to find the sofa, and the dining room table so we would have places to put the cookies, and places to sit.

It was a crazy deadline, but I succeeded. When the bakers (only two) arrived on Saturday, the predesignated parts of the apartment were ready for them. And I have to say, I'm very proud of how well my cute little kitchen handled three women, and how nicely my cute little oven baked so many cookies.

But, there went my deadline. Poof. Up in smoke (though fortunately nothing else went up in smoke that day). Now, I have no fixed goal other than "unpack the apartment" which is kind of like the fixed goal "write a novel" it's too big to handle.

Now, I know what I have to do, set small manageable goals, accomplish a little at a time, not think about the big picture or how much I have left to do. I know this, but I'm having trouble making myself do it.

It doesn't help that every few days we discover something that didn't fare well through the months in storage. The most annoying discoveries of late are our DVD recorder and our printer both of which kinda work, but don't really work anymore. We're fortunate in that (so far) nothing of great sentimental value has turned up broken, but still, a writer needs a printer! (I said the same thing about our bookshelves... a little Gorilla Glue seems to have fixed those... think I can glue the printer? No?)

But none of that is really important. Not in the grand scheme of things. What is important is that Toys for Tots needs our help. I read in the paper that more than twice the usual number of kids are signed up for Toys for Tots this year. So many that despite cutting kids off at age 12 (they used to cut them off at age 16) the organization is doubtful that it will be able to provide gifts for all the kids who need them. How tragic!

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Toys for Tots. When my brother and I were young, our mom used to take us shopping for gifts for Toys for Tots. We'd each get a set amount of money and could allocate it any way we wanted. My brother always got something big and cool with lights and moving parts. His goal was to give one kid an AMAZING Christmas. I was more conservative, buying smaller gifts trying to give many kids a good Christmas. At the end of the shopping trip we'd put our bags in the Toys for Tots bin and imagine kids like us getting something special when they least expected it.

Fast forward to today, and the demand is so high that some kids will get nothing on Christmas morning. Ugh.

But, it's not too late to donate. If you have a spare dollar or two to donate to kids on Christmas, you can do so on the Toys for Tots website here. You can also check the website for drop off locations. Most of them have taken in their barrels at this point, but some are still collecting. I donated online, but I might just have to hunt down one of those remaining barrels too.

If toys aren't your penchant, there are a myriad of other ways in which you can help. You can donate blankets, or books, or food, or even blood. Regardless of what you donate, you'll be making someone's holiday a little better.

What are you favorite charities around Christmas, and the rest of the year?

Rewards, Distractions, and Favorite Authors

Well, I wasn't sure it was possible, but in two days I managed to write 18,000 words in order to win this year's NaNoWriMo challenge. Phew! I think my poor computer doesn't know what hit it. The NaNoNovel probably feels the same way since it is likely impossible to write good prose that quickly. But I've come to the conclusion that this story needs to ripen a bit before I really write it, so just having that time to get to know it a little better was probably beneficial.

As soon as I finished my 50,000th word, I went into unpacking mode. Mostly because I was sick of navigating around piles of boxes, and couldn't find my blankets to just turn the whole mess into a fort.

May I just say, "Ugh!"

In short, unpacking is a pain. It's amazing how you can work so hard at something and have it look worse when you're done than it did when you started. I am trying to focus on the little victories, though. For example, I was able to find the vinegar when we needed it this evening, I now have two cabinets full of clean dishes, and the pantry now has food in it instead of cardboard. Little victories.

Still, it's easy to feel daunted when I still can't find things like, for example, Blackout by Connie Willis.

Connie Willis is, in my opinion, a brilliant author. She's often classified as a science fiction writer, but she, like Jasper Fforde, challenges conventional genre classifications. I love every one of her books that I have read, and thus she has reached "hardcover status" in my personal library. (As opposed to ebook status, or paperback status, hardcover status is reserved for books that are so wonderful that I know I'll want to have them absolutely forever.)

Anyway, I bought my hardcover copy of Blackout several months ago, but decided to wait to read it until I also had All Clear, which is, as I understand it, the continuation of Blackout. All Clear arrived shortly before NaNoWriMo, so I-- in a great feat of willpower-- decided to save both books as my reward for finishing my 50K.

Well, 50,000 words later and what do you know? I can't find Blackout! I found All Clear after digging through about half a dozen boxes, but Blackout is nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, in the process of looking for Blackout I found Celia Garth (also in hardcover) by Gwen Bristow, which is another book I've been saving for a special occasion.

In a way, reading Celia Garth is more momentous than reading Blackout because Gwen Bristow stopped writing around the time of her death about thirty years ago. I read and loved her Plantation Trilogy as well as Jubilee Trail, and Calico Palace, but Celia Garth will be new for me. I'm almost sad to read it, but if Ms. Bristow's other books are any indication, Celia and I will have a long and happy friendship.

Now, the trick is to find the time to read. The next two weeks will be very busy because I have four, no wait, five book signings to attend. I'll be at Lion Around Books in Quakertown this Friday from 6:30 to 8pm, The Moravian Book Shop on Saturday from 1 to 3 pm, Christkindlmarkt in downtown Bethlehem on Thursday at 11am, somewhere in Emmaus (more details to come) on the 11th, and at the Clinton Book Shop in Clinton New Jersey on the 12th. Phew! I guess that's what happens when you contribute to a Christmas anthology.

And somewhere in there I have to bake cookies, wrap presents, and find a spot for my Christmas tree. (I know where it will go, right where that pile of boxes is!)

Oh, and read.

And make a new friend in Celia Garth.

And look for Blackout.