Between projects—or being lazy

Writing this as Jacob practices his clarinet not ten feet from me, so please pardon any mistakes. Sometimes it’s mellow, but then there comes that sudden loud, high blast. He gets sent to the cottage because one of the house dogs doesn’t like the music (I use the term loosely). Neither does Sophie—she barks at him.

You know how unemployed people tell you they’re “between positions”? A nice euphemism. Well, I’m between projects. Revised a manuscript, got it to the point it’s ready for my beta reader, and sent it off on Monday. Not quite ready to jump into another manuscript, though I have a vague idea of where I’m going. So I’m being lazy—more time fiddling on Facebook, lots of reading, lots of odds and ends—like how many subscriptions to Kid Sports Illustrated were automatically renewed? Three grandsons read and enjoy it, but I only got one gift card from them. And do I still have vision insurance? Ah, the details of life. Maybe next week I’ll start on a rough outline of the next novel—it will be a Kelly O’Connell Mystery.

Meantime I’m also social. Lunch out Monday and Tuesday. Today, lunch with two friends I haven’t seen in forever. We ate at Bravo! And I ordered a light lunch—cream of mushroom soup and salad, expecting a cup of soup and a small side salad. I was served a soup plate full of rich and delicious soup—so good, but just more than I expected. But we three did some good catching up—they both were with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for years, so we talked journalism and writing and people in that field. Good and gossipy.

Tonight it was dinner at Fixture, where I have enjoyed many a lunch. I love some things on their menu, others not so much—too much kale. But I got a bit weary of it because they never changed the menu. I’ve decided that changing the menu from time to time is a plus for restaurants. When I checked online this morning, I discovered Fixture has a whole new dinner menu, with such lovelies as chicken and waffles, short ribs, shrimp and grits, and their classic spaetzle. So off Betty and I went. She can never resist shrimp, so she had that, while I settled for bruschetta with tenderloin, tomatoes, and greens. We had a really good chardonnay with it. Lovely meal. And lots of laughter.

Tomorrow I’ve got more odds and ends—my vote-by-mail ballot to fill out, two cooking magazines to browse, insurance to check on. I’m rather enjoying this vacation time.