Waking and Sleeping

In the last four days I've written about 8,000 words on my novel. I have, as they say, gotten into it. This morning, I woke up at 2:30 from a sound sleep but could not get back to sleep. I was living out scenes from the novel in my head, working out the future plot, even figured out how the protagonist saves herself  from the villain. For too long I kept abandoning this novel, then coming back to it. I think because the world of it didn't seem real. Now it does, and the characters do--this late in the manuscript (54,000 words, thank you very much), they're taking on personality and depth. When I do that first rewrite I'll be more confident about who they are. I want to toss the world aside and write, write, write, but of course I can't do that, particularly not this week. My horoscope this morning said the world would keep me very busy in the beginning of the week and then leave me hanging. My calendar indicates just the opposite. Anyway, having my muse talk to me is great, but I'd like some sleep, please. The late Dorothy Johnson (A Man Called Horse, The Hanging Tree, etc.) used to say if her muse wasn't talking to her she might as well go scrub windows. One day she wrote that she'd just had an awful shock: she was working on a novel about NYC during WWII, called The Unbombed, because New Yorkers always lived in fear of bombings. She wrote she'd had a terrible disappointment: her muse had just told her that the man she thought was going to be the hero was going to be killed in the war. I know the feeling--the villain in my current work-in-progress has changed three times, but I think now I finally know who it is.
I am still exporing the possibility of self-publishing this novel, since the others haven't sold. It's a whole new world out there, and self-publishing has lost its stigma, may have some distinct advantages.
Lovely dinner tonight with old friends, couples who knew each other from way back but don't visit often. Nice to bring people together. The two men were both Air Force pilots so there was a lot of flying talk, and one is a docent at the Carter where Kathie plans to volunteer, so they all had a lot to talk about. My meatballs were good--sitting overnight really did improve them, softened what I thought was too strong a tomato paste taste--and the mashed potatoes with spinach and gruyere were wonderful. For an appetizer, I served store-bought hummus--I've found a brand I really like, Cedar's Original, and I plopped a couple of defrosted cubes of pesto down in the middle. Great combination. Kathie brought chocolate cake for dessert, so it was a festive and good meal.
Nice day. Much better than yesterday. And I did write 2,000 words. Moving on.

Family weekend

No post last night because I had half my family here for supper--here's what happy kids look like drinking milkshakes that Uncle Colin (on the right, with Uncle Christian on the left) made, trying out my yoga mat, and snuggling to watch TV. They are all so adorable together and so close in age that they have a great time. They run through the house screaming and yelling but there is little if any fighting. Since we just saw Kegan, the youngest, last weekend, he was quicker to warm up to Jordan and me and we got hugs, kisses, and a chance to hold him on our laps.

We had a Greek meal--flank steak seasoned with Cavender's, hummus and pita chips, Greek salad, cucumber sauce, and dolma--but half the Greek side of the family didn't get here until ten o'clock, by which time others had either gone home or to bed. Jamie and Maddie snacked on dolmas dipped in hummus. I had "doctored" the hummus with a little bit of oregano, lots of lemon juice, and a tad of olive oil. Makes it, as Lisa said, addictive.

Today my horoscope said to do whatever I wanted to with loved ones, so I didn't worry about straightening the house or any of those things--okay, I did empty the dishwasher, put away last nights bigger things from the drying rack, and make my bed. But by 9:30 we were all headed to Jordan's house. It was such a wonderful morning, I drove with the top down and loved it. The children were all playing so happily, if noisily inside--joined now by Megan and Brandon's two, Sawyer and Ford, that we never went outside. Melanie and Edie also arrived a little after ten. Jamie had gotten up early to put pork loins in the oven, and that, along with a cole slaw based on the idea of the slaw from Austin's Salt Lick, was a delicious lunch. He seasoned two pork loins heavily with salt, pepper and garlic powder, and roasted them slowly all morning. Then, at serving, he shredded the meat and put barbecause sauce on most of it--some really hot habernero, some medium hot, and left some plain. I ate the plain and loved it. Megan complained that I had tricked her because the recipe I found online wasn't exactly Salt Lick's--it was someone's approximation, but it was delicious. She likes it because it has no mayonnaise.

Aftre lunch at least two kiddoes were headed for naps, and I came home for a nap and some computer, desk, quiet time. Tonight we will go out to dinner and no doubt end up back here to sit on the porch. The little kids love to ride the concrete lions in front of Jay and Susan's house, and all of a sudden the weather is so pleasant that it's nice to sit out at night. I think as part of retirement, I've learned to relax and enjoy my family more--and I did that today.