Accessory to a Will

Emeraldcite, I thought of you when I found this by pure accident: Amazon.com suggests several accessories you may want to purchase along with your Quicken Willmaker Plus 2005 software. Scroll down on the page to see what you might not be able to live without!

Painful Rewrites

I'm revisiting the beginning of my Work-In-Progress before I write any further (I'm almost halfway done with the first draft of the novel). Chapter 3, I find, is devoid of any meaningful conflict; it's mostly just the introduction of a couple new characters, a few clues, a few more steps forward in the plot, and some witty banter. Yawn. I think I just fell asleep.

So, I'm doing something weird. For me, anyway. From a link provided by the ever-helpful and encouraging Karin Gillespie, who writes a killer blog, I am rewriting chapter three the Ingermanson cum Swain way.

It is a strange and wondrous activity. And painful, really, since I have such limited time to write. It's like when you fall down in some dirt and gravel and cut yourself, and the cut is really full of crap, and you know you've got to clean it out so it can heal up right, but you know it's gonna hurt, so you just grit your teeth, and clean that sucker up. Okay, so I think I just compared my novel to a wound. Hmmm. I'm gonna let that one stand for now.

Anyhoo, Ingermanson's article outlines one wild way of designing and executing scenes. I'm up for it. We'll see where it takes me. I've already created a new character who is temporarily named HOT BABE DANGER STRIPPER. With a character like that, how can conflict be far away?

Finally: Real Customer Service

FINALLY, I can without hesitation say that a medical institution has gained my full confidence. And it's for ANIMALS. The Veterinary Referral Center in Malvern, Pennsylvania has a wonderful orthopedic surgeon in one Dr. Franczuszki. He is not only knowledgable and practiced at what he does (which includes repairing little doggies' kneecaps), he is kind and understanding. His patience and friendliness also extend to the shrieking toddlers accompanying his clients to their appointments. He is almost always on time to the appointment, too. I know two other people who have had Dr. Franczuski operate on their dogs, and both were extremely pleased at the outcome. So it's not just me.

Yes, so the surgeon is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. But I can't not talk about THE STAFF!!! The receptionists, the techs, and whoever else has helped W and me, my GOSH they're great. They allow me to call from my cell phone in the parking lot and wait in the car until someone is ready to see W; they help me get W from car to reception area while I juggle my kids; they are unfailingly POLITE and RESPONSIBLE and INFORMATIVE and CARING. When someone failed to call me back yesterday afternoon in response to a message I left, they apologized profusely this morning. How often do you get that? There is a play area for children, the facility is squeaky clean, there are good magazines and people restrooms, I could go on and on. Even their telephone hold message is comforting. I LOVE THEM! When my knee gets bad enough for surgery, I'm going to put on a dog suit and go there instead of to the *&#$%^ people hospital.

I will calm down now and end by saying that if you live anywhere near southern Pennsylvania and your dog has orthopedic problems, you will not regret visiting Dr. Franczuszki and the Veterinary Referral Center. We drive almost an hour each way, and it is well worth the trouble for my peace of mind. I only regret that they will not give me a discount for the previous advertisement. Well, I don't even regret that. They deserve the good publicity. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

Member of the Family

My dog needs physical therapy.

Those are five expensive words. And silly words, to many of you.

But when I've needed PT, I've put in the money and the time. When my son needed PT and OT, you can bet your bottom dollar we took him until they told us he could be released. Dear W has been a member of my family for almost ten years, longer than either of my children. If he needs help, we'll get him help. And he will repay us. By picking the winning Powerball numbers this week. Cause we will need about $220 million to pay off his medical bills by the time it is all said and done.

(In short, we took W in for an 8wk post-op visit today: rebuilt knee joint is doing great; leg is not so great--he still isn't using it; needs pain meds; needs PT.)

I See How It Works

Well, yes. Okay. Maybe I jumped the gun. I was almost giddy with optimism when I made the last post several hours ago, naturally jinxing the rest of the day and the family. AC's low fever of the last three days shot up to 103 this afternoon, prompting an unplanned trip to the pediatrician, who found the girl's right ear infected. Now we're all home (N, AC, and I), but dinner has not yet been prepared. D will, in a perfect world, be home shortly. It remains to be seen whether I can pull off this writing interlude.

On the Plus Side

Things are looking a bit better around here. Yes, I have a cold. But at least I am not losing my cookies. Yes, the hail bludgeoned my newly transplated seedlings I brought up under the basement grow light for three weeks. But at least I am not solely reliant on my farm for food or income. Yes, I misunderestimated on D's W4 last year and thus accidently loaned the government enough to buy shitty body armor for our troops. But at least we're getting it back in the next ten or so days. Yes, I haven't really worked on my novel in one month. That's right, one month. But, BUT, BUT, my husband is determined to get home from work by 7pm tonight and put the kids to bed himself, so I can have two hours of uninterrupted writing time. Yes, things are looking up, finally.