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2004-02-04 Snow Day Monday and Tuesday were beautiful days. Come to think of it, Sunday was as well. The cold spell had finally broken, and while I still had to put my coat, scarf, hat, mitts and boots on, I didn't feel like my extremities were going to fall off. That's a huge improvement in my books. But, alas, the groundhog did indeed see his shadow, and Mother Nature decided to dump a hell of a lot of snow on us last night into this morning. And not the nice, light, fluffy stuff. No, it was the heavy, wet snow that, granted, is good for snowball fights and building snowmen, but not so great for your legs, arms, and back when shoveling. I had to go out the front and around the side (which hadn't been shoveled) and climb the back stairs to shovel our back balcony. The snow came up to my mid-calf. And although it's not snowing anymore (in fact, the sun is coming out as I type), the wind is high and blowing the snow around. Although it's been maybe 30 minutes since I shoveled the back, there's a new dusting of snow out there. Sigh. Winter. Bah. But then again, I am happy that it's not -40 Celsius. Even with the wind, it's a pretty nice temperature out there. * The books are going well. I'm editing one chapter a day of Book 1. I know that I could edit more since I'm not currently working, but whenever I try that, I end up reading it like I would read a book written by someone else. I don't look at it closely enough to catch all the little typos and grammatically incorrect sentences that are inevitable. So I've set myself at that quota. Today I'll be doing chapter 11. I've also been writing 5 or so pages a day of Book 2. I decided yesterday, however, that I really need to start typing it all and saving it to disk if I want to avoid the annoying problem I had with Book 1, where I felt like I was never going to get through the 900 or so handwritten pages. I'm leaving off at a pretty good spot since I'm not quite sure where I'm going to go from here. I know a bit down the road, but I need that 'in-the-meantime' bit. I have a few pages of notes of things that are going to happen in Book 2 and a tentative order to it all. I don't know if anyone can get how much work is involved in writing a book until they've tried it. I have a zip-up folder that is full of notes, all organized into file folders (Characters, Maps, General Novel Info, and General Info), and yet I still sometimes feel like it isn't organized enough. But it's coming along. I'm hoping that this current read-through of Book 1 is the last one for me. Then I have to decide who I'm going to ask to read it before sending it off to the literary agents. Julie has kindly offered to read it (thank you so much, Julie!) and I have sent her some chapters, but she understandably has little time what with being in university and all. Erin has also offered, and one of these days I'll remember to send her the first chapter. I'd like to ask Sherry to read it as well, but I'm not sure how much time she has either with Hayley. (Also, I'm a little afraid to send it my sister since I'm not sure if it's really her type of book. She doesn't like Tolkien or Anne Rice - granted, I'm nothing like either of them - but I'm not sure what it is exactly that she doesn't like about them. I don't want her to feel like she has to read it if she isn't enjoying it) I suppose that given the fact that Sherry reads my journal, I have, in fact, just asked her if she'd read Book 1, albeit in a roundabout fashion. * The job hunt is not going so well. Is there any surprise? The thing is, the money in my bank account isn't going to last forever, so I'm hoping that something comes up soon. It would also mean that I wouldn't have to worry about a big blow-out fight with my mother, which seems to be looming over us right now. She has made it clear that she doesn't support my decision to leave the manufacturing company. She's made little comments. I know what their underlying meaning is, but they're also subtle enough that she could weasel her way out of them and claim that I'm just too defensive. Ah, yes, my mother. Although she loves me, she seems to have money as a priority, not my happiness. She often says that it's not like she loves her job, which makes me think of the old adage: "Misery loves company". I know that it helps when I can buy things like milk and bread and whatnot, but mothers are supposed to want better for their kids. I would have been miserable and paranoid at the manufacturing company. Those days are gone. On Sunday, we got onto my first job, working at a "drinkshack" on a golf course. I hated it. I was alone with nothing to do but write and read - now, yes, that sounds lovely, especially for someone who loves to read and write so much, but when it's ALL you have to do, it starts to suck. The golf club was also run by a family, and everyone who worked there was in some way related to each other (as is the way of small towns). I was the outsider. I wasn't related to any of them. So, I hated the job. I mentioned that on Sunday (no newsflash for my parents), and my mother turned to me and said, "Yes, but at least you stuck to it." To which I replied, "Yeah, unlike now, right?" She didn't say anything, but just raised her eyebrows in that, You said it, I didn't sort of way. I just told her that I wasn't about to discuss that and end up in a big argument over it. Yes, I stuck with that job I hated. I was there for 2 seasons. But the only thing that got me through that was my sister's wisdom: that this was only a stepping stone, and I was going to move onto bigger and better things. Well, I'm out of school now, so that's what I'm looking for. Maybe not that much bigger, like owning a company or becoming a leader, but better. I was happy at the School of Architecture, and I want to be happy again. I never minded going into work. That's what I'm looking for. Anyway, I should be off to decide what I'm going to have for lunch. Then I plan for a very productive afternoon.
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