random saturday update ("i'm not dead yet!")
Wow, I guess I've really neglected LJ for awhile here. It's a symptom of a larger illness--too busy to write anywhere, save occasional ten word Facebook updates. Faced with another day of unpacking (last weekend spent getting everything back from the storage unit), I'll run a brief update:

--New job going pretty well. I'm happy to be back, there are challenges in the role but at this point they aren't overwhelming. Hardest part is that I'm putting in long days right now. In time, that will change, but the summer is going to be pretty long for me that way. However, I can't state what a different feeling it is to go to work everyday thinking about work instead of whether you are going to get laid off or not. That fear may very well come into play down the road, but I'm fairly certain I'm good for at least a year, and probably longer.

--It has now been two weeks since I wrote a single word creatively. I can't stress how busy life has been. I'm actually ok with it; I think the break my help me recharge. I was starting to feel uncertain about where I needed my work to go, and sometimes a breather from it is not a bad thing. I'm hoping to get back on the horse next weekend.

--Marian has been sick for a week now. That's wearying. Not super sick, but enough that she missed 4 out of 5 days of school and if it hadn't been for the ability of Susan's folks to watch her those days, I don't know what we would have done--neither Susan nor I can miss work right now. It's settled into a pattern of her feeling bad in the mornings and evenings and ok in the day. I remember her having something similar to this about three years ago. It seems like it will never end, but it will.

--My ManCave (aka my writing half-room, the other half belonging to the whole family) is coming along nicely. I've taken pictures but haven't posted yet. Two bookshelves and two large CD racks. I can't stress how wonderful it is to see my books again and have them nearby. When all the unpacking is done, I think this will be a good space for me. The new floor really transformed this part of the house.

--On the bottom of the new CD rack right next to my desk (which contains all my metal CDs, along with some favorites that only I enjoy) are all of my old 8-bit NES, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis games. It feels oddly good to have them there. The oldest copy, Super Mario Brothers, came with my NES I got in seventh grade (or eighth. I think it was seventh, though.) People, these games are old...and I dearly wish I could easily set up my NES because I love them so. I've managed to keep these games with me through all the strange twists of my life...that's amazing to me. And really cool.

--Tonight is Metal Kommand. Yay!

--I have Nachtmystium tickets. Double yay!

So there it all is in a nutshell, minus whatever I've forgotten. Time to eat some blueberry granola and get busy on the unpacking/sorting. It's not as exciting as moving into a new house, but it looks like we live here again.