No.
Our computer mysteriously combusted the other day. It took an afternoon's worth of Nathanael's homework, a crap-ton of our music, pictures, and playlists. I'm not sure if that--or how much--might be safe on the eternal hard drive, and it's all very sucktacular. I had saved my writing and edits on a thumb drive the night before so at least there's that. But my PLAYLISTS?!
As you may have devined from the lunar cycles, I'm due for a funk. I'm going to lj cut that part. The rest is familial update stuff.
It all starts out with me not even placing in a little contest over at dA, and then covers hormonal shifting, looming depression, and a pretty sharp sense of "Want to give the fuck up, now" with the book writing. As a little background note I joined a sort of writer's group doohickie called Authonomy and have been working on Silver to incorporate some of the feedback. There is a shit-load of stuff I still need to do and the ever-present knowledge that all of it is not just maybe but likely in vain because the thing will still never see the light of published day. And this is the first time I've really considered the notion that the REAL reason the book will never get out there is because is is trash and I really AM a self-deluded, talentless hack.
I'm in one of those moods where I go slashing the hell through friendlists.
Nathanael is still really busy with school stuff. Theoretically he has one day off out of every three (work, school, off) and that's just how it will go until March. He's doing a lot but he's balancing pretty well, for the most part.
Oh! Here's some bragging! In case you didn't remember Gabriel had quite a bit of trouble reading in his old school and it looked like we were in for more of the same now that he's going to public school, but lo and behold last week he got an A on every single test he took, including phonics and spelling. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. Be happy for the kid. I don't know what his teacher's doing but it's working and things are looking up there.
Noah is still Noah which means he's a drama queen. Everything that doesn't go his way seems to break his heart and sometimes--after the fourth or fifth misting up in as many (or fewer) hours I want to scream. I think it must be a four- and five-year old thing for me, because Gabriel drove me nuts at those ages, too. At any rate, Noah is doing fine. He'll turn six in under three months.
Ben is very healthy and happy though his tendency toward finding any cord available has resulted in him learning that not obeying 'no' leads to a hand slap. He looks betrayed every time we do it. He's crawling like a pro, beginning to pull up on things, loves to bounce and will drum (I'm not even kidding) patterns with you. He also has four teeth and a dimple in his left cheek. He's got Gabriel's beautiful eyes and Noah's light-up-a-room smile. His first birthday is November 2nd.
I'm totally skrewed when they hit puberty.