A blah blah blah check-in....

I have wanted to write all week but I've been busy taking care of Stefan. Today I had to myself and I was so tired that I’ve stayed inside all day and I'm beginning to feel human again.

The Academy Awards. Last Sunday was one of those days when not much was going to go right. I lit out for the restaurant in the rain, and when I got to the Balboa Theater there was no place to park. I parked blocks away, discovering that I had forgotten my umbrella and had to walk to the restaurant with my coat over my head, my shoes squishing in puddles of water.

Before I got to the restaurant BB called and said she would be a couple of hours late and to just buy her a ticket. Then I get to the restaurant and K calls the restaurant saying that she has some kind of garage door problem. At this point I just accepted that the day was jinxed.

BB never made it and K was late and I sat through the Academy Awards in soaking wet shoes. Sometimes things just don't go the way you want them to go. I was happy though that Sean Penn won best actor, and happy that the movie got best screenplay.

Some good things have happened this week. A woman answered my Craig’s List ad. She's French, will be here for another two months, and sounds eager to meet me. She's studying English somewhere in Fisherman's Wharf. Hopefully we will be able to get together this week. She suggested that we each spend an hour helping each other, which sounds fine to me.

And…. Next Friday afternoon I am going to meet M, who is going to help me with my research for my novel. I'm going to read a chapter to her and she's going to tell me if this particular thing that I'm writing about sounds real to her. I'm a little nervous reading my work to someone I don't even know, but my excitement overrides my nervousness.

On Sunday Cindy is coming over and we are going to photograph each other. The word that we use with each other is “photoshoot.” We pretend that we are bigshot photographers the way we talk. It's fun! I liked the photoshoot I did of J, but I still haven't gotten her permission to go public with the the photos and so I need to wait until I talk with her.

Tomorrow I am leading a writing workshop at Unity Day and I prepared for it this evening. The only part I don't like is that I have to get up early -- well, I have to get up at nine o'clock in the morning, and that's early for me. I'm looking forward to it -- I just don't like the idea of having to go to bed early and get up early.

I got a CD from the library that I'm enjoying listening to. It's called Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypus and it's a Southern story with a 12-year-old heroine. I love Southern writing, the Southern voice, that quirky language. The heroine is really likable because she's loyal and honest and has these really good values.

Peggy came over on Tuesday night and I read her the last three chapters of my novel. She actually was crying because she was so happy for me, that I was able to bring the character's home, so to speak. It meant a lot to me that she was so emotional, and it gave me a lot of confidence. In truth, I could hardly read it to her without crying myself. The ending is just very poignant, and I feel really proud to have written it. I'm still working on editing Part Two, and it's taking me longer than Part One. I hadn't expected this. I thought it would be pretty easy. Part Five is already pretty solidly written, so after I finish Part Two then I only have Part Three and Part Four and I'm done. It's hard to believe!

It's a horrible time to try and get a book published with the economy the way it is, but you know what -- I don't even care about that. I just need to finish it. That's where my concentration is right now.

This entry feels like a catch-up entry. Looking back over it, I realize that a lot is happening in my life right now. I'm very very very very excited about the prospect of meeting this new French woman. It's something I've wanted for so long -- to actually get to talk to somebody in person. It's so hard to learn a language when there's nobody around to speak it with.

Tonight I watched an American film with French subtitles. What do I remember? I remember the words “dites-le moi” which I think means “tell me about it.” And “donnez-leur” which I think means “give them…” what else? Oh, Frederic sent me a link to a French broadcast and it's fun listening. Language is so weird. When I speak, I talk so fast and don't even realize that I'm doing it. But then when I listen to French speakers it's so amazing how quickly they talk. We both do it, speaking at lightning speed.

I have to go to bed now so I can get up early. I feel a little bit like I'm being punished. These are my favorite hours. Oh well….