|
autiej
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Autumn
Birthday: 9/21/1970
Gender: Female
Interests: Interests? Hmmm….I enjoy the following:Solitude - Cary Elwes (British accents...yum!) - Caffeine - Movies - Music from the 90s - Survivor (the show...NOT the song) - my mom's old Tijuana Brass Christmas records - the old show "Sledge Hammer" - Writing (I've written two books and, most recently, a story about a dead llama) - The Legend of Zelda (meaning, the OLD one on my 8-bit NES) - Brendan Fraser - Chatrooms - Boy Bands getting arrested - Talk Soup - Lost (why did Charlie have to die!!?!?!) - the Chicago Bears - "Six Feet Under" - Music by The Offspring and Poe (The chick, not the Teletubby or the dead morbid writer) - and editing books.
Expertise: I'm really not an expert at anything, except not being an expert at anything, which I'm really good at. I do consider myself a writer, though - but not big and famous....well....maybe big....but not famous. I have autographed about six copies of my first book at some folks' requests, though....so I suppose that's something. I'm also good at eating and breathing. I learned how to do both at a young age. Oh - and I have a really pathetic knack for spotting improper semicolon usage and I type around 120 WPM.
Occupation: Writer & Book Editor
Industry: Publishing
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Yahoo:  autiej
Member Since:
5/24/2005
|
|
| In a nutshell, here are recent happenings: Editing work has REALLY taken off. I am now officially listed in the "credits" of the Sacramento Book Review, as well as having a print ad in the June 2009 edition. I just got hired by a former client to do two more books for twice my normal rate, and new authors have been contacting me all the time. Maybe someday, I can do this full-time - oh, wait, it's already full-time....only I have to fit it in between other full-time things! Laptop Cords should NOT catch on fire. But mine did. Which means I've been computerless at home for several days - which also means I've been unable to keep in touch with any of my zillion cyber friends, do random quizzes on Facebook, or watch corny old reruns on Netflix. Please, EBAY, hurry up and get my new cord to me!!! My husband Joey is now officially a published author (and rumor has it he is working with this remarkably talented content editor). Whether you like baseball or not, please click on the link to his article and help encourage him. He earns points/pennies-per-click, so check out his article at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1758524/why_chris_duncan_deserves_a_fair_shake.html Repairs and preparations are underway, and we should be in our new house by July. Our awesome landlords Mark and Jill took us on a tour through our new house, and now we are more excited than ever to move in there - even if our new neighbor will be a cemetery. Tonight begins our camping trip. Yep, that's right. Off to Alum Creek State Park in southern Ohio....and my husband has his fishing license and everything. I don't relish sleeping on the ground, my knee hurts probably too bad for hiking, and I'm scared of snakes. But it will be a fun time nonetheless...and I need the break from editing and housework. Besides, s'mores are good for the soul. ...and so I ran...oh, wait...not on THIS knee....and so I hobbled like I'm 98 years old... | | |
| So, it is Friday, about 37 minutes before I get to leave work, and I just feel like blogging. I didn't take a lunch today, anyway, so I need a break from scanning Leases and cataloging them. I know it sounds like the most exciting work in the world, but don't be jealous....  In between scanning, setting up and canceling apointments, spending a bit of time discussing our marital similarities with my boss, filing, copying, emailing, and answering phones, I've also been ingesting more than my fair share of the "office" candy that is here. And something I've noticed is that there are far too many yellow M&M's. I have a severe phobia against yellow candy in general, and so I have managed to pick out all the yellow ones to take home to Cissy and Joey. Interestingly (and completely ridiculous that I took the time to look it up), there are apparently 14% yellow M&M's in the typical package. What this means is that out of the fifty-five M&M's in a pack, almost eight of them are yellow. ICK. Fortunately, at least there are about 10% more blue ones. Blue is not icky.
    It has been somewhat of a flyby week, and I can't really believe it is Friday already; albeit the weekend doesn't really seem all that exciting. I have a lot of housework and editing work ahead of me, especially considering that this week I picked up around six new editing contracts from the U.S. and Canada, including editing book reviews for the Sacramento Book Review. I am thrilled every time I get a new client, but following the thrill and the sense of accomplishment comes a sense of overwhelm and dread because I constantly have a full in-box. Nevertheless, I am glad for the work because I can use the extra money - particularly since we might be moving into a bit more expensive place with a bit more expensive utilities, and because I am trying to save up to buy an old retro Turbografix-16 with all of my old favorite games (Oh, how I miss Legendary Axe and Bonk and Keith Courage in Alpha Zones and Splatterhouse).
 Have a good weekend, everyone. And if you ever decide to buy me M&M's, do me a favor and pick out the yellow ones before you give them to me. And you can do the same with Starburst and Skittles and Sixlets as well.
...and so I ran... P.S. No matter what you do and what you think you should do, I plead, beg, and implore you, DO NOT RENT, WATCH, TOUCH, LOOK AT, OR OTHERWISE GO NEAR THE MOVIE Paul Blart: Mall Cop. It was by far one of the absolute worse movies I have ever seen (and I've seen some doozies). Then to top it off, I watched Cry Baby last night, and as cute as Johnny Depp was, the two of these films combined within a week of each other is some kind of mental torture. | | |
| I don't even know when the last time I blogged was, but I really need to get back to it. So much happens every day, it seems, even in our rather normal, rather dull lives....and it's nice to have a written record of it to look back on. Just today I was looking back at some of my November 2005 postings - before I met Joey face to face - and it was really interesting to see where I was emotionally and in my daily life...and someday I may want to look back at May 2009 and see the same thing.
My in-laws left on Sunday night to go back home to Missouri. It was so hard to let them go. When I married Joey, I assumed it would just be me and him because I didn't think anyone would ever accept our marriage - but lo and behold, I was wrong. It was such a great feeling to have both my family and his convening at our house Sunday afternoon, and everyone getting along great. I love my in-laws as much as my own family, and even though we don't live close enough for us all to be together like that very often, it really meant a lot to me to have my "two worlds" brought together like that. I was sitting at the parade Monday in Springfield wishing the Bitticks were there with me and wishing Joey was there with me - because something that is very important to me is to share the life I've always had with the people I have now. I'm glad I had a chance to do that over the weekend while the Bitticks were able to visit, and I hope to be able to do it again very soon. It was so good to go to Ceasar's Creek with them and have them visit Northside. The only downside to the weekend was watching Mall Cop, which should never be watched by any self-respecting human being - NEVER.
Last night, Joey watched Slumdog Millionaire (which I tried to watch but kept dozing off), and we went to bed, and I went to work this morning. I picked up a couple of editing contracts today - a true blessing because things are going to be financially tight the next couple weeks. I don't know why, but some things just seem to be going really better for us here. It seems like some greater power is working in our favor, providing for our needs even when we don't have the means to do it ourselves. I know it is God, and I am thankful for it, albeit I'm not sure why we deserve it. But nevertheless, I'm glad to be home, and I'm glad things seem to be working out - that we are getting by financially, that I have a decent job (at least for now), that I am getting editing contracts, and that we have a great apartment and quite possibly a great house on the horizon.
I'm aware this blog makes no sense, but it is 11:34, and I am tired, so perhaps it is best to sign off....
.
...and so I ran...
| | |
| It has been a productive weekend, I guess....
Friday night, we drove to Piqua to pay for Mitzi and pick up her papers (yeah...we've settled on a name for her and how to spell it...M-I-T-Z-I). On the way home from Piqua, I forgot to take a turn, so we ended up in Urbana. That's what Joey gets for letting me drive.
Saturday, a guy from Craigslist drove clear to our house from Dayton with some furniture for us...two bar stools, two night stands, and a dresser for Cissy's room. He only charged us $5 for gas to deliver all the stuff, and Cissy and I managed to use "girl power" to get the dresser and night stands up the stairs all by ourselves. Long live Craigslist and girl power.
Today, Cissy and I went to church and then went over to hang out at my sister's house and went to the car wash to clean out the car. Then we came home and Joey and I watched the last two episodes of this season of LOST.
And now the weekend is over, and I'm almost too depressed to sleep. And the worst part is, I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm too worried about the people on the island. Or maybe I am mad that the guy who hit my car didn't call me back. Or maybe I'm feeling REALLY REALLY down on myself and quite lonely. Or maybe I don't feel like going to work tomorrow. Or maybe it's just all of these things. And maybe I can sleep it off....
...and so I ran...
| | |
| Almost a month since I blogged? WHAT?????? Who would have thought I would get to the point where I'd have too much of a life to blog about it? Well, I'm still not really to THAT point, but still...I've been busy.
We've been having some fun in Ohio. The weekend before last, we went to a yard sale my church was holding to help out a local family. While there, I bought an old Probe boardgame and a meat defrosting tray thing. Then, we went to Cesar's Creek Flea Market, and while we were there we bought some things like shoes and hats for Joey, fudge and tomatoes for me, and who-knows-what for Cissy. On the way home from the Flea Market, we stopped at a yard sale, where I bought a few miscellaneous things that I don't need...only to find out the yard sale was being hosted by my cousin's old boss from the video store - the one who helped us with our movie back in 2005. In Ohio, it really is a small world sometimes. It was also good to see my cousin Erica and her beautiful kids again recently.
 This past weekend, we adopted a new puppy - a ten-week-old dachshund whom we named Mitzy (after my old toy stuffed monkey that I had when I was a kid.) Mitzy was really a surprise for Joey, who had no idea we were getting her - thanks to Libby and Cissy and various others for helping me trick my husband. Then, on Friday night, we went over to visit my dad (who is home for the hospital but could still use your prayers as he heals from his surgery), we went to introduce Mitzy to her Great Grandpa and Grandma Miesse and her Great Uncle Buddy the Great Pyrannese, and then we went to watch the Northside Baptist softball team play (my sister is on the team) against the hodgepodge-sponsored team that my cousins Buddy and Kenya play on. Buddy and Kenya's team won, but it was fun to watch. On Mother's Day morning, Cissy was away at a sleepover at her friend Raven's house, but Joey took me to breakfast, which was re ally nice.
 The last few days have also proved eventful. As it turns out, our landlord has offered us the chance to move into a single-family house he just bought here in Tremont City, and we have decided to accept his very generous and kind offer. So....we're moving again - only this time, into a home with no one else living in it, and into a home where we don't have to change our mailing address or Cissy doesn't have to switch schools. It's less than a mile from where we live now, and we expect to be able to move in the first or second week of June. It needs some work, but it is a great house with a peaceful, breezy back yard, central air, a dishwasher, a fireplace, a garage, a shed, and covered front and back porches...and the most beautiful big tree in the front yard. We weren't expecting to move again so soon because we love our apartment here, but we cannot pass up this chance, and it will make a great home for the six of us (the three humans and the three canines). 
 My editing business has also been booming. I have finished two novels in the last two weeks, as well as done a lot of work for my "regular" clientele. My profits have enabled me to spend a little money on an "advertising budget," so I bought new business cards and posted some ads online. It is still my dream to write for a living someday, but as far as dreams go, being able to make a full-time job out of the freelance copy editing is still right up there running a close second. 
Then....right in the midst of all this excitement and this seemingly strange sort of streak of good luck and fun....the piano falls. See, as the pessimist that I often am, I am leary of good times, constantly feeling as though the whole time you're trying to enjoy them, there is a proverbial piano looming above on a thin, every-fraying rope waiting to fall on your head. Today was that piano. 
 This morning, I was late to work because of the land mines Mitzy left for me - she must have sneaked out of the house last night and went to the closest Chinese buffet, because there is no way her tummy (fat as it is) could have held as much as she left behind. Then, on the way out of Tremont City, about a half-mile from our house, I hit something - some sort of animal that was too big to be a squirrel or a skunk darted out of the weeds at the roadside and before I could stop I heard two quick thuds. In my rearview, I could see that it stumbled around a second and then ran off into the yard across the street, but colliding with what is potentially someone's housepet is not how I needed to start an already-infuriating day. Then, well, for the sake of bluntness, at around 10 a.m., Mother Nature decided to drop by and remind me why I hate Eve so much for those nice little crampy reminders she sends me every month about how you should not take apples from snakes. Then, while I thought I have been doing a relatively good job at my job, considering I had ve ry little training and have been left to hold down the fort for several days in a row, I realized today that I don't know enough to complete hardly any tasks at all and all these projects started falling by the wayside because I don't know how to do them. And then, I stopped at Kroger after work, only to be hit by an SUV in the parking lot while I was waiting to pull into a parking space....so now I have to fool with going to get estimates for car damage. And finally, to top off the evening nicely, I spent forty-five minutes sitting on the floor of our bathroom trying to fix our toilet seat and another twenty minutes repairing a curtain rod in our room....and another ten minutes trying to tape up our laptop cord because Mitzy decided to use it as a teething ring. Nothing like a baby grand falling on you on a Tuesday in May.
I think I'll end this disastrously awful day by watching a movie with Cissy on Netflix....or maybe just punching one of my teddy bears in the face really hard and knocking myself out with Nyquil....
...and so I ran... | | |
|
|
