Pen pals, and other missives.

Well, today is election day.  Which actually has nothing to do with anything, except I am at the sub early, and writing is my plan for most of the day.  I had to arrive an hour early, and will have someone come in an hour early to spell me...  7am to 8pm, we have decided is MUCH too long of a stretch.

Anywho.  I am writing my blog, of course.  Then I am going to write my Aunties.  I didn't get my Easter cards out to anyone, (Hi, messymimi... eep.) and, so I am going to do a "Yes, I am late, but I am thinking of you" notes.  It's hilarious, in a way, I sit and type my blog, and everyone is soooo serious when they come in, she is working so we must not disturb her with our requests. So I make a point of dropping typing when someone comes in.  When I am writing with pen and paper, more than a few ask if I am filling out forms.  

Didn't know why that came up, until I realized, I am usually writing with a clipboard.  Most places use those for forms, at least around here...  The funny thing, when I am doing some of the "actual" work for the sub, where I have a ream of paper, and am intently looking at the computer, most folk don't notice!  Odd...

(And Heaven help me if I am reading a book, or knitting. Which has been perfectly fine with everyone from Sheriff on down, as long as we aren't ignoring what we are 'supposed' to be doing with customers...)

I have two pen pals, and I just sent off letters to them.  One is a brand new pen pal, we accidentally met up on a knitting forum.  Think I told the story, but short version, we were dropped, unintentionally, from a pen pal list, and so we checked with each other, hey would you like to be MY pen pal?  Yep!  And off to the races... 

She is in New Jersey, so we have rather different experiences, and places, so have (hopefully) a lot to talk about.  I have written with my computer, just to make the letter easier to read, but I have a new printer.  It can print both sides of the paper, which is wonderful, saves paper and postage.

Except...

It prints the back page upside down.  I am going to have to figure out how to correct this problem...  Right now, I will just pull the paper out, and turn it so it's correct, but there has to be a way to do this without needing to mess with the paper...  So my pen pals will get a unique letter or two until I can get it sorted out, but hey, it's still a letter, right?

Writing, cleaning, and fluffy pillows.

Well, I have managed to keep up with The Challenge... I have only missed one day, (I wrote two notes today, as I, uh, zoned out and fell asleep last night, before writing my last one), so I am at this point caught up with all the letters I have meant to send out.

I found out I like writing with a fountain pen... I have also found out the paper I use sucks up ink like an alcoholic sucks up booze.  So, until I find a bit better paper, I will use a ball point.  I found out my Grandmother has 3 fountain pens squirreled away, I am going to have to ask if I could use them.

I have been cleaning the house today, I am amazed at how 2 people can create so much paper!  The house is not "dirty", really, I mean I dust, and vacuum, that sort of thing, but it is the amazing amount of reading material and mail we have.  I sorted out at least 10 or so magazines, (I get them in trades from various sources), and still have at least 6 or so left to read, Husband gave me 2 or three to give away.

Our kitchen table looked like a tornado had hit a paper plant!  Most was my letter writing 'stuff' and my husband's bills and mail for family (we are the mail forward point for 3 family members).  So, we looked at each other after lunch, and without saying a word, picked up and organized our respective disaster areas.  I put the letter writing 'stuff' into a folder, and have a little rack to set the mail and stamps in.  Husband picked up all the mail and put it into baskets, along with all the assorted ball caps that migrate to that area...  (I believe I counted 8...)  Now, for a while, we will have a kitchen table again!  And a front room table.

Until the next swath of mail and magazines, anyway.

I washed our pillows, too.  I don't know what the washer and dryer did, but I had a pillow, not more than two or three inches thick.  I now have a pillow that looks like a marshmallow on steroids.  We shall see how this monster sleeps!  I have washed this pillow before, but this is a different washer/dryer system.  Still, I wasn't really expecting the silly thing to blow up like a balloon!

The odd things that go on around this house...

Hmph. Lessee...

Well. I was going to go to my spinning group today. The illustrious weather guessers were yodelling about a winter wind storm. So due to circumstances that were somewhat out of my control, I didn't go.

So, I made a loaf of bread. (I was informed by an older friend of mine that making bread is an art form, not just 'throwing stuff into a machine.' And so, my I introduce myself, the Bread Machinist...)

And continued reading a book I'd started. I knit on a Christmas project, (pictures and mentioning of item not here, as I don't know if said recipient might actually read my blog...)

I made lunch for us, Husband and I. Or is it me? Anyway, we had lunch. And then we worked for a mite getting the 'travel gate' open from the back field to the front. I hope to start feeding my llamas down front again... If they will cooperate. I think a rattling feed bucket might convince them, however. It seems to most of the time.

I read other blogs to see if I could steal anything for blog fodder. Let's see, Relationship troubles, no, thank goodness. Canadian Animal fair, nope. Getting home from a book tour. I wish... Talking Sheep and yarn balls... Plagiarism is frowned on. It is funny, however.
( http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/)

Last chance, the last blog I check...

"My Inner Lesbian High Priestess"

Whoooookaaaaaaay, never mind. OK, so much for hijacking someone else's blog. (Especially since the last one was written by a guy...)

Sometimes I guess that the Muse that I have heard inspires one to write, sits down, crosses its arms like a two year old, and gives me a humongous raspberry. Sometimes it's like that.

I was in a writing group for a while, and I loved writing fiction. According to the group, it wasn't good fiction, as I would make really bad mistakes that were usually, most of the time, oh, the MAIN PLOT POINT. But they liked the humor of the stories, even if I had married priests, or Stud horses that didn't want to have sex because they couldn't afford child support, (excuse me, people, it's FICTION, how many ding dong talking horses, besides Mr. Ed, have you SEEN???), or slaves, that were slaves after the emancipation proclamation. Well, fine. So, I wrote little ditties about my personal life, and people think they are just lovely.

That's great. Except, I don't really think the group would have wanted a 500 word article on cleaning out a chicken house, or the shed, or helping Husband rebuild an engine, every time. I suppose if I did what my one high school English teacher said, is just write. Give yourself x amount of words and just force yourself to write that much each day, then you will learn to be a writer.

Uh huh. I note said teacher never said I would be a GOOD writer.

I do know, like exercising, the more you make an effort, the easier it gets. With the exception of the dial up crashing, but at least I do make an effort to save my work regularly...

Ya know, I think, if I were a bear, this is the part where I would have my nice cave, curled up on a rock, and snoring while dreaming of trash cans and honey bee hives. So, I guess, I will call this a blog, and see if I can come out of literary hibernation tomorrow...

Grr. Zzzz.