We’re back from vacation, some of us well-rested, even! We all had a great time, and we did ohmygod so much it was astonishing. Highlights include:

–a beer cocktail from Craft & Commerce, where the staff all dress as though from the Gangs of New York.
–seeing Leonardo DiCaprio at the San Diego Zoo. His hat was pulled low over his eyes, but I spotted him.
–seeing a sleeping cheetah super up-close.
–more beer. San Diego is renowned for its microbrewery scene.
–fish tacos, including swordfish, salmon, and halibut.
–Legoland’s Miniland exhibit. Sounds doofy, but the Lego recreations of cities are truly astonishing.
–a hot tub. At night. Yay!
–the Legoland waterpark.
–the San Diego beaches, even though a stingray got one of our party and another one tried to take a nap on the beach (guess which one?), not realizing a wave would crash over her iPhone and destroy it. Oopie.
–mac and cheese with truffles and pancetta. Yeah. As good as it sounds.

Back to work, back to working on projects, back to eating cottage cheese and trying not to think of bacon.
–

Oh my goodness, but it’s been a long time. I hadn’t intended not to update here, but the Son and I were in Minnesota for our annual two-week sojourn, and life was pretty dull:

I’d get up and get the boys off to sailing school (my son and his cousin, who loves Nutella like I love Richard Armitage).

Then I’d do freelance work.

Then a nap.

Then some writing and puttering.

Then boys would come home.

Reading, dinner, etc.

Not many hijinks.

I did get a lot of writing done, which was awesome, and realized, not so awesome, that I am in serious sleep debt if I can nap and sleep as much as I did in the past two weeks. Also, I am as big as I’ve been in awhile, but I’ve also been running, which is good. And actually fun!

Anyway. Lots of catching up today, and hopefully more Brooklyn-style hijinks to ensue later this week.

Whoa, I’ve been away from here for longer than I’ve ever been. So, what’s been going on?

Hm.

–the Frampies went on vacation to California; we saw Big Sur, good food, lovely relatives and many, many forms of aquatic life at the Monterey Aquarium (pic of 11 y.o. and cousins, above).

–we got an iPad, which I used to write on while Scott was hogging the Mac. FTW! I wrote over 1,000 words. Am taking said iPad to RWA’s National Conference, which I go to next week.

–Sleeping has been crazy problematic for me since returning home. Insomnia every night, exhaustion every day. Fun!

–My husband likes to take lovely pictures of picturesque landscapes, while I like to take pictures of people.

–I have been a week without diet Coke. No reason, just thought I’d try.

–This summer is flying by. And THANK GOD we put in central air-conditioning.

–Have I mentioned I’m so tired? Yeah. But, you’ll all be glad to hear, still preserving my inimitable sense of humor, which is to say, thinking ‘Yeah, that’s EXACTLY what I wanted to happen’ when something horrible happens. Joy.

–We all love ramen. It is the 11 Year-Old’s favorite food.

–

Last week, as many of you know, I headed to Portland, OR, to see the Picky Vegetarian. We had a blast, eating at her favorite restaurants, driving to a quirky museum in Washington, stopping at wineries, drinking coffee, and making fun of ourselves and each other.

I got home Friday morning, slept, and then immediately headed to New Jersey for Easter. As most of you know, I am not religious, but I do recognize the importance of respecting others’ traditions, so I was happy to trek down there for crabcakes and ham.

Back in Brooklyn only to realize that the Spawn’s school doesn’t actually resume until Wednesday. Oops. There went those ’start writing again on Monday’ plans. But I did get the repair from Toyota, took my son to Sunset Park to the Asian supermarkets and bought green beans for fifty cents a pound. Score!

He goes back tomorrow. Whew.

Meanwhile, I am feeling sort of energized–sort of–and mildly optimistic about finishing this book by my own deadline.

Yes, close-to-dullest-post ever. But at least there is forward motion.

AND I got the international version of this from Netflix:

I’m back in Brooklyn, and am trying to catch up with all manner of annoying things I didn’t do in the past month. So posting here might be sparse, especially since it seems I have some form of allergic dermatitis, which makes me itchy all over (yuk!). I got a cortisone shot today, some steroids for tomorrow, and I need to go see a specialist or five.

BUT we had a nice time at the beach, the weather was lovely, the son loved it, and I am tan. Or, rather, less pale than usual.

More later.

I am doing well on the diet and exercise tip, but haven’t yet gotten myself to buckle down and write.

Instead, I am cleaning (the house is clean! Oh, so clean!), looking up noir films so I can add them to the Netflix queue, checking Twitter, Facebook, and all those networks that pass for socializing in my world.

Must stop futzing. Not this weekend, though, when we’ve got relatives in town and entertaining to do. Plus a massive snowstorm.

Monday? How about Monday?

Okay. Monday. And if I don’t write on Monday, feel free to mock me viciously.

Megan

PS: The pic is how I imagine my as-yet-unnamed Irish guy looking. Yeah, it’s FICTION.

Is woe you?

No, it’s me. Woe is me.

Not for any reason in particular, just feeling the ebb part of the ebb and flow of life. So I’m gonna chill out today and not beleaguer my kind readers with my various Ts and Ts (Trials and Tribulations).

Hope everyone had a great holiday, and please take a moment to remember that today is World AIDs Day, and people around the globe are still dying from this terrible disease (my uncle died over twenty years ago from it, back when it was the “Gay Man’s Disease.”)

Yay! I am back in Brooklyn.

More tomorrow.

The Eight Year-Old is back (reluctantly) to school, the Spouse is about as reluctantly back to work, and I am back to whatever passes for normal in my life.

Which means:

1. Stop eating. Just, like, stop already.

2. More exercise.

3. More writing.

4. Less hand-wringing.

5. Fewer neurotic “episodes” (as in, ‘why isn’t he/she getting back in touch? I know, he/she hates me!’)

6. More makeup. Stop looking like a Mom.

7. Less time-wasting. I’m talking to you, Bloglines!

8. More vegetables. I love veggies, but the pesky fridge keeps being too hot or too cold! Luckily, I have me a new fridge come March. Le bliss.

9. Just as much devout attention paid to Clive Owen (the hero for Road to Passion).

10. And an equal amount to Sean Bean (the hero of the next book)

So for a variety of reasons I am having a hard time staying motivated to get back on the stick, or the keyboard, and start writing again. Which means things won’t happen, because I haven’t done it, but I don’t want to do it because things aren’t happening.
I have my mom-lit to revise the ending of–yet again–and I do not want to [cue me stomping my feet and tossing my hair. Never cute even on a four year-old, but on a 43-y.o.? Pas de tout.]
I have Road to Passion to finish. I like this story a lot, but I have to print it all out, which means dragging the laptop out and balancing it on my knees while I figure out which version is the right one and then sorting the pages and feeding the printer and–ugh.
I have a romantica short story I’d like to start, but of course the previous two projects have prior claim.
I have no time because Back-to-School means Back-to-Normal-Brooklyn life, which requires laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Plus miscellaneous running around, which always takes longer.
Feh.
What can possible inspire me?

Oh, all right then. I’ll get back to work.