Off Kilter

This week marks the third week I’ve been at my new job, and I’m still trying to get a schedule down. It doesn’t help that I took a trip to Nebraska over the weekend or that I had a presentation 3 hours away on Tuesday. I’m not complaining about either of those—they were fun—but they’ve thrown me off.

For those who know me, I thrive on a schedule. It gives me a sense of control and helps ease my anxiety. I can be flexible if I need to be, but it’s not exactly natural for me. I like to have a schedule so I can get my work (whatever it may be) done in a timely manner. Deadlines are a source of stress for me—even self-imposed ones that I can move if I really want.

This week has definitely been a challenge, and I’ve apparently been a little stressed out. I’ve had nightmares twice this week and I haven’t been sleeping well. In addition, I haven’t been writing. I feel out of sorts, unable to focus, and completely overwhelmed.

Things will settle down soon (I hope), and I’ll get back on track. I just need my schedule back…



So, as I mentioned in the first paragraph, I took a few trips this past week, and I tried something a little different: I downloaded some audiobooks. I always think about doing that, but then I totally forget when the times comes. Well, this time I made sure I remembered. I’ve listened to audiobooks before, just not in the car.

Here are the books I “read”:

I have been reminded why my boys like to be read to. It’s nice to be surrounded by the words and drawn into the story by the narrator’s voice. It’s also nice to be able to get through so many books in such a short amount of time.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love holding a book in my hand and reading in my mind, but it is a treat to listen to a book too—especially if the narrator is good. It’s really nice to listen to books when I’m in the car because it keeps me awake and gives me something to do.

What are your thoughts on audiobooks or schedules?

Good Times in Seattle

When I was getting ready to graduate with my master’s, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I decided I wanted to go into publishing as an editor, but I didn’t want to go all the way to New York. It scared me to be so far from home and in such unfamiliar territory, so I decided to go to Seattle. It has a thriving publishing industry and is close to home. I figured I could handle it.

I had never been before, but I was confident in my abilities to make it.

I never made it to Seattle after graduation. In fact, I didn’t make it there until last year when I attended the AWP Conference. Then, over the summer, I got to go again. This time, it was for vacation, so I got to explore a lot of what the city has to offer.

Yeah, most of it was touristy stuff, but it was still fun. My sister-in-law lives there, so we got to see other sides of Seattle too. For the first few days we were there, we stayed at a house on Vashon Island. This was incredibly relaxing. The TV didn’t work right, so we didn’t watch it. Thankfully we had wifi, so the boys were able to watch YouTube videos, but I filled my time reading or listening to my grandfather-in-law’s recordings.

We crossed a ferry to get to the island, and the boys were thrilled about this. It was the first time they’d been on one, and it was incredibly exciting. We didn’t see any whales, but a bunch of orange jellyfish bobbing carelessly in the water.

We went to the beach and hiked some of the nature trails the island has to offer. We ate ice cream and played cards at the house. It was an awesome trip.

Kayakers who just left the beach.

When we came back to Seattle on Sunday, we checked out Pike’s Market and went to the comic book store. We hiked around the city and went to Gas Light Park. We saw some amazing things at the park, including a medieval club practicing their fighting. I was in awe at the amount of people there and on the water, but it was so much fun!

For dinner that night we went to Ivar’s, and heat exhaustion almost laid me out. All the muscles in my back started cramping, putting me in immense pain. I downed water and got out of the sun and eventually started feeling better, but it was scary for a moment. I thought I might pass out.

On Monday, we decided to go to the EMP Museum, and this was the highlight of my trip. Not only did they have a Star Wars costume display, they had a sci fi/fantasy/horror exhibit. Guess which one was my favorite.

In addition, they had a gaming exhibit that talked about how games are created, and the boys got to play some so they were happy. And they also had a Looney Tunes display. It was seriously amazing, and I totally geeked out. I LOVED IT!

We also made a trip to the aquarium and the Pacific Science Museum. These were all right. We visited these on Tuesday and I was pretty tired, so I wasn’t as enthusiastic. The boys had a great time though, so they were worth visiting.

We wanted to go to the top of the Space Needle, but we ran out of time. That was a bummer. All in all, it was a great trip. We visited some amazing restaurants and I ate some fantastic salmon. I’ll have to make it a point to go back next year so I can check out all the things I missed this time.