TRQ is nothing if not surprising

This is the phone conversation I just had with TRQ.

TRQ:  Hey.

Me:  Hey.

TRQ:  You know where we should go the next time I'm in Salt Lake?

Me:  Where?

TRQ:  That cigar store.

Me:  (surprised on several fronts--a) that she wants to go to a cigar store and b)  that she also assumes I know which cigar store she means, as if she and I were having a previous conversation about cigar stores in Salt Lake that was interrupted, possibly by my father who wanted to know what he should do with the ironing he just finished)  You want to go to a cigar store?

TRQ:  Yes.

Me:  Why?

TRQ:  Remember?  That guy at the Cinegrill told us you could buy Sen sens there.

Sometimes . . . there are just no words.

Good news for now!

Thanks, you guys, for your nice comments.

I spent some time at the doctor, who told me that the retina has not detached (yay!) . . . yet (boo!).  Actually, I'll probably be fine.  Most people get "floaters" and "flashes" as they age.  AGING!  WHAT AN ADVENTURE!  I just have an extreme case of it.  However, the onset was a little dramatic.  Also, he said, people who have had cataract surgery and who are as near-sighted as I am have a twenty times greater chance of having the retina issue, so we are in observation mode for now.

Elder Cannon and TRQ

Here's the phone call TRQ and I had yesterday.

TRQ:  Q called me from LAX yesterday.

ME:  Awesome!  What did he say?

TRQ:  That he would watch out for spiders on the airplane.

ME:  He did?

TRQ:  Yes.  I like a boy that listens.

A brief non-encounter at SLC International

Q. left the MTC this morning and arrived at the airport around 8 a.m.  He requested (wisely, I think) that we not be there.  But as it turned out, I had to give my friend Stephanie a lift to the airport at about the same time.

I handed her off a bag of cookies (awesome gingersnaps btw--my secret ingredient is a little chili powder, in case you're interested).

"Give this to Elder Cannon if you should run into him.  Which I doubt you will."

Moments later, as I was heading for I-80, Stef called and said, "Q. was the first person I saw when I walked into the airport.  And he looks great."

"Tender mercy" is a phrase that is overused in Mormon culture these days.  Still.  That's how I felt about this morning's events.  My boy saw a familiar and loving face as he embarked on his great adventure, which meant the world to him.

And to me, too.

Here's What I Learned Today from TRQ

TRQ:  Did you hear about the poisonous spiders?

ME:  Which ones?

TRQ:  The ones that hide beneath the toilet seats on airplanes.

ME:  There are spiders on airplanes now?

TRQ:  Yes.  And when you sit down they bite you right there on your bottom.

ME:  Ouch.

TRQ:  Yes.  And then you die.

Have a little faith

I've been working on another YA off and on and off and on and mostly off but sometimes on.  I asked myself why it was taking me so long to get it done.  Haven't I written books before?  And didn't I write those books when I was chasing after five maniac boys and teaching a little here and bookselling a little there and just generally living my life at full tilt?  So why haven't I been more productive now that I have more of the life I used to fantasize about--at least where the writing part is concerned?

Here's what I realized.  I was finding all kinds of ways not to work on the novel because I was (am!) afraid.  What if this just turns out to be another manuscript that no one wants to read, let alone publish?

Well.  It might end up being that.  But that's no reason to stop.  It really isn't.  There are legitimate reasons to walk away from writing, but fear isn't one of them.

So I ran off what I've got and read through it and discovered that it is, in fact, a hot mess.  And if it were set in the south, then it would be a hot southern mess.  But lo and behold!  There are parts of it that are pretty darn good.  And I do think I see a shape, a direction, a point.

It was a good reminder that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and hope the river currents below will carry you along kindly.

UGH. It's that time of year again . . .

when all I want to do is (you've heard it here before) to fall face forward in a trough of Mexican food and eat myself into a bean-and-cheese-induced coma.

Help me, Obi Wan Kenobe.