Just In The Nick Of Time..

So.. I've been mired in a bit of a slump recently. My muse packed up and left town, and took my motivation and desire with her.. stupid Muse, didn't like her much anyway.

So now I'm left to pick up the pieces of my shattered dreams and move on.. blah blah blah..

OK, so it's not that bad. I've just felt run down for a couple weeks now, probably due to our 16-month old deciding he can't sleep past 1am without shrieking at his bedroom door with his lips down at the bottom of the door, as if to suck the good air out of the hallway instead of the evil air in his room.. or something like that.

So sleep was averaging around 4 hours a night or so.. but that's tapered off a little recently (almost 7 hours last night) so things are starting to revert back to their somewhat normal selves a little better.

However.. we've got the specter of our impending move to Harrisonburg VA on the horizon, (bout 2 months out now).. and that's causing stress as we try to find a place to live that in our budget and still close enough that my wife isn't on the road for most of her day.  And there's the whole financial side of the move.. we're trying to get totally debt free (apart from Student Loans) before we go because of the hit to our income.. but that's proving.. slightly difficult, but still attainable.

So needless to say, the competing interests and the stress that they bring aren't entirely conducive to keeping my head in a writing mode.. especially since at this point in my writing career this is still a hobby and not an investment.

So, anyway.. all that leads up to this.. This weekend is the LDS Storymakers writing conference. I had wanted to go but didn't think I was eligible since I wasn't a published author, as is required to join their little club, (yes.. that's just a hint of venom in my tone.. *sniff*.. they don't want me).. but alas, I was misinformed. The conference is open to all, but capped at something like 450 attendees.  So, I missed the deadline and they hit their cap so my chances of going were nil.. but I got on the waiting list anyway.

Then lo and behold I got an email that a slot had opened up on Saturday and that I could get in on that day, (the better of the 2 days to go).. so I hurriedly signed up and got my schedule figured out so I could attend.

So now, I'll spend all day Saturday amongst a cavalcade of other amateur writing nerds and professional writing nerds.  Couldn't have come at a better time for me.. I need the recharge and refocus, and I'll get to sneak in one last writing conference in this valley that's so populated with writers, before heading off into the unknown, dark, cold world populated by towns named 'Massanutten' and 'McGaheysville'.  Sounds like places right out of Middle Earth.

*Sigh*

Maybe I can push the sun back up into the sky and give us one more day of summer. (LOVE that line by Vin Scully in "For Love of the Game", pure poetry delivered perfectly)

Click the link above to hear the Vin Scully clip from "For Love Of The Game"