Keeping Busy

Well, my house hasn't sold yet and my kids are still being kids (the nerve), but my week has improved considerably since Monday. Sorry about that downer of a post. Anyway, I have lots going on and not much time to blog, so I'll keep it simple and just give you a quick run-down of how I'm keeping busy.

I'm watching:
The Office, season three. A friend got us hooked on it and now Aaron and I are like junkies--we can't wait for our next Office fix. Dwight's my favorite character to watch, but like every other woman who's addicted to the goings-on at Dunder-Mifflin, I have a crush on Jim. Fess up, you do too.

I'm reading:
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. I am in love, love, love with this book. I'm reading it while I re-read Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Hardy. Both books are literary dark chocolate. I adore each little bite I get. So far, here's my favorite line from The Inheritance of Loss: "Romantically, she decided that love must surely reside in the gap between desire and fulfillment, in the lack, not the contentment. Love was the ache, the anticipation, the retreat, everything around it but the emotion itself." Wow.

I'm doing:
An absolutely ridiculous amount of cleaning and laundry. Keeping the house spic and span for the realtors is not a whole lot of fun. Never mind the piles of dirt I have to keep cleaning up because my baby insists on eating it from our potted plants. Why, oh why?

I'm writing:
An as-of-yet untitled book that is a real departure from After the Leaves Fall and Summer Snow. I'm crazy about it and having so much fun writing it. I'm doing a lot of research for it and learning lots about bi-polar disorder, mania, depression, and oddly enough, the Catholic Church. Not that those things are related in any way, they are merely the things I have to research to make this novel work. One of my favorite lines so far: "I wanted to imprint her on each scribbled page of my memory so that when they took her away I could remember how her collarbones rose in mirrored harmony and almost met in the shadow of her long neck."

I'm feeling:
Old. Can I still be in my twenties? Please, please, please?

I'm promoting:
After the Leaves Fall, of course. Tonight I have a signing at the Christian bookstore in my hometown. Saturday I'll be at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a brand-new library. Next week Wednesday I have another signing and giveaway in conjunction with a chamber of commerce fall promo. And next Thursday I'm doing my first reading at another public library.

I also want to take this chance to promote an awesome book I just finished reading. My Hands Came Away Red is Lisa McKay's debut novel and I thought it was absolutely amazing. Check it out!

I'm eating:
Fall food! Homemade tomato sauces, ooey-gooey pumpkin bars, crisp apples, and red wine. I'll miss summer, but it's so much fun to haul out cool-weather clothes and shelve my summer bottles of Viognior and Riesling. Have I mentioned I love fall?

Speaking of fall... I'm going to go play in the leaves. Now there's a pick-me-up.