Finito

Head for the basement, Toto!

In retrospect, deciding to live in an apartment with poor ventilation and a weak AC unit was a mistake. Of course, who would have anticipated Chicago having a heat index of almost 115.  I survived the heat wave, but barely. You should have seen me trying to get a bag of ice home before it melted. It was more intense than Mission Impossible.

Not to mention the insane storms we've been having here. Trees tossed around like javelins, power lines fishtailing in the street, hundreds of thousands without electricity. I could be wrong, but I'd say Mother Nature is upset about something. I just wish she would use her words.

I realize I haven't updated this is in, lets see, forever? However, my reason is stellar. I made the final push to finish my manuscript in time for the SCBWI LA Conference. The idea for this manuscript was hatched one night when I was out to dinner with a friend. Almost three years ago.

So, needless to say, it feels amazing to complete it. In three years I've been to five conferences, met AMAZING friends and critique partners, scrapped my story 100 pages in and rewrote from the beginning and been fortunate enough to sit down with people in the industry who gave me professional feedback.

All the while I kept plugging away on my manuscript. While I worked full time and went to school part time.

You're cheap but I love you.

To be at this point is such a personal achievement I nearly went out and bought myself a ribbon. You know the kind. Tiny, red or blue ribbon with gold or silver writing. The kind you pretended were crap when you were a kid but yet you'd go home and proudly hang it up in your room. 

I gave myself a few days for distance and started editing. This is the fun part. This is where I get to go through with clipping shears and Miracle Gro, tending each sentence with a critical eye. This is the part I love.

I'm beyond excited for the conference in LA in two weeks. This is the first time I will be walking in with a completed manuscript in my back pocket. I no longer have vague answers to when I will be finished. Everything about this conference will be different for me this time around. I can't wait for the next step in the adventure.

Snowpocalypse

A stopped moment on I-94, during my 2hr+ drive home.

I guess it takes the entire city of Chicago shutting down for me to make a blog post. I'm sitting here, day two of no work and no classes, digging deep into the pantry so I don't have to try to fishtail my way to a store.

All my muscles are very upset with me. They told me it wasn't a good idea to shovel for several hours yesterday and now they are chanting "I told ya so" every time I move. At first I had the six-year-old reaction of: SNOW! YAY! LET'S GO PLAY IN THE SNOW! SURE I'LL SHOVEL, IT'LL BE FUN! That enthusiasm lasted all of five minutes. I've never had to clear two feet of snow before and it's an experience I'll add to the "never again" list.

Yes, that's my car under there.

Digging my car out was the pinnacle of the day. The drifts had made it almost unrecognizable and yet it was still in better shape than the cars on the street.

We had to clear the driveway first which took roughly an hour and a half (with a snow blower even). Then I had to clear the car off and try to get to the snow that the wind packed under the car so that the tires would move. I started the car, thinking it would be easy to move it over to the clean part of the driveway so we could get to the rest of snow behind it. My car wasn't having it. It took another hour, pounds of salt and the smell of burning rubber to get my car to move.

The reports of stranded cars on Lake Shore Drive makes me thankful I was driving into the city and not out of it. If you have ever been to our fair city or can equate Lake Shore Drive to one of your popular highways you understand how intense it is to think of people just abandoning their cars and running for it. I can't imagine having to make that decision.

At the end of it all I am lucky to live in a place with heat and water pipes that won't freeze. I'm going to use my unexpected time off to get some writing done and ask the snow gods to retire.

Lollapalooza and Other Long Words

For anyone unfamiliar with Lollapalooza, it's a popular music festival held in Chicago's Grant Park. It used to be a traveling festival but Chicago has hosted it for several years now. I couldn't afford to go to all three days (my money went to the fantastic SCBWI conference) but my friends were wonderful enough to purchase a one day ticket for my birthday. Tomorrow I will join the sweaty masses downtown to listen to great music all day, capped off with a long set by Green Day.