it's been crazy busy this past week. we got slammed up against a deadline at lilley so badly that we ended up moving the release date by a week. and, to keep this from happening again, we now have deadlines for the final edits and the galleys. i'm just not of a mind to have to do this again any time soon because the publisher is a slacker. granted, he was also in a car accident last weekend (he's fine, his car is not), but at least one, if not both, the galleys for this release should have been in my hands for checks long before that. that he thinks i can go through a 240 page manuscript in a few days shows how little attention he actually pays to the details.

yes, the whole mess pissed me off. i put my foot down on the deadlines because i'm the one who loses family and writing time when this kind of crap happens. any argument would have had me out the door and he knows it, and i doubt the press would survive. two of us do the lion's share of the work while the owner pretends he has a clue, which he doesn't.

in addition to all this, lilley is now getting at least one manuscript a day. i can see the overload coming. it's building slowly, but, yea, it's coming. if i ever get my books published, i might end up forced into a choice between the two, which really is no contest, but still, i love writing and i love my editing job, even with idiot publisher/owner man. still, some weeks the hardest thing to do is making sure i have my writing time. i literally had to push everything aside today—deadlines, slush pile, and panel reading—to make sure i got one day for my own work this week. i have to do that or i'd lose my mind and become a bitch to the point of being someone you couldn't live with. got to have my time. period.

anyway, the new laptop has already helped. i got one of the two galleys back to him late friday night despite being out most of the day. and that's what this is all about: giving me more time to get both my job and my own writing done even if i can't be on the desktop. i suspect the laptop will become my primary work/writing comp, while the desktop serves primarily as my web work comp and doubles as more of a family general computer. no more having to figure out when froggy can get homework done while i'm trying to meet deadlines and whatnot. i just switch to the laptop if i happen to be on the desktop, which is not likely since i'll be switching as soon as taz is home so i can keep a closer eye on him.

speaking of which, my boy has a job! he went in for his first two days last week and will be returning wednesday and thursday of this week. he's not paid at the moment; the idea is to get him used to a real work environment. he goes in on days kitten is working during the slow part of the afternoon (after school is perfect for this, and that he's in during their slower hours will help ease him in and get used to things and get his job down), and she's been helping him learn his way around. he's tried rolling silverware, but it's a fine motor skill and will need some work. he's learned the basic floor plan already, but now needs to learn the table numbers (versus the number of tables, if you know what i mean). and he did his first bussing on thursday. only one table, but they are easing him in and helping him learn the place. apparently the head cook likes him, and he's been allowed to watch them make slaw and hush puppies. we're all very excited for him.

he likes to tell us all he has a boss now. lol

and since it looks like he'll be doing this for a bit, kitten took him out today and bought him work pants, shoes, shirts, socks and a few other things. she also got to learn how incredibly hard he is to fit: the 16s are getting a little short on him, but his tiny waist makes the next size up almost impossible (we really are still working on fattening him up a bit, but he seems determined to be in that 0 percentile no matter what!). he's in men's 7s or 8s for shoes now and somewhere in the men's on shirts as well. no way men's jeans would even come close to fitting him, so i have no idea what we're going to do as he outgrows his pants.

them's pretty much the major updates right now, although i forgot to mention i got my hair cut an entry or two ago. i'm trying to find ways to cool off, and the current new cut isn't helping as much as i'd hoped. i'm looking at trying something else before summer hits and the summer heat and humidity combine with the megace to make me more than miserable. i am so not looking forward to that.

okay, it's late and i still need to finish dishes and shower. told you it would be a quick update, and it has been, but at least it's a good one. we're so happy for and proud of taz! but time for this chickie to go and get things done and hit the sack. 5:30 a.m. comes awful quickly!