Day: May 29, 2006

One of the things I love about Howard is that when I tentatively mention that maybe I should possibly enter one of my stories in a contest… maybe, his instant answer is “You should do that.” When I mumble about maybe putting together a book of short stories, he tells me it is a wonderful idea. When I talk about maybe taking dance classes he thinks I should do it. Howard is fully supportive in all my creative endeavors. The fact that all my stories are unpublished does not diminish Howard’s belief in the value of my creative efforts. He wants me to succeed creatively as much as he wants to succeed himself. I love that.

I also love that we both have our priorities straight. Our family comes first. The needs of the kids and our marriage are primary. Secondary is Schlock Mercenary. The success of Schlock supports our family and opens doorways for other creative work. Neither Howard nor I consider my creative efforts less valuable than his, but his has the better chance for helping us live the life we want to have. For now business concerns are prioritized above creativity.

It is a delacate juggling act to keep it all in balance. I’m glad I have a wonderful partner to help me juggle.

I have returned home with the kidlets and the return was without incident. This is mostly thanks to the marvelous movie Zathura which seems to have unlimited power to hypnotize my children on long trips. Yay for movies in the car!

My next trick will be to sort out the housekeeping, accounting, and gardening which have all been neglected for two weeks while I was stressed over the release of Howard’s book. Two weeks ago today I was in a blithering panic, today I know that we pulled it all off. Now we get to take a deep breath. Then Howard dives into work on book two and I dive into shipping books routinely.

Also upcoming is the last day of school, after which I need to institute a summer schedule for the kids. There must be structure or we will all go crazy with six of us in a chaotic house. There must be order and cleanliness and vacuuming. Regularly. I can picture it so clearly in my head, unfortunately the pictures in my kids heads about how summer should be do not involve vacuums. sigh. I forsee a battle of wills in my future.

As always coming away from a convention my head is aswim with creative ideas. I want to make beautiful clothes to wear to the next convention. I want to write wonderful stories to share. I want to plan panels and convince convention staff to put me on them. Unfortunately all of these things need to be put on hold pending the housekeeping, accounting, and gardening. Regular life is hopelessly mundane sometimes.