A month in Bloomington
PlanetTash has moved on its axis!
It took many years of hard work, but we are finally landed in our new home in Bloomington. It’s about half the size of the Treehouse, and it’s everything we wanted! We have been so happy this month +3 days! We haven’t decided on a name for this house yet, but I’m sure there’s one on the way.
There is still a garage full of unpacked boxes, and naturally Christmas is on the way, so we’ll be sorting through looking for our decorations and continuing to declutter as we unpack. We’ve very merrily been supplying the town of Bloomington with all its free box needs, and the end is nowhere in sight!
Tim has been setting up his home office in MCM-style decor, and it looks fantastic. My own office has become a sort of a catch-all, but I will get to it. It’s really interesting deciding how best to use the space, and it’s nice to have the time to consider how to design the flow of things so that they are convenient for us. We really didn’t have that opportunity the last time we moved, with four very high maintenance kids and all our pets.
Yesterday I had plenty of time to think about the layout of the interior downstairs rooms, as well as the front yard and some of the back deck. I sat for a group of portrait artists at the Pillar Arts Center, and after having subbed in a Math Inclusion class at a local middle school the day before. The contrast of dozens of chatty middle school students one day, a room full of mature artists working silently in tandem the next, was quite beautiful.
The entire month has been chock full of beautiful contrasts:
Listening in rapt wonder to cheerleaders, pirates, and witches perform at my daughter’s first harp concert of the year
Laughing uproariously with a crowd of fellow cinephiles at an academically-inclined screening of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Eating the most guilty pleasure of croissants at the organic farmer’s market
Watching the Aurora Borealis through the light pollution of a small urban town’s night sky.
Inhaling the fragrances of fresh aromatic coffees roasted just miles away
There have been so many more pleasures than that, of course. And the trials…well, it’s not as though life just gets trouble-free when you move, of course. The overwhelm has been very real. In the midst of the joy, there’s a list of to do items that’s taller than me. It’s hard to know where to start sometimes.
This, of course, is my email newsletter, so I need to put my books in progress into perspective: I have been working on an updated cover for The Kitchen Witch’s Guide to the New Weird, as well as adding some updates for the second edition. I have looked at my notes for Miss Fitz and the Hard NO November. I have started outlining a third Kitchen Witch non-fiction book about empty nesting.
Tomorrow I should complete my CPR training, and that will officially move me onto the next course in my Transition to Teaching program, so I plan to map out a work/study routine next week. I’ll be taking Mondays and Fridays off of work, and I would like to devote those days to school and writing. It’s nigh close to Winter, so the weekend trips to the Farmer’s Market will be coming to a close, but with a well-refilled by spectacular autumn beauty and a month-long soak in the local ethos, I am so very looking forward to reacquainting myself with the comings and goings of Miss Fitz (and of Coal!). Many of the places I have referenced in the WIP are no more than a few minutes away, so if I need inspiration…there it is! I plan on drinking it all in.
No deadlines on any of the above, just desire. And, honestly, that’s the most important piece.
SO…
What have you been working on this season?
Are you reading anything fun lately?
What about cool non-fiction books, movies, etc?
What’s popping? What’s bringing magic to your life today?
I’m trying to finally upload all of my original art to my ko-fi.
Also, finally restarted to work on my fourth book. Yay.