Well, people, it’s summertime. It hasn’t been horribly hot. I mean, 100+ is a common occurrence in an Oklahoma summer, but not last year’s high of 116. That’s desert heat. We haven’t gone above about 105 so far, but I suppose August could have a surprise or two up her sleeve.
So let’s see, what have I been doing with my not-too-hot summer?
I spent a hundred dollars on a family season pass to the public pool, and by golly we’ve gotten our money’s worth out of that. The pool unfortunately closed early for emergency repairs, but up till this week we went 2-4 times per week. Kept us from spending money on other activities for summer-bored children, so I think we came out ahead.
Plus, all three of the kids can swim now. Abby knew how but she wasn’t confident, and both Jonah and Maggie learned on their own this year, just from spending so much time in the water.
We’ve also been going to the library a lot. It’s cool there, and I can knit while Maggie plays with the toys and the older kids look for books. I put in an application to volunteer, but it’s been almost a week and I haven’t heard back. What, am I so untouchable as an employee that I can’t even volunteer my time in a public institution which welcomes even the homeless to spend all day there?
Surely I’m just paranoid.
Writing and/or self-publishing goals have fizzled as they do every summer. One thing I did accomplish is to remove my single short story from Smashwords distribution and enroll it in KDP Select over at Amazon. They require exclusivity for several months, but after three weeks it still hasn’t been removed from B&N or any of the other Smashwords distribution channels. I don’t guess it will go live on KDP Select until that happens. Still not sure what I’ll do with Black Veil Angel. I’ll admit, I’ve sort of lost interest at the moment.
But school is right around the corner, and that usually means a renewed interest in writing. Summer is for physical stuff, like building a new door for the shed, purging clutter, shuttling the kids to the snow cone stand. When I have all day to myself my mind automatically slows down, turns inward. Hopefully I’ll be able to make use of it this year.
I wouldn't take the library's slow response as any kind of sign or commentary. Just your usual slow-mo organization. Perhaps you could call them at some point just to inquire and gently nudge them...
ReplyDeleteWe're going there today to drop off some books. I'll probably ask about it then. I've had a hard time just getting to the point where I could apply--I've missed the one in charge four separate times--so I guess a little more time won't hurt. I just feel like volunteering would be a good stepping stone to getting myself back in the work force, boost my confidence a bit and have something recent for my resume.
ReplyDeleteI think the "yo" makes this post, frankly. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteI had to do the same thing with Smashwords. If you put the short up in the other distributions by Smashwords, then it should come down that way too, I think. Make sure; you can send them an email if you're curious. Three weeks, to me, is way too long for them to take care of this.
I remember routinely growing up on the edge of the desert in NoCal, and temps routinely spiked over 100F for ten days or more during July/August. Now I'm such a wuss when it happened here recently (like, yesterday) I almost wept.
Okay, I did cry, but you best not tell or I'll pull your pig tails.
Big baby. Seriously, though, I'm a baby about it too. Lived here all my life, will never get used to temps in the 100s.
ReplyDeleteWell of course as soon as I posted this I went over there and it has been removed from Barnes & Noble. Haven't checked the others...I'm just glad to know the process is started. Too bad to lose the good reviews, though.
Yay for the pool! I bet the kids are having a blast! Good thinking on your part too, a good investment. :)
ReplyDeleteI bet the library will come around. They're probably a little overwhelmed right now with more people coming in during the summer, but there also might be insurance concerns that the city doesn't allow them to have unpaid people on staff? Like, if you were hurt there but not technically an employee, their insurance might not cover it. I don't know. But it surely doesn't hurt to keep nagging them until you get an answer. They'd be lucky to get you!