Thursday, August 30, 2007

Aaack!

Current (as of this morning) Tally

New pages written: 5
Old pages revised on paper: 0
Old pages revised on screen: Prologue and Chapter One
Pages of revisions typed in: 0
Pages lost or gained due to revisions: none
Total page count to date: 59 (Minimum page count = 60, but this will turn out to be higher)
Days remaining until D-day: 1 (Gulp!)
Emails from editor in UK: 1 (I sent an email yesterday asking if I needed more time would it be okay if I emailed the proposal Sunday since due to the time difference between here and there she wouldn't open it until Monday morning anyway. She said yes!)
Emails from agent in NY: 0

Chocolate consumed: M&Ms in trail mix
Junk food consumed: Trail mix
Exercise: walking
Television watched: none
Tears: none
Clip for the day: I'm going to post some photos below from our Bend Trip since I forgot my camera yesterday. (I wore a backpack and forgot to put the camera in it.) The words won't match the photos, but at least you'll have something pretty to look at! These pics are from our Saturday hike around Tumalo Falls in Bend. The first two pictures I took. The last three Tiffany took. No comparisons please. She's a pro. I'm not.

Pressure. So much pressure. I hate deadlines, but I have to admit I'd never finish anything if I didn't have them. Just how my brain works.

Yesterday I took the kids to Fort Vancouver. We went on a tour and learned how the Hudson Bay Company operated there. It was interesting and the best $3 I'd spent in a long time! The kidlets loved the pelt room where hundreds of different animal pelts were stored, recreating what the room looked like when the place was operational. Thankfully, they had used tanned hides so the smell was much better than it would have been back then. Finn was enthralled by the traps used to catch the beavers!

Next we headed to the store where they traded with Native Americans. The kids loved seeing all the products and learning how everything was converted and priced in beaver pelts. The pelts were sent to England where the fur was plucked, leaving felt to make hats from. A valuable commodity back then. The guide showed them how to make fire using flint and an iron tool. The girls loved all the beads hanging from the ceiling.

Afterwards we had a picnic lunch at a nearby playground and then headed to Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver so the kidlets could splash around in the water features there. A fun day, but not much writing. I didn't get started on the proposal until the late afternoon, had a break for dinner and family time, then worked until almost midnight.

I love this project. I love how it's coming together (slowly, but that's okay!) I also love all the research I find via google though I must admit some haven't been easy to read. Results from searches on "climbing deaths" and "climbing partner death guilt" made me go "hmmmm." Other articles I found during searches such as "climbing spirituality" made me go "wow." One thing is for sure, I really want to try and climb Mount Hood next spring. Fingers crossed I can do it!

Well, I've got a babysitter coming to play with the kids so I can head down into my cave and work today so I'd better get busy. My editor may have given me a couple extra days to work on this, but I'd like to get as much done as possible now. I don't want this proposal breathing down my neck the way it is right now during the last weekend of the kids' summer break!

Have a wonderful Thursday!