Wednesday, November 07, 2001

The Grind Goes On

Just in case you haven't heard this story yet from me: I awoke two nights ago to my wife standing on the bed screaming hystetically that there was a man behind the door to the attic. Talk about scaring the piss out of me. Next thing I remember I'm in front of that door with a bat in my hands and she's screaming at 911 on the phone. The cops show up, go over the house completely, and of course there's nobody up there. But we need to sleep with the lights on anyway, or rather, she needs to sleep with the lights on, because now I'm so pumped with adrenaline that I can't sleep for the rest of the night.

Honestly, I have never been so scared in my life as I was at that moment. Even now, just recalling that image to mind, I get goosebumps and start to sweat profusely. I think I'm still scared by it all, still startled by strange noises and movements. Damn.

Amanda's family believes that I should be armed -- that a gun would take care of all of this. I doubt it -- I know I'd still be spooked by every little noise and would probably end up shooting the damn dog.

Thursday, November 01, 2001

Chicago Bound

I'm off to the windy city in a couple hours, leaving at 4:00 am for a panel that will present later today, at about 2:00 pm. By that time I'm sure that we won't even be checked in to the hotel (the last time at the Plamer House, we spent four hours in the lobby). Of course, the last time I was at the Palmer House was the first time Amanda and I took one another seriously. Weird.

Later today, of course, I'll be exhausted and non-functioning (I think I may have SERIOUSLY reinjured my left knee -- it feels like there's a pound of meniscus in the joint again. Maybe I can shake it out (that's incredibly optimistic), or maybe I can avoid any long walks (I've got to lead a tour of the Chicago Art Institute on Friday -- we'll see how that goes).

It'll be good to get away for a couple days. I need the break from EKU, because my tech writing classes have been driving me nuts. I've had to do so much serious mothering, and the products have been god, but not great. It was different when I did these online, because there was no room for mothering or extending deadlines or basically cleaning up code after everything was supposedly done. Now, f-t-f, it's a whole new world.

Don't get me wrong; they're great classes, with good students who are trying hard. But they're lacing a certain rigor, and that may be because we're seeing one another and they know they can get over. Oh well, live and learn.