update

Been a long time, hasn't it? No excuses, just writers block.

Craft show went much better than expected. Lots more customers that I could have imagined. I did just fine, selling 2/3 of what I brought, and a couple more afterward. I've given away pretty much everything else. My husband is even starting to balk at how fast the flowers are leaving my house.

I've found a couple of web sites with discounted florals which I've eagery been ordering from. There goes my profits!

Been working more, too. Every day this week. Tiring, but I'm starting to get ahead financially, and Christmas doesn't feel like a burden. Even got presents for the kitties today.

We are planning a Christmas trip to Vermont, complete with a night at a hotel with a water park. That is our reward for driving two days to get there. Now we'll see if the weather cooperates.

I'm also working on, or at least thinking about, my literature and medicine work. The medical scholars are going to get an assignment to invent a character - each has a different one assigned based on the diagnoses in the short stories they've read. They then will have a writing exercise in january where they take on their character's personna, imagine them experiencing a really strong emotion - like anger, humiliation, frustration - and setting it somewhere medical. Later in the semester they will play the patient and tell their stories in a mock interview situation.

I was talking with a nurse today who was frustrated at how little her training explored the patient's perspective. She learned how to talk with regular folks, but those with pain or psychiatric problems were ignored. I gave her some stuff to read, maybe it will help a little. She is a very good nurse. She says she wants to work in a pain clinic "because someone needs to care about these people."

I also have a lead on someone else who is interested in starting a literature and medicine discussion series in Michigan hospitals. She is a nurse practitioner at U of M. She is quite busy, but is enthusiastic and would be a great collaborator. How nice to think nursing and medicine could work together, and how nice it would be to get all levels of the health care team to recognize just how much they all have in common.

Otherwise, life goes on. Jon is having temper tantrums lately, quite a new thing. If I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do, he starts whining and crying. Finally today, when he had to stop watching his movie so we could pick up Dad at work, and he started his show, and nothing I tried was working, I just said, look, I'm going to sit with my eyes closed until you are ready to go. I went in the other room and sat down, much as I really wanted to get in the car and get going, and wouldn't you know, he stopped whining and actually got ready. Maybe later I'll actually figure out what happened there.

Busy weekend with two holiday parties connected with work. Have to bring food for one. wonder if they'll mind if I just open a couple cans of baked beans. We are sending Jon to the grandparents, so that should simplify life a little.

In the meantime I'm dreaming of flowers. Shades of Pink for Anne, maybe, in a low container? A tall testosterone-laden one for the medical director in Jackson. I made a couple of assymetical ones lately - blue and yellow triangular for the neighbors and a Horvath curve one in yellow and orange for Lysne. My camera batteries are dead; I was unable to take pictures of them before they were given away. Just have to keep making more, I guess.