Current location:	editing
Current mood:	melancholy

Good-byes
I didn't post yesterday morning, but I did get up early to write, after about 4 hours of sleep. Just woke up super early and couldn't get back to sleep. Or--I should say I edited. Getting closer to the end of my second pass on the novel, and I'm disappointed in myself that it's not going faster than this. I just need to print out pages and go away for many many hours to submerge myself into that groove. I didn't really have time to write/edit at the retreat. Just one day, really. I did hope for more time for myself but when you run these things, and your partner has to take off, it just didn't work out that way. It's okay: the retreat was a blast.

Yesterday was a tough day. I worked for only a few hours and caught up on all the new stuff. One of our long-standing employees is leaving. Today is her last day. I really hate to see her go. She runs the lab and talk about character! Linda is so hard to describe; you need to be around her to believe it. She's my guru of ophthalmic lenses! I'll miss her. I made her a farewell comic. These comics (I've made them before) could get me fired if they fell in the wrong hands. Well, Linda's is a pretty mild version because I figured everyone would be reading it. Another one I did about 6 years ago was pretty bad.

So, the toughness about yesterday: the memorial for Marv Swenson, Patrick's father. I cried a lot and discovered I really didn't get to know my father-in-law. I appreciated his kindness, and liked that he and my folks got along well, and he was funny. But I never knew the other things about him that were revealed in testimony from friends and family. There was laughter, too, and tears. A chance to be around family before I had to dash off and get Orion from school. There was also some awkward moments for me--the details I won't explain--which made me feel like I needed to leave that place running.

As for writing this morning: I went to bed early last night and got up about 5. Some good progress on the chapters I worked on. I have this scene--fairly brutal--I'm still not sure about, but I'll leave it as is. I'll get a consensus later.

Time to shower and have a Friday of work then a good-bye party. Orion wanted to draw something for Linda, too, and made the comment: "I want to give make her this drawing before she dies." He's still learning about death and is tangling up the details of Marv's passing and Linda's good-bye.

Both of these good-byes are tough. Rest in peace, Marv and Linda: happy adventures!