Things are a bit quiet around here. I'm enjoying that. My husband is around a bit more than usual. It's been great. He got me hooked on that Walking Dead show (have you seen it?) and we're working our way through the first season. I was pretty annoyed when he first turned it on. The TV in our bedroom is like 40"+ and the room is the size of a shoebox. My husband went through this black friday TV buying phase  when we lived in Vermont and this TV is part of the aftermath. Anyway, I was worried that Cameron would wake up and see a giant life-sized zombie feasting on a liver and we'd scar her for life. Hasn't happened yet and man, that's a pretty good show! I put up a big fight when my husband first suggested we watch it. I don't like watching violence, zombies, gross things, or blood on TV let alone before I go to sleep. The show is so well written that it doesn't bother me too much but I close my eyes a lot. I'm wimpy about that stuff.

We've both been making an effort to go to bed earlier. He stays up doing homework and then playing Madden to unwind. I stay up writing and then reading. The kids wake both of us up way too early. The cycle was killing us. I started to feel rundown and like I was coming down with something. Sleeping feels nice.

I'm writing a memoir (have I mentioned that? I can't remember) and using NaNoWriMo to push me along. I'm less than five thousand words in but it feels great. Kind of. I'm told all first drafts are horrendous but I think my book is in the running for worst first draft ever. It's so bad I feel like I should be slapped for even putting that junk out there. It's not really out there since only me and my book development editor have seen it but I'm telling you it's pretty, pretty (Larry David voice) bad.

I'm trying to ignore how bad it is, get through the first draft of the first six chapters and then starting the real work. Will I bust out 50,000 words in November? I don't know but I'm trying like hell. Except for right now. I'm blogging. Sometimes the craptasticness of that first draft gets me down and I need a break.

We're almost fully ready for our London trip. We still need an adult real deal set of family luggage. So grown up! That's about it though. I've already mapped out the neighborhood coffee shop so I'm not sure there is anything else to worry about. We're wiring our down payment this weekend and that is a bit scary. A Cornell alum who lives in the UK was kind enough to check out the apartment for us and make sure everything is legit but it's still a bit frightening to let a large sum of money go to a foreign country.

Our post MBA destination remains uncertain. My husband has a final interview on the west coast, another that has yet to be scheduled with a different company, a pending offer we are waiting to hear the details about, and of course his offer in Indianapolis. Basically we have no idea where we are going BUT we will know before the first week of December so that's something.

I'm packing, donating, and cleaning up a storm. Playing with my lovely kids who are growing up too fast. Enjoying life.

How are you?

While shooting a still life for an upcoming post Preston crashed the set, stole an apple, and dazzled me with his eyes. Yes. He is still wearing his Halloween costume. I have no idea how long this will last.