When the alarm went off at 5 am, I slapped it off and went back to sleep. I can't remember why it's set for 5... I think I had to get Amy to a bus for a game way early a couple of weeks ago... but every morning when it goes off it occurs to me that I should re-set it for a more decent hour. Then I go back to sleep and forget about it.
I finally got about about 5:45 and began my Saturday. First, I heat up a cup of coffee left from the night before and start a fresh pot making. Then I check my email, and delete the 76 spam items that promise me low-interest home loans, the hottest new stock picks, and erections that will never end. That done, I take a look at the real mail I've gotten, and respond where necessary.
Then I catch up on the news. I start with the New York Times (today there was a great story on an old mission project in South America, and a new update on what must be one of the most bizarre stories I've read in a while - the (apparent) intentional poisoning with radiation of a Russian dissident. The Times done, I check out what my brother's up to with my "google alerts" and then move on to Dave Oliveria's Huckleberries blog, and catch up on what Marianne Love has to say. I see if there's anything new from Molly Ivins (there isn't yet... bummer) and, of course, find myself in a number of unexpected places following intriguing looking links. This all goes a lot faster, by the way, with my new high-speed internet connection.
My reading fix sated for the moment, I move on to work. This morning, I took all the final drafts of stories I could find and pasted them into the pages of what will be the latest issue of the CFHS newspaper. I do this so that when Amy finally wakes up this morning, she can begin formatting and playing around with the design so this paper can be published next week. I'm noticing a lot of items are missing - obviously, it's going to take longer than I thought to teach these kids the simple basics of publishing. (Saving final drafts to the stories folder, making sure all photos needed for stories are in the correct file, that type of thing.)
And then it's on to the River Journal, which also publishes next week. Many pages have to wait as quite a few of my writers did NOT meet their deadline of Thursday, and there's not much I can do until I have the words that need to be placed. What I can get done this morning is the Staccato Notes - cutting and paring the dozens of press releases I receive about what's going on in the area through the month of December. I'll go ahead and admit it - I hate Staccato Notes. It is the one job I'll put off as long as possible. Which is probably why I'm posting on this blog instead of actually beginning to work on those pages.
Now it's 7:15 and that first pot of coffee is almost done. I'll stop to eat something soon, if I remember, then work on pages as long as I can. I'm hoping to take some time off this afternoon to catch the CFHS girl's basketball team in a game at Sandpoint, then it will be back to this chair to see how much work I can get done.
I won't be heading in tonight for Kinderhaven's Festival of Trees - I neglected to buy tickets before they sold out - but go ahead and keep your fingers crossed for me that the tree the River Journal donated will raise lots of money for this deserving charity. Here's a pic of the tree - the theme is "have a celestial Christmas" and everything is space-related.
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