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Monthly Archives: January 2008
Happy day, happy day!
I got into the screenwriting class I wanted to take!! Woo hoo! I’m dancing on the ceiling.
The class starts March 8 and runs through March 29. It’s six days a week. Monday through Friday, it meets 9AM-9:30PM. Saturdays are 9AM-5PM. It meets, mostly, at the Seattle Center, which is, to say the least, not nearby. So, rather than drive myself insane with a commute from here to Seattle every day, I’m going to at least look into staying in a motel near the Seattle Center on class days. I can still come home on Sundays.
No one but me is happy about this. 🙂 Jay is happy that I’m happy, but he’s not looking forward to the expense nor taking care of the animals for three weeks. My job is bummed that I’ll be unavailable for three weeks. Even my mom thinks it’s way too much money.
Well, it is way too much money. The class isn’t cheap, plus motel and time off work and parking (maybe) and food and the required books and videos. And maybe mentoring. I’m also trying to talk Jay into letting me buy a new laptop, instead of dragging around that monstrous Alienware laptop that I despise. The new laptop wouldn’t be just for this, mind you. It would be the replacement for my desktop. (Not that I’m getting rid of my desktop, but rather than replacing my aging desktop with a new desktop, I would just have the new laptop.)
When the class starts, I’ll update the blog with details about what I’m learning and doing. In fact, since I want to work out a story to work on while I’m there, I may start updating that section even before the class starts, so stay tuned!!
Rethinking the remodel
I’ve been have second thoughts about the scope of the remodel. When we left the city, I wanted to downsize to a smaller house. Didn’t happen. This house felt a little smaller, but really that was just because the space was used so poorly.
Now we’re talking about a remodel that wouldn’t just rework the space we have, but actually add square footage. I can’t help but wonder why I want to do that. Okay, I know why. I hate my bedroom, and I want more space up there. But I’m beginning to think that rather than add square footage, I’d rather have an interior designer and our contractor work together to use the space we have more efficiently. This house is roughly 2400 sq. ft. Two people just don’t NEED more space than that!
That said, I don’t think that decision, if Jay agrees, is going to significantly lessen the cost for the remodel. This house was, in a way, unfinished when we moved in. Not much of the detail work had been done, and THAT is what will cost us a fortune. And we’ll still be doing some major construction. I want to change the stairs, make a great room in the basement, and create a bedroom/office on the mezzanine level.
Even if we don’t push out the back of the house, Jay may still want to expand the laundry room, and I will probably still want to build the porches off the back of the house. Of course, if we don’t do that, we may not have to replace our septic system. But that probably ought to be done, regardless, so I shouldn’t use that as an argument against the porches.
Aarghh. I’m feeling the need for another dinner with Todd and Kalisa. And a winning lottery ticket!
When worlds collide
I had an interesting work experience this week. I got to attend a two-day video shoot for some sales videos. Last week I got pulled onto the project at the last minute and had to write the scripts for the scenarios we shot this week. On Friday, Kajal told me I’d be attending the video shoot as well. The first day of the shoot was a snowy, icy one here in Seattle, and it turned out that the person who was supposed to oversee the shoot couldn’t make it in, so I suddenly became the sole Talent Development representative on the set. And then on Wednesday my subject matter experts bailed, and I was suddenly the ONLY company representative on the set.
Oy. I wish, wish, wish I’d had not only more time to work on the scripts but more overall knowledge of the project and what was going to be expected at the video shoot. I have this awful feeling that the videos will be subpar, and I’ll get blamed for it because I was the one in charge on the company end.
That aside, it was interesting to be part of the shoot, and it was fun to write the scripts. I don’t think anyone at my company knows of my interest in screenwriting, so that was just a bit of serendipity. Jason, the guy running the production side, said they were the best scripts he’d worked with, which was nice of him to say. I, personally, was dissatisfied with them. They were seriously boring. If I were watching those videos I’d fall asleep long before I learned how to sell the product! I wish we could make really engaging videos. Now THAT would be a cool project to be involved with.
Speaking of screenwriting, I haven’t yet heard from The Film School about the March class, so I dropped them an e-mail. I got a quick reply saying they were going to send out the acceptance letters to early applicants next week sometime. Fingers crossed! I really want to take this class. Both Jay and my company are rooting against it though. They want me to keep working!
Ouch!
Miss Princess has an owie. I went out to feed the horses dinner yesterday, and Princess had a huge wound in her chest. Huge.
I’ll spare you the details, but the vet said one of the other horses — I’m looking at you, Blue! — had probably run her into the fence, and she had impaled herself on a metal t-post. Oy! Fortunately, the damage was limited to the muscle and didn’t penetrate to the the internal cavity. The vet cleaned it up and said she’ll be fine.
She has to be separated from the other horses for a few days though. Unfortunately, it’s raining today, and it’s supposed to snow tonight — and we have only one paddock with shelter. I would leave her there and let the others hang out under trees in the pasture, but the “dry lot” where the shelter is, is the muddiest place on the property. I actually think the wound will stay cleaner if she isn’t there. So Miss Princess is stuck in the elements for a few days.
Boy, is she pissed!
Back to work
Have I mentioned recently that I love my job? It’s still true. I’m finishing up my first week back, and I’m still crazy about the place.
When I filled out my paperwork, the Aquent guy told me that I was only going to be working forty hours a week. I arched my eyebrow and asked what planet he was from. No, really, he said, they wanted me capped at forty hours. Okay… but it’s not going to last, I told him.
Started work on Monday. When I walked in the door Monday evening, my phone was ringing. You guessed it — emergency project! They needed me to work late. I worked late that night and again on Wednesday. On Thursday (yesterday) — in the middle of a high profile, high priority project — I told them that unless they got that cap lifted, I was done for the week at 4:30. Needless to say, the cap was toast.
I actually don’t mind overtime. In fact, when I’m working hard I have trouble stopping, so I rather like having overtime hours available. Besides, it’s overtime that’s ultimately going to pay for this remodel.