Tick Tock

So, I put in my two-week notice on September 8.

I’ll say one thing: It’s good to be organized.

By the end of last week, my website duties had been transferred to one of my Creative Services colleagues and my catalog duties had been delivered to another. My music products ad duties have also been passed off to a new guy in the music products division. I’m finishing up a couple smaller projects this week and on Wednesday I’ll be packing up my desk and heading for parts unknown.

Well, not completely unknown.

I’m no stranger to packing and moving. Seems like I move every couple years or so. We really wanted to stay in our house for a long time when we bought it but we’ve decided to go to California. Essentially, we’ve chosen family over “stuff.” We started serious packing this past weekend and will continue it through this week and over next weekend.

We do have a couple music ministry loose ends to tie up. On Sunday the 25th, Lori and I will lead worship at Grace Be Unto You Outreach Church for the last time. It’ll be the last hurrah and we’ll have almost every musician in the church on stage with us for the send-off. That should be interesting. Lori and I play off of each other almost subconsciously but I’ll have to really work at giving directions to the others, which isn’t easy to do with both hands playing bass. But I’m sure it will work out. They’ll just have to pay attention.

Then on Monday the 26th, we’ll lead worship at the Springs Rescue Mission for the last time. On the 27th, Lori’s parents arrive to help with the move. On the 29th we pick up the truck and load it. On the 30th, we hit the road.

So now is the time for packing and staging everything in the garage.

It is indeed good to be organized.

And time is ticking.

California here I come. Right back where I started from...

Brain Drain

It's about 5:30 in the morning. I've been up since 2:30.

My head is swimming with so many things to do.

I put in my two week notice today at work. Okay. It was technically yesterday.

We're going to California in roughly three weeks. This time, we're not coming back to Colorado. In many ways, it's sad. But in other ways... well, we're coming home.

But it's a big undertaking. A grand adventure. Quitting a job. Selling a house. Moving across country. Staying with family. Aquiring new jobs. Getting a new home. Any of those things alone would be enough weight on the shoulders. We're doing all of it at once, barely a month after losing my dad.

To say I'm feeling stressed would be an understatement.

After all, I'm the husband. I'm the dad. It's all my responsibility.

So, while I was tired enough to go to sleep at 10:30 last night (after reading a chapter of pure escapism in my Star Wars novel), it was my turn to feed Melody if she needed it (Lori's teaching tomorrow, okay today).

Melody got up at 2:30.

When I laid back down after feeding and changing her, I couldn't stop thinking about what all needs to be done. Schedule the truck. Airline tickets for the in-laws (so they can help with the move). Packing everything (and therefore aquiring the needed boxes). Securing a car trailer for the Mustang. The list goes on.

So I tried to shift mental gears. Suddenly I'm thinking about work. What I need to do for the Westone website so there'll be a smooth transition. Who will I turn it over to and the politics that come with that. What about all the advertising for the music products division? Someone's got to pick that up. And I need to pass that contact info on to all of the magazines. I have my ideas about the best course of action but, after all, I'm not going to be there anymore so who cares what I think. I pick up so many pieces on a daily basis that no one even knows about. The fact is though that I need to start showing somebody all of the stuff I do every day so things won't fall through the cracks. After all, not every art director has another art director on staff to sweat the details. Some people are going to have to step up and start looking at the details. Or else they'll find themselves in over their head even more than they are now.

But what do I care? September 21 is my last day. It's not my problem after that.

And yet I do care.

Which is why I'm not asleep.

After stressing over both my personal and professional life for an hour in bed with my eyes wide open, I decided to get my mind off of it. I had a few episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica that I hadn't seen yet so I took them downstairs and watched two of them.

Just when I thought I was tired enough to hit the hay again, Melody started crying. So I had to coddle her back to sleep before I could lay back down.

By that point, my mind was back on everything that's going on... or needs to go on.

So now I'm up writing this. After all, this blog is more therapy than anything else. I should probably be working on my novel though.

In a half hour, Lori will be up... getting ready for work.

I hope she slept well.

What I’m Reading: Goal, Motivation, Conflict

Been meaning to read “Goal, Motivation, Conflict” by Debra Dixon for a long time. Finished it this morning. It breaks down, you guessed it, character goals, motivations and conflicts into a very simple chart so you can let character decisions drive the plot of your story.

Although it’s perhaps a little on the analytical side, the book makes some good points. If used correctly, it would force me to really look at what’s driving my story before I ever type word one. It also has a great little section on using GMC to deconstruct the story into a quick little logline that can be used when pitching to editors and/or agents (or regaling your dinner guests with your latest literary masterpiece).

All in all, a good read.

Now I’ve picked up “The Evolution Conspiracy” by Caryl Matrisciana and Roger Oakland, which I expect to be similar to a book I read a few weeks ago (see previous "What I'm Reading" posts). This one, however, purports that there is a hidden agenda to deceive mankind regarding evolution and creationism. It was published in 1991. At some point I bought it and, once again, never read it. Anyway, I don’t know if I buy the whole conspiracy aspect of evolution, but maybe the book will change my mind.

I’ll let you know.