Pedro and 4-H member at the 2014 March of Dimes Walk-a-Thon, Buck Creek State Park, Springfield, OH.
August sucked. September got off to a bad start, too. We end last month and begin this month with two depressing occurrences:
- Pedro died. Pedro was one of my favorite alpacas. He was often likened to Mr. Wilson of Dennis the Menace fame. Pedro was grumpy and aloof, but he’d always do what you asked of him, grumbling all the way. We called him the grumpy old man, even though he wasn’t that old–not quite 10 years. He was one of the few alpacas I could trust with little children and idiots. RIP, Pedro. We miss you.
- The designer I hired for Willow (third book in the Tree of Life trilogy) doesn’t heed instructions. I hired this person through Fiverr.com, which requires advance payment. I provided the book information and some suggestions for the design–things I wanted the designer to incorporate. Overnight the designer returned a fugly book cover. Nope, I declined to accept that. The next day the designer offered another fugly book cover that my husband likened to a Cheerios box. Nope, that won’t do, either. So today I have a third design. The graphic designer is finally headed in the right direction, but still isn’t there yet. Argh.
- The day job doesn’t improve: conflicting orders, conflicting expectations, and a sense that no matter what I do, it’s wrong. One client member frankly stated on a phone call, “You’ve got a target on your back.” Yeah, I know. It’s not a comfortable thing.
Fingers, eyes, toes, and stars are crossed in the hope that September improves. I sincerely hope that your month is better.