Let the Day Begin...

...let the day begin, let the day... start. But not this minute as it's 10:00 at night. (This is another listen-along post: play the video below while you read.) When the day does begin, it will be with a new chapter in my book of life. Tomorrow I start a career as a full-time, contract, technical writer! Oh it's not a long contract--only a couple of weeks--but if it goes well, I can see myself eventually taking on more contract writing. I'm not quitting glass anytime soon--or giving up on my other creative pursuits and projects--but it's time to take writing out for a spin again.

Today we (Dee, Todd and I) unloaded the minivan after the weekend's art festival and then I took it one step further and vacuumed it out since all the removable furniture (including the center console) was out. Then it was time to take them to the airport so they could fly home to Atlanta. My afternoon was spent curled up with an old romance novel I first read in the 1970's by Kathleen Woodiwiss and a nap. I gave myself an afternoon off--free from cleaning, bills, email, or work of any kind. It felt great, and now I'm recharged to start anew.

The art festival was a really good experience, and all that remains is a wrap-up meeting and sending an evaluation form to all the artists and vendors. All in all it went much more smoothly than it had any right to--and it was because there were a lot of parents and students volunteering to help out. Students set up and broke down the cafeteria, unloaded and reloaded artists' cars, and worked the Students Making Films table taking donations, and selling food tickets and bottled water. Meredith, Carlotta and Kim did graphic design, Facebook and Twitter feeds, Jason managed all the set-up and show logistics, and Ken wrangled musicians and student volunteers. The show would have failed without them. We also had all the other parents who signed up to work shifts at the table with the students. I'll admit it--I overstaffed. But I figured it was better for students to be a bit bored for a couple of hours than for the patrons or artists to have  long wait for service. I have had first hand experience of just how bad things can get when a show is not properly staffed and logistics is run badly (and not just for one year--can anyone say Chicago Tardis?).

So now to bed, but eager to Let the Day Begin tomorrow.