An Expensive Hole

We've had a well drilling truck at our house for the past two days deepening our existing well. We've been living a very water conservative lifestyle for so long now if I'm in the shower for more than a couple minutes I feel like I'm taking way too long. I've been going to the laundromat for at least twelve years. Twelve years is a long time to be dragging your clothes to town with you. I've made alot of friends there, so I guess I can try to look at it positively, but I was really looking forward to going washing machine shopping this weekend.

Instead we've got a 400 foot deep hole with no more water than we had before. Hopefully the water we did have will come back. We won't know for about ten days, which is how long my husband expects it to take the well to fill back up. Hopefully the water in our holding tank will last until then. We're considering taking a vacation for a while.

The topper? Our beautiful new hole will cost about $5000. Yay. And, when they were lowering the drilling tower down after they finished drilling, it broke. The entire tower crashed down onto the top of the truck and crushed it. I about had a heart attack when I saw it parked down on the flat(they drove it down a hill that way!) on my way home. Luckily no one was hurt.

I feel really bad for the driller. His partner was crushed by another truck a couple of weeks ago. They were drilling on a hill and it rolled over on him; some freak accident. Now this. It is a well respected well company around here and the people are all very nice. I feel so bad for them. Seems they are having a run of bad luck. They could probably use a vacation too, but those trucks cost half a million dollars.

Tomorrow they're going to come up and vacuum the glass up that's strewn across the backyard. There's a big pile of rock goo that we get to clean up. My boys can't wait to play in the grey slop. And I find myself hoping that some vein of water will burst through the side of the empty hole tonight and fill it full of glorious water.

At least I won't miss my friends from the laundromat.

Weird Writing Week

It’s been a strange week in my writing world. I got my two first personal rejections. They show I was close--that I was considered, but didn’t make the cut. I thought getting personal rejections would feel good, but it doesn’t. Instead of feeling like I write worthless drivel, I instead feel like I’m not good enough. Not quite the same thing.

One rejection was from my top choice agent. Part of me was disappointed, of course, but part of me was thrilled to have been discussed and considered. Wow. And she was nice enough to clue me in on what she thought my manuscripts were lacking; emotional payoff. It seems so clear now that I’ve been told. Too bad I didn’t realize it before I sent my submission in. It’s depressing and encouraging at the same time.

I wanted to send my picture books right back out there when my rejection came, but now I feel like I should revise and try to give the stories the emotional payoff they need. If I can do it right, just maybe I can snag myself an agent.

I also sent out my first ever adult magazine submission, and it was considered! Ultimately it was rejected because they’ve done stories on the subject in the past, but I was actually invited to send more. Another wow!

So, it's been the kind of rejection week I've often hoped for, but it doesn't feel as good as it sounds when you're only getting forms for some reason. I guess having ones hopes dashed never does feel good. I keep trying to keep the positives in mind. Now if I could just get my revisions done and get something out there I can start racking up some more rejections. Yippee!