Life is a balanced act

No, not a balancing act. A balanced one.

For the first time in months I'm working on a Work In Progress that I just love. The characters are really solidly in my head and the plot is tight, and I'm making huge progress. I'm averaging a chapter every other day -- a finished, polished, solid chapter. This is the way I used to write, before I got bogged down for some unknown reason, last spring.

The other side of the fulcrum? My home life is out of whack. Nothing major, just car trouble. I took the car in for its 30k checkup, expecting to spend $300-$400. Instead I'm spending 10 times that.

I'll give you a minute to pick your jaw up off the floor.

Yep, $3500. The car has been in the shop for a week, waiting for parts and/or being worked on by mechanics. Plural. This is a car that ran just fine. All I anticipated was a spark plug change, etc. But no...it turns out mice got in and made a nest out of the entire electrical system ("awesome," one service guy said. "It was awesome." Not the word I would use to describe it, but I get the point). EVERYTHING electrical has to be replaced.

Keep in mind: this is a car that is parked in a garage and is driven every day. Every single day. So it's been 'protected.' This begs the question of what is happening to my husband's car and his truck, which sit outside and are not always driven on a daily basis. You're right. I don't want to know until I've paid the bill for my car.

So there you have: the balance of life. On the up side of the teeter-totter: my writing. I thought I had lost the writing mojo because this summer was such a drag, writing-wise.

On the downside: mice.

And on the up-side: my cats, who now get to play in the garage now and again. They are going to have a field day...

Yep. Life really is a teeter-totter, isn't it?