One New (Re)Opening

Augusta’s Morris Museum of Art, which is dedicated exclusively to Southern art and artists, closed its doors in January and February for a bit of a spruce-up. Pieces were brought out of storage, displays were rearranged, et voila, the Morris was ready to reopen this past weekend. Of course I was there to see what they’d done with the place, as were lots of other people.

After that, I crossed the Savannah River into downtown North Augusta (shown below). I especially liked Lookaway Hall (shown at right). It's a Beaux-Arts mansion that was built from 1895 to 1898 and is now the lovely Lookaway Inn bed and breakfast.

Getting Ready to Relocate

After nearly a year of staying with wonderfully kind family in Augusta, I’ve decided it’s time to take a chance on moving to where the jobs are — or where more jobs are, at least. March 31 is my self-imposed date to move on, unless I’ve found work before then.

Now that I’ve made the decision to move, I’m excited, and I’m not sure I can wait until the 31st. The lists are made, the research is done, and the apartment and city guides are en route to my mailbox.

I should say, though, that my year in Augusta has been happy, healthy, and pleasant. Plus, I got to do lots of new things! I'm grateful to God for this year and for every year He gives me on this beautiful planet.

Snow in South Carolina?

OK, technically, snow in SC isn't a new thing, but it's rare, and this much snow in one day is reeeally rare. So I took photos:

Letting Go of Then

Remember when I consolidated three old notebooks into one new Word doc? That was such a refreshing experience, I decided to go through all my pre-2000 notebooks, pluck out the best items, and put them into a three-ring binder. I also created Word docs for my favorite quotes (from others) and my favorite fragments/musings (from myself), so the binder is surprisingly thin.

I can remember times when I looked at those old notebooks and thought, What if something happens to them? Fire, flood, tornado? I couldn’t stand to lose them! But when I actually read through them this week, I couldn’t wait to lose them. There was way too much complaining in those journals, which I suppose I thought would make for more dramatic reading later, or maybe I got therapeutic value from. Either way, I needed to grow up and get over myself.

Now that I’ve grown up, gotten over myself, and finished my consolidation project, I have only two notebooks. One is a small journal I began in 2003, and the other is my main notebook. I think every writer needs notebooks, but we don’t necessarily need to keep everything in them for twenty years.

One New (Temp) Job

Yep, I’m working. It’s intermittent temp work, and it doesn't pay a lot, but it’s work. I’m thrilled. Also, it’s in the communication/publishing industry, so I’m even more thrilled.

In fact, intermittent work seems like a good bridge into fulltime work, considering I’ve been out of work for 18 months. Of course I’ve kept my days structured (no daytime TV addictions here), but my structure at home is no match for a 40-hour week in an office... as I discovered this week. I’m tired, but it’s a good kind of tired, and I’m lucky to be working.

Jingle Bell Brrr

On Black Friday, my friend TJ came from Atlanta to visit me and to see Augusta. We'd planned to do the Jingle Bell Jaunt, which was a scavenger hunt of sorts, throughout downtown, but the cold weather changed our minds. We instead drove across town to browse a bookstore, eat lunch, and watch Julie & Julia.

At the movie, one of my favorite parts was when Julia Child tries the food in France for the first time. At the bookstore, TJ bought a DVD and puzzle for her son, and I checked the Personal Growth section to see if my book idea has any competition. I didn’t see any, yay! Oh, wait, shouldn't there be at least one or two similar books?

Anyway, our treasure hunt that day ended up being in a comfy, cozy bookstore instead of in the boreal, brrr-y outdoors — and the treasure was a fun day spent with a friend.

One New Interview

I'd planned to check out the Falling for Fashion event at Sky City on Saturday, but I decided to skip it because, along with fashion, fall also means flu season. From what I’m hearing, this season's flu is no picnic, and I don’t like flu vaccinations, so my anti-flu strategy is mainly to avoid crowds and to avoid touching my face. (Just FYI, it’s wise to avoid touching your face in general, since the eyes, nose, and mouth are primo germ portals.)

Although I spent most of the weekend at home, doing comfy, cozy, homey things, my week was not without new things. On Tuesday, I had an in-person job interview in Charlotte, NC. On my way home from that, I stopped in Rock Hill, SC, and saw the award-winning Glencairn Garden. What a well-designed, well-maintained garden! I also liked their Main Street and downtown area, which is known as Old Town.