Meet Virginia!  (Ok, that’s as far as I’ll go with Train lyrics)

Scares That Care Weekend is officially on!  We’re here in Williamsburg, VA as a part of the charity weekend, and we want to meet you.  Yes, you.  Even if you’re a Train fan.  I won’t hold it against you.  You like who you like, you know?  Hell, I like Boz Scaggs.

All the details are at the official website.  I’ll be in the vendors room, sharing a table with authors Kelli Owen and Robert Ford, and my fiction reading is tonight (Friday) from 5:45-6:15 with author Kyle Lybeck.  I’ll have plenty of copies of my novel THE BETRAYED and my small story collection UNFIT FOR BURIAL, as well as a FREE (yes FREE!) short  story chapbook at the table for anyone who wants one (limited quantities available).  And free bookmarks!

I hope to see you all there!

So… For the past four days I’ve been alone.  My wife moved away to Pennsylvania this past Sunday, leaving me behind here in Indiana.  She starts her new job Monday, and my job, other than what I do for a paycheck, is to stay behind and whip the house into selling shape.  Unfortunately, being the shithead I am, I’ve neglected a lot of household duties over the last nine years of home-ownership.  Nothing major, I don’t think.  Just things like: “Oh, that broke?  I’ll fix it eventually…”  “That knob is coming off?  I’ll get it tomorrow…”  “There’s mold under that cabinet?  Someone should get to that…”  Everything’s coming back to bite me all at once.

It’s just difficult to stay motivated.  Even though it’s only been four measly days, I miss my wife dearly.  Miss waking up next to her and kissing her goodbye in the morning.  I miss knowing she’ll be home at the same time every night.  I miss arguing where to eat.  I miss laughing with her, and her rolling her eyes when I go on tangents about hockey stats and “This player got traded to that city?!  How crazy is that?!”  Hell, I even miss our dogs she took with her in the move, leaving behind three cats that love to test my patience daily (side note: I love cats and have always been a cat person, so don’t think I mean ill will toward them).  It’s hard having no idea when I’m going to see her again.  She may meet me and stay the weekend at Scares That Care, but her new job may prevent her, understandably so, from coming down.  I some vacation days and flyer miles which I plan on using soon, but will have to wait until I better know her work schedule.  It’s just hard.

I haven’t spent any significant amount of time away from her since we’ve been together (6 years together, 3 years married) and I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it.  I’m OK right now, and I’m sure I’ll be fine in the coming weeks.  I going to do my damnedest to get to her quickly as possible, and start our new life together in the Northeast.  It’s just going to take a little time.

Alright, back to cleaning…