A 2 Z: Wiley Update

My family moved this week, from a huge house in the country to a small house with a wonky floor plan in the city--not something we wanted, but here we are. We're still in the process of sorting through all the clutter in the old house. It seems rather endless, but we're making slow progress. The cold we're passing around the family isn't helping much.

Can you see the raccoon
print in the foreground?

The good news is that my oldest sister and her family are buying the country house, and the acreage will be perfect for her kids and the rabbits they raise. And while I miss the mountain and foothill view, I'm pleased that at least our new backyard looks into mostly trees with lots of songbirds. We even have raccoons, according to the muddy footprints on the patio door.

I'm enjoying the scenic drive to work, getting to cross the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge everyday, and the added beauty of the fall colors. The eight hours a week interpreting at a community college is just about the right amount for my body.

Other news is that I finally got referred to a real sleep study. It should get set up soon. The specialist wanted to know what my plan is if the study doesn't show anything. Ummm.... not sleep? And isn't that kind of crossing a bridge before we have to? I'm glad he has such confidence that the test will be helpful, ha. But hey, at least he ordered it. I'm praying they'll find something that will help us find a way for me to stay asleep long enough to actually get healing deep sleep.

I didn't meet my goal of having the next draft of Reaching Sky done before November so the next beta readers can look at it while I'm doing NaNoWriMo, but I am entering it in FaithWriters' Page Turner contest and continuing to look for a publisher or agent. I'm really excited about my next book, Voices of the Dark, too, and hoping my health will let me participate fully in NaNoWriMo. Check out my FaceBook author page to hear updates on the book during November.

Next week I'll be taking the written part of the National Interpreter Certification test. It's suppose to be fairly easy (unlike the performance part, which I plan to take in December) and will have questions about Deaf culture, disability laws, and interpreting techniques and ethics.

So, I guess that's the update for this youngest Wiley. :-) As always, find more "W" posts in the "From A 2 Z 4 U & Me" at Patty's blog, Ordinary Lives.

Oh, if you have a blog roll, feel free to add my button that Mari made for me. Just copy the html in the box and you'll get a button like this. Thanks!


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Fish!!

I did it! I made it through the first year of the interpreting program still alive and with okay grades in all my classes. ;-) It feels so nice to have it done. This summer I’ll be working hard to improve my interpreting even more so I’m ready to meet the challenge of the second year head on.

My finals went pretty well, thanks to everyone’s prayers. By the last day of my busiest week, I was definitely worn out and not at my highest potential, but even so made it through with an okay grade. Now my classmates and I are celebrating with a couple of parties this week. Then it’s back to practicing every day!

As though the word is out that I’m done with school, I’m already starting to get more editing and critiquing projects again, and even got my first paid one! This summer I’ll be dusting off a lot of my old stories and a few poems and submitting them to magazines, as well as doing some new writing. My goal is to finish editing the postcard project, also, and have that ready for the editor at least by the end of the summer.

This week I got referred to pain management classes and to another kind of sleep clinic. They will both start next month and be weekly appointments for a few weeks. I’m sure they will cover a lot of information I know, but hopefully I’ll learn some new things as well, and can take some steps to get healthier this summer so I’ll be more equipped for school next fall. The next term in October will probably be the most challenging yet. I’m hoping someone will actually diagnose me with something. It seems odd to me that my doctor is referring me to this stuff but hasn’t done much to verify what is causing the pain and sleep problems.

The end of this month my family is going to the beach. All of us are going together this time--my parents, two sisters, brother-in-law, and my three nieces. It’ll be fun! I plan to do some reading and writing as well as lots of playing with the little ones.



*”Fish” is the mouth-shape made while signing FINISH. It’s become a joke among my classmates and one of our teachers so now it’s not uncommon to hear someone to ask in English “You fish?” instead of “Are you finished?” or to actually sign FISH instead of FINISH. LOL