I’m back into the swing of day jobbery–and I’m not quite ready to be there. My family vacation was wonderfully relaxing, even if the weather was somewhat disappointing. It only rained for half a day, but a few days were quite blustery and overcast and cool. But we all made the best of it, went to the beach anyway, and went to Dairy Queen more times than was probably healthy (but those mini Blizzards are so damn tasty!).

Sauble Beach (on Lake Huron) is known for its sunsets, and we were treated to some gorgeous ones–when it wasn’t cloudy that is.

Madeleine (no, “it’s MADDY!” as she would say) had a blast below:

And then there was Claire, picking stones and collecting them to take home of course:

When the weather was poor, we took off into town for ice cream… and  shopping of course. Charlotte is all about shopping–just like her mother–and decided it would be fun to try on every single pair of sunglasses she could find. Charlie is a fashionista already:

And then there was my wife and I…running around and trying to read and relax when we could. We even found time to take a quick pic:

Her parents came up with us as well, which was fun. They were also a great help with the kids too, and even watched them on occasion so we could take off into town or go for a drive. I got a bit of reading in, ate way too much, drank even more, and gained a few pounds…but isn’t that what vacation is for?

I even wrote a new chapter on the current WIP while there.

I came back relaxed and ready to charge ahead to an encroaching deadline.

Though I already can’t wait to go back to the cottage next year.

Sun and fun. Can’t go wrong.

And as for being unplugged? I did a pretty good job. No tweeting or Facebook. Though I admit I did peek once or twice. And I did check email at one point… But all in all, it was a rather nice break from the internet. I’ll definitely unplug again.

This past weekend was a long weekend in Canada, so we packed up the kids and joined friends to head to Ohio for some shenanigans. And shenanigans we had.

Saturday was spent driving through usual May-2-4 weather: RAIN. But our hopes of good times were not washed away by the 90 minute delay at the border or long-ish drive. Oh no. We had Disney upon Disney movie to watch and listen to while we drove. Good times indeed. We made it to Castaway Bay in Sandusky Ohio around 2:30pm. This place is awesome. Total indoor waterpark chaos. Waterslides, tube slides, wave pool, bar, splash works. So much to do, we ended up spending 5 hours in there. Prunes we were. After cleaning up, we headed out for dinner–and drinks of course.

Sunday consisted of rollercoaster madness. A lot of rollercoaster madness to be exact. That’s right, we hit the heartland of rollercoasters, Cedar Point. And the weather? Wow. Gorgeous and sunny. A perfect day for what is traditionally a rainy weekend. So we hit the park hard with the Raptor, and didn’t look back. Everyone had a blast. Highlights were definitely Millennium Force (310 feet high, 85 degree drop, 92 mph), and the Top Thrill Dragster (420 feet high, 90 degree up/down, 120 mph, ride is over in 17 secs).

This is the Top Thrill Dragster (part of it).

This is me, disappearing in a 120 mph blur (orange shirt, last car).

Everyone had SO much fun. Can’t WAIT to go back next year.

So we got back from Punta Cana on Monday night and I’ve been swamped ever since–swamped with life and day jobbery and, well, I think St. Paddy’s Day shenanigans were in there somewhere too.

All of that means, quite simply, that I haven’t had a chance to do a vacation recap. Be assured it was awesome, lots of sun, hot weather, palm trees, a gorgeous resort with amazing food, and enough cerveza to drown a whale–whatever that means.

I doubt I will post more on the trip than this, but in case you were wondering, the resort was the Meliá Caribe Tropical All Inclusive Beach & Golf Resort, and I can’t recommend it enough for families and those looking for a relaxing and non-partying atmosphere. Though one can certainly have a lot of fun, it’s not a college-party resort (too bad!).

Now that I’m back and settled, it’s time to get back into the grind. Yay.

Here we are and it’s Thursday already. Wow, the week is going by fast. It helps, mind you, that I’ve been able to somewhat stay in touch with the world, friends, and whatnot by wifi hotspots on the resort. It’s been fun.

Weather has been fantastic. Besides a spot of rain yesterday it’s been around 28-30C every day and sunny with a touch of cloud. Today, no clouds at all which is doing wonders for sweating out the excess water weight and um, cerveza.

Here are a couple pics of the pool and my view during breakfast.

Punta Cana - Breakfast View

Punta Cana - Pool

Full update when I get back to reality Monday night.

Adios.

Well, if I don’t have the fortune of running into the following zombified princesses…

Then I at least hope to run into these lovelies again…

Yes, that’s right, when I get up tomorrow morning I’m off with the family to Disney World!

Can’t wait for the warm weather and silly fun. And of course I will be taking lots of pics of my various exploits…and hopefully having a few drinks along my merry way.

And similar to most things I do, you can follow along via Twitter.

Back in a week!

Wow. Only four blog posts in September. And this is the first one for October. I’m so bad.

Can you tell I’ve been busy? And as you can see from the post title, yeah, I’m in San Francisco now. I’ve got a few minutes to myself while I get ready to head out to a cocktail reception tonight, so I thought I’d try and blog while I watch the Dolphins game.

So the trip to Seattle was very busy, but very fun. I was able to meet my agent, Colleen Lindsay, for the first time, which was great. And I also met numerous other, cool industry people too. The whole trip disappeared rather quickly, mind you. I also got a chance to see a few films:

Pandorum: Very tight, dark, survivor-horror movie with flavorings of  Aliens, Pitch Black, and Event Horizon. Loved it and its few cheesy lines.

Zombieland: Rule Number 1 should not be Cardio, but should be Go See This Movie. ‘Nuff said.

Surrogates: What starts off rather solid, with an awesome opening club scene, quickly falls apart into a sea of normalcy and uninspired characters.

The few days that I was home between trips flashed by and now I find myself in San Francisco on another day jobbe trip. It’s going to go by quickly as well  as my days are pretty jammed solid.

And on the writing front, well, that’s a whole other story. Lots and lots of work to do, and things going on. But new words have been few and far between. Once the travel chaos slows down I plan on getting refocused and reacquainted with the WIP.

And now, I’m off…

Flew into Seattle yesterday for 9 days of day jobbery. Good thing I brought a few hoodies and a jacket because BRRR. It is cold! Supposedly there was a gorgeous Indian summer last week, and this week, nothing but cold and wind and rain in the forecast. Figures.

But I love Seattle nonetheless.

There is a ton of side-stuff going on this week too, which I will blog and tweet about when it happens.

Hopefully there will be a tweet-up at some point as well with whomever is interested–though at the moment I have no idea when I’ll be able to schedule it in. Maybe next weekend.

There will also be movies to be had. I’m dying to see Pandorum as well as Zombieland (ZOMBIEAPOCMOFO!). Surrogates is up there in the “want to see” list as well.

Beyond all of that I have some friends to see as well.

And a helluva lotta work to do on the WIP. My agent has given me a well deserved (and inspiring!) kick in the ass regarding it, and so I’m ready to attack it with word guns set to kill.

Plus, I need to get back into the blogorama mechanics of actually, well, posting more often to this blog.

We shall see…

Once again I find myself behind in eleventy-million things…

Early August was all about Worldcon in Montreal.

And then mid-August until just yesterday (with day jobbery sprinkled here and there and everywhere) was vacationing with family and friends at the beach. Had a truly wonderful Labour Day weekend, with weather above 27C and sunny. Best weekend of the summer by far.

Very busy day jobbe schedule ahead, and then I’m in Seattle from September 24-th until October 2nd (for day jobbery).

Back for a week and the off to San Francisco from October 11th until October 16th (for more day jobbery).

Back for a week and then off again for some rest and relaxation with my wife and friends–which will be much needed.

And, while all of the above is going on, I’m aiming to write and finish the first draft of my current WIP.

No rest for the wicked, I say.