Julia came home from The Price Center on Thursday with two pieces of news.  First, that she had gone to the YMCA with peers. She got on the van and spent the morning on the stationary bike, if she is to be believed. I am not sure she spent the whole morning there, but when she goes to the gym with me, mostly on weekends, she can do 40 minutes on the stationary bike. The big part of that news is that she was willing to leave the building!  She has gone on a few community visits, like the zoo, to help with watering plants, but that was of high interest to Julia—she loves zoos, loves watering. I know there is a lot more going out into the community that she can take part in.

Fingers crossed that this is a beginning. 

And next, she told me that people saw Flying Lessons. She said that they had streamed the movie during the day, but it turned out that they screened a trailer. Regardless of the amount of the movie that was watched, at least a few people complimented Julia about the movie. For the first time since it was released, she told me she was proud of herself for doing it.

We saw the movie at a film festival and at West Newton Cinema when it was showing there. We also attended a reunion of the cast and crew last year. Before this, she’s never allowed herself to be proud of her work. I think this reaction is a gift from the staff of The Price Center.

I wrote to John, the Price Center supervisor, and he was happy that she was reporting the trip to the YMCA.  He also gave a huge shout-out to her staff, Alex, for this. John paired Julia with Alex because of his very calm and relaxed personality. It seems like it has been a good fit. 

And I am very pleased that The Price Center is working out so well.

My news of the week is that I finished a fourth draft of my memoir. All my grousing about not being able to clear enough time to do what I wanted to do was about finding time to write and edit.  I imagined that I needed big-ish chunks of time to get through the draft I had, find the arc of the story, move pieces around to fit into the arc, edit the redundancies, and smooth some of the rough edges. 

Well, I did need that kind of time, and finally, about two weeks ago, I cleared the time and prioritized the work. I came to see the arc of the story and found the end.  Actually, I decided on the closing pieces.  I also make lots of notes and noted sections that need immediate work. I have a lovely writing group that will read, sometimes re-read, the re-written sections.

For the first time since starting this project, I have an idea that I may be ready for beta readers before the end of the year, and some kind of final draft soon after that.  

And kind of interesting and funny, as I was on my weekend round today, a thought for a few projects sprung into mind. This writing thing will not let me go.

Last Thursday, I spent time with the little ones and have to share.  Wilbur will be three at the beginning of next month; Alfie will be one before that.