Weekly Inspiration: Or a Lack Thereof

Hello all.  This is the first week in a long time where I honestly couldn't come up with anything inspiring to write about.  In fact, I couldn't really come up with much to write about period, and I think it's because I'm a little burnt out at the moment.  John was gone for a week, as I mentioned, and it wasn't until yesterday that I got my first break from Jackaroo in eight days.  I REALLY needed it.  I love Jack more than anything, but he's exhausting!

Jack models the fab hat Sarah got me in Mongolia and demonstrates his new skill: opening doors.

Now that I've had some time to clear my head (amazing what five hours - a hair appointment and a movie - can do for one's mental state), I think I can blame my lack of inspiration on several things, including rarely leaving the house (or the presence of a toddler) in over a week; being in a constant state of itch for four weeks (I was seriously considering a post on pityriasis rosea, because it has been such a major presence in my life for over a month now, but then I realized that probably wouldn't make for very pleasant reading); and feeling depressed about the state of my novel.  I got another rejection from one of the three agents with my novel, and while she didn't say anything negative (aside from the fact that she couldn't envision anyone she could sell it to), it wasn't a particularly helpful rejection.  I'm starting to realize that very few of them are.  The worst part is, I don't know if that's because the agents don't have the time to tell me what's wrong with my novel, or if there really isn't anything in particular wrong with it!  The only slightly uplifting news is that I am really excited about my new Young Adult book (thanks to Sarah and Erin for helping me brainstorm all last week), but I haven't had much time to work on it so far.  I also got a request for my old novel, How the Other Half Lives, from one of the agents who rejected The Book Collector, so I'm trying to revise it in the next couple of weeks.  I wrote it in 2007, so a few things are somewhat dated.  Plus I've learned a few things over the past couple of years, and I'm trying to apply those to this novel.  It's a long shot, but it's something.

Meanwhile, John's training weekend went really well.  His coach thinks he could be an "elite" runner and break 19 hours at Western States.  I worry about John pushing himself too hard and blowing up part-way through the run, but he obviously knows his body and its limits very well, so I'm trusting him to follow his instincts.  Of course, his instincts led him into poison oak, a cracked rib, and a bear last week, so maybe I'm giving him more credit than he deserves...
Sarah is home from Mongolia (yay!) and had her own fun adventures to relay.  I'm anxiously awaiting her photographs, because the few she sent me while she was away were amazing.  I'll try to post some of them here when they're ready. 

A trip to River Farm seems like the perfect excuse to break out Jack's overalls!

One of the few inspiring things I DID see last week was River Farm, which is a gorgeous public farm between Old Town and Mount Vernon off of GW Parkway.  I can't believe I've never been before (a friend has been telling me about it for a while but I just never got my butt down there).  Jack really loved running around and exploring, and we had a lovely shady spot where we could sit and watch the kids.  We will definitely be back.