Photo op

Tess was bored yesterday while I was cleaning the kitchen, so I gave her an ice cube to play with. She was so intent I gave her more ice and ran for the camera so y'all wouldn't think I'm totally crazy.

Silly, yes. Crazy? Only partially, but in a fun way.



Note the wave action in the water dish. Also note, if you can, the puddles and the water on the wall. She's very messy.

In other news, the power supply in the desk top is wonky again. I'm not sure if it's going to cooperate for much longer. Also, I'm leaving as early as I possibly can in the morning and heading for mom's. I'll be back Sunday evening, so if it seems unusually quiet for the next several days, have patience, grasshopper. Go find something productive to do while you wait for my return.

Sticker shock--at the dentist!

I took Vicky to get her teeth cleaned a couple weeks ago, and the tech recommended sealants. She'd lost some of the teeth that had been previously sealed, and the existing sealants needed some retouching.

The receptionist looked up the co-pay for our insurance-$10.00 per sealant as opposed to $25.00 per filling if we don't seal.

That's a no-brainer--I set up the appointment for sealants and mentally budgetted $40.00 since she had four molars sealed the last time. When she was six.

Today I took her to the dentist and sat down in the waiting room hoping for enough time to read an article that looked interesting. Then I had time for another, and still another, until I'd flipped through a whole copy of Women's Day. Finally, after an hour, they came out, and I discovered they hadn't sealed four teeth; they'd sealed twelve.

I'm not a math genius, but I am a homeschooling mom. I saw the equation in my head.

$10.00 x 12 teeth = 3 times what I'd budgetted.

Heck, yes, I said so! And of course I paid it all; I'd forget to pay the rest if I'd split it up.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that they guy at the coffee shop didn't know what size a venti cappuccino is (20 oz--venti is Italian for 20), and everyone on the road around me decided that I needed to stop often.

So here I am at almost 4:00 in the afternoon. Since we had gym class this morning and the dentist in the afternoon I've gotten nothing done. No dishes, no laundry, certainly no writing, and all I want is a nap.

I hate days like this.

more progress

I sat down last night and did the other couple hundred words to put me over the '8,000 word weekend' barrier. I need to do 3,500 a day between now and Wednesday if I'm not going to write at my mom's this weekend. I really need to do that; Mom doesn't listen when I say, "Don't make plans; we'll play it by ear."

I realized, early this morning when I woke up to blow my nose and hack out a lung, that after NaNo, I need to spend a week or two doing the Rogue Pawn synopsis. The goal was to send it out for submission by the end of the year. I have about eight weeks from now, and the next three are dedicated to 'Peace Like A River.'

Unless I hit 50,000 early. That could happen, but if I don't get my sinuses under control soon, it might not.

11054

Good weekend! Between Friday night and yesterday I did over 7,700 words. Yesterday alone was 6,611, which is a personal record.

I also got a lot of Christmas shopping out of the way. The town where I stayed is very small, but all the shops are one-of-a-kind mom-n-pop establishments. I'll be taking Vicky there later this month, I think. Or maybe next month. We'll see what happens.

It's good that I got as much done as I did. I'm heading out of town for a long weekend on Thursday, and I don't want to have to work much while I'm visiting, so the goal is 10,000 more new words before bedtime Wednesday. That will get me through the word count goal for next Sunday.

I'm not starting right now, though. I'm going to go put some stuff on lay-away for my kids for Christmas. I've got extended family done except my brother; it's time to get going on the hard ones. I hope, after dinner, to sit down with a glass of wine and get several hundred words in.