Ten days gone

Just like that, I've lost a week and a half. Not lost, exactly. Mom came to teach me to use my pressure canner and ended up also cleaning part of my house. We canned over 50 pints of green beans, made a lotion and some lip balm, my pantry is under control, and we even squeezed in some shopping time. The shopping thing seems to be a consistent thing with us! Of course, I got no writing done, so August so far is an extension of July as far as productivity. I'm thinking about maybe getting myself to a writers conference or two this year. Anyone have suggestions, preferably in the St. Louis or Chicago area?

OK, time to get a glass of water and get myself upstairs to commune with my laptop and beta manuscripts for a couple of hours.