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Working Wednesday: One Day at a Time

Deb Blake let me know that I missed posting on Sunday, for which I thank her and apologize to you. Spring has been difficult here and I’m not connecting on all points these days. Bob is being patient and Krissie is checking in, so I’m fine, I’m just not hitting all my bases. I’m currently rewriting the first half of the current book since Bob and I did some heavy brainstorming already this week and we have brilliant new ideas, so I’m bringing the first half up to date while he pushes ahead into Act Three. In other news, I’m changing the sheets on my bed. Hey, it’s the little things.

What did you work on this week?

113 Responses

  2. So good to hear from you, Jenny!
    We were worrying, but don’t want to put any pressure or stress on you.
    Please take all the time you need for whatever task you want to focus on. Like changing the sheets 🙂

  3. From what I remember from your past posts, changing sheets is a big deal. Don’t overdo it.

    In fact, the only reference to changing sheets in your books (that I remember) is that Sophie changes them after she and Phin have used almond oil.

    1. I hate changing the sheets SO MUCH. Every time it’s like I’m wrestling the bed and the bed wins.

      1. I like changing the shaeets of *my* bed because i can go roundon 3 sides.
        I hate changing the sheets at all the other beds. Yes, hhere it’s tje same work as Laokoon with the snake. So far I survived… (cause I told the kids to do it).

        1. I’m so glad that they’ve added tags that read bottom and side to fitted sheets.

  4. Glad you’re okay!

    Previously, I changed where the manuscript began. Then my line editor found a several places in the opening pages where I’d left out important information, or where information wasn’t in the right places, or where I was repetitive. I fixed those problems months ago. This week, I reread the opening with enough distance to see where I fixes needed tightening, in anticipation of entering it into a contest.

  5. Changing sheets is not a little thing! Thanks to your stellar example I’ll change mine today. Fresh sheets on a properly made bed can change my world or at least my mood.

  6. Busy times, so it’s understandable. Glad you’re okay, and good luck with the sheets!

    I finished uploading Year End to the accountants’ Portal for the last company last week, so now I just have to catch up on everything I’ve been putting off, but at least I don’t feel like crying.

    I took my eldest camping with two of their friends, and oh man, 13/14yo kids are filthy-minded! I’ve heard things that I can’t un-hear, but thankfully nothing that I have to report.

  7. I hate changing sheets, but I love sleeping in clean ones. The story of my life–too many things I love having done (like gardening) far more than I love doing them.

    If Arghers are interested, I’m looking for ARC readers for my first Ice Planet Octogenarians book. Offering a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review on Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub–or anyplace else you share your unvarnished thoughts.

    Here’s the blurb:

    You’d think being eighty-five years old would protect you from being kidnapped by sex-trafficking space aliens. But you’d be wrong.

    Because my friends and I took out the slave traders only to crash-land on an ice-ball of a planet called “Oog.”

    The natives here are huge and purple, with feet like beaver tails, two thumbs on each broad hand, and towering antlers. You wouldn’t think they’d be interested in a quartet of eighty-somethings, but their tribe is really short on females.

    Also, their saliva contains a chemical that, when applied to the right location, turns back the clock on these rickety old bodies.

    Before you judge us, let me ask you this: What if you were standing so close to the Grim Reaper you could see the whites of his eyes? And what if a strapping young fellow came along and offered you the chance to be twenty-five again?

    Do you really think you’d turn that down?

    The book runs about 57K. If you’re interested, please contact me at jeanne@jeanneestridge.com.

    Thanks!

    1. That is a fascinating premise, Jeanne! What a fertile imagination you have.

  8. I love clean sheets, so cleaning them and putting them back on the bed is a weekly priority. Notice, this means you dont havevto fold the sheets! Crazy . . Like a fox!

    Anyway, I have been sewing. I was at loose ends Sunday so I pulled out some fabric and started a red quilt (my great niece says that is her fav color, and she’s a graduate next spring, so starting now.)

    Monday, we got the final instructions for the short mystery, so i put together some blocks. They are the blue ones.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/DKeqdtYR04k/?igsh=MWt3NWZ1aXQ3c291bg==

    Back to real world work.

  9. Changing sheets is one of my least favorite household jobs. They say you should change them every two weeks. “They” can bite me.

    I am still recovering from my trip across country, and trying to catch up on All the Things. Without great success. So I hear you. I’ve been back for a week and a half and I still haven’t written a word. Still behind on the garden (although it went from rainy and cold to really hot, so it isn’t ALL my fault).

    Hang in there and feel better. Smooches.

  10. Sheets are important. My cottage consortium had a three-day, detailed text thread last week on what we should do on a regular basis about changing the sheets when we exit the cottage. I even had to create a one page visual showing each of the beds.

    I’ve been doing more rifling through ancient storage bins and drawers ,and depositing items no longer required onto the curb, otherwise known as our local grey economy.

  11. I planted 21 little baby plants, which also entailed digging up, and pulling, multiple noxious weeds. Then, yesterday, we got 3″ of rain! No watering for a few more days. Yay!

    I gave Kali a bath, and tried to get a few snarls out of her fur. She was not impressed, or pleased. She is still speaking to me, thank goodness.

    Today is flea and tick treatment day for Kalli and the two cats. Oh, joy.

    1. That once a month treatment should be easy since it’s just a few drops on the back of their neck but I swear they know the calendar and run and hide before I even get the medicine out.

    2. I use a chewable flea and tick treatment for my cats (prescription, but you can get it from Chewy) called Credeleo. Once a month you put it on top of their food and even my picky eaters just chew it right up. My sensitive guy had a bad reaction to the topical treatment (literally pulled out all the fur inches around it) and I hate the drooling if they happen to get a paw into the topical and then lick it. The chewable is a miracle.

  12. I got one quilt quilted for a customer and I pieced the murder mystery quilt blocks for the month. (https://www.instagram.com/p/DKdn1wuoFOD/?igsh=ZHg5cGowZmdlbmo4) The cougar block was so fiddly with its itty-bitty pieces! She gave us seven block choices and we were to make three. There were two more foundation paper piecing blocks, one of a condor and one of a snake. I’m impressed that I actually got the cougar done.

    Sunday I got another 10 bushes trimmed and the patio cleaned. Unfortunately, these chores caused my hands to stiffen up, so I’m also working on getting physical therapy for my hands.

    I find that changing the sheets works a lot easier with a second human helping, and sadly, no cat helping.

    2. Ah yes, the cat. That’s the only flaw with my “wash em and put em back on the bed” plan. Those sheets come out of the dryer and it becomes kitty appreciation day as one or another of them lolls on the bed and takes a good hour long nap, soaking up the dryer warmth.

      1. Since we had rain last night, followed by a cold front, I think your cats have the right idea. And since you may be getting that warmth returned when you next cuddle your kitties, there is a nice symmetry to it. But you may have to switch to putting on a spare set of sheets while the first is in the dryer to avoid tugs of war.

      2. Our girl cat would like to go under the sheet, and my husband would create a tent for her by sticking one of the cat toy sticks up under the sheet with her, and then we were to tap on the sheet from above. It was quite the game. And when she was done, she would nap under the sheet so we couldn’t put the blankets back on.

        1. That was one of my favorite games with my black cat, it took a little longer, and maybe a few claw holes appeared in the sheet, but life is short, so enjoy the little things.

        3. My first Sheltie, Libby, loved to help me make the bed everyday.She’d get under the blanket an play=growl as I bounced the bed.

    3. “helping” to change sheets and stop people from putting away clean laundry are the favorite things of both of my cats.

      1. My family’s cat was a huge pain whenever I had to change the sheets, but it would be worth the bother if I could see him this many years after his death.

  13. Working: I will be working more, since I just got hired for a second part-time job pet-sitting. It’s delightfully flexible. You can just take yourself off the future schedule whenever you need to. My formerly full-time job is shrinking my part-time hours, but my motive for getting a second job is not purely financial. After I’ve been away from work for several days I start going “Where are my dogs? Where are my cats? How am I supposed to manage with only one dog in my life???”
    My job interview consisted of sitting in a coffee shop with my new boss telling each other dog and cat stories for _an hour and a half_. We laughed so much I could probably draw her back teeth from memory.

    2. I have considered advertising myself to be a cat sitter just so that I have access to cats until we adopt again.

  14. We are still evacuated. The threat to the town is much lower but not eliminated. People are whinging but what they really should be doing is thanking their lucky stars that they aren’t like those poor people in northern Manitoba who had to be flown out on military aircraft and had to leave everything behind, including their pets. Yes I want to go home but I refuse to complain about being safe and fed and housed, all while knowing my dogs are also safe and fed and housed.

    1. Your comments are cringe-worthy. I feel for you and the N. Manitoba folks. I hope things improve, soon.

    2. I had been thinking about you as reports of wildfires continue, so I’m glad to learn that your town is so far safe.

      It seems a failure of advance emergency planning if the military had no way to evacuate at least dogs and cats. (It was foreseen that climate change would increase wildfire risk.) I can understand if something like horses were too much to deal with. But a lot would depend on circumstances.

    3. I keep watching the weather/fire/air quality and cringing. (I just got an inch and a half of rain. Would share if I could.)

    4. Oof! Sorry to hear that so many are suffering. I lost my town to a hurricane in 2018. We left for the weekend, and never came back. I don’t think anything adequately explains the stress and difficulties of running from a natural disaster. Sending all the best hopes and prayers for everyone. Glad your pets are safe, too.

    6. I can only imagine the heartbreak over having to leave pets behind! Mine were my children and I’m not sure I could do it.

    7. How scary for you and your family. Take care and crossing my fingers you can go home soon.

      Bad start to fire season. Hazy in Ottawa yesterday due to N Ontario and Manitoba fires. Also crossing my fingers for lots of rain.

    8. I’m definitely thinking about you as the news continues to be horrifying.

    9. Stay safe and take good care of each other. This too shall pass. <3 Sending strength and pocket hugs.

  15. Oh Jenny please take all the breaks you or your subconscious needs! This is a difficult moment for everyone when you add health issues and work stress we need breaks!

    I love sheets like people love shoes ( I also like shoes). I have since I started traveling for work, when I would pack my favorite pillowcase and enjoy the home smell and softness. I love old cotton sheets that have been washed so many times that are like silk! I also like Italian made delicious ones.

    I like to change them every week, although lately I’ve been slipping into two weeks. We bought a pricey mattress that is a freaking ton to lift.

    I have been prepping for my daughter’s baby shower. Re looking at recipes for birthday sandwiches (creamed ham with pimento cheese and cream cheese ). And layered Mexican dip/ Cielito lindo: layers of guacamole/ sour cream/ pico de gallo/ refried beans/ shredded cheddar (anything your heart desires) served with tortilla chips. I may add a layer of seasoned ground beef.

  17. Glad you’re okay and have people checking in on you.

    I have been feverishly working. I received edits on my continuity story on Friday and worked over the weekend to finish them. Sent them early to the editor. The main reason for that is because I bought a new computer to replace the glitchy one but decided not to use it until all WIPs were finished. We set the new one up in the dining with an old monitor to be sure it worked. Despite my objections my hubby started downloading stuff to it. At one point he asked if Word was still working for me. It was but I told him to stop messing around. Anyway, late Sunday night I finished edits and sent it to the editor “for safe keeping”. Now I have to hurry and finish the WIP I still have in Scrivener because I only have one license for it and it’s on the old computer. I have 69k written. For now, my Scrivener code for the license is a closely guarded secret.

  18. Still knitting (I’m about halfway through Papillon, though things are not lining up….grr) and still working on memorizing my lines. Mostly just reading them aloud for a half hour a day right now, nothing hugely drilling yet.

    My actual job work continues to drag on because I have to wait around on other people. Nothing will ever finish. WHATEVER, I give up.

  19. My sheets are in the washing machine now, a plan made when I realized today would be the perfect day to hang them outside, because tomorrow it will rain. SW Ohio has hit that lovely stage where we have hot weather and wind. I did some home care tasks, because my landlords were coming to deal with now-vanquished problems. Always more to do, though. Other than paying some bills, not much else got done.

  21. I keep getting stuck in my secret-project WIP, when I should be on the final draft, and yet I’m realizing that I’m missing scenes (okay, just one new scene, so I had to stop for three days to do a first, then second, then third draft of it), and the pacing is off in places, so chunks of stuff needs to get moved around. Ugh. That’s NOT what I usually do in the final draft, which is usually just a matter of fixing infelicitous language and continuity errors. Sigh.

    Started a pink lap quilt (two, actually, which may become three), which is also odd for me, because I don’t generally enjoy the color pink, especially the pastel versions, but I’ve been craving pink recently. The first one is going to be a pink version of this recently-finished simple little lap (or baby, but black background doesn’t seem right for infants) quilt (and I’m sure Mabel will insist on modeling the pink one too when it’s done): https://www.instagram.com/p/DKfEXvMxEyd/?img_index=1

    2. The black background may not work for a baby quilt, but it certainly does show Mabel to an advantage. Both she and the quilt look beautiful.

    3. Mabel’s expression is lovely: “You’re not going to make me move? Surely not!”

      I love the colors.

      1. I was going to say that sophisticated babies do wear black … but I agree that is a lot of black. Absolutely gorgeous.

  22. Jenny, like others, I’d been a bit worried about you, given your recent hospital stay, even though I knew that most of the time when you have missed a post it was for an innocent reason.  I’m glad that was so this time as well.

    My work week got off to an iffy start at 6:00 am Monday, with a banging sound seemingly just outside my window.  It was something that a bird was somehow doing, and it kept it up for about 15 minutes.  When would I bang on the window blind, it stopped for a short while but then started again.  Meanwhile there were bird cries as of some sort of disagreement among them.  I finally decided that, little as I felt like it, I would have to get up, get dressed, and go outside to see what was going on.  While I was dressing, it stopped,  and since I really, really, didn’t want to be up yet, I went back to bed.  My diurnal clock has been creeping later and later, and 6 am would mean only five-something hours of sleep.  But I couldn’t get back to sleep.  I dragged through the morning and early afternoon, getting little done except reading.  After lunch I took a nap.  Given that I don’t do short naps and was running a sleep deficit, I slept for 2 hours, and then (as usual) was groggy afterwards. So I got nothing much done for the evening either, but did get to bed by 11 pm, so that, in case I encountered more banging around sunrise Tuesday, I could meet it after more sleep and could face dressing and investigating.  I got to sleep relatively easily, and there was no more banging then or today.  Thus, for starters, my chore list for the week has been delayed by one day, and yesterday I finished less than intended, so I’m now about a day and a half behind, but making progress of a sort.  I also slept 9 hours last night for no obvious reason, unless I was tuckered out from those chores that I did get done.  I’ve knocked off a few chores already today, but most still await me.

    1. Patrick, it sounds like you had a territorial woodpecker of some sort.

      1. Jan, Not unless there is some kind of woodpecker that sounds totally unlike the usual ones around here, and pecks at a much slower rate than normal. My best guess involved a small storm-blown branch/large twig, a gutter, and a bird that was trying to build a nest or defend its territory, or something. I still don’t have a clear idea.

  23. So happy to see this post – I missed everyone on Sunday!

    My boss is just back from 2 weeks in Japan and our in-studio show starts tomorrow! Chaos is the word, but on the other hand, I now have a matcha tea flavored Kit Kat, so…

  24. Classic sf stories read by a human being on YouTube: Some are perhaps too recent to be “classic.” I have just looked at the story listing so far, but these were recommended on another site by a usually reliable source, and I know there’s interest here in human-voice audio content.

    https://m.youtube.com/@WorksOfWonder592/videos

  25. My primary achievement this week is the completion of my website (JeanMarieWard [dot] com) reboot. SO grateful to the friend who volunteered to help. She saved it. Literally. Next is a new project that hopefully will send some traffic to my YouTube Channel as well as the site: Posting the 15 interviews completed for BuzzyMag in 2019 and 2020 but never posted because of their closure. I’ve got some good stuff in there, including interviews with Elizabeth Bear, Richard Kadrey, and an early-ish interview with Martha Wells. Murderbot was only about two years old at the time. 😀

    1. I hate to change my sheets, because the bed is jammed into a small room, and it’s again a wall, with very little space to pull it out, since there’s all these art supplies underneath it.
      But, I have found these sheet garters, that have three clips to attach to the corners of either or both sheets, so the sheets don’t get pulled out as often. It’s the small things.

      It’s funny as a caretaker, that in the winter being inside looking after my mom feels cozy, often. But in the warmth, it feels like I’m trapped. I try to solve that by bringing her out to sit in the sun while I garden, which she loves. I’ve started her to listening to the complete novels of Josephine Tey, so she’s pretty happy while I’m happy puttering, with my hands in the dirt.

      1. I bought those clips when my husband was in a hospital bed and the sheets kept slipping from the corners and even bought two sets to leave on the sheets for washing so I wouldn’t to keep replacing them. That is only to find out that I bought the wrong size sheets. I should have bought and did buy an XL size. Another lesson learned.

  27. I am supposed to be packing to move out to the suburbs for 8 days with my friends’ cats, but since I’ve had no hot water last night or this morning, I am in no hurry to pack up my stuff and haul it across town. Maybe I can summon up enough tepid water to wash my hair and that will help me get moving. This was not helped by the fact that I got my first robocall (of 18) at 7:46 am. I’m sure I’ll survive the trip out there, but with this little sleep, it won’t be easy.

    However, I did manage to get all my paperwork in for my Section 8 review and fit in a 2 day visit in Milwaukee with my niece, nephew in law and their cat. I visited the new all Romance bookshop there and did a lot of eating and lolling on the couch while I was with them. I missed my train going into town and had to buy a second, more expensive ticket on the way to Milwaukee, but at least, after 4 tries we did manage find a date that worked. Maybe that means I will be able to get together with my sister while I am staying in her suburb.

    I tried to tempt my niece into joining this blog now that I know she reads romance, but considering how long it takes her to respond to my emails and calls (and I am her favorite aunt) I don’t know that she has the time. But this is my favorite place to get new ideas for reading, so I gave her the info in case she wants to check it out.

    1. Aunt Snack, do you have the kind of phone where you can block any calls from numbers not in your contact list? That has saved me multiple headaches. If you don’t, it might be worth the investment to get one.

        1. So many of the calls originate from overseas nowadays that the “do not call” list isn’t hugely effective. I think there have been some efforts to punish domestic isps that handle overseas robocalls, but not too effectively.

        2. There are certain professions that are exempt from the Do Not Call registry and I think that because these places are selling health related policies, they squeak through on the healthcare exemption. This is still a lot less than I got before I joined the registry, but since I get a lot fewer calls than I once did, I now resent the fewer calls I do get much more.

      2. I’ve had good results with answering the call and immediately putting it on mute, which apparently signals that the number is not in use. Calls typically end after 10 seconds.

  28. Glad you are ok. I was worried that you’d had a relapse and good news that this wasn’t the case.

    I finally got my tomato, peppers and eggplant in the ground. It was well below 10C on the weekend and way too cold to plant. It’s 30C today which is a crazy temperature swing over 3 days. Basil is a little unhappy but everything else seems to be ok.

    Two busy days on the farm – good temps for planting (much too hot today) and re-potting.

    I fell off my bike on my home from my knitting group. I’m ok – my knees took the brunt of my fall. DH and I are going out of town for a wedding this weekend and luckily my dress is full length.

  29. Take care Jenny, if changing the sheets on your bed is a strain, just pay someone’s kid or grandchild to do it. It’s easy money for them and you can supervise. I’m kind of brain fogged myself lately… but I made myself read a book and I am going to make myself craft something. Will start low key and make some easy book marks, will try to work my way up to the lovely if complicated gold work embroidery I started in class. So beautiful so complicated

  30. Jenny glad you’re back & it sounds like still healing.

    Funny story about Cooper dog : he hates to have his nails clipped. My daughter finished his front paws & let him go so he could relax a little. When she wasn’t looking he grabbed the clippers & hid them. She found them & finished the job but we laughed all day just thinking about it.

    I’m currently looking for another job working from home. The one I’ve had for 13 years is making me angry. Let me not get started on that subject. Just everyone wish me luck on my search, please!

    1. Good luck on your search. Cooper sounds like a sneaky little character. And smart.

  31. My cleaning ladies change the sheets every two weeks. Cleaning ladies! This is how I survive being my husband’s sole care giver. That and the occasional take out meal (if you are ever in Portland OR, I recommend Otto’s wood smoked pizza on NE Sandy and try the black garlic bread and the nutella and ricotta dessert pizza.

  32. Jenny, I think it’s amazing that you are doing the amount of writing you’re doing. Recovering after something like that takes longer than you expect. I don’t think your body in mind are failing you. But they might want a little more downtime than you’re giving them.
    I am grateful that you have people checking on on you.

  33. So very relieved to see this post, Jenny, and to hear you are okay. Don’t stress things! Be kind to yourself and heal up properly. We want you to feel good, not kill yourself working. Not worth it! Sending lots of healing vibes and pocket hugs and strength.
    I’m on a midweek vacation since Monday at a “vacation park” as they call it here with MIL, CarMech-SIL and MIL-bestie. I really really really didn’t wanna go, plus I was sick half of last week, which didn’t help. Well, now we’re here and it’s going pretty well after all, although my energy-management sucks. SIL and I are going horsebackriding tomorrow(!!!) and I can’t remember last time I was this excited about an activity. I don’t even care that there’s a huge chance of rain tomorrow. So much looking forward, and NO-ONE at the stable here were being an ass about my blindness, so hurrah! It’s also great to spend this much time with SIL, she’s awesome. I only wish my energy-levels were better.
    I managed to finish the red knittycat before we left, and put him on Sven’s pillow with a letter. He found him late Monday evening.- He didn’t understand that I had knitted him! He thought I had bought him somewhere. I posted pictures of him on Twitter yesterday morning already, and today on Bluesky and Instagram. I learned A LOT when I knitted this cat, changing the parts of the pattern I didn’t like, and I’m so happy to have finished another huggable thing.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/DKenCUyCjRZ/?img_index=1
    I’ll go sleep now so I’ll hopefully have some energy for the horse-adventures tomorrow. Stay safe everyone and be good to yourselves and your loved ones!

    2. Here are pocket hugs which I hope will give you a good nights sleep and energy tomorrow. Enjoy the ride!

  34. One day at a time is how I’m taking things too. We had to say goodbye to our beloved cat on Monday. We had 17 wonderful years with him. He had been on palliative care for a while, so we knew it was coming, but it’s just so very difficult.

    5. Brooke, I am so sorry for your loss. Even when you know it’s coming, it’s still hard to face the world after losing a beloved pet. Virtual hugs!

  35. And here’s an early (or late) Happiness Sunday–today at my local library, there was a book display of Ohio Authors. Crazy for You was one of the titles–we still proudly claim you, Jenny! Take good care of yourself.

  36. I’m working on catching up on all the chores and day job work we didn’t do while we were traveling last week and trying to get ready for DH surgery in two weeks. He is trying to manage the doctor interactions himself — which is appropriate— but he still hasn’t checked if we need to rent him a hospital chair to make it possible for him to sleep on the first floor and avoid stairs. And that’s the one thing that might take some time to set up.

    I’m trying to get enough sleep and to hide my anxiety—since he is understandably anxious. We did get the good news that his bicuspid valve doesn’t need to be replaced and so it’s “just” the aneurysm repair.

    I’m also trying to deal with the infusion of my sisters’ concerns about my mom’s house cleaning and repairs, which happens every time they visit her. They have little sense of proportion so they mix legit things with unimportant things and she gets overwhelmed. There is a real possibility that they “organized” lots of things I already had organized and they are visiting again in a few weeks so that’s worrisome.

    On a happiness note I did buy enough tulips to fill my Dutch tulip vase which has 13 holes for 13 tulips. It looks roughly like this and all the tulips aim toward the light. https://www.heinendelftsblauw.com/product/Tulip-Vase-XL-3-tier-Dainty-Flower-Ceramic-51cm/
    It’s in front of my fireplace so I look at it all the time as I work on my couch.

    Other happies are that the overdue house maintenance is done with the exception of figuring out how to get the broken water pump out of its hole (it’s encased in cement ) and a new one put in so we can go back to watering plants with rain water.

    And there still is the glow from watching DS get his DSc.

  37. Actually, I sort of miss using old-fashioned flat sheets instead of fitted ones. I was pretty good at what my mom called hospital corners. Nowadays I miss them mostly because fitted sheets are a pain to fold. Mine always end up like a messy lump of fabric, which I just stuff into the closet.

    1. I’m with you: I’ve still got one or two flat sheets, but I find the mattress really heavy to lift now. I was trained in hospital corners by my mum, who was a nurse. Also have to have the pillow openings facing away from the door, so Matron can’t see them.

      1. Way back in the time machine of my life in the early sixties in Home Economics class we also took a Red Cross Home Nursing class and were graded on hospital corners. Funny the things I remember.

  38. On Saturday I harvested blue flax seed heads, then cleared that patch of the front yard, plus tore out some other weedery including sprawling and past-their-prime California poppies. Some of those I just cut back, as they will re-grow after rain, but some came up from the tuber because I do not actually need 100 of them. They prolifically reproduce themselves.

    On Sunday I completed and sent in my submission packages for Novella 2025.3 and its related short story, have informal acceptances for both of those.

    On Monday I started writing a new novelette for this year’s Advent calendar promotion. 9000 words so far. Evidently I was ready to write this story!

    In between, I’ve done other bits of house and yard tidying and decluttering. Four bags in the corner for Goodwill. Several more drawers’ contents packed for moving. The last of the folding metal trellises wrested from the embrace of verbena and salvia and set aside for my gardener friend, who is coming on Sunday for visiting purposes as well as to supervise the removal of a large piece of furniture she is taking off my hands.

    Oh, plus Day Job. It’s still light on my docket, for which I am truly thankful. Will be heavy in the fourth quarter, so I’m using my summer to scrub my files.

  39. My work this week has been getting medical things scheduled and done.

    Does anyone else remember a children’s book where the protagonist flew in a hot air balloon to an island where a secret society lived? Their houses were all very amazing. One house had a machine that automatically changed the sheets by turning a crank. The sheets were in a big roll, like those old fabric towel dispensers in school restrooms. Except the old sheets would go down to the basement, through a washing and then drying press, and be ready for the next time the crank was turned. I thought that sounded brilliant.

  40. I change the sheets weekly. I love the feel of fresh sheets so put up with the challenge of changing them despite the “assistance” of the cat, who thinks it’s a wonderful game to get in the way.

    We actually have had 3 days of sun and warmth in a row after several days of rain, gloom, and chilly temps (think mid 50’s F). I was able to plant the herbs I ordered from Richter’s that I couldn’t find locally, weeded the front garden bed, and mowed the lawn.

    I went for a hike all three days and also spent some time lounging in my hammock swing in the backyard with a beverage and a book.

About the Author

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.

Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com

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