The ever lovely kathleenfoucart has tagged me in the Lucky 7 game because she knows I've been writing again. While I wish I could post something from what I'm doing currently, it's a work-for-hire and I'm worried it might be bad luck for me to post from it! So here's something from School Spirits.

So here are the rules (copied from Katie):

Open your most recent novel or work-in-progress.
Turn to page 7 or page 77.
Count 7 lines down.
Copy (or read aloud in a vlog post) the next 7 sentences…in their entirety.
No cheating or editing!!!
Then tag 7 more authors!

“I think so. I told Coach Bickle and Mrs. Abernathy, but don’t know if they’re going to do this. They seem too wrapped up in their families at the moment.”

“Understandable,” I say. “I’m Rio.”

“Hannah. I’m with, well, I was with the band.” Hanna holds up the instrument case as though I thought she was the school star poker player. “You’re the one whose Mom is trying to ruin our families.”

Tagged! You might have to go on Facebook for some of these:

melissajoyadams
stregamomma
roseleaf
chaz_lehmann
annemariepace
laurabowers
loisszy

This blog has really been neglected lately. I won't make any promise about writing more often, because with the Wyrmling and a full-time job, all bets are off. But I had a particularly wonderful weekend that I wanted to write about.

Back in September we fulfilled a lifelong dream of both the hubby's and mine and purchased land and a cabin in West Virginia. We've gone up a handful of times and hope to go up at least once a month now that the weather's getting nice. We've brought almost everything from the house that we've been saving for the cabin (like I said, this has been a lifelong dream, and since both hubby and I had full households when we married, we had a lot of furniture and household items to take up). We were down to two large pieces: an entertainment center that I'd had in my old townhouse that I particularly liked and a changing table that hubby built years ago for his nephew, who's now 19, and was given back to us when we had Wyrmling. Both of these pieces are pretty large and pretty solid. We found some suckers recruited some wonderful people to help us move them. Here's where wackiness ensues.

Getting them into our truck wasn't too bad. Our wonderful neighbor came over and he and hubby managed to cram them into the truck. We did that Thursday night, then left here Friday evening after hubby got back from work to drive to WV. We're still trying to figure out a good time to drive with Wyrmling. During afternoon nap time? Close to bed time? Doesn't seem to matter, as she sleeps horribly anyway. But at least we're getting used to that.

Now. We still have no phone at the cabin, even though hubby first contacted the phone company back in October. Now, hubby's background is network engineering which has, over the years, meant he's run a lot of phone cable. A lot. So when I say this job would take about a day tops, I am getting that from a good authority. So, we went to the cabin one weekend and the phone line had been run to the property, but was coiled on a pole. Next time we went, the coil was gone and it was in a box, but it wasn't run to the house. This past weekend, we realized that it had finally been run to the house. We'd had no phone calls and no messages with updates, just saw that it was run to the house on Saturday morning. This meant hubby could now wire the house for phone and we could make calls without running up the hill from the cabin to get a good cell signal (not bad when the weather's nice, but sucky in December).

Peachy! However, my cousins had agreed to move the furniture Saturday morning. Another cousin knew the phone guy and was told that we had service. So, my entire family heard at Saturday breakfast (which we can't make because of Wyrmling's insane sleeping) that we had a phone. So I had two cousins, my aunt, and my mom all trying to reach hubby and me. At one point we managed to get a message that they were on their way over, so we decided to just drive down the mountain and hopefully meet them. This is not as odd as it sounds when you know that my husband has a very big, very red truck that can be spotted miles away. As candice_ransom once said, all the red in the world is in that truck.

So we drive down the mountain. When we get to the bottom our emails download to our phones. We both have one saying "We're at the gate." What? We just drove by the gate (note, the gate is locked, so people can't just drive up. That is one of the very few things I don't like about the property; I'd love for people to drop by)! There's no place to miss anyone! Further emails with my mom reveal that they're at a property they own by the river. We finally meet them and they follow us to the cabin.

Then we get to the cabin. There are my two cousins, my one cousin's two daughters, age 5 and 3, our dog, and my cousin's dog. CHAOS! Although I now understand why roseleaf says that more kids are less work than one, because they entertain each other. I watched the kids play (I do so love that Wyrmling has so many cousins close in age and geography!) while hubby and my cousins move the furniture. Both pieces had to go upstairs, of course. It was much amusing, but they eventually got them up there!

Now, back up a bit to Friday evening. We're driving to the cabin and I'm checking Facebook on my phone. I see a post from roseleaf that her husband chaz_lehmann had Saturday off. They are actually slightly closer to the cabin than our house, so I ask her if they want to come for a visit. Much to our delight, she and chaz leapt at the invitation and agreed to meet us in town Saturday at noon! We did just that (fortunately they did not need to get in touch with us so the lack of phone was not an issue) and we had a wonderful day relaxing at the cabin, taking a short hike, and eating at a wonderful restaurant close to the cabin. Although I've been visiting the area my entire life, I've never eaten there, and we were all pleasantly surprised. It was, bar none, the best dining experience we'd had with kids. Two high chairs were available, the waitress asked if we wanted the kids' food brought out before ours, did we need extra spoons, etc, etc. The food was awesome too, and I can't wait to go back!

All in all, Saturday was an amazing day filled with friends and family. The rest of the weekend we did work around the cabin and tried to figure out how to repel an unwanted guest. There's at least one mouse running around the cabin and we're trying to figure out a way to deal with it that doesn't involve poison (because of Wyrmling and Lucy) or trapping a dead mouse in a place we only visit every month. Hmmmm....

Wrote this post a few days ago, but LJ was being wonky. Trying again!

Wyrmling is not a good sleeper these days. While I really shouldn't complain, especially since I have a friend whose 6 week old will only sleep 20 minutes at a time, we were spoiled by her sleeping through the night from about 4 months to 6-7 months. Then she started waking up once or twice during the night, now it's been every 2-3 hours over the past week. Last night MIGHT have been a bit better, except....

I'm woken by my husband nudging me around 4 AM. He's saying something to me and I can't figure out what. Then I realize I'm hearing music. Pirate music. The Corsairs, to be specific. Singing Maggie May, to be more specific.

Wyrmling's ipod clock radio, which I put in her room, ironically, to play lullabies to help her sleep, TURNED ON BY ITSELF AT 4 FRIGGEN AM! We think that she turned on the alarm when she was fiddling with the clock that evening, or maybe it was the spirit of Steve Jobs come to wreak vengeance on an Apple-hating household (seriously, my husband and I despise Apple products, other than the ipod, which is just ok).

So. Wyrmling is still asleep. The Corsairs are still singing. They are an a cappella group, so when my husband first heard them over the monitor he thought there was someone talking in her room. He sleeps horribly under the best of conditions and has been going on about 2 hours of sleep every night this week, so the fact that he was awoken by this is just heartbreaking. I know that there's a ton of other music on the ipod, some of which she won't sleep through as well. So I sneak into her room. Very very quietly. I turn off the clock radio. Very very quietly. I turn the volume all the way down just in case. Very very quietly. She's still asleep. I quickly and quietly step out of her room, through the doorway, close the door behind me.

WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sob!!!! (that was from me)

Take Wyrmling back to our room for nursing, which these days is the only way we can get her to sleep (if you have suggestions that don't involve "cry it out," we'd love to hear them!). Get her back to sleep. I don't remember if she went back to her crib with no fuss after that, or if we had to let her settle down with us before moving her to her crib. It's kind of a blur. Especially since I'm very, very tired today, since she only had a one hour nap. I know she will eventually drop her afternoon nap altogether, but I'd hope she'd start sleeping through the night before then.

Fast forward a couple days. She didn't go to sleep until 1:30 last night, but she did sleep 7 straight hours! She was exhausted, but maybe this is a sign of improvements to come!

I'm very guilt-prone when it comes to writing. I saw a good quote not long ago, can't remember who it was from, that said that "Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel like I should be doing anything else." These days, every time I do something, I feel like I should be writing.

Now, given my life the past year, I would think that I deserve a permission slip to stop writing for XXX amount of time. New baby? Check. Death of parent? Check. Serious illness of parent in law? Check. Having to put writing, and other interests, aside when having a child seems to be accepted as a postponement of writing. So why do I feel like I'm a slacker for not writing?

All I know is, I just can't write right now. In addition to taking care of a very active toddler, I also run a buisness (see death of parent). While I can do that from home, it is very difficult to get work time in during the day since she cries whenever I work on my computer. I'm serious. I thought it was because she didn't like being in her play area in my office, but when we were in a cabin in West Virginia a couple weeks ago, unless someone else was there to entertain her, she just got fussy every time I tried to do some computer work. It isn't like I am playing with her all the time, either. She lets me read and crochet and sometimes type on the keyboard on my phone (which is how I'm able to do this blog post. I do manage some work emails, but can't do accounting, drawings, invoicing, banking, etc, from here. I wish I could write from here, but when I'm keeping an eye on a toddler, I just can't focus enough to fall into a story. Especially when she's prone to coming over and grabbing at the keyboard, like she is doing now).

Now, in case anyone who wants to offer me a contract, I can manage to get things done...if there's a deadline. But for self-imposed deadlines, revisions, first drafts, of stories just for me...not happening.

So do I get a permision slip? Maybe until she's in preschool? I don't think it will make the guilt go away entirely, but maybe it would help.

Last week I returned to Hollins for the Children's Literature Association conference. It's a wonderful conference anyway, but the chance to combine that conference with a Hollins trip and reunion was just amazing.

On Saturday Brian went to Pittsburgh to get my mom. She loves children's literature as well, so we thought it would be fun for her to come to the conference, watch Wyrmling, and attend a few sessions. It's so nice having her around the house, too, because I can actually DO things (like write blog posts; right now she's downstairs with Wyrmling). My friend Dawn (from Hollins, of course) came to my house on Monday so we could confer in person about a project we're working on. We're both swamped with other things, but this project is plugging along slowly. Don't want to say too much about it online, but it is awesome. Then mja700 came to the house Tuesday and we all had a spa treatment. Ahhhh. Hung out a bit Tuesday night, but mostly was packing.

Wednesday we got all our stuff together and headed for Hollins! Trip wasn't too bad, although Wyrmling decided she hated being in the car and had to get out RIGHT NOW with an hour to go on trip. When we got there, I registered and ran into oh so many good friends from Hollins. Headed over to Tinker, the dorm where the conference-goers were housed. I carried a couple loads in by myself, but as soon as mja700 realized we were there, she arranged a contingent of more Hollins friends to come and help me unload the car. Awww! Managed to squeeze a shower in before I headed to J.D. Stahl's memorial. candice_ransom did a WONDERFUL job honoring him (you can read her version of events here. She has pictures too; I alas have little patience and even less time to fiddle with LJ's photo interface).

After grabbing some food for my mom, I headed to the presentation workshop and pizza party. That was less about workshopping for me, as I wasn't presenting, but it was a great chance to visit with people. After the workshop, went back, tended to Wyrmling, then once she was asleep I was able to hang out in the common room with people! Bliss!!!

The next few days were a blur. I attended sessions. I visited with so many good friends. I spent time with Wyrmling. I ate at Hollywoods twice. I chaired a panel with Amanda Cockrell, Valerie Patterson, Heath Gibson, and Phoenix Award winner Virginia Euwer Wolff (this was a last minute thing; I was called in to pinch-hit chair and was SO glad I had that opportunity as it was an awesome pane. I was on a panel, "Drawing on that Old Magic" with ellen_kushner, deliasherman, and Charles Vess. kathleenfoucart was our chair and did a spectacular job even though she and I both were in absolute awe of the other people on that panel. I was also royally psyched with Ellen Kushner bought a copy of Young Wizards Handbook and asked me to sign it! Squee!!!! I also got to meet Mary Downing Hahn, who is one of my all-time favorite middle-grade writers (I told her that Wyrmling's real name comes, partially, from the name of a character in one of her books. Was that too fanatical?) and even sat next to her during the author book signings.

I also came away wanting to WRITE! Something about Hollins is magic, something about the combination of the people and the location. I'd lay in bed or walk around campus and I'd hear snatches of Tapestry Threads or School Spirits. Now that my conference duties are nearing an end (I'm done with the ChLA program, obviously, which, I'm told, MANY people complimented; ICFA is also nearing an end as I'm passing the torch to citycountrygirl), it's time to start writing. Just plan on an hour in the evening when Brian's home and can watch Wyrmling, and then WRITE WRITE WRITE!

No, really! candice_ransom recently passed the torch along to me. Thank you, Candice! Hm, now, what to blog about in a stylish way. Apparently I need to reveal 7 random things about myself. What have I not talked about on this blog...

1) I'm very excited that my mom and I recently made plans to stay in West Virginia for a week in August! Her high school reunion is one weekend, our family reunion is the next, so we just decided to rent one of my cousin's cabins and spend the week there! While I love spending time in WV, I don't think I've spent an entire week there since I was in middle school. Back then, I stayed at my grandma's house and spent my days painting the walls of the room that used to be my mom and aunt's, but was mine when we stayed there. I read a lot of Susan Cooper and the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings that summer. I hung out with my distant cousins who were around my age. Now, when we go there, it will be to clean up my grandma's house.

2) I'm currently trying to figure out how to best re-design my office. I have a wonderful vision in my head of walls completely covered with file cabinets on bottom, kitchen-style cabinets on top, and folding tables on top of the file cabinets that latch to the cabinets above, so I have movable work space and something that hides my crafty messes when I'm not working on them. Where to work while we're doing this work, though, is the question.

3) In the midst of my YA reading binge, I'm reading "Prince of Tides." I'm wondering if the reason I prefer YA to adult fiction is when adults act like complete idiots or jerks, they don't have the excuse of immaturity. I'm willing to forgive a lot more from a teen protagonist than I am an adult.

4) Giving serious thought to revising Tapestry, including a major timeline shift. Perhaps the first two chapters would work better as backstory. Am also thinking of changing the title, and the name of the dog in the story. This change would be the same word.

5) I just changed a poopy diaper. I'm sure you all really wanted to know THAT little tidbit.

6) While I haven't been writing, in addition to reading a lot more while keeping an eye on Wyrmling, I've crocheted an insane amount since she was born. This year I've made 4 afghans and am 75% complete on a 5th (3 baby afghans, 1 wedding gift, 1 high school graduation gift), an Easter basket for Wyrmling, a hat for every month of her life so far (even though she now hates wearing them and yanks them off. Who can blame her, in 90 degree weather??), 3 large stuffed animals (a koala and a sheep), 1 small stuffed bird, a 4th of July themed dress for a crocheted sock monkey I made my mom a couple years ago, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. Current project is for the Francelia Butler auction at Hollins. And my lips are sealed about what it is! But it's awesome. And Hollins-themed!

7) Don't know if I've ever talked about this here, but I love plants. If my back were in better shape I'd have a garden outside, but since bending over destroys it, I play with potted plants a lot. Recently ordered the cutest little pot that looks like a teacup and saucer. I have this thing that kind of looks like a shamrock that I can't wait to put in it. It was touch and go with the faux shamrock (fauxrock? Sham shamrock?), but it looks like it will survive. I'm glad, I always feel so sad when a plant dies.

Thank you candice_ransom! Passing the torch to:

Kathleen Foucart's "A Chronicle of Scribbles" kathleenfoucart
Tiffany Trent's "Center Neptune" tltrent
Laura Bowers' "Writing without the Reins" laurabowers
Lois Szmanski's "Living the Write Life!" loisszy
Chaz Lehmann's "Drowning Myself Whenever I Can" chaz_lehmann

This started as a comment on kathleenfoucart's LJ and grew into something more.

I won't recap all the hubbub about the WSJ recent article about YA. Instead, I'll talk about my experience with YA as a reader and writer.

For reference, I graduated high school in 1993. If there was YA fantasy available at that time, I sure didn't know about it. I started reading fantasy with Lloyd Aleander, Madeleine L'Engle, Susan Cooper, C.S.Lewis: all authors who were solidly middle grade at the time and are now even more firmly entrenched in that camp. When I felt I was outgrowing those stories,I moved to adult fantasy. Would I have loved reading about teen werewolves, wizards, fairies: absolutely!!!! But it just didn't exist, at least from what I was able to find. I think that is why I've emerged as a writer of MG and not YA fantasy. For me, at this point in time, anyway, the voice I have is the voice of what I loved in middle school.

That brings us to my recent reading habits. I'd been enrolled in graduate school for children's literature since 2001, completing my studies in 2009 (I actually had to dig out my Hollins scrapbook to confirm that year!). I read a lot. For class. For reviews. For "fun," but it was no longer fun. It wasn't work, exactly, but somewhere amidst reading for all these reasons, I lost track of reading for simple joy. Looking at a bookshelf and picking one specific book because I was in the mood for it.

During my pregnancy, I really lost my ability to read. I read a few very old and easy to read favorites (even took all my Ramona books to the hospital when Wyrmling was born) but certainly nothing new. I also ceased writing, but that was by choice. I actually started and completed a rough draft during my pregnancy. I finished one month before Wyrmling was due, determined to enjoy my last month of completely free time. Still have not resumed writing, but that's a post for another time.

A few months ago, something unexpected happened. I found myself with time when there wasn't much to do.Wyrmling would be asleep on the sofa and I wouldn't want to move her, or she'd be entertaining herself on the floor in the family room. Why she can do that in the family room and not in her play area in my office is beyond me. But, the point is, I had free time when I couldn't work at computer or watch tv (we don't want her to start watching tv at all until she's older, so we only watch when she's not around). So I started reading. This also coincided with me finding the Kindle app for my phone. I saw a few posts about discounted Kindle titles and started downloading. I realized that I was reading. New fiction. Old fiction. Reading throughout the day, not just for a bit each night. Returning to stories eager to find out what happened next (specifically Libba Bray's Beauty Queens, Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel and City of Fallen Angels, Holly Black's Red Glove, and the if-the-publishing-world-has-any-sense soon to be published Accursed by Kathleen Foucart). I realized it had been years since I read like this. I loved falling into books again.

The wonderful hubby got me a Kindle for Mother's day. I'd been thinking I would want one, but I figured I had to wait until my birthday in October! I forgot I now could get gifts in the spring! I never thought I'd love it so much! I love being able to get books and not have to worry about storing them. I love that it syncs with my phone so I always can read what I'm currently into. But most of all, I love reading again, for joy.

You'll notice that all the books I mention above are YA. YA brought my almost dead reading for joy habit back. #YASaves? Absolutely!

At long last, I'll be doing a book signing event! I'll be appearing at the Valley Mall in Hagerstown from 10-3 tomorrow for Washington County Reading Day. I'll be signing copies of Young Wizards Handbook as well as Bronze Dragon Codex, talking about both books, and demonstrating some crafts from YWH. Free handmade-by-yours-truly double doll with purchase of Young Wizards Handbook while supplies last!

Had a WONDERFUL time. This year was very different. Instead of rooming with citycountrygirl and one or two other Hollins friends, I roomed with Brian and the Wyrmling. Wyrmling still views bottles as EPTFH (Evil Plastic Things From Hell) and we didn't want to introduce solids right before a trip, so she's still nursing. It actually worked out decently, mainly because ICFA is held in the hotel where we stayed. I just kept my phone with me and Brian texted me whenever she got fussy. For a baby who spends 99% of her time with me, she was VERY content to spend all day with just Daddy, she only got fussy when hungry. I'm sure Brian was bored, as there wasn't much to do (the pool was just a smidge too cold for him to take her in), but he was absolutely wonderful about this!

I'm retiring as Division Head and I have a lot of mixed feelings about that. I LOVE that position, I love reading the papers, I love putting them together in sessions, I love the interaction (I can be rather shy around people I don't know, unless I NEED to talk to them, and being div head gives me a good reason to introduce myself to all the presenters). But the more active Wyrmling gets, the more I realize that I need to start cutting down on volunteering and focus that time into writing. Speaking of, citycountrygirl had the interesting suggestion of switching my main character in "School Spirits" to male instead of female. The more I think about that, the more I like it! Not because there aren't many YA fantasies with a male protagonist (which was her reasoning), but because it works so much better with the plot. For example, my MC has just moved to a school where football reigns supreme. That is going to be more of an issue for a male rather than a female. Also, it allows for a romantic subplot. Yes, I know. Me, writing a romance. Weird...

In addition to cutting back on volunteering, I'm also changing the way I work. Years ago, I realized that keeping my computer in the family room all the time and working on it during the day and playing in the evening (ok, during the day too!) really made me feel yucky, mentally and physically. Physically it wasn't good for my back or shoulders, and mentally I just never got a break. At my old house I didn't care for my office because it was in the basement. When I moved in with Brian, though, my office had two windows and I really liked it, even though it was small. I moved my computer to the office and kept it there, only moving it when I traveled. I loved it. When you work from home, it's so hard to turn off your work brain, be it werk (tm kathleenfoucart) or writing. Only doing work in my office allowed me to give my brain and body much needed rest.

But now that Wyrmling is getting very active (I think she might start crawling soon!), she needs more space. My office is tiny, plus it's a childproofing nightmare, especially with all the electronics and craft supplies. I've been working during her nap and playing with/watching her in the family room the rest of the day. Moving my computer to the family room and working here during the day might allow me to get more work done. Not only will it be easy to shoot off a few emails, enter invoices, write checks, and work on the program for ChLA (that volunteering is just a one-time deal, thank heavens!), in the evening I can also do some work but also spend some time with Brian and Wyrmling rather than being off in the office. We'll see if this works. I will have to make a point to turn it off at a reasonable time, though, plus figure out a way to set the computer up so it isn't on my lap all the time.

Back to the Florida trip. Brian drove us down and back. We took the truck, which I can't drive because it's a standard, and he drove the entire way. It took us over 35 hours round trip. Wyrmling was AMAZING! She was only fussy a couple times during the trip. The way back was especially nice, she slept almost the entire time. Because both Brian and I are night owls, once she would sleep for the night, he'd try to cover as much ground as possible. This is how we ended up in a hotel on the way down at 3AM and got back Monday at 5AM. We spent yesterday vegging and recovering. On the way back from ICFA we swung by Tallahassee to visit some of my relatives. It's funny, for years I almost never saw them, but since my grandma died I've been seeing them at least once a year. This year will be a lot; they came up for my dad's funeral and we'll be going back to Florida for one cousin's wedding later in the spring. I'm hoping that this can continue, I'd like Wyrmling to grow up knowing that side of the family.

Ok, that's enough for now. Off to try my new working setup!

I love popcorn. That doesn't come close enough to saying how I feel about popcorn. I have a specific ritual for popcorn when we go to the movies. I ask them for a small or medium (small, if I'm being smart) popcorn and to layer the butter. For you non-popcorn connisueres, this means they fill the bag halfway with popcorn, put butter on it, fill the rest of the bag with popcorn, and put butter on top. That way, you don't run out of butter halfway through your popcorn. Then I ask for extra butter to be put on. I often have my husband do that for me because I get embarrassed by the stares I get. We've gotten warnings that the bag will probably leak from all the butter. No problem, I brought a couple plastic grocery bags to put my popcorn in (I used to just stock up on napkins and lay them on my leg and put the popcorn on that, but that only worked about half the time, which is why many of my sweatpants pre-grocery bag era have dark marks in the middle of my thighs).

As we head into the theater, I don't stop to get salt. This is because I carry a little camping saltshaker with me. If you think running out of butter midway through your popcorn is bad, try running out of salt after only one layer of popcorn!

So, to say that I'm obsessed with my popcorn puts it mildly. At home, I would fix microwave butter lover popcorn then melt MORE butter to put on it.

This stopped when I was pregnant. I really lost my taste for popcorn (which is probably good; as it was I put on over 50 pounds while pregnant with the Wyrmling. No, I didn't have gestational diabetes. I just had a craving for Boston Cream pies) and really didn't regain it until this January.

One day I was thinking about microwave popcorn and it sounded good. However, I've been cutting down on processed foods. Not eliminating entirely, just being more aware of what I'm eating (I replaced my breakfast drink of Ensure with Odwalla's smoothies, which at least only have pronounceable ingredients). I'm not as gung-ho as my cousin's wife , but I'm learning a lot from her (highly recommend "liking" Not Just Kale on Facebook; she posts some great links!) and am trying to get healthier so that by the time Wyrmling will need lunch prepared by me that doesn't physically come OUT of me, I won't just be feeding her PB&Js and Chef Boyardee.

So I'm sitting there thinking about popcorn and devine inspiration hit. Freshly popped popcorn! With olive oil! That's healthier! And sea salt! I have no idea if sea salt is indeed healthier, but I do love the taste. I asked hubby to pick some up. I fixed it in a paper bag in the microwave and applied olive oil and sea salt. Blis. Shear blis. IT WAS JUST AS GOOD AS MOVIE POPCORN! Considering that we haven't been to a movie since well before Wyrmling was born (during pregnancy first I had BAD pregnancy brain and couldn't even focus on some tv shows, let alone a whole movie, then my back became really bad whenever I had to sit upright. After Wyrmling arrived, just didn't want to take her to a movie as I think that's really, really rude), this was a perfect compromise!

Now this freshly popped popcorn with olive oil and sea salt is my go-to snack. And I've lost another 15 pounds since new years, so it can't be that fattening. I'm actually quite pleased with my post-partum weight loss. I put on over 50 pounds, as I said before, and as of today I've lost 48! I wish breastfeeding advocates would play up with weight lost aspect of nursing. You mean I get to cuddle my baby, give her food that's really good for her, sit on the sofa, and either coo at my child or read or watch tv or just zone? And lose weight? Seriously? This rocks!

But I digress. You'll notice I haven't been blogging very much. I also haven't been writing very much (read: not at all). I'm hoping that a manuscript critique with an editor at this weekend's SCBWI conference will jolt me into writing, although that will have to wait until I get home after ICFA. Reason is obvious: Wyrmling. She's an extremely good-natured baby, but she just takes a lot of time. A lot of that is my doing; sure, I CAN put her on the floor and let her play while I work. But I want to play too! And I COULD put her in her crib for afternoon nap (she's in there now for her morning nap, which is how I'm able to write this), but I want an excuse to cuddle on the sofa and take a nap together (this also allows for more family time in the evening, as I won't get tired as early). I try not to be too hard on myself. The writing and werk will still be there when I can get to it (and if there is something with work that requires my immediate attention, I do indeed attend to it immediately). She won't be this little forever, I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can!

So, my afternoon yesterday went like this.
( Cut for details that include baby poo )