random ramblings

The imp wrote a page full of very good X's yesterday.  I had him doing that to practice diagonal straight lines.  Horizontal he's pretty good with.  He still needs to practice vertical lines.  After that...I'll start him on writing letters.  I've promised him a nice, big, outdoor car or truck after he can write his name.

The pixie was her normal, charming, little fluttery self, today, with a head full of snot.  Seems both kids have come down with a cold, and she's still too little for the symptom reliever meds.

Today started, really, last night: my mom called, and invited us over for today, and asked us to pick up a salad.  So, I got up this morning, we went to Walmart, then went to the UPS store to return some Amazon purchases*, then headed up to my mom's...only to find that she'd gotten some steaks for lunch today.  They were really tasty.  Especially with baked potatoes and the salad.  My sister made cinnamon sugar muffins for dessert.

So, last night I made smackinoff.  Went to shred the frozen, leftover roast, and found that there were two 2"x2" chunks of fat, which don't do well added in.  So, I dropped them in the dog's leftover breakfast (she rarely eats her food of a morning when it's warm weather outside.  Maybe a bite or two, but no more).  A couple of minutes later, I hear the food rattle, and hear the imp giggle, "Momma, Shadow's being bad!"

Sure enough, the cat is holding one of the pieces of fat down with one foot in the dish, yanking a bite off the  other corner.

Cricket has been very, very affectionate with the kids, lately.  She walks circles on them, and on the couch, begging (demanding) pets, while purring so loud it makes my bones rattle, five to seven feet away.

The dog had some major disappointment, earlier in the week--rain and thunderstorms.  I will not leave her outside during such, no matter her preferences.  I'm going to really upset the dog again this week: it's time for a bath and a close shave.

Semester is completely over, now.  I haven't received two papers from one of my usually excellent students, but I literally cannot give her any more time.  Finals week ended at eight p.m. yesterday, and I accepted papers through midnight.  Tonight, I'm going to go through, look for things submitted through the course site, grade anything I find, then submit the grades to the system tonight or tomorrow morning.  Then, I'm done until mid-August with teaching comp, and will spend the summer teaching how to write letters.  And start the Hooked on Phonics system that I got for the imp last fall.

So far, I've posted the back cover blurb and the front cover art work for Pendragon Resurgent.  Next week, I plan to post the inside the cover teaser while I edit one last time (hopefully).  The weekend before I publish (soon, I hope), I'll post The Last Pendragon for a free download to (hopefully) drum up some interest in Pendragon Resurgent.  In the meantime, it is only $2.99 to buy, and free to borrow for Amazon Prime members with a Kindle.

I'm about halfway done with "Bar Tabs," and will finish it after I post grades.  After I finish it, and hand it off to my beta readers, I'll post it for sale for Kindle at $0.99, with as much time free as I can swing.

I'm still waiting for the cover art for Lizzy's Tail.  As soon as I get it, that will be going up.  And I've had interest expressed (thanks, Harry!) in a children's book from a ferret's point of view.  I'll need to do some research about ferret needs,** but I'm thinking of having the ferret "save" his house and family from various threats...like a bat ("How did you end up on the ceiling fan?"). 

I've got Fire and Forge outlined, and ready to go.  If I can write one of the story chapters per day, I should be able to get it written in a bit over thirty days from go, more or less.  If I can't, I'll probably miss my self-imposed deadline on that one, too.

*I have to special order bras.  These were made as if they were created to fit some weirdly shaped aliens with breast implants, rather than a real woman's breast shape.  

**And yes, Harry, I will be adding a disclaimer that due to stupid pricks in the government, ferrets sold in the US will be more likely to be unhealthy and prone to disease, and are not for everybody to choose as a pet.