Ew.

So.  Friday again.  And the kids were supposed to be turned loose from school today at 11:30; instead, we have sleet, snow, and freezing rain happening, and their school decided to cancel today. 

I sent Odysseus off to work in my car (Subaru Forester) instead of his pickup (Ford F-150).  All wheel drive beats pickup any day for avoiding accidents caused by idiots driving in icy conditions.  We may or may not do our normal Friday night pizza--it will depend on two things: road conditions at quitting time (he's picking the pizza up today) and whether we have electricity, since we're scheduled for up to two tenths of an inch of freezing rain.

Honestly, I prefer sleet and snow. 

Anyway, this is happening while we have about 30% of a tank of propane left, so the propane heater is off.  Propane is being reserved for a just in case we lose power and need to rely solely on the fireplace insert for any warmth at all.  Or the storm stops dropping liquid rain to freeze on the power lines, whichever happens. 

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  The kids' classes had a party scheduled today.  The imp's teacher has pushed his class's party back to the last 45 minutes of the school day on Tuesday (they're out on a scheduled vacation day on Monday).  I don't know what the pixie's teacher is planning--hopefully the same thing. 

And my other half surprised me with a tee shirt I wanted yesterday.  Has one of my favorite anime characters on it.  I wasn't planning on getting it--usually, the pricing on branded character tee shirts is rediculous.  So it was a very nice surprise.  I think I know what I'm going to do in return.  :)

Anybody subscribe to BookBub?  Gives you daily deals in specific genres for discounted e-books on whatever platform you use.  Sometimes you find some real gems--I have acquired the first three books of Herbert's Dune cycle in Kindle version for $1.99 each, when they usually go for $9.99.  Was handy on the timing, because my books were still boxed up and I couldn't find them when I wanted to read them.  I now have Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune in both hard copy and Kindle copy (and have since found and re-read the rest of the series).  Sometimes, you find some really fun stuff discounted all the way down to free.  If you haven't subscribed, and you like to read, I heartily suggest it.  Sends the list right to your email.  All you have to do is mark your preferences.

I also heartily recommend a subscription to Kindle Unlimited.  Basically an e-book subscription library.  I've been making use of that on a daily basis recently, reading while waiting to pick up the kids.  Most recently read: The Fae's Amulet.  It was a heartily entertaining urban fantasy mystery.  

I'm not the only one enjoying our Kindle Unlimited subscription: Odysseus makes it pay for itself within the first week of every month.* 

I've got a list of books I want to read in my Amazon wish list.  Most of them are KU eligible, so...yeah. 

But that's for later.  Right now, I'm writing.  I finished the first draft of the fourth installment of the Modern Gods books, and Meg from The Liquid Diet Chronicles is insisting that I work on her second book, now (tentative title: Having a Pint).  Like always, I use a pen and paper for when I get stuck, or when I'm starting a new chapter, and the ink this time is Noodler's Red-Black, in a TWSBI Vac-Mini.  The pen holds a TON of ink, and doesn't burp into the cap when I close the valve, no matter the temperature difference/pressure difference/whether I drop it or not.  I love this ink--it's mostly waterproof, dries fairly quickly, and looks like dried blood on the page.  It suits the character quite well. 

Kids are back out of their bedrooms to watch TV--guess I'll grab my headphones and start writing. 

*Right now, we've signed up for 2 years' worth of subscription for a 40% discount.  He was making it pay for itself at the full price of $9.99/month, much less the discounted price.