It's melting...

The weather is so dry here we've been using a humidifier in the girls' room. The other morning when I opened the curtains, Kyra saw the condensation and asked, "Mommy, is the glass melting?" Fantastic!

I picked her up from preschool today and we went to ice cream at the place down the street for the first time. It was really pretty lovely. I had been thinking of taking her for a sail at Lake Merritt but they were closed, so ice cream it was.

Nora fell down at school again and has a deep scratch on her leg from it. She's a brave little champ, but she does crash a lot.

Mouse on the loose

Okay, that last post got me a lot of weird "pray to him and he'll send you signs" kind of comments. Needless to say, they have been banished.

In the first part of our current saga, the pit/lab mix brought in a mouse. Wacky. Then she set it free. Wackier.

My husband told me when I got back from Seattle (the Locus Awards and SF Hall of Fame) that Xochi had brought in the mouse, but then it hid behind first one armoire and then the other in our dining room. The next day I saw the mouse poke its head out, tried to get it out from under the furniture, lost it, decided it must have entered the heating system through the nearby grate. The next day I found it trembling in the toilet bowl. THE TOILET BOWL. Thank pete I saw it! I got a couple rags to grab it with and a bag, succeeded in getting it into the bag, and in the rush to get out of doors, it jumped out and ran under the fridge. Sigh.

Tonight, it poked its head out from under the fridge. We chased it out, it ran over my foot (squeal! and I am so not a squealer.), and then under the sink. The hub gets a large piece of cardboard (hm, shield, maybe?) and I get another bag and start digging everything out from under the sink. No mouse, but a small hole where the dishwasher lines go. Sigh again.

I'll keep you posted. This is perhaps not the most entertaining, but the least stress-laden event in my life right now. There were Locus Awards, and will be Readercon shortly. Life is hard with two toddlers and one big old magazine. There are happy bits now and then.

Today

Today I miss Charles, more than most days. I'm going to sign the loan papers to buy a house, my first house, and it's a big deal. I'm going to owe more money than I've ever even thought about earning. Charles was the person in my life who would tell me I'm doing the right thing, that I'll be glad that I did it, and that it will all be all right. I don't have that person anymore; it was Charles, for a long time now. And I really miss him.

Cons this year

Looking at my schedule for the year, I'm planning on going to:

ICFA, Orlando, March 17-21

Wiscon, Madison WI, May 28-31

Locus Awards, Seattle WA, June 25-27

Readercon, Boston MA, July 6-11

Worldcon, Melbourne AUS, Sept 2-6

World Fantasy Con, Columbus OH, Oct 28-31

Still thinking about Nebs and DragonCon, but haven't decided.

Hope to see you there!

February

February is just a tough issue, period. So many lists and figures to put together, but we made it through, first time without Charles.

Now I'm looking at the con schedule for the year, and started to get excited about what's in store. Got the Locus Awards contracts in place with the hotel, and ready to sell tickets. Looking forward to going to Wiscon for the first time. The Foundation is set up and coming along finally. It's going to be a better year, this year.

On the home front, Nora the Bold started to crawl and then moved straight on to pulling herself to standing. It's exciting, but the idea of a nine month old baby that can walk is a bit daunting when you consider the language barrier...

Kyra made a big jump and potty trained herself pretty much, and is going to start at a new preschool in the next two weeks. Lots of exciting stuff.

Started going to the gym again recently, first time since taking over at the mag. Hoping I can keep it up. I'm combining it with my reading quota, since I can read on the cardio machines, and I have soooo much to read now.

And not to jinx anything, but some good news coming down the pike...

Sunrise, Sunset

On my desk today at home, amongst the flotsam, I have a shareholder letter, the Brown trust for which I am co-trustee, the minutes of last year's foundation meeting, and some instructions for placing your child in a preferred school district. It's just kind of snuck up on me, this whole becoming a responsible adult bit. I knew it was happening in bits and pieces all along, but Charles' death has truly hammered it home.

I'm home today taking care of the toddler with flu, which is a worrisome thing. But also reading people's blog posts about WFC and glad I went. I had a great time, though I worked too much and wore myself out. Now I'm working through my own con crud and compulsively taking my daughter's temp every half hour or so. And getting the Recommended List ball rolling finally. A little later than I had hoped, but still within parameters.

Good to see everyone in San Jose. If I get a chance, I'll write a proper post about it...

Not that spring chicken...

Had my first biopsy a few weeks ago. Came back negative. Tarrum tarrah!... I'm still feeling old.

In other news, significant and stressful hurdles have been overcome and tequila will be implemented in celebration. All the same, Friday nights just ain't what they used to be.