Three Things
Nov. 1st, 2023 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spryngThing 1: I absolutely forgot to say anything about the writing group I attended last week. 3pm on a Wednesday is an awkward time for a writing group, and yet perfect for someone with little kids like me. They talked about moving it later but I honestly hope they don't. I can skive off work. I can't skive off parenting.
It was... nice. Nice to be around other writers, nice to read their stuff. I honestly don't know if it'll be useful in the long run, but considering within two days I was writing again, it was definitely useful in the short term. That said, they do make some of the same sins that most unhelpful groups do, which is focusing on spelling/grammar/the nits (as I like to call them) instead of the bigger picture. As far as I could tell, none of what folks were sharing were final drafts, so I kept my thoughts/reactions at a broader level.
But it is the sort of group where they only share 5 pages at a time, and I don't know if that can ever be helpful for novels. I mostly just want other writers to talk shop with, and maybe drop 20-50k on them twice a year. I have that already online, but I was hoping to find something similar in meat-space.
We'll see, though. I'll try them out a little longer. If nothing else, I do enjoy sharing feedback.
Thing 2: Cabin Girl's annual check-up was yesterday and it's so funny how she went from quiet and shy during those visits to absolutely unhinged, mile-a-minute, chattering. I'm proud of how much she's opened up, but also girl, girl, calm down.
Anyway, she's healthy, short of some silliness during the eye test. She still weighs far less than I can bench/clean/squat, which explains why it's still so easy to throw her over my shoulder. As long as I keep getting stronger, I'll always be able to toss her over my shoulder. >:)
But, she got her COVID shot during that visit, and wow, I've never seen her that scared to get a shot. I'd always been able to calm or distract her before, but this time she started hyperventilating and went rigid. She uncurled just long enough to let the nurse do it, but she was so tense it hurt much more than it should have, and continued to hurt the rest of the day, which was a problem, because
Thing 3: Halloween!
Maybe I shouldn't have scheduled a check-up on Halloween. ^^() But, to be fair, she'd never had such a problem with shots before. She made it to the furthest possible house before suddenly being unable to walk because of the pain in her leg, only for that pain to subside whenever her bestie ran ahead of her.
I dragged our yard bench and Skelly out to the side of the road so folks further down the street could see that we were participating in the treat-handing-out-ing. The first folks rolled up while we were still assembling the kids and immediately plunked down on the bench for a selfie with Skelly. I was surprised, and then I realized I shouldn't've been. According to my parents, who stayed behind in our driveway to hand out candy, Skelly was a very popular bag of bones that night. My only regret is I didn't think about it sooner and have some extra photo prop stuff available. Next year, next year.
CG dressed up as Dragon Bug (from the Lady Bug series), and her bestie was a devil. We tried to get Toddler into a costume, but all we managed was a cat headband. Thankfully, he's cute enough it doesn't matter yet. Also just watching as he realized that going up to a house yielded candy was absolutely delightful. His eyes lit up and he went from just following Big Sis around to saying "they have candy??" and running ahead.
He made it a lot further than I expected, but also willingly got on the bike when I said it was time to head back. I'd attached a broom to the bike earlier, as will as battery-operated lights that I strung around the broom and the kid cage. This was a great way to keep the bike lit and visible without blinding everyone with my headlights. Although I did turn those on whenever a car was headed our way with their own headlights blazing.
The bike was just as perfect this year for shuttling tired kids home when they petered out as it was last year. I know it's a rite of passage to go much further than you should've and then drag yourself home, foot by aching foot, but since the kids are so young still it's just nice to zip back home on the bike and skip all the "I'm tired" whining.
Plus I got a lot more "cool ride!!" shout-outs this year, as well as actually being stopped by several parents and asked about my bike. I love spreading the Good News of the ebike/longtail, it really has been the best decision/purchase I've made in years.
Happy Halloween!
It was... nice. Nice to be around other writers, nice to read their stuff. I honestly don't know if it'll be useful in the long run, but considering within two days I was writing again, it was definitely useful in the short term. That said, they do make some of the same sins that most unhelpful groups do, which is focusing on spelling/grammar/the nits (as I like to call them) instead of the bigger picture. As far as I could tell, none of what folks were sharing were final drafts, so I kept my thoughts/reactions at a broader level.
But it is the sort of group where they only share 5 pages at a time, and I don't know if that can ever be helpful for novels. I mostly just want other writers to talk shop with, and maybe drop 20-50k on them twice a year. I have that already online, but I was hoping to find something similar in meat-space.
We'll see, though. I'll try them out a little longer. If nothing else, I do enjoy sharing feedback.
Thing 2: Cabin Girl's annual check-up was yesterday and it's so funny how she went from quiet and shy during those visits to absolutely unhinged, mile-a-minute, chattering. I'm proud of how much she's opened up, but also girl, girl, calm down.
Anyway, she's healthy, short of some silliness during the eye test. She still weighs far less than I can bench/clean/squat, which explains why it's still so easy to throw her over my shoulder. As long as I keep getting stronger, I'll always be able to toss her over my shoulder. >:)
But, she got her COVID shot during that visit, and wow, I've never seen her that scared to get a shot. I'd always been able to calm or distract her before, but this time she started hyperventilating and went rigid. She uncurled just long enough to let the nurse do it, but she was so tense it hurt much more than it should have, and continued to hurt the rest of the day, which was a problem, because
Thing 3: Halloween!
Maybe I shouldn't have scheduled a check-up on Halloween. ^^() But, to be fair, she'd never had such a problem with shots before. She made it to the furthest possible house before suddenly being unable to walk because of the pain in her leg, only for that pain to subside whenever her bestie ran ahead of her.
I dragged our yard bench and Skelly out to the side of the road so folks further down the street could see that we were participating in the treat-handing-out-ing. The first folks rolled up while we were still assembling the kids and immediately plunked down on the bench for a selfie with Skelly. I was surprised, and then I realized I shouldn't've been. According to my parents, who stayed behind in our driveway to hand out candy, Skelly was a very popular bag of bones that night. My only regret is I didn't think about it sooner and have some extra photo prop stuff available. Next year, next year.
CG dressed up as Dragon Bug (from the Lady Bug series), and her bestie was a devil. We tried to get Toddler into a costume, but all we managed was a cat headband. Thankfully, he's cute enough it doesn't matter yet. Also just watching as he realized that going up to a house yielded candy was absolutely delightful. His eyes lit up and he went from just following Big Sis around to saying "they have candy??" and running ahead.
He made it a lot further than I expected, but also willingly got on the bike when I said it was time to head back. I'd attached a broom to the bike earlier, as will as battery-operated lights that I strung around the broom and the kid cage. This was a great way to keep the bike lit and visible without blinding everyone with my headlights. Although I did turn those on whenever a car was headed our way with their own headlights blazing.
The bike was just as perfect this year for shuttling tired kids home when they petered out as it was last year. I know it's a rite of passage to go much further than you should've and then drag yourself home, foot by aching foot, but since the kids are so young still it's just nice to zip back home on the bike and skip all the "I'm tired" whining.
Plus I got a lot more "cool ride!!" shout-outs this year, as well as actually being stopped by several parents and asked about my bike. I love spreading the Good News of the ebike/longtail, it really has been the best decision/purchase I've made in years.
Happy Halloween!
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Date: 2023-11-02 01:02 pm (UTC)