It was a lovely, lazy weekend that didn't include a single breath of productivity, but did include a café trip and several episodes of Black Books. (We finally bought our own copy of Season 1, after borrowing it from a friend years ago, so we've been re-discovering all the older episodes and laughing a LOT.) Because of the lazy weekend, of course, my wordcount meter on KbS is utterly pathetic (if you blink, you won't be able to see any difference between today's meter and Thursday's), but this morning I did - hurray! - finish my rewrite on the first short story waiting to be rewritten during the write-a-thon. (I also sent it out. Fingers crossed...) So I'm still feeling really good about my writing progress over all, even though I did take the weekend off.

I'm also discovering the terrifying world of baby shopping, as we start preparing for the new family member due to arrive in less than 3-1/2 months. Everything is scarily expensive, and everything claims to be Absolutely Essential to a baby's health and survival! Luckily, we've already been warned off some of the really over-hyped and non-essential items, and even better, we've had wonderful luck with hand-me-downs from a local friend whose baby just turned 1 year old and can no longer fit into his Moses basket (bassinet), first crib, etc. But the amount of sheer STUFF that's left over for us to buy...shudder. I spent part of this weekend researching infant car seats, strollers/buggies, electric breast pumps...it's a whole different world that leaves me feeling completely clueless and incompetent! Sigh. However, I did come across one purely beautiful, extremely expensive, and undoubtedly non-essential item that I desire with all my heart - so the next time I sell a story to a really, really high-paying magazine, I know exactly what I'll use the money to buy: a Napsack Mei-Tai baby sling. Sigh...

And no, I can't believe either that I'm drooling over baby slings. It's definitely a whole new world, and sometimes a scary one!

ETA: But wow, do I have incredible friends. Apparently I won't need to sigh wistfully and hopelessly after this sling after all...and I'm pregnantly hormonal enough that when I got the message from the friend who's gifting us & the baby with the Napsack, I actually got teary. Scary new world, indeed, but it's wonderful to have loving friends as part of it.

In other news, I've been on a huge Golden Age mystery kick. I read a couple more of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries over the weekend, and today I'm reading Dorothy Sayers's Unnatural Death, which is also really fun. I'm not in general a fan of contemporary mystery novels, but there's something wonderfully soothing about Golden Age mystery novels - they're so witty and fun and convey such a feeling of Order, with everything brought neatly into place by the end of each book...it's hard to imagine a more relaxing read, which is surprising when you think of the number of deaths and scandals in each novel!

And speaking of novels, it's probably time to get back to my own, so that tomorrow's wordcount meter won't be quite so embarrassing...

Kat by Starlight

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