Had a lovely, lazy, fun day yesterday with good company. Can’t ask for more than that—except now I’m stressing because I’m really getting behind on the Dare.

Saturday morning, Eilidh wandered into the bedroom and we all sat in bed and chatted for awhile, and ate leftover pizza for breakfast. Finally we all dressed, etc., and then Ken lightly sanded the library floor and put a coat of polyurethane down.We at more pizza and read the Sunday paper. Then we finally got our butts in gear and went to Cost Plus to buy parasols and bookcases. After we got there, however, we realised that we couldn’t fit all the bookcases (which we’re going to put in the solar) in the car with three of us there. So we had a late lunch at Baja Fresh and came home. Ken sanded the floor again and put coat #2 of polyurethane down, then went back out. Amy came over, and Eilidh taught her how to spin while I listened and embroidered. It was truly pleasant. Ken came back home with bookcases, a fan for the sewing studio, and a freestanding hammock! Yay! So he put that together, and the final coat of polyurethane. Finally we all repaired to the hot tub and had a nice relaxing soak. Amy went home, and Eilidh decided to crash here because she had a headache. She and I chatted until midnight, and finally we all slept.

Apparently her headache was contagious, because I woke up with a nasty one. Judicious application of Advil and sitting in a comfy chair with my eyes closed eventually helped. It’s still very vaguely there, threatening, but I have a lot of Advil to throw at it if needed.

It’s going to be a busy week. Eek. I have a massage/chiropractic consultation today and a massage appt tomorrow. Sewing is here tonight and Spinners is Wednesday. I have to buy a white bra (yuck) and hopefully find a light-coloured (I decided not to make the linen dress, as the linen’s a little thin). I have other errands to run. And, of course, I’ve got a boatload of writing to do.

Okay, two stories e-mailed: “Souls Under Glass” to Horror Garage (I was waiting to find out a sub requirement) and “Feline Design” to an antho I just heard about, Spirits and Sleuths. If they don’t want it, I’ll have time to play with other ideas, as the deadline isn’t until October. And, eek, I’m printing the proposal of WBG to get mailed.

I’ve decided that at the end of August, after the Dares are over, I’m going to mail the proposals for AETW and JT. It’s very scary to send out proposals for novels that aren’t finished yet, but by that time I’ll be rolling towards the end of AETW, and knowing that at some point an editor might say s/he wants to see more of either of them will be a huge incentive to keep going. Besides, the Chinese characters for fear and excitement are identical…

Ugh. After all those grandiose plans, I got no writing done today. I never beat back the headache enough. I wanted to write, but the pain seemed to get worse when I tried to be creative. I got little stuff done, tried to read for a bit, etc. Eventually I went off to a chiropractor/massage consultation; I had a coupon for a free half-hour massage, but you have to talk to them first. I had already figured I probably need chiro work—my neck makes crackling noises, for instance. So I filled out a questionnaire and talked about where I hurt. The funniest part was when the woman touched my shoulders—she nearly jumped out of her skin at how tight my muscles are there. “They’re rocks!” Well, yes, that’s what I’ve been saying… It was a nice sort of validation for me that yes, my back is fucked up and this is necessary stuff, not a luxury. They’re going to see what my insurance will cover. I need therapeutic massage more than I need chiro work, I think, but we’ll see.

Got home, noodled about, made dinner—cooked pasta to add to an already-made salad. I was just finishing up when folks arrived for sewing night. I worked on my Celtic tunic. All that’s left is the neckline (which currently involves me making bias tape to put the trim on), handsewing the trim on the cuffs, and putting a band of black on the bottom. Cool.

And now we’re going to watch the end of “Kate and Leopold”, and go to bed!