Several things have conspired to put me in a better mood by this morning, including my period starting (I know, I’m strange—it’s just that the PMT is over, plus I won’t have my period while I’m in VA), a really good night’s sleep, a pleasant evening with family, and a decent book read. Today I no longer feel anxious or don’t-care-ish or overwhelmed or cranky.

Ken’s brother Steve, his wife Joelle, and their kids Austin and Mason came over last night for swimming and pizza. The kids, especially Austin, have been really shy around us, but Joelle has been talking about us, plus the whole pool thing helped, I think. It was fun; we don’t see them enough.

Today will be writing and organising; I hope to get the Soulmates synopsis ready to mail, finish the outline of AETW and maybe start reading the first twelve chapters through, and possibly work on “Testing the Waters” (I don’t have all the crits back, but the ones I do have are similar in what needs to be tweaked.

Tomorrow afternoon we’re having a luau for SCA folks who aren’t going to either of the Wars this weekend. Someone else was going to host the party, but then found out her husband had to work, so we took it over. About 14 people are coming; 26 have declined, which still leaves 20 people who are either rude or haven’t grasped the concept of what RSVP means, even though I clearly stated so in the second e-mail about the party. But the cool folks are coming. J

Sunday and Monday we’ll be working on the house. Marty is coming over to help Ken run the 240 wiring for the industrial sewing machines; it’ll be nice to have those running because our September project is a pavilion for Great Western War. We’ll also get the panelling on the wall in the library, and hopefully the baseboards/mouldings/coving. We’re behind on that project, alas. Ken won’t get anything done while I’m in VA, because he’ll be in Portland the whole time. Ack.

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We had some excitement last night as well. We were waiting for Steve and Joelle to show up when Ken called for me, in a louder and more strident tone of voice than usual. Startled, I jumped out of my chair and hurried out of the study. It turned out that the house across the street was being raided.

Now, before anyone starts to worry, we live in a lovely, safe neighbourhood…except for the house across the street, that always has at least five cars parked on the lawn, which they work on in the wee hours of the morning with bright spotlights in the front yard. Also, the garage has been turned into living space; there seem to be quite a few people living there or coming and going. Another neighbour once referred to the place as “the crack house”, and we guessed there was an element of truth.

So, we closed the front door and pressed our faces against the rectangle of plastic (which will eventually become a piece of stained glass) and watched the scenario unfold. A total of 13 cops with guns and bullet-proof vests descended on the house, some breaking in the front door while others lurked behind cars and staked out the perimeter of the yard, ensuring no-one escaped out the back. It seemed, though, that no-one was home at all. Eventually they all came back outside, checked out the back yard, filled out some paperwork. A fire truck arrived. People wandered in and out. We got bored and stopped watching, but when Joelle showed up, someone was being led away in handcuffs.

Today, people from the house are wandering around, and there are still five cars there, so we’re guessing that perhaps they were only looking for the person they got, rather than busting the whole family. Hard to say. We’re hoping that either the negative element of the family will be removed or the family will leave entirely, so the place can be bought by less sleazy occupants.

But then it wouldn’t be nearly as exciting, I suppose.

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I ran some errands today. Bought a new DayRunner, which has the same innards as the purse did. So, when the repaired purse arrives, I’ll put these new innards in, then sell the purse whole. I went to a used bookstore and found two Silhouette Soulmates (the line I’m sending a synopsis for) and some other paranormal romances. I bought two belts in Steinmart, a department store I’d never been in before (I went in to look at bedspreads). The belts are perfect for combining to make a cotehardie belt; they’re antique gold with tiger-eyes. I then got stuck in nasty traffic going back up Beach Blvd. Bleah.

Today I learned that Berkley is planning a new line of darker paranormals for next year and are seeking submissions. I’m in the process of printing out the beginning of WBG now. It’s 8K too short for the line, but if they like it, I’ll deal with the problem. I think WBG would fit well, so I’m kind of excited.

I also received an e-mail from someone who talked to a Silhouette editor about the Soulmates line. She gave me some good info, including the fact that the editor asked for a two-page synopsis. My current synopsis is three-and-a-bit pages, so I need to trim it down. I’m planning on doing that today so I can mail it right out. That’ll be two proposals in the mail. I’m both nervous and excited—a good feeling!

I said that I’d be sending the proposals for AETW and JT at the end of the month, but alas, that’s not going to happen. I simply ran out of time. Ken did print out for me the beginning of AETW for me, so perhaps I’ll take the beginning with me to VA and work on the plane and in any spare time I have.

Well, bother. 3SF rejected “Matchmaker”. I have too many stories sitting around, waiting to be mailed out again. Must work on that as well. I’m usually much better at turning them right around. It’s just that with some of these, I’m not entirely sure where to send them next.

Okay, I figured out where to send three stories, and decided to rewrite another one (it was a 100-word flash fic anyway). I’m printing now, at midnight. When Ken got home from work, we went to Baja Fresh, then to Target, where we bought green fairy lights for the study and the bedroom, and I got some workout shorts.