Animal Attraction: 544

Got the contract for the story I sold recently. I’d misplaced the guidelines for the anthology so I didn’t even know how much money to expect. It’s more than I guessed. Huzzah!

It’s been an up-and-down sort of day. Got up, feeling reasonably rested; Ken was already up. Ate a Lean Pocket and checked e-mail. Put in contacts. Crawled back into bed because Eostre was still there where she’d been sitting when I got up to read some more, because the book I was reading (romantic suspense) was pretty good. Ken joined me, reading a motorcycle magazine.

Several hours later, our hunger drove us to the kitchen.

We ran errands: ordered flowers for Sarah, who just had surgery; picked up pills; bought groceries and cat füd and litter. I was pleased that the only groceries we really needed were perishables; our larder is well-stocked now, it seems.

At PetSmart, we always visit the kitties for adoption. There were some adorable kittens today, but it was the smokey grey Turkish Angora (year old, just weaned a litter) that captured my heart. We can’t afford to adopt again right now, but oh! she was so very sweet and loveable. I also noted that they were advertising for volunteers to clean cages and take care of the kitties. Volunteers can choose days/times, so maybe I can pick a morning or afternoon to do it. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile.

Now it’s much later. We’ve been helping newcomers frantically sew for Potrero War this weekend. I made an undertunic and overtunic for one (and obtained her promise that she will return and learn how to do it herself), which came out really nice, especially the overtunic. We had perfect trim for it. We’ve been giving away a lot of our trim to people who need it—not just “here’s trim”, but matching it up to projects they’re working on when they come over—because neither of us are using commerical trim much at all anymore. Ken’s persona would have worn rich fabrics to show wealth, and I’m into weaving and embroidery. There are a few trims we’re keeping, but for the most part, if something matches, we’re happy to donate it. We remember being poor newcomers and people helping us, so this is a way we can contribute back to the Society as a whole.

We’re jointly Avant Courier for our barony, with an emphasis on dealing with sites for events. I’ve written a booklet to give to site people that explains who we are, what we do, and what we need from them. This afternoon I chose pictures off a website (with the permission of the photographer) and put them in the booklet. I need a few more, and to make a few more edits, but it’s close to being done.

We talked about going away this weekend, but in the end decided not to. It was going to be to the Bay Area to visit Ken’s former coworker, and then up to Sacramento to a BMW rally. But it would have entailed a night in a motel, and even a Motel 6 on a holiday weekend will cost more than we ought to spend (not to mention food, etc.). So. Maybe a day trip (Ken talked about seeing if local BMW folks wanted to do a group ride), and I’ll get together with one friend to make rose beads, and Meg & Matt will visit one day, and stuff like that.

Ken got a wild hair and is checking out the Apple website for jobs. The job descriptions are hilarious (“Have you been able to find Cupertino on a map since age 12?”). I don’t want to live in Santa Clara, but if he got a job with Apple, that would be so totally cool…

Wrote a very short erotica for a particular market, an online lingerie store. They pay $50 for 300-800 words, which is stellar rates, actually.