We’ve had a bumpy start to the week here at Chez Slater. The ohpityme’s are out in force for no particularly good reason besides inexplicably chapped lips* and a toothing toddler, which is annoying in and of itself. We’re on Andy’s last week of U-Wards, so life will actually get easier come June, and “The Behemoth Beaches” (out with Apex this past week) has received good reception, so I really can’t complain. Maybe it’s the weather, or the remnants of saying that final goodbye to one of our fluffy friends, or maybe I’m feeling U-Wards coming to an end, and just like at the end of a semester when all of a sudden you get the flu because you’re not so stressed out: wham! Could be. But I’ll try not to dwell on it. :)
*Damn You, WebMD!
I do not regularly check WebMD for any medical advice. One too many times in the past, it’s said that some isolated minor symptom (headaches in the morning, for example) is probably cancer. I knew better than to check it for pregnancy/baby advice (good lord, I definitely don’t need that kind of stress!), and it’s rare I check it for anything now.
But I was searching for info on chapped lips, because–what else does one do when chapstick doesn’t seem to be helping? A WebMD article pops up on common easy treatments. I think: ok. This is probably fine. I mean, seriously. It’s chapped lips.
WRONG. WRONG AND IT’S PROBABLY CANCER. O_O Anyway, lesson learned, Internet. Lesson learned.
Magical Frozen Chewsticks of Joy
Little Guy has been toothing. It seems like he’s always toothing (or at least, that’s the explanation 95% of people give us whenever he’s being a grouch), but this time, I think it’s for real. He’s drooling, naturally, and chewing on his fingers and barely napping (when he naps at all) and is generally one teeny, weeny straw (say, a Duplo block not *quite* fitting where he wants it) from completely losing his mind in a delirious rage-fest. It’s been a delightful few days.
Today, however, I feel like I just leveled up as a mom. I had noticed he liked carrot sticks, because he could really jam them into the back of his jaw and nosh on them for a while, so using my big adult reasoning skills, I think: hey…what if they were cold? Like, really, really cold? Like freaking frozen so he could nosh on them for a while and get a good dose of chill on those evil, evil back molars? So I tried it. AND IT WORKED. He chews on them and eventually spits out the very well masticated mush of carrot (because he likes chewing things, but not necessarily eating them -_-), and he’s happy as a clam. Seriously, I would have tried this days ago if I’d thought of it then. He’s so cheery! And when he’s done with one, he asks for another, and then he continues to be cheery. In fact, sometimes he just likes holding the mushy carrot in his mouth for…like…an hour. (Gross.) But he’s still smiling this great, orange smile, so WHATEVER WORLD. He hasn’t bitten me all day! HA! #momlifehack
In Which Outlining is Nothing Like a Bullet Train…
Watched this cool video yesterday with the Little Guy about super fast bullet trains in Japan. SO COOL. So fast and sleek and smooth… So very unlike my week’s start to writing. It’s always tough picking up on Monday, the gears just don’t shift out of first like they should, but it was all the more frustrating because I was legitimately excited to get started this week. I had decided on a big cut out of the current WiP’s working outline to even out the tension in the first act, and while I was stoked about it this weekend, when it actually came time to chop it out and fill in the gaps, I ran smack up against a mental wall. Muddled through it a bit yesterday, and then switched to rereading “Ribbon & Key,” which I’m still only about 40% to “I don’t hate it,” so that wasn’t much fun, either, though I did make a little decent-ish progress. I’d love to have it out to markets by end of June, if I can.
Today went smoother–the Little Guy napped for about 45 minutes–and I made some progress on filling in the outline, though it’s still slow going. Ah well, it can’t always be fun and games, can it? At least I got some time, that’s all I’m saying.
OH MY WORD, I also finished reading Trees, by Warren Ellis last night. It is fabulous. Just–the core concept alone is so much fun, and the worlds and characters he paints are incredibly gripping. Definitely worth checking out if you get the chance.
Over and out for now!