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I should be writing, but I've gotten to the end of revising everything I had saved up to this point. Now I have to write entirely new (but lost) stuff, and I'm feeling a bit discouraged. I thought I might feel up to going back to it after a short interlude on the Interwebs.

Yesterday, Mason and I went to the Minnesota Zoo with Eleanor, despite the heat. It was a lot of fun, as zoo trips with Eleanor always are, but we all got pooped out a lot quicker thanks to the brutal heat. Mason, at least, had his swim trunks so he could play in the sprinkler park by the entrance to the Grizzly Coast exhibit. The grown-up, alas, did not think to pack a change of clothes.

We saw some cool animals. I mostly refrained from taking many pictures, because I was enjoying just hanging out with Eleanor and Mason. But I did get this awesome shot of a wild turkey that wandered into the Minnesota Trail.



And, this amazing shot of a snoozing Amur leopard:



However, probably the coolest thing was watching the grizzly bear who was trying to fish salmon out of the pond. S/he walked along the bottom. Someone else watching made the observation that she seemed to be trying to kick the salmon up closer to her front paws, so she could grab them. Everyone wondered why she wouldn't just dive down and nab them, but perhaps she didn't know how (I think all the bears there were raised in captivity.) Anyway, it was utterly fascinating. Mason and Eleanor and I watched her for several minutes.

We also had an open house at Mason's school. Not much to report about that, except that Mason's new teacher seems like a winner. Fingers crossed for a good year for him in 3rd (and, because the school loops, 4th) grade!
lydamorehouse: (Default)
It's been hard to remember that it's Monday, what with boy and partner both off today. Shawn and I had plans to get over to Uncles today, but reviewing our Christmas/Solstace spending put the kibosh on that. (sads.) But, actually, it's more an issue of the things we've decided to spend our money on instead, including this fancy internets at home, a new iTouch, CSA for next year, kuk sool wan, my gym membership... so it's not like I can really complain.

Yesterday I spent the day making fun food for dinner. We had a big roast (corned beef), mashed potatoes with gravy, brocolli, and homemade kaiser buns. It was lovely, but ended up making a ton of dishes, especially since we also decided on a whim to make sand tart cookies. I just had the leftovers for lunch. Yum. Yum. Nom.

A couple of nights ago, and I don't quite remember how it started, I ended up telling Mason about an incredibly charming character that my friend and fellow writer Eleanor Arnason created for her Lydia Duluth short story series named "Three Hoots." Alas, the story "Three Hoots" appears in hasn't been published yet, but Mason has been at the coffee shop with Eleanor when she was struggling with the plot of that exact story. Anyway, it's been marvelous to hear Mason running around the house shouting, "Fierce! Fierce! Many bodies in the shadows, ready to defend!" (which is a paraphrase, but close to some of the dialogue in the story.) At any rate, I knew I had some Lydia stories arounds, so he read all of "Tomb of the Fathers" and pronounced it, "nearly as cool as Harry Potter." So, I spend a few minutes this morning searching my house of the rest of the series. I found Asimov issues that contained "Cloud Man," "Lifeline" and "Moby Quilt," but couldn't locate my copy of "Stellar Harvest" to save my soul! Hopefully, Eleanor will have an extra copy she can loan us. Mason is quite determined to read the Lydia ouevre. I'm sure he could read the other stories out of order, but he's kind of stuck on reading "Stellar Harvest" first. I couldn't find a non-pirated version of "Stellar Harvest" on-line. Am I an idiot? If you know where one is, please send me the link.

Can I say, too, how amazing it is that I can share stories with Mason that, if he has some question about, he can just ask the author? It's super-cool amazing. I don't know if he realizes *just* how super-cool amazing that is. I mean, he's growing up in a house where his ima is a published writer, so I'm sure he kind of expects that anyone can be.

But it is one of those things I always remind my students. If someone as dorky as me can get published, there's a pretty good chance you can too. Not that it's an easy road, mind. Just that it's possible.

At any rate, I've decided to try to make calzones from scratch today for dinner, so I should go check on the dough.

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