In an effort to help myself get out of bed early to write, I’m going to try doing a weekly round-up post Monday.  This will be a post for quick blurbs about what’s going on with me, various articles I’ve read over the past week, and such.

1.  I’m going to be in DC and NY this week for a colleague’s funeral.  It’s going to be a super quick trip (DC Tuesday night and Wednesday am; NY Wednesday night and leaving Thursday), but if you’re around and want to meet up, let me know.  On a related note, thanks to everyone for all the love and support over the past few days.  I never cease to be amazed by how awesome all my friends are.

2.  This month is NaNo, but I’m not doing it.  I think I would probably go crazy trying to fit in 2,000 words a day, on top of everything else that’s going on.  Instead, I’m going to work on actually getting out of bed at 6 am when my alarm goes off instead of rolling over and catching another 30 minutes of sleep.  I’m going easy on myself and defining writing loosely – blog posts, short stories, Railroad – anything that involves my ass in a chair and my fingers writing.

3.  Speaking of writing, I think I finally know how to finish a story I’ve been working on since high school. I have high hopes for this one, but it is going to involve a ton of work and a complete rewrite.  My goal is to finish the rough draft this week, and have it submission ready by the end of the month.

4.  We are about 75% moved into the new house.  I can’t say often enough how nice it is to finally live somewhere that feels like home.  Even the ugly wallpaper doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it ought to.  I’m also glad that we haven’t bought much furniture yet, because nearly nothing we own matches with the house.  I know, I know, first world problems.  But it’s been fun to start looking on Craigslist and at estate sales for pieces that will work.  We’re hoping to furnish it mainly with used pieces, things that were built to last (and with any luck built around the same time as the house). And it’s definitely going to be a slow, paycheck to paycheck process.

5. Z turned 2 on Saturday.  She’s such a real kid now.  Almost overnight, she started using two and three word sentences.  She has her own language, which I will miss when she grows out of it.  “Ah” is want, “kecks” is socks, and “home” is hand, like give me a hand.  When she says “my home” she means “help me out here.”  It’s exciting to watch her figure things out, even if she does throw a tantrum approximately every 2.75 minutes.

Closing Tabs

Not much this week, as I do most of my web reading through Facebook and it doesn’t have a good history feature.  I’ll open more in browser next week, so I can save them for you.  In the meantime, here’s a few from the week.

The Real Reason Germs Spread in Winter: Hint: it’s not because you didn’t blow dry your hair before you went out.  Also, after reading this I’m seriously considering donating a humidifier to Z’s daycare.

Brown Butter Banana Bread: This is a super forgiving recipe.  I had no measuring cups or spoons, so I winged it using the measuring cup for the rice and one of Z’s baby spoons.  It still rose beautifully and smelled great.  I can’t tell you how it tasted, though, since I realized after baking that the buttermilk I used expired about 3 weeks ago and threw the whole thing out.

Why Food Allergy Fakers Need to Stop: This was a long read, but worth it.  When I was waiting tables, I definitely had customers who would tell me they were allergic to something, then look at the substitute, and say they wanted the original after all.  Also, none of the restaurants I worked in had allergy procedures like this (or if they did, the servers weren’t told).

I’m looking forward reading Wake of Vultures.  A few of my favorite book reviewers and authors have already put it on the must-read list.  Also, if you haven’t yet read Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black books, you should get on that.