The fuzzy stare from not being there

I have returned! San Diego was delightful, weather and all - though I was amused by how many locals felt compelled to apologize for the heat. I mean, really: I live in the Deep South. Don't apologize until the heat and humidity both knock up against three digits.

At any rate, for the wondrous weekend of Gaslight Gathering I did a number of panels and chats, and signed a good number of books - and I want to say thanks to everyone who came out to hear me natter and/or let me deface your library. You were entirely too kind at every turn, and I'm terribly grateful for everything.

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The travel was hell, though. Can't lie about that. It was almost ten hours in each direction, as there are no direct flights between Chattanooga and...well, very many places at all. So I didn't just lose a long weekend; I lost a full day on either side of it.

Therefore, I've spent yesterday and much of today playing catch-up. I'm finally unpacked and everything is put away; I've done all the laundry and sorted all the receipts; I got the ol' inbox down to zero, which seriously took some doing; I negotiated some promotion, some travel, and some dog-grooming (for tomorrow); I ran to Target to restock a bunch of stuff; and today, I went to go vote in the local primaries.

Civic duty, and all that.

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Later this afternoon, I got a positively epic amount of yardwork done. I was gone less than one full week! You wouldn't think the yard could go rogue in such a short time! Or you would know damn good and well that it totally could, if you've ever lived around here.

The husband had mowed, and (carefully) watered the flower baskets out front while I was absent, but everything else was up for grabs. And, since I wasn't finished with my office catching-up until around 3:00 p.m. ... I kind of felt like the day was shot from a writer-productivity standpoint - but rather than waste the daylight, I went outside to get some homeowner-productivity accomplished.

I weeded the three biggest beds, at least in part; cleared most of the underbrush from the "bird corner"; pruned back the red quince by about half, so now it's merely the size of a mini-cooper; cut back the rose tree before it could head for the power lines again; busted out the edge-trimmer and cleaned up after the husband's mowing job; yanked a bunch of ivy and vines out of HedgeHenge and/or the row of roses along the fence; evicted some poison ivy and sumac, as well as some thistles; and ultimately discovered a new batch of red roses growing against/along the garage.

I'm really tickled by the new roses. I haven't noticed them before, and they aren't the same variety as anything else on the property. They were "crawling" - and struggling - in the overgrown big bed, and I might not have even seen them if I hadn't smelled them first ... so I went out of my way to clear out the shade and give them room to breathe. I also relocated an unused trellis and gently trussed up the plant - in case it wants to climb.

I hope it wants to climb. Not only will it get more sun that way, but it'll look hella-cool next to the white rose tree.

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Tomorrow night, catch me at 8:30 p.m. (EST) I'll be participating in this-here Google hangout with some very fine, silly, and drunken folks. Click the link for details. No, for real. DO IT. It's gonna get bonkers up in there, I guarantee it.

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No new words of fiction were written while I was gone, and none are expected for another couple of weeks. I have to hand in the next round of Princess X rewrites first - and that's where I'm directing my creative attention, for the next little while. It's got to get done - but then it's off my plate, and I can get back to Chapelwood.

My goal is to have a full draft of Chapelwood before I leave for PlayOn Con in Birmingham, at the end of June; and thus far, I've stayed more or less on track. Let's see if I can stay on this roll, eh?

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Here's a kitty. Or to be more precise, here's the reason my office chair looks like hell.