1. Meeting up with writing friends.
2. Lunch out with the hubby (because he worked from home today).
3. Cider. I love that it's cider season again!

1. Two new pairs of shoes for $25.
2. Getting the grocery shopping done. I felt very productive!
3. Envy apples. If you haven't had them, they're amazing. (Assuming you like sweet apples rather than tart ones, which I do.)

1. Doing the lockdown drill with my son's class while in the school library. I wouldn't necessarily count this as "good" except I was able to explain to them that we had to stay quiet and still "because a T-Rex is loose." It became a game, and they liked that.
2. Talking to my daughter's class about writing. Those kids were great!
3. Thai food for lunch. It was a long morning and I earned it.

1. Kids meeting the mayor. Again. They do every year because they get summer reading awards from the local library.
2. Celebratory dinner out.
3. Getting some writing done, even when I thought I wasn't going to be able to.

1. Breakfast out with new friends.
2. Chats with my parents.
3. Last Week Tonight returned!

1. My daughter's birthday party was a roaring success.
2. Ice cream cake.
3. It's over. (At least until my son's party in November...)

1. Finished the chapter I was writing in the Changers sequel.
2. Chess with my youngest son.
3. Quality time with my two youngest children.

1. Meeting a new friend for tea.
2. Discovering a great new tea house.
3. Meeting a new writer.

Yesterday was remarkably social for me, which is kind of exhausting for an introvert, but rewarding too. Normally I wouldn't schedule two outings on the same day but somehow it fell out this way, and I survived! Not only that but enjoyed most of it.

1. I was good and didn't eat fast food for lunch even though I really wanted to.
2. Another day in which I didn't have to drive anywhere.
3. Chatting with a dear friend on the phone. I don't love the phone, but there are two or three people I don't mind spending time with that way—people who mean so much to me that any way I can spend time with them is good.

1. Being productive! Not in writing, but in other things. Sometimes that's just how it goes.
2. Good interactions with people. Just very friendly ones, the kind that make you feel good in general.
3. More newsletter subscribers!

1. Getting lots of writing done. Am now approximately 20% through the Changers sequel.
2. News from the bookseller at the upcoming conference that my books had arrived. (Well, the first shipment anyway.)
3. Not having to go out and run any errands. There were plenty of chores, but I got to stay in out of the heat.

1. Gardens.
2. Ancient Egyptian stuff.
3. Emmys.

1. Ice cream social.
2. Wendy's cheeseburger.

. . . Yeah, today was mostly about the food. And hanging out.

1. Family picnic night at the kids' school.
2. Finding out the school mascot's name is Ace!*
3. Documentary Now! is back.

*The kids' school is something like 15 years old and their mascot is "The Wildcat." But they got a new principal this year and she felt like The Wildcat should have a name. So there was a nomination process, and "Ace" is the name I nominated. (I think other people also submitted it; the school's initials reduce to ACE, so it makes sense.) It made the short list, and then it won! Yay!

I'll be honest. It's been a tough week. I'm fighting a cold and there have just been a million other things... But I'm still grateful. I'm grateful for having a home, and clothes, and food, and clean water. It's more than a lot of people in this world have. I'm grateful that I'm able to do the work I love as a writer. I'm grateful that I have bright, beautiful children and that a cold is the worst thing wrong with me when so many others have chronic and terminal illnesses. I really have no reason or right to complain. So I won't.

1. Meeting a really nice group of people (Tri-Valley Cultural Jewish group).
2. Hanging out with the in-laws for Grandparents' Day.
3. Chatting with my dad for his birthday.

Oh, and news from my publisher that Manifesting Destiny is a bestseller on All Romance eBooks! Hell, yeah!

1. Rob Thomas.
2. Counting Crows.
3. Rob Thomas & Counting Crows.

1. Morning walk.
2. Writing.
3. "Spock Selections." (You had to be there.)

1. Introducing my kids to Trogdor and Teen Girl Squad.
2. Getting my Goodreads author page dusted off.
3. Hot fudge sundae.

1. Great response to my IWSG post.
2. Getting my Goodreads author page dusted off and figured out.
3. Lots more writing done. I'm now excited about Changers 2 rather than dreading it!

1. Salon night! Fresh hair and nails! Lots of gab!
2. Making headway on Changers 2.
3. Tiny House Hunters.

1. Fun time at the neighbor's birthday pool party & potluck.
2. Many requests for Changers 2. At least I know people want to read it!
3. Continuing to gather what I need for the conference next month. Feel like I'm close to done, which worries me because that usually means I'm forgetting something.

1. Hot Topic. I got a Ravenclaw shirt (yes, I'm Ravenclaw) and two Jareth figures.
2. Winning a free book from Wild Rose Press. I chose something called One Grand Season. We'll see how it goes.
3. Getting my paperback copy of Manifesting Destiny in the mail!

1. My daughter's birthday. She chose In-N-Out Burger for lunch followed by Cold Stone ice cream for dessert. The look on her face when she got the books she's been wanting and when we gave her the plush Puss In Boots was priceless.
2. Finishing a draft of the short script for the director.
3. Chats with my mom and my friend Abby.

1. Cheesesteak.
2. My shirt arrived. It has the text of my novel The Fall and Rise of Peter Stoller printed on it. One of a kind and so cool. (It was a Kickstarter or Indiegogo or something for NaNoWriMo.)
3. Well-behaved children.

1. Meeting with a couple of my writing friends. It was great to catch up.
2. Visiting the kids' classrooms. Their school year is off to a good start.
3. A couple more good reviews for Manifesting Destiny.