1. Workmen are almost done. Just a couple more hours worth of work tomorrow.
2. Lost some more weight.
3. Updated my site's template. (Not this site; a different one.) Sometimes a fresh start feels good.

1. Quiet day at home.
2. Got my youngest into Cardcaptor Sakura, so now I can watch with all the kids.
3. Watching the cat chase his tail. Makes me laugh every time.

1. Met a new doctor today, and I really like her!
2. Cats being cute when playing with their toys.
3. Shepherd's pie.

1. Nice lunch out with the family. Yummy gyros!
2. Took the kids to the theatre. It wasn't a great production, but still a nice way to spend the afternoon.
3. Weighed a little less this morning. Still a long way to go, but progress is progress.

1. I decided to post some old fanfic on AO3 and it seems to be having a fair reception by readers there.
2. Finally started work today on LEGO Westminster.
3. Nice afternoon walk with the family.

1. Really good cheesesteak for lunch.
2. Had a lot of fun with my kids today, talking about manga and watching anime and looking at fan art, etc.
3. Weekend!

1. New windows! Even if it meant a houseful of workers and a ton of noise.
2. Amusing the kids with my Kylo Ren voice. (Or really, it's just diction. Kind of the same speech pattern as Napoleon Dynamite.)
3. Finished critiquing a big piece for a writer friend. I feel bad it took me so long to get through it, so it feels good to be done.

1. Daughter did great in the spelling bee! Didn't win, but made it to the penultimate round!
2. Yummy eats: tuna sandwich for lunch, cheesesteak for dinner. Managed not to snack today, either, which is a big deal for me.
3. Nice, cheerful chat with a friend.

1. Hummingbird flying around outside my office window and dancing in the climbing roses.
2. Writing group meeting. Feels like ages since we'd met. Very fun and productive, including some lively debate about The Last Jedi.
3. Rediscovering my love of manga.

1. Lunch out with the husband.
2. Cat received a clean bill of health from the vet at his checkup.

. . . I'm sure other good things happened, but I'm having a rough time of late. I'll say: at least the cat forgave me for taking him to the vet.

1. Got through my morning obligations with little to no difficulties.
2. Was able to then hide out at home the rest of the afternoon.
3. Watched more Cardcaptor Sakura with the kids. I try to point out the little bit of Japanese that I can remember, but I'm not sure they care. They *are* interested in the cultural differences, however, so that's fun to discuss.

1. Despite a very chilly morning, the day became a beautiful one.
2. Got a little more writing done.
3. No pressing concerns. Pretty lazy day overall.

1. Nicer weather.
2. Dinner out with the family.
3. Watching more Cardcaptor Sakura with the kids and showing them my anime cels.

1. My son's first band concert! They did really well.
2. I received many requests for my manuscript today. That's encouraging.
3. Ice cream sundae!

1. Doctor's appointment went off without any noticeable hitches.
2. Sushi for dinner.
3. Finished The Graveyard Book with my oldest. Next we're doing The Haunting of Hill House.

1. Plumber fixed things up in short order. (No emergency, though it turns out that noise the toilet was making was very bad and it's a good thing we caught it in time.)
2. It was Tuesday, so I didn't have to pick up the kids.
3. Got lots of laundry done. (I like feeling productive.)

1. The San Francisco Review of Books picked up that great review of Brynnde and published it.
2. Took the kids to see Coco. I liked it, but I can't love a movie that makes me ugly cry. I hate to feel emotionally manipulated. But yay for the big kitty!
3. Took apart my oldest son's old loft bed and swapped it for a Japanese tatami-style bed. It makes his room seem bigger and brighter because the loft bed frame was so big and dark. He's loving the change!

Spent the day taking the kids to various museums. Was a really fun time. I especially loved how my youngest wanted to sit and sketch some of the art (the museum offered "art bags" with clipboards of paper and a pencil pouch; what a great idea!). Also: ice cream sundae. And I showed my daughter the first two episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura, and my Kero-chan, and my Clow.

1. Lunch and coffee with two dear writing friends. Yay! It really was a pick-me-up!
2. New Cardcaptor Sakura.
3. Took care of my roots, which were looking really bad.

1. Survived. You see, my Friday schedule has changed, and now my Fridays are ridiculously busy and complicated. They're a cascade of things, like a chain reaction of dominoes. So I don't really enjoy Fridays, but I survived this one.
2. New clothes came in the mail.
3. The dinner I made turned out pretty well.

1. Encouragement from my writing group. I hadn't attended in a month or so, and I haven't been writing, but it was good to see everyone again and get some support.
2. Long walks in nice weather.
3. Having fun helping my oldest with his science project (Punnett squares, something I was very good at in school; won the school medal in biology that year).

1. Another quiet day at home without errands or appointments (but with plenty of chores).
2. Had a guest blog post published.
3. Lessons from the Screenplay on Youtube. Almost makes me want to go back to screenwriting. (Almost.)

It was kind of a crap day, actually, so finding good things means going back to basics:

1. Kids were at school, so I had a quiet day at home with no errands or appointments to run off to.
2. It wasn't raining too hard for me to get a walk in.
3. Hubby brought me soft serve ice cream to help my wounded tongue.

Yes, that's right, "wounded." I bit the side of my tongue. Hard. There's actually a little piece of it hanging off now and it hurts and it's difficult to talk or eat or drink anything. I've done this before, a long time ago, and eventually it will turn to scar tissue and be NBD, but right now it's a real pain, literally and figuratively. That + rejections made it a not great day. But I did have those highlights at least. Gotta keep looking on the bright side.

1. Kids went back to school today. This is a mixed bag since they're being in school actually amounts to more work for me. But it was nice to have the house to myself for a few hours.
2. Got a couple of outstanding to-do items taken care of.
3. New Card Captor Sakura!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!

1. Cheesesteak. I'd been craving it for ages and finally got one.
2. The bookstore. Well, it was bittersweet. I didn't find anything for myself but did help the kids find a few books.
3. Watching the Golden Globes with the kids, too. The youngest didn't care, but the other two hung out and enjoyed it. I like having a springboard for talking about important issues, even if I can't go into detail about things like sexual harassment. And I like that my kids are interested in the industry, even if I'm no longer part of that circle. At least I can talk knowledgeably about it with them. And I called almost every award correctly!

Didn't even leave the house today. But that doesn't mean I was lazy! I got lots of laundry done, and baked an Epiphany cake with the kids, and sent out many queries regarding my manuscript. So good things for today are really: cake, cake, cake. I shouldn't be eating cake given I'm trying to lose weight, but I felt like it was okay just this once. You have to indulge now and then or else (a) life gets dull and/or (b) you fall off a cliff and binge like crazy. I'm definitely a all-in-moderation kind of person. I'm not keen to cut anything out, just trying to learn to curb my intake.

1. Pretty nice lunch out with the family.
2. Had a good discussion with my 9yo daughter about gender fluidity thanks to her spotting my Eddie Izzard book and asking whether he was a boy or a girl.
3. Game night: Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Lots of fun!

1. A really wonderful review for my book Brynnde on Long and Short Reviews. Made my day!
2. The in-laws took the kids out for a bit, which allowed me to get grocery shopping done faster.
3. Had a productive afternoon of editing and critiquing.

1. Watching my daughter turn into quite the little horsewoman . . . Also, there was a cute cat at the barn that followed me around and demanded pettings. So that was fun.
2. Kids got a good report from the dentist at their semi-annual cleaning.
3. Window people scheduled a time to come install the new windows.

Bonus: Rain, which we hadn't had in a while, and which also prevented the annoying kid who lives a couple doors down from riding his loud motorbike up and down the street. I try never to wish ill on anyone, but in this case it's very difficult not to.

It was a pretty good day. A quiet, productive morning followed by picking up my son's friend and taking all the kids out to lunch. Then we all came home and the kids played Bears vs Babies and Superfight, and I did a little more work, and then I worked on the Star Wars story with my daughter some more. Got a workout in, too. Overall, not bad. I'm guess that's at least three things, anyway, depending on how you count.

1. More writing with my kids. You can follow the whole story here.
2. Family walk.
3. . . . New year, fresh start?