Things That Are Making Me Happy Right Now

But first, I forgot a couple of things that are annoying me. And it's every day, too! I can't believe I forgot.

First is the clumps of hair on the bathroom floor every time I go in there. I eliminate them whenever I see them, even scan the edges for more, and still, every time I go in! More! Maybe we need to shave our heads.

The other thing is the water here. It's town provided, but we border a rural area. I don't want to live in a big city, but when I was in NY, my hair always looked great, and my makeup came off clean with one swipe. Here, my hair looks like it needs brushing two minutes after I brush it, and I have dark smudges under my eyes, even days after I last wore mascara. The skin gets sore from rubbing at it with makeup remover swabs or cloths.

Okay, now the important stuff! What's making me HAPPY right now!

The Kids Being Home All Day
It's really nice to have the dishes always done, and I can assign chores to them every day, taking a couple of items off my shoulders.

I'm sure they aren't so happy about this one. They may even be eager to go back to school by now.

My Loaded TBR Shelf
It was getting very empty before RWA. I had maybe a half dozen books in print and half a dozen on my Kindle. Now I have at least a couple dozen in print, plus the ones I gave Number One to read first and demanded she give back.

Not that I have time to read much right now, but a full shelf makes me happy!

New Jim Butcher Coming
I never have an answer when someone asks my favorite author, but at this time of year, it's easy to say Jim Butcher. It has been way too long since Changes, and I may pull another all-nighter with Ghost Story.

Jason Manns
Jason's finally coming back to the east coast! For a while, he was here quarterly, but it's been over a year since we saw him last. As I mention that every so often, both here and on Twitter/Facebook, you can imagine the glee I feel about being able to see him sing live again. If you've only ever heard his produced albums, or even heard him recorded live, you're missing out. He's amazing in person.

I shouldn't complain that it's been too long since his last gig out here. Every time he announces one, he gets a stream of complaints that he never goes where they live. I'm lucky to live close enough to some major cities!

Captain Jack Harkness
I agonized for months about whether or not to shell out the money for Starz because I didn't want to wait forever for DVDs or streaming. Then my husband sees an ad for Torchwood and says, "This looks interesting." I say, "But it's only on Starz. We'd have to subscribe." He says, "Okay." So I did. And got to watch the premiere live, and it was awesome!

Upcoming Vacation
This has been a work-centric summer, plus the travel for RWA and my chapter retreat. I try to have focused family time, but having a week together in which I will only work when the time becomes organically available will be awesome.

Harry Potter
I guess I should put this on here. The final movie comes out this week, and like my kids, I've grown up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I'm eager to see the final battles portrayed on film. Even if it means three hours of sleep Thursday night, and a houseful of teenage girls, and cleaning, shopping, and chauffeuring. My eagerness to see the movie is tempered by the changes I know they've made and I'm not convinced I'll like. We'll see if the most important line remains, and is attributed to the right person. :)

Each Bit of Work I Finish
Yesterday, I focused on fiction, which felt really good. I'm on track for my deadline, but hadn't touched it since I got back. But my workload is so heavy, progress on Heavy Metal put me behind on editing work. I'll catch up today—at least, that's the plan! But it's been really difficult to balance it all, so I'm happy with every small bit of progress, whether it gives me a praising or scolding note on my tracking spreadsheet. :)

Behind the Scenes in audiobook!
I learned yesterday that my next romantic adventure from Carina Press was picked up by Audible. That will probably come out in October, too.

So what's making you happy this week?