Good Things

Yesterday was, quite unexpectedly, a day of good things. Nothing really major, but lots of cool goodness.

I got an email around mid-morning from our CSA, reminding us that our (first!) delivery is today, and telling us some of what would be in it. Which was especially good, because I usually do the next week's menu and grocery planning on Thursday afternoons, so a Thursday morning email telling me what to expect in the way of produce gave me a leg-up on that chore. I'm so looking forward to it -- fresh tomatoes and peppers and potatoes and squash, mm! Also, there will be cantaloupe, which is not my favorite, but Matt and Penny both like it, and Alex probably will, too, so it's certainly not going to waste.

Later in the afternoon, I got an email from my editor at Torquere, giving me the thumbs-up on the marketing write-up I'd turned in a couple of weeks go, and sending me a high-res image of my book's cover art. I like the picture but admit to being slightly nonplussed by the font the artist chose -- it almost makes it look like a horror story, which it's not. But it's still pretty danged exciting to see my title and my name in print (well, e-print, anyway) like that! And having gotten the thumbs-up, I can finally share the blurb along with it!

Has telepathy really ruined romance? Jereth Collier has always thought so, but after years of fruitless searching, he's finally driven by loneliness and an inexpressible hunger to the mysterious priests of the Goddess to find his destined mate and one true love. Unfortunately, Jereth's mate is not the woman of his dreams -- in fact, Jereth's mate isn't a woman at all!

Caris Meghlin is trapped in a net of poverty, fear, and abuse by his violent and criminal half-brother, but he yearns desperately for escape. Just as he thinks his wildest dreams are coming true, his long-awaited soul mate Jereth rejects him, crushing his last hopes of rescue and breaking his heart. Jereth must learn to master his fears and open his heart and mind to Caris before Caris' brutish brother can complete his destruction and Jereth himself is left forever alone.

So that was pretty exciting! (As Vicki said on twitter: Ahhh!  It's the cover of a book! It's a book cover! Your name is on it and everything!!! )

Then, when I got home, I found Penny's new diabetes bag had finally arrived. I ordered it for her just in time, or even just a smidge too late -- it's been looking nasty and ratty for a long time, but in the last couple of days, the zipper has started to fall apart on us, and we've been transporting her kit in grocery bags to keep everything from getting lost.

So it was high time for her to get a new one, and that would've been a good, if unexceptional thing, all by itself. But the new kit is freaking adorable. Closed, it's shaped like a heart, and when you open it up, it's a little butterfly!

It has a couple of minor downsides -- there's no shoulder strap, so Penny will have to get used to hand-carrying it; it's a bit smaller than her old kit, so it won't hold the carbcount book at all, and you have to arrange everything in it just perfectly to get it to close; and getting the zipper around the bump in the heart requires a little extra effort. But these are all things we can learn to live with, I think, especially for a kit that Penny can get excited about.

Add to all that the mounting excitement of this weekend -- which is the Summer Bash! Jeff made it to town last night, and Karen arrived verrrrry early this morning! Tonight, Matt and I will do a grocery run and make cookies and possibly prepare some produce for a veggie tray, and tomorrow will be Fun in the Sun with our friends! Yay!