As a part-time laborer and a woman who somewhat recently went into labor, I have been looking forward to this three-day weekend with the fevered desire of the highly fatigued. And it has been all I wanted it to be! My family gave me the most thoughtful gifts.

1. My child slept through the night not once, not twice, but THRICE in a row. A new record! It was like bowling a turkey except that hopefully it won’t be the only time in my life. (Okay he slept till 5 am, 5 am, and 4 am, BUT I WILL TAKE IT).

2. My cats did not pee or puke on a single thing, nor show any sign of stressed, fear-of-abandonment induced over-grooming.

3. My husband enjoyed a few hours with the baby while I locked myself away in the study to work on a short story I’ve had percolating all week.

Though they weren’t very consecutive hours, because I had to take breaks to feed the little one. Bagged milk doesn’t grow on trees, you know!

I’m about halfway through this draft plus I have plenty of notes on the rest. It’s coming together nicely and hopefully I can carve out some time over the next week or so to finish up. The story is about a style of magic called calligramancy. And about letting go of things. My current browser tabs include “how to make lampblack,” “vellum for calligraphy,” and “goat birthing.”

I’ll say about it what I say about every project: if I do it right, it’ll be good!