Gosh... how did it get to be the end of July?

So Abby comes back from camp this Saturday, and apparently things have been going less than swimmingly (har, har, har) the last few weeks. We got a note from her counselor two days ago that was -- well, let's call it tepid. Evidently (according to the camp coordinator, anyway) Abby is not overly fond of the swimming activities. Which is a bit of a problem, since they comprise approximately 80 percent of each day.

Since we have received exactly one written missive since her departure (written on the bus to camp, I suspect -- "Glad to be here, you can send packages!!!"), I have no idea how she's doing, and am rather anxious to have her back in the familial fold.

We'll know soon enough, I suppose -- and we'll celebrate her belated birthday (it happened at camp -- grrr) Saturday night. And some of our relatives may or may not attend, because approximately twenty of them will be in town, and the whole informal invitation process seems to have evolved into something like the Middle East peace talks.

*sigh*

Anyway, in other news, I am creeping along on the werewolf book -- if I'm feeling particularly motivated after signing off tonight, I will crack through the 80K mark. But if I decide to bag it and eat chocolate pudding instead, there's always tomorrow. Speaking of pudding, I made a great batch the other day -- a bit lumpy, since I poured the milk into the egg yolks a bit fast (it boiled over on the stove while I was cleaning up the bottle of Worcestershire I dropped on the tile floor while looking for the cornstarch, so it was all a bit hurried). Nevertheless, the whole thing was very chocolatey and yummy. Mmm. I think the pudding is going to win.

And I CAN eat pudding now, come to think of it, because I finally got my head shot done (it's the new profile pic -- I'll have a couple of others on the web site soon, too). I've been procrastinating for months, but finally had to bite the bullet, since I had to turn one in July 30. I don't know if you've ever had one done, but it was an all-day process, and when I've recovered from the trauma, maybe I'll blog about it. Right now, I'm just glad it's done, and I plan to use the thing until I'm 80. Maybe longer.

Oh, and according to Signe (isn't that a great name?), one of my editors at Ballantine, the new pub date for HOWLING is Feb. 2008, which I think is a month later than originally planned. All three books are coming out next year, and since I'm not quite done with the second, I'd better get cracking.

How are you? Oh, I posted on Cozy Chicks today, too -- am off to Alaska next week, which means lots of relatives, no Internet, and hopefully a few moose. I'll take pictures and forget to post them. I promise. ;)

Toodles... I've missed you all!