LONG days... the sessions went from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with breaks for lunch and dinner. Some of the presentations were, umm... sort of rambling..., but mostly, it was fascinating. It was a small group; bonding was inevitable, and we left for our homes tired, but excited.

LOTS of facts and figures, none of which I'll be able to recall. This is the kind of thing I only remember with frequent repitition. I'm not ready to start teaching yet - I have a couple of reports to write first. Then Rick and I have a couple of vacations planned, so I can't start a class series until those are done. Meaning it will be January before my first class.  But I think I have enough preparation to do, along with those vacations, and the holidays, that I'll need all that time to be ready.

I've ordered several videos of births - home births, hospital births, ceasarian sections, all kinds. And I have to find a baby doll, and order a plastic, human female pelvis. For demonstrations, you see.

Oh, and those childbirth classes I attended for the last 3 months? The first birth was just announced: a girl. I feel like an aunt!



 

Yeah! A request for a partial! My stats won't drop!

I've sent the partial out posthaste, and I'm nearly ready to get on the airplane tomorrow. I probably won't bring the laptop, so I'll be out of touch until Monday.

If... I... can...

force

myself...

to step away...
 
from it...

Good video. Pass it on if you know someone who might be interested.

Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.

The days do get away from me. How is it possible I haven't posted anything since the 1st?

My daily log is a thing of beauty and it's nice to see how I spend my days. Does wonders for my self-esteem, even if I haven't made a penny. I'd still like to make a few pennies, though...

Tiny additions have made their ways into both TTJ: Returning and Verdandi. I got some very helpful advice from my writer's group on Returning, which has just about cleared up how to start the book. I'm also figuring out ways to sneak in the infodumps about the previous book. The reader doesn't need to know much about what happened in Shipbuilder, but a little information is necessary. It's always better if this information is - ummm - interesting.

Also, I did one (1!) crit over at OWW.  Now, I'm not a whiz with statistics, but I think that makes me a hundred percent ahead of what I did the week before (and the week before that).

Go me.

We had a quiet holiday, meaning we didn't do anything, 'cept see Transformers. We watched Virtuosity over at Lulu.com, (thanks for the shoutout, Jarucia) and decided we liked it. It'd be nice if it gets picked up and we can see a few seasons of it. We also watched two DS9 episodes. The fun never stops 'round here.

But! Yesterday we did go to a BBQ at a friend's house. Lots of nice people that we only see a couple times a year, and lots of interesting conversation and a few debates. Rick and I especially enjoyed our chat with our friend's neighbor, who has been through many kinds of illnesses and is a strong health advocate for the public. We didn't know whether to cry or argue when she started in on all the local health problems caused by the Chevron refinery. The poor lady had no idea that Rick has worked for a certain company for 34 years.

Not that that means Chevron is totally innocent or anything. But it does give us a wider perspective on things.

We both silently elected to not inform our new friend of the toe she'd stepped on. Rick already knows that everyone in this group (it's my group of friends from my Berkeley days), is A) Liberal, B) Environmentally active, and C) slightly anti-corporation.

Rick is A and B, too, but not C, so much. He wants to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, it was a nice party. We just about closed the place and got home with just enough to time to take out the trash and get to bed at a decent hour.

Today, I'm busy with childbirth education. I have to assemble a database of local resources for pregnant parents. I'm a little curious about how LARGE this has to be, given that I live in an area with a few million people. There are lots of resources around here. I also have more reading to do and will settle back shortly to do some of that. Book reports are due on each book I read for this course.

Yes, I am keeping out of trouble...

 

The hectic, weird stuff for the first part of the year is almost... over.

I'm on high alert, waiting for that call from my so-pregnant daughter, but for the moment, life is settling back into a quiet maelstrom. Which hopefully tells you how calm I'm NOT.

All the houseguests have either left for home, or are off visiting other relatives. My step-son and family will be returning tonight, to stay with us the rest of the week. Then they're off to Kansas, where they've rented a house.

The wedding was spectacular - simple, but beautiful. Yes, I cried. And yes, I've posted a picture

( behind the cut )

No writing is going on. I've got menus to prepare for a client, plus I'm trying to get everything ready to fly off to San Diego at a moment's notice. I just remembered (last night about 4:00 am) that I need to pack the camera and camcorder - oh, and be sure to charge up the batteries for both, since they just did full duty at the wedding...

It's things like that. I'm not thinking very clearly or sleeping well. As the time approaches for Mary to give birth, I'm edging up on terrified. It's been a long time since I had my babies. I was present when my oldest grandson was born, but even that was 14 years ago. What if I screw up? What if I give the wrong advice? What if I don't recognize what's happening? I'm really wishing I'd taken those doula classes, and maybe had a chance to observe a delivery.

So I'm reading everything again - all the stuff on childbirth. I MUST be ready.

Back home and back at work, in a somewhat productive mode. I'm working up a query for Donamorgh and I need to get a synopsis done, too. I already sent out one query and will start a list of agents who want fantasy. I have one more chapter to post for OWW - should do that today. After those comments come in and I do a print-out and read through one more time.

What's next?

I've gone back to Galaxy Farmers, which is pure SF. It's funny - I like fantasy, but science fiction is like an old, well-loved friend. Writing it is like coming home.

This is where true organization needs to come in. I've got two novels completed, and both of them have sequels. Both sequels are in some beginning stage. I have a third novel going. As long as I have something else going, it doesn't make sense to actually write a seqeul unless the first book has sold. But I suspect it would be a good idea to have an outline in decent shape, for the day an agent says, "let me see where you're going with this."

I have no outlines. What I do have is a whole lot of scenes in no particular order, rhyme, or reason. That's probably not what an agent wants to see.

But I don't want to spend all my time whipping wanna-be sequels into shape. Hence, Galaxy Farmers. A new novel in a new world with new characters. I've got 6000 words done, with a rogue group of miners, a shipful of Good Guys, and some aliens. Amusing aliens. Oh, and a sentient planet that's slightly insane.

I'd like to see this novel actually get written. So I must work on it.

In other news, TTJ: Shipbuilder has been slowly racking up reviews over at Amazon. I have ten so far, mostly good, and they aren't ALL family and friends. More reviews would be welcome. Some people have as many as 30 or 40. I know more people than that, but they don't all have Amazon accounts and I don't expect them to sign up for one. So I just let them know it's there and leave it up to them to sign up and review.

Or not.

In still other news: We're going to Hawaii next week, so work will slow down for a while. After that, I'm hosting a double shower for two daughters - one pregnant, one getting married. I'm also planning to be the doula for my daughter when she has her baby in June. Now, I've had lots of experience having babies, and having them without drugs. But it's been a long time, so I'm brushing up on my study, reading lots of books on natural childbirth, and current childbirth routines, and newborn care. When Mary comes up for the shower, we're going to go over relaxation techniques and exercises she should be doing to prepare for childbirth. But I need to make sure I know what I'm talking about, first.

I'm writing in my SPARE time.

It seems there are no granddaughters in my future. My daughter just called to inform us her baby is a boy. So that makes two boys on the way, to go with the two boys that are now teenagers. And one little girl, who will continue to have the corner on charm for a while, until if and when, another grandaughter puts in an appearance.

Not that I care one way or another. I'll take the grandkids as they come and not spend a minute worrying about what we've got. They're all fun.

In my efforts to convince the pregnant couples in my family of the merits of natural childbirth, I've been plying them with books and documentaries. My own experience (and reading) on the subject is a quarter century old, so I've been looking at the information myself. 

I'm appalled.

Did you know that the State of Childbirth in this country is more controlled and restrictive now, than it was thirty years ago? Most women today know less about the birth process than they did in the 1970s. C-sections have gone from 7%  to 30%. The US ranks as #28 in the world for maternal and infant care (based on the number of babies who die at birth or shortly after). Twenty-eight. And guess what? It costs 3 or 4 times more, to have a baby here, than anywhere else in the world.

Talk about not getting your money's worth.

Aren't we supposed to progress as time goes by? Instead, we're going backwards.

It's one more thing we are doing drastically wrong in America. And of course, it's so ingrained in the culture, people think you're absolutely insane if you suggest it.

Sometimes I just have to sit back and shake my head in amazement.