Vote Early and Often!

It's Election Day in the U.S., which is very exciting because I'm so tired of the political ads and people calling to tell us for whom to vote (though it is a little funny to check your voicemail and hear Bill Clinton or whomever). Oh, and because I'm exercising my rights in a democracy, obviously. Tomorrow, that will all be over, and Bill won't call again for two years. We will surely miss him. So before I head to the polls, I thought I would post, since I missed yesterday again...too much writing.

Stefaneener, I collapse BEFORE the end of the day :) I was energetic my second trimester, but now I'm back to a daily nap. Reading I do mostly at night before going to bed, as an unwinding thing. I do read faster than normal, so it might seem like I read a lot. Cooking is mostly relaxing, too, although extended cooking is starting to be hard on my back. But that I can do while doing other things, especially if I'm baking--chuck something in the oven, go do something else while it bakes. Writing, when it's going well, is not tiring at all. I can only sustain it for a limited time (I think the most I can manage in a day is 3-5,000 words, and that would be a GOOD day and not typical). I also go through periods where I'm not very productive in writing, either because I'm going back and revising or I have writer's block. And knitting is just relaxing. That's my end of the day/weekend thing, and I don't usually knit things that are grueling. I actually have trouble just sitting and watching tv since I've started knitting--I prefer to be knitting at the same time. My blog also doesn't mention things like how our apartment is still SO not ready for the baby because I have been inching along on my cleaning and organizing :)

Speaking of...

Knitting: Almost done with the Picot Dress. One more stupid sleeve trim to go (Yippee, pick up 66 stitches, wrestle with them on a circular needle that's really too long for the job, do an interminable picot bind off) and I'm set. It's a cute little dress. In grand Debbie Bliss fashion, the pattern calls for way more yarn than was needed, so I'll have an entire ball of Wool Cotton left (which, I think I said was DB Wool Cotton, but I noticed yesterday it's actually Rowan...sorry) to make matching booties and a hat, and maybe a little jacket. Ooh, the Miss Dashwood would match, but it's in an aran weight yarn, so I'd have to fiddle with it to make it work on this yarn. I was staring at the HUGE skirt on the Picot Dress, until it dawned on me...duh, she'll be wearing a diaper on it, so the skirt better be big. I have socks I really need to start for Matt for Christmas, and I will probably cast on for those next, along with something else for Butterbean.

Reading: Jane and the Unpleasantness... Marie, I'm glad to hear the second book is even better! It's always so disappointing when I read the first book in a series and love it, but then the rest of the series is blah.

Writing: Yesterday was another fantastic writing day, and word count is now 35,195. I've gone back a couple of times to add in small hints and developments, but that's mostly forward progress. Chapter 7 is basically done! Take that, chapter 7! On to chapter 8. No doubt I'll be going back to add things I completely forgot to chapter 7, but as a first attempt (well, third or fourth really, but first draft of THIS attempt) I'm pleased with it. Mostly I'm happy to be making progress after such a long period of struggling with it.

**Edited because I noticed I said the *page* count was 35,195. Now, that would make me one of those kind of scary people who never leaves the house and has stacks of finished sci fi novels stashed in drawers, none of which is fewer than 500 pages, and complains constantly about being unappreciated by mainstream publishers.

Cooking: Hmmm. Nothing new to report. Knitpastis, scones are all about being plain. The key is clotted cream and jam served with them :) Otherwise, they are pretty boring. Cooking Light doesn't usually do a lot of desserts with whole wheat flour, so I'll just sub it for regular flour (usually starting with 1/3 to half of the total flour in the recipe). It's true...they're not always big with the simple recipes. They do have a neat section in the magazine called Recipe Renovation (I think) where people send in a horrible, fatty recipe and they explain step-by-step how they made it healthier. It's not always desserts, but it's a good place to get a feel for how to translate any recipe into a healthier one. Oh, I also forgot one recipe subsitution in desserts--1/3 less fat cream cheese can also stand in for part of the fat and makes for a nice moist product. I often just make splurgy desserts, but I'll take a look at healthier recipes and send a couple your way :)