A quick weekend update

I realize that I didn’t post anything new yesterday, which is unusual. Part of the reason is that I’m somewhat preoccupied getting ready for the arrival of the Little Miss. But also I was somewhat obsessed with my blog stats yesterday. It was almost–but not quick–a record-breaking day here. My daily page view record stands at 948 (back on May 31, 2011) and yesterday approached that record, reaching 917. I kept checking and checking to see if the record would be broken and completely forgot to post. So, here are a dozen things to let you know what’s going on:

1. Six days until the Little Miss arrives. She is scheduled to be delivered (via c-section) on Friday morning at 7:30am. There is a chance she might arrive sooner than that but almost certainly it won’t be any later. We saw her again yesterday via ultrasound. She was sticking her tongue out at me, which I can forgive because she already has me wrapped around her little finger. She has some pudgy cheeks. Maybe it’s just because she’s all scrunched up in her little nest, but I don’t remember the Little Man having cheeks like that.
2. And speaking of the Little Man, he knows a big change is coming and is starting to act out a bit. Last night, in the middle of the night, he had a complete meltdown. It started with wanting to sleep with mommy. Then he wanted chocolate milk, but he’d just had some. We told him no and he flipped out. He was screaming and wanted to go downstairs and play. I lost my patience pretty quickly, but Kelly is the patron saint of patiences and despite his screaming and wailing, talked to him calmly and eventually did get him calmed down and back to sleep. It will be interesting when the Little Miss comes home.
   
3. I’m nearly two-thirds of the way through A Storm of Swords. I got into bed at 9:30 last night with the intention to read for 20 minutes or so. I read for 3 hours and I couldn’t put the book down. I read the chapters that included Edmure Tully’s wedding at the Twins and came away from them breathless. Those who’ve read the book already know what I’m talking about and I won’t say anymore about it, but Oh My God! I’m hoping to find time to squeeze in some more today, however…
4. I’m trying to finish up the April 1941 issue of Astounding this weekend and get Episode 22 of my Vacation in the Golden Age written. I normally take two weeks to read each issue, but I’m trying to get this one done in a week because next weekend I’ll be at the hospital dealing with a newborn. Episode 22 will still appear on its normal schedule, but it will be written a week early and I won’t have to worry about it. It will also give me 3 weeks to read the May 1941 issue which is helpful when I will also have to deal with sleepless nights during those same three weeks. Incidentally, the April issue has been a superb one so far and I look forward to writing all about it in Episode 22.
5. I’m halfway finished with my next Wayward Time Traveler column. I’m trying to get that done this weekend as well for the same reasons as #4 above. It will give me a little breathing room.
6. I’ve got new issues of New Scientist and Time magazine to get through this weekend. I’ve already started on the former.
7. My sister, brother-in-law and niece will be heading back through today and staying with us overnight on their way back from their vacation at the Outer Banks. The Little Man is very excited to see his cousin and it will be nice to have them over.
8. I have some tasks to finish up in the Little Miss’s room. I have to fix an issue with the crib, but up a valance, move some furniture around and mount some bookshelves to the wall so that the Little Man doesn’t pull them down on himself. I should get through those tasks today.
9. We are doing some landscaping in the front of our house. Right now there are lots of pushes that grow fairly wildly. We are having a landscaper come in and rip them all out, mulch them and then spread the mulch. In the spring we’ll put in some small flowering plants to replace them. I’ll post before and after pictures when the time comes. But first, I need to fill out an application for the architectural review committee for our community. It is a formality, as I’ve already been told the changes will be approved, but the form was delivered this morning and I want to get that done before things get crazy.
10. I’m hoping to do some more writing on the novelette (which is morphing in to a novella). I’ve been doing a lot of research and note-taking but it’s time to get back to some writing. Also, I got a great idea for a Christmas story that takes place in the same universe as this one. The Christmas story is a short one, maybe 3,000 words and I have a market in mind for it, but I’ll need to get it done soon if there will be any chance for it to appear at the end of the year–indeed it may already be too late for this year. But I’m going to get the story written and submitted anyway.
11. Looking forward to listening to the Big 40 Countdown on Sirius XM 80s and 8 this morning. The countdown is from this week in 1984–the summer of the 1984 Olympics in L.A. and the summer between 6th and 7th grade for me. Should be a fun countdown.
12. Also looking forward to visiting my friend Michael Burstein and his family tomorrow evening. They happen to be in town and staying not too far from where we live. It’s been more than a year since I’ve seen Michael in person so it will be nice to see him again.