I need to go get film developed. I have lots of pictures sitting around the house, but none I really wanted to put up here.

Things I worry about:

I worry about my novel. My novel, the first novel I ever wrote, is at Baen right now. It's been at Baen for about 14 months now, although I do know that it's passed several hurdles already and is pretty much at the last one now (according to Toni Weisskopf.) I'm not worrying all that much about whether or not it will get bought; I figure that's just part of the business. But I do worry about the fact that I sent it off 14 months ago, when I was still writing under my married name, Davenport, and the address on the manuscript and on the return label is what is now my ex-husband's house. I don't think the USPS forwards packages, so I don't really have much way of knowing what has happened to this thing or whether it's been returned. I gave Toni several of my new business cards, but there's still plenty to worry about here.

I worry about my allergies. I don't have many; I don't get hay fever, I can handle cigarette smoke (though I hate it), and I won't swell up too much if stung by a bee. But I am allergic to a great many antiobiotics. Not ferociously or in life-threatening ways, so far, but I'm still very restricted on what antibiotics I can take. And I worry about that.

I worry about money. Who doesn't?

I worry about my mail being delivered properly. I've moved twice now this year, and had my mail forwarded, but I keep having to put in two or more change of address thingummies to get the forwarding to "take."

I worry about my job. I worry that the powers that be will find some reason to not promote me back to my old position if an opening appears. I worry about what I should do if I do get passed over.

I worry about my writing. I've been told I know how to write, but what if I'm just one of those people who simply can't get a foot in the door and sell anything? What if I'm always Good but Not Quite?

I worry about my truck. It has almost 70,000 miles on it, and it's beginning to have moments of orneriness. I really don't want to buy anything new, though. I'd like this one to last at least another year.

Finished reading Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow recently. Actually I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but am only now getting around to mentioning it. An excellent book, though, despite the length of time it took me to mention it here. I really like Morrow's work so far; the only other book of his I've read is Only Begotten Daughter. Both of these books are religious satires with serious undertones--yet not so serious as to take away the delight in the reading. I highly recommend Blameless in Abaddon, though I think radical christians will consider it to be black heresy. Which, of course, is a point in its favor as far as I'm concerned.

No, I'm not anti-christian, even though I myself am not one. But I do tend to bristle at radical anything.

I had an incredibly good workout today. I'm driving to the gym since I haven't fixed the tire on my bike yet, so I'm doing my aerobic-type stuff down there--mostly on the elliptical trainer. But I hit the weights for about an hour first today. I read recently that a 3% gain in muscle mass gives you a 7% increase in metabolism. So, with that in mind I went really heavy (today's workout was legs and abs) and pushed myself pretty hard. I'd like to lose another 15 pounds and drop back down to a more reasonable clothing size.

And I have to agree with something Tamela told me in email: It bugs me too when people tell me I'm fine as I am. Where do you draw the line? When does "fine" become "fat?"

But on the other hand I know that it's a fine line that others in our life have to tread. If they tell us we're fat, then they're being deliberately hateful and insulting and not appreciating us for our finer qualities. If they say we look fine as we are, then they simply don't care and don't notice what we look like at all. How thoughtless!

So no, I guess you can't really win. I suppose the happy medium is to tell the friend or loved one they look divine while still encouraging them to stay fit, etc.