Good weekend. Took both boys to see Madagascar (talk about scat…). Went to a birthday party for two boys in a family of 11. Wow. Played in the sand until it got too hot yesterday, and set off sparklers and watched fireworks from our backyard once it cooled down.

Along the way I made some revisions in Smith, finally using the comments some of my critiquing buddies sent along ages ago — they saw things I wouldn’t have caught in 1,000 reads. I know, because I’m pretty sure I’ve hit that mark by now.

I also got myself signed up for Yahoo’s childrens-writers list and promptly received seven introductory messages. That alone makes me wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can handle.

And I got my first decent exercise in weeks, with a couple of three-mile strolls with F and a two-mile run with our dog. I’d forgotten just how useful those walks/runs are for clearing my head and setting my priorities, not just in my writing but in all respects.

I now know what I’ll be submitting for the October critique (assuming I get a slot), and to my delight I found some of it already written (by me, no less) several months ago and tucked away in a spiral notebook. Can’t beat that.