Archive for previous entries this month
March 1, 2006
The River
I redid the lights in much of that picture. It was late when I took it, from a moving car, and the original lights had spiked... but I like the end result.
So, here we are in March already. This year is going fast, which might not be such a bad thing. We think on the personal front that things may be looking better in April.
In the mean time we'll just move along like we have some sort of sense. I'm taking great joy in the photography and 3D art stuff. I am going to do a bit of writing here as soon as I get this uploaded. I have Romance Class stuff to do -- falling far behind there because of Vision! -- and I want to do some book reviews for FM. Those need only be 200 words long. If I could do one a day... that might actually be fun.
Yeah, yeah... odd ideas of fun. I know.
March 2, 2006
There are days...
There are times when I'm working away and suddenly I realize that the fans on my computer are gasping for air... and it's because Pip has moved into a position like the one above and I didn't even notice. Yes, I get that caught up in the writing. He just has to be close by, and sometimes the spot on his towel, just to the left of this picture, is obviously not close enough.
Things are starting to look a little better here. I'm going to be 'guardedly optimistic' for the time being. Better than being worried!
Vita's Vengeance is now over 100 pages long and about 20k into it. It's a very long book, but I might have a chance of finishing it this month.
Go buy Muse! (grin)
March 3, 2006
Goose at Crystal Cove
I am diligently working on the last of the Romance Class material. I am getting something interesting out of it, but it is NOT a romance, exactly. Oh, there's going to be romance in it, but I think it's going to tend more toward adventure/suspense. I'm just not a romantic, I guess. (grin)
But... I'm getting the stuff done. That's three writing classes I have taken there, and I've learned a little something from each of them. I figure the more you learn, the better you will get in the long run.
I am glad to be done with the classes for the moment, though. I'll probably take a few more of them in the future, but I'd like a break right now.
Other than that -- nothing going on at all! Time to upload this and get the rest of this assignment done -- which includes writing a chapter. That might take me a bit still. (grin)
March 4, 2006
Calm
I had Taco Bell food tonight. All is well with the world.
(grin)
Today was supposed to be the day we would take a trip down to DeSoto if all went well, but it didn't. Not a bad thing. Russ says that the way things look he'll actually (gasp) not only have my birthday free but he might also have a check. We could go for a ride! If he takes his laptop, I can download pictures to it as my camera fills up, and not be tied to about 20 pictures. Believe me, this has been a horrible, trying problem for me. (But I do love the picture above, which we took on the trip to DeSoto that we took if we didn't get a chance to take another one closer to my birthday -- and yeah, I'm going to get a second one, and I won't even feel too guilty about it. I'll pretty much do anything to be able to go take pictures!)
What else? Last year on this day (March 4th), I officially joined the Daz insanity. It was a birthday present to myself, and I haven't regretted it at all, except that back when I had money I spent too much there. I have enjoyed the ability to do pictures like this. It's as close to drawing as I can get -- but it's really a virtual photography studio. You set up everything from the props to the models and lighting. You take shots from various angles. You make the model change clothes. Sometimes she has to change hair. Occasionally she changes her entire skin color, or possibly mutates into an alien.
I've had far more expensive hobbies, of course. When I think back to how much money we spent on the 35mm cameras, lenses and film... ack. There were times when getting the film processed cost more than the entire trip. I've been known to take an average of at least one picture every three minutes for every waking hour when I'm on vacation. Yeah, digital was a really really good idea.
And the Daz/Bryce stuff is wonderful, too. Did I mention that I did the cover to Muse? (See below)
I have just finished up my last Romance Class material. I'm going to go post it in a couple minutes. Amazingly, I've also got an entire outline for the story. I think it's what I'm going to officially start on my birthday. It looks like it might be a fun story to write -- though I'm not convinced that it will turn into a real romance.
Still.... I think I'll enjoy it.
And now, off to go the rest of my current Daz picture, load the class stuff, and generally have fun.
I'm officially into my birthday week. I intend to enjoy it in my own crazed way.
March 5, 2006
My First Anniversary Daz Picture
I like it. I think I'm finally getting the knack of this stuff!
Today has been 'catch up on stuff day' for me. I can't say that I'm really getting there, of course, but I have gotten quite a few things done. And I have completed the Romance Class, so I'm really pleased. I wasn't sure I would make it all the way through for a number of reasons -- time, the genre, way too much work to get done.
But I have a nice little outline out of it, at least.
Things are looking less likely for a little trip on Wednesday, but that's all right. I intend to have a reasonably good time here. Maybe work on some photos, scan some stuff in... do all the things I say I'll do when I have time, and usually don't get around to at all.
Obviously one day will not be enough for this. (grin)
Now it's back to work, though. I have things to get done.
March 6, 2006
I learned to do reflections...
Russ says he's going to the zoo with me. We plan on Wednesday, my birthday... but if his check does not come in on Tuesday, we will postpone until Thursday in the firm belief that the check will show up on Wednesday. Either one works fine for me.
Most of all, I'm not stressing. Things are going well, and though we are going to have a few rough days ahead until about Mid April, we should pull through without much trouble. As long as the job for Russ goes all right. Not that we haven't had a lot of bad luck with that, of course.
No, I will not stress over it. Obviously doesn't help any, does it?
And things are going fine. Vita's Vengeance is still moving along. I am about to start work on one of the two nonfiction works for Holly, and since it just means collecting and arranging a few things, it shouldn't take me long at all.
Beyond that... not much going on tonight!
March 7, 2006
Pip on my desk again
Well, no luck with the zoo for tomorrow. As you could probably tell from my previous post I hadn't expected it to work out. We might get to go on Thursday instead, but... I doubt it. We'll get there eventually. It would have made a nice birthday, though.
And since the zoo was about the only interesting thing I had to talk about, that really leaves me with not a whole lot more to say. I'm working on the 2YN stuff in book form, and that seems to be going well. I'm about 21 weeks in. It will probably end up in two books because it's just way too long. I've started restructuring the material and that's going well. I'm trying not to let many classes go more than 2500 words long. The worldbuilding material is being spread out over several more weeks, for instance, and later some of the short notes will be combined into one.
Overall, it's going well. I'm not going to work on Vita's Vengeance for a few days, though. I think I'll still start Return (the new novel) tomorrow, but I probably won't work much on it.
March 8, 2006
Rain Water
I had a nice day! It helped that two things turned up today -- a call from Barnes and Noble said the new Cherryh was in that we had ordered. #8 to the Foreigner Sequence. Yay! And at a good discount since we preordered and have our trusty little Barnes and Noble card.
And the new Harry Potter movie was out, too! We just watched the movie. Since I don't go to the theaters, I hadn't seen it yet.
And yes, we are going to go to the zoo tomorrow! The weather is supposed to be better, too, which will be nice. It rained all day today!
And we found two great things today at Best Buy -- a 512 Memory Stick Pro on sale because the package had been opened, and a little bag for all of $14 that holds the camera and the batteries.
So all is good.
Yes, we spent more than we should have today. But Russ seems to think that everything is going to be fine in a couple weeks, and you know, a day without stress seemed like a nice way to spend my birthday.
March 9, 2006
Yes!
Thunk.
I am badly out of shape for the zoo. But, if things go well, I'll have a chance to get back into shape.
And I definitely need more practice with this camera. I did fine on a few shots, but many of them aren't very good. The camera has three different focus systems, and I'm just not used to working with them yet. I also haven't gotten the shutter speed down.
But Right now I'm just tired!
Had a great time, though. And Russ says the zoo even impressed him!
March 10, 2006
Missouri River
We're into the 'weird weather' season. We had 61f today -- a nice day, but a bit breezy. Sunday we're supposed to have snow again. It's just that time of year!
I've been working most of the day on some edits and new material for the 2YN class book. It's slow going today, but I'm getting there. I also have a nice Daz picture going that I work on when I need a short break, or when I need to think something out. That's worked better than I hoped.
I'm a bit sore tonight! But I'm really looking forward to going back and working some more with the new camera. I haven't gotten back to the zoo pictures yet today, but I'm going to give myself some time this weekend with them.
So, all in all, things are looking good. Russ may actually have four classes to teach in Omaha next week. A shame about that snow... but still, this is very good. We just have to keep hoping it continues on this way.
So, that's it for today! I'm off to do more writing work!
March 11, 2006
Not yet... but soon
Snow tomorrow and the next day... right when we really don't need it, of course. I would have been happy to see snow at any other time, but with Russ driving down to Omaha for three days in a row, snow is not on the top of my list right now.
At the moment I am really tired. I've been working all day on the 2YN material, trying to figure out orders and what is missing, and what I need to cut. It's a lot more work than I expected, but then everything is. Still, I'm pleased with how well it is going.
Just tired tonight.... I think I'll stop here!
March 12, 2006
Ice Pellets
Yes, we are having ice and snow. Of course it's the worst possible day for it, with Russ leaving in about five hours to go teach in Omaha. It's just been that kind of year, ya' know?
The good thing is that the weather seems to be mostly north and east of us, so Russ heading south should do all right. It just makes me nervous, because I don't trust much of anything right now.
I am working very hard on the first 2YN book. It's taking all my time, except for a few minutes to work on photography and a little Daz stuff now and then. The Daz things have turned out to be helpful, because if I'm stuck I can move over to a picture I'm working on and get my mind completely away from the problem. That usually does the trick.
I've also been doing my own little Daz challenge. Did I mention it? I cut up strips of paper with the names of Daz models and textures I've picked up, dropped them into a bag, and pull out three at a time, then make a picture out of them. The first couple were pretty easy to do. You can find them on this page: http://zetteimagine.blogspot.com/
They're (so far) The Night Visitor and Remembering the Old Ones. I'll have a new one, Gifts for the Sea People, before too long. It turned out to be a more difficult collection, but I managed it.
The book though... the book is giving me fits!
March 13, 2006
Sleepy Pip
Russ made it home after a very long day of work. He had a meeting afterwards and didn't get back home until after nine. And he has to get back up about 4 am and do it again tomorrow, though not with the meeting afterwards, so he should be home about seven or so.
Sounds like a very tiring day!
I'm just about through the Outlining section of the 2YN book. That leaves about 19 sections to go afterwards for this first year. I dread to even think about working on year 2! It's a far stronger collection of classes for the work, though. I'm happy with it -- I just wish I could get it done.
I also hope it all makes some sort of sense when I get there.
It's pretty much sapped my brain, though. I don't have anything else to write about!
March 14, 2006
Lioness from New Orleans
The Omaha zoo (Henry Doorly Zoo) is one of the many zoos in the nation who have taken in animals from the New Orleans zoo. They have three lionesses, and all three were out in soaking up the sunlight when I was there -- and no doubt wondering if it ever really warms up in this area. This has to be quite a change for them.
I am up to week 36 in the class material, which means only another 16 to go. The next three or four are going to be relatively simple. I hope.
I still have some formatting to decide on, as well as writing the intro and closing pieces. I've started looking at the year 2 stuff and shuddering in fear...but I'll get to it. I can take it slower once I get year one out.
But mostly I want to get back to writing fiction.
You know, it feels as though I've been working on this forever, but it's really been only a little bit over a week. Hell, I'm doing great! I kept thinking I had started this at the beginning of the month, but it wasn't until the 6th, and I even had some time off doing other things at the start.
So, okay, no more complaining about it. At least for tonight. (grin)
March 15, 2006
Part of my Bryce work
I can't say that I'm really that much closer to being done tonight. A lot of the current work has been in arranging, rearranging, adding and subtracting material. I'm going to take my notes into the bathtub in a few minutes and try to sort some more of it out. I need about eleven more chapters for this year. Three of them are pretty much set and the other eight are partly done and just need to be arranged and maybe expanded.
I also need to do my examples for most of assignments. That's another thing that I'm going to do tonight. I just need to get away from the computer and work somewhere else for a little while.
Soon, soon... I will be back to fiction. Of course, I'll live in dread of the second year book to this set, but still... a break. A chance to work on the real stuff again....
I would also like to get out and do some more photography soon. The weather has just been too odd. But it will get better. And I'll be ready for it!
March 16, 2006
I'm being watched....
Willow sits on the top of the bookcase to the left of my desk, most of the time sleeping, but every now and then I'll look up and find her watching me. She's always interested in when I bring the camera out.
I have done all 52 classes for the book, but I still have about a dozen of the exercises to complete. It's going to be a few more days before I have the entire thing done, but I can actually feel like I'm closing in on the end. And I'm happy with what I have, too.
Russ does not work in Omaha tomorrow. He will be at his part time job here in town, though -- but it will be good for him not to have to drive a hundred miles there and back. I'm sure he's ready for the break. He has two or three classes next week, but we don't know about the week afterwards. He needs to get more because this is our first real chance to pull out of the trouble we've slipped into. If things can keep going like this, we'll do fine by May or so. If not...
Well, I don't think it does any good to think about what could go wrong at this point.
I've had some very nice notes on Muse. That's a nice, wonderful feeling. I hope people continue to enjoy it!
March 17, 2006
Green
Moving closer, closer, closer to being done with the 2YN book. It's been tough work, but I like what's finally coming together for it. I've got about 80 pages of absolutely finished material, which isn't too bad. Russ will be going over each section for me, and I hope to have the entire thing done by the end of next week. Yay!
Other than that... have to pull up the outline for Return, which I hope to leap into for March Madness this year. I'm not committing to it, though, until I get this one done.
I'm making a vain attempt at cleaning up my office and desk again. Yes, again. I suddenly realized I felt like I was trapped in a tiny little corner, and it was mostly because I had so much stuff on my desk again. It's the zoo's fault. If they would give me a list of their animals, I wouldn't have to look up so much stuff. (I think it's a San Blas Jay....)
I'm feeling better about the book again, maybe because I can mostly see the end. I always feel good about a story when I know that I'm not going to have to live with it for much longer. And the truth is that I've lived with this one for about three years now in one form or another. It's more than time to let go.
March 18, 2006
Winter is returning
We're expecting snow here tonight, tomorrow and Monday. Not as much as some places nearby are expecting, though. We're only supposed to have about six inches total, but about sixty miles away they're calling for twelve to sixteen inches. That's too close. There's no telling what we'll really get.
I've made it through part two of the 2YN book and on to part three. I'm happy with this final edit. I'm about 1/5th of the way through the book. There's going to be some areas where I add a lot of material, but I still think I can get it done before March Madness starts next week.
I look forward to going back into fiction again!
Yesterday I said I was going to stop at midnight on the 2YN book and I was still working on it at 3 am. Tonight I really am calling it quits right about now. Mostly because I have some county web work to get done. And I want to work on more zoo photos. They've been a lot of fun and I'm really happy with some of the results. Can't wait to go back!
Soon, I hope....
So, right now it's back to work on other things!
March 19, 2006
Zoo shot
I would really love to know what those two fish are, especially the one on the bottom. It looks like a catfish of some sort to me, except it doesn't have the barbels (is that the right term? Don't want to go hunt it down right now...), at least that I can see. Actually, they might be there, just down low. There are so many different types catfish that I can't even begin to find out what this one is.
It's amazing how many fish don't have scales.
It's very windy tonight. We still have no snow. They are calling for it tomorrow morning... right about the time Russ leaves for Omaha. He's packed to spend the night if he needs to. This has been such a strange storm front that it's hard to say what we might get in the next day.
I'm almost up to page 200 on the 2YN book. I don't see how I can get it done by Saturday, but I'll give it a try. Having a goal is good, and it might be that as I get closer to the end I feel more motivated. I did take some time off today, though, just to play with pictures. It did me good.
And now... time to go do a couple more pages on the 2YN book and then have some fun for the rest of the night.
March 20, 2006
Welcome to the first day of spring....
Well, at least the dog is happy. I had a hard time getting her back in. Russ had an awful trip back from Omaha this afternoon -- lost the windshield wiper part way, which didn't help. They'd canceled the class he would have taught tomorrow, and he didn't feel he could stay in Omaha. Lucky for him that it only started getting really bad here about half an hour before he arrived. Now we have about ten inches of snow, and I'm glad we're both safely home.
That's a picture of snow coming down just a few minutes ago. It's just not letting up.
The good thing, of course, is that it really is spring. If this had hit in January, that snow would have probably been around for months. As it is, we'll be up in the 50's by this weekend. It's going to be wet and muddy, but it won't be icy. Mostly.
I have gone over the 250 page mark on the 2YN book. That's not quite half way, but it's getting closer. I got quite a bit today, and I hope to do more tonight.
Right now I'm going to go watch it snow some more!
March 21, 2006
The Return of Winter
I really, really like this camera. What a lovely shot!
Yesterday at this time I was just hitting the 250 mark on the 2YN book. Today I'm at 349 -- 100 pages of work in one day! There isn't nearly as much new stuff today, of course, and that helped. I'm going to be doing more writing again tomorrow, but it's good to have a nice long stretch like this. Made me feel as though I'm actually making progress.
I'll be happy to have it all done, though. I'm giving myself until April 15th, but I think I might have it completed before then. That would be really nice! I'm ready to get back to fiction. I've mentioned that before, haven't I?
How very odd. I now have had three teachers write me today to ask to use something of mine in the class room -- two for zoo photos and one for a Vision article. Is that bizarre or what?
I wonder if my zoo site has turned up on a list somewhere. Ah... and that might explain the bandwidth problem as well. Okay, I think I'll try to figure that one out!
And now it's time to get back to work!
March 22, 2006
Winter Melting
Did some nice pictures today with the camera. I'm starting to get the knack of this one. I have some trouble with the focus still, and for the first time I really used the eyepiece today rather than the screen -- it was just too bright out for it. All in all, not bad, though.
I'm nearly up to page 400 on the 2YN class. This despite taking a lot of time off from it today. So less than 200 to go! I'm much happier now that I'm on the downhill side of this one.
I need to print out my outline for Return and prepare to do the March Madness fun this coming week. I will be so happy to write some fiction again! Though that's not entirely fair -- I am writing a little bit of fiction to fill in the examples on the 2YN class book. But still, to be able to sit down and just write out a nice story... should be fun.
Russ is going to Omaha tomorrow and they're not even calling for rain or snow. Amazing. He has something going on Friday down there so he's going to spend the night. I'm going to try and get the bedroom cleaned up again -- it's easier when he's not here to see me pull everything out and try to fit it back in again. (grin)
But, that's it. Things are getting done. Can't ask for more than that right now.
March 23, 2006
Lovely sunset colors
The work on the 2YN book is going very well. I've got less than 100 pages left to do. I'm actually happy with how well it's gone the last few days. It's looking very nice. It even looks like it might help some people!
I'm gearing up for March Madness, too, which starts in about 24 hours. I don't intend to write a lot this year, but I do want to get some work done on Return, the novel I started on my birthday and promptly dropped to get this done instead. It should be a fun book to write. I just have to get the outline printed and find the opening chapter or two that I'd already done. I think I can squeeze a thousand or two words on it a day.
Russ is in Omaha tonight. I'm not getting a lot of other things done around the house, but that's okay. I'm getting the book closer to done. I'll probably reformat it when I'm done, which will mean resetting some of the pages -- but that's okay. it'll be better for it.
And now... back to work on fun stuff for the night. I want to get some zoo pictures done!
March 24, 2006
March Madness is about to begin. I'm not ready, but I'm going to leap in anyway. I think it might be fun, if I can think of anything to write.
Other than that... nothing to say and no time to ramble about nothing anyway! Off I go to madness!
March 25, 2006
Water melting away
I leapt into March Madness last night... and promptly got called back out by a problem at the site. I took that as a sign that I really shouldn't work too hard at it this year. That's fine. I'm tired and I'm still working on the 2YN book, so not going at this with my usual zeal is fine.
I did get about 3000 words, which isn't bad at all, of course. I'm happy with it. And part of me is relieved not to be working that hard.
In fact, I so don't want to work that hard, that I'm about to call it a night -- hours early for me, but I'm just tired tonight.
March 26, 2006
An older zoo picture
I just came across a couple sets of zoo pictures from the old CD1000 --the last two trips I had taken. I had played a bit with the pictures, but never really did anything else with them -- far too busy to mess with the zoo site, and I didn't like the way it was set up, anyway.
I'm leaving the previous pictures the way they were, though. In the last week I've had four requests to use the pictures on various school projects -- three from teachers and one from a college student. I figure it must be helpful to someone. But the new pictures are going to go up in a slightly different design.
When I can get to it. And when I can afford the bandwidth, which is not this month. I'll drop these last pictures into the old version, more or less.
And then I'll plan on more zoo trips. I have 68 new pictures, so I'm pretty happy with it!
The March Madness novel is doing well -- over 3000 words today, plus nearly 2000 on the 2YN project. And the zoo stuff. All in all, it was a pretty productive day!
I might get to go to the zoo in about a week if the weather is pretty good. I'm looking forward to it!
But right now... time to get back to work on other things!
March 27, 2006
Selene
Doing all right tonight for the writing. About five more weeks of 2YN to go, and I did over 2k on Return as well. It's good to be moving on stuff.
I also started a new zoo site last night. It will get incorporated into the old one, but it has a lot more information about animals on it. I have a stack of books here by the desk, and a couple sites bookmarked as well. I've only done three pages so far -- took me hours to do those, but part of that was just working out the plan of how I wanted stuff done. It's going together well. And the good thing is that I only have about 35 or so actual pages to do this time, since I'm only doing the pictures from the new camera. I hope to get a chance to go to the zoo early next month -- the 7th looks like a possibility. I want to have all of this part done by then.
But that's like the third project down on the list right now. the 2YN book is first. And I might have it done tomorrow, if I just concentrate on it a bit. I think I'm going to do some editing on a couple parts to cut it back down after that... but over all, it's looking good!
And so, back to work again!
March 28, 2006
Nice shot....
It's one of those days guaranteed to drive a person crazy. I'm on the next to the last chapter in the 2YN book, which is good. I think I'll pretty much have it done tonight.
But I ran into a couple problems. First was that I have been doing a lot of graphic work and pictures and not really checking disk space on my computer. It suddenly explained to me why things are maybe a bit slow these days. So, time to copy things off and clear some space.
Only copying takes more space, and though it does it, it only does it very slowly. And the DVD recorder will not record on cdroms any more for some reason. So, DVDs... which means more stuff to copy per disk, and longer to do it. So that's what I've been spending most of my afternoon doing. Yeah, I can still write while it's burning the disk, but I keep getting side tracked trying to figure out if there is more stuff I need to copy and if it's safe to delete anything now. I'm paranoid. I miss the old CD1000's permanent disks for that reason, but now I have about three copies of all the pictures so far, so I think I'm okay.
And yes, I check the disks afterwards to make certain that the files look all right. Random sampling of them.
So, I'm on the last recording now, I think. Then I'll be doing a massive delete of stuff off the drive. Then... finish the 2YN book! And work some more on Return which is at least moving along fine.
I'm also working on making a change at FM. And after talking to Deron today we've decided to stop submission to DTF until this fall. He'd already closed down DDP to submissions until then, so he thought it might be a good idea for me to do the same, especially since I have some stuff piling up -- both books ready for copyediting and material I still have to read.
All in all, I think things are going to work out well, but it's not been the day I imagined.
March 29, 2006
Picture from the zoo
Russ is home again! Yay!
The 2YN book is all but done. I'm letting it sit tonight and doing a final go over tomorrow. And that should be it! I had begun to think that I would never actually get that far!
I'm already thinking about how to do book 2 so that it isn't this kind of madness. Especially since I think some of it is going to be more difficult. If I do two chapters a week, I can have it done in about 26 weeks. Six months and some, which would put it done about September. I'm betting more November.
I just need to get a schedule and stick to it until the book is done. Much like I did with this one, but on a longer timeframe.
Beyond that, did some work on Return and even worked a little with Daz last night and today. I want to get back to the zoo stuff, but it was too distracting during the 2YN work, so I put it aside for a couple days. Daz isn't nearly as bad because it takes a while to render stuff, so I go over and work, get caught up in that, and don't think of the Daz material until I hit a bump again.
So, that's been my day. Work, work on something else, work a little more.
And now it's the next day and time to start all over again!
March 30, 2009
Another from the zoo
We had our first real thunderstorm today. Hail and everything, though it was tiny little hail. I hadn't really expected it, though. Got some nifty little movies with the new camera. I'll have to work at resizing them and get one up. I've not done movie links here, but I think it might be fun.
Return is going along quite nicely today. So is the last of the 2YN book work. We're heading into the last day of March Madness and I got about 15k on the novel, so I'm happy. That, along with the 2YN stuff, is quite nice.
It's still raining here. At least that means it will be green soon. And my lilac bushes -- what survived of them from some bad storms last summer -- are starting to get leaves already. I always look forward to the lilacs.
And that's it for today. Not, as you can tell, a very exciting day except for the storm!
March 31, 2006
Sure, I'm supposed to work like this....
Yeah, the guys gang up on me some days. That's Kwi, Cricket and Pip. Right now It's Willow, Cricket and Pip. Silly cats.
I made it to 20k for March Madness, which isn't all that bad considering the other work I did as well.
And now we're on to another month... and I just realized some of the 'start of the month' stuff I need to do for FM! Ack! Okay, off to do more work. (What a shock, right?)