I really wanted to finish my copy edit of Southern Discomfort this week. It would have felt great to finish it at last. I didn’t.
I don’t feel disappointed though. It’s close enough I can finish it Monday, for sure. And I’d much sooner take a break than get sloppy. I have indeed found lots of errors — missing words, extra words (I changed the sentence but stopped halfway), missing punctuation. I don’t want to start screwing up and missing stuff. Plus the ending got the heaviest editing in my last rewrite. I suspect I’ll have to do more intensive work. I stopped at one scene where I’m not sure Joan’s change in perspective makes sense. Better I tackle a question like that when I’m fresh and alert.
Other than that, the week’s big event was Christmas. Everything proceeded as usual: snuggle in bed, walk dogs, breakfast (German apple pancake), then presents (as usual, books, DVDs, food, gift certificates). Then A Christmas Story. Then lounging around, then cooking dinner for TYG (beans and veggie sausage, one of her favorites). Plus texts and calls to family members.
It’s a low-key Christmas but it suits us.
I posted two Atomic Junk Shop columns, one about an old Hostess Marvel Comics ad, one about Hammer’s three attempts to adapt Jekyll and Hyde: The Ugly Duckling, Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde.
On the personal front, our washing machine died so I went and bought a new one at Loew’s. I was slightly nervous as our 12-year-old machine is an inch or so smaller than anything available — would the new machine fit the laundry closet? Turns out yes!
Plushie, as you can see from the above photos, got a much overdue grooming last Friday. It turned out he was way more matted than we thought and it made him more uncomfortable than we realized. It’s been a real sea change this week: he’s livelier and much more interested in lap snuggles. In bed at night he sleeps peacefully without constantly fidgeting because of discomfort. I feel guilty we didn’t grasp the problem sooner but we won’t make the same mistake again (I think there was a health reason we skipped his previous grooming).
See you next week as we close out 2024!
