My copies of the paperback version of "Greenspell" (my collection of short stories) arrived yesterday. I was silly-excited, I admit it. There's a kind of wonder when I hold one of my own books in my hands.

I'd forgotten how small a book it is. I keep calling it my "Little Book".

I've been contemplating doing one of those DNA tests for about a year now, but for a reason that might be considered frivolous. My (beloved) grandmother used to claim she had Cherokee blood in her line, and I always wondered if that was true or just a family myth.

Today I finally gave in and sent for the kit. What a way to start the year, right?

Facebook has given me something good - friends here on Dreamwidth! 

 I forgot to mention - I did 50,588 words and won Nano! I finished the last of them at 10:00 PM, so two hours to spare.

I've had a lovely birthday morning. Randi came up with a cool idea - she decorated a small 3-ring binder and got the inserts, the idea being that I can easily carry it with me and use it for jotting down story ideas, especially at our brainstorming sessions. She got me a gorgeous aqua Cross pen, and a cool flash drive (it's in a tin box with a "window", and it looks like a mini perfume bottle!) to go with it. She also got me something I really, really need - warm socks that I can wear with my Crocs. And not white! (I really don't like white socks.) They're all crazy sorts of patterns.

So I'm starting out this day in a great way.

Randi's vastly improved. The doctor thinks a fungal infection is what caused the trouble. She's on 4 different antibiotics, I think, but she's almost all fixed up.

 After more than a week in a nursing home, Randi came home yesterday. She'll have some follow-up, from home health and wound care, but the cellulitis is cured and she's feeling good.

Before I fetched her home, I had breakfast with Bobby and Rhonda, who were on their way to an Eric Clapton concert(!).

I got my new teeth today! Partial dentures, to be exact. They feel really strange, but Randi tells me I look a lot better. I wanted to celebrate with a bacon cheeseburger, but I'm on soft food for a few days, before I can start gradually introducing "challenging" foods. 

I just discovered that our horse is pregnant. Not just preggers, but probably due to deliver any day now.

She's a round-bodied horse, so I didn't notice her getting any bigger. However, the Deed was done last year, apparently over or through a fence, by a little bay stud being boarded on the property next door. The stud was there despite Betty (the property owner) forbidding it. I hope I never run into those people again, because if I do, I'll probably end up in jail.

Anyway, yesterday while spraying Magic for flies, I noticed an odd wrinkling at her belly. When I looked closer, I noticed (gak) her teats were dangling and dripping milk.

So now I have yet another thing to worry about, and more chores to look forward to.

 We start our little renovation to the front and back porches. (Randi says those repairs have to be made before we can get the insurance to cover the roof replacement. I don't know why, but she's the expert.)

The back porch and deck have been useless for years, rotted out from weather and time. The deck is being stripped out, and the porch will have a ramp that will allow Randi to go out that way.

The front porch has two pillars that have rotted at the base.

Previous disappointments in hiring people have made me cynical, but Darryl (in spite of his name recalling Newhart) seems good.