Finding Calm Among the Squirrels

In crochet news, I found that wrapping some duct tape around the hook's handle helped ease the grip (plus, I'm now ready for emergencies), and I found a pattern for a "summer weight" granny square that's all airy and lacy and that can be put together in a blanket. It took me a lot of tries to get it kind of right, but I think I can do it, and it will likely go better if I get the right kind of yarn. I'm using some old knitting yarn to learn and practice, and it tends to stick to itself and get caught in the hook. I need to work on keeping a consistent tension. That seems to be what makes the square get skewed. A trip to the craft store is in order.

But the next week will be focused on making edits to book 7, now that I have my agent's notes. That will even put the office organizing on hold. I got the furniture rearranged and a lot of decluttering done, and I set up the business file system (while also doing a bit of a purge). Now I have to purge and set up the personal/reference/fun files. And then put everything away. At the moment, the loft is a mess. Taking a lot of books to the library will help.

I had crazy kids last night. The final rehearsal before we sing in church on Sunday didn't go too well. The kids had a "squirrel!" moment and completely forgot the song when we rehearsed in the sanctuary (after having done it just a few minutes earlier in the classroom). But they were probably on overload because we'd also had a show-and-tell about stringed instruments, and they got to try playing harps, a hammered dulcimer, a violin, an autoharp and a bowed psaltry. The little girls loved the Celtic harp because it looked like something Merida from Brave would have (she's the current favorite princess, and apparently there's now a book about her and a harp). I'm hoping that they focus a little better Sunday morning when we can just run through the song without a lot of distractions. And if all else fails, they're ridiculously cute, so I don't think anyone will care if they get sidetracked. And then I have to start teaching them the Palm Sunday song and figure out how I can stop them from swatting each other with palm branches.

Then I had what was supposed to be a women's sectional rehearsal for the Mozart Requiem, except only one other person showed up, and she was an alto. It was a little intimidating singing that soprano part by myself. It gets really high, and I hadn't warmed up other than singing along with the kids (and that doesn't go above the staff). We rehearse with the other choir this Saturday morning, so I may need to get my score and sing along with the recording when I'm taking writing breaks.

Now, to work!