Oh, yesterday evening was nice. Penny was in a great mood, we kept the TV off all night, we had sweet corn on the cob for dinner... Penny stayed up a bit late - I didn't put her to bed until after 8 - and then she slept until 6 this morning.

And she didn't get fussy when she woke up. I heard her make a little noise, so I crept to her door and listened. She was talking very quietly to herself, and playing with one of the toys hanging on her crib. When I opened the door, she looked up and broke into a huge smile.

It made for a nice evening and a good morning.

That's it. Nothing huge. Nothing exciting.

Just a nice, calm, quiet evening (well, as calm and quiet as an evening can be with a baby around), a good night's sleep (well, okay, a good night's sleep is pretty exciting to me), and a happy morning.

It makes for a kind of short journal entry, though.

I can talk about writing, I suppose. I was finally ready to get back to Silver and Green, last week, after a break of several months to work on Willow Bough. I wrote about five hundred words, and then slammed right into a brick wall: I couldn't go any further until I'd figured out the basics of the culture I was writing about.

Which shouldn't be a surprise, except that I thought I'd sketched out enough detail in my mind that I wouldn't need to write it all down.

But no; I needed to write it all down, and work out more details. I started jotting notes on Monday, during the Meeting That Wouldn't End, and then I started writing it up, refining it, changing it, smoothing it out.

I wound up with almost 2500 words for a broad overview of a society where the main characters are going to spend all of three chapters.

I tend to get a little carried away. (No, really?)

But maybe today I'll be able to get back to Silver and Green. You never know; a miracle could happen.

--Liz