blah blah blah SCAMPI. blah blah blah Penny. blah blah blah writing. blah blah blah BLAH.

I don't have anything to say this morning that I haven't said every morning for the last several months.

Which is not to say that I'm bored with my life. The SCAMPI is going almost too well, which is both exciting and gratifying. Penny is funny and adorable and wonderful. I'm gearing up for the re-read and edit of Willow Bough, which is also exciting.

But all that exciting and wonderful stuff is like... Oh, let's say it's like golf. It's really not all that interesting to anyone who isn't either directly involved, or at least involved in their own version of the same thing.

Here's something a little unusual. When I came home yesterday, our next-door neighbors Travis and Melissa were outside, with their little boy, Ray.

(Ray is almost exactly 9 months younger than Penny. It amuses me to imagine them seeing Matt and I come home from the hospital with Penny, and then saying, "Yes, NOW would be good.")

Anyway, they said hi, as they usually do when we happen to see them outside, but I don't actually see Ray often, except when they're just leaving or just coming home from somewhere, so I strolled over to tickle his chin and make googly baby noises at him.

Travis's whole leg was in a... not a cast, but an immobilizer. "What happened?" I asked.

He'd been going down the stairs with the baby, and the cat had tripped him. Travis had lunged heavily sideways when he fell, to avoid hurting Ray, and badly hurt his knee as a result.

Ow.

But yeah.

I chatted with them for a while, and we talked about developments and milestones and baby habits... Both Ray and Penny love the water, so I told them that when the weather's nice enough, we'll invite them over for a picnic on the deck, and set up the little pool Karen sent Penny for Christmas, and the babies can splash and play.

I think it'd be nice to get to know them. They're really nice, and it'd be nice to have a friend or two - even just friendly acquaintances - who actually live close by.

--Liz