Summer days and other stuff

• Last week we had three whole days of warm, rainless weather. Is summer finally here? One hopes.
  
  
• I am proud to say I have read all five of this years' Hugo-nominated novels. By far, my favourites were the YA novels, with The Graveyard Book edging out Zoe's Tale by a fairly slim margin. And it's not just because I stalk both of the authors, either. Little Brother is a great teen novel, with a likeable protagonist, realistic rebelliousness and some real tension. Anathema was a fascinating world-building novel but ultimately not as engaging as I hoped. Saturn's Children was not my cup of tea, I slogged through it just because I hate to leave books unfinished. They haunt me. This one may not have, but I still finished it.
  
  
• Lucy has been getting a bunch of tests this week. She hasn't been eating very much, and is drinking a lot of water. It could be kidneys, or diabetes, or nothing at all, but the vet is checking everything out carefully. She now takes four different kinds of medicine (one antibiotic for a limited time) and may have more before the week is out. I tell her that she is nearly taking as many pills as her human grandmother, which is appropriate as, according to the chart at the vet's, they are approximately the same age.
  
  
• This morning I decided to wear my former engagement ring on my right hand. It is a beautiful sapphire ring with channel diamonds on the band and I hate for it to just sit in a box. Grant has no problem with me wearing it, but I am not sure exactly how I feel about it. I figure I will wear it for 24 hours and then make a decision.
  
  
• See you guys in about two weeks. Yes, we are off on yet another holiday. Such is the life of a teacher Lots of vacation now, but full price for any travel over Christmas and March break, no long weekends except on statutory holidays and hence no great travel deals. Karma is such a bitch.
  

Tuesday Tunes: Flight

Sometimes you hear a song that is so glorious it makes you shiver. When I first heard this song recorded by Sutton Foster and Megan McGinnis, I immediately went to iTunes and bought it. This is what being a singer is all about.