July 4 update

I miss not being home on July 4th! All there is is attention on Wimbledon and the rain here, and it just doesn't feel like summer. I want hot weather and BBQs and fireworks! It's even worse when it's right in the middle of the week like this. We always do something on the weekend, but that's still days away.... (The other news makes us all really jittery, especially since we will be flying in a few weeks but we're trying hard not to let that get too close.)

A really slow month with the books, but it's hard to find the time to try to publicize them. And I don't really know how I should do that anyway. I hoped there would be more "word of mouth" by now but I guess that only builds up really slowly.

The next book is going well. I have some concerns about it because of the story but I think I will be able to present it in a way that it works. For now what I care about is that it works for me. I am surprised that there's still so much I want to get off my chest, and that I have found another story which is letting me do that.

It's interesting writing about a girl with braces now that my girls are right in the thick of their orthdontic treament. Watching them go through it has helped a lot, reminding me of a lot of things. There are still these aha-moments all the time when I see one of them act a certain way or do a certain thing and I realize it's because of the braces. And it's weird how sometimes they seem to manage so well (one a lot more than the other, especially now) and then all of a sudden the braces are such a big deal again. I hope that I am able to make it easier for them, but it's such a hard balancing act. These have been hard weeks too, as we decided to start with the headgear. Since we are going to be away in August their orthodontist considered waiting but instead we started her at her last appointment so she can gradually adjust and hopefully be fine with it by the time we leave. It's been tough though. Her sister could handle it better, but she's only getting hers months from now, so for now she's all by herself. Sometimes I wonder if a more Dr.Wrighting-like approach wouldn't be better but their orthodontist isn't quite as strict!