writer's digest mention

Had fun with A. and J. last night. Went to the Pickle Barrel, wandered around Centerpoint Mall a bit, went back to Allison's. I broke out my Japanese mini-chocolates, and we also had raspberry tea and chocolate biscotti courtesy of some California pals (thanks Taunya, Alisa, Paul & Beckett!).

Hey, Inkspot was highlighted in the Feb. issue of Writer's Digest magazine along with the Library of Congress in their "Website Watch" section. :-) (see page 10)

I can't believe it's the end of January already.

jellybelly!!

A while ago, Phil and Lissa Allcock sent me a Jelly Belly t-shirt and a membership application for the UK Jelly Belly Taste Bud Club. I only got around to mailing it in several months ago, not really expecting to hear anything back (I figured they would figure Canada too Foreign And Far Away to bother with sending me anything).

HOWEVER...I got a letter from Mr. Jelly Belly himself! (at least the letter is signed with a ballpoint pen as "Mr. Jelly Belly", and I can't imagine anyone daring to masquerade as the Great Jelly Bean himself) Welcoming me to "Britain's most exclusive and certainly its most discerning jelly bean club". I'm so excited! I also got a membership card and Taste Bud Club pin!!! I'll take a photo of it with my QuickCam and post it later today for your perusal.

Thanks so much, Phil and Lissa! :-)

Jeff and I are both working all day today. Rewarding ourselves with massages at the King Edward Hotel spa after...a gift from one of Jeff's clients.

p.s. Yes, I know the Hermon Goelitz company has caused me pain in the past, but I've decided that must have been against the wishes of Mr. Jelly Belly. Besides, if I carried a grudge too long, then I would have to boycott Jelly Bellies, and I like them too much to do that. I am so Weak.

theme song

Have you ever had a song in your head and you can't get it out, no matter what you do? Today's theme song for me seems to be Particle Man (from the FLOOD album by They Might Be Giants). "Particle man, particle man / doing the things a particle can / what's he like? / it's not important / Particle man / is he a dot, or is he a speck? / When he's underwater / does he get wet?" My secondary theme song today is Drag The Dog by Sphincter and the Juice Police.

annie faces

Hey, Gary Ehrlich has his own blatherings-like page! :-) Check out his Expoundings.

Had dinner at my sister's last night. Sadly, I've been unable to do my usual weekly
babysitting stint recently because of recent work developments, so it was great seeing
Sara and Annie again. Rushed through dinner (Sara: "Auntie Debbie, you look like you're
finished your dinner...will you come play with me now?"). Played with Sara for a bit, then
Annie (while Jeff played with Sara). Annie's vocab is MUCH easier to understand in person
than over the phone.

My niece Annie has discovered that making grown-ups laugh is fun, by the way. And it's DARNED hard not laughing sometimes when I know I really shouldn't be (e.g. when she's just smeared a handful of icecream in her hair and is looking around to see people's reactions...I can almost HEAR my sister sending "Laugh and I will kill you" vibes at me as we all struggle to keep straight faces). Annie is also experimenting with different facial expressions to see which ones make people laugh. Ruth didn't warn me about this, and I was in hysterics last night, laughing so hard that my stomach hurt. Ruth and Kaarel came into the living room to see what was going on, and found me on the floor gasping for breath while Annie leaned mercilessly over me, contorting her face, obviously revelling in her newfound power.

And she's not even two yet. I think I'm in trouble...

To Joey: Thanks for the good luck wishes, and no, it won't jinx my book. :-) The proposal's been approved (it's non-fiction) and I'm waiting for the contract to be sent to my agent and all the legal signing stuff to be done before Officially Announcing it. Tentative publication date is next spring.
To Joel: "Musicosis"...ha, I like that term. :-) To Annie: thanks for the reassurances about not entirely understanding kid language. And yes, Ruth does the same thing (calling out translations in the background when I'm on the phone with Annie). To Joe Neff: I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO POINT THAT OUT. :D

looking for office space

I'm starting to look into getting outside office space, believe it or not. I love working at home, but it's starting to get a bit claustrophobic...I need more shelf space! It's also possible that I might hire some part-time or full-time local help in the future, who knows? Checked out the York Centre at Yonge and Adelaide...the monthly fee includes a furnished office, access to a boardroom, phone answering and voice mail service, kitchen (the fridge would still call me, I'm sure). I'm also seeing a commercial real estate agent on Thursday. I might end up deciding to stay at home, but I figure it can't hurt to check out possibilities....