once upon a sunday

Well, here we are, May already. Happy Beltane! Slightly belated, as the holiday was yesterday, but ah well. Yay for spring and fertility and the coming of summer!
Big news that I somehow completely forgot to mention last time I wrote here: My promotion FINALLY happened on April 27. Hurray! Only three and a half years later, I'm no longer an assistant! I'm glad to have it happen, at long last. No more offsets for me; just domestics from now on. Thank goodness!
Three more books for you. 20) Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. This is a retelling of two fairy tales in combination, set in Transylvania. I loved it! Great, strong-willed characters who don't back down from their responsibilities or their mistakes. Multiple challenges for the heroine(s) to overcome. And beautiful writing. Definitely a keeper, and definitely recommended to anybody who reads. 21) The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy. Interesting collection of poetry from the perspective of big-name wives throughout history/mythology. Mrs. Midas, Mrs. Tieresias, etc. plus a few other strong women such as Medusa. If you dig poetry, check this one out. It's a keeper for me. 22) The Music of Razors by Cameron Rogers. This is a hard book to explain, and a hard book to read. It's about a girl named Hope whose life is kind of awful. A mysterious man named Henry is trying to recruit her for a mission involving something called the Third Option (as compared to Heaven or Hell), and her comatose brother, Walter, is trying to protect her from Henry. I was really into reading this at first, even though it's emotionally rough. It got great blurbs from big novelists. But . . . there's no redemption at any point for any of the characters. Things just keep being hard, and they keep making mistakes, and the end is not really a finishing. It's an ending, but not a conclusion, if that makes sense. Anway. I struggle with books like that, so for me, this isn't a keeper, but if you don't mind the lack of redemption, then you should check this one out.
Anyway, I'm still struggling with getting through all the freelancing on my plate, although I did get through a good chunk already today. It's a slow process to achieve balance, but I think as long as I hold the goal in my mind I can achieve it. I am getting back on top of my life, slowly but surely. My checkbook is finally up to speed, I've managed to keep the house tidy, I did some good brainstorming on the next short story I'll be writing. I've been getting better about exercising. The rest of today involves a run, another chapter of freelancing, and some writing on my superhero book. And then having dinner outside, perhaps with some bubbly. Oh, and did I mention it's gorgeous out?
Happy weekend, everyone!