The trouble with writing for living, which is what I am doing increasingly, is that parts of you start to hurt. I have just started work on a new book on contemporary origami artists, while continuing to write art-related articles, prepare and give a handful of lectures. Around all this writing, I have to manage my 5^th grader and his homework and play dates and somehow find the time to squeeze in visits to my chiropractor and massage therapist to remove the hideous knots that are already fossilizing in my neck and shoulders. And then there are my wrists that are already starting to get achy in yoga classes again – and sometimes even my bum gets numb from all the sitting! Occupational hazards, I suppose. After a day of writing it can be hard to sit back down at the computer and start writing another 400-500 words. I have a feeling my blogs may be getting shorter over the next few months.

So, today, in an effort to spare myself writer’s elbow, and writer’s neck, shoulders, wrists and bum, I am keeping this one short and a little bit sweet. When I picked up our son Theo from school, I found him in the library with his friend Harry. This itself made me happy. He’s been in the library a lot after school so far – a good start to 5^th grade or just a cool place to escape the heat? I’ll let myself be positive about it. While I was there, I gave the board game Trouble to our school library for the kids to play after school. I joked with Pati, the library aide (see April 15), that it was because I didn’t want anymore trouble in our home, and I was starting with the game. She was kind enough to laugh, saying, “It’s never that easy!” She took the game and squeezed it onto one of the overcrowded shelves.

At least the Giveaway itself was painless, and if I stop now, the blogging part won’t cause me too much, well, trouble…