I’m going to open this week’s post with the same lament I’ve been lamenting for the last several weeks: work is crazy busy, which is cutting into my blogging time. Specifically, a colleague and I are editing a book, and the manuscript is due on October 31, which therefore will be the most terrifying Halloween of my life. I’m at the wake-up-at-4-AM stage of book deadline panic, so this post will be short. I do have some news to share, though, besides the aforementioned book. Before I get to that: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it. Write with me! I’m hosting a weekly write-in, sponsored by Lawson Writer’s Academy. We meet every Saturday from 7-8 AM Arizona time (GMT-7, currently the same as Pacific Daylight), with the Zoom room open at 6:30 in case anyone is sufficiently caffeinated to want to chat before getting down to business. How to join Go to margielawson.com and sign up for an account. It’s free, and all you need is an email and a password. Go to https://www.margielawson.com/product/lwa-write-ins/ Click Add to Cart Click either View Cart or Go to Checkout Click Place Order You’ll get the Zoom links for all LWA write-ins, including mine, on the next screen and in your email. You can also access the classroom forums to chat with other writers. I don’t get any kind of compensation for either referring you to LWA or hosting the write-ins. I just really like the community of LWA writers and the classes, and I’m hoping a commitment to dragging my ass out of bed at o’dark thirty every Saturday will result in me actually getting some writing done. What’s a write-in and why should I join one? Haven’t been to a write-in? You’re missing out! A write-in is exactly what it sounds like–a bunch of people gather in a room (in person or virtually) and write together. Why not write by yourself? Well, we all do that, but a write-in serves a couple of purposes. First, it can create some motivation and accountability to actually get your butt in the chair and hands on the pen or keyboard. It’s protected writing time, right there on your calendar. Second and more important (for me at least), it provides a sense of community. Writing can be a lonely business. Other writers can provide support, encouragement, and empathy. No matter what kind of writing you do–fiction, nonfiction, blogging, ransom notes–come join us. Let’s talk about… the weather! No, I’m not desperate to fill space in this post. It’s finally weather-bragging season down here in Satan’s Anus, otherwise known as The Reason We Live Here. What? You thought a few million people endure 4+ months of temperatures roughly equivalent to the surface of Venus because we *like* it? Get real. We live here because from October through April, it’s (mostly) glorious. We’ve had daytime temps in the mid-upper 80s and nights in the low 60s, and this weekend we’re dropping into the 70s during the day and–gasp!–it’s supposed to get below 60 Sunday night (for the first time since maybe early April). While y’all in the Northeast and Midwest are shoveling snow all winter, I’ll be sitting on my porch in a t-shirt and flip flops. Believe me when I say, I’ve earned it. Early fall in Tucson I haven’t traveled anywhere since my trip to the piney woods last month, but now that it’s cool enough to avoid spontaneous combustion, Long-Suffering Husband and I have ventured out to explore our adopted city. Tucson Mountain Park After 4 months of being mostly trapped inside by the heat till after dark, I’ve been itching to get out in nature, so a couple of weeks ago I took a short solo hike in Tucson Mountain Park. I took that last picture while perched on a rock on the side of a hill, just looking and listening and… being. I should do that more often. Historic Pima County Courthouse Almost since we moved here, we’ve been saying (OK, *I’ve* been saying) we should explore downtown Tucson. We finally did. First stop: the historic Pima County Courthouse, built in 1929 and now home to a museum and other tourist attractions (learn more here). A couple was having their wedding pictures taken in the courtyard. Lovely setting for it. The big metal ring near the top of the cactus is attached to a pole sunk in the ground: Chained up in front of the courthouse… what did this poor cactus do to deserve such a fate? Or did they chain it up because they think it will try to escape? Now I’m picturing a sentient saguaro rampaging through Tucson. Sentient Saguaro is now my band name. Send help. Seriously, I assume it started to blow over and is being staked in place, but I’m still enjoying the mental picture of it being apprehended and chained in place after a Godzilla-style rampage. Gotta admire the cop brave enough to cuff a cactus. OK, moving on to more ridiculousness… The memery Yup, explains a lot. Fun fact: I have a 233-day streak on Duolingo. I brayed with laughter when I first saw that one. Yes! The syrup soaks into the boxes, and then I pour on more syrup. I have no idea why my A1C level last year flagged me as pre-diabetic. A couple of months ago, I shared a meme that showed a squirrel terrifying the neighborhood with a Halloween prop stuck on its head (it’s in this post). This one’s even better: You don’t know how much I want to do that. Sticking with the Halloween theme: This one’s for my husband, who’s had a huge crush on Lynda Carter for as long as I’ve known him: Remember a few weeks ago when I shared a meme about why it’s good we aren’t naming a bunch of dinosaurs now, because they’d end up named things like Heckin Chonkosaurus? Apparently it’s also a good thing we aren’t naming sea creatures: Speaking of large, cold-blooded creatures: You don’t know how much I want to take a pet alligator to a park and walk it around on a leash. I haven’t lived that particular dream, though, for 2 reasons: I’d need a Hefty bag to clean up its poo I don’t have an alligator. Speaking of reptiles: I wish my local 7-11 was frequented by lizards instead of some of the people who hang out there. Speaking of dangerous creatures: Speaking of cats: Used to have cats. Can confirm. And finally: If my grandmother exists in the Great Beyond, she’s too busy chain-smoking and drinking highballs to be worried about whether or not I’m eating. And on that dysfunctional note, I’m outta here. If you need me, I’ll be frantically editing book chapters and trying to invent a time machine in order to extend our manuscript submission deadline. How about you? What excitement and/or terror is happening in your life?