It’s been a pretty busy week, here, and that’s kept me away from this blog, although I have added a number of new updates to the Transit Toronto web site. Grandma Rosemarie is visiting, and we’ve all taken this opportunity to renovate the basement some more and repaint Vivian and Nora’s rooms to change them from toddler chic (or, in Nora’s case, nursery chic) to something big girls would enjoy.
We’ve also had to deal with strep throat. A week ago on Friday, Nora got a pretty high fever and clearly had some fierce headaches. The Children’s Advil barely kept up and, by Monday, we’d arranged for Nora to see the doctor. Our doctor didn’t have to look very hard at Nora in order to diagnose strep throat. A swab of Erin’s throat confirmed that she was coming down with it as well, and so the two were prescribed antibiotics.
Nora’s antibiotics come in liquid form, but that doesn’t help much. Nora hates the stuff with a fiery, spewing passion, and it takes a lot of negotiation and cajoling in order to take her dose. Three times a day. More than once, Grandma Rosemarie has had to play heavy, tilting Nora’s head back and holding open her mouth so that we could dump the dose in. Fortunately, after a couple of instances of that, we only had to mention Grandma before Nora took the dose willingly (albeit reluctantly).
In the meantime, Erin’s had a number of pieces of good news to announce. First, Erin finished a draft of her third novel, Children of Peace. This intriguing work of post-apocalyptic fiction should fascinate readers, especially in terms of the world that Erin has built, the protagonist she’s created (Greta Gustafson Stuart, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan-Polar Confederacy) and the concepts she introduces (having a lot to do with AIs). Her story developed very organically, and it was one of those that got away from her partway through, with passages that surprised even her. What had started as a speculative scene written some years ago has morphed into something that has definite sequel possibilities. She’s very excited, as am I.
The other piece of big news is that Erin’s Plain Kate has been nominated for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. This is one of the biggest literary prizes on the Canadian scene, and Erin gets to rub shoulders with Gordon Lightfoot (nominated for his picture book, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, and our friend Valerie Sherrard (nominated for The Glory Wind. The winner will be announced at a gala held in early October, but whoever wins, it is an honour to be nominated.
The best news, of course, is that the antibiotics that Nora so hates are still working. She’s basically back to her old self and much, much happier than she was earlier in the week. So, all things told, it’s been a good end to the week.