I am trying desperately to work on my next book, and I'm finding that with the kids able to climb things, and figure out drawers and doorknobs, dishwashers and dvd players, there just aren't enough hours in the day. I almost wish for the days when they were little blobs that didn't do much! But then, I see their smiley faces and hear them try to speak, and sing, and dance, and I realize that I like them as they are. I just need a way to add a few hours to my day where I'm not too exhausted to write stuff. I have my outline complete for what may be the finale to a trilogy about Hadariah, and I know how I'm starting it, and ending it. Now I just need to fill in all the middle bits. Easy. Right? No. Not at all. I have this going on, and all the festivals and stuff. I also did a really fun interview which can be read here. So things are happening all around, which is very exciting. I just need to learn to function on no sleep, so I will have more time to actually write. Let's just say that caffeine will become my very best friend. (No offense to my humsn friends.)

In other news not related to anything of importance, I have a simple question: Why do children's toys have an adult proof way of assembling them? I recently bought our kids a castle for the backyard. Three adults, and three days later, the darn thing was still in pieces all over the deck! I was ready to tear my hair out in frustration. The instruction manual had pictograms illustrating how the pieces should fit together, but really, a man doing chinups on a plastic wall is not a very helpful representation of assembling something. Luckily, my sister had purchased the exact same thing for my nieces. She was very helpful in coming over to work on ours. To my eternal embarassment, it took less than ten minutes with her help to get ours in working order. Thank you Jodi. You are appreciated very much.

The Holmes in the title is not Sherlock, even though he's awesome. (Seriously, if you haven't watched the BBC series Sherlock, DO IT!)

I've been slow to update here. Sorry about that. Anyways, Brian has abandoned me to go to Winnipeg in order to start auditions for Angelwalk's upcoming show. I will tell you what it is when I'm allowed. He's doing a coproduction with a company there. Very exciting stuff.

I have an outline done for the next book of the series, and The Dybbuk's Mirror is almost ready for publication. I am both nervous and excited for people to read it! So far, the rest of my time has been taken up by my kids (who have started their very first gym class.), planning for the festivals and appearances I have lined up for this summer, and learning my Tzeitel lines for the production of Fiddler on the Roof that I'm in. I am also working on an article for The Toronto Parents of Multiple Births' monthly news letter about my kids. When that's done, I'll post it here as well.

On a totally unrelated matter, I have learned that just when life is calm, something always happens to make it stressful again. Just as Brian and I have finally finished turning the basement area into an awesome play room for the kids, Brian mentioned that whenever it rains, he can smell it in his office. This has been mentioned before, and we have looked at getting the doors to our walkout replaced. Now that the kids will be spending a significant amount of time down there, I went about it in earnest. We found someone to do it, and he came by to look it over one more time. Listening to him speak about our door made me feel so nervous. Apparently, they are not insulated. The fibreglass frame is right up against the brick. The lintel is not draining and is rusting. The wood under the door is rotten. Where is Mike Holmes when I need him! Although, if he did show up, I shudder to think what he would find. Needless to say, we're getting new doors asap. Ugh. Oh, I almost forgot, as he was leaving, he pointed out that our front doors are fibreglass and painted with the wrong paint, so are peeling horribly.

Now to make myself feel better, I shall show you how to take triplets to the park without loading up an obscene amount of bags and strollers...

So, it's official! I am a vendor at The Pirate Festival! I am going to be dressed as a princess (who has a sword. Natch.) and my friend An will be a wench and help me sell books! So excited! I am totally doing a happy dance in my seat right now. I'd show you guys, but then I would have to hide in embarassment.

In other news, last night was the official opening of The Toronto Fringe Festival. Brian and I went and ended up standing with Denis and his crew for the show he worked on Mum and the Big C. I was delegated to be the bag watcher for the poster sprint. Basically what happens is this: Everyone with a show stands around holding tape covered posters of said show, and they wait through all the opening speeches until a bell rings, and then they all sprint in a crazy costume-filled crowd to the tents, walls, and dumpsters that line artist alley and the beer tent. Everyone then fights for space to put up the tape covered posters they were holding. It is complete artsy chaos. I was the bag watcher because I was told I would be best at it. I believe it was because I am the shortest of the bunch, can't reach over people to put up posters and have little legs and can't run very fast. Eh. I don't let it get me down. It enabled me to get pictures of the sprint and postering. See below.

Afterwards, we went for dinner, and saw three shows: Antigone (a Greek tragedy), Mum and the Big C (a comedy), and well, The Princess of P*rn (a musical). (I try to keep this blog family friendly.) Hearing of all of Denis's hard work, it was awesome to see how it all paid off for him. The show was hilarious, full of heart, and the entire cast rose to the occaision. It was great to see how well it all came together.

I love the Fringe. It really has something for everyone, and I look forward to seeing what else it offers.