I'm going to be an auntie again. Little Sis is pregnant. Here's wishing her and her husband both good luck in giving up their vices. Especially the smoking.

I hope, hope, hope they have a girl. Nephews are all kinds of fun, but I've already got three of those. Since my older sibs are done having kids, I'm counting on her to give me a niece. And between our older sibs' kids and her brother-in-law's kids, she's got five nephews and not a niece in the bunch, so I'm sure she understands.

Bad timing for me (because it's all about me, you know), because the baby will be born just a couple of months before I go away to grad school. Assuming I go to grad school, as I've still got to apply to some, and I still have to take that stupid GRAT exam, which terrifies me, and there's that whole "I really don't want to go to grad school" thing to consider. But if I do, having a new baby in the family will make it doubly hard to move away.

Though I'm actually considering taking a year off before starting on my MS anyway. I'd have to get an actual (*gasp!*) job so I can make loan payments during that time, but a nice, long break from studying would do me good (especially if I spend it writing. And if I happen to finish Modern Brides and find a publisher for it and make a decent amount of money, well, then the whole "To advance my degree or not" question will be settled). Also, my current total loan amount is small enough that if I crack down, I could get it all paid off in a year. Anyway. That's a decision I need to hurry up and make, because it's getting to be crunch time with the application deadlines and such, and I haven't even begun to prepare for those exams.

Le sigh. I should be able to charge my books now (they said to wait two days after turning in the award letter), so maybe I'll go do that this afternoon. Before I do anything else, though, hopefully I can finish PW6 and get it all sent out to my betas. I'm hoping to post that by Friday. Don't want to go more than a week without updating. I think finishing the whole story before school starts is out of the question, though. Here's hoping I can get it done before I have to turn my focus to academic writing.