Searching for adverbs on a sunny day

Jacob had his first ride in the convertible with the top down today. When I put it down, he said, "Oh! My! Gosh! I didn't know your car did that, Juju!" And when I had to maneuver his suitcase between the car door and a tree (I hadn't been smart about where in the driveway I stopped), he said, "You can do it, because you're so strong!" Then, this child who's always telling me I'm old, looked at me with new respect and said, "You're not old, Juju!" There, that's the whole reason I bought the car (well maybe not entirely)--I didn't want to be a stodgy old grandmother.
Aside from that trip to meet his mom and an outing to the Botanic Garden late this afternoon, I spent the day inside, at the computer, searching for adverbs. Turquoise Morning Press sends out a most helpful style guide, with a self editing section on things to do a gobal search for: "ly," "ing," "had," "to be," (I didn't have many of those), and "was." Folks, if you don't think that is mind-numbing work, you don't realize how many times we all fall into those traps. Sometimes it's a challenge to find, for instance,  you've used an unnecessary adverb and then figure out how to write around it. But the biggest surprise to me was to search for exclamation points. I know you shouldn't use them, I've removed them by the thousands from other people's works, and yet I can't even begin to estimate how many times I found them in my own manuscript. This is not a one-day job--more like a week or two, but I'm plugging away at it and keeping the Food Network on while I do it.
One of my most favorite blogs is "Mystery Lovers Kitchen" where several mystery authors share recipes. Sure, they promote their books along the way--fair practice--but I've gotten some wonderful recipes from them, especially a beef company casserole from Riley Adams. But tonight I fixed myself creamed spinach--thank you, July Hyzy. The neat thing about this fairly simple recipe is that you don't have to use cream--I used chicken broth and white wine. Meant to add a dollop of sour cream, but it was out of date so I poured in a bit of 2% milk. You saute the spinach with garlic in olive oil, remove, and make a roux of butter and flour. Then add liquid, stir until smooth and the right consistency, and put the spinach back in the pan. With it I had a loin lamb chop, seasoned only with salt and pepper, grilled medium rare (more rare than medium). It was so good, since no one was watching, I gnawed on the bone. Right now, spaghetti sauce is simmering on the stove, and my house smells lovely.

Family on my mind

My lovely daughter Megan emailed me today, forwarding a message from her legal assistant that thanked her for always being so lovely to work with. Megan said she told her all the lovely parts of her personality came from her mom. What a great thing for one of my grown children to say! Of course I told her she was lovely--and a flirt--at such a young age that I can't claim responsbility. But I'm glad she feels that way. I love you, Megan!
Kevin and Jenny have been on my mind today. He left on a noon flight for Fort Benning and then on to Afghanistan, and I keep thinking this is the beginning of what will be a very long year for them--and they're only hours into it. He's off to an adventure, however reluctantly, in a world that he understands--I was amazed last night listening to him explain what his life will be like over there. But Jenny is left to wait, and I ache for her. Fortunately she has wonderful family support.
Christian had a birthday today while in Florida. I won't say which one because I think he's getting a tad touchy about it. But I hope it was a happy day--they'll be home tomorrow night, and I'll be glad to have them back in town.
And I've thought about my brother and Cindy picking me up for dinner and how nice it is to be so close to them and so comfortable with them--there were years when we weren't that close, and I'm enjoying what age has brought us. Nothing beats family, and I am blessed.
Hot today. A friend posted the heat index on Facebook--something like 107--and I responded that I prefer to ignore the heat index and just look at the temperature, which is bad enough. I long for the days before anyone knew anything about a heat index. Scooby knows it's hot and has been lounging on his bed all afternoon--when I asked a bit ago if he wanted to go out, he looked at me with one eye like, "Surely you jest." I will have to force the issue soon.
Vacation day: I had lunch with Fred, my mentor, and we talked about  my novel. I fully intended to come home and jump into it, but I'm in the midst of reading a mystery, Indigo Dying by Susan Wittig Albert, and decided I'd allow myself the luxury of finishing that first. I need to get my head out of one fictional world before trying to concentrate on another. But I can feel ideas bouncing around in my subconscious. Things I've read lately on the Guppies (Going to be Published) listserv are there too--specifically about microtension in scenes, whether or not you use adverbs (usually a no-no but British writers use them frequently), and how to tag dialog--if you repeatedly use "said" it gets boring but if you get too carried away-'"exhorted, mandated, commanded, etc."--it distracts the reader. I think I'll go by instinct.