General update

Between the intensive research required for the articles for this issue and my health issues kicking up their nasty little heels, the release of issue #11 has been delayed but by no means cancelled. I just took the file to the printers this morning. They were able to let me check the proofs a couple of hours later. So the job is good to go; but because of the holiday (Monday is America's Memorial Day), I won't be able to bring the new issue home until Tuesday.

I'm glad to say that I already have some articles ready for issue #12, as well as some writers who have expressed an interest in working with SHM. I want to ensure that unless I actually lose a limb, this kind of delay doesn't happen again.

On a personal note, I wish I could describe the frustration I felt on Monday night. We were all working so hard to pull the last pieces together: my husband was typesetting everything he could get his hands on, my son was illustrating the Home Scholars section, and I needed to write an updated version of an article about Sweden as well as an editorial explaining the reason for the delay. And then the pain hit, and instead of being a productive human being with things to do, I got to writhe around making sounds about which it didn't occur to me until much later (just now, in fact) to wonder what the neighbors thought.

So far as seeking treatment goes: I've been fortunate enough to get some answers to specific questions I had from people dealing with much the same sort of issues. Railing against the bastards who apparently put air quotes around most of the Hippocratic oath when they recited it ("First, do 'no' harm") is necessary work, but formulating a battle strategy is also important. I now have one that seems workable to me; and now that this issue of the magazine is done and the next started, I can start forging ahead.

Speaking of issues: #11 will have one consistent typo, for which I apologize. I did the final proofreading on the computer, rather than red-inking printouts and giving the corrections to my husband, as is our wont. It was late by the time I was able to sit down to the job. My husband needed to get up early and has had a very stressful workweek. Most of the corrections I needed to make were ordinary and simple; one was beyond my meager abilities. In the article about the Pearls, I used the initials TTUAC often in lieu of typing out the whole title To Train Up A Child. Occasionally, the computer put a line break in the middle of one of these sets of initials. That should have been fixed so that the entire acronym stayed together cleanly, rather than being divided up with a dash. However, I don't know how to go about doing that, and didn't want to wake up my husband. So issue #11 has a rather silly flaw. Explaining it doesn't make it any easier on the eyes; I just didn't want you to think I thought this was okay.

I think that's it for now.