…”DO NOT TAKE UNTIL POWDER IS COMPLETELY DISSOLVED.”

This is what the side of my Arm & Hammer Baking Soda box says.  How do I know this?  Well, one of the lovely surprises that my advancing pregnancy has brought me is some raging heartburn.  Man, I thought I was in the clear, having reached my seventh month eating all kinds of spicy numminess with seemingly no consequences.  Now, we’re in the world of long, burning burps.  Oh, my!

I have a friend whose favorite thing to do — his words, not mine — is to eat as much as he possibly can, then go straight to bed, no passing “Go.”  So this is his realm.  He understands the world of heartburn.  He recommended making what he calls a “baking soda shot.”  Dissolve a little in some water, down it, burp twice, and you’re good.

Fortunately, the box has more specific instructions.  I’m just a little concerned about the “serious injury” part.  It sounds volatile, explosive almost.  Should I be worried?  Maybe my stomach will pop.  Or my husband will get blown out of bed.  That might be worth the look on his face.  <g>

Apart from heartburn, I’ve had a really lovely day.  I’ve basically ignored a pending work assignment in favor of writing.  Yesterday, I had such a hard time with the book.  It was like trying to catch a shaved, greased guinea pig in the bathtub with the lights off.  Only worse.  I decided to give up and try to work it out longhand instead of persisting in pushing out constipated, wooden words.  It helped.  It gave me an inkling of what I needed to pursue.

Then today, I headed over to Starbucks, music list at the ready, headphones clamped firmly over ears, determined not to leave until I figured out what the *&^@ing problem was.  3,800 words it took me.  But I’ve got it figured out.  I’ve got my compass reset.  My needle is pointing north again.  I feel absolutely triumphant!  I was afraid I was trapped in the NaNoWriMo Triangle, doomed to sail featureless seas of unproductive, unexciting prose.  Now I spy sunlight on the horizon, at the edge of the storm.  My sails are trimmed, the wind is picking up….whee!

Can you tell I had a good writing day today?  Yay!