Last Post of 2007

I gotta say I hope 2008 is way better than 2007.
That's not to say 2007 didn't have its highlights and good things, but for the most part we spent the year battling Murphy and his stupid laws. We did mark milestones in our children's lives, which are good, but sad at the same time. They're growing up and while I look forward to what the future holds for them, I miss their baby faces.
I don't make resolutions, only writing related goals. And I haven't gotten that far yet. I am thinking about it. I know January will be spent getting organized, taking care of a few projects that need different things, and figuring things out.
I do have to say even though the past few weeks have been a blast, and a blur, I'm ready to get back to normal life around here. The kids go back to school Wednesday, but I'm sure it'll take us until next week to catch and rest up. First we have to do the new year thing, which is at my sisters and will include much obnoxiousness and hilarity.
My wish is that dreams come true this year. For me and for you.
Behave!
(remember, it's usually not worth it in the harsh, loud light of the morning after) (ha ha) (no, seriously.) :)

Weirdness

This is the kind of stuff that happens in my house.

We haven't been home for more than a few minutes at a time since the day after Christmas, and yet, the kids still find time to do things like that. This one was engineered by K2 - pine needles on the dusty end table.

The pre-new year party was a blast. Lots of hilarity, hugging, and game playing. My cousin and her fiance fit right in with the family, and raised the level of nonsense another notch in the best way possible. We're home with an extra for showers before meeting for dinner. (We have less than two hours until we have to leave and only 2 out of 7 showers have been taken. Think we'll make it? Ha! Oh and the hot water heater isn't keeping up anymore, which stinks because it's only 2 years old.) Then tomorrow is more running around as its our last day with them. Then the real new year. I'm tired.

I'm not going to post what I'm looking forward to in 2008 yet. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe Monday. Depending.

Behave!

Year in Review

January:
Not much happened in January. According to my January blog posts, it was cold and kind of boring around here.
February:
That's when the "great bedroom rearrange of 2007" started. We went to the cabin with my sister and brother-in-law and peed in an unheated outhouse. We had some snow, but that's about it for the month.
March:
The bedroom rearrange finally came to an end. Yay. The My Space paged shared by me and Vicky B. launched. K1 ended up with stitches, a head xray, and lots of brush burns.
April:
The blogging of the alphabet. A surprise birthday party for me.
May:
Tattoo's. My uncle visiting from California. Camping. Pirates. Finally the beginning of warm weather. K1 turning 18. Writing retreat.
June:
The 18th birthday party. The death of K2's rat, Spanky (she's bugging for another one now). A too-busy summer beginning. Lot's of randomness.
July:
More too-busy summer. Harry Potter. Random pictures. Extended camping bliss.
August:
Blog-iversary. The start of school. Excessive heat. Nightmares. Lots of random.
September:
"Talk like a pirate day". Lots of random, including pictures. A contest.
October:
Halloween. CPRW promo event. Lots of Murphy's Law content. Parades. Gross pictures.
November:
Thanksgiving. Roller Skating. The end of yet another play. More random posts and pictures.
December:
"The Shape of Love" announcement. Whoot!! CPRW holiday party. Holiday stress. Snow. Ice storms. Holiday wishes. My cousins visit. New drivers.
Seems to me I post more random information than I do anything else. And, of course, I don't tell you guys everything...a girls got to have some mystery to her, right? Through all the above mentions, there was consistently talk of Supernatural (which I miss terribly and can't wait to see next week's new episode).
And the writing: I've written approximately 288,000 words so far this year. That's the anthology story, 3 complete projects, the beginning of a fourth, and a lot of editing.
Tomorrow we'll talk about what I'm looking forward to in 2008.
Until then, we're having a pre-new year's eve celebration this evening and I have much to do to prepare for it. The trip to the airport went well. We did get lost leaving the airport, but in the end it worked out because I ended up back on the right highway without having to go through the mess of switching routes to get there.
Behave!

Watch Out!

There's a new driver on the road!!
K2 passed her permit test.
Seriously, I have no worries about her driving. I just don't want to be the one doing the initial instruction, though I will probably let her drive to my mom's tomorrow since it's a short trip on wide roads. After K1, I'm not sure I'm cut out to teach anyone to drive and he seemed to know exactly what he was doing from the first time he got behind the wheel. (K2 is the same way.) It's me and I freely admit that. B's a much better teacher. After all, he taught me, my sisters, and K1. He's got the patience and the laid back disposition for not freaking out while someone I nurtured inside my body, held when they cried, and kissed boo-boo's for maneuvers a mass of steel and glass towards other masses of steel and glass. And no, I'm handling this next step in my children's lives just fine. Why do you ask?
Tomorrow's busy so I doubt I'll get a chance to post on here. I'm leaving with my mom, sister, and niece in the morning to make the drive to the airport to pick up my cousin. From there, we'll hang out at the folks until who knows when.
That's all for now.
Behave!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I hope you and yours had a happy, peaceful day (even if you don't celebrate).

Here at the homestead, we had a happy and semi-peaceful day. The morning started off a little earlier than B and I would have liked. We did get a little nap time in, but B has a cold so he could have used the entire day to sleep. Family started showing up early evening for K4's birthday shindig and by the time we ate, 18 people were somehow crammed into my house.

The house is a mess, but we're only missing one small toy that I'm certain will show up in K4's bedroom. She had a blast on her birthday and loved the scavenger hunt for her new bicycle (except for the clue that read: Go to the place where we flush down the poo. There you will find clue number 2). Anyway. It was a good day and I'm totally exhausted.

Hope your exhaustion is a happy one as well.

And just in case Santa's already watching for next year...

Behave!

Christmas Eve

Wow. That is one bad picture of our tree. I didn't realize how dark it was until it came up on here. The lighting is awful. I'll take one tonight with the rest of the lights out and see if I can get it up here tomorrow.

Anyway. We're ready here. Finally. Spent the morning running around like a crazy woman. Even went on a super quick grocery store run, which was horrible. It took me longer to fight traffic, find a place to park, and then walk into the grocery store from the middle of nowhere than it did to actually pick up the very few items I needed. When I came out and got in my truck, I was parked in by two idiots who must believe Suburbans have hovercraft capabilities. It was a lot of crap to deal with for trash bags and horseradish.

The food is done. Birthday cakes are cooling to be shaped into an "8". Crab dip is made and tomorrow's spaghetti sauce is simmering. I'm even mostly dressed - just need to change out of my piggy slippers and put a better face on.

I hope your evening is a nice one. We'll be hanging with the family at my folks house, sans B's mom who is sick in bed with what will probably turn out to be bronchitis, and sans Jo who has to work tonight and is currently napping on my couch.

Behave!

Santa is watching you!

Christmas Eve Eve

More wicked weather here. The wind is making me fear for my Internet connection once again. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
The past few days have been a whirlwind. I have several subjects I'd like to blog about, but they'll have to wait until the new year. The permit exam has been postponed to Wednesday, so the total day off I thought I'd have isn't going to happen now. Thursday, my mom, sister, and I will be driving to Baltimore to pick up my cousin. She's in from California and we can't wait to see her. The last time we saw her, she was 8 or so. That was 14 years ago. We communicate via email and already know we're going to get along very well, so anticipation is high. The days between Christmas and New Year's are going to be packed full of family obligations and good times.
Tomorrow is the remainder of the cleaning I should have gotten done last week, but didn't. I'm down to very little to do though, which is good. Birthday cake and Christmas eve food making, possibly a dreaded run to the grocery store, and then Christmas eve at my parents house with the family. K4 has chosen spaghetti for her birthday dinner, and I'd like to get the sauce going sometime tomorrow as well so I have less to do on the big day.
Today was full with a fun brunch, then a visit to B's dad. B's sister took K4 shopping for her Christmas outfit - a tradition they both look forward to - and we brought our teenage niece and nephew here to hang out with the kids. It was insane with much laughter and goofiness. They had a blast. We don't often see them, which is a shame since we all get along so well, but their schedule is very similar to ours and they live about an hour away.
That is all the rambling I have for now. Well, not really, but it's enough don't you think?
Behave!

I'm Back!

Finally!
The phone company got to us first thing this morning, which was excellent. I didn't have to wait all day, and still finished the odds & ends on the list for today. Our cable was hooked up last night. The cable guys scared the heck out of me, or maybe I scared them because I thought the squirrels were digging in the trash can again, so I went out the back door hollering for the squirrels to get out of the trash. Oops. In my defense, it was late and I didn't expect them to be in the back yard. The cable is still laying in the yard, which is fine. They hooked us back up last night, but it was too dark to try to run the cable. They stopped by this afternoon and asked if I minded that they not get it strung back up until after they've finished getting everyone back in service. Of course I didn't. The cable's not bothering me at all. I've got my email back. That's all that matters to me!
Let's see...
We're ready around here. I think. I hope. The shopping's done, including the grocery run. All the gifts are wrapped and stowed away - well, except for the birthday wrapping. I'll get to that when I find the birthday paper I bought and stuck away somewhere. I don't think I ever mentioned that we got our tree up and decorated on Sunday. I might get time to post a picture on here sometime over the weekend. I have another funny picture to post as well, but I'll get to that eventually.
K2's glasses are in. We're going back for the permit in the morning.
Behave!

No Internet

That tree in the last photo took out my phone, Internet, and cable...
We're (still) waiting for them to be restored.
Now you know where I've been, and where I'll continue to be until everything is fixed.
Remember when I said how much not having Internet annoys me? Yeah.
Soon. I hope.
Behave!

My Backyard...

This is only a portion of the mess that is my backyard.

We did get some more winter weather - not exactly what they were calling for, (or what I was hoping for) but things got a little messy yesterday. Obviously.

The branch in the photo took out my cable, and has my phone line stretched to the limit. Surprisingly, our phones and Internet still work. For now. To the left of this, a different branch took out a section of fence, and the yard is littered with sticks of all sizes. After it was done icing, the wind kicked up, shooting the ice from the tress like missiles. We're under a "wind advisory" until this afternoon. Most of our town is without power. Luckily, we're on a different power grid so we kept our lights, but the high school and elementary school have none. The kids are off today because of that.

Kind of obvious as to what B and I will be doing when he gets home from work.

And, I have to say how far behind I am. There's still shopping to do (including birthday shopping for K4), all the wrapping, and a few more social events to prepare food for and attend. But I'm pretty much home all day today, which both pleases and stresses me out. I'll probably get some bonus writing done.

Our tree is up and decorated. Pictures of that sometime this week.

Oh, and K2 and her permit test? She didn't make it past the eye exam. What a terrible morning. We went from there to get her an eye exam and glasses. Hopefully, her glasses will be in before Saturday so she can try again.

That's all for now...

Behave!

Friday! Finally...

I didn't think we were ever going to get here.
Make sure you click on the You Tube video below. Well, unless you're not a fan of Supernatural and I don't want to know that.
As you can see from the word meter, I did make a little bit of progress yesterday. The kids kept themselves busy with the camcorder, making movies that included ketchup on my kitchen floor, dolls without arms, and lots of laughing. Don't ask - it's better that way. Though I have to say their films were amusing.
We realized sometime this afternoon that we didn't have anything on the calendar for tonight, so we're hanging at home and relaxing. Imagine that. Tomorrow is a different story, however, the day will start with us getting the tree, and end when we're forced to head home when the supposed snow starts sometime tomorrow night. Yeah, we're due for some more winter weather.We'll see. B is convinced we're only getting rain again. As for me, I'd love a good storm.
K2 is going for her permit test tomorrow.
Now you know...
Behave!

12 Day of Winchester Christmas

>Enjoy!

Stuck

We're getting some winter weather here.
Looks like just rain to me but, everything is cancelled. I do see ice on my truck, and K2 insists the rain is "chunky", but whatever. We're stuck at home, and my previous plans for the day are done for. I am loving the new alert system our school district put in place. You can customize how you're alerted for pretty much any situation the school might need to contact you. Though after getting two phone calls that said school was cancelled, I think I need to go back in and tweak my preferences. Anyway, the system is pretty darned cool.
My poor doggy won't be getting her trim today. Our groomer lives in the next county and even though it's a short drive, it's a short drive up the mountain. And I won't be getting any Christmas shopping done today. But I might get some writing done, which is unexpected and awesome.
I've been really hard on myself for not having the time to write lately. We're booked back to back with enough obligations that really make me wish for that cloning machine. (and it's not going to end until after New Year's.) Anyway. It's always been my plan to take the weeks surrounding the holidays off.
I don't know why I have such a hard time doing it though. I'm in a good spot to take a little vacation - the anthology work is nearly done (waiting on cover art), I have other stuff out there, and I've met the yearly goal I set for my writer's group. I've written over 280k words so far this year, which is a pretty good number.
I want to be writing. And, after all, I should be able to do everything and do it well too. Right? Ha! Don't answer that. I'm well aware I have some kind of superwoman syndrome. Anyone who knows me well knows that.
I will be writing today. I'm not foolish enough to let the chance pass by. Maybe this crappy weather day is a gift?
That's all.
Behave!

More Gnomes...

He's so little and cute.

I think this one is going to stay on my desk. B says he's carrying a jar of pickles, and even though I'm pretty sure that's a plant, I'm calling it pickles now, too. In the other hand, he's got a bucket of water. I figure that's so it can be dumped on me when I totally lose it. Ha!

Now if I could only get my gargoyle fixed. I need some glue and I keep forgetting to grab some when I go to the store. With my luck, I'll glue my fingers to the darned thing, but as long as I can get him fixed I'd be okay with that.

Elementary Holiday concert this evening. K3 is singing and playing his trumpet. I'm looking forward to hearing him.

Behave!

A Little Shopping

I know I told you about our traditional shopping night last year. You know, the shopping trip where most of the women in my extended family head out together for presents and hilarity?
Well, last night was that night.
I have to say, it was one of the best shopping nights we've had in a while. We were missing a few of the ladies, and we were a little lamer time-wise than last year, but by the time I got home my face hurt from all the laughing. Dinner was excellent, as was the company. And the silliness. Besides ordering something for one of the K's Thursday evening, this was my first attempt at Christmas shopping. I did okay - better than expected, but I still have a long way to go. Shopping night is more of a social event, though bags are loaded into my Suburban at an alarming rate.
K1 wanted to come along. We told him we have a strict "no dangly parts" rule about shopping night. I think he was offended by our rule, though he did call me around midnight to see how it was going.
Hopefully the few camera-phone pictures taken during the insanity will be downloaded and transferred soon so I can share them. Just think cranberry wreaths and wet floor signs.
That is all for now...
Behave!

Snow Delay Giggles...

So we ended up with a 2-hour delay. Not too bad, especially considering I got to sleep in a little. (and that was very lovely) The younger two got themselves up and dressed, so we were without the usual drudgery of getting them out of bed and moving. A good thing. And the delay doesn't effect my plans for today, which is awesome.
Except everyone has the giggles and the dog is barking because of their excitement. There's a strong chance the blueberry muffins that are supposed to be for breakfast will soon be used as flying objects. (or there was - I have taken care of that one)
Still no decorating done here. We're talking about it, but that's as far as we get considering the weight of our schedule. Maybe this weekend. Maybe. The calendar's pretty darn full already.
That's all for now. It's time to take the crowd to school and relocate my hearing and sanity!
Behave!

Snow!

We actually have some white stuff!
I love the snow. Especially when I'm home and have no place to go.
K2 called me in between schools to announce it was coming down. I had no idea. The roads aren't too bad. Or they weren't when I was out before school ended for the day. Who knows what it will be like later. The snow is still falling. I think there's maybe 2" out there right now. We have plans for dinner that don't require us traveling too far. Not that the weather would stop us.
The kids are insisting school will be closed tomorrow, or at least a delay. I have no comment on that, except that I hope not. I have all day plans tomorrow and them being home will prevent them, which would make me very, very sad.
Not much else to report at the moment.
Behave!

Thoughts on Tuesday

You would think with all the stuff going on around here that I would have more to talk about.
Well, I don't have much at all to say.
Since Saturday I've been to two holiday parties. (I really think calories consumed while talking and laughing with friends shouldn't count. I believe I've mentioned that before.) By Saturday evening, I will have attended an additional four events with lovely food. Not all are holiday related, but the food is extremely similar. I should probably stop eating in between these gatherings so I'll still be able to fit into my jeans. Ha!
I saw the weirdest thing today. And no camera. Dang it. I'll try to explain, but be warned the translation will be lost. Probably. Okay. First off, it's very windy here. Cutting, cold wind. I don't know if it has any bearing on what I'm going to tell you. Anyway. I was driving on one of the main roads near here and off to the left there are homes with decent sized front yards and no fences to separate. In one of those yards, just one, there were hundreds of birds. The space was probably 15x30' and I kid you not, there wasn't more than six inches between the smallish black birds. (I don't know what kind) Just in that one yard. It was bizarre. (and I know you're shaking your head going...whatever...I don't get it.)
Snow is forecast for tomorrow. Yeah. Okay. I don't think the weathermen understand that after Sunday's disappointment, none of us are listening anymore. When the forecast says 100% chance of ice and nothing happens...Whatever. Though the kids are supercharged. No. Really. They're laughing and carrying on to an annoying level, but I don't have to heart to shut down their fun. Yet. Soon I'll have to or go crazy...
That's all...
Behave!

No Weather!

Dang it!
A little bit of rain - some chunky - but no big winter storm like the weatherman originally predicted. I have to admit, I'm bummed, though that'll get me smacked by a lot of people. I was really looking forward to hunkering down and watching everything ice over.
The decorating didn't happen. I'm not really sure why, but most likely due to a lack of motivation and a few things that cropped up unexpectedly. We'll get there.
I had a brilliant idea for a post during the night last night. I'm not sure what happened to it, but apparently it got lost somewhere in my brain.
That's all I have for right now.
Behave!

Author Trio

There you have it!

The three authors responsible for the upcoming anthology, "The Shape of Love" coming soon from Draumr Publishing.

Vicky Burkholder is on your left, Misty Simon in the middle, and yours truly on the end. Yes, I know I'm not sporting a smile as big as the others. Actually, my expression is more of a smirk. No, I can't tell you why.

Today was our writer's group Holiday party. We always have a good time - talking, eating, laughing, eating, more laughing, more eating. You get the picture. Though today there were near-tears as we said a temporary goodbye to a long term member and great guy. It's a hard farewell, though his reasons are honorable and understandable, but we hold every hope that someday he'll come back to us. Still, it was a fantastic time.

Winter weather is in our forecast. The parking lot of the grocery store was insane. We've talked about this before. As usual, I looked like just about every other "winter weather shopper" as I did my regular grocery shopping yesterday. No, I'm not buying bread, milk, and toilet paper because I'm afraid we'll be snowed in for weeks. We needed it - those things are on the weekly list. It was far worse when the kids were younger and this household went through a gallon of milk a day. Buying four gallons of milk was not uncommon for me on a regular shopping day - you can imagine the looks I got when snow was in the forecast.

Tonight we are planning on doing some holiday decorating. We'll see. And if we do, I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Continue enjoying the weekend!

And...as always...

Behave!

Random Friday

It's been a while since I've written a random post.
Okay, maybe not, but it's been a while since I've used "random" in the title.
I was looking through the Thanksgiving pictures to find another one to share, but seriously, I'd have to explain them too much and I don't have the energy today.
I'm going to be all cliche and stuff and say...Boy, doesn't time fly? It's hard to fathom today is the last day of November. One more month left in this stinking year. Good riddance. Of course, I did already reject the rest of 2007 and since I've done so, my luck has shifted slightly. Just slightly, mind you. But after the train wreck that was 2007, things might need some time to adjust. Let's hope.
December's going to be a busy month. Isn't it always? Between Christmas parties, school functions, shopping, and decorating...Don't want to think about the last two yet. It's still too early for us to get our tree - it would be a fire hazard far before the big day - trust me, we've been there before and it has nothing to do with remembering to water the tree. It's our heat. I may do the front porch this weekend. Maybe, but I doubt it.
The weatherman is also predicting winter weather for this weekend. Ought to be interesting and we'll see.
The new book is going well, as you can see from the word meter. Yesterday, my word count was close to my highest ever and by the time I shut things down, my eyes were watering and my fingers refused to type coherently. Or maybe that was my brain. I firmly believe my gold standard word count is something that's only achievable at the retreat. There's just too much stuff I have to take care of around here on a regular day. Though one of these days I might just surprise myself.
But I do plan to get back to it today - once I seriously take care of the absolute mess that is my house.
Enjoy the weekend!
Behave!

The Red Eye

This is Jo's eye.
Jo has been one of my best friends since about 16 or so years ago. She's an incredibly talented musician and a good person. You can hear her music by clicking the link to her My Space page, or by visiting the My Space I share with Vicky B. Do it, you won't be sorry.
Anyway, her eye was really, really red because of...something, not too sure about that one...but probably due to the fact that she's been dealing with an infection.
So, we're sitting around my sister's table Thanksgiving night acting obnoxiously and playing Apples to Apples (a very fun game) and the kids were teasing her. She pulled her glasses off and told the kids if they didn't leave her alone, she was going to give them "the eye". It was really funny - but, of course, you had to be there. I snapped this pic and told her it was going up on my blog.
So there you have it. Silly stuff for a rainy and cold Thursday. Made especially cold by the fact that Supernatural is again a rerun tonight. I am sad.
And I've been lax about sending birthday shoutouts. We had a birthday Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. So to you all birthday people Happy Day. K2 turned 16 on Tuesday, which absolutely blows my mind. I am amazed at the wonderful young woman she's become. And, I'll warn you when she passes her driver's permit test and is out on the road. That's coming soon...
In the meantime, I'm writing today now that the administrative side of running this household has been effectively taken care of. Well, mostly, there is still the grocery store, but I don't want to think about going there right now.
Behave!

It's Official!

The Bird

Yes. Our turkey was wearing a bathing suit. Be thankful I'm not posting the photo of the neck. Because obviously there was a reason I took a picture of the neck. Anyway. The bird was supposed to have tan lines once the foil was removed. It didn't, but we still cracked up.

Today is the last day of Thanksgiving vacation for the kids. It's also the first day of deer hunting season around here - which is why the kids are all off today. I guess the districts got tired of the kids being absent to hunt, so they made it a holiday for them.

We're taking it easy after the long stretch of constant activity. The word meter site is down, so I can't update the progress I made yesterday - which was good considering how much catch up work I had to do first. Once I get organized around here, I'll be back at it.

Behave!

5 Whole Days...

And the time went really quick.
Let's see if I can successfully recap the days I missed blogging.
Wednesday: After running around like crazy people all day, we decided to head up to my sisters. I've always wanted to go away for Thanksgiving - and yeah, it's kind of funny that we went since her house is only 20 minutes away from ours. We had a blast though, and preparing food together was a riot.
Thursday: Turkey Day. Lots of food. Holy cow lots of food. Much laughter, game playing and carrying on. It was good to see everyone and hang out. Too much time passed between gatherings, especially when we were all together at least once a month previously.
Friday: We spent Thursday night at my sisters too. B had to work Friday, at a ridiculous time, I might add. The dogs woke me up about four times and apparently when they weren't bugging me, they were bugging K2. We got up, watched a movie and then I got the gang packed up and headed home to a freezing cold house. Met B to get a bday present for K2 and then back home to our towns annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. K4 wanted to go on the carriage ride, so we waited in the freezing cold line for over a half an hour before finally going for dinner at one of our local eateries. We always have a good time and this time was no different.
Saturday: Insane! Between a day long obligation that had me running in ten different directions because I was trying to do that and take care of preparations for K2's birthday party...well...whew! We did it though. She was totally surprised, even after spending most of the day trying to figure out why I took so long in meeting up with them. She even took my phone and tried to get into my calendar to see when this party she knew she was having was. Ha! The party turned out well and she now has enough cash to buy herself an iPod.
Today: Rest and recovery. Since it's been nearly a week since I've had any solid writing time, that's on my agenda as well. After a nap.
I have pictures though - which I'll post throughout the week.
Wait for it.
And...
Behave!

A Quick One

Tomorrow is insanely busy around here, so just in case I don't get a chance to get on here...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

May you and yours have a blessed and joyous holiday!

May your turkey be moist and not made of tofu (Unless you like that)

And may your tryptophan coma be restful!

*(No, I am not hobbling around like an old woman. Nothing hurts - except my feet and a little twinge in my back.)

Behave!

Oh Boy!

And we'll see.
I should probably know better, but obviously I don't. We did something tonight that I'll probably be paying for during the next few days. (Oh geeze, get your mind out of the gutter.)
We went roller skating.
Back in the day, this was a regular weekend thing for both B and I. Friday and usually Saturday nights, you could find us at the roller rink doing our thing. We both even have our own skates - yeah and not the in line ones. I've always loved to skate, though I never caught the hang of skating backwards. Speed skating? Yeah, that's more my style. Apparently, it still is because though a little rusty, I can still move it very nicely - thankyouverymuch.
We haven't been in ages. And I mean that. I think we did an ice skating school party one year - which was the first time I'd ever skated on ice and can't really say I cared for it. We've maybe been five times during our entire marriage. We went tonight because a friend of Kaitlin's invited us. His brother's band was playing and he had a bunch of tickets to share.
It was fun. B, K2, K3 and I had a blast. K4 hated every stinking minute of it. She and K2 crashed before they even got out on the floor, but the doomed evening started way before that for K4. She was nervous as it was her first time on skates. The crashing made her even more nervous. She spent a lot of time on the sidelines and said the next time we got she would rather not. Yeah, that'll probably change, but for now, she's hating it. K3 started out a train wreck but very quickly got the determination to learn. He fell a lot, but loved it. K2 - she's got the genes - she's maybe been on the floor twice more than we've gone as a family, and seriously, I don't remember her ever struggling to learn. She's a natural. (K1 opted out of tonight's festivities. He and K4 share a hatred of wheels on wood. Apparently.)
I fell only once when K3 tried to use me as an anchor. I found my stride all the while remembering how I broke my arm while skating. I swear the rink we were at was the same one where it happened (while speed skating, I might add), but I'm not sure about that. My mom would know for sure. You remember the back I was nursing at the end of last week? Yeah, a little tweak going on again. Oh and I can only imagine what my legs and butt are going to feel like tomorrow. And my feet (which already hurt).
Oh well...it was worth it.
Lot's of stuff going on this week, as I'm sure is the case with everyone.
Behave!

I'm Becoming...

a little more tolerant of the Christmas stuff.
I still think I'm going to be more Scrooge though. I'm by no means ready for the crush of shopping, decorating and obligations. I did see some really cute Santa gnomes in the sale papers today. That alone is enough to help put me in the holiday mood. Which is weird, I know, but what can I say? I did get my pilgrims out on the front porch. They look pretty nifty with the lone mum that wasn't planted in a pumpkin, and the pilgrim faces K4 drew on the little un-carved pumpkins that didn't rot. I guess this time next week I'll have to start thinking about putting them away and putting my snowman and Santa out. Geesh, that doesn't seem real.
I'm having a hard enough time with the fact that Thanksgiving is in four short days. My week is going to be very full and busy with not only Thanksgiving to prepare for (thank goodness it's not here this year), but a whole bunch of other stuff, and K2's semi-surprise 16th birthday party. I think I'm safe to talk about it in the general sense here. She has no idea when or where it is, but I'm pretty sure she knows it's very soon.
The weekend has been pretty good around here. Kind of relaxing, a little busy, and very satisfying in the food sense. I've probably gained five pounds, especially after B made his famous Seafood Chowder for dinner tonight.There's enough left to feed an army, though we did our best to put a dent in the soup pot. K2 is back after a weekend spent retreating. Her voice is nearly missing again and I think I might have to send flowers to the youth leaders that had to listen to the bevy of screaming and chattering girls.
That is all.
Behave!

Thoughts...

on Supernatural.
(If you don't watch it, you'll probably find this boring and confusing. Of course, the same could be true if you do watch it!)
I'm not a fan of Gordon. The character, not the guy who plays him. The actor does a fantastic job creating someone I can't stand, but can't turn away from. He's just so...creepy and evil, though he thinks he's doing good work. Gordon has made no secret of the fact he thinks Sam is the Antichrist. We've seen this grow from the first episode featuring him. The last episode with Gordy had me cursing and hoping the storyline didn't take to long to come to fruition.
And I wasn't disappointed.
What better punishment than to turn a vampire hunter into the very thing he despises? He was even more evil as a vamp, but very clear about how his story would end. I felt sorry for him.
Anyway.
Sam and Dean and oh my gosh!!
And Dean threatening Bella and the look on his face when he said it. And the look on his face when Sam told him he needed him to be his big brother. The dialogue between the brothers was wonderful as usual. "More like a Ninja." Ha!
Bella's an interesting character. I find myself liking her more every episode she's in. Even though she sold Sam and Dean out, she tried to redeem herself. Of course, a threat from Dean...Anyway. She's pretty complex and I really want to know what makes her tick. Which is a total about face for me since I really didn't like more than her interaction with Dean the first time we met her.
And oh...Sam and Dean...
No previews for next week due to the writer strike. I'm sad. If we have no new Sam and Dean, I'll be found watching Season 2, or hiding out at Nat's and re-watching the past few weeks she has on TiVo.
Gotta get me a TiVo.
(My back is still hurting. It was better, then I did way too much stuff today and I'm back to the heating pad. Grr...)
Have a great weekend!
And...as always...
Behave!

Back Pain...

is stupid...
My back's been tweaked the past few days - a knot of muscles that refused to relax. When I woke up this morning, I could barely walk. My entire lower back is locked up. It probably would have been amusing to be a fly on the wall watching me try to put my pants and socks on. We won't even talk about shoes, though I did tie them myself. Somehow.
I took some pain relief and tried to go on with my day despite B telling me to forget going to the hospital to visit a friend and fellow writer who just had back surgery (Isn't that ironic?) and take it easy. I probably should have listened. My little trip to the other side of town and then going to pick up the kids from school did nothing to help. I'm on the couch, heating pad in place and a little testy about not being able to do anything without making faces of pain. B is handling our evening obligations without me, and dinner as well.
But there's a new Supernatural on tonight.
That's all I've got.
Behave!

I'm Trying...

I've been sitting here for nearly an hour trying to come up with a coherent blog post. Apparently, I have nothing new or interesting to say, which should be no surprise. I was going to post about food and recipes, but it made me hungry so I deleted it.
My baby chick is back in the nest. He had a wonderful time, but I think he's very happy to be back home. I'm very happy he's back home. We all missed him. K4 especially. She was lost without him as evidenced by her mood Tuesday. B keeps asking me what I'm going to do when he goes away to scout camp for an entire week this summer. I can't even begin to think about that.
Speaking of baby chicks, my oldest baby chick's car totally broke on him today. Some kind of joint or something in the drive train. Whatever it was, it let go, sliced his front tire and caused the removal of asphalt strips in the parking lot he was leaving. Tow trucks and mechanics were called. So were Dad and Mom. B went out to assess the damage, called our mechanic and arranged for the tow truck. I had to pick up him and his friends since B had to rush back to work. K1 is not a happy camper. I can't say I blame him.
This year has totally been in the toilet around here. We've had one crappy thing after another happen and I'm done with all of it. Therefore, I am rejecting the rest of 2007 and will be starting 2008 independently. Yes, my new year will be a little longer than the standard 365 days. Unless the new one stinks too...
That is all...
Behave!

Things...

Things that bug me...
In no particular order, not very serious, and for no particular reason except that this is my blog and I can rant about stupid things if I want to.
Grumpy people - especially when said grumpy people live in my house and take their daily stress from school out on me. There are two of them in my house at the moment.
The question: "What's for dinner?" - I don't know why, but it drives me nuts! Especially when I'm asked the night before, the morning of and repeatedly. You get what I make. Unless I don't cook - then you're on your own. Like tonight.
The fact that no one in this house, except for me, knows how to answer the telephone. They won't even look at the caller I.D. to see who it is, even if I ask. Let my cell phone ring, however, and they all rush to see who's calling me.
That's rant part two of this subject. It's my phone. If whoever is calling wanted to talk to you, they'd either call your phone or the house phone. Leave it alone.
Socks - The leaving of them when they're taken off feet and the fact no one can ever find any. Oh, and the "borrowing". If there are a pair of matched socks, they are usually taken by someone who does not own them. The only one that seems immune is K4, probably because her socks are so much smaller.
Okay, I'm pretty much done now. I told you the rants weren't very serious. They certainly aren't more than minor annoyances. Since I've had the same headache for days upon end now, I'm a little more sensitive at the moment.
Updated page count coming later.
Behave!

Ah! The Smell of a New Project

The word meter is moving again!
Got a slow start this morning due to seeing K3 off on a school trip and the headache from hades. Then had an extended break for errand running/physical appointments and grocery shopping. I plan on getting back to it as soon as I take care of a few things around here.
The plot came together yesterday as we were running around and birthday partying, thanks to B. He's always really good to brainstorm with and rarely raises an eyebrow at the side trips my imagination often takes. I took notes on an envelope that I ended up opening the whole way and using all sides. I really should know better than to leave the house without a notebook - especially when I'm in this stage of a project.
No, there were no nightmares the other night. I may have some tonight though since one of my ducks is out of the nest until Wednesday. He was so excited to go on this trip, and even though the older 2 K's have been on the adventure and I know he'll be fine, I'm missing him a lot.
I'm amazed Thanksgiving is a little over a week away. I'm maintaining my lack of enthusiam for the holidays and frankly, I don't know that will change as we fully move into the Christmas season. We'll see. I am going to try.
There you have it - a lame post about basically not much.
Hey, what do you want? It's Monday and my brain is occupied at the moment!
Behave!

Scaring Myself...

Again...and not really.
I'm doing research on the new project I plan to start on Monday. I can't even tell you how excited I am to write brand new words and characters. It seems I've been editing constantly over the past few months due to a harebrained idea gone awry. I think I've already said I won't ever use that particular plan again.
The idea is one that's been fermenting for a little while now. I still don't have the over-arcing plot, but the little pieces are coming together. I have a working title, partial components of both main characters and a lot of the creepy stuff figured out. Other elements are clicking into place and I feel the beginnings of the opening scene coming together. The problem is, I can't - or maybe don't want to - think about this one while going to sleep because the disturbing dreams are sure to show up if I do. I can think about my characters, but not too in depth because their personalities are strongly tied to the paranormal and then I'll end up all scared and not sleeping. Again - like when this idea originally came to me. Usually I have no problems distancing myself from the more frightening elements, but this one...I don't know...I only know it's not something I need to carry around with me constantly - at least at this stage of the game. If that makes sense. Maybe it doesn't. I don't know. It's kind of hard to explain. There are a lot of things that don't affect me when the lights are out, so maybe when something actually does it takes me by surprise.
Anyway.
I've spent the past several hours reading stories on the web that deal with one of the main paranormal elements in the story. I even had the chance to brainstorm a bit, which helped a lot and is where the working title came from. If Misty has bad dreams tonight, it's not my fault. I swear.
And guess what? No birthdays today. Actually, the birthday train slows down a little for the rest of the year. There are still several, but not back to back like the past few weeks have been.
No other news to report.
Continue to enjoy your weekend!
Behave!

Friday!

Finally!
Between parent-teacher conferences, tons of running around and still not quite feeling 100% from my cold this has seemed like one long week. And to think things were supposed to calm down after the play was over. Ha!
The kids are in crazy moods. There's a slight chance of snow showers in the forecast. Apparently it snowed here and there across the region today. I didn't see it, but that doesn't mean I didn't simply miss the flakes of icy goodness. Seriously, as much as I love snow, I'm not quite ready. I mean 2 short weeks ago it was pretty darned warm here. Now the temps are hovering in the 30's and they're calling for snow. The trees haven't even dropped all of their leaves yet. What's up with that?
Another birthday shout out! To my niece on her 20th birthday. God, I feel old. Happy Birthday, C. (Notice how I didn't use those initials you love so much!) :)
This weekend is actually much calmer than those of the past. We're not booked within an inch of our lives and are probably even going to get rid of the rotting pumpkins on the front steps. Yep, no outside obligations so its home maintenance time. I cringe at the thought, and at the mountain of laundry waiting for me.
Oh and hey! I finished that other project that's been looming. Well, not quite finished, but closer than I've ever been. It'll go to my critique partners after I read through it one more time. And it's on to a new project! Whoot!
Total estimated words I've written so far this year: 254, 649.
That's three completed manuscripts, one short story and major edits on one of the projects. I'm hoping that number is more like 300, 000 by the end of the year. We'll see...
If you missed Supernatural last night, I feel sorry for you. What a fantastic episode! Dean in a tux. Very nice. The old lady with the hots for Sam cracked me up and the interaction between Dean and Bella was entertaining. Next week's looks creepy with the return of a character I love to curse at - Gordy.
That's all...
Enjoy the weekend!
And...
Behave!

A Quick One

Mid-week slump.
Not that I've had wonderfully exciting things to say this week.
I have this gargoyle. He's very cute as far as gargoyle's go. He was a gift and is supposed to be my muse for the darker stories.
And now he's broken into about 4 different pieces.
(We're not going to talk about how one of the K's broke it...darn it)
I'm sad. And kind of scared in a superstitious way - not that I'm prone to superstition. I'm not, but should I be?
I'm pretty sure he can be fixed - like the Bionic man - faster, stronger, better...
Anyways.
Birthday shout out again. This time to my niece. She's 11 today. Her and K3 were due 1 day apart and they ended up with birthdays 10 days apart. My sister and I wanted them both to come on Halloween, but K3 came early and S came late.
That's all...
Behave!

Tuesday Ramblings

Voting day.
Did you?
You can't complain if you didn't voice your opinion.
*That's as political as you'll ever hear me get on this blog.
Anyway, I ran over and cast my ballot. It's kind of funny because the polling place is directly across the street from the house. K2 and K3 went with me. They like to check it out and observing is a good experience for them.
Today was one of those days. The kind where you feel like you run from the second the alarm goes off. I finally got to stop about 20 minutes ago. Going to the grocery store when you're starving is never a good idea. I got everything on my list, plus a bunch of stuff that just looked good.
As I've been reminded several times today, there's 7 weeks until Christmas and K4's birthday. Only 21 days until K2's birthday. Honestly, I didn't need the Christmas reminder. I have a feeling this is going to be a grinchy-type year for me. I feel no spirit coming on and the constant television commercials that make the kids say, "I want that" are already getting on my nerves. We'll see.
Anyway.
Happy Birthday to my big brother. I had to remind him he's always going to be older than me. He loves that. LOL Though I think he really doesn't care as long as the gang's not singing the birthday song to him. I do have to publicly state the current rendition of the birthday song was started by him on my birthday one year. I don't know if anyone remembers that...
As you can see, my day, though hectic, has been pretty boring. It's cold. I'm tired. And I still have a lot of work to get done before I can even think about going to bed.
That's all.
Behave!

I've Changed My Mind...

About this time change.
What a bunch of cranky, tired and otherwise unruly people sharing this house with me. Seriously. And I can't say too much, because I'm cranky, headachey and tired myself - though I definitely don't think I'm unruly.
Anyway. I used to really love the "turn your clocks" back time. I used to honestly believe you got an extra hour of sleep. What a lie. Though I hate it less than "spring forward". And it's really such a little thing to complain about, especially considering there's not a thing I can do except go to bed earlier and wait until the household adjusts to the switch.
Okay. I'm done with that one.
And that's pretty much all I have for Monday.
Behave!

Whew!

Weekend nearly over.
Play over.
Kids tired. Husband tired.
And now we return to our regularly schedule craziness. But with a little less of the crazy. Yay!
The one thing I don't get is how my house gets so messed up when we're running around all the time. There's laundry on my table. The dishes haven't been done. There's a nest-like gathering of blankets in my living room surrounding K1's X-box, and a bunch of lollipop wrappers that seriously need to be removed before I go nuts. Oh, and there's also laundry on the couch. And more to do.
Oh well. I guess I'll use my extra time this week to whip this place back into shape. Maybe. Or I'll ignore it and hope it goes away all by itself and finish up my work in progress (which is the probable scenario).
I have a headache, so I really don't care about more than those lollipop wrappers at the moment.
The cold is mostly better. Except for the headache, fatigue, and a lingering cough.
I've managed quite a bit of writing this weekend too. Nearly done with the second project now. Not meeting the Sunday finished goal like I'd hoped, but I knew that was a long shot when I realized I'd somehow written down the wrong page count.
As much as I'm hating the holiday stuff going on already, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving. My youngest sister is hosting this year and the whole gang will be there. We haven't hung out nearly as much as we used to, so I think we're all looking forward to getting together. Obnoxious emails have been flying and we haven't even started talking about the menu.
Another birthday shout out! To one of my best friends, my adopted sister and all around great gal.
Enough rambling for you?
I thought so.
Behave!

The Power of Collective Creative Energy

Today was the monthly chapter meeting of my writer's group. The meeting's always a good time. Nothing different about that today. We had a great speaker and topic - a member who is also obtaining her masters in creative fiction at Seton Hill University - and the usual laughter and talking.
This afternoon a few writer friends got together to do some writing retreat style. There's a lot to be said for writing beside others doing the same. The energy level at our retreat is always through the roof, and I can't say it was any different today. Sure we did our share of talking and laughing and discussing proper spelling of unusual words, but we also got a lot of work done. There are challenges to see who can get the most pages in a set time. I didn't participate in those today because I was editing. Note the "was". I got one project completely finished except for an additional last time read through. And I started working on my last loose end to tie up before starting something new. I made a good bit of progress in my goal to bring it up to page count - and I'll be working more on that this evening as I enjoy having the house to myself while the family is taking care of play duties.
The residual energy from these kinds of days usually lasts quite a while for me. It's never a bad idea to get together with other writers and just write together. Sometimes you need the challenge, the collective brain energy and the support you get from simply sitting in the same room.
And there's always someone to laugh with you when you discover one of those edited sentences where you missed adding or removing what you intended.
That's where I'm at right now. Full of determination, energy and the need to continue the progress I made today.
So, I'm off to bang out more pages and hopefully, hopefully finish up this project by tomorrow evening. It's possible, possibly probable, but most-likely a bit of a stretch with the rest of what's going on this weekend.
But I'm going to try. At least the cold germs have given me somewhat of a reprieve. For now.
Behave!

Then The Germs Came...

Stupid cold.
Stupid tissues.
Stupid cold medicine that makes me feel like my brain is located somewhere entirely different than my head. I took a "night time" medicine this morning - okay, maybe that's weird - but my nose is not running anywhere near as much and the cough has quieted. Blergh.
The play opens tonight. I can't wait to see the kids on stage. They're very worried I won't make it because of how I feel, but there's no way I'd miss it.
That is all...
Behave!

November!

Ack! How did this happen?
Back the holiday bus up - I'm not ready!
I'm having a hard time believing it's November 1st. On one hand, I wonder where the time went, and on the other, I can't wait for this stupid year to finally end.
So we lived through Trick or Treat night. It was weird not having my younger kiddos along. K2 went as a zombie. My niece as the "sun fairy" and Misty's daughter as the "Ruby Queen". Candy was divided and shared with the younger K's - which made them feel better after a long night of practice.
Today is my brother-in-law's birthday! So indulge me in a little birthday shout out. In case you don't remember, there will be many birthday shout outs over the next few weeks!
My participation in the writing challenge is going to be delayed for about a week. I'm close to finishing two projects, and though I can't wait to start something new, I don't want to leave these undone for an entire month.
Don't forget - new Supernatural tonight. I'm really looking forward to this episode. Check out the preview on my sidebar.
That's all for now.
Behave!

Happy Halloween!

Yes. I'm back.
No. I did not fall off the face of the earth. Things have just been...well..busy.
I think the 5 days I didn't blog was probably the longest I've ever missed. I'll try to do better, but things don't slow down here until after Sunday.
Tonight is trick or treat night in our town. The younger K's will miss it due to dress rehearsals. They're upset, but not. Excitement over the show is pretty high and K2 offered to collect candy for them, so they're good.
Even after 5 days away, I don't really have too much to say.
Maybe tomorrow!
Watch out for scary things, and...
Behave!

Rain!

Enough already!
It's been raining for nearly 3 days straight here. The temperature has nosedived and I'm freezing.
Those beautiful pumpkins on my front porch are pretty much mush, but the flowers inside look great. Gotta figure out what to do about that.
Tomorrow is K3's birthday. I'm still in the process of preparing for that. Birthday shopping is done, but there's still the cake to make and the stuff to gather and organize for the busy weekend.
That's all for now...
Behave!

Something Gross...

Agreed?

What really icks me out is that K2 actually let this horrible bug crawl on her!

Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with bugs, but there's just something about these that makes me shiver!

And holy cow! I haven't posted since Monday! What's up with that? It's been a pretty busy week around here, and will continue to be that way until at least the end of next weekend when the show is finished. K3's birthday is this coming Saturday. Plans are very low key this year, but again I have to step back in shock and wonder how he got to be 11. Next year he'll start middle school. He bridges from cub scouts to boy scouts in the spring. Ack! In 2 years he'll be a teenager! I'm just shocked. And yes, I know I say that when each kid has a birthday. The feeling seems even more pronounced this year for some reason.

Another wave of family birthdays starts with K3 - giving us almost a solid month with a birthday every week. From now until mid-November there are nearly 10 - including friends and family. Crazy, huh?

Projects are going well. Much progress is being made. I'm not putting up the meter until I begin something totally new. It's too hard to calculate while editing, plus the process goes back and forth so much the meter doesn't really give a true measure of percent complete.

That is all for now.

Behave!

Well...

It's Monday...
And I don't have much to say.
If you go here you can read Natalie's post on our Thursday outing last week.
Misty still hasn't updated her blog, even though she keeps telling me she's going to.
I'm working...a lot...just not posting my progress. I thought about participating in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month - but have decided I have enough going on in the month of November. I'm not going to "officially" sign up, but I am hoping to join a few of my fellow writers in a more relaxed challenge. Besides, I'm not sure I'm going to be ready to start a new manuscript on November 1. We'll see...
Oh, Homecoming! K2 had a blast. Except now she's feeling a bit under the weather due to the fact that she never slows down. She's lost her voice and it's oddly silent in my house.
Well, that's about all of my nothingness for now.
Behave!

A Pretty...

The flowers on my front porch.

We dug our own mums, hollowed out the pumpkins and planted the mums inside. The digging was interesting. We had a ton of rain the day before and the mum field was a mess. There was mud everywhere, but the flowers were easy to dig out of the ground.

I'm wondering how long they'll last. The front porch is in full sun and it hasn't exactly been cool fall weather around here lately. The neat thing is we can just plant the mum - pumpkin and all - when it's time to put them in the ground. Now I just have to decide where I want them.

And can I just rant a tiny bit?

Christmas decorations already?

Please! It's October! I saw them at the beginning of October, too. It makes me sad. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but to start pushing it so early makes the season seem more of a burden than a joy. I understand the whole retail point of view, but I really think some of the joy lessens if we're faced with the images of Christmas as we're gathering the Halloween candy for Trick or Treat.

My opinion.

That's all for now.

Behave!

Another Picture

Misty signing yesterday.

At the lower right of the picture are her "free with purchase" giveaways. "Burn your boyfriend/girlfriend/boss" candles. They were pretty cool, but the pictures of them didn't turn out well so you'll have to trust me on that.

I told her I was posting this pic and even though it's a cleavage shot, she said she didn't care. (I shudder to think about the retribution - though since she hasn't updated her blog in over a month, I don't think I have too much to worry about.)(Maybe)

No, the hand in the picture isn't mine (I was behind the camera). That belongs to Jacki as she's prepared to slap an "Autographed Copy" sticker on the book. Notice the tiled walls - the whole place looks like that. From the outside, it looks like a castle.

I think all of us that attended yesterday are still riding high from the experience. Well, the experience and, of course, the new episode of Supernatural. And my feet still hurt.

Raining like crazy here. Lucky for me I hadn't put away the clean laundry in our bedroom. It was there to soak up the rain that poured into the open window. At least the floor didn't get wet. Sigh.

Tomorrow is K2's Homecoming Dance. And she's sick with a bad cold. But still very excited.

That's all for now.

Behave!

10 Reasons I Love Supernatural

1. "Dude, you suck."
2. "And keep an eye on your brother, idgit."
3. "I lost my shoe."
4. Sam pouting.
5. Clumsy Sam.
6. Dean facing down the bad lady.
7. The Impala.
8. Interesting hotel rooms.
9. "I'm Batman"
10. Dean...
11. Sam...
Okay, so it's eleven.
I don't ask your forgiveness because the list could be much, much longer...
And it's Supernatural!
Behave!

Lots of Fun Stuff...and a Reminder

Today I went with these great authors to an event to promote CPRW - Central Pennsylvania Romance Writers - our local chapter of Romance Writers of America.

We met so many great people. The venue was awesome and the staff was incredible. The members with books available sold a few (you can see Natalie's great cover on the left of the picture - along with the cute Halloween ducks she gave away free with purchase). We had a great lunch (and I'm not showing the picture of took of a certain someone eating part of their lunch).

I got covered with ink from trying to stamp the "to do" lists of those attending. I'm not sure it's ever going to come off. And, oh, my feet really hurt.

Take note of the new blog on the sidebar. Jacki was there today too. Her book comes out in December. I'll update you closer to time.

Misty gave me a bar of "vibrating soap". Megan has a picture of it on her site.

I took a few pictures. The one above is pretty much the only one that came out. Well, except for the one I mentioned above and I've already promised it wouldn't get blog time. The camera's acting up again. After all it's been through, is it any wonder?

October is breast cancer awareness month. I've been meaning to put out a reminder to do your breast self exam, get your mammogram and pay attention to your boobies. This is important, ladies. Seriously. I lost my grandmother because of breast cancer. It is not inconvenient to take care of yourself. Who's going to take care of your family if you don't? Please don't put this off for another time.

Don't forget!! New Supernatural tonight!!

I think this post holds the record for links so far.

Behave!

On Writing...

I haven't done a post on writing in a long time. Since this blog is supposed to be snippets of not only the chaos this writer deals with on a daily basis, but the writing itself, I thought maybe a dose of something writing related was due.
And then, I couldn't think of anything to say. Not for a long time.
I was thinking about how writing is a personal journey - every writer I know approaches things differently. I can't tell you how to do it. I only know what works for me.
That's when it hit me. I don't think I've posted - and if I have, it's been a long time - about the value of having at least one person read your work and give you honest feedback. Honest - not total and absolute praise - if you're looking for that, send it to your grandmother, because in a good critique relationship you should get the good, and the "what needs work".
You need someone who'll pick up the stuff your tired eyes just can't see anymore. The inconsistencies with plot, characters, time, place and even names. Believe me, some of the things will make you smack your own forehead - but that's pretty normal.
Absolutely start a new relationship as a clearly stated test run. But first, you have to get over yourself and do it. For me, it was one of the scariest things I'd ever done. But so worth it.
So, if you don't have a critique partner, get one.
You'll be glad you did.
Behave!

Monday Musings

Man, no posts since Thursday.
I know I told you I probably wouldn't be around, but I'd hoped to sneak in here with a hello at least once over the time.
The rehearsal schedule has started to pick up. The show opens in a little over two weeks. And, dress rehearsal interferes with our Trick or Treat night. We're waiting for a ruling from the director on that one. But the K's are well aware that if she prefers they not miss, they'll have to go. We're rare participants with our location compared to the rest of the kids though - most of the other kids have their nights the week before - so we'll see what she says. Costumes are nearly put together and the K's are still having an absolute blast. I'm sure this is the first of many productions for us.
Anyway.
Besides that, I don't really have much else to say. The temperatures are remaining on the cool side. Finally. This week is a very busy one, with increased rehearsals and several other obligations that leave us without a free night at all.
Oh...Besides the birthdays. We're starting peak birthday schedule between B's family and mine. So indulge me as I do a little birthday shout-out-ing from the past week to B's Mom, my nephew, and my niece who turned 16!! today. (Yes. We are feeling old.)
There's going to be a rash of new driver's on the road over the next few weeks. Three in just my little corner of the world alone! Watch your rearview mirrors!
And...
Behave!!

This & That...

So Monday the temperature here was in the high 80's/low 90's. Now it's 50*. Quite a contrast. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. We're snuggled in with a few candles lit, as well as the plug in pumpkins. Cozy.
K4 is stuck on the movie "Matilda" right now. She's put it in nearly everyday since the weekend. Not complaining about that one either. It's always been a favorite around here. Except she's now in the shower and the movie is still on.
And I'm definitely not complaining about a new episode of Supernatural tonight. :)
Today has been one of those days. The kind I would be well deserved to complain about. I'm not going to go there though. You really don't want to know.
Tomorrow is Friday! Finally! The entire weekend is booked solid. You probably won't hear from me again until Monday. Probably.
Behave!

Wednesday Mutterings

From the Murphy's Law department: Another flat tire.
The summer-like temps have finally taken a break. It's nice and cool right now with rain in the forecast. I can definitely deal with that.
I picked up four huge handfuls of candy off the sidewalk, road, and grass from the parade last night. The marchers would throw it out and the candy usually landed in a yucky puddle. Some was saved - if it was caught or placed into a hand - but for the most part a lot of candy was wasted in front of our house.
K1 is living large since he now has a full time job. The boy loves his momma though. Tonight he went shopping and bought me Supernatural Season 2! What a sweetie! I'm very excited because not only can I watch 2 full seasons anytime (within reason) I want, tomorrow is new episode night.
There are a lot of squirrels in our backyard. We also have a Dogwood tree. Right now the tree is producing these little red berries at the end of the branches. The tree isn't very big, so the limbs aren't too sturdy. Over the past few days, it's been raining squirrels. They'll go out to pick the berries and end up falling out of the tree. It happened 3 times in a row the other day. This makes the dog go absolutely nuts and is good for a laugh.
That's enough muttering for one day...
Behave!

Parading...

Tonight was our town's annual Halloween parade.
Always a blast - a houseful of people, lots of food and obnoxious behavior. It's really cool to be able to sit on our front porch and watch (we're on the parade route). This year was no different, though much more subdued than usual because many of our usual crowd were missing due to work and other obligations.
We'd decided to have appetizer type foods since everyone pretty much grazes the entire time. Usually I make chili or tortellini soup and I was in big trouble because I didn't plan to do that this year. (Not to mention it was like 87* here today - who wants chili?) I let the kids talk me into trying "Mummy Wrap Soup" and it was a huge hit. There was only one bowl left out of a huge crockpot full. It looked terrible though - you take egg whites and drizzle them into the boiling soup and surprisingly, it really does look like mummy wrappings.
Oh. And it rained.
Many pulled out of the parade. There were no marching bands and not many floats. Our cub scouts marched and they looked awesome. My little guy was soaking wet and super tired when they got home. He took his shower and promptly fell asleep on the couch.
Got my Suburban back today. Am keeping my fingers crossed the problem is fixed. Our mechanic is reasonably certain it is, but refuses to be sure since he's as frustrated with it as we are. Oh, and I ended up with a nearly flat tire after I'd finished the shopping and errands. Don't know what's up with that, but it completely falls in line with the whole "Murphy" thing.
The temperature's finally dropping here. Thank goodness.
That's all for now.
Behave!

More Murphy...

Remember when I decided to change my name to Murphy?
I'm keeping the name.
The fuel pump on the Suburban was fixed, but there seems to be more wrong with it than that. At least this time it decided not to work right in front of the house. I did manage to get it started and after a very stressful drive, get it to our mechanic.
Now we wait for the diagnosis.
B did some routine maintenance on the washing machine and discovered the housing for the motor is cracked, among other things. So far it continues to work, but for how long is anyone's guess.
K's are off school today. And tomorrow.
We'll spend some of the time cleaning and preparing for tomorrow evening's Halloween parade. I still have costume components to acquire and food items to purchase, which is nearly impossible with a sick child and without a vehicle. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
What can I say?
It's Monday.
Behave!

Saturday...

Yes, a rare Saturday post that isn't a video or quiz.
Today was my writer's group chapter meeting. Always a wonderful time. I leave there full of energy and smiles. Today I left as the newly re-elected chapter librarian, which is a pretty cool position since I hold all the books in our small library and they're at my fingertips should the need arise. It is amazing how often I forget that and spend too much time searching for information that's only a few steps away (but have no problem remembering when someone else needs something). Anyway. The meeting was excellent, but small today, due to several members being away at the NJ conference. I wish I could have gone. It's a conference I've never been to due to normally being on vacation this weekend. And I actually got to go to lunch after the meeting, which is a rare thing too.
Anyway. Again.
I had a point when I started this post, but darned if I can remember it. That's what I get for blogging when I should probably already be in bed. The day went too fast and tomorrow will be the same.
That's all I've got.
Behave!

The Boys Are Back!

And the wait was absolute torture.
But they're back!
Of course I'm talking about Supernatural! (I'll bet you already knew that though)
I don't even know where to start - I was enthralled - from the opening credits to the creepy-assed preview for next week. 13 whole minutes went by before the first commercial. Yay!
Dean hooted like a cowboy and had the whole "I'm going to die. Let's live a little." attitude going through the whole episode even though he did his job very, very well. Sam seemed a little tougher to me. A little less angsty. I loved the look on his face when he opened the door on Dean and then later asked for Dean's knife so he could poke out his own eyes because of what he saw. The dialogue was fantastic and so were the camera shots. Bobby was excellent - as always. And even though we only got a brief glimpse of Ruby, I liked her.
Anyway.
I loved it!
The boys are back! Finally!
That's all for now...
Enjoy the weekend!
And...
Behave!

Things...

Things no one - make that no offspring - in this house know how to do:
1. Turn off lights.
2. Get out a new roll of toilet paper.
3. Close the shower curtain - either during showering or when finished.
4. Turn off lights.
5. Close any cupboard door.
6. Push in chairs.
7. Turn off lights.
I seriously don't think the K's are the only such offspring. Are they?

Things I should not be subjected to when I am trying to write:
1. "Hey Mom, come and look at this email." (Uhhh...I sent you that email. No.)
2. Bad, bad movies that make me shake my head because I still hear even though I'm working.
3. The smell of popcorn made the "right" way.
4. A nice cool breeze that makes me want to either take a nap or go for a walk.
5. The headache, stuffy head and sore throat I am dealing with today. Ugh!

Behave!

Told ya!

Remember when I mentioned this - the ironing board in the grocery store parking lot?

Well, thanks to my mom - here you go!

I'm not sure if it's still there, but really, who loses an ironing board?

**2 more days until Season 3 of Supernatural starts!!**

That's all I have for today!

Behave!

I'm Changing My Name...

To Murphy.
Why?
Because I've had Murphy's Luck lately. And a lot of it.
For example:
Saturday we took a family jaunt to an eatery in the city. B remembers his dad taking him to this place when he was a kid. And it was his parent's 51st anniversary. Oh and the restaurant was closing on Sunday after 70 years in business.
So we went. B picked up his dad from the nursing home and I met them in the city - scoring an end of the busy street parking space (which is always a bonus in the Suburban). We ate, had a great time, took a walk to the river - the experience is one we'll all remember for a while.
I load the kids into the Suburban so I could take them to rehearsal. I start the truck and right before I pull into really heavy traffic, it dies and won't start again. (Did I mention this is on a really busy city street?)
Anyway, after much running around, hassles and a long wait for the tow truck (and subsequent loss of funds due to paying for tow truck) we were finally done with our adventure.
Kind of.
The truck is at the shop - possibly the fuel pump.
Oh, and the total reason I'm Murphy now?
We just made the final payment.
And that's just an example of why I'm Murphy.
So there you have it.
Behave!