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!