Thoughts for Tuesday

So what I'm thinking about:
1. K1 lost his wallet.
I helped him look for a little while, including in his car. Can you say absolute pig sty? (Same as the bedroom - no wonder he's missing stuff) Oy! Anyway, to make a boring story short. He left for work. About an hour later, I get a text from him. Asking if I'd found his wallet, or his IPod, or his jump drive yet? Ummm....HELLO? Not my job buddy. Your stuff, your responsibility.

2. Gnomes.
I've decided this year I'm actually going to do some flowers, ect. on our patio. I kind of dropped the ball last year and never got around to putting any in. Of course, our patio was under construction (still is), so there didn't seem to be any point. But that job is first on the list now, so hopefully within a few weeks it's finished. Anyway. I want to do a gnome garden. I have three potential areas and can't decide which one (translation: where the dog will be less inclined to dig) is better suited for what I have in mind. I'll post pictures once I'm done.

3. My *shiny* new story.
I didn't think I had a plot, but I do. This one is more of a paranormal mystery. I already know my heroine and my hero and a few of the supporting cast, including the ghost. Things are clicking into place in my brain. Let's just hope they translate onto the page the way I see them in my head. I'm excited to start at page one in a little while (once I patch 2 pairs of jeans, take care of dinner, the laundry, getting the boys out the door for cub scouts and making sure the dishwasher is working *don't ask). Still no title, but I can feel it rolling around just waiting for me to stumble onto it.

That's all I have for now.
Behave.

On Track

House cleaned: Check
Dog better: Check
(I worried about the dog food recall, but it's not for the dry, so we're okay)
Injuries: K2's eye wasn't as bad as I imagined.
No injuries since. Just dealing with allergies now, which is the norm.
Ready to start new story (which has no title yet): Check
Excited about new story: Check

Busy week around here. I might be a bit scarce here and there. Plus I want to make some real progress on this story.
Behave!

Housework

Ugh!
That's what's on my agenda for the day.
And yes, I'm procrastinating. But I'm also eager to get it finished. Go figure.
There's just a lot to do. And the dog is shedding incredibly right now. And there's mud outside. A lot of mud. Which translates to big muddy paw prints. My desk is piled high with everything I've ignored for the past week while I endeavored to finish my work in progress. But, hopefully by this evening, I'll be sitting in a clean and shiny house. That's an incredible help to my brain.

Thought I was going to get to sleep in this morning - technically, I did - for about a half an hour. B left to pick up K2 and her pals from a youth group overnighter and then run some errands. Before he left, he woke me to tell me the dog had major diarrhea and I needed to go downstairs so I could stay close and prevent another accident in the house. Ugh. I have to admit, I did snooze on the couch for another hour, but that's not the same as staying in my nice warm bed. But, better than having a sick dog poop on the floor. My concern is more what's wrong with her than my lack of sleep.

Oh. More injuries - this one makes three for the week: B threw his back out, K1 and his lovely stitches and now K2. She called me last night to tell me she got hit in the eye with a hockey puck and now has a black eye. I haven't seen it yet. I'm not sure I want to.
I think I'll wrap everyone in bubble wrap.

Behave!

Supernatural! Oh My! (and other stuff)

And can I just say...Oh My!
What a fantastic episode.
Sexy, sad and a little bit scary.
Holy freaking Sam! I was not disappointed. And I wasn't disappointed the second time I watched it either. In fact, this has to be one of my favorite episodes so far, which is hard to really say because I love them all.
Waiting until April 19th for another new episode is going to be brutal!

Anyway.
I finished "Under the Bridge". I'm so relieved. Now it'll sit for a while until I can think about it without needing to vomit. This book kicked my butt. Hopefully it's better than I think.
So I'm right on track with my previously posted goal. Actually a little ahead because I really didn't believe I'd finish until tomorrow evening. Might not seem like much of a time difference, but trust me, it is.

The kid is healing nicely. Yesterday was probably his worse day as far as pain goes, but he's back on his feet today and hopefully not thinking about other ways to hurt himself. Hopefully.

That's all I have for now.
Behave!

Making Plans

Our annual writing retreat is on the horizon.
I'm so excited.
We've extended it one more day - sadly, I'm not able to make the extra day this time - but I still can't wait.
2 1/2 whole days to do nothing but write.
No dishes, no laundry, no errands and no cooking!
Yeah, I know it's still almost 2 months away, but I've got a plan. And that plan is to finish my current work in progress by this weekend. Take a few days off to really clean the house and find my organization and then mid-next-week start my new work in progress (still haven't decided what it'll be). If life stays calm (ha) I should be able to finish the new one by the end of April - leaving me ready to start the next one at the retreat.
I'll have a lot of editing to do then, but we'll be into summer and the kids being home changes a lot of things. Writing new pages is harder when you can't write more than two sentences without someone needing you. Editing is hard too, but different. I can print off what I'm working on and take it with me wherever we happen to go.
I can't believe I'm already thinking about summer vacation! It's coming up fast though. I just signed up for the last parent-teacher conferences of the year. They're out of school in less than 3 months. And I just realized how big of a goal I made for myself. 2 books in less than 3 months?
Well, we'll see if I can do it.
Stay tuned.

Teenager Tuesday Update

Eight abrasions - four bad ones, including the one on his scalp.
Six stitches.
One xray.
One mild concussion.
Two and a half hours at the ER.
One frazzled mother.
One proud teenager.

Yes. I got him to the ER.
Once I saw what was under all the blood he had no choice.
Boys.

Tuesday

I have no idea what to blog about today.
The weather? Well, it's sunny here and most of the snow is already melted. Temps aren't too bad. But that's really boring.
My day? Another boring thing. Unless you want to here about all the stupid things I did. Nah. You don't.
My kid? Well, now that's something we can talk about. K1 called me a little bit ago. Phone calls freak me out from him because he prefers to text message me. It's no wonder his calls freak me out though - the call was to inform me that he'd fallen off the back of his friends car and not to worry, it looks worse than it really is. Okay? What looks worse? I told him he needed to come home so I could assess the damage.
Oh boy.
He walked in the back door, blood running down the back of his neck, around his eye and on his cheek. His first words, "It looks worse than it is." He is brush burned on his side, elbows, knees and back. That hurts bad enough, but it's his head that has me a little worried. I can't tell if his scalp needs stitches. I sent him up to shower because the blood matting his hair has made it impossible to tell what's going on there. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure it out when he comes back down. If he does need stitches, getting him to the doctor is going to be an issue. He's already told me he's not getting them.
Sigh.
I'll be back with an update.

Flip-Flopping

I wish this post was about summer footwear.
Sadly, it's not.
It's about the bedraggled state of my brain right now.
I'm in the final stages of my work in progress. Time to wrap things up, give each character their happy ending and put the threats to rest. Yes. I'll need every page, and then some, to end it. (Which is good, because pretty much everything I wrote yesterday is garbage.) I'm anxious to type "The End" and even more anxious to start fresh with something new and let this one sit (to rot) for a few weeks before going back and deciding what stays and what gets tossed in the garbage (or burned with a match).
Keeping what I what to work on next on the back burner of my brain is a challenge. There are at least 3 different books vying for my attention. (Those are just the ones with a sense of immediacy - if I think to hard I'll end up in trouble with too many to choose from, and that would not be pretty.)
And I already feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends. (how many cliches can I fit into one post?) Getting anything done, much less done on time, is almost impossible.
But, hey! This is life, right? And tomorrow is the first day of spring. Though I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.
That is all.

Books To Be Read

I think I mentioned before how B found this huge dead space above the closet in our room. The closet in our room attaches to a closet in K4's room, so the space runs the length of one whole wall. And it's deep. We finally agreed I could use it as my bookcase. So Thursday evening (before Supernatural) I hauled all my books over and arranged them in the space. Not librarian standard by any means but they are organized. I realized there's quite a few I haven't read. Many I got at the RWA conference, some were given to me, and some I bought.
And never read.
Which is kind of weird for me. I love to read and am a voracious reader. Depending on the size of the book, I can finish one in a day. So why haven't I read any of those?
There's no answer to that. I just didn't. Will I? I don't know. We'll see.
And I do have a more current "to be read' pile. The top one on the stack: Misty Simon's "Reignited", then Nicholas Spark's "Dear John" - which I think might be a tear-jerker from what my sister didn't say - so maybe I should change the order because I know Misty will make me "laugh until I snort".
*From K2's snow measuring project: 9.25" - looks like it's melting fast, but still much shoveling to be done.

All About Supernatural

Finally!
A new episode of Supernatural!
*Total fangirl post - so if you're not interested in my thoughts on Sam and Dean stop reading now*
Where to start?
After what seemed like forever without new Sam and Dean, I can honestly say I was not disappointed. The ending was a surprise. I never figured it out and I love that. And the way they repeated the clues when Molly saw her husband. Definitely didn't see that coming.
I loved Dean's attitude through the entire thing. And Sam's angsty behavior, even though he let Molly stand in front of the window when they knew the bad guy was coming.
There's so much more, and I should probably stop gushing.
And the promos for next week? Wonderful. Werewolves.
Oh yeah, I said I was going to stop gushing, didn't I?
*Snowing it's tail off here. I've heard so many conflicting predictions: 4", 8", 10". Who knows for sure? Even though I absolutely love the snow, I have to say I'm disappointed after our recent high temperatures. I'm ready for spring!
*We're all moved into our new room. Just have K4 to move in and some other tweaking and this project is finally finished.
Behave! (Unless you are exempt!)

Random Things

I started my morning by draining our waterbed.
Through some weird cosmic interference and the use of a really stupid adaptor, I nearly flooded the whole house. Water was dripping into my living room - from the third floor. K2 had rivers of water flowing down her newly painted walls. Not pretty. But (i think) all is well now. The bed is finally empty. Dismantling and refilling will commence as soon as B gets home from work.
Then, I need to clean my house. No, really clean. Ugh. After over a month of hole patching and sanding, floor stripping and sanding...well, you can imagine. There is dust...everywhere. Not looking forward to that. At all.
As you can see, I'm nearly done with my work in progress. This book has been like pulling teeth - maybe because my work time has been fragmented and my house upside down - maybe it's just a hard book to write. I don't know. It's going to sit for a while before I tackle the revisions though. Probably long enough for me to write a whole new book. We'll see.
And I think that's all I have right now.
Behave! (Except those of you who are exempt)

Almost There!

Well, there it is. Not a good picture and I really wish I had a "before" to show you. It looks like we painted outside the lines, but I think that's some weird anomaly with this picture because though there are tons of flaws, we were neater than this looks.
But imagine this...light pink walls with dark pink sponge painting on the lower half, a pink floral trellis border halfway and red shag carpet. Very girly, and it was beautiful for the female K's. (except for the red shag carpet - but you didn't really notice that with all their stuff strewn everywhere)
The floors turned out okay and we ended up with 3 coats. Not perfect by any means - especially if you find the cat paw prints and the fabric marks from our jeans from putting another coat on a little too soon.
We're at move in stage! Yay! Except tonight is a busy night around here with kid obligations. So, I don't know what we'll manage, if anything, to get done.
But we're so close. Soon I will have my bed back.
Ahhhh....

My Space

Well, it's finally done.
My Space, that is.
Fellow writer, critique partner and all around good friend Vicky B and I decided to share a My Space page since neither of us have much time to maintain one of our own.
Check us out.
Friend us. We'd like that. (I did fix the link to the left too)

The bedroom rearrange is coming to an end. Yay! Finally! The first coat of polyurethane is down - two hours to go until we can get the second coat on. I'm hoping two is enough, especially since the can says "two coats". B thinks differently. We won't know until the second coat dries though. We spent all evening on our knees, sanding, sanding and more sanding. Moving in should happen this week - as soon as the stuff cures enough. The kids are all off spending the night elsewhere so they're not in the fumes. It's nasty in here and although I miss them, I'm glad they're not breathing this stuff in.

That's all I have for now.
Behave!

Random Friday

Probably just a collection of weird stuff. I think you're used to that by now.

For the past week or so, we've been getting this telephone call - a number from another state - constantly. Like twelve times a day constantly. I love Caller I.D. Last night, finally sick of looking at this number, I answered, expecting to be at the receiving end of a sales call. It was a wrong number. All of those calls - not for us.

We're at the sanding the floor stage with the bedroom. Floor looks really nice, but the grim reality of waiting for polyurethane to dry is going to take us into mid-next week for move in. I'm resigned to the fact - the last thing I want to do is mess up the new floor by rushing the drying process. It'll be worth it in the end.

The kids are off school today, so we're off to shop for mini-blinds and curtains, maybe even a rug or two - we'll see. They're ready and pestering me to finish so we can leave.

Behave!

Cake!

Snow Day!

Kids are off school.
The excitement level in here is...deafening.

So, yesterday I had a really good writing day.
I'd been really worried about this story and my lack of progress. Getting started seemed to be the main problem - and the time it took to get back into the characters heads. I hate to make excuses - like the total wreck that my house is, and has been for the past month, and the constant work that's been happening with that. But the truth is, that has affected me. My whole world has been off-kilter, my schedule totally different. The situation is very temporary so that means I just have to get through it.
If you'll notice the progress meter, I think I did a pretty good job of ignoring outside forces and just doing what I needed to do yesterday. 35 pages. And I'm at a really good place with the story. It's kind of shifted a bit - taken on some qualities I hadn't expected - and I really like what happened.
Hopefully today I'll add to the count.

Even though it's taken me nearly an hour to write this - in between finding boots, gloves, hats for the kids to go outside, and a dozen other things. I think it's time to say good-bye for now and get busy.
Behave!

Painting

Yes. We're finally at the painting stage!
About time.
And Oh Goodness.
We're being incredibly cheap about this whole bedroom rearrange thing. So far, the only thing we've purchased is hole patch stuff. And we already had all these half gallons of paint, in a variety of colors. K2 picked out some weird ones for her room - one wall is a completely different color and we're all okay with that.
Since we couldn't agree on a color for our room, we decided to take this very dark chocolate brown color and half lighten it for the trim and then double lighten it for the walls. Sounds perfect, right?
HA!
The trim looks nice - though thanks to a whim addition of a dark green the color is more of an antique green. I'm happy with it.
The walls however are hideous. The double lightened chocolate brown that should be tan is more of a crappy gray color. It totally clashes with the trim and makes me want to poke my eyes out with a stick. Thankfully, B only painted on very small section just to make sure we were doing the right thing.
Obviously, we weren't.
B called me this morning to ask if the color had grown on me. Most definitely not. In fact, every time I look at it I want to scream because it is so awful. Obviously, we'll be painting over it and for now, our room will be white with antique green trim.
See? How does that work? I was violently opposed to white walls. And I'm the one who told B the walls should stay white now. What the heck happened there? I think I've been brainwashed.
Anyway. Hopefully we'll be ready to move in by the weekend. Can't. Wait. To. Get. My. Bed. Back.

Dreams

I have a very good friend who is seriously considering giving up her dream of writing. And that makes me really sad. She's a gifted writer, who has a knack for funny, heart-warming stories that leave you feeling good and loving the world she's created.
We've critiqued together for years - so when she gets good news, it's good news to me as well (and the other member of our little group). So, right now, when she's really considering walking away from her dream - a dream we share and that we've discussed often and done our best to keep alive when things are tough - I'm trying to think of ways to make her see that would be a mistake.
The thing is, I completely understand her motivations behind this decision. I just don't agree. Her emotions are raw with continuous rejections, often more than one, even two, a day and near-misses where she's believed she's finally crossed that line, and those things will take the spit and fire right out of you. The flip side, even though it's not much of a consolation, is that she is still trying.
I'll never agree that she needs to quit. Take a break, definitely. Write something else, eventually. Alter her plans, probably.
But not quit.
Not when I've seen the beauty inside her stories and the heart she puts into crafting characters and plots that leave you feeling good about things. I wish her some of that kind of magic to help her through the desolation she feels right now.
You might think that's weird. Because if she quits writing, then that's one less person to compete with, but that's not how it is at all. I can't name any writer who would cheer at hearing that another writer has quit trying. I think it does the same to all of us - makes us sad, makes a little hitch form in our chests wondering how long, how many rejections, how much frustration we can withstand before arriving at the same place.
Writing isn't something you do because you want to. Writing is something you do because you have to.

First Friday

(That's my only acknowledgement to the new month.)
March = Mud.
I have a really big dog and four kids...'nuff said.

Today is the release date for Misty Simon's new book "Reignited".
Check it out. "You'll Laugh Until You Snort".

The rest of this post is probably going to be mostly rambling. You should be used to that by now, so I don't want to hear it.

Tips for Friday:
1. Always make sure your kids take their backpacks with them before you pull away from the school. Otherwise you'll be hauling your butt back to school with said backpack and facing a tearful, grateful, sweet child who was worried way more than necessary.
2. Go and hang out with your friends once in a while. At least once a month -more frequently if you can manage. It's important to your mental health and the fun part of yourself. Maybe not so much for your diet, but I think any calories consumed when with friends, especially when laughing with friends, don't count. Or maybe you just laugh so much you zero the calories out.
3. If your house smells weird when returning from your fun lunch, realize that it probably always smells like that, but you can't smell it because you haven't left the house except to take the kids to school and that's not long enough for your nose to forget the smell. (At least it wasn't a bad smell)
4. When you've had evening plans for a while and your oldest tells you he can't make it at the last minute, it probably has something to do with a girl.
5. Read the warning labels on microwave popcorn. They're there for a reason.

That's about all I have for now.
Busy weekend.
Behave!

Weird Dreams

My dreams were full of downright strange images last night.
And it wasn't just one random odd dream - it was a series of strange events. James Taylor was in one - he rearranged the furniture. In another, I was driving a really old, huge pick up truck. I could barely reach the pedals and the truck was hard to shift.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say it had something to do with the extreme amount of coffee I drank last night. Oh, and the spicy nachos and chocolate chip cookies I ate at a time I don't normally snack.
Well, don't you think that's why?

hmmm...

Today is another one of those days that I seem to have zip to say.
(Yes. I know you're remembering the last time I said that and how the post took up a lot of room. This time is different.)
No. I have nothing to rant about. Nothing funny to relay. No deep thoughts or complicated spiels.
Just. Nothing.
Mid-week slump, perhaps.
(I am writing though - maybe all my conversationally interesting (ha ha) things to say are occupied with my book. Yeah. That's it.)
Behave.

Tuesday. Already?

Yesterday I was whining to a fellow writer about the scant amount of pages I was churning out. Granted, I wasn't feeling so hot - not quite the germ-fest K3 had, but not feeling myself at all. I'd propped myself up on the couch, with my laptop and the remote and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get into the story. When I talked to her, I had a mere 7 pages written.
Part of the problem is my current story. I'm not a huge plotter, but I usually know a little of what's going to happen. This one is blindsiding me at every turn. Half the time I'm ready to toss it in the fire. The thing is I like this book. I like the characters, the twists and the growing relationship between the sisters and their men. This one is a challenge on a lot of different levels - I have three very distinct point of views for three very distinct personalities. One sister swears like a sailor - one is proper and polite. One rides a Harley - one drives a Jaguar. Once I get into their heads, I'm fine, but sometimes getting there is a struggle. Copious notes and the fact that even though each are different, they're still fun to write is probably the only thing that saves me from going insane.
Something clicked then, the pages came easier, the story clearer. And at the end of the day, I ended up with 31 pages. My goal was 30 - until I realized one more would put me at the half-way point.
And I can't get the progress meter to work, but if I could, it would be dead-on 50%. I still feel like I'm being slow, but at least I am moving forward.

Snowy Sunday

It's snowing here.
Or it was. Doesn't appear to be doing much of anything out there right now and I'm not sure of the forecast at this point. All our evening activities were canceled before the first flake even fell, so we're hanging out at home - taking naps (me), watching NASCAR (B)and working in the room.
Progress is being made, but it's not fast enough for me. I'm ready to paint. B has some problem with that since he's not done patching holes and making dust. Go figure. I've been kicked off the hole patching job. Yes. Even the little ones. I obviously suck at it. I just want to paint. That's all I care about right now. Yesterday while he cut drywall and made dust, I wrote. And I'll be going back to new pages as soon as I'm done catching up with the 'net.
Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

50 Things...

Borrowed this from Misty...
(I don't think there are 50 things here, but whatever) :)
1. Height?
5′2″
2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
Nope.
3. Do you own a gun?
Nope
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Not usually
6. What do you think of hot dogs?
Bleech!
7. What’s your favorite Christmas song?
White Christmas
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee
9. Can you do push ups?
Maybe one. Maybe.
10. Is your bathroom clean?
Are you kidding me? It was. (see post on germs)
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?
Wedding rings.
12. Do you like painkillers?
Nope
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
ha ha ha
14. Do you have A.D.D.?
Who me? Did you see that? Wait. I have to do this first. Did you answer the question? What's that?
15. What’s your name?
The High Mistress of Laundry
16. Middle Name?
I'd tell you, but then you'd know
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
I'm cold. Is it really going to ice again like they say? How are we going to get a dryer down the stairs?
18. Name the last 3 things you bought:
HA! Only 3? I just went and did a major grocery shopping.
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:
Diet soda, coffee, diet soda
22. Current worry?
that we'll never finish the bedroom and I'll never have a working dryer
23. Current hate?
people who park in my cleared out spot
24. Favorite place to be?
the beach
25. How did you bring in the New year?
hanging out with obnoxious friends and family
26. Where would you like to go?
The beach
27. Do you own slippers?
yes and I have them on
28. What shirt are you wearing?
gray hooded sweatshirt with dancing monkeys on the front
29. Do you burn or tan?
mostly burn
30. Favorite color(s)?
red, black, pink
31. Would you be a pirate?
Avast. If ye be knowin' me you be already knowin' the answer.
32. Are you gay?
nope
33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I don't sing in the shower. That would be scary.
34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
Things under the bed or in the closet.
35. What’s in your pockets right now?
nothing
36. Where are you?
At my desk
37. Best bed sheets as a child?
I can't remember. Why can't I remember?
38. Worst injury you’ve ever had?
broken arm, twice. Lots of stitches.
40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
five
41. Who is your loudest friend?
Misty
42. Who is your quietest friend?
Beth
43. Does someone have a crush on you?
Yeah, right!
44. Do u wish on shooting stars?
Yes
45. What is your favorite book?
Lots – Too many.
46. What is your favorite candy?
Snickers
47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
The Chicken Dance
48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
The Hokey Pokey
49. What were you doing at 12AM last night?
I can't tell you that.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Why is B making so much noise?

Germs!

Germs.

They're in my house and I'm fearful.

K3 spent most of last night...umm...let's just say he's not feeling well, at all, and leave it at that. Let's just say my bathroom is sparkly clean now and leave it at that. Let's just say that if I don't get a working dryer soon something bad is going to happen and leave it at that. Let's just say that I'll spend most of my day cleaning his bedroom and leave it at that.

Alrighty then.

I'm pretty sure that's all I have to say about anything today.

Wednesday...or is it Tuesday?

I find myself without much to say today.
Go figure.
It's incredibly warm here today - like go outside without your jacket warm. Weird, when there's still so much snow on the ground! But the stuff is melting nicely.
Vicky B's book, Akashan'te, comes out tomorrow!
Check it out. You won't be sorry.
Lot's of hootin' and hollerin' for that one! We've critiqued together for quite a while, so her becoming published is almost as good as it happening to me!
(I did say almost!)
I also realize I haven't posted an update on the bedroom rearranging for a while.
K2's room is done and she's moved in. Not happy that K4 moved with her for now - even if the whole deal is very temporary.
Now we begin on the master bedroom - which really isn't a master bedroom since there's no bathroom attached. (dang it!)
The ceiling has some issues, but B has a plan for that. We pulled up the carpet, but left it in until the painting is complete. The floor underneath is very nice - stained around the edges, but the center part has never been touched by paint, stain or spillage (thank goodness for good carpet padding). A little sanding and some polyurethane and we're in good shape there. B also found a dead space above the closet and has a plan for that too. The room is a mess of insulation, plaster and old wallpaper, but I have high hopes it'll shape up quickly.
So we are getting there.
Oh, and remember how I said K1 swore he saw a mouse?
Apparently, he really did.
We heard this weird noise last night - kind of like K4 crying, but not really - when we investigated, there was Kramer with a cute little mouse hanging out of his mouth. I'm shocked. I really believed the cat was afraid of his own shadow. Apparently not. He got treats and praise and is still strutting around here like the king of the hill.
That's all I have for now!

Today Should Be Monday...

This picture pretty much describes my day so far! (Just imagine stepping in dog diarrhea first thing...)

Anyway. The Outhouse.

Yeah. We had to use that all weekend.

I don't care how prepared you think you are, one touch of your bare tushies to that frozen white ring and you say, "Holy cow", "Ahh", or whatever you say when you're totally surprised. I kid you not - every. single. time. We spent a long time discussing a portable toilet seat that wouldn't cool down on your trip to the potty house. And my sisters dog had to go with you every time you went and stand outside the door like a sentry.

But, you know what?

I lived.

And I'd still go to the cabin in the dead of winter again.

A Little Peace

This is where I went this weekend.

To a little cabin in the woods with B, my sister and brother-in-law. Just the grownups. The kiddos stayed home with Grandma and we just...relaxed.

The cabin was beautiful - rustic, but not too primitive - if you don't count the part about there being no indoor plumbing. (We'll talk about that later). No electricity either, but propane lights made you forget that (until it was time to make coffee).

Unlike here, the snow up there didn't have ice mixed in. Which was important because the guys had to shovel the vehicle out Saturday morning. We made it down this lane, but there was no way we were coming back up, even in 4-wheel drive.

Now I'm catching up with everything at home, dealing with a kid that came down with a nasty cold while we were gone and tons of laundry. They're back at school tomorrow - after being off for 6 days due to school breaks and weather.

I'll post more pics tomorrow...

Friday

Wow! It's Friday!
I can't believe I missed a day blogging since I've been stuck at home all week!
We're digging out. I love the snow, but what mother nature dumped on us was more ice. Hacking through that to get the cars out was not a fun time. And I'm still a little sore from breaking up what looked like four inches of ice.
Since the word meter is apparently down, I can't post my progress, so I'll do that when it comes back up.
So, last night's Supernatural...Awesome. Hysterical. I wish I had TiVo. But now a month until another new episode! Ack!
K3 has pink eye. K4 is kind of looking like the next in line for it. Always something, huh?
Enjoy the weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day

Eh...
Whatever. We're not big into Valentine's Day around here. Pretty funny coming from a romance writer, huh? But...as B puts it, "I don't need a special day to show you how much you mean to me." And he doesn't. He's a very romantic, very thoughtful guy. Sweet.

The weather went from snow to ice. I think we have more ice than we did snow. It's been sleeting for over 12 hours now. School is canceled. A lot of businesses are closed. We're set here, except for the occasional arguments over what's being watched on TV. There's 10 years between K1 and K4 - you can imagine the differences in what they want to watch.

Soon, it'll be time to think about shoveling.
I'll try to post of picture of that.
Should be fun.

Snow!

It's snowing here!

No. Really. A lot of snow. And it's supposed to turn to ice at some point. (Thank you, Mother Nature)

That's my puppy. She was only out about 5 minutes to get that covered and I had a hard time convincing her she needed to come back inside. She constantly wants out and is giving me pathetic looks because I don't want to deal with the ick she brings back in with her.

Now I'm waiting to hear if school will let out early. I did the crazy snow shopping last night (after a trip to the post office -creepy at ten o'clock p.m.) - when the store was pretty much out of bread, eggs, milk and toilet paper. Which totally cracks me up. Yeah, I like to be kind of stocked up for a storm, but my stocking up includes mostly junk food. In fact, milk was the only one of those items I bought last night, but we were completely out. That always happens though - I need to do my regular grocery shopping when they're calling for a winter storm. Then everyone looks at me like I'm the crazy one for having such a huge cart.

But, I digress.

Apparently a lot because I can't remember what this post was supposed to be about besides the snow. Since I started this, I've been on the phone nearly nonstop and have checked the closings probably way more frequently than I need to. But, I did just find out they're getting out 2 hours early.

Which means I need to stop gazing out the window and get to work!

The Reason...

Or at least part of it...

Yes, this was drawn on my son's wall.

Yes, it was probably a bad idea to allow the designs and Sharpie marker-ing. But to us, it really wasn't that big of a deal. We'd planned to rip the walls down (horsehair plaster), insulate better and replace with dry wall.

So what started with him jotting down a phone number beside his bed turned into an art's fest. Every visitor he brought home added their comments or artistic skill to the previously light gray walls (which is how the eye got there). He was very proud of his walls. And there was anything you can imagine written and drawn there - song lyrics, lots of phone numbers, quotes from movies, poems and kind of a dairy of sorts. K2 jotted down about helping him clean his room after he was certain he'd seen a mouse. (No one else saw it and we've found absolutely no evidence, so who knows. Maybe it was a ploy to convince her to help him clean.)

Anyway, since this project started earlier than expected, ripping the walls down isn't going to happen - obviously. So we took photographic evidence of each wall and are covering the legacy with primer. Except the red of that eye just won't be obliterated. And the actual color painting hasn't started yet. The hole repair is taking a little longer than expected.

*I've got two home today with fevers. K3 has the stomach bug and K4 is on the fringe.

We Have a Winner...

Pinewood Derby results.

K3 came in 1st in his den and 3rd overall. His car is the one on the left - with the Lego's. The blue represents water and the Lego creation on top is a submarine. He was so cute. And we are so proud. He told us before the race that he was planning on winning.

Audition:

K2 had her theater school audition yesterday. She had a blast and has a really good feeling about it. Getting there was interesting - we drove around trying to find a place to park for almost a half an hour and ended up in a parking garage.

Now picture me ducking as I drive under the concrete supports. I hate parking garages in my Suburban. I have very little clearance and the ducking helps. (stop laughing - I can't help it.)

The Rearrange:

Holes are patched. Painting will commence this afternoon. 1 room almost done, 2 to go. Tomorrow I'll post a picture that should explain why it's taken so long to get to the painting portion of this project. Just think teenage boy with a sharpie marker.

Obviously, I lived through the day without having a clone. I even wrote new pages last night.

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

The Weekend

Is here!
Yay!
Except...I don't know why I'm so excited.
Our Saturday is so insane I was checking around for a cloning machine to borrow.
It'll be great, just busy.

I'm ready to start new writing! Yay! Hopefully that word meter will start moving again.

And my dryer died - probably from nearly 24 hours of constant use and it still doesn't look like I've made progress. B thinks he can fix it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Might be Monday until I post again!
Enjoy!

Supernatural

You'll remember I said I don't watch much television.
But there is one show that I will not miss. I even own the entire season 1 on DVD. I make everyone in my house be quiet and I've started to guard the remote control so no one even thinks about changing the channel, even during a commercial.
Yes, it's Supernatural and I'm with these friends in my total adoration of the characters, actors, plot, writing - yeah, everything about it.
If you've never watched it and can handle spooky, scary, occasionally bloody, but always good and fine to look at, then I highly suggest you give it a look-see. You won't be sorry.
Just when I think the show couldn't possibly get any better, it does. I'd still watch regardless, but that's not the point. Last night's episode was awesome. That's not to say it wasn't without faults, (why weren't they wearing the anti-possession charms since they were little?) but any fault is easily overlooked because the characterization in these shows is so fantastic.
I could go on and on.
Especially since I got the chance to watch last night's episode again today and yeah, bad Sam is very, very good.
And so is worried Dean trying to save bad Sam.
Next Thursday can't come soon enough!

Birthday Shoutout

Happy Birthday to my baby sister & bestest friend!!
We often get mistaken for twins and always definitely recognized as sisters (and there's seven years between us). The same can be said when our middle sister is with us. But the similarities between A and I are more defined. Often someone will come up to me and think I'm her and vice versa. We also have the same voice. Even our mother and husbands can't always tell us apart on the phone. I'll call into her work and the receptionist gets totally freaked out - especially if she's new. What makes this worse is that we're so close we often finish each others sentences and can tell a story collectively without tripping over each other. It's totally cool and often sends the recipient of our tale over the edge in confusion and bewilderment.
A is also one of my biggest cheerleaders when it comes to writing. If I complain about not having time, she'll tell me to get off the phone and get my butt in the chair. She reads for me, defends me and helps support me when rejections come my way. I can call her to brainstorm or get her reaction to an off the wall idea...i.e. How freaked out would you be if you found a decapitated dead bird in your deli sandwich after you took a bite? (note to self: warn her next time) (How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?)
So, thank you for being there for me. May you be blessed today and every day.
Happy Birthday!

Why You Should Never...

Say you're cold in my house.

Yes. That's me somewhere under that pile.

Two blankets. Two pairs of jeans (on top of the two blankets). Two coats. A bathroom rug. Four pillows. A stocking cap. And the army hat.

And all I said was that I couldn't get warm.

Thanks to the older K's, I could barely breath.

Still Cold...

That's all I'm going to say about the weather. Except...Brrrrrr!

The television remote:
B has this irritating habit of changing the channel when a commercial comes on. This. Drives. Me. Nuts. I don't care that there's a commercial on. I'm okay with that. I'd rather stay on that channel and wait for the show to come back. (This coming from someone who watches very, very little TV) And I just noticed K2 does it too. What is up with that?

Laundry:
Oh. My. Goodness. The bedroom rearrange has brought it all out. Despite the fact that I've ran both machines nonstop since I got home today, the pile is still knee deep. And the washer doesn't want to spin right the first time.

The Rearranging:
The past two nights have been so busy, we've done nothing. Except take the enormous pile of trash to the curb for pick up. But, even though I'm not sleeping well (can't get comfy), I am very excited about picking out paint and painting. (I love to paint). K2 doesn't know what color she wants. Neither do I. I definitely want something "different" and so far, every color I suggest makes B roll his eyes.

I'm not talking shocking pink or fire engine red or anything that would make your retinas bleed. Just something...different. We'll see...I have very powerful ways of persuasion. (Not that - get your mind out of the gutter!)

Nevermind What I Said...

About it being cold outside!
This morning, the windchill was -1*!
Even now, it's a raging 15*, but the wind is making it feel like 0*! So, last week, when I thought it was cold...well, that's seeming like a tropical heatwave to me now. And it's a lot colder in other areas not too far away from here.
What the heck is up with that?
I hate it! I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but we live in an old, old house. It's impossible to get warm in here. Impossible. Several schools had a delay this morning because of the cold - not ours, but I wished for it. There's advisories and all that nonsense. And wouldn't you know, neither of the younger K's could find their gloves this morning. Probably because of the chaos that is the house right now.
The moving project is going. We're at the fix walls and paint portion. B is promising this will be done by the end of the month.
All I can say is, for his sake, my sanity and the reclamation of sleep, he better be right.

What A Mess!

Saturday I had my writer's group meeting. (Always a wonderful time) I knew my family was going to be working on cleaning bedrooms while I was gone - K1 is getting a waterbed from a friend of ours and his room needed cleaned. K2 is taking his old bed, and her room needed clean. Sounds like a pain, but kind of normal, right?
Not. I came home only to find everyone had decided to switch bedrooms. K2 is at an age where sharing with her little sister is no longer working out. We've talked about this move for months, but I wasn't quite ready for it. Now I have no choice. I am feeling good about it, just a little overwhelmed. And a lot exhausted.
After two straight days of moving stuff, cleaning and lugging furniture, I am bruised, bloody and no longer have a decent fingernail. We have holes to patch, painting to do and carpet to remove before the switch over is complete.
Change is good, right?
Right?

A New Way to Cook Chicken...

So, yesterday I made hot wings for dinner.
I grabbed two kitchen towels to pat the wings dry before I started the hot coating process. When I was done I threw the towels into the washing machine. Before bed, I went down to take the laundry out. As I opened the dryer door, something fell to the ground. I just looked at it, confused and yes, a little scared (those of you that know my cat story will understand). K1 was with me and he didn't want me to touch it. But I did.
Yeah, you guessed it.
I washed and dried a chicken wing.
It was, I assume, cooked, but not pretty. There was fuzz stuck all over it and the color wasn't pleasant. I took it upstairs to show B (who was in the shower) and he was not impressed.

Today is the first of February. Already.
And one of those days for me. My clumsy side definitely showed up. Let's just say if you wanted something broken, covered in coffee or done wrong, then today, I'm your gal. Probably another example of life trying to kick my butt as it's been working so hard to do, but the snow in the forecast makes me not care. Much.

Yikes!

Where have the days gone?
The post below was one I thought I posted on Sunday. Apparently I didn't.

Things are pretty crazy around here. Keeping up is a stretch right now. So if I disappear for a few days, you'll know life is trying to squash me flat. I'm not going to let it, but the blog might have to be patient while I wade through the backlog.

I don't know what's going on, but the calendar is filling up again already. I don't know why. It's not like we're huge social people or anything, but there it is, every weekend and lots of weeknights, some different kind of commitment. Honestly, most of the stuff is the kids. Usually we get through until about April without the the obligations that are already there waiting sucking up all the weekend time.

Yep. That's life.
And that's all I have for today.

Reading...

Natalie tagged me! So here goes...

Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal?

Paranormal and contemporary. I have a whole stack of Historicals on my to be read pile. That used to be all I read, but now my tastes are more varied.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
I always try to get my favorite authors in hardback if possible. Otherwise, I have no preference.

Heyer or Austen?
I haven't read either.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
Both. I love book stores, but the convience of Amazon is wonderful.

Woodiwiss or Lindsay?
I know I've read both. But that's all I can remember.

First romance novel you ever remember reading?
Hmmm...can't say for sure. My mom was an avid reader and I can remember reading the Harlequin's of old. I do remember reading a Native American hero and captive heroine and something about her taking a bath in a waterfall, but nothing else. I wish I could remember.

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
You can't be serious!

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
I usually keep or give away. I hate to throw books away and will only do that if they're damaged badly.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
It depends on where I'm reading.

Sookie Stackhouse or Anita Blake?
No clue.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

I try to stop at chapter breaks.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

okay.

Crusie or SEP?
Both.

Buy or Borrow?
Both.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
I don't read reviews. Browse mostly and occasionally recommendation.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?

Tidy ending. Cliffhanger only if I have the next book in the series - otherwise I'm apt to wait until I do have it.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
Yes.

Series or standalone?
Both.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Good question.

Colder than a...

Holy cow it's cold outside!
23* and with the wind chill it feels like 12*.

This will be mostly ramblings as I don't have anything much to say. (Besides it's cold outside.)

Hey, it's Friday! I want to kick back and relax, but I can't yet. I have to run some errands and I'm dreading that because of how cold it is. What I want to do is change into comfy clothes and curl up on the couch with either my laptop or a book - either writing, research or pleasure reading. I'm leaning toward the last.
I realized the other day that reading for pleasure is something I've pushed to the back of the "to do" list over the past couple of weeks. Don't get me wrong, I've read some great books - but at the same time, I'm checking for errors and consistency because I'm critiquing them for writing friends. There's something very different about curling up on the couch with a book in your hands and shutting the world out for a while. Reading is essential for a writer. The right book will remind me why I work so hard to put my book in someones hands. It'll resolve my commitment to write a story that's hard to put down. A book I'm not fond of will push me the same ways.
I think I've made up my mind.

Research

My edits and synopsis are done!
Now I'm researching possible information for my new book. That doesn't seem like it should be a pain, but it is. As of right now, I have 3 pages of notes - typed - and a bunch of stuff I found on the 'net. And I'm still not sure exactly what is driving my characters. I guess I wouldn't get so frustrated with the research, if there wasn't so much nonsensical information to wade through before finding what I'm looking for.
For example: I'm researching Norse mythology. Who knew all the mythology references in the gaming world? I google searched my key words, and 99% of the hits were all related to gaming.
Kind of frustrating, but yet, my brain is working overtime with the information I did manage to absorb. Now I have to figure out the rest of the why's and the how's and I think I'm good to go.
The direction I'm going is a little different than what I intended, but I'm happy. It makes sense to me. And if I do my job right, it'll make sense to you too.
Hopefully new writing will come shortly and the word meter will start to move again.

Headaches and Parking Tickets

I have had a brutal headache for the past two days. One of those crushing, stabbing, painful things that felt like my brain was separated at the hemispheres and then hacked up with a dull chainsaw. I wanted to poke my own eyes out with an ice pick. Yes. It was that bad.
Today it's gone. Mostly. I can still feel the pressure - back there...waiting...

Anyway, that's not the purpose of today's post. Actually I'm not sure what is. My last posts have been really short, mostly due to time, the headache and the lack of something interesting to say. Not that today will be any different in the interesting department.

After a couple of days of being able to do nothing writing-wise, I'm back to my edits. And very close to the end. Which is good, because I'm itching to get back to new writing.

Oh. Parking Tickets...
The other day when I dropped the younger K's off at school, I noticed new signage up along the block in front of the elementary and high school. I won't go into my opinion on this - suffice it to say I might just have to hike my tail to the next town meeting. Anyway, after I saw the younger K's safely into school, I went on my merry way home. And passed K1's car (technically not his yet. The car is Bob's, but is registered to me) parked right underneath one of those new signs.
I knew he was going to get a ticket. And he did.
Then he got all macho and said he shouldn't have to pay it because he didn't see the signs. Um...yeah. Okay. I laughed and he didn't find the humor in it. He still insisted he wasn't going to pay it and that there was nothing they could do to him. Yeah, I'm still laughing, but remember the car is registered in my name. If it wasn't, I might have let him learn his lesson the hard way, but I had to be the mom and insist he take care of it (and loan him the money). I even made him go downtown to the police station by himself. He still insists nothing would have happened. I'm still laughing at that - not a joyous, carefree laugh mind you, but a laugh that's more of a groan and a worry.

"Typical" Monday

Today was one of those Mondays.
Yeah. One of those.
No snow delay. And I have to admit that kind of bummed me out too. I could have used another hours sleep. K1 lost his car keys and by the time we found them he was late for school. Which threw the rest of my morning off-kilter. K4, despite me asking her not to, decided to "fix her nailpolish". Uhhh...yeah. Red nailpolish. On her face. On both hands. And on her teeth. Don't ask me. By that time, we were late leaving too.
I don't know how I got them to school on time. The rest of the day passed with similar events. And relaxation is nowhere on the horizon.
So, is this the trade off for a little winter weather?

Snow!

Mother Nature finally cooperated and we got a light dusting of snow!
The grass is covered and the roads are a bit slick.
The kids are hoping for at least a delay tomorrow morning. (Ha!)
I'm happy. It'd be nice to see more, but this is a good start.

Names

I need to re-name one of the major characters in the book I'm revising.
And I'm a tiny bit stuck.
Really, I like his name. It suits him. But I have to change it. I think.
A friend of mine is much different than me when it comes to names. She gets the names first and they have to be just right. Which is awesome. And so totally not me. I often leave a blank or just (name) - not usually for main characters, but sometimes. In this same book, I changed the name of the establishment twice (much to the dismay of my critique partners) before going back to the original. Another friend just did a spreadsheet of all her main and secondary characters names. That's organized. I keep a list of names as well, ones I want to use, but it's seriously outdated and I'm not sure what kind of mood I was in when I compiled the page. Let's just say some of the names are a little odd and leave it at that.
So, my brain is working overtime trying to come up with a suitable replacement name. And if he fights me too hard, I might have to leave things alone. We'll see.
Have a great weekend!!

We're there

...at that time of year.
The holiday's are over. The decorations (or most of them) are stashed away for next year and if you're like me, the past few months are just a faint blur. It's cold out. The day's are short. And those resolutions (if you make them) are like an ever-tightening rope around your neck.
Now we're at the point where there's not much going on. Calendars that were previously packed full are now wide open. There's not another holiday on the horizon for ages.
(Well, Valentine's Day, if you count that.)
Sports sign up sheets are coming fast and furious though. Softball, Volleyball and various other costly endeavors. I don't even want to see them yet. I can't fathom the thought of softball practice right now - sitting in a lawnchair while the little kids watch clouds float over seems years away instead of months.
Spring will be here before we know it.
But first we have to get through the long sleep of winter.

Random Thought Wednesday

Middle of the week and I don't have many coherent things to say. I'm edting and itching to get back to my wip (work in progress).
American Idol:
I never, ever thought I would watch it. K2 has a great love for the show and we are forced to watch. I'm not a huge fan of reality television and have never watched Survivor. Ever. I feel bad for the people who believe they have a shot and clearly don't. And then I'm appalled when they come out cursing and talking trash about the judges. I know most of it is there just for the entertainment value, but I'm not entertained by watching people's dreams crumble - no matter how horrible they sing. But, K2 and I had a really good conversation last night about following your dreams. That if you believe in yourself enough, how you could take even the most sarcastic and mean comments and use them to make yourself better. It was good. And for that, I love American Idol.
Static electricity:
The cat shows up with fuzzies all over, his fur stuck in directions it doesn't belong. He is not happy. And the shocking has started. Lot's of fun there. Not.
This week:
The older K's have mid-term exams all week. Their schedules are weird. Both kids are in and out of the house at the strangest times. They only have to go for their tests, and then are free to leave. Today, K1 was exempt from mid-terms, but not the double detentions he somehow earned. I expect him to come barrelling in the door anytime now and completely throw my routine off kilter.
That's all I have for now.

What I Live With...

Yes. That's an albino rat. Her name is Spanky and she's really sweet. Spanky belongs to K2. We've only recently discovered that K2 is probably allergic to Spanky. Every time she holds her, she breaks out in welts. Her tail is a little freaky, but I have no problem with her. At least she's not a scorpion or a spider or a snake.

Of course, we were told she was a white mouse. You see, when we agreed to let K2 adopt Spanky, K2's cat, Angel, had just died a horrific and terrible death. Her class was doing some dietary study on the "mice" and when she brought the paper home for adopting the "mouse", we couldn't say no.

Then we went to pick her up. The first thing B said was, "That's a rat." Yeah. Rat. Not mouse. The dog is afraid of her. The cat indifferent. Most of the time, there's a fight over who gets to hold her.

Our pet population is dwindling some. The hermit crabs have all gone home to their big sandbox in the sky. We've had gerbils who have met untimely ends. (That's a story for another time). Of course, K1 wants a puppy, or a snake, or a spider. K3 wants a kitten. So do K2 and K4. Heck, even B wants a puppy.

And I usually have to be the bad guy and say no.

One day they're going to get to me though and I'm not going to be able to say no. (Except to the spiders and snakes. Not. Ever. Happening.)

What then?

Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,
I am sorry I stupidly put all my snowman decorations away with the Christmas ones. If you'll note, I did leave one and he's waiting for snow so he doesn't look like an idiot standing on the front porch. Yes, Santa is still standing with him, but that particular Santa really just wants one good snowfall before he takes his long seasonal nap.
Is this my fault? Is it because I put all the snowmen away prematurely for the second year in a row? Or is it because I accidentally left my "Let It Snow" sign hanging all year? Have I jinxed winter weather?
I know it's not nice to question you, so I would like to offer my humblest apologies if my eagerness in putting the decorations away have offended you enough that you are now withholding snow. One good snow? Please?
Sincerely,
Your biggest fan

What do you think?

This was taken on our last beach trip with the gang.
Do you see the face?
A knot in the wood of the upper deck railing, but man, it's freaky!
And it makes me think. (You should be used to that by now.)
What if that face represents an evil spirit trapped in the wood? What if the person was cursed long ago, his soul transferred to a tree by some magical power? Would cutting that post he's on in half release his vindictive spirit? I'll stop now.
Even if you' re not as odd as I am, you have to admit that is one weird picture.
Happy Saturday!

Thursday

I'm not sure I have anything even remotely interesting to say again today.

If you've noticed my word meter, you'll see I'm making good progress on my new story. Only now I'm at the point where I need to step back, evaluate, edit and make sure I'm going in the direction I want to. The characters fleshed out better than expected and the challenges have to be true to who they are and worthy of them. I'm not much of a plotter, but I do need a good direction. It might seem like a set back, but it's not.

Happy Thursday!

Nothing to Say

I don't.
Nothing interesting or thought provoking.
Don't know why.
It's Wednesday.
Doesn't feel like it though, but I can't tell you what day it does feel like.
We had a smattering of snow last night. A light dusting on the cars - enough to make the younger K's go nuts and scare the dog.
Yeah, she's like that. Anything different or new in her environment and she gets a little freaky. Rearranging the furniture will upset her for days. You can only imagine how she felt over the holidays with two living room re-arrangements.
And a tree in the house.
I can't help but wonder what dogs think about that. My sister and I discussed this because her dog acted all offended when they put their tree up. Here we tell them not to bring sticks in the house and then we bring in a live tree? And then tell them not to touch it?
That's all I've got for today.

Smelly

This morning I put a turkey in the oven for dinner.
Then, I went about my business of taking the K's to school and making a quick grocery store run. By the time I returned, the bird was far enough into the cooking cycle to notice. Man, does it smell good in here.
And I started thinking...
About smells and how they create moods.
Like this turkey for example. It's a comforting and homey smell. As soon as I walked in the door and took a whiff, the stress of morning traffic and rushing around for the previous 2 hours dissipated.
A lot different than walking in and catching a whiff of the cat box.
Everyone already knows that certain odors can lift your mood, or put you in a worse one. That's not really my point. What smells good to me might make you sick and vice versa. I hate the smell of bubble gum and spearmint. B hates butterscotch. Mostly that kind of stuff is related to prior trauma, as well as the history behind the odors you find comfort in.
I guess what I'm thinking about is creating those same mood in my books.
What if the hero came home for Thanksgiving dinner only to find his entire family murdered? He wouldn't think the smell of turkey cooking was pleasant because it would remind him of that awful day.
What if the heroine found freedom from an abusive relationship thanks to a skunk? That smell would remind her of all she gained, even though she might not want to breathe it in too deeply.
In my current work in progress, one of the heroines is a motorcycle mechanic. (Actually, she customizes and restores motorcycles, but you get the gist.) To her the smell of grease, exhaust and parts cleaner means her world is right.
Then again, if you're reading a book and you have an aversion to say, chewing gum, (ha ha) and one of the characters finds comfort in that smell, would if deter you from really liking that character?
Anyway, before I continue to ramble and totally lose track of my thoughts, my little brain blast this morning makes me aware of how, even between the pages of a book, smell can affect us. That's something I need to pay attention to a little bit more. I think as writers (at least for me)we tend to overlook adding that sense because no one can smell it anyway. But we all know certain smells - like the turkey, the cat box and coffee brewing. Just mentioning them can evoke emotion. And I think that's my point. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is.

Winter is Back

Saturday it was almost 70* here. We had the back door open, did car maintenance and took a walk - without a coat. The kids played outside and though we knew the feeling was totally false, that sense that you get when spring comes filled us. We talked about outside projects, gardening and different things that will need done once warmer weather comes for good. Even Sunday's temps weren't too bad. But it looks like the winds have changed. I'm freezing. There's even a little tiny bit of snow in the forecast. I like the snow part, hate the cold. I'm a firm believer that if it's going to be cold, it might as well snow. Anyway...

If you haven't noticed my word meter on the side there, I started a new project. I can't tell you much about it, mainly because I'm not entirely sure what the book is about besides some spooky stuff. Feels good to write something new again. The last 2 months have been spent mainly editing and revising, and trying to get through the holidays. Which was part of my plan and completely necessary, but I still couldn't wait to get to this point.

I did have a few brief moments of anxiety when trying to decide what to work on. When I was trying to come up with my writing goals for 2007 (and yes, I did come up with a logical plan), I went through my idea file. Nothing jumped out at me. Then that title you see there came to mind, along with a very sad back story. For about an hour, I had nothing but "chapter one" written, but then the words came. And hopefully they'll come back this afternoon when I can put my full attention back on my own writing.

I hope you're warm where you are.

A Great Honor

Today was my RWA chapter meeting.

Always a great time with a great group of people who always make me smile. And laugh. And laugh.

Today they made me cry.

The January meeting is when our chapter service award is given out.

Yep. That picture there...

I was the honored recipient this year and most will laugh, but I was speechless.

I'm still stunned. It sat on my laptop all day and every time I walked past, I smiled. Seriously, I can't believe I was chosen.

CPRW has given me so much. More than I can ever give back. I went to my first meeting as a totally clueless, completely overwhelmed newbie writer. They accepted me, tutored me and held my hand (sometimes both) as I journeyed down this path to publication. I'm still journeying. And they're still holding my hand. Only now, I have a hand to offer as well. This group of writers are some of the most incredible human beings and I'm proud to call them my friends.

So to all my chapter mates, Thank you.

Multi-tasking...

At least you're not this guy...Imagine having to carry your head with you everywhere you go.

Okay, so I'm not as funny as I like to believe.

I think I mentioned the mannequin heads before. Maybe not. K2 brought them home after a career workshop at school. They were the focal point of several interesting practical jokes in this house, until K2 and her bestest friend, E, gave them makeovers. I did find one in the freezer after that. It had a mohawk and gave me somewhat of a scare. The darn things are pretty creepy. You try walking into your kids room to find a head perched on top of the dresser. You're trying to restart your heart because you were certain you were alone in the house. And that happened every time I ran across one, no matter how long they'd been here. I found this pic while looking for something interesting to post. I think that's K1 under the hood.

I realized I used the word "weird" two days in a row in my post title....that's stupid.

Anyway, on to the multi-tasking.

That's what I'm doing right now. Working on this blog, a critique and my own stuff, in between taking care of some household items. It's not pretty, but I feel like I'm making progress already this morning. It's still early though...all that could change rather quickly. But I do have an impressive "to do" list today.

Tomorrow is my writer's group meeting. I'm really looking forward to it. I do, however, have to semi-publicly reveal my writing goals for the coming year and though I've thought about them, I haven't quite come up with a plan yet. I met my 2006 goals, which is an awesome feeling.

Happy Friday!

Weird Pictures

Found this on my camera.

Actually, a whole series of pictures of these two. I'm not sure of the purpose. Sometimes it's better not to ask. Yes, that's Captain Jack Sparrow. I really don't think that chick is the right girl for him though. My opinion. Someone seemed to think they made a good pair. Good enough to pose them like they were going to a dance.

The other pictures are all just as bad. There's a shot of the crockpots holding our New Year's Eve feast. Several of the dogs. More of K2 and her cousins acting like rockstars and gangsters than I ever care to see again.

Next time I will be hiding the camera.

Then maybe I'll have better pictures.

Weird Week

So, it's Wednesday already.
I just realized that.

Getting everyone up and out the door this morning was not as traumatic as I feared. Don't know if that's because we were organized and in the "school" frame of mind last night, or if they were all just ready to go back. We only had one minor incident over something that's beyond my control - probably a record, even for a regular morning. But the house is quiet again and I'm trying really hard to get myself back into my routine. So far, I've spent the day doing research and making plans and goals. My stuff is spread out through 2 rooms right now and I don't feel like I've made a bit of progress.

And I realize I haven't posted any pictures for a while. I'll see what I can do to change that over the next few days. I haven't really taken any new pictures. K2 filled the camera with odd shots of hair, some acne and my sister's breezeway floor during our New Year's Eve shindig. The only other pictures on the camera are of K1's dazzling flamingo pink hair. And a few of Christmas morning, but you don't care about those. Still, I'll see what I can do.

Nothing big coming up any time soon. No snow in the forecast and no major events to plan. That's January for you.

Happy New Year!

Better late than never!

I'm playing catch up now and trying to get things organized for the crew going back to school in the morning. That's not going to be pleasant after so much time off. Having the routine back will be nice though.

And I'm still working on my writing goals for coming year. I'm not sure if I'll post them here or not. If I do, it won't be until after I'm forced to write them down for my writer's group on Saturday.

Oh, New Years Eve.
The usual suspects at my sister and brother-in-laws. The usual fun. The usual deflating of B and I's air mattress. (Don't ask me. It happens to us every year!) No usual movie this year, but we did do a synchronized Lord of the Rings viewing. Which is pretty silly, but still fun. We started the movies at the same time, took breaks at the same time and ate dinner at the same time but in different houses. And we watched the extended versions, so we only got through the second movie before total exhaustion ended the synchronicity.

May your dreams come true this year!