Stagnancy

Lately, I have been "making up" words, so you'll have to forgive me. I don't know if stagnancy is a word, but its the current state I'm in with my writing.
During my in-laws visit, I didn't do any writing (not even blogging) for six days straight. Now, I don't really have the "desire" to write. I hope that makes sense.
Writing for me, can be a fleeting thing. I am so busy with my kids and family and household things in regular life, I have few precious moments to live in my dream worlds and write what I see. If I don't do it on a regular basis, then the "urge" to do it fades for me, and I'll go months at a time without looking at my WIPs.
So far, it has been about two weeks. Hence my feeling of "Stagnancy." And with the current state of my household (transition between Halloween and Christmas decorations) and all the Christmas stuff I need to do this month, I just don't know when I'll visit my stories again. It's a depressing thought.
Stagnancy. I'll have to file that away in my folder of "icky" words...

December woes?

Ah, the dreaded month of December approaches...
I love December. I love the Holidays. I, however, DO NOT LOVE the perpetual feeling of overwhelmement (yes I know its not a word) that I feel during the entire month of December. I mean good grief, there are presents to buy, a house to decorate, parties to throw and attend, and the faster I run, the faster I need to run, it seems.
Of course living in the neigborhood I do, everyone is trying to "out-Griswald" each other when it comes to decorations and such. I am content to have lighted garland across my front door frame, lights on my bushes and trees, wreaths over all my coach lights on my house, and my lantern-pole wrapped in garland with a big red bow. I am happy to stop there. My neighbors, however, won't be satisfied until the street resembles a portion of the Las Vegas Strip.
Actually, I think it's pretty at night (which comes around 4pm now) and I am glad to be part of such a Holiday-enthusiastic Neighborhood. Now that the outside of the house is done--it's time for the inside.
Now that, friends, is the weeklong ordeal.

The Rush for Azkaban...

As soon as I get Thing One off to school on the bus, I am piling Things Two and Three into the car to rush to Target, because if I wait until after noon when I take Thing Three to preschool, then the copies of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be sold out.
Of course, I don't allow my kids to watch movies during the daytime, and the Grandparents land tonight, so it will be a day or two before we can actually watch Harry Potter. My kids saw it only once in the movie theatre (they were a little scared of the dementors and werewolf) so it's not like I can just give them the movie and let them watch it themselves...
My house is as clean as it's going to get. I'm normally anal about how my towels must be perfectly folded and stacked (by color) into the linen closet upstairs, but I decided to hell with that this time. Too much other stuff to worry about. I bought the 20 pound turkey (whew, HUGE) and the stuffing, because if I wait any longer, all the turkey stuffing will be sold out and I'll be stuffing my turkey with Chicken Flavor, heh heh. One year we did the anti-cooking thing and went to Boston Market. We thought it was so much fun, we now do it every Christmas Eve. My mother-in-law is mortified that we do that, but it's a fun tradition.
Oooh, gotta get the boys dressed and the car ready...

Tasmanian Devil Day...

Okay, you know that little cartoon character from Looney Tunes--the one who makes all those crazy grunts and is constantly whirling around with a self-propelled cyclone?...
That's me today. In-laws are coming tomorrow, so I have to finish cleaning the house, do about 8 loads of laundry, and do a BIG grocery shop (which means driving 30 minutes two towns over because WE don't have a super Walmart) AND to top it off I still have to do my regular routine of dry cleaners, asst. stores and taking my preschooler to and from school and driving like a bat out of hell because once I drop him off at the preschool I have 7.9 minutes before my kindergartener's bus stops by our house. I'm sure people in my neighborhood think I'm the crazy lady who drives the Big, Red, Always-Speeding Expedition.
So, crazy/nutso day today. Luckily we are all over our colds and coughs. Because that would truly suck.
I decided to hell with getting up all the Christmas decorations in one day. Superwoman, I ain't.

What to do, what to do...

I have a dilemma. As I mentioned in earlier posts, my in-laws are coming for Thanksgiving. So, while I am cleaning my house this weekend, do I just put up the Christmas decorations so they'll all be up when they get here? This solves the problem of me being territorial, but I'll kill myself in the process. Hmmm. What to do...
On the writing front, I am at a crossroads. I can't decide which novel to work on. I currently have three going, and I need to make a decision. I have the sequel to the one on submission (which needs a lot of work) and I have two started victorian novels.
Argh! I need my magic 8 ball to tell me what to do!

The Dreaded Female Doctor Appointment...

Okay, yesterday I went to...well, you can see the title of my post. So, answer me this question, please:

What posseses a man, who is 6’7, and very large, with hands the size of banana bunches (and fingers the size of polish sausages no less) to become, of all things…a gynecologist?
I now feel that there should be a professional hand size limit for gynecology candidates. They should line them all up at the entrance to the medical school and measure them.
Oh. Sorry. You can't be a gynecologist. Your hands are bigger than the allotted limit. You must choose a different field of study...

'Nuff Said on that subject.

We are very big Harry Potter Fans here at our house. I think my children have every Harry Potter toy ever made, they are currently zooming around the basement with their scarlet Quidditch robes and broomsticks (a gift from Grandma) to the Harry Potter soundtrack at full volume. Even my husband, Mr. Dignified Professional Corporate Vice President, has read the HP Series in its entirety...twice. He would never tell anyone that of course, but it's kinda cute, I think.
So, we are excited that AZKABAN is coming out on DVD on Tuesday. I'll have to be at Target bright and early to get a copy--it's a funny phenomenon here: the HP movies seem to disappear VERY fast from the stores. The stores here literally run out. When CHAMBER OF SECRETS came out I literally drove to five stores before paying a ridiculous price for a copy from the local Jewel--and I got the last copy at that. This time around I'll be smarter.
As a writer, I can understand that the pressure on Jo Rowling must be immense right now. I'm sure she's taking it in stride...but I also know that people are literally chomping at the bit for her next novel--there are entire websites dedicated to speculation on when she'll actually be finished with it--especially since she's pregnant again. I can't concentrate on squat when I'm pregnant. I have hope that she can...

My Alias/Christmas Rant

My voice is "sort of" back today--but I still feel under the weather. If only the sun would shine here! We're going on seven days without sun. Fairly depressing.
Another depressing bit of news, my favorite TV show, Alias, isn't starting up again until January. I mean, what is the deal with that? I love that show, and have been waiting (very patiently, mind you) since September (when all the OTHER shows started up again) and now I have to wait essentially two more months?
CRUELTY I say! All because silly Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan "couldn't work together well" after their breakup so they've had to kill Vaughn off and rewrite the storyline. I have to say it, after all the history and angst and sexual tension these two have gone through ONSCREEN, it will be a major letdown to the viewers, if the writers axe Vaughn and destroy one of the Greatest Love Stories Since Ross and Rachel.
Whew. Okay. I need to breathe!
I am officially going into panic mode now, since the In-laws are arriving in now only FIVE days. Gotta clean clean clean or I'll be mud mud mud. And so it goes. To top everything off, my hubby casually suggested that "wouldn't it be fun" to put up all the Christmas decorations" while his parents are here for Thanksgiving. (I'll pause here, and count to ten, before typing...)
FIRST of all, putting up my Christmas decorations is a weeklong ordeal, that he seems to think can be packed into one day.
SECONDLY, the putting-up-of-the-decorations, is MY job and MY job alone. I am very anal about how things have to look, they have to be "just so" and I am very much against tackiness. It makes me break out in hives, tackiness does.
THIRDLY, he's smoking something, if he thinks us "all pitching in and doing it in one day" thing is going to work. I'll freak out if things get set up wrong (aka different from how I'd do it) and some of the decorations are getting old and are very fragile. And then there are the trees. I have several themed trees. There's the burgundy and gold tree for the sitting room window, then there's the enormous gold-ornament and bow tree I hoist onto my way high up display shelf to be visible from the big window above my front door. THEN there's the eight foot tree (the one Santa puts the presents under) that goes in the formal family room. Then there's the smaller trees for the formal dining, family room, basement, office, kitchen/breakfast area, you name it. We're talking LOTS of trees. Not to mention the wall hangings, and the stockings, and the garlands and bows on the stair bannisters, hearth, etc. etc. etc. (We haven't even addressed the OUTSIDE yet).
I just discovered that I'm ranting now. But my point to all this, Christmas decorating is MINE, and it takes a week (I start immediately after Thanksgiving) and I don't need or want help.
Am I crazy? Control freak, yes, but crazy?

So today I've decided to be...

a mute. Actually, it's not a conscious decision, I just woke up this morning and discovered that my voice was gone. Seriously. I can't even squawk--I can only whisper, and that's it. And I have at least half a dozen phone calls to make today, and a birthday party to chaperone (in a notoriously loud and chaotic MacDonaldland playplace) and I think the day will prove to be very...interesting.
I wasn't able to write yesterday, and my character's demands are pretty much festering in my mind. I am reading the ms of one of my writer buddies, and I'd rather read than write at this point. I should set aside some time though, or my character will lose interest in me and stop talking...and that would be very bad.
It's funny how it works--when my characters want to talk to me, they're all I can think about. But if I ignore their suggestions, and put them off long enough, the golden aura disappears and they fade away back into the dormant places of my mind, and start collecting dust once more.
I can't let that happen to this current character. Besides, she's very determined it seems. She's even crept into my dreams, of all places!
I'll pay her proper attention tonight, I promise.

Rainy Day

Feeling SO much better today. Of course, I currently sound like Lucille Ball in her latter years, but I'll kick this head cold soon!
We are having a mitigation system put in today. It's the weirdest thing. I guess our subdivision is teeming with Radon (our test came in quite high) and so this guy is coming in to install a mechanism that will suck the Radon out of our basement and blow it out of our roof. He explained it all to me, but it is still strange. (Then again, we lived the majority of our married lives in Texas, so basements are still strange to us!)
Okay, the depressing part--the sun seems to completely disappear in Wisconsin from November 1st to May 1st--and we literally get one day of sun out of ten, if we're lucky. Winter is a very depressing time here. It's been overcast and drizzling for several days now. It's great snuggle-up-with-your-loved-ones-with-a-steaming-mug-of-hot-chocolate weather, but it also makes one very, very sleepy.
I dreamed about one of my characters last night. She found herself in a very interesting situation. It has given me a wonderful opportunity to take her story in a new direction. She's telling me that she's not diabolical after all, but a good person at the core, fighting her destiny. We'll see where she takes me today--I have to babysit the Mitigation Installation Man, so I'll have a couple of hours to write! (Even though I should be cleaning out my closets with a toothbrush--in-laws are coming in EXACTLY SEVEN DAYS!)
Whheewww. I just got a shiver...

Warning: Stressful week ahead...

I couldn't sleep this morning (mostly because I couldn't breathe) and so I've been up since five. Damn head cold. My puppy was loving all the attention, but now I am very stressed, planning the week ahead. I think I mentioned the dreaded "dinner party" that I am in no shape to attend. Not to mention the fact that before I can even consider going I need to get my hair, nails and feet done, and buy a fabulous (which usually means pricey) outfit. NOT EXCITING PEOPLE. I dread this. I dread this like I dread things like...LUNG CANCER and my CHILDREN GETTING KIDNAPPED. I like to be in a state of general non-stress, which just isn't going to happen for me this week.
I wish I could fast forward until Sunday, then I'd be happy. But alas, the Fast Forwarding Your Life A Few Days Fairy is nowhere to be found. Bad for me...
To top everything off, my in-laws are visiting next week, for the holiday. I am fine with them coming, it's just the cleaning part beforehand (my mother-in-law lives in an immaculate house, and I do NOT.) There's something about the expectation level on the part of my in-laws. They're very clean people. Almost abnormally so. It seriously affects all their children. I remember many times my sister-in-law would stay up waaayyyy into the wee hours of the morning, just cleaning her house the night before they visited, so they would never suspect that she actually did live in a house of chaos most of the time. After a few tiring years of that, she got over it, and didn't clean. (or at least, she SAID she didn't!)
I, on the other hand, am still in the "I Must Clean Everything Immaculately Before They Visit" frame of mind. It's been nine years, and I still torture myself. Guess I still yearn to be accepted as a non-messy person! (heh heh.) I guess it all started when in the earlier years of our marriage, my husbands mother, during one visit, crawled under my kitchen sink and cleaned it out. Needless to say, that mortified me for good for a few years...
Guess I'd better start cleaning...

I really, really really HATE being sick...

I guess it was inevitable--all three kids have had colds and coughs for two weeks now, and since I am the primary comforter/kiss-giver, well, now I've got a doozy of a head cold. You know, the sore icky throat, and the head made of cement--yeah, baby. Bring it on.
I am going to have an interesting week because I have a stressful dinner party to go to on Friday--lots of bigwigs and such from my hubby's work, and I am not exactly "party-worthy" at this moment (heh heh, I wish you could see me, lounging in sweats, unshowered, stringy hair, hunched over the computer with assorted used tissues everwhere) Yep. I'm ready to go party right now!
I have taken a break from writing to get my house organized and take care of the sick children--I have my in-laws coming next week, and although I love them dearly, they can be a bit of a stress to have around. I guess that makes me normal. This is going to be an interesting week, to be sure. Mostly, I'll have to run around, getting ready for the imminent visit and the dreaded party--I am going to erupt in large boils before this is all over.
*sigh*

Okay, Okay

I'm a bad blogger. Life just seems to get in the way sometimes! Then again, I'm the worst-organized person I know. I have started another blog with another person, and that's been taking time too. So many excuses! I'll be better.
To update me:
I am currently working on a new novel, and I am very excited about it. I've had to stop and do some research as of late, but it's coming along swimmingly otherwise.
My other novel is in the hands of a senior editor at another big publisher, I am nervous, but frankly, I am over it. I have too much going on to stress over an "imminent rejection" to top everything off. I will just wait to hear from my agent, whether it's good news or bad.
I've been busy chauffeuring my kids everywhere--thank heaven soccer is over at this point. Now it's just swimming and Brownies and Pom Pons.
We're supposed to get snow on Thursday. I've gone into Winter Preparation Mode. I've cleaned out the garage, moved all the toys, balls, etc into their storage containers, removed the coiled hoses from the side of the house (before they can freeze), chopped down all the dying perennials, and moved the grill and patio furniture into storage. *sniff*
Now I just need to buy three pairs of snowboots, since my kids have outgrown their last-year ones and officially have KANGAROO FEET. Oh well, they can't help it. They're all going to be tall. I'm tall. Their father is tall. There you go.
I have to go run about five errands now--I'll blog more tomorrow!

Get out and VOTE!!!!

I feel very strongly about this. It is every American's God-given right, to vote for the candidate of their choice, and use their voice for good. What a marvelous thing democracy is.

My hubby and I got out about 6:30 this morning to go to our polling place, and by the time it opened, we had about 40-50 people in front of us, and about 500 behind us! (whew!) That is an awesome thing. So many people are so passionate this time around, and we're all making a difference.
I know some people who aren't voting, because they are either lazy or just not "interested in politics." This saddens me greatly. If every american had the same ignorant, apathetic attitude, democracy wouldn't work. People think "I'm only one person, it doesn't matter whether I vote or not." Well, elections have been won and lost by very small margins before, and especially in this election, where the candidates seem to be in a dead heat, literally EVERY VOTE COUNTS.
So GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!
I'll step off my soapbox for now, but at least you know where I stand.

As for my candidate: I'll only say this: GO (SO-AND-SO!)!!!!!! Hopefully he'll win tonight.