2009 is Almost Here!

As 2009 rapidly approaches, I am realizing something. Maybe it's because I'm turning 37--closer to my 40's than ever before, and I'm sure there are more reasons, but I suspect that 2009 will be an interesting year.

A year of Changes. In my own life.

What sort of changes? Not sure. But I have a feeling there will be more than a few. How's that for a cryptic post?

Happy New Year to Everyone, and I will be back to regular blogging, soon!

Lara

We're Heading Out of Town...

Okay, so, I am hoping the next snowstorm that's supposed to hit us tomorrow night hits AFTER we've taken off from the airport. We're going to Idaho for the holidays, and I want to wish everyone a very happy, safe and joyful Christmas and New Year's. And if you didn't get a card from me, don't fret, I did not send any out this year. Yes, I am bad.

This blog will return Monday, January 5th. Unless of course, I find something to really blog about. Then I promise I will. Be happy, everyone!

XOXOXO

Lara

Buried. 'Nuff Said.

I have a confession to make. I am not a person who "keeps up" with the laundry. I wait, until it gets so overwhelming I either need an A) Intervention or B) a Cloning Machine in order to get it done in a timely fashion.

I'm a "lazy" laundry person. My kids have enough clothes to last them for a few weeks, so, why should I do it every week? I know, BAD LARA. I need to reassess my stance on laundry. I constantly have "Mount Vesuvius" in my laundry room. Let's think about it. Six people create a lot of Towels, Socks, and Underwear, on a daily basis. Thing Two, can only wear stuff once, because he's All Boy, and doesn't really care what his clothes look like. Thing Two can wear shirts three times, because he's meticulously clean and isn't old enough to sweat. So, there you go. And Thing One just "hides" all her dirty clothes in drawers instead of the laundry basket so I never think she has any dirty laundry, and I am scared because she's always asking for clean socks, and she has more pairs than all of us combined. So she either A) eats them or B) throws them away after she wears them. I'd better look into that...

Anyway, I'm currently "buried in laundry" since I have to pack us all up by tomorrow, and I've gone and raided all the kids rooms looking for their clothes. And after doing that, I have a few questions, and I've discovered a few things:

1) Why is it that my boys can't put clothes in the hamper? There were more clothes on the floor of the bathroom than the hamper. Are they missing the "Pick Things Up And Put Them Away" Gene?

2) Why is it, that I am STILL finding CLEAN clothes in the dirty clothes hamper? WHY??? WHY???

3) Thing One has been hoarding every washcloth in the house. They're all in her shower. I counted twelve of them. What's wrong with REPEATING uses? And then, what's wrong with PUTTING THEM IN THE HAMPER???

Her answer? "They're all wet, Mom, I didn't want to put them in the hamper."

Okay, that makes PERFECT SENSE. SO KEEP PILING 'EM UP IN YOUR SHOWER. THAT'S MORE SENSIBLE.

4) What's wrong with using a bath towel two or three times? I have a hook for each towel. WHY do we need a new towel every shower? We RUN OUT OF TOWELS if you use a new one each time...

Okay, I had to get that out of my system. I'm up to my ears in laundry, and by the time today is over, I will have all the suitcases PACKED with CLEAN clothes and life will be good.

One can hope, right?

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other...

Hmmm, can you spot the difference? I'll give you a hint. One jar of peanut butter was bought a month ago, and another jar was bought yesterday. Sure, one is "Reduced Fat" and one isn't, but there's ANOTHER difference.

Yeah, a size difference. However, the PRICE is the same. The scary thing is, I didn't really notice how much smaller the new peanut butter was until I saw the other nearly empty jar.

I've blogged about this before. We have shrinking cereal boxes, icecream cartons and bags of chips. Apparently peanut butter is now biting the dust. Instead of raising prices, the companies are simply downsizing their products. Somehow this just seems wrong. Especially when you have four kids and a jar of peanut butter won't last as long as it used to...

We got about seven inches of snow last night, but it was fine and powdery (because it's DANG COLD OUTSIDE!!!) so it was an easy snowblowing job this morning. I have DirecTV guys here, (the RIGHT ones, who WON'T be drilling holes in my house!) and so I'm sequestered in this morning for a while. The cable prices have gone up so much, it just seemed logical to go for DirecTV. It's HALF the price I'm paying for cable television. Sad.

Okay, I don't want to end on a depressing note, so have a happy day all!

Check. Check. Check.

Man, the days leading up to a big trip are always fraught with...what is it exactly? Stress? Anxiety? Craziness? I just might be with you, Laura. Maybe staying home for Christmas and relaxing could be a good thing...

But Hubby is not like that. He likes to be surrounded by "lots" of family for the Holidays. Probably because we have ZERO family here, and we only see them a few times a year. I see my own family even less. *sigh* That's what we get for moving so far away!

So, yesterday I was mostly a slug. I had a near-migraine most of the day, in my left eye, and nothing seemed to touch it. So, I started editing my NaNo story. I rewrote the entire beginning, because I think the way I originally wrote it was unappealing to teens, who are my target audience. I let my daughter read it and she begged for more chapters, so I guess that's a good sign. It's nice having a kid who appreciates my work! She's almost the age I'm shooting for, so it's all good.

Today, the headache is gone, but replaced by new ones--namely starting to pack, making cards for Hubby's work people, baking cookies for all the kids functions they have to bring cookies to, dry cleaners, grocery shopping (because one gallon of milk will NOT last us until Saturday night) AND I have lots of odds and ends to take care of. I've held the mail, and programmed the lights to make it look like we're home. Alerted the neighbors (we have a security system so it's not like anyone could break in anyway but I like to tell the neighbors). And I'm checking off my list. Check. Check. Check.

Hubby picks up his new car today (his lease expired) and he decided to "shake things up" with the color. Instead of a black sedan with black interior, he got "Smoky Granite Mica" (which I call "Gunmetal") with black interior. Yeah, I know, he's a major risk taker, isn't he? ;-)

Okay, now I have to make some phone calls because I have to run make a church visit and this woman's house is NOT on Mapquest! It's a brand new subdivision, so it isn't mappable. Niiice.

---------------UPDATE--------------------

She cancelled on me, because her daughter is throwing up. So, I don't have to go anywhere this morning! Woo! I'm glad, because it's COLD.

Gotta run! Happy Tuesday!

Baby it's Cold Outside...

Well, maybe not for WISCONSIN. It's a balmy zero degrees, with minus twenty windchill and gusts up to 30 mph. PERFECT weather if you're partial to frostbite and hypothermia...

I know, I'm a sarcastic brat. What can I say? Besides BRRRRR....

So, we had a good weekend. Saturday was busy, we had a soccer game and that night the kids got to go to a Bucks game with Hubby. His boss gave him four of his tickets (he has COURTSIDE season tix!) and the kids had the best. Time. Ever. And I got some "quiet time" with the baby, although he's not really that quiet anymore. He's VERY talkative. All those dendrites in his brain must be firing and going crazy, or something, because he is suddenly Chatty Kid. Seriously. But I think it's cute. He's more like a "stream of consciousness" talker. He'll talk about dinosaurs, pickle sandwiches, taking baths with rubber duckies and going "Bye-bye" all in one monologue. It's cute.

Sunday was interesting. We had family coming here for Christmas, but Hubby's dad fell and tore his OTHER rotator cuff in his shoulder (he had just had surgery to repair the left shoulder, now the right's out) and so they decided not to come here. Hubby was depressed because Christmas here, with no family would have been sort of lame.

So now, we're going to Idaho for Christmas. It all happened very fast, and we're leaving Saturday. We'll be there through the second of January. I feel like I need to cram five lifetimes worth of stuff into the next five days...or else. You know that feeling? EEEK!

I'm just SERIOUSLY looking forward to having the 19-month old on my lap on the plane. THAT will be a joy in itself. I'll have to take toys, games, snacks, load movies onto my iTouch, etc. just to pacify him. Although I may have an advantage: we don't leave until 7pm, and we get in at midnight. I am hoping he'll zonk on the plane and we won't have any of the "screaming-to-get-down" drama.

*sigh* Part of having kids.

Happy Monday!

I'd Rather Stab Out One of My Eyes...

...than go through what I went through last night.

What, you ask?

The Kids' Christmas Concert.

Mind you, the concert was just fine, but we got there five minutes before (instead of 15) because Thing One forgot her recorder and we had to run back to the house to get it, and by the time we got there, there were cars parked as far away as two blocks. Cars in ditches. Lining the streets on both sides. Parked on the playground of the school.

You can surmise, at this point, that we have a very small parking lot at the school. It's an old school. They can't help it.

I got stuck not once, but twice, trying to park, and finally drove BEHIND the school and parked in a loading zone. I didn't care at that point. Got the stroller and baby out (I had already dropped the kids off at the front of the school so they wouldn't be late) and walked about a mile in the freezing cold to the other side of the school, because all the other doors were locked.

I was frozen by the time I got inside the gym, and there were already several dozen people standing, because all the chairs and bleachers were full. Yeah, and and of COURSE I was wearing my cute black spiky boots, which aren't very fun to stand for long periods in. They weren't so "cute" after standing in them for an hour and fifteen minutes, the last half or so which was spent running after the baby because he discovered (to his glee) that if he screamed, I wouldn't pick him up and restrain him. So, he toddled everywhere, and I just had to watch him and curse my ill luck. I missed my daughter's solo (because at one point he almost ran out of the gym and I had to run after him in front of everybody, nearly tripping on my lovely black spiky boots) but for the most part it was Okay.

Hubby didn't make it. He tried to park about a half mile away, and the car by him slid into a ditch. He texted me, telling me he hated his life and he was going back home. Poor guy. Having to worry about that after a long day probably sent him over the edge.

SO, it was a very lame night. Getting OUT from where I parked was interesting too, because two more cars had copied me and had blocked me in. So we had to wait about ten minutes (since unfortunately for me, my car wasn't capable of sprouting wings and flying over the school) for the people to get to their cars and move them, so I could get out. I was gnashing my teeth pretty much by the time we finally drove out of the school lot.

SO, I redesigned my blog! I think this look is a lot more festive. I just wish I'd thought of it sooner. Oh well. Better late than never!

I am saying that a LOT, lately.

:-(

Potty Training A One-year Old???

I suspect Hubby is out of touch with reality. Especially about our youngest. Granted, I have an admission to make about Thing Four. He's 19 months old, and frankly, it's like he's a three-year old. He's an "old soul" in a baby's body. He rarely cries, he's sharp as a tack, and he talks like no tomorrow. He's...well...different from our first three kids.

And I know why.

It's because he has an 11, 9 and 8-year old, constantly playing with him, talking with him, reading to him, and he "thinks" he's older than he is. He's taken on a lot of things at a younger age than he technically should. I can actually "reason" with him and everything. HOWEVER, I will draw the line at potty training.

He's become "obsessed" with the "potty" lately. We had a few days where he liked to wander into the bathroom and "play" in the water. (Yuck.) Now that he's over that, he is obsessed with watching others "go potty." He talks about "going poo poo in the potty" and going "pee pee" in the potty. His favorite thing is to watch, and watch it get flushed.

I am not sure how I feel about this, but Hubby is convinced we should start letting him "go on the potty." HUH? Being curious about something and being "ready" for it are two different things.
Trust me, its not like I want to "hold on" to his babyhood or anything--changing diapers is NOT on my list of fun things to do. But I just think he's too young. I am glad he has a healthy interest in bodily functions and how to deal with them, but I think starting to potty train him is not in his best interest.

Hubby disagrees. Thoughts?

I am willing to buy a small potty, and let him sit on it while someone else is using the "grown up" potty, but that's it at this point. He's NOT EVEN TWO YET, for pete's sake!

I'm going to Target today, to round up some Christmas shopping. We're nearly done. Frankly, I hate being on a budget now, but it's just the time we live in. And frankly, I am REALLY GOOD at getting fun stuff on a budget. It also helps that my kids are easily pleased. I could go to the dollar store and buy them a bunch of cheap crap and they'd love it. They aren't toy snobs.

The kids' Christmas concert is tonight, and Hubby is making an effort to go. He rescheduled his business dinner for super early, so he could make it to the concert at seven. I told him I'd be on the front row, so I could make an escape to the side with the baby, if he decides he's "had it" with sitting in the stroller. :-)

Happy Thursday!

Lame Morning.

I just found out the Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit is at the Milwaukee Public Museum! I want to go! Thing Two is obsessed with Titanic, as I myself have always been. He built a model of Titanic, he's got these giant books and DVD's about it, and to his delight, I was able to download scans of the original manifest for him. He is interested in all things Titanic.

I've always been fascinated with Titanic myself. Thing Two hasn't seen the movie (for obvious reasons, he's a little young) but I was so excited when it finally got made.

Here's the kicker--admission to the exhibit is $25 per person! Eeek! Maybe I'll have to make that one of his Christmas presents. It seems a little steep for a few hours in a museum, although it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The snow finally stopped yesterday. I was snowblowing around 6pm, and it was nice to not have snow blowing sideways into my face. I really, really HATE that.

Yesterday was a sort of lame day. And I went around in a perpetual state of NAUSEA, because wouldn't it be my luck that the NEARLY-FULL bottle of Downy Ultra-concentrated Fabric Softener fell on the floor and pooled there, all over the tiles. The smell was so cloying after a while (especially since I had to mop up the mess with towels) I smelled it on my clothes, in my hair, EVERYWHERE. I still can smell it. It is making me want to throw up. Niice.

So, we were supposed to get DirecTV this morning, and the tech guy said since I have a finished basement, he needed to drill holes in my house and run cables. Um, NO THANK YOU. So I had to cancel it, and I have to call a service to get someone out and run a cable through my house, so I won't have to have some person drilling holes. That just isn't right.

So--this morning has been a dud so far. Not to mention, I have a whopper of a headache. And now I'm cranky.

At least it's not snowing.

---------------------------------------UPDATE-------------------------------

I got on the phone with the company that wired my home originally, when it was a model home, and they said the tech guy was full of well, poop. It IS wired and satellite ready, and since they are also DirecTV installers, they can come out and do the right thing, since they know the house already. How awesome is that? And I think my Tylenol kicked in. No more headache. Things are looking up.

Now, to get rid of that nasty fabric softener smell!

Never Mind!!!

My kids literally yelled when I woke them up this morning. They were SURE it was going to be a snow day. But nope, the schools are open. We only got about seven inches. Nothing to close down school about.

Okay, that's another thing I hate about snow. When my kids TRACK IT IN THE HOUSE.

The geniuses who designed our house decided it would be great to put WOOD FLOORS in the mudroom. Yep. Wood floors. So when my kids come in, stamping all the snow off themselves (because somehow they've managed to roll into a snow drift about SEVEN times between the school bus stop and home) if I haven't put about 7842 towels down, there's water and mud and caca everywhere.

So, I make a "pathway of towels" to the laundry room, which has stone tile flooring, which is much safer than the wood. So they disrobe/deboot/shake themselves out in this room. And yes, I have to stand over them to make sure they put their snowpants in the basket, their gloves and hats in their coat sleeves and HANG them up, and their boots in the cubby.

Once I didn't stand over them and I had coats and hats, boots, mittens and snow carnage strewn from the back door in. I think when I finally went back and saw it, I might have broken a blood vessel in my eye, yelling at them to come clean it all up. :-D

Hubby and I got the snowblowers out and did the driveway and walkway this morning, and its supposed to snow all day and not end until midnight. We'll probaby do one more snowblow this evening, just to keep up with it.
I'm not going anywhere today. Just staying in. I ran around yesterday, getting groceries and stuff I needed. Now we're stocked and snug, and I'm just hanging out, enjoying the decorations. And cleaning bathrooms. And Laundry. And De-popcorning the basement theater carpet. (Oy, kids and popcorn, don't get me started!) So, I've got plenty to do.

Hope everyone is safe in the snow!

Hmmmm....

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my "big" little brother, Chris! Woo!

You know, for the Holidays approaching as fast as they are (well, Christmas, anyway) I am feeling quite...calm. Almost a little down.

I suppose it's because we are in for another really hard winter. Last year was ridiculous. Especially in February. We were so hard hit. They were cancelling school left and right, and the snow piled up and up and up. Our natural gas meter broke, in the extreme cold. So the Gas company decided to bill us what they "thought" we should be paying, which to this day, seems a little "unethical" to me.

And from what we've had so far (we're expecting another foot of snow by tomorrow night) things are shaping up to be similar to last winter.

UGH.

I really don't mind snow, honest. It's the biting, bitter cold, and the wind, that I can't handle. You know, when it's 40 below, with windchill, and as soon as you walk outside, the inside of your nose freezes up, and your ears suddenly have twice the pain receptors they normally do. I know, I'm sure that's tame compared to some parts of the world, but to me, it's difficult to maneuver around in.

I'm running to Home Depot this morning and getting some "stuff" before the big storm hits. And then the grocery store, because we're out of milk, and they seem to sell out of milk VERY quickly just before a storm. My children are milkaholics. I sometimes have to tell them to just "have some water." Although I'm secretly pleased they like milk. Healthy bones are important!

I'd better get going. I just wish the temps weren't in the SINGLE DIGITS. Gotta bundle up!

WOO HOO!

I am SO excited--it was a whopping whole FOUR degrees this morning! Or so my car told me as I was driving the kids to school. FABULOUS.

The sun is out, at least, and it's a beautiful (if cold) day.

Today Thing Three is eight! He is so excited. Instead of cupcakes for his class he wanted me to make Snickerdoodles. Apparently, he has bragged up my Snickerdoodles to all the teachers, and so I have a lot of pressure to deliver some tasty goods. Oh well, at least I know *he* likes them!

We have Thing One's last basketball game of the season tonight, then we will head straight to Five Guys (Thing Three's birthday request) and home for presents and cake. Last year I made him a Legend of Zelda cake, and it was a hit. This year, he has requested yet another theme from the Nintendo family: a Luigi's Mansion cake. For those of you who don't know, Luigi's Mansion is a now-defunct Gamecube game where Luigi goes through a mansion full of ghosts, to rescue his brother. It's the only game besides Mario Kart that I ever wanted to play. It's super fun! My boys loved it. So, I will make a Luigi's Mansion cake. Thing Three wants chocolate cake with chocolate frosting again, so that shouldn't be too hard. :-)

I have officially gotten all my Christmas decorations up, and I love how festive the house looks. LOVE. This time of year rocks. Only twenty days until Christmas!

It's Friday! I hope everyone keeps safe and warm. Happy Weekend!

I am Too Trusting.

So, as I was thinking about what to post about this morning, a "Java update" came onto my computer, and prompted me to proceed.

I have no idea what Java is. I know it's coffee in the "non" computer world, but in computer lingo, I'm lost. I only have the vaguest of ideas what Java does. Yet, I pushed "proceed" and installed the update.

Scary. Seriously. The next generation of hackers will probably think of something creepy like that, for Luddites like me. They'll cleverly disguise a program update (say, for "Java") and in actuality I'll be downloading a program that records my keystrokes and sends them back to the hackers/thieves. And I wouldn't even know, because I am so trusting, when it comes to software upgrades/updates.

SCARY.

Thing One is bugging me. Like a fool, I let her read the first book in the "Twilight" series. But ONLY the first book. I think the ensuing books are just a little sexually mature, for her eleven years. But now she's BEGGING me, every moment she can, to let her read New Moon. (The second book.) Apparently, SHE'S the one who got all her tween friends into Twilight, they all went and saw the movie (she hasn't, because Hubby doesn't like the subject material) and she has a mean, cruel mother, who won't let her read past book one, when all her friends are apparently greedily gobbling up the second book...as I type this.

I'm a mean mom. Cruel, I know. I gobbled up those books myself in about a week. But the main core of the story is a love story between a Human and a Vampire. And frankly, the Human is a Horny Human and is always trying to "get" with the vampire. Not exactly the fare I want my little girl reading. I told her when she's 14, she can read the other novels...maybe.

She probably hates me. She said if she saw the book in the library she'd check it out and read it behind my back. I told her I would be disappointed in her, and not trust her any more if she did that. She apologized.

She's a good girl, and I do trust her, but I am smacking myself in the head for even introducing her to the world of Twilight. Even my own MOTHER is obsessed (sorry Mom, but you subscribe to the Twilight Moms Website--that is pretty obsessive). It is very "Obsession-worthy," I'm the first to admit.

I, however, have chosen not to be obsessed. I have read all the books only once, and frankly, I skimmed through a fair amount of the last book--unfortunately Ms. Meyer lost me as a reader after she went against her own canon in the beginning of the book...and therefore I'm safe from "Twilight Obsession."

Yet my daughter, who is now "in love" with Edward Cullen, is not. Tedious. Very tedious. I'll have to be very very careful with this one. There's nothing as formidable as Tween Angst. ;-)

Time to run and get some birthday presents! My sweet seven-year old boy (Thing Three) will be turning eight tomorrow, and I still can't believe it. Time flies!

Stranger than Fiction.

I've been having strange dreams lately. And I mean STRANGE. Is it the Christmas candy? The quesadillas I made for dinner? (Cheddar cheese, hello!)

I'm just not sure. But I have had a strange dream literally every night for about two weeks. But last night's dream? Strange, but AWESOME.

If any of you have been watching Eleventh Hour on TV like I have (yes, I know it's chees-ey and really tests your intelligence sometimes with its leaps and non-realistic plotlines--but I just watch it because I adore Rufus Sewell) you will know the relationship of Dr. Jacob Hood and his FBI-trained handler, Rachel. Well, we watched our DVR'd weekly Eleventh Hour last night, and I proceeded to have the following dream:

Dr. Hood and I (I was playing the part of Rachel) ended up at a University to find a drug smuggler. I happened to know this was the particular university an ex-boyfriend of mine was attending, so I was a little nervous to see him again. (In reality, he broke my heart in 1992--and he would be 37 years old today, but yes, he was still attending college in my dream). Let's call him "Bozo." I won't use his real name. And yes, I'm still a little bitter. Maybe because I've never gotten true closure.

ANYWAY, Dr. Hood knew of my trepidation over running into "Bozo" and just to be funny, he tripped a fire alarm on purpose, so all the students would have to troop sleepily out of the dorms in the middle of the night. And lo and behold, there was "Bozo," looking just as young as the day he dumped me...for a petite, perfect blonde freshman. (And tragically for me, her apartment was just across and to the left of mine--I had a clear view of her front door, and so for an entire two semesters I had no choice but to watch him go to her apartment every day, and watch the two of them date and fall in love and get engaged. Yeah, they got married too. It was a very low point of my life. Although I WILL say, I couldn't eat anything for about six months, so I lost a LOT of weight. So, a small perk. But I digress...)

ANYWAY, Bozo saw me and I tried to look all aloof and professional, but he gaped at me and I rolled my eyes and Dr. Hood appeared and told me I needed to search Bozo's dorm room. So I did. And I found lots of drugs, in his roommate's drawer. BUSTED.

Anyway, Bozo struck up a conversation with me after they cuffed and hauled his roommate away, and told me he was happily married with eight (Yes, EIGHT) kids. I looked at him, and realized that he was in NO WAY near as good looking as the man I married, (Bozo was too buff, with hair like a brillo pad, etc.) and I told him I had four kids and I was happily married and he congratulated me and walked back into his room.

And we were done. And I felt like I had some closure. Who knows if Bozo actually has eight kids, I really don't care anymore, because he got to see that I was truly over him. I think after last night's dream, after 16 years, I finally am? Maybe now I can go trash the box of 104 letters and countless pictures he sent me every week for the two years he served a mission--as I WAITED FOR HIM. Yeah, you're starting to put the whole story together, aren't you?

Strange dream, but nice.

Anyone care to intrepret THAT one? I believe it was pretty obvious.

;-)

We are supposed to get lots more snow today. I ran to the store and dry cleaners early this morning, and the flakes started coming down just as I was driving home. Now I'm going to hang out at home and just decorate and play with my cute chubby little buddy. Except the whole "touching the Christmas tree every chance he gets" bit. I am not so fond of that one...

Murphy's Law # 472898

Okay, so what is the deal with me and "yardwork?" This time of year, it will be snowblowing.

I will admit, I've never used a snowblower. My dad always did it, and until Monday morning, we had a service do our driveway.

So, this year, we decided, to save a bunch of $$ per month, we'd do it ourselves. Hubby had the brilliant idea to get TWO snowblowers, so we'd get it done in half the time. We tried it together the first time. I had to remember to flip about five switches and make about three adjustments before I could even start the darn thing, and once it was started, I had to maneuver it and switch gears and levers AND figure out the chute spray...highly complicated. But I did it. I was proud of myself.

Yesterday, we had 30 mph winds. And of course they were blowing OPPOSITE of where I wanted the snow to go. The end result was me, finally giving up and stomping inside looking like a human snowperson. I just needed a carrot in my mouth and some coal buttons. The wind blew it in my face every time. UGH. Figures.

At least I tried.

I got one tree up yesterday, and hung the stockings, but that was about it. Then I spent roughly five hours vacuuming up fake pine needles. Those are the worst. They're not thick, like real pine needles, so unless you have the Super Sucker Vacuum, you're out of luck. After vacuuming the family room three times, I figured I'd call it a day.

This is, hands down, my favorite time of year. Everything is new, the decorations are a novelty, the stores are still crammed with merchandise...the frenzy hasn't quite begun. Although, the baby has decided that despite my attempts to explain to him that he CANNOT TOUCH the vintage decorations on the Christmas tree, he wants to touch anyway. Or flick. Or jingle. I'm waiting for when he takes on the tree at a run. It's happened before.

Oh well. Babies and elaborate Christmas trees just don't mix. Anyone with cats can understand my frustration. :-)

On today's agenda: Grocery Shopping (Prince Caspian is out on DVD), dry cleaners, get two more trees up and the lights and garland on the bannister, frou frou the rest of the house and remember to take Thing One to her basketball tournament.

Tomorrow I get to go to Home Depot! Hurrah!!!

Peace and Quiet

*Sigh* I almost don't know what to do with myself!

The last two weeks have been...nothing short of CRAZY. INSANE. Whatever word you can think of. But I got through them, and I'm here. Kids are at school, Hubby is back to work, and it's just me and Thing Four, and a quiet house.

It's actually sort of...weird.

I had gotten used to the constant chaos. I had gotten used to never being on the computer, and literally being busy from morning until wee hours of the morning again. (They LOVED late-night movies!)

And we have snow now...lots of snow. Hubby and I were busy with the snowblowers last night, and I can't really move my arms, they are so sore. I am going to attempt getting the Christmas decorations up this week, and that should be fun. I'm pacing myself.

I have decided I want to edit the NaNo story, but first, I have to finish it. Apparently it needs a little more "telling." 50K words just wasn't all the story. So, I will finish it while I have the momentum going, and edit, and see what happens. Maybe it will end up in a file, or a drawer. But hey, at least I did it!

Now I am itching to work on my sequel--and I broke down and went to B&N last week and bought "Archaeology for Dummies" and I'm using that as a reference.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving! Happy December First!

I Did It.

I'm tired, and I don't know my own name, but I did it! 50,942 words in 30 days! I am a NaNo Winner!

Now it will probably take me 30 years to edit this pile of rubbish...

;-)

You've GOT To Be Kidding...

First off, thank you for your kind comments and thoughts...things are going very well for us.

Imagine my surprise yesterday, when I woke up and looked outside:

NICE, huh? And yes, you can tell that's sarcasm, I'm sure. I knew it was coming, I just wasn't ready for it. You go to bed and think "It won't happen" and you wake up to that unnaturally bright light streaming in your windows and think Uh Oh, it DID happen!

Hubby is feeling MUCH better, and he's getting lots of plants from clients. But my favorite by far is this one:

Yes, that is FRUIT, people. Very cleverly arranged fruit, in my opinion. It's from a company called "Edible Arrangements." I was highly impressed. And it was HUGE. You can see my display plate in the background as a size comparison. It was very scrumptious. :-)

Relatives are descending for Thanksgiving festivities tomorrow, and I am tidying up the house and doing the big "shop" for the meal on Thursday. We are going to gradually get our Christmas decorations up, and we are playing Christmas music to liven up the mood. I soooo love this time of year!

As far as NaNo, I am plugging along. If I have to chug ten Diet Cherry Cokes the last few nights to get my 12K in, I will...I am going to do it! I just got a little..."sidlelined" the last few weeks, if you know what I mean...

Happy Tuesday everyone!

A Reason to Celebrate...

I feel like it's been ages. I am so glad to be back to normal...family has departed, hubby is home from the hospital, and we have had nothing but good news.

I'll be honest, the last three weeks have been pretty yucky. Hubby went in for some lower back pain three weeks ago, and they took X-rays of his back. They said his spine was fine, but they noticed a dark mass near his appendix. They scheduled a CT scan, then a colonoscopy, and discovered a large tumor in his large intestine. The initial results came back benign, but the surgeon told us he was skeptical, given the size and look of the tumor. So, last Monday, Hubby had his appendix, the tumor, and six inches of his large intestine removed. We had to wait five whole days for pathology to come back, but everything was benign. THANK HEAVEN. So, a CT Scan, Colonoscopy, Octreotide scan and major surgery all in a row really was not fun. But Hubby is on the mend, it won't affect his quality of life, and thankfully they got to it before it became cancer.

What is really amazing to me, is he went in to the Dr. for something completely unrelated, and they found it. That night I ordered some really good expensive sushi, broke open a bottle of Martinelli's, and toasted "to lower back pain." Ironically, his lower back pain went away after the tumor was discovered. So we're feeling very blessed.

A major reason to celebrate, for sure! Thanks for all your well wishes, and your prayers. It has helped me more than you know.

And another reason to celebrate: Gas is $1.79 a gallon here in good old Wisconsin. Can you say HURRAH???

Now, I have seven days to do 15K words on my story. You bet I'm going to be busting my rear end!!!

Arrivederci...for a While...

The baby is OK--it's a sore throat virus, which all my kids have, now. Viruses suck. All you can do is give them medicine and let them run their course. At least they have it all at once, and not this "one kid a week" crud. :-) I'll take it!

Still lots to do today, and it's Hubby's last day of "eating freedom" for a while, so we're going out to stuff ourselves somewhere fun tonight.

The stores are so fun, now, especially Target--when they get all their Christmas stuff out (especially the gourmet and gift section) you just have to go and drool all over everything. Which is what I plan to do this weekend.

Hubby has his surgery on Monday, so unfortunately I will not be blogging next week. If I find time, I will update, but for now, I'm just going to shut things down so I can focus on my family. I'm sure you guys understand. Then, when this is all over, I'll be back to my sarcastic self, and hopefully I'll have some SERIOUS words to report! All those hours in the hospital with an Alphasmart will be VERY productive, let me tell you!

So, have a great weekend all, a great next week, and "I'll be baaack."

Lara

Quick Post

Words Yesterday: 1623
Total NaNo Words: 26,885

Lots going on today, and yesterday I was running all day. I collapsed into bed at 11pm last night, and typed for about an hour on the alphasmart.

Next week, while hubby is in the hopital, I am going to get some SERIOUS words in. I just need to make sure I'm writing every day, or I'll lose the flow of the story.

The baby took a nasty fall into a table last night, he has a large goose egg on his forehead. I wasn't at the house when it happened, Hubby and the kids were, though. I came home and Hubby had the baby on his lap, attempting to put ice, while one kid was tempting him to hold still with his toy robot and the other kid was playing the recorder to get him to sing.

Hubby looked at me and said "He won't let me put ice on it." I looked at Thing Four, with a big old thing sticking out about an inch on his head, and told everyone I would take if from there. I had to restrain him and put ice on that knot. I HAD to do it. He screamed and tried to get away but I held the ice to his head for a good few minutes. Yeah, I was the bad guy. But I wanted to get the swelling down.
He was OK in the night, and he's animated and happy this morning, but he's off-balance, and acting woozy, so I made a dr. appointment. I SO do not need this right now. I just hope he's OK. I am going to let him play in his playpen and keep him close to me so he doesn't fall down again.

Time to get cracking.


***Update***

The dr. said he's fine, but his throat is red, and if he has strep, he'd be a little "off balance." I was like, WHAT??? So they took a throat culture, and we'll know soon. But the dr. did say the "best" part of the head to hit is the forehead, so he's OK. Except he might have strep.

Nice.

Tag, I'm It!

First off, thanks all for the nice comments about my nasty day--I am much better now, and they were much appreciated.

Yesterday WAS a better day. Uneventful for the most part (except for the part where the garage door people quoted me $500 to repair the door I backed into--eek) and I got quite a bit done.

I cleaned out my office (and the office closet too, ha ha!) and it is so nice to sit and write in, now. Before it was cluttered, and although I tune it out when I write, it still bugged me. Now I can write and not worry about baby toys and papers everywhere.

Hubby is home today, he has to do some pre-surgery tests at the hospital, so it will be nice to have him home. He so rarely is.

I got roughly 1800 words in yesterday on my NaNo project, and I'm happy to say I've officially hit the halfway mark! 25,262 words. I'm churning it out, and the story is flowing well. While Hubby is in the hospital next week, I will be there with my alphasmart, typing away between feeding him jello and keeping him company. The writing keeps my mind more "agreeably occupied" and I'm really enjoying it.

So, I got tagged by my good friend, Aimee, but sadly I can't link to her blog as it is invitation-only. But here are seven random things about me:

1) I write with my left hand, but I eat/play tennis/use scissors/basically do everything else with my right hand.

2) I've never been to a foreign country. Unless Google counts. Which is ironic, because most of my stories are set in a place OTHER than the United States.

3) When I was working as a Visual person at Dillards in Sugarland, TX years ago, a tornado ripped through the store, tearing off one side of the building while I was huddled inside. (You should have seen the Cosmetics department afterwards--nightmare.)

4) I like cookie dough WAY better than the actual baked cookies.

5) I grew up performing in Theatre--the last role I had was the part of Countess Olivia in Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT while in college. (Okay, that was WAY too long ago!)

6) I wrote to President Reagan when I was in third grade, and he wrote me back. I proudly took the letter to school for show and tell, and someone (I suspect Connie!) stole it out of the envelope and left the envelope empty. I was devastated

7) I have never broken any bones in my life.

Okay, RANDOM!!! But I guess that is the point. I wish I knew seven people to tag (what can I say, I have few friends!) so I'll just say that anyone who wishes to be tagged---is "tagged."


Time to get ready for the day! Hope it's a good one for everybody. :-)

You Know How You Have One Of Those Days When...

...nothing seems to go right?

That was me yesterday. Yesterday, in a word...sucked.

Let me explain: We have LOTS of family descending upon us this Sunday to help out when hubby goes into surgery. It's a great thing, but it's also stressful. It's mostly my MIL. She pokes into closets and shakes her head, because yes, I'm a crammer. A stuffer. The queen of the "My House Really Is Clean Illusion." In other words, yes, my house looks fantastic, but don't look in my closets.

I love closets. They are the greatest invention known to man. Why? Because if you have no idea where to put something, and you don't want it just sitting out where people can see it, you put it in the closet. Old clothes you can't part with? Put them in a spare closet. Boxes you haven't unpacked from the last move? Closet.

You get the general idea.

Well, the enormous walk-in closet in the baby's room has basically acted as the major catch-all for everything, for the last two years. And yesterday, I thought I would tackle it. Only because my SIL and MIL will be in that room, and since SIL will be bringing HER 18-month old, she needs a crib.

So, I pulled everything out of that closet yesterday, starting at 8am. Don't worry, by the time 5pm rolled around, I was just finishing the vacuuming of the closet and room. It took me ALL DAY LONG to figure it all out.

Also, the baby's crib got recalled, and of course the replacement we wanted had to be ordered, and I had gotten a phone call that morning that the crib was in. The poor baby has been sleeping in a pack-n-play for two weeks. So, I thought, being the "Jane" that I am, I would run across town to the Babies R Us, pick up the crib and set it all up so the baby could have a real bed again.

I set out. I got to the store, and the girl brought out a box the size of Austin, Texas. There was NO way I could fit that in my car--and I have an Expedition, mind you--when all the seats are folded down, I can fit in two sofas, and about 18 circus clowns. But no, this box was HUGE. So she broke open the box and pulled the crib out (in pieces) and we put them in my car, while my nose froze off from the bitter cold.

THEN, I got home, and enlisted the help of my whiny children to help me lug the pieces upstairs. But most of them were just too bulky and heavy, and as I was pulling them upstairs I noticed something was amiss. I remembered the crib I ordered had sloping curves, like a sleigh, and these crib pieces didn't have ANY curves. Finally, after I got the last wrapped piece up the two flights of stairs from the garage to the baby's room (I was out of breath and tired) I unwrapped the springs and looked at the instructions and SCREAMED.

It wasn't the crib I ordered. This one was plain and frankly, looked like a prison cell. I got on the phone immediately and our conversation went something like this:

"Um, this is Lara, I was just there, were you the one who helped me?"

"Yes, I did."

"Well, I just pulled this thing upstairs and realized it isn't the crib I ordered!"

"Um, let me check...oh...uh oh...that's because we ordered the wrong crib for you."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"But wait, we might have the one you ordered in stock...let me check."

"Please let that be true."

"Yes, it looks like we do."

"Oh, thank you, I'll be right back!"

She was very apologetic and everything, so I wasn't that mad. I pulled everything back downstairs, piled it all back into the truck, opened the garage door, and backed out...AND HIT THE GARAGE DOOR.

It had only opened about two feet, and stopped. Yes, I plowed right into it. With my Big A** car. I screamed, and started freaking out. I got out, and sure enough, I had bent it outwards, and one of the wheel/sprocket thingies had popped out. I spent the next half hour in the cold dark, trying to get it back in somehow, but I couldn't do it. Luckily the door wasn't that bad from the outside, just the inside. So, after a few choice words, I closed it and ran back to Babies R. Us.

As I was driving, I called my MIL to tell her about the door, because I knew Hubby would NOT BE AMUSED, and as I was driving a doe ran in front of my car and I hit her. I didn't hit her body, but I clipped her rear legs, and I slammed on my brakes and freaked out. I didn't see her, so hopefully she got up and ran away, but at this point I was thinking WHAT IS NEXT??? SERIOUSLY???

To make this already long post short, I got the right crib, and by that time Hubby was home and we got it put together quickly and he was actually very nice about the garage door, after he got over the initial shock and said some not nice things, mostly about me "not paying attention," which were actually true, and after that I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open and I only got out 438 measly words on my NaNo project, before I fell asleep in the bed.

SO:

Yesterday's Word Count: 438
Total NaNo Count: 23507

And let us hope and pray today is NOTHING like yesterday. Please???

Hanging In There.

Sunday NaNo Word Count: 1927
Total NaNo Count: 23069

I fell short of my goal. I wanted to have 25000 words by today, but I just had a crazy weekend. Saturday was spent mostly running around and "battening down the hatches" for winter, and Sunday was busy as well. I didn't even sit down at the computer until well after 10pm at night. But at least I've surpassed my daily goal of 1700 words! For sure!

I have a busy week ahead of me. I honestly wish I could press the "fast forward" button on my life about two weeks, but alas, that is not a real option.

There really isn't much else to tell, other than I have a very busy week getting ready for family to come this Sunday, and for Hubby's surgery.

Better get to it. At least the writing is keeping me sane. Thank heaven for that.

Saturday.

I don't normally blog on weekends, but with NaNo, I just can't help myself. Maybe because I'm having so much fun! I have a feeling this novel will be "interesting", but you know what? I am having fun!

Saturday's Word Count: 2039

Total NaNo Words: 21,142



Go Me.

Writing and Walking.

Word Count Yesterday: 2895
Total NaNo Count: 15546

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that number right now. My goal was 2k words a day, so I would logically have 14000 words by the end of week one. Since I've already surpassed it, I'm patting myself on the back. The story just wants to tell itself. I guess it helps that I've had it boiling in my brain for the last six months, and haven't done anything about it. I'm glad I switched to this story at the last minute. One of my crucial research books was delayed by Amazon. You can't even find it on Ebay, but Amazon happened to have it, and I ordered it October 15th, and they emailed me and asked if I was okay with a delayed delivery date of December-ish. I of course said yes, but I was bummed. And without that book, I would have been up a creek trying to write my sequel.

And I'm still loving my Alphasmart Neo. I took it with me when I waited outside of the school to pick Thing One up from basketball practice, I take it to the dr's office, anytime I have waiting time, I whip it out. It rocks. I am one of those people who hate writing things out in longhand, anyway. Maybe because I'm a lefty, and the way I have to write (to not smudge) makes my hand tired. All I can say is, the Neo is a WONDERFUL tool.

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

Cleaned out the garage yesterday while Thing Four napped. I squished everything up together so I could put the grill and patio furniture away, and swept it out. I was COVERED in filth when I was done, so I had to just toss my clothes and take a shower afterwards. Then I went out and pounded stakes along the driveway, so when the snow plowers come, we will be ready. We were supposed to get some snow this weekend. Not enough to stick to the ground, but that usually means a good sound DUMPING is around the corner. I've already washed all the snowpants and snowcoats and scarves and hats. We are READY.

Thing Four is walking around everywhere, now. He's finally walking when we go outside the house, too. He loves to get his coat and hat on and just walk around on the grass and sidewalk outside. He goes into excited apoplexy whenever he sees someone walking a "doggie!"

When we go out, he will walk, holding my hand, from the car to the inside of the store now, or wherever we're going. I don't have to carry him. Or, rather, I made the conscious decision NOT to carry him. I like to go fast, and get where I'm going, but he won't learn to walk confidently if I don't give him some practice. So, we get out of the car, and it may take two minutes to get inside the store compared to the usual 20 seconds it would take for me to carry him, but he's getting much needed practice. It's actually kind of nice, and less back-breaking. He is a very BIG 18-month old. He's a late walker, but like I've said before, since he was born with dislocated hips and spent four months in a harness, I'm just glad he IS walking. He's so excited. He grins at me and says "Mommy, I walky-walking!!" He's so proud of himself. :-)

Gotta run to the cleaners!

Gearing Up for the Holidays.

Word Count Yesterday: 1279
Total NaNo Count: 12651

So, it's been 70 + degrees here, and my kids have been asking to wear shorts to school, because "all the other kids are." I reluctantly let Thing One wear denim capris to school, only because she wore me down. Kids are funny that way. You tell them no, and they ask again. You say no. They whine and ask again, and plead their case/make excuses/rationalize/all-out LIE just to get their way.

I love my kids, but they can be tedious.

So, Hubby is having his appendix out on the 17th. He will be in the hospital for a week, and then home from work for about a week more. I have my MIL and SIL coming to watch the kids for me so I can be with him at the hospital, and everything will be taken care of. I've decided that we're going to "deck the house" in Christmas stuff while he's gone, so when he gets back, it will be VERY festive. I want to put up all the trees (I have five) garland, lights, you name it. It will be cheerful. Hey, the week of the 17th isn't too early to have a little Christmas cheer.

One of our local radio stations has been playing Christmas music since November first. Hubby and I have been listening to it, because it really does put one in a good mood. It's cheery. It's fun. It's sentimental. I am really glad this station does it.

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

I am embarrassed to admit, I didn't even know how to work my own Alphasmart. I emailed a friend yesterday all excited because I didn't know that you can hook it up to a computer and it downloads the work directly into your existing Word document. WHOO! Of course she knew that, because she isn't "special" like me, but I was excited to discover it. Laptops are so cumbersome. I can take my little 2-pound Alphasmart anywhere. So, I sat at the kitchen table while the kids did their homework yesterday and got 1200 words in. Downloaded it, and it was great! And I don't have the temptation to surf the Web, like I do when I'm on the laptop.

Time to get cracking. Lots to do!

I got a big ole goose-egg for writing yesterday. It was...a bad day. But today is more optimistic. And I did get 2100 words in the day before. So I had enough of a cush to take yesterday off. But today it's back to the page.

I guess I "technically" wrote yesterday. In the morning I went to Tires Plus to get new tires for Hubby's car, and I sat and typed on my alphasmart, so I GUESS that counts, but until I download it I won't know how much I typed. It was just rubbish anyway. I need to start over today and just write it the RIGHT way.

Nothing much else to report, except can I go outside and turn carthweels, now that my taxes will go up next year? Yeah, that is SUPER exciting. Can't wait. Can't wait for abortion to be legalized, either. THAT will be a highlight.

*UPDATE*
It looks like I got 832 words in on my Alphasmart, while I was at the tire place. So, I guess I didn't get the big old zero, after all. I updated my progress bar, on the right.

Small victories.

Sheesh.

Word Count Yesterday: 2813
Total NaNo Count: 8459

Okay, so, apparently my cell phone needed to be "turned off and on" to fall back. Because I set my alarm this morning, and when it woke me up at 6:30, I got up, went and woke up the kids. The baby was still asleep, which was unusual, so I got him up, and carried him around while I told the kids to get up...again. Then I went downstairs and saw the time on the microwave:

5:30

Ooops. I ran upstairs, told them all to go back to bed (my sons were happy to acquiesce) and put the baby back down. Then *I* went downstairs and went right back to bed.

On a normal day, I'd be up at 5am, writing, but not this morning. Today Hubby has his test at the hospital, and he'll be home all day afterwards, so I'll get some writing time in then.

Sheesh. My poor kids. I felt so bad! But they're on the bus now and we're getting ready to vote early. We can vote today, so we're going to. It's just more convenient for us, since Hubby is off today, and NOT tomorrow.

Happy Monday!

November 2nd...

For your viewing enjoyment...our Halloween Cookies!!! Mmmmm....

Well, I am pretty proud of my "first day" word count: 5646 words. I need a significant cush before my family descends for Thanksgiving.

Let's hope the words keep flowing! Happy Sunday!

Happy November 1st!

The NaNo website is down, so I can't post my progress, but look at what I did in the wee hours this morning! 4203 words! You can see my progress bar to the right. It's at the right, right? Not the left? Sorry, I don't know my left from my right, right now. ;-)

Yeah, I'm dead. But elated.

Happy Halloween!

Although it seems a bit strange to this Wisconsin family--who already did Trick-or-treating LAST week...because we had to...why don't I like that whole "scheduling" thing? We don't even have any candy left. My kids ate most of it (the one time of the year I indulge them) and of course, I threw away a handful a day out of each trick or treat bag...sneaky me...so we don't have any candy on one of the most CANDY-est holidays ever. WEIRD.

Anyway, I am going to make about 4 tons of sugar cookies and the kids and I will have fun decorating them. And we'll have a bonfire tonight outside in the fire pit--with hot cider and doughnuts. Mmmm!

And then, at MIDNIGHT...I'll start writing!!! WOO HOO! NaNo will have officially begun.

Yesterday was a weird day--Thing One had a high fever and a sore throat. So, I put her to bed with medicine and she was whiny and impossible, but today, she seems fine?? That is strange. She's currently in the kitchen making scambled eggs and pancakes. I told her to WASH HER HANDS REALLY WELL.

Also, I got a rejection from my dream publisher in the mail. As soon as I saw that large envelope in the mailbox with my handwriting on it, my heart sank.

It happens. I was shooting for the Moon, and really I should be somewhere up in the trees. So, I'll polish up another submission (thank heaven they accept everything electronically--this last publisher did everything by snail mail!) and send it off this weekend. I refuse to let this rejection get me down, because frankly...it was a long shot. But I'm all about long shots. Because there's chance in everything...

ON THE WRITING FRONT:
It's NaNo's Eve! I have outlined and plotted, made up stuff and I woke up this morning at 4am with a headache soooo bad I took one of my prescription painkillers to get rid of it quickly. So, I'm a little woozy. I seriously thought my right eye was going to explode--and the pounding was unbearable. But I'm better now. And I have the first three sentences of my story, playing over and over in my head, so when I actually DO start writing them, it will be effortless.

I have a good support group (it's small but choice) and a great mentor, who has been around the NaNo block many times and will inspire me. I am set!

Finding the Balance. Tightrope? Juggling Act?

So, I've filled a few notebooks up with notes for NaNo...Ya think I'm ready? *wink*

Okay, so I've filled up half a notebook. I'm being a purist about it. I am not writing ONE word, until midnight on Friday night. My friend Michelle and I are going to get online and IM and keep each other awake, as we get our first words in. We're excited to kick start our novels!

I've been planning and figuring out how I am going to write an entire 50+K novel in one month, AND be a mom to four kids and keep a house clean and run around like I do. And I've got the answer:

Determination.

I am determined, to get my word count in every day. And, actually, I am going to attempt to finish up a week early, because, as fate would have it, I have family coming for Thanksgiving, and they are flying in the 24th and leaving on the LAST day of NaNo: the 30th. So, if I don't get a large chunk of my writing in before that last week, I'm in serious trouble. So, I just WILL.

Simple as that.

It will be a juggling/balancing/tightrope act, but I've got each day plotted out, and I will take advantage of "stolen moments" to jot things down and type out later. It takes me around 1 hour to get 1000 words out, so I figure if I just write two hours a day, it will be enough.

Excited? Yes. Nervous? Yes. I was asking my sister last night if she would consider NaNo and she said she wasn't ready. I've been saying that for a few years now, and you know what? I don't think anyone is ever truly "ready." You just need to plug your nose, take a deep breath, and jump in. I know getting pushed out of my "comfort zone" will be beneficial for me as a writer.

My only worry is my body wearing out. I get shoulder/neck pain when I sit in this *#!@!^&!! computer chair for too long. And it's a nice chair. Lumbar support, you name it. I will have to stretch before my marathon writing sessions.

Hubby is supportive, my kids promised to leave me alone (granted, I will be writing when they're either asleep or at school) and I'm pretty much set. Tomorrow night at Midnight.

I am so ready. Bring it ON!!!

Last Day of School...

...until Monday, that is. The kids have Thursday and Friday off. Normally we would go somewhere sunny/fun/close to water--but the price of five plane tickets (and probably six, because we'd need Thing Four to have a seat because a "lap" wouldn't suffice) is just too pricey nowadays.

I read an article recently that claimed airports were on the path of becoming "ghost towns." With all the nickel-and-diming to death the airlines do these days, it's no wonder. Unless you have money to burn, it's not practical to lug a big family on a pricey getaway any more.

So, the kids will be home with me for two days. It will be just like summer--only we won't go outside because we'll all freeze our whateveryoucallits off. For some reason this week, there has been a strong, bitterly cold wind out, and it makes things pretty miserable.

We'll probably make a trip to Half Price Books, and watch a few movies, and of COURSE go to Target, because it's like going to Disneyland, and that's about it. I finally got the coupon for Thing Four's crib (that got recalled) so I need to go to Babies R Us and select another one. I am taking a spindle from the one we broke down so we get an exact color match. HIGHLY ANNOYING.

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

Halleluliah!!! Eureka! Whoopee! I finally have a plot for my story! Yeah, I know, it's cutting it pretty close since NaNo is in THREE days, but I got one. Last night after we put the kids to bed, I told Hubby I was heading to bed. I was tired. (I have a nasty head cold so I've been sleeping in the Guest Room--it's where Hubby or I camp out when we're sick so we don't pass it to each other.) I went into the Guest Room, sat on the bed and started writing notes. Plot notes. THEN the vital middle portion of the story came to me. I knew exactly how I was going to have things progress--and END. Now I just need to map out the details. That's the tedious part. I have pages and pages of names and made up creatures and "rules" of the world I've created. It's a pain to keep track of them all. But it's great fun, because I'm "making it all up" not spending my time in front of a computer googling or buying lots of research books just to ensure I get the details right.

This story will definitely be VERY NaNo friendly. Hooray!

--I'm also getting ansty about my submission. The publisher told me eight to ten weeks, and it's been SEVEN weeks. They must have one heck of a slush pile! I am really antsy to submit to another publisher, before the "holiday slump" happens, so I hope I hear from them soon. Granted, I would LOVE for it to be good news, but I am thinking since it's been so long I will be getting a form rejection any day...dang it...

Oh well. Expect the worst but hope for the best. That's my motto on submissions.

Cinnabon and Harry Potter

We have a new love at our house: Cinnabon Toast. It comes in the blue package, and can be found in the bread section, of course. But oh my goodness is it YUMMY. Today is Tuesday Toast day, and the kids were freaking out over how good it was. Although it's a little light on nutrients, so I made them have a small bowl of cereal with it. ;-)

And here, for your viewing enjoyment, is the new international trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It sorta makes me wish it was July already:



ON THE WRITING FRONT:
I can't believe it's only THREE days! I'm starting to freak! I am getting EVERYTHING ready. I have a plan. I just need to DO IT. EEEEK!

:-)

Just Say No to Snow.

Status: I survived! Birthday party/Trick-or-treating weekend! I'm still alive! We all are! Woo!

Thing One's party went very well. There was a lot of energy, and the High School Musical3 movie was OK. It wasn't as bad as the first two. Still fairly corny --and East High resembles typical high school like a ferret resembles an allligator, but eh, it was all good clean fun.

The girls stayed up until 4:30. I thought they went to bed at one am. Sneaky girls. They closed themselves in the theater room in the basement and stayed awake. Their moms were supposed to pick them up at 10:30 and they were still asleep at 9:45, when I finally woke them up to have breakfast.

Saturday night was Trick or Treating, and of course there was an icy wind blowing through. We all have the sniffles, now. And like dumb-dumbs, we set out a bowl of candy and put a sign that read "Out Trick-or-Treating, please take some!"

We got back and the bowl was EMPTY. And it was a big old bowl. Luckily I had enough candy to fill it three times. This morning I dumped all the leftover candy in a bag and sent it to work with Hubby. There's NO WAY I will have that stuff in the house.

Sunday was crazy too--but after I put the baby down for his morning nap, I crawled back into bed for a nap myself and woke up two hours later with Hubby next to me, reading a book. It was wonderful. I haven't had a Sunday nap in FOREVER, because our church is from 1-4, and usually I spend the morning running around getting everyone ready and getting my singing time stuff done.

So, I've recovered, somewhat, but this morning it's freezing, in the 30's, and the forecast is snow. Probably not enough to stick, and we're supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees the rest of the week, but today is reminding us that Winter is coming and we'd better do all the stuff we haven't done yet.

Time to tidy up from the weekend!

ON THE WRITING FRONT:
The writing was mostly stalled this weekend, I couldn't even get on the computer! But now that it's T Minus four days till NaNo, I really need to get my butt in high gear. I have pages and pages of notes, and I still need to iron out some plot. I may be "pantsing" on a few things, but hey, that's what NaNo is a good time for.

I've also had to become an excellent manager of time. Normally, I plan out 4-5 things and the rest of the day I just see what happens, but I am going to really have to PLAN to write 2000 words a day. Especially since Nov. 3rd, we'll be at the hospital all day for Hubby's tests, (thanks, all, for the well wishes) and I have family coming for the entire week of Thanksgiving. So I'm going to have to take up some slack and have heavier daily word counts at the beginning of the month, to make up for some of that.

I will have an hour and a half in the morning, from 5am to 6:30, then I will have an hour from 11-Noon, every day. That means going to bed on time. It will be hard, but I have to do it. I WILL do it. Hooray!

I'm So Crafty...

Well, not that crafty, but I sure love my super-sized Xyron sticker maker. Thing One's "High School Musical Movie/Birthday Party/Sleepover is tonight, and it has an overall HSM theme. I even personalized the take home goody bags, above. It was a snap. Bought some plain red bags at Target for a dollar each, printed out the HSM3 logo and stuck it on. Voila! And if I didn't have the Xyron, I'd use double sided tape. Works just as well.

I've made the cake, pristined the house, and bought soda and snacks for the sleepover part. We have the Ultra VIP seats for the movie tonight, so the girls will have fun.

Although *I* won't have so much fun. Naturally, being the mother, I will be the chaperone for all the girls. HOWEVER, I have an admission to make: I can't STAND HSM!! I couldn't make it through the first movie, I laughed through the second one (forced to watch it against my will) and I have a feeling this won't be any different. It's all sorts of corny, plastic, and that Efron kid wears too much makeup. I just can't like HSM, no matter what I do. Although you have to give them chops for their dancing.

So, am I the ONLY mom on earth who dislikes HSM??? Please tell me I'm not. This Disney Juggernaut was invented solely for the cash cow purpose of appealing to all those hormonal screaming tweens out there, I swear. My daughter eats it all up. She has a life-sized Zac Efron poster on her closet door. She has the soundtracks, and knows them all by heart.

Which is fine with me, but I'd rather not be subjected to it. Oh well. I'll try and have fun. The energy a group of 11-year olds puts out can be infectious!

Oh, and while I'm at it, I snapped a pic of the only two plants I have kept alive for more than a year in my whole life: My African Violet and my Aloe plant. (You can see I've snipped a few tips for sunburns.) I've kept the Aloe alive since 2006. Go me. I've had the African Violet since Mother's day, 2007. It's a miracle! (Well, that and repotting with MiracleGro!)

Check me out! I CAN keep things alive! (of course that's a fake plant next to the real ones. I LOVE greenery, just it has be be fake so it will stay alive!)

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

I took a break from plotting last night, because I had to get some cleaning done. I have a lot of ideas percolating (I love that word!) in my head, and as soon as they're ready to spill out, I'll grab my notebook and start outlining. I am trying to figure out a major chunk of plot, and I'd better do it soon, or this story will only be 20K words. I want to do something that hasn't been done a lot, or cliched. I want something fresh. That takes a lot of mulling. Hopefully inspiration will hit. November is coming up!

Have a happy weekend, all!

We have a Winner...

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

I didn't do much yesterday. I stayed close to home, and I only went out twice--once to Target (to get goodies for Thing One's birthday party goody bags) and then to pick Thing One up from her after school commitment. I even took a BATH, and just relaxed.

It was...nice. Thanks for all your well wishes. I needed a day of laziness. Now, it's back to cleaning for the party, and getting stuff done. I feel much better. Although I'm a little tired, because...

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

I have a winner for NaNo! I have been struggling with the sequel to the story I wrote last month--the research is very tough and the plot has not come easy. I was frankly, getting nervous.

Then another story idea surged to the forefront the last few days--one I have been thinking about for the last year or so. It's a fun modern YA fantasy--with magic and adventure and a touch of romance--and it's been coming up and occupying my thoughts every now and then.

So I made the decision to go with THAT story idea, instead of the sequel. The easy part is, I get to make it up as I go, because I've created the world my characters exist in. Also, I don't have to stop and research, which ultimately would have happened had I gone with the sequel. That cuts into the writing time, AND the momentum.

It's like a weight has been lifted, and suddenly, I am bursting with energy! I watched a movie last night after the kids went to bed, then made my "writing file box" to hold my notes and thoughts and started plotting out the story, and it was after 1am when I finally realized how tired I was.

So, yeah, I'm a little sleep deprived this morning, but I'm very happy with my decision. NaNo isn't seeming as daunting as it was before. I am very much looking forward to it!

Um...Ooops?

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

Looks like I have found my limit. Unfortunately for me, (and Hubby) I had one of the balls I've been juggling lately break loose and bounce off down the street. I've been doing a little too much running around.

It happened yesterday. Innocently enough. I decided to look up how to get to a certain school my daughter's basketball team was playing, and when I mapquested the location, I started screaming, because her game was in 30 minutes and it said it took 29 minutes to GET THERE.

I piled all the kids, the stroller, the jackets and a bewildered Thing One in the car, and we were off. They had gotten home from school fifteen minutes earlier, and were still in Dazed Mode.
Luckily I had emergency snacks in the console of the Expedition, so I doled those out while I raced to the game.

Well, traffic being what it was, we got there five minutes late. I still had to put socks and shoes on the baby, and situate the stroller and diaper bag, and Thing One decided all of a sudden that her confidence was out the window and stubbornly refused to go inside the strange school and find the gym to join her teammates.

I finally told her through gritted teeth that she was GROUNDED if she didn't march in there right that moment, and luckily her younger (and apparently much braver) brother volunteered to go with her.
Five minutes later, I went in, and no sooner had I sat down then my sons began whining to me about how hungry they were and why couldn't I buy them concession nachos, pizza, etc. I curtly told them that they would survive the game, and we would go home to have a "real" dinner, not the crap that everyone else was eating.

The game was good, except one moment when Thing Three, whose friend had bought him a large grape Powerade, spilled most of it all over the gym floor. I had to run and get paper towels and wipe it up, because it was on the court. UGH.

Anyway, on the drive home, Hubby called with the results of his test and they weren't great, he needs more tests now and by then, I had had it. We got home, I gave the kids corndogs, and told them they were missing Cub Scouts. I just couldn't do it. I needed a break.

So I went downstairs, got on the computer to check email, and...LOOKED AT THE CLOCK. It was 6:59 pm. I SCREAMED. I ran upstairs, still screaming, ran out into the garage and got into the car, and sped off, leaving a shocked Thing One to watch the kids while I ran down the street.

My problem? Two days earlier I had taken all the clothes Hubby needed for his L.A. trip to the cleaners, and I had forgotten to pick them up, and they closed at 7pm.

Usually, our cleaners is open past 7--they are very busy. So as I raced at breakneck speed down the dark streets, cursing my forgetfulness, I prayed they'd be open for me.

Nope. I pulled up and the store was as dark as dark could be. I knocked on the glass windows, hoping someone would be in the back. It was 7:03 for Crud's sake--had they left EARLY?

Yep. I even, in my desperation, ran around the back, to try and catch them leaving. They were long gone, and everything was locked up and dark.

I started to panic. MAJOR panic. All of Hubby's nice shirts, pants and sweaters were locked up inside that building, and I wasn't going to get them. He needed to leave for his flight at 5:45 the next morning, and they didn't even open up until 7am.

I was screwed. So was Hubby.

I actually cried in the car on the way home. In nearly 13 years of marriage, I have NEVER forgotten the dry cleaning.

Clearly, I'm a little "too" busy. I guess that's the way it gets, when you have three older children in activities and sports, and a busy toddler, AND a husband who lives at work and travels often. Sometimes you drop a ball or two.

Hubby was remarkably understanding. Probably because I greeted him at the door in quite a state, my eyes red from crying.

He looked in his closet and figured it out, and everything was fine. Luckily he had some new clothes he could incorporate.

Today there isn't any basketball or craziness, only one after school club I need to pick Thing ONe up from. I could sit inside the house all day and not go anywhere, and I might just do that.

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

I guess its inevitable. I have been researching and plotting this story for a few weeks now, and I have ANOTHER story that wants to get written, so much so that it's beginning to occupy my thoughts a LOT more than the other one. I wrote to a seasoned NaNoer for advice, and she said it happens. So I will make notes on both stories, and see which one "wins," by October 31st.

Ooops, better get the kids on the bus!

T-t-t-t-t-tuesday...

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

Today is going to suck. Why? Well, we've already been to the hospital (Hubby had to have a test done) and after the kids get home from school it's run run run to Thing One's away basketball game, and then we get home and run run run to the church 30 miles away for Cub Scouts and Activities.

We will be going from 3:30 to 8:30, with no time to do homework at all. I'm going to have to write a note to the teachers, or wake the kids up early tomorrow. Poor things. Tuesdays are always like this.

Other than that, I have to clean my sty of a house. Thing One has her birthday party/sleepover this Friday. We got reserved seating to the High School Musical movie, and we're taking all the girls. Then they'll come home for a bonfire and cider and cake. We have to omit scary stories, because Thing One gets nightmares. ;-)
I can't believe she's going to be 11. Well, I sort of can, because she's already as sassy as a 16-year old, the stinker. I'm always telling her to not be a smarty pants. But she usually only sasses when she's really mad at me. I remember being awful to my mom. I was a total brat. I think the fact that she loved me unconditionally is the only reason I'm still alive today, heh heh.

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

I'm getting excited about my plot. I sat down yesterday and last night, late, and handwrote out tons of pages on the modern plot. I had to email some questions to the Neal A. Maxwell Insitute (formerly F.A.R.M.S) about timelines--and to my surprise they replied that there was "insufficient information" to answer my question. Which works to my advantage in the sense that I can fill in the holes with my own theories.

So I can proceed with my ancient-day plot, but I still have a TON of research to do, before I can proceed. So I'll stick with the modern plot for now. It's a little thin. I have a beginning, and a strong end, but the stuff in between is what I need to figure out.

Happy Tuesday Toast Day!

Need to...BREATHE...

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

What didn't happen this Saturday? We had to get up at 6am to go across town for Thing Three's last soccer game of the season--coach wanted him at the playing field by 7:30 since their practice last week got cancelled due to rain. The game started at 8. It was dismal. They played a SUPER good team, and lost 9-0. It was just plain embarrassing. Thing Three almost got a goal a few times, but the other team was just too good.

Then it was back across town to Thing One's soccer game, where they also lost, but it was only 3-2. Not horribly embarrassing. But a lot of girls were out due to injuries. (Don't get me started on that one--they played some dirty teams and the ref's weren't calling the blatant fouls--which resulted in the injuries. We're talking shoving, tripping, etc. I plan to email the head of the League about it, as do all the other parents. LAME.)

Then we headed to the new burger place that just opened up--Five Guys--and I don't think I've ever had a better burger in my life. I mean, these guys are better than In-N-Out, and you know how good THOSE burgers are. Hubby, who is usually very critical of food places (I call him the Walking Zagat) raved about the food. It was very funny.

Then we went home, mowed the lawn (TWENTY bags of grass and leaves, EGADS!!!!) and made a run to the mulch dump, then finished cleaning the yard and played basketball with the kids. Then we made them do their homework. UGH.

After that it was dinner time, and I was too physically tired to cook, so we ordered Mexican food in. After that it was popcorn and a showing of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. The kids loved it. By then it was nearly 11pm and we collapsed into bed, only to have to wake up for church the next morning early. Why? The annual Primary Program was happening and I happen to be the Chorister. I've been teaching the Primary kids songs all year and at the end of the year they take up the first hour of church and perform for the parents and congregation.

It went, I have to say, FABULOUSLY. And no, that's not sarcasm. The kids sang loud and clear, and we only had one case of giggles at the microphone during the performance. (The kid was FOUR, so I forgave him.)

I made a big sign that said "LOUDER!" on it, and I only had to hold it up twice. The teachers seemed to think it was a very funny sign, but the kids got it and sang accordingly. Lots of compliments and congratulations afterwards, so I was very happy about it. The kids did very well.

After church it was nearly dinntertime and of course Hubby and I had promised to make homemade pizza so we had to get started on that immediately--and after dinner we had to play with the kids and get them in bed and FINALLY got to veg on the sofa and stare at the TV for an hour before bed.

WHEW. TGIM. Thank Goodness It's Monday. Not that it's less busier, but it certainly is quieter. I've already driven the kids to school and dropped off clothes at the cleaners. I love this time of morning, because I play with the baby and he takes a nap, and I have a few hours of peace before he wakes up and we have to run errands again. I almost don't know what to do with myself. Sure, I have a few places in the house that are calling my name, but I'm ignoring them.

For now. ;-)

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

Nothing this weekend, naturally, but I got one of the two final books I ordered, and I should get the last one today. I am going to start plotting the divergent stories (and figure out how to finally make them converge) and I still have lots of research to do. But that's what I will do these last two weeks. Get READY TO WRITE it all out. Woo!

Oh, and I have a shout out to my friend Devon, of Ink In My Coffee. Hop on over to her blog and you can read her good news today. CONGRATS, DEV! WOO!

I Survived.

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

I survived the long drive AND the Basketball game AND the drive home. The baby was an angel. I was smart this time and had lots of snacks and toys to keep him occupied. But mostly, he cheered for his sister! It was so cute!
Thing One's team had an early lead--8-0, but by the end of the game, with three minutes to go, it was 18-16. A real nail biter. ;-) Thing One scored the last hoop of the game, and it ended up being 22-18. They won! Of course we weren't on home turf, so the gym pretty much went silent when we won, but all the parents cheered pretty loudly to make up for it.

I am surprised at how well Thing One handles herself on the court. Then again, she inherited most of her dad's grace, and only SOME of my clumsiness. So she's pretty lucky.

The coaches decided to invite the team out for custard (here in Wisconsin it's all about frozen custard instead of icecream) which presented a problem, because it was 7:15 and my kids hadn't even eaten dinner. Luckily one of the moms volunteered to take Thing One so I could go home and feed the boys. It was so late I just picked up Quizno's on the way home.

Tomorrow is the last Soccer Saturday! Hurrah! I signed up Thing Three for indoor Winter soccer, because he loves it so much, but he only has games on Fridays, so it won't be too crazy. Thing One has her basketball practices and two games a week. I wish Thing Two was more athletically inclined. He's my "cerebral/fine arts" kid. He's just not into sports. They aren't his thing. :-( But he does like to swim. I need to enroll him in some classes.

I think the baby will be into sports. He can already give me a black eye with his bouncy ball from five feet, and he's extremely active. So we'll see.

I have kids coming over for playdates after school--fun fun fun. I bought Indiana Jones at the store and we'll watch it this weekend. The kids haven't seen it yet! I'm excited for them to watch it, because they love all the other Indy movies.

Happy Friday!

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

Nada. I wasn't able to do anything yesterday. I glanced at my stack of research books, but that was it. I am bad.

At Least Gas Prices Are Going Down...

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

Why in the heck would my daughter's school basketball team be playing a school that is a TWENTY-FIVE minute drive away? That's an hour round trip. Add in one 16-month old who will NOT want to sit in a carseat for half an hour only to transfer to a stroller for another hour (and then back to the carseat for a grand total of two and a half hours being strapped in, ugh), and two boys whose idea of watching a basketball game is to run up and down the bleachers and "tell" on each other about their assorted misbehaving deeds.

Can't I just lock all the kids in the basement with a dish of food and water and leave them while I go to the game?

No, because times like these are CHARACTER building. As in, what doesn't kill me will make me stronger. Right? Yeah, I just keep telling myself that.

It is COLD this morning. It was in the 30's. I am starting to think Winter, and getting the house ready. Gotta clean the garage. Gotta move the grill and patio furnture INTO the garage. Gotta get the sprinkler system blown out. Gotta whack down the ornamental grasses and perrenial shrubs. Gotta dump the pots. Gotta paint the trim around Back Door #2 because for some reason, even though the house is only three years old, it's decided to chip off and expose the wood.

Oh, and I bought bags of tulip bulbs, gotta plant those before the ground freezes. AND pound in the driveway stakes for the snow plowers...

*SIGH* I don't want Winter to get here, just yet. But it will. It will sneak up on us soon! How depressing.

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

I need to sit down and let the Muse take over. I need to just sit in a quiet place, and plot. I will be able to starting next week. This week is craziness, the next two weeks will be all about NaNo prep.
I folded and bought an Archaeology coursebook. You know, the kind that basically should be titled "Archaeology for Dummies or Researching Writers" so that people like me can write stories about archaeologists and make them sound plausible. I should have bought it for the first book, but Google came to my rescue. This sequel is going to be a little more intensive on the technical terms. I need to keep it REAL, you know?

In a way, I'm living my dream vicariously through my characters. That's what I wanted to do when I was a kid. While all my other classmates, as early as second grade, were checking out school library books about trains and butterflies and spacemen, I was checking out the big books on Egyptology and reveling in my ability to shock kids by telling them how Egyptians removed the brain during the Mummification process. I was GOING TO BE AN EGYPTOLOGIST. Later I was GOING TO BE AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, like Indiana Jones.

Now I realize, I don't have the patience or brains for Archaeology, so I'm content to be an amateur historian, and let my characters live my dream. Living vicariously does do it for me, so I'm good.

I've made a big list of all the topics I need to research, and I'm knocking them out one by one, and what I can't find info on, I'll need to look for in a bookstore. Amazon usually has what I want. I've tried other bookstores, but for some reason, Amazon seems to triumph 90% of the time.

Well, the sun is out, and it's warming up! I'm going to get the car washed. It looks like a giant Dust Bunny. Cheers!

My Two Fronts.

I've decided since I will be participating in NaNo next month, I'll have to "section" my blog. I will have one part for my daily blog ("On the Suburban Front") and a section for NaNo. ("On the Writing Front"). That way, those who don't care to hear about my writing or word counts, but prefer to read my whining and complaining about everyday things, can just skip over the part they don't want to read.

I'm so efficient, aren't I? *wink*

So, here we go:

ON THE SUBURBAN FRONT:

I never want to eat at McDonald's again. Yes, I was a bad mother, because Thing One had a soccer game across town at 5:30, and by the time she was finished it was 7pm and we were starving and I didn't want to waste another half hour banging something together once we got home, so I folded and took the brood to McDonald's.

URGH.

Hubby and I both woke up at 3:30 this morning, in desperate need of antacid. We vowed never to eat such toxic food again. At least for another month or so...

I swear, I don't want to know what they put in their food. I might as well take a big scoop of lard and put it between two slices of bread. Lesson learned. My kids are more excited about the Happy Meal toys, than the actual food, anyway. (Brilliant marketing on McDonald's part.)

I cleaned the basement yesterday. It's amazing how long it takes to clean, when you DEEP clean. And that I did. I scoured, vacuumed, wiped down, dusted, vacuumed again, and it looks so nice down there. I found enough empty granola bar/fruit snack wrappers to choke a goat, and had a lengthy discussion with the kids about how we DON'T eat food in the basement, unless we sit at the bar and throw it away when we're finished. Yeah. That will last about a week.

Have you ever noticed that when you get on your kids about something, they are reeeeeally good for about a week, and then they start to revert to their old ways? What is up with that?
I guess the fact that they're KIDS is the main reason. They need to be kicked in the rear ends by their mothers. Otherwise we'd be obsolete.

ON THE WRITING FRONT:

I'm counting the days until Saturday. Then soccer season ends, and the craziness will officially be over. I can really get my teeth into the plotting aspect of my story. I've been researching every day, and I'm intimidated by the amount of research I need to still do. But I'm getting there. Can't write the plot until I have the facts. I'm currently researching the war patterns of a people we know very little about. So much is supposition. Since my topics aren't very "mainstream" I have to order books that are specialized. But even the one book I was really needing, is very thin.
I guess that's where my "poetic license" comes in--I get to fill in the blanks with fiction! But I need to be dignified about it, because this is very heavy subject material. LDS fiction can be that way. But I'm enjoying the journey. Building the scaffolding!

Time to run my errands before it rains! Happy Wednesday!

Dental Floss and Basketball.

I don't have to be anywhere until 8:30, so I have some time this morning. WHEW.

I had the kids empty the garbage cans yesterday, and I noticed that almost the entire package of dental flossers was in the garbage. I bought the boys a new bag last week, because they said they were "out of them." I got SO mad. I accused Thing Three of dumping the new bag of flossers in the trash, and he, very sincerly, shook his head and said "we used those, Mom, honest."

I scratched my head. How could they have used all those flossers so quickly? Then it dawned on me.

They were using ONE flosser per tooth.

I would have started yelling if it wasn't so dang funny. I had to patiently explain to the boys that they used one flosser per flossing, not per tooth. We recently switched from string floss to the flossers, because I thought it would be easier for the boys. I guess I should have been more specific about the USE of said flossers. Now I have to buy another bag, but I foresee it lasting quite a bit longer than the last one. :-)

Thing One had her first basketball game yesterday. It was quite humorous. None of the girls had played basketball before, and Thing One was the starting center, and she didn't know what was going on. She didn't even know how to tip off. When she got fouled, I was sitting close enough to hear her whisper to the ref "What's a free throw?" Certainly she knows what it IS, just not what the technical term is. I suspect the coaches will be giving the girls a crash course on Basketball Terminology, since they spent most of the game looking like Deer In Headlights. Poor girls.

But I was very impressed with Thing One's hustle. There was a girl on the other team (isn't there always?) who stood a good foot taller than everyone, and she got the ball and ran it down to the hoop and shot it every time. She wasn't a team player. She ran it down all by herself and shot the hoop, and most of the time, she made it. She scored about 26 of their 34 points all by herself. Her coach needs to tell her a little bit about teamwork. Her other teammates mostly watched as she broke away time after time and ran the ball down and shot all by herself. It got old, REALLY fast.

But what can you do?

Anyway, Thing One has a soccer game tonight at 5, and she has to miss basketball practice for it. This crossover of sports is for the birds. It's making her very tired, and ME, too. Luckily gas is $2.99 here, or I'd be complaining a lot more.

Oh, and the baby was AWFUL during the basketball game. Now that he's walking, he won't sit in his stroller or sit on my lap. He wasnts to be FREE. And since we're courtside, that doesn't exactly work. So he whined and cried for most of the second half (after he ran out of Fishy snacks) and at one point I wanted to give him away to anyone who would take him.

Help?