Procrastination + Me = Misery.

I'm having a weird week. Sometimes, when you're a procrastinator like me, you put things off. And more things. Then, finally, by the time you realize you might want to do something about the "put off" things they've grown into a massive pile of To-Dos that is completely OVERWHELMING.

Take Laundry, for instance. Yeah, that's the Battle Without End. And the Kitchen. The major gathering place for family, cooking, snacks, homework, school-project assembly, you name it. I have to keep up with that or...(**insert dive-bombing sound resulting in loud explosion here.**)

And Writing. If I neglect the writing long enough, the Muse flashes a highly inappropriate finger at me and leaves. And a plethora of other things that normal people do and seem to juggle just fine but I can't seem to because I PROCRASTINATE.

So, please forgive me if I seem out of touch, or just a little bit wonky. Because, frankly, I feel out of touch and just a little bit wonky.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Thursday! The weather is beautiful!

I'm Doing It Again...

I'm forgetting to blog every day! Please don't think it's because I "don't have time." Because I do. I can ALWAYS make time to blog. It's just that my life as of late has been pretty mundane. I've started eating clean and working out more. I am Spring Cleaning. Shuttling my kids to soccer practices and activities. Trying new recipes. Weeping whenever I fill up at the gas station...

...but I digress...

Things have been busy and boring, for the most part. I will say the one thing I haven't had time to do is WRITE. I am excited because when Thing Four goes into Kindergarten in the Fall, I will have much more time to write during the day. I spend an hour a day as it is driving him back and forth to pre-school, and he is only there 4 hours. That's barely enough for a trip to the grocery store and a good house tidying.

Things are turning green and growing...unfortunately that includes the weeds in our lawn. New lawn, new sod. We have the TruGreen guys coming out to fix our lawn. Yes, I know what they charge per treatment could be considered Highway Robbery, but our lawn really really really needs help.

I am getting the de-junking itch too. Cleaning the garage, deep-cleaning closets, I am gearing up to do some SERIOUS cleaning next week.

See? B-O-R-I-N-G. Not exactly newsworthy. But I will try to think of something. Hey, it's Tuesday Taco night!! ;-)

To Pinterest...or NOT to Pinterest...

I won't lie--Pinterest is pretty dang cool. I liked the idea from the start, that's why I signed up. But then I got busy. I mean, I have a book coming out, soccer practices, a household to run, scouts, church activities, thank heaven BASKETBALL finally ended, I have so much going on during the day (and I already am on Facebook, which sucks away some of the time) I just don't think I can do one more thing. For example: The Hunger Games. Everyone has read it. Everyone is foaming at the mouth to see the movie. I fired up the Kindle two weeks ago, got through 30 pages of the Hunger Games and put it down, and I haven't picked it up again. I just don't have time! So, if I don't have time to even read a book that everyone says I should read, how will I have time to Pinterest? (Is that even a verb? I think it is!)

But...

Pinterest is so...COOL! I've seen my friends on it. My sis-in-law showed me cool things on it. It is very very COOL! I want to do it! But, once I start, will it be a major vehicle of Time Suckage? Will I get even less done than I do now? I am not a very good juggler. This you all know. I can't do several things at once. It's just not my forte.

Hmmm....decisions, decisions...

Quickie Post

On the run this morning, but wanted to give a shout out to my dear friend Devon Ellington, and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope it's a great one! Love ya Dev!! And I hope your mom is recovering well!
XOXO

"UNEARTHED" Cover Art Released!

**DRUMROLL PLEASE**

I'm thrilled to present the cover for my novel, Unearthed! The book will be released July 10th, 2012! I'm pretty darn excited about it!
  
Here is an overview:
 Matt's spent years resenting his father and the church, but a once-in-a-lifetime archaeology trip forces Matt to face more than he bargained for as he and his father unearth a city that's been lost for centuries. This thrilling adventure is bursting with laugh out loud humor, a touch of romance, and more than a little mystery. A fun read for the whole family!


It is available for preorder now at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, and lots of other online sites!

I'm a Pushover. For a Reason.

Kids are so dang CUTE when they're little. Those chubby cheeks. Those big, inquisitive eyes. The hilarious things they say. Their uncluttered/unjaded optimistic view of life.

Hard to say no to them when they're so sweet, right?

Then they get older. The chubby cuteness melts away, the hilarious remarks turn to sassy tongues and mean-spirited words, and you wonder at which point the Aliens made away with your darling child and left this...person...behind pretending to be your child. And it becomes easy to say no.

"Mom, I need Toms. Can you buy me some?

"No."

See? Easy. Unless they put The Moves on you.

"Mom?" (*while making HUGE doe eyes*): :Can you please please please buy me some Toms? I really like the way they look and I will clean the whole house for you and babysit for free for a year and stop raiding your closet forever if you just buy these little teensy weensy shoes for me..."

"Uh...I guess so?"

See???? SEE???? When they put it that way, all my resolve to deny melts away. I'm such a pushover. Granted, one day, I will totally collect on the promises made, because at this point, they owe me A LIFETIME OF HOUSECLEANING, not to mention FREE SHOULDER RUBS FOR LIFE and MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

Yes, one day, this momma's gonna collect. ;-) There is a method to my pushover syndrome. Because I'll have a weapon to use any time, any where, as needed. It's called GUILT. It's every mother's God-given right to make their children feel guilty. And I will. I will.

Life is Full of Awkward Moments.

I am finally realizing this. We aren't supposed to "sail" through life--it's meant to test and try us, and be SERIOUSLY awkward at times. Sure, there's awkward moments like the time you might realize you have no cash to tip the guy who just spent ten minutes detailing the inside of your SUV, or that time when your slip falls down around your ankles in the middle of church. Or when you get a popcorn popper for your wedding and you send a detailed thank-you about how you've already made popcorn with it and thank you SO much blah blah blah, and you open the box a month later to realize they've recycled the box to wrap six gorgeous crystal goblets inside. THOSE are awkward moments.

Then there are the BIG ones--usually happening in front of large crowds of people. Like flubbing your lines at a play when you know the director for the next part you want to audition for happens to be in the audience. Or sending a query letter to one of your dream agents and you accidentally leave the name of the previous agent you queried at the top. Or singing in church in front of a LOT of people and you lose your place twice and your voice cracks because you have a COLD. Or my personal favorite: you are sitting on a bus with your toddler and she points to a well-endowed woman and says in her very loudest outside voice: "MOM! LOOK AT THE BOOBIES!!!"

AWKWARD. Even the word is a bit...well...awkward. I have finally realized that instead of collapsing into a puddle of embarrassed melted goo when these moments happen, you need to Get Over It. Soldier on. Life is too short. You have lots of more awkward moments waiting to happen, so you might as well greet them with a smile. 

Right? ;-)

A Not-So-Bueno Morning...

Had to go to the store early this morning because Thing One needed a package of napkins for her class at school, and guess what we just happened to be out of? Yeah.

So, I drive to the closest Harris Teeter in a DOWNPOUR. We're talking fishhooks and hammer handles, people. I had my windshield wipers on super fast, and I could still barely see. I get to the store, park as close as possible (there's only one other lady in a minivan waiting for the rain to thin out) and of course I'm on a time crunch so I take off my glasses, slip them into my rain jacket, and RUN to the doors.

Then I reach in my pocket to get my glasses and...they're gone. NOT. IN. MY. POCKET.

So, I groan and retrace my steps, realizing that there are at least two torrential rivers of rainwater I ran through on the way in, and the realization hits me: they dropped out of my pocket and were carried by the torrent into the stormdrain!!

Now, anyone who has read the novel "IT" by Stephen King would understand my hesitation/dislike of stormdrains. Anyway, I rush over to see if they are caught by the stormdrain (remember it's pouring outside and I am officially soaked through now) and I see nothing. I've lost my glasses. They are gone.

I am now hopping mad. I look all around one more time before I go in, and nothing. I go inside, pick up the napkins (and weird looks from the checker I'm sure because I was soaked to the bone) and get back in my car. FUMING. The only prescription glasses I had in the car were sunglasses, and it was already dark.

Then I decide to look under my car. Don't know why, just do. I get out again (still pouring like crazy) and peek underneath, and there are my glasses, underneath my car in the MIDDLE. How they got there, I'll never know, but they are there. So I get on my knees (in two inches of rushing water) and crawl underneath the car and fish (ha ha) them out.

The drive home was...uncomfortable. I took off my jacket so at least the top half of me was dry, but my jeans were soaked and I have leather seats so I was not happy. But at least I got my glasses. And you know I made my daughter feel totally bad about needing napkins on such short notice.

I'm hoping the way my day started isn't the way it ends. Please?

Open Letter to 2012: PLEASE SLOW DOWN!!!

I can't believe it's March 1st already. Makes me think of all the things I haven't started/accomplished yet this year, and it also brings me closer to the release date of my book (July 10th! WOO!). So, good and bad.

Kids are signed up for Spring sports, too early for Swimming and Tennis yet. I want my kids outside this summer. Yes, I know it's hot and muggy and blah blah blah, but the best way to get acclimated is to GO OUTSIDE AND BE IN IT. At least, that's my theory.

I am nervous. My good friend asked me to sing a duet with her in front of a BUNCH of women at our church R.S. retreat this Saturday. Talk about rusty pipes! But we sound awesome together, if I do say so myself. I don't think I've sung in church for about fifteen years. How sad is that? Oh well. Singing is like riding a bicycle, in my opinion.

I've finally cracked open The Hunger Games. I'm only about 30 pages in. It's good--I'm reading it on a kindle because Thing Four has basically absconded with my iPad for his own use. (That's what I get for downloading Team Umi Zoomi stuff on it!)

It's going to be 80 degrees today. I will be turning on the air conditioner. Don't worry, I already have. I am ready for Spring!

Happy Thursday everyone!