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I still find it amazing how three children from the same two parents can turn out so radically different from each other. Those of you with multiple children see where I’m coming from.

My three are, well…interesting. I have Thing One, who is eight, whom I like to call the “Responsible Whiner.” (No, that is not an oxymoron, that is just the way she is). She’s very responsible, and I can count on her for anything, and she’s always very calm and collected when situations go awry. But she whines like a mule. About everything.

Thing Two (who is six): I have labeled the Spastic Creative. He’s my “cerebral one” who prefers books and Legos and computer games to playing outside, when given the chance. And he’s highly intelligent and creative. But before he was creative, he was just Spastic. He’s one of those boys who has an overabundance of energy and one moment we’ll be at the market and he’ll be walking calmly, the next moment he’ll be doing a crazy jiggling/jumping thing I call his “Lord of the Dance” parody in the middle of the aisle, while making a repetitive noise and I have to hold myself back from running and doing a full-body tackle on him to stop him from behaving that way in public. Bless him...

Thing Three is easy: He’s the Hammy Actorboy. He’s always performing, always mugging, always thinking he’s “all that” and frankly, I’m scared to death of how that attitude will go over in High School. He’s my bulldozer, my star soccer player, and the Casanova of his preschool class. But for now, he’s five, he’s cute, and whatever.

Hubby and I laugh at our kids sometimes, Thing Three is a clone of him, Thing Two is a clone of me (sorry, Thing Two) and Thing One is a perfect hybrid of us both. And they keep me hopping, that’s for sure!

On the Writing front: I think I’m nearly finished with my research. I haven’t gotten as much written on my WIP as I normally would like, because I write a couple of sentences and realize that I have to THOROUGHLY research a certain thing, or the whole story would have to be changed if I was wrong. Such is the stigma of writing Historical fiction. You gotta get it right. No Exceptions.

But I have to admit, research is fun!! Especially when it’s about lost cities in the Yucatan…

Thing One is SO my Daughter...

I think I'm raising a little clone. A "mini me." Only she has silky blonde hair, and I have brown. I think that is the ONLY difference.

Case in point: We took Thing One, who is eight, to her annual ophthomology exam (she's been in glasses since the age of two) and they put those lovely dilating drops in her eyes.

Heh, she flat-out refused to wear those "old fogey" plastic shades on the way home because they looked "embarrassing" but as soon as she stepped out into the Denver sunshine, pride went down the drain and she practically begged me to put them back on her. (I love those little "Mother-Knows-Best/I-told-You-So" moments--I'll take them as I can get them.)

ANYWAY, (I digress) when we got home, she was all in a tizzy because I had bought her a brand-new Junie B. Jones book at the bookstore, and she couldn't read it. I told her to give it an hour, and try again, and she did, and she still couldn't read it. She told me everything was blurry. I told her it was the eyedrops, and to give it some time.

Well, she came to me at 8pm, visibly upset and on the verge of tears. I asked her what was wrong, and she said "I still can't read, Mom! I can't work on my Princess story either! Waahhhh!" And she collapsed into my arms, sobbing like her heart was broken.

As sympathetic as I was to her predicament (I gave her a big hug and a kiss and a cuddle) I found it amazing that she would get so upset because she couldn't read and work on her story.

Hence, she is SO my daughter! Writing and Reading are my Life's blood. I need them like I need air. How funny that our children can resemble us in so many ways. She is fascinated by History and things of the Past, like I am too. We're two peas in a pod. I love that we share that common bond.

Hopefully when she wakes up, she'll be able to delve into the world of Junie B. Jones once more. Not being able to read is a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone. Bless her little heart...

Forgetting Snow...

What a neat thing--we woke up to a few inches of snow this morning! It's been sunny and 50's for the last month, I swear, and the strange thing is, I was excited to see the snow! Now of course we have to dig through Mount Vesuvius (the mountain that is residing at the bottom of the foyer coat closet) and rediscover where all the scarves and gloves and hats and snowboots went, since we haven't needed them for ages!

I love Denver. I love everything about it. I love my house, our location, my ward at church, the mountains (breathtaking!) and I'm used to the altitude by now. I just love it here. It's my favorite place we've lived so far.

The kids want to see Curious George this weekend--Hubby is out of town and told me to go ahead and take them, (I suspect it's because he has no desire to sit through it.) I really don't either, I want to take the kids to Pink Panther--but they are the bosses with kid movies, and Curious George it is. Who knows, maybe I'll actually enjoy it.

I went to bed at 11pm last night. I didn't stay up all night writing because I have a lot to do today. But I did squeeze in a movie after the kids went to bed (the BBC version of Emma--I wasn't too keen on the actor they had play Mr. Knightley but oh well) and FORCED myself to go. But now we get to run around--can't wait for the weekend! I might even blog this weekend, because Hubby is out of town. (I don't blog in front of him, he gets nervous!)

Happy Friday, all!

Hmmmm...

I had an interesting day yesterday. I'm not going to go into specifics for now, but let's just say that today is a new day, fresh with possibilities. Today the choices are mine, and I don't have unwanted pressure. The pressure is still there, but it is different, and I am embracing it.

I'm a little scared and nervous about the outcome, but all I can do is persevere...

Valentines Suck

I have a great writing group. I was feeling a little frustrated yesterday, and they all had great suggestions. I prefer to be a "hands on" researcher, but clearly time and responsibilities hinder that kind of research, so thank heaven for the Internet. I find that when I search, I can pretty much find anything I need. Especially yesterday. I also discovered that I shouldn't be afraid to put wacky word combinations together in Google. Because there is usually someone out there who has posted something I need. Kind of reminds me what a big old world it is, out there. :-)

The Valentine's Day rush has begun! I literally battled with a lady yesterday (she won, because I'm nice) over the last bag of candy hearts at Target. Why in the HECK do those things always go first? UGH. So I went to Walmart. Sold out. Finally I went to a place I didnt' think I'd find them and voila, there they were! I shouted "YES!!" and lots of people were staring, but I didn't care.
I have to make valentines for three classes of 25 and frankly, I'm not going to want to see another valentine again after this. Hubby will probably wish me Happy Valentine's Day on the 14th, and I'll just growl at him.

I remember the days when a "valentine" consisted of a piece of colorful paper with a cute saying on it. NOWADAYS you have to attach a clear bag, cutely done up, with an assortment of candy in it. EVERYONE DOES THIS. It's like all the moms sat down and strategized on how they could "one up" each other in the valentine department. And every year the bags get bigger. Some people must have to take out small loans to support their candy sprees.
Therefore, I need to go and purchase enough candy to fuel a small principality in France, and if I don't go early, all the good stuff is sold out and all they have left are the cheap heart-shaped suckers that no one wants.

And of course I have to overbuy, because I have had some years where I've run out, ON THE DAY I'M MAKING THEM, which is usually the day of or the day before, and if I have to run to find candy I'm REALLY out of luck.

Oh, to be a kid again. When I actually enjoyed holidays...

Blood, Blood and more Blood...

Did a lot of research yesterday--and of course I got sidetracked by the Aztec and Mayan sacrificial rituals. Yikes--these peoples LOVED blood. And they ATE the victims, and did things with their body parts---we're talking mass carnage and blatant...yuckiness. Apparently they weren't "big" on the whole Human Rights issue. Not very nice customs, if you ask me. My personal favorite though, was the ball game where the winners (or the losers, it's up for debate) got their heads lopped off and they considered it an honor to die this way...
Puts a whole new perspective on the game of Basketball...

The books I ordered are trickling in--my next step is to start interviewing geologists and anthropologists and of course try and do some field work myself--I am stuck on a location for my city, because I want it to be somewhere probable, as opposed to "highly unlikely." Here's where I feel limited by my situation--mother to three young children, and Homemaker--I can't just "jet off somewhere" to do research. It's very frustrating.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family dearly, but sometimes I wish I had a little more wiggle room that way. When the kids are older I want to take them to Europe and take them to Central America and give them some travel experience, but right now they're too young and they wouldn't appreciate it--therefore I'm grounded.
Hubby is definitely considering taking me to Mexico for our anniversary--but that is a few months off. It really sucks being an "I WANT IT NOW!!!" person...I need to calm down. :-)

I got the 72-hour kits put together yesterday. They're beautiful. We are SET. Of course it took up the whole day and now I have a really NASTY kitchen so I'd better get going on that. After I drop the kids off I'm heading to the local Barnes & Noble because apparently Thing One did nice enough artwork to be selected from her school to have it framed and hung inside the Starbucks in there--so I want to take a picture of it!
Way to go, Thing One! She's quite the little artist. We're very proud.

Poor Seahawks

Being from Washington state, the team to root for was a no-brainer. So, now that the bad calls and craziness of the game are a memory, we can all collectively sigh and say "Dang it!"

Oh well, there's nothing like an excuse to make a bunch of unnecessary (and highly bad for you) finger foods and crowd around a TV and scream and bang your chest for four hours, while washing everything down with near-lethal amounts of Stewarts Cream Soda. It was fun, and the kids were getting into it, too.

Of course now I never want to see Seven-Layer Taco Dip again, or anything that resembles a shrimp. Not for a looooooong while. UGH.

Back to normal today. I attended a church conference on Saturday and the stress was on "Being Prepared." My church is BIG into this stuff.
So I am now motivated to update our 72-hour kits. Frankly, I hate doing it, but it is always peace of mind to know we have them for any reason. Each family member has a backpack with basic necessities and nine small meals inside. I found out about some really cool websites that sell water packets and battery-less flashlights (you shake them and they glow, way cool) so my project this week is to get those backpacks updated.

I didn't get to write all weekend for obvious reasons, and I am nervous because when I stay away from my Writing Muse she tends to leave in a huff, and I'm always left scrambling, trying to remember what I didn't get a chance to write down. Hubby got a digital voice recorder for Christmas from my Dad--sorry Dad but I've all but outright claimed it as MINE and I've been using it a TON for times I can't get to a pen and paper. It's wonderful.

So, this afternoon I'll sit at the computer and see if the Muse has been waiting for me. One can only hope.

Obsessed.

**warning: serious post today **

I get obsessed easily. Especially with new projects, or new story ideas. Or hobbies. Whenever I get it in my brain that I want to do something, I have to do it all at once, and full throttle at that, I can't be "patient" and do it in bits and pieces.

Case in point: My "Under the Radar For Now" story has become my latest obsession. And I do mean obsession. I didn't do a smidge of housework yesterday, and Thing Three got babysat by the gamecube and the TV. I was a HORRIBLE mother yesterday. I spent all day on the computer, obsessively doing research and ordering books that I would need, and running to the store buying filing supplies and labels and highlighters, you name it--I am going FULL STEAM on this project.

But as I mentioned before, it's a delicate subject. It's not mainstream, like all my other works of fiction. It's unlike anything I've ever written before, but I'm driven to do it, like there is an invisible force pushing me, urging me on.

I'd like to say that my Muse is in full force as well, but I feel like it's something else. Things are falling into place too easily. I'm finding answers to my questions without effort. Non-feasible things are becoming feasible. It's really quite scary, how well everything is going. Yesterday was no exception. Part of my story requires something that could be a major stretch of imagination--and I was searching the internet all day, looking for a loophole--some way that it could work.

And I had a breakthrough. Just as I was about to give up and try something else, I found it--documentation that would make my idea less of a stretch, and actually believable. I was in shock. I sat before the computer screen, not knowing what to think, but jubilant because I'd found what I'd been looking for.

Also yesterday, the entire story came to me. Before then, I had a "rough" idea of what I wanted to do, but just thoughts and images. Yesterday morning, it arrived all at once...the entire story from start to finish. Almost like I'm not making it up--only dictating.

I don't want to get too "Twighlight Zone" or anything (for those of you currently hearing the music in your heads) but this is an extremely personal and delicate issue for me, and it takes a modicum of bravery to get it out on paper, but I feel like I have to. I need to.

That probably makes no sense at all.

Back to Quasi-normal...

This has been the weirdest flu ever. It's a harrowing 24 hours, but as soon as the 24 hours is over, TA DA, you're right as rain.

Hubby just went to work, feeling a little weak, but absolutely fine. He stayed in bed the entire day yesterday (at my command) and this morning, got up like nothing had ever happened. What a strange strain of Flu. Thank heaven it's short. That's the only good thing about it.

I got a lot of research done yesterday, but now I am determined to do some, IN PERSON. My tenth anniversary is coming up in April, I'm trying to talk Hubby into taking me to Cancun for a long weekend. (Not an entire week because we wouldn't wish that on the people watching our kids, heh heh).
I told him we could do the "beach" thing, but we'd stay at Chichen Itza, because I need to do a lot of research there. It will be a fun adventure.

I'm looking into an Alphasmart. My laptop is too cumbersome and expensive to lug around, I need something lightweight that I can type on, while I'm at my kids sports lessons, at the park, etc. I like Hubby's Blackberry, but I'm afraid that's too small. So I've been looking around, and Alphasmart is the closest thing I can find. We'll see.

Well, I have to sterilize my house from top to bottom today--I already go the kids rooms and bathrooms done yesterday, I gave them fresh sheets and towels and did an "in-depth" cleaning--I don't want any nasty Flu germs around. Ick. I still think it's amazing that Thing One was the only one who escaped it. She has been just fine.
Then again, the day is young.

Dum de dum dum...

Well What do you Know...

Apparently it WASN'T food poisoining. I've been up all night with Hubby, who's been violently ill.

It's the FLU. And a nasty strain, at that. Odd thing is, we've all had our flu shots! Thing One is beside herself, hoping she doesn't get it.

I'll write more when I have a chance.