New iPod

I'm a total iPod & iTunes junkie. I have my iPod with me all the time and I do a one click when I buy from iTunes. So easy, so convenient.

I have the iPod Mini in pink. They don't sell it anymore. It's the 4Gig version. Nice but no video or nifty color screen. I'm satisfied with it, for the most part. But I dropped it. It still plays, but the screen is nothing but a black smudge. I can't see the menu or read what song is playing. I can guess, but it really is a pain.

It can be repaired. But it would cost me about $100. And I have it filled up over 3Gigs. My thinking is I should just get a new one. I don't need the 60Gig but the 30Gig looks pretty good.

What do you think? Should I get it fixed or should I get a new one. And how do I convince the hubby to buy me one? I am open to suggestions so if you have an irresistible argument, I'd love to hear it.

Also....

Welcome home my blogging friends who went to Atlanta. I missed you and I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures.

One More Thing....

I actually updated Villa in Tuscany and Ainsley Park today. Those posts are far more profound than this one. Ah well.

Blogging Meme

Toni tagged me with this blogging meme:

1. When did you first start blogging and why?

I started blogging in March ’05. I went back through my archives to see why. Apparently it was to complain about my children and my writing. Nothing has changed.

2. What don't you talk about?

Politics, religion, bad things about my husband since he reads my blog occasionally.

3. Are you and your blogging persona the same person?

Umm…tough question. Sometimes yes. I’m darker in person. I also swear a lot and speak like a California valley girl.

4. How do you use blogging to build friendships?

I hate talking on the phone, I want to get off as soon as I get on. But reading blogs makes me absorb and care. I think people are far more eloquent when they right and they are able to really say how they feel. When we talk, we don’t communicate as well, at least I don’t. I’m a much better writer than talker. I’m pretty much addicted and even when I don’t comment, I’ve usually visited once a day those on my blogroll.

5. How would you describe your writing style?

I try to be sharp and witty. I don’t always succeed. I’m not snarky. Snarky is fun but after awhile I find it tiresome. I first started this blog more for writers but like most humans, there is more to me than my writing. I’m a mom and wife as well and I like to blog about those things too. I try to mix up my posts to punctuate writing and motherhood.

Who to tag? ChaCha, Zephra, Teresa and Nienke. If you’ve already been tagged…rats.

A Kaleidescope of Topics

The blogs have been quiet lately. Many of my blogging buddies are partying it up in Atlanta, others have company and still some are just taking the summer off.

In other words, they have lives outside their Internet connection. Sigh…must be nice. My mind is not focusing as sharply as it should, I’m saving it for my writing (snort). I’m sure it has nothing to do with my entrapment in this house and the three ogres sent to torture me. I need to get a “back to school” countdown for my sidebar.

Writing
I’m cranking out the pages pretty well. The story I’m working on is filled with action and several secondary characters. I’m not one for a whole pantheon of characters but this is more of a journey story and the heroine needs these people to accomplish her ends.

Reading
My TBR pile is growing but I’m stuck reading a non-fiction book (the one on my sidebar). It really is interesting but doesn’t have the pacing of, say, Dean Koontz or J.D. Robb. Heck, it doesn’t have the pacing of Dr. Seuss. But it is a scholarly work and it meant to educate rather than entertain. Big difference. I’ve a story in mind and the book is my primary research source so I’m also taking my time and trying to absorb. I could read a novel on the side, but I know it would take me that much longer to read this book and considering how much it cost me, I need to read it. I’ll do a review of the book when I’m done over at Age of Enlightenment.

The Heat
This is the first day in over a week I haven’t received a heat advisory. It doesn’t look like we will crack 100 today. I can deal with 95 but not 105.

Hummingbirds
We are being overwhelmed by hummingbirds. I’m making nectar everyday to keep up with the demand. I have 4 feeders although I had to take one down yesterday because of ants. I love watching them, we have several varieties. But they are so aggressive, they fight each other constantly and woe to the human who ventures into their realm. They dive bomb you.

Vacation
It looks like we are going to go on vacation but not until the end of September. Yeah, the kids will be in school but I think it is conference week so they are having short days anyway. The teachers are pretty accommodating and they will send homework with the kids. I’m pretty sure we will be going to the Big Island although Maui is still an option.

Well, that’s what’s new in my world. Not particularly fascinating, but at least I’m getting this nonsensical stuff out of my system. I’m also working on the details of the blog carnival and I should have a post up about that this weekend.

Enough is Enough is Enough

I woke up at 4 a.m. to hear my a/c click on. I thought it was ridiculous until I went outside 90 minutes later to get the papers. Sure enough, it was already hot and mugging. I'm used to the heat being in the 90's. I can live with that, but we've been in the 100's for damn near a week. I'm so tired of it. Plus, we have humidity. HELLO!!! This is the desert, not the Everglades. As you can tell, its playing on my mood. We are running out of food because I don't want to venture out into the heat just to go to the store. Plus the fact I have to cart my three whiny kids with me. Cleans out the freezer, I guess. And I don't want to think about the power bill. We expect to crack 4 digits this month. This is, of course, helped by So.Cal. Edison's rate increase. Yes, they announced another increase last week. This makes 4 increases in 2006. What really frosts my cake is the fact we have shown a 20% decrease in our power usage every year and are rewarded by ever-increasing power rates. Dollars to donuts the power company will show record profits at the end of the next quarter. We are seriously considering installing solar. It hasn't been a big consideration because it is so costly to install, but at the rate we are going with the electric company, the issue seems to be moot.

On the bright side...I haven't filled my gas tank for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I've been writing but I think I'm bumping my creative rev limiter. I figure I've written close to 40 pages over the last three weeks and I'm feeling the strain. I get restless. I went back to working on my recipes last night and got a bunch done. But looking at some of them, I had to wonder what the hell I was thinking. Unsurprisingly, the biggest pile is desserts. Geeze Louise, if its got vanilla, sugar and cream cheese in it, I cut it out. Right now I'm going through the endless clippings and sorting them. Once that's done, I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed.

Well, I'm blathering. Probably the lack of Diet Coke in my system. I'm trying to cut back and increase my water intake, obviously my system is discombobulated.

I'll talk more about the blog carnival later this week. I'm thinking maybe a mid-August date?

What's a Blog Carnival?

A blog carnival is basically a collection of articles or blog posts submitted by different bloggers on a particular theme.  They can be very detailed or pretty general.  One blog keeps the collection of links, adding editorial comments to segue into each link.  If I’m hosting the carnival on romance writing, you would forward me your link for your fantabulous post you’ve written on an aspect of romance writing.  For the carnival, I would organize the links and present it in a post.  If I hosted it on this blog, I’d probably keep it the top post for a week or so.

Other people can host the carnival and the theme can be the same or more detailed, it’s up to the host that time around.  How often the carnival happens is also up to those who want to host, maybe once a month or so.  Blog Carnival has a listing of carnivals if you want to take a look and get a better idea of what they are.

I hope that answered your questions.  If you are interested, let me know.  I’m thinking for our first carnival we should keep it pretty general.  Also, we need a really cool name, so if you think of one, pass it on.

Journey to Coolsville

I did exert some creativity today and worked on a MySpace page. Why? I don’t know, guess I want to be one of the cool people *snort*. Playing with cyber gadgets is a good way of avoiding writing and anything else. It is a huge network, mostly seems geared towards hooking up with a potential date. I already got one man, don’t know what I’d do with another. But it is kind of fun and I already figured out how to customize it although I think I will be too lazy to actually do it myself.

We had a slight break from the heat today. A rainstorm hit for about 20 minutes bringing down the temps…temporarily. But when the clouds disappeared and the sun once again filled the sky, the result was worse than before. It is so muggy. I feel like I’m in the rain forest, without the crocodiles and piranhas.

My motivation has been zip. I’m not writing, I think the heat has fried the circuitry a bit. My son decided to clean my kitchen even offering to wash the dishes (no, he’s not being kind, he wants money). I told him no on the dishes as I have, as you know, issues regarding other people washing my dishes. Anyway, it has been an odd day all around. I’m really hoping we have a break in the heat soon.

One Other Thing....

Anyone interested in doing a Blog Carnival on the topic of romance writing? I think it would be kind of fun.

Went to a Garden Party

It actually wasn't a garden, but the song popped in my head. Hubby and I went to a party near the beach. It was at this nice, ummm, not sure what you call it. It isn't exactly a hotel but a time-share resort. Anyway, it's very nice and the have this great fountain.
The food is great and the alcohol free. And no kids. What more could a gal want? I had my nails done and I spent the evening thinking I had something on my fingers but it was actually nail polish.

Having been off cheese for over a week, I hovered around the cheese spread. They had so many wonderful cheeses. One stand was handing out prime rib sandwiches. Hubby camped himself in front of it. I don't know how many he had.

I'm a people watcher so I spent a great deal of time just sitting and staring. I was one of the shortest people there, a definite disadvantage when trying to push your way to a bar. Since this was business party, there were people trying to broker deals (the host was a commercial real estate company). They had their cell phones out and were cornering each other, trying to make money. It's interesting how dominant that feeling was. Its a volatile and brutal business where only the most tenacious survive. Hubby's fringe dweller. Lawyer's are a necessary evil to this business so he's largely immune to it. But they put on a great party. There was sushi and pasta bar as well. There was also a silent auction. I pushed hubby to bid on a new iPod and he bid on some Gucci earrings. I'm rolling my eyes on that one. They were also auctioning off a puppy. I, who am not a big dog fan, would easily have exchanged one of my kids for this little shi-tzu. Well, that isn't a fair comparison since I would trade one of my kids for a cup of water. Anyway, he was precious. And expensive. Here is the Pacific Ocean in all its blue-glass glory. I really adore this area. But I'd have to sell books at the same rate as Nora Roberts to live here. The traffic is horrendous as well. Forget commuting, a trip to the market is guaranteed a 30 minute drive. Anyway, had a nice time. The kids are at my parents house and hubby is gone, so I'm going to relax and enjoy my morning.

The Demons of Self-Doubt

The demons of self-doubt are perched on my shoulder.  Just when you’ve conquered one set of demons, another takes its place.  Is it human nature to question our own abilities and worth?

I’m a good writer; I’ve conquered the self-doubt in that direction.  While I haven’t landed an agent, I’ve had plenty request a full and tell me in their rejections that they thought the writing was good but that the story wasn’t for them or that there were things they didn’t care for.  Such is the nature of the biz.  But I know my writing is appealing and I’ve got a distinct voice.  So I should be pretty confident, right?

Right now I’m working on a historical.  It is written in a time period which is particularly popular, there are no supernatural beings or evil-doers in the traditional sense.  The hero and heroine aren’t rich and they won’t be at the end of the book.  It is more of a soap opera story with a murder.  I like it, like the characters and I think the writing is great, however the demon “High Concept” and his buddy “Marketability” whisper in my ear.  “No one is going to give this a second look.”
“Where’s the hook?”
“This story is boring, you need to add the 18th century equivalent of Delta Force to come in and kick some butt.”


I HATE that.  I’m sure I’m not the only writer who suffers this kind of doubt. I think for historical writers this is doubly true.  To stay true to your historical period and the authenticity of the era, you need to focus on the details, to transport your reader to that period.  No, I’m not giving up on my story and I’m not bringing in Delta Force or even SEAL’s.  I’m sure even the published feel these demons hovering.  So what do you do to brush them off?  

Hot Stuff

Actually, the title of this blog has nothing to do with the post, it just happens to be the tune I'm listening to on my iPod. Yes, the Donna Summer "Hot Stuff." I'm into Donna right now. It gets ugly when Donna and Barbara are belting out "Enough is Enough" and I alternate singing their parts. *shudder*

Anyway, I'm dreaming of September already. Now I remember why I didn't take the kids anywhere last summer: they didn't deserve it. From the moment they open their eyes until they collapse in bed at night, they fight. I'm an only child so sibling spats are foreign to me. Cripes! How can these kids find so much to fight about? And they are always bored. For crying tears, they have enough toys to fill a Toys r Us, and yet they don't have anything to do. And of course when they complain to me that they are bored, I tell them what my mother told me: go clean your room. They usually stalk off in a sulk and I get about 20 minutes of peace, but it never lasts. The last couple of days have been really rough. The Thing was sick with some weird fever. Last night I was ready to take her to the emergency room. I gave her some motrin and a half hour later she was dancing the watusi. I spent a lovely night on the couch with her while she kept waking up. I gave her more motrin at 1:30 a.m. hoping she would get more sleep. At 3:00 she woke up and wanted to watch Disney Channel. Since we get both the east and west coast feeds, I was able to watch The Wiggles while it was still dark. She seems fine this morning. Which is good news for The Diva since she couldn't be the absolute center of attention for two days. But all bets are off and she is exerting her presence with authority.

Oddly enough, times like this can often produce some of my best writing. Maybe it is the tension needing an outlet but I cranked out seven pages yesterday. Today hasn't been as productive, but watching the Wiggles in the middle of the night can sap the creativity from a gal.

Pop Goes the Fortune Cookie Bubble

I found the true source for the fortune cookie saying.  It is actually from On Writing Well by William K. Zinsser.  I suppose it makes sense although I had this fantasy about a little fortune cookie factory outside Beijing with an elderly man cooped up in an office, pounding away on a beat up Underwood.  He’d be drinking tea and chain-smoking unfiltered Marlboros while coming up with brilliant nuggets of wisdom for the cookies.

Okay, as fantasies go, it’s pretty lame.  Perhaps I shall go back to the one of Matthew McConaughey mowing my lawn without a shirt while I sit under a shady tree sipping a daiquiri.  

Real life is intruding on my writing speed.  My three year old has a fever and feels really lousy.  Of course the six year old feels it necessary to exacerbate the situation by getting in her sister’s face constantly.  Throw in a petulant ten year old bickering with his sister and I’m in paradise.  But at least hubby won’t be home until late this evening.

I think the heat is making me crabby.  Like I’m alone in that boat.  Do these blistering temps influence your writing?  Does it slow down or speed up your pages?  Does it change the scenery for you characters?  Are they either trapped in the Sahara, fleeing from a crazed ex-Delta Force/Napoleonic spy/demon from another realm?  Or are they sitting around a fire pit après ski, flirting outrageously over cognac while feathery snowflakes fall outside?

A New Look

As you can see, the construction dust has been flying and I re-did my blog.  I hope those of you having trouble can see it okay.  This one is based on a Blogger template and I merely added graphics.  The graphics came from Full Moon Graphics.  Great stuff.  If you are still having a problem, let me know.

I realized last night I wrote 24 pages last week.  They just flew by.  Now I’m going back to my historical this week.  That doesn’t fly by as fast because it takes more concentration.  But who knows.

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity and humanity

I got this wisdom from a fortune cookie last weekend. Sometimes it doesn't seem like those four elements go together, but as a writer, we strive to balance all of those things.

It's been a good writing week, not as good as I planned, but better than the last few weeks. I took a break today and went out to lunch with a friend of mine. Afterward, as we always seem to do, we ended up at Barnes & Noble. I didn't really need any books, but books are what bonded this friend and I. We both favor romance and most of the time our tastes run the same. But many times it does not and we spend time arguing about it in the romance aisle. And that is the beauty of the genre. What is junk to one person is awesome to another. I'm a good deal harder on authors than she is. Because she is seeing the story as a reader. The glitches in historical accuracy which send me into back-breaking spasms roll off her like water. Poor writing where there basic mistakes in mechanics that make me want to spit are below her radar. I'll point them out and she shrugs. She doesn't care as long as the characters and the writing are good.

Too often I think we writers are focused on the first three elements mentioned above, making every word count, proud of our mechanics and the beauty of the language without considering the humanity.

Lucky numbers: 5, 14, 34, 28, 6, 4

If the saying doesn't do you any good, maybe the lucky numbers that were printed below could help.

Mark you calendars!

One tool I find that helps jumpstart my writing is a Book in a Week. Melissa and I are going to host one in August and one in September over at Villa in Tuscany. We'll have more details to post, probably after the RWA conference, the conference I AM NOT GOING TO!!! Not that I'm disappointed or anything, sniff....

Beauty

I went to the salon yesterday and had my hair colored. It's my only vanity really. I'm not sure that I do it for vanity's sake or out of habit, I've been doing it for so long. But I love watching the women in the salon both the employees and the customers. They are so intense about appearance. I don't remember ever being that concerned about my appearance. I know I was at one point and I wonder what has changed.

I rarely wear makeup and I'm generally dressed in ratty sweats or shorts with my hair pulled back into a pony tail. When I worked I did the bare minimum to look presentable. I didn't take any delight in the clothes I bought for work, they might as well have been a uniform. Now, I'm trying to lose weight. I've been pretty half-hearted for the last ten years because it was an appearance-based issue. Now that it is a health issue, I'm taking it far more seriously.

When I was single, I was obsessed with my looks. But after marriage and kids, my interest has lessened. I don't look in mirrors. Is this healthy? I'm not sure. I think there is balance. By ignoring my appearance, I'm also ignoring a part of myself. I pushed it behind me as unimportant. While I have never based my worth on my looks, I did gain some pleasure from looking good. The very steps we take in making ourselves look good often make us feel good. Brushing your hair can be so relaxing. Facials can be soothing. Taking the time to put lotion on is a sensual experience which pleases the senses. Maybe in some twisted way I don't take time with my appearance because that would be an instance of me putting myself first. Perhaps my martyr gene is kicking in and forbidding me from taking center stage in my own life.

I do purchase "Vogue" now and again but it is for research for my writing. I may not be interested in my appearance but I am interested in my characters' looks. While my characters are a lot more than pretty faces, they need to be attractive. I'm aware of that, but I don't seem to apply it to my own life.

So I've decided to take some baby steps. I'm going to start going for a regular manicure. My hands are constantly in water now that I'm not changing diapers and I don't do yard work, so my hands and nails can stay reasonably nice. So I figure I can take an hour every other week and work on them.

What do you think? Has your opinion of your appearance changed over the years? Is it internal or environmental? Do you think its important?

Oh yeah...

I'm bummed about the Spaces needing a Passport. Ah well, nothing is ever as good as it seems. That was one of the things that bugged me about Myspace.com.

New Chair

I got a new chair last night. It really doesn't take too much to make me happy. I sit in it all the time whether I'm writing or not. It has been so long since I've sat in a really good chair. This one is just wonderful. It's a task chair but it's pretty cushy. I got it at Office Depot. I had a coupon, making it even sweeter. I haven't done a whole lot of writing today, I was babysitting my two nephews along with my three kids. To prove I am insane, I took all five to the grocery store today. They weren't bad but it was distracting. That didn't mean I didn't sit in my chair.

In an attempt to keep my mind off my new "lifestyle change" as Melissa so elegantly put it, I created a page over at MSN Spaces. I played around with Myspace.com but it is so add heavy, it kind of drove me nuts. My son wanted a webpage so I set him up with a space at MSN. I thought I better get one too so I could get a feel for what he can and can't do. For a young kid, I think it works out nicely. Anyway, here is my page: Pen to Parchment. It is going to be geared to writing. It is easier to change than blogspot however it is also limiting. I like how I can add books and it automatically adds the Amazon link. I can also post my music list with a link to MSN music. I do have a couple of photo albums up there to. The ease in adding photos is great. I tried an MSN Space when they first came out and I wasn't impressed, so I went ahead and went with Blogger. I like my blog, but I like this other page too. Anyway, anything to keep me away from making a big plate of nachos.

A Very, Tiny, Itsy Bitsy Cheese with that Whine

Took the weekend off from the ol' blogosphere to interact with my family. Glad its Monday and got that over with.

Went to the doctor this morning for a checkup and get the results of my blood tests. The good news was that I'm not diabetic and I'm not showing any signs of going diabetic. I was pretty concerned with this because of my last two pregnancies. However, my cholesterol was 220 and my good cholesterol was low and the bad cholesterol was high. Yeah, my life is blown now. I love cheese and I cook in butter, lots of butter. His biggest concern is that I lose weight. You need an M.D. to figure that out? Sigh...so we will be going back to the "food that sucks" lifestyle. I also have to move going to the gym up the priority scale. How come diet and exercise is so necessary? Why can't sitting on the couch, surfing the web and eating bon bons be good for you?

I've set myself a goal of writing 5 pages a day. That's pretty ambitious for me. But this will be a week of ambition in both lifestyle and writing. So far I've eaten Lean Cuisine and toast and I've written four pages. So far so good, but its only Monday.

Career or Hobby?

I got a new journal yesterday in the mail: "Eighteenth Century Life" put out by the University of Wyoming & Duke University Press. It is, as you would expect, light on the pictures and heavy on the history. I was showing them off to the hubby, teasing him that I had something as specialized as his gazillion car magazines. He replied, yes, but he made no pretensions that his car magazines were anything but used for a hobby. I, on the other hand, bought this stuff for my writing, something I haven't made a dime on.

I told him history is my hobby as well as part of my writing, but he brings up a point for the non-writers we live with. Unless you are selling your work, it really does appear nothing more than a hobby. And quite often writing gets relegated to that position.

I know there are some supportive significant others that see the writer's point of view. My hubby doesn't discourage me or try to hinder my writing, but he doesn't take it seriously. He would if I were Nora Roberts or J.K. Rowling, but at this juncture, he sees it as a hobby. He doesn't mean it offensively, to him a job is something you go to everyday and get paid for on a regular basis.

How do I feel about it? Well, I don't take it as seriously as some. I can't. I have three kids and a house to take care of. Those things will always have priority, they are really my job. I don't know how many articles I've read where a writer has told fellow writers they need to treat their writing like a job. Okay, I worked full-time and I didn't like it. Do I really want to do that to my writing? Those of you who are already putting in 40+ hours a week in a job don't need another one.

If I didn't have my kids, I'd definitely devote more time to my writing, but the experiences I have had with my kids are part of what goes into my writing. Honestly, I never wrote a violent scene until I had kids, I'd never experienced the kind of frustration that makes someone want to go out and stake a vampire. I now have. Anyway, real life often interferes. And not just with time. I have days where I have plenty of time. If I were to treat my writing as a job, I could manage to create a schedule for my time at the computer. But other things are also important and they need to be scheduled.

I don't know if there really is a point to this, but for writers, understand that non-writers don't see your writing in the same light you do. Non-writers, pretend you understand the insanity that grips your writing loved ones and friends.

A Writing Post

Well, golly, I haven't talked much about writing mainly because I haven't been doing too much of it. I've been working on my historical and it is boring. The writing is good, descriptive, good dialogue, but *snore*. I've started in the wrong spot. If I start my story in the wrong spot, it throws me off the entire way. I started this story in a passive scene, the beginning of an action rather than in the middle and it has set the pattern for the rest of the story. So I need to start again.

I'm doing better on the contemporary paranormal because I started in the middle of a scene. I bring myself and my readers into a tension-filled moment. The heroine is not happy and she is immediately thrown into a situation she doesn't like and of course it can only get worse. The historical starts with the heroine watching something, she is irritated but lacks the tension to get her going. I've realized that she isn't the one suffering at the beginning, it is the hero and therefore he needs to start the story.

I usually figure these things out, I just wish I could do it in the first 5 pages rather than the first 30 pages. Do any of you suffer this same malaise?

And for a totally different topic.....

This time of year seems to see a snowfall of little red clearance stickers at Target. I traditionally start my Christmas shopping this month because of the deals at my favorite store.

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not
with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show
of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the
potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think
you have overeaten, but it is patriotism--Erma Bombeck

. Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans. Celebrate in true style by eating too much food and drinking too much beer. Watch fireworks, wear red, white and blue and have a grand ol' day.


BTW, Peggy & Melissa, I think I got the blog fixed.

A Whole Lot of Nothin'

Talk about unproductive. My most ambitious act this weekend was going to my chapter meeting. Oh, and re-doing my blog. I think I'm pretty much done with the tinkering. Thanks to those who commented and pointed things out, I think I fixed those. I'm not real wild about it, but I think I'll keep it through the summer. I'd like to do one in fall colors, maybe a Halloween one. Anyway, it's the words of wisdom I spout which is important, right? *VBG*

We did take the three demons to two different Target stores. Talk about stupid. It went as you can imagine. The Diva has been a royal pain. She has given obnoxious a new meaning. Her sister isn't far behind. Hubby is taking this as a 4 day weekend so that has been nice. He doesn't have any major projects keeping him outside so we've been hanging around together.

Didn't do any writing today although I had tons of time. My mind has been a bit fuzzy. I think the 105 degree temps have zapped any ambition from me. Hubby is going to Office Depot tomorrow to get me a new chair. Maybe that will get me going.

Because I'm insane, I'm taking the kids to IHOP for breakfast tomorrow. They are having their "Funnel Cake Carnival" and the kids would cut off their limbs for funnel cake. Frankly, I would too.

Pardon My Dust

Something happened to my blog and I lost my background...so, I'm doing a remodel. This blog will remain open during the remodel, but it may look a bit messy at times.

Hey cool! A new excuse for not writing today: I had to fix my blog.