Shaken not Stirred

So here's the costume. Hubby was James Bond and I was a martini. I thought it turned out cute; I was pretty pleased. It was a bit hit at the party. I'm not really a party kind of person. The food was good, the drinks were awesome. They had casino tables for black jack, roulette & craps, but to be honest, I don't care much for gambling unless real money is involved. We were home before 10 p.m. Yeah, that's us, a wild and crazy pair.

Yesterday was one of those can't-catch-a-breath days. My daughter's soccer game was at 12:30. It was in the mid-80's yesterday and the girls played hard. Most of them ended up bawling at some point. Diva had a good game although she played half-back the first quarter then ended up forward the next. That was a little too much for her. Going from forward to half-back would have been easier. Anyway, she seems to be back in the swing of things with soccer. I think next year she will have a stellar year.

After soccer was the Village VentureThis is a huge street faire that takes over the downtown area. The booths sell out early every year and the array of artisans are amazing. The food isn't bad. I ate a risotto from a restaurant called Tutti Mangia. It was really tasty but that was pretty much the highlight. I finally realized the faire doesn't change at all from year to year. It is the same vendors offering the same items. Not that it is bad, but I came to the conclusion after going for 10 years, I could probably start skipping it. Part of my reasons for going is the tradition of going, but going with my kids makes it more effort than it is worth. They aren't bad, but they have no real interest in going. I might go next year without my kids. Maybe I will appreciate it more.

It is the last weekend before NaNoWriMo. I haven't given it much thought although in some ways it feels like a vacation. For a period of time each day, I will have to leave my daily routine and disappear into a fictional one. It could be the saving grace for a busy month.

Celtic Mythology

UPDATE: I finished the costume!


Don't you hate when there is a book you want to read but you can't find it in your bookshelf? I wanted to read a Dean Koontz book but I couldn't find it. I have no idea where I put it. So in my pique, I settled on a book about Celtic mythology. Why I picked it up, I'm not sure. Okay, I bought it because it was cheap and had big, pretty pictures. I'm a patsy for cheap and big, pretty pictures. Its short and I knew I had a lot going on right now. Plus, I need to be done with it by November 1st. Can't have a book going during Nano. Anyway, I'm finding it fascinating.

I've never really read much about Celtic mythology. Greek and Roman has always been my interest, but since my writing involves creatures which originated from the Celtic regions, I thought it would help me deepen my characters if I knew more about their origins.

Mythology in any form is a good research tool for any writer. The Hero's Journey is such a common theme, whether it is Odysseus or Mael Duin. The idea of a hero completing a task, bucking the system and paying for it before they can find their HEA is a common one. As a writer, the more I read these types of myths, the easier time I have constructing a story.

I still haven't found my Dean Koontz book but I am glad in a way because I'm enjoying the Celtic stuff so much. Have you been surprised by your interest in a topic? I know we historical writers can be led into strange tangents when we are doing research. Suddenly we are fascinated with the evolution of cheese or the history of tables. Just one of those hazards. But what about other stuff? Have you read a story in a newspaper and thought, gee I need to find out more? Or become involved with a person who is interested in something way out there and found yourself drawn in as well?

Other musings....

If you happen to catch the Pizza Hut commercial for the "Family Meal Deal," keep a look out for the little blonde boy. He's my nephew. Its the commercial where the dad comes into the room speaking very fast and tossing bags of fast food to the family. My nephew is the youngest child and the commercial ends with a second of him on screen eating a cinnamon thing.

Still working on the costume. I've discovered the power of Aleene's® Flexible Stretchable Fabric Glue®. This should save me much swearing and tearing my hair out.

Manic Thursdays

Thursdays are my insane day. I do all of my errands on Thursday. Here's my list for the day:

1. Grocery store
2. Charity drop
3. Thriftstore shopping for lab coat for son's costume
4. Jo-Ann's for last minute supplies for my costume
5. Target shopping
6. The deli for lunchmeat

All must be done before 2:30 when I pick up my kids. At 4 p.m. is soccer then I think I am done for the day except there is still dinner to fix and I have to work on my @#%^^$$#@&* costume (it isn't going well right now). What is frustrating is I used to be able to shop all day. Now, I look at it as a major chore. Maybe its my age, I don't know, but I hate leaving the house and doing the whole shopping thing. Even for stuff for myself, it seems too much an effort.

Oh, gotta go, just realized the kids have nothing for lunch today so I need to stop at the store on my way to school. Sigh...

Anyone else feel the same way?

Halloween Horrors

Forget your vampires, ghouls, ghosts, werewolves and monsters, true Halloween fright is coming up with costumes. My kids were easy: we went to Target during a sale week and they picked costumes. Supernerd is going to be a mad scientist (boy, is that a stretch *g*). His costume is going to be pretty easy to put together. But hubby and I go to a Halloween party every year so I have to think up costumes for the two of us. I'm a writer, I should be imaginative and full of great ideas. I'm not. My brain doesn't work that way. However, I did come up with something clever. DH's costume is simple and he only needs a few accessories. I could buy my costume, I've seen it online. I didn't see it in the costume shops and I don't trust buying something like that online. If it doesn't fit or looks awful, I'm stuck. So I'm going to have to sew it.

I like to sew, but it seems whenever I get the chance to, I'm on a deadline. This costume isn't going to be cheap to make either. I spent a hefty sum at Jo-Ann's (and a long time in line) to get the stuff. So I'm going to spend the next few days sewing. And inventing. I'm using a pattern for the basic part of the costume but I'm going to have to wing it on the rest. And no, I'm not going to tell you what it is, you'll just have to see it. I'll post a picture next week.

Is Halloween giving anyone else fits yet?

The Life of a Diva

Yesterday the Diva's dad took her to soccer practice. This is unusual in a couple of respects, one, her father rarely has the opportunity and two, he took her on the back of his Vespa scooter. I guess she was in her element, the center of attention, the object of envy for her teammates.

This child was born a diva. I'm not sure how she got this way. I may be a lot of things, but diva is not one of them. I remember back in preschool when I'd go to pick her up. She was rarely in her classroom because one of the teachers was carrying her around. The child has a magnetism which draws others. Of course, she displays none of this when she is at home so I'm always amazed when I got to school and hear people talk about her. Everyone knows her.

But she is not without an agenda. She is trying to be a vegetarian. One reason is because she doesn't like meat although there are exceptions. At six, I'm not real keen on her skipping the protein. Second, she doesn't like the thought of hurting animals. Today I bought her a pair of these boots: She thinks they are quite the thing. However, she her expression turned serious and she asked me if any animals were harmed in the making of these boots. Yeah...Right, I'm going to buy her nice leather boots, think again. I told her know and her relief was immediate. I have a budding PETA member on my hands.

She is an interesting mix. Her concern for animals surprised me; we aren't particularly into animals in this house. I wonder what she will come up with next.

Writing Stuff...

I've issued a writing challenge over at
Villa In Tuscany so if you are looking for a writing motivation, check it out.

Tagged

Stephanie tagged me with book meme:

1. One book that changed your life: House of a Thousand Lanterns by Victoria Holt. It was the first romance I ever read and it inspired me to write.

2. One book that you've read more than once: Hmmm, there are a lot of these. I know I've read Jane Eyre more than once and The Grapes of Wrath a few times. Those are the books I'm positive I read cover to cover. I'm much more likely to read bits and pieces over and over again.

3. One book you'd want on a deserted island: The Oxford Companion to United States History. That would keep me busy for awhile.

4. One book that made you laugh: Bridget Jones' Diary. I laughed so hard in that book.

5. One book that made you cry: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Geez, that book was sad.

6. One book you wish you'd written: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. While I don't think it is the best of the series, I'm amazed at the level of imagination J.K. Rowling displays. The money would be nice too.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Anything with the words "by William Faulkner" on the book cover. Can't stand his writing and it was made worse by sophomore English class.

8. One book you're currently reading: Undead and Unappreciated by MaryJanice Davidson.

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you'd like, put your answers in the comments.

Pumpkin

I love Autumn. I love the change in temperatures, the colors of the leaves, the holidays. But what I love most is pumpkin. I love its color. I love the many things you can do with it. I counted at least five cans of pumpkin in my pantry. I've been drinking
Pumpkin Ale, got some pumpkin spice white-chocolate covered pretzel sticks, been burning pumpkin spice candles and even bought pumpkin patch perfume oil from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.

My love affair with this squash has been around as long as I can remember. As a kid I'd eat pumpkin pie for every meal. In those days I was always sick and woefully underweight so my mom gave me anything I wanted to eat. But as I aged, my love of pumpkin only grew. Maybe it is the warm color, subtler than orange, representing the homecoming feel of the season. Perhaps it is the fact it blends so well with strong spices, the mellowness of the pumpkin tempering their overwhelming taste. I'm not sure exactly, I just know the pumpkin represents my joy of the season.

What about you? Do you have an object or food which represents a season to you? As you can see, the pumpkin has gone beyond being a food item and turned into a personal icon. What is your icon?

Reading Like its the End of the World

In a sense, it is, at least until December. Part of my plans for Nano include a reading drought. Time spent on reading could be spent on writing. Everything I've been reading, however, has been spooky. There needs to be some scary element to the story. I suppose it is fitting being that it is October, the month of monsters and mayhem. Do the seasons influence your reading choices? Do you like light books during the summer and deeper stuff in winter? Or does it make any difference to you whatsoever?

NaNoWriMo

I signed up for NaNoWriMo for the first time. I am searching for something to give me a charge in my writing and I'm hoping it helps. I've never attempted it because my Novembers are always so busy, but the rest of the months of the year are booking up just as badly, so I might as well dive in when there is a big support system. I know Nienke is participating in the madness. Anyone else? If I can write 50K words in a month, that will complete my novel. I want this thing done so I can move on to something else. My user name is Renered1 if you look for me over at NaNoWriMo.

Vacation Lowlights

How in the world could a trip to Hawaii have lowlights? Am I nuts? None of these ruined my trip, but they did put a damper on things.

The biggest annoyance was illness. I got so damn sick. The first day I was there I had a sore throat, by the next, it was a full blown cold. I hate that. In Hawaii you can still buy Sudaphed over the counter (can't in California, it is a prime ingredient for meth) and I lived on the stuff. Everytime I get on a plane, I get sick. Last time I went to Hawaii I was 6 months pregnant and I got sick. It worse plus I couldn't take anything. I wasn't as sick this time and I could load up on drugs. But if that wasn't enough, the monthly curse decided to make an early appearance...By two weeks. Of course I wasn't prepared plus it makes me bitchy.

Second was the rental car. We had a piece of crap Caravan. Not that the Caravan is particularly bad as minivans go, but this poor car had been beaten. But that wasn't the worse part. Ms. College-educated paralegal apparently cannot read a rental car contract. Last time I rented a car, the deal was you returned it with a full tank or they charged you. Apparently that isn't the way it is done at Dollar. I guess I pre-paid for a tank of gas without realizing it. Its worse because we were in a rush to get to the airport and we sat in line to fill up forever. When we dropped the car off the lady asked why we filled the tank. Needless to say, I felt like an idiot. Didn't help hubby has been rubbing it in. When I die, it will be the epitaph on my tombstone.

Did I mention the prices??? Okay, I live in California where things are expensive, so for me to be shocked by the prices, it tells you something. What I find most offensive is the wine prices in the restaurants. I know, I'm a Californian, I'm spoiled by wine prices. But if I went into the grocery store in Hawaii, the wine prices were slightly higher than home. Go into a restaurant and you'd be lucky to get a bottle of Ripple for less than $15. Wines I could easily get for $8 a bottle are $25 in the restaurant. Needless to say, I didn't buy any. The food in the restaurants are outrageous. The one really nice dinner we had came with a $300 price tag. This was for a family of 5, two of whom ordered something from the children's menu (which, by the way, didn't exist, it is just an offering the server tells you about). Groceries are high, significantly high. Yes, they are an island and it is harder to get stuff, but the mark up is still way too high. It costs as much for a pineapple there as it does here.

The last lowlight is one I'm dealing with now. Sunburn. I was the only one to get burned and I used SPF 60 while I was outside. But my back and shoulders fried. Yesterday in the shower the skin started sloughing off. Yuck. For several days it hurt to wear anything on my shoulders. I'm fine now. The kids ended up with awesome tans although they were greased up pretty good.

One more thing, I got homesick, can you believe that? After 5 days I was ready to come home. I missed chores. When I got home, I dove into housecleaning like a starving man after food. I think I need my head examined.

You know, Blogger is really ticking me off. It isn't posting photos at all. Tells me it did, but as you can see, there aren't any pictures. Grouse, grouse, grouse.

Vacation Highlights

Sorry, last week was spent trying to catch up with everything and settling back into a routine.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about my vacation because we pretty much did the same thing everyday. I never did get used to the time change so I was generally up around 5 a.m. everyday. Ugh. For the most part we were at the beach by 9 a.m. We went to two; the small cove by our condo and a beach up the road. The beach by our condo had no waves and great snorkeling. Hubby and I pretty much snorkled everyday we went to the beach. We saw all kinds of fish, it was great. The kids, as you could see from the photos, dug in the sand. We’d come home around 11 a.m. for lunch and to spend the most intense sun hours indoors. Then around 2 or 3 we’d head for the beach again.

We did touristy stuff on one day. I’ve done all the touristy stuff before so we skipped the usual like the volcanoes and the ancient sites. We went to a botanical garden and looked at some waterfalls. The problem with the Big Island is that, well, it’s big. In order to get to the other side of the island, you can count on a two hour car ride. You can only travel the perimeter of the island. There is a road which crosses through the middle but it is banned for rental cars. It crosses Mauna Kea and is basically a dirt road which twists around the volcano. Anyway, the thought of spending that much time in a car with my kids pretty much kept our touring to a minimum.

We only ate out three times. Going out to eat with my kids doesn’t appeal to me. We went to Merriman's which is probably my favorite restaurant. Thing slept through most of the meal which made it that much easier to get through the meal. Supernerd ate more than I did and Diva demolished the dessert. We also ate at Big Island Steak House. They were pretty good. Supernerd is an eating machine. Again, Thing slept through a big part of dinner. For the rest of the time, we at the condo. Prices in Hawaii are so outrageous, going out to dinner with a family of five would be crippling. For the most part, my kids were happy with pineapple and eggs for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and a variety of other stuff for dinner.

That is the highlights of my trip. I’ll tell you about the lowlights tomorrow.

Vacation Photos

After spending a day fighting with blogger to load photos, I went ahead and loaded them at Flickr. Here is the link to see them: Hawaii Photos, plus I have them on the sidebar.

Vacations are so hectic. My inlaws hired a limo to take us to the airport and pick us up. I'm converted. We had to be at the airport by 7 a.m., which meant we needed to leave our house by 5:30 in case we hit traffic. Ugh...I set my alarm for 4:15. Anyway, we got to the airport without incident and actually got there early. However, LAX is a totally miserable place to be. I'd managed to get all of us packed into 5 suitcases which had to be checked. United lets you print your boarding passes at home, which I did, but it does nothing to speed you up to check your bags. If you are willing to spend $2 a bag, they have curbside check in. BTW, that does not include gratuity. So we got to stand in a long line with all of our luggage and kids. Even with the check in the night before, we still had to check in anyway. So we get that done and we have to go outside the terminal and come back in through another door to go through the TSA checkpoint. You wanna have some fun? Go through this with your kids. They make you hold your own boarding pass, even if you are three. Thing had to hold her own pass. And we had to take off our shoes. I was smart and wore flip flops. But it is a major pain in the butt. Then we got to sit in the terminal for an hour waiting to board. We spent a screaming fortune on food. The airport has its own methods of terrorism.

The flight going over wasn't a nightmare although it wasn't particularly pleasant either. My son sat with a couple and their baby. His dad sat across the aisle from him. Thing sat between us (I had the window) and Diva sat behind me. Thing was obnoxious. I prayed she'd sleep but no such luck. Diva conked out, but only after spending the first half of the flight talking her seatmate's ear off. We had no leg room. I was so stiff when I got off that plane.

I'll go more into the good stuff tomorrow.

I'm Home

So, I avoided the Internet as much as I could although I did use it to read the news and watch for any fantabulous emails from desperate publishers eager to publish my prose. Yeah, well, didn't have to worry too much over that.

Anyway, it is going to take me a week to catch up. I will be posting about my trip and going through my blogroll. I did have a marvelous time and I feel the need to start writing big time, I mean on a Nora Roberts level so I can afford to buy me a multi-million dollar mansion on the shores of the Kohala coast.

ALOHA!!!!

Tomorrow is the big day. We are heading down to LAX on a non-stop to Kona. I'm pretty excited although I'm not much of a flier. I've been busy the last few days with packing and the multitude of details which arise when leaving for a week. Luckily, I have family who are coming over to keep an eye on the house.

Packing has been a joy. I got the kids packed quickly. Hubby and I took longer because things I would ordinarily carry onboard now must go in suitcases. Anyway, we're packed except for the playstation. Yes, I'm taking the playstation. Not only will it occupy the brats but it can double as a DVD player. Yes, I packed DVD's as well. DH and I are in the midst of a James Bond film fest in preparation for Casino Royale in November. When you go on vacation with kids, you can forget a wild nightlife. That's okay, we are going for relaxation anyway.

Packed a bunch of books, its going to be a very paranormal week. I still want to get one more book to round it out. Also took two months worth of Entertainment Weekly's I need to catch up on.

One thing I will not be doing is connecting to the Internet. I don't know if I can do it, the Force is strong. I'm really going to miss the blogosphere, but I think I need the break. I'm sure I will come back rejuvenated with a long series of brilliant and scintillating posts. I find it astounding how much the Internet has become a part of my life and to go a week without it.....I hope I don't end up a drooling maniac.

Anyway, I'm going to go through my blogroll today for the last time for seven long, long days. Hope everyone has a great week and I'll think of you while I roast on the beach in Hawaii.

And, to keep you busy.....

There is a BIAW going on over at Villa in Tuscany so sign up and send your writing into overdrive

Scattered

So in less than a week I’m off to Hawaii.  I’m not ready.  I’m so darn scattered right now, hence my lack of presence in the blogosphere.  Trying to string two thoughts together has been impossible.  

Got my iPod loaded.  Diva doesn’t know it but I think her daddy is going to buy her a new Gameboy DS before we go, in pink of course.  Supernerd already has one he bought after Christmas and Thing can use one of the older Gameboy SP’s.  Yes, my kids are so spoiled.  But I will do anything if I can keep then entertained.  Also, I find handheld devices to be great leverage.  “Clean your room or you will never see your Gameboy again.”  “Hit your sister one more time and you can kiss your Gameboy goodbye.”  You get the idea.

My inlaws who booked my trip have said that the airline is not assigning seats yet.  Or at least the current seating assignments have us all scattered all over the plane.  Hmmm….Do I change it?  I do think this could be a moneymaking scheme on my part.  When Thing gets seated next to the honeymooning couple and they offer to switch the seats around, I’m going to refuse.  When they beg me, I’ll say it’s going to cost them.  Same with Diva.  Although she comes off so cute at first, people won’t mind sitting next to her.  I figure around mid-flight, I can start my extortion plans.  Supernerd is easy, he’ll be so involved in his game and won’t talk to anyone…Unless they make the mistake of asking him about it.  Believe me, its torture when he starts talking about his video games.  Score one more for extortion.  

For you members of the Thing Fan Club, you’ll find this amusing.  My mom was talking to a kindergarten teacher yesterday down at my kids’ school who says she wants to get Thing in her class next year. My mom thinks she’s nuts.   Diva’s teacher has already said she is going to fight to have Thing in her class.  I think they must be serving something funky in the teacher’s lounge.  Or maybe these women are masochists.  

And the Winner Is...

I know, I was supposed to do this yesterday but I wasn’t home.  Diva had soccer and a campout and Supernerd had a birthday party.  But that wasn’t what kept me from the computer….

My mother is learning email (insert loud, terrified screaming here).

I’m not a teacher, at least not for computer stuff.  My mother is completely computer illiterate.  She’s educated, but she comes from a time where computers weren’t the norm.  I, on the other hand, have been using computers for far longer than I’d care to recall.  I learned BASIC on a Radio Shack TRS-80 when I was in high school.  And I’ve been on them ever since.  

My folks have a cable modem and my mom bought herself a laptop last Thanksgiving.  It’s a nice little Vaio with a built in wireless card.  So all they needed was a router and I could get her set up.  I bought them a router and set it up on Friday and began an email lesson.

Oh boy.

Its really hard trying to pull myself down to the level she is at.  If you’ve been working on computers for a long time, it feels like riding a bike.  You can sit at any computer and figure out the basic workings, go to an email program and figure out how to run it.  But my mom has none of this experience and technology is a frightening thing.  Technology changes constantly and I think it is very daunting for some.  I was lucky to be part of a generation which grew up with rapid change, I’m used to it.  But my mom…well, she’s very intimidated.  I sat down with her Friday and started showing her how to work email, trying hard not to skip steps and go too fast.

I thought we did pretty good.  Yesterday, I took Diva to Target to pick up some last minute campout supplies.  When I got home, the answering machine was blinking.  When I reached over to play the messages, my husband warned me not to.  Sigh….my mother.

I spent a big chunk of the afternoon trying to explain things, making a conscious effort not to use lingo or assume things like double clicking or how to exit out of a program.  The second call I got from her I could hear hysteria in her voice, the threat of tears.  So I started over.  The toughest part is making her understand the only way she can learn and improve is practice and experimentation.  No one is going to think she is an idiot if she messes up.  It is to be expected.  I got her back on track and she successfully did what she wanted.  I’m hoping that gives her encouragement.  But it did make me appreciate teachers, computers and the wonders of things like email which I take for granted.

Anyway….the winner is Teresa.  Email me your snail addy and I’ll have you smelling like paradise by next weekend.

OH  Big Congrats to Michelle Willingham on her first sale!  Woo Hooo!!!

Fall Cleaning

I don’t believe in spring cleaning.  I’m a fall cleaner, hence the lack of blogging.  I have this frantic need to put my house in order for the new season.  Why?  I’m not sure.  Autumn is my favorite time of year and I truly want to enjoy it.  Amazingly enough, the weather over the last couple of days has cooperated, adding to my fall mood.

However, this isn’t doing much for my writing.  I have done some, but not at the pace I need to keep.  I can kiss off next week, I have lofty packing goals and want to have everything in order before I leave on vacation.

I wasn’t going to take my writing with me, but I don’t know that I can resist.  Hubby is taking his laptop, so I might indulge in one of those mornings on the lanai, sipping my coffee, gazing off at the ocean while I write.  Melts me just thinking about it.  I also plan to spend a lot of time reading.  Oh, I love reading on vacation.  And darn, my TBR is starting to shrink.  Guess I better head to the bookstore before I go.

Unfortunately, my kids are going to, which means they will cut into my reading time.  I’m going to have to pay attention to them while they frolic on the beach.  But hopefully hubby and I can come to a tag team arrangement at the pool.  He likes to read on vacation as well.  

Do you like to read on vacation?  Probably a stupid question.  But I have been on vacations where I didn’t read at all.  I’ve quite often been too busy playing tourist.  Hence, one reason we go back to Hawaii all the time, we’ve done the tourist stuff, now we can relax.  When I was younger, vacation was time to explore, to visit new places.  Now, as I get older, its time to relax.  I think if we took a vacation every year, I’d be more likely to go on adventures, but since we haven’t gone in four years, I crave the slow pace of a holiday.  Are vacations a time for relaxation or adventure for you?

Oh yeah, two other matters of business.  I haven’t had any responses to the blog carnival, so I think I will cancel it.  To be honest, I’ve been pretty darn busy, so I’m not all that  broken up about it.  Maybe we’ll do one in October, maybe a special Halloween edition, wouldn’t that be fun?  

Also, tomorrow I will have a winner for my drawing and announce it.  And I can catch up on the blogroll.

Why I Drink, Part 2

As I was getting ready to go pick up my older kids on Friday, I discovered Thing in the kitchen with a bottle of chocolate syrup. A very, very bad combination. I learned long ago to keep the water in the tub all day long for just such emergencies.
This is what I found on Saturday. These are her tub toys. Why they are in the toilet, I don't know. Thank goodness she didn't try to flush. Sunday night she wanted a bath. When I told her no, she got out the margarine and covered herself with it so I would have to give her a bath. I didn't indulge her. She got wiped down with a wet paper towel and put on time out. I do have to applaud her sinister thought process. Now you know where my inspiration comes from for my villains. When she isn't causing trouble, she is the most affectionate, charming children I've ever met. I suspect it is a self-defense mechanism.

I don't understand why she does these things. Is it a "baby" behavior or something far more frightening? I've discovered my children are well on the way to being smarter than me. I sometimes wonder if my kid is one up on me. She can operate a computer and play a gameboy. Heck, at 3 years old, she can swing and hit a pitch. But then she does these ridiculous things. Is she trying to give me a heart attack?

The mouth is getting better. Some things still bother it like acid based drinks and vinegar. No, I don't drink vinegar but it is a prime ingredient in low fat salad dressing. I've got two weeks to get it better so I can suck down tropical drinks in Hawaii.

I'm back to writing. Oh yeah, I had this brilliant idea in the middle of the night the other night for a new WIP. I sat down the next day and wrote 5 pages just to keep it there. But I have to finish the WIP I'm on. I'm almost halfway and I just had a pivotal scene, so it should be smooth sailing for a chapter or two.

Don't forget...
Scroll down to Saturday's post for my little giveaway.

AND...
I've got the next blog carnival scheduled to be released next Monday. The topic is the perfect hero. If you have a post you want to submit, email me the link or submit through Blog Carnival.

Impulse & Giveaway

I’m an impulse shopper.  Not big ticket items, but the little things, particularly smelly stuff like candles and shower gels.  Books and magazines also get me as does those endless Celtic music cd’s available at holiday craft shows.  I’m a patsy for those kinds of things.  

Impulse also is a hallmark of my writing.  I don’t think out a story line, it just burst, an impulsive idea which gets typed out with little thought.  Sometimes it goes someplace, a lot of times it doesn’t.  But I have a burst of creative impulse that must be given life.  Quite often it comes in the form of a short story and rarely do I share them.  

These are the only two areas I give in to impulse.  For the most part, I keep to a steady path, giving thought and consideration to everything from the kind of car I want to the brand of peanut butter I’m going to buy.  

Which leads me to the giveaway.  Remember my trip to Vegas?  Well, I impulse shopped and bought a set of Hawaiian shower gels which I stuck in my drawer and promptly forgot.  I have no need for these things, I have enough shower gel to bathe the entire population of Brazil.  I had the satisfaction of buying them, so now I’m going to give them away to a good home where they will be appreciated.  I have a set from Forever Florals.  It has three different fragrances:  Coco Papaya, White Ginger & Pikake.  One lucky person can smell like the Islands.

How are you impulsive?  Is it shopping?  Behavior?  Writing? Temper?  I’ll draw a name from the comments on Friday.

Happy New Year

Thank you all for your concern, my mouth is much better.  I’m down to taking Advil only a couple of times a day.  It’s going to take awhile to heal completely but at least the pain isn’t going through my entire head now.  My focus is back.

So my new year has started.  I know the traditional beginning is January and has been since the 18th century for us English speakers, but for me it is September.  In fact, my year goes from September to June, July and August are formless blobs of time and don’t count.  September is the beginning of everything.

My family has something to do almost everyday of the week beyond school and work.  I’ve entered the “Mom’s Taxi” phase of motherhood and is it ever a pain.  I’m a hermit at heart and prefer to be at home, but duty calls.  Now I really have to be organized.

I picked up The Family Organizer at Wal-Mart and it has been pretty helpful.  I like the structure, it has the week’s menu on the same page as the week’s activities.  Makes meal planning so much easier.  I’ve also returned to grocery shopping with a list.  I can no longer meander down the aisles in a fog, I have to be focused.  Time is a valuable commodity and shopping with a list is so helpful.  Plus it saves money.  

Looking at my schedule and the things I have to do, I realize I have to start writing on a real schedule.  Not a nebulous goal-oriented schedule, but a solid time-in-the-chair schedule.  During the summer, having a 5 page goal was fine, but now, I don’t have the time control.  I need to fit the writing in at a certain time and make it a scheduled part of my day.  I have to do it with exercise as well.  Working out isn’t that tough for me to make time for.  The gym is on my way home from dropping the kids off at school, so the Thing and I can stop off for an hour on the way home.  But writing is a different story.  The creative genius fluctuates.  Sometimes I feel authorly at 10 a.m., other times, at 10 p.m.  But such frivolities aren’t going to work.  I firmly believe we can train ourselves to fit what has to be done, whether we like it or not.  It isn’t going to be easy, but it can be done.  And maybe that is the secret to being a successful author.  I think if I can make myself write at a scheduled time.  Writing is really my last frontier with regards to discipline.

What do you struggle with?  Doesn’t have to be writing, but is there something in your life you have had to force yourself to do?  Or find creative ways of fitting into your life?