Hi folks, I hope you're having a good weekend. So far, so good for me. The craft show yesterday was great and I managed to pick up a few gifts for friends there. Mom and I had a great time, as usual. That's something we always enjoy.

Rick and I went out earlier today to do some more Christmas shopping. We've taken a Bizzaro approach to the shopping this year. Usually, we shop for family first, then friends and colleagues. This year we've done it completely backwards. We've put a good dent in the shopping for friends and colleagues (and even got little Zack's gifts), but we've bought nothing for family yet and we haven't shopped for each other either. Well, gifts are gifts. I suppose anything is progress, no matter what order you get it in.

I do enjoy Christmas shopping and getting things for others, but it seems to be more and more of a challenge every year. When you get gifts for the same people EVERY YEAR, you get to a point where the creativity starts to wane. We work it out every time and I guess this year will be no different.

I want to take the holidays easier this year. Last year we hosted everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING: Thanksgiving, Sunday School Party, and Christmas. While it was very special to celebrate the holidays in our home and to host everybody, it was also tiring. I want to eliminate as much stress as possible this holiday season. It's been a tough year and if there's anyway to close it out somewhat peacefully, I'd like to. It's still hard to believe the holiday season is back again, but I'm adjusting. I suppose you could say I'm easing into it. So far, so good.

On other fronts, I can't say I've made much progress. I pretty much got lazy yesterday after Mom and I had our shopping spree, and today I'm not doing much better. In fact, this is the first time I've been on a computer since I left work on Thursday. I haven't done any more work on my novel. I haven't worked on my cross stitch either. Oh well. It will happen.

That's all for today. I hope your weekend is going well. I'll see you later.

Bye!
 

Hi all, I hope you're having a good Thursday. I had planned to take more time to write this entry, but my schedule for today got turned upside down as soon as I got in the office. It's ok, though. The day has gone by quickly.

It looks like things are on track for my agency move next year. It also looks like they have some pretty good plans for me when/if all goes through well. They seem very willing to make the transition a smooth one, and I like the ideas they had about integrating my expertise into the systems they have now. It's different, but it's a good kind of different. All in all, it's looking good and I'm a lot less nervous about this move than I have been lately. One very big plus is that I get to dump the accounting duties. Bye bye! As you can tell, that's alright with me. I like being an administrator and it looks like that's exactly what they want me to be 100% of the time over there. Hooray!

I think this is going to be a refreshing change for me. And while the transition might be bumpy (aren't they always?) it looks like it will be worth it. They assured me that all of them came from similar work backgrounds to mine and that they understand the adjustments I'll be making. They also said they thought I'd find it quite favorable and that while there will be cross training, I shouldn't be stretched quite so thin over too many areas. So far it's looking good. Every time I come out of their office, I'm happy.

Two questions they asked me caught me a bit off guard. The first was that they asked how I felt about making the move. Not my registrants or from a work perspective, but how I personally felt. I told them truthfully that I liked their environment a lot and that I'm excited about it. The second thing is that they asked if I'm a notary. Gulp! Good thing I decided to renew my commission last month. I almost let it lapse! They were very happy to find that I just renewed and I'm good for the next 10 years.

So work is looking up. Of course, I'm still a little nervous. Who isn't when you're on the brink of a major change? But I suppose the next few months will tell the tale and we'll get it up and running.

Because of this, it's probably a good thing that I've started on "Anywhere But Here" . I'll definitely want to have that rough draft done before things get too crazy with this. I'll be swamped with last minute license renewals in late January, and they said something about starting system conversion conversations/processes in February. Since I've started, I think I can get a rough draft done, or close to done, by late January. If not, I should at least be progressing nicely and it should be a relief to have that to finish up in my free time. It will all work out. Still, I am glad I decided to start now and not wait until the first of January like I originally planned!

Tomorrow's the big craft show, and I'm so excited! Mom and I always have a great time there. I hope I can get some good Christmas shopping done. I have high hopes. We're all ready to go and we're just waiting for the gates to open at 10AM tomorrow. It's always a fun day that passes too fast. I'll let you know how it goes. That and Dad's birthday supper Sunday night are the big plans for the weekend. Saturday is free, so we'll see what we feel like doing.

Ok folks, I'm off. I hope you have a great day and a Happy Friday tomorrow if I don't have a chance to drop in.

Bye!
 

Hi everybody, I hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday. It's another slow day around here. We're all bored. It's a shame really - I have a lot of little things I need to do at home and could be getting a lot done there today. But alas, I must bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. So here I sit, waiting for the daily mail and hoping I get more than 2 things in today like I did yesterday.

First and foremost, I DID IT! I finally started writing my novel today! Let's hear it for slow days, right? Swing by my port and read "Anywhere But Here"  if you have a chance - and enjoy it while it's short. I just have the Prologue now but it's a start and I know it will grow from here. I'm so excited! I'm writing another novel, I'm writing another novel! Ok, no more childish silliness. Unless I feel like it! Whoo hoo and hooray! I just love writing novels and longer works. It's so exciting! I'm about to pop!

Rick said something about formatting the hard drive on my laptop Monday night. He tried to get on it to check his work E-mail quickly and found out how slow that machine can be. He asked if I back up my files regularly because he's thinking about doing it over Thanksgiving or Christmas. I'm pretty good about backing up my files, so I told him there were no worries there - just let me know when he plans to do it so I won't plan to use my laptop that day (or for however long the process takes).

Which brings me to another good point now that I'M WRITING ANOTHER NOVEL (hooray!) and many others are in the midst of NaNo right now: Back up your work. Computers are unpredictable and I know a lot of you are doing priceless work now that you're in the midst of NaNo. Don't let a system failure, konked out hard drive, virus, or any of the other funny things computers do take all of that away. You can buy flash drives pretty cheap anywhere these days - I've seen them under $20.00 at Target. There are many options for backing up files to locations other than your hard drive and it's well worth it to check into them and find something that works for your needs and budget. So that's my helpful hint for today.

In other news, I did finish reading "The Lighthouse" during my lunch break Monday. It was good - classic P.D. James. I love her work. If you like suspence/mystery, she's a great author to check out. I think I sped through that book in about a week, which must be a record for me. Then again, it wasn't very long (not long enough if you ask me, but that's ok - plots come in all sizes and shapes and delivery matters more than page count). I have decided to take a break from reading, though - offline anyway. I've been reading a book pretty continually since May and I'm ready for a reading break. I'll still rate and review here, of course, but my bookmark has been petitioning for a vacation and I think I'll let it take a much needed break.

Yesterday I worked on my Jesus cross stitch for the first time in over 2 months. Rick was very happy. He was afraid I was going to quit stitching after all that drama with the State Fair. I told him I just needed a break and now I feel ready to get back into it. It was good to do it again. Plus, this pattern is progressing much quicker and easier than the dragon did, so that's encouraging. It's nice to work on something different and I think I'm ready to buckle down and work on this one. Since I'm taking a reading break and my roses are winterized now (meaning gardening is done for the year), this will be a good thing to fill my free time. I'll keep you up to date on my progress and will post a picture of it here, of course. I'm not in a particular hurry, though. Much like with my writing, I want to enjoy the process.

I'm getting excited - the Holiday Craftsman Classic is this weekend! That's a huge craft show they have at the fairgrounds every year. I always take that Friday off and Mom and I go. That's much to the relief of Rick and Dad. It means they don't have to suffer through it with us. But really, it's an amazing event and there's so much great stuff! I've picked up a lot of cool jewlery, neat things for the house, and unique Christmas gifts there. Last year, I bought a bracelet made out of typewriter keys - one of my cooler pieces! It seemed so perfect for me. Between the writing and having an administrative job I do a lot of typing and I thought it was very unique and a great expression of my personality.

Next week, I'm going to eat, eat, eat. Dad's birthday is Sunday, so we're having dinner with the family. On Tuesday one of the big bosses is providing a Thanksgiving lunch for us (ham and turkey, folks!). Then next Thursday is Thanksgiving - back at my folks for turkey and bread dressing (yummy!) with all of the other traditional fixings. I'm making my famous macaroni and cheese casserole (ripped off from the old Church Cookbook that everybody else forgot about), and if I know Rick, he'll be on the hunt for a pumpkin pie to provide as well. My brother and sister-in-law will bring wine (thank goodness I'll finally be done with my antibiotics by then!) and a good time will be had by all.

Let's see - babble, babble, babble. This has been a whole lot of nothing, hasn't it? Kind of like an episode of Seinfield. That's ok though.

Well, that's all folks! Mail should be in soon so I'm off. Here's hoping you have a good day.

Bye!
 

Hi folks, I hope you’re having a good Tuesday. Mine is slow and dull, but that’s ok. I’ll take it. Usually my life is quite complex and I know this won’t last. I intend to enjoy it as long as possible.

Today I’d like to reflect on something that’s been rattling around in my brain for a few days. I think that the most dangerous mistake we make in life is assumptions. Not mistakes, but assuming that we know what’s going to happen when in fact, there are no guarantees in life. We make assumptions for a number of reasons, but mainly I think we do it to try to keep a line of control on a chaotic universe. We beleive that if we can correctly determine what might happen, then we can make plans to work it to our advantage. While I’m all for planning and taking precautions, I believe we go way too far with it and start grabbing for control in areas we shouldn't even concerns ourselves with.

Assumptions are dangerous for a number of reasons. Number one is that they cause an inordinate amount of worry. I once read that a study was done years ago and they found that 90% of the worries people reported never came to pass. Why? They made incorrect assumptions about the future. Imagine using 90% of your mental energy fretting over things that never happen. To me, that seems a terrible and inexcusable waste of time, effort, and energy. Imagine what you could do with that energy if you didn't use it to worry. The stories you could create, the new things you could learn, the ways your life could be full of new experiences and wonder ...

Another reason that assumptions are dangerous is because they can be wrong. Yes, human beings tend to fall into patterns of behavior, actions, and reactions – but these aren’t 100% soundproof. Furthermore, we don’t always interpret these patterns correctly. Let me give you an example:

Many years ago, one of my friends got pregnant. When she sheepishly told me she was expecting, she said she was very surprised that I was happy for her. She said she had been afraid of telling me because she feared my reaction. I asked her, why? What have I ever said or done that made her believe I wouldn’t be happy for her? She couldn’t tell me. She just shrugged and mumbled “I don’t know” a lot.

I found out the next day that she made her big announcement to another mutual friend two weeks earlier. This person didn’t react well and was very critical. In fact, she was downright rude about it. My friend didn’t tell anybody else she was expecting after that incident until she saw me. She made a faulty assumption that everybody was going to knock her down, so she didn’t want to tell anybody else until she felt she had to. And, of course, it made me angry that she made the assumption that I was as shallow and insensitive as that other person. In the end I was still happy for her, but I decided that she was flakier than I realized.

Which brings me to a third reason why assumptions are dangerous. When they're wrong, they cause trouble. Things don't go right, people get angry, and it all falls apart for no reason other than you were wrong. Why make more trouble for yourself? Doesn't life have enough chaos without creating more drama in it?

See why assumptions are dangerous? I’m all for planning in advance. Heck, I have retirement accounts, a will, and insurance. I keep my finances balanced and check them regularly. I have two firesafe boxes for important documents and items, and I back up my computer files to an external hard drive AND a flash drive (I store the external hard drive INSIDE one of those firesafe boxes). But I think we sometimes take it too far in an effort to maintain control. The bottom line is that nothing’s certain. You do what you can to prepare for the big things. It’s best to let the little things go. Save your worry for planning for your financial future, not over whether your nutty cousin will make a scene at Thanksgiving Dinner. If you’ve taken sensible precautions and made reasonable plans for the big things on the horizon, there’s no reason why you can’t relax and enjoy today.

Ok, that’s my soapbox speech for today. I hope you have a good day and I’ll see you later. I promise a lighter and more fun entry tomorrow.

Bye!

 

Hi folks, I hope your week is starting out well. You know, I believe weekends are too short. We really need three days to accomplish anything and do it at a reasonable rate where we get some rest. But alas, this is the way life is.

The wedding Saturday went well, by the way. It was a pretty typical wedding. It's amazing - we used to go to them all the time but this was our first one in 6 years. I guess our family and friends all finally settled down. I used to be an old pro at wedding stuff but not anymore. Oh well.

You'll notice I posted a new picture. I decided that while I was all gussied up, it was time to take a more recent picture for here and the Authonomy website. I hate pictures of myself but it's a necessary evil every now and then, so I anted up. Maybe I'll be able to use it for my legion of fans with my next publishing contract that I just know is around the corner. Legion, yea right. But I'll keep working getting published again. Anyway, moving on ...

I hoped to finish reading "The Lighthouse" over the weekend, but I didn't. I read a good bit Saturday after the wedding, but yesterday flew by (as Sundays usually do), so I was only able to read one chapter before I went to bed. After church I got groceries and realized that I also needed to tidy up the house and do laundry. I wasn't expecting that and it took longer than I expected. I'm so close to finishing it. Maybe today during my lunch break.

So Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then the holiday shopping season. I really need to get up on things. They're having a big Holiday Craft Show here on Friday. I always take that day off and Mom and I go. I hope I can get some Christmas shopping started there. I've been out shopping a couple of times but no luck so far. Maybe my luck will improve Friday.

I decided to hold off on querying my longer pieces until the start of the new year. I know how I feel about work that comes in between Thanksgiving and New Years Day - I want it off my desk ASAP. I know it's wrong to assume that everybody is like this, but I work in an office and see the motivation and diligence sliding off this time of year. I hate for my writing to get that kind of treatment and I have been burned by this in the past.

I strongly suspected that was happening when I was doing non-fiction work a few years ago. There were some instances with E-mail submissions where they rejected my work within 2 minutes of receiving the query. I knew they didn't even read it. At least with fiction they seem to be more polite and will wait long enough to make it look like they read it before shooting out a rejection. Most people probably don't realize this, but editors/publishers are pretty brutal with non-fiction work. Some of my harshest, meanest rejections have come from (of all places) Christian publishers!

This is no joke: One time an ordained pastor told me that my work wasn't publishable and I would need extensive help to make it that way. I told him I was glad my book publisher didn't agree with him (it was right after I published "Battleground Earth"). The piece I submitted to him was published by another magazine a year later and was so well received that they asked me for more work. While I am a Christian myself, I will openly admit that there are some people out there that let power go to their head. They have the attitude that wearing the mantle of faith gives them the right to chuck manners and civility out the window. They give us all a bad name and sadly, they're usually the loud ones spewing judgemental nonsense that we can't seem to shut up.

Anyway, I switched to fiction almost three years ago and I know I'm in a different (and ironically, more civilized) game now. I guess I need to heal those scars. But for now, I still have some queries/submissions/contest entries outstanding and I've decided to give them until the end of the year to respond before I launch a new round of queries with the beginning of 2010.

In the meantime, I'll keep doing what I want, when I want. I've decided that I'm not going to stress out over how I spend my free time anymore. I expect way too much out of myself and I need to slow down and smell the roses, so to speak. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, but somewhere over the summer I got so focused on accomplishing more with them that I lost that sense of joy. I think that's been a lot of my problem lately. I've been bogging myself down with things I shouldn't even worry about. So I've decided that every day, I'm going to try to find one thing to do that makes me happy. Today, I hope to finish that book during lunch, and maybe take a walk outside during my afternoon break when it warms up. Today is supposed to be the warmest (nicest) day all week, and I want to enjoy it some, even if it's only 15 minutes.

Ok, that's all for today. I hope you have a good Monday and I'll see you later.

Bye!
 

Hi folks, I hope you're having a good weekend. Rick and I have a wedding to go to at 3:00 this afternoon, right smack in the middle of the day. That kind of sends a wrecking ball through your Saturday but I guess we'll make the best of it. I just plugged in my hot curlers. I haven't used them in so long. Honestly, it's rare that we go to formal functions like this any more.

The good thing is that I have had some time to work on a few things with my writing. I've updated my query letters for my longer pieces and let me tell you, it made a huge difference. I'm hesitating to send out any queries now, with the holidays around the corner (read: I know they'll probably sit on peoples' desks while they take off for the holidays and be rushed through), but at the same time I hate to sit and do nothing. Maybe I'll check around to see if there are one or two places to send my new/improved queries to next week. It can't hurt.

I had a friend at work ask me yesterday if I've cross stitched anything lately. Honestly, I haven't done any stitching since Labor Day weekend. I just can't seem to get back into it. I started that Jesus cross stitch for the entryway and finished a small section, then I kind of petered out. Frankly, I'd rather spend my time on my writing these days. But we'll see.

I'm reading another P.D. James book ("The Lighthouse") and I'm over halfway done with it. After that, I might take a break from reading (offline anyway) and maybe cross stitching will become an option for my free time. If I have any that is, with the holidays coming up. We'll see. I did plenty of stressing over my stitching while working on that dragon and that's a place I don't want to go back to again - not now anyway. I'm not saying I'll never do another big project, but it's not likely in the near future. I still like cross stitching, but it's a secondary hobby and I feel that it's time to put it back in it's proper place since the dragon is done. My writing is first and foremost when it comes to my free time.

Well, that's all for now. I suppose I best be off and see what else I can piddle around with until I have to get ready for that wedding. I hope you have a great weekend.

Bye!
 

Happy Friday to you all. As promised, today I'll make it a fun Friday the 13th and explain the recent flashbacks I've had to my childhood days.

I suppose the whole thing really started with Netflix. As you know, many movies have been made from those old Saturday Morning Cartoons of the 80's: Transformers, G.I. Joe, X-Men, etc. Computer animation has made it possible for writers and screenplayers of my generation to amp up those good old shows and make them all they can be. Who ever thought you'd see a car turn into a Transformer and it would look so real? And truth be told, I don't think State Farm, Nationwide, Geico or even SafeAuto would insure those guys!

So a few weeks ago Netflix FINALLY started sending new releases from the summer to us. I guess we went on a waiting list because Rick is still a relatively new member, but in the past weeks we've received Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Rick was a big fan of Transformers and G.I. Joe as a kid, and I watched X-Men in my teen years. I'm not sure why I didn't catch on to them earlier. Rick said it's because the X-Men spent most of their time in space fighting tall aliens with freaky hair, and they weren't brought to Earth in cartoon form until our teen years. That would explain it. But I did like X-Men as a teen and the movies have been very interesting.

So once we saw those movies, I guess Rick decided he was in the mood to relive some childhood silliness because he put "The Muppet Movie" on the list. It came yesterday. He said we've both been very stressed out and overwhelmed lately and thought it might brighten our spirits. I have to admit, it was refreshing to see that. Remember Mr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem? They painted Fozzie's car to disguise them from the evil man that wanted Kermit to be the spokesperson for his frog leg resturants? The Muppets were pure silliness all around. I really loved those two old hecklers that sat in the balcony on the show. It's a shame that they don't have more stuff like that for kids these days. I don't know much about children's entertainment, but it seems to be all focus on learning and cognitive development. I'm all for that, but I think they need a little something that allows them to be goofy and silly for the sake of fun. The Muppets did that for my generation. Ok everybody, duck quick because a pie always flies in somebody's face in that one ...

Then last Friday, I just about jumped out of my chair when I saw this week's preview of one of my favorite shows. As you know, Rick and I enjoy the show "Smallville." It comes on the CW Network on Friday nights. It's a Superman show, but the one thing I like about this one (and that has kept me watching) is that they occasionally bring in characters from The Justice League. The Justice League used to be featured every week in a Saturday Morning Cartoon called "Superfriends." It had many incarnations from the mid 70's to mid 80's, and I believe The Cartoon Network has even resurrected them in a show of it's own.

Anyway, over it's 9 year run "Smallville" has brought in many of these characters. The Green Arrow is actually a regular right now. They've also had Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Black Canary. I'm sure there have been some others, but those come to the forefront because they return every now and then. Anyway, I just about jumped out of my chair when I saw this week's preview because they're FINALLY bringing in the ones that were my favorites as a kid: The Wonder Twins. I know, a lot of people didn't like them, but I did. The Wonder Twins were shapeshifting teenagers that were in training with the Superfriends. Zan could turn into any kind of water, and Jayna could be any kind of animal. They were also telepathically linked. I thought that was awesome. There's something about shapeshifters that's just cool, if you ask me. Heck, it kept me watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the mid 90's. The only thing is that Zan and Jayna are the only shapeshifters that were good guys. Unfortunately, shapeshifters are usually evil - like the one on Star Trek that impersonated the head of the Klingon Empire and started a war. And much like Darth Vader, they usually make pretty awesome villians that leave you saying "that was bad, but man it was cool!" There isn't a lot of consistence on whether they can "borrow" the memories of people they impersonate - on Star Trek they could, but on Supernatural they couldn't. It was pretty obvious that Zan and Jayna still had the same level of awareness and knowledge when they shifted forms, so I'm guessing they couldn't - but they couldn't turn into other people, so I guess the point is moot. Still, aside from their incantation in The Bizzaro Episodes of Superfriends (which Rick and I agreed were the best episodes), Zan and Jayna were good guys. It turns out they are an exception to the rule with shapeshifters. Well, them and Odo in Star Trek anyway. Although I read on Wikipedia that in a later incarnation they did start out evil and turned good - I never heard of that episode of Justice League. But then again, Odo had some questionable times himself and in the end, he did go back to his homeworld to help them recover from the loss of the war THEY STARTED. See - shapeshifters are interesting!

Note: Although I did like The Wonder Twins, I never liked their Space Monkey, Gleek. He was annoying. Even at the tender age of 6, I wanted to drop kick him back to Exxor. If they had to have a pet, an Intergalatic Parrot that could speak Klingon, Vulcan, and Tholian would have been awesome. And he could have bitten Lex Luthor in the butt.

And as a side note with Superfriends, did it seem to any of you that they battled a lot of mad scientists? Did anybody in the Hall of Justice ever stop and say "Good grief, what university is turning out all of these kooks?"

Now I'm just waiting for "Smallville" to bring in The Green Lantern because I thought he was an awesome hero too. He had that magic lantern and a ring of power (hmm, much like The Lord of the Rings?). I hear Hawkman is in the script for later in the season, so it's possible. And thankfully, we've moved past those huge, room sized computers. The maintenance on those had to be heck (maybe that's what Gleek was supposed to be doing - fixing the servers). Now The Commissioner can text them on their iPhones.

Ah, happy childhood memories. Sometimes it's refreshing to cast off the cares of being an adult and remember what made you happy as a kid, when life was simple and good. It will be interesting to see what develops in future generations. What are they coming up with these days for kids? Sadly, I think Saturday Morning Cartoons are a thing of the past.

In other, more practical news of my life: First, I seem to be getting better slowly but surely. The cough isn't as bad as it was, and the pulled muscle in my side is healing slowly but surely. I might make it through this yet.

Second, I'm back on my writing. This weekend I want to work on getting a better synopsis to put in my query letters for "Blurry" and "Hanging Out With Zack." I don't plan to query them again until the beginning of the new year, but I can at least work on the submission materials now. That's next on the agenda for my writing.

I also need so brainstorm subplots for "Anywhere But Here (Conclusion)" . After crusing around some of the blogs around here yesterday, I realized that's the major element that's been missing from my plot development. So I need to figure out some other stuff to happen to Jana besides battling depression. The rift between expectation and reality is the theme in my planned plot, so I need to see if I can come up with subplots that work off that and flow in with the overall plot. I know it's not clear because I've only done the end for a contest in what I've posted, but Jana is a recent college graduate that was just denied admission to an MBA Program, dumped by her boyfriend for a stripper (who will later get him in trouble and he'll come crawling back), and stuck in a menial entry level job she's overqualified for thanks to office politics. Somewhere along the line, Galen is going to come in and offer her enough hope to break through the fog she's in. That much I do know. Her last name, I don't. I'm really scattered on this one. It looks like I have some more work ahead before I'll be ready to tackle this, but as least I know what I need to do now. Whew. "Blurry" was a lot easier. Then again, if I'm honest I was pondering random points in that one for over a year before I even thought to write it, so maybe I'm jumping on "Anywhere But Here (Conclusion)"  earlier in the process than I did with "Blurry." Oh well. As I've said to many of the NaNo participants, every writing project is different.

Rick and I have a wedding to attend tomorrow afternoon at 3PM, right in the midde of the day so we can't really do anything else tomorrow. Grr. Oh well, it's been a while since we've been to a wedding. Thankfully, the nuptual season of our lives seems to be over. But this is for a co-worker of Rick's that he works with fairly often, so ducking out wasn't an option. We'll make the best of it. At least it's in town and it looks like the weather will be nice. That's good. It's been nasty since Monday night. I saw the sun briefly yesterday when I got home. I'm glad the remenants of Ida have moved on. We needed the rain, but three straight days of windy, rainy gloom gets to you.

And finally, the cats are back. They've been gone for almost 2 weeks and I was starting to wonder if they found greener pastures, but they were back this morning. My, those kittens have grown. It was good to see them romping and playing around Rick's trailer again. I think they've been at my brother's house, or maybe seeking good places to spend the winter in the woods. We aren't seeing as many birds at the feeder, so they must have migrated. It's our winter regulars now: Cardinals and doves. That's ok. They're all welcome.

Oh well, that's all for today. Here's hoping you have a Happy Friday and a great weekend.

Bye!


 

Hi folks, I hope you're having a good day and that your Veteran's Day was a good one as well.

I'm glad I've decided to come back to writing again. My flash fiction piece, "Shortcuts" , won the Daily Flash Fiction Contest for November 10th. That was a good boost for me. I went through some of my writing yesterday and decided that one thing I really need to do is learn how to write more powerful query letters. I need to strengthen my hooks. Hmm. This is something I shall have to ponder and work on in the coming days.

My in-laws are now finding that moving is an exhausting and consuming process. The excitement of buying a house in our town has worn off and now they're facing a mountain of paperwork and demands both from the realitor of the house they're buying and the realitor they want to use to sell their own house. We told them it was a truckload of work, but they complained that "wasn't positive or encouraging." Fine. Not like we'd know. We just sold a house and built a new one from the ground up two years ago. But if that's how they want to be, Rick can deal with them. I have other things to apply my intellect to.

Anyway, moving on. I finally got Dad's birthday present yesterday. I got him a dress shirt and a new belt. It was a bit of a challenge finding his size. Like me, he has short arms. But Mom and I went out yesterday and the mission was accomplished. I sure am glad too. Now I have to figure out what to get people for Christmas gifts. I don't even know what to get Rick this year. While I was out yesterday I looked around, but it seems there's a lot of junk out there that people don't really want or need. I hope this isn't going to be a struggle. The craft show is next weekend and I'm taking next Friday off to go with Mom, so maybe I'll start on my Christmas list there. I certainly need to.

In health news, I'm trying very hard to recover. The cough is still here, but not as bad as it was. It seems to get a bit worse when I eat, then settle down. I guess that's good, but I sure am sick of it. I guess it's just going to take time and patience. I really do want to be healthy again and I seem to be progressing slowly with this one.

Ok folks, that's all for today. Come back tomorrow. If all goes according to my evil plans, I have a fun, fantastic Friday the 13th entry for you. I've been having a lot of reminders of my childhood come around lately and plan to give you the low down on it tomorrow. Don't worry, I had a very happy childhood so it will be a good entry. Hint: It involves the Hall of Justice, mutations, and a bad paint job (or good, depending on how artistic you are). Generation X, crank up your room-size computer and be ready for a flashback!

I hope you have a good Thursday and I'll see you later.

Bye!

 

Hi all, I hope your day is going well. It's very blah here today as Tropical Storm Ida brings much needed rain to our area. Actually, the weather doesn't bother me too much. The only thing that bugs me about it is that the system is supposed to stall out over the next couple of days. I have tomorrow off (Veteran's Day) and Mom and I were planning to do birthday shopping for Dad. That means we'll dodge the rain. Oh well, we dodged it for the Craft Show last year and we'll do it again. I have two good raincoats.

When I went to the grocery store last weekend, I decided to splurge on something that I haven't had since I was a kid - Little Debbie Nutty Bars. I was so happy with my stash. Well, Rick found them yesterday and he was happy too. So much for my Nutty Bars. I brought some to work but I don't think they have long left now that he's discovered them.Such is life (or rather, your pantry) when you're married. Sure I could get more, but I loathe the grocery store and only go once a week. Additional trips are for desperate situations only, and that criteria is tight given my dislike for the place.

I've discovered many things over the past 24 hours. Well, actually three. First, I need a better place to stash my Nutty Bars. Second, I don't have time or patience to baby people. My life is busy enough and I will not coddle people that are supposed to be responsible, grown adults. They can take care of their own problems and make their own decisions. If they're so set on instant gratification, have at it. They can go on with their bad selves and when the consequences can't be ignored any more, they can deal with them. That's what they get for being willful and having tunnel vision. Every person's life is their own. I'm looking at the big picture in my own life and it seems things are going to be pretty busy for me in 2010, with this work move and all. I have my hands full with my own life and my own business to attend to. I am nobody's keeper and I will no longer tolerate people trying to put me in that role. They should be ashamed of themselves and grow up already. Seriously, I'm surprised that acting so helpless and childish isn't embarassing them to death - but people rarely realize it when they're so emotional that they've reverted to an infantal state. There goes my education again. Ok, that's enough. Let's move on.

The third thing I've discovered is that I'm still a bit stuck with this novel. Well darn, I was all excited about diving in soon. Then again, it could still happen. I'm happy with the research I've gathered and feel ready, but I'm still waiting for things to come together better. I still don't have a clear sense of direction for it. Well, there's no hurry. It will come in good time. I've written the final chapter and Epilogue and will write more as it becomes clearer. While I'd like to write it chronologically, that hasn't happened so far so this one might be more scattered. "Blurry" flowed so well, but I guess every writing project is different. This one already is. The most important thing is to enjoy the process and craft a story I like. In the meantime, I might piddle around with more short stories or check out more contests around here. I've never written much at the end of the year, so it will be interesting to see what I produce and how the holidays influence it.

Hmm. I might be slightly nutty myself but at least I'm ready to get off my rear end and do something. Pitching off other peoples' problems has me feeling a whole lot lighter today. Getting back into my writing over the past couple of days has made me happy and given me purpose. And the Nutty Bars - maybe it's time to let that go.

So it's a gloomy day outside, but not so gloomy inside. My moods seem to be taking more twists and turns than the Foothills Parkway these days and that's frustrating. I'm used to being in a level state of contentment and I really want to get back to that. Sure, life has knocked me down, but I don't want to be down any more. I guess the first step is getting up and I'm doing that now. At least I'm trying to get back on the path to even footing again.

That's all for today. I hope you have a good one. If you're being impacted by Ida like we are, stay dry. If not, be glad. Take care and I'll see you later.

Bye!
 

Hi folks, I hope you're having a good Monday. My day is blah.

I'm completely overwhelmed with my life right now, and I don't know what to do. I feel completely out of control and I want it back! Things are just spinning absolutely crazy these days and I'm weak and powerless to stop it.

How do you regain control of your life? I'm sick of life happening TO me. I want to make my life HAPPEN again. I'm sick and tired of the winds of fate blowing me around.

One big problem in my life these days is that I'm getting very frustrated with people that are wishy-washy and can't see the big picture. They want what they want RIGHT NOW and aren't thinking about what the consequences of RIGHT NOW will be in a week, a month, or a year. I wish I could say it's just one or two drama addicts, but it's more widespread than that - so much so that I'm afraid to drink the water. I'm usually a very patient person but that patience is wearing pretty thin. Add a sinus infection that seems to like me a bit too much, and you have a bomb in the making.

I don't know. I took a walk during lunch and thought about how I regret not signing up for NaNo this year. Why the heck not? If everything else in life is going amok, why not add in something I want for a change? I mean, I take a look around and everybody else is doing what they want in my corner of the world regardless of anything else. Why on Earth am I just sitting here and letting life happen? I know I've taken some knocks but dang, it's time to get up and move sometime and I'm starting to get that itch that the time might be right now.

That brought me to the more important realization that perhaps I should just say hell with it all and do what I want. Everybody else is, so why not me? I'm starting to seriously consider starting on my novel soon, rather than waiting for the start of the new year. I'm a bit hesitant to do that with the holidays coming up but as I said, everybody else is doing what they want without regard to anything else so why the heck not? I shall ponder this more.

I think I can say that at least one thing is explicitly clear to me right now: It's time to quit sitting here. The writing hiatus is over, if it ever really was in the first place. I have returned to the ranks of the writing and we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll start this novel sooner rather than later. Maybe I'll bat around a few more contest entries first. All I know is that I'm done sitting here and doing, well, nothing. If I need a break in early 2010 I'll take it then, but right now it seems a break is the last thing I need. Already today I've updated "Anywhere But Here (Conclusion)"  and wrote "The Long Way Home" . Both pieces are fairly brief, so feel free to drop by my port and check them out.

Here's hoping you're having a better day. See you later.

Bye!