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 |  My American Notebooks |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** When Nathaniel Hawthorne was writing, he kept a series of journals, The American Notebooks. They were part daily journal, part diary, but mostly a place for him to jot down and try out bits of writing he hadn't a full venue for yet. He kept character sketches, odd bits of conversation, and observances he wanted to remember for future writings in his notebooks. This, then, is my place for odd bits I want to remember. When you read this, keep in mind, you are rummaging through my mental storehouse. Check out:
And don't forget to vote for your favorite blogger each month. 
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Well....I'm still itching.  Stupid doctor. Prednisone is all gone. And now the spots are on my dang face!!  I bought some anti-itch Aveeno lotion, I guess I'll just keep working on getting out whatever is wrong.  AND....Chewie is back at the dang Vet. She's sick again and has to spend the night tonight and maybe tomorrow night.  I miss her when she's gone.But, I reiterate, my hubby is the sweetest man in the universe. When Chewie gets sick, she pees without meaning to. Well, she peed on the bed yesterday....on Hubby's side.  Well, we didn't know about it, until Hubby was trying to go to bed about 9:00. I was downstairs writing. That's right....Beware of Leopard. I had a deadline for the DWC challenge of 10:00 my time. I heard shouting and cussing and went upstairs to see what the heck was going on and there stood Hubby holding out the blankets trying to survey the situation. There really is no way to explain the sickening sensation of blithely sliding your bare legs down between icy, sodden, cat peed sheets. It really defies description. Having been the slidee on more than one occasion...I really felt for Hubby. This time it had soaked through to the matress, so there was nothing for it but to pull out the Spot Bot and spray and suction it. Hubby got me to mix the magic formula that goes into the Spot Bot - because those tricky devils at Bissell have cleverly disguised it by printing lines on the side of the little tank you put it all in. This much water + this much oxygen formula + this much cleaner = no cat peed matress It's all very scientific. Any way, once I got him set up, he sent me back downstairs to write...Beware of Leopard...on a deadline, remember? And he cleaned the matress that my cat peed on. I rolled up the bedding and started it washing - I was in the basement anyway - and I got him out new before I left.About fifteen minutes later, I heard him rummaging around in the storage part of the basement. "Uh, honey, what are you doing?" "Go back to writing, I've got this. I'm just looking for and extension cord." ~blank look~????? "I'm gonna use a blow dryer to dry the mattress now, but the cord isn't long enough. And I only know where my big orange extension cords are, don't we have some for the Christmas tree down here?" Smart man. So, I found him an extension cord - NOT from the Christmas tree stash. (Chicken coming up, sorry.) This year at Christmas when they are all on sale I'm gonna buy six or seven extension cords in varying lengths and stash them all around the house. I always thought my parents were crazy with their extension cord collection, but BY GOD when you needed one, Mom could walk you to ten in various HANDY locations all over the damn house. I'm following in that genius woman's footsteps!! 'k, chicken's gone now. Any way, I got him one and sent him on his way. It took him until 11 to get all of this done by himself even though he had been up since 5 and had to get up at 5 the next morning AND he made the bed by himself AND he gave me an extra blanket like I like because I get so cold.  All so I could write. Isn't he a sweetie? After all that, I only missed my deadline by 8 minutes. Hard to believe isn't it?  I wrote tonight's entry at 7:30....just in case. |
For lunch, I went to the Starbucks in my Barnes and Noble. It was great.  But, I felt like a big cliched fool walking back to my car with my Grilled Turkey and Cheese Chipotle Panini and Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte. What kind of gooby dork actually orders that kind of thing and gets all excited about it?! Uh...that would be ME. I felt completely AMERICAN at that moment. The epitome of all that the Jihadist Muslim hates about American consumerism and consumption. It was a weird and somehow unsettling feeling. Here I was just having my lunch and I knew that somehow, somewhere out there, someone hated me for having it. Moving on.....as I was having my lunch, I was noticing the change in the weather recently. Where I live, fall has distinct stages. There is the first blush of autumn. This kisses the foliage and signals the season of dying. There is beauty here. Nature puts on a glorious show, each tree responding to the warm days and cool nights. All too soon, we reach the part of autumn where the rains and snows begin. The rains start in the valleys, and the snows in the high country, leaving the mountains dusted each morning like a confectioner's favorite cake. The rains turn the crisp leaves into so much sodden mess underfoot that if you were negligent in raking during the earlier blush, the dripping mat of gooey sludge concretes itself underneath the bare bushes until there is no hope of raking it now, you are just as well to leave it until spring. Because, even if you can get it out from under the bushes and out of the gutters, who can lift the damn bags you put it in? The rains begin to turn to sleet and nightly snow. Now you wonder if you've put off that trip to the garage to have the snowtires put back on until too late. They'll never get you in this late into the first decent snowfall. You are better off waiting until..... Indian summer. When there are few leaves left clinging to the stark trees and those you didn't rake are now frozen solid to the ground every night. The daytime temperatures may be soaring into the 50s, but every night it's dipping down into the teens and, brother, you'd better finish up any last minute getting ready for the winter chores you have, because all too soon, it's.... Thanksgiving. And the day that's over? You guessed it. Winter has set in for good. Have a nice fall! We are at the sodden leaves, rainy season...where are y'all? |
| My husband almost told our daughter today that she was the sexiest woman in the world. It's not his fault. She answered my cell phone and it was a bad connection. He thought for a split second it was me. Then before he said it, he realized it was her. It actually happens quite a bit around here. People thinking she's me on the telephone. We both have very deep, sultry voices, with just a bit of Texas twang. I've been told I have a phone sex voice. I'm hoping there's a compliment in that. Texun4ever-cabin fever  gets us mixed up all the time. The only one who never does is Granny. She always knows. I don't know how; she just does. I guess mothers just do. ~shrug~The downside to this is that she has discovered that she can call herself in sick to school. She's done it twice. The first time was on accident. The school called because I'd forgotten to call her in and she answered the phone, they mistook her for me so she rolled with it. If nothing else, the kid is bright. The second time, I was throwing up ill so I asked her to do it.  Yeah....contributing to the delequency, etc. I'd worry more about this superpower of hers except I leave for work after she leaves for school, so she can't really misuse it. So, I guess mostly we are just a fun party trick. |
| I was driving home today listening to my usual easy listening/current pop station when one of those interminable stretches of commercials came on. You know? Those 12 minute stretches of annoying car dealer ads and boob enhancement drug ads? They drive me batty. I always switch the station immediately. So I landed on the "Oldies" Rock station. It always cracks me up that they call it that. Back in my day, the "oldies" station was 50s and 60s music. "Classic" rock was 60-70s rock. Now anything from the 60s to the mid 90s is "oldies." What the hell is with that? Bit of a lump, isn't it? Or the alternative on XM or Sirius; they have it broken down so finely you are listening to the same five freaking songs all damn day. "The Elvis Channel," "Big Band Swing," "All Hawaiian, All Day," "80s Hair Bands," "80s Grunge Bands," "80s Grunge Bands with Hair." It gets a little too specific for me. Sorry about that chicken....anyway, I was listening to the "Oldies" station and Metallica's "Enter Sandman" came on. I cranked it. Jammed along, headbanging and singing out loud most of the way home. See, here's a bit of a confession. I'm a former Heavy Metal Chick. No, really. Anything Metal. The louder the guitars and drums, the more unintelligable the lyrics, the better. Van Halen, Metallica, Queen, Dokken, AC/DC, the Scorpions, Queensryke, Def Leopard; you name them, I rocked out to them. I am a child of the 80s. And the sick, sad and scary part? I've passed this love of heavy metal on to my child. It's true. The first song she ever sung out loud? Twinkle, Twinkle? Nope...That would be Metallica's "Enter Sandman." It was her favorite. Her current favorite is AC/DC. I suppose it explains her current fascination with wanting to have her hair dyed blue. The whole rebellious rocker thing. She also doesn't mind her friends riding with me because I always have the radio on the "cool" channel and I know more of the words than they do. I've mellowed some over the years and so has my choice in music - I listen to just about anything but jazz and rap nowadays - but deep down, it's the wail of an electric guitar and the driving beat of a drum that gets me going every time. |
| ~sigh~ I've got a head to toe stupid, itchy, red rash. I went to the doctor today after a week of trying to treat it myself. He was some help, but not much. Him: "I think you have flakulitis." Me: "You made that up. It sounds like Count Chocula." Him: "No, really. Or allergic dermatitis." I was less than impressed with this diagnosis. I'd rather go back to Count Chocula. At least that was fun sounding. Allergic dermatitis is doctor-speak for "we have no freaking idea what the hell is wrong with your skin and boy doesn't it suck to be you." He asked what I was currently doing to treat it. Welllllll.....  Me:Nothing you would approve of. Him:?!? See, I believe in homeopathic remedies and such. I think if a natural cure can help you without the pills and crap of Western meds, then "Yea, you!" You saved on that doctor's visit, and you aren't helping create the next super virus from over-prescription of antibiotics for viral infections. So, I was trying a very effective blend of emu oil and chamomille essential oil to sooth the skin and inflammed areas. It was really nice and is actually the only thing that has helped the itch, except it was only treating the symptoms. It only felt better where I put it. And it was taking me longer and longer to get dressed in the morning. I'm talking 30-45 minutes just to get it on all the dang itches. Plus by the time I was finished I was slicked up like a goose at Christmas! I all but slid out of my clothes. And, not to put too fine a point on it? But, emu oil.....smells funny. No really. So there I was all slicked up, breaking out more, sliding out of my clothes, smelling like an emu. Not a good scenerio, really. And not viable any longer. Plus, emu oil is REALLY freaking expensive. So, I went to the health food store and talked to the "doctor" (I think he may really be some kind of actual MD or something, he goes by Dr. anyway.) there. He was very nice and steered me toward Silver hydrosol. Basically this is silver in pure water. It had a nice spray pump and I just sprayed it on my body. Silver is an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral agent. Cool, no matter what the hell this is, I'm covered. Right? He told me that I had something inside me that just needed to come out. Was I stressed? Uh....no. Well, I am pretty stressed about this damn rash, actually.  Does that count?I guess not. So I get home, still slicked up with emu oil, and I strip down and spray myself. I looked like some kind of contortionist trying to hit all the spots on my back with the spray bottle in an upright position. Well, now I'm dripping wet and I smell all.....metallic. Plus it didn't do alot for the itching. That's ok, I persevered. I air dried....it didn't take too long, but the dog thought I'd lost my mind. (Cause I danced around trying not to scratch.) Finally I couldn't stand it and put more emu oil on the itchier spots. He told me to spray myself every few hours or so. Well, hell. It was only a 2 oz bottle, I'd used half of it in three applications. It was the biggest bottle they sold, too. Obviously what I had to get out needed bigger help. ~sigh~ So after a sleepless night, I broke down and called the regular doctor to get the Count Chocula diagnosis. To add insult to injury, he prescribed steroids. Prednisone. Hey, doc. That's what you prescribed for my asthma last month. Geeze, I think I could come in there with a broken arm and he'd tell me Prednisone would fix me right up. Does the man have no concept that I'm trying to loose weight?! Steriods pack it on like I'm a female bodybuilder. Oh, well, not this month. He also gave me some pill that was supposed to make me not itch. Like Benedryl, but not, because I'm allergic to Benedryl. Irony? Benedryl gives me hives. Whatever. So I've taken three doses of the damn no-itch pills so far. And I still itch. I'm going to get slicked up with emu oil again. I may have smelled like an emu, but by dingies, I didn't itch. |
| I have a confession. I'm unhappy and jealous. I'm sick and sad and tired of sitting on the sidelines. Tonight I gave myself the kick in the ass I've been needing with my writing. I joined "Invalid Item"  . It may not help me go Pro, but by God, maybe it will help me finally get off my butt and actually submit something somewhere. I am tired of staring at my 2006 Writer's Market and seeing the 2007 WM in the B & N and watching the year tick to a close and realize I haven't submitted one damn thing. Not one. Well, NO MORE. I'm polishing SOMETHING and submitting it SOMEWHERE if it harelips the governor!! By November 1, I vow to have submitted something. Somewhere. Period. |
| Hi guys. I'm a little under the weather right now. I'm really only coming on to post stuff in the Daily Writing Challenge. But, I promise to make a "real" post here soon. T PS-If you wanna know what's going on, you can read: "Invalid Entry" and "Invalid Entry" . They explain the situation. I'd just post them here, but I can't double dip entries while I'm DWCing. It's against the rules. |
| Have you ever had one of those days when you couldn't point to what it was that was wrong, but everything about the day just felt subtly wrong somehow? You know, the coffee just doesn't seem right. Breakfast seemed a little...odd. You get to work a little late, but you aren't sure why. All the music on the radio is just slightly vexing. Everyone at work is a bit annoying. None of the clients want to work with you to get things done. Every time you phone someone you either get a busy signal or get put on permahold. Lunch is just exactly what you weren't in the mood for. You struggle through the rest of the afternoon with Herculean effort. You get to the grocery store and discover they are out of the one item you are there for. So you have to drive across town to get what you needed. You finally get home to change into your comfy jammies because today just sucked. And BAM!! You figure out what has REALLY been irritating you ALL DAMN DAY but you couldn't put your finger on it. You have your underwear on inside out. |
Today I went and played golf with Hubby . It was just a quick 9 holes. I was very proud of us. In the past, we would have gotten a cart for that. Today, we walked it.  I played with my spiffy blue balls. I like women's golf. Women get to play with the colorful balls and that's ok. I like the blue ones and the bright orange ones. You can always find the orange ones in the rough.This was the first time we've played together this year. I really enjoy playing with Hubby. He only helps me with my swing when I ask. He leaves me alone to hack the ball down the fairway at my own pace. And when I make a halfway decent shot he always compliments me. I've seen (and played with!) other couples who can't get that balance down. Guys...some tips, ok? 1) Women don't want your damn help. Unless we ask for it. And then don't act all superior. Just show us what we asked for and then go away and leave us the hell alone. Thank you. PS - I don't CARE if you can do it better. Maybe I don't WANT to do it better. Maybe I want to do it MY way. Did you ever think of that?!2) Yes, I REALIZE I just hit the ball into the DEEP, DEEP rough. Just SHUT UP and point out my ball if you see it. Other wise leave me alone to hunt the damn thing up in peace. I'll either find it in a minute or I'll take the freakin drop. OK? 3) Stop correcting my swing and telling me what I'm doing wrong after every time I hit the ball. I don't need a damn play by play of how badly I suck at this @#%& game. So what if I hack it ten feet at a swing down the fairway. NO I don't want you to hit it FOR me. 4) When I do finally hit a decent shot? Compliment me on it or keep your damn mouth shut. Don't run me down by saying that it was a fluke or by laughing and saying it's about time or some other stupid jerk comment. 5) Let me drive the cart sometimes. Women think it's fun, too. Don't be a cart hog. BTW- Hubby is good, he doesn't do any of those things. But, like I said, I've seen jackasses who do. I was contemplating life today while hunting for my ball in the deep rough. ( I spend a lot of time there. At least it was pretty fall foliage.) My life is sometimes like my golf game. I play it with someone I love. I'm not very good at it, but I have a lot of fun playing. Sometimes I strike the ball and I feel it deep inside even without looking that it's a perfect shot. Sometimes I strike the ball and I feel it even without looking that I've topped the ball, sliced the ball or hooked the hell out of it. Life is like that too, sometimes you just know when it's good or when it's about to jump in a handbasket. Sometime you get that "lucky" shot. Today I hit one on the number 8 hole. If you hit too far to the right, you go into the bar ditch of the highway that runs beside the course. I teed one that should have gone there, but instead I got a lucky bounce off the fence. It bounced right out onto the middle of the fairway. Damnedest thing. Life is like that, too. Sometimes you get that lucky bounce that gets you back on track. Something I do that I think drives Hubby crazy (although he is VERY good and doesn't say a thing) is putt from the fringe. (That's the shorter grass around the green.) I never pitch from the fringe. Not even from the rough around the fringe. If I'm at ALL close, I putt. Today I hit the hole from about fifteen feet out putting from the fringe. Lucky shots are almost as good as lucky bounces.But I think that famous quote from Mark Twain sums up golf best: Golf is a good walk spoiled. |
| Every family has "in-jokes" that no one else gets. A kind of secret shorthand verbal code that really doesn't mean much to outsiders. Here in our Blogville "family", we have Advil, chickens, jabby things, and a host of other things that simply don't translate well to the outside world. Because, let's face it, once you have to explain it, it's really not as funny anymore. In my house, with the whole family it's movie quotes. We will toss off one-liner movie quotes with impunity and all laugh riotously no matter where we are. It can be anyone of us, but Hubby is the usual suspect, because he is the King of Movie Trivia. monilad and I read, Hubby watches movies and surfs IMDB. (That's the international movie database online. All things movie related can be found there.)Since my daughter and I often read the same books, we toss off one liners and speak in a kind of code from books. One of our favorite books to quote from is Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's one of those books that can make you laugh out loud at times. So much so that even though I've read it dozens of times, I am still not allowed to read it in bed because I always wake Hubby up with my laughing and giggling. One of our favorite lines from the book has to do with the main character having to find the plans "on display" for knocking down his house to make way for a new highway bypass. "But, look, you found the notice, didn't you?" "Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard.'" That line has twisted itself into a kind of code in our house. On the door to my basement office is a hand made note that says in large bold print: BEWARE OF LEOPARD! It's shorthand in our house for "Mom's writing, do not disturb." We are also big Trekkies. I know...what are the odds? But, there is an episode of Star Trek:The Next Generation (that's the series with Picard, Riker and Data), where they encounter a people who they can't understand. Everything these people say are just proper names and sometimes a simple action. One of the things they say is "Tenebrial his arms wide open" or "Jilad and Tenebrial at Delabra." They finally figure out that these people are speaking in one liners. The things they are saying mean nothing out of context. You have to understand the story behind the "title." You have to know what these people did at Delabra to understand what concept they want you to get. Can you envision a day when we as a society finally only speak in one liners? Think back on your day, how many "shorthand" conversations did you have? |
| As you can see from the pics yesterday, we went to the museum on Sunday. We had a really great time. monilad, SIL and I went and a friend of SIL from Antarctica. (I promise to do an interview with SIL here in my blog. ) There were three really interesting exhibits there on Sunday. First they had a live Grizzly bear. (There's a pic in my album that you can access from my last entry.) He was a real sweetie named Brutus. They brought him to the museum from this park: http://grizzlyencounter.com/ It was very interesting and educational. For instance, did you know that the male Grizzlies in the Yellowstone National Park region only grow to around 600 lbs? While the male Grizzlies up on Kodiak Island in Alaska can grow up to 1200 lbs. Why the difference? Because the Alaska bears a) don't have to fight man so hard for their territory, and b) don't have to work so hard for their protein. Most of the time, the Yellowstone Grizzlies burn off more calories looking for food than they get in a day. They make it up with one or two "big" kills a season in the form of deer or elk. The Alaska Grizzlies are able to have a better source of food that they don't have to work as hard for salmon or caribou, both are much more readily available. One of the other interesting exhibits was the reptile exhibit. They have an assortment of live reptiles from around the world at the museum. Small crocodiles, caimans, turtles, snakes, frogs, lizards and even geckos. I think the geckos and the chameleon are my favorites. Did you know that the reason a gecko can walk up walls is that his toes are flat and covered in little hairs that split into millions of tiny ends and that they can cling with a bond as tight as two atoms holding together?! Even on glass! God is amazing!! I love the chameleon, too. He sits on his tree branch staring balefully around with each eye tracking separately from the other and his skin automatically sensing the colors around him and mottling to blend him carefully into the foliage. What a wonder of Nature!! How cool of a super power would that be!?! The other really neat exhibit was the skull exhibit. Palentololgist Jack Horner saw a similar exhibit in another museum and realized that the Museum of the Rockies had lots of old skulls just hanging out in the basement in storage. So what he did was categorize them by continent. (There were even two for Antarctica.) Then each skull was numbered (some continents had as few as 10 skulls, some as many as 25). We were given sheets of paper with animal names grouped together and blanks out to the side for the corresponding number and we had to go round and guess which was which! It was a wonderful interactive exhibit. There was a stand with a flip book of the answers and a little bit about each animal with each group of skulls. The tiger skull was so neat, so was the giraffe skull! Did you know that a giraffe's horns aren't really a "horn" but a bony growth on it's skull? A giraffe skull looks just like a living giraffe! Unlike a rhinocerous skull...that one we only guessed because of sheer size. All in all it was a really exciting and fun learning day. I love days when I learn things. |
| Well, I finally got my butt in gear and uploaded all those pics. Here you go: Invalid Photo #1005220 Click previous for the new stuff. (It kinda tells a story backwards. )I also got off my butt and did something I've been toying with for a while. I made a C-Note collection. I'm really proud of the pics. They are all original photos by me. Here it is - "Invalid Item" .Ok, that is all for today. This stuff took me a REALLY long time to do. |
| I was talking to a friend here the other day and the topic was marriage. We were discussing the fact that our spouses don't share our "artist's souls." I felt bad about that until I realized that I don't share Hubby 's sportsman's soul. I am reading Sarah Ban Breathnach's newest book Moving On. If you have a copy of her Simple Abundance and liked it, you will probably like this one, too. I am loving it. In it she talks about her first marriage dissolving. She says she realized it was the beginning of the end when she asked her husband one day if he believed in soul mates. He replied, "No, I believe in accomodation." Months later her marriage was over. See, I believe in soul mates. But, I also believe in the wedding vows my priest gave me those ten years ago. We included all of 1 Corinthians 13 in our wedding, but the one that I have in my home on our wedding candle is 13:13. It is: Faith, Hope, and Love abide, but the greatest of these is Love. Love is not a passive thing. Love is not something that just is. I get up every morning and I choose to fall in love with my husband every day. Just as I pray he will wake up and choose to fall in love with me. One of my favorite movies is 50 First Dates. If you haven't seen it, Adam Sandler plays a Hawaiian playboy who sees Drew Barrymore in a diner and falls for her. He comes up with all kinds of crazy plots to get her to fall for him and it's a great comedic film, but the twist is that she was in a car wreck and has lost her short-term memory. She can only remember things until she sleeps and then her mind "resets" itself to the morning before the accident. She never remembers meeting Adam Sandler from one day to the next. I love the movie because it shows how real life love should work. Spouses should wake up and "try" to fall in love with one another EVERY day. It's a beautiful underlying message. AND it doesn't have a hokey Hollywood "fixed" ending. She DOESN'T magically get her memory back. They just work around her disability. I like that. Do I have bad days when I sometimes don't like Hubby very much? Oh, yeah. Sure I do. I'm sure he can say the same about me. But I always love him. We have good days and bad days. No Hollywood endings here either. We sometimes have shouting matches that bring down the roof. But, we have rules. 1.) We try not to bring the relatives into any fights. It just causes hard feelings and bad mojo that lingers long after the fact to drag out "yo momma" in the middle of a fight. 2.) We never go to bed angry. This can be a hard one. We've stayed up almost all night hashing things out before, but we've never gone to bed angry. 3.) We try to keep the dialogue going even when you want to make a really great zinger and then a big exit (usually with a slammed door). While that may SEEM satisfying, it's a crappy way to end a fight. You have to keep talking to work things out. Something else that's a little hard, and what prompted this entry, is that obviously I come here (to WDC) looking for something missing in my "real" life. I'm looking for validation as an artist, as a writer. That's something I can't get at home. Not that Hubby doesn't try and doesn't read the stuff I have, but he doesn't operate on the same wavelength as me as far as writing and the arts are concerned. And that's ok. Diversity in a marriage is ok. I love that he tries. He reads the stuff that I write and he always offers an unvarnished opinion with lots of love. Just like I offer polite and stilted opinions when asked questions about hunting, fishing, football, baseball, and poker. My interests just don't lie in those areas. I know just enough about each of those topics to be dangerous. The important thing is that every day, we each try. And every day, we love with all our hearts. It's a two way street. Today, I choose Hubby . Tomorrow, I'll get up and do the same. |
| I may make sporatic entries for the next week. We are having company this week. Hubby 's parent's are here and so is his sister. Not sure what we are going to do, maybe hit the Park, hopefully eat out , and watch tons of TV. FIL is a really picky eater and hard to cook for, so we eat out a lot when they are in town. He likes certain things I cook, so I'll probably cook fish and big Texas breakfast, but other wise, we'll eat out. Except, SIL is about to head back down to Antarctica again (she's a penguin scientist - cool, huh?), and she misses Christmas with the family every year, so I was thinking I'd cook a big "Christmas" meal, like Ham, etc, and we might wrap some gifts and hang some stockings. We did that for them last year before they left. (Her boyfriend works 1/2 the year in Antarctica, too.) We also watch tons of TV when they are here because we have every TV station known to man and my in-laws don't have any TV. They opted out of TV several years ago. Except when they come to our house. Then my FIL OVERLOADS on TV. He becomes a MAJOR flipper. He surfs like it's the Finals in a Hang Ten competition. He loves the Discovery Channel programs and the Military Channel programs. I think if he could get those type of channels without the stupid channels then he would pay for cable or Dish or Direct TV, but he doesn't like the idea of paying for stuff like MTV and VH1 that he would NEVER watch. Doesn't want them on his TV. So, they continue to opt out. But you should see the size of their DVD collection! So, hopefully see you soon, but if not, you'll know why. |
| I was re-reading my last entry and I realized something. I use a lot of emoticons. Seriously. So I scrolled back through several entries and I realized something else. I think I'm an emoticon junkie. I know. It's a horrible thing to realize about yourself. But, it's not really my fault. I think it's a combination of factors. First, there's the fact that they are so cute and easy to type. With just a few keystrokes, I have a cute little picture to show you EXACTLY my facial expression when I'm typing my entry. It's like we are having a real conversation. That's how I think of my blog entries, conversations with my friends. I'm a really expressive person. (Hey, y'all have seen the pictures, I smile ALOT. Ok, pretty much ALL the time. ) When I at y'all in here, I'm really smiling in real life. I can when I say something revealing and embarassing.I can  when I'm being naughty.I can  at people like PC who blog lurk and sneak attack me with silly responses.Nothing beats to show when I'm REALLY ticked.And nothing beats a good .I can show , , ,  and I can even  upon occasion.But most of all when I'm tired,  , I can head off to bed to  .Night,  cats. |
| So, I wrote that piece I was talking about. "Invalid Item" I entered it in "The Writer's Cramp" but didn't win. I really enjoyed writing it, though. I'm going to enjoy rewriting it even more, I think. I felt constrained by the 1000 word limit. I have a lot of details I want to add. I feel like it could benefit from lots of little touches that will really make it a better story. Details, expansions, etc.I'm excited about it. It's a bit of a departure for me, I don't usually write "thriller" type stories. (Yeah, I know I have three in my port, but none this...thrilling. ) I guess I was inspired because I've been reading some Tami Hoag. She's a new author for me. She's pretty racy and a little more violent than I usually read.I have a very vivid imagination so I don't watch scary movies or gory explicit violence in movies. Hubby prescreens stuff for me to make sure it's not to gory for me. He's good that way. I also have to watch what I read. King is too over the top for me. Yikes! So, Hoag was a little more than I usually do. It's been giving me some rough dreams. I don't mind the racy because I suck down Nora Roberts novels. Yeah...they are a guilty pleasure. I know her formula by heart, and I can tell you after the first paragraph how the book is gonna turn out, but I still read all of her stuff. I just love the way she writes. I know, I'm a big softie sucker. (Laugh it up, PC....you play with ninjas in your toilet. ) |
| So last Thursday around noon I got a phone call from my brother. He was coming back through town on his way back from bowhunting. It was weird to hear from him, I honestly thought he'd just drive through and not call. But, he actually came and spent the night with us. We went out to dinner and then breakfast Friday morning, but one or the other made me sick. I came home after breakfast Friday morning and started throwing up and then passed out on the bathroom floor. Yuck. The time with my brother was weird, though. He was like I remembered, but I think that I was different. It was nice to realize that I had grown as a person. A lot of his quirks and personality tics no longer bothered me. He's a strange man, I'll give him that. He has a focus in his life and anything outside that focus is simply not on his radar and therefore outside his realm of interest. I can understand that and even in a certain way respect it. If it's not about hunting or his family, he's simply not interested in it. There was talk of he and his family visiting us next summer. That would be nice, I guess. He tormented me when we were children. He made my life a living hell. I've spent many years resenting him for that. It's nice to be able to release that and realize that he's just a middle age guy with kids and a regular life. I found out he can't have caffeine after noon or he can't sleep. What is there to hate in that?After being sick all day Friday, I got to help cater a wedding on Saturday. It was a nice short Wedding but the day was cool. It was a lot of work. We cooked five brisket, reheated four other brisket and then cooked bugers and brats on the spot. It was cold standing out in the misting rain cooking. I have the sniffles now. Yeah, I'd like a little cheese with my whine. After talking with Hubby and hearing from all of you, I have a story idea. It's a departure from my normal stuff, but I'm really excited about it. I'll post it in here when I finish it. So, tell me the truth, do any of y'all blog lurk? Not necessarily in here, but in other blogs? I have several I lurk regularly. I like to read them, but I don't always have something to say. Occasionally I'll comment in my lurked blogs, just so that the blogger knows someone is out there, but mostly I lurk quietly. Not like stalking, just quiet lurking. So am I alone in that? |
Thank you all for your cheers and especially to Lauren Gale and zwisis for my badges. (Thanks for telling me how to link them, guys!)![Merit Badge in Congratulations
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A great job of completing your own personal NANO, despite interruptions.
You go, girl!!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Congratulations-2500.gif) ![Merit Badge in Determination
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Congratulations! This is what got you through to the finishing post!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Determination-2500.gif) Hubby recently joined the site, welcome Hubby and he has been reading my blog. He was upset with me because he thinks I've given too much personal information out here. Not feelings and emotions or stuff like that, but practical information. He's worried that someone will use the information I've given here and track me down and stalk me. So, be honest. Have I or do I give too much information out? Am I too naive about the site? Do I feel too secure here? He worried me, so I reset my blog from Users to Authors access. I won't go higher than that or Texun4ever-cabin fever can't see it. As it is, Hubby is going to have to write something if he wants to read this. I also went back and changed a few of my entries to private. Yeah, yeah....horse and barn doors. Way too late. So, none of y'all are stalking me are you? He did tell me he likes my work at least. ~sigh~ |
 and to you all for helping me do this!!   Woo Hoo!! "Invalid Item" And a special thanks to Lauren Gale for my merit badge. (If I knew how I'd post it in here. ) |
Some minor loose ends I thought I'd tie up here: Got the new specs on Monday. Woo hoo! I am among the sighted again. I also at Hubby's insistence ordered a backup pair of specs that should be in next week. I know y'all will be jealous of them, as they are a really spiffy pair of cateyes. I'll post pics of me in them when I get them. We are expecting rain and snow this weekend, so they are thinking they are going to get all of the fires in the area under control. Woo HOO! That means easier breathing for me. Right now the steroids are driving me crazy. They make me shaky and hungry. Bleh.We got the iPod back on Sunday. The broken button was fixed, but the stupid kid had put a screen lock on it and forgotten the numbers. So I had to re-format the iPod back to factory specs and reload all the music. I'm a big technodork, so it took me until last night to make all that happen. I have it all fixed now and I listened to it while drifting off to sleep last night. Oh yes, didn't I mention? She's grounded from the iPod for a while. I've started watching our foliage in our yard and fall is imminent. I got some really pretty pics yesterday. When I was out driving for work yesterday, I saw some trees already starting to turn. I have some Japanese flowering shrubs that are starting to turn purple. They are beautiful. I'll post pics in the next couple of days.I have new pics of Sofie I need to post, too. She's really getting big. (OK, bigger, she'll never be BIG.) We are beginning to see catlike tendencies in this little dog. You'll see in the pics. I will be finishing my personal NaNo tonight. I have 1863 words left before hitting 50,000. It's been a long journey. But after tonight, I will be able to honestly say, "I have written a novel." It may be crap, but it IS a novel. I'll spend the next few months editing it. I feel quite sure I won't have any of it ready for public consumption at least until after the first of the New Year. But that's OK. The words are there. The hardest part is over. Celebration in my blog tomorrow.I really encourage any of you on the fence about doing NaNo in November to go for it. It is SO worth it. You CAN do it. I thought I couldn't, but with all of your help, I did it. I knew somehow I had a book inside of me and I persevered and I put it down. You can do it, too. There are starting to be forums and groups around site where you can sign up now for November NaNo. Start looking for them. With NaNo almost behind me, I realized that I would miss writing every day, and I didn't want to get out of a very valuable habit. That of producing words on a page EVERY day. So, I signed up for the "Invalid Item" . If some of you are on the fence about NaNo or are worried that you couldn't possibly have that much to write about, then I encourage you to sign up for this challenge. It starts in October, so you have a little time to decide. But I really encourage you to try it. It's not as word intensive as NaNo and you don't have to have a book plot involved. Doing it will show you that you have it in you. Still haven't heard from the brother hunting here in Montana. I am wondering if he'll call on his way back through or what. Ok, that's all for today. Just had to do a little blog housekeeping. Tie up all my loose ends. |
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