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 |  The wayward wonderings of a weird woman |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Welcome to pmanljy's blog!  STOP   I've given this an 18+ rating for language and subject matter. If you're easily offended, this is not the blog for you. Now that that's out of the way, I figured if everyone else can have a blog full of inner contemplation and philosophical nonsense, so can I. I'm fairly opinionated and as a married mom of four, I definitely have plenty of goings on in my life to journal about in here. I could post on anything that crosses my mind, including but not limited to topics such as:  My views on politics, religion, and the war. Anything and everything having to do with my kids. The things my husband does to piss me off, and how great he is when he's not pissing me off. along with my more serious and philosophical topics like: Why do some farts stink and others don't? If I was a chicken, why would I cross the road?and more importantly Why do we say "taking a shit" when we're really depositing one?If any of these topics sound up your ally, then kick up your feet, grab a virtual beer out of my virtual cooler, and share your thoughts on my thoughts. NO ASSHOLES ALLOWEDI don't mind someone expressing an opinion different than my own, but I'm not going to tolerate belligerant, abusive assholes who want to argue with me because I don't see things their way. If you get shitty or cop an attitude, I'll take back my virtual beer and delete all of your current and future posts.  Have a nice day!** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Nothing much going on today. Just the same old routine. So I guess since I have nothing else to write about, I could outline my typical day for you. I usually get up around 4:30 to feed the baby. He rarely goes back to sleep at this time so we’re usually up, him playing and me trying to write and drink a few cups of coffee, until about 6:00ish. If my older kids aren’t up at that time, I feed Jack again and go back to bed til everyone else wakes up, which is usually around 7:00. This is rare though. Most mornings the big guys hear the baby up playing or crying and wake up before he goes back down so I usually end up just staying up. Once the big guys are up, I feed them and myself breakfast, during which point the baby usually wakes up again. The kids play around outside for a bit while I do a little housework, usually til around 9:30 or 10:00, at which point it’s usually too hot for them to stay outside. This tends to coincide with the baby wearing down for his mid-morning nap so I put the cartoons on for the older guys and then take off to the bedroom to feed the Jack and get him to lay down. Depending on how tired I am, at this point I tend to get pretty droopy-eyed and sometimes close my eyes with him until he gets fully down for the count. Never more than just a 10 or 15 minute power nap with one eye open. While Jack is napping and the big guys are playing or still watching cartoons, that’s when I get on here and hang out for a while getting caught up. This is when I get my best writing done too usually. Jack usually wakes up around 11:30, at which point I make lunch. The TV gets turned off for the day and we all eat lunch together with some music on or we just talk. If we have plans for the day (going to the beach, taking a walk, Nathan’s allergy shots, doc appts., shopping, driving out in town to run errands, etc.), I try to schedule these things for after lunch when everyone is full and mellowed out a little. If nothing is on the schedule, then the kids just play either outside or in their rooms for a while until time for Jack’s afternoon nap. When he goes down, usually between 1:00 and 2:00, I let the kids take turns either playing on the computer, or with one of their “plug-into-the-tv” video games, while I either write or dick around here for a while. Jack usually wakes up about 3:30ish. I record my two soaps on the DVR so I usually get started watching one of them while I feed him after his nap. Late afternoon, early evening is Jacks fussiest time so this is when he and I usually have our best bonding time playing together, trying to keep him entertained and happy so he doesn’t cry non-stop. We play on the floor, have tummy time, practice sitting up, rolling over (sheesh, he sounds like a dog,  ), or we sit outside on the swing and he’ll play with a teething toy in my lap while I read until Pete gets home, generally around 5:00ish. Me and Jack continue to do our mommy-baby thing while Pete rests and plays on the computer for a while. Then, around 6:00 or so, Pete starts dinner and we’ll send the kids outside to play or something while we fix dinner together and catch up with each other. Basically, this is our time to ourselves (Jack is usually there in his bouncy chair or something so we’re never, ever, really alone.). Our family always, ALWAYS, sits down to eat dinner together at the table and this usually takes a good half hour or more, depending on what we’re having and how hard the kids try to get out of eating. After dinner, the kids do their baths and get ready for bed while I feed Jack and put him in bed for the night, usually between 7:30 and 8:00. When school starts back up, this is when the older kids would go to bed too. Right now, though, until school starts up, as long as they are quiet, we let them watch tv in their rooms for a while after we send them to bed. They’ve been staying up til around 9:30ish lately. Pete usually goes to bed pretty early, around 10:00ish or so. After Pete goes to bed, I get on here to dick off for a bit and then usually stay up writing til around 11:30 or 12:00. I go to bed and get a few Z’s until Jack wakes up around 1:30 or so, then go straight back to bed until he wakes up around 3:30ish. I usually fall asleep on the sofa during this feeding until he wakes up again at about 4:30 to start the whole thing all over again. (No, I don’t get much sleep. It’s not that I purposely don’t go to bed when I know I have to be up early. I’m a natural night-owl and have battled with insomnia for as long as I can recall. At this point my body is conditioned to function on around 5 hours a night. Pretty boring eh. That’s why I rarely have anything good to put in here. My day consists of feeding Jack, putting Jack down for a nap, feeding Jack, playing with Jack, feeding Jack, writing, feeding Jack, dicking around here, feeding Jack, going to the bathroom, feeding Jack, putting Jack down for a nap, feeding Jack… You get the picture. I'm listening to: The Marshall Tucker Band. “This Ol Cowboy” is one of my all time favorite songs, along with “Heard It In A Lovesong.” I could listen to their Greatest Hits CD until I run it into the ground. I'm reading: I’m still reading, “Celeste.” This book better start picking up really soon or I might have to take a break and come back to it later. It’s been four days and I still haven’t broke a hundred pages yet.  It’s moving way too slow and I can’t get into it at all. I'm watching: We watched “Lost In Translation” last night. I HATED it! That was the biggest waste of time spent watching a movie since I sat and watched, “Deep Water.” I can’t believe I won’t be able to get that hour and a half of my life back. Sigh… The only redeeming quality was that it wasn’t any longer. I'm writing: I’ve spent the day working on Chapter 20. It needs a little more work than I had anticipated so it might take me a day or two to wrap it up. So far I’m feeling very optimistic about this novel. The feedback from those who are reading it have all been super encouraging. And it’s not just from friends that usually read and like my writing anyway. All but one of these warm and fuzzy comments on my progress has come from strangers. Those ones give me the most confidence because I know they aren’t biased. Plug Of The Day: A survey. Lexi writes the Romance newsletter here on our site and has this survey up as part of her research for an upcoming issue. If you have any favorite love songs, take a few minutes to share them with her here:
Quote Of The Day: Philosophy is a study that lets us be unhappy more intelligently.--Anonymous |
| Oh my gosh, Alex, my seven-year-old, just said/did the stupidest thing he's ever said/done. Let me start by saying that it's much too hot to go outside and play. I try to let them out early in the morning before it gets hot, and then in the evenings when it cools down a little, but during the day, it's just too bad out. So they play for a while in their toy room this morning, then come out and watch cartoons half the morning while I write and take care of Jack. Not a bad deal if you're a kid, right? So this morning, just to be a nice mommy, I decide to make cookies. I make them, then say, "After you eat lunch you can have some." So I make lunch, consisting of what they all three ask for and agree on, mind you. Once lunch is on the table, it's a different story. Two out of the three won't touch their food. "I'm not hungry," or, "I don't like it," or, "I want a cookie," are the predominate excuses. So lunch goes to waste. They won't eat it, I've already ate and don't want it, Lucas already finished his lunch and doesn't want any more, so it all goes in the trash. You can imagine how pissed I am at that point. Well Lucas ate his lunch so I let him have a cookie. And of course, I had one (Okay, maybe one isn't the right number, but who's counting, right?). The two picky eaters instantly start whining and I send them to their room, telling them to clean their room and I might think about letting them have a cookie if they do a good job. This is the good part. Ten minutes later, Alex comes out and says, "So mom, what are you going to let me do if I clean my room." The nerve of him! What am I going to let him do! He's lost his fucking mind! Ugh! School needs to hurry up and start! Okay. I feel better now and it's out of my system so I'll move on. I'm listening to: Depeche Mode, "Songs of Faith and Devotion." I love Depeche Mode. This cd is a little older but it's my favorite. I'm reading: Still reading Celeste. I'm about 80 pages into and it still hasn't started picking up yet, but I think it's about to. Or at least I hope so. I'm watching: Nothing today. Watched "Hell's Kitchen" last night and things did not go as I thought they would. The final two should make for an interesting finale next week. Both are incompetent little twits, I think. I'm writing: Working on SFS Chapter 19. Should have it posted later tonight or first thing in the morning. Plug Of The Day: A raffle. I just found it a few days ago and the deadline is only two days away. There haven't been that many tickets sold, relatively speaking, so the odds should be better than average I would think. Stop by and check it out while there is still time.
Quote Of The Day: Most of the things we decide are not what we know to be the best. We say yes, merely because we are driven into a corner and must say something.--Frank Crane |
| I heard something last night that I've never heard before. Pete came home from the range and told me that he met a guy that took his wife's last name when they married, instead of the other way around. The guy apparently didn't get along with his parents and didn't want to keep his name. Is this some trend? Has anyone else heard of men doing this or is this guy a lone rebel? Either way, I thought it was cool as hell. On a more domestic note, Jack was in one of his moods so I didn't do a whole lot yesterday. He wouldn't take a nap without me holding him and pitched a fit every time I tried to put him down, so I quit fighting with him and just sat on the couch and snuggled with him most of the day. I watched a shit-ton of movies and snoozed off and on when he did. It was sweet.  He's such a ham. I'm listening to: Sade. I love her music and like to listen to her sometimes when I'm doing chores. Since I didn't get much done yesterday, I have a ton of laundry and housework to do today, if Jack will let me do it. I'm reading: Still reading Celeste. It's off to a pretty slow start so I'm having a hard time getting into it. I'm watching: Yesterday, I watched a lifetime movie, Underworld, Deuce Bigalo, and a Freddie Prinze Jr flick (he's such a doll). I'm writing: I finished Chapter 18 and posted it this morning. With any luck, I'll get to work on 19 today. Plug Of The Day: A forum. A really sweet lady/friend ♥Flower♥  , is celebrating her birthday today and a forum was set up so her friends could stop by and leave their birthday wishes.
Quote Of The Day: I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.--Garrison Keillor |
| We didn’t do as well as I had hoped on the yard sale. The forecast was for rain and it was overcast most of the morning so I think that might have been a deterrent. Oh well. Afterward, we went bowling. Pete and I played four games on our lane while the kids played two games on theirs. Of course, Pete kicked my ass. I had trouble finding a ball that fit the last two times we went so naturally my game sucked. Not that I was that good to start with; on a good day, I’m lucky if I break 100. If we keep up our habit of going as often as we have been, I might end up investing in my own ball. Lucas, on the other hand, is quite the natural! He rolled three strikes in one game and broke 80 on the scoreboard! Not bad for a three-year-old! I have a pet peeve that I’m going to rant about tonight. We usually go to church on Sunday morning but Pete won’t be here in the morning so we went tonight instead. It happened again tonight so I figured I'd rant while it was still fresh on my mind. Let me say that we both pride ourselves on having really well-behaved boys, especially when we’re in church. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it is very rare that someone doesn’t come up to us after the mass has ended to tell us what good boys we have and to ask how we get them to sit and behave so well. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say something along the lines of, “My kids never sit still so we just send them to the children’s room. How do you get your boys to do so well?” To this, I usually think, “My kids behave in church because I bring them to church.” I mean, how is a kid supposed to learn how to sit still during the mass if he never comes to the mass. We have NEVER sent our kids to the children’s room during the service. We go to mass to sit and listen to the mass, not play, color, eat, chatter, or crawl about and be disruptive to anyone else. It didn’t happen overnight, but we’ve taught our kids to behave and pay attention by leaving those distractions at home and not allowing disruptive behavior. How? We sit at the front of the church instead of the back, plain and simple. The kids get bored and distracted easier if they can’t see what’s going on over all the grown up heads in their way. We sit up front where they can see what’s going on, who is speaking, what the priest is doing when he’s preparing the Eucharist. To them it’s entertaining. AND it’s teaching them what all is involved with the mass so that when they’re old enough and ready to take part, they’ll already know the routine. We show them how to follow along in reading the Missal, help them say the prayers or sing along in the hymnals. In a nutshell, for years, Pete and I didn’t go to church for ourselves. If we didn’t get anything out of the mass that was okay. We were there to teach and make sure our children knew how to behave so they could get something out of it. Like I said, it didn’t happen overnight; there were lots of Sunday afternoons spent with noses in the corner or little boys being sent to their rooms because they goofed up at church, and I’m not saying that we still don’t have to remind them to sit still and pay attention sometimes, but they never would have learned how to behave as well as they do if we hadn’t took them with us. Now, we can ALL enjoy the service in peace. I guess that’s my point. I’ll jump down off my soapbox now. I'm listening to: I was feeling nostalgic tonight. I put together a play list of my favorite 80’s music. It’s a pretty eclectic mix, though I did go a little heavy on the Def Leppard. I think “Hysteria” will always be on my top ten favorites list. I'm reading: I’m still reading, “Celeste,” though I haven’t actually been able to do much reading today. I'm watching: We watched “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” tonight. Too hilarious. We laughed our butts off! Highly recommended if you like a good comedy. I'm writing: Nothing today. I should have chapter 18 tomorrow. After that, only two chapters to go! Plug Of The Day: A static item. I love this piece! This member put A LOT of time and effort into compiling this document for our benefit. If remember correctly, I believe that the list was comprised of answers to a survey she had up specifically for gathering the information. I love this list and have utilized it on a number of occasions. If you haven’t stumbled across it yet, take a look!
Quote Of The Day: The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.--Havelock Ellis |
| I’ve busted my rear today getting the last minutes details in order for the yard sale tomorrow. Mainly, putting price stickers on everything. BORING. And tedious. I did get a little writing done this morning but nothing to boast about. What sucks is that I’ve spent half the week dicking around, trying to get this stuff done, and it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow so I probably won’t even get to set up. Yes, I’m a pessimist. But I’m usually right! I'm listening to: Billy Idol, “Vital Idol.” Because hubby was watching “The Wedding Singer” earlier today and it put me in the mood. I'm reading: I finished “Shiver,” finally! I used to be a huge VC Andrews fan but I stopped reading her years ago. One of my good friends still reads her though and said the newest series was pretty good and loaned me the first book, “Celeste.” Reading the cover makes it sound good, and the first couple of pages have got me hooked so we’ll see. I'm watching: Hubby has on “Office Space” right now and I’m sort of paying attention to that. It’s a funny ass movie that cracks me up every time I watch it. I still have work to do tonight so I’m trying not to get sucked in to it but it’s getting hard not to. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. It’s hilarious. I'm writing: Still rewriting and editing chapter 18. I’m hoping to get quite a bit done tomorrow so maybe it’ll be up tomorrow night. Sunday at the latest. Plug Of The Day: An auction. Kathleen has the best sigs up in her charity auction. It has been around for a while and I’m sure most people have seen it before, but just in case…
Quote Of The Day: The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.--H. L. Mencken |
| Today has just been a funky kind of day. I wasn’t super, super busy or just outright lazy or anything, but I just didn’t seem to get much done before I looked up and the day was nearly gone. I spent quite a bit of time writing so maybe that’s where the day went when I wasn’t looking. Anyway, the most noteworthy incident involved my three-year-old, Lucas, calling my five-year-old, Nathan, a “dumb-ass.” And I had to rush out of the room so no one could see me bust a gut laughing. Of course, later I gave Lucas a stern talking to about calling his older brother names to make him cry. It’s funny: Alex or Nathan neither one will use bad words, regardless of how much I (accidentally, of course) swear around them, but Luke is like a damn parrot! I'm listening to: "Natural Selection" cd by FUEL, my favorite group. I love these guys. Too bad Brett Scallions left the group, but I hear the new guy is just as good. I’ll miss the drummer, Kevin Miller, too, but their new guy is from another band I love, Godsmack, so I know he’ll make an excellent replacement. All of these changes to the group really don’t matter. Carl Bell and Jeff Abercrombie are the two that make the band so as long as they’re around, FUEL will always be great no matter who else comes and goes. I'm reading: Still reading "Shiver." I know, I know. I’m slow as hell! But I’ve only got about 30 pages to go! I'm watching: Jack wanted to be held quite a bit today so I spent some time catching up on my favorite soap, watching old episodes that were saved on the DVR. I think I knocked out 3 or so. I'm writing: I’m editing Chapter 18 of SFS. It might take a few days because I’ve decided to completely scrap and rewrite the last half-dozen pages or so. I was able to do most of the rewrite today, with the exception of maybe two pages. I’m about to get off here and work on it a little more tonight so hopefully it won’t take too long. Plug Of The Day: C-Notes! I looooove c-notes! Unfortunately, every time I want to get one for someone, it takes forever to scroll through the listings looking for good ones. I found these a long time ago and bookmarked them in my favorites because I never fail to find exactly what I’m looking for in this collection.
Quote Of The Day: When I look at Tiffany I feel like I jumped off a cliff and fell in love.— my seven-year-old, Alex, in regards to the neighbor’s seven-year-old daughter, Tiffany. |
| I spent the better part of last night going through our attic and pulling out stuff to put in the yard sale. I got quite a bit accomplished, to my surprise. Most of this morning was spent writing. Then, when Pete got home, we braved the commissary (always a bad idea to do on payday, but we were flat out of everything so we had no choice). This evening, for the past three hours, I’ve been going through baby clothes, trying to gather up more stuff for the sale. Also, my friend has a baby boy and I picked out a huge box of clothes to give to her. I feel so accomplished now. And a little sad. I’ve had a lot of these baby clothes since Alex was a baby and they’ve been handed down to all of my boys until Jack. It’s hard to part with some of those outfits that have been worn and loved by all four of them. Sigh… I’m such a sentimental pack rat. I'm listening to: The soundtrack to the movie “Gladiator.” It is my all-time favorite soundtrack. I love writing to it when I’m working on a really dramatic, gut-wrenching scene like the one I’m editing now. It’s all about the ambiance, I say! I'm reading: Still working on "Shiver." About 70 pages left. I'm watching: Nothing. I haven’t sat down to watch the television since Hell’s kitchen Monday night. I’ve got two days worth of Passions saved up on the DVR, along with nearly a weeks worth of Days Of Our Lives. DOOL pretty much sucks right now so I’ll probably just go on my favorite website and read about what’s going on to get caught up instead of trying to fit watching into my routine. I usually watch it in the middle of the night when Jack wakes up, but I’ve fallen asleep ten minutes into the same episode, four times in a row now. I think that’s a sign. I'm writing: I’ve accomplished much over the past two days. I’ve finished editing and posted two chapters between last night and this morning, and I should be able to put up one more (Chapter 17) this evening or possibly in the morning. Plug Of The Day: A contest. My good friend Starr Phenix   hosts this awesome contest for newbies. It looks like so cool that I wish I could enter it. Anyway, if you know a new member here on our site, have them check it out!
Quote Of The Day: I know why they call it a mummy. Because they put a ‘mom’ in it, and then they put a ‘me’ in it.—my three-year-old, Lucas. |
| Ugh! Jack has screamed and cried with colic ALL morning. I exaggerate not. With the exception of the nap he’s taking right now, and the half-hour nap he took before lunch, both of which he literally cried himself out, he hasn’t stopped crying since we woke up this morning about 7. I am so ready for Pete to come home so I can just bail and regroup. I have a serious headache and my nerves are beyond shot. I picked a fine day to come off the prozac, didn’t I! I'm listening to: Wynton Marsalis. I thought it might soothe the baby. I was wrong. It has helped me though. I'm reading: Still working on "Shiver." ¾ of the way through. I'm watching: Hell’s Kitchen last night was really good. They’re down to the final three, none of which are truly deserving to win, IMO. I think, unless he does something stupid to make an ass out of himself and turn me against him, my pick is Keith at the point. I think Heather whines and cries too much, and Virginia is lacking the assertiveness and confidence to do the job effectively. Oh well; we’ll see. It really doesn’t matter to me who wins. I just think Gordon Ramsay is a hottie.  I'm writing: The editing of chapter 15 of SFS is going quite well, as should the remainder of the book. Jack permitting, I should have it posted either tonight or tomorrow sometime. Plug Of The Day: A forum. I love the artwork she puts up for bid. Some of the coolest stuff I’ve seen here. It’s an auction, but you can also outright buy the selections for a reasonable amount of GP’s. Check it out!
Quote Of The Day: Reality is a crutch for people who can't cope with drugs.--Lily Tomlin |
| The Prozac has started kicking in. All morning I've barely been able to hold my eyes open and I generally feel like shit. I'm going to give it another day but if I feel like this tomorrow, I'm going to stop taking it. I can't be this "mellow," to put it lightly, and still take care of my kids properly. Where was this shit ten years ago when I was into recreational drugs? Anyway, most of yesterday afternoon and evening was spent baking (or helping Pete bake rather.). Together, we made zucchini bread, rocky road pie, chocolate-peanut-butter fudge, and banana nut muffins. It all looks sooooo good. Tonight, all we have left to fix is the lemon cake and the pina colada muffins and we'll be all set for the sale tomorrow morning. Also, tonight or tomorrow we've got to start going through our attic and storage building to pick out the stuff we want to put up for a yard sale. We're going in with our neighbors (Adam and Shannon again) to have a big double family sale this Saturday and I've got so much crap to sort through. I'm sentimental as hell and an insane keeper of junk so this should be fun. I'm listening to: Michael Buble. Just because I'm in the mood and I really like him. I'm reading: Still working on "Shiver." I'm watching: I didn't get to watch "Lost In Translation" last night so it'll probably be the weekend before we have time for another movie. That said, I'm watching nothing at the moment. That'll change when Jack wakes up from his nap and I turn Passions on though. I'm writing: I'm ready to post Chapter 14. I'm waiting on Pete to come home and give me 5 or 10 minutes of uninterrupted peace and quiet so I can give it one more read over before I do though. I've moved on to Chapter 15 in the meantime. This book is so almost done that I'm getting antsy already. I can't wait to start working on the query letter and synopsis! Plug Of The Day: An item. My friend Steph is still hard at work on editing her wonderful novel, "Invalid Item"  . She has rewritten the first chapter and could use some helpful feedback on it specifically if anyone has time to take a look at it:
Quote Of The Day: Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.--Mark Twain |
| Yesterday was crazy. Pete didn't tell me until he got home Friday evening that he had invited over some friends for a cookout Saturday. After I had sat around all day dicking off either here, or writing, I hadn't done a thing around the house and went into a flight of the bumble bee panic that started started Friday night when we returned home from bowling, resumed at around 6:30 yesterday morning, and didn't cease until about an hour before guests started arriving at around 4:00 (Jack apparently had other ideas of how I needed to spend my day so it really did, no shit, take that long!). We had a good time though. After everyone else left, our neighbors, Adam and Shannon, whom we are pretty good friends with, stayed and we all hung out and got plowed until about 2 this morning. We started with Margaritas, ran out of tequila and moved on to beer. After running out of beer (we only had a case), we graduated to a bottle of Pinot Grigio, swiftly ran out of that, then decided that Pina Coladas would be fun. The only thing left this morning is my stash of Johnny Walker Red. We were too afraid to go there. How in the hell we managed to get up and make the 7:30 mass this morning is still a miracle. I don't know about Adam and Shannon this morning, but believe it or not, Pete and I both feel fine and hangover free. (Admittedly, I didn't drink as much as they did; I had to stay straight to take care of Jack for his middle of the night feeding.) We had much fun though and can't wait to do it again. Unfortunately, after all the cleaning to get ready for the little who-ha-ha, this morning there was a ton of cleaning up to do. That is, still to do - I'm only taking a break right now. Sigh.... I'm listening to: A playlist I made to listen to while cleaning: Billy Idol, some Ozzy, Alice Cooper, and some AC/DC. I'm reading: Still working on "Shiver." I'm about half-way through it now and I love it so far. I'm watching: "The Hills Have Eyes" wasn't as gory as I thought it would be, but it was still a pretty bad movie. Tonight, I think we're going to watch "Lost In Translation." I've never seen it before so I'm hoping it's as good as all the hype makes it out to be. I'm writing: Since I didn't get to work on it all day yesterday, I'm still working on Chapter 14 of SFS. Should have it posted later today, Jack permitting. Plug Of The Day: A talented writer/member I met and really enjoyed when he first joined our site a while back. He was inactive for some time but now he's back, and has recently added some new material to his port. I'm sure he would appreciate some feedback. For anyone who likes to read good and intelligent political/social/moral commentaries, check out: Morganisms Quote Of The Day: Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.--Lillian Hellman |
| I've decided that I need motivation to keep myself in the habit of updating this thing. I've seen similar ideas to this one here and there so I thought I'd try it myself: listing what I'm reading, or writing, or listening to, or watching at the time. This will serve several purposes. 1) Give me something to post each day. 2) Let you get to know me a little better. 3) Plug some of my favorite things. So here I go: I'm listening to: I've been writing most of the morning, a love scene, so to put myself in the mood, I'm listening to the soundtrack of "Somewhere In Time." I'm reading: I only read while I'm nursing or sitting outside on the swing with Jack so it takes me forever to get through a book. Right now, I'm reading, "Shiver," by Lisa Jackson, and I'm loving it. I started it 3 days ago and I'm only about a third of the way through it now, but I'm already getting to the point where I don't want to put it down. I'll be the first to admit that I'm terrible for pretending that Jack is still feeding (especially when Pete needs help working on dinner- ) just so I can slip a few extra pages in, and it's doubly true for this one.I'm watching: Right now, all of my favorite shows are reruns so the only TV I watch on a regular basis are my 2 soaps, only one of which is actually worth a shit right now. Passions is getting really good, and is more "out there" than ever these days. As for movies, we watched DOOM the other night and it blowed. Today, I should be getting "The Hills Have Eyes" through Netflix and I'm anxious to watch it. I've heard that it's pretty terrible, and very disgusting, but I love horror flicks and just couldn't resist. I'll let you know.I'm writing: I'm still working on the revising/editing of my novel, "Starting From Scratch" . I'm on chapter 14 out of 21 so I should be finished with it in the next week or two, for anyone who is interested in taking a peek.Plug Of The Day: A blog. I've seen the member and her blog around for a while but this morning was the first time I've ever personally checked 'em out. She's too funny!
Quote Of The Day: Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.--Nick Diamos I should cut this short now. Pete's on his way home from work early and we're taking the kids bowling. It's always fun to watch me look like an idiot! |
| Well I can now consider myself one of the "medicated." I hate it, and I use to talk shit about it when my sister-in-law went on it, but I've joined the ranks of prozac users. A little history here may be called for. A little over a year ago, before I got pregnant with Jack, I started having some breathing problems. For the past year, I've been poked and prodded by everyone from a gastrointerologist, to a pulmonologists, to a cardiologist, and no one can figure out what's up with me. I've had an endoscopy, a TEE, CT Scans, bloodwork, x-rays, you name it - nada. From the very start, the docs have tried to pass it off as anxiety but I've been isistent that it's not - until now. We've finally exhausted all the obvious possibilities and every test I've had done just comes back indicating that I am a picture of good health. Nothing, absolutely nothing can be found wrong with me that can be blamed for the problems I'm having. Yet, I'm still having problems. ????? So I finally agreed to go on a trial run of meds for anxiety to see if it helps. I figured if it didn't work, no harm done, right? And quite honestly, knowing something is wrong but not being able to figure out what is causing a lot of anxiety, so even if it wasn't the initial problem, it has become one. I just hope it doesn't fuck with me too much. I hate the thought of having my hormones out of whack while I was pregnant, and then finally getting myself back on track, only to start taking these damned things and get screwed up again. I almost don't want to take them. She had a different type that was specifically for short-term use that was more what the doc and I both wanted for me, but I couldn't take it while nursing Jack, and since we're not ready to wean anytime soon, that left the prozac as our safest choice. I'm still wary though. That said, please, by all means, if we have any prozac users out there, please, drop me a line to calm my nerves and fears. Other than that, yesterday and today have been busts for me as far as writing goes. I've been to doc appts left and right between myself and the kids. Yesterday I had an appointment in the morning, and then we had to take Nathan for his allergy shots, which takes nearly four hours, two days a week, and kills damn near the entire day each time. Then today, I had another appt (as mentioned) and the kids had to get their school physicals, so now half of today is shot. I hope to have time to write tonight after dinner when the kids go to bed. I'm in the middle of editing and posting one of my novels and I'm almost done. I only have seven chapters left to post and it's going to take forever at this rate. On top of all the writing I want to get done and all my family obligations, I got suckered into baking for the Officer Wives Club bake sale. They're having the Marine Corps ball at Myrtle Beach this year and are trying to raise money for that. I don't normally "do" baking, but Pete is the OIC of his unit, AND he's on the ball committee, so it really wouldn't look good for him if I didn't help out. I really don't mind helping, it's just that I can't cook for shit. Pete is the culinary mastermind in our house(I really don't know what I'm going to do when he goes to Iraq. Pizza or Chinese every night maybe?). I can fix it if it comes pre-made in a box, or can be tossed in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, or shoved in the microwave. If you want something much more sophisticated that mac and cheese, you're barking up the wrong tree. But, I can bake - a little - so why not. I just realized how long this thing is getting. Jeeze, I don't post for three or four days and, bam! I better save some for later I guess. Maybe tomorrow? Later! |
| The baby woke up to nurse and I couldn't go back to sleep when he did so I decided to catch up my blog instead. I don't know what with. My life is absolutely boring right now. I just write, take care of kids, take care of house, eat, sleep, write, take care of kids, etc., etc... Don't get me wrong; I do have a life. I've just had a dull week is all. ...Wow. I've sat here staring at the screen for nearly five full minutes, trying to figure out what to write, and can't come up with anything. I think it's because I'm half asleep. This is probably a good thing. A sign that I should try going back to bed now. What a wasted entry, huh. |
| We're leaving in a few hours when Pete gets home from work. My sister-in-law is on the schedule to have the baby tomorrow morning and I am soooo excited! Unfortunately, I plan to stay for a week or so but Pete won't be able to stay with us. He has to be back for work Monday morning so that sucks. I'm sure he'll enjoy his time without us. He's been dying to go play golf and I nag everytime he brings it up so I'm sure he'll spend most of his time out on the course. My mom has her computer back so I should be able to poke my head in every now and then. I'll try to post pictures of the baby if I take any that are worth a shit. Later! |
| I just had to share this. My three-year-old learned how to ride his bike without training wheels this weekend! I couldn't believe it! And it only took him twice out on the road to do it was the most amazing thing! He was just out riding his little razor scooter up and down the driveway and I was sitting on my yard swing watching him when I just had the idea to see if he could do it. I asked if he wanted to try and he said yes so I got Pete to take the extra wheels off. Pete ran with him down the road a little ways and he was doing it by himself then, but the chain needed oiling because it kept sticking and screwing him up. Once Pete fixed the chain, Lucas was on his own like he'd been doing it all along. I couldn't believe it! Alex was 6 and Nathan was 5 when they learned and it took them both a few weeks to get going like pros! Anyway, Luke was so excited that I took him out for ice-cream and made a big deal out of it. Actually, I think I was more excited than he was, LOL! Anyway, I thought that was amazing and wanted to share  |
| Hope everyone had a great 4th. Mind was good. Hubby is on leave so of course my puter time was cut down about 3/4 from the usual. We've been doing lots fo bbq's with his friends from work. Three just in the past week alone. It's fun but tiring. Other than that, I'm just busy writing. We had an awesome trip to my mom's. I'm so glad that my hubby and brother are such good friends. It makes family visits so much more pleasant. My first husband didn't like my mom and brother so we were always fighting over how much time I spent around them. Ugh, I'm not even going to get on the subject of that shit-ass. I'm just glad that I got lucky my second time around. Pete is a keeper of the highest order, no matter how much I like to bitch about his computer habits, LOL. |
| Just taking a few minutes to update. We're leaving tomorrow to go visit my mother for the extended weekend. We're all excited because Pete and my brother have big plans to create their beer garden back in the woods behind mom's house. (Yes, we're a bunch of red-necks!) They've been plotting and planning this for years and while we were home on our last visit, Rusty, my brother, found some old metal awning to use as a shelter. They got a bunch of railroad ties to line the trail and weed-eated the path and the clearing. Rusty bought a new gas grill for his house and is donating his old fire grill to the garden too. They built a fire pit while we were there last time so all we'll have to do is haul up a few yard chairs and a cooler of brew and we'll be set. Pete is all fired up and ready to go, which is a first for him. This is my mom after all. The mother-in-law. Anyway, as long as I don't have to drag him kicking and screaming, it's a good thing, right! The only bad thing is that mom's computer got fried during a thunderstorm and it's off getting worked on right now so I won't be able to check in until we get back home. That sucks. I just hope she gets it back before I go up there to stay when the baby comes. I can handle a few days of no internet, but I don't think I'd be able to manage for two weeks! Anyway, I'll miss you all til I get back! |
| I got absolutely nothing done today. I had to take Jack in for his 4 month check up. He's doing great. He's such a little porker! 21 lbs! This kid is HUGE!! But just healthy, cute huge, not Oprah babies huge. Anyway, by the time I came home from doing that, we were home long enough to eat lunch with Pete and then we were off for the afternoon-long trek to get Nathan's shots. A normally 3 hr trip turned into a 4 hr one because it was raining so hard that I was nervous and drove like an old lady. So by the time we get back from doing that, it's evening, getting close to dinner. Pete had to stand duty tonight so I'm on my own and had to do dinner (Pete usually does all the cooking). I threw together one of my standard entrees: Spaghettio's. And then I like to have never got the baby to sleep. He's whined ALL DAY from where he got shots this morning. Poor guy. Every way I tried to hold him his poor legs (where they do the injections) were squished somehow or another and he hurt. Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow. Anyway, I just finally had a few minutes of peace and quiet for the first time today and thought I'd relax and unwind by updating this. I'm off now to do some editing before I go to bed. Later. |
| I had an exciting weekend. Let me start by saying that as much as I bitch about Pete hogging the computer when he's home on the weekends, it actually worked in my favor this time. I was able to write all weekend and wound up finishing one of the novels I've been working on. I've been gone all morning but now that I'm back and have nothing else planned for the day (it's raining so we really can't do anything) I'm going to start doing my first revision. I'll post chapters in my port for feedback as I go so hopefully I'll get some good, constructive, helpful ideas for ways to improve it. Anyway, other than that, I don't have anything else going on. That's huge and exciting enough for me though! |
| If any of my kids had an ounce of respect for me it completely vanished this morning. Of course they would wait until Pete was away to bring a frog into my house. And of course, I screamed and scared the shit out of Nathan, who in turn dropped the frog, which was quick to hop away. After I did the whole hide up on the chair thingy, which was a hit with the neighbor's kid who was also present at the time, it took them a few minutes to find the hopping little bastard, corner it, and get it back outside. I'm off the chair now, obviously, but now my skin is crawling and every little hair tickling my arm is a cause for neck--breaking concern. I know I might sound like a first class pussy, but even I can see the comedic value in this so I thought I'd share so you guys could have a good laugh at my expense too. |
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I hope you not only make it 
I hope you enjoy your stay home despite the drama to get there. 
