6 Month Check Up

Six Months Ago, I resolved to....
-Finish writing Heart Song
-Publish #4 of my Sci-Fi Rom series and write #5
-Get books #1-6 of my Arbor University Tales (Women's Fiction) series in print
-Successfully help my 6th grader bring up his grades in Math, Social Studies, and Language Arts
-Lose another 5 lbs or more
-Cut back on signings; instead of 14 like last year, only do six which cost money, and a few local ones which are free.
-Organize my basement office
-As for the karaoke songs, well, I'd like to maybe hit the 'P' titles?  I'm beginning the year still on the 'Love' titles.  I'm thinking there may not be many 'N' or 'O' titles.  I could be wrong.

How Am I Doing?
-Heart Song is still unfinished, though maybe 300 words have been added;
-Kira arrived in Feb, and #5 is still swirling around in my brain with maybe 300 words added;
-AU is still waiting on cover art;
-Teen did manage to pass the 6th grade with Ds in English and Social Studies and an F in Math;
-I HAVE lost 5 lbs and am trying to lose another 5;
-Have I cut back on signings?  *Ahem*  I've only paid for 3, though I still have 4 more to pay for, plus I had to pay $12 for our Farmer's Market in May.  So the short answer is 'no'.
-Basement office is still not yet organized.
-Karaoke titles....I've already hit the 'N' ones on Sat and am well into the 'W's on Thurs:)

So I'm about 45% accomplished.

How are your goals looking?

BB19: Paul is Back!

Watched last night's premier of the new season with interest.
A)  I can NOT stand Kevin or Jessica, or even Jillian.
    -Kevin's Boston accent is the same as nails on a chalkboard.  Plus, Paul or Cameron summed it up perfectly; he looks like a comic book villian.  I was hoping he'd be the 1st to go, but no.....Paul gave him a friendship bracelet, which kept him safe for the week.  I especially disliked him when he claimed the $25K, but when I realized it meant Paul was coming back, I forgave him:)  Still, can hardly wait to see him go.

   -Jessica and her big boobs.  Disliked her the instant she was introduced, but she seems more laid back, so maybe she's not as irritating as she came across in the first 10 minutes?

   -Jillian aka 'Miss Las Vegas Drama Queen'....she doesn't seem to be handling the stress very well.  She, Christmas, and Cam were up on the chopping block, and she just sounded so dejected!  Plus, I'm surprised Christmas, the fitness fanatic, didn't want the chance to compete against J and C.  I think she would have mopped the floor with the other two.  But, c'est la vie.....

B)  I loved Paul in last season, but this week he's coming off like an asshat.  Maybe Julie told him of his role, should he return, or maybe she didn't?  He just seems.....scripted.

C)  I'm sorry to see Cam go instead of Jillian (or Kevin!), but he may get a chance to return....in BB, you never know.  It's happened before.  Stay tuned on this one.

D)  I like Ramses, Christmas, Megan, Raven, Alex, and the rodeo clown.  The Cuban guy drives me slightly bonkers, but I think he's a chef, so the others might keep him around for his culinary skills.  It will also be interesting to see the two fitness fanatics, Christmas and Matt, go head to head in a physical challenge, though Matt reminds me of Jesse, whom I couldn't stand.  Let's hope Matt has a better personality.  Cody needs to get a personality.

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Update:
The HOH competition was held on Thurs, and damn it, Cody won instead of Paul.  First of all, some general thoughts:

A)  I really can't stand Cody or the Cuban guy, who managed to selfishly save himself, but at the same time, solved Kevin's problem of how to throw it, since he's ineligible to win HOH this week (see above).  Elena also drives my slightly crazy ( I suspect it's because she reminds me of my SIL's sister??).

B)  Right now, Cody seems to not want to honor his handshake with Paul, and instead, backdoor him.

C)  Megan did NOT deserve to be verbally abused by Cuban Guy, nor did she deserve to be nominated for eviction.

Secondly, I find Cody very unlikable.  I don't know what he did in order to attract the attention of the producers, but the guy is very keep-to-himself.  Proof of this came when he was supposed to 'tempt' Paul into giving him the aforementioned Friendship Bracelet, and last night when Megan went to talk to him about working out a deal to keep her safe.  WTH???  He acted completely disinterested.  I guarrantee, if Megan survives this week and rallies the troops, he's gonna find himself on the way out the door.  What happened to his social game?

I guess we'll find out next week.

Flashback Friday: Stepping Out Of My Comfort Zone

Yes, I realize again that this is really Saturday....but I've had a busy week with VBS.  And to be honest, I think I'm the only one who's actually reading these, so what does it matter if I post a day late?

June 2007:
I heard about a local festival, so I called and got some information about the Wine and Art Festival.  Recognizing I probably wasn't going to sell anything this first year, I nevertheless greeted everyone, acted as 'tour guide', pointed out the bathrooms, and even sampled some wine and secured a free session in an aqua massager.  I also networked with a local shop, who asked if they could host a signing for me at holiday time.

Bouyed by the reaction, I decided to branch out a little and visit other shops and even the local B&B.  Four days later, I received a shock.  A letter arrived from the owner of the B&B, inviting me to 'meet her friend who died on the cross', as she was 'shocked' by the language and 'graphic' content (tame by today's standards, lol!), and would therefore be NOT allowing her guests to read it.

It took me a few days to calm down.  After all, I HAD mentioned it had language and adult situations; she still chose to buy it.  I chalked it up to a learning experience.

I was also getting braver on Blogger, and instead of simply reading a few blogs, I actually commented.  My comments were well received, and soon I was interacting with a woman in Australia, a woman in Boston, and a few women in Michigan.  Some of them even commented on my 'notes' section of my website:)

T and I met for coffee a few times, and he opened up about what had taken place during Super Bowl Sunday at his house.  He expressed sorrow for friends taking sides, and was grateful for the listening ear and shoulder I provided.

Next Month:  I Get A Shock.

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Present Day:
VBS is over; I'm spending a relaxing weekend at home, though I may go to Corning Irish Festival on Sunday.

Flashback Friday: Parenting 101 and Misunderstanding

June 1997:
My time with the twins was dwindling down.  School was out, so I was no longer driving the teenagers home from school, nor was I driving the other teen to school and back.  The twins' mother was searching for a new sitter, plus the pool was now open.  My mother had officially retired from the high school, and came down one day to visit her grandkids.  Since the weather was nice, we took all four kids to the pool.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived was a very attractive man with a small child.  He reminded me of T, and my writer's brain went into overdrive.  While the kids splashed in the pool, and Mom and I chatted on the steps and kept track of little S, I was also mentally constructing a new story based on the guy.

Which quickly came to a halt the first time his child needed assistance.

The guy basically just wanted to sunbathe and not keep a sharp eye on his child, even getting into a somewhat heated argument with the pool monitor.  That ruined any fantasies I was having about him.  If you're not interested in being a parent, esp at the pool, stay home!

Misunderstanding.....
I remember Mom saying something about that now she was retired, she'd like to spend more time with her grandkids.....I was facing a summer with four kids, building our house, and longing for the time when it was just 'us' again.  Also, I knew we were planning a whirlwind trip to Vancouver in July, plus the spouse had attended an Amway/Quixtar meeting and was planning to 'swallow the kool aid'.  I wasn't happy about it, but he was excited about the new prospect, so hey....who was I to stand in his way?

Apparently, my mother took this as a 'no, I'm not interested in spending the summer with you'.  I wouldn't find this out until two months later.

Next Month:  Progress, plus Vancouver!

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Present Day:
We just had our hottest week of the summer so far (mid-90s); we have our new DRM table and chairs set up, plus a new sideboard, and some of the 'computer crap' has been moved out of the brown house:)  I'm still trying to organize a day to take the rest to the scrap yard, and start hauling the rolls of carpeting out of the back bedroom.  We hauled a truckload to the recycle, and another truckload of brush from the back yard.

I'll be at the Farmer's Market tomorrow, so hoping to add to my "Convention Fund".

Have a great weekend and Happy Father's Day!

Flashback Friday: Catching Up 1987

I've been busy the last several weeks, so missed a couple of decades

May:
My sister was at a swim meet in downtown Indpls at the Natatorium, so Dad picked me up and took me to it.  When we realized it would be several hours before her event, Dad and I went over to Union Station and had lunch at Sal Savatore's Italian restaurant and split a carafe of White Zinfindel wine.  After lunch, we went upstairs and wandered around the shops, stopping at the Virtual Reality ride.  Being a little tipsy, Dad told me to sit in the back seat; it was more enjoyable!  Afterward, we staggared out and went back to the swim meet.

Another weekend when Val went home, JD made arrangements to come up and see me.  At first, he went to the wrong dorm, surprising a VERY shocked young coed by kissing her when she opened the door!  Eventually, he found my door, and we had an enjoyable day, showing him around campus and eating lunch at the Flying Tomato Pizza Parlor.  A friendly game of poker followed, though I got cocky when I realized I held two aces in my hand.  Unfortunately, he had a full house.

Val, her brother, and I went to King's Island and had a GREAT time!  Right before we were due to board the bus, the others decided they wanted to go on the Water Rapids ride again.  I declined.....and they ended up with soaked clothes during the ride home.  I was thankful I was still dry!

June:
I arrived home after my 1st quarter and registered with ManPower again.  My 1st assignment sent me to a parking lot, and I enjoyed the 2 weeks I was there.  I arrived at 6am and was basically my own boss for the next twelve hours.  I handed out parking passes; took money; and began working on my 1st official 'book', mainly memoirs of my love life.  Go ahead; laugh at me.  I was trying to make sense of why I was getting bored after 3 months with each relationship, or sabotaging it after that length of time.

Two of my customers took a liking to me; one man who worked in the bank would bring me the occasional soft drink (he was married), and Chris, a single guy who worked for some company, came down and ate lunch with me, plus brought me flowers and tried to get me to go out with him.  I did go out with him a few times, but we just didn't 'click',  He was a health-food nut, and let's face it....I'm a McDonald's gal who only eats lettuce, carrots, corn, broccoli, and peas (when first frozen).  I beat him soundly at Putt-Putt one night, then when I used his restroom, discovered he was into menage e trois.  I decided to quit seeing him.

My 2nd assignment was at a plastics factory, in which I was to take cassette tape cases from the conveyor belt and put them into boxes.  I hated every minute of it.  My back ached; I had trouble keeping up with the conveyor (think Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory!).  I thought about not returning after the 1st night, and was ever so happy when MP called and sent me somewhere else!

Next Month:  I become Rosie The Rivetor:)

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Present Day:
Friends came and took half the computer stuff out of the brown house!  Hopefully today, we'll take a load to recycle, then a load of metal (from the green house) and computer parts (brown house) to the scrap yard.  I also sold the Nordic Track Ski machine to a friend:)  Making progress!

Flashback Friday: 5th Grade Wrap Up

June 1977:
Last month's post was a bit long-winded, and since the only photo Mom has of us in June is my sis and I showing off our brand new bikini swim suits, I thought I'd simply continue the events of May on this post.

History Made At The Indy 500:
Janet Guthrie became the 1st woman to qualify for this typically all-male sporting event:)  We went down for time trials on Mother's Day and parked in the infield, just as she began her qualification laps.

It was the first time I ever really remember going to the track, and Mom took us to our seats and even upstairs, where you could see the entire track.  It is also an event my family will not let me live down, since I quickly grew bored and pulled out a book.

I also remember this was about the time my mother's cousin came back into our lives.  We called him 'Uncle Don', and he had two large sheep dogs, Hans and Heather.  We also thought he was pretty cool because he worked at Wendy's and gave us free stuff (T-shirts, raincoats, and food).  He lived with my great-grandparents, and we soon learned that when you fed the dogs, you had to feed Hans first, and keep Heather away, since she would gobble her food, then push him away and eat his!  Yes, our sweet Heather was a pig when it came to dinnertime, lol!

Star Wars!
Dad took us to the movie, which at first I wasn't thrilled, since I decided the trailer looked 'scary'.....but it quickly became my favorite movie!  Every other night or week, Dad would take someone else to the show, and I instantly became a Model Child, promising to wake up in the morning, do my chores, do my homework on time.....if he'd please let me go too?  I ended up seeing Star  Wars 28 times over the course of the next year.  To this day, it remains the movie I've seen the most.

"Whoa....Did I Just See What I THOUGHT I Saw?"
During one of our class-switching times, I saw one of the boys, DP, reach out to his girlfriend, EM, and it looked as if he'd brushed his lips over hers before continuing on to his class.  EM turned around with a very startled expression, then blinked, and once we were all inside, instantly went into a huddle with the rest of her clique, and muffled giggles were heard, until Mr. M made us take our seats.

*Story Confirmed*
A month or so ago, I was chatting with a friend who was in our class at the time, and this was one of her memories also, though she remembers EM telling her about blow jobs also!

Saturday Night Fever!
I wanted to go see the movie, but since it was rated R, I wasn't allowed.  Someone opened a disco on the top floor of one of the buildings downtown; I bemoaned the fact I was only eleven.  Seven more years until I could go!

"Wait....You're Moving Up With Us?"
During the last week of school, we always got to check out the classroom where we'd be the next year, and meet the teacher.  But this year, my class was stunned when the other 5th grade teacher announced SHE was going to be our 6th grade teacher!  Sigh....another year with Mrs. Light....maybe she'd be nicer, since she already KNEW us?

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Present Day:
Heading home from Lafayette today.  Going to stop in Indy to grab A and J; once again, their mom is looking for housing.  Sigh....if I could go back 11 years, I never would have pulled the 'tough love'....it definitely backfired.

Anyway, I'm setting up at our 1st Friday event, then tomorrow I'm heading up to the Vigo Co Fairgrounds to see what the event is like and to get things ready for 'my' shift on Sunday.  Then it will be back to business as usual, Operation Reclaim My House on Monday, followed by resuming Operation Brown House.  Yeah, I've got a busy month ahead, with all my chicks back under my roof again.

June Reading Schedule

Rather hard to believe it is JUNE already!  Last month, we finally got the keys to both our green and brown houses and began the tedious clean up stage.  Made a lot of progress on the green one, and began work on the brown one.

So how did I do last month?
-Add words to Heart Song  No
-Edit Ghost Story and find a title!  Edit, no, but title, maybe!
-Lose 5 lbs  Check:)  Lost 7 (I THINK!)
-Make payment to cover artist  Check:)  One more payment to go....
-Do well at Birds of a Feather  Sold 3:)
-Have a successful B and N signing  Collectively, we sold 20:)
-Finish cleaning yard (nearly done!) and start emptying storage unit (not yet)
-Do well at Opening Day of Farmer's Market  Sold 3:)
-Enjoy the Indy 500  Check:)  Takuma Sato won!!!
-Hang pretties/pictures/shelving  Getting closer:)
-Get hair redyed  Bleh....not yet.

Books Read:  8
           Print:  2
       E-Book:  6

Karaoke Songs Added To Good List:  16
          Thurs:  7
               Fri:  9


So What About June's Goals?
-Add words to Heart Song/RiKar's Redemption
-Edit Spirit Pottery
-Do well at 1st Friday  Sold 2:)
-Do well at Vigo Co Fairgrounds Did Not Go
-Attend BFF's daughter's graduation party  Check:)
-Have fun in Nashville for granddaughter's 5th birthday party Check:)
-Do well at Community Yard Sale  Sold 3, plus some yard sale items:)
-Have a stress-free VBS week  LOL....check, unless you count the fact I 'volunteered' to create a newsletter.....and put in 9 hours doing it!
-Get green house on city list for removal  Discovered program is full; will try for 2018.
-Have large items hauled off by city  Check:)  All 5 toilets!
-Make progress on brown house  Got rid of several computer items:)
-Get hair trimmed/redyed
-Begin emptying storage unit  Check.....
-Continue to decorate house walls
-Get cat spayed
-Finalize July plans
-Lose/keep off 5 lbs

Whew!  I know that sounds like a lot....but it's a lot of LITTLE stuff.

June Reading Schedule:
Print:
Tomb of the Moon-NE Riggs

E-book:
Matt Jackson, Catcher-Jean Joachim  DRR!  Loved this!!
Dumb Blonde-AJ Scudiere  Excellent:)
Lorelei's Lyric-DB Sieders
Our Song-Savannah Kade
Mann Cakes-Mysti Parker

Karaoke Songs:
Thurs:

What Part of No-Lorrie Morgan  Nailed it:)

Leader of the Band-Dan Fogleburg  Nailed it:)

What's Love Got To Do With It-Tina Turner  Did fairly well:)

What's On Your Mind-Information Society Did well:)

Little Toy Guns-Carrie Underwood DNH

What's Up-4 Non-Blondes Nailed it:)
Foolin' Yourself-Styx  Nailed it:)

Wheel In The Sky-Journey  DNH

Lose Yourself-Eminem

When A Man Loves A Woman-Michael Bolton

When All Is Said and Done-ABBA
Lotta Love-Nicolette Larson
When I Look Into Your Eyes-Firehouse

Sat:

More Than Words-Extreme  Did well:)

Morning Train-Sheena Easton  Not bad...

Mr. Roboto-Styx  Better than 2011, lol!

Mr. Sandman-The Chordettes  Not too awful....

My Church-Maren Morris Nailed it:)

Magical Mystery Tour-Beatles Sang it, but bleh.

My Boyfriend's Back-The Angels  Bleh....

My Favorite Mistake-Sheryl Crowe Did well:)

My Favorite Things-Julie Andrews DNH

My Guy-Mary Wells DNH

My Heart Will Live On-Celine Dion  Nailed it:)

My Life-Billy Joel  Did fairly well:)

My Immortal-Evanescence  Not too bad:)

My Sweet Lord-George Harrison  Ugh..