Last Day of NaNo!

Sheesh, where did the month go? I've informed the SU I will be glued to the desk chair as much as possible, in order to finish Class Reunion. As previously stated, I can see the ending, but now I just have to write it:)

Green-Eyed Monster or Do I Have A Legit Complaint?
Watched yesteday's CBS Sunday Morning this morning (on the DVR) and am now suffering slight professional jealousy. Why? They interviewed Stephanie Meyers.

She wrote Twilight in three months, stemming from a dream she'd had. That's all fine and dandy; we've all done that.

But she only received nine rejections, a couple of no responses, and finally a letter from an assistant wanting to know more.

Everyone who's with me in the slush pile....can I get a collective 'No Fair!' mini-tantrum? Thanks.

We Interrupt This Blog To Bring You a Special Report...
Got word around NOON: Kenzie's been offered a contract for Teacher's Pet!!!!!

Here's the blurb:
What happens when you discover the man you had mind-blowing sex with three months ago is none other than your son's teacher? Tammy Saunders is horrified when she realizes the man who set her heart racing is her son's favorite teacher. With one bad relationship behind her, will she trust her heart again, or will she continue to deny her feminine side?

And is this particular teacher only popular with his students? Kevin Taylor has made some bad choices in his life, but sleeping with not only one, but now two of his students' mothers has got to be the worst mistake he's ever made. Especially after he realizes he's lost his heart to one of them.

Sound promising? I'll keep you posted on covers, release dates, etc,

Okay; time to get busy and finish Class Reunion!

Saturday's Stupid Saying

Yeah, yeah....I'm late with this! I was busy writing yesterday.

Turkey Conducts Bird Flu Investigation
headline on ABC News Online

Thought this was appropriate for the Thankgsgiving weekend:)

As stated, I did laundry and wrote all day long. And if you're my friend on Facebook, you'll notice my status which says I nearly fell victim to the 'forgot-to-back-up-document' monster.

What happened?

I stepped away from the desk to eat some leftovers (it was seven o'clock and I was starving!) and when my youngest was finished eating, he promptly pulled out my flash drive (he did NOT eject it first!) and popped in his Lion King DVD, since Daddy was watching Cool Tools on DIY, and there is no DVD player downstairs (PS2, yes, but I don't think he knows how to use it as a DVD player. Note to self: Must Inform K to Teach Little Brother This Skill....).

How did I discover this?

The phone rang; it was for me. I swallowed my final bite of turkey and noodles and the first thing I notice is my flash not in the drive. I nearly lost it, but K came to the rescue. The document was still on the task bar; he simply plugged in the flash, saved the document, and double-checked to make sure everything was there. I calmed down and spoke to my friend, who was now laughing at me!

In my defense, I am on the final chapter of Class Reunion. And since tomorrow is the last day of NaNoWriMo, I have a lot of work if I hope to beat last year's word count of 19K! At last count, I was near the 10K mark for this year. So unless a miracle happens, this year's count will be waaaaaay short. But again, in previous years, I didn't have the SU at home, griping at me! So according to the pep talk I received via email, I'm in Group 3, but still okay. Besides, the whole point of NaNo is to get words down that would still be stuck in my head! Everyone wins, even if they don't attain that 50K mark.

Tuesday, I start baking (I think). It all depends on if I have to fight the SU for kitchen space. Maybe this year I'll let him do the baking???

Have a good day. I'm off to get dressed for church, and then come home and attack the ending of my book!

Friendly Gathering

How do you expect to eat with no teeth, ha ha?















Sampling the goodies before dinner; like mother, like daughter! (Aunt R is to the right!)

















J; the birthday girl L; her husband C; Grandma; R. (J, L, and R are siblings; their mom is Grandma)

We put the smaller kids, I, D, and W at a card table in the living room; the teens ate downstairs after we said grace.








Candid shot of K, T, D, and T's dad in the background, next to the buffet table. My SU and D sitting at table.

We dismantled S's bed and set up the two food tables; brought up a third on set it in front of the desk.









Three generations! Grandma, D, and R. (And my messy desk!)

















R and myself during the Great Lemon Cream Pie War. The birthday girl loves her mom's Lemon Pie, and cut four slices; two large and two small, thus giving herself and my SU most of it. When she set hers down and went to refill her drink, R grabbed it and started eating it!










You never know what topics of conversation will come up during dessert. SU's beard length was discussed, and asked if he'd ever considered braiding it...I found my Japanese hair clip and gave him an inpromptu ponytail.

(S...what was in those brownies? And what exactly is your 'secret ingredient'?)






You Call This Customer Service? What Happened To 'Customer Is Always Right'??
I was informed my parents may be getting divorced. No, don't panic; this information came from my mother, who was told by a strange hairdresser....

"No, I won't cut your hair that short; your husband will divorce you!"

They compromised; instead of cutting my mother's naturally curly hair to ear-length (where she normally wears it, mind you!), she left it about an inch longer.

Mom went home and asked Dad, "Are you going to file for divorce?"

Dad replied, "No; should I?"

Mom repeated what had happened.

"Maybe you should show her the wedding picture."

The only time my mom's hair reached her shoulders was about age 6! My father has always favored women with short hair, and always compliments my sister and I when we show up with it about collar-length!

For the record, every time I whack mine off, I've been told I look younger. So don't let your hairdresser dictate which length will please your man more; go with your gut. And if your man complains...remind him it will grow!

Happy Black Friday!
Shop safely and spend wisely:)

Updates

MIL:
Hip surgery went well, and she was resting comfortably when we left. SU (spousal unit) was a bit shaken when he overheard the nurse tell the night nurse coming on duty the patient was DNR. We came home to find the kids had not only fixed dinner, but consumed all of it. He and I went to Ponderosa to 'decompress' and eat food already cooked and waiting for us.

Me:
Ear no longer hurts, but it continues to leak fluid. I'm also still mildly stuffy.

House:
Due to illness and hospital visits, we're doing a massive cleanup today. K had his senior pictures taken an hour ago ("Mom? You are going with me??!!") and he had an enjoyable time. Male modeling may or may not be in his future, according to the photographer:)

Turkey aka 'Big Boy':
All 22 frozen pounds is resting in a cold bath, awaiting his 'steam bath' in the fryer tomorrow. We still have to go get the ham, and some minor ingredients for tomorrow's feast. For more on the festivities, click here.

I'm under threat of the power being shut off to the computer if I don't hurry up. If I don't end up posting tomorrow, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone!

Back Tomorrow!

Spent yesterday in pain; my ear drum chose to rupture in the afternoon. And the hydrocodone made me sick to my stomach. I'm heading back to bed for a brief nap, after I sort and start the laundry.

Need prayers...the MIL decided, for whatever reason, to try to get out of bed over the weekend. They sent her for an X-ray yesterday, and surprise...she's got a broken hip. She's undergoing surgery this afternoon to have it repaired.

Looks like our decision to stay home this Thanksgiving was a good one....

Have a good day:)

Weekend Photos

Had a great time at the annual Santa Stroll:) The weather was mild; I handed out several promo items and added many more email addresses to my newsletter list. And yes, even sold one. Better than last year, when the wind was frigid and most people were hanging on tight to their cash. They're still watching their cash, but the artis who painted the picture on the wall behind me sold three of his paintings in the week his work has been on display.

Don't know if you can see it or not, but I'm wearing my Santa Hat/jingle bell earrings! We were all in a festive mood Friday night:)

Saturday afternoon, one of the attractions was a free carriage ride. The spouse and K were on a BSA camping trip (K's final one as a Life Scout; he'll complete his Eagle rank in the next two weeks), so daughter S brought her little brother, her friend A, and A's little sister R downtown. They were too late to see Santa, but they enjoyed the ride:)

And later, after I got home, S and A went to see New Moon and came home both excited and upset that the movie "leaves you hanging! We have to wait a whole year to see what comes next!" Girls, you read the book; you know what comes next!

"But it's not the same as seeing it in the movie!"

Teenagers....

Monday Monday...

Woke up with a clogged right ear. I've already taken a decongestant and some Tylenol for the pain. I'm hoping this doesn't turn into another full blown ear/sinus infection! I've not had any problems with this ear since the chronic problem back in 1996 and had to have a tube put into it. I battled a mild sinus headache Saturday night and again yesterday after church. I'm fine as long as I'm either upright or laying down. Don't ask me to bend over or hiccup; pain rushes to my forehead. And since this is Day #1 of Operation Clean Up, I'll do the dusting and vacuuming; the spouse can do the bending-over stuff! And afterwards, I'll lay on the couch and watch the rest of the Law and Order: SVU marathon I ended up DVR-ing while I cooked dinner and later chatted with several authors during Anny's Birthday Bash! Kenzie very nicely posted two birthday excerpts from both books, and received some nice comments:)

And The Next Iron Chef is...

Chef Garseus!

It came down to creativity and basic cooking skills. Chef Meta, the Indian-background pastry chef, had the creativity, but lacked some fundamental cooking skills; one of the judges constantly harped his food was 'too sweet', and several dishes during this ten-week competition were either undercooked or overcooked.

Chef Garseus, who had a Latin American flair to his cooking, had similar problems during the entire competition, but got everything right last night in Kitchen Stadium. His dishes were considered 'safe, yet boring' by the judges, and it all came down to who would blossom the most under the current Iron Chef's tutelege. And since all five of his dishes were cooked to perfection, they decided he stood the best chance.

Have a good day!

Hmmm...Interesting....

Anny Cook asks an interesting question this morning: What's the strangest job skill you've acquired?

In my short working life, I've been:
-Babysitter
-Teacher's Aid in 1st grade class
-Teacher's Aid at Head Start
-Dishwasher for small restaurant (hated it!)
-Bus person for same restaurant (enjoyed it better)
-Worker in craft factory; I folded the items and sealed them in the bag along with the instructions. (Routine; I let my imagination take over and wrote like crazy during the breaks! Most of Love Finds A Way was written during this eight-week temp job!)
-Volunteer at Battered Women's Shelter (Showed me how my budding counseling skills were developing in a good way)
-Cashier for parking lot (again, did a great deal of writing during the down time)
-Rivet polker for semi-trailor factory (enjoyed this one; I was only one of three women and the rest were men! Gave me great ideas for Book #4!)
-Wait staff at a country club (Enjoyed my regular customers and became a favorite with the kids)
-'Bus' driver for pre-school (in actuality, it was a station wagon) (Hated driving in ice and snow!)
-DST for Special-needs children and adults (Taught daily living skills to the developmentally and mentally challenged; my group was at the higher-functioning level)
-More babysitting, plus a two-month foray into the 'get-rich-quick' sales (I hated walking up to people to convince them to buy something they either didn't need or couldn't afford!)
-Concession stand manager (Loved, loved, LOVED this one! I got to be my own boss, and did inventory, worked my ass off during games, counted money, and made some valuable friendships.)
-Bus Monitor for emotionally or special-needs kids (More stressful than it seems!)
-Published Author (I absolutely LOVE book signings and talking to people about writing, books, and how to get started/published.)
-Cashier for fireworks store (enjoyed this, as it got me out of the house for a while and away from moody spouse!)
-And most importantly, Domestic Engineer aka MOM (Again, I get to set my own hours:)

But have I acquired any strange skills? As I told Anny, I can now change the tape in a price sticker thingy. And discovered I really enjoy doing inventory.

This Weekend:
I'll be doing my final signing of the year at our local Santa Stroll. The parade begins at 6:30, and the stores downtown stay open until 9pm with special sales. I'll be at a friend's new art gallery, and the weather should be better than last year's Big Freeze:) On Saturday, the kids can have breakfast with Santa; there are free carriage rides and entertainment; and down the street at the Bible Bookstore, a local children's author, Roseann Perry, will also be signing copies of HER new book. I've not met her; I'll be going down to meet her between 11:30 and noon.

And Sunday begins Operation Clean-Up, as we are hosting Thanksgiving. K's girlfriend and her family will be here, as will my 'other' daughter and her family, and my friend J and her hubby. I also have to deep clean the car seats and stroller, since the new arrival will be here in a month. Plus, we always have 'strays' who wander in an out, knowing they will be well fed at Aunt Molly's.

Have a great weekend, and I'll be back on Monday!