New Year's Resolutions

I saw this over on Trisha's blog in the comment section and had to laugh. 

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~Mark Twain

Damn Hell

No, no, it's not Damn! Hell!
It's, Damn Hell.

I posted the Gates of Hell a couple of posts back.
It was a place I worked for a very short span of time that is now known as Hell.
Hell, it was known as hell as I was working there.
I spent a life time there one month.

One day I was racing up the stairs... yep, running up the stairs and I congratulated myself because a short time before that I would not have been able to RUN up the stairs at full speed. Anyway I was racing up the stairs and MISSED. I slammed my toe into the stair and  hobbled for a very long time.  There was no time to go to a doctor or antyhng... It was hell after all.

Didn't think too much about it until I started wanting to wear heels.
My poor toe knuckle totally bitches me out.
It will be okay, it will get use to it and accept what I have done to it.  But when I go through these time of waiting for it to understand,  I curse Hell.

And I am happy for Hell too.
While I was working in Hell my dad died.
I quit.  DH supported me and I quit so that I could get my dad's affairs in order before marrying the love of my life.  Had I been at my old job.  Things would have turned out in a different fashion.

Hell freed me to do what needed to be done so that I could move on to the next phase of my life and so for that I am grateful for Hell.  I am less than pleased that my toe knuckle is paying the price.  It will adapt, we all do.

Critter Christmas

I charged the camera - had it out of the case and was ready to go when the kids arrived and then did not take any pictures.  Didn't even think about it.  >.<  Doh!!

I did, however, get some pictures of the critters Christmas morning. 

We'll begin with Chester

Chester loves peanut butter - his favorite time is when the jar is finally empty and he gets to have it.  This is some sort of pnut butter in a can.  He is intrigued.

And bones too?  Knotty bones??  Heaven!!

Wait.  What?? Knotty bones AND peanut butter?  I love you girl.

He spent the rest of the morning tossing his bone at us.  "Hey, it's out of peanut butter."  We complied as it was Christmas and all.

Bob wasn't left out though he was starting to think perhaps he was...

He started complaining to Stavo - "Dude, the dog got two presents what about me?"

"That's not peanut butter it's... oh, its....Nip!!"

It's a happy Bob!!

The Pigs got a little tikki hut.  Pumpkin aka Plumpkin and Nutmeg aka Pip Squeak are in the photo.  Autumn was hiding in the house.  "What is this flashy thing and why does Nana keep doing that?"

We told Chester that the boys were coming and he took up his spot and waited.

The kids surprised me, I mean, Santa surprised me and brought a couple of gifts too.  Mom told the kids that Santa was gonna get his ass kicked.  They just laughed at me.

Jess and Stavo Santa gifts

All kinds of fun things here - Calendars, face masks, a gargoyle, tea, wasabi peas, lip balm, foot stuff. It was quite the haul. 

The Boy's Santa

Chocolate covered pretzels, nuts and that jolly fella in the center...

 he sings and dances around. 

I'll have to see if we can get video of it because it is so freaking cute.

All in all it was a wonderful day.  Stavo made sweet rolls and bacon for the masses.  We exchanged gifts and amazingly everyone got what they wanted.  (We draw names and basically tell the people what we'd like. Keeps the season simple!)  



Merry Christmas Eve and Gate to Hell...

But not in the same sentence...

Our Christmas Tree (Solstice lighting)

See the cow?  The boys last name has Cow in it and they once thought of starting a coffee shop in Portland named ... oh, maybe I'm not at liberty to say... it is like the Spotted Owl, but not... needless to say when we found the spotted cow ornaments... had to have.  This year's addition is the little owl that peeks at us from the tree.  I am very pleased he found me.

And on to the Gates of Hell. 

I didn't know this existed. My office window was the one you can just see in the picture.  I worked here for a month a lifetime ago.  It is referred to as Hell.  I work next door these days.  People ask where we are located and I'm tempted to say, "As close to hell as you can get and not be there."  A few days ago I parked in a new location and when I came out I saw the Gates to Hell.  I of course took a picture and am sharing it with you..

One would expect the gates to hell to seem more ominous somehow... trust me, evil lurks in that building, the kind that Stephen King is afraid to speak of... if the devil walks in this world, he works there. 

Oh Dear!!!

So he bided his time, knowing someday, somehow, that

smug self-satisfied snowman would pay.

Julie turned me on to Cack Wrecks and this was on there today. 

I snorted tea out my nose and laughed and laughed.

Thank you Julie.  This site has given me many a giggle. 

Interesting

One of my co-workers is reading a book called Stop Walking on Eggshells.  It's about learning to live with someone who has borderline personality disorder.  In the front of the book it has a little quiz, "This book might be right for you if..."  It then goes on to list a bunch of scenarios.  As my co-worker read down the list I was thinking, Wow, this smacks of the relationship I have with Cybil  and Cybil was right there saying, "YES! YES! YES!" Cybil then goes on to say, "Oh the two I LOVED the best were...."  Oddly these two traits that she considered the BEST were ones that described herself. 

I, of course, couldn't say anything at the time but after lunch I went into the gal with the book and said, "Are you afraid to voice your opinion for fear of an irrational outburst?"


I pondered picking up the book as I am a definite eggshell walker with Cybil but one of the things in the little quiz that came up over and over was the tone that this was someone you cared about, someone you wanted in your life and needed to find a way to make it work without being the one that is always giving and giving in.

Might be worth the ten bucks, but I don't really care about Cybil.  I've made my peace with the time I've already wasted on her and don't need to waste anymore. 

Happy Birthday to Me!!

I know a gal who is of similar age and she HATES birthdays.
I love them!!  How can you hate that which brought us to this moment in time?

I am a crone and am proud of it.
My hair is graying, okay more gray than not-- I am okay with it, generally ;)
My face is wrinkling -- I am okay with that too.

I have a terrific children and am married to a wonderful man.
It don't get no better than this.

I have been major spoiled this B-day.  It has been a B-Day month and I love it.

DH gave me a Kindle Fire -- happy, happy, joy, joy... I am totally loving this thing.  The first book I bought was by Kate George.  Moon Lighting in Vermont.  Gotta support our own.  What a great book.  Read it in one day.  I also bought California Screaming, but have not started it yet. Got busy with other things... I'm such a book whore.  Love it.

The boys gave me a TV and Stand.
At T-Day I got a movie to watch and I guess my old TV had all the action outside the screen? Had I been asked I would have said the old TV was perfectly fine.  I must admit the new TV is really awesome.  Thanks boys.

Jess and Stavo gave me Scrivener -- a writing program that I've been lusting after for a year now.  It was made for Mac, but I have windows and everyone talked and talked and talked about Scrivener and how wondrous it was.  Then they started beta testing it for windows.  If I was less of a computer klutz I would have been on the band wagon, but I suck when it comes to stuff like that and so I waited for the product to be 'ready'.  And ready it is!!!  YaY.

I've been working through the tutorial.
Work.  Work is the right word. Trying to read and understand what it is telling me.  Finding everything.  What is left and what is right and thinking I know and still getting it confused.  This is a sad but true fact.  I have trouble with left and right.  Port and Starboard are no better.  Damn near ran down another boat with Doug screaming, 'Your other Port!!!"

I am excited to work through the tutorial and start on my own project.  Fleshing out my Nano.

What I really love, it noted that the tutorial was the Brit version.  And that's cool.  But this is the best line ever....after struggling through this tutorial for a couple of hours... normal people would have whizzed through it... I am not normal, but I get were I'm going, generally.  I digress... best line ever.

"now you really do need that cup of tea, and probably another biscuit too."

Oh god yes, but make mine coffee and some breakfast and we have a deal!!

After this I'm ready to tackle round two.

At work I got flowers and amazon gift cards to support my new habit.  Very nice.

It is just my B-Day morn, but it is gonna be a grand day.

New 'Penny Kid'...

Stavo had to work Saturday morning.  Jess and I went out to score a little Christmas cheer.  Found it!!  We stopped by PetCo to donate food for the homeless critters and while we were there... one thing let to another and... Everyone meet Nutmeg.  

We wondered how long it would take Stavo to figure out what we had done.  He took one look at Jess and said, "What have you done?"


It's out of focus, but I was trying to be sneaky, a paparazzi I'm not.  ahahaha  I love that he immediately knew that Jess up to something.  We now have three pigs, Autumn, Pumpkin Pie and Nutmeg.

Laughed and Laughed and Laughed

I saw this on the news this morning and it made me smile. I love the lady with the red hair, she looks like she's having a blast. Not sure why the one tent dropped his pants, but I guess a tent has got to do what a tent has got to do.

I work in a crazy place...

But you all figured that out on Halloween when we tormented my boss and all came dressed as cats.

It gets better...one of the girls, who I adore and have worked with forever, has a swim suit in her office that she should have taken back last May.  We were laughing about it, one thing led to another and...

Our boss comes in, shakes his head and leaves.

Jamie has a heater in her office. It is a Pelonis and it dawned on me one day that minus a few letters this could be funny. So I, of course, immediately took out the letters.

At first we'd talk about Jamie's penis in hushed tones... but eventually penis became synonymous for heater.  I borrowed Jamie's penis so often that last week she bought me my own penis.  Thank you Jamie!

We were looking at the pictures and I said I'll call this one -- looking for Jamie's penis

No one saw that it was right there all along... there on the floor. ahaha.

Yesterday we were messing around with Jamie's I-pad and she took this lovely photo of me.  We also discovered that we are 93%  compatible love match.   Don't tell Doug. ; )

And sometimes we even work... but I don't have a picture so I can't actually prove it.

It could have been a rough day...

But it wasn't.  I kept to the high road and this song kept playing in my head -- okay at times I was singing softly to myself-- but, 'Damn, it feels good to be me".

I have to get back in the habit...

My life has been such turmoil lately that there just didn't seem like there was anything to say and I'm not talking Thumper wisdom...



There was just nothing -- nothing at all.  I could have complained about Cybil and how she was turning everyone's lives into a waking nightmare.  Could have been entertaining, but I was living it. The thought of writing about it was just too much.  "Make it stop mommy, the bad lady frightens me"

I had an epiphany yesterday and from that came a sense of calm. I’d been working on trying to find the calm place but to no avail. When a churning mass of doggy do is swirling around you sometimes it is hard to find the center.


As I tip-toed on the egg shells waiting for the next outburst, the next accusation, it dawned on me that I had done nothing wrong, why am I skulking about? I really don’t care what others think or say about me when they are false accusations.

It was then I said, “Thank you Honey.” I had a grandmother who for whatever reason did not like me. I learned to shrug it off. I had done nothing to earn her disapproval, it just existed. That’s her problem not mine.

I always wondered why Honey was in my life. I thought it was so that one day she would marry my Grandpa John, a wonderful man. But now I think it was for just this occasion. I have the ability to say, “No, I wasn’t wrong. You can say anything about me you want—it doesn’t matter. Those that know me will have my back and those are the only people I really care about.

To Cybil: I've discovered there is joy in just letting the shit storm wash over you. I can always shower, but you will have to go through life knowing what a truly horrible person you are to be so destructive.

To Honey: Whatever I did to you in another life… I’d say I’m sorry but hell I’d do it again if it would get me to this point in this one. Thank you.

I'm early... WooT! WooT!!

I'm not done ahaha but I'm done.  50,493 was the official count.  They always give me a few more words than my word counter and that's just fine with me.

What I realized last week some time was that this Nano I actually had two books of a trilogy.  That's okay - Fantasy seems to come in trilogy's.  I'm okay with that.

I'm gonna chop my Nano into two and revise book 1 and 2.  Next Nano if all goes well I'll finish book 3.

I was thinking that there should be 4 books and hit the elements.

Whispers in the North.
Something from the East, West and South.. but ....  ahahaha  I am at least done with Nano.  I must admit to some shameless word padding to get me to this point.  But only in the last day or so.  I am ready to run with the new break down and felt Nano was holding me back.  So I worked on Book One and put THE END in its proper spot and magical, magical I was done.

I have not slept well for days, with some days having no sleep at all and so am a bit incoherent at this point. (Insomnia doesn't hit me often, but when it does...ugh) I am so tired that I am ready to try and find LOL Dogs and yet, if they do exist would they be as funny as LOL Cats?  I am not certain.

ahahah  Okay I looked.  I said, "That's not funny!!!" and then I thought, "But that's so Julie."

I an assured that no cat was harmed in the blah, blah... For you Julie... enjoy.

Closing in on the Red Bar of Doom...

But it is taking a toll on me.



Sorry to be ignoring everyone.  

I'll be back come December 1...

Or perhaps December 2. 

I know, I know... ANOTHER CAT!!
At least this one isn't freaky. Well, at least it isn't freaky to me.

See ya all in another week.

Dad'burn Gombu!!

I am grateful that I had a three day weekend in which to rest, take drugs and basically drool on myself.  It was about all I was good for.  But I am feeling not only better, I have my spunk back.  Over the last few days I've had moments were I felt 'better' but when the option was between computer or bed.  Bed won, hands down.

As for the Red Bar of Doom
(The word count you should be at for the day)

Meet my Red Bar of Doom Kitty -  The picture of this cat has been with me since the first Nano representing the Red Bar of Doom and the fact that it was nearly nipping at my heels. 

However, this Nano the cat seems to be depicting-- if I open my eyes wide enough and look to the distant horizon I might just be able to catch a glimpse of the Red Bar of Doom.

I say to the Red Bar of Doom, "Whatever!  The month is young and I've kept every pom pom waive and cheer given to me and they will see me through. HA!  Take that, Red Bar of Doom!!"

Wishing Day Challenge

It's going on six in the morning right now.  I will exercise with my daughter and then begin the challenge. When you think about it, it is really a crazy challenge, so I suppose one should not think, just write.

The challenge is to write 11,111 words on 11/11/11 - and since it is wishing day, you get bonus points for adding a wish.

In the past I've been able to do these crazy things.  I've done 10,000 in a day before.  Once I took a day off work and I wrote 25,000 words to help give SLC an edge in the word war, I think I did it in 18 hours. So I know I have it in me.  Just need to buckle down and 'get 'er done'.

I'll drop in throughout the day and update it. 

Beginning word count:  13,127 - 6:00 AM
                                   15,538 - 9:30 AM - 
                                   Slow start but there was exercising and breakfast in here too.
oh dear, sickness got me.  Fell asleep and word count suffered.
I'll work on 11,111 for the weekend?
Back to sleep now.

Not a good time to get sick.

I have spent the last couple of days freezing to death or sleeping. Yesterday  I went in to work to get a Rush PR out.  I was just going to go in, get it typed, and go home, but you know how that goes.  Four hours later I finally made good my escape.   I was so cold I cut the fingers out of my gloves so I could wear them. 

Needless to say -- I've fallen behind on my word count.  But it will be good incentive to get caught up this weekend.  And even better incentive to do the 11/11/11 challenge. 

Nano Day 6

On the surface of things it looks as if I've only written about 4,000 words in the last few day.  Not so, I started over, discarding all words prior to Saturday 6,099.
No worries, they are tucked safely away if I need a net. ;)

I convinced a friend to do Nano with me and I decided that I should zero out my word count as a show of support for her starting on Friday, four days behind.  But then I run into the competitive me that doesn't want to fall behind and so... two days and 10,057 words later, I'm right where I should be.

I realize that a lot of Nanoer's do that amount all the time. Later in the month I am generally up to speed, but not by the first weekend.  While it is true we got and extra hour's sleep, that got used up by someone texting me at 10:30 at night to find out if I had a book they could borrow.

Really?  Then the cat went on a rampage because we are denying him the food that makes him sick.  Truly - the cat is pissed and is showing us in ways that only a cat can that he is not happy.  However, his wails of, "But I want to throw up" go unheeded. 

So long story longer, I was pleased that my sleep deprived brain managed it. 
YaY Brain. 
Psst, Brain -- get ready for Friday when you do more than that in one day.  hehehe

The saying goes, 'you've got to give to receive'. 
I gave up 6,000 words but what I got was my story.  I kid you not.  Those words were but a false start and by giving them up, on Saturday when I started with a clean slate... the story flowed. 

**Thank you Universe -- I am grateful for finally finding my story - I feel compelled to alert you to the fact that I'm hanging on to the words, 'cause ya never know.  All words count in Nano and I may or may not choose to use them.  ;)

Nano- Day 3

Things are going much better.  I am pleased with how the story is progressing.

Word count:  6099

It was a crazy day and I haven't made my blog rounds - I'll work on catching up tomorrow.

Learn something new every day...

ahaha I'm still blogging every day... guess it is a habit.

I was looking for SLC vs Elsewhere - a yearly competition that I enjoy. 
Nothing. 
Damn.

I did find a challenge for 11/11/11 They called it 'Wishing Day".
I got curious and come to find out that the 'best time' for wishing is 11:11.  That's kind of cool as I see 11:11 on the time clock at work all the time.  Not sure why I notice that, but I did, so cool.  Now I know to make a wish.  It will be the same wish that I throw at every falling star.  (Meteor-ahaha love you Doug) 

So on 11/11/11 the challenge will be to write 111,111 words.  If you can throw a wish into your story you get bonus points.  Major Awesome!!

Update on the story.
I am happier with what I wrote today - it is still - bunk, but there are nuggets I can work with and I can see how this will move into a real story.  I'm down with that, the story wasn't presenting itself to me and so I'm flying without a parachute.  It's okay.  It's Nano, this is to be expected.

I kept the crap words from yesterday - this is permissible in Nano. Added today's and I am at 4,397.

NaNo - Day 1

If day one is any indication -- we are in for a long and bumpy November.

I broke the fourth wall before I'd even written 1000 words. Okay, well it kind of needed to be said, but ya know, the fourth wall already? What was worse was what I said right before the 4th wall breakage.

Theodore sniffed and said, “I sensed a disturbance in the force.”
Ahahahahah you did NOT just say that. Less than a thousand words and fourth wall breakage already. Lord, this is going to be an interesting Nano.

This is day one there is no excuse.






To make matters worse I was at work and I realized that I left my MC darning socks. My MC is a Sorceress so powerful that her family has been in charge of guarding the portal for thousands of years. I'm thinking that there has got to be something more intriguing out there for her to do - but nope, she's darning her socks.

Once again - Day one. No Excuse.

I'm trying very hard to shake off this lack luster beginning and not delete - it is 1,693 words after all. Since I am at word count for today maybe I will do a little no, no and go fix the mess.


What's the worst that could happen?
I could hurl all over my keyboard rendering it useless - that would be bad.
After re-reading the drivel I could totally give up - that too would be bad.

OR
I could fix it, forgive myself, maybe even gain a few more words.


Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Happy Nano Everyone!!

But before it begins here are the best moments from last night.


To a young boy in a Scream mask I say, "Take a fist full, we have plenty."
He Rocky punches the air and yells to his father, "I got a fist full!!"

A little princess stands at the door in her lovely pinkness, she reaches in daintily to pluck one candy from the bucket.  I say, "Take a fist full."  Dainty hand turns into a claw scooping out a bunch of candy, she deposits it in her bucket, smiles and walks prettily out to her waiting parents.

It was a fun night.

Meow

A make-up artist I am not.  But it's all fun right?  I can hardly wait for the other girls to get here to see what they did.  I sure hope they did...but if not, it won't be the first time I was goofy all by myself.  In fact, it is kind of a daily occurrence for me. ;)

Happy NaNoWriMo Eve

Happy Halloween!!

I have to say that this month has been interesting.  Trying to find 'stuff' to blog about was a challenge. My life is not that interesting.  I applaud those who can do it day in and day out.  However, I don't think that I am one of those people. So I will go back to my typical blogging patterns.  It is a more hit and miss approach, but at least I'm not on the prowl for 'blogger fodder'.

And now without further ado, I'm off to enjoy one last day of freedom before Nano begins.

Getting Ready for Halloween

I work for Preferred Title - Boss hates the word  Pussy and I'm going as a Cat....
I will upload a picture when I can.

Do we not love the 'Naughty Hello Kitty' on my shoulder?

Update - Flock Alert

I saw this and thought of Julie...

A Helpful Hint/Warning

Check your shampoo bottle label.

I don't know WHY I didn’t figure this out sooner!!!!
It’s the shampoo I use in the shower!

When I wash my hair, the shampoo runs down my whole body and (duh!) printed very clearly on the shampoo label is this warning,

*FOR EXTRA VOLUME AND BODY!*

NO wonder I have been gaining weight!!!

Well! I have gotten rid of that shampoo and I am going to start using Dawn dish soap instead.

Their label reads,

*DISSOLVES FAT THAT IS OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE*.

Problem Solved!!!

If I don't answer the phone I'll be in the shower!!!

This was an e-mail I received - I found it funny and had to pass it along.

Follow up

1. Finish stocking up the house.  Check

2. Hair cut? No Hair cut?
Two people said they liked my hair.  Hair cut? Major NO!!

3. Get the car oiled.
Oh gods, the dude did not know what he was getting into.  They changed the oil, did the rotation and some winter check-up thing.  Picked up the car and my 'check engine' light came on for them.  They asked if it had been on.  Thank the gods that Jake was with me - I was blink, blink, blink - what? I am such a freak when it comes to the car.  Suggest it might have issues and I find the fetal position.

Then I'm 'I am going to cry." Because I don't know what is wrong with my car.

Probably nothing... but he felt compeled to tell me.  They reset it and the check engine doesn't show... but what if it comes on again???

Jake says, "and you came in getting this done to make you feel better."
It's true I did.

It is hard to explain the 'freak' that is me over the car.  Suffice it to say ... I should be on medication.

Jake says, "you have AAA.  You have a phone.  You will be fine."
He still called to check up on me.
Have  I mentioned what a gerat kid I have?

Doug and I are going to drive the car all over the place to make sure the light doesn't come on.
Did I mention I have a kick ass husband.
Did I mention he didn't mention how neurotic I am.
Freak.



4. Shoes would be a good thing.
Before the car debaucle I found shoes....

Cute... yes?

5. Clean the house.

eh, working on it.


6. Plot - a plot would be nice.

Still working on that too!!!

Stuff I still gotta do

1.  Finish stocking up the house.

I find it much easier during Nano to have things readily available - important things like, toilet paper, dog treats, cat food, laundry soap and coffee - not necessarily in that order ;)  The goal is to minimize going to the market.  When I do go it is for just a few items that need to be bought weekly.  Get in, get out, get back to writing.

2. Hair cut?  No Hair cut?

I'm vacillating on this one.  I should probably cut it, but my hair is so wacky that a hair cut can turn it into an unruly mass that will take more time to try and tame than it is worth.  I think I've decided then. 
No.  Just say no to hair cut.  But then again...

3.  Get the car oiled.

That little odometer is saying it is time, so I'll get that done this weekend.
(Actually I'm out of washer fluid - funny how that always coincides with needing to change the oil;)
4.  Shoes would be a good thing. 

Despite my best sandal efforts and it does appear to be working as the temperatures are climbing-- I don't see the weather staying sandal worthy for all of November.  Must. Buy. Shoes.

5.  Clean the house.

It will be a month before it sees any serious cleaning happening.  A thorough once over is a good thing.

6. Plot - a plot would be nice.

It is Nano so I know the whole 'no plot, no problem' thing.  But a plot would be nice, just say'n.  I was hoping for a bit of an outline too, but you can't always get what you want.  I have some pretty awesome, quirky characters.  They just can't decide if they want to be serious or silly.

Guess I'll find out on November 1, unless of course the Muse comes a calling and helps just a wee bit before then.  **Oh Muse-y - You can find me at the Jiffy Lube - I'll be stuck there for 30 minutes or so if you'd like to stop by.  Muse?**

Enough blogging, there is work to be done.

Nanowrimo in 3 Minutes

Nano explained for those non-Nano-ites.
I mean really, how could anyone say no to Nano?

Wardrobe Malfunction

We were planning what to wear for Halloween and we came up with cats because my boss has issues with a certain word that cats are sometimes called.   We thought if we all dressed up as pussy cats it would be hilarious.  I'll let you know next week if I still have a job.

At lunch Nan went out to find us ears and we were playing around with them. 

Tell me what's wrong with the picture below?  The girls said they could tell something was off but couldn't figure out what it was until we were looking at the pictures.

I has a sinus condition - it's rude to laugh. ;)



Taking one for Val

I went to lunch with an old friend and she commented on the weather turning cold. 
I said, "I know, I need to get me some shoes." 
She said, "Please don't. As long as one person is still in sandals, perhaps the warm weather will come back."

Okay Val - This one's for you... and because I have nothing to blog about. 

I asked my daughter, "How strange will it look wearing a sweater and sandals?"

She said, "Well, if you're with other crazies you'll be okay."

I said, "I'm just going to work."

She said, "Then you'll be fine."

NaBloMo - Day 25

Must. Be. Desperate.

One Lovely Blog Award

Thank you Murees for the One Lovely Blog Award.

This one has rules... well the other one did as well, but I was having a week and... yeah.

Rule 1 - Thank the wonderful person who gave you the award.

Thank you Murees - Dailiy Drama of an Aspiring Writer.

Rule 2 - Pass the award to 15 other bloggers.

Raige Creations

Jan Morrison

Daily Dodo

Fantasy Nibbles

Drama Dice and Damesons

There's a Place I Dream About

The World is My Oyster

Over Yonder

The Querulous Squirrel

Have You Heard?

Okay - so it's not 15 - but a good start - some of the blogs that I would like to share with you are not playing well with others this morning - or it is our computer - or it is me - which is probably more likely, and some had already received the award. 

Thanks again Murees - I didn't know what to blog about today ;)

You want me to do what?

I am not a good cook of the usual sustenance people consume to keep functioning on a day to day basis.

In my youth I could bake fantastic cookies, pies and goodies delightful. But when it came to dinner, even my brother who would eat almost anything drew the line at my cooking. The sibs would bribe me not to cook. It didn't hurt my feelings. I could bake and at the end of the day when they were begging me to make an apple pie or cookies - what was a measly meal compared to that?

As a mother, I muddled through with the cooking - nothing great but I had fun with it. I would try new things, probably too often - but it is fun to play. Then one day many years ago my children took over cooking Thanksgiving dinner because they couldn't take it any more.  They now slave away in the kitchen and I get to be the one under foot sneaking a bite of this and a taste of that. 

I get it.  I'm okay with that. I know I have a few things that I can cook and no one wants chili for T-Day.  My daughter surpassed me with her potato salad creation - so even my once famed potato salad is no longer a must have. Hers does shine - it is her secret recipe that involves bacon, bleu cheese and way to many egg yolks to be considered healthy.  But when you are eating potato salad heart health is probably the last thing on your mind.

One Christmas I put together a Family Cookbook.  It contained my cookie recipe and coupons to local restaurants.


For our anniversary I teased about making Doug dinner because he always cooks. But I kind of like the man, why poison him?  I told him this laughingly and he said, "Might be kind of nice."

Aha, aha ha ha ... What? Really? O-kay.

So I went on line and found a recipe for stuffed peppers.  Having stated that I don't cook you would think that I would stick to the recipe.  Oh no, not me.  I added this and that and... I was going to have Stavo season it for me, but then it wouldn't be mine and if I was going to poison my man, it should be all me. ;)

How was it?  On a scale of 1-10? eh - maybe a 5.  Nothing to write home about.
I'd say the presentation was good - When you know you suck at something gotta distract with the glamour - and the wine.  Ply them with enough booze and anything tastes good.

How's Doug?
Last I checked, he wasn't twitching or making hurried trips to the bathroom.

Yep.  Warned the man and he still ate.  He loves me.

Sense of humor?

As I mentioned Doug was in the hospital. He needed a prescription, so I wandered to the hospital pharmacy and this is what I saw:

Okay - first off, it is a hospital and anyone who has ever stayed in one or knows someone who has, knows that there is no resting and no peace.

Second - Of all the decorations you could have chosen - That's the one you picked? 

More Random

Okay - it was a crazy day yesterday. Doug was in the hospital for his snozola, seems he likes to breathe and needed help facilitating this function. It was a planned procedure, he's doing well and is recuperating.

I didn't know what to blog about so I typed Random in Google and got this website. It just said Random Facts and I thought okay, that works.

Here you go. 

If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

I would also have enough for a peach ice tea. Alas, I have neither.

President Kennedy was the fastest random speaker in the world with upwards of 350 words per minute.

Wait - What did you say?

The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in jelly.

A sound every mother knows. ;)

Cats sleep 16 to 18 hours per day.

Guinea Pigs aka Penny Kids sleep in 10 minute increments. Learned that from the pig book. Seems they don't want to sleep for too long for fear of being eaten. Imagine that.

The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.

Yep - I can see how that would work marvelously!! Much better than ,"not tonight dear..."

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.

I have one, who has my other???

The Neanderthal's brain was bigger than yours is.

They must have read my blog yesterday. I admitted to the lacking of IQ points, but pointing it out to everyone is a bit rude.  Just say'n.

NaBloMo Day 20

Not a clue what to blog about.  This every day thing is tough.  So I guess it will be random thought day.

Have you ever had one of those days when you wake up and KNOW you've lost IQ points in the night? Well, that was me this morning.  When I was walking Chester my mind wasn't on my story or looking for predators lurking in the dark.  Nope, I was just blissfully walking along noticing the Halloween decorations and commenting on them to Chester. 

I was talking to random cats who listened patiently.  Now generally when I talk to the cats it is Chester's clue to go "Cat? Cat? Where?" waggle, waggle, romp, romp.  Not today, he just kept on sniffing and doing his own thing.  I guess because I'd been prattling on about the decorations Chester had stopped listening.  Typical man!

Exercise is important...

Jess and I exercise in the morning and we noticed that Autumn exercises with us.  I wanted to catch it on film because it is so funny to watch her run around and around.  I was ready to film but she just sat there, waiting.  Jess said, "Maybe I should start walking."  You'll see her feet in the mirror.  Well, that was Autumn's cue and off she went. 

It is a bit dark, but at that time of the morning it was the best we could do.

Her sister Pumpkin Pie had the good sense to stay in bed.

Days to be remembered.

37 years ago I met my husband. 
He asked me out on a date.
I turned him down.

He was patient and asked me out again.  We became high school sweethearts and the rest was history... but not exactly the way you might be thinking.  Sometime during the college years we wandered away from each other, married and raised family's of our own.

We found each other again several years back.
When he thought the time was right he proposed. 
My response, "I'll try."
I had been through a couple of disastrous marriages. Marriage was a bad word.

Now one might think that this would be the end of the road for me... but he is patient and it was an honest response.  He was after all a good man and not the typical bum that seemed to catch my fancy.  Perhaps I'd grown up a bit in the 18 years of raising children on my own. 

We did eventually tie the knot, and it all started almost four decades ago.

Signs

When you don't pay particular attention, the things you read can be pretty funny.

Be Prepared to Stop  -the big orange sign declares in our orange cone infested city.

I saw Prepare to be stopped. I hear it in an overly loud robot kind of voice. Ya know the 'Danger, Danger Will Robinson', robot voice.

Yes, I just dated my self
and
No, I have nothing better to write about.

May tomorrow be more interesting.

Wandering Lady Bugs

I have a collection of nick-knacks -- lady bugs are part of that collection.  I have six.  Sometimes they remain where I put them and sometimes they do not.  The other day I noticed that they were on the move.  I asked them where they were going, if they responded I didn't hear.

In trying to come up with something to blog about I thought the wandering lady bugs might be mildly amusing. 

This is an old picture.  It was rearranged a couple of months back.  Some things stay, some move to other shelves.  What ever feels right is how things get placed.  I'd take a current photo of my desk, but it is in reluctant mode and every  photo I tried to take of it came out dark or blurry.  So I grabbed this old photo from the blog to see if the lady bugs could be seen and this is what I noticed.

They are in basically the same configuration, now.  They didn't start out that way. They all started in the middle crate.  Now three have moved to the left crate, two have moved to the first crate and the little loner bug is out on the doily moving towards my desk.  Every day she gets a bit closer.

Don't ask

I have a saying, If you don't want to know the answer -- Don't ask. The gods have an uncanny way of answering questions that should be left alone.  For example, driving by an auto accident and the cars are in crazy locations.  I think, "Well how....nope, do not want to know."  I then wash it out of the air with a circular motion of my hand.

Yes, I am silly and superstitious.

This morning while Chester and I were walking, from out of the dark a cat tears across the grass and into the bog. Chester is all excited that there is a game a foot and I said, "No, we're not chasing cats today.  What I want to know is what was chasing the cat." Realized what I'd said and immediately said, "No I don't." Washing motion followed.

It's a silly habit I know, but it does have its amusing times too.

Sitting with my son in a coffee shop he said something that was just tempting fate and I immediately started washing it out of the air.  A lady standing in line waved back.

Breast Cancer Awareness

Sorry it is a link, I can't get you tube to play nice today.

It is an awesome video and needs to be watched to the very end.

Breast Cancer Awareness

And that is all I have for today.

Day 13 of NaBloMo

Not a whole lot going on in my brain this morning...

The gremlin's must have been tired from the prior days ruckus.
Coffee filters and coffee were located where I expected them to be, as was the shaker bottle. The computer is up and working fine.  Life is good.

I've been working on NaNo prep and I am quite please with how my character building is coming along. 

The weather is nice, just a bit cool, but sunny and no hint of snow in the near future.

The cats are getting along, Fluffy is actually beginning to act like a nice cat now, for the most part. I've even seen a bit of bonding between Fluffy and Tiger.  Might just be submission on Fluffy's part, but at least it is not fighting.

Cybil is in a happy phase and life with her is, well, sunny.

So I guess all I have to say is: 
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy  --  Snoopy dance -- and enjoy it while it is good.

Thanks, I needed that!

Got home from walking the dog and could not find the coffee filters.
Gone.  They were GONE.
Who hides coffee filters????
I searched and searched and searched.  I pulled a chair over to get a better look inside the cupboard. GONE!! Where could they be?  You can't use a paper towel.  Trust me, I tried that and it ended horribly.

I gave up, put the chair back and that's when I noticed they were sitting by the coffee pot. Well THAT'S not where they belong.  Just say'n.
After my caffeine deprived brain received some of the delicious brown liquid I realized I do have a french press.  No filter required.  >_<

Went to make my protein shake.  Shaker isn't in cupboard where it belongs.  Oh yeah, dishwasher.  Nope.  Someone cleaned out the dishwasher. 
WHERE'S MY FREAKING SHAKER???
(More cupboard banging inserted here)
Found it on the counter top breeze way.
That's not where it belongs either.

Morning was going to hell in a hand basket.  Got on the computer and it decided that it did not want to play. No amount of pleading would get the dang thing to play well with others. 

Now, I'm thinking this is the third thing.  Should it not stop here?

Got to work early so I could at least check my blog and this is what I found.

Laura over at Daily Dodo had given me and four other bloggers an award. 

Thank you!! That was so very nice.

It gets even better, I read her blog yesterday and skipped right over my name on the award list.  That's when I decided that perhaps I do need to follow myself.  I might get lost with out me.

The five people I pass the award to are:

Trisha at Word + Stuff

Delia Moran at well, Delia Moran

Judy at Novel Truths

Cerridwen's Cauldron

and

Julie at Welcome to JulieLand

They are all great blogs and I have enjoyed very much.

Ah the vanity...

I am apparently following myself.  Good to know since I might, like, forget or something.

I don't know what the heck I did, or how I managed that one.  Normally there is a screen that pops up and confirms your choice.  Technology loves to laugh in my face. 

"Ah Ha!! Try and undo that one, you wascally wabit!"

Good news is:  I didn't know what to blog about today.
Bad news is: This is all I have to blog about today.

Now I'm off to try and de-friend myself.

Happy Tuesday everyone.
= )

MuseCon

What a week.  The Muse Online Writers Conference  was totally awesome this year.  It is good every year but this year was major wow. 

My favorite classes were taught by Karina Fabian.  She has such a fun sense of humor and took the time to give feed back, ask questions and encourage everyone in the class.  I took three classes from her, Developing a Unique Voice, Zombies and Monsters and Pixies - All Mine, and my favorite, Torturing Your Characters for Fun and Plot-Fit. Bwahhahaha.

Another class that I enjoyed was taught by Marne Ann Kirk.  It was Keeping Track of your World:  How to Create a Story Bible.  She had so many great ideas for how to put together not only a tangible Story Bible, but she showed us how to put together a word document so we can have one on our computer. Click on the heading and magical, magical you are transported to that page, even if it is page 115.  I'm computer challenged, but her handout walked me through and the few questions I had were answered, easy, peazy, lemon squeezy.  This is an awesome tool.

Those are the two teachers that stood out the most for me.  Though they are all great.  The time and energy they put into the conference is amazing. 

Some random things I learned this week.

Praying to the porcelain god does work.  No, no, not like that.  Right at the beginning of conference my toilet started to run s l o w  - #$##!! I have no time for plumbers.  I googled slow toilet and got a bizarre suggestion. One that was so bizarre I thought it might work.  Dish soap in the bowl, a pan/bucket of hot water.  One said boiling, one said hot as boiling could crack the porcelain.  I went with hot.  After soaping the bowl, pour the hot water from waist height.  Rinse, repeat.  Well that was what I did.  That and a whole lot of praying.  Every time I'd flush, 'please, please, please'.  Thank you Porcelain God!!


If you stuff your face with carbs in place of good snacks, @$$ grows.
If you eat dinner right before falling into bed at night, @$$ grows.
If you are too pressed for time to fix a proper lunch and eat out every day, @SS grows.
Next year I will put a little more thought into the food portion of the conference.

I also learned how wonderful it is to sleep.  Last night I woke up a little before 2:00 and thought, I gotta get up.  Then I realized I didn't.  I fell back to sleep and my body thinks I'm awesome. Though the sleep deprivation had its fun moments.  I said and did a few things at work that will make me giggle for years.

Learned a little bit about writing too.

Engaged

Stavo asked for permission to marry my daughter.

Well actually he said, "I want to let you know I'm going to ask your daughter to marry me."
First I said, "Congrats!!" and then I said, "Hey wait, aren't you supposed to ask permission?"
He said, "That's what I'm doing."
I said, "No, that was a statement."  Then I laughed and told him I was just giving him a hard time. He knows I'm an odd duck and wants to officially join this family anyway.  Silly boy.

I asked him when he was going to ask her and he said,"When the leaves fall."

For three weeks I've been trying very hard to keep my mouth shut.  Stavo's been agonizing over the ring.  He had it special ordered and he might not get it in time for the autumn leaves. He found them a nice room down at the Sundance Resort and then that fell though. Conflicting plans. He's been going crazy, sneaking around making all these preparations.  It was good to go for this weekend and then we had that cold front that came through dumping snow in them thar hills. But the rain/snow abated and the kids were able to head off to look at the fall colors.

They went on the Alpine Loop,  took the tram up to Bridal Veil Falls, took the back road over to Park City where they spent the night.  At least that was his plan when he left here yesterday.

I did get a text letting me know that they were engaged. So at least that part when according to plan. ;)

They are a cute couple and 5 1/2 years ago Jess spied him across the room at a friends house and said, "Mine!"  They've been together ever since.

Blinkety Blanks

You know, when the cursor just sits there blink, blink, blink and the mind is totally blank.

Okay, random thoughts for the day:

I thought a lot about yesterday's post. I didn't mean to come off sounding judgmental about the poor gal who struggled with her assignment for three days before turning it in. For me it was more a knee jerk reaction to the thought that well, I don't know, that I should have been worried? I have shed that skin and didn't want a reminder that it was part of my past.

I am glad the work week is over.  I'm glad I have two days left in the conference and two days where I can concentrate on that and only that.  Well, maybe some house work, a week of neglect around here is not a good thing. At night I come home, ignore it and head straight to my desk.   But if I'm going to be here all day -- I don't think my blinders are that good. 

There's a phobia for that?

Fear of Showing First Drafts

No, no, no.  I have enough issues without adding another. Seriously, do not need another.

Over at MuseCon I noticed that a lot of the assignments people are posting are from things they've already written.  They are using the conference to tighten their prose.  While I have this vague idea that I want to do for Nano and I'm using the conference to try and flesh it out. 

So my assignments haven't been through the editing process. Not even the let it rest and come back to it process.  I do let my assignments percolate all day while I'm at work and then when I get home I bang them out. I do the best work I can in the time I allot to the assignment, but what I turn in is still rough around the edges.

One of the students finally posted an assignment from the first day of class.  She'd worked on it for three days before sharing and she apologized for the tardiness but she had:  FEAR OF SHOWING FIRST DRAFT.
Wait, what? I was supposed to be afraid?
But, but, this is class. Teacher, student, learn, grow. 

I thought of one assignment I turned in.  I just could NOT get it to work for me. I tried and tried, but the scene was just awful.  It hadn't dawned on me to not turn it in.  I was excited to throw it on the teachers desk and flee the class room. I did put a warning on the top of my lesson that it sucked. I knew she would take the mess and help me sort it out.  She's the teacher, it's her job.

She walked me through the process, showed me where I could improve and it is knowledge I would not have had I not just put it out there. 

So I say NO to fear of showing first drafts.
A resounding no!!
(And let's face it, if I had that fear I'd never, ever be able to post a blog. ;)

And I slept in until 3:30 so I don't have a lot of tme to blog before classess.

This still counts as a blog post for NaBloMo, right??

Grandma's China

*This blog goes under the catagory 'Stupid things you should never admit*

But hey, 31 blogs in 31 days?  Well, some stupid stuff is gonna get said.  Just say'n.

Bavarian China.  Fancy stuff I suppose. What do I know about fancy?  It sits unused in the cupboard even on Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving isn't about fancy, it is about family and eating too much. Watching stupid movies and telling bad jokes.  Did I mention eating too much?

When I was younger T-Day happened at my house. Every year my parents came across the valley to eat my bad cooking.  Maybe I was the only ones to invite them, I can't fathom eating my cooking if there were other offers on the table.  I didn't have matching dishes, who could afford that?  I went to Good Will and bought a plate here, a bowl there and ended up with an eclectic array of awesome dishes. 

Those days are behind me.  My dishes now match.  Hadn't really thought about it until all the silver cat bowls began disappearing.  I was looking around for something small that I could put cat food in for the porch kitties and I had a choice between three small bowls, remnants of the eclectic days, or my Grandma's china.

Suffice it to say Grandma is flopping about in her grave.
It's okay Grandma, nothing got broken.... I won't do it again.
Probably.

The smaller bowl is Grandma's.  See, even in size it made sense.