I’m on eBay!! 

Sometimes it’s the little things that make you go insane. The things that are really and truly inconsequential that make you want to scream.

I had such a day on Thursday. It seemed that all the little things in the world just grated on my last nerve.

I did have lunch with Best Good Friend and we laughed and I signed her copy of my book.

Picked up the boy last night and he was in one of those moods.

I so wanted wings for dinner but when you have a 5 year old, that’s a meal they’re just not all that interested in. So we ended up at McDonald’s (blech) instead. I was so bad and had a quarter pounder and it left a nasty taste in my mouth all night. That’s the thing about McDonald’s.

Once we were in the car I told him he better wipe that sour look off his face if he expected to get a Happy Meal out of me. Aren’t I a mean mamma? Anyway, he did. And then he was happy.

We watched Spider-Man 2 and then he did some computer time while I rewrote my manuscript. And he was happy.

We’ve read all our Magic Tree House books so we didn’t have any new ones to read and he was restless with not having a book. I guess this weekend I’ll visit B&N and see about getting #4 and #6 (we have #5). That will keep us reading for a couple of days anyway.

Then he decided he wanted to sleep in my bed and I told him no and made him go get in his own bed in his own room. He put on the sour look again. And then he didn’t want to talk to his dad on the phone, which of course went over like a lead balloon.

sigh

Got some pages done on MAGIC. It’s slow and steady but I am making good progress there. I can’t believe there is only one more day of June left. Where did the year go?

This weekend we’re off to the movies. I gave him a choice: Fantastic 4, Surf’s Up, or Ratatouille. I’m hoping for Fantastic 4 myself.

Happy Friday, ya’ll! And stay dry!

Hey – yo! I’m blogging over there today so why don’t you stop by and impart your wisdom there?

I swear. I sick of rain. That’s all it does anymore. And ALL the rivers and creeks are about to swell out of their banks around here.

Swell.

It rained again today. And is suppoed to rain tomorrow and the next day. In fact, we’re supposed to get more rain through the weekend and possibly the beginning of the week. It’s not looking good for 4th of July fireworks. Hopefully things will dry out before then.

I have large puddles under my hedges in the front of the house. The grass already needs to be mowed again – and I just did it on Saturday!

Got some work done on MAGIC today. Three more chapters edited, in fact. I have the next three printed and ready to go. That will be for tomorrow.

Not much else happening in my world. Don’t forget to stop by Chicas tomorrow. It’s my blog day there.

I swear, I think we’re going to drown this summer. It’s certainly been a wet one! And just when I was thinking I would only have to mow about once a month. HA! Was I wrong. I actually have to do it about once a week. Damn rain.

It’s okay though I guess. Keeps the yard lush and green. Even hough I wish it would die so I wouldn’t have to mow and fight with the weedeater.

Long day today. Tired. Had some interesting news in a developing situation that’s been going on for a while. Looks like I am closer to a final decision which is good but more on that later.

The DSL is still giving me fits. I don’t know if it’s all this rain or what but I’m really damn tired of it. I just want it to work like it’s supposed to dammit. I’m seriously considering switching to cable modem, but then my email address will change and that always sucks. Dammit.

Drove home in a torrential downpour – and I mean torrential. I could hardly see through the windshield much less three feet in front of me. I hated it. But I got from Point A to Point B with no problems…and on gas fumes to boot. I made it home though and got gas with the Sweetie Boy who read his Spiderman comic book in the back seat. Aloud. My gosh it was cute.

I started back working on MAGIC and it felt good. I know what’s wrong with the first chapter FINALLY. Hell it only took me five years. Anyway. It definitely needs more internal from my heroine. There’s a lot of action and dialogue but not much else. So I was glad to get that epiphany. I’m just going to keep on keeping on with that book.

I still expect edits back for BREAK and I should be starting NICE GIRLS DO very soon too. It’ll be nice to get back to true smut.

And you’re right, Dev. I do need a vacation – I’m thinking Vegas, baby, Vegas! Brother and Best Good Friend want to go too. Now if I could just convince The Man to go, it’ll all be good…

Anyhoo. I think I’m going to start blogging at night these days. That way I can wrap up my day and all you folks can read it the next morning. I have a raging headache and neck pain from sleeping wonky last night. So it’s off to have a glass of wine and a nice hot pad for the neck. And then I’m off to bed to read Candace Haven’s book.

Suddenly…the fatigue just hit me!

Today was a particularly down day for me. It was one of those days that I didn’t want to be anywhere and I certainly didn’t feel like being cheerful.

At lunchtime, I had to run an errand to the bank, so I swung by to see my Sweetie Boy. Getting a hug and a kiss from that sweet baby made it somewhat better.

Work was fine. Nothing of note happened there, not that there is anything of note that ever happens there. It’s just the Day Job, after all.

I’m pretty tired after the weekend and especially after doing NOTHING all day yesterday. I made a batch of brownies, ate half the pan, drank half a pot of coffee and had a Sex and the City marathon. By the time 9 o’clock rolled around though, I was thoroughly bored. So I went to bed and finished reading Witch Fire (good book by the way).

And I’m still having a hard time decided what to blog about. It’s odd really. I always have something to say, but lately…not so much. (I mean in the blog of course.)

I’ve been toying with what my next project should be and I think I’ve finally decided. The first MAGIC book has been calling me. So I’ve decided to polish it up and submit it to Samhain.

The funny thing is…even though I’m dying to sell another manuscript, I’m just not interested in doing much of anything writing wise. I still have two more books to go through edits with the publisher but then after that, I’ve nothing new on the schedule. So I decided the MAGIC book would be the perfect next book…and mostly because it’s already finished. hehe

No weedeater fights tonight. I took it easy. And now I’m off to watch more Sex and the City. But hey – I’m nearly done with Season Four!

I’m tired. I think I over-did it yesterday.

Friday night I prepped for painting on Saturday. It involved taking down all the pictures in the living room and moving some of the furniture. I got the paint, ladder, and other painting accessories together in the living room so all I’d have to do start.

I got up early Saturday morning and did just that. I got the one big wall painted in the living room. The name of the color is Cake Batter and it’s a very faint cream color. I really love it. It’s such a contrast to the stark white that was on the walls and seems to cool off the room. Is that weird?

It didn’t take me long to get it done, but now of course I want to do the rest of the walls.

I figured since I was done and it was still fairly early in the day, I’d weedeat the backyard. Which, of course, meant I fought with the stupid thing AGAIN. And just when I’m about to give up completely on it, it starts. Go figure.

Got that done and then I got ambitious – I decided to mow. But in the process of mowing, I got ticked off at the tree limbs hanging over the fence from the neighbor’s hard and got my hedge trimmers and whacked ‘em all back. They were hanging nearly to the ground!

Of course I still had the yard to mow which nearly killed me but I got it done.

Just ground coffee beans – someone gave me some whole beans from Hawaii – and baked a batch of brownies. Think I’ll go have a cup of coffee (it smells divine) and a snack.

I suppose the summer months have ushered folks to other tasks – things to do with the kids, the family, vacations, etc. There hasn’t been a lot of activity on any of the blogs I post on. But if you want to read a rather sordid post by me, check out the Chica blog. I forgot to plug is yesterday. I’m a Loser.

Wednesday night I decided to try out my new weedeater. I hadn’t used it before. So I put the oil & gas mixture into the tank. Then read the instructions. I pumped the bulb 10 times like it said. I made sure the lever was on Position 1. I pulled the started 5 times like it said. Moved it to Position 2 and pulled. And pulled. And pulled. And pulled. And pulled.

The MFing thing wouldn’t start. I tried for about 30 minutes and then gave up. I mowed the front yard instead and near fained from exhaustion. It takes a lot out of me to mow.

Thursday night, I decided to try again. I cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, settled the kiddo in, and then went out into the garage. I pumped the bulb 10 times like it said. I made sure the lever was on Position 1. I pulled the started 5 times like it said. Moved it to Position 2 and pulled. And pulled. And pulled. And pulled. And pulled.

Again, the MFing thing wouldn’t start. In a fit of frustration, I kicked it. Then I called my brother. I tell him I can’t get it started with a string of colorful metaphors involved. He tells me to keep trying and that it was a total bitch the first time. Yeah. No kidding.

So I hang up. I pull the effing starting a couple of more times and it starts. Finally.

The effing thing.

But then I have string issues because I don’t really kno what the hell I’m doing. So I turn it off an call Brother back. He tells me how to fix the problem and I tell him I suck at this kind of stuff which elicits a chuckle.

Luckily, I have a sense of humor.

By this time I have sweat pouring into my eyes and down my back. I hate summer. I hate yard work. I hate owning a house.

I hang up and get back to the effing weedeater from HELL. I fix the string but can’t get the MFing thing started again. I keep trying and finally it starts. I weedeat around the edge of the house and the fence. And it occurs to me that I really should be wearing long pants instead of shorts. But at this morning, I really don’t care since the thing is working.

I get it all done but I don’t have the energy to do the backyard like I had intended.

I still hate yard work.

Back inside, it’s nice and cool and I guzzle my glass of iced tea. I’m hot and tired. But I sure love my house.

Oh…and I’m painting the living room this weekend. HA

It is Thursday right?

Anyway – last night AFI did their top 100 movies of all time. Citizen Kane made #1 again (Go, Rosebud!). So for a Thursday Thirteen, I thought I’d do my own top 13 movies of all time. These are really in no particular order – just how I thought of them.

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark – I’m making this up as I go along
2. The Empire Strikes Back – I just as soon kiss a Wookie
3. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King – For Frodo!
4. Pirates of the Caribbean – Savvy?
5. The Princess Bride – What about the R.O.U.S.s?
6. Casablanca – We’ll always have Paris.
7. Gone With The Wind – I don’t give a damn!
8. French Kiss – fester, fester, fester, rot, rot, rot
9. Independence Day – Welcome to Earth!
10. Monsters, Inc. – Using mainly spoons…
11. The Fifth Element – Multi-Pass
12. While You Were Sleeping – Cesar Romero was tall.
13. Phantom of the Opera – All I Ask of You

Got a Thursday Thirteen or a favorite movie? Post it here.

I guess I have nothing to blog about. Shocking, isn’t it? I’m usually full of words.

I suppose I’m still trying to recover from finishing the book and the weekend. It’s been a hectic last two weeks or so. I’m in the process of trying to decide what to work on next. I have a plethora of unfinished manuscripts to choose from.

Anyway. I’ll be back tomorrow. If I have something to say that is. haha

I don’t know why the weekends go so fast. Especially when you have a weekend where you’re looking forward to doing something special…it comes…it’s over… and then all you have left are memories and photographs.

Yesterday I went to Mom’s for dinner and had yummy steaks on the grill. I was so stuffed. Two rich meals in a row just about did me in.

We had a bad storm last night that rolled through at midnight. It poured down rain for an hour, with lots of thunder and lightning. I got up and unplugged all the computers because I didn’t want to lose them.

This morning, early, I got up and worked out for an hour. It felt great. I always feel good after doing the workout. I’m still sore from painting the bedroom ceiling. It looks great, though.

I hung up a shelf yesterday too in my kitchen for all my recipe books. They were stacked on the counter and driving me insane. I found this shelf at Target on clearance for $13 so I figured what the heck. It works beautifully and matches my decor. I love it. AND it gets the books up off the counter. Of course, I had to rearrange all my coffee pictures for the kitchen, but… oh well. It looks nice.

This weekend I’m going to try and paint the living room wall. Just one wall, though. If I go any further, I’ll end up painting the entire living room, the entryway and the hallway. And I don’t have that much paint. hehe I still need to paint the office.

The house is really coming along nicely and mainly because I’m such an over-doer. I have to get things done! This is the year of the paint I guess. It’s really not bad progress for being in the house 9 months.

The Sweetie Boy has an eye appointment this morning so I best run.

Dinner was fun last night and we had a super server. He ordered for us – brought us all kinds of appetizers and about seven different entrees. The captain’s table was totally cool. Having never sat at one, it was loud. We had to yell over the clanging dishes to talk to each other. And Mom wanted whatever was on fire. (The Man said it was just a wok haha) But the total experience was great.  And I drank one too many martinis. We also had dessert – about four different kinds – and I ended up coming home with nearly a whole piece of chocolate cake. Like I need that in my fridge!

I woke up at 5 am for some unknown reason. It was super annoying because all I wanted to do was sleep. I got up, guzzled some water, and then went back to bed. I tossed and turned for an hour and finally drifted off about 6.

I woke up to the patter of rain…and 9 am! Got up, had coffee, and finished painting the bedroom ceiling. Then I did touchups on one wall… and then I nearly passed out from hunger pains. I slammed some turkey and cheese and now I’m sitting here typing this.

The ceiling looks good but it was a total pain to do. My arms, necks and shoulders are sore. And I have bruises all over my legs from moving the ladder. Ah well. Guess I won’t be wearing a skirt any time soon.

I’m off to Mom’s later this afternoon for dinner.

Tonight, Best Good Friend is throwing a dinner party for Brother’s birthday at The Man’s restaurant. We get to sit at the captain’s table and I’m SO excited about it! I got my hair cut and my toes done for the occasion. My mommy’s going too. Of course, I don’t want to look good for Brother cos that would be weird. HA

Yesterday I was in traning all day for Dreamweaver and can I just say this is the coolest program EVER? I want to go back and take Lvl 2 and 3. The lvl 1 class was very basic, though, and I didn’t come away learning a lot. I could have figured all that out on my own just playing in the program. Anyway, it was a good class.

I’ve rewritten the book blurb for the website. Well, I even had help on that. Gaw, how pathetic. But at least it’s done and as soon as it’s polished I’m going to turn that in.

Can I tell you how relieved I am it’s done?

Anyway… last night I tackled painting the bedroom ceiling. I DO NOT recommend it. It’s a gigantic mess. Even though the ceiling looks really damn good. I still need to do the edging but I gave out last night. I was too tired to continue. The Sweetie Boy fell asleep at 7! So I had the whole evening to wander through the house – that’s when I decided to paint.

He crawled in bed with me sometime or another and then a few hours later woke me up. “Mom, I’m hungry and thirsty.” He didn’t have dinner since he slept right through it. So we got up at 3:45 am and got juice and then went back to bed.

This morning, we got up and finished reading Night of the Ninjas and then had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I’ve done two loads of laundry and am about to hit the shower becuase I have to run up to the office and get my work computer – which I forgot.

Tomorrow, I’m off to Mom’s for another birthday dinner for Brother – he’s getting the royal treatment lately.

And now for something completely different:

For some laughs, read Voodoo’s Army of Princesses post here and her Release It Into The Wild post here. With Voodoo, hilarity definitely ensues.

And if you’re single and want to share your thoughts, Ames is blogging about that here and here.

That’s it for me. I’m off to shower!

Hey I’m over at Chicas today! Stop on by if you can. 

I’m back! Did you miss me? Probably not, eh?

I finished the book finally! It was truly an experience. I started working on it hard and heavy about two weeks ago and wrote a chapter a night for the first half of the book. The second half of the book was just mainly revision but it had some new material added as well. And I cut about 20,000 words! The final count ended up around 65,000.

Lessons Learned
It’s been a total learning experience. I learned a lot about my writing process, especially under pressure. It seems I work better that way. Plus I had some great folks cheering me on – and one in particular that wouldn’t allow me to take the easy way out for my characters. EVER. She was tough but I totally appreciate it and I feel really really good about the book. A lot better than I would have if I had just fixed the glaring errors, thrown it out there and said done.

I learned that even in the darkest hour, there is still hope. I had some hopeless moments, though. Some moments where I just thought I couldn’t do it. But I made myself dig in and keep going, even though I wanted to sit and cry and totally give up. I’m really glad I didn’t.

I learned I can stay up until midnight, get up and go to the Day Job the next day, and then come home and do it all again.

I learned it’s sometimes easier to edit material you already have than to write from scratch.

I learned to always backup your work! Every day! Even if you think is a pain in the ass and not necessary. I had numerous problems with my Word Documents becoming corrupt. Luckily, I had a backup and I had separated each chapter into a seperate file. I am so thankful I had the forethought to backup every night when I finished writing. It totally saved my life on more than one occasion.

I learned you really do need a bulletin board where you can tack up pictures of people and places and things to represent your book. It really DOES work!

I learned never let your characters off the hook so easy. It’s okay if they go to hell and back. As long as they come back.

I learned to never EVER write a story without an outline/plot/structure/synopsis ever again.

I learned it’s vital to have folks who support you even if they just say, “You can do it!”

I hope I come away from this whole experience as a better writer, a stronger writer. A writer who knows that she CAN do it.

I’ve written every single day for the last two weeks and it’s felt delicious. I’ve been doing some hard thinking about my future and my career and I’m getting ready to make some decisions. I’m going to draw up a business plan for myself and set career goals, not necessarily with time limits involved. I’m going to write every day. Yes, every day. And NOT in the blog.

This is the commitment I want to make to myself. And no one can make me do it but me. It’s like making the commitment to exercise – you do it anyway, even if you don’t want to.

I understand that so much better now!

I finished the book last night, thank the maker. I’m going to give the second half one more read through today and then it’s off to the editor – SIX days early. YAY!

I’ll be back tomorrow with my regular post entry.

…drink another pot of coffee!

Just popping in for a quick update. I’m this close to finishing the book. I expect I’ll have it done by early to mid next week. Thank the maker.

And if I don’t…well…anyone got a sword handy? Cuz I’ll need to be falling on it…