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it's October first and that means it's time for farms. That's what we call it in our family. Farm time. Since I had the luxury, or perhaps the insanity, to homeschool my kids, we were always going on a field trip because that's so much more interesting than sitting at the kitchen table doing schoolwork. I even wrote a book on it called Day Tripping.
One of our favorite field trips was farm time. Of course, my children being city slickers have no idea what it's like to actually live on a farm. It means getting up before school to thaw out your horse's water, feeding the damn chickens and stepping in chicken crap,changing irrigation pipes--twice a day-- cows getting out, pigs getting out, weazles getting the eggs, coyotes getting the lambs... yeah..Farm life. Dirty, smelly, far from romantic, farm life.
No, my children think farm life is bright crisp apples, petting zoo's, hay rides, fresh produce, and picking out pumpkins. And that is exactly the way I wanted it, because I was NEVER going to live the reality again. No sir, not me!
Ahem.
But we do love farm time. That means we get to visit pretty picturesque farms, go through hay and corn mazes, taste apples, listen to music and wander through gift stores. It means I get to come home to my snug suburban home and decorate with fall decorations while my now teens enjoy it like little kids, setting bowls of Indian corn about the house, tying up stalks of dried corn for the front porch... we pretty much go all out and have for years.
I wish they enjoyed raking leaves half as much.
So I'm not a list making girl, but I make them because I can't survive without them. There's just too much to do and I have too little brain left after the radiation. (Not that I had that much brain to begin with!)
But now I am drowning in them.
I have master launch list which includes things like get postcards printed, finish up press releases, send out bookplates, and don't throw up.
Then there is blog launch party list which includes things like, send master guest list to web guy, write up announcements, gather door prizes and don't throw up.
Then there is launch party list for deaf school, which comprises of things like, order balloons, pick up gift cards, prepare talk, and don't throw up.
Oh, and the personal list which has things like clean out litter box, fill up the gas tank and pick up anti nausea medicine for the launch.
List upon lists, but am I getting everything done? That depends. I think at this point, I'm spending more time making the lists than actually following up on the lists!
YIKES!
Got lots to say, but will try not to bore.
First up, my fellow 2k8 classmate, Debbie Reed Fischer, is celebrating the launch of her book, Braless in Wonderland. This is her debut book and the cover is gorgy. You can give her some love here.
Second, I downloaded and printed out the RWA conference overview. I am so, so, so excited. Been cruising the flights and am just about to book one. I am taking a shuttle to the hotel and I really, CANNOT wait!
I have decided to lose a bunch of weight before the conference. Will keep you posted on how that goes.
Found the perfect prom dress for the darling daughter who will be going to two proms this year! And yes, she will use the same dress for each one and yes, we did find it on super sale. She is scary beautiful in it.
My son is taking his driver's test this week and do you have any idea how much time that is going to save me a day??? Woot!
Okay, that's it for now! Happy Monday people!
*Wake children up with the patience of a saint and make sure they get off to school or started on their homeschool work. (I admit to screaming at my teenage daughter. That scene in Freaky Friday where Jamie Lee Curtis is pulling a comatose Lindsey Lohan out of bed? That's for real)
*Look over that day's to do list, while making coffee, baking up breakfast, Getting dressed (looking together, mind you, not in track pants and a holey t-shirt)
*Do that day's work which includes, making your bed so you have a nice place to relax with your significant other at days end, dishes, planning meals, grocery shopping, straightening up the house, doing some yard work if need be, (I live in Oregon and it always needs be) juggling the calendar,(remember birthdays!) driving, driving, driving, laundry, and errands. And that doesn't include your oh-so-fulfilling career.
*Also, don't forget relational care like spending time alone with and nurturing each child, having a fulfilling romantic relationship with your spouse and having girl time with your best friends. (And I don't think that a rushed thirty minutes for coffee where you both bitch as quickly as you can, counts. Sorry Ann:)
*Don't forget self care such as getting an hour of exercise daily, meditation/devotionals or some other spiritual fulfillment, looking your best, flossing your teeth, taking off your makeup every night before bed, and have I forgotten anything? Oh, right, scheduling your mammagram, pap, and teeth cleanings. Hair appointments, and brow appointments
All that is doable right? Notice it doesn't say anywhere in that list, downtime to watch The Biggest Loser and American Idol. I need my reality TV.
As a side note, not really relevant to anything, but don't you hate it when you can't find your book? I was reading a book while eating lunch yesterday afternoon and couldn't find it when I went to go to bed last night. I swear, I was ready to kill! KILL I tell you!
Writing wise, I am kicking butt. After spending three weeks on chapter two of Laguna, I spent Saturday writing and finishing chapter three. Go figure. Maybe it really was just a tough place and not my secret inability to string words together.
Maybe I'm not losing it! I still have quite a bit of polishing to do, but hope to have it out to my agent by next Monday.
Promotion wise, I am not kicking so much butt. I still have to start my contacts data bases (detail work that I hate),plus, I need to follow up and make sure that my school people got an arc. I need to figure out a way to do my own website updates, etc. I am also pretty bummed that I can't do RSS feeds from here to my MySpace or blogger without doing a lot of frightening techie stuff that makes me sick to my stomach to think about. No bueno.
Home wise, I am still working on my bid for the most improved Martha Stewart/Bri Van De Kamp clone. House is clean, cupboards are getting organized and for dinner Saturday night, I created fabulous chicken and black bean quesadillas from Friday night's orange roasted chicken leftovers. Served with mango salsa and icy cold microbrew beer and you have a meal fit for TV.
Friend wise, I had a good weekend as well. Had coffee yesterdday morning with my fabulous CP Kerry Blaisdell and then went back to the same coffee shop several hours later to have coffee with a new friend, a young YA writer who just moved back to the area from New York.
I was uncomfortably caffeinated, but recovered now.
Who wrote the album I used for my title?
Secret Countdown: 184
- Mood:accomplished
This is another patchwork quilt of blogs. The closest I'll ever get to actually making a quilt because I don't sew and have no desire to do so. (Does that mess up my Bri Van De Kamp/Martha Stewart aspirations?) So here goes:
1) Apple Crisp for breakfast is always welcome.
2) I love my agent. Enough said. No, wait. I need to say it again. I love my agent. Jenny Bent is a rock star. There. Done now.
3) Rachel Vincent absolutely rocks. I got a hold of an arc of Rogue and it blew my mind the F&%$ out. Left me almost speechless. I will tell you one thing... it is far more complicated and heart pounding than the first one. Several surprises. Lurve those werecats. You must buy this book. Preorder the sucker. Trust me. 
4)Internet scandals blow up quickly. Hope they die down just as quickly. Oy.
5)The Grammys. Amy Winehouse? PUL-ease! My daughter and I were discussing it this morning and I accidentally committed musical terrorism and sang a few lines of Rehab which then got stuck in my daughter's head. Since she detests the song, she was pretty upset about it. So we hummed Gilligan's Island until Rehab went away. See, Gilligan's Island will clear out your mind, but is inoxious enough that it leaves on its own. Rodgers and Hammerstein Show tunes do the same thing. Just so you know.
6) In order to continue on my quest for perfection, I went through my family and work files and reorganized. My dh has the big important home and fmaily files... I generally take care of school stuff, classes, scheduling etc. Instead of having a file for each child, I bought a couple of big binder, put their name on the back and put everything in there. That left me a lot of room to expand my work file into the "home" file underneath it. I got all of last year's tax stuff together and ready to go over and made room for this years tax stuff which was on the top of my desk in untidy piles. I also bought a rotating desk organizer! I love it! I'm now tidy and organized, except I am thinking I need another binder for all the fabulous Internet recipes I'm amassing. 
Off to work! Oh, and I saw the band who put out that album twice. Who is it?
