What I'm up to right now.

Fall has finally arrived here in North Georgia. Or at least it feels like it. The mornings are in the 50's and the afternoon/evenings are in the 80's. It's absolutely perfect! I open the windows and it cools the house all day long. I love it!

This is the second week of school for my younger two girls, and the oldest has been in college for a month now. Everyone seems to be settling in quite well. My house is quiet and MUCH cleaner. LOL. I've used the last week and a half to get my house back in order from the chaos that is summer break.

Now.... NOW.... It's finally time to get back into MY world. It's time to knock out a couple of books, plan some giveaways, prepare for my next conference, and submerge myself into my fictional worlds. I've missed them so these last four month!

On the personal front, this is the time of year when I schedule all my yearly check-ups. Yesterday I had my very first dermatologist head-to-toe look for suspicious mole activity. The doctor removed three of them. Eek!! I should hear back about the biopsies in the next two weeks. My grandmother passed last year from melanoma so me, my sister, and my mother figured it was time to have a once over. It just happened to be my turn yesterday. I now have Band-Aids on my left shoulder, left thigh, and right hip. Two of the three are places that never even see the sun!

Work-related, I have lots planned for the next few months. I have blog posts planned for you, a few newsletters, and of course opportunities to win goodies and free books. Stay tuned for more to come!  :)

Life Continues to Roll On

SXC.hu: ShadowRave

Hey there, blog Peeps! I want to warn you up front that this entry may be a bit long winded. You've been warned! :)

First, let me start off by saying that yes, I am fully aware that I've missed yet another release date for To Kill a Demon (Liz Baker, bk 6). I promise it's getting there, but there's no way in hell I'll put it out into the world in less than the condition I expect it to be in. My writing time has been nonexistent; my family will always come first. Plus, my editor is having her own family issues and has been MIA lately.

Usually I try mot to ever schedule a book release, or plans of writing a book when my kids are out of school for summer break. My writing time is when they're in school. That has always worked out, but somehow this year just didn't work the way I wanted it to, and I was stuck with an unfinished novel when school let out.

UGH!

So here I am, the end of July is here and the book still isn't complete. My kids only have one month of summer break left and then I'll move forward from there. I probably only need like two more weeks to get this sucker in tip-top shape, and then send it to the editor. Then back cover blurb, and it's ready to go. It's just getting to the point where I have two weeks of uninterrupted work time to get it finished.

I like where the story has gone, and I know exactly how it will end. It's just getting the time to sit and write it all without the phone ringing or a kid screaming.

Oh, and I've been dealing with tenants, and the selling of one of my rental properties. That's stressful enough as it is. Fingers crossed the rental property sells soon and the rest of my current tenants behave themselves. :) Tim and I are tired of being landlords and are hoping to slowly bring our count down to just one rental property (his parents' house).

I've also helped my mom get her new accounting business started. I'm planning a remodel on our fifth wheel RV, and putting new flooring down and painting the inside of our own house. And if you'll stop by my other blog you'll see all the canning I've been doing this summer http://crazyhomesteading.blogspot.com/  Not to mention, my oldest daughter will be a senior in high school when school starts back, BUT she's also a dual enrollment student at the college in the next town, which starts on August 11th. She still doesn't have her own car (since she wrecked the one I bought her), so I'll either have to drive her so I won't be car-less, or I'll have to be car-less and let her drive my van. We also have to do a few more college tours, start all the college application processes (UGA opens apps on Sept. 2nd), and finally pull my hair out from all of it.

"Busy" is too minuscule a word for what I've been this summer.

Will you forgive me for being behind on the new book? I certainly hope so. I hope you'll all stick around and be there when it finally does release. Book purchases have been waaaayyyyyy down the last several months, so if you don't mind sharing the other books with your friends, family, Facebook friends, Twitter followers, etc. I'd be forever grateful. <3

Smooches to you all!

Summer is in full swing.

As most of you know, it's summer here in Georgia. My three daughters are out of school and spending an extreme amount of time at home with me. Not that I mind. Oh, no. I actually enjoy not having to wake up at 5:30am every day in order for three girls to be ready to walk out the door by 7am (even though I do enjoy the amount of work I can get done on any given day by getting up that early).

It's only been a few weeks, so we're having fun relaxing and just being without daily obligations. My 17yr old has taken the SATs (for a second time to get a higher score), and then this week I stood on the sidelines and watched her going through her senior pictures. I wanted to cry when they put her in a cap and gown for a few shots. *Sniff, Sniff*

We still have a year of school before she graduates and runs away to college. But that doesn't stop me from sobbing inconsolably at the mere suggestion of her being gone. J/K! I'm actually helping push her out of the nest by keeping her on schedule with college applications and suggesting things she should be researching. I'm sure I'll cry when she does graduate and leave, and probably for a few days (months) after, though.

Anyway, enough about my soon-to-be exiled daughter. She's planning to be a successful doctor and I plan on her taking care of me in my old age. :D

Now for a little book updating....

I'm still working on book 6 in the Liz Baker series, To Kill a Demon. I'm pushing for that June 30th release date, but the closer I get the less I think it'll be ready by then. Hell, my editor is even out of town for a while. Eek!

So, anyway. There it is. I usually try not to write a book during the summer, but I will get this one out, one way or another. Yay for Liz Baker!  :)

Back to school celebration!

It's the first day back to school! Time for the 2011-2012 school year to begin. I hear the cheers of gleeful parents pushing their kids out of the house and cars with smiles on their faces and excitement in their hearts. "Have a good day, dear. I love you." Then they throw their hands to the heavens and scream, "WOOHOO!"

Or maybe that's just me. . .

After three months of summer vacation, several weeks of school preparation, and four school visits to two different schools last week, it's finally time for me to get back to MY work year. That's one of the best things about being a writer and stay-at-home mom; I can take off when my kids are out of school. However, I get antsy when I'm not creating on a regular basis. I miss my writing schedules, the worlds I work within, and conversing with my characters. That makes a new school year a time to celebrate. :)

So what do I have planned for my new work year?

• The third Liz Baker novel


• A new erotic novella


• A short Liz Baker story that will be given away on the website for free


• Preparing for & attending Book 'Em NC Conference & Book Fair in February


• Staying on top of the Turkish book releases

All of that on top of my regular mommy & wife duties: housekeeping, animal care, errand running, family member helping, school volunteer, and the many other things that I do on a regular basis. I also have some home improvements planned, but not yet scheduled.

If you're a parent with kids heading back to school, I celebrate with you! We all have different reasons for being excited, but that doesn't mean the excitement is any less. And if your kids are anything like mine, they're just as excited to be heading back.

Here's an exciting new school year for us all!

InkPop and Teen Writers

I don't normally advertise for other companies, but I was contacted by an employee of Harper Collins wanting me to check out the site called InkPop.com and possibly mention something about it here on the blog. Even that isn't usually a good enough reason for me to share stuff I don't use or like

However... this site is very cool for the teen writer! InkPop focuses mainly on YA and teen writers, and as I don't write YA and certainly not a teen writer any longer, I had my teenager check it out as well. She's 14 (almost 15, she says) and loves reading and writing. Her words were, "It's cool, Mom. I like it and will definitely use it."

From what she told me, the only thing she didn't like is how difficult they have the password section of registration. It has a specific requirement on how your password should be. Something like 6 letters, 1 has to be a number and 1 has to be capitalized... or some such nonsense. She made it through though and moved on into using the site.

Anyway, the site seems to appeal to teens with ways to earn "badges" during your time there by doing things like writing short stories, writing poetry, helping out with critiques, writing fiction and even just trying out everything once. There are 25 badges in total, so there's plenty for the aspiring teen writer to try their hand at.

If you have a teen that enjoys writing, send them this way. They'll find lots of other people who enjoy the same things they do and possibly lead the way to a lifelong enjoyment of the written word. As an author, I like to encourage others to give it a try. I know my teen is.

Camping w/ casualties

Happy Monday! Time to start a brand new week. We spent most of last week in a camper up in Pigeon Forge, TN. The days went by fast, but everyone came home exhausted and suntanned (or burned). So I'd have to say it was a successful mini-vacation. There are a few pictures of the trip in the photo gallery.

We went up Wednesday morning and got there around lunch time. Tim had enough time to set the camper up and I fed the children their lunch before the rain started. It didn't end until well after dark. Day 1, no good. Grumpy kids couped up in a 29 foot camper isn't a pleasant way to spend your time. Trust me on that one.

As for the casualty, well, the storm brought high winds, hail, booming thunder that shook everything, and lots of lightning. There were eight campers in the campground that lost their awnings that night, and we just so happened to be one of them. Tim was extremely upset, but I assured him that everything is repairable. Once he found out we weren't the only ones his mood improved. LOL. Men!

After that first night everything went better. The sun came out; we did a lot of swimming; the kids enjoyed trips to the arcade, coming home with lots of little goodies; and we even tried two restaurants we'd never eaten at. Oh, and of course there was shopping to be done--most of it window shopping, but shopping nonetheless.

All in all, it was a fun trip. We're hoping to take another one toward the end of August, but that's just a consideration right now. We'll see how July goes first. LOL!

I hope you all had a nice weekend and a belated Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

WIP & My Happiness

WIP is what writers call their most recent work in progress. If you're on Twitter or Facebook you've probably seen someone comment on their WIP from time to time. Well, that is if you're following any writers to begin with.

The other day I was complaining about not being able to get any work done on my current WIP: Liz Baker, book 3. However, yesterday I managed to crank out a good bit of work in it. YAY! I was definitely feeling like a happy camper when I was finished. How did I manage any work? Well, I had to do a bad mommy thing and sit the two younger girls in front of the television to watch a dvd movie. I got an whole 1 hour and 18 minutes of writing time. I won't say it was uninterrupted time though, as I had to stop halfway through to break up a screaming argument between the two of them. That's always fun.

Anyway, yesterday was a good writing day, leaving me feeling happy and relieved. There's something about the kind of release only writing allows me. I don't know if it's the same for all writers, but for me writing is something my mind craves, and without it I ended up feeling frustrated and disheveled. Even these blog entries aren't enough to satisfy the requirement. It's my outlet.

Before I started writing on a regular basis I had other things to occupy my desire for productivity. I bet you didn't know that I owned two different homemade bath supply companies before jumping into writing as a career. During those days when I became frustrated I'd go to my workshop and experiment with new soap fragrances and designs. create new bath salt combinations, order supplies I was running low on, or take pictures of new products for the website. It kept me pretty busy, especially during the holiday seasons.

But even all that didn't keep me satisfied. Only writing does that, and when I can't get the time to write I get frustrated...as you all witnessed the other day. Eek!

Anyway, Liz is well into her next adventure and I'm feeling light and shiny today. I'm off to do my weekly grocery shopping trip, visit with my mother and grandmother, go by the library, and stop by the post office. If I get it all done fast enough I *might* get the chance to scrap out another thousand words, or so. Fingers Crossed!

Week Two: Insanity Sets In

Summer Break: Week Two

This week isn't starting off the way I had hoped. Saturday went okay, but it all started down hill on Sunday morning. Yep, that's when the insanity started to grow. I knew things weren't going to go as easily this week as they did last week.

Sunday we had a family reunion to go to for Tim's mother's side of the family. We stopped down at FIL's house to see if he was ready; he was as far from it as he could be. FIL was having trouble breathing and I ended up calling 911 to take him to the hospital. That set it up with Tim going to the hospital with FIL and me taking the kids up the mountain to the reunion.

The day was beautiful for an outside family gathering, if only there had been family there. Yep, there were only 10 of us by the time I left, two hours after the scheduled time. Some were sick, the majority had a funeral to attend, and others just didn't show up. The kids were disappointed that their favorite cousins (and the only ones their ages) didn't arrive either.

At least we came back down off the mountain with full tummies and plates of food for later that evening. No cooking for Mommy--other than the more than two dozen homemade dinner rolls I made the night before and half were brought home due to no one being there to eat them.

There was a hospital visit with FIL (he has pneumonia, again) and then finally home for the evening.

That brings us to Monday. I won't even go into how screwed up that day was. Ugh! And it doesn't look like today will be any better.

I miss Liz. I miss my quiet days. I hate having to shush the kids all day so Tim can sleep. Now I remember why I'm always so relieved when school starts back. My fingers miss flying across the keyboard (which is probably why this entry is too damn long).

Whatever, I suppose. I'm now off to get dressed so I can run numerous errands, listen to whining children, and take more stuff to FIL in the hospital. Oh, and while we're there I get the enjoyment of making the children share the elevator button pushing responsibilities.

The end to a busy week.

On one hand I can't believe how fast this week went by, but on the other it was such a busy week that I'm surprised it's not a new week already. However, I feel that I provided the children with an enjoyable first week of summer vacation and put the next three months into a good groove.

Speaking of the children, yesterday the teen and I got some great news. Back a few weeks ago we went to a school assembly that discussed the kids going into high school and allowed them to sign up for classes. My teen took the plunge and signed up for four AP/Honors classes. I didn't expect her to get them all, but really hoped she'd get into the English class. Yesterday her AP English teacher called to let me know she had! Yay!!

Teen and I were so pleased we cheered and did a little happy dance around her bedroom. Woohoo! I have to go this afternoon to pick up her summer reading list and take her to the library to get a jump on them.

Not only is she getting a class she wanted, but it's a class I had at her age and enjoyed immensely (duh! writer here). Also, if we have any hopes of her getting the HOPE scholarship for college she has to have at least 2 AP classes during her 4 years of high school. She's halfway there now. And now we wait to se if she gets any of the other three she requested. *Fingers Crossed*

And to top the week off, the kids will spend tonight with my mother. Tim and I are going out for dinner and then home to watch movies. Should be a pleasant evening and the perfect ending to this insane week.

Good news when you least expect it.

Morning, morning!  Time for another new week.  Can you believe it'll be April in a few days?  Spring really is here to stay.

The weekend was a busy one and definitely went by far too quickly because of it.  But now it's time for a new week, new work, new plans, new exhaustions.  However, the kids only have four days of school this week and then they're out for Spring Break.  Ten day of not having to hear the alarm clock, not waking up before the sun rises, and spending time with the kiddos without having to rush around to and from school.

I'm thinking we'll take them to the aquarium (since we have a family membership) and if the weather permits we'll go for a mountain drive and picnic.  And I'll use that time to take our spring pictures.  Here's our family shot from last year:

It was a nice day in the mountains last year.  Hopefully this year will be just as nice.

Oh yeah, the good news part!  I received some great news yesterday about my second Liz Baker book (Kill Me Next Week).  You never know when something happy and exciting will come your way when you least expect it.  Kill Me Next Week is aiming for an end of the year release, so it looks like I better get on the ball with finishing it up.

Of course, in the meantime we gotta get Time For Death released and out to the masses.  Only a few more weeks before Liz is introduced.  I hope my Alex & Fiona fans will enjoy Liz and her sassy attitude.  She's quite spunky when she wants to be.

Another event coming up in April would have to be the celebration of my marriage to the man who rocks my world, and who makes a great research partner for certain book scenes. ;-)  Our 16th anniversary will be rolling around on April 9th.  I haven't decided how we'll celebrate yet, but my mother will have the kids that night...  Hmmmm...

Okay, I'm off to get some work done. Have a wonderful Monday and week ahead!

It's that day already?!

Today is a big day in my household.  It's only Thursday to most of you out there, but for us it's Kindergarten Sign-Up Day!  Our youngest is so excited for today to finally be here.  She turned 5 in January and is in such a rush to start school like her sisters.  I, on the other hand, simply can't believe my baby is old enough for kindergarten already.  Yet, I'm finding myself a bit giddy about her going to school as well.

When she starts school, and with fate's good graces in Tim's job department, I'll be home all alone during the day!  Six hours of uninterrupted writing!  Ahhh, imagine all the work I'll be able to get completed each day.  I'll actually be ready to end the work day when school pick-up time rolls around.  I'm quite a bit excited for that prospect.

Now I just gotta wait 'til September gets here.  :-)

Anyway, I have to take her to school at noon, with a folder full of papers to prove who we are and where we live (even though 95% of the school employees know who I am and who my kids are, lol) to fill out page after page of paperwork while she takes her kindergarten assessment test.  The last time I did this was five years ago, right after she was born, with daughter #2.  At least this time I won't have a baby in a sling strapped to me while juggling everything else.

By the time the youngest is out of this school, I'll have been a parent of a student there for 13 years!  Wow!

Okay, that's enough rambling this morning.  I hear Tim pulling up from taking the big kids to school, and the little one will be awake soon toocount down the next few hours.  You have a fantastic Thursday and remember that the weekend is just around the corner.  I'll be daydreaming about five months from now.  ;-)

Thursday Thoughts #17: The sun is shining brightly!

There's something about the bright rays of sunlight shining through my diningroom window.  Bright, warm, relaxing, reassuring rays of light to make my day beautiful.  When the sun is out, I feel happier, lighter, more energetic, the world is more colorful and enjoyable.

After days of cloudiness, rain, cold, the sun is finally back for a visit.  I have no idea how long my dear friend will hang around, but I hope it's for a while.  I'd love to have days upon days of sunshine, but at this time of the year it's not going to happen.

My oldest daughter wrote a poem about spring the other day.  It was quite lovely and her words spoke the truth.  I miss warm weather.  I long for a Georgia spring and summer.  The warm, sunny days that I can spend outside, watching the kids play, listening to the birds sing, and working in the coziness of the hammock.  Awwww...  I miss warm weather.

Nonetheless, in the absence of warmer temperatures I can at least enjoy the sunshine that brightens my home and my mood!

Today I'm working on laundry, I have a stew in the Crock-Pot and will be jumping into work here in a few minutes.  Tim's messing with the van because it's time to take it to the mechanic.  Then he's going out to fiddle with the camper to make sure the brakes and tires are fine.  I'll have to start packing on Saturday. This afternoon the oldest has an awards ceremony we'll be attending.

Not too awful busy, but busy enough.  Just one more day of school and the kids will be out until Feb. 22nd for "Mid-Winter Break".  Hopefully everyone will have a good time camping next week, and we won't get snowed in up there.  LOL!  If it were just Tim and I, I'd happily get snowed in, but with all the kids there's no way I want to be snowed in for a full week in a camper.  LOL.

Well, the dryer is paging me to fold another load of laundry.  Guess I better get going.  Have a wonderful Thursday!!

Not as busy as expected.

Good morning everyone! Time for another Wednesday around here. The week is going by at a fairly decent speed this week. Monday and Tuesday were very busy, and today was expected to be busy as well. Our oldest daughter was suppose to have a Quiz Bowl meet this evening, making it a late night, but she decided that she didn't want to go... So we're not.

I'm all for the kids having extracurricular activities, but I'm not about to force them into something they don't want to do. I don't think it's right, and I won't be one of those parents. I like them to try new things, see how they like them, and then decide if it's something they want to keep doing. She loves her Reading Bowl, but Quiz Bowl doesn't appear to be her forte. We'll see.

Anyway, today was expected to be a busy day, but now I don't have to worry about it. I've spent the morning filling out paperwork and chatting with Tim. We bought groceries yesterday, so I washed all the produce, grated block cheese, cut up veggies, put everything into easy-to-grab containers, and finally separated bulk ground beef and boneless, skinless chicken breasts for future meals. It makes for a much more organized refrigerator when everything is ready for use. It also makes meal preparations faster.

I do need to go pay the power bill when I pick the kids up from school and visit with my grandmother. Other than that, I have no other household chores to tend to. We've already planned to make tacos for dinner this evening, as well. A pretty organized day!

Now if I could understand why it's so darn difficult to find a few minutes of peace and quiet when I want to write. Thinking I'll plug my ears with the mp3 player and pretend that I can't hear questions like, "What are you doing?" "What are you working on?" "Can you hear me?" "Come look at this!" "Wow! Did you see that kill?" (<--- Tim playing his new BioShock 2 game) and numerous other inquiries.

Who am I kidding? It'll never work. The 5yr old will just walk right up, stand in front of me and wave her hands in my face until I pull the earbuds out and demand to know what exactly she wants. So much for having a househusband so I could work over the last 6 months. LOL!

On the upside, Tim has agree that I will be using some cash from our tax refund to top off my Amazon gift card savings and buy my Kindle! Yay! Happy Valentine's Day to me!! Ohhhhhh, AND he spoke with the mechanic yesterday and it looks like my van doesn't need a new motor, but a radiator and a slew of little things that need to be fixed. I *should* be getting my van back after we get back from our camping trip next week. I'm super excited about both items of business! :-)

I can't wait to see my books on my new Kindle. Sure, I have my own editions sitting on my bookshelf, and of course I have the computer files stored away on my flashdrive, but I'll also have them in my Kindle... just to have them and see how they look. LOL. :-)

Okay, I better go. The youngest is asking for lunch and my cinnamon-raisin bagel has already left my stomach, so I guess it's lunchtime. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The last week of January.

Good morning everyone.  Welcome to another Monday morning.  This one leads us out of January and into a new month.  How has the month been for you?  Have you stuck to your New Year's Resolutions, or have they fallen by the wayside with the rush of everyday life?

I don't make resolutions, but I do make yearly goals.  I seem to be right on track for my yearly goals, so I call the month a success.  Of course, that's "business" goals I'm talking about.  I don't consider Tim being in the hospital any kind of success.  However, it has brought him over to my healthy eating side.  Bwahaha!  Welcome to the dark side, my dear!  LOL!  I still can't get him to even consider tasting my veggie sausage though.  All in time, honey.  All in time...  *wink*

Since I'm talking about business goals, I've been asked by many if I've heard from the New York editor who has Time For Death in her hands.  I have not, but she did say that it would get read in January, and there's still a week left in January.  LOL.  There's no telling when I'll hear back, but I will be moving forward with my plans in a couple of weeks whether I hear back from her, or not.  I'm sure I'll hear back before that day comes though.  Fingers crossed for good things.  Think happy thoughts for your lovely friend, Christie!  ;-)

This week is a week of no appointments at all.  I'm relieved after all the appointments we've had this month already.  Next week, on February 1st, the kids have their dental cleaning, and then that's it!  No more check-ups for anything until the next orthodontist appointment. 

Oh, did I mention that the girls had their yearly pediatrician check-up last week?  All the kids are perfectly healthy, with no problems whatsoever.  Yay!  The youngest ended up getting 3 shots in the legs and a skin test on her arm.  Unfortunately, they were out of the MMR vaccine and since it has to be given with the chicken pox vaccine or a month after, I have to take her back next month to get it.  We had to hold her down for the 3 she got last week, and I'm sure we'll have to do that again for the next one too. 

All in all, everyone is happy, healthy and immunized against the bad stuff out there.  :-)

All right, that's it for today.  I'm going to attempt to get some work done.  Easier said than done with Tim constantly wanting my attention.  He's worse that the kids these days with wanting my undivided attention.  The man definitely needs a new job soon.  Boy, I hope this economy picks up soon.  LOL.

Have a great Monday!

Thursday Thoughts #15: Once a year.

Good morning everyone.  It's Thursday; almost time for the weekend!  It's been a busy week, but at least everyone is healthy this time.  It was last Thursday that I rushed Tim to the emergency room.  Eek!  This week is definitely better than last. 

It's just after 8am here and I've already gotten the older kids up and off to school, fed the youngest breakfast, did my workout, and cleared out my morning e-mails.  I'm going to attempt to get some writing work done over the next couple of hours and then it's appointment time.

Today's the day that the kids have their yearly pediatrician check-up.  Every year I call to make the appointment and every year the receptionist tries to make three different appointments on three different days.  And every year I refuse and request all three at one time, on the same day.  There's really no reason to have three different appointments for this.  I'd have to go three different times, waste gas on three different days, and interrupt all of our schedules for three different appointments.

I suppose it would be different if I had a boy thrown into the mix, but it's all girls.  And it's only once a year.  I'm so glad the girls are healthy.  Most years go by with nothing more than a head cold or stomach bug, without ever bothering with visiting the pediatrician.  Therefore, we only go once a year for an over all check-up, finger prick, vaccinations, etc.

This year, our youngest will have to get her 5 year old, neccessary for school entry, vaccinations.  She's so excited about being 5, and being old enough for kindergarten (we don't believe in pre-k) that she's not even complaining about having to get shots.  She's actually announcing to everyone that Thursday is her doctor's appointment.  LOL!  I'm sure that tune will change once we get there.

Thankfully this only happens once a year.  A lot of things only happen once a year, but we tend to dread them more than unpleasant events that occur on a regular basis.  Why do we put off those check-ups, dental cleanings, tax time (not me, but people I know), and numerous other events?  Why not just do it, get it over with, and move on to something more enjoyable?

Well?  Oh, you want me to answer that?  No, really, I'm asking you.  Seriously, I have no idea either.  LOL!  Oh well, maybe someone else will know the answer.  *Shrug*

Okay then, my stomach is growling like a grizzly bear, so it must be time for my breakfast.  Afterwards I'll get some writing work done, spend some time with Tim, play with the youngest, and get ready for the pedi appointment.  Wish me luck!  Hopefully there will be less tears crying than I'm expecting... and that's just from the 13 year old.  LOL!

Have a great day.  :-)

Mondays can be fun days.

Yes, really, they can...  Well, if you try really hard to make them fun days.  LOL.  Good morning all.  Welcome to another brand new week.  Each one really is full of all sorts of potential.  You never know what'll happen or where you'll end up when Friday rolls around.  You can choose to make the best of it, or you can choose to grumble and find disappointment in the world.  Me, well I'm normally a very optimistic kind of gal, so I like to see the best in the world around me.  So, YAY, it's a new week!  ;-)

It's just after 8 a.m. here right now and I've already taken the kids to school, started the dishwasher, washed two loads of laundry, fixed the 4 year old a bowl of strawberries, and ate a banana myself.  Oh, and I also applied online for a new job for Tim.  And yes, even though he's still in bed, he knew I was going to do it for him.  LOL. 

Next week will mark him being without a job for three months.  And, well, it seems that three months is my limit for him being home 24/7, underfoot all the time, and interrupting my daily work routine.  He's slowly "getting" it, and realizing that my day life doesn't revolve around him.  I have much too much to do each day to worry about him--a grown man--and whether or not he's bored or hungry or anything.  LOL.  He's learning, but I'd still like to get him back to work... or at least outside for a while each day. 

So anyway, it's the last week of October!  I have this last week before starting the first draft of my next book.  I'm super excited about this next story and can't wait to jump into it.  I've been mentally trying out opening scenes and trying to decide where I'd like to begin the story.  I think I've decided that Liz will open the story in Atlanta.  Should be a nice spot to start book two (beta readers of book one will agree).

Once November is over--and I have book 2's first draft complete--I'll go back to book 1, make a few changes, go over it a few more times, and then finally work on getting the proposal written up and sent off to agents.  Once that's out of the way, I can go back to book 2 or revisions, rewrites, and all that jazz.  Hopefully by the time I'm done with book 2 the first one will be accepted and I'll have acquired a lovely new agent.  *Fingers Crossed*

Then it'll be time for book 3.  LOL!  It never stops...  But then again, why would I want it to?  It's so much fun!  :-D

Okay, before I go for today, I want to ask my lovely readers to do one little thing for me.  Would you be so kind as to stop by and become a member of the website?  It only takes a moment, and it'll be well worth the trouble in the future when I get everything (including the blog) moved over to the website.  I'll eventually only be posting everything--news, contests, blog entries, etc.--over there and would hate for anyone to miss out.

So come on by and become a member of ChristieSilvers.com.  Just click the link & click the button "Join Site" on the members page.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing photos of the girls carving their Halloween pumpkin yesterday.  It turned out very good!

Have a great Monday.  *Smooches*

A rainy Friday for me today.

Good afternoon!  It's Friday, woohoo!  Time for the weekend to begin.  What do you have planned for the weekend?  Anything fun and/or exciting?

Since next weekend is Halloween, and the kids will be having a party on Friday and our trick-or-treating on Saturday, and it's suppose to be the weekend my mom takes the kids, they all decided they'd rather do it today.  So, for 2 weeks in a row, the kids are going to Mom's for the night.  Tim & I will get an alone night tonight, and we won't even ahve to drive 12 hrs for it.  LOL!

Today started out as a cloudy & windy morning.  Leaves were flying off the trees and the temperature was just enough that we opened three windows in the house.  Then around 10am the rain finally started coming down.  Now it's wet, windy, and dreary.  However, I am extremely grateful for all the sunshine we had this week.  I hope it comes back for next week.

I don't have anything planned for this evening like we usually do on kid-free nights.  We've planned our in-door dinner (no grilling in the rain) and will probably watch a Netflix movie, but other than that I've got nothing planned.  Should be nice & quiet, so we'll just see where it leads.  ;-)

On another note, the pup we were thinking about adopting won't be happening.  It was a chihuaha pup, about 6 weeks old, from an unwanted, un-papered litter.  Unfortunately, the owners were just letting the pups run around outside and the one we wanted simply disappeared.  I'm hoping that the little one was at least taken in by a loving family who will enjoy and pamper it. 

Tim and the 4 year old are completely disappointed.  They'd finally gotten me to agree to bring the pup home, got their hopes up, contemplated names, and then I had to break it to them that the pup was no more.  :-(  I actually think Tim is taking it harder than the 4 year old too.  He keeps telling me to go buy one from a seller (this one was a freebie), but I'm not buying one when our money is better spent elsewhere.  He'll get over it, eventually.

On a completely unrelated subject:

Congratulations to my friend Jami!!!  She's now expecting baby #5 in June 2010.  I hope all goes well and she has a happy & healthy pregnancy and baby.  Now we wait to see if it's a boy or girl and which side will be outnumbered--she currently has 2 girls & 2 boys.

That's it from me for now.  Off to finish up my laundry and listen to the rain.  Have a good Friday and a fabulous weekend. 



*Tag Above: Another Mis-Made product*

Saturday around here.

Good morning/almost afternoon to you all.  How was your Friday?  So very sorry that I missed a post yesterday, but Thursday night I went to bed feeling on the verge of sickness.  You know that feeling you get in the back of your throat when you know something is about to hit?  Well, I had it. 

Friday morning I woke up with a full blown head cold.  Ugh!  The girls brought it home from school and it has gone through all of us--first the middle, then the oldest, then the youngest, then Tim, and now me.  I'm glad it hit me last though.  LOL. 

I felt rough yesterday and didn't get a stitch of work done.  That's why there was no blog entry. 
This morning I'm feeling a bit better.  Still a bit of a stuffy nose, but the throat feels better.  However, the rain has moved back in on us and it's one dark, dreary, wet day around here.  At least I don't have to worry about going anywhere in this mess.

I mentioned the other week that I'd be going through all the blogs that I follow to see which ones are being updated regularly.  I did that this morning and ended up unfollowing 10 blogs that hadn't been updated in the last month.  That's one more thing knocked off my 'to-do' list.  :-)

That's it for today.  I have resting, reading, and laundry to do today.  Might as well get to it.  :-)

Have a great Saturday, and I hope yours day is a dry, comfortable one. 

Thursday.....

Good morning everyone.  It's finally Thursday.  I didn't think the end of the week would ever show up.  This was a busy, long one for me.  I always look forward to the weekend.  Tim keeps talking about going bowling--we haven't been in ages--but who knows if he'll change his mind before then. 

Thought I'd share this new tag from my wonderful friend (and book cover designer), Mis.  She makes me these from time to time and I love them!  I've amassed quite the collection over the years we've known each other.  :-)

It seems quite fitting, don't ya think?  She said it suits me.  LOL.  And in the spirit of upcoming Halloween, she shared the stamp above with me too.  It's cute and I'll be adding it to the blog's sidebar next week for the month of October.

What will you be up to today?  Tim and I will be going to to run some errands, and he's been begging for the new Halo ODST Xbox game.  I'm thinking I'll let him buy it today.  Yes, yes, he's as spoiled as the children.  LOL.

After errands I'll be coming back home to work on the new Time For Death chapter that I'm outlining.  I'd like to get it written over the weekend and get back to edits next week.  Yesterday I didn't work on much of it or anything, for that matter.  I actually used Wednesday as my "off" day between all the articles I wrote and the book work I need to do. Kind of a do to refresh the brain and relax. 

The only thing was... I was bored out of my frickin' mind yesterday.

I did the mandatory laundry, kitchen cleaning, making of meals, and I even finished a book I'd been reading on nd off since summer began, but I didn't write anything except the blog entry and Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads posts.  I like my breaks, but yesterday wasn't peaceful to the creativity at all.

Oh, and the oldest decided at the last minute that she would ride the bus home yesterday, after all.  She's almost as indecisive as her dad can be.  LOL.  I didn't even get that change of pace I'd planned on.  LOL.

Today will be better though.  I have errands to run and I get to surprise Tim with the new game.  Then I'll come home and be creative.

Speaking of creative... to those who asked:  No the corset hasn't arrived yet.  Should be any day now.  And NO, I will NOT model it for you.  Sheesh!  LOL.  I don't think Tim would be too happy with that.

Okay, I better get going now.  Time to go get dressed and head out to take the kids to school, then errands.  Have a great day!  Oh yes, if you haven't read the snippet of Time For Death below you better get to it.  I'll be taking it down over the weekend.  :-)

Wanna Know Wednesday #33

Good morning everyone.  You'll never believe it, but we actually had sunshine yesterday! The afternoon was dry, warm, and sunny.  Woohoo!  Tim and I took full advantage of it by grilling out boneless chicken breasts for dinner.  It was great.

Well, it happened.  The oldest, who begged me and begged me to let her ride the school bus, has now decided that she's not having fun (though I told her ahead of time she wouldn't) and she wants me to pick her up today. LOL!  Looks like my after school routine just got longer with an extra trip. Oh well, we do what we have to.

So yesterday I managed to write three articles, my last three for the week.  I submitted the last one just minutes before having to walk out the door for pick-up time.  I also managed do three loads of laundry, vacuum, take phone calls, and do the normal everyday meals, childcare, attention giving stuff.  :-)  It was a busy day.

Today I'm going to work on some rewrites of Time For Death.  Well, rewrites for chapter 13 anyway.  I'll be adding an entirely new chapter there, thus moving all the rest up a level.  I had to explain to Tim that I can't move forward with edits until I get his new chapter added.  He didn't understand at first that I can't very well edit chapters after the new chapter until I get the new chapter done and can make subsequent changes to that effect throughout the rest of the book.  Does that make sense to anyone besides me?  LOL!

It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for the 32nd edition of Wanna Know Wednesday.  For all the new readers here on Christie's Thoughts, I started doing this every Wednesday to just share 10 rambling, random tid-bits about myself and my life.  I really never know from week to week what the next edition will consist of, so you get what you get.  Without delay, here's this week's topic...

10 Of My Favorite Desserts (in no particular order)

1. Cheesecake.  Oh boy, I don't care what kind it is, I love cheesecake.  Don't eat it often, but definitely LOVE it.
2. Chocolate pudding.  I really enjoy the Fat Free Jello pudding kind.  Yum!
3. Fat Free Cool Whip.  Yes, I know it's just a topping, but it's goooood.
4. Cherry Garcia ice cream from Ben & Jerry's.  With chucks of chocolate and cherries, what's not to love?
5. Oreo Blizzards.
6. A good fruit salad with oranges, apples, lemon juice, coconut shavings, walnuts, and grapes.  My mom calls it Ambrosia.
7. Smart Ones Double Fudge Cake.  I actually like several of their desserts, but this is my favorite.
8. Yoplait Whips yogurt.  They are so light and fluffy.
9. Banana Pudding.  I use Fat Free pudding and real bananas, too!
10. Coconut Cake. I haven't had it in ages, and it's especially, super, duper fattening (thus why I haven't have it in ages), but my mom makes the best coconut cake ever.  I refuse to get the recipe though.  I'd be making it all the time and completely ruin the 100+ pounds I lost after our youngest was born.  LOL!

Okay, I'm off. I need to take the kids to school and then stop by the grocery store for one of those middle-of-the-week-we-just-ran-out-of-bread trips.  Have a great day!



*Photo Credit: Christie Silvers, Dec. 2007*