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.

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.  ;-)

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*

Tuesday. More rain?

Morning all!  So how did you enjoy the snippet of Time For Death yesterday?  The comments I did receive were all great, and I appreciate them tremendously.  I didn't get any editing done on it yesterday because I discovered a place where I want to add an entirely new chapter. Therefore, editing is on hold until I get that chapter written and can adjust the storyline accordingly.  It'll work out though, as I always do this.  I always write the story, go through edits and discover a new chapter (or two), and then have to work on that before edits can proceed.  That's okay though.

I did however get two articles written and off to DS, even though the 4 year old wanted to talk my ears off most of the day.  I now know more about dental implants than I ever wanted to know.  LOL! 

Before I forget again... my oldest made it onto the Quiz Bowl team last week.  Yay!  She's so excited.  We don't know anything yet about after school practices or meetings, but we do know she's on the team.  I hope she has a great time with it.

Today I have 1 more DS article to work on for this week, and then I'll start outlining the new Time For Death chapter.  The sooner I get it written, the sooner I can get back to editing, and ultimately finish it!  Go me!  Oh, and I was asked if it is erotica.  Nope, it's not.  I don't even consider it paranormal romance (though some classify it as that).  There is definitely some sex scenes in all of my books, but the storyline isn't focused solely on the romance/love/sex of the story.  I simply classify my work as paranormal fiction and leave it at that.

As for erotica, well, I'll show you some true erotica (in my mind) when I'm finished with Promise of Darkness.  ;-)

Okay, the picture above is of my driveway trying to run away with the rain we had yesterday.  It was soooo messy, and looks like today'll be the same way.  Thank goodness I live up on a hill.  LOL!  Click here to see the full size image.

Have a great day!

Wanna Know Wednesday #31

Good afternoon, friends. How has your short work week gone thus far? Today is the second day of school for the big girls and they were just as excited to head out this morning. I left about 10 minutes earlier and didn't have as much trouble with the crowds. I go both girls to school with plenty of time to eat breakfast.

Afterwards Tim, Kaitlyn and I went over to Wal-mart to buy some groceries. I held off on a big grocery trip until today so that we'd only have Kaitlyn home and the crowds at the store would be minimal. I hate being in crowds so it makes for a much easier and peaceful shopping trip.

Right now Kaitlyn is jumping on Tim and giggling when he moans. LOL. It's so funny what entertains them at this age. And we stillhave 2 hours before worrying about pick-up time at school. Woohoo!

Since this month's give away revolves around those of you who read and subscribe to my blog, today's Wanna Know Wednesday topic is all about the blog and the upcoming changes I'm working on.

10 Changes I'll Be Working On

1. New color scheme & theme.
2. Adding a signature to every entry. (Check! See below.)
3. A cleaner, more organized look.
4. New menu bars. (Check! Future colors will match future theme.)
5. New header banner with new logo.
6. Custom sidebar section headers.
7. New widgets and gadgets.
8. I'll be bringing in social icons here and on the website. They're pretty popular right now.
9. Live visitor feed so everyone can see where my guests are from. (Yep, everyone will be able to see when my stalker shows up.)
10. And lastly, the blog will be widened. Both my laptop & desktop computers have large screens and it drives me crazy keeping the blog narrower.

These are just a few of the items on my blog makeover to-do list. I actually have a private testing blog that I use for makeovers and not worry about screwing the coding up on here. There will be lots of tweaking over there until I get it all just right.

Okay then, time to get off of here. Kaitlyn has turned her attention to me since I'm busy. LOL. Off I go to throw some laundry in the washer. Have a fantastic Hump Day!

Ooohh, I can't wait.

Only 4 more days until school starts. Four more days. This extra month of summer vacation definitely came in handy when planning day trips and such, but I'm DONE with the kids being home all day long. Actually, they're tired of it too. They're as excited about the first day of school as I am. Woohoo!

Today is half over already. We slept late and then went out to do some Friday errands. I bought some grocries so that there was actually food in the house. LOL. If there's not cheese and ham in the fridge then there's absolutely NOTHING to eat... or though Tim thinks. LOL. So now he has food in the house. Hahaha!

Tonight is Mom's Friday to have the girls. Tim and I will be staying home and grilling out for dinner. We're doing grilled salmon, corn on the cob, yellow rice and steamed green beans. This is one of our favorite meals. It's so flavorful, yet light and easy. Yum!

I have two articles that I need to finish and submit today, while I want for payment from other ones. I love payday! :-) Luckily the two I need to write are already started and outlined. I know what I'm writing, I just need to write it. Another reason I can't wait 'til school starts.... more time to work!

Oh, it just hit me! I haven't shared the pics from our weekend trip, have I? Sorry all. Here you go. Just pop over to my Shutterfly account and watch the slideshow. There aren't a lot of pics since I didn't take the camera to Dixie Stampede, but there are a few of WonderWorks. :-)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8JZtmbZw3Y6o

Okay, I'm off to finish up my work so that I can enjoy the evening with my loving man and no worry about these articles. I don't think the laptop will go well with what I plan on wearing tonight. LOL!

.

Is it time for school yet?

Please, please, please tell me that it's September 8th already. Geez, I don't think I can take much more of these kids whining, fighting, and screaming at each other. It's so muddy outside that they are mainly stuck inside. The youngest keeps begging to go to the beach; not realizing that the beach is six hours away and we won't be going back until next year.

Why, oh why, did the school system have to move the first day of school from August 6th to September 8th? I'm going utterly insane here. I haven't gotten much of any writing work done this summer, and that alone throws my entire world out of sync. I'm a writer. I must write! If I don't write my day isn't complete. Things get turned topsy-turvy when I can't find enough peace and quiet to put words on paper (laptop screen).

Today I get the supply list for our oldest. She's going into 7th grade when school finally does begin. I've already purchased a whole slew of school supplies as it is, but there is always more needed when those "lists" are finally released. This year is no different. I'll be going out in a little while to pick up the rest of what she needs. Thank goodness for back-to-school sales.

Speaking of back to school, thanks to those of you who comments and read my newest articles. :-) My pageviews are creeping closer and closer to 1 million with each new day!

I'm feeling a bit more rested today than I did yesterday. It's nuts how it takes days to recover from a vacation that was *suppose* to be relaxing. Let me just say that I'll never, ever book a vacation rental from the company I used this year. When you discover a used condom in a bowl on top of the fridge... well, that's just never a good thing. And yes, I took a picture as proof. Ugh!

For anyone planning a trip to Tybee Island, I'll happily share the name of the company with you so you can avoid the hassle I've dealt with. Just email me anytime.

Anyway, on the work front, I was so hoping to have the edits and rewrites finished for Time For Death by the time school starts. Unfortunately, with all the craziness we've dealt with this summer that's just not happening. It's still possible, but highly unlikely. Then again, maybe I can! *lightbulb moment*

Tomorrow is Tim's last day work. He'll be laid off after that. Sucks on the job/money front, but I do recall him stating that he'd be my househusband!!! Oh yeah! He's suppose to take over the household and children so I can get my book finished. Hmmm.... Maybe I can get done by September after all.

I'll have to remind him of that this evening. Yeah, that's it! Having a househusband sounds fantastic!

Okay, I think I'll go and fantasize (while blocking out the screaming) about being able to write all day without interruptions. Awwww, that would be fantabulous!!

Have a great Tuesday!

Welcome to a new week!

Good morning all! How was your weekend? I hope it was well.

We got back yesterday from our trip to Tybee Island. We all have a very nice, dark tan from our time on the beach. I've posted a lot of pictures in my website's photo gallery. Stop by and check them out.
http://www.christiesilvers.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=6678459




We had some rain on Saturday when we drove over to Savannah. Unfortunately, that meant we weren't able to get the yearly picture of the girls on the big tree in the park we go to. :-( However, we got many of them at the beach to enjoy. If you check out the pictures, I put some small descriptions for each one of them if you click on them individually.

Oh, some of you may have heard that Miley Cyrus was shooting a movie down on Tybee Island back at the end of June/beginning of July. I was so glad that we didn't go at that time. The beach would've been ridiculous. Wellllllllll, apparently this past weekend was time for her to re-shoots. Ack! Yep, half the beach and the entire pier was closed down on Friday afternoon so they coulddo re-shoots.

The younger two girls wants to go see "Hannah Montana" so we got them some icecream and walked over to one of the crossover bridges. The girls ate their icecream while we watched the re-shoot. I only had my phone with me, so the picture I took of that was small without zoom.



http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af339/christiesilvers/Tybee%202009/0731091639.jpg





Anyway, we're back and I was so glad to get back into my own bed. The kids tried to run us ragged the entire time there, and all we wanted to do was relax and enjoy the ocean. As soon as we finished one outting/activity, they were begging for the next. It was definitely crazy.

However, now we're home. We ate our fills of fresh seafood, tanned and played in the ocean, both Tim and Cassandra got hit by jellyfish twice. LOL. Luckily, it was just small hits on them that were better by the next day. Nothing like that year when one attacked my entire left leg, foot, and hand. I was in major pain for many weeks from that. Me being the good mommy that I am, I made sure to pack cortizone cream and Benedryl pills... just in case. Good thing I did.

Okay, now. It's a brand new month and a brand new week. Time for us to start counting down to the first day of school. Woohoo!!! I can't wait to send them off to school and get a break. LOL. We've already gotten all their school shopping done, and the school supplies are stocked up nicely. School shopping even inspired two new articles...

Back to School: Important School Supplies For Elementary School
Back to School: Preparing Your Youngest Child for Their First Day of School

Stop by and check them out. I'm getting closer each day to the 1 million pageview mark on there. Thanks to those of you who are reading my articles. :-)

One last thing before I get going today. Wednesday is the day that my monthly newsletter goes out. If you aren't already a subscriber, now is definitely the time to do so. :-) It's easy, and I only send out messages on the first Wednesday of every month.
http://www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=1003219z

Okay, I'm off. I have some laundry to wash and a couple of errands to run. This is Tim's last week of work before he lay-off. I have preparations to take care of. This week is going to drag by. Might as well get to work on it. LOL.

Have a grat day!

And they're off!!!

YAY! The big girls are off to their first day of school. The house is so quiet and peaceful with just the toddler and I here. It's not even 9am yet and I've already started the dishwasher, fed the little one, cleared out my emails, and did my workout for the day. Nice!

I don't have too much to do today. I need to fold & put away some laundry, return a library book, and then after school I have to take the oldest to pick up her new glasses. Other than that I'll actually have time to...... WRITE! Wow! LOL!

Ok, so here's a pic of my girls getting ready to head out the door to school.




The youngest only has 2 more years before she'll be tagging right along with her big sisters.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday and that you're able to enjoy a little peace and quiet of your own. :-)