Decking the Halls

Yes I hae proved to my children that if you nag me enough I will finally snap and do what you want. LOL

Yesterday I started on the lights outside. Which ment hubster came out a few minutes later to make sure it was being done right and then took over. Which was fine by me since that was my plan all along. Yes after 10 years I have finally learned how to make him think it was his idea in the first place. I raked the last of the leaves up and fussed around. Today I got the lights up inside and set up the tree so the girls could decorate it when they got home from school. So now all that stuff is done and I don't have to worry about it till it's time to take it down in a month.

It has been crazy warm around here yesterday and today. Considering we have been living under overcast, rainy skys for the last 2 months, it has felt practically tropical around here. I was out working on the side yard, cleaning up some weeds and overgrowth. Getting ready for the snow to cover it all.

I have actually gotten some writing done as well. Yes I can hear the shocked gasp from some of you. I may not have finished NaNo this year but I am not going to procastinat the months away with dreams of grandure and a blank computer screen. At least I am going to try my best not to. *G*

I have just enough time to get a bit more work done on my plotting and then "Heros" is on at 9. It's a pretty good show. I'm not as addicted as I am to "Supernatural" but I enjoy it when I catch it.

Happy Writing

Just not going to make it.

No I'm not talking about the mutant cold that has moved from my head to my chest. At least my germs were considerate enough to hold off a full-on assult until after my weekend.

I am just not going to be a NanoWinner this year. I have removed my disgraceful word counter and need to face facts.

Now I could sit here and type all about the excuses and reasons I have for not finishing but that is exactly what they are. Excuses. Yes, the rejection stung more then I wanted to admit. Work has been hectic since my coworker was on vacation and this cold has knocked me over the bend. BUT the bottom line is I'm the one who procrastinated myself to the point where I ran out of time.

So lesson learned, (I hope) and I hang my head in shame.
Right after I blow my nose again.

*Note* You have to pop over to Dakota Cassidy's Blog and check out the clip she has posted there. It's called the "Evolution of Dance". I loved it! My daughter thinks it's awesome. Man, can that guy move. He must have been exhausted by the end.

I didn't want to come home!

Niagara Falls was awesome. Despite being cold and overcast. We've been there lots of time but never by ourselves and certainly not overnight. We stayed at the Marriott. I loved it. The staff was kick'n; they made me breakfast, did the dishes, made my bed, how could I not love them! LOL Ok so yea they do that for everyone but I really appreciated it. It was almost the best part of the weekend.


This was the view out our window. As you can tell we were really frick'n high up 23rd floor to be exact. I was a bit nervous but got over it quick enough. There was enough to distract me. The Horseshoe Falls were directly in front of us and if you turned to the left you could see the American Falls down a bit.
At night they shine lights on the water and it looks so cool but I couldn't get a good picture. The flash kept reflecting off the glass. Then when we went for a walk I was a goober and forgot the camera up in our room. So instead I 'nicked a picture off the internet. It looks exactly like this.

This was our room. There is a fireplace just to a right of the chairs, then a big desk and then a big wood armour that holds the tv and bar fridge. Speaking of which. Do you know how much they charge you for a 1L bottle of water in the room $11.00!!!! I'd drink from the toilet first. So we just bought our own and shoved it in to keep it cold. There was a massive bathroom with a jaccuzzi tub big enough to swim in. Also there was a double window in the wall between the bathtub and the bedroom, so you could open them like a pair of doors, then lay in the tub, all bubbly, and still watch tv. Now that is luxury!This was sent up to our room compliments of the hotel. Chris mentioned that we were there celebrating out tenth anniversary. How sweet was that eh? It is a chocolate wine bottle that had a hole cut in the side of it and was filled with Hershey kisses. mmmmChocolate. It was all wraped up in cellophane with a big bow. I was so excited. LOL No wonder I didn't want to come home. I got choccies delivered right to my door!

I am not sick!

My voice is funny? No really I always sound this way. The cough? No, no The air in here is just really dry.

I am less then 24 hours away from my weekend away. The hotel room is booked, dinner reservations are arranged, manicure appointment. I've been aggrivated enough by the three nails that broke this week. (Getting a manicure is such a rare treat for me, I'd like to have some nails left for her to file.)

I am not sick. I refuse to be sick. I won't be sick.

It's official

Today I am officially a professional author according to the RWA. Yuppers I heard back from the editor who I sent my story to. She had emailed me around the 20th, that is no doubt still floating around in cyberspace. Don't get me wrong it was a very kind rejection and to be honest I wasn't expecting an acceptance my first time out. It would have been nice....*G*

So it's back to another blank screen and see what I can come up with next. Yes I'm bummed but I'll keep trying. I'll be the first to say that my writing doesn't compare to most of what I have read. The good news is that I am getting better.

I keep reminding myself that J.A.Konrath has a book with 500 "BONG" (rejection) letters in it. Considering this is my first, I shouldn't whine too much, maybe just for tonight.

Monday, Monday, Monday

Yup it's one of those days. Overcast, drizzly, and cold. Terrible really. I was at work for an hour when the school called and told me that my oldest was sick. So I have an unplanned day off and a sicky child at home. Not that I'm happy that my daughter isn't well but I did get to come home *G*

Tomorrow we are half way through the month, which means my word count should be around the 25G's mark. Cough cough well mine is just over 8. Not good. At least I have some extra time today to get soem writing done. This weekend is a write off. Hubby and I are going away for two whole nights!!!

10 long years I have been married to him. 12 if you count the years we lived together. I've earned this weekend. LOL

This is the first time we will have 2 nights away from the girls since they were born. 'Till this year we have had 1 night a year away, this year 2!! And we are staying in a fancy hotel in Niagara. I'm so excited, I can't wait. I'm still going to smuggle the laptop in my suitcase though.

Now hopefully we don't catch our daughter's cold.

This is cool!!

My mum sent this to me to show the girls. My oldest saw it and was amazed. I have a feeling that when the youngest sees it, she will insist on doing it. LOL.



Who knew that this was such an explosive cobination! The Mythbusters also committed an entire episode (#57, showing again on Nov 26th) on it.

What is scarey is that I drink Diet Coke and Mentos are my favourite mint. Obviously I never have eaten them together because I haven't exploded LOL. I took this comment directly from their site. I'm sure some idiot would try.

So is it dangerous to drink soda and eat Mentos? Well, a lot of the fizz goes away as you drink. Then when bubbles are released in your stomach, your stomach can expand a bit, and it also has ways of releasing excess pressure. Do not, repeat, do not be stupid and test the limits of your stomach. Don't even think about it.

I have to go to the store now. *BG*

A productive day off

I finally finished it! The funky sweater is done, not bad if I do say so myself. *G*
I didn't alter the original pattern all that much. I added an inch and a half to the bottom, made the sleeves a big longer and changed the pattering on the arms. I love this lattice pattern. It's supa easy, and looks very medieval to me.

Hubby called dibs on my next project. He wants a Pittsburgh Steelers touque. Easy enough, I'm sure I still have the graph I made of the logo somewhere. I might even make myself a matching one, of course I'll put #43 on it somwhere in honour of Polamolu *BG*

I managed to get a good number of words on my NaNo done as well. I've got a GirlGuides meeting tonight so my goal is to get another 2 thousand done tonight after I get the girls to bed. That will put me closer to the 10G mark and I won't be freaking so much. I know I have lots of time but this month goes by really fast. Also the weekend after next I am goign away with Hubby for our anniversary. I don't think I'll be getting much writing done. I'm going to try to sneak the laptop into the suitcase. He'll need to sleep at somepoint LOL

I've also been doing a lot of research on writing. One of my goals for this year is to have both stories finished and submission ready (if not submitted already) and the third in rewrites by the end of October'07. I still have a lot of planning to do and rewriting. Morgan Hawke's blog is an incredible source of information. I've also been reading A Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Writer's Journey. I figure if I am going to pitch BIS as the first of a triliogy then it would be the best if I could hand over all three stories to a publisher at once.

hmmm you know I should squeeze in some Laundry time somewhere.....

A picture worth a thousand words..

Life Lessons

I found this in my email Sunday morning. It's the "Merlot and Email don't mix" figurine from TLC's Life Lessons. Don't worry mum, I was drinking Shiraz not Merlot so s'all good. *G*

Today is Day 6 of NaNo and my word count is pathetically low, dangerously low. I wanted to be at the 10-12 thousand word level but as you can see I haven't made it to 4G's yet. My bad. Aside from normal life stuff and dirty clothes that are reproducing like bunnies on my laundry room floor, I have been working on my sweater. I'm so clse to finishing it! It knit up so fast and I think looks really cool. Al I have to do is sew it up and weave in the ends and it's done. Oh the temptation!!!

I don't work till later this afternoon but I promised myself I would concentrate on my story today. I won't be home from work till late tonight and won't want to write then. Tomorrow I have a tasting which is very tiring. I know that sounds silly but trust me, writing tasting notes for 60+ products drains a person. I can sew up tomorrow evening while my creative wells fill up again.

Music Downloading & Red Wine

So what is the number one rule about bloggin'? Don't do it while you have been drinking...anything *G* Well just another rule to break in my book and this isn't the first time I've done it. No, I am not brushing up on my Italian wines like I mentioned in an earlier post, tomorrow's hangover will be thanks to Elderton's "Friends Shiraz" 2003. Bloody delicious stuff and here in Ontario it's very difficult to get a hold of. While I wouldn't drive a car at the moment I am still able to correct my rather atrotious spelling. *giggle* and use big words.

So I have discovered the wonders of downloading music. WooHoo. Okay so I am a bit behind on the times but damn I am glad to have caught up. Although I have discovered it is very difficult to type when you are bouncing in your chair to your favourite song. Currently I am listening to "Bodies" by the Drowning Pool. That's a song that will get you going in the morning I tell ya. Hey now that is a good idea, what is someone created an alarm clock that you could program songs into or plug your MP3 player into and it would blast out a particular song instead of that annoying beeping shit. This would so be my wake up song.

(now: "Pain" by 3 Days Grace)

You know what the problem is with downloading songs? I can't remember what ones I like the most. I don't have anything but radio in my car so all the stuff I listen to on 97.7fm, I don't always catch the name. Bummer. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever grow out of this style of music? I was a complete "metalhead" in highschool and continue to be so. I like my music edgy and loud. My 9 year old often tells me that it is too loud, but then my 7 year old listens to her music very loud as well. I wonder what it is that draws us to certain types of music. I am a total mum now. Long gone are the skin tight jeans, bandanas and massive backcombed hair, and yet I still love that style of music.

(now: "Black Betty" by Spiderbait)

Now I don't run around thrashing my head everytime a good song comes on. As much as I may be tempted *G* Old habits are hard to break ya know. But I happy to say that my girls are as familar with Metallica as they are with Shania Twain. I am trying to expose them to as many different types of music as I can in hope that they will have a greater appretiation. No Britney though, a mum has to draw the line somewhere.

(now "Dragula" by Rob Zombie)

Lazy Daisy Day

I wish I had a Mon-Fri kind of job, it would be easy to get used to having 2 days off in a row. Of course then it would mean I would have to work 5 days in a row *ugh* So far the most enegetic part of my day today was a trip to the grocery store, and a good reminder of why I don't grocery shop on Saturdays.

I did a bit of NaNo writing and plan to do some more. Gotta say my muse has surprised the hell out of me. I'm almost 3 thousand words in and so far, no sword fights, violence or sex. That's gotta be a record LOL. Just wait till closer to the end of the month when I am panicking about word counts.

This is Michaelangelo's "Bacchus" 1496-98. Since the story I am working on features this particular god, I was doing some research. As I learned while researching Thanatos and Hypnos last year, myths have many different versions. My stories are written in the present time, I have the luxury of picking and choosing myths to suit my purpose. Also being a fictional piece of work, I figure I can take a lot of 'artistic liscence'. Although I figure I had better brush up on my Italian wine knowledge. *G* Good thing I have tomorrow off too.

And they're off!!!

Day 2 of NanoWriMo and I am up to 25hundred words or there about. I want to be at 34 before I go to bed tonight. Like last year I find myself struggling with the words. I don't know the characters yet or what they are like so it's harder to let them do what they want but I know it will come. I had to give myself permission not to write the BiS sequal today. Something about my Heroine just doesn't seem to gel with the world I created last year. It's only the second day so we'll see what happens. My obsession with Supernatural is having an effect on her I think. Either that or the picture of a brooding Dean on my laptop LOL.

So I'm not really a poetry kind of person. Couldn't write it to save my life and I really don't read too much of it. Having said that there are some pieces that seem to resonate with me. My mum posted a poem on her blog that I hadn't read in years. To be honest I had forgotten about it, and how much I like it.

~~ "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" ~~


Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightening they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn to late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze light meteors and be gay,
Rage rage against the dying of the light.

And you my father there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

- Dylan Thomas
1914-1953