Adam

I find it ironic that his name is the same as the first man according to the bible; and this young man believes in the 'big bang' and reincarnation. Just a hmmmm.

Adam is the name of a 20year old energy healer. This young man has a gift that made an early showing in his life. He was just about 17 or so when he healed a member of my husband's family. Since then he has grown in his own power and has had to make some hard decisions. He no longer does one on one healings, to do so would mean that he would have a line up "from here to China" for the rest of his life. He has chosen instead to teach. According to this young man there is nothing paranormal or magical in what he does. Yes he is much more in tune with the ability but anyone can learn. He kinda makes me think of him as a native shaman or medicine man. Except that he is 15 years younger then me but has an aura about him that is much older.

His is introduced by his father Frank. (I was able to meet both Frank and his wife Liz and they are very wonderful people). Adam steps up to the platform dressed simply in jeans and a polo, a tatto on his arm peeking slightly out from under one sleeve. He looks like a normal college student, but there is something behind his eyes. An old soul?

The first part of the seminar in very scientific. He talks about quantum holograms and energy fields. It is a bit hard to follow in parts, physics was never my strong point, but I managed to keep up. He did say that he simplifies it to make it easier to understand but not so simple that it is no longer accurate. The point he wants to make is that scientists can almost completely prove what he is doing. Science is a bit behind him but he has all the faith that they will catch up. I am not a scientist, but I will do my best to touch on the highlights. He even explained E=MC2 and I understood it. LOL

We (the universe) all started from one energy field and because of that we are all connected. It is through the use of this field he is able to do distance healings. It also means that everything we do affects the universe. Both good and bad.

As a pagan I try to keep in mind the threefold rule. What ever you send into the univers will come back threefold, both good and bad. It sounded like he was saying the same thing. Also the power is in positive thought!

There are two healings over the course of the day. The first he askes for everyone to concentrate on them selves and for the second later in the afternoon he explains how to project to someone else.

I didn't have any problem raising energy. It is the same way you start when you raise a circle before a spell. Also expanding your aural, done that in protective spells for the house. BUT being in a room while everyone around you is doing the same. Now I understand why many pagans form covens. DAMN! It was incredibly powerful. I felt as if I was in the middle of a windstorm, only everthing around me was still. I c0uld envision my hair whipping around my head, but there was never a breeze. Fuck'n amazing is the best I can come up with.

During the second healing I could sense something walking behind me. Now that was impossible because Adam has everyone pull their chairs up close to each other. Trust me NO room to walk. And yet it felt as though soemthing was drifting over my shoulders and back, then there was a strange twitching below my left eye, kind like if someone was lightly stroking my cheekbone. Again no one there. Fasinating, scarey, and exhilerating all at once. Makes me wish I wasn't a solitary. LOL

I've tried to explain it a few ways how he does it but it doesn't come out right. So I've given up. If you have a chance to see him, I highly recommend it. He has also written a few books on his experiences as he learns. They are available through his website and Amazon.

Friday the 13th!!! AAARRRGGGHHH

Just kidding. *G*

Friday the 13th doesn't bother me. It's just another day. Did you know that it originally was thought of as bad luck because the Knight's Templar? It was on Friday the 13th that the Pope ordered the Knight's to be slaughtered. That is what drove them underground, which in turn lead them to creating the Freemasons. It's all really fasinating. My brother has done lots of research on it and fills me in on the more interesting points. The book "The DaVinci Code" uses a lot of Templar/Freemason history for background and plot as well.

Is is just me or is life frick'n flying by! I mean I celebrate my year end on the 31st with Samhain. I am floored by how fast it has gone. The really cool thing is I actually managed to accomplish my goal. I actually have a completed story submitted to an editor. That is just 'da bomb' for me. Sure it's not the story I was planning to have finished...but I think it should count *G*

I've had a couple people email me regarding Adam's seminar I went to on the weekend. I do plan in doing a post for it but there is just so much information! I was VERY impressed by it all and thankfully there was no "hallaluagh" crap that I was worried about. What I am finding hard is trying to discribe it all. While I understand what he was saying, it's difficult to repeat without sounding silly. I can say however is that after what I experienced personally, I don't doubt his abilities whatsoever.

Anything and everything you might want to watch.

Ruh Roh Raggy! I might have found a new addicition. I just lost 2 hours of my life to "YouTube". Don't get me wrong I certaintly don't consider it wasted. In fact if you click on the link you will see one of the many clips I was waching. Yes, I can watch as many highlights from Supernatural as I want! 24/7 baby! and I swear I will never get sick of that show (coughdeancough)

Okay so yea I should be working on BiS and I will... now that I have managed to get myself away from the website. It's really dangerous. They have everything there. Gots some really freaky shit too but for now it is a good way to get a 'fix' between Thursdays.

On the writing front I actually submitted my short story to a real life editor for possible publication if she accepts it. Took be forever to get up the nerve to hit send and then kinda freaked out. I mean what if I missed something or misspelled something? What if I misspelled my own name???

I have been reassured that post submission nerves are normal and to get used to them because they don't go away. LOL Well if it means that I'm 'living the dream', then I think I can handle it. Of course I'm not going to be living much if I don't finish what I have started.

For Nanowrimo this year I am going to work on the sequal to BiS. I am hoping to created a trilogy out of what I have started so I need to find a link or story arc to run through all 3 books. Not the same characters or same conflicts because how boring would that be? But something to tie them together. Aphroditie is featured in every book but she won't have a story to herself. My first story features Hypnos (sleep) and Thanatos (death); ever since I started writing that I figured that my second would feature Bacchus, and my third I'm not sure. I've done some research on Eros but there are so many interesting God/dess' to choose from.

As for my ultimate villian??? I'm not gonna tell *G* Although I already know who it is. No not Hades, poor guy has such a bad wrap. hmmm perhaps I'll feature him in my third, depends on the heroine though. As soon as she introducse herself to me then I can decide which one of those two wil drive her the most nuts.

An interesting oppourtunity

Bright and early tomorrow morning I am heading into Toronto with my mother-in-law to attend one of "Adam's Dream Healer " Workshops. I've know about Adam for a few years now. It's only recently that he has begun to show his face, since he turned 18 I think. Anyways he is a healer that uses quantum holigrams for distance healing.

Yea I know it sounds pretty bazarre, and as much as I want to believe I am a bit skeptical. Just because I am a witch, doesn't mean I believe all the hocus pocus that is out there. I am giving him a lot more credit then I would anyone else simple because I KNOW someone he has healed. About 4+ years ago my husband's uncle was diagnosed with a pancreatic tumour. It was very serious and unoperable. My grampy had the same thing and we lost him in less then a year.

I'm not sure how many treatments it took but hubby's uncle was completely cured. Tumour gone, poof, not there any longer. We know he was not misdiagnosed in the beginning and his illness was progressing at the same rapid speed that it did with my Grampy. No one can explain it aside from the fact that Adam had worked on him.

So the oppourtunity to go to one of his workshops crossed my path. How could I say NO? To be honest I really don't know what to expect. Apparently Adam doesn't do one-on-one healings anymore. He feels that teaching people how to heal them selves and help others is a better way.
So I am excited and more then a bit nervous. I'm not a big fan of being cooped up in a room with a large crowd of strangers, ESPECIALLY when I know the energy level in the room with be high. I'll have to talk my Mother-in-law into sitting near the back or off to the side.

For me if there is something that I can learn that will help my daughter then it will be completely worthwhile. To be honest I think I fear coming out of there with more suspicions.

Funny enough there was an episode of Supernatural last year that dealt with faith healers. When the "healer" cured someone, an unknown innocent died in their place of the same thing.

Ying and Yang, it's all about balance folks.

Wine, geography, wine, men, wine...

It's amazing how much better one feels after a couple glasses of wine. Tonight's selection is the Torres Gran Sangre de Toro Riserva 2001. It's a blend of Garnacha, Carinena & Syrah from Spain. I won't bore you with the details of a proper tasting note. Trust me it's good. LOL

I remember being is school and hating Geography. To be honest I pretty well blew the class off and squeeked by with barely a passing grade. At the time I figured that I "would never need to know geography". If I remember correctly I was going to be a sound mixer in a recording studio therefore geography was a waste of my time. What did I end up becoming?A damn product consultant for the LCBO! Knowing maps of wine making countries is a must as well as microclimates and soil structure. Geesh now I wish I had paid more attention. LOL

On a less then mature note....

Isn't he gorgeous!! Yes, my obsession with "Supernatural" knows no bounds. This is Jensen Ackles (AKA Dean). I try to remind myself that I am 7 years older them him therefor, I really should be *sighing* over men closer to my own age but DAMN!!

You know I think I will use his image as a template for one of my characters in a future book. What do you think? Eros? or Bacchus? *giggle*

I'm wrecked.

Wrecked, Exhausted, Beat, Worn out. You name it, I'm so there. This weekend is a long weekend for us Canucks. Thanksgiving to be exact so of course I was asked about 14 million times "What wine goes good with Turkey?"

That isn't why I am exhausted. We were totally short staffed yesterday and today so I was working stock much more then usual. We had a thousand case load yesterday and the day before, and only 3 of us to work on it. That means we are slugging roughly 333 cases of product each. Believe me some of those scotch cases weigh a ton!

I have completely gotten out of shape in the last couple years. Paritally because I've been spoiled working in store that has a night crew. All the loads and majority of stock work gets done while the rest of the world sleeps. Also with the position I am in now, I wasn't as involved in general stock. But now I'm in a smaller store and help out a lot more with the total stock and not just Vintages stuff.

On the up side this means I don't have to worry so much about working out or a kind of exercise routine because I'll get that at work. The down side, is that it will be a long painful road till my arms, back and especially thighs are back in shape. Right now I am hobbling off to a hot tub followed by a few LARGE glasses of wine. That should make me feel better. *G*

Oh I almsot forgot. My synopsis is written, I think it sucks but I still have a couple days to rewrite it. I'm not touching my short story anymore because I am afriad of overtweeking it. LOL

It's almost that time of year again!

WOW!!! I can't believe it's been almost a year since NaNoWriMo2005.
For those of you who don't know what it is; it stands for National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November thousands of caffine addicted creative types throw all literary rules and grammatical correctness out the window and try to crank out 50,000 words in 30 days.

Sound easy? HA! Try it I dare you! I double DOG dare you!!!

Just click on the title of this post and sign up. I did it last year, and surpassed the 50G mark 1 hour before the deadline. No one has to read what you wrote and despite all my jokes about repeating the same word 50,ooo times I didn't cheat. That I'm proud of.

So I have a bit over a week to get my short story done. I would like to have it ready to submit by Monday morning. That means it will be early and that always looks good. Then I have a couple weeks breathing space then I'm off to Nanoworld. *G*

I broke out in goosebumps...

So one of my girlfriends at work taped the first episode of Supernatural for me. I love her for it. My VCR has hasn't worked in ages. Yes I actually still used that ancient thing LOL

I was working evenings this week and wasn't home till after 10 meaning that I missed it. As soon as I got home last night I popped it into the VCR in my room and snuggled under the covers to watch. No I did not choose my bedroom just because of "Dean" (aka Jensen Ackles) but now that you mention it hhmmmm never mind.

Anyhoo that first episode is awesome. As I had read it picked up right at the moment that last season ended. I want to blab it all but I'm sure that many haven't seen it and I don't want to ruin it. I swear if you watch it you will be hooked for the season. I was completely floored by what they did with the story arc and it confirmed some suspicious that were raised last season. What an intense start. I'll be living from Thursday to Thursday now.

A friend is looking over my short story and dropped me a quick note to let me know that while there are some technical difficulities the plot and characters look good. I'm waiting on pins and needles to see what she has to say. I'm excited and terrified to read her opinion. I never let anyone read my stuff so turning it over for a critique has my guts in knots. LOL

Heading East....really East

In an on going attempt to find help for my oldest daughter we are heading farther East. Not actually moving physically but in our direction of medical aid. She's been going to an Eastern European Naturopath and that isn't working. Not to mention that fact that I have paid this woman almost $500 in the last two months. That's not why we are changing. I have followed the directions to the letter, making up lists on the fridge door so hubby will know how much to give her at what time and all that. But still she isn't sleeping, her frustration level is the highest I've seen in a long time, her outbursts at the school are rising and her self-esteem is falling.

I'm ready to tear my hair out. Had a lovely (snort) talk on the phone with her teacher this morning. She relayed everything my darling frustrating child has been doing in class. All I had to say was "Why didn't you call me?" Hubby was the one how called and left a message yeaterday for her just to touch base. I mean how can we help at home if we have not idea how distuptive she is being at school. Not the mention that teachers have a nack for making you (me) feel like the worse parent on the planet. Which is why I hate parent/teacher interviews. I'll save that tangent for another time.

There is a new Dr. in the mall near us that uses Chinese medicine and actupuncture. We're going to try that route and see if it helps. I have done research on the medications that the school suggested and refuse to put her on them. I don't know maybe it's just me put putting a pre-puberty, hormonal girl on mood altering drugs just doesn't seem the right idea. Call me crazy.

I'm also considering signing her up for some Yoga classes. Maybe if she learns how to calm herself she will be able to control herself a bit better. Right now she says she can't stop them they just happen.

Option A failed so now we are on to Option B and if that doesn't work then I'll figure out an Option C and so on. Until then I'll just keep hiding in my stories after my children go to bed.

Finished the short story and most edits, although I'm sure there will be many more before the 10th. Now I have to tackle the evil synopsis. Although I was thinking about is and a synopsis is really just like a book report I figure. I was good at those in school so I am not anticipating any real trouble, and will no doubt procrastinate until the last minute. LOL The reports I got the highest grades on were the ones I wrote the night before or on the bus on the way to school. Bazarre, but what ever works.

An obvious avoidence of reality

Reality? What exactly is it? I heard it sucks, not interested in paying it any attention.







They're Back!!!!!!!!!!












Mark it on your calendar thrill seakers. This Thursday 9:oopm is the official beginning to the long awaited second season of 'Supernatural'. The first episode is called "In My Time Of Dying" and picks up right after the final episode last year "Devil's Trap". I never thought I would find a replacement for Buffy when they cancelled her but this show fills the void nicely. Best part is one of my coworkers is now addicted to it too (yes I corrupted her) so I will have someone else to babble endlessly with regarding what happens all year. I got Season One on DVD and have been we have been watching it during our lunch hours. LOL

Officially 14 days left till my submission deadline for my short story. I have the story down and need to smooth out the rough sections. I've left a 1,000 word buffer for tweeking and my overuse of adjectives. Although my creative side has taken a beating this week, I am endevoring to work over all of that. Since reality has no meaning for me today I hope to get as much done as possible.

Tomorrow is going to be a brutally emotional day which might burn me out for awhile. But that is tomorrow not today.

Today I plan to stay within the arms of my muse and let him handle reality with the point of his sword.

**added note**

Did you know there is actually a place called Mystic in Conneticut? I was planning on setting my story in New England. Since it has a paranormal theme, how could I not have it unfold it that town? Just perfect *G*

Guilt: (n) the little blob on my shoulder

I've started this post about 5 times. Trying to get the right side of my brain and the left side of my brain back in sinq. It's not working too well. I'm suffering from a lot of self inflicted guilt. I wonder if that's normal or I am just being neurotic.

I haven't broken down over my Aunts death yet. A very strange thing, especially for me who cries during really touching commercials. I figured that we all worked so hard on Saturday keeping it together so that the kids would never know, I kinda burned out my emotional switch. It's feels like I've been floating around the last 48 hours in a numbed state. Then I worry that maybe I am over her death already? I mean despite there only being 7 years between our ages we weren't very close. Even so how horrible would I be if it's true. (My family is a veritable plethora of disfunctionability. The reasons for the estrangement of myself and my aunt don't mean shit now.)

This morning I woke up, got the kids up, dressed, fed, kissed hubby goodbye, normal Monday morning stuff. I don't work till 2 so here I sit. I feel fine. I want to get some work done on my story, I have a few loads of laundry to do, kitchen to clean, pool to close. Normal, Normal, Noraml. Why do I feel so guilty about it?

Not exactly the best of times

Computer got sick last week. That is why I haven't updated in so long. Seems so insignificant now.

My aunt passed away unexpectedly last night so I am pretty fucked up right now. Why am I blogging? I'm venting as usual. Well it's that or curl up in a ball. Some things in life I just do not handle well. This is the big'un.

I'm trying to vent. It's my niece's birthday party today so all us adults are trying to keep it together. We didn't tell the kids, that can wait till tomorrow. I think that is all I'm going to write right now 'cause well I'm just a little too messed up.

You let them watch what!!

My girls have reached the ages where I'm not a hundred percent sure what is and is not appropriate anymore. My husband on the other hand does not have the same hair trigger that I do. Essentially he lets them get away with more then I would. I've started wondering if perhaps I have gotten to the point that I'm I being overprotective?

Keep in mind that my girls are 7 and 9. If I had my way they would still be playing princess and watching Barbie movies. Even I know that is unrealistic for my 9 year old. I don't see anything wrong with keeping kids young. They grow up so goddamn fast already why rush it?? The other side to that coin in that in our world, the naive are taken advantage of.

So what triggered this rant you may ask? I got home from work today and my girls were all chatty about the shows that daddy let them watch *groan*

Now I watch both these shows on occasion and enjoy them. 'Mind Freak' is a little bazarre at times but essentially harmless. Let's face it Criss Angel is an amazing magician and a talented showman. The two of them weren't too impressed with the stunt where he cut himself in half. That creeped me a bit too. I started thinking the perhaps it wasn't so bad because it helped me talk to them about what was real and what wasn't. Sure it looked like he made the cat float and turn pages but it's just a trick. I don't think they believed me but it's a start.

Then there is DOG. A bit violent but he is catching bad guys and taking them to jail. He is sympathetic to others and I have to admit I do like the continual references to how important family is. My 7 year old loves Beth. After being asked why she said "'Cause she is the only girl and she catches bad guys." Good point.

So I have been flipping back and forth between giving hubby hell and resigning myself to the fact that it is ok to let the girls watch some shows that depict another side of life I keep them sheltered from. Just once in a while though.

Fact is: my babies are growing up and I'm not happy about it!

Why is being Healthy so expensive??

Wrote another cheque to the naturopath today OUCH!! I'm trying to do the right thing and help my daughter in a more health conscious way but F**k me! It's expensive. Not to mention the arguments when my daughter doesn't like how something tastes.
Today we discussed her diet and I was given a list of foods she can and can't eat. The main thing. No diary, No wheat and No sugar.

Have you ever noticed how expensive food is in the "healthy" section of the grocery store??

She's 9 what the hell else am I saposed to feed her! Personally I feel that making lunches for school is a form of torture, add to that the fact that I am limited in what I can put in there. aaarrrggghhhh (I'm just venting right now as you can tell.)

Well I guess we'll see what the next few weeks will bring. If it helps and keeps her off any sort of perscription and more importantly helps her sleep then wonderful. I can't wait.

On the writing front my graph moved very little but I was tweekeing some parts of what I had already written. So lots of review and rewriting but very little in the way of new works or great jumps in word counts. My goal is to be at the 12G mark by Monday night. That will leave me 3 weeks to edit it and get it ready for an actual submission. Just the thought makes my heart beat a bit faster.

Support Your Troops!!!!

Yesterday is a heart wrenching day for everyone. Today I read so many well written memorials that I managed to get myself all upset again. But today's upset is a more determined one. I want to help...not fight 'cause I would so suck at that. But supporting the troops that are overseas fighting. Not just those in the Middle East, I did some research and there are LOTS of troop deployments all over the world. Wars and peacekeeping missions that aren't under massive media coverage and get all but forgotten.

There are a lot of sites out there that send pakcages to troops overseas. The one I spent the most time on was AnySoldier.com They have links to lots of branches of the military. I tell you the Americans have TONS of sites to send suport to their troops. It was great to see

So far I haven't found a single one that sends care packages to CANADIAN troops. Are we as a country that lax is supporting the men and women wearing a red Maple Leaf. I hope I'm wrong about that, because I just feel sick about it. I have and Uncle in the Navy and I'll be emailing him to see if he knows of any sites.

That being said I did find one link. CFPSA Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency. They don't have premade packages that can be ordered and mailed but what is stopping us from making a box up and sending it over?

I found a few addresses, packages can be addressed to "Any Canadian Soldier"

OP ARCHER - Afghanistan
OP ARCHER (5058)
Name / Rank
OP ARCHER
PO Box 5058 Stn Forces
Belleville ON K8N 5W6

OP BRONZE - Bosnia-Herzegovina
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Banja Luka
Name / Rank
*Unit / Section
PO Box 5000 Stn Forces
Belleville ON K8N 5W6

OP CALUMET - Sinai
OP CALUMET
Name/Rank/Initials
PO Box 5237 Stn Forces
Belleville ON K8N 5W6

OP JADE/OP PROTEUS - Jerusalem
OP JADE/OP PROTEUS (5239)
Rank/Name/Initials
Unit/Section
PO Box 5239 Stn Forces
Belleville ON K8N 5W6

All of this started when I read Joe Konrath's Blog and he wrote about sending books over to the troops. Such a simple idea and one that would be immensely appreciated I'm sure. I have a ton of old paperbacks in a box. So today I am boxing up a bunch of them and shipping one out to each of the address above.

No matter which country you live in SUPPORT YOUR TROOPS!!

**NOTE~ After further reading I discovered that if you send a package to "Any Canadian Soldier" It can only contain letters or it will be returned. That sounds so stupid to me. I'm going to look into it further. Maybe if I wrote on the side what the box contains that would be ok; because I was thinking of tossing in some microwave popcorn and hard candies and other little treats for them. I'll let you know what I find out.

Remembering

I don't have to expand on what I have been remembering today. It's something that I'm sure was in a lot of thoughts. It's been 5 years and my chest still gets tight and my throat aches when I think about it. I remember the moment I found out about it. I was at work, we had just heard on the radio that there had been a crash in NYC. We all ran for the tv in the lunch room and while we stood there in shock the second plane hit.

Sometimes I think that I must be a terrible writer since I cannot put into words, what I felt/still feel. I can't imagine how the families of all the souls who passed on deal with it. Day to day I guess. The second most horrifying moment to that was when the first tower crumbled and the newscaster started yelling about how it was full of firemen and policemen. I still get teary just thinking about it.

We're lucky in that in this part of the world, being touched by such evil has a deep effect on us. For all those living in countries torn apart by war, it's a daily occurance.

I'm not trying to be depressing, but I needed to say something.

Taking a day off.

No your eye are not fooling you. My last word update was Thursday night. Does that mean I have stopped, Hell no. I'm just taking a bit of a break. I'm making good time, so I can afford a day or two to spare. I'll make it up tomorrow. There are a couple spots that concern me. Little details that will drive me nuts.

Funny thing is my normal hangups I don't seem to have a problem with. Names...check.
Location...check. I guess because I am working under guidelines I am stressing about that. Now really the guidelines are VERY general.

It has to be a Christmas story. Only 12,000 words.

Now how can someone stress about that? Welcome to my brain!

For now I am enjoying a glass of wine and the fact that tomorrow is my day off. I can sleep in (hahahahahahahaha) and putz around with my story all afternoon. When the girls aren't bugging me that is. Watch that count it will move tomorrow. It had better move tomorrow or I will really have something to stress about.

Just a spit over half way

It's getting there. I did a bit of a jump tonight. I was getting hung up on the details all day and I knew I had to get a good amount done in order to keep on schedule. So I jumped ahead a bit got the black moment and ending written.
Well more like a detailed sketch of it all; still a start that I can tweek and polish after it is all done.

Now usually I find naming my characters difficult but this time they agreed failry quickly. Holly and Brand. No I;m having a dispute over hair colour. I've written Holly as a blond and Brand with sandy brown hair. According to Holly this evening she has Red hair and Brand is the blond. *sigh* Not sure if I agree with her but for now I'm letting her have her way. She's a little bratty and I want to keep her talking.

I still fear I'm going to have too many words by the time it's done. Better too many then not enough I guess. I'll just be editing things out and tightening it up a bit here and there. Of course while I was writing I realized not only do I need a good detail why this is happening at Christmas but I also need an incantation of sorts or spell would be a better term. Dammit.

Well I'll worry about that later, next week. This week I am concentrating on getting the basic story done. Late next week I will add and improve my descriptive stuff. You know all the stuff that's not dialogue LOL.

I'll jsut leave a big ???? for that parts that need the actual spell and then I can add it later when it comes to me.

Sounds easy huh? I wish

12 thousand just isn't a whole lot anymore

I remember a few years back when I made my first attempt at serious writing. It was a contest put on by Harlequin. They had one of their authors write the beginning of a short story and then the contestants had to finish it less then 5 thousand words.

I remember thinking that 5 thousand was so much. I was used to doing RPG's, from 1 POV, where if you cranked out a few hundred it was considered a big post.

I got it done, still have it hidden somewhere too LOL. Not my greatest work (coughsucksrocks)but I am proud of the fact that the goodie two-shoes they had created as the hero; Well I managed to turn it around and make him a obsessed psychopath. The Heroine fell in love with the misunderstood tattoo ridden biker. *G* Obviously I didn't win. I will admit the writing is rough and riddled with gramatical mistakes. My only goal with that one was to actually enter it. It took me a good 20 minutes to hit the send button and then I panicked for another 20. But it was a learning experience.

I've attemped other small goals here and there. Accommplished a few. Missed a few. I did managed 50,000 in 30 days last year for NaNoWriMo. It was 35% crap but the rest of it morphed into "Believeing is Seeing". It's on the back burner now. I have to take a fresh look at it in a few weeks.

Oh damn I'm off track again. Right now I am working on 12 thousand and it's just not enough words. I am almost at 4 grand and the 2 main characters have just met. I have to get them into bed, fun/funky sex, fall in love, have a black moment and HEA in only 8 thousand words. Oh Shit!

The rational part of my brain suggested that I could just gloss over the sex part, do a closed door thing. My creative side is still laughing hysterically.

Man I have over a month to get it done and I am alredy stressing myself out. The black moment happens Christmas eve/Morning, but why? I mean it is a christmas story but the idea I have could occur at any given holiday not just the cold one so there fore what is the point. I have to get more detailed. I need a reason WHY Christmas and not any other holiday.

So far my creative side is stuffing its self with chocolate and my muse is off practicing with his sword. That's what I get for having a pagan muse. Stay tuned I'm sure I will have it all figured out by tomorrow.
...or maybe the next day
.....the weekend at the latest.

The dawn of a new school year YEH!!!

Officially ending the summer. *sad sigh*

The munchkins headed off to school today, armed with spaking new book bags, pencils, glue sticks and assorted gadgets. I just got home and am debating on pouring a blob of celebratory baileys in my coffee and doing a happy dance at the end of the driveway. You know if everyone on the street did it, that would be a hoot. I need to find a neighborhood where everyone is as strange as I am.

I need to get any extra exercise I can. We were at Ribfest this weekend. Aaarrggghhh *drooling. Damn it was soo good. The weather sucked rocks but surrounded by gallons of BBQ sauce no one cared LOL. I think this picture is from last year of a brief moment on Saturday when the sun made an appearance for about 3 minutes. I didn't take it I nicked it from a ribfest website. We were there on Sunday, overcast, rainy, but not as crowded. Smaller crowds means the line-ups are a bit shorter. So this year we hit "Bibbs Ribs" cause they rock every year. Also we tried "Porky's and Beans" Hubby has a new favourite. I managed to get 2 ribs out of the rack, almost lost a finger when grabbing the second.
Ribs to Hubby is like Truffles to Me.
As I've mentioned before I go for the beans *sigh* They kill your digestive system but damn they taste good. Only 360 more days till Ribfest 2007.

My word count is progressing along I am happy to say. So far I'm averaging about a grand a day which I figure is a good pace. That should give me (hopefully enough) time to tear it into pieces and get all the needed editing done.

Speaking of which I had better see why my fevered brain can come up with this morning. I've got a few hours before I have to be at work. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

A rather Mathmatical morning...I need more coffee

Math is not really one of my strong points but I've always found the theorys interesting in small amounts LOL. There are a couple spacific numbers that show up in life regularly enough to really to spark my interest. The problem with math is that I can understand how something works in my head but not be able to put it into words. Which is why I'll pepper this post with links to places that can explaim it better then I

First is the Divine Proportion 1.618. Also known as Phi. It's really intereting how often this number shows up in nature. If you have ever read the Da Vinci Code then you know what I am talking about. For example of you take the measurement from your shoulder to your fingers and divide it by the measurement from your elbow to your fingers guess what you get?

Then there is the Number 3.
The Goddess - Maiden, Mother, Crone
The christian God - Father, Son, Holy Spirit
The three divisions of time - past, present and future.
The three persons in grammar - me, myself and I.
The three kingdoms of matter - animal, vegetable or mineral.

Then there is another favourite of mine the tv show Numb3rs It's one of the few that I actually watch out for the season premier.

What the hell is all this about you might ask? Well I have a new word count up and this is an elaborate way of trying to justify it. I think my brain works better if I work on 3 things at once. Yea that's it.
It's just for short term. I want to see if I can make a goal that was not set by me. So I have until the beginning of October to have a completed 12,000 word manuscript on somthing that has to do with Christmas.
Can I actually do it? Only time will tell. But if I can't then I really am going to have to take a good hard look at how committed I really am to the ultimate goal of being published.

Hobby or future career. I can't play forever.

Ernesto decided to come for a visit

And I can't wait till he leaves!!! Damn storm had to show up on the Labour Day weekend too. How rude. LOL

So today is chilly and rainy. More like what a May 2-4 weekend is like rather then the last 'hurrah' of the summer. This weekend is the annual "Ribfest" downtown. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Hopefully the rain will lay off for a couple hours tomorrow afternoon so we can go down. Who am I kidding we will go anyways, it will just be more fun if we aren't cold and wet.

Hubby goes for the meat, I don't mind that but my favourite part is the baked beans. mmmmmmmm beans on toast. My favourtie last year was from a place called "bibbs Ribs" If I remember correctly they are out of Naples Florida. There was another place too, I think it was called Camp 21...or Alabama 21 or they are from Alabama. I can't remember the name but I remember the BBQ.

So I'm planning to cozy up tonight in a fuzzy sweatshirt and ratty jeans and write. Might want to add a large glass of red wine or two as well. It is Saturday after all.

A must read...

Getting tired of the same stories repeated times and time a again, well have I got a suggestion for you.

Dinah has two hunky best friends, Ian and Taylor. They are there for her during any trauma that comes her way, especially when her boyfriend abuses her. But when they decide they want her between them forever and all ways possible, what will she decide about their relationship?

Being with them is the sexiest thing she's ever done. They arouse her beyond anything she'd ever dreamed possible. And they give her a sense of completion, though she never imagined the American dream with Dick, Jane, and Robert. But when odd things start happening. Ugly things that make her doubt who she's becoming, she resists her desires, ignoring her gut feelings.

Will she give in to her family's and society's pressures? Or will she find a way to give in to her darkest desire, to be the woman in the middle?

(Michele I hope you don't mind I swiped your cover blurb from your site)

This is Michele Armstrong's newest release titled Dinah's Dark Desire. It was a great story with a group of believeable characters. Michele tackled not just the emotions of the main characters but some of the views that surround this type of relationship. There is a nice little twist in there too *G* I really enjoyed it and was sorry that it ended. That said I certainly wouldn't mind if the three of them ever made a cameo appearance in one of her future books. *coughmichelecoughhinthintwnikwinknudgenudge*

psst...It moved

Wow I have managed to make the graph move. Not dramatically but still every little step is a step closer right?

I survived

Yes I ended my first full week at work in, In don't know how long. The past month I was on vacation for 2 weeks and the other couple weeks were broken up by stat. holidays and tasting days. I really need to find a job where I'm paid to sit on my ass at home. This going to work everday really sucks LOL.

Ok I think I am done moaning and groaning, for now.

Had a really bazarre dream again last night. It was like watching 3/4 of a book being played out in front of me. I even thought during the dream that I had to remember to write all this down when I woke up. It was cool...until I woke up and grabbed my notebook and pen. It was then that I realized that I have really bad taste in stories when I am sleeping. Most of it didn't make a bit of sense although there were parts that might be of use later one. I just tucked them onto the backburner. For now I have a mountain of laundry, and a house to clean before I can get some writing done.

You know working full time is a really good excuse for not getting the house work done *G*

Yet another shorty...

Really nothing overly interesting going on. Other then I am writing...really really writing not just talking about it, playing around with an idea or plugging away at some dead, lifeless, creative black hole... nah just kidding I do like my job. I just wish I was still on vacation.

A thought hit me today. There is only 2 months and 8 days till NaNoWriMo starts again. Wow where did the last year go?

Ok *pushing up sleeves* Have to get back to makeing those bar graphs move.

So end's my Vacation *sigh*

"Ugh! That is just sick and wrong!" ~Comment from my oldest during 'the talk'

So I have a new word meter up. I'm not fighting the muse any more; if he wants to work on the new one then so be it. As long as I finish something! The word count isn't as high as I had hoped but it's a good count. I cut out all the crap and nonsence and other NanoWriMo tricks I was using to bump up the number to my goal. Not that I think it is a bad idea to write from the hip, but I'm going to try to keep the meters accurate and not include my brainstorming.

It's back to work this afternoon. No more lounging around in my jammas. That sucks and my first day bad had to be a Monday too. Blech!!

Just a shorty.....

After a talk with hubby my youngest had the strangest idea that if you had a bad dream it lasted for 3-5 months....

Me: Honey, I think you might have misunderstood what he was trying to tell you.

Daughter: I think daddy needs to use smaller words.

LOL That cracked me up.
Tomorrow is the last day of my holidays and I plan on spending it in my pajamas writing or in a bathing suit lying in the sun writing. Since everyone is gracious enough to allow me my mulligan I don't want to blow it!

I am amateur plumber, hear me roar!

Have you ever heard of a ballcock assembly? Yea, me too but did you know that the doohickey that shoots water into the back of a toilet is call that as well?

Now imagine going into a Canadian Tire and asking if they could point you to the ballcocks. Could you do it with a straight face? I couldn't. I am rarely accused of being mature and this was way beyond me. So I saved my dignity and wandered around until I found what I was looking for.

Good news the downstairs bathroom is back in normal working order and I am now the self appointed Queen of Ballcocks!

Can I have a Mulligan?

I'm calling a do over! (again) My memory failed me, either that or I am suffering from self-sabotage...which is always possibility. The subconscious has a mind of it's own sometimes.

When I arrogantly announced that I was setting a modest goal of 3G's for last week I forgot that I had family coming for visit. DOH! *smacking forhead* Not that I minded the visit. I adore my nieces and my brother and sister-in-law and had a great visit but this is the first time I have had a quiet moment on the computer in many days.

I did get started on my goal but I am bumping my date to this Monday. Thankfully the same character is still hollering in the back of my mind or this could have turned out disasterous. Although the extra time has allowed me to mentally ceate some secondary characters and flesh out a bit of the world they live in. Which bears a striking resemblance to British Columbia LOL. This should be a challenge to write about a place I have never been. If this goes as well as I hope; I imagine I'll have a couple maps of the province including Victoria Island hanging by my computer for reference.

Tonight was the girls second last soccer game for the season. We have one more "playoff" game for each of them on Saturday, when they get trophies.Then I can retire from 'soccer mom' status for another year.

Damn I'm tell'n you; When I was a teenager with massive backcombed hair, highcuts, bandanas, and a leather jacket, looking forward to getting my first tattoo; I never would have though the term 'soccer mom' would ever be used to describe me. That term always invoked a preppy, sandra deeish image. (Two adjectives that still cannot be applied to me LOL)

I am hereby heralding the term "Naughty Soccer Mom"...oh wait that sounds more like a title for a porno. There has to be something better. Any suggestions?

I'm an adjective?

I've been called many things but this is a first....

FeyRhi -- [adjective]: Pretentiously academian 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Ok so you have heard me moan, bitch, whine and repeat many times but here is one more. I have to get back into writing mode. Duct tape my ass to the chair and my muse to my back and get some work done.

So in hopes that it will help I am publicly announcing my intent to have 3 thousand words written in the next week. A very modest goal, and this way if I surpass it I get to feel warm and fuzzy.

There are stipulations though. The 3G's have to be written on one subject, not 500 on 6 different stories. Although at this point I don't care which story. Therefore which ever character(s) shouts the loudest gets my attention. Oh and bloggin doesn't count.

Scott Oden recently posted about his missing discipline. I'm starting to think that there is a Headonism Retreat out there 'For Muses Only'. They're partying it up while we procrastonate and feel guilty.


These are purely for inspiration. We took the kids to Niagara on the weekend and went on the Maid of the Mist. It is a 'must' experience if you ever go there. I had to put the camera away after taking these two one because the mist is so dense it's like being in the middle of a rainstorm.

You can feel the falls vibrate in your chest the boat gets so close. Epecially in the horseshoe falls because you feel surrounded. The noise is deafening, but it is the energy swirling around you, even if you don't believe in that sort of thing, you still feel it. Every person on that boat was laughing and hollering despite the fact they were getting soaked.

If the river wants it, LET HER KEEP IT!

Remember from my previous post, when the river tried to take my daughter it swiped one of her favourite shoes. A teal 'Croc' (Seen in this picture, This was taken earlier that day, she was writing in her "journal")

Anyhoo the next day I was driving into town with the kids and my girlfriend and we stopped at the side of the road to see if the shoe might have gotten caught down river a bit. You can't get down to the river from there but we can just see through all the brush. There's a grouping of fallen trees and wouldn't you know it but there is the shoe bobbing away as if to say "come get me". I knew if I was careful I could make my way down river to it.

I don't know what possessed me but I backed up to the path, parked the car and we all climbed down to the river's edge again. I kicked off my flipflops and decided to go it barefoot. It wasn't that bad, but after 5 minutes of careful navigating I figured I had better wait till I had on my watershoes and a bathing suit. It was slow going as I balanced on rocks and boulders just under the surface of the water. I was literally one rock away from getting out when I lost my balance and went ass first into a deeper spot. I was laughing as I went down, so was Lissa and the kids.

A second later I realized that being closer to the waterfall then we were the day before meant that the current was stronger and I landed in a really bad spot. It's bazarre because the water really wasn't that deep, but I was off balance enough and there wasn't a large enough rock for me to brace against. I also realized quickly as I found my self swept along, that if I got pulled out a little farther then it was going to be much harder for me.

When I stopped laughing my youngest started panicking, my oldest just held on to my nephew and didn't say anything. Lissa was trying to make light of it all as if I was playing around, and look at silly mummy/aunti who got all her clothes soaked.

Me I had two thoughts going through my brain:
1- I refuse to drown in front of my children
2- Ohf@ck,Ohf@ck,Ohf@ck,Ohf@ck,Ohf@ck,Ohf@ck,Ohf@ck,Ohf@ck

I managed to thow my weight against another rock. To be spacific my knee impacted, with all 158lbs of me holding it in place, then I wedged my foot somewhere and got my balance back, pulling my self out of the water.

Obviously I escaped (yes escaped 'cause the bitch didn't make it easy) with a scraped foot and a puncture right on my knee cap. It was a deep dent when I first looked at it and didn't hurt...for the first couple minutes then.... muddafuddaouch! The cut sealed better then I thought it would, the bone hurt like a bitch and has a lovely bruise bloching it a bit but aside from some stiffness I'm fine.

The moral of the story. Man, never underestimate the power behind a simple river and if you feel the need to lecture your children then be sure to pay attention yourself.

I mentioned in the comments that we came home a day early. It had nothing to do with these two events. Wednesday evening (the day I fell in) There was a massive storm that hit the area and knocked out all the power in the entire Muskoka area and Algonquin. Where we were they didn't expect to have it fixed for 3-5 days. That is why we ended up coming home Thursday. 12 hours of no power and carrying buckets of lake water up to the bathroom so we could flush was enough for me. Don't get me wrong I don't mind roughing it, but after what had happened over the previous couple days I wasn't in the mood.

It made me wonder though, which god(ess) was pissed off to throw that kind of temper- tantrum. Could it be because they only got one croc?

Us vs The Current

Yes this years Muskoka scare wasn't caused by any sort of wildlife. It was with something much more dangerous as far as I am concerned. With an animal you can fight back, ever try to fight water?



The picture on the left is the waterfall last year. It was strong in the corner but we were careful and 10 feet away it calmed down. The picture on the right is what it was like this year. The water level is much higher and, the current is so strong we couldn't get anywhere as close to it as we did last year. You can see the rock we were leaning against is completely covered this year. So we stayed down river a bit. The ironic thing is I gave both the girls a strong talking to /lecture, about how they have to respect the river and how it looks like fun but is very dangerous, and to never underestimate it. Too bad I didn't heed my own advice.

Hubby is a bit of a daredevil and waded out farther into the rapids. He has the weight and strength to take care of himself, and was having a blast. He is just a big kid sometimes and loves waves of anykind. In this picture he has his body braced against a underwater rock and is letting the current flow over him. It's an incredible feeling but I wouldn't go in that deep this time. After a while he took our oldest a bit farther into the current then I was. He used his own body as a shield to block the current and keep her safe. She was having a blast and I stayed close to the edge with our youngest.

I'm sure you have guessed where I am going with this. I heard a panicked yelp and looked up in enough time to see her slip to the side and swept over the rock she had been leaning against. I can tell you that was the single most terrifying moment of my life. Hubby lunged/dove/scrambled over two large underwater boulders and managed to grab her by the ankle. In 3 seconds the current had whipped her around and was about to send her heard first down the rapids. It was a matter of inches that saved her life. If he had missed her foot...

The curse of an overactive imagination is that I can envision every possible outcome of that moment, although I try not to think about it too much. Hubby has to hug her every time it crosses his mind. She escaped with nothing but a good scare and lost one of her favourite shoes. A teal coloured "croc".

Hubby had a brutal gash in his shin, lost a toe nail, and banged up his arm. I wanted him to have his leg looked at but of course he declared it "fine". He did promise that if it bruised black and became swollen he would let me drive him to emergency. I was sure he must have gotten a hairline fracture or something but it's ok and healing nicely.

Why am I tell you all this? I'm purging. This event has occupied most of my thoughts since it happened. Life is made up of experiences but really I could have done with out this one. I have tried to think of the positive, no one was hurt, I might even be ale to use those emotion when writing one day....but it's too soon. Trying not to dwell on 'what ifs' is the biggest challenge at the moment.

Think this is the end of my tale? Hell no, but the rest can wait till tomorrow

It's official....

Yes, as of 10:31 pm EST I am officially on vacation!

There is a bit more packing and organizing to do, (which is why I am on the computer of course)but tomorrow we are off to the piece and quiet of the Muskoka's. Not sure who is more excited me or the girls. A friend from work lent me her portable DVD player. That should make the drive up there a bit more painless.
Yes, I am not above plugging my girls brain's into a movie for an hour or so. The drive take 3.5 so there will be lots of time to stare out the window at the scenery. The first couple hours is all boring supa-highway driving nothing to see but transport trucks and concrete. After that we get out into the pretty.

May all of you have a wonderful week. I'll check in with pictures when I get back.

Take Care!!!

FeyRhi Estates is growing!

My vineyard is doing well as you can see. Much better then I ever expected. I even have Grapes!!!! Looks like just one cluster though, don't think I'll be getting much out of it LOL It has grown higher since I took the picture a week ago. I have to remember to plant some supports for it before we go away. I don't want it to fall over and damage the stalk. I'll have to post a picture when we get back so you can see how much it's grown.

Speaking of leaving.... I hate packing. Really really really hate it. If fact I should be doing it now but I am surfing and blogging trying to avoid it. There is already a large pile on the kitchen floor of things to go and I have no idea how we are going to get all this, the four of us and a dog into the car. It's going to be a LONG 3 hour drive *G*

On a happy note, only two more sleeps till me make said drive and I am officially on vacation. I can't wait!!!

I wish there was a packing fairy that would poof in and do all this for me.

5 days left...

And I am on vacation! I cannot wait. It's not that I dislike my job, I just really need to get away. We are going on our annual trip UP-UP North to our friend's dad's cottage.

Sunday to Friday we will be up in the Muskoka's. Home to bears and wildlife, where the night sky is as black as pitch and you never realized exactly how many stars you don't see in the city.

Considering the adventures past years have offered, (the baby bear scare, and last year the chickenpox and leech insident) I think I had better pack more wine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writing is a humbling experience.

Once again I will be delaying my personal goal. I really suck at keeping scheduels, especially when I am the one setting the pace. I'm having a hell of a time with this story. It's just growing stagnant and I don't know what is wrong with it. Everytime I think I have it figured out... it goes well for a while and then fizzles.

I'm not sure if I have too much going on in the story or not enough. OR perhaps if I could get more then a few minutes at a time to work on it, it would go better.

I'm at a loss at the moment what to do. At the moment I think the entire thing sucks and I should just toss it out the proverbial window and start over. Of course then I worry that I am going to spend my incredibly short career as a writer starting projects and then tossing them to start another.... I could always stack the half finished manuscripts in the downstairs closet, next to the hundreds of half finished knitting and crosstitch projects.

It's been so long!

I found the link to this one on Michele's blog. I have a hard enough time passing on quizes, but a shapeshifting one? I couldn't resist.

Who is your inner Shapeshifter?

From witches who could change into cats with magic spells, to tribes of anthropomorphic tigers living in the jungles of Malaysia, to bloodthirsty werecats of Japan who would prey on humans for sustenance, tales of werecats rival their more well-known werewolf cousins in number.As a werecat, you are aggressive, fiercely independant, short-tempered and prone to violent outbursts. You can also be very kind though, by protecting those you care for from those who wish to do them harm. Those who befriend you are very lucky (as long as they stay on your good side!)
Take this quiz!








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It's about time!

Everyone bitches about the media and how they make us feel bad about ourselves. How pencil thin models, and airbrushing has put impossible expectations on our girls. Problem is everyone complained but no one did anything about it. Until now.

I gotta tell ya I spent over an hour in the website for Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. There is a ton of information there about how this company is trying to change everyone’s view of themselves. They are concentrating on mothers and daughters but really I think that the same could be said for many men. I'm sure the insecurities with body image are not gender exclusive.

I love this picture. Real women with real curves. Maybe it's just because I am a chick as well, but I would prefer to look at bodies like this then the emaciated stick models that are usually featured in fashion magazines, or the ones with HUGE implants in the porn mags.

According to one of their surveys only 2% of women would describe themselves as pretty. I guess I wasn't surprised over that, even though I feel I should be.

Many romance novels are featuring more realistic female leads. Sherrylyn Kenyon's 'Dark Hunter' series is an example of that. Her heroines range from plus sized women to scarred~multi coloured hair, vampire slayers. Each has their flaws and find men who can see past the surface, to what is important. *sigh* Some good romance

Now there is a part of me that wonders if all this is all an elaborate marketing ploy we are all falling for.....but then then I decided I don't care. It's a good message Dove is trying to send out and if that means they get to sell a few more bars of soap and such, then I'm not about to begrudge them.

Oh and yes I have one of their t-shirts. It says "EveryBODY has a best feature."

I LOVE this weather

It was a busy day for everyone. The munchkin managed to hold off till 8am before coming in and asking what time we were going to the mall. She been jonesin' for this day ever since her sister got her ears pierced. Finally after all the waiting she is sporting a pair of pink studs. Little fashion diva insisted on wearing her sunglasses before I took the picture. LOL

Pressure is on to meet my 4,000 word goal for this weekend. Stay tuned for update but be warned I may extend it to Monday night LOL.

I have a bit of a poll for those of you who read this. I am contemplating getting the small tattoo on my ankle repaired. (long story, another time) After much contemplation and a comment from hubby that sparked an idea I was thinking of getting the girls birth flowers added and extend it up the side of my calf a bit. Trouble is from my research each of their months is represented by 2 flowers (couldn't make it easy could they?)


May is represented by both the Lily of the Valley and the Hawthorn. I think both of them are pretty. But with all that white I wonder if the Lily will look better on skin? Since there is so much green to highlight the flowers, but I like the spottiness of the hawthorn



Now for June we have the Water Lily and Larkspur.




They are all pretty flowers, I can't decide. I wanted to use one to represent each of the girls and then one for myself but the March flower is a Jonquil. They look like daffodils to meand I am just not a daffodilly person. So instead I opted for the Trillium which I think is much prettier and is the Ontario Provincial Flower. The province in which we were all born. So I am sticking with the symbolism here.

My question to you is what do you think? Any preferences/suggestions? Just pop them into the comments, I'd love to hear some input. I promise to post a picture once I decide and actually have it done.

The eve of my weekend....

I tell ya this working for a living sucks. The sooner my numbers show up the better.....of course if I played the numbers I might have a better chance. *G*

Tomorrow is my youngest's birthday. Wow I can't believe she is 7 already. Every morning this week, the first thing she has said is how many days till she is getting her ears pierced. LOL I've already told her that she is NOT to wake me up at 7 am tomorrow. We will go out after lunch and get her's done. She's so damn excited.

Amazingly enough the weather is forcasted to be spectacular, and in fact, it's a gorgeous evening. Why you may ask am I insde on such a wonderful night? Well, I figure I won't be posting much unless something funny happens so why not now. I am just enjoying the feeling that I have a full 48 hours before I have to go back to work. Time to relax, and enjoy a 'wobbley pop' or two. (For those who do not speak Canadian....wobbley pop = beer)

I also want to get at least 4 thousand words done on my WIP by Monday. Not an unattainable goal but not a cake walk. Cranking out 2 G's of story line was much easier when I was playing around, and just seeing what would come out. Now that I have a solid story, characters and *gasp* a plot...well it's not so easy any more. I find that while I write, I tweek, and that means there is more rewriting going on. Not to mention character establishment and development as well as hooks, arcs and mysterious assassins.

But as long as I meet my personal Aug deadline, I'll be happy. For now I'm going to go outside with my beverage in one hand and a notebook in the other and listen to the crickets.

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

Damn I swear we had rain of biblical proportions today.
I thought it would never stop! Now we aren't talking a drizzle, or spitting a bit; Nope there was a constant downpour for the entire day, Got soaked getting into my car to go to work and when I got in my car to drive home. BLECK!

Hopefully Mother Nature will have gotten it out of her system. The weekend is forecasted to be very hot and sunny and I have it off!!! WooHoo. My youngest's birthday is on Saturday and I am hoping to see my girlfriend and her family come for a visit on Sunday (yes I am talking about you Mucka!)

I recently got transferred to a new store, closer to home (yeahoo!) Which means that I will not have to deal with my nemeses, the evil wacko Asst. Manager. Now every store has their great and not so great staff. That is true in any job but after what I have had to deal with for the last couple years....well I think I can deal with just about anything. Gotta be careful how loud I type that it's never a good idea to tempt the Fates.

Times ticking and my word counts have not moved as far a head as I would like. Part of that is my continual battle with procrastination; also my ancient laptop has crapped out. It still works but it won’t save anything. Considering it my mum’s, I am procrastinating over telling her too. Now I have to battle hubby for computer time. Hmmm sounds like another good excuse doesn’t it?

I am still determined to get this done by the end of Aug. That is my goal, one I really want to make it.

Dreaming the Future

So last night I had a very strange dream. It actualy was a romance story...sort of, you know how dream are. Of course now I can't really remember much about it, but it had something to do with a woman who was terrifed of heights and a man who was a trapise artist.

Strange thing is I remember thinking to myself, during the dream, that this would make a great story and I can't wait to write it and that I absolutly love the characters....HUH?? Now realizing I am dreaming isn't anything new to me, many times I realize that I am dreaming and often can change what is happeneing if I don't like it. This is the first time I decided was dreaming a possible manuscript. Too bad my memory was already full of holes by the time I finally woke up.

Long ago I use to keep a note book next to my bed to record my dreams. I think I might start doing that again just in case these two decide to let me know a bit more about them.

What could be better then a day off??

Well 2 of course! (oh come on you can't tell me you didn't see that coming)

So while the laundry is procreating on my floor and there is a distinct possibility the kitchen dishes may reach a senchant level and wash them selves, I have spent the day next to the pool...again

While the girls were swimming I was reading Karen Marie Moning's "Spell of the Highlander" from cover to cover. Breaking only to make them lunch and then slather a bit more sunscreen over all that pale skin. I wish I read slower cause now I have to wait forever for her next one too! Goddamn she is a good.

You know I remember when I was a teenager, I wouldn't go near anything over a 3spf 'cause I figured I'd never get a tan. I would slather myself in tanning oil with no protective ability and lay out lke a big slab of meat on a BBQ. Now I'm willingly wearing a 50spf and actually am a bit pinker then I should be. That my friends is terrifying.

I just hope that this doesn't get any darker. Why is it if you get a sunburn is hurts later on after the sun goes down?

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, we are 139 years young and still able to party.

Gorgeous day too, spent it next to the pool. Relaxing back in a lawn chair, doing nothing but daydreaming. I love statuatory holidays *G*

They are calling for a bit of a thunderstorm tonight so if that happens I'm hoping that I will get a good chunk of writing done. I've always thought it strange but I get really creative during those kind of storms. Wierd huh? Must be the electiricity in the air or something strange like that.

I just don't get it...

It's this whole soccer thing.(Yes I realize that the World cup is only on every 4 years or so that makes it special.)
Everywhere you drive there are cars with the little flags attached to the window. I'm not sure if it is just the part of Ontario I live in or if it's everywhere but suddenly soccer is all anyone wants to talk about! I'll be honest I have no interest in the games at all. Watched a professional game once and saw a bunch of players taking "dives", pretending that they got hurt rolling around on the ground, Oscar level performances too. Not for me, I'll take hockey or rugby where they don't pretend to get hurt...they really are.
I'll stick with the mini-soccer my girls play, that is fun to watch.

2 of my favourite words...

BOOK SALE!

I made quick stop at Chapters on the weekend to pick up Karen Marie Moning's newest book, just to discover they're having a Buy 3 get the 4th Free sale. Well hot damn! Life doesn't get much better then that.

There was no way I could turn that down with the price of paperback these days. So I also grabbed an anthology, and Julia Quinn's newest. Now since technically I wasn't paying for the 4th I figured why not try someone new. So after much picking up and putting down I finally decided on a book by Alexis Morgan. Never heard of her before, but her book looked good.

Now for the best part, the book was better then good. I really enjoyed it. Read the damn thing in less then 24 hours. It's titledDark Protector and has all the things I like best is a book.
Tortured heros, strong heronines, quirky habit, a bit of sci/fi paranormal spice, well written and I'm hooked. Like really hooked.

Apparently this is the first of a series of book about the Paladin. A race of immortals that protect the world as we know it. The trick to the Paladin's is not to kill them but to make sure they stay that way. They aren't undead; they just don't stay dead.

Click on the title to find out more about it but it was a perfect summer read. My only complaint is while looking up the web addy on Amazon I noticed that the books release date is TODAY! You know what that means; I have a LONG ass wait till I get my hands on the second in the series. Oh well at least I have another author in my list of books to watch for.

Of course this got me thinking. Wouldn't is be a better idea to release a couple of books pratically back to back? Say 2 months apart. Especially if you are a new author? Of course that means haveing 2 books done before approaching an editor. Hell I'll be happy when I get ths one done. *G*

But if you did have a couple books ready and a third on the go I would imagine that releasing them close together would help build a readership yes? If they really like your books then they would be willing to wait and less likely to forget about you while waiting for the next?

But then I already mentioned that I will watch for Ms Morgan's next so perhaps it is just my impatience colouring my opinion. Also I am not thinking of this like a publisher. I'm sure they would be more worried about the first flopping and then the second comes out and they both sit there. Perhaps it more about the publisher wanting to make sure that the author sells before they invest in them.

Nah...I'm just impatient.

A funny thing happened on my way to the 100G mark

Wow I really am having a busy month! It's the 22nd already, the girls are finished school for the summer at the end of next week. Holy damn things better slow down cause the weather just got nice and I don't want summer flying by! It obviously hasn't been that interesting cause it took me ages to think of something to gab about here. Must have been meeting Sherrilyn that did it. Everything else paled in comparison *G*

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On a HAPPY!!! note the girl missing in the post below has been found. I don't know all the details but all that matters is that she is back with her family. Tragically not something that always happens, I can't put into words how relieved I am for the family and her parents.

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So I had an interesting moment while writing. I get a rare quiet moment to work on my book and figure 20 minutes is better then nothing. So there I am working on a scene that I know need to be done and in my mind's eye suddenly a man turns around and it's one of the main heros. Shocked the hell out of me, I wasn't planning for either of them to be there actually, neither of the boys are due to meet the heroine again till a few scenes later.

I was going to delete it when suddenly it dawned that having him there made sense. It also made a situation a chapter later (that I thought was painfully awkward)easier. It was like all the pieces suddenly fell into place and made sense. I got the rush like "maybe I can do this after all".

August is only 9 short weeks away. The end of that month is my own personal deadline. I want to be working on a query for September and shiping it out to potential editors before the end of the pagan year. This adventure started at the beginning of the year with NaNoWriMo in November. I want to start the next year with a writing frenze on my next book.

A parents worst nightmare.

From what I understand time is the most critical part of finding lost children.
Please visit this link and have a look at the young lady pictured. You never know you might have seen her.

A totally WOW day!!!!!

After devouring all her books over the past year I actually met Sherrilyn Kenyon today. I like to pride my self on being down to earth and not getting star struck...yea well that went out the window. I was bloody nervous LOL

Wow, Sherrilyn is one of the sweetest people on the planet. Today's signing was great. Chapter's had set up chairs for everyone and she did a bit of Q&A before the signing. I was in the front row and hubby was in the back with the girls. Everytime I looked at him he would mouth "Ask a question" Damn wouldn't you know it I couldn't think of a single one LOL.

Everyone did the typical trying to get her to spill something about the upcoming books. All she would say is that the dream hunter books would be out in Jan/Feb and we would meet Ash's heroine in one of them. But we already knew that. Right now she is concentrating on the Lords of Avalon series. She also told a few really funny stories about her family and kids. It was so much fun. (Paz that is your book she is signing in the picture)

It's amazing how down to earth she is and how she tries to maked everyone feel special. I did speak to her and I think that it was English I was speaking but I'm not sure. *G* She is just so sweet and huggy. That's another awesome thing about her. I got two hugs from her *G* I'm a huggy person too so I loved that. I'm sure I made a complete goober of myself but she was nice enough to pretend she didn't notice. She's really tiny too ;o)

There were a couple of the loop writers there. Jaqs, Isis and Desari to name three. It's been ages since I've done any loop writing that I feel a bit out of it. Still it's nice to now have a face behind the characters.

I would have stayed longer if the hubster and kids hadn't been chomping at the bit to get out of there. Considering they had been waiting for 2.5 hours I couldn't bitch too much. Yes I did try to convince him that it might not be a good idea for them all to come, but he got it in his head that we could make a day of it. I think the last time we went downtown T.O. as a family was 3 years ago when I got tickets to a Jays game.

We took the kids around downtown Toronto for some sightseeing and a subwayride back to the car. I actually saw the AG again just down the street fro Chapters, but she was having lunch on a patio (with Jacs) and I refrained from making more of a goober of myself. It was a close call

The worries never end....

For yet another informative post, click here

Damn Angela Knight is one smart cookie. She may not post often but when she does I always learn something knew about the craft and publishing industry and end up reading it more then once. Same can be said for Morgan Hawke

For me I think there is a saying that a little knowledge is a bad thing. I'm still going to write my story the way I want and hope that the publishing houses 'get it'.

I did sit in on a chat last night with literary agent Deidre Knight of the Knight Agency. She was answering everyone's questions and seems very appraochable. LOL I bet her in-box was crammed with submissions this morning. Not that I blame anyone. If my book was ready I would have sent a query in in too.

It's all so damn intimidating. Of course I could just wait to worry about it when my book is finished but why would I do something like that? *G*

One more thing off my mind....

I love it when I get something accomplished that has been on the back of my mind. Case in point, I had a rather important exam I had to write for work. Between scheduling delays on the part of head office and my own procrastination I have had this hanging over my head for a couple years.

Today I wrote it.... If you noticed the mushroom like cloud over Toronto that was me in the process. I don't think I bombed it, in fact I came out of the exam feeling positive. Kiss of death. Anytime in school when I thought I did well it usually turned out to be the opposite. LOL

Funny how anyone can ask me a question at work and I don't have a problem answering it. Write it down, slap the term 'exam' or 'test' at the top of the paper and I blank out. Strange huh?

I'm just glad it's finally over. I didn't realize how much it was bugging me until I didn't have to worry about it any more. At least for another 4-6 weeks when I get my test results back.

From humble beginnings

Welcome to FeyRhi Estates!
Located on the North Shore of Lake Ontario
Projected volume for 2007...oh half a bottle at best


Ok I'm just kidding I'm not really starting a winery although that is one of my favourite daydreams. Being an accomplished (multi published), successful writer and owning a vineyard. I could write while overlooking ripening grapes. *sigh*

Hey you never know right! That's what dreams are for. Mine just happens to be a bit of the far fetched side but not completely unatainable. Although I'm gonig to have to sell a whole lots of books to be able to afford a small vineyard on the St David's Bench (my favourite Niagara appellation)
This is a 2 yr old Pinot Noir vine that I was given while on conference. If memory serves it was Henry of Pelham that donated them to us. (One of my favourite Niagara wineries!) This one is all mine though, it won't do much this year but should grow like mad next. Vines don't produce grapes till the third year.

I was actually learning how to plant vines like this one in their (Pelham's) vineyard last Wednesday. We were planting Riesling, whish means the 2009 vintages will contain juice from the grapes I planted *G* Ok stop looking at me like that, I think it's cool.

I am still kicking my self for not bringing my camera. It was such a busy day, We were at Coyote's Run in the morning, off to Brock university for a WCO presentation on the new Niagara Appellations. Had a BBQ lunch there then my group was off to Pelham. That was the best part of the day. Planting vines is not easy work. Opposite to what you might assume, grapes grow best in crap soil. The vineyard soil is rock hard and mostly red clay. It was still fun though. The brothers are a great bunch of guys and are so down to earth. It is a must stop on any winery tour.

I suspect that many of you might be getting the same glazed look on your face as my brother does when I slip into wine mode so I'll stop here. He was teasing me last night that I look the same when we he starts on about rad techs and nuclear power.
*snore*

Long time no see!!

Contrary to the way it has looked, I did not drop off the face of the planet *G*

Although I nearly choked when I saw how long it has been since I posted here last. My feet may still be planted firmly on terra firma but damn time is flying.

Last week I was away on our yearly conference. I can't say it was difficult staying in a gorgeous hotel, having a bed all to myself with maids to make it in the morning and not have to worry about dishes and laundry for 4 days. I was still glad to get home though, well until I saw the condition of the house then I was ready to go back.

It's a really busy week filled with fun tastings and winery tours blended in with mind numbing head office 'powerpoint' presentations. You can almost hear the collective groan with that flashes on the screen. By the end of the week I wish that someone still did presentations with the old fashion flip chart and markers.
I'll spare you all the deatils today, since it would make this post incredibly long. Besides it gives me something to gab about all week.

I am going to skip to one of the coolest parts. During one of the presentations Thursday afternoon I got to try a 1970 Ruffino Ducale Oro Chianti Classico Riserva. Yup you did the math right. It was a 36 year old wine. That is the oldest vintage I have ever tried so far. I was amazed at how well it was still drinking. We were doing a vertical so there was also the 1980, 1990, 1999, and 2001. I will admit I'm not a huge Chianti fan to begin with but the experience ment a lot to me.

It is very possible that shipping from Italy may have throw it off. Lets face it; wines approaching that age don't travel well. Aldofo Folinari who was presenting was telling us that they had done a tasting on the 1955 vintages the week before last at the winery and it was still drinking well.

There was also the 1999 Lodola Nuova Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which was very nice and my partner in world domination *cough* I mean friend/coworker/roomate loved. For me it was the 1999 Greppone Mazi Brunello di Montalciano that had me in rapture. 'Delish' is a complete understatement. I'm tempted to launch into a full tasteing note but...oh why not.

Raspberry, black cherries, milk chocolate, coffee and sweet herbs on the nose, with a rich, fleshy/chewy palate and good acidity. It did have some grippy tannins on the finish, to be expected considering the young age, but they were balanced with the fruit and acidity. The fruitcake finish went on for ages. I loved it! Just typing about it now has my mouth watering again LOL

There is so much more to tell but I'll fill you in as the week goes. There is one very good thing about powerpoint presentations. When they get too mind numbing I tend to daydream. Wonderful state for a writer. I may not have bumped up my word count any but I did get some backstory written. Building up the story about Amaryllis' mother was a big sticking point for me; that has aided in fleshing her out. I also got some spacifics about Thanatos' and Hypnos' characters and how they live/react to a contemporary setting. I have no idea if any of this wil actually make it into the story but at least they will give the characters a bit more depth.