New Silk beginning, first Tapestry read.

Yes, I had to admit when I went back to look at Silk that the beginning is a little hesitant and superficial. I didn't know my characters then like I do now, so I am thrilled to add a couple extra first chapters--or, at least, they're in the works! Fun to revisit old, early stuff!
Oh, changed a slew of names to avoid upsetting anyone who might be absurdly touchy about ancestors being accused of all sorts of crimes and intrigues! That was hard, but I feel a bit more at ease about it now.
First reading of Tapestry was interrupted with the Silk diversion. The idea for a new chapter was hitting me hard, so I had to go with it, even though I had intended to finish my first review of Tapestry.
Okay, that's the update. Chat later!

Christmas 2010

Another Christmas has come and gone! We spent most of our time up in SC, as my grandaddy is not doing so well--completely lucid and spunky, but dealing with a leukemia-type of condition. He was able to attend the Ard family gathering at his home, though, so that made it sort of special. It's been a while since we attended one of the extended family celebrations, and it was particularly nice--perhaps in part for being back at my grandparents' home. I've never been psyched about alternate locations.

Fiona received her Rebecca American Girl doll and Alex his video camera from Santa (for the movie he's planning). They had a great time with their cousins and, of course, received a slew of presents from us and both sides of the family.

In fact, we celebrated with Michael's family on the 26th, and their very fun newlywed aunt and uncle invited them up to Charleston for the week, so I was surprised to receive a blissful week of quiet, which is going all too fast! I do miss them, though :)

Michael has been a fantastic sport about working and celebrating and keeping a great mood. I have been unwinding a little from writing, and, even though I haven't quite gotten the house back in order, am feeling the urge to get back to editing! Can't wait to complete my book projects, and more editing is top of the agenda!

My Baby Writes, Too!

I'm frankly amazed. My little girl decided to write a book, too--completely on her own accord. She's decided upon an American Girl novel set in the 1920's. I believe the protagonist's name is Violet. Fiona wrote the first couple of paragraphs today, and they are truly cute (sisters heading to school). Anyway, I'm not sure I've ever seen her look more thrilled than when I read them. I did not suggest that my kids write, but I suppose they just catch the enthusiasm! Michael says that they've figured out that writing is an excuse to get out of everything! Ahem, not sure why he thinks that!

Silk Trilogy covers

I just LOVE making these book covers for my novels. It's so, so fun to have a reason to play around with the camera and photo software and feel like it's WORK! So I'm justified in spending my time thus! Anyway, the idea is that these are the online covers, at least for now or until I change them. I'm sure that graphic artists will be hired to make real book covers, but we'll see! I honestly don't even think I have the right dimensions exactly... Oh, I know that they don't look at all like they belong in a trilogy. Hmm...well, they are from different eras with different protagonists, if that's any excuse. The idea is that the Silk title is supposed to reflect a quill pen, whereas that wouldn't be appropriate for Tapestry.

Tapestry: A Lowcountry Rapunzel--first draft complete!

Yep, just like a kid in school--word count in, and wham! I'm outta here! Ha! But, honestly, even though it's a bit grueling and hard work (yes, it is!), I love it and am proud of the results. Gotta read back through and change a few things perhaps and maybe add just a bit to wrap up side character stuff, but that first draft is done. Not sure about the subtitle, but throwing it in there for kicks right now.

Goal Met: 50,000 surpassed.

Yay, woohoo? Yes, I am not finished with the story quite yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and report successful completion of the 1-month progress log. What a great program, and I've done it by the skin of my teeth! Okay, kids are out of school in like 4 minutes until next year, so I'm gonna get back to trying to wrap things up. Whew...

Crash Landing!

Ugh! I am in a writer's block! It's just WRONG to sit and type and delete and type. My creativity went on hiatus. No trouble with e-mail and blog and such, but my mind just QUIT on my story. I'm over 49,000 of the requisite 50,000 (though I think it'll take a bit extra to finish it). What will I do?
Michael has threatened to finish it for me, replete with puppies and bunnies and snowmen. That might kick me into gear, actually!
Maybe it's laziness. I'm ready for Christmas and kids and relaxing with family for the holidays.
Okay...I still technically have until Saturday to hit 50,000 words, and I made no promises to 'finish' by then, only to have the 50,000 in. 1000 words in the next 2 days. I'm sure I can, right?
For now, though, I'm going to go and do something else! Will report back in by Sunday or when I've gotten the required word count!

90%

Over 90% there! :)

Over 80% to Goal!

It's getting there...still lots of loose ends, but I've got almost a fifth of the book to wrap it all up. We'll see! Oh, did you hear that the 'Romance' genre is really picking up sales in e-book format? Well, I've always been terrible at guessing genres and never wanted to be a 'romance' writer, but perhaps this fits. Too bad it won't be out in time for Christmas, though hopefully it will be done by then!
Oh, names! Yes, here's the tentative names for Sophia Alexander's Silk trilogy: Silk, Tapestry, & Homespun. Michael came up with the last one, but I'm liking it. Just working titles for now, but fun to think about.

I Pinched Frank

I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed in myself. I introduced a new character 'Frank' to my story--just a small role. I even described him with a moustache (unlike any male character in this book) and dark hair. I thought I had just made him up, and I first was enthused when we went to see The Tourist yesterday (a very fun movie). "Hey! Depp is Frank, with dark hair and a moustache!" What a coincidence, right? No...I'd watched the trailer and read the blurb on the movie just a day or two before. Now, I wouldn't feel so bad if it had been ages ago, but the night before? My brain is Swiss cheese, I swear.
Oh, but it does make me feel a bit more convinced that Rowling probably has no idea how many ideas she pinched from earlier fantasy writers! See, my logic goes that if Rowling does it, then it's FINE! :)

What We Don't Know that We Know!

Wow...I am tickled pink! I have been accessing more info on fashion for the book, and, in doing so, I found that two cities I've already just named in my book for fashion shows are actually the two mentioned in the reference article!

Also, I've employed the term 'couturiere' in this book and wondered if I should throw it and haute couture and such back in book one...but guess what? The terms came into vogue during the dates between the two books, so it was right to not employ the terms in book one.

Another tidbit also comes up that I was more right than I realized, but I won't mention that, as I don't want to be any more of a spoiler than I already am!

Am I guessing or intuiting all this? Maybe I read about it at some point...or saw a movie when I was young? Hard to say, but it's so much fun to see your made-up ideas confirmed with fact-checking!

[Or, maybe I've really read them recently, as I don't really recall most of what I read, consciously at least!]

Family of Authors

Alex brought home his 'book' today. It's about 20 pages of large print with lots of spaces, typed. A strange, kids' horror theme, it needs some editing and maybe a bit of revamping, but I'm impressed that he finished it. He took my sticker chart idea, and I modified the word counts for him, and he had fun assigning himself stickers and letting go of deadlines.

Remembering my own failed attempt at writing at that age, I am quite proud of his completion of the work, if a bit dubious about the content! Pretty strange...but then, it's supposed to be!

Did I ever mention Michael finished his book, too? I did enjoy his quirky laid-back adventure, and I hope he gets published at some point. I think he's sitting back and letting me write at the moment, but he speaks of resuming editing in January.

And, if you've been reading this blog, you know all about mine! Book #2, Gaynelle in the roaring '20s. Not sure how I feel about it right now, but happy that it's getting there.

Nutcracker 2010

Fiona and Maia

I like this haircut on Alex. Looks like Brendan Frazier, don'tcha think?

The Nutcracker, Thanksgiving weekend

A lovely Sugar Plum Fairy attendant

After the show with sis.

Over 3/5 there!

Well, over 3/5 to 50,000 words, anyhow. There is so very much to work in before the end, so we'll see about that. I hit a terribly dry spot, but things are finally flowing a bit again, to my great relief! 3/5 and 65% and all such don't really sound so close to the end, to me, but I'm lovin' the fill in scroll, where it looks like I'm sooooo close to the end already, as I'm already filling in part of block 4 of 5!

Hannukah

It seems we've a new tradition. A couple of years ago, Michael brought home a menorah. As Unitarian Universalists, we honor and respect the customs of all major religions, and so, while hoping we don't offend, we have fun in celebrating outside of our own traditional holidays. It's been 3 years now that we've been celebrating Hannukah...reading children's picture books and making latkes and lighting the menorah. This year, Fiona made up a song, Oh Hannukah, to the tune of Oh Christmas Tree, so I pulled out the real Hannukah Song and we've been learning that, in addition to singing her quite cute version.

We've been sitting around the table, watching the candles burn down, singing Hannukah songs with our bellies full of latkes...and starting to feel almost comfortable with it in this our third year...

Actually, it's only the theoretical, that idea of celebrating other religions' customs. I think this is the only one so far, but we're open to the idea and are finding it quite fun! Fiona's recently read the Rebecca American Girl books (about a young Jewish girl in 1914 New York--one of the books centered on Hannukah) and has asked Santa for an American Girl doll for Christmas, so we'll see if he brings it (and, yes, I'm definitely thinking Rebecca). Talk about mixing up your customs! :)

Re-centering, 50% done

I find that I'm totally off my schedule and don't seem to know where I am, so here I am, trying to get my ship back on course. I feel so much more grounded when I keep up with my sticker chart and word counts and such. I did just glance at the word count and found I'm at 25,661 words now, which is over 50% of the requisite number, though likely less than the final count will be. Alright, recharting: 3239 more words needed to finish today at speed. Hmm-mmm, not gonna happen. However, I did build in a couple extra days for the holiday disruption, which means I'm doing kinda alright.
Today's supposed to be my biggest writing day of the week. Problem is, once I finish a section, I can feel 'done' for the time being. Alright...back to daily goals. Though I'm not completely sure where I was yesterday, I believe I have about 300 words to go to get my 'gold star' today.
Ahhh, motivational cards...maybe that's what I need! And the cards say...take a walk to ponder AND don't ponder, move forward! I took two, as I am a bit behind on them! So, perhaps a walk, and then write anything to move forward. Sounds like a plan!

International Media Festival winner again!

I found a note in Fiona's bookbag this morning mentioning that last year's Media Festival entry by her 2nd grade gifted group won, again. Fiona narrated again with the same girl as the year before (why would they change that, I guess, since they'd won the year before as well?), had written portions of the script and of course had artwork in amongst the slides. I asked her what this entry was called, and she didn't remember--"but I came up with the name". She thinks it was Spectacular Sea Creatures. Anyhow, I know they work long and hard for months on these media festival projects, and it sounds like a huge deal--"winner of the International Media Festival"--but they're so nonchalant about it. As in, I don't know if that means they got grand prize or were one of 300 'winners'. Age divisions? Number of entries? There's no banquet or anything...just a P.S. on a crumpled note in the bottom of her bookbag. Guess I'll bug them for a copy of it again. Her teacher actually made me a CD-ROM version of Awesome Creepy Crawlies, the first year's entry, (after I'd asked many times), which was too cute.

A Farm Girl

Hah...just learned that Fiona is planning to be a 'farm girl' and an artist. After dealing with the grumpy director and the loss of the Sugar Plum Fairy to a broken leg, the magic of the ballet seems to have subsided! Hmm, wonder how long she'd want to be a 'farm girl' if she actually had to work a garden for a little while? :)

Fiona in the Nutcracker

Fiona was a Sugar Plum Fairy Attendant last night in The Nutcracker ballet by the Columbia City Ballet. Her role was rather tiny, only a few seconds, but I think it was a great experience for her to deal with the process of the dress rehearsal and backstage--to see the grumpy director and learn about small stuff, such as the nude leotard that performers wear underneath the company costumes.

Neat experience for her, though I have discerned the true purpose for all the tiny roles for children, besides their invaluable 'stage candy' appeal, and that is 'instant audience'. We nearly convinced family members who otherwise would never have gone to the ballet to come and see it, until I realized how very small the role was. Still, they sold 3 tickets that they wouldn't have otherwise, as of course the children's parents and only sib are going to come anyway!

Oh, but it was a lovely show. I was more impressed this time than I was a couple of years ago with this company's Cinderella, perhaps due to lowered expectations. Very nice show, with a very special little ballerina making a cameo appearance!

40% there!

Word count: 20,270
40% there.

Hmm, I was going to put the 20,400 word count aspiration, but I did build in a couple extra days to the plan to accommodate for Thanksgiving. Luckily, I've managed to nearly keep up, but my sister and her children are due to arrive in a few minutes, and Fiona's Nutcracker performance is tomorrow, so I'm not going to put the pressure on for now.
Michael has been lovely about taking care of the kids and holiday stuff while letting me write, so I've been a bit luckier than I expected on that front. And, truthfully, this novel is now rolling off the fingertips more easily than the first novel ever did (knock on wood). Just as disturbed stuff, though, if not more so.
Hmm, I'm gonna have to figure out some sort of moral lesson or inspirational story to aspire to if these are successful, as a debt to society. The purpose of these stories? Emotionally dramatic entertainment, I suppose!
It was Tolstoy, I believe, who declared his own work, including Anna Karenina, to be trash in his later years. However, while my assessment of my own work sometimes mirrors his as I wonder what the purpose of this writing is, it would be awfully lovely if its success does so as well. :)

Not Just a Whimsical Whirl

There's a quote out there about just a little extra effort turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. I believe it's really true. When we have goals and strive for them, just a bit above and beyond what we're required to do, then we can succeed at almost anything that we want to do. Within reason, of course!

So, yesterday was a bit frustrating. While I'd felt pretty good about my progress so far on the book, it seemed a bit inconceivable that yet another word count mandate existed...after that Herculean effort to get caught up. Then, when perfectly ordinary and even desirable family stuff happened (and I do want to be and enjoy being mommy and wife), I felt terribly guilty about my resentment at those ordinary happenings.

Left feeling at a loss for what to write next and critical of my own inability to balance family and writing, I knew with a certainty that without the word count mandates, the book would yet be another unfinished project, gathering dust with everything else.

Michael generously suggested that I work after the kids were in bed, and I, like the rule-follower that I am, settled down to obey my word mandate and try to plunk out the next bit of the story, a section I had not yet really envisioned. It was hard, but it happened. I won't attest to the quality of the writing, and I wonder about my constant swapping of perspectives, but there is a definite satisfaction to meeting difficult goals and making progress. I honestly keep a printed calendar where I tally the word counts and give myself a sticker--different colors for different numbers of words, with the highest being gold for 'merely' achieving the goal. Thus, any writing at all gets rewarded. No sticker if I don't write, so even a little effort has a certain reward and it's not all requirements for perfection.

Actually, this writing program was one I purchased in a kit from Barnes & Noble for $20. It's called The No Plot? No problem! Novel-Writing Kit by Chris Baty. I think I mentioned it last spring when I wrote Silk. There's a great progress bar that you fill in on the left of the calendar, and it is very exciting to see how rapidly it fills when you stick to your writing schedule. Motivational cards are included, which I find of varying value. The program also includes penalties for not writing, but I leave all that out. I don't see how fulfilling penalties will ever get me closer to catching up, if I do fall behind.

So, what am I doing here instead of writing on my book? Procrastinating...and processing. Reminding myself to stick to it and turn the ordinary unfinished projects and wishful thinking into the extraordinary completed novel and fulfilled dream. Yesterday was a little bump in the road, and, being a bit spoiled and used to things coming to me easily, I felt disheartened. But that experience validated the value of a stringent program, one that keeps your goals in mind and makes you suck it up. And, while I know there are some awfully hard-working and self-motivated folks out there, I think that at heart I'm a pretty ordinary, somewhat self-indulgent girl--but an ordinary girl who has discovered the power of the little extra effort. No, you may not want to write a novel, but if you have a dream that you can conceive of fulfilling, then give it not just a whimsical whirl, but outline a plan for success and stick to it through a few bumps in the road before letting it go.

On track, 20% there!

Killer word count day! Hurrah!
Goal: 10,200
Actual: 10,397 (oh yeah!)
Quantity rules! Quality? Whatever!

I'm a happy gal. Kisses to hubby for giving me a big writing day! He took the kids on a chicken coop tour (two awesome pics to come--I'll get to it one day!) and to Famous Asian restaurant, a new find that totally rocks!

Lunch and a Play

Well, as life doesn't stop for anyone or anything, we are approaching the weekend, and stuff is coming up. Yes, I like stuff and choose to do stuff, but, given my obsessive yet easily distracted nature, I'd almost like to go into a cocoon while I write. It's very hard for me to get into it, and I'm so easily distracted from it, so it feels imperative for me to put everything I've got into it, if it's going to get done.
However, as it happens, given family and kids and holidays...I don't get a cocoon. In fact, I thought I'd have today to write, but my sweet little girl wants me to come to school for 'lunch with parents' day. Now, any normal person would be able to extract themselves from writing, go have lunch, then return and write some more. We'll see...
I suppose I'm a little worried because my writing daily word counts don't stop for weekends or kids or anything. I'm happy to have caught up a little...
word count: 6107
desired word count as of last night: 6800
...but am worried about the weekend.
Yes, normal people balance their activities, but part of it is the fact that it's really difficult for me to get into it. It's not like a box of truffles, where I can thoughtlessly and happily pop one in my mouth whenever I have the chance. Once I do get in the 'zone', though, as I did last night, it can sometimes pour out. Thank goodness for that.
No, balanced is not my nature, and unless someone's going to provide me with a life coach, I feel like I have to obsess, or I won't do it at all. Yes, I'm lazy, and unless there's a fire under my butt (i.e., strict deadlines to meet), it just won't happen!
Anyway, going to meet Fiona for lunch today, and tonight we're going to try to go see 'West Side Story' at SAA, if we can get tickets! Now, aren't those wonderful things? Okay, I'll try to enjoy my wonderful, fun bits of life and let go of 'work' for those hours!

Creepin' along

Hmm...word count: 3931
desired word count as of last night: 5100

Actually, not as bad as I thought on word count. Not sure I'll be able to catch up, as I'm working so hard right now...it's not like blogging, where I can go nonstop! Michael let me read what I have to him last night, and he gave a bunch of encouraging feedback, so it does feel like it's happening at this point. I'm just not sure it'll happen within my allotted time! Oh, and yes, it's creepin' along in more ways than one :) !

Check-in

It's begun...just 1000 words today, and I don't think I have more in me today, but it's a start.  Tomorrow is an energetic Aries moon, a time of beginnings, so let's hope that things take off dynamically!  Oh, and, honestly...I've no idea where I'm headed with it tomorrow!

Day 1, Novel 2

I haven't officially started, though my time's officially ticking away. I thought I'd be more pulled together. Where is that blasted dictionary? And my motivational writing cards? However, computer is open and my Word program arrived today (installing now--thanks, Laura!). So happy to not have to switcheroo computers after starting!
Word count: 0
Mood: scattered but positive

Okay, program loaded and heading to get my coffee! :) Writing to follow soon, hopefully!

Warm Fuzzies at Ellis

So perfect...Ellis seemed like a little utopia yesterday to me. I went in for Alex's quarterly conference, and I had to wait for a bit, so I went to the media center with Fiona to catch up on some of her AR quizzes (they're short quizzes on books, and the kids are supposed to read a certain number per quarter--while Fiona did the reading last quarter, she forgot to take the quizzes, so I'm being a little more diligent).

Anyhow, Ms. Rebecca, the librarian, spoke with us a little. Have I gone on about her before? She's the most perfect librarian. I like to call her that, even though I think it's technically 'media specialist'. She's perfect--a bit prim and always dressed so neatly in a skirt, with her hair just so, but warm and caring about the kids. She'll censor what they check out, and she's asked me before about a scary book Alex wanted to check out. I had no problem with it, but it felt lovely to know that my kids were being looked out for. She's wonderful, and, okay, I'm going to resolve now to volunteer for working at the next book fair! I always mean to help her with that, but it's easy to procrastinate and then not do it. Just love Ms. Rebecca, who takes work home with her, even after hours, and has been so sweet about ordering AR quizzes that I've requested.
Then, I headed up to Alex's sixth grade classroom. Middle school is notoriously hard on kids, but I feel as though Alex is totally sheltered from that. For one thing, they segregate 6th grade away from the 7th and 8th graders--who are even on a different hall. Alex's classroom is actually next door to his little sister's room. What a relief. I have no desire for the kids to grow up too fast. The curriculum, however, is getting more intensive for the sixth graders, and Alex has two primary teachers for his core subjects. They were both at the conference, and they seemed so earnest and warm and enthusiastic about teaching. They both seemed to have high regard for Alex, and they made light of his 'chattiness'. Ms. Carol is planning to move him away from his best friend in class, though. She says, "While I know Alex has no trouble getting all his work done, everyone else isn't the same way!"
Anyway, it was so pleasant. His math/science teacher informed me that he's giving Alex tutorials from the end of the 7th grade math text, so even my worries about Alex not advancing in math were somewhat assuaged. Lovely school, lovely energy, and I'm one lucky parent.
It was Alex's first ever 'report card'. He received all 96 and above. Montessori is not about the numbers, so up until now it's only been check marks, and check plusses for outstanding. However, they have to have grades for their high school applications, so this is the first year they're implementing them for the 6th graders.
You know, not all the parents are so lucky. Many have discussed concerns the teachers have and difficulties with certain subjects and such, but I feel blessed, and as though Alex is living a bit of a charmed life at school. He's happy and sheltered and completely interested in all of his subjects. It's wonderful!

Oh, right! Fiona's conference was last week and went quite well, too. She's having some trouble with completing her work plans. I'm not sure if it's only because she's a slow worker, but I think so. I feel for her, as I was the same way when I was little. I remember how awful fifth grade was, as we had to complete a certain amount of work before lunch, and I'd often miss lunch completely, as I'd be too embarrassed to get it after everyone had been done with their lunches for ages. Anyhow, that's been Fiona's main stressor this year, as she's always worried about finishing her work plan, which rarely happens. I hate for my little sweetie to be so worried about it, especially as she's working pretty diligently, I believe. However, her teacher was very warm and positive, and we've agreed to try it for a couple more weeks. If it continues to be an issue, Ms. Cara will try to adjust her work plan to have a bit less quantity, while retaining the level (so, perhaps just the odd-numbered problems of a math assignment).
I was tickled to see, to my surprise, a poster of the Nutcracker on the inside of Ms. Cara's classroom door today. At rehearsal yesterday, the Columbia ballet gave each of the girls some posters to give out and post. I didn't think too hard about it, but Fiona took it into class and there it was! How sweet that she put it up there. I'm sure Fiona feels special to have her event on the door like that!
Actually, I was a little disappointed at the rehearsal, as it turns out the children seem to be mostly stage candy. Fiona has a little larger role than most, as she traverses the stage and presents to the Sugar Plum Fairy, but it'll take maybe 10 seconds. Oh well. It'll be a good experience. I think she was hoping to dance. The ballet walk is a bit of a dance, I suppose, but not so much.
Okay, that's my catch up! Still hoping to start writing novel 2 on Monday and feeling a bit intimidated!

Alex trounces his folks

I suppose it's time to admit that Alex is officially smarter than us, at least in certain ways. He beat both Michael and me, repeatedly and decisively, at Connect Four the other night.

I'm looking forward to playing chess with him again soon, as, though he's won occasionally, I'd like to see if he's become a truly serious or even superior opponent there, too!

He's always had informational categories that he was more informed about than me, but that's always been specific stuff. However, he retains and absorbs so much general world and historic information that I'm starting to see him as a more well-rounded resource about everything, rather like his dad. In fact, the joke is that if I ask Michael an informational question and he says, "I don't know," that I will assume he's just refusing to tell me. That's close to being true!

Anyhow, just feel like it's a milestone. We've made a big deal about him beating us at that sort of thing before, of course, but this is the first time that he blew us away and totally trounced us! Alex is the Connect Four King!

Old Pants

Alex was wearing a pair of awesome knee-length shorts today. They're well-worn and green, a very lightweight corduroy type of material. Believe it or not, we bought them for him when he was two. We were at REI and there were no kids' clothes. These are size 14, for youth. However, the waistband was elastic and had a canvas adjustable belt. They were down to his feet, then, but they just seemed like baggy pants, and he has been wearing them ever since. Talk about buying big! Anyway, they are starting to get a little worn out, but I thought I'd write about them today, as they have huge sentimental value and have honestly been constantly used for the past ten years or so! (I snapped some pics of the 'Old Faithful Pants' today, so I'll post them sometime soon!)
Oh funny...I was just about to say that I personally don't have any clothes that old that I still wear often, but then realized that I am, as I write, wearing a robe that my folks gave me for Christmas when I was 17! Yep, it's heavy-duty and thick and I've always hated the hot pink color, but I never could find one as thick to replace it (believe me, I've looked) and have worn it quite regularly through the winters over the past 19 years!
P.S. But no, my robe did not fit me at the age of two, so, while older, it's definitely not as versatile as Alex's shorts!

I Installed the New Monitor Myself!

As I'm writing, I'm looking at a brand-spanking-new 20" monitor on our old computer. It's rather amazing the difference it makes. We had one of those original, enormous monitors, and it was flickering dangerously on us. The color would come and go, and it made the whole system seem ridiculously touch-and-go.
As I was at Staples perusing laptops yet again yesterday, the monitors caught my eye. I had lots of questions. Would the monitor be compatible with our old, old computer? How old? I don't know, really old! Would it fit our space, width-wise? Maybe I'll go home and measure...nah, I'll risk it. Which one should I choose? The salesman confided that some of the generic brands seem to have much better resolution that the name brands, and he recommended the least expensive one. Speaking of money, is now the wisest time to spend this money? Never mind...
Anyhow, I picked it up and bought it, sans even speaking with Michael about it. At home, I took the unprecedented step of trying to set it up myself. Granted, Michael had the old monitor hooked up, so I carefully followed cords to see where they led, and I just imitated the existing hook-ups. I was amazed that it worked! I actually hooked it up myself! Okay, so not much more difficult than plugging in a toaster, I guess, but I was probably excited the first time I plugged in an appliance and used it, too.
Oh, but this is great. The monitor is so crystal clear, bright, and smart! It restructures the screen so that, somehow, instead of having the oh-so-tiniest-of-tiny box to type in on hotmail, I now have an absolutely huge screen that I can see. I had wondered about Hotmail and how they thought they could keep going as they shrunk our writing window smaller and smaller, but I suppose other folks had not-such-antiquated hardware!
Weren't these flat screen, liquid crystal display monitors ungodly expensive many years ago? I remember wanting one and thinking it a huge luxury, but this was only $119 plus tax, not even on sale. Energy-star and eco-friendly supposedly, too, though I actually didn't notice that until I got home!

Amazing how it feels like we have a whole, brand new system in a way. Of course, we still can't run some of the newer software on this old baby, but what we can do looks real nice!
Alex is even more excited than me, maybe. He pulled out his Age of Mythology CD-ROM game and was in heaven--and before Michael even got home from work. Generally, all this sort of thing stays in the box until Michael can take care of it. Not that he was left in the cold, uh-uh. We thoughtfully identified a printer issue for him to fix. Wouldn't want him to feel not needed :).

Getting Ducks in a Row

Alright, this fall is flying by, and I feel like days are slipping through my fingers. I wanted to have that second novel written by the end of the semester, but it's starting to look sketchy, so I am going to commit here to a date. Writing will commence Nov 15th, whether or not I'm happy with my editing of Silk, whether or not I'm happy with a laptop...I could spend the next forty years putting my ducks in a row, researching, trying to get 'ready' for the new book and editing the older one. Nope, I'm going to start then, regardless of Thanksgiving. I may tack on an extra 3 days to my writing month to make up for Thanksgiving, so I don't kill my family over the holidays!

Why not today? Why wait? Well, the kids have a lot of days off in the next couple of weeks, and, when they're in school, I'm going to visit some high schools. We went to the open house and got quite enthused about a couple of schools, but Michael wisely suggested that we withhold any decisions until we see the schools in action. I'll go and have tours at three of the schools to get a sense of whether they're places I'm comfortable sending my kids.

Fiona's already settled on Savannah Arts Academy, which I'm thrilled about. She was at the open house yesterday (just accompanying us), and she had her hair in colorful, funky ponytails and braids for 'crazy hair day'. I don't think the SAA counselor realized the special hair day, but she looked at Fiona like she completely belonged at their school and assured her, "We'll be looking forward to having you at SAA!" Fiona will need to pick a major, but she's got years to do that and a host of talents.

I'm going to go ahead and visit SAA during the normal school day with Alex's top two picks--as, if the vibe really is far better there, I'll push him in that direction. Actually, he agreed with that completely, even though he's more interested in the Engineering Program at Jenkins or the International Baccalaureate program at Windsor Forest than in Arts. He's fascinated, at the moment, with filmmaking, though, so the theatre division is attractive to him (and there's a two-year filmmaking course to be offered at Windsor Forest as well). Also, he's got that piano thing going on, so he'll have a specific talent to get into SAA, if we opt that route for him.

Yes, I realize how dull this is for you, but committing to my novel dates here really seems to make a difference. I can easily ask myself for personal commitment reprieves, but when I've publicly stated something, I tend to stick with it a little better. The school chat? Just something to put up with, as you know how obsessive I am (I was the same about picking Ellis--visited a host of schools, from the time he was two!)--and I've never regretted it.

Family Update

I realized just a bit ago that it seems quite a while since I posted any family updates on here. The 'what's up with our little family', so to speak! I suppose that's because, thank goodness, the kids have been pretty smooth sailing.
Alex has a potato soup day tomorrow at school. I know there's a theme--something to do with the Irish potato famine in the mid 1800's. Parents are invited, so it'll be a third nightshade day in a row for me! Believe it or not, I believe I'm feeling warning flares in my finger joints, but it might just be my imagination. Tomorrow might clarify that.
Ms. Carol had a friendship stew a few weeks ago, and Alex wanted me to come to that, too. It's so sweet...the kids each brought ingredients and put it together. Anyhow, it's a sort of community thing that gives me the warm fuzzies. Alex gets quite enthusiastic about it, which I just love. That's the crux of the whole Montessori concept, you know--to involve the kids and keep them enthusiastic.
Alex is having a pretty laid-back year. His knee gave him some problems, and it's still not great, so he's been out of taekwondo for quite a while. His piano skills continue to improve, and we're very thrilled with his progress, though we don't focus on it nearly like we could!
Alex has been reading a bit more lately. He just finished the newest book by the Percy Jackson author. It's also about Greek mythology. He seems to love mythology, even suggesting once that he might become a professor teaching mythology!
We're to go to a High School Day tomorrow evening at Ellis to try to figure out where he wants to go. Yes, it's becoming a bit like college. He's supposed to figure out now where he wants to go so he can get those ducks in a row, though he won't officially apply for two years, I believe!
Gosh, even though he seems very down-to-earth, Alex definitely is a producer of pipe dreams. I only say that because he has a hundred new ideas every day and is completely enthusiastic about them all. I'm sure there's a profession for the idea-generators, isn't there? We couldn't possibly follow through on all those ideas! At breakfast, I'm generally encouraging him to focus on eating, as he'll let the food get cold while he glibly prattles off yet another new set of ideas. He's got a buoyant, optimistic little spirit when it comes to those!
Hmm, speaking of spirits, I believe I've had a bit of a revelation about my children. Alex, like me, can become very intense. High highs, low lows, vitriolic anger! Sweet as pie most of the time :). He's earnest and sincere and not necessarily very socially adept.
Fiona, however, is my more gentle child. She was born with a sense of humor, and she loves to make everyone laugh and smile. She is far more socially adept, and her ideals fall after her love for her friends.
When I recently made up with my best friend, I was so relieved, and Fiona was very happy for me. She asked what had gone wrong, and I answered a bit generally, but she went with it and tried to give me some advice, "Mom, here's what I do. When someone says something I don't agree with, I just say, 'okay, you're right. ' That makes them happy and then we can still be friends."
Alex nearly choked with outrage at her take on things, but I suggested that perhaps we should just hold our tongues, as Fiona has by far the best track record for keeping friendships and getting along with others! Yes, I was a bit concerned by what she said, but I actually think it doesn't mean she would go along with whatever someone else wants to do. She would just not make an issue of it unless she had to. Fiona is very adept at getting her way and working the system!
I've realized that Fiona is an artistic little soul, too. She recently has shown a real interest in poetry, which they're studying in school a bit. She'll memorize verse and repeat it to me, whereas I've never much had an interest in it. She loves her music and art, too, of course.
Fiona always felt a bit troubled by the fact that she wasn't much for breaking boards and showing intensity in taekwondo. She could kick high, which looked nice, but she just didn't have the heart for breaking boards and kicking bags. I've honestly only just realized that she's a poetic, sweet little soul who isn't really meant for that sort of thing. She's meant to create and make things beautiful. Of course, I'd love it if she could defend herself, too, but she's a gentle creature through and through. Oh, yes, she does occasionally whack her brother, though. Not sure how that plays into it!
Michael's a pretty gentle character himself, honestly. Neither of the two of them enjoys violence on television at all, whereas Alex and I seem a bit more tolerant of it.
Michael just brought home another rescue bunny, a soft gray little rabbit named Be-Bop. She's precious. I wasn't thrilled about it, due to those feelings of responsibility and 'How are we ever supposed to have a garden?' Oh well, the garden has only ever been theoretical--maybe because of the animals, who are always in it, or maybe not.
Michael is back to focusing more on his practice again. We are excited about bringing in a new acupuncturist to work with him, and we're hoping things pick up a bit soon. That would be a very good thing to happen in the near future!

Nightshade Success

Just thought I'd post an update on the nightshade elimination. 11 days now, including the ketchup day. The finger joints are not achy, and the right wrist seems fine, but the left wrist is chronically sore. I believe that's due to injuries, but I was hoping that perhaps reduced inflammation in the area would lead to complete recuperation (and I still rather think that's possible).
We're having dinner with friends on Wednesday, so I may end my elimination early, as I can hardly ask folks to cook vegetarian and without nightshades (and wheat and dairy). Nope, we have to bend a bit to have any sort of social life!
So, I readily admit that joint inflammation is something that can come and go. This was a good test run, though, so I'll try it again if the rheumatoid symptoms crop back up, and I may generally try to substitute other veggies a bit more in my cooking.

A Revolutionary War Anecdote and Surname Tidbits

I went back into my genealogical files over the last couple of days to review some family history (a primary inspiration source for my books) and of course got completely sidetracked. In my perusals, I was reminded that Alexander actually is one of my ancestral surnames, so I have a distant claim to the name! That was nice to see, though my pen name is really about my favorite author, Lloyd Alexander. As a pre-teen, I had a wonderfully sweet dream that he was my father, and the feeling has always stuck, so I'm his literary daughter of sorts, even if I'm writing in a completely different genre.

I was delighted to find a history of the Williamsburg Church (Presbyterian) online. Chatham county libraries provide us with access to the Heritage Quest Online database, whose content seems to vary, honestly, as I've seen books come and go from there, I believe. Anyhow, this 1856 discourse talked about the history of the county and particularly the church. Not a lot about my direct ancestors, but there was a fascinating little Revolutionary War anecdote about my possible great-great-great-great-great grandfather, George Gamble (great-grandfather of a main character of Silk).

Little George Gamble's folks were unfortunate enough to own a plantation home along the Black River, directly in the path of a British force led by Maj. Wemyss. Wemyss' troops had been directed to burn down the homes of important Whigs in the area and to destroy their food stores.
Well, as the soldiers were feeding the fire at little George's home, they threw in his child's chair. George repeatedly took it out of the fire, only to have the commanding officer direct it to be thrown back in each time. Finally, George approached him and angrily remonstrated, "It is my chair."
The officer, likely in exasperation, replied, "You ___ little rebel! Keep it!" The ___ apparently held some insulting epithet for the whigs of the time.
Isn't that a fantastic little story? I would never have found it if I hadn't read the obscure little manuscript. I wish the author had mentioned George's parents names, for I don't know those.

Oh, I wrote many moons ago about visiting the Midway Museum and noticing the dresses had been made by a woman with surname Cox, my heroine's surname. Caroline Cox, in my story (though not in real life, to my knowledge), was a seamstress as well. This historic manual tells us that a large faction of folks moved from that area of Williamsburg County to Midway, Liberty County, GA. Apparently many were prone to go back and forth, as, after British troops destroyed their Black River homes, some of them headed back to their Liberty County homes. So, that Cox seamstress may actually be a relation of my own Caroline Cox!

Rowling Rules!

Wow...I just read 'A Single Mother's Manifesto' by JK Rowling, as submitted to The Times (a British paper?). It's a short political piece arguing against new conservative, pro-family measures being implemented by the Tory party. That an author could give me a thrill and inspire me with just her political writing causes me to again bow to her greatness. Her political viewpoint is not even one I would necessarily have cared about before reading it, so it's not that she was simply saying what I wanted to hear. It's how she says it.
Rowling is a brilliant author. I was actually looking to see if any more books are out by her and saw this link. I heard that she's writing books for adults now.
Oh, yeah, I don't even know what that means anymore. It really is irksome that 'adult' has such awful connotations. I struggle to find the words to describe certain materials and end up with 'for grown-ups' (still questionable). 'Mature' and basically any other reference to books written for those in the age of majority have that inference. Euphemisms have taken over so that we can't even communicate anymore, for I don't know if Rowling is writing smut or not! Actually, I didn't find the pen name that she is supposedly writing under now, so she may not be writing the 'books for adults' that I heard about anyway.

Publishing Blues & Jazzy '20s

Wow, the whole process of trying to ready a book for publication is a drag. It's tedious and amorphic and discouraging.
Well, that's how I feel at this moment, anyhow.
A couple of days ago I was utterly thrilled to be making progress, as I had a breakthrough with a cover idea, which I'm still inclined to go with, though I'm going to play with fonts a bit and tweak a little more.
I'm also fairly jonesing to start book #2. I've been a bit nervous about dealing with the 1920's, but I have a fabulous book, Fashions of the Roaring '20s, which has inspired me greatly. I'm infatuated with it all--the clothes, the shoes, even the hair. It may be the first time in my life I've ever even momentarily wanted short hair!
I really want to pull together Silk first, though. Yep, that's the name. Oh, and my pen name is Sophia Alexander. It can feel so personal to write a novel at first, but now that I look back on it, I can't clearly see anything but a story there. No single character represents any single person I know. Lots of tidbits from lots of people. Even the heroine isn't me. Or she is, but so are many of the other characters. One crazy old woman is part Yoda, I think--at least, afterwards that's the correlation I make. So, it's just a story, and, while I put lots of feeling and emotion into it, that's all it is, and I don't mind sharing. Don't read too much into it. I think certain elements of life are universal, so hopefully you and everyone else will associate with the story and feel moved by it. That's the point, like all art.
Yes, I'm still going with the pen name, though. I can't imagine how annoying it must be for famous authors to not be able to give their name or use their credit card without having everyone react. And the poor families... So, assuming all will go well and my stories will top the bestseller lists, I won't be able to change my name then, so here's for optimistic, self-manifesting planning! (See, even I can be an optimist at times!)

Get Some Compliance Already!

Crud! So, I'm trying to do this nightshade elimination thing, and I realize yesterday that I had soup with powdered chili pepper in it. Oops...
This morning, Fiona had ketchup with her eggs...and then so did I. Didn't even occur to me for six whole hours.
At least, from what I've read, the nightshade thing is particularly dose dependent, so these should be minor setbacks compared to my normal, big tomato and potato-featured dishes. My hands are not at their worst today, but they aren't completely okay, either. We'll see how things go from here.

Forget Balance!

Okay, WebMD made up a bit with me. A new article touts the 30-day 110% obsession on a creative project idea. As I've experienced it first-hand with my first novel, I'm a big fan of the idea and am gearing up to jump into a 30-day novel #2, so I appreciate the encouragement. This is still pending finishing my edit on book 1 (soon, soon I hope!).

Also, utterly contrary to the whole 'balance' idea, I'm beginning a 3-week Nightshade elimination today to see if that helps with my poor little wrists and hands. I'm suspecting the beginning stages of rheumatoid arthritis. If I want to write, I'd best nip that in the bud. I'll let you know if the elimination helps. I'm going to miss my potatoes and tomatoes desperately!

Time to ditch WebMD?

Wow...I've known for years that WebMD has many biased articles that I strongly, strongly disagree with. For example, they'll report something like, "Selenium no good for heart attacks" and have some ridiculous study about it, when noone even uses it for heart attacks!

In just the last couple of minutes, I've watched a WebMD slideshow on how bust size matters, curious to see what objective scientific findings there were--only to hear an infomercial on breast enhancement surgeries, couched in 'this is what Americans want' and absolutely no objective science. Then, I immediately went to an article on lifestyle changes helping obese folks to lose weight--actually a subtle ad for weight loss surgery, saying, "sometimes diet and exercise actually do help" and the surgery can be avoided! Unbelievable!

They routinely bash natural therapies so flagrantly that I only trust the pro-natural therapy articles, knowing there's no way they'd publish them if they weren't true and pretty significant (though often they try to slyly argue against them in the article). And, realist that I am, I know they publish these articles entirely so they won't be accused of bias. Sometimes those articles are really great, though.

I bet you can guess who the sponsors of WebMD are! Too bad...I'm just blustering, as I like to peruse WebMD for the occasional useful new tidbit of health information. I'm just glad I'm a skeptic...

Introverted in an Extraverted Society

Caveat: I want to make clear that I am not equating introversion with intelligence--it's just a different way of existing. Many extraverts are incredibly intelligent, of course! And there's a whole intelligence in itself of having the ability to quickly process and absorb multiple stimuli at once. It can be quite phenomenal, actually! That said...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the Introvert vs Extravert situation, especially after reading a fabulous article in Psychology Today that struck a chord.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201008/revenge-the-introvert?page=4

Why the article struck a chord has become more apparent to me in the time since I read it several days ago. The author discusses the societal pressure for us to become extraverts, and I've realized how even traditionally 'introverted' activities are now evolving into more extraverted ones (like writing--they tell us there are oodles of great authors out there, so we have to market and sell ourselves!), and I have just read yet another article that twists the whole situation to make us introverts feel yet worse about ourselves.

WebMD reports frequently on surveys to figure out who the 'happiest' folks are. They report cheerily that Extraverts, believe it or not, are the happiest people. So, they conclude, we should all strive to be more extraverted. To me, this is fairly equivalent to telling me that optimists are more cheerful. Duh! It's a bit more cloaked, though, so it sneaks past our normally healthy realism (i.e. "pessimism") and gets to our self-esteem. What evil optimists abound! Or are they near-sighted, self-loathing pessimists?

What I appreciate about Professor Laurie Helgoe's article is that she points out that we have an innate state, which is of course not all-or-nothing. When heavily-leaning introverts strive to be extraverted, it comes at great cost. While extraverts may be naturally happier and more suited to extraverted activities, the introverts are even more anxious or depressed when they try to force these situations upon themselves. What works best for them is to identify their natural state and embrace it.

I'm so glad I happened across that article, as I hadn't really processed how much pressure that our society, an extravert-loving society, puts on realists and introverts. When introverts embrace their natural state (which is not necessarily shyness), they can then achieve greater happiness naturally, without so many societal head games.

Sidenote: I've often thought to myself that Facebook is like a party for introverts! We can take our time to process and remain in our own little bubbles! But it doesn't exclude the extraverts, of course!

Sidenote #2: Helgoe doesn't bring it up, but I'm wondering about alcohol converting introverts to extraverts. I've known many to say they can't really relax and have fun until they've had a bit of alcohol, and I know my introverted tendencies quickly fall away with my rare consumption of alcohol. I'm wondering about it subduing our receptors, so that we're not so 'over'-stimulated and 'over'-thinking. Helgoe describes some of the elaborate thought processes an introvert generates in a simple conversation. Alcohol subdues so much thought, which frees us to 'party' a bit more and 'worry' less--and, quite frankly, 'dumbs us down' (true for everyone with alcohol, I think!). Hmm, wonder if the rate of alcoholism is greater among introverts? It'd be attractive, especially with the naturally 'happier' extraverted state!

Michael Ard-Kelly, Best Man & Fiona Ard-Kelly, Flower Girl

Jeff & Seresa Kelly--Married at Last!

My brother-in-law and his long-time girlfriend finally got officially hitched on Saturday. The kids can now call her 'Aunt Reese' (well, they have been for a while!), and maybe we'll get some little nieces and nephews before long.
The wedding and reception were very nice, and the bride was radiant. It was nice to finally meet so many of her family members after hearing about them for years. Her mother and sisters travelled from Colorado, and I believe her grandfather came up from Mexico! He seemed to be quite the character.
Jeff had his possey of long-time friends--mostly frat brothers--and family members present, of course.
I was happy to be asked to fix all the junior bridesmaids' hair into a 'veil'--very simple but pretty. I fixed Fiona's hair the same way, as she was the flower girl. Michael was best man, and he looked dashing in his tuxedo!

My Best Friend is CREEPY!!!

Yes, she is. I am utterly thrilled about it, as I have had the huge honor of returning the editing favor and reading a couple of her short stories--genre horror. I was completely riveted at the first line. Truly. I would share, but the stories are not mine to share! Keep in tune, and I'll let you know the details when her stories hit the market, which they definitely need to do. Move over Poe!

He is my Handyman Hero

Michael is a handyman super-hero! He has repaired a broken stove and replaced a fuel pump on my car this week, in addition to working his regular acupuncture job. Oh, he replaced a handle on my compost bin, too! He's been working on this idea for a backyard well, too...
I should keep a running tab of the innumerable things he does! It's fairly phenomenal, between computers and household repairs and writing books (yes, he finished his, too!). He does the taxes and does heaps of laundry and grills out...
I won't even go into all the sweet little things he does for me and the kids! Anyhow, I'm elated that he was able to replace the fuel pump in the same evening that the car broke down, for only a fraction of the cost. And how do other people afford all those handyman services? Hurrah for my uber-competent hubby! Mwah!
Oh yeah, emphasis on my. I know he's super-competent, and I know you might like a handyman hero for yourself, but I keep him super-busy with a zillion tasks. No sharing! (Caveat: Close family may get occasional favors!)

Mine!

I just spent a good little chunk of time doing something rather silly...I affixed the 'Movie' tab to my Facebook page and added a bunch of movies that I love as 'Favorites'! I've also enjoyed, over the past year or more, the 'WeRead' feature, where I list and review books I've read. The purpose? No, not to persuade others to read or watch these things. It's ownership! I LIKE listing these things on MY page. I've definitely felt a reduced urge to buy all the books I've ever liked since joining WeRead. For, when I'm feeling nostalgic or want to peruse, I can just flip through my convenient list on-line, and it's even more organized and convenient than perusing my bookshelves. Likewise, I keep wanting to purchase movies I've seen and loved, even though, like my books, I can get them at the library. So, in an effort to satisfy my greedy little heart, I am 'owning' these movies on my FB page on-line!

Scribbling!

Oh, the joy! I have been reveling in positive feedback from my lovely 'editor' on my novel, and I think that has to be the very best possible aspect of being an author! To be told that my writing has caused her to become a 'vested participant' and not just a 'passive observer' is the intellectual equivalent of my first reader getting goosebumps while talking about a creepy part of the book!
So, yeah, it's a select audience. My dearest friends may be more inclined to like my book and give me positive feedback--but heck, I'm good with that!
Back to editing the last little bit today, and I hope to finish with this go-through today. I now have hope of actually becoming a published, even successful author! That translates into a seriously swollen head! :)

Farcical Shopping

So, I head out to the Food Lion last night to do some quick shopping. As I'm checking out, the woman behind me has dog food and I remember that I also need some rabbit food. After putting my stuff in my car, I return for a meager bag of rabbit pellets and another bag of sunflower seeds (for the chickens and rabbits) and get in line behind two other women.

Luckily, I was not in a hurry, because the first woman had a huge buggy-full and was a coupon shopper. The unfriendly cashier scrutinized each coupon, and several inquiries with the manager and trips to get another bottle of something entailed. The poor coupon lady mouthed "I'm sorry!" at us in line behind her, and I felt for her being treated a bit like a criminal!

It wasn't so bad, as I got to read some interesting magazine headlines. I wasn't aware that Mel Gibson had a recent meltdown, and Celebrity Magazine had a very flattering feature of Angelina Jolie... The best entertainment, though, was watching the show right in front of me!

When the coupon lady finished, the older woman right in front of me rang up her few items, and she swiped her debit card. The pin didn't go through, so she swiped another...and another...and another. She finally apologized, left the pile of groceries, and left the store!

Meanwhile, the cashier is minimally communicative and looks totally irked. She had already been that way, as the 'coupon lady' was actually the dog food lady, too, and the cashier had murmured 'Just kill me now' when the huge cartload approached the register...

Hmm, I think there was a comedy about some young folks working retail, with just this sort of thing...I'll have to find it...having had my own funny preview last night!

Cares of our World

Enlarging our world via the News has always had its drawbacks, and I've known folks who quit watching and reading the news because it was so heartbreaking and disturbing to see what was going on in our world. I've had that feeling myself a bit, and I go through a lot of news-free phases. (Sidenote: So, if something huge is going on in my local vicinity that I should know about, be aware that I am possibly clueless!).

Of course, that's random news and events, and I've often thought that I'd really not know about heinous murders in Texas or floods in Louisiana or whatever. Why worry about something completely unrelated to me, that I have no power to help?

I'm finding that Facebook is having a somewhat similar impact these days, and I am trying to formulate my reaction... On one hand, I am so grateful to know when things are tough for old friends. It's always bothered me to know that big life events are occurring for old friends that I'm out of touch with, and I have no clue. So, I'm glad to hear even of sad events, for I do want to know.

Sometimes, however, I find that the posts are incredibly sad, and there's often a touch of that 'helpless' feeling that goes with the regular newscast. An old friend who lives far away and hasn't heard from you in ages, or perhaps a local friend who you very much like but is already swamped with family and friends and you were never really very close--these folks elicit my care and concern, but I feel out of place and inappropriate in doing much more than saying a few words of respect and support.

I suppose my intent is simply to recognize the 'other' side of keeping in touch. You end up catching a lot of meaningful, personal sad news that you otherwise would have no clue about, and it can be a little frustrating, since, if you wouldn't have known to begin with, it can feel entirely inappropriate to make a to-do about it for friends who aren't currently very close.

I am glad to be abreast of life events for my old friends, but I find myself saddened and feeling a bit helpless quite often. I suppose that we should just be glad that we can say our words of condolences, and perhaps at a later point we will hear more joyous tidings. Like the world news, it's good to keep updated, but there's an inherent issue with getting a lot more upsetting information than you would otherwise receive.

Ah, what's that I hear? Balance, again! Yep, my perpetual issue... So, in this case, stay informed, but keep your perspective and don't get bogged down with all the cares of the world or even my own Facebook world.

Imaginary Career Ladies

Yes, I am working. Working very hard at editing my book! It's not as hard as writing--it's a whole lot easier to critique than to create! Perhaps there will be future dividends, but at the moment it feels a bit as though I'm 'playing' at working. And it's frustrating because after a long day I have to show only the same thing I began with...no new chapters or pages. So, in that sense, writing is a lot more satisfying than editing.
This edit by me should be done soon. I'm on page 93 of 119 Word pages, which I'm hoping and guessing should come out to significantly more than that in a book. It's not the final edit by any means, though, and I suspect the whole process will take forever...
I shouldn't complain, though. I'm still immensely grateful that Laura is going through, catching both subtle and ridiculous problems (hello...I cluelessly repeated a morning and served dessert before a meal!), and, unless I get uber-famous and can just hire others for this part, self-editing is part of an author's work. Right?

Meanwhile, it seems this year is Fiona's dance career year. Last year was her musical instruments year and the year before her taekwondo year, but now she is throwing herself into dance. She is in the Rhythm in Motion performance group, which will be performing in a variety of places. The group meets for extra practices on Saturdays, and she'll be learning an Israeli dance this Saturday. I'm excited for her!
Meanwhile, she's been cast as a Sugar Plum Fairy attendant for the professional Nutcracker performance at the Civic Center, and her teacher has also relayed that she may, along with a few other girls, be asked to be in a SCAD film this weekend (not actually for dance, I don't believe)... I suppose 40 years of teaching dance classes in Savannah has given Ms. Maxine time to form quite a few connections!

We'll see how it all goes...perhaps one day we'll cash in on all our work!

Pics from Jeff's graduation from Air Force Officer school

Gramps, Grammy, Jeff, Fiona, Michael, Alex, and Seresa

Jeff as 2nd Lieutenant

Fiona and Kasi at home

Alex in bunk on Air Force cargo plane

Michael and Fiona

Michael as Hercules!

Be Proud, Be Inspired

I'm a lucky person in so many ways, and I am so grateful for the innumerable blessings in my life. No, I'm not discrediting all the striving that goes into it...but I know that sheer fortune can change everything.

The common argument goes something like, "Well, while you are gifted at math, he is good at art," implying that it's all balanced in the end. However, I think it's really pretty obvious that some folks are born with fewer bits of 'luck' while others seem deluged with it. Even considering all the psychological factors that can contribute to this phenomenon, we can still clearly see that some folks 'have all the luck'.

That is the extreme case scenario, though. I suspect that noone reading this is in the extremely 'unlucky' category--you weren't born with horrible deformities, your brains function fairly well, etc., etc. As to the 'lucky' folks, well, everyone has their issues and problems.

When I was in fifth grade, I read Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl (Caveat: I don't believe I've looked at the book since then, so these are distant memories). When she wrote the diary, she was a very bright girl, just a little older than I was at the time. I believe that the first few entries or perhaps an introduction by someone else described the time before she went into hiding, and they mentioned her rather privileged life. I pieced together that she was quite well off and felt a little envious, but of course she still had problems even then that were very real to her (not to say that the later problems didn't totally displace any thought of the early ones, but I think that is how we function!). I had a bit of trouble feeling empathetic to her early problems, as I could only hear that she was playing tennis and going to fancy events in pretty dresses, etc., etc. Part of me did not even like the girl at first, out of my reactionary feeling that "it's not fair...". Later, however, Anne had to live in abominable conditions, and her beautiful spirit shone through. I was incredibly sympathetic, and I loved the girl. It was heartbreaking to read her story, with the tragic end, and I know that it prompted a realization in me of how wrong it had been of me to feel envious of her at first, for I wished, wished, wished that she could have that nice life back.

I rather wish everyone would take a moment to think of the luckiest people you know, and, instead of envying their great fortune and jumping to the conclusion, "I'd be so happy if only I had what they have...", try to put yourself in their shoes for just a moment and imagine the stressors in their lives--for they do exist.

Let's see...President Obama must be an incredibly stressed person, but many would term him extremely lucky, and a vast number probably do have great envy of his position. Meanwhile, he has his own worries about being present with his family enough, upcoming disputes with other foreign leaders, putting on a good face to the public... And who knows what unmet desires he still has? I suspect that averting the barbs of envious relatives and friends is one of the larger stressors on his plate, too. His life must be very challenging, and, even if he has one of the healthiest dispositions for dealing with stress, it must be sometimes difficult.

Of course, for the folks who were defeated by him in the elections and dreamed of becoming President, he's a 'lucky' guy, and they may have trouble feeling empathy for his troubles. I'm not saying their troubles aren't greater...perhaps they lost the election, have a sick child, are going bankrupt, etc., etc. But comparison of whose troubles are greater doesn't do anything for our mental health...unless we're trying to gain perspective on how small our own problems are by comparing them with the most 'unlucky' folks we know.

So, given that there are always folks who are unluckier than us (and, if you're able to read this, it's true!), should we try to 'shield' them by hiding our own achievements and great fortunes? Of course not! What can we do, then, to avert the envy and jealousy? I wish I could answer that.

The fact is that nearly all of us can think of folks we deem as 'lucky' or more fortunate in one respect or another. The beautiful thing is that it can work both ways, and much has to do with perspective. If we form friendships with the 'lucky' folks, we'll find that while there are some areas where those folks do excel and have much to be proud of, there are aspects of their lives that are quite difficult for them. Should we ask them to suppress their light until, like Anne Frank, their difficulties (including newer ones) overcome them? For we all die in the end...

I urge you to find inspiration in those who you might envy. Find empathy for troubles that may seem negligible in comparison to your own--or you might realize the troubles are simply different than your own, if you take a moment to think, and not negligible at all.

I've always wondered at that saying, "God won't give you more than you can handle." I always thought, "Well, I guess I can't handle a whole lot..." because I've always had issues with anxiety. It's all perspective, though. I've also heard that the British (many of my ancestors!) are at their best when they face true adversity...so maybe we can handle more than we know, but I don't really want to find out!

I suppose we can't change others' perspectives. We should show a certain amount of sensitivity, but we'll cripple ourselves if we're afraid to express our joys. Expressing our happiness is what makes us happy, in the end. Not to say that it's not therapeutic to vent, as I certainly believe in that, but we do need a balance, and we can just go mad if we don't revel in our joys when they arise.

So, be proud of your accomplishments and good fortunes. Try not to be affected by the envy or bitterness of others. Martha Stewart and Brittney Spears (yes, her!) both have my admiration for how they pulled through the muck of all the hatred borne of envy... I'm not saying that they're perfect, but I admire their ability to pull themselves together and not fall completely apart (though I suppose you could argue that Brittney did, for awhile--and completely understandably!).

Life is difficult. Focus on the good, and find inspiration and even vicarious pleasure through the joys and successes of your friends. And, most of all, shine your own light, too!

Fiona's gift of perspective

My little girl has dazzled me. She is only eight, but perhaps that's old enough for a lot!
Okay, so yesterday I 'wished' that my kids were more interested in creative writing, as they showed no interest in the writing contests and such at the library.
Last night, Fiona had to work on her summer reading project, which is due on Friday. One option was to write diary entries from a character in the book. Fiona misunderstood and wrote entries from different people, which I thought was even better, as it showed an understanding of different perspectives.
I asked her if I could share her second 'diary entry'. Here it is, with a few spelling and punctuation corrections only:

Dear Diary,
Hello, my name is Mr. Scary. My room is #1. One of my students has just got a loose tooth...
"Mr. Scary! Mr. Scary!"
"Junie B...I am doing my diary!"
"Oh, sorry!"
...as I was saying...that student has a loose tooth and thinks she is winning something...
"Mr. Scary! Mr. Scary!"
Ooh...Got to go, bye!

Anyhow, obviously this is not yet the work of a master, but I was blown away by her originality in throwing in the interruptions (her previous entry did not) and showing a certain ability to see things from the teacher's perspective. Oh, the teacher's name actually is Mr. Scary in the book!

So, maybe it's just ordinary maternal pride, but here you have it! I anticipate great things from my little girl! (And, of course, my completely amazing boy, too, but this was about her 'diary entry'!)

Back to the Books!

With the kids back in school, it's finally time for me to settle back down to my writing. I'd planned on writing my second novel (sequel) this fall, but, so far, I'm caught up in editing my first book with my wonderful friend, Laura. She has experience with this sort of thing, so I feel very fortunate to have her insights!
I attempted to edit for just a little while the other day while the kids were home, and it reminded me why I don't do that! It's completely unpleasant and frustrating! But that's alright...I simply need to remember these things!
What else? Well, Fiona auditioned for the Nutcracker performance by the Columbia City ballet troupe. We should find out in a couple of weeks whether she was cast or not. It was her first audition, but, unfortunately, they took the girls to a private room for the audition, so I can't say whether or not she did well. The whole process was rather exciting!
Alright, I could go on and on with mundane stuff, but I suppose I'd best get to work on my editing. Toodles!

Stupid Ole Truancy Policy

Well, school is finally in swing. The kids seem to love their teachers, have friends in their classrooms, and otherwise be adjusting well. I believe this is finally their first full week of school! Almost not, as they have sniffly noses...

That brings up the insane truancy policy of the school district (and maybe state?). No more than 5 days of unexcused absences are allowed. Meanwhile, they complain of kids coming to school sick. Then, I read an article in the paper this week (okay, NY Times, not the Savannah paper!) by a medical doctor who is discouraging giving children sick notes so they can miss school, as they're still not allowed to miss (and he didn't think the MDs should cater to folks who weren't blatantly, extremely ill). So, anyhow, my kids seem mostly fine, but they're blowing their noses and dealing with congestion--as are many of the kids in their classes, they say. I would keep them home, but they already missed 2 days for a trip, and I've got to be concerned about something major later in the year...

I don't think these administrators use a bit of common sense. Okay, yes, I get something like 20 or 30 days being unacceptable, but five is fairly incredible to me. I think perhaps it's ten with doctor's excuses, but, no, I'm not going to go to the doctor for a sniffly nose. That's ridiculous.

Yes, I'm protesting something more 'theoretical' than real. In truth, what happens (and I know this because we've missed in excess more than one year) is that a waiver has to be approved in the upper eschelons of the school--at least the principal, but maybe the board, too. They've never given us any hassle.

Anyhow, I didn't intend to write about that! It's just one of those chronic worrisome bits...and you're dealing with the same institution telling you opposite things...don't send your kids to school sick, but you'll be in huge trouble (your kid will have to repeat a grade and we may throw you in jail!) if they miss more than five days. And, to me, five days is almost nothing. I mean, how do I know they won't come done with some stomach bug in the last week of school? It's not like I can let them stay home except for the direst situations...

I do, of course, if it's extreme. Fever, vomiting, etc.... and I even keep them home at least a day after those things, but it's always a huge stressor, given the pressure of the truancy policy.

Whoever created that dictatorial truancy policy has an utter disregard for the comfort and well-being of the children and families the policy effects. Hmm...sounds like another political letter!

Oh, speaking of which, I am delighted to report that the buses have been delivering the kids home at a perfectly respectable time. They get here just over an hour after school lets out, so I'm not claiming speedy-quick, superhuman endeavors, just reasonable.

I can't say that it was definitely related, but another mother from a magnet school and I gave the school board the most hassle last year (and I did see it as primarily something I was doing for all the children, as I actually picked up my children most days!). The children were getting home over two hours past the school release time! That's insane! They weren't even being picked up for over an hour (it was planned that way!), and the children had to sit silently, in rows, on the cold, hard cafeteria floor while they waited for the buses. Unbelievable...

Of course, I did get on the local TV news and wrote letters to a lot of people, so they couldn't directly retaliate, but the board actually tried to take away the busing service for all the magnet schools for this school year! I can't say that it was unquestioningly because of me and the other magnet school mom, but I have my suspicions. I kept out of that one, though, and apparently it was an extremely unpopular plan, as we still have busing, and it's working!

At least, it's working for me. I'm going to stick my head in a hole and not play detective. I fear some other children are having to sit around waiting while my children get the primo service, which was not at all what I wanted, but maybe they are just doing better all-around this year, I hope. I have nothing to complain about with the bus service thus far and therefore wouldn't have a legitimate gripe, even if other kids were being mistreated. Somehow, folks only want to listen if you are being directly impacted!

So, let's see if I can put a meaningful spin on this! I suppose it would be that this is an example of a case where I became politically active and met with positive results. I can't know for sure that the results are as widespread as I hope, and I haven't received any letters of gratitude from anyone, and I did go through that disbelief when the board tried to pull the magnet bussing... but, from what I can see, my efforts seem to have effected some positive change.

If you're passionate about a political cause, then it may be worth it to pursue it, and persistently. There's no point in doing it half-ass, though of course at some point you may realize you've done all that you're willing to do. If you still believe in your cause, though, persistence seems to be critical.

To conclude, in the case of the truancy policy, I am so NOT taking that on. I'm just going to whine a bit in my blog to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening, and have a great day!