By the way... About All or Nothing...

oh, boy oh, boy...

The White Rose Imprint of Wild Rose Press is reviewing All or Nothing. Oh, dear lord in heaven. I have to wait and see what happens. In the mean time - I'm chewing my nails waiting. Just to see it in print! Oh, dear Lord in Heaven!

Okay. it's out of my hands. I made it better. I worked it out. I did the best that I could do, and wow. I think it actually worked. SO, Elizabeth West has my book and is reading it, and I just need to hang on for the ride. Could I be a published author, just like that? We'll see. We'll just have to wait and see.

I am the worst waiter. So, to coin a Kai Lan phrase - I just need to find something I like to do while I'm waiting. And I like to write... so... here goes nothing. :)

Camping Life

Rachel & Ellie - Setting up Camp The girls, Through the Window

Lake Skinner - Camping in February?!?!?! It was a beautiful, albeit rushed Saturday afternoon. After forgetting the keys *oops!* and then parking a tad bit far from the hook ups *oops!* and then having to race to get the trailer livable *Double Oops!!* but we managed. What fun... S'mores under the stars. Hotdogs never tasted so good... and popcorn and movie night for the girls was something special! Perry and I even had a few quiet moments - a very few quiet moments - under the stars. Before Ellie locked us out of the trailer... $#%&...

All told, it was a success... and I learned that I need to lighten up a bit. And Perry needs to slow down a bit... and the girls are just girls. Rachel is learning to toughen up, and Ellie learned to soften up - we discovered that she is absolutely terrified of bugs. WHO KNEW?

Can't wait for many more camping adventures this Spring/Summer! We'll be pros by this time next year!

Christmas - cookies with Santa

Christmas Time is Here!

Listening to: Third Day - Do you hear what I hear?

Things to do today:


* Work
* To buy the doll house? or not to buy the doll house?



Santa is quite a guy. Sliding down chimneys. Visiting over a billion houses on one night, spending miliseconds at each...delivering presents, eating cookies & milk...Christmas magic. It is magic. Waking up on Christmas morning is magical. Should be magical. Will be magical for my little darlings...I'm a doting mother. Who wouldn't be? Just look at them?

I'm not saying that buying lots of presents equals Christmas magic. I am saying, look into what they really love, and find the perfect present for them. For now. For a few months from now. We've always shopped early for them. Case in point, the Disney Princess Computer for Rachel last year - that now is the favorite plaything. She wasn't ready for it. Ellie wants a computer. She wants to type like mommy. She scratches my keyboard. The keys pop off. She 'so sorry mama.' - and I want to cry.

BUT, she's just immitating what she sees me do. To her, seeing me type looks like scratching a keyboard. I took typing. The best class from High School. Mr. Gatley. I learned how to scratch a keyboard. My fingers know where to go of their own accord. They know when they've made a typo. Truth, it even feels cool when they're flying over the keys as if of their own volition. So the girl needs a computer of her own. They're all too old for her. But if she got one, and could scratch those keys to her heart's content - I think she would truly be over the moon about it. Santa? What do you think?

Rachel's another story. She's my princess. She loves her dollies. She loves her movies. She loves playing dress up. She is my little Cinderella. She loves the new one - Giselle. She has a birthday in February, so shopping for Christmas and Birthday kind of gels all at once. We buy a bunch of stuff, and decide to parse it out accordingly. She wants a furberry. She wants everything she sees advertised on television. She even made up a new word for it. She jumped up and down and screamed, "That makes me pone!"

Perry and I just looked at each other. Pone? And I instantly knew what she meant. It means you want it so bad, it actually almost hurts. It fills your heart with longing. You'll just expire on the spot if it doesn't become yours. Well, I'm poning for something for both of them. I want it. I want to play with them with it. And it's friggin expensive.

Back to the Doll House. It's HUGE. It's on casters. It spins. It's absolutely unbelievably exactly what I wanted to get for them. It is big enough for barbies. It is just insane how ridiculous it is. Three stories. Outdoor barbecue. Complete with furniture. I'm poning right now just talking about it. I WANT IT FOR THEM. They would absolutely be over the moon. And they don't even know it exists.

If they don't get it, their Christmas will still be magical. If they don't get it, they'll still have a marvelous day. They'll love what Santa brought for them. They'll play with their games. They'll have such a fantastic day. BUT...

How will I feel? is it worth it for me to fanagle this for this insane gift? Yes. I'm poning. And I think they'll be getting an insanely ridiculously wonderful Doll House from Santa this year. If only I can figure out how to make it work.

FINISHED!

I did it! It's done! for better or worse! ha.

The story changed from what I originally planned it "Santa Anna" to the revised title - "The God Quotient."

If you would like to read it, I will be happy to share it with you. It's been a lot of fun. A tromendous learning opportunity on stick-to-it-ness and best of all, it's over.

I'm exhausted. But elated! even though I've completely alienated my husband. Ha. So, now's the time to go back, read what was written, and decide if it is really a book worth rewriting, or if it was just a frenetic exercise in becoming what they refer to as a High-Velocity Novelist.

I'm going shopping.

NanoWriMo CRAZE

It's all I can do to stay focused on the little things. Like work. Like family. All I want to do is see what happens next. To increase my wordcount and write! write! write! and then, I started writing content for Constant Content.com - and I'm obsessing about my article writing opportunities.

And my kids are playing with their daddy who gets to celebrate veteran's day today. Sigh. SO - here I sit. And obsess. And then there's work. Sigh. Onward! Organize! Focus!

Santa Anna calls - but only if I can get my day going. So much to do and so little time to do it in...

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay - I am so excited. Not only have I begun writing in a creative frenzy - current word count of Santa Anna is 3,674 - I found out this morning... ahem...

I have placed in the top three of the Erle Stanley Gardner Mystery Writing Contest.

Who cares if I win or lose. I've already won. Perry was home on his Friday off. I was just frantically typing an exciting scene and realized I needed to pay him some attention.

So, switching gears, I went to check my e-mail and saw the subject: Mystery Writing Contest Winner... then I saw the letter and almost fell off of the couch! There was jumping around and screaming and head bonking due to too much exhuberence! Ellie had just wandered downstairs in her pink jammies and cloud of blonde hair... and joined in on all of the fun.

Very exciting - and just remembered that the top 3 winners will be published in the Californian Newspaper! Hooray!

I'll post that link as soon as I get it. So, until then, I'm a mystery writer. Contest top 3 finalist! woo hoo!

NaNoWriMo.org

Well, I'm going to do it. I have a plan and I claim to be verbose enough, so i am going to attempt the near to impossible. Heck, I helped build a website in 24 hrs when I was but a kid at 28. I can write a 50,000 word book in 30 days. Right? Right? Who's with me?

In the mean time, it's off to the Disneystore to return Tinkerbelle shoes that didn't fit and search for Belle shoes that do. Yikes. Ellie's counting on me. Here are my princesses:


The smoke is gone, fires are being managed. We're all fine here. Here's to an exciting new storyline about a girl who died in the San Diego Fires only to be revived and changed forever.

Santa Anna

Anna Whitehall wakes from weeks of medically induced coma to learn she has suffered a traumatic brain injury during the San Diego Fires. Scattered memories of her death, a hesitance to talk about what lay beyond, and the knowledge that touching the other side left her with unexplained abilities - and the fear that her new life is in danger... While her life was spared, it will never be the same. The evil one who suspects she knows more than she is letting on is determined to see her dead once and for all.