Editing Estelan

Pausing the paranormal romance tonight (though I have a lot I'd like to add) to revisit Estelan again, I have been missing it terribly.  Estelan was a part of my life for so long now that the last few months have been more of a vacation from which I am ready and willing to return home.  Dramatic?  Overdramatic?  Absolutely.  But drama makes life fun, right?  Exciting at the very least.  Had a lot of drama as of late, I swear it seeks me out, but I am ready for things to die down a bit.  This weekend should be as drama free as they come and I am truly ready for it. 

Rainy days and writing

There is something soothing about a cup if coffee and my laptop on a rainy Seattle day. I would love to be curled up and writing like that right now, unfortunately it is not in the cards. I have to work at my office job which is slowly sucking the life out if me. Melodramatic much? Of course. But I do have that feeling, like every year I stay here I become a little more jaded and frustrated with my fellow humans. I do not want to become a recluse! Ha ha. Perhaps a day off soon would benefit me. Hm. I will think about that tomorrow for tomorrow is another day....how is that for melodrama?

Self publish?

I am seriously considering self publishing my paranormal romance. I am thinking of starting small, by ebooking it on B&N or amazon. It is a tough decision for me and I am hoping for some feedback from family and followers. I have gotten some from a few good forums that I dabble with but still am not sure about making the leap. Any and all input is appreciated!

P.S. Rant to my neighbors and their carpet cleaning service for cleaning fir several hours last night - well past my bed time and very disruptive to my creative writing juices!!!

Rave to John Hay Elementary staff for being so top notch!!!

Rants and raves

The local newspaper runs a column of rants and raves which allows my fellow citizens to tear down those mean, heartless, thoughtless neighbors and random strangers as well as compliment those who do something truly amazing, you know what I mean, random acts if kindness. I like the idea so I am piggy-backing and proposing that all those who read this do something similar, either a tweet or a blog post or a FB status update - ESPECIALLY some random acts if kindness. I think we all need reminders that there is still goodness in this world. And please, pay it forward. Something simple could change the whole outlook of a strangers day, who knows what can happen next?? Here are mine:

RANT: to the crazy woman at the grocery store who nearly knocked my five year old son over with her cart, threw an empty box the stocker had just emptied into the shelf he had just stocked so nicely, and then two aisles later almost clipped an elderly lady who fortunately was able to use her cart to regain her balance. Shame in you! My five year old noted that you would receive a "consequence" at school for not waiting your turn.

RAVE: to the extremely kind and caring women in the office at my children's school who always go above and beyond to help parents and children. Thank you for helping me contact the transportation office after being unable to contact them for more than a week!

RAVE: to my friend, Jenn, who gave her breakfast to a homeless person yesterday and for all her random acts of kindness that so often go unnoticed.

I hope to see a wave of these hit the 'net!!!!

Twitter it up!

So, I just gave in and joined twitter. I do not know whether to be proud of or disgusted with myself. However, I understand it is better to compromise your views a little if the end result gets you where you wish to be - in my case, published. So, that said, twitter it up and here's hoping!!!

10 random observations.....

1) Whenever you have no time to veg out in front of the TV there are a dozen things you would love to see/catch up on but whenever you have an hour or so where you are too braindead to function at a higher level than television there is absolutely nothing worth watching.  (Same thing goes with radio!)

2) Driving a convertible with the top down on a nice day may be one of the most glorious feelings known to man (okay, woman).

3) Purple is the best color in my world, it makes me happy and calm and passionate all at once.

4) No job is perfect but it takes work to find the perfect job for you.

5) Marilyn Monroe was right, if you can't love me at my worst then you don't deserve me at my best.

6) People are living longer but children are growing up faster - how does that compute?

7) A picture is worth a thousand words so what does that say about those pictures made up of a thousand little pictures?

8) I love the quote "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is learning to dance in the rain."

9) There is always somebody better than you, so doesn't that make you wonder who is better than that person?

10) Getting rejected based on a query letter is one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever encountered (and believe that is saying something).

Blogging from my iPod touch...

An experiment in patience. I feel the need to work on my patience as I am not a patient person in many ways. This would be one of those issues I have. I type faster with a keyboard but sometimes go so fast that I skip words or thoughts because my mind goes so much faster than my fingers can type - and I am not a slow typist. Still pecking at a tiny touch screen is very different than my keyboard! Anyway, I am exhausted as it is past my beddy bye time and this saddens me as I really wanted to watch parenthood's premiere tonight. Alas, my 5am workout and my entry into Real Simple magazines 'life lessons" essay contest took priority. This was an excellent exercise.... I strongly suggest you all try it.

Of course we will never forget....

How could we?  Our nation stopped for several days and we are still feeling the repercussions of what happened ten years ago.  I have not met an American whose life has not been touched by the tragedy of 9/11.  My children are too young to know what happened (as in they were not born yet) but they are aware of the sadness that comes over their elders when 9/11 is mentioned.  The term itself has come to stand for tragedy and my children will know it no other way.  The repercussions of that day have had the most astounding ripple effect and as I sit here reflecting, as many of my fellow Americans are at this moment, I have hope because of the amazing response by everyone who rushed in to offer aide from the firefighters and rescue crews who were first on site to those who arrived in the following days to offer shelter and supplies.  I am hopeful that Americans will remember how it felt then and translate that feeling to the present.  Working together for a common cause - I think we need that now as much as we did then. 

Busy, busy week!

Okay, so my paranormal romance is more than half way done - including the first sexual encounter! - and I am planning to have it complete by next weekend, if not sooner.  FOOTBALL is back which just makes me smile in general.  My kiddos are back and started school this week which has been amazingly fun and exciting.  AND, I got a new car.  Well, new to me.  It is a used car but I love it just the same.  2003 VW Beetle Convertible.  Texans blue with a black top and low miles.  It is AWESOME!!! Here's hoping I keep driving it and it doesn't putz out on me because I will cry if it does (and I am not a crier for those of you who don't know me well).

This is a super short entry, but I am thinking most can figure out why - who to cheer for this fine Seattle evening??  Packers or Saints????  I am really waiting for Sunday when my Texans take the field against a Manning-less Colts team.

Is anybody out there? Does anybody hear me?

Sometimes it is scary to start something new.  I have always been one of those people who dives in first and checks the depth of the water later.  While many things have mellowed since I became a mom, that is one thing that has not changed one iota.  I thrive on that feeling, the mixture of fear and excitement.  It strikes me as odd when people shy away from the unknown while I embrace it.  Then I realize that those people find me odd for jumping in.  Life is like that, right?  Yin and Yang?  I exist because they do, we offset each other in the larger scheme of things, or something like that.  What I want to know is if you believe that?  Do you believe that one approach to life is better than another?  Do you believe that there is a balance between folks to dive in and those who dip a toe in first?  Do you believe in magic?  (I don't know, that just seemed to naturally flow next since that song was the last I listened to on my iPod). 

I wonder a lot.  It is one of my many things.  Call it ADD if you will but it is how I function.  I mostly wonder about people, what motivates them, why so many are mean or self centered or whiny.  Again it dawns on me that there are some who probably think those things of me.  Then I realize how philosophical I sound and it makes me stop asking such questions.  How many of you have I lost with this post? 

I leave this post with one last thought - where are all my followers?  All my family and friends who pledge their support and tout their pride, where are you in relation to my blog?  It is free to join, takes a moment to check in, but your support would mean a lot to a budding career.  Thank you to those of my dearest who have not only voiced their support but follow me regularly.  I know who you are and it means more to me than words can say.  Thank you.

OSAD

Please take a moment to appreciate the return of one of my guilty pleasures - football.  I have missed it terribly and was on the verge of sinking into a depression when this season hung in the balance.  For myself, and many other fans, no football would have left a void in our lives.  In fact, I have coined a new term to refer to the strange melancholy that settles over myself and my fellow football fanatics during the offseason - I call it OSAD (hence the title of this post).  What does it stand for you ask?  Off Season Affective Disorder.  I suppose it could apply to any sport, however, I am a football fan so for me there are no other sports (especially not NASCAR, it is not a sport, it is a skill, not a sport and those of you who are NASCAR fans are going to have to accept it sooner or later.)

Good luck and well wishes to my favorite team - the fabulous and charming Houston Texans - who I hope to meet again someday.