Nano a no no...House a go go!

So Nano kinda fell through for me. I did manage almost 20,000 words, but then the housing project began to suck any life force from me. WE have been painting non stop all week I swear. Everyone keeps saying to me. "I painted my whole house in 2 days" or "You're still painting?" It is a little frustrating. We have been working hard, but I have no idea how anyone can 3 tone their entire house when ceilings need 3 coats, rooms are all different colors and they each need 3 coat, baseboards and casings all need 2 coats, doors need 2 coats, and some of the doors are one color on the inside and another on the outside depending on what room they join. It has been insane. I think I have learned my lesson on picking many colors, but it just looks so good that I might not have.
Tonight we finished L's blue wall. That took 4 coats of paint plus the primer. It might have needed more, but after one gallon on one wall we are calling it good. I love it next to the yellow walls and can't wait to get the red trim on. His room really is my most daring room, but it is the room I am also most excited for. I got him one of those city street rugs at Home Depot and he is getting a fire engine bed from his cousin. I can't wait to see it all put together. It will be such a boy room.
M is still having a surf room. Her quilt is getting closer to being done. I will post it here when it is finished. My mom has hand stitched the whole thing. The applique is so cool. I am thankful for a talented mother. I have a Hawaiian message board for her to hang up, but I am still looking for more decorations. Anyone have any good ideas? I thought about doing grass skirts for the windows.
C's room is the easiest since she will be inheriting all of my Mary Engelbreit things. She has curtains, paintings, light switch covers, the works. It will be so bright and cheery (also the name of her trim color). As soon as M's quilt is done, my mom will start on one for C, but even now her blanket has cherries and posies on it so it is already very Mary Engelbreit.
There is still a lot to do and we are not out of the woods yet, but everyday we get a little closer and with any luck we may move in officially the weekend before Christmas! That is all I want this year and it just might happen. At that point I can turn my focus back to writing in my free time, which lets face, as a mother of three I don't have much of, but some is better than nothing. So sorry nano, I flaked out, but just you wait until next year!

Reflections Night

Tonight was reflections night at the school. It is such a simple thing, go to the school, get your medal (everyone gets one), look at some art and get a brownie. It takes all of 10 minutes, but it is worth it all year to see the look on a child's face as they hold up their medal and know that someone thought they did good. M has entered for the last 3 years. The last two years she has entered in art and gotten an honorable mention and the opportunity to move on to the next round. This year she decided to enter in literature (how proud am I as a writer that my daughter wanted to do this?:))The theme for the year was WOW! She decided that she was going to interview her Oma about her life as a young child during WWII and the Russian occupation of East Germany. (Okay it helps that my mom had a pretty amazing story to tell.)
M interviewed my mom, composed a story about what she learned and then wrote it in her best handwriting(which is something she struggles with, so that alone made me super proud!)Well, when we got to her place tonight, there were two medals there. She looked at me and said "Who is that other one for?" I tried not to laugh as I told her that it was hers. She had won the award of excellence for literature. She looked at me for a moment with a blank expression and then got a huge grin. "Really?" That smile was all worth it.
On the way home we had our usual talk about how proud we were that she entered and it doesn't matter if she doesn't move on past the next level, but that she did her best and that is what will always make her a winner. It is hard as a parent to find that fine line between encouraging your children and making them think that winning is all that matters. I try my best, but for tonight I am going to gloat for a moment and say, my baby girl rocks! I love you M and am so proud of you!

Test your Awareness

I always look forward to reading Orson Scott Cards reviews on Hatrack. They always give me something to think about, talk about, read, see, or avoid. Today they gave me this great ad that I have watched several times. GO ahead, take a minute watch it and then as Card says watch it again!

When you're sick...

So I finally am taking a break from running around, getting water, holding achy kids, playing candy land with L who is not sick, taking temperatures, and some stuff that needs cleaning up that I am sure no one needs to hear about. I just made a pot of cinnamon raisin rice and now M is finally saying her tummy feels a bit better. It got me to thinking about the things that comfort us when we are sick. I made this, because it is what my dad always made me when I was sick. I also used to only drink Hi-C Ecto Cooler when I was sick. I don't think they even make that anymore. Now when I am sick, my comfort is my big pillow, my blanket and silence!
My sister swears by peppermint tea. When she is taking care of my kids and they are sick to their stomach that is what they get. I can't stand hot drinks and so while I might take a sip or two (it does work) it is not a comfort to me and so I usually try to avoid it.
It is funny how each person is different when it comes to what will make them better. L needs to sleep when he is sick. M likes her rice pad heated up and C is all about sponging herself with cool wash cloths. But no matter what different things each of them need, the number one thing they all seem to want when they are sick is Mommy. It makes for a lot of work which is added to the stress of seeing your kids sick, but it also is a comfort to me that when they are miserable, it is me that they want. Maybe I am doing something right after all!
So what is it that you need when you are sick? A friend, chicken soup, coke? Whatever it is I hope you always have it, and you never need it! Healthy thoughts for this upcoming sick season!

I'm Sick and Tired

Yes, you heard me. I am sick and tired! Literally! I am sick to my stomach as is C and cleaning her throw up up is not helping. L has fifth disease, and I thought with the fever that is what C had as well until dinner started coming back. I am also tired. We have been working like crazy on the house. Painting ceilings is hard work, I am sore. But all the ceilings have been primed, five got a first coat of paint, and three of those got their second coat this weekend before the bug hit me. I hope to feel better tomorrow so I can get back at it. I so want this house to be done and for us to be in it. I have waited a long time for a house of my own. Now the only thing I wish about as much as I wish to get into it, is that I can take my current neighborhood with me when I go! I love it here so much. I know I should give the new one a chance, but I live in the ideal neighborhood right now. I am going to miss everyone! Just thinking about it makes me sad. So now I am sick, tired, and sad. Oh well C'est La vie! That is my rant and my reason that there has been no word count posting this week. But the silver lining is that last night I had a dream about my story and figured a way to begin resolving all of my many dilemmas. I am sure there will be more to come before this is a book, but maybe, just maybe next week I can write again! Oh and three cheers to my fellow codex writers Eric James Stone and Ami Chopine. Both have stories in the recent edition of Intergalactic Medicine Show. If you are looking for good reads, check it out!

Nano Nano Day 11

I wrote over 4,000 words yesterday! Wha-hoo! If I could just do that for just 2 more days then I would be caught up all the way on word count and could keep to the 1667. My biggest problem is I have just been writing scenes, and I have a a first chapter due on Saturday for writers group. So do I get my word count up writing things I enjoy or muddle through the first chapter for writers group? We will just have to wait and see. How about you? Where are you on Nano? On your first chapter? Well here are some incentives. Write 500 words today have a small candy bar. Write 1000 buy yourself lunch. And for 2000 then you can play on the computer! Good Luck. Any thing you want for your goals? Just ask! WRITE ON! PS Thanks to all the non Nano people who have been offering us encouragement. WE need it and we appreciate it!(Notice how I did good ANDS? I went back and changed them! Oh wait no editing in November!)

Spelling Bee and Nano Day 9

I didn't write at all yesterday! After 7 hours of tiling (we didn't finish because the tile saw broke and we spent an hour trying to fix it, then we tried to do pieces with the grinder and that was near impossible, so we finally just set all the pieces that did not need cuts) I came home and sunk into bed and read my book. But, had I written it probably would have been good to start with the word AND, because I obviously can't spell it, or at least I can't type it. I have found more often than naught that I get typing so fast all of my ands become adns. The word is killing me. I have never had that problem before with this particular word, but I am seeing a pattern and trying to be positive I may turn it into a good luck quirk. I had another easy word that I always typed wrong when I was writing AND THE SKY FULL OF STARS. It was FORM, I mean FROM :). That one was actually worse than and because spell check would not catch it. I had to comb my manuscript making sure all my froms were not forms. But I managed to write a whole book with that little problem. I have not had a word haunt me like that again, until now. SO I am wondering if that is a good sign, that because I can't seem to spell adn/and without looking very slowly at each letter, maybe my mind is in mode to write another book. Maybe in my acknowledgements of my books I need to thank the words that messed me up, or maybe I need to just join a spelling bee.
Nano is okay I have just over 8,000 words which is not where I should be, but more than I have written in a long time. Hope all of you who are participating are still keeping strong and for heaven sakes don't erase anything....you know who you are :)! Good Luck and look for more mini goals tomorrow!

Housing Update and Nano Day 8

Aida must have been good for me because I managed to get over 2,000 words yesterday. That was the first day I hit wordcount for Nano this year. It probably also helped that I stopped trying to write in order and just wrote a scene that was in my head, surprise-surprise, after my night of inspiration. It feels so good to reach a goal! Another goal that is starting to come into focus, but has a way to go is the remodeling. For those of you who don't know, we basically gutted the inside of the house we bought down to the sheet rock. It wasn't our plan, but we decided to put some of the things we wanted on hold and do a few of the things that could only be done right now before anyone was living in the house. So far the texture is all done. It looks so good. It is amazing what just retexturing the walls can do, it is a whole new house. We also took out a wall in the downstairs bathroom and widened that up, tiled the washroom, fixed a hanging light in the washroom over the washer that made it so you could not open one of the cabinets all the way and made it into a canned light. Today my sister and I are going to tile the downstairs bathroom. That will leave baseboards, paint, carpet, closet doors, and then rehanging all the light fixtures, smoke detectors, etc... and having the vents cleaned. After that we can move in. I think Christmas will be our first holiday...or so I hope!

Aida and Nano Day 7

Last night was GNO. My good friend, Alyson, and I left the kiddios in care of grandparents and then daddies to go see one of our favorite musicals, AIDA. I saw it for the first time a couple of years ago when the Scera did it. The first time I saw it I cried and cried after we left. I wasn't sure what it was, but it touched something in me and made me fall in love with it. I was hooked. They did a great job last night at the Hale Center Theater. I laughed, I cried (as always), and when it ended I turned to Aly and said, "I want to go write now!" There is something about live theater that touches my writing bud and inspires me to give my characters life. There is also something about seeing it with someone who loves it as much as you do. Thanks Aly! After we were so pumped up,we drove around and just talked while we enjoyed hot chocolate from 7-11. They have a great new flavor, candy cane with white chocolate. Aly must have been inspired because she suggested that we mix it with regular. The outcome was undoubtedly yummy.
So goals for today are timed writing again. I pick that because I did so well with it. I'm not caught up yet, but I loved what I wrote yesterday, and today, feeling inspired, I am ready to do it again. So write 4 30 minute sessions if you can and then go to 7-11 and get some of that hot chocolate! Also, I only have 900 words until I can read my book so you know what I am working for, how bout you?

Cleaning your house adn Nano Day 6.

Why is it so hard to keep my house clean? I will admit, I have never been OCD when it comes to cleaning, but I could always pull a deep clean off of the whole house in about a day. And by deep clean I do mean scrubbed (usually including Baseboards, floors, vents, the works). But lately it is just like I am trying to keep my head above water. It probably doesn't help having a million boxes in my living room, or the fact that I spend most of my time thinking about the other house. (UPDATE: All the textuting has been done and it looks great. I am going to tile the downstairs bath on Saturday!) Oh it is beyond frustrating! And on top of that my Nano word count just keeps slipping farther and farther behind. I need motivation. So last night I got the house livable clean and so today I hope to write. My main goal is to get to 7,000 words so I can read my book which came in the mail yesterday. Having a new Juliet Marillier book on my nightstand and not allowing myself to open it, even for a peak, is torture. What things torture you enough to motivate? I hope this one does the trick. So Today lets work on Time. Write for three 30 minute segments with out stopping! Can you do it? If you do then go and down load that song you have been wanting from itunes! And if you do 4 segments? Then crank up the music and dance to that song like it is 1999! Hey, we need exercise too! WRITE ON!

NANO DAY 5

So Music seems to be a no go for some of you but Custard has made its way into he running of things to motivate. I however have decided that it is not fair to be diabetic and a writer! But since some of you are moving along quite nicely with the food goals we will keep them coming. I am behind. So very very behind that I need some goal to get me going. The problem is, moving, packing, cleaning...is there time to write? So I guess I could write now and will keep this short and sweet. My goal for today is to clean for 30 minutes and write for 30 minutes, back and forth until I have a clean house and 1,000 words. I know I should shoot for more, but right now that seems alot.
I ordered HEIR TO SEVENWATERS yesterday and it should come today and so I am going to use that as my goal. I can not read it until I have 7,000 words. That should motivate me. As for goals for you....
500 words............you can watch a TV show today.
1000 words...........Bubble Bath!
1667 words............Custard! (Oh COney's how I love and miss you)...My goal for this one will be 1 piece of the yummy chocolate my mom brought back from Germany!

Good Luck and Write On!

Nano Day 3

How did you do? I didn't do so hot, but I did listen to Reo Speedwagon and it totally put me in the mood to write. SO Give yourself props for today, and tomorrow lets do some yummy goals. 500 Words. 1 piece of chocolate. 1000 words. 2 pieces of chocolate. 1667 words a jamba juice or another yummy smoothie of your choice. Can you tell my mom just got home from Germany and I have chocolate on the mind? I threw the smoothie in their to get something of nutritional value in my day. Good luck tomorrow. I will be writing to music. I thnk that will help. DO you write to music? If so what inspires you?

Nano Day 2

Some people write everyday, some take Sunday off. Whatever you choose to do remember it is good to have a day of rest. No matter what today rest your mind and your body to get in shape for tomorrow! Way to go Alyson on the awesome word count! Oh and as a side note, little M spells awesome, osuem. Isn't that cute? Rest well and Write On, Nano Writers!