Moving past Teeewwwsday...

Hey, boys and girls!  It turns out, you're never really too old to have a theme for the day!

My youngest came home from preschool yesterday with an alligator pouch he'd made (full of "A" pictures) and an alligator dance.  You won't be surprised to learn that it featured a big "chomp!"

On the way to pick up the older two from school, I heard a little more chomp chomping from the back of the car.  This time, it was the dog.  Hers wasn't so much an alligator impression as she was trying to taste the DS game left in a cup holder.

We picked up my son first and while he mourned the loss of his Mario game, we picked up my daughter.  She placed a tiny present into my hand: the bracket that held her braces to her back molar.

I admire my friends and relatives who are dental hygenists and dentists.  I have never had any desire to put my hand inside anyone's mouth.  So after trying to coax Playdoh out of the dog's mouth a little later, I decided to open the wine, declare that I was off-duty and ordered pizzas for dinner.  (Yes, one was cheese-free!)

Who moved my cheese?

We talk about the "first 12-hour date" but that wasn't really our first date.  The first one was a lunch date.  I had a cheeseburger (and fries, I assume).  He had an apple.

The following summer, I decided to try giving up meat for 30 days. Those thirty days turned into two decades, although for years my husband tried to wait me out, convinced it was "just a phase."

Just a little over a week ago, my husband decided to go on a "plant based diet" for 30 days and invited me to join him.  He eased into it--the first day he just avoided "anything with a face or a mother."  It's been a vegan week since--no dairy, no eggs.  Unless you count the "butter" on our popcorn Saturday night.  I don't.  (Elaine Bennes covered the whole "is it real butter" issue for us, a while ago!)

We'll see how long this phase lasts!  I know he'll make the 30 days--he sticks to his goals.  He gave up wine for 40 days.  (He invited me to join him on that venture, as well, but I couldn't commit to that one.  This latest kick is much easier.  Wine qualifies as "plant-based.")

Our first lunch date was during the week before Labor Day, twenty-two years ago.  If you had told me then where I'd be now, I never would have believed it.
I never would have seen myself as someone who could give up cheese.

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An amendment for my loyal readers:

I was notified via facebook of an inaccuracy in this post, this morning.  I have some great friends (with amazing memories!) who, apparently, do pay attention to what I write here.  My own memory is not so good and I do not fact-check my posts well enough.  I regret to admit that I have not completely avoided meat for two decades.

I tried.  I failed.  

Nearly two decades ago, I was working for J. We were working quite late one night and he bought dinner for everyone.  I was hungry famished.  I was tired.  There were no veggie options and I caved.  I confess--I ate a turkey sandwich.  Nineteen years ago.  

As long as I am confessing (and before my family members rat me out) I also ate a bite of kielbasa on Easter.  In 2008.  My son saw it and has proudly told everyone that I am not a real vegetarian.

I am a fraud.  Now you know.

School daze

The older two went back to school on the 16th and my little guy started preschool yesterday.  So you're probably thinking that with all three kids in "school" I finished revising the novel, finished reading a book and folded all the laundry, right?

I was really, really close.  I went to the dentist, bought a new bra and a coffee.  Whee!

But I am revising the novel.  At 0-dark-thirty.  I've been getting less sleep during this last week than when I had newborns but I just might get this done, yet!  (Delirious, bleary-eyed edits have GOT to be good, right?)

How's your week going?

Greetings, Friends!

Liebster means "friend" in German.   I don't speak German (despite having a German maiden name) but am honored to be nominated for a friendship award, in any language!  Many thanks to Jen McConnel for this honor!  (I am also VERY late in posting this thank you here.  I've known Jen less than a year but unfortunately, she has already learned that I am always late.  I'm working on that!)

This award is intended to connect bloggers, specifically those with less than 200 followers. In accepting the award, I must:

* Show my thanks to the blogger who gave me the award by linking back to them.
* Reveal my top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
* Post the award on my blog.
* Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.
* And best of all – have fun and spread the karma.

I want to thank Jen McConnel again for the lovely nomination and she is also my first "pick."  I met Jen at a writing conference last October and she has been very encouraging here, on this blog, as well as in reading and commenting on some of my writing.  I sent her a confusing, mess of an excuse for a "draft" and God bless her, she still read it!

I am also nominating Tracy.  I've never met Tracy in person but we became online friends when we were both Kansas writers.  (She still is but I've moved over to Indiana).  Tracy always has an encouraging word here and inspiration on her site.

I'd like to introduce you to Caryn Caldwell.  Caryn is another writer I've never met but always so encouraging!  She is another mom-writer but is further along in her journey than I am--I love reading success stories!

Renee shares some wonderful ideas about getting into the world of your characters--as well as real survival stories about trying to balance writing with being a mother and wife.  Renee is yet another "friend" that I've never met in real life but I knew I'd like her as soon as I saw the title of her blog!

Aaron is the other friend on this list that I have met in person.  In fact, I'm sure we met before the internet existed!  He's an excellent writer and we attended a writing conference together 14 years ago but we'd been friends for years before that.  I decided to take the plunge and begin writing my own blog after reading his.  So, who knows?  If not for Aaron, I might not have started a blog, would never have met so many writers online and would never have learned the German word for friend. :)

Consequences I can live with

I love spending time with my children.  I also love to read.  I think it is important to read to your children.

But a day off from any one of the above wouldn't kill anybody.

After spending two hours at the muddy playground with my youngest and the dog today, everyone needed a bath!  My exhuasted son did not want to get back out of the tub and was quite irritated that I kept trying to drain the tub.

"Mommy!  If you touch that drain ONE MORE TIME, you will not get to read me a bedtime story!"