I am just never satisfied

I've got it pretty good. I have a large washing machine to wash my clothes, a dryer that dries them in record time. A decent dishwasher, an automatic coffee maker and two computers which allow me to type much faster than I could ever write on a notepad. Technology is wonderful. Now, if someone could take time away from developing the newest, smallest, most incredible "phone" and use that incredible imagination to develop a machine that would fold laundry, my life would be perfect.

(I do have children. They are capable of folding laundry! I just wish they could do it without asking every three seconds: "Am I done yet? Exactly how many things do I have to fold?")

Inspiring

I no longer play the piano like I used to but once in a while, a concert, a movie or a piece on the radio will make me want to practice.

Some books make me want to keep reading but make me want to stop at the same time--because I'm inspired to work on my characters, my scenes...and make them better.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter is one of those books. It's a gem.

The novel follows Dr. David Henry, who in 1964 delivers his own twins. He is thrilled to deliver a healthy baby boy but then is surprised when a second child is delivered. His recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome and for a multitude of reasons, he sends her away with his nurse. He instructs the nurse to take her to an institution.
The story also follows Norah Henry, Dr. Henry's wife. Her husband tells her that their daughter died at birth. Her grief shapes and changes her life in ways she never imagined.
Over the twenty-five year span of the novel, we also get to know Caroline Gill, the nurse who was in love with Dr. Henry and who flees with his daughter.

Kim Edwards has crafted a mesmerizing novel detailing the way that love--and the mistakes that we make in the name of love--change the shape and direction of lives.

Summer vacation?

We're a week into summer vacation for the kids--which means I'm up even earlier, trying to write before they get up.

(Of course, I'm here until I get halfway through the first cup of coffee!)  

The Shack

Settle down in your favorite chair and make yourself at home in The Shack.  

Of course, when you read the first chapter, or even just the plot summary, you'll think I've lost my mind.  The subject sounds unsettling.  It is.

I read the back cover and waited to read the book.  I was afraid it would bother me.  It did.  I was sure that I would cry.  I did.

Still, it's a book that will make you think and just possibly, look at life a little differently.

I'm not a huge fan of the writing style.  The actual story however, is powerful.

And for any of you out there who are sure that you know what God looks like--it might be time to take another look.

Parental controls

I need a program that will give me a time-out each time I visit Facebook rather than doing actual research or writing.  Clearly, I am not disciplined enough to avoid it on my own.

I might need a better connection

I need to remember to pray more in the mornings, while I'm drinking my coffee.

As it is, I usually do most of my praying at night--when I'm exhausted.  For a few years, I thought I was getting hints back.  Some days I was excited when I thought I'd figured out a "clue:"  I thought I was meant to have a third child.  There were other days when I started to panic when I thought that God was trying to tell me His plan for me might involve me having three.

Then there are days like today when I hear Him laughing.  Clearly I was meant to have a bird.  Or His plan for my life involves me planting a tree.

Gotta love suburbia

There are days when I long for the hustle and bustle of a more urban setting. There are many more days however, like when we're rushing to school in the morning, that I'm thankful the only "traffic" is the line of cars at the red light.

Now that my son can say "car," I am even more thankful. He points out each car on the ride to school. Every car. Poor kid would lose his voice--and possibly his mind--if we were on a six-lane highway!

Kokomo, Indiana just isn't the same

The Beach Boys came on the radio in the car last night and I admit I was singing along, pretending I could still see palm trees.  My kids were so excited that they knew the song! (Or so they think). They just could not figure out how Kokomo fit in with Key Largo.

Strike out

I am the MAN.

No one will be giving me a high-five here. The kids went on strike yesterday. They made their signs and paraded around the living room to protest against the man, er, "mom."

They clearly thought that I would be distraught by this drastic action. They were a bit disappointed when, rather than caving to their demands (they did not actually have any), I took out the camera.

Film at eleven.

I know I left it here, somewhere

There is an excellent chance that I have lost my mind.

On the upside, if I don't find it soon, I may come up with a perfectly unique twist for a story...

My true love

He's hot; he knows what I need and just how I like it.  I'd never make it through the day without him!

The good, the bad and the ugly

Well, I've just finished almost 1,000 new words--so that's good.

It's almost 1:30am, so that's bad.

The daughter is most certainly going back to school tomorrow so I just have to get them dropped off, drop two casseroles (that are not yet made) off somewhere else before 11am and be at daughter's library time at 10:30.  It's gonna be ugly!

Full moon

The house is quiet.  Everyone else is asleep.  I should be, too (haven't been sleeping well) or folding laundry. (I've got quite a mountain of clean clothes.  At least they're clean, so I'm not totally neglecting the family.  Everything that they need is clean, they may just have to dig for them.)

Instead though, I'm here.  Writing.  Finally.  Maybe it's the full moon.

Fighting with the book

My fingers are cold and dry.  This should help provide excellent inspiration for writing tonight--the part I'm working on takes place in Alaska.

I'm procrastinating again.  No matter how many chapters I have saved on various computers, in notebooks, on napkins...I have to rewrite them.  I may have mentioned this before.  The story hasn't been working because it has to come from the daughter.  That's OK.  I didn't want it to be her story, initially but I think that'll work best.

Except for all of the rewriting.  I'm lazy.  Of course, if I had a hot cup of coffee on the desk, rather than a glass of red wine, that'd probably help.  A little. ;)

Karma and all that

A while back, I stated that a book I was reading was not good.

In all fairness, it is the writer's first book.  I hope, one day, when my book is done and out there--my critics will offer more than two words.

I decided recently to give it another shot.  It is getting better.  The narrator bothered me but as it turns out, he thinks of himself as quite a know-it-all.  That doesn't make me like him any better but makes me want to give the author the benefit of the doubt.

So The Gargoyle is back on my nightstand.  At least, until I find something else to read.

Sagas: Twilight and facebook

The Twilight books are certainly YA but many moms like myself have been sucked in. Is it just the love story?  Maybe.  The fact that there is something familiar?  Sure--she has referenced and followed some classics with each one.

I had been reading some non-fiction and some bad fiction, so I think Ms. Meyers' books were mostly a welcome change.  There is something there, though.  I looked at the first book and told my daughter to go ahead and start reading.  I hoped I'd catch up--and make sure it was OK--but I knew that at the rate I've been reading, it'd take a month for me to finish that BIG book.

Instead, I finished all four books in less than three weeks.  It has been a long time since I simply COULD NOT put a book down.  And I've been looking for another "good" book to read since, but haven't been able to get another fix.

Part of my fascination lay with her characters.  In my comments about her first book, I mentioned that Edward reminded me of someone and I was curious.  As it turns out, I've lost touch with an Edward** and at least one Jacob* and I wanted to see what happened with Bella's.

(I had no idea until recently that a few of those people I lost are hanging out on facebook!  They have not all become my "friends" but that is an entirely separate distraction.)

In the meantime, somebody post the title of a book that I should be reading!

THANKS!

_________________

*Different names, of course.

** I have never--knowingly--dated a vampire

Immortality or longer life?

So if you only have so many free hours in the day--and you really want to sleep during some of those nighttime hours--do you place writing over exercising (if you are published, your name could live on forever) or do you get on the treadmill first (if you live longer, you have more time to be published)?

(Or do you spend them mindlessly blogging?)

That's all I want to say to you

Thanks to the Carpenters and, of course, Sesame Street for "Sing a Song."


My youngest is getting pretty good at singing his "la la las" so it's been fun but I've had enough.

We have moved on to the Police. (YouTube won't let me embed this one but you can click on the link.)

Sold out

It is done.
I never made a MySpace page and had no intentions of ever logging onto Facebook. So much for sticking to my guns. I caved.
I am on Facebook.

P.S. - For a certain person who may have used my daughter to suck her mother into the latest technology, I hope you are happy. I still don't know how to find your photos.

Happy Anniversary on Fat Tuesday!

To my parents, Happy Anniversary today! 41 years! THAT is something to celebrate!

Of course, many others are celebrating today--just 'cause it's Tuesday!
Here, we had Paczki (pronounced "punch-key") and king cake for breakfast, so we had our own small Fat Tuesday celebration, here!

The kids also had a half-day at school so each one brought a friend home. They pulled cookies out of the pantry for a snack a little while ago but my daughter would not eat the sugar-free cookies that her friend picked out. Though they are sugar-free, her friend kept calling them "fat-free." My daughter replied, "It's Fat Tuesday, NOT Fat-Free-Tuesday!!"