Monday Motivation

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
- Benjamin Franklin

What are you going to do this week to make the most of the time you've been given this week?

SHH just got back from Philadelphia late Friday night. He also recently read Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. He's been telling me all about his life and reading me quotes from the book. He's a pretty smart guy. (SHH and Benjamin, he he.) It was really an amazing opportunity for SHH to go see the actual buildings where good ole Benji had his printing office, his grave in Christchurch,the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and more. What an incredibly accomplished man--even beyond the "famous" things he did. So, in honor of Mr. Franklin, here are a couple more great quotes:

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do."
- Benjamin Franklin

'Nuff said, right??


"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."
-Benjamin Franklin

I sure hope I can accomplish both to be honest. Love that quote.

Happy Monday!

Friday Four or Five

1. I hear it's snowing a lot around the country. Not here. Nope. It's so spring like here I'm afraid the trees are going to start budding. And then the snow will hit in April or something and when the pools are supposed to open in June, they'll be buried under two feet of snow. Hopefully not. But I'm slightly concerned.

2. Sometimes I set goals for myself that are a little bit crazy. And then I scramble around trying to figure out how to get everything done (because I've set myself up for failure by trying to do too many things at once) and I end up forgetting things like showering or sending a check for lunch money to school with my son or returning my library books. #totalstepfordwifefail (At least they still let him eat lunch, but the library account isn't looking so hot. I could buy a book for the price of all the fines I accrued, dang it.)

3. Today I take Baby Girl in for a repeat echo on her heart. One of the holes she was born with constricted her aorta when it closed. Today they are making sure that corrected itself in the last few months. Fingers are tightly crossed for good news.

4. Miracles exist and my cousin's husband is one of them. He is out of the ICU, he is getting a little bit stronger every day--he IS going to beat this cancer. I just know it. Thank you all SO so much for your prayes and thoughts. He's still got a long road ahead, but I know he can make it.

5. There isn't really anything else that can top that last one. It should be my one and only thought for the day, really. So I'm going to stop now.

What's on your mind today?

What's HOT?

So, for most of us, it's pretty cold out there right now. But today I'm bringing the heat.

Okay, not really. Not that type of heat anyway.

I'm talking about what's HOT in publishing. I read this post by agent Rachelle Gardner and it got me thinking: what is hot right now? And should you try and chase down that ellusive heat?

I don't have any answers, I'm actually wondering what you think the answers are. The market is a different place right now than it was two or three years ago. It's even different than just one year ago.

All I know is that you have to write what you love. Because even if you think you're writing something "hot," agents and editors might disagree with you. Or you could be writing something just for fun and have it get snatched up. I honestly don't think it's possible to predict what will be hot or not. Not easily, and not very often, anyway. Right now, I keep hearing what isn't selling, what isn't hot. I'm not sure if there is any one HOT genre/topic right now, in YA at least.

So, tell me--what do you think the future of publishing holds (particularly for those of you in YA)? Is anything HOT right now in your opinion or from your experience? And even more importantly, does it matter to you?

'Tis the Season...

For RSV. Bummer.

3 kids and up until now we'd managed to avoid RSV. There's few things worse than having a sick baby. As a mom, I feel so helpless. I want to heal her, to take away the pain, the struggle to breathe. All I can do is hold her and rock her and comfort her. So far, we're not in the hospital. Let's hope it stays that way.

So... anyone want to bring me some good books? Looks like we're going to be home bound for a little while... I know there are some releasing (or that have been recently released) that I'm dying to read. Wouldn't it be great if book stores delivered to your door? Oh wait, I guess they do. Huh. Suppose I should start doing more shopping online.

What book are you looking forward to reading the most right now?

Update

For all of my wonderful friends who are fasting and/or praying for Josh and Megan, he is making forward progress!! He responded to her today, squeezing her hand and even giving her a smile. He's also starting to fight the ventilator (which is why his hands are strapped down). We are hoping he will continue to fight back, and get better and better! Meg told us yesterday was one of the worst days of her life. She could barely get out of bed this morning she was so exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Her mom was at the hospital with him early this morning, and couldn't get him to respond to anything (they'd lowered his sedation just slightly to see if he'd respond to commands) -- until she told him she was going to go get Meg. Then he squeezed her hand so tight. That story alone is what got Megan out of bed and rushing to his side.

They love each other so much, and I know that love, and the prayers and the love of all those around them (those who know them and those who are praying for them just because you know some of us who love them) are making all the difference!! Thank you all so much! Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. It is a VERY long road ahead, but we are grateful today for tender mercies and tiny victories. :) We love you guys!!

A plea

As I have been writing out my goals for the new year, we've had some events happen in our family that really put life in perspective. Some of you may remember these two posts from October about my beautiful cousin and her husband...: I'm gonna love you through it and this one about my race and an update on him.


Things have been up and down ever since. There have been triumphs and setbacks. There have been questions without answers, and hope in the face of discouragement. Holidays have come and gone, and his prognosis has gone up and down. But right now, things are not looking so good.

Right now, Josh is in the highest level of ICU, on a ventilator. He has been getting so SO sick between chemo treatments--extremely high fevers, all sorts of problems, and the doctors have been baffled. Unable to find answers. Today, they finally figured out he has HLH, an extremely rare disease that complicates fighting his cancer even more. He just finished what was supposed to be his last round of chemo a couple of weeks ago, but with this new diagnosis, he must be started on an aggressive 9 week treatment program of chemo and steroids right away. Here's what Megan wrote today:


Josh's heart rate went crazy last night. His lungs are filled with liquid. His body is super swollen from all the liquid that is inside him from meds. He has gained 25-30 pounds in water weight. They put a tube down his throat that will breathe for him. Also they are controlling his blood pressure. He has a feeding tube and a catheter. He has pneumonia. Many have asked what they can do; please pray for my sweet husband. There will be a fast for him from lunch today to lunch tmrw for those who would like to join. My heart is full of gratitude for the prayers and love that have been given to us. I love you Joshua!

Please, if you are willing to, pray for my cousin and her husband. She's been told that they will have to take it day by day, and there are no guarantees right now.

I've been trying to come up with goals about writing, parenting, exercise, finances and more. His only goal right now is to survive. To live. To beat the monster that is cancer. How often do we take for granted the supreme gift of life? To be able to breathe, to run, to play and laugh and sing and LIVE? I know I have.

So, I guess I just want to say to Megan and Josh: We love you guys so much, and we are all praying for you with all of our might and faith. I know miracles happen, and that if it's the Lord's will, you will get yours. <3 <3 I guess that's the hardest part of faith--is accepting the Lord's will. For now, I am determined to believe that His will is for Josh to live. He is a fighter. Josh, we love you!

2012!

Happy New Year everyone!

It's that time of year again: Christmas is over and holiday detox takes place quickly followed by a mad flurry of goal-making and sudden influxes of large groups of people to the local gyms. My family and I are sitting down tonight to do our annual tradition of writing down our new goals. We like to break them up into categories:

Daily goals, weekly goals, monthly, yearly, and future (3-5 years).

We then print off the nicely typed list and stick it on our bathroom mirror to help remind us of these goals throughout the year. We don't always accomplish all of them (ha ha), but we do try. And writing them down and looking at them multiple times a day certainly helps keep them in our minds. I've often heard that if you write something down, you are much more likely to actually do it. We have found this to be true.

So tell me, what are some of your goals this year? I'm excited to sit down and start with a fresh, blank document to make a new list of goals tonight. I'll have to let you know some of the ones we come up with for 2012!