Friday Five: the long-winded story version

1. SonB (who had a birthday on Monday and will now only let me refer to him as "Big Four-Year-Old" and not his name) is quite the... independent little boy. A bit precocious, one might say. (Or A LOT.) He used to be a really good eater, but for the last year and a half, almost every meal is a struggle with him. My husband decided to start telling him that with every bite he took, he was getting taller, to give him incentive to eat. So, now SonB has decided that he'll take a bite, then he gets down on the ground and tells his older brother "Tell Mommy that I'm coming to surprise her!" I have to wait for SonA to tell me, and then say, "Oh, no, where did SonB go?" and then he pops up and points to his head. I must then say, "Wow! Look you got taller, you must have had a bite of food!" To which he nods and tells me what he ate. And then it starts all over. EVERY. MEAL. EVERY. BITE. And if any of these steps gets messed up (if I jump the gun and say, "Where is SonB?" before SonA tells me he's coming for example), hoo-boy. Tantrum City. Well, now Baby Girl (who is officially 18 months old now) has decided that she needs to start patting the top of her head when she eats, too. Except she still uses a combination of a spoon/fork and her hands to eat, so this usually means that part of her meal ends up on top of her head. And I have to tell her, "Wow, you're getting taller, too!" and then she nods emphatically and grins at me, then eats some more. (She's still a good eater--in fact, she usually out eats my boys.) Living with these kids is never dull, that's for sure!

2. So for Mother's Day last year, SHH gave me a gift certificate for a massage. I save things like that for a "special occasion" which usually means I save it and save it until it's about to expire and then have to rush to get in time. Worried that it would expire, he told me to book it for last night, since he had the night off. I left to meet him and switch cars (and hand off the kids) in a total blizzard. I barely made it out of our neighborhood. I called him to say I wasn't sure this was a good idea, but he said the roads were barely even wet where he was, and it was probably just bad on the benches. So we made the switch, and off I went. The roads were fine, the weather was ominous, but not bad, until I was about half-way there. (The place was downtown.) Suddenly, from one second to the next, I was driving in a near white-out, on a freeway that had suddenly turned into an ice-rink with half a foot of snow on the ground. Surrounded by semi's with no visible lane-lines and crazy drivers who were going too fast and spinning out of control, I clutched my steering wheel with white-knuckles and kept on going. It was pointless to turn back now, right? Needless to say, I was late. So instead of being nice about it (HELLOOO, I came to you during the snowpacolypse rather than cancelling!), they cut my massage short. And I had a male masseuse for the first time ever. He was a little... different. I figured since it was going to be short, I'd try to get the most out of it that I could, and had him do fairly firm pressure. (As in, I was clenching my jaw and holding my breath to not cry out in pain at times. I have a very tight/knotted back.) This was a mistake, as it turns out. Because today? I feel like my entire back got beat with a sledgehammer. So rather than helping me stand up straighter, I can barely handle lifting my daughter. #epicfail


3. Many of you have probably seen me tweeting/FBing about my "Problem Child." This is what I'm (semi) lovingly calling my new WIP. I'm a fast drafter. It's just how I write. Usually. This book? Not so much. This book is trying to kill me. I have moments where I think I'm prevailing, where I feel like I'm figuring it out and whipping it into line. And then my characters and this plot just laugh and laugh at me when I'm floundering five minutes later, totally frustrated and lost yet again. Does this mean I'm on the brink of brilliance--or the cusp of utter and total failure? Maybe somewhere in the middle. I hope.

4. So recently I've been thinking a lot about social media, and the negative effects it has in life. We are SO interconnected now; I don't think it's necessarily a good thing to see every picture and hear every detail of each other's lives. It can lead to moments of jealousy or feelings of inadequacy or being left out or a myriad of other negative emotions. Or at least it does for me sometimes. Maybe I'm just insecure like that and that doesn't happen to anyone else. But there are also moments when social media can be absolutely incredible, and SO helpful. Like when I tweeted about #ProblemChild and how it wanted to be set in a place I know nothing about... and one of my amazing friends/followers tweeted back and when I told her about it said, "It sounds like it wants to be set near where I live!" SCORE! Her help has been invaluable. So the point is that I'm torn in my feelings toward FB and Twitter. I guess that's how most things in life are though, there are always good and bad sides to most everything.

Wow, these were all so long, let's just call it quits at 4, shall we? So that's a glimpse of what's on my mind on this snowy cold Friday morning. How about you?

She's here!

Wanna know why my belly got this huge?

(38 weeks, whoa BABY!)

Well, here she is!

Our beautiful daughter!

9 lbs 7 oz

22 inches

We spent a lot of time in the nursery with her because she had some complications. Luckily she was doing well enough to come home with us on time.

Curly hair like her Mama ;)

SonA and SonB both adore her.

My beautiful little firecracker.

So that's why I'll be MIA for a while. :-) Hope you are all doing great. Keep me posted on the rest of the world...

Friday Five

I knew you guys were smart! All the advice you've shared this week has been absolutely perfect. There's a lot of wisdom in what you all wrote. So, once more, thank you very much!

Here's what's on my mind today:

1. This week SonA has had school off for spring break. I had so many fun activities planned. And then the forecast changed from mid-sixties and sunny back to our norm for the year. Freezing cold snowing/raining/doom. We've managed to still find some fun stuff to do, but overall, this has not been a week of spring break win, that's for sure.

2. Last night we celebrated SHH's birthday a few days early (since his birthday is actually on Easter Sunday this year, which has never happened before since I've known him). I surprised him with a couple's massage and then we used his free birthday meal at Benihana for dinner. Ahhh, what an awesome night. We both could have slept until noon today after the relaxation and delicious food overload. Instead, that cute alarm clock (otherwise known as SonB) was up at 7 am on the dot like usual, telling us all to wake up and get him out of bed. Oh well. ;)

3. I'm having a minor complication with my pregnancy (nothing that will cause the baby any harm, just discomfort and pain for me), that requires me to lay down on my side with my legs as elevated as I can get them multiple times a day. Or that's what I'm supposed to do anyway. Usually I find the time to do that about twice a day if I'm lucky. I thought it would be a great chance to catch up on my TBR list, but instead it turns out whenever I finally do lay down is exactly when my kids suddenly need me. Hmmm, interesting how that works.

4. Isn't it intriguing how some days when you're writing the words just seem to flow, and other days.... not so much. Yeah, I'm glad I'm not alone. Right?

5. Dessert is yummy. With this pregnancy I can't seem to feel full until I've had some sugary goodness. Usually I'm good about resisting sweet libations, but it's been a bit harder this time. Okay, a LOT harder. This girl must have a serious sweet tooth.

So, what's on yor mind this Friday? Any fun plans for the holiday weekend?

Friday Five (and last chance!)

1. Today is your last chance to enter my blogiversary/300 follower giveaway where you get to name your own prize. Make sure and click HERE to enter if you haven't already. All you have to do is comment and tell me what you would want to win if you get picked. 2. Since I finished my WIP, I had to catch up on my other job this last week. I work from home, cutting/gluing/etc a gazillion preschool projects every month, and it's pretty boring. So I watch TV or movies to occupy the time. I can't exactly write or read and wield scissors unfortunately. However, that means I also caught up on a few other things... like: Love this show. Love everything about it. I still have an episode or two to go to be all the way caught up, so don't tell me. ;)

Ah, hello there McDreamy. I do adore you. Except that last episode? Glee's Anatomy? Oh my heavens. That did NOT work. Abort! Abort!

The new man in my life, who is very close to ousting Mr. Darcy from his place of honor. They are at least tied. I give you: Mr. Thornton.

And YES!!! they actually kiss in this movie. And Oh. My. Word. Was it ever amazing. I almost think the moment when he puts his hand on hers is almost more breathtaking than the actual kiss. Almost. That whole scene was just... perfect.

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about, I stayed up until 1 am watching this last night. LOVE it.

That was a long #2, so let's make it #3 and #4 shall we?

So finally, #5. I used to be able to stay up until 1 am to write no problem. Even when I was pregnant with SonB. But this pregnancy is kicking my butt I guess. I'm tired. I'm in pain. I'm craving sugar like it's oxygen. But despite all that, I am so grateful for this new baby that's coming. Pregnancy is such an amazing miracle (albeit an uncomfortable one), that I am grateful for every day. I don't take it for granted--you can't when it's hard to get and stay pregnant. When I feel her moving, or when I think about holding her in my arms this summer... it is all worth it. Every bit. Also, I better get used to being tired, because sleep deprivation? Here I come. Oh baby. Literally.

What's on your mind today?

(P.S. I'll post the winner on Monday!)

Monday Madness

Guess what I typed on Friday night?

THE END.

WOOHOO! I've already begun the first revision, just going through it for major mistakes and stuff like that. Then it will be time for feedback and a little break to get some perspective.

So, you would think my week should be starting off great, right? I mean, I finished my goal almost an entire week early, and will have time to *hopefully* finish this run through before the end of the month and get it sent off. But...

"A two-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it." - Jerry Seinfeld

That is the morning I've been having already. I went to the bathroom and came out to find my two-year-old on the counter, dumping all the fish food down the drain. At least he wasn't trying to get the fish out of his bowl, or dumping the food in the bowl, (both things he's done before), but yeah. I love that kid, but holy smokes is he ever, um, precocious. Anyone who knows him knows what I mean. I'm not sure I've ever met a more independent toddler in my life. He has to do EVERYTHING himself. And I mean absolutely, postively everything. How do you explain to a two-year-old that he can't make himself toast? Or cook his own eggs? Or that he doesn't need to flush the toilet for me when I go to the bathroom? Or change his own diaper? Or take the fish out of the bowl? Or run his own bath? This list could go on and on and on. The point is.... he is too fun but what a handful! Good thing he is so dang cute.

My little monster showing me his green milk on St. Patty's day.

Son A and Son B playing on the swings the one nice day we've had since October.

I'm really hoping warm weather decides to come around soon. I'm thinking these boys need some more outside play time. (And so does their mom!)

How's your Monday going?

p.s. I just made my bed, and heard him start to cry... (two seconds ago when I came in to make my bed, he was sitting on the couch, eating a bag of crackers, watching Dinosaur Train). I go out and he's in the fridge, somehow has gotten a package of crescent rolls open (how does a two-year-old do that? I can barely get those stupid things open!), and sliced his finger on it. He wants me to make orange rolls. He's crying now because he doesn't understand why the crescent rolls aren't orange rolls. Oh that kid. You just have to laugh sometimes.

More answers, and a darling new niece!

Time for more answers to your questions!

Kathryn said...
Wondering how your husband reacted when you signed with an agent! What was your family's reaction? :) My husband was SO excited. He knew how badly I wanted this and how hard I had worked to get to that point. He'd seen me at the breaking point, when I was so beaten down with rejection that I didn't know if I could handle even one more. He also saw me when I was so excited about the most recent requests or feedback or revision. When it finally happened, I was almost in shock with disbelief that I'd finally achieved my goal. He on the other hand was jumping up and down, yelling in excitement, lifting me off of my feet and swinging me in circles. My family was also very excited, but not so much that they lifted me off of my feet. ;)


Emy Shin said...
These are great advice! A question, hmm... Did you have a process for querying? Did you query all agents at once, or send five queries, wait a week, then send five more, etc.?
Definitely don't query all the agents on your list at once. But I do believe in doing it in chunks. I'd say five - ten at a time. I usually sent out a chunk every monday morning, and see what kind of responses I got. One thing I did do though, was whenever I got a particularly heartbreaking rejection, I'd send out a new query right away (or maybe a couple) to give myself new hope. It was one way I coped with disappointment--focus on the possibility of the future instead of the failings of the past.

Nicole Zoltack said...
Queries always need to be tweaked so I would love to win!My question: How do you know when your query is ready? Oh boy, this is a tricky one. Especially since I was often tweaking my query between every round of queries I sent out! But what I would usually do is have a few new people read it whenever I thought it was ready (on top of my CPs), and based on how they reacted I would decide. Another thing I did sometimes (when I was feeling really brave), was to call up a friend and read them my query as if it was the back of a book at a store to ask them if they thought it sounded good. I'm sorry I'm not much help on this one. Basically, get it to where you think it accomplishes your goal (concisely and intriguingly surmises your book), and then have the courage to send it out.

And now for your viewing pleasure, I'd like to introduce my beautiful new niece Zoey!!

Isn't she darling? I'm so in love.

And thank you for all of your wishes on SonB's birthday party. It went awesome! He loved all of it (including his cake), so hurray for success!

Did you all have a good weekend?

2 years...

A lot can happen in two years. It took me that long to get an agent... but I do have to confess, there was a slight, um, distraction in the middle of that process.

That is a pretty cute distraction, don't you think?? It's hard to believe that two years ago today, I was staring down into this heavenly little face, falling in love with my second little boy.

And now here he is -- such a big boy! (This is Christmas morning) I can't believe SonB is turning 2! He is so excited for his birthday party, and even more excited for his birthday cake. It's all he talks about. When I went in his room to get him out of bed this morning and said, "Guess what? It's your birthday today!" He said, "Birthday cake?!" I sure hope the cake lives up to all his hopes and dreams. ;)

Well, I'm off to go pick up the long dreamed of cake, and finish preparing for his "wellow uck" party (which translates to yellow truck in SonB-speak). What fun plans do you have today?