A gluey situation

I love to scrapbook. Most of the time. Other times, I'd rather toss everything on a huge bonfire and forget the urge. Usually my frustration with scrapbooking happens when my supplies don't work as well as they should. Or maybe it's my total clumsiness with those supplies. Give me a glue stick and I'm a whiz----once the technology gets to a higher level, I need an instruction manual.

Yesterday I made a trip to Wallyworld to buy some glue runners. This was in anticipation of having time to PLAY today. My past history with glue runners hasn't been too great, but I figured if I took my time and tried real hard, it might work. It didn't. Or should I say they didn't.

Figured I had about an hour to scrapbook in my walk in closet. The weather has turned brutally cold and the closet has a slanting roof that's not insulated. Decided I could stand it for about an hour. My first step was to open the new glue runners. Did that okay, took it carefully out of the package and dropped it into the handy holder. It actually snapped shut and looked on the verge of working. I should have known better.

You'd think that if you dropped something straight from the package into the holder it would work. I did. I was wrong. Sloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwllyyyyyyy, I ran the wheel along the page to be glued. Got a few strands of glue and half a page of my scrapbook ran up into the glue and clogged the back wheel. Okay, a minor setback. . . .

Half an hour of minor setbacks later, I had glue on my fingers, in my hair, a long strand of the white paper the glue is glued on before it comes off where you glue cascading over my table and a LOT of frustration. Figuring I'd given that glue runner a proper chance, I decided to take the second one out of the package and begin again. Maybe I got a faulty one the first time.

Would you believe two faulty glue runners in a package? Neither would I. It kind of tips the laws of probability or something, huh? Which leaves me to only one conclusion---I better go back to glue sticks. It's just those little glue runners look so convenient, so easy. And since these are only the sixth and seventh I've ruined, I just might try again tomorrow.

I ended up gluing one sticker on a page (peel and stick) and a date (prestickied numbers.) The rest of the glue is all over my table, the floor, the wall, my dress, my house shoes, the space heater, Mary, the cat, who jumped up to try to help, and I'm sure I'll discover a bunch of other places I never expected. The package promised me 175 feet of glue. Boy howdy, they sure were right! Too bad they didn't tell me that wouldn't be on my scrapbook pages. . . .

Snow Days. . . .

My friend, Cj, laughed the other day when I told her we were having a 'snow day' from school. I guess the idea of homeschoolers having a snow day is pretty funny. It's not like we have to shovel the driveway--circular and very long--to get out to school. Most days. On Leaves of Learning days, it's another story. We're as normal as anyone else who has to warm the car, get the car moving and get to school on time.

Wednesday, we got a frigid blast of air and snow flurries. No way did I want to be an hour from home. So, we had a snow day in that we didn't go to the school building. To the boy's dismay, I used it to get caught up with work we'd had to let slide Monday and Tuesday.

Miah commemorated the day by drafting a short story on the computer.

Untitled

Too day we are going to play in the snow and throw snowballs because we did not go to school but we are going to do snowballs after schoolwork then we will kill with snowballs.

Clearly the days instruction included a review of punctuation. We raced through the work (three days worth! Hey, I had a fresh snowfall working on my behalf. I took as much advantage of it as I could.) The boys went out and tried snowboarding on their sleds. As far as I know nothing got harmed by their snowballs. Miah made a gigantic snowball and wanted to keep it. Since it was bigger than my entire freezer---the snowball is sitting in the yard. I can imagine spring coming and it slowly mellllllllllllllltttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnng among the Easter egg hunt.

The snow and the cold have lasted until today. Yesterday, Jenny and the boys got out the sleds and had a great time. Grandpa went out and hooked all the sleds to the back of his tractor. He gave them a fun ride through the back fields. They tried standing up, skiing, and when they fell they tumbled like puppies in the snow. Miah had a harder time staying balanced than Jenny or Jarrod, but I did catch a few pictures of them all three upright.

While I don't particularly care for snow, snow days are nice. Last Sunday we got so much I didn't go out of the house all day. The kids and I got out all the snowman mugs and had some hot mocha mix, (thanks CJ!) We played a game of Monopoly Here and Now, (much better than the original game. By the time we quit, I owned the Mall of America, the Golden Gate Bridge and the French Quarter. It doesn't get any better than that. Although Jarrod did have a hotel on Time's Square and we were all headed toward it.) I read three books--okay, two of them were middle grade, and cleaned out my scrapbook bin.

It's fun to go into my scrapbook corner and have stickers in one box, tags or brads in another. Somehow I feel more inspired when I don't have to search for everything I want to use. Spent one of my snow days finishing up some small scrapbook projects. Yesterday I actually FOUND my cousin's wedding announcement from December. Time to make a scrapbook momento of the day. . . .

The weathermen are predicting more snow this weekend. Could I use another snow day or two or three? YES!

ACCUSED!

It had to happen one day. I've been accused of------------hanger theft!

Today was another Leaves of Learning day. Decided to take all my blankets and wash them while the boys were in school. It's a frigid cold day. We even saw some snow flurries this morning. I figured that a laundromat, with all the steam from the washers and dryers, would be the warmest place to wait until dismissal.

Guess half the city had the same idea as it was packed. I managed to find one jumbo washer for the blankets and another small washer. Carried everything in, got the washers going and then made a pit stop to the black laquered ladies room. As I came out, an older lady said something to me in a language I knew not. I was almost sure it was English, but with the crazed washer doing it's dance (not with MY clothes this time), I couldn't hear.

My standard reply in times such as these that require a polite answer are to smile BIG, nod and give a generic response such as, "I know, ha, ha, ha." She gave me an evil glare. My mind went over possible topics of laundromat coversation. Had I violated a remark about the weather? Insulted her children? Not agreed on a pet peeve such as what happens when one must drag the laundry out to the laundromat while a no good husband stayed home?

Hoping she would quit staring at me, I went to sit down. Big mistake. A few minutes later, she stalked over and said, "So, you saw who did it?"

My first reaction was, HUH?

Thankfully, she cleared up the confusion. "You saw who stole my hangers?"

"Your hangers, um, no. Were they taken?" Stupid question considering I'd laughed and told her I knew when she asked me the first time. "I must have misunderstood you." Clever comeback, I thought. "I thought you were talking about the lack of s0ap in the restroom. There is never any soap in there, did you notice?"

She looked at me as if I was clearly as deranged as she'd first thought and entirely capable of hanger theft. "Soap?"

"Yes, there is never any soap in the restroom. I thought that's what you were talking about. You say someone stole your hangers?"

"I had four hangers right here. Took a break with my sons and somebody made off with them."

She kept glaring as I went into details about how I'd JUST THEN ARRIVED and MINDED MY OWN BUSINESS, STARTING MY WASHERS. I lamented her loss. Sympathized that four hangers weren't safe anywhere these days. Still she kept her eye on me as if I planned to snatch her clothes from the dryer.

My only redemption came from the fact that I'm so totally disorganized, I never REMEMBER to bring hangers to the laundromat! Final proof that organization is highly overrated. My lack thereof probably saved me from a criminal record today.

The picture on top is what I want to see out my bedroom window. The top of my forsythia (or as my niece, Cindy, use to call it, 'the for Cynthia bush.') I want SPRING.

On writing, organizing and other things I'd rather not think about - - - -

Today was an odd combination of why I love/hate writing. Early this morning, I went next door to my sister's when she went to work. A couple of days a week, I go, wake up the boys and we get started on our various days. Today I found myself with an unexpected bonus of an hour of free time before anyone had to do anything. Since I came prepared with a notebook, I spent a productive time writing out part of a story in long hand.


In my trusty notebook, I also made a list. I love making lists! One item on the list was to start a first draft for an article that's been swirling in my mind for about a year. Got a good start on an outline AND think it might all be starting to gel.


Later, while still having happy writing thoughts, I decided to send off an article while I was out running errands. WHAMMY! A brown envelope in the post office box. As my friend, Erica, says, a brown envelope is NOT good news for a writer. Mine wasn't. It was no surprise really---considering my success with finding an agent---to have still another send back my proposal with a form letter. It wasn't devestating or enough to send me running somewhere for a good cry. (Been there, done that, too often!) It did give me a day of introspective thought.


What is wrong with my book? Doubt rears it's ugly, warty, bug-eyed head when any kind of rejection comes. I find myself going over and over all the platitudes---someone else will want it, it wasn't meant to go to HER or HIM or THEM, God has a better plan. Somehow, none of those thoughts make me feel a morsel better. I feel---well, dirty darn--rejected!


As I drove home, I went over and over the reasons this particular agent might not have wanted the book. More doubts. Was this the RIGHT book to be writing? How sure was I that this the book I was meant to write and hope to sell at this particular time? It's easy enough to believe God inspires an idea, to write and rewrite and sweat over the manuscript, and be so sure you are on the right path. Then something causes me to stumble and all those doubts and fears
come back to haunt me. Should I keep trying to sell this book? If not, what was the purpose in writing it?


Did I come to any conclusions? Nope. Tonight, I'm still as unsure about the manuscript as I was before. I did ask God to confirm my committment to this particular project. I think I can wait in trust to see what happens.


On the plus side of the rejection, I can honestly say that it didn't stop me. This evening, I wrote over 2000 words on one WIP. The characters are leading me places I never expected and I'm having fun seeing where it will go.


Even better, two of my queries for non-fiction articles got accepted tonight. I just have to spend tomorrow rewriting the articles and email them in. So, love/hate. Joy/disappointment.
Writing is a weird occupation and writers are----well---most of us are a few dips short of an inkwell or we wouldn't put ourselves through this.


On to a better topic---my organization is coming along well. I can walk in BOTH closets, my files are LABELED, my drawers are CLEAN. It doesn't even look like the same bedroom. Now, if I can just get my pictures uncluttered. That will be the real challenge.


On another happy note, I found lots of cool stuff in the 'black hole of calcutta' (my closet.) Found a newspaper on one of the Apollo missions, several books I needed, the manual for my sewing machine and lots of stuff to pitch---moving right along!

No Snow---

Since it's January, I decided we needed a snow picture. This happens to be from last year. Jarrod and Miah hooked their sleds to Grandpa's tractor. Having no hills to sled down, necessity is the mother of invention. It was all the more thrilling when the rope broke and the sled went sailing off on it's own.

I'd actually like snow. . . . if it wasn't so cold.

Had to do a short blog on my "Interesting Morning." It happened yesterday so I can be objective about it now. Even laughed about it last night. I was NOT laughing at 6 a.m. yesterday.

Around then I began to hear the piano play. Knowing our house is NOT haunted, I went to investigate and caught Smokey, tripping the light fantastic across the keys. I shooed him off, decided to lie down on the sofa and catch a bit more sleep before we left for school.

DA DA DA DUM. Tink, tink, tink, tink.

Smokey again. He didn't want to PLAY the piano, nor did he enjoy the sound. He wanted to sleep on the piano keys. Sent him to the floor again. Laid down. Another tune. This time he jumped down before I got into the room with the piano. Laid back down. This went on and on and on until time to get up. THEN, he settled down--right across the piano keys, and went to sleep.

I was out--racing to beat the get to school clock. Went outside to warm up the car. Back inside where I thought I could sit and have a short cup of tea. When I went back out, the car had died and wouldn't restart. Dad happened to notice the problem and came out to give me a jump start. Thankfully, the car started and the boys and I made it to Leaves with ten minutes to spare. Although some days, you wonder why you get out of bed!

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Yesterday marked Jenny's 14th birthday. This is the real Jenny, my niece, not to be confused with the fictional version. A lot of people ask me if there really IS a Jenny, meaning, of course, the figment of my imagination. Yes and no. She "exists" as the child I wanted to be long ago, but not as a real person. My niece doesn't resemble her in anything but the name.

Not long ago, I let the real Jenny "meet" the fictional Jenny for the first time. Anxious to know what she thought, I asked if she liked it. "I liked seeing my name," she said. When I pressed further, she admitted she liked the names of the ponies in the story.

On a happier note---it is now 11 days into the month and I am making progress on my organization! There is an actual path through my bedroom floor among the boxes, piles of stuff to store, and bags to go out for the Goodwill. My files HAVE LABELS! My Christmas bins have LABELS! The ornaments are organized in BOXES with LABELS! I know where things ARE and can actually put my hands on them without an all out search and rescue mission.

I even--JUMPING FOR JOY---have an address book and it's FILLED in! Only someone who knows my habit of scribbling phone numbers or addresses on any handy scrap of paper and "filing" it in a pile in my drawer, can appreciate this fact. (To be perfectly honest, it's not a real address book. It's a mini-journal--but it has lines, I had a pen and it works!) Although, come to think about it---where did I put that??

My organization also spread over to my writing. I had a rare day off Tuesday. Sister #2 came home sick from work so the boys stayed home. Although I could have written all day, I decided I'd better start cleaning first. Timed myself and every few hours I took a writing break. I managed to do edits to 3 chapters in my mid-grade, make a list of queries I wanted to send out, looked up some magazine info online, AND (drum roll, please), I committed to starting a first draft of "Lost." Managed to get down 2,000 words. Yesterday, I sat at the library and forced myself to plot out the whole thing on 3 x 5 cards. Also made a master list of things I need to research to finish the book. Somehow, it looks a lot less intimidating than it once did. Thanks, Erica!

Happy New Year!

I'm getting a late start in keeping up this blog. Although I made a list of resolutions in my mind, I haven't put them in writing yet. Somehow, if you put them in print it's like they are written in a Sharpie. No erasing!

The two sweet faces in the photo are Mary, my Christmas kitten, and Mama, the orange stray who wandered up to the door too many years ago to count. Mary is about five years old now. I suppose as a good "cat mama", I should have written down the exact date of her birthday. I know it's near Christmas--sometime.

Not knowing Mary's actual birthdate reminds me of a lifelong battle against organization--or in my case, the lack thereof. Oh, I try to organize. I buy all those plastic tubbie things, all the little plastic boxes with slots and handles and spaces to organize. But somehow, my things never seem to fit the slots or spaces.

I watch all those home improvement shows when I can find the time. I've seen how they declutter and reorganize. "Put like objects in ONE bin." (This, of course, can backfire. A case in point are the Christmas lights----still missing, I might add. All except for one mislabeled bin. If the lights had been stored in their usual hodgepodge fashion, I'm sure we'd have found some strands by now.)

"Have a place for everything and let your files make sense." It's good advice in theory. In practice, it somehow never works for me. I can just imagine the utter chaos one of those home improvement gurus would find if they tried to organize my notebooks. Each year I begin with the a firm talk to myself. I WILL NOT use a notebook for more than ONE thing. If a notebook is for non-fiction article ideas---not a scrap of fiction or letters with enter it's blank pages. I WILL NOT use a notebook for everything that pops into my head, sticking post it notes on the pages to remind me where certain articles or stories begin.

Each year, I manage to keep that rule for about a week. Then I get caught out somewhere with the Work in Progress notebook and I'm suddenly overcome with a firm distaste for the WIP. I want to jot down some article ideas instead. Or begin a letter to my friend, Kitty. Or make a list to clean out my closet. Eventually, all my notebooks become like my life--layered with a little bit of everything. Guess as long as I don't run out of post it notes, everything will go along okay.

As January 1st rolled around, I made a firm vow to "Get Organized." I actually began the day with some closet decluttering. Four days later, I FOUND my missing Christmas tree skirt. Since the tree is still up, I'll get a picture to post here soon.

Being able to walk in that closet again gave me a terrific boost on the new year. I figured I was off to a great start! Of course, I later realized that I'd been washing my hair with body wash for the last few days. And, that the lovely blue spitz bottle I thought was window cleaner turned out to be laundry stain cleaner instead. Hey, what can I say---it cleaned picture frames equally well. After this, it all has to be smooth sailing, right?

This new year finds "Cookies and Milk" with our fourth page in print. Maribeth (one of my co-editors) and I both have non-fiction articles in this month's issue of Fandangle online magazine for kids. Check out the page at www.fandangle.com. Click on this month's issue.

Okay, back to the organization--I'm sure if I work hard today I can actually find my bed tonight.

Oh, dear, I closed my eyes!

Christmas 2006

Christmas has come and gone for another year. It's hard after the holiday is passed to remember all the moments---glad, sad or downright hectic---that herald the big day. I thought I'd try to add a few pictures and short memories. The first photo is Trouble, sitting where she isn't allowed on the fireplace mantel. She's taken a shine to Miah's folk art Santa from the Merry Money store at the library.

Later in the week, Mom, the boys and I went to our local Kroger store to hear some Christmas music. Del and Gwen Clark gave us a lovely holiday break with their musical talents on the keyboard and spoons. Gwen writes a column in the Times Gazette, Clark Bar Devotions, and has been a tremendous help to us in beginning our

Cookies and Milk page.

These two wonderful senior citizens have never let age slow them down. They take their music, their bright smiles and cheerful faces into nursing homes every week. I hope someday to aspire to be just like them!

As one of the last people to buy our Christmas tree---a bare week before Christmas Eve, we got a great half price deal at Lowe's. The boys had a super time decorating it. Miah found the cutest garland--it has different colored stockings along it. Hanging among the tree branches it looks like a bunch of little elves have hung their stockings from the limbs. As the nutcracker fan in the family, Miah also found a set of nutcracker ornaments. Jarrod found a set of Star Wars to give it a futuristic touch. We also had ornaments from years past--the tree Jarrod painted as a four year old, Heather's clay finger print, the origami angels all the children made from doilies at the library and several that have been saved from my own childhood. One, a spun sugar looking covered wagon, can't be hung anymore but graced the mantel.

My only regret about this year's Christmas tree is that I haven't been able to find my special Christmas tree skirt. Several years ago, I took a bunch of old family photos from Christmas' past, scanned them onto iron on transfers and put them on a square of white muslin. I sewed a backing of red and green plaid, added a lacy ruffle and a space for the tree stand. With all the babies we've added the last few years, it's outdated. Thankfully, I can always add pictures in the white spaces.

The long week, the conclusion

By now, I'm pretty tired of thinking about the LONG WEEK. Friday turned out to be another hectic, holiday day. The boys had school at Leaves so while they were there, I managed to do several loads of wash. Thankfully, the laundromat was quiet and empty of patrons so I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading and writing. The clothes swished and dryed.

Only one minor glitch marred the otherwise calm setting. One washer set up a crazy dance in place, frenzied by the amount of wash inside. Or so it seemed. Had the same trouble last week with the same trouble. Still laugh at the expression on one older man's face as he noted the washer, looked at me as if to ask, "what are you doing to that POOR machine," and kept darting glances as if I should DO SOMETHING.

After the clothes were clean, I sat in the car and dashed out 1500 words in longhand on a WIP. It was a good feeling. The boys got out of school and we dashed into phase two of the day. Since it was a holy day and we were going to Mass, we had to wait to meet my sister so we could all ride together. The boys and I whiled away the time going to the library and the Dollar Store. We sat in the car, listening to Christmas songs on the radio, until we got our ride.

Going to church at night is always a pleasant ending to the day. We light by candlelight and it's lovely to have the glow shining out the stained glass windows, welcoming us inside.

Saturday started out as another fast paced day. I actually got to WRITE for an hour or so. Then we raced off to a program at the library--making gingerbread houses. We've been doing this for about five years and it never loses it fascination. The library staff spends a week gluing graham crackers into a house shape. The children each get icing and a bag of assorted candies to add to the tiny house. As an early Christmas present to myself, I paid off my library fine and we loaded up on videos and books. Emma waited for us at home with Grandma and we spent a happy evening watching Garfield cartoons. The boys had never seen Garfield's tv show, except for the Christmas special which they know by heart.

The long week---Part Two

Wednesday. Because all the children(remember there were six in the house) put out their shoes for St. Nick the night before, we woke at the bright hour of 6:45. Mostly to the shrieks of the child who did NOT get a mini skateboarder in his shoe. I managed to drag myself downstairs at 7:30 to semi-silence. The two year old had hidden himself in a corner with ALL the mini skateboarders. New gloves and toboggan hats were scattered all over the floor, as were broken pieces of candy cane. There is something truly indecent about stepping on a crunchy candy cane before 8 AM.

With the promise of a wonderful homeschool field trip ahead, we manged to get everyone to eat cereal, find pairs to the new gloves and get dressed warmly. The weather promised us 40 degrees and it did turn out to be a nice day. We were headed for the BEACH. Since Ohio weather prevents actual swimming during December, we were going to enjoy their Holiday Fest. For a reasonable group rate, we were able to ice skate (and yup, I went around twice without falling), a tractor driven hayride (the horses reserved for the paying customers at night,) a merry go round, paddle boat rides and the toboggan slide. Yes, that's me in the picture. I didn't realize until later that my hat was pulled up in a goofy point. None of the children pointed this out to me at the time--so I went around all day looking like something the elves kicked out of the North Pole. (No wonder the guy in the ticket booth said, no, I'll remember you, when I asked if I could go out to the car.)

We had a super good time, it stayed warm and I rushed home in time to go to the singing Christmas tree with a friend.

Thursday---Our guests were gone so we looked forward to a nice, relaxing day of schoolwork. (Some of us more than others.) We got a freak snowstorm so the boys were primed to work fast. The fact that the sun came out, melting some provided further motivation. They managed a skimpy snowman when they stopped to help Grandpa put Christmas lights on the porches.

This brings us to the annual "Lost Christmas Light Fiasco." Never, as long as I can remember have we EVER found the lights before Christmas without a search. Sometimes a long search. Sister #1 had hoped to avoid the annual repetition by buying news lights. Still, those lights were somewhere and by gum, the men in the family were going to find them. They tore up the basement going through about 50 plastic bins. The coat hall was next, then the search moved out to their domain--the garage and paper room.

We call it the paper room because about 20 years ago we use to roll newspapers in it. Now, it's crammed with everything from a piano, old bikes, bins and various cans of nails and rusty screws deemed too valuable to toss away. You can imagine their delight when one bin of Christmas lights marked "summer toys" was unearthed. The fact that only two stands of twenty worked did not diminish their pleasure. THEY WERE RIGHT and we had HIDDEN the lights.

I'm sure it's childish but I shall have my revenge. I KNOW where all the Christmas tree ornaments are!

The long week, Part 3 tomorrow. . . .

A VERY Long Week--Part One

Last week turned into a very long, hectic, holidayish week. To give it full justice, now that I'm semi-recovered, I thought I'd divide it into parts.

Monday--I love Mondays. Usually. It's a chance to begin again, a new start to fix everything that went wrong the week before. That being said, it doesn't always work out that Monday is the best day of the week or the easiest. We began with school, moving along quite well. Things fizzled out of control very quickly when I had to stop to rush on errands in town. This is never good. Rushed to town, rushed home and got the boys moving. They go to the Knights club on Monday afternoon so we needed to leave. We technically had plenty of time to get there on time until we encountered an accident. Okay. We can be patient. We wait. And wait. And wait. Finally we are allowed to proceed on our way. Five minutes later, at another intersection we find another accident. Patience ebbs fast. We wait and wait and wait. We are now in the teeth grinding, we better get there on time or else, mode.

I make it five minutes before Fr. S. arrives. The boys jump out, eager to play games in the freezing cold. I rush to meet my cousin who needs me to pick up her boys. They jump in the car, we rush back to the park, they get out and I wait until I'm sure they have caught up with the group. Rush back to my cousin and we proceed to the Library where I sometimes volunteer with the Girls' group. My cousin and her daughter follow me.

In the interest of scouting up people to enter the December, "Cookies and Milk" contest, I ask if anyone wants a copy of our latest contest. They do. Run into the library from the meeting room and find the copier---the only copier--is OUT OF ORDER. And gee, everything was going so well up to that point!

The girls make Christmas cards. It's a relaxing activity after so much rushing. Later, I pick up the boys and my cousin decides to follow us home. Houseguests! Two of the boys ride with me and we listen to the Christmas music channel on the way home.

TUESDAY---All six children wake up early. Very early. Jarrod and Miah are ecstatic. Company to play with. No school work and a free day. I spend the day visiting, picking up, washing dishes and planning for a field trip the next day. My sanity ebbs fast. In the afternoon, my dear friend, Erica, calls and I'm able to make it through the rest of the night. THANKS! You'll never know how much I appreciated talking to someone over twelve, not crying, yelling or spilling toys.

Tuesday evening was the first night of the Merry Money store at our local library. This year the library decided to "pay" children for every 30 minutes they read during the holiday season. The fake bills--$1 for every 30 minutes--could be spent only on three dates at the library. Until we got there and saw the amount of merchandise, I had no idea it would be so well planned and such a blessing. The idea was for the children to purchase gifts for Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Teachers and siblings. Jarrod and Greg (his cousin), found several teacher gifts for their joint teachers at Leaves of Learning. (Despite several hints that I was his teacher 3 days a week, I don't think any of the nice mugs or sewing kits I pointed out made it into his shopping bag.)

Miah decided to get a nice tiara for Gemma (his cousin) because she hadn't signed up fo the program. He found a folk art Santa made from thread spools he couldn't resist for himself.

My Tuesday ended by going to the laundromat so we'd have warm clothes for our field trip the next day. Which brings me to the end of this post---conclusion in Part Two.

Found this quiz on the Ramblin' Writer blog and had to do it! http://kndacus.blogspot.com

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot chocolate and lots of whipped cream!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Under the tree in lovely, towering piles. Family gifts we wrap.

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house?
Whatever lasted from last year--but I love colored best.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
With all these kids and cats---no way!

5. When do you put up your decorations?
Outside early in Dec. The tree the week before Christmas since we use a live one.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Cole slaw.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, Dad would decorate the outside of our house with Christmas lights. My sister and I would go to bed early so we could watch the lights outside the window and sing Christmas carols.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I think I was around 11 when I stopped believing completely. Until then I really wanted there to be something truly magical in life and Santa fit the bill.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We use to go to my aunt's house and open one gift on Christmas Eve--usually new pjs. Now we go to church and open everything in the morning.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
I don't. I pass out the ornaments and let my nieces and nephews do the job. We take the Saturday before Christmas and go to a tree farm to cut it down. Bring it home and sometimes we play holiday music and drink hot chocolate.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? It's pretty to look at and now that I don't work outside in the winter--I may be able to enjoy it.

12. Can you ice skate?
My grandma bought me ice skates one year after I saw the Ice Capades. I wobbled all over creation. As a teen, I took my little sisters to a rink and found out I could skate if my skates were very tight. This Wednesday I'll find out if I still know how. Or not.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
A doll from the Sears catalog. I named her Elizabeth. She had a pink, silky dress, a red velvet coat and I got a white wooden doll cradle with it. It's the only thing I ever wanted so much I slept with the picture under my pillow.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Being with family, hearing from friends.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Anything--but I love chocolate covered cherries.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I love it all, but my favorites would be going to cut down the tree, taking the kids to the library to make gingerbread houses, watching Christmas movies and hearing the giggles on Christmas morning when the kids see the tree.

17. What tops your tree? A funny oblong star shape my Dad bought in a Dollar store and insists on buying repeats whenever the old one wears out.


18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving. It's more fun to surprise other people.


19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
"Have Yourself a Merry, Little Christmas," even though it makes me cry and religious, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."

20. Candy Canes?
Absolutely!

Snowman Season

I love snowmen! Today on the way home I had to stop at the Dollar Store. Naturally I had to check out the Christmas display and found myself another snowman mug. The kids know I can never resist buying anything with a snowman on it. They have more snowmen mugs, plates, bowls and fuzzies than they can count. Pretty funny when you consider the fact that I don't like snow, cold or winter. It's inconsistent, but I love snowmen. Cute. Funny. Fluffy. Sometimes sad.

Yesterday I had planned a block of writing time. If I got up early enough, I'd have two to three hours of free time while the kids watched Saturday morning cartoons. It began well enough. Fixed myself a thermos of hot tea, fired up the laptop, even LIT a candle (apple orchard.) Managed to work on my middle grade book doing edits to the third chapter. My mistake was probably in going downstairs. Turned out if we were going to make it to the holiday parade on time, we needed to eat. In order to eat, someone had to go shopping. Thankfully, it wasn't me, but I had to supervise the kids.

The shoppers came home. I cooked tacos. Whenever Jenny visits, it has to be tacos on Saturday. We ate. Decided against going to the holiday parade and I ran upstairs for another hour of work. Since edits didn't really "count" as "real" writing, I started to work on worksheets I'd printed out for my mystery book.

Managed two before Emma came. It was a lovely, warm day so we went outside. I sat on the porch steps and "thought" writing. Probably should have done it with a pen and notebook in hand, but Emma was too active. She's 14 months now. After we came in, I showed her a snowman in a water globe---the kind you shake to make a snowstorm. She seemed quite taken with it and even managed to shake it herself.

Tomorrow it's back to work after a week. Need to focus and start writing again.

Thanksgiving Before and After - - - -One thing I can always find to say about the holidays around here, they end up being more layers than a four layer dessert. I honestly didn't do it on purpose (Cross my heart!) but I managed to pull my back out of place on Sunday. This meant I had to be careful with the before holiday cleaning of the house.

I got some unexpected cleaning help on Wednesday by ****** (name changed to protect the guilty.) It was motivated purely by a special he'd seen on tv showing the common allergens in the home. Each dust mote, I was informed, harboured hideous amounts of breathe eating bugs and filth. We were nothing short of murderers if we tried to cook in a kitchen where this could fall in our turkey and stuffing.

To keep this from happening, the kitchen got a thourough vacumming job. The refrigerator and stove were sanitized until you needed sunglasses to hide the gleem of the surface. (Hey, as long as I didn't have to do it.) I especially enjoyed being able to see out the kitchen windows again. Although eventually all good things had to end. When he stood on a cabinet not meant to be stood upon, and it fell through a hole in the new tile, I figured the rest of the ceiling would never get dusted. I was right. It took awhile to repair the hole (left after we closed off a heating vent with plywood and put tile over it.) So we ate a few dust mites, I'm sure.

On Monday, the boys and I did some general cleaning. On Tuesday we did a bit more. By Wednesday, we only had some touch up, grocery shopping and substitutions. The substitutions are in anticipation of our youngest guests--we have ten UNDER six. At Easter, I was under the delusion that as a guest in someone's house, if the host said, "no, you can't play with that," the kid kept their grubby little hands OFF. I was wrong. One enterprising little boy managed to climb to the top of the game shelves and upend the entire contents. It took two days to sort out the Monopoly, Clue, Scrabble and umpteen other games that cascaded to the floor. This holiday, we took no chances. We emptied the shelves.

We also took every toy not suitable for the small crowd and hid it in the basement. We use to keep them in closed bins but found this didn't work. If it could be dumped, poured or scattered through out the house, it was. The boys took everything downstairs and brough up a few plastic Fisher Price houses and one bin full of suitable toddler toys.

Another area that usually grated on my nerves and UNDER my feet were the constant upending of the marker box. The little ones love to draw so I save all my scratch, only used on one side paper for the holiday art fest. It keeps them busy and quiet. Except for the scamp or two who uses the marker box as a game---"How many markers and colored pencils can be scattered over a dining room floor?" "How many times?" "How many adults will trip, stumble or fall scittering across them?" This year I got super smart. I took 3 colored pencils, 4 markers, and a small box of 4 crayons. Put them in an empty baby wipe box and that was it. The sum total of drawing tools I felt ablet to pick up 99 times.

We were ready for the onslaught! And then---the unexpected happened. It was such a nice, warm, sunny day hardly anyone stayed inside. The sandbox and swingset got a workout. All the scooters and pogo sticks and wagons and stroller and toy dump trucks were scattered across the fields. After all that preparation, I only picked up the markers ONCE and the blocks this morning. Oh, and 4 Hot Wheels. I felt a bit cheated.

But, hey, there's still Christmas! It can't possibly be 63 degrees then!

The best part of my day---after the food---was the opportunity to get the group shot above. Not everyone is here---HONEST--that isn't all of us---but it's most of us. I'm on the left wearing a dark blue jacket, standing beside my sister, Sharon, in a white blouse holding a baby in pink.

It's beginning to look a lot like. . . . the holidays are approaching. Everyone ran out of school today with the glad tidings of 'no school for a week.' That's one of the beauties of a homeschool "school," we have liberal holidays. Although I always have great plans to do a lot of catch up work with our school curriculmn from Catholic Heritage, we usually take advantage of the time off to loaf. This week we won't be relaxing as much as cleaning, shopping, cooking and entertaining c0mpany.

My writing may take a short hiatus too. Sometimes it's easier to sink into the other layers of my life than to struggle to make time for work.

Should have taken advantage of "free" time today to write. After I dropped the boys off at school, I had about two hours of laundry to do. Several weeks ago, after two YEARS of driving past it, I made a discovery. I found a coin laundry across from the library where I often go during school. This is handy because I can be near the school. It's cheaper. Larger. And a good point when you have to be out somewhere for four or five hours---they have a very nice Ladies Room. I have to laugh every time I use this facility though. For reasons known only to the owner, it's painted a deep, lacquered black. The light bulb has a pink glow, giving it the look of another scene altogether. It's been a wonderful source for speculation. Were they tired of the standard laundromat look? Had some pain to use up?

I spend as much time laughing over the Ladies as I do the sign stenciled to the wall. PLEASE CHECK MACHINES FOR FOREIGN DEBRIS. Under which some wit wrote in pencil, OR GOOD OLD AMERICAN DIRT.

Poured myself a cup of hot tea while the clothes washed and got out my notebook. Although it doesn't work for everyone, I love to jump around on my various projects. Today I felt no inclination to work on a book---Jenny or the cozy. Instead, I decided to work on a travel piece that's been in my mind for some time. Little Boys on the Prairie. Didn't get much done--two pages, but it's a start.

Just another day. . . .

Two days a week, my nephews go to school in this converted barn. I've managed to get my mornings pretty streamlined. People are shocked when I admit I can get up at 7:45 and be out the door by 8:20. (Although when I told someone I did not bother to put on makeup, they said, yup, that would add another hour. My family think they are all comedians.)

Because it's too far to travel from the school to home--I usually find somewhere to write. Wednesday, I decided to vary my routine and go back to the library where I can hide in a cubby and plug in my laptop. It came as a surprise to me last year that the library does not expect anyone to PLUG IN a laptop. Apparently, one is suppose to have enough battery power to last. When I asked one librarian, she responded, "Well, gee, nobody has ever asked that before. Do they plug in?" When I asked if I could use a plug, she told me that it would be best not to in case someone tripped over the cord. Insurance rates, you know. My thought was that if someone was too HM! to miss a six foot cord sprawled across the floor they should trip. Being of a politer nature, I decided to appear to give in and find an out of the way spot. I pay taxes for the dirty darned insurance rates too.

After snooping around a bit, I found a nice cubby desk in the teen corner with a PLUG! It did require me to sprawl the cord a few feet, pry out a baby safety plug and plug in---but after I did that for months last year, no one said a word. This week, I decided to go back and see if my old haunt was still there. It was. I plugged in and a librarian even came back and made no comment about my plug.

The funny thing was that since last fall there has been an addition to the corner. I didn't notice until I got ready to leave that the whole two hours I wrote, my every action was caught in one of those huge, glassy globes that hang from the ceiling. So much for privacy.

Am not sure how often I'll go there, but this week I managed two hours work on my mid-grade. The day was rainy, gray and a perfect stay inside and write mood. I could hear thunder crashing outside and frequent downpours.

After that, I went to my other library--the one where they moved my plug in table! Going for the cozy corner look, they took out the copier and moved two wing back chairs and a nice table where I use to plug in. I only go there to play on their high speed internet or write in long hand.

Opted to stay in the car, the rain sluicing down the windows with my thermos of hot tea and work out the plot on my cozy mystery. Rain is a wonderful setting for this project!

As a reward for so much writing in a day, I searched through my purse for any stray change and made a quick stop in JoAnn crafts for scrapbook supplies. (Spending change isn't like spending money. And, yes, I made that up!)

You know you live with a writer when. . . .
You have several funny stories that involve writing. Last night, Sister #2 announces that she might quit her job and write a book about how the whole family got thin. (This is a joke, the writing part.) My nephew, Jarrod, said, "That's going to be a short book. We didn't. The end."

Another writing funny happened this summer. Miah told his mom on vacation, "I wish I was a main character." When she asked him why, he replied, "Because if we were the main characters, we could take a helicopter ride. If the helicopter crashed, we'd live anyway."

This morning, using an unexpected free day to get caught up on some writing, Miah came into the room with a question. "How do you write your books?" I was tempted to answer, "One word at a time."

Today was a nice ME day. Did some cleaning, writing, scrapbooking, walking and errand running. Now that it's coming to an end, I realize the bitter truth. I should have goofed off more and not been so responsible!

Myth Smasher

I turned into a myth smasher last Saturday. Not that I'm entirely to blame. How was I to know that the kids still believed olives grew with the pimento inside? We'd somehow gotten on a conversation about Thanksgiving and food. The number one food of choice was .......OLIVES!

Jenny wanted to know how they grew. I shared what agricultural knowledge I had about how olives grew on bushes. Somewhere in the conversation I let the truth slip out---olives grew with a pit inside, not a pimento. The furor, the uproar, the protests of denial! Olives didn't grow with the red thing inside? Nope. The kids were equally horrified to know you can't just pick an olive and eat it like a pea or tomato. I'm sure they'll never look at an olive the same way again.

For those who enjoy the fictional Jenny, she makes a brief appearance in the November issue of Fandangle online magazine. The piece is a fictional essay called, Thanksgiving Is. . . .

I also started work on a long overdue project. It's a cozy mystery. Figured I could spare a half an hour a night to write a first draft. So far I've managed two session. The first night I kept going and wrote for almost an hour. Last night I did 45 minutes. I also spent my time in the laundromat yesterday morning working on a chapter by chapter outline. It was fun to see how much I could get done racing the washers and dryers. So many surprising characters and situations are popping up it's like making a new discovery every time I sit down to write. I have a tentative plan, some scenes and most of my characters.

We had a glorious two days of summerlike weather. Now the cold and rain has come to stay awhile. A good time to stay inside and write.

NO FAIR!
Last Wednesday should have been a ME day. Everyone would be gone. I could catch up on a lot of small chores and spend the afternoon writing. Got up extra early, wrote out a list about ten miles long of stuff to do and started work.

Knowing I'd feel guilty for even starting any "fun" stuff when there was cleaning to finish, I did all those chores first. Cleaned the kitchen, tidied the living room and my bedroom. Swept, mopped, washed dishes. I did hold off on flea combing the cats, thinking I'd take a nice long bath.

Naturally, I hadn't been soaking long enough when the phone rang. I ignored it twice, then decided maybe it was important. GRRRRRRRRRRRR.....I raced through dripping all over the floor and it was a blocked call! Debated about getting back in then decided to just stay out.

By then my stomach started to hurt and I realized I hadn't eaten anything. Tried to fix some potato salad (my favorite nobody's home comfort food) but I couldn't eat it. By then I was VERY sick. A virus raced by and slammed me like an ocean wave.

I'm slowly getting over it. Thankfully, I feel better every day. But it sure doesn't seem fair I got the cleaning done before it hit. If you're going to get sick, wouldn't it be better to do it before you clean?

Although I was too sick to care much---November 1st our second, "Cookies and Milk" page hit the newstand! HOORAY! Maribeth called and I was able to have someone get a copy of the paper. Patty later sent an email from Mr. Ryan, our editor, to let us know he liked it and we were getting good reader response. It doesn't get any better than that.

Friday Facts
There are some days that defy description. Have you ever noticed that? There are moments so weird you have to wonder if you aren't still dreaming. Some days where it feels as if you are running in place without being able to get past a set point. Friday was like that.

It began on a calm note--me, drinking my tea while the boys got ready for school. Reality came with one quick peek in my purse. No money for gas or lunches. That meant a fast trip to town to the ATM. No hassle, at that point I still had plenty of time.

Got to the ATM. Temporarily out of service. Okay, time is moving onward, but I still had time to drive to the OTHER side of town and find another ATM. Yikes, the second bank has taken OUT their ATM. I notice a "foreign" ATM on the edge of the parking lot. Will it take my card? It does. I'm asked if I'll pay a dollar fifty for the privledge of using their machine. Okay, okay. After all that it DENIES my request! Dirty darn.

Race home. Time is definitely heading toward late. Count quarters for gas. Toss some cheese on crackers and advise the boys to fill up before we leave. I'll bring them a snack from the dollar store after school.

We manage to get to school with two minutes to spare. Frazzled, I decide to go to Sister #3's house to make a pot of coffee and relax. Jenny is home from school but she's usually pretty quiet. Surprise, surprise. There's a full house coming and going! To be sociable I have coffee with my sister and she urges me to get out my laptop. I do, but then Jenny sits down with a waffle (covered in chocolate syrup) and has an actual conversation with me. Spend time with her then when she decides to watch tv---I work a bit, fill my thermos and head on out.

Have just enough time to run in the library and check email.

For some reason I have yet to fathom, I didn't sit in my usual place. The library has a bank of computers along the back wall of the children's room. I usually sit on one edge near the paperbacks nobody checks out. Friday I happened to sit in the last PC right next to the one with children's games on it. I'd been typing about ten minutes when a little boy popped up at tmy elbow and told me to "Turn on Thomas." Thankfully, his mother came along and did it for him. Then she sat down on my other side to check her email. Now the sensible thing to do would have been to switch with her. But I was right in the middle of emails, not intending to stay long and didn't feel like logging in again.

Mistake. I was sandwiched between the Mom and the little boy who could not read to follow the instructions. I didn't stay long.

Got snacks for the boys, bought a Goo Goo Cluster for myself and a tuna kit--drove back to the school and had my lunch. The rain poured down so nobody stopped at the car for a chat. I got to eat, drink my thermos of coffee and finish a mystery for 45 WHOLE ENTIRE minutes. Sure hope it doesn't spoil me for the rest of the week.

The picture on top is of Trouble. While any stuffed animal will do in a pinch, her real love is a tiny green alligator the boys named, "Croc." Due to her love and saliva based affections, Croc has to be hidden.