The dang ticker went the wrong direction this morning. I gained six-tenths of a pound.
More than anything, I'm upset with myself. I'm feeling sorry for myself, yes, but I'm angry, too. No, I didn't need to snack as much as I did, but I hate the fact I seem to have a slower metabolism than everyone else in the house, too. It doesn't seem fair....
What I really need is to get "re-motivated"...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
SPAY and NEUTER your pets!! How hard is this for people to understand?I woke up this morning to find six or seven little kittens in my wood pile. They aren't mine!!! My pets (with the exception of Oscar the Wonder Dog) are all fixed. Every one of them! All three cats, and both "big" dogs. Now I have seven kittens in my yard and it is supposed to be 100 degrees again today.
Every summer I end up taking at least one batch of kittens to either the Humane Society or a local pet store. Every summer I hear my daughter say "but Mom, they're so cute...." Dang it!
She's right, you know. They are cute. And so tiny....
Now I'm waiting for the Humane Society to open so I can take them there. (Just called the pet store and they won't take them for fear of distemper.)
GET YOUR PETS FIXED! Especially if you're going to let them roam around outside....
Sunday, June 24, 2007
I'm sitting here checking e-mail and reading the blogs of my friends (and some "famous" authors who I wish were my friends!) and wondering if blogs really work. I don't know.
One of my friends is a mystery writer under one name and an erotic romance author under another. She blogs under her mystery name regularly and was able to guest blog under the other name. How do you do that? Does it help sales? Does it just keep you from the WIP you should be writing?
In my pre-author life, I did public relations for a large company in much need of PR work. My "day-to-day" job was to write and edit the company newsletter. Consequently, I know the value of a good editorial. It's uplifting to the reader and therapeutic for the writer. A good editorial can assemble the masses and be a valuable tool for the company.
Isn't a blog the same thing? Doesn't it keep the writers name in the public eye (or at least on a Google search)? Doesn't it allow those of us who don't take social stands in our work a forum to speak about topics which are important to us? (On a side note, I just finished Betty Webb's "Desert Wives." FANTASTIC book!!)
So how should those of us just starting out use a blog? I hope my friends will read and want to comment, but will a post like this get my name out? Or is it just a therapeutic outlet for me? Or just something to write since I'm mildly stuck at a plot point in Ghost Mountain and have no external deadline to finish the novel by? Should I be looking for a group of people to blog with, like my mystery/romance buddy mentioned earlier? Does anyone else write paranormal mysteries who would want to start a blog?
What do you think? Is a blog helpful at this point in my career? Or am I just avoiding the work?
One of my friends is a mystery writer under one name and an erotic romance author under another. She blogs under her mystery name regularly and was able to guest blog under the other name. How do you do that? Does it help sales? Does it just keep you from the WIP you should be writing?
In my pre-author life, I did public relations for a large company in much need of PR work. My "day-to-day" job was to write and edit the company newsletter. Consequently, I know the value of a good editorial. It's uplifting to the reader and therapeutic for the writer. A good editorial can assemble the masses and be a valuable tool for the company.
Isn't a blog the same thing? Doesn't it keep the writers name in the public eye (or at least on a Google search)? Doesn't it allow those of us who don't take social stands in our work a forum to speak about topics which are important to us? (On a side note, I just finished Betty Webb's "Desert Wives." FANTASTIC book!!)
So how should those of us just starting out use a blog? I hope my friends will read and want to comment, but will a post like this get my name out? Or is it just a therapeutic outlet for me? Or just something to write since I'm mildly stuck at a plot point in Ghost Mountain and have no external deadline to finish the novel by? Should I be looking for a group of people to blog with, like my mystery/romance buddy mentioned earlier? Does anyone else write paranormal mysteries who would want to start a blog?
What do you think? Is a blog helpful at this point in my career? Or am I just avoiding the work?
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Guess who came home??? OUR CAT!
Wanna hear the whole story?
Last night, the kid came to tell me that she heard a meowing under the house. I woke hubby and told him that we'd heard a cat. The brave man that he is went down to the crawl space, but found nothing.
This morning, I could still hear the cat. DANG IT! So I asked hubby about putting the infamous Have-A-Heart trap back down in the crawl space. After only mild hesitation, he agreed.
This afternoon, the kid had made plans to go ice skating. No more than 10 minutes after leaving the house, hubby calls to tell me that Little Jo had returned. She must have jumped on top of the trap, and then into the room. She was meowing to be let out of the room (we had left the trapdoor open a few inches so we could see if the Have-A-Heart caught anything), which we'd closed off so as not to lose any MORE cats.
She just came prancing around like nothing had happened. This was truly a miracle.
Honestly, I thought we'd never see her again. Hubby is so happy he almost started crying. (Not an easy thing to admit for such a macho-guy, but it shows how much this really bothered him.)
I'm happy for him, too!
Wanna hear the whole story?
Last night, the kid came to tell me that she heard a meowing under the house. I woke hubby and told him that we'd heard a cat. The brave man that he is went down to the crawl space, but found nothing.
This morning, I could still hear the cat. DANG IT! So I asked hubby about putting the infamous Have-A-Heart trap back down in the crawl space. After only mild hesitation, he agreed.
This afternoon, the kid had made plans to go ice skating. No more than 10 minutes after leaving the house, hubby calls to tell me that Little Jo had returned. She must have jumped on top of the trap, and then into the room. She was meowing to be let out of the room (we had left the trapdoor open a few inches so we could see if the Have-A-Heart caught anything), which we'd closed off so as not to lose any MORE cats.
She just came prancing around like nothing had happened. This was truly a miracle.
Honestly, I thought we'd never see her again. Hubby is so happy he almost started crying. (Not an easy thing to admit for such a macho-guy, but it shows how much this really bothered him.)
I'm happy for him, too!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Well, we made it home. The trip to Yellowstone was amazing. We saw Old Faithful, the Noris Geysers, the Porcelin Basin, Mamouth Hot Springs, Midway Geyser and the Artists Paint Pots. The natural beauty of the park is amazing. There's no other word, really.
The drive was long, though. All though Wyoming, through the mountains and then through the park itself to the KOA was an adventure in itself. The views were stunning.
The wildlife was even better! I saw a wolf (even though no one else did and they've been teasing me saying I imagined it -- I didn't have time to get the camera ready!), an osprey, an eagle, lots of bison (which we see closer to home at Custer State Park, so I wasn't as excited about that), a pair of wolf cubs, lots of elk, a moose and a bear. I still have two days of pictures to download, so maybe the wolf cub pictures and the bear will make future posts.
On a sad note, we seem to be missing one of the cats. She's the "scardy cat" of the bunch and the oldest kiddo -- who generously offered to housesit for us -- didn't see that one the entire time we'd been gone. This kitty is also the most lifely to "punish" us for leaving, but she hasn't shown up around here yet, either. She's an indoor cat, so I'm more than a little concerned. The kitty shouldn't have left the house and should be out from hidding by now. (This is hubby's favorite of the cats, so that's weighing on my mind, too....)
On to happier things. Here's some of the pictures I took on the trip. Yep, only some since I took close to 150 of them!
We got to Old faithful within 10 minutes of it's next eruption. We didn't wait too long and still got to see this amazing natural beatuty.
The Artisits Paint Pots are fantastic. Each of the different pools are colored with either a type of algae, a minineral or something. The effect from the top is much the same as if you took a used paint pallet and washed it. The colors that run through the area look like that. This picture doesn't even BEGIN to do it justice!
The kid and her best friend enjoyed the Midway Geyser Basin. OK, so the kid enjoyed counting the number of hats which had blown into the steaming hot water. (She counted seven.) Her best friend really enjoys science, so she had a great time looking at the geysers themselves. This area was so warm that it fogged out my glasses when we went passed it.
These falls are just one of the many at Yellowstone. This one is near the Noris area and is made from the Gibbon River. Oh, there's a geocache real close to this spot, too!
The drive was long, though. All though Wyoming, through the mountains and then through the park itself to the KOA was an adventure in itself. The views were stunning.
The wildlife was even better! I saw a wolf (even though no one else did and they've been teasing me saying I imagined it -- I didn't have time to get the camera ready!), an osprey, an eagle, lots of bison (which we see closer to home at Custer State Park, so I wasn't as excited about that), a pair of wolf cubs, lots of elk, a moose and a bear. I still have two days of pictures to download, so maybe the wolf cub pictures and the bear will make future posts.
On a sad note, we seem to be missing one of the cats. She's the "scardy cat" of the bunch and the oldest kiddo -- who generously offered to housesit for us -- didn't see that one the entire time we'd been gone. This kitty is also the most lifely to "punish" us for leaving, but she hasn't shown up around here yet, either. She's an indoor cat, so I'm more than a little concerned. The kitty shouldn't have left the house and should be out from hidding by now. (This is hubby's favorite of the cats, so that's weighing on my mind, too....)
On to happier things. Here's some of the pictures I took on the trip. Yep, only some since I took close to 150 of them!
We got to Old faithful within 10 minutes of it's next eruption. We didn't wait too long and still got to see this amazing natural beatuty.
The Artisits Paint Pots are fantastic. Each of the different pools are colored with either a type of algae, a minineral or something. The effect from the top is much the same as if you took a used paint pallet and washed it. The colors that run through the area look like that. This picture doesn't even BEGIN to do it justice!
The kid and her best friend enjoyed the Midway Geyser Basin. OK, so the kid enjoyed counting the number of hats which had blown into the steaming hot water. (She counted seven.) Her best friend really enjoys science, so she had a great time looking at the geysers themselves. This area was so warm that it fogged out my glasses when we went passed it.
These falls are just one of the many at Yellowstone. This one is near the Noris area and is made from the Gibbon River. Oh, there's a geocache real close to this spot, too!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Back from Pierre, where my daughter competed in a few state-wide competitions in Job's Daughters. She earned two first places (one for memorization and one for a painting she did) and two third places for her team events. I'm proud of her. She did well. Plus she played her clarinet during the meetings, and I know she was worried about that.
I was selected to be a state officer for the group, too. To me, that is an amazing honor and I'm very excited to do it.
Then I found five more geocaches on the drive home.
We leave again in a few days for Yellowstone. I'm looking forward to going camping. We may stop at Little Big Horn for a night on the way back and that should be interesting, too.
Nothing new on my story. I'm a little upset with myself for not working on it more diligently, but I guess I have to be HOME to do that, right?
I was selected to be a state officer for the group, too. To me, that is an amazing honor and I'm very excited to do it.
Then I found five more geocaches on the drive home.
We leave again in a few days for Yellowstone. I'm looking forward to going camping. We may stop at Little Big Horn for a night on the way back and that should be interesting, too.
Nothing new on my story. I'm a little upset with myself for not working on it more diligently, but I guess I have to be HOME to do that, right?
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
I've been back for a week and it seems that I'm busier than ever. I'll try to fill everyone in later. For now, though, here's a pic of the kid (she's the one in the cape and crown). Dang it -- she's growing up!Oh, and I lost that 3.4 pounds.... again..... But I'm headed out of town for the next two weeks, so I have no idea what that will do to the waistline....
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