Gained weight. Again. I'm getting so frustrated. Of course, I want my hair re-done and that appointment keeps getting put off, too, so I'm just feeling REALLY frustrated. I plan to drink more water this week (I wasn't so good about that the last month or so) and I think that will help.

The kid completed her first round of finals, and, while the grades for the final exams could have been better, her semester grades were As and Bs. No point in complaining about those grades!

I'm in the middle of doing two craftster swaps, but I won't be mentioning WHAT I'm making until I know my partners get their packages. One of my partners, I know, was checking the blog earlier. I will admit, though, that crafting for a New Year's resolution to be more organized is a challenge. I've come up with something for it, and finished that one. I just hope my partner likes it. Then again, sometimes one person's organized is another person's chaos, so I hope I'm on the right track.

Looking at the calendar, I see this is another busy week, with meetings every night. Sometimes I wonder how I get to that point, but I can't imagine giving any of them up right now. Add teaching Sunday School, and picking up the kid from school, and running to the grocery store, and making dinner, and doing laundry... sometimes I just feel like I'm at the end of my rope and even the things I volunteer to do because I like them start to be a strain.

I've written another few pages of Ghost Mountain, and I'm planning to submit it to a contest. The contest takes the first 20 pages, plus a two-page summary. I don't really care if I win. The cool thing about this contest is that the judge is an editor at one of the publishing houses. Now there is someone I'd like to ask to see the rest!

That's the week here. I lost a few pounds at WW, but I seem to be having a lot of trouble with it. Partly I know I've had the "munchies" and been REALLY craving the chocolate. I know that doesn't help, either. I saw a picture of me taken almost a year ago, and even I didn't recognize myself. Odd, isn't it? I do need to decide, though, if I want to lose another 15 or 30. I KNOW I want to do the 10 or 15, for sure. It's the other weight to put me where WW says I should be that I'm not sure about. I've decided not to make up my mind until I get to where I know I want to be. (Gee, without giving my goal weight away, that gets confusing!)

Well, that's my ramblings for tonight...

Until next time!

Do you have a friend who, whenever you get together trouble follows? In elementary school, that might mean talking in class. In high school, it might be skipping school, or talking in class, or crashing wild parties. In your 20s it's probably too many parties.

Now that I'm in my 30s and have such a friend, I've discovered that the "trouble follows" thing doesn't stop with age. Only now we're doing roller derby! Like I needed one more thing on my plate! So, Vicki and I are starting a roller derby league. M, if you're reading this, wanna join?

At least it will be fun. And I've promised hubby that I won't skate.

And really, how much trouble can we get into?

The kid is sick. Well, not so much anymore, but she was this week. Her temp reached a high-point of 102.6. YIKES! The ER doc determined it's a virus of some sort (gee, thanks) and gave her vicoden (or however THAT's spelled) for the aches and pains so she could actually get some rest. When he left the room, the kid says "Isn't that what House takes?" If she starts to walk with a limp, I'll be worried!

She has finals next week and is very concerned about them. Being homeschooled that wasn't something she ever did before. Then again, she's a freshman in high school this year, and I'm not sure "regular school" kids in middle school would have taken finals. So the weekend will be spent resting and studying.

Oh, the vicoden must have worked. Her fever finally broke last night and she was her normal, goofy, teen-age self once again.

Am I, or am I not, an author? Am I a writer? This week, I didn't think so.

I got my critique back and it was less than stellar. I didn't expect the reviewer to tell me how wonderful I was -- although that would have been nice -- but there was very little the reviewer claimed to like. Even in the section of the critique called "Strengths." Ouch. And it was marked up in red pen. Double ouch. And the reviewer's handwriting leaves much to be desired so it takes some perseverance to decipher it. Triple ouch.

So I did the big girl thing. I went in my room and bawled like a baby. My family tried consoling me by telling me the reviewer was wrong, my novel is great. Of course I answered them like a big girl. "You have to say that. You love me!" That's what I tried to say between sobs, anyway.

Now that I've calmed down a bit, I am able to be slightly more objective. I can see that the idiot who critiqued me reviewer was definitely NOT in my target audience. I can also tell that person probably doesn't read paranormals or cozies very often, if at all. The reviewer did have a few suggestions I might incorporate, but I might not. I don't know yet.

I do know that I need to find a reviewer who doesn't "love me" who is in my target audience, or at least is familiar with the sub-genre I've selected.

My change of attitude has answered my question in a way that all the love, support, and encouragement from my family and friends never could. I am a writer. I am going to be a successful author. I'm not going to let one person's opinion matter so much. Especially someone who isn't anywhere near my target audience.

I will keep writing!

Well, I weighed in this morning and gained almost 4 pounds over the Christmas/New Year weeks. Dang it! Although, to be honest, I knew I had gained. And I thought it was more like 6 pounds, so I should be proud of myself, right? In a twisted way, that makes sense.

I determined this morning that I'm very jealous of my kid sister. Wow. How petty does that sound? Welcome to my world.

My family got to see my sister and her family for Christmas. Since we've been home, I've had to hear about how nice their house is. Multiple times. Then my niece is just so dang cute, and a good kid, who listens to my sis, and right now I don't have that. (My niece grew "in" my sister's heart, not "under" it and was one of the reasons sis married her hubby, I know!) I know it's totally selfish, but I'm jealous. Right now I feel so totally out of control with things in my life that I wish I had someone else's.

I'm sure the feelings of "dog doo" will pass as I actively look for wonderous blessings in my own backyard.

I don't seem to have a lot going on this week. It was odd trying to get back in the swing of things after the holidays. I liked homeschooling much better for that reason -- we were able to start over on a Monday, and not in the middle of the week, which just seems odd.

But, of course, we had to start back "full blast!" The kid has become the JV wrestling manager at her school. Great, let the kid spend MORE time with boys. What was I thinking?! And driver's ed is going the next two weeks. It's the driving portion... stay off the roads!

Add that stuff to homework and housework and the rest of the "stuff" we do, and there's no time to breath. Ah, but for the most part we're happy and healthy and what could be better than that, really?