I'm packing. I hate packing.

I'm leaving for the writers conference in the morning. I also am not a morning person.

All my clothes are already in the car. It's the "extras" that I don't have finished. Which earrings will go with which outfits? How much free time will I have? Should I bring one book to read? Or three? What about knitting? How much yarn should I bring? I think that's the stuff that confuses me more than anything.

I don't want to forget anything, but I don't want to take everything I own, either! Grrr.....

On the weight loss front, I'm not sure this coming week will be a "good one." I lost 3 pounds last week, but went a little wild on the comfort food yesterday and will be doing a lot of eating out this weekend. I *did* pack workout clothes, though, since I know there's a fitness center at the hotel.

I'm excited and nervous. What if I go and find out that my writing isn't what I think it is? What if I find out that I suck? (Worse than just stinking!) What if....

Wish me luck and I'll try to post from the conference. (The computer is already packed, too!)

Well, I now know where to put a body at Devil's Tower. It doesn't matter how many times I see this majestic rock, I'm still in awe of it.

Isn't it beautiful? Is it any wonder why the Native Americans hold it sacred? Any wonder why it was our country's first National Park?

Oh, and I got four geocaches on the way! *big grin*

Didn't gain or lose this week. Stayed exactly the same. It was a little depressing since I had walked three miles the day before, but I'll survive. And I didn't go to the ice cream shop on the way home, so that's a minor victory!

Only one week until I leave for Mayhem in the Midlands. I'm such a dork that I have scouted out geocaches along the route and in Omaha to do. I know, a little odd, but everyone needs a hobby, right? *smile*

I got "Charmed Knits" last night. It's an entire knitting book based on Harry Potter. There are some really cute patterns in there! I'm not sure I'll ever actually finish a Weasley sweater, but I can quit loosing the pattern now (I had printed it off the internet and I put it somewhere safe, I'm sure....).

Day two of the WOMAN challenge and I walked three miles!

Sorry, just had to brag!

She's now 14!!

That scares me! Maybe it wouldn't scare me so much if she wasn't so pretty. Or smart. Dang kid.

We celebrated Mother's Day yesterday so the Kid could have today for herself. I believe that everyone needs a special day sometimes and what's more special then the celebration of your birth?

Hubby got me a very awesome tea light candle holder. One side says "Eternal Hope," the next "Endless Faith," third says "Everlasting Joy," and finally "Enduring Peace." The Kid got me a Willow Tree figurine called "Mother and Daughter."

But, really, the best gift of all came not in a thing but in words spoken by the kid. Last night, after they'd showered me with my gifts and hugs, she said to me, "I wouldn't have minded sharing my day, Mom."

Now, that's a cool Mother's Day gift!

My 8 Names, what's yours?


1. YOUR REAL NAME: Jennifer


2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle): Jenizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (fav color and fav animal): BlueBear


4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, and street name): AnnRadarHill


5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2
letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name): BlaJeTay


6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): GreenWater

7.YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (grandmother/ grandfather's first name): JeanJack or IrmaHerb


8. YOUR GOTH NAME (black, and the name of one your pets): BlackOscar

I've just registered for the WOMAN Challenge (http://www.4women.gov/woman/). Maybe that will get me moving more. WOMAN stands for Women and girls Out Moving Around the Nation.

Here's what it is:

This May, thousands of women across the country will embark on an eight-week walking challenge for better health. They will be part of the WOMAN Challenge-that is Women and girls Out Moving Across the Nation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health is coordinating the WOMAN Challenge to encourage women to get 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week and to kick off the eighth annual National Women's Health Week (May 13-19, 2007).
What is the WOMAN Challenge?

This free eight week challenge encourages women and girls to walk 10,000 steps or get 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day. The WOMAN Challenge begins on Mother's Day, May 13, and ends on July 8, 2007.

Maybe I can get a team set up and we can motivate each other. Or at least appeal to my competitive nature. Any takers? Steph? Heather?

The workshop with William Kent Krueger was FANTASTIC! Not only did I get to spend time with real writers, I learned so much. I'm even more eager to attend Mayhem in the Midlands now!

Not only did I go to his talk and book signing Friday night and the workshop on Saturday, but I was lucky enough to have dinner with him both nights. Now, I'll confess I haven't read his work, but it's next on my "to be read" pile.

Sunday was busy as well. The Kid was confirmed at church. It was one of the largest confirmation classes with 22 kids. Very nicely done. One of the other confirmands (is that a word?) is the Kid's best friend. The two girls are inseparable. If I had to pick a friend for my Kid, I doubt I could do much better then this young lady.

AND it was Shrine Circus weekend. That's where I was supposed to be, working for the Job's Daughters or Daughters of the Nile. Instead I did "Jen and Family Stuff." (Well, the kid and I worked the Friday afternoon performance and the kid worked the Friday night and Saturday afternoon ones as well.) I felt guilty not helping, but wonderfully refreshed to do so much for myself.

Even with all the excitement of the weekend (the writers conference and confirmation and such) I managed to lose 1.2 pounds. I've decided that small victories are what I need. So this week's "mini-goal" is to loose enough to make the ticker say 30. Heck, that's not even half a pound! Then I get to do something just for me -- another angel for my collection, a trip to the bookstore, something.

Mayhem in the Midlands, a small mystery writers conference in Omaha, Nebraska, is just a few weeks away and I’m incredibly excited about attending a real mystery writers conference.

Years ago, I served in the U.S. Air Force. Every class or conference or workshop served to “re-Blue” the military men and women who attended and I have the hope that Mayhem in the Midlands will do the same for me.

Even before Mayhem, though, I’m spending the weekend at a local writers workshop. William Kent Kreuger will speak May 4 and 5 in town, and that should be another “re-Blue” moment for me. Ghost Mountain is going strong at 22,000 words. My critique partners seem to like it. Now to finish it and get it published so I can quit my day job!

Well, last week I may have gained, but I lost this week! In fact, I lost twice what I gained the week before.

My biggest problem is I HATE exercising. I don't have time for it. Between running here and there and everywhere to get *stuff* done, there's not much time for me. I guess that's what it boils down to -- time for me.

I plan to make exercise a bigger priority. To be honest, that's one reason I got Oscar. I planned to take him on walks and I know that would be good for me. And I have. Just not as often as I wanted.

Right this minute I could be in yoga/pilates class. But I'm not. I skipped it this morning. Maybe I'll take Oscar on a geocache and then I won't feel so bad. I just wish that exercise was something I could be more motivated about....

I'm sitting in a coffee shop, not drinking coffee.

I'm supposed to be working on Ghost Mountain, but I'm a little stuck. How do you get an FBI agent to believe in ghosts? Should my main character's leg be broken after a car crash? Why? Why not?

To make it worse, I know I have revisions at home that I could be doing, but I didn't bring those. And then, I actually wanted to have all 80,000 words for this story done by June 1. Since I'm only at 20,000 (well, 20,374) I don't see that happening. So now I'm upset with myself for my lack of self-discipline.

Found out that the kid was accepted for the open enrollment. She will be attending a public high school about 15 miles from our home (just in the other school district) starting this fall. Now if only I can get the school people to decide what they need to enroll her since they keep changing their minds.

OK, the guilt is getting to me. I'm going back to the novel...

DANG IT!

For the first time in 16 weeks, I actually gained weight. One full pound, even.

Actually, that's pretty much the way my week has gone. It's had it's peeks (Yeah, Oscar!) but the rest has been some pretty low valleys.

Oh well. Back to the water bottle and the gym in the morning!

OK, so I forgot how tiring a new pup can be! And I obviously live life on the edge since the cat was sleeping, too!

Finished Oscar's toy today. It's knit with Red Heart yarn on size 4 dpns. I got the pattern from the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of Kint It Magazine.

Like a typical kid, though, he was pretty happy with the feather that he brought in from outside.

Gotta love it!

Tubby. Buddy. Merlin. Arthur. Lugos. Dylan. Oscar. Magic. These were the names our newest family member had. Most of them for only about 10 minutes or so. Oscar, the name I picked. I *my* puppy. Let me explain. Everyone else has a pet — or two. The kid has two cats and a dog. Hubby has a dog. Special daughter who lives in another state has a cat here. Hmmmm....

So, as only a mean wife can, I got a little jealous. I wanted one of my own. I did some research and decided I wanted an indoor dog. (The cats are indoor, the other dogs are outdoor.) I wanted something small that I could take with me to get more exercise. Something loyal that I could play with. A dog which would easily go geocaching with me since the rest of the family doesn't like the hobby as much as I do.

So my loving hubby and I went to a local pet shop and bought Oscar. He's a 10-week old Cairn Terrier. I wanted to name him after a Celtic god, but those guys had some odd names. Cool goddess names, not so cool god names. (Side note: I've been doing some research on Celtic mythology, some for the book I'm writing and some because it started to interest me. Although, for those wondering, it does explain where "Arthur" and "Merlin" and even "Lugos" and "Dylan" came from!) So I picked Oscar. The name means "deer lover" and in Irish mythology Oscar was said to be a mighty hunter.

Yep. He's a hunter alright!

The one thing I forgot was how much work it can be to housebreak a puppy. That's OK, though. This one is mine! *smile!*

The news report

Juvenile makes court appearance after lockdown
By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal staff

RAPID CITY -- The Central High School student arrested for lying to officials about seeing a man with a handgun at school has made his initial appearance before a 7th Circuit Court judge.

The 15-year-old boy, whose name is not being released because he is a juvenile, remains in custody, officials said during a Wednesday news conference.

And while the emotional ordeal of Tuesday’s school lockdown has ended for most students, the process has just begun for the boy and his parents.

Harry Brenden, assistant superintendent for elementary and secondary education for the Rapid City School District, said school officials will review the boy’s academic and disciplinary records before deciding what consequences he’ll face there. “The school will take sanctions,” he said. “I just don’t know what they will be.”

The most severe penalty would be one year’s expulsion, Brenden said.

Pennington County Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Kevin Krull said his office will file petitions charging the boy with false reporting and disturbance or disruption of school. The boy and his parents are cooperating with authorities, he said.

For an adult, the charges would be misdemeanors punishable by jail time and/or fines.

For a juvenile, it’s different. If the boy admits to the charges, the juvenile judge n currently Judge Thomas Trimble n will decide what his consequences should be. If the boy denies the allegations, Trimble will hear arguments in a hearing similar to a trial.

Krull said penalties could range from 90 days at the Juvenile Services Center to fines of up to $1,000 to probation to placing the boy with the state Department of Corrections, which could keep him until he turns 21.

Several people have suggested the case might lend itself well to a restorative justice approach. Restorative justice uses trained mediators to bring offenders and victims together to talk about how the offender’s actions affected others. The process lets victims and offenders see each other as individuals, supporters say, and often brings healing and understanding to situations that could otherwise stay mired in anger.

“I think it might have some merit,” said Dex Wittman, who runs the juvenile diversion program for the state’s attorney’s office. “There’s a lot of people who want to ask (him) some questions . . . Some of the kids were really afraid yesterday.”

Phyllis Boernke, director of the Center for Restorative Justice in Rapid City, said volunteer mediators just finished a case where the three juveniles arrested for vandalizing Rapid Valley schools last summer were brought together with school staff and administrators.

“That turned out very well,” she said. It took a long time to prepare for the meeting because they had to determine which victims would be involved. The mediation, which was held in January and took about three hours, eventually involved the three students, their parents, and more than a dozen school employees, including school administrators and custodial staff.

“It was a real turning point midway, when the young people began to share what was emotionally, personally going on with them, not only connected with this incident but personally in their lives,” Boernke said. She said the students talked about “feeling anger and frustration and just wanting to take it out somewhere.”

As a result, she said the adults involved in the mediation began thinking and talking about ways to help other youths in the same situation. “It turned out to be real positive.”

Mediation usually happens farther along in the process, after people’s emotions have leveled out. With juveniles, especially, mediators don’t want people “just dumping out anger” on the child, Boernke said.

“Throwing kids in detention all the time and never bringing any resolution is certainly not the answer,” Boernke said. “I would like to have the opportunity to visit with the child and his parents, to talk about some options, and then to find out how many people in the community might like to take part.”

Rapid City Police Chief Craig Tieszen said at Wednesday’s news conference that surveillance cameras at Central helped police as they began investigating the report of an armed gunman in the school. Detectives began to see inconsistencies in the boy’s story, he said, and by the time the last students were being evacuated from Central High School early Tuesday afternoon, the boy had admitted to making up the story.

The day wasn’t a total loss, Tieszen said. “We did have one huge joint exercise.”

Both he and Brenden said they were pleased with how smoothly things went as law enforcement and the school district implemented their emergency plan. This was the first time the district-wide emergency plan was called into action, Brenden said, adding that it exposed a few glitches administrators will now work to fix.

Tieszen praised the way law enforcement agencies, the fire department, school officials and even the media cooperated Tuesday in responding to the threat.

“I think our cooperative spirit showed itself yesterday,” he said.

Pennington County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dave Bramblee also commended the community at large for the way it reacted Tuesday.

“Today is really kind of a day of relief and celebration,” he said.

Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com

Yesterday was not good.

Shortly after my post yesterday, I heard on the radio that all of our schools were in "lock down" and that a gunman was reported at one of the high schools. I almost started to cry because Thursday the school board will vote on the open enrollment form to allow my daughter to attend one of those schools. My second thought was "what have I done?" My first thought was "God protect those kids."

The tragedy at VA Tech (close to where my kiddo was born, actually) breaks me up. We started homeschooling right after Columbine. And now this. Right when I was starting to be OK with the decision to send her to public school. Talk about questioning your own judgment. (Add to the fact I'm a HUGE pessimist -- quiet, Sis! -- and I was going bonkers yesterday.)

Turns out the entire thing here was a joke. A 15-year-old girl made up the whole thing. She even gave a description of a Native American man walking the halls with a handgun. Not only did she scare the hebe-jebes out of every parent in this half of the state, she did wonders for racism. I hope it was worth it. I also hope they release her name and try her as an adult and force her to repay the cost of having the SWAT team search the school. Frankly, I hope they throw the book at her. Not just because she made me worry (although, I'm human enough to admit that's a part of it!), but because she deserves it for her little stunt.

Another 2.4 pounds down and I've earned the WW 10% reward. That means I've lost ten percent of my starting weight. (Remember, the WW total and the total here on the blog are off a bit. Either way, though, it still means I was TOO heavy to start with!) A few more pounds and I'll be getting myself another angel for my collection. I think I'll do something nice for myself in honor of my 10 percent, too.

Now to decide exactly WHAT to do! *smile*

YIKES!

I went clothes shopping today. No where fancy, just Shopko, but still. I decided I needed some "business casual" to go to the writer's conference in Omaha next month (Mayhem in the Midlands). When the majority of your life is spent in jeans and T-shirts, business casual requires new clothes.

And I HATE clothes shopping. Don't believe me? Ask my sister. Growing up, the worst part of starting school each year was actually getting the new clothes. Anyway, the kid and I went and she doesn't have my aversion to new clothes. She helped me pick out three new outfits for the conference.

So that's one more thing all ready for the conference. I so want to find an agent there. I completely doubt it will happen, but I *do* expect to find out how to get an agent. I do expect to get re-charged and come home ready to take my novel to the next level.

Man, I can't wait until this conference!

I realized today that I've lost weight every week for 14 weeks. Can you believe that? 14 weeks of losing as least two-tenths of a pound. That's a lot of weeks!

I re-designed my author web site (http://www.nicholerbennett.com) and I'm pretty proud of how it looks. I've also spent the week working on my novel. Right now, it's titled Ghost Mountain, which says volumes about the subject matter of the novel.

The baby blanket I'm knitting is more than half finished. For this same mom-to-be, I hope to also knit a stuffed bunny, booties, a sweater and a hat. We'll see what actually gets finished besides the blanket.