Longest labor ever!

Dear Book,

I know these things take time.  I know you need the time to become perfect.  Because if you're not and we send you out into the world, the world will chew you up and spit you out.  But, oh, my, have you changed since you first peeked your way into the world.  And even that took a while.  We had all these plots twists, turns, locations, neat places, tons of characters.  Then we set you aside and then looked at you again and suddenly you were less places and different characters.  How does this happen?  Then we took turns and you changed a bit more and got shorter.  Which is good, I guess, since you are for the middle graders.

I am so embarrassed when I say, "We're really nearly done," and come to find that we really nearly aren't.  I don't even want to say it anymore.  But coming up on two and a half years, I really think this labor process is taking a long while.  Even my first born at 22 hours is nothing compared to you.  You need to be done already.  Got it?  I really think you are ready to shine on your own.  For heaven's sake, we wrote a kick-ass logline about you.  You should be proud to show yourself off.  I'm hoping the query letter is just as kick-ass.  Because it is time that some other people got to share you.

So, if this time I say, "We are really close," be a dear, and make sure that we're there.  Because there's a few other babies swirling around in my head that need to get going.  Having a full-time job, while being a full-time mom and a part-time writer is a bit hard.  So it would be nice to say we finished something.  Okay?

Sincerely,

me

P.S.--plus, my fortieth birthday is coming up, so that would be a nice present, don't you think?

So much to blog about, but I keep quiet

Lots of political things happening in my state and the nation.  I have definite and naked opinions.  But I also have a job that I need to keep.  I want to shout from the rooftops my frustration with what appears to be illogical thinking and gross misrepresentation and generalization of how I as a taxpayer feel about things.

I will say that education is incredibly important and that cutting it is the most short-sighted thing we can do to our nation.  Not just for our children, who, as an average, are falling behind the rest of their counterparts in other DEVELOPED countries, but also for the future innovation and pulling up from our bootstraps to make us who we are.  We are cutting off the opportunities for our future to continue to have the majority of us live good middle class lives.  It seems many people are believing that taxes are evil and are what are going to drive us into the ground.  I believe that is not true.  However, none of those people will be alive when their grandchildren or great grandchildren have to deal with the fallout of their decisions.  Why should it bother them? 

Stopping spending now, which seems to be the direction we are going, appears that it will make local governments and school districts have to shed personnel.  This will remove good middle class paying jobs.  More and more parents will both have to work just to maintain a $40,000 income (and I'm talking in my area, there are many other places where the cost of living is so much higher and they need to make more just to be able to own a home in their area).  Down the rabbit hole we go.  There will be no wonderland on the other side.

Random Tuesday Thoughts are here

Check out my new profile photo.  Not the best quality, but I wanted a pic of my haircut and I did it with the laptop camera.  It's okay.  I like the background.  It's our office and I like how it makes me look all professorial, even though I'm not.

Did a little change up to the background.  Feeling a litte romantic and historic these days.

Well, well, climate change strikes again.  141 years ago actually.  Check this out.  Essentially, even our ancestors noticed that their acts upon the prairie land changed the soils, which changed the runoff, and then changed the air mass temp, which changed the winters, to cooler.  They were happy for 2 out of 3 winters good for sleighing.  I got a kick out of that.  And then the end of the article trumpets human change as progressive and good for the world.

Now I think I have a reason to visit Florida.  I've wanted to go to Disney World, but it is so DISNEYFIED.  I really would rather have other things to do.  Well, I have a few friends out there that have been to the Universal Harry Potter theme park.  I think now is the time to go.  My kids would love it, I would love it, I think even Mr. Wild would love it.

What's not to love:



From here



From here

 And that's just the scenery.  Who doesn't want to take in a butter beer, or a broom stick ride?

Ok, ya'll go and be random with Keely.

Ahem, yes, we need a reality check...

Here's a great blog post on the "socialist" agenda in our country.

Measured out with coffeespoons
Socialism in America

Couldn't have said it better myself.  Pass it on...

Things you should not do

It was a cool idea to start out.  My mother had made quilts out of t-shirts my brother and sister wore in high school and college.  I had some college t-shirts that I should have parted with, but had yet to do that.  So I asked Mom to make me a quilt out of those shirts.  I thought the shirts were clever, funny.  I did not think about their appropriateness for elementary school students.  The quilt arrived at Christmas, but really didn't get used until recently, it is so dang cold, that the pile of the other quilts dwindled as they got used and we pulled this one from the bottom.

Then, sitting on the sofa, my daughter reads and repeats what's on it.

She says, "Marching band is better than," she pauses.  Makes a I know that's a naughty word and I'm not going to say it face (you know, that excited look you get running across something forbidden.  You're all grinny and embarrassed). Then finishes reading, "because..."  Then her grinniness becomes more pronounced and she repeats it louder and with more finesse, making a quiet hand gestured emphasis to show that she was not going to read that one word, but with so much glee about its inappropriateness.  Her brother takes note.  They start to giggle.  I start to get embarrassed.  Then I admonish, "You will not talk about this with anyone outside the house, okay?"  She nods and giggles some more.  I do an eye roll and that sigh my sister knows so well.

Then a thought occurs to me.  So I ask her point blank, "Do you know what S-E-X means?"  She blushes and shakes her head.  And I say, "That's fine, we'll talk about it later."  Then my son announces that they are learning about sperm, eggs and genes at school.  OKAY, way more than I wanted to deal with, but I take the bull by the horns and try to get him to tell me what more he knows.  He doesn't want to talk about it.  Fine, but I make a mental note to dig into that conversation privately, at a different time.

Luckily, she did not notice the back side of the shirt lower down on the quilt.  Son did.  He starts reading and says, "What?!"  And I grab the quilt and flip it over.

Lesson learned: College created t-shirts probably should not be used in quilts used around the house until your kids are at least the same age as you when you got the shirts and then maybe you should still keep it under wraps when they are around.

What's one of your parent faux pas?

Random Tuesday Thoughts: Crushing

If I were Queen of Everything (or even Princess of Quite A Lot), or perhaps an author who gets to see her book made into a movie, here are some actors I wish I could meet.

Colin Firth
Pierce Brosnan
Val Kilmer
Nathan Fillion
Anthony Michael Hall
Jensen Ackles
Zachary Levi
Matthew Morrison

I would worry about being all fan-like and would not probably say very much.  Like, "Hello, Mr. Firth, very nice to meet you."  I wouldn't even remember to say, "I really enjoy your work.  You're very good."  Which is what I'd like to say.

It would be interesting to see how these people act and look IRL.  I know the camera and production makeup can be superkind.  I wonder if it might be a let down, like they look much older than they do on camera.  (well, those that are older)

No, I do not have any famous females listed.  This is my fantasy and I'll meet whomever I want to.  And this is not like that deal on Friends where you pick five celebrities you'd get to sleep with and your partner can't get mad.  Come on, I'm a grown-up!  And probably not any of their types anyway.

Seriously, what is up with my almost 40 year old self?  I suppose this is just fine and normal.

Anyone else coming up on a milestone birthday.  It seems like my 30s was spent with raising toddlers and elementary students.  Now I have a kid who will be in middle school next year.  Am I just wigging out because I'm getting older.  I seriously don't think so.  Because I feel pretty good for an almost forty year old.  It's fun to watch my high school classmates on Facebook hitting the big 4-0 before me.  I'm a summer baby, so I can watch all of them turn the milestone and see how they handle it.  Ignore it, trumpet it, bemoan it, celebrate it.  I'm looking forward to saying, "I'm forty" and having people say, "No way."  That will be cool.

My friends are going to make fun of my celebrity crushes.  Oh, well, I got that out of my system.