Yea!!! Hubby needs prescriptions from Georgetown, so we're getting out of the house! Maybe I can talk him into going to lunch, and maybe a movie,and of course I need groceries from Wallyworld, and maybe the bookstore..... Mmmm, bookstore may be pushing it.
We'll see....

Cabin fever

Ugh!!! I am so ready to get out of the house, and so are the kids. They have been griping and fighting almost constantly. They're tired of puzzles and books, and I finally gave in to my son today to play video games, although he's been on probation from them for discipline issues. I know, bad mommy. It was the only way I could get any kind of writing done though.
I went outside today and took more pics. The ice is stunning, even more so when the sun shines through it. I also went down and took pictures of our tree in the road. By coincidence, a plow was going through and I asked the county guys about moving the tree. They said they planned on it anyway, after they got the road clear. Yay!!! Since the John Deere won't start, and I don't know if it would be able to pull it anyway, that makes my life easier.
Kids are quiet right now, so I'm going to see if I can get more writing done. Night all.

Disaster area

So, I woke up this morning about 5 am, and saw a tree limb iced over and hanging down on the ground. It belonged to the oak tree outside our bedroom, and let me tell you, I have never seen a limb bend like this. I'm amazed it hasn't broken. Normally, it is tall enough that my 8yo has to jump in the air to grab leaves. Now it's laying on the ground.
Amazing, also, is the fact that we have not lost power. I think we're one of about 10 houses in the state of Ky that hasn't lost power. I know, I probably just jinxed myself.
I went out a couple of times to check on my animals. The first time, poor Moose was caked in ice, and shivering bad. I made him go into the barn and gave him grain, but he refused to eat. Moose always, always eats. If the sky was falling, he would not care as long as he had food.Anyway, I scraped off as much ice as I could and rubbed him down with an old barn towel. After half an hour of attention, he finally started to eat. That really scared me though. He never does that.
I opened the door for the chickens, but they flat refused to go out.
The second time we went out, Hubby and I thought we might check out the fence. I thought I heard voices down at the end of our driveway, so I wondered if somebody had gone off the side of our road. Our road is about the width of a driveway, and we live at the top of a steep hill. Most people avoid the hill in the winter time, but some people are stubborn enough to try. Just because. When we got down to the end of our drive, we saw that one of the huge fenceline trees had fallen across our road. It's a huge white oak, and it has to be about a hundred years old. Somebody, though, had cut the heavy limbs that were over the road and pushed them out of the way. The tree is still there, kind of wedged against a couple of other trees, but it will have to be cut out. What fun that will be.
Anyway, thought I would add some pics from the day. Enjoy.
Ok, I guess I lied. For some reason I can't load up my pictures. Guess I'll try tomorrow.

Lots to talk about today...

First off, I just got a response on my Gotcha! contest entry. I didn't win, of course, but I didn't come in last either. I really appreciated the constructive criticism I received, and 99% of the stuff they told me, I could see myself, finally. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees, right? It really helps when they bleed green and yellow highlighter all over your screen too. Needless to say, I was disappointed I didn't do better, but I really appreciated their input. I've been pounding away today, totally re-energized with knew ideas on how to revamp everything. One thing they all agreed on was that the story idea was fresh and interesting, so I'm building on that.

I just came in from outside, and I have to tell you, I am froze. So were the horses. The poor things stand outside all the time to eat and forage, and only go in the barn if they absolutely have to. Or if I trap them in, which they do not appreciate. I didn't even let the chickens out today. I threw food in and refilled their water bowl, and that was it. My egg problems have kind of been solved. I've put boards across the doorway so Murphy can't get in, but now he's nocking the boards away. I've gotten 4 eggs the past two days, and I think I may also be getting duck eggs. We have 1 pr of white Peking ducks that drive us nuts. They make a mess out of everything, and are always quacking, but I would feel guilty if they got eaten. A second pair got eaten this fall by coyotes. During the day, no less! Anyway, the ducks have been acting especially friendly recently, and I've been finding large white waxy shelled eggs on the floor of the coop, where the ducks stay. I cooked one up for my son yesterday, and he could not tell the difference between it and a chicken egg. I guess I'll throw it in the carton with the rest.

Part of the reason I'm froze is because I went around to the neighbors to check on them. I have a widow that lives down the hill from me, an elderly coople across the road, and another older single woman to the south a ways. I scraped the paths to their vehicles and got their mail so they wouldn't have to go out. The first wave of crap went through already, and we've got about 4 inches of snow, with a crust of ice on top. But they say there is a second, worse wave coming. So we're buckling down to wait it out.

Well, the kids just went out to play for a while, so I may go join them. Have a good day all.

Whoopin' it up

I had to laugh at a friend the today. She is older than me by about twenty years, and she made reference to 'Whoopin' it up'. Huh? As an ex-cop, believe me, I can tell you some stories that would make anybody blush, and I thought I had heard every colloquialism, slang term, everything there was to hear in reference to sex. But that one surprised me, and I had to laugh.

It seemed to be kind of a sex day. I was surfing at http://www.kaystockham.com/blog/, and her subject was love scenes, or lack thereof. Personally, I find love scenes easier to do than setting up a plot. How sad is that?

Anyway, she was talking about a good book she had read that totally fell flat at the love scenes. And I have noticed that some authors really do seem to struggle with these. I am no expert, by any means, but I do know what reads well and flows nicely. I have to wonder, though, if her inability to write love scenes has to do with her own inexperience. Or maybe she just has a natural reserve that won't allow her to enjoy what she's writing. I honestly do think that you have to like what you are writing for it to be sincere and believable. I think the more passionate (no pun) you are about the subject matter, the better the writing will be. Am I off track? Hmmm...

My duh moment...

So, I'm in trouble. I did not get a lot of writing done yesterday. What I did get done I think is pretty good, but word count wise, I didn't do much. I did get one of my critique partners wip worked on though. One thing I can say about the girls that are in my group, they are diverse. I generally read contemporary short or long romance, but they are leading me into Wild West and the Scottish Highlands. Not my normal cup of tea, but I find I am enjoying myself.

Today, though, I am going to WORK!

On to my duh moment.

I've been very excited because my hens have started laying. 8 eggs a day usually, which is awesome. Well, in the past week, egg production has gone down. I mean, to zero. For three days I could not figure out why I did not have any eggs. The chickens were fine, eating well, so they should be producing. Right? Wrong. And yesterday, I finally figured out why.

This is Murphy. I happened to go outside unexpectedly yesterday, and guess who I saw jumping out of the door of the chicken coop? Yep, Murphy. My 180 lb Mastiff. And as I looked around inside, I realized he's been going in there for a while. There are marks on the wall where he has been marking his territory, inside. So, in the past three days, Murphy has eaten about 24 eggs, if not more.

No wonder he hasn't been eating the other dog's food like he usually does.

Duh...

And yes, he does smile like that, because he knows he's so cute.

Today was a pretty uneventful day. We caught up on some cleaning, and I caught up on some writing while the kids cleaned their room. Honestly, I don't even know why I bother cleaning when the kids are home. It seems like they just follow along behind and wreck everything I just cleaned up. I want to be a good mom and be interactive, but they were just rotten today.

Yesterday we did something fun. It was my daughter's 5th birthday last wednesday, and my mother-in-law sent her a kit of suncatchers to paint. We all ended up painting a couple, even Mark. It occupied the kids for a couple of hours with no bickering. They actually turned out pretty nice too. May send a couple to the in-laws.

I was watching the pre-inauguration coverage tonight, and, I have to admit, am very excited for Obama to be sworn in. Mark and I were talking, and we decided that a certain un-named person is a waste of time, and we'll be glad to see him out of the office. We're both surprised at how hopeful we are that Obama can change the country. Heck, he already has, to a certain extent. I had to laugh, because today he was doing community service for MLK day, and he started asking the reporters that were filming him if they were going to do anything today for community service. I love that he puts people on the spot. Makes them accountable for their own actions. Or inactions, as it were.

Till tomorrow.

The romance of my life

No, I'm not talking about any of my manuscripts, I'm talking about my husband. We've been married 12 years today, and it seems like a drop in the bucket. The time has absolutely flown by. Yes, we've had problems to deal with, but as I talk to other people, I'm amazed at how small our problems are compared to theirs. Mark and I NEVER fight. Yes, never. We talk constantly, and he is, absolutely, my best friend in the world, and I am his.

Things didn't start out moonlight and roses. We were in weaving school together, and, NO LIE, the first time he talked to me,he came up to me and asked me if I plucked or shaved my eyebrows!?!?!? Personally, I thought he was a little weird at first, and I think he got that. The next time he tried to come on to me, he asked me how many kids I had, because I had 'childbearing' hips. I was only 20 at the time, and certainly had no kids. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to deck him and just get it over with. Then, I guess, he started to grow on me. We started doing everything together, and in 1997, 4 years after we met, we eloped to the Smoky mountains to get married (which only happened because I asked for a ring for Christmas. You've never seen the exact shade of green he turned!)

Every day, he lets me know how much he loves me, and how happy he is with me. Fifteen years after getting together, he can still make me cry with his love. Ahhh...

I also do have to mention that I went to the KYRWA meeting yesterday, and had a blast. My head was pounding when I came home because I had so much information bouncing around in it! The women are all wonderful, and the lone male member gave us a presentation of 'Pitfalls in Publishing', which was very interesting. I have a very long list of websites and names to look up and explore. And I can't wait!!!

Till tomorrow.

Pounding away

My Gosh, it's cold. The only good part about the cold is that it releases you from the requirement of being outside working a lot. I still have to go out and take care of the animals, because inevitably their water is frozen over, at the very least. I think they're kind of bored too, because they really go through the food right now. I think they don't want to go out in the cold any more that I do, and just sit inside and eat all day. The good part to that is, I'm getting about 8 eggs a day now. For the past several months I have not been getting any eggs. I have 20 chickens! You would have thought there would be one or two eggs, here or there, but no. Not until recently, anyway. About two weeks ago, I started getting a couple eggs a day, and now I'm up to about 8 a day, and I am floating in eggs. I know, don't complain. Right. Feast or famine, my mom says.
Anyway, we have a writer's meeting coming up this weekend, and I have been pounding away on my laptop, building up more material for my critique group to critique. My problem is, I have too many ideas jumping around in my head, demanding to be put down on paper before they disappear completely. It is very difficult for me to complete an idea, finish a manuscript. And the ones I do finish, I keep going back and tweaking, or completely re-writing altogether. I have to learn when to stop and just leave things alone.
But it's hard.
Don't look for anything tomorrow. I'll be in Lexington all day.
Bye all.

Brrrrrrr..............

Man, isn't it cold? Here in Kentucky it's about 28 degrees, and dropping! I had to laugh this morning. We moved down here two years ago from Ohio. This morning on the news, the weather man was saying "be glad you don't live in Ohio, because they're getting pounded." I called my mom , (in Ohio) and told her what he said. She did confirm that they were indeed getting 'pounded'. Ha Ha.
Things have been busy this week. Today I took a Census Bureau Enumerator test. Basically, you go around and ask people questions, like how much they make and where they work, how many people live in the house, stuff like that so that local government is allocated the correct amount of funds. It's part-time work, so I would be able to be home with the kids when I needed to be. Bring in a little extra cash, too.
Tomorrow is my daughter's fifth birthday. Wow! Where has the time gone? She is turning into a beautiful little human being. A little on the ornery side, but absolutely adorable. And sooo unique. I just love her to pieces!
Well, till tomorrow.

What a Blah Day!

Ugh!!! Thunderstorms in January? Isn't that a little odd. Well, I guess no more odd that 70 degree weather like we had last January. Remember that?

Lightning woke me up this morning. Not little lightning, BIG LIGHTNING. Enough to make my husband and I both sit up in bed as the thunder crashed over top of us. Then pounding rain. Like we needed it. Not. There is no more drought in Kentucky. In the summer we were begging for rain, now we're sick of it. We're just never happy.

It was a good day to write though. I think rain relieves the guilt of not doing something constructive outside. I know I still feel like I'm skirting my responsibilites when I write. Escaping into my own little world, blocking out kids, hubby, phone , etc. My husband plays video games in bad weather, so while he's occupied, usually with my son too, I pound away, happily.

My current wip is bogging down, so I typed out a few pages of something new. The new piece is flowing out as fast as I can type. Wow! Maybe because it has undertones of law enforcement.

Write what you know, right?

Well, till tomorrow.

E-Bay

So, in an effort to de-clutter, I've been posting some things on E-bay. For a while this year, I was a nurse aid in a nursing home. With my background in law enforcement, I somehow thought that helping the elderly would be a good substitute. When I moved to Kentucky, my Ohio certifications did not transfer over. I would have had to go to Richmond for a 4 month police academy, and with my husband travelling for work, it just would not have been possible. So, I've kind of been looking for something to do a couple days a week while everybody is gone. And although I enjoyed the people in the nursing home, it was just not the job for me. It takes a very strong person, physically and mentally, to take complete care of 8-10 people in an eight hour shift. Bathing, dressing, personal care, feeding. The list is endless of things they need. And it was just not the job for me. Hence, I had several scrubs outfits to get rid of. I certainly didn't get the money out of then I paid for them, but they're not cluttering my closet now.

We also sold a guitar, and that really opened up some space.

So, I am really trying to make sure today is not a waste. Snow came through northern Kentucky last night, and of course school was cancelled. In Ohio, people would have laughed at the amouth of snow the schools cancel for. The kids are at an age that I can give them projects to do, and of course my boy has games he can play, so I'm really trying to get some writing done today. I'm sure we'll have to take a break to go sledding for a while, but it's beautiful outside, even though cold.

Get out and get some vitamin D.

Till tomorrow...

This is Buck, by the way.

AHHHHHH.....Silence

Finally, finally, the house is quiet. Hubby is at work, kids are at school, and it's just me and my computer. And the puppy we've been housebreaking, I guess. It has been so hard trying to do anything with them in the house. I now have a whole list of things to get done, and don't know where to start. I guess under the bed. My husband requested I sweep under there, because the puppy we got recently likes to hide under the bed to get away from the kids. My husband has allergies pretty bad, but he swears up and down it's not the dog, just the dust. My husband picked out this puppy on a recent trip to the Smoky Mountains, in spite of my warnings about shedding issues in the future. Puppy- Cricket- is a Pomeranian. I think it would break his heart to have to get rid of her. She is awful cute. Here she's sitting on a jewelry box I have.

We really have to be careful with her. I think that's why she goes under the bed, because she's afraid she's going to get hurt. My 4 yo lets her chew on anything, and my eight yo thinks she's as tough as he is. It's been difficult training the kids as well as the pup. I'm sure when they get home from school, they'll harass the poor thing to pieces.

We went to Columbus this weekend to see family. Hubby wanted to go to a gun show with my dad, and my step-mom and I took the kids to the Columbus Zoo. Saturday was the perfect day for it, and everybody had a lot of fun. This is the first time my 4 yo really was able to look at the animals and enjoy them, asking questions right and left. My son surprised me, though. The zoo has strategically placed drop boxes for spare change and dollar bills to support the animals. We had given each of the kids 3 dollars for spending money, and my son came up to me at the manatee exhibit, and said he wanted to put some quarters in. I didn't think he understood that the money would be the zoo's then, and he would not get anything back. It wasn't a toy machine or anything. His eyes actually teared up, and he told me "But I don't want the zoo to close." I gave him permission to put the money in. How could I not?

That really made me feel like I was having an impact as a parent, and that not everything I said went in one ear and out the other. So I guess I'll keep plugging values and morals and all that other good stuff into their spongy little heads.

Till tomorrow...

A relaxing day at home-NOT

So, as the first day of 2009, today should have been nice and quiet. No school, no work, no requirements. My husband comes in the room and says he'll take the kids down to cut firewood while I get some writing time in. Thank you honey! I'm pounding away when my 8 y.o. son comes in the door. "Uh, Mom, Dad needs your help. He rolled the bike and hurt his leg." Ok, I've gotten notices like this before, so I didn't freak out too bad. At least not until I'm walking out the driveway to get the second 4-wheeler. "Is the bike still on Daddy?" I ask my son. He nods his head and I take off running. Of course, my bike does not want to start at all. It's been a while since it's been out, so it's a little cranky. And also of course, 3 of the 4 tires are almost completely flat. Prescious seconds are wasted as I air up the tires. "Ok," I ask my son, " where's Daddy?" He scrunches up his face. "Over on the hill I can't get up on my bike." We have 100 acres, and that could be five hundred different places. "OK, get on and you can show me."
Racing down past the barn, I'm following this little pointing finger to the right. Finally, I see my husband, lying with his head downhill, on his side, with a 600 lb. Honda Foreman pinning his left leg to the ground. I race down as quickly as I dare and hop off my bike. The adrenaline really kicked in as I saw how trapped he really was. I rocked the bike up the hill several times before hubby was finally able to pull his leg out. He laid on the ground for several minutes, and finally wiggled his foot. Thank God his leg wasn't broken. The rim of the bike was resting on his ankle bone and just under his knee. He now has several interesting bruises, and the tendons in his knee are strained, but he will be fine.
So much for a relaxing day.
Needless to say, I did not get much writing done today. It didn't help that we got back to the house, ate some lunch then fell asleep for a couple hours. My schedule is so screwed up since everybody is home. Tomorrow will be no better. Grocery day.
Night. May not be back for a while. Family obligations in Ohio.