National Novel Writing Month begins in ten hours...
I have my outline ready and I'm convinced this will be my best year yet. So good, in fact, that I have decided that this years story will NOT be posted on the blog. Seems backwards, doesn't it?
Well, this year, I've decided to write a story that has been brewing in my mind for many years. I have a box full of notes, character sketches and now a basically fully fleshed-out outline. I am so excited about the possibilities of this tale that I am planning to publish it. (Wish me luck, this is a scary proposition)
I have taken on no paying customers this year.
My writing be interrupted by the birth of a baby.
So, this is the year that I have no excuses. I get to devote the hours to my novel. For those of you who are disappointed that the full novel will not be available here this year... I know some of you have been waiting all year for a sequel to last years romance... I'll be posting hints and teasers, and maybe even some sample chapters instead.
Look for posts that have the title "The House on Amber Road"
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
What can I do with a KitchenAid mixer?
Lately, I've been thinking a better name for my blog is "The Incompetent Housewife"
My meal planning is about as lame as my blog; when I get around to doing it, I have good intentions but it seems to fall flat.
It hurts my heart to hear my husband say, "I'm hungry" at 9pm every night. It's a sign that our dinners need to be more substantial... or maybe our dinners need to be later than 5 o'clock. But, with evening meetings and classes, it can't be later or he wouldn't have time to eat at all, so 5 o'clock it is.
When it comes to cooking, I'm just not motivated. I feel like I get up and have to feed people, and by the time I get one meal cleaned up, it's time to start the next one.
I tell people that I don't cook, I feed the masses. Some meals, okay most of our meals, are served and eaten in an assembly line fashion. The kids line up with their bowls and I scoop out a plop of some various meat/starch/veggie combination casserole or stir fry and they stroll off to find a place to eat it.
The food is hardly ever "really good".
My husband, knowing that I struggle in this area, bought this...
It's got a sticker price of $350, so now I have to figure out how to get our money's worth out of this tool.
But, I don't know what to do with it.
So, help me out...
What can I do with this machine that will help me cut $350 from my grocery budget?
I can't wait to read your comments!
My meal planning is about as lame as my blog; when I get around to doing it, I have good intentions but it seems to fall flat.
It hurts my heart to hear my husband say, "I'm hungry" at 9pm every night. It's a sign that our dinners need to be more substantial... or maybe our dinners need to be later than 5 o'clock. But, with evening meetings and classes, it can't be later or he wouldn't have time to eat at all, so 5 o'clock it is.
When it comes to cooking, I'm just not motivated. I feel like I get up and have to feed people, and by the time I get one meal cleaned up, it's time to start the next one.
I tell people that I don't cook, I feed the masses. Some meals, okay most of our meals, are served and eaten in an assembly line fashion. The kids line up with their bowls and I scoop out a plop of some various meat/starch/veggie combination casserole or stir fry and they stroll off to find a place to eat it.
The food is hardly ever "really good".
My husband, knowing that I struggle in this area, bought this...
But, I don't know what to do with it.
So, help me out...
What can I do with this machine that will help me cut $350 from my grocery budget?
I can't wait to read your comments!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Being the Memory Maker
Photo taken at Heartwood Resort. I don't get out much. I like being at home. But, when I leave home, I like to go somewhere with a view.
I've been called "culturally illiterate", and it's probably true. I don't read the paper or watch the news or spend time keeping up with the latest entertainers. I don't know what movie stars are having babies or who their baby daddy is and I didn't watch last nights game. I don't keep up and I generally just don't care that much.
I often feel like Temperance Brennan on Bones when someone makes a cultural reference and she replies with a matter of fact
"I don't know what that means."
But, I'm just busy caring about and thinking about other things, and time feels short. Maybe it's because I'm getting older...
A young mom asked me the other day, "How do you know all these stories?"
I laughed, but after thinking it over, I realized that I have just lived. I listen to people talk, I watch their lives go by and I remember. I've had a lot of experiences, so I have a lot of stories to tell.
I have memories.
Not all of my memories are good. Some are horrible, and tragic. Some bring me to tears. Some memories send me to my room to hide under a blanket and wish I never had to come out. Some of them are just that bad.
But, I am made up of memories. My fears and joys, my hopes and dreams are often built upon these memories.
I know that my kids will have a lifetime of them, how ever long that life will be. So, today, instead of keeping up with the Who-nots in Hollywood or watching the ball players in the stadium, I am going to be a memory maker. I'm going to do my best to sprinkle in some really good ones, the kind that make you smile, and even cry tears of joy just to think of them.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
The Business of Baby book review
I'm reading a lot these days. Mostly because I'm making it a priority in our home. Some books are easier to read than others. I could read "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" over and over again.
But, The Business of Baby by Jennifer Margulis has taken me a long time to finish - almost 9 weeks. In fact, I've read several other books in the mean time, as I gradually try to take in all that Margulis offers in this text.
It's not overly academic or difficult to understand, and it's not boring - actually, the journalist in me loves to read the stories of other moms, and this book is filled with them. Margulis has extensively interviewed parents, doctors and various experts for her book.
My difficulty is the book often sends me to my room in tears... So much of what these mothers tell has been my own experience. As mothers, we often isolate ourselves. Even if we work outside the home, we don't bring our concerns to other experienced moms for advice and we don't offer our experience to new moms we meet. Perhaps we are afraid that we will come across as ignorant if we don't know enough or judgmental if we appear to know too much or have strong opinions. Either way, it's rooted in fear.
The Business of Baby is summed up in this paragraph found in Chapter 11, "Yet we [the United States] have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the industrialized world, we offer medically unnecessary 4-D ultrasounds at the mall, we wash our newborns with baby soap that off-gases formaldehyde, we vaccinate at birth against a sexually transmitted disease, we aggressively advertise products that undermine breastfeeding to pregnant women, let corporations give bleary-eyed new moms breastfeeding and potty training advice, and we put starch, food coloring, sugar, and unhealthy additives into food products for babies. We continue these practices despite the science, best evidence, and common sense that show us they are harmful."
Whether or not I (or you) agree with all of her points, the vast expanse of trust that we as parents put into so called experts without regard for their intent or motives, while at the same time, disregarding the wisdom of women who successfully navigated parenting before us, is frightening.
It should be more frightening than the fear we feel about turning to one another for advice and guidance.
As our family makes a new home in a new town, I love to hear the stories of my neighbors. I want to learn from those who've been here all along - why would I feel any differently about learning from those who've been moms for longer than I have?
I long for the camaraderie that comes from hours of conversation over coffee while children play nearby. It will come, one playdate at a time. For now, I hear the voices of other moms and their struggles as I finish the last few pages of The Business of Baby.
But, The Business of Baby by Jennifer Margulis has taken me a long time to finish - almost 9 weeks. In fact, I've read several other books in the mean time, as I gradually try to take in all that Margulis offers in this text.
It's not overly academic or difficult to understand, and it's not boring - actually, the journalist in me loves to read the stories of other moms, and this book is filled with them. Margulis has extensively interviewed parents, doctors and various experts for her book.
My difficulty is the book often sends me to my room in tears... So much of what these mothers tell has been my own experience. As mothers, we often isolate ourselves. Even if we work outside the home, we don't bring our concerns to other experienced moms for advice and we don't offer our experience to new moms we meet. Perhaps we are afraid that we will come across as ignorant if we don't know enough or judgmental if we appear to know too much or have strong opinions. Either way, it's rooted in fear.
The Business of Baby is summed up in this paragraph found in Chapter 11, "Yet we [the United States] have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the industrialized world, we offer medically unnecessary 4-D ultrasounds at the mall, we wash our newborns with baby soap that off-gases formaldehyde, we vaccinate at birth against a sexually transmitted disease, we aggressively advertise products that undermine breastfeeding to pregnant women, let corporations give bleary-eyed new moms breastfeeding and potty training advice, and we put starch, food coloring, sugar, and unhealthy additives into food products for babies. We continue these practices despite the science, best evidence, and common sense that show us they are harmful."
Whether or not I (or you) agree with all of her points, the vast expanse of trust that we as parents put into so called experts without regard for their intent or motives, while at the same time, disregarding the wisdom of women who successfully navigated parenting before us, is frightening.
It should be more frightening than the fear we feel about turning to one another for advice and guidance.
As our family makes a new home in a new town, I love to hear the stories of my neighbors. I want to learn from those who've been here all along - why would I feel any differently about learning from those who've been moms for longer than I have?
I long for the camaraderie that comes from hours of conversation over coffee while children play nearby. It will come, one playdate at a time. For now, I hear the voices of other moms and their struggles as I finish the last few pages of The Business of Baby.
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