My Two Blessings

Life is like a box of Chocolates Merry Christmas to one and all. I have time to breath now. My final is over, the Christmas shopping is done, except for the out of town folks, who will receive their gifts after Christmas and friends who will be dropping by during the holidays. Okay, so Christmas shopping isn’t done. Look’s like I’ll be braving it with the rest of the folks at Borders this afternoon, before grocery shopping. We have closed the shop and Father is off through Wednesday for a well deserved break. Yesterday, we drove up to Los Altos and had an early Christmas celebration with part of Father’s family. We had a delightful time and Father had fun instigating a round of who can take the best close up picture of nostrils. James cousin came in first. The joy of digital cameras. Grandma M is a wonderful cook and we feasted on beef tenderloin, scalloped potatoes and ginger carrots and english pudding. James and his cousin had fun and she introd...

Hey! Where did the time go? Wow, it's two weeks before Christmas and I have accomplished ----- nothing. We did managed to go out last night and buy a Christmas Tree. That was quite an experience. The two places we normally go are no longer there and we ended up going to a local nursery. Beautiful tree - which you'll see after its decorated, but one of the most expensive we have ever bought. Now I just have to figure out how to keep Luna from climbing in it. James is anxious to go Christmas shopping and I am starting on my lists of what to get people, figuring out what to buy before we hit the stores. Otherwise we will be wandering aimlessly and buying for ourselves. Amazon.com is my friend. Christmas Cards? Hah! Bah Humbug! What have we been doing? you ask. We cleaned out the garage in anticipation of getting the new garage door only to find that because we want a brown one, it is special order. The door guy said they would need 7 feet of clearance into the...

This morning's excitement! "Hey mom, why is the trash in the street? James asks from the living room. Huh! I say, from the kitchen, deep in the middle of writing. He repeats twice and I go to look. Through the morning glories I see a pile o trash. We go outside to this sight. The garbage man is no where to be seen, but one of the neighbors suggest we move the car. Someone from down the street and around the corner had placed fire place ashes in the trash this morning. According to the county guy who got there pretty quickly, the driver is supposed to pull off a main thorough fair and into a side street. Ours was the closest. Lucky us. They dumped the whole thing in the court, spray and sifted, made sure the fire was out. Reminder to self: Never stand downwind of a burnt garbage truck and smelly garbage. The county guy said they would send someone out tomorrow to pick up our trash. N...

Robinella is hosting this week's fun monday and it is a redux of our favorite posts. Since most of us participated in Nablopomo and we are exhausted, I wanted to make this one easy. Since it’s December and most of us are starting to decorate and make things colorful, I too wanted to make things colorful. And lastly, because we are bloggers and consider what we post to be down right hilarious or informative or brainy and we like to showcase ourselves, I wanted to let you do just that! Take a moment in this last month of 2007 to reflect on the past year. Okay? Done? Now… In honor of exhaustion, color and self-love , I present you with this week’s assignment. I want you to dig through your blog files and show us your best effort. Why you consider it your best is up to you. C’mon, you know you have a favorite - show it to me one more time . All I can say is Thank you for something easy after just completing nanowrimo. I lied and can't leave my story alone. I k...

I DID IT! I am finished. I wrote 102,208 words in 30 days and have a complete story. Father was a great influence in telling me I had to get to at least a 100,000 words today and had so many hours before midnight. I was bound and determined, worked all day and finished it just moments ago. So, now I set it aside for a week or two, to take a break, work on class projects, pay some attention to attention deprived James and Father, before I go back, reread and start to edit. I never imagined in a jillion years that I would accomplish writing a story, a novel in 30 days. So, celebrate with me, have a glass of wine (virtually or real) and do a happy dance.

Blue Momma from Life in the Fishbowl is hosting this week and wants to Unfinished Projects I want you to show me your......projects. More to the point, I want to see your unfinished projects. I have so many that I really need some reassurance that I'm not the only one. Home improvement projects are what I have in mind, but it you don't have any of those show me any kind of project - needlework, cooking, scrapbooking, etc. You can even show me your spouse if they qualify as a work in process. And please, I WANT PICTURES!!!! You can talk if you want, but you don't have to. I know since you are all bloggers talk is bound to happen, but I most definitely want to see photos of those unfinished projects. Gack. Just a few minutes ago, I remembered signing up for this and rushed about. What unfinished projects do I want to share. I have a list as long as my arm, but don't we all. Bathrooms that have been tiled, but the cove forgotten. Walls that need to be repain...

Happy Thanksgiving The last few days have been quite busy. Wednesday was my 48th birthday. Father came home early and cooked a lovely lamb dinner. Father and James gave me Mary Poppins Movie, The Mary Poppins Companion book (which James picked out all by himself) and Father gave me the new Mercedes Lackey book. He really does know me. He saw it in the store and he said "that the one to get her." I had not mentioned I wanted the book, and I guess all the Mercedes Lackey books in my bookshelves stirred a memory. I was quite surprised. My parents gave me a very generous check and my sister gave me Scarlet by Lawhead and Self Editing for Fiction Writers. I got myself in trouble as soon as I started to read Self Editing. I began editing my words as worked on "floating on the surface. " I slowed down to think about the structure, instead of the story. Slapped myself across the face a few times and reminded myself "NO EDITING. YET!" Things fl...

Luna has been growing and she is now 6 1/2 months old. Then at 2 months Now - One relaxed cat.

God is my muse ! This week we did formal lessons on Monday and Tuesday, then took the rest of the week off. In the scheme of things, this week falls on my 3 weeks on / 1 week off schedule, however since we are off next week for my birthday and the thanksgiving holiday, I decided to power through and do lesson. I had planned for the whole week but didn't accomplish that. Why not? you ask. Well, ideas for the story I am writing bloomed and I wrote pretty much non stop for a couple days. Oh, we stopped for meals and Mom, I need attention breaks. I have a Fall season picture on my desktop from unityonline that is of a road leading into the countryside and it is lined with trees, the leaves have all turned color and leaves are strewn all over the place. The saying is " divine guidance directs me on my path. I am wise with the wisdom of spirit. I read that saying every day and every time I get onto my computer. I have to say God is my muse! Divine guidance is leadin...

Morning Glory We were snug in our bed when Luna gave us a stinky wake up call around 6:30. I moved the litter box out of the room, sprayed with room deodorizer and left my husband trying to go back to sleep. I sleepily puttered about the kitchen preparing my breakfast. When I sat down to eat, glanced out to the window to see: Thank you God for early wake up calls that allow me to witness the glory of the sun rising and the beautiful picture you painted just for me.

Nanowrimo update: 33,000 words and counting !!!!!! I started writing this morning and just couldn't stop. I typed 5000 words today and put my main character through the emotional wringer. Finally introduced her to Benjamin and he just makes her heart beat so much faster and he is such an intense person. He fit in to the coincidences of God telling her to study Proverbs and sent the poor girl into a tail spin. I had so much fun writing today. Of course, I did take time out to do lessons with James, make and have lunch and dinner. Hubby didn't get home until 8:00 and james was content and amusing himself. Tomorrow is another day.

F un Monday is being hosted by rooten, tooten, HOOTIN' ANNI'S MOTHER MAY I Now before we begin, here are the directions from "Mother Anni"-- [Hope no one thought you were crazy enough to put you in "the suit", or a rubber room while experimenting with this! :o)] - 30 GIANT STEPS - IN ANY direction. You may have to make a few turns and pivots so you won't run into any walls or such...don't want any injuries today! WARNING: Avoid any obstacles in the way- if there's a door...open it & continue, if there is a wall...pivot AROUND it. You may end up outdoors! Or perhaps if a small apartment....down the hallway....who knows?!! :::thinking::: "Oh gawd, if there's a pool at the end of your thirty steps, I sure as H E double L hope you can swim!!!!" After the 30 giant steps, Stop! TAKE A PHOTO AND/OR NOTE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING!! Then, take 15 baby steps back. After the 15 baby steps, Stop! TAKE A PHOTO AND/OR NOTE WHAT Y...

We are doing school light for the month of November while I am doing Nanowrimo. For more info on nano, scroll down below this post. This week we accomplished everything on our list, plus James enjoyed doing Iknowthat.com on the internet. Wonderful educational sight and he is improving his math skills with the Leon Math Stories. Devotions : discussed love, wrote and memorized 1 Corinthian 13:8 Love Never Fails. Lord Teach Me to Pray : Finished the section on Pledging our Allegiance and discussing the 2nd line in the Our Father. English: Completed Lessons 17 and 18 Writing our Answers and Changing word order in making sentences. Spelling : Completed Lesson 17 and learned all about Syllables. Besides completing the work book, on Daddy day had Father test him by having James write all the words and circle which ones had two syllables. Math : He is in Unit 4 and working on basic facts, sums through 10 How to Write A Story : All about being creative and looking at pi...

I have been diligently getting up every morning between 6:30 to 7:00 and working on the story until 10:00. Characters and story lines keep changing as the writing proceeds. Initially the love interest, Adam was going to be a 4th grade teacher, new to the area. He has morphed into a sculptor and the brother of Father Andrew and Sister Mary Margaret. Father thinks I should change his name. I need a good name that reflects a sculptor - and matches the picture of his character. My imaginary curriculum has changed to real classical since I discovered several real catholic churches and especially one in Texas who are actually used Well Trained Mind and all its recommendations including story of the world to teach the students. I will actually base the class on that and might change the titles, I don't know. They say, write what you know. I finally finished the first day in my characters story and tomorrow, we will see what that brings. It is the week before school and has ...

NaNoWriMO The story is actually progressing quite well and I have managed to write 13562 words and am still in my character's first day. I have taken her from waking up at 6:30 in the morning to just about to eat dinner. Who knew I could be so verbose. LOL! I have gone back a couple times and expanded some scenes, but need to concentrate on turning off my internal editor and write instead. I can edit as much as I want when this is over. Here is another snippet of the story Background: Samantha's dad is a baptist preacher and every Sunday he emails her with a copy of his sermon for the day. EXCERPT: “Hi honey, hope you are having a restful Sunday. This is the sermon I gave today and it seemed to make several people squirm. I have a habit of doing that – making people uncomfortable, getting under their skin and making them think. Yesterday evening while I was sitting down on the dock by the lake fishing, I saw a bald eagle fly high overhead kiting o...

National Novel Writing Month Wednesday night I hardly slept. All night I was writing the story in my head and just couldn't wait until morning came. I finally fell asleep and woke up around 7:15, lay there a few minutes and climbed out of bed about 7:30. Got dressed and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. James heard me clinking about and got up. "What are you doing up, its not 8:00 yet" he asks. I have the kid well trained not to come into my room before 8:00 a.m. in the morning, so he doesn't expect me to be up before then.   I told him (again) about nanowri and that would be working on the story in the mornings and I planned on getting up earlier to do that. We had breakfast, got him settled with a movie in the living room and started typing. Because I had already thought out much of what I wanted to say, didn't need to write it down. I found the story flowing and inventing itself as I typed. I managed to complete 2000 words before ...

Excerpt from  WIP-1 "The sunlight filtered through the curtains, chasing away the shadows in the room. Samantha’s 6 month old kitten watched the dust motes floating in the stream of sunlight with interest. After a couple minutes, she started swatting at the dust. When she grew weary of playing with the dust motes, she climbed up to the pillow and gently prodded at Samantha’s head which was barely showing beneath the covers. Samantha burrowed into the comforter, deep asleep in the midst of a dream. Chloe curled up beside her and went back to sleep. In her dream, she watched as colorful leaves of yellow, orange, purple and brown swirled through the air, the trees rustling in the wind. One multiple colored leaf came in to view as it floated on the currents of the wind, back and forth until it landed in a fast moving stream. The stream carrying the leaf, bobbing up and down in the water, flowing here and there with the currents. The leaf went over a...

Studied James 4:8 Come Close to God. Then he will come close to you. Pledging our Allegiance. Studying in depth the second sentence in the OUR FATHER. "Your Kingdom Come" and what allegiance means. Finished Unit 3 Minuends through 10 Yeah! Completed Lesson 16 Adding ing Completed Unit 1 Lesson 16 and 17 James and Father read about Radioactivity and discussed. On Wednesday, lessons didn't get done because Tuesday night the check engine light went on in my car. I took in it at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and sat around the waiting room for almost two and half hours until they came out to tell me the O2 sensor was bad and needed to be replaced to the tune of $300.00 This just happened to be something that was missed a month ago when I had almost $2000.00 worth of work done on the car because the radiator sprung a leak and numerous other maintenance issues - all legitimate had to be dealt...

Up, Up, and Away. It's Superman !!!!!!

Happy Halloween

Surprise! Daylight Saving Pushed Back One Week by 2005 Energy Conservation Act If you turned your clocks back one hour one hour Sunday morning thinking it was the annual move back to Standard Time, all you succeeded in doing was moving into a new time zone. The move from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time doesn't happen this year until the first Sunday in November, instead of the usual last Sunday in October. That means computer software, cellphones and other electronic equipment that is programmed to automatically change will have to be manually reset Monday morning back to Daylight Saving Time, then changed back one hour next Sunday. President Bush in 2005 signed the Energy Conservation Act, which pushed back the time change in an effort to squeeze just a little more daylight — and a bit of energy savings — into the daily lives of Americans. The legislation also changed the "spring forward" to Dayl...

Fun Monday #39 hosted by Candid Karina “I want to see your security blankets. No, not the kind Linus carries around with him in the Charlie Brown cartoons, although, if you have one of those, by all means share it. What I want to see are the items you just cannot leave home without. What is it that if you leave your house without, you feel naked, incomplete, not quite right? This can be one thing or many things. And since most of us don't live in a clothing optional society, lets just assume we all leave the house fully dressed...I want to hear about those other things...the extras. The things that make women's purses so heavy and men's pockets so messy (I'm going to get grief for this one, aren't I?) What can't you leave home without? Show us pictures, tell us stories...have fun!” Well, of course I can’t leave the house without my purse, but you don't need to see a picture of that. Would feel naked without it, plus has all the essen...

The fall into reading challenge is progressing and a little more than 1/3 over. Have finished half of the books planned and have been making adjustments along the way, adding and deleting books. I did read the whole Twilight Trilogy based on other challengers reviews and suggestions but decided not to do reviews on them. I recently started reading Terry Brooks Genesis of Shannara: The Elves of Cintra and discovered that just couldn't get into it; too dark and bleak and depressing. So, setting it aside and will read it another time. (Maybe) Also going to set aside Bodie Thoene's A River Runs Free and the non fiction book The Other Parent. Found 3 interesting books at Berean's and decided to add them to the challenge. I seem to be veering toward and enjoying reading books by Christian authors lately. A new one by young adult author Wayne Thomas Batson called Isle of Swords . He is the author of the The Door Within Trilogy which totally captivated me and I enjo...