Nope, It's Gone

Which is why I'm rewriting it as we speak.

I just indulged in a few warm chocolate chip cookies (Pillsbury, of course - I'm too lazy to buy everything and make true homemade cookies anymore).

My two muses (the dogs) are lounging beside me, hubby's upstairs putting together an entertainment center and my daughter's canopy for her bed, and the dishes are done. So why not write? What could be better on a Friday night?

I can remember when Friday night was party night. Even when we were first married, hubby and I went out on the weekends.

Not anymore. We went out with friends last weekend, so we'll be good for another month. *grin* I'd much rather indulge in a good writing session than a loud, noisy bar.

A Glimmer of Hope?

Just an update...

I just talked to our computer tech guy and he showed me where my file might be.

It's going to take a lot of will power to stay at work instead of running home to find out!

Noooooooooooooo!

Poor Rene. I frantically IM'd her last night because I'd lost a file.

And, you guessed it, that file was everything I'd written the previous evening. I had saved it, but it saved in a temporary internet file.

I panicked. I searched. I did another search. I tried everything I could think of.

And it's GONE.

The feeling of having your words - and they were GOOD words, darn it - lost forever to cyberspace is...is...well, let's just say I wanted to put my head in a vice clamp and keep on twisting it until the pain went away.

At any rate, I'm going to ask our tech guy here at work if there is any possible way that it's still floating around somewhere on my computer. If not, that's okay. I'm at peace with it now. Last night, torn between dragging my very tired behind to the computer and rewriting it and just falling asleep, I opted to take notes on everything that I could remember from the scene. It was an important scene, which is why I was so devestated. Hubby watched me frantically scribble away and I think was in a bit of awe - and not the good kind. He definitely saw the writer in me last night and I think he couldn't quite understand the creative process. But he respected it and let me scribble away.

Anyway, I'm over it. I think. As Rene said, "just write those pages better."

Sounds like a plan.

The "Real" Job

Darn it! I was looking forward to spending a few hours this afternoon writing. I have all my work done for my "real" job and eagerly anticipated my manuscript. But alas, something else has come up, so I must momentarily put my writing on hold for another few hours.

I wish I had the type of job that I could work for a few hours and go home every single afternoon - and make the same type of money. Maybe someday. But at this point, I've got to just suck it up and do it.

Fortunately, hubby is going to go to school to get training for a different career, one with more stability and better pay. It might be tough to do the whole school thing, but we'll make it through. I think he's excited to start on this new journey.

I wrote yesterday at work and last night and I hope to do more when I get off work. The dogs have settled into a bit of a pattern at night, sprawled out around my desk. They're getting spoiled, I think. :-)

Lack of Conflict?

I've noticed a rather disturbing trend in the books I've read lately. Bluntly put, there is no conflict between the hero and heroine.

Yeah, the locale is exciting, the plot intriguing, but there is nothing to keep these two apart.

I'm a little confused when I read these books, some from big name authors, because I've had it drilled into my head that conflict is the heart and soul of a book, no matter romance, mystery, thriller, etc. But especially in romance, the conflict between the hero and heroine must be center stage.

Why has this changed?

I enjoy books where the hero and heroine must solve a crime or uncover a mystery - those are my favorite to read. But when there is nothing to keep the hero and heroine from making a commitment - that internal conflict thing - then I have to wonder why it got published in the first place.

For me, it's boring to have the hero and heroine "get along" all the time. It's not that I want them fighting, but there has to be a core conflict that they must resolve in order to find the HEA. When that doesn't exist, my attention starts to drift.

I must say that the saving grace of the recent books I've read that lacked this internal conflict was my sufficient interest in the solving of the crime or mystery - I wanted to see who the bad guy was, etc., etc. But the HEA for the hero and heroine was just too darn easy.

The one positive I can find in this situation is that I am making doubly sure that I have conflict between my heroes and heroines in my own books. I want the reader to be on the edge of their seat for that HEA.

Rain!!!

It's been raining since about 6 p.m. last night. The dogs are nice and dry in the garage since the backyard is a giant mud puddle, and I'm comfortably ensconced at my desk at work.

But rainy days are PERFECT writing days for me. How I long to be at home, watching the rain fall outside, and tapping away at my novel, the two dogs stretched out beside me.

Instead, I'm at work, actually working, and wishing I wasn't.

I did manage to write last night, thank goodness.

And now, I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. Darn it! I'm trying to kick my Diet Pepsi habit and I don't like coffee, so I don't have my caffeine jolt in the morning.

If you see my eyelids propped up by toothpicks, you'll know I won the battle over caffeine. :-)

Sleepless Nights

I really hate it when I can't sleep. It seems like I woke up every hour last night and I really couldn't tell you why. There was the whole dog barking episode, of course, and my daughter trying to adjust to sleeping in her room, and the rumbling noises of my very hungry tummy. Oh yes - and I had a pounding headache. Well. I guess I did have reason to be sleepless.

At any rate, I'm at work and only have minimal things to do. I might try and get some writing time in on the new WIP since I haven't worked on it for a few days. I've been absorbed in getting my submissions ready and all I have to do is run to the post office today and send them off (and make sure I kiss them before I drop them off!).

My house is a disaster again, despite the fact that I spent most of Saturday cleaning. The kitchen is full of dirty dishes already and I'm wondering why in the heck I have to ask my husband to wash them.

Oh well.

My daughter has her first dentist appointment today and I am not looking forward to it. I have a feeling she's going to be scared witless. She doesn't know about it - I'm just going to pick her up from daycare and take her straight to the dentist so she doesn't have all day to worry about it. I *hate* going to the dentist, so I have to try and not communicate that terror to her.

I hope she does okay. We might have to run to the video place next door to the dentist and rent a movie for her afterwards. That's when parents just don't care if they're spoiling their children or not. When they've just gone through a doctor's appointment or immunization shots (which thankfully, we already did a few months ago), they just want to comfort them whatever way possible. Maybe I'll ask my husband if he can take her. She seems to be "tougher" when she's with her Daddy. :-)

A Few Quick Thoughts

Thought #1

"The Wedding Crashers" is HILARIOUS. I highly recommend it. But it's rated R and definitely not a kiddie flick. Hubby and I really enjoyed it, though. It will be on our "must buy" list when it comes out on DVD.

Thought #2

I really hate the bar scene. Hubby and I went out with another couple last night. When we first got to the bar (which is smoke-free now since our city adopted a no smoking in public policy which I LOVE), it was relatively quiet and relatively deserted. We played darts, laughed, joked around, had a great time. Fast forward an hour and the music had been turned up to "blow out the eardrums" and we were shouting at one another in an attempt to have a conversation. College-aged kids started arriving in droves - the girls in their very skimpy skirts, high heels, and tight shirts, the boys buffed up in their slicked-back hair and skin-tight muscle shirts. It's a meat market, all right. I used to be a part of that crowd in college, but we didn't have the same fashion sense then. Jeans and a nice shirt was good enough back then. Today, I just shake my head and thank the Lord I have a good man.

Thought #3

My daughter is a pack rat. Ironically, this is exactly what I used to do at her age - my mom would find collections of rocks in my purses, just as an example. I threw away plenty of rocks from my daughter's room. The good news is that she now has a "big girl" bed in her room and her own TV and VCR, which she just loves. I'm ecstatic because she actually played in her room for the first time in months yesterday. I wanted her room to be a haven for her, like my room was to me when I was a little girl, and even through high school. I'm awaiting the arrival of a canopy that I bought for her bed and I think she'll love her room even more. And last night, we had a wonderful success - she slept IN HER BED the ENTIRE NIGHT. The last time that happened was.....um...months and months ago.

Thought #4

The submission process is neve-wracking. I made a few changes in my manuscript that really helped even things out. Now I'm fine-tuning the synopsis. I hope to mail everything off tomorrow.

Thought #5

My husband is AWESOME. Right now, I have the house to myself - plus the two dogs - since he and my daughter went to go get groceries. He's giving me the time to work on my submissions and have some "me" time. I'm so thankful that he supports me in my writing career.

I'm Yawning - Yup, Must Be Friday Afternoon

We had a long lunch today - our entire department went out to eat and we pretty much didn't care when we came back. Well, okay, we cared, but not as much as we normally do.

Fridays are pretty darn lazy around here. I get my work done, but the motivation to do much more isn't there.

I want to work on my synopsis this afternoon and maybe I'll get around to that. There's only so much mindless surfing you can do before you go nuts.

Plans for the Weekend...

Spend the entire day in my house Saturday (because it's supposed to break 100 degrees) with my two dogs by my side, working on my submissions. Go to "The Wedding Crashers" with friends that night. Yay, a date with hubby!

Digging For Treasure

My five-year-old daughter's room could be called the Pit of Despair. It's nothing more than a storage room for her toys, her bed, and her clothes. She never plays in it, never sleeps in it, and only uses it to throw her toys in after she's done playing with them. I don't know why she refuses to sleep in that room, but she's now taken up residence on the living room couch. She inevitably crawls in between my husband and I in the wee hours of the morning and I end up getting kicked for my last few blissful hours of sleep. But since kindergarten is starting a little more than a month from now, I need to get her back in her room, make her comfortable so she wants to sleep in it, and convince her that her room can be a wonderful place - a place to dream and play, to read and draw, a haven for her amidst the chaos of life. That's what my room was for me and I hope she can have the same thing.

On the way home from work and daycare yesterday, we talked about what we need to do to her room to get it to that point. I suggested painting it, specifically, painting clouds on the ceiling. She wanted to put Care Bears in those clouds, but I didn't think my artistic talents would stretch that far. And she also wanted Hello Kitty wandering around her walls. We're going to make a trip to Menards or Wal-Mart to get some ideas.

So I was rather excited to start tackling her room last night and get things going. But I had no idea what I was getting myself into! This child has saved everything. I found rocks, tops of acorns, pop bottle caps, Kleenex boxes (with the Lion King), and bits and pieces of paper, broken crayons, pencils...you name it, I found it. I threw away a bunch of stuff - broken toys, toys that had the parts missing and I didn't want to take the effort to find all of them, and lots of other stuff. I took toys still in one piece that she never plays with and put them in a basket to donate to Good Will or some other place.

We got through the toy box and then I went through her various "catch-alls," boxes full of an assortment of little treasures. She decided to put everthing that she still wants from the toy box in two plastic grocery sacks. I've still got to go through her storage area where there are an assortment of puzzle pieces, paper, and odds and ends.

But the best thing by far of the entire evening was watching her climb into the toybox (which was mine as a little girl) and peek her head out. I have a picture of me doing the exact same thing with the exact same toybox.

I was so exhausted by the end of the evening and I'm not even done yet. Hubby even went and bought me some Ben and Jerry's Frozen Lowfat Yogurt (yup, the Chocolate Fudge Brownie kind!) and I was too tired to eat it.

BUT

I did manage to drag myself down to the basement, do some laundry, and write a page and a half. I was in bed by 10:30 and fell asleep thinking about my synopsis, and in my dreams, I was eating warm chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. :-)

This Writing Gig

I managed to squeeze in a bit of writing time at work yesterday. Never fear, I finished all my work first. *grin*

Decided to keep sending out query letters for my novel. I think I can fix the little problem I had in the manuscript, so Rene and I worked on my query letter. And I hereby dub her the QUERY QUEEN. Why, you ask? Because after she rearranged my letter, I emailed it to three agents.

Within an hour and a half, I had requests from two of them.

This morning, I had a request from the third.

Can you see me jumping up and down in excitement?

I plan on being very busy this weekend!!!

What the...???

I woke up this morning to a very strange, very annoying sound. I peered through the window blinds and couldn't see a thing. At one point, I thought I had burglers downstairs ripping through my duct work.

I finally went outside and found the source of the noise - my dog, Charlie. And what he was doing did NOT make me happy.

We just put up a wood fence and this dumb dog (well, actually, he's half-Border Collie so he's very smart - most of the time) was ripping a hole in the wood, chewing and gnawing at it. I was furious.

But not as furious as my husband is going to be. *shudder*

I have no idea why Charlie did this. The picture taken above is from five years ago, but he still looks pretty much the same. I know that Border Collie's will make work for themselves if they aren't kept busy, but Charlie usually doesn't do things like this. I just took him for a long walk last night. Maybe this is his way of telling me that he wants me home more often?

In Writing News...

Three more pages (single spaced) done. Yay for me! I have my RWA chapter meeting tonight, so I probably won't get much done. Maybe I can squeeze in a bit at work today...

God's Fireworks

Last night around 10 p.m., we FINALLY had a thunderstorm roll through. My daughter and I were so excited that we went and sat on our front porch and watched the lightning. (The storm wasn't close yet, so there was no danger of getting struck by lightning!) We were both in our jammies and ready for bed, but we couldn't resist watching the wonder of nature.

I told Molly that the lightning was God putting on a firework display for us, but she didn't believe me. In fact, she gave me a very funny look, one that said, "Mom, you're weird." :-)
But it was one of those mother-daughter moments that I hope to always remember and cherish.

In other news...

Great success on the writing front! Wrote four pages (single spaced) yesterday afternoon and had a blast. Also got in my exercising and finished up the laundry. Hubby cleaned the bathroom (gasp!) so I didn't have to tackle that, thank goodness.

Daddy's Little Helper

My daughter loves to help her daddy in the garage. Here she's helping him paint my porch swing. My husband loves to be in his garage, so this is the perfect time for them to spend father-daughter time together.

Six Years and Counting...

It's been a rough ride at times, sweeter than honey at others...

My husband and I have been married for six years today.

We opted for a small wedding - just the two of us - in a beautiful Las Vegas wedding chapel. After we said "I do" we had a wonderful Italian dinner accompanied by a violinist. We contemplated going out on the town that night, but surprise, surprise, we were both exhausted by the end of the evening and ended up doing nothing more than going back to our hotel room where I promptly fell asleep. Not the most romantic way to spend your wedding night!

We've been separated by miles, separated in our hearts, but we persevered and stayed together. I've learned how very hard it is to keep a marriage together, but I've also learned how rewarding it can be to live your life with someone you love.

He still makes me weak in the knees when he kisses me and we still hold hands wherever we go. He calls me up at work just to say 'hi', he surprises me with special gifts, and tells me he loves me each and every day.

Tonight we'll celebrate with a dinner and a movie (sans children) and take a moment to think about where we've been and where we're going...

Coloring and Writing

I sat at my computer last night, trying to get a few pages written before bedtime called. My five-year-old daughter wanted to play a video game, but she'd already watched a movie and I thought she should do something else other than sit in front of the t.v. After a few tears and pleas, she finally gave in, went and got her colors and her new coloring book.

Unfortunately, she decided to color right next to me.

If I was just surfing the 'Net or doing other mindless things, I wouldn't have minded. Actually, I still don't mind that she was right there beside me because I like to have her around. But she kept asking me questions. And telling me to "look at what I colored" and asking more questions.

But being the wonderfully calm mother that I am (well, at least I was last night), I made the obligatory remarks and tried once more to work on my manuscript. I did manage to get a page written.

I thought about giving up a few times and just joining her in her coloring ventures. But for some odd reason, that little thing called self-discipline kicked in and refused to let me budge. I plugged away.

When I went to bed last night, though, I couldn't help but feel that I'd been out of touch with my story, that I wasn't quite into it as much as I should have been.

I figure I can always go back and change things - what's important is that I got words on the page and spent time with my daughter at the same time. What could be better? :-)

I Just Don't Know...

...what to write about today.

Normally, this is not a problem. I can sit down, start typing, and ideas will just start clambering to be released.

But today...meh...not so much.

This too shall pass...

Variety is the Spice of Life

I didn't get any writing done at work yesterday, but I did manage to crank out a page and half (single spaced) last night. Yay for me!!!

The day job has become a bit boring. I know it's just a phase, but yesterday was horrendous in terms of getting myself motivated. It was sheer torture sitting at my desk and staring at the words on the screen. Even surfing the 'Net became boring, and that's pretty sad! But really - there's only so long you can stare at a computer before you want to get up and run screaming through the office.

Ah well. Just one of those days...

I told my husband last night that the reason I really like the fall and winter months is because I have more time. I know that sounds weird, but here's the thing...when it's dark at 5 p.m., I don't have to round the kids up from outside, persuade them to go to bed, and then try and get myself to bed. The hours seem to fly during the summer evenings and I don't feel like I have enough time to get stuff done.

On another note...

I'm working on a children's book with the graphic designer here at work. He's very talented and the story is great - I'm making some changes, editing, cutting, adding, etc. It should be lots of fun.

Sleepless Nights

Sleep has been a bit elusive lately. Not that I'm having trouble going to sleep - I'm not tossing and turning or waking up on my own. No, I blame my husband and my daughter.

When he's really tired, hubby snores. And snores. I nudge him. He stops for a few seconds, then he's back at it. NOT good for my sleep.

Last night my daughter woke up and promptly climbed into our bed. She's five and somehow manages to make her way into my bed nearly every single morning. Last night she kicked me, rolled over on me, nudged me, and generally made a cute pest of herself. We have a king-size bed and I didn't have nearly enough room.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any writing in yesterday. I had every intention - just like I had every intention of exercising - and then, well, I just didn't. Hubby actually was in the house last night and not working in his garage. He started watching a movie so I figured I'd join him. Sigh...that sucked away two hours. No more of that! I went to bed feeling listless, like I still needed to do something. And we all know what that something was!

Maybe I'll sneak in a few pages on my break today to make up for it. ;-)

Just a Few More Minutes!

It was 10:30 p.m. when I sat down at my computer last night. I'd stopped writing to get my daughter ready for bed, do the nightly chores, and make sure hubby got to bed on time. (He's notorious for staying up too late working in the garage.)

I just wanted to write a few more sentences. Well, the few sentences turned into a few pages. While this is a good thing, it wasn't great for my sleep. I want a job where I can go to work at 10 a.m. and leave at 2 p.m. and still get paid the same. Wouldn't that be great?

I'm finding that it is incredibly difficult to do everything I want to do. There's only so much time for exercising, writing, reading, cleaning, spending time with the kids, with hubby, doing the bills, etc., etc. I don't even watch t.v. anymore, unless it's the weekend and I want to relax with a movie.

Y'know, if I didn't have to work full-time, just think of all the hours in the day I'd have. But this is a catch-22 for me because I HAD that once. And I didn't get nearly enough done. I need the motivation to get up and go to work in the morning and that sets the tone for the rest of the day.

But I digress.

The important thing is that I wrote yesterday. Lots of words. Lots of good words.

Stanzie Rescued!

True to my word, I rescued Staznie last night from the drunken snoring.

Oh, how I LOVE to write. Had an absolutely fabulous time (anyone ever watched the BBC's "Absolutely Fabulous"? Love that show. I love a lot of the BBC comedies - but that's an entirely new post).

Managed to get a few pages down. I always write in TNR, single-spaced. It helps me dive into the story better. Maybe because it looks more like a published book. Courier always sends me screaming to the chocolate aisle of the grocery store.

On Today's Agenda

1) Have a get-together with my RWA chapter today. We're working on our items to sell at the RWA conference in Reno. Should be a fun time.

2) Write.

3) Exercise.

4) Rejoice over the fact that my car is finally not going to make that horrid noise anymore! We finally had the money to get the struts fixed. Hubby worked on it last night and will finish it up today. Yay!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

When We Last Left...

My poor heroine must be fed up with me. I've left her on the floor of her townhouse, a raging storm outside, and a drunken hero snoring beside her. She's got things to do, places to go, and treasure to find.

My hero could care less. He's sleeping off the after effects of a racuous night of drowning his sorrows, specifically the threat of a family secret exposed to the world.

But my heroine...Stanzie, short for Constanza, has got to be hopping mad. It will be a matter of eating a lot of humble pie to get her to forgive me...

Stanzie (arms crossed, tapping foot, icy glare shooting from eyes): "Where have you been?"

Me: "I had a sick child. And...and my husband and I got into an argument."

Stanzie: "NO EXCUSE. Do you know how long I've been sitting here? I can't take the snoring anymore! I don't even know who this man is! I just open the door, see him drunk on the doorstep, and you leave me here with him? What kind of a person are you?"

Me: "I'm so sorry. I will rectify the situation immediately."

Stanzie: "Not good enough. You will rectify it NOW."

Me: "I can't. I'm at work. I'll get to it this weekend."

Stanzie: "This weekend?!? How about tonight? In fact, you should have gotten up this morning and saved me from this torment. Do you know how loud he snores?"

Me: "If he's anything like my husband, I'm sure he snores very loud. Especially since he's drunk."

Stanzie: "Well then? Why didn't you tackle this problem this morning?"

Me: "Well, you see, I had this lovely dream with Jude Law. And he liked me. He really liked me! And I was going to fly to England to see him..."

Stanzie: (pausing to consider): "Hmmm. I can see the dilemma there. He is quite dreamy. Too bad he's nearly 200 years too late for me. Well, I suppose I can forgive you for that. A dream about Jude Law is definitely worth staying in bed for."

Me: "Thank you."

Stanzie: "But you simply must help me tonight."

Me: "That shouldn't be a problem. But, it is Friday night..."

Stanzie: "Melissa! NO MORE EXCUSES. Do you understand? How long do you intend to leave me here? I have things to do!!!"

Me: "All right, all right! I'll start on it tonight. Unless I happen to take a nap and Christian Bale appears in my dream..."

Stanzie: "AAARRGHHHH!!!"

Home Today

My daughter decided to start the morning off by throwing up. Unfortunately, she did it in the parking lot at work.

I took her with me this morning, thinking she just had a cold (the throw-up didn't come until later) and I was going to take her to daycare later. Nope, that didn't happen. Fortunately, I have the type of job that I can work at home. So here I am, tapping away on the computer. My daughter just woke up and is now watching The Incredibles again. Makes it a bit hard to work with the t.v. in the background, but I'm not doing too bad.

Didn't get any writing done last night. That happens when you and hubby have an argument - it just zaps your creativity right outta ya.

Cut my hair last night - about three or four inches off. It's now about to my shoulders. I feel so much better with all that hair gone. Strange how such a little thing can make a big difference.

We'll see if I get any writing done today - my daughter says she is feeling better. If she is, I'm going to have a hard time keeping her on the couch. Looks like it's going to be Movie Day at our house!

I Wanna Write!

Yup, you heard me. I want to go home and sit down at my computer, open my Word document, AND WRITE.

For long, uninterrupted lengths of time. With lots of chocolate.

Of course, now that the stepsons are gone for awhile, my daughter might be demanding more of my attention. But she's great at entertaining herself. I don't think she's ever come up to me and whined, "Mom, I'm BORED."

The rejection letter has only fueled me to get the manuscript finished that I just started. Granted, it won't be overnight, but I'd like to keep the momentum going for as long as possible.

My allergies were bothering me this morning, but they seem to have dissipated somewhat this afternoon. This is a good thing, considering I'm very busy at work.

Now, if I can just stop yawning...

Tuesday Musings

Musing #1

The little problem in my manuscript is gone. I credit my husband. Although he didn't come up with the solution, he did graciously let me use him as a sounding board. Just being able to talk the problem out loud while he listened enabled that door to open in my mind. The only downside is I had to scrap 14 pages of writing. Grrr...oh well. Better to find out now than 200 pages later!

Musing #2

The two stepsons are on their way to Kentucky to stay with their mom for a month and a half. Lucky guys will get to go to Florida for a nine-day vacation as long as the hurricane season allows it. I now only have my daugher until mid-August, so it should be pretty quiet around here. My oldest stepson will come back in August - one ss lives with his mom, the other with us.

Musing #3

The 4th of July rocked. Hubby grilled out and we invited some neighbors over. Our next-door neighbor is a widower, a grouchy old man that yells at us more than anything, (which hubby tolerates to a point, but we realize the guy is just lonely and crabby) but he came over (he's on oxygen constantly, so doesn't get out of the house much) as well as some other neighbors we know from down the street. We all had a great time watching the non-stop firework show and eating my husband's yummy hamburgers and grilled chicken. Unfortunately, my oldest stepson was puking like a dog all day yesterday. We carried him out to the porch swing so he could at least watch the fireworks, but it definitely wasn't the best day for him. Thankfully, he was feeling much better today - I hope he doesn't get any flight sickness, though.

Musing #4

Allergies. Oh how I loathe allergies. I've been sneezing since I woke up this morning and have the classic symptoms: watery eyes, runny nose, etc., etc. I feel yucky, but I hope to go through some research on the novel while I lounge on the couch.

Musing #5

I will only have a three-day work week. Did I mention that I love my job? But there is a downside to that three-day work week. Stuff will undoubtedly have piled up over the weekend and holiday and we'll be playing catch-up all three days. The other copywriter will only be there on Wednesday, so I'll be keeping very busy.

Musing #6

I actually exercised both days we were at the hotel on Saturday and Sunday. Woo hoo for me! Went on a long walk yesterday in our park, so that gave me three solid days of exercise. Will try and get a good walk in tonight with my dog.

Musing #7

It's already 4:49 p.m. Where did the day go?

My Left Brain Hates My Right Brain

I just returned from a long walk in the park with my husband, stepson, and daughter (plus the two dogs). Unfortunately, it didn't clear my head enough to deal with the problem I'm having with my manuscript.

I know my subconscious is working on it - I go to bed thinking about it and I wake up thinking about it. But the solution has yet to manifest itself.

I don't know how much time I'll spend on it today, especially since we have company coming over tonight for the 4th - just a few friends, nothing big. But hubby is planning on grilling (yum!).

My stepsons leave tomorrow for Kentucky and thankfully, I don't have to work (did I mention I love my company? We always get the day off before and after a holiday). But I suppose I'll spend most of the rest of the day cleaning the giant pit of uckiness that is my house. Remember how I bragged about how clean my house was last weekend when my husband and stepsons were gone? And remember how I said within 5 minutes of them coming home, it would be a disaster? Well, I was right - and it hasn't been clean since.

On another note...

I'm thinking I should watch The Patriot sometime today...it has a way of really reminding you what the 4th of July is really about. When I think of our incredible victory over one of the most powerful empires in the world at the time...well, it is just awe-inspiring.

Celebrate your freedom today!

$100 Worth of Firecrackers

When I saw my husband bringing home a huge box of firecrackers, I feared for my bank account. But not to worry! It wasn't OUR money he spent...

Turns out the owner of the firework stand was an old Army buddy of my husband's - they spent time together in the first Gulf War. When they recognized one another, the other guy said, "Hey! I owe you $100! Remember when I borrowed money to get home?" This was clear back in the early 1990's. What are the chances of running into someone again in such a big town as this? Guess pretty darn good.

The long overdue (and long forgotten) debt is now paid - in $100 worth of fireworks.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

On Writing...

Wow. What a rant yesterday. But I felt much better afterwards. *grin*

I dived into my new historical, tentatively titled The Rake's Lady last night and had a blast. I should have kept going since my fingers were flying across the keyboard, but it was getting late and I had to do the evening chores - finish up the laundry, give the daughter a bath, scrounge for food for breakfast, brush the teeth - yeah, the boring stuff.

But I did stop at a great starting point. That sounds rather oxymoronic. But I'm excited to jump into it again.

And now I have to stop and think - what brought about that excitement to rush to the keyboard? How can I keep that excitement?

I think there are a few things helping me out this time around.

1) It's a new work, so of course I'm excited to delve into my characters and story.

2) Robert Pidela, my main character, has been with me since the 7th grade - yes, that long! And it's finally time to tell his story.

3) I have a roadmap. I know where I'm going, I know who my characters are, why they act the way they do, and what choices they're going to make. Of course, I've left room for them to grow and change as they need to.

I don't know how much writing I'll get done over the weekend because of the holiday, but hopefully I'll squeeze a few pages in.

We get off work at 2 p.m. today. Yay! (Yeah, we're going to be REAL productive today!)

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July!