That Darn Metabolism

This is a picture of me from my office Christmas party. I rather like it, except for the fact that it shows that darn extra weight I gained back after losing two years ago. Talk about frustrating! And why is it always harder to lose weight when you get older? Your metabolism just isn't the same, I guess.

When I was in high school and college, I ate whatever I wanted - and since my grandmother and my mother were wonderful cooks and made scrumptious baked goods, I indulged my sweet tooth. Probably not a good thing since I still have that sweet tooth, but do not have the metabolism I did back then! I was also pretty darn lazy. I didn't exercise because I didn't like to exercise and making sure I ate my vegetables wasn't a big priority.

I regret not forming those habits earlier in my life. It's a lot harder now that I have a full-time job, a daughter to raise, and other responsibilities I didn't have then. So now I'm trying to make good, healthy habits - exercising at least three times a week (more if I can squeeze it in), choosing healthy meals to cook, and avoiding indulging my sweet tooth. (Thank goodness for Dove Dark Chocolate! It's actually good for me and it satisfies the craving for sweets.)

Two years ago, my doctor diagnosed me with diabetes. It wasn't a big shock since my dad had been diagnosed a few years ago and the disease runs in my family. But I think I developed it earlier because of my extra weight, a result of botched birth control and things going completely out of whack with my body after I had my daughter. Hypothyroidism and PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) are also things I was diagnosed with after her birth.

So yeah, I have a few health challenges to combat. And that's why I dearly wish I had those healthy habits established earlier in life.

Here's the good news - I lost 30 pounds two years ago after my diabetes diagnosis. I got my blood sugars under control and felt great. I was exercising and eating right. I continued to drop the weight and loved going shopping for new clothes!

And then my husband landed in the hospital with a very nasty staph infection (so bad he had to go to the ER) and this whole thing lasted for two months. Hubby was out of work for that time, was in and out of the hospital for surgeries, and I was the only breadwinner in the family. Talk about stress. And when I'm stressed...I eat. And when you're going to the hospital all the time and sitting there and there's not much to do, you get darn tired, have no energy to exercise, don't want to exercise, and eat stuff you're not supposed to eat. The result? Weight gain.

So I know I can do this. I've done it before. I already know what I have to do - exercise and eat right. That's it. No special diet, no following meal plans, no counting calories. It's getting myself in that mode that is the problem. I think I'm almost there. I allow myself a baked good every once in awhile, which is perfectly ok, and I joined my new fitness club which is open 24-7, allowing me to go on the weekends or whenever I feel like it.

Hopefully in a few months, you'll see another picture of me, minus a few pounds!

Just A Bit of Snow...Please?

Monday we were supposed to get a big snow storm. The weather service issued a winter storm watch and I was excited as could be at the prospect of the white stuff on the ground. Well, as the evening wore on, they canceled the storm watch, but said we still had a pretty darn good chance (I'd say 80% is pretty darn good, wouldn't you?) of getting snow.

The wind howled all night long, waking both my daughter and I up, and I peered outside to see if it had snowed yet. Nothing. I went back to sleep, confident I'd open my eyes and see that pure, crystal blanket of snow.

No such luck.

Now, I'll be the first to say that I don't like driving in snow and ice. It can be terribly dangerous if you aren't paying attention and don't know what you're doing, much less worrying about the other people around you who aren't paying attention and think that yakking on their cell phones is perfectly appropriate at a time like this (I cannot even begin to count how many times I have seen this!).

But really...just a bit of snow. I'll take an inch. Enough to coat the ground and cover up the grass. Enough to really put me in the Christmas spirit. Please?

Carol of the Bells

Last night my brother and his girlfriend came for a visit. We reminisced about Christmases past, listened to Christmas carols from a set of records that I inherited from my mother, and laughed and joked about all the fun we had as kids during the Christmas season. It was wonderful.

My brother also reminded me of this hilarious Claymation skit that we watched when we were kids.



Oh my. This is just classic!

It was great to take a walk down memory lane again. As you age, I think a lot of those memories grow more and more dear. I know they always bring a smile to my face and a touch of sadness, as well. Those days are inching further and further away. People grow up, get married, have kids of their own, and start traditions of their own. That's the way life is. But I hope I can carry on those traditions with my daughter. :-)

No writing done last night, except for a freelance project, but I thought about my novel on and off all day long. I'm to an interesting point and I look forward to seeing what my characters decide to do!

Setting the Mood

Do you ever like to "set the mood" when you write?

For me, sometimes I like to have everything "just so." If I'm writing at my desktop computer, I want my desk to be cleared of everything, my lamp on, my candle lit, and of course, my beverage of choice, Diet Pepsi, nearby. Music is optional sometimes, but I have found some great classical and baroque music stations that I can stream via Windows Media, therefore eliminating the need to change CD's over and over (I know, I know, I can copy my CD's onto my media player, but that's at the bottom of my "to do list").

When I get the urge to use my laptop to write, I'll usually have a few other things I need to do - music playing on the Crosley radio (last night it was Frank Sinatra's early stuff when he was with Columbia Records), a relatively clean house, maybe a bit of dark chocolate on hand, and of course, the Diet Pepsi.

This "mood" can invariably change. Sometimes I don't light the candle. Sometimes I have copious amounts of dark chocolate. Sometimes I want silence when I write, and would rather just sit in front of the fireplace instead of having music in the background.

And sometimes, I don't need to "set the mood" at all - I'll just sit down, open up my file, and start writing (though I almost always need something to drink, whether it's water or even cranberry juice).

Do you do anything special to "set the mood" when you write?

A Few Words on the NaNo Challenge...

I don't know if you read my comment in yesterday's comments section, but I do want to make it clear that this NaNo challenge we're going to do in January or February or maybe even March is not really a NaNo at all. Instead, it's more of a "set a goal and meet it" challenge. For example, my goal is to finish my novel. Maybe someone else's goal is to write 1000 words a day. Someone else could choose to write five short stories and submit them all. Whatever it is, that is what you will work toward for that month. If you're interested, vote in the poll located in the top right corner or drop me a note in the comments!

Interested in a January or Februrary NaNo?

A few people have expressed interest in doing a NaNo, only for the months of January and February (or possibly March) instead. Let's decide on a month and pencil it in on the calendar, ok? And anyone else is more than welcome to join us. We'll keep it fairly simple - just try to support and encourage each other as much as possible. And maybe I'll even throw in a reward for the winners - nothing too big - but it will be added motivation for you. I've thrown up a poll on the right to decide which month to do this in - so if you're interested, vote! I'll compile the results at the end of the week and let you know.

In Other News...

Got quite a bit of writing done over the weekend - on the novel and my freelance stuff. I also submitted my short story (the Christmas one I talked about here) to two different places with only a few minor changes. We'll see what happens!

Saturday afternoon I made my turkey chili and my diabetic-friendly chocolate chip cookies. The turkey chili didn't turn out so hot (probably because I neglected to buy chili powder!) and the cookies turned out, well...interesting. The recipe called for powdered sugar, brown sugar, and apple sauce. They taste fine, but they're not what I'm used to. And it was darn fun making homemade cookies again. Here's a small confession: I haven't done that in years. How sad is that? But I really enjoyed it and hope to try out more healthy recipes.

Also found a bit of time Saturday night to watch another episode of Ken Burns' The War. I bought the whole set on DVD and am slowly making my way through it. Finished episode six last night and have one more to go. This series is incredibly well-done. It really gets to the heart of the World War II conflict - the human side.

If you'll notice, I added a word count meter to my blog. It's my little way of keeping myself motivated to write. I'm one of those weird people who likes to update things like that. So I'm hopeful it will encourage me to keep at it.

Don't forget - if you're interested in doing a NaNo in January, February, or March, vote and let me know which month you'd like, and drop me a line in the comments section!

This and That

Last night we had our office Christmas party. It's the type of party where you get all dressed up, go to a lovely venue, and eat wonderful food. I went by myself and had a blast. I have some very good friends among my co-workers and we had so much fun together.

Now that the party is over, it's time for me to get serious about the writing today. That's the thing about November and December - there is so much going on that it's difficult to stay focused. So I am thinking that for those long, winter nights (and days) of January and February, we who didn't participate in NaNo because we didn't have the time, should try a JaNo or a FebNo. I'm thinking the success rate would be pretty good since there isn't any major holiday (i.e. the ones where you must prepare for weeks for) in either of those months. Anyway, it's an idea I've been kicking around. I bet a lot of people could use the motivation and support to write during those two months since they're kind of gloomy and cold.

On tap for today, however, is hopefully a lot of writing. I'm at a good point in my manuscript to just go ahead and dive right in. Let's hope that's exactly what I do!

Butterball Soup

Christmas means tradition for a lot of us. And in my family, it means butterball soup on Christmas Eve at Grandma Lucy's house. No, we don't take a butterball turkey, throw it into a pot, and stew it until done. Butterballs are a traditional Germans-from-Russia dish that I have been eating since, well, birth!

Here's what a butterball is made of (and sorry, I don't have any pictures and there is none to be found on the web, but I will get you a pic when I go home for Christmas):

Butter
Bread crumbs
Sweet cream
Eggs
Salt
Allspice

Fattening? Yes. Delicious? Absolutely.

You mix all this together and then form it into walnut-shaped balls. There's a trick to making them, and it's not hard at all to mess them up. I myself haven't tried my hand at them (yet), having left that task to my wonderful grandmother. Her parents came to this country from Russia - their ancestors were Germans that had immigrated to Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great.

So in essence, the butterball is probably a highly-regional dish. Western Nebraska, where I'm from originally, has a dense population of Germans from Russia and you can find butterballs in the store. But not where I live now - which means if I want these delectable little guys, I have to go home to get them.

I've told a lot of people about butterball soup over the years and I don't think I've found one person outside of where I grew up that has heard about them. I even asked one of my grad school professors, who was born and raised in Germany, and she'd never heard of them, either.

But every Christmas Eve, that's what we have - butterball soup, which is basically just chicken soup and noodles with some butterballs thrown in. To me, it's not Christmas without it, or without being at my grandmother's house, surrounded by family, and opening presents. That's just what we do on Christmas Eve.

Does your family have a traditional food you eat every Christmas?

Resdiscovered

I've always loved history. I'm not quite sure when my fascination began, but the stories I read as a young adult were more often than not set in England, France, and early America. I loved reading about the French Revolution, the American Civil War and the American Revolution, and Georgian and Regency England.

It wasn't until the last five years or so that I've really started to focus on World War II and the 1940s. I've written one novel set in that time period and my current WIP is also set in the 1940s. But my trip to England in October reawakened my love of that earlier history - the Georgian, Regency, and Victorian Eras. Maybe it was the gorgeous country homes of Chatsworth and Blenheim, or the quaint old churches, or the cobblestone streets. Whatever it was, that passion is now back with a vengeance.

I've recently re-discovered The Victorian Trading Company. Oh. My. Goodness. Talk about treasures! If I had the money, I'd buy all their reproduction antique furniture and turn my home into a stylish and romantic house. Instead, I bought a few Christmas gifts from them as well as one or two little gifts for myself. :-)

But of course, all this reawakening has had an effect on my writer's brain, and I've got niggling little ideas of novels set in the American Revolution or in Georgian England or even Victorian London. Yet I am still in love with the 1940s time period and have so, so many ideas for books set during World War II.

The problem? Research. I am a stickler for it. I feel like I really need to fully understand the time period I'm writing about in order to accurately portray it - as should all writers. But when the eras are so vastly different, I wonder if I'll be able to downshift from one to the other. And all of that research takes time. Lots and lots of it.

One of my very favorite authors is Rosalind Laker. Reading her historical novels began my love affair with history, and her books were always set in different time periods: Napoleonic France, Norway in World War II, Elizabethan England, and even 18th century Venice. I've just got to wonder, though, how did she do it? How did she keep all those facts straight in her head? How did she decide when she had enough research? How did she have time to do the research and the writing? (And since she's still writing, how does she continue to do it?)

Part of me is incredibly frustrated when I think about it all. There are so many stories and time periods that I want to dive into. But there is only so much time in the day - and it's not nearly enough to accomplish all that I want! That's a major reason why I booted the t.v. to the curb. I do not miss it at all. (Ok, ok, I missed it a little Tuesday when I was at home sick, but I read and finished Anita Shreve's Resistance instead.)

So! The solution? I'm not sure. And don't even get me started on the whole "branding" issue...if I write a World War II novel first, then an American Revolution novel second, will that completely destroy my fan base? Sigh. Too many things to think about.

Wise bloggers, what advice do ye have for my troubled mind?

Tailoring Your Stories

I have a Christmas story I wrote a few years ago that I just love. I would like to see it published somewhere, but this type of story - more of a romantic, feel-good Christmas story - probably won't make it into any literary story magazines. And the facts are, there are not a lot of print magazines that take genre-type short stories.

Through Diane, I have looked at some of the British magazines that focus on short stories. When I was in England, I picked up a copy of The People's Friend at a train station and thoroughly enjoyed reading all the short stories. This magazine has been around since 1869! That's pretty darn impressive. I would like to submit my Christmas story to them because I certainly think it meets the guidelines and might be the type of story they're looking for.

The problem? My story isn't set in Great Britain - it's set in America. For that reason alone, I'm hesitant to send it. All the stories I read in the issue of The People's Friend that I bought were set in the U.K., so I'm not sure if they're even open to stories with a different setting.

Now, here comes the snag. Should you tailor a story, one that has already been polished and one you are very satisfied with, to meet a market? It would take quite a lot of time to "overhaul" this story - it wouldn't be merely a matter of changing the place names and the language a bit. I think the essence of the story would be the same, however.

Part of me thinks I should go ahead and try to rewrite sections of it and see what happens while the other part of me would rather it stay exactly the way it is. The question is, will it ever be published in its current state?

What would you do?

Sniffles

Here's how to define sheer misery on a cold, December day: sitting in your cubicle at work, sneezing, sniffling, blowing your nose, and trying to keep your face from slamming into your keyboard.

Here's how to define sheer joy on a cold, December night: sitting in your daughter's bedroom while Dr. Marsh (a.k.a. your daughter) writes down your vital signs and diagnoses you with a "warm cold." The symptoms of a warm cold include: a temperature of 10 degrees; no hard beat (read: no pulse); throat temperature of five degrees; and a wet ear. ("Mom, I'm being serious here. I really am a doctor.")

Cure for the warm cold? Get two hours and 10 minutes of sleep, drink water, and drink cranberry juice. I even have a doctor's note with instructions. And Dr. Marsh told me I would be well in 4 days. I even got a prize for being such a good patient, and I got another prize for "taking my medicine" (a.k.a. drinking the cranberry juice). This prize was the best - a baby plastic tiger taped to a sheet of paper with the words, "Congragulations - from Dr. Marsh" written on it.

Is a cold worth all this? You bet!

Joy!

I think my little $25 Target tree turned out pretty well. It fits nicely in my apartment, not too overwhelming, but cozy and comfortable, just like the rest of the Christmas decorations in our little abode. That's the mood I was going for, so I'd say I succeeded.

The Christmas spirit has definitely entered my heart! I've been listening to Christmas music - the old favorites like A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer albums, and new favorites like the 1940s Big Band Christmas music. I just got a new album called The Christmas Anthology: 1930-1950 and it has some stuff I've never heard of before. One song in particular really touched my heart. It's called I'm Sending a Letter to Santa Claus. Here are the lyrics:

I met a little fellow with a letter in his hand
He asked me if I’d post it in the box for Fairyland
I slipped it in the mailbox for that little curly head
It seemed to make him very happy as he smiled, and said
I’m sending a letter to Santa Claus
My letter I hope he’ll receive
Oh, I wonder if he will please remember me
When he calls on Christmas Eve
He’ll get a lot of letters for playthings
From other girls and boys
But I want my soldier daddy
He’s better than all the toys
And so I’m sending my letter to Santa Claus
To bring daddy safely home to me

Isn't it just lovely? This song was written in 1939, but it holds true today, as well.

Actually got some writing done this weekend, and had an epiphany that will really bring everything together in the story. LOVE it when I get those! It completely drew me back into the story, which I desperately needed, and I'm excited to keep writing.