I pin things here.
I write short things here.
My author page is here.
My photos are here.
I talk about books here.
Friday
Jul162010
My legs feel funny now
July 16, 2010 
*Cherries for you to drool over.
*We all have a song on our heads that lists off the various countries in Western Europe. It's from a book and CD combination called Geography Songs. Seriously excellent homeschool material, since we can't get it off our brains. We walk around singing "Luxemborg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland..." and so forth.
*Kid A has just successfully destroyed a small sleeping tent that I paid quite a few pennies for. It's Solo's, you see. Both of the cribs that I bought for him in India were apparently made of matchsticks, because they fell apart, and then while we were traveling, he was just sleeping on beds, until it drove me mad because of the number of times I had to put him back in bed before he would fall asleep. My friend had one of these for her daughter, and it turned out to be perfect for Solo, until tonight, when Kid A made a Solo-sized hole in the mesh.
Why do boys do stuff like that? Where is the reasoning? Is there any moment when they think: This is needlessly destructive and I'm probably going to be in big trouble?
ARGH.
ARGH.
Okay, I'm over it. We'll figure it out.
By the way, I highly recommend these tents in place of the back breaking piece of luggage we carried around with us, the dreaded Pack N Play. They keep bugs out too. Just make sure that your seven-year-olds know that ripping holes in them is highly inappropriate. Because you know, IT ISN'T OBVIOUS.
ARGH.
No, no. Moving on.
* I think I tweeted this but didn't write it here.
I was accepted to the Squaw Valley Community of Writer's Workshops, which happens from August 7th to 14th. To say that I am excited about this would be a massive understatement.
I am over the moon.
All I need to do now is finish this revision that I'm working on. Being in our own house is helping, but Chinua is working full-time and I am homeschooling, which leaves approximately negative 2 hours a day to become absorbed in writing.I'm working on solving this problem by getting up before the kids. I was getting up at 6:00, but Solo insisted on getting up at 6:30, so now I've switched to 5:30.
I also need to find a babysitter and raise the rest of the money for the conference. Tonight I had the brainstorm of doing some babysitting trades. Finding three different families who want to trade a day of babysitting or two. Which will mean that I only have to work off five days of babysitting when I get back. Heh heh.
So my manuscript will be treated by other writers, and I'll have a chance to read and offer ideas on theirs. My hope is that I'll learn more about how the book can be helped, and get into the kind of streams that will work toward traditional publication.
We'll see.
*I ran the first day of the Couch to 5K today. I'm very proud of myself. I'm not exactly a couch potato, but I'm definitely not a runner.
*We had spaghetti for dinner tonight, and I suspect that I put cinnamon in it instead of pepper. By accident. But I couldn't really tell. I detected a faint cinnamony taste, but maybe I'm having flashbacks of this morning's oatmeal.
*This concludes my ramble tonight. Have lovely dreams.
Reader Comments (18)
Argh, boys. They don't really think at all do they? Not about the same stuff we do.
Where are you now?
When are you coming south to visit me?
We have lots of room now for visitors. :)
.-= carrien (she laughs at the days)´s last blog ..http://shelaughsatthedays.blogspot.com/2010/07/home.html" rel="nofollow">Home =-.
Congratulations on the workshop opportunity! Awesome.
Just do NOT do the middle east song before you go, or your brain may be useless. "The middle east has Israel, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen, Kuwait.
Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates.
Island of Cypress, Jordan and Lebanon, Turkey and Syria, too.
Fifteen countries of southwest Asia, Muslims, Christians and Jews."
"The middle east has Israel..." Lather. Rinse. Repeat. There's no escape.
You can go listen and check me for accuracy, too. No! On second thought, don't! Don't go near it! lol You have lovely dreams, too. =)
(Did I mention that we last did that song over 2 years ago? It's like it gets super-glued on the brain.)
The cinnamon thing makes me laugh. I did the same thing to burgers while I had 24 guests. I thought it was pepper in all the rush. LOL. It actually was good in the burgers, gave it a fusion of sorts. Kid A was naughty. I am sorry this happened. Try duct tape over the hole on both sides. Maybe.
.-= tj´s last blog ..http://theranchonsalmoncreek.blogspot.com/2010/07/cody-to-rescue-part-2.html" rel="nofollow">Cody to the Rescue- Part 2 =-.
Boys instinctively know that they need to make their own way in this world. Sometimes they make the way in the wrong places. Kid A will do great things... eventually. We men are difficult to steer sometimes. mark
.-= mark´s last blog ..http://theranchonsalmoncreek.blogspot.com/2010/07/cody-to-rescue-part-2.html" rel="nofollow">Cody to the Rescue- Part 2 =-.
Boys will always be boys!
Cinnamon spaghetti ... maybe it wans't THAT bad.
my mom's spaghetti recipe calls for cinnamon : )
congrats on the writers conference!!
good job and good luck enjoy it!
I had not hear of this workshop before and now will apply, as soon as I figure out how I will be able to leave cunksi for a whole week.
that, will be the hard part.
.-= mary´s last blog ..http://maryblackbonnet.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-canon-baby.html" rel="nofollow">A new canon- baby =-.
Mary, the conference is through with taking applications. You should definitely try next year! Another two that are supposed to be good are the Santa Barbara and Napa Valley Writer's conferences.
The Couch to 5K sounds good. We've been thinking about picking up the pace of our walks, and this might be a good way to do it.
Blessings on your writing course. I know someone who is thinking about coming to see you, so perhaps she can help with the babysitting.
Lots of love,
I don't want her to come when I'm gone, though! :) I need to see my sister!
My Italian friend taught me to put a pinch of cinnamon in spaghetti. And of course Moroccan cuisine puts cinnamon with lamb for tagine, and with sugar and almonds and chicken for the most wonderful savory-sweet pastry EVER, called a bastilla.
And congrats on getting to go to the conf! I think that's terrific and I hope it's even more than you're hoping it will be!
.-= edj´s last blog ..http://planetnomad.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/school-in-america/" rel="nofollow">School in America =-.
That's true..... you do need to see your sister. Was she planning on coming when you were gone? I told her to phone right away just in case. Hope you find someone to help! We're busy that week or we'd volunteer.
ooo xxx
She called. She's changing plans...
Congratulations! I hope every bit of it works out so your MS is ready and you enjoy the full extent out of that workshop!
Boys...I've filled dumpsters with their destruction. It amazes me all the time.
That baby tent looks so neat! I wish we had that when mine were small. As for "isn't it obvious", I have a little girl like that!
.-= Mountain´s last blog ..http://iamnotamountain.blogspot.com/2010/07/story-how-i-heard-it.html" rel="nofollow">The story- how I heard it =-.
I'm sorry...but...JOGGING???!!!!
If I'm not mistaken, the last time I mentioned jogging in your commentbox you laughed very loudly. Therefore, I must insist on photographic evidence of said activity. As you may be aware my twin sister Eurolush (from the German Glan) and I often have virtual jogging comptetions which involve posing in our jogging gear, flexing our muscles and quoting our favourite jogging rap-songs.
Do you wear shorts? A cap? Sweat-band? I'm intrigued. If you wrote that you were moving to Iceland I would say "meh." But jogging? JOGGING???!!!!
.-= Eleanor´s last blog ..http://eleanorfromthecommentbox.blogspot.com/2010/07/dinner-with-blogging-legend.html" rel="nofollow">Dinner with a blogging legend =-.
Oh Eleanor, the mighty have fallen. As I am not trudging through the sand in Goa trailing children at the moment, nor scaling mountainsides in Northern India, I felt that I needed to actually exercise. More than just pilates. I hear it's healthy, like eating kale and sleeping.
Although eating kale and sleeping are nice.
I don't have jogging clothes. I wore a pair of Indian pants and a tank top, and my new white running shoes that were a steal but I had to go to the men's section for because apparently women with size 11 feet DON'T RUN. Not that I blame them. My hair was back in a ponytail, it was kind of heavy, I got several compliments on it as I ran.
If I showed you a picture, you would just say "It's Rae," and then, "What are those white blobs where her feet should be?"