Tag, I'm It...Childhood Memories

One Over-Caffeinated Mom was tagged by Susan Taylor Brown. And she in turn tagged me for this game (though I just realized, so I'm a few days late in replying - bad me!)

Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog's name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross pollination effect.

1. life as an urban princess
2. the stories of a girl
3. Write on Right Now!
4. One Over-Caffeinated Mom
5. Blerg

Next: select new friends to add to the pollen count. (Obviously no one is obligated to participate).

Pam!
Trish
Saundra

Then add your memories.

Five things I miss from my childhood:

1. My mother's eggrolls. No Chinese restaurant has anything that remotely compares to them.
2. Going to the library once a month and taking home grocery bags full of books. Love the smell of a library and the absolute joy of wandering the stacks and discovering old friends like Pippi Longstocking or Mary Poppins (the real one, not the Disneyfied version).
3. Walking by myself in the national forest that was right outside our house and trying to practice walking like an indian (not very successfully, I'm afraid).
4. Peeling paint off of my bedroom door. This sounds really weird, but I had a door that had been painted white. It was kind of a pukey green underneath. Anyway, one day I noticed that a bit of it was peeling off. So I pulled it off. That led to more and more peeling until the door was a real patchwork of green and white. Kind of abstract art. I'd pull a little bit more off every day. It was relaxing in a weird kind of way, and I couldn't resist it any more than when you have to pull a scab off a skinned knee. Boy, was mom steamed when she finally discovered it.
5. Being able to read in a moving car. Used to do it all the time. It makes me car sick now.

Hehehehe

I forgot to mention that, while I was cleaning out the parlor, I found the carcass of that stupid fly with it's little legs in the air. [insert evil maniacal laugh here] I left it there on the floor to serve as a warning to other flies that might happen to wander by.

The best laid intentions

I wrote a grand total of two sentences yesterday. It was just too hot. Too hot to think. Too hot to move. I think it was over 90 in the house. I could have kissed the air conditioner repairman guy when he finally got there.

It's a good thing I wasn't born before air conditioning existed. I would have been a complete failure. Or, I would have had to be very rich so I could have two guys in loincloths following me around with big palm frond fans everywhere I went.

Doing a bit better today. I cleaned up the parlor, which really just means that I straightened up that room and dumped everything I took out of there in the office. But, I did get all the new incoming books organized. So that's something. And I cleared off the desk and set up my docking station. And updated the blog, approved some new reader reviews, added some books to the site, answered e-mails...

Rest of the day...work on novel, write at least one book review, meet hubby for a free Violent Femmes concert. I can't believe they are still together. Shoot, I can't believe they are still alive.

Sweat is ... gross.

Yesterday I didn't write because it was our 8th anniversary. Tony even stayed home from work as a surprise. Unlucky for him, actually, since the air is still out (hopefully will be fixed today) and we had to wait for the delivery of our wicker furniture (delivery window of 2 - 5 PM...actual arrival... 5:30) so we had to stick around the house instead of going somewhere nice and air conditioned. The first floor is still relatively bearable, but it's getting up there. Somewhere in the 80's.

It's hot.

I'm sweaty. And sticky.

And I probably smell.

Good thing I have allergies, otherwise I'd probably be smelling myself. It's useless to take a shower because, as soon as you step out, you're all sweaty again. And the 2nd (where the shower is) and 3rd floors are way hotter than the 1st floor.

I am going to write today though. Currently at 17,906 I've got to at least hit 18,000 today and hopefully way beyond that. Though I swear I'm practically sticking to the keyboard as I type.

I had grand plans to clean up the parlor and office, but I don't think I can do it unless I can devise some way to attach a fan to my body. I'd leave, but I have to wait for the air conditioner repairman to come back. Please hurry, Mr. Repairman!

I hate flies

There are now two flies in the parlor. I don't know where the other one came from. One is a humongous fly literally 2 inches long. I didn't know they came that big. He must have flown in from Texas or something. The other one is normal fly size. Both are incessantly buzzing, buzzing, buzzing and running into the windows. I wish the windows in here opened, I might be able to get rid of them. They are driving me insane.

I had a real breakthrough idea on a couple of things this morning. Nathan is going to be a nice guy, not a jerk at all, but it turns out he like's Mina's best friend Serena instead. Aubrey will still be a jerk and George, the good guy, will find the parents that he thought were dead. Sounds like a soap opera, no? Well, I'm not going off the deep end in that direction. I think I can tie everything off nicely. Just had a great scene where the evil A-lister gets her comeuppance. That was fun to write.

You'd think the flies would be interested in exploring other parts of the house. Parts without me in them. But no...

Words & Ideas

There's something to be said for the benefits of napping and sleep. It seems like every time I lay down lately, I have a new idea for the book. I took a mid-afternoon nap yesterday and got up and cranked out a 1,000 words (17,002!) afterwards. This morning, I woke up and thought of a few more things and have jotted down my notes. I might sleep a little bit more though...while I can. The air conditioner is out and someone won't be out until 2 PM to fix it. It's still cool on the 1st floor, so I'm camped out in the parlor, but that won't be for long.

There's always a fly in here. I thought they only lived for a day or something so either this is the world's longest lived fly, or the fourth pinch hitter. I'm not sure which. He's annoying, but too big to squash, at least for me. I'm not a fan of bug guts.

Whoo Hoo

Yesterday was a great writing day. I hung out on the porch with Gracie and churned out over 1600 words so I'm at 16,011 currently. Yee-ha! If only every day were like that.

It's going pretty smooth though. The scenes are kind of flowing naturally along. I'll need to flesh some of them out more during revision, but I'm pretty happy with them overall. Hopefully the voice is as consistent as I feel like it is. There's only one bit that I know I need to go back and tweak.

Today's Thursday?

I barely even know what day it is anymore. Yeesh. Starting today off at 13,525 words. Definitely want to get over 14,000 today. I've already wasted quite a bit of time, so I gotta get moving. And not fall asleep.

Try this challenge: http://emilie.halgatewood.com/yawn.html It's especially hard for me right now.

Good & Bad

I actually made it through my list of things to do yesterday. Whoo-hoo! I finished up the Pepe Lopez copy and sent it off (and got an e-mail back today that they like it, yay), wrote a 1,000 or so words in my WIP to bring me to a total of 13,172 words, mailed the books and that check to my sister. A pretty good day.

The bad was that my leg is all sore and still is today. I need the pills to kick in already!

Oh, and I created a Sims family after my own family. Well, not quite, since in the Sims we already have a kid. I'm kind of mad though, I don't think the kid looks very much like us. ;-)

Not sure how today will go since I literally only woke up half an hour ago. Even Tony last night commented on how puffy my eyes were getting. Not feeling my best, that's for sure. I haven't even changed out of my jammies yet.

Tuesday is my Monday

I totally wasted yesterday away piddling around. Got to get back on track today. My list for today: a) make requested updates to Pepe Lopez copy and send that out, b) work on my WIP [currently at 12,116 words], c) run to the store to get carrots, mushrooms, and pie crust, d) package up books to ship off and mail them, e) write a check to my sister and mail it. I think that's it.

I even took out my CD/DVD Rom drive from the computer (with the Sims 2 disk in it) and plugged in the extra battery instead so it could charge up. Then I'll be all set to go hang out at a coffee house if I so choose. It is kind of a bummer that it's one or the other though. :-( But probably a good thing. If I go hang out in a coffee house or the library, I can't take a break and play. That's a good thing.

Moving along...

I'm up to 11,940 words. It's getting there. I'm at another point where I need to make a decision and I'm not sure what it's going to be yet, so good place to stop for the day. I probably should go on, but I'm kind of tired anyway. I think he gave me a stronger dosage of one of the pills this time and I'm sleepy sleepy sleepy.

Wishful Thinking

Well, I got totally shut down in my attempts to make friendly conversation with the checkout lady at Kroger's today. It went something like this:

Me: Wow, it sure is nice and hot out today. [smile in a friendly fashion]

Her: [confused look] Whaddaya mean, hot?

Me: [deer in headlights look] Well, I mean, the sun is out and everything...

Her: What, you'd rather it was raining?? [incredulous expression]

Me: Er...

So I guess I won't be trying the weather route anymore. Normally it's pretty safe, but not with Jo Ann, I guess.

Anyway, yesterday was completely wishful thinking on my part as far as my plan for the day. How it really went was like this -

• Struggle out of bed all dopey on medicine at 7:30 AM to go downstairs and hang out in the parlor so I don't miss the Fed Ex guy
• Fall asleep on couch
• 10:00 AM wake up, do some e-mail and piddling around, write one review (Angels in Pink: Kathleen's Story)
• Noon - drive to the Dr.
• Wait for an 1 1/2 hours in the tiny waiting room with a crowd of other people and one particular loud mouth woman with two hellions in tow (find out later that they are trying to fit in two weeks of appointments into one week so they can all go on vacation)
• Have an approximately 5 minute visit with the Dr.
• Go home and discover that yes, the Fed Ex man did in fact come by when I was gone. But he did happily follow my instructions left on the door and left the laptop by the back door instead of on the front porch for someone to steal
• ? until 6 PM - Create system backup disks, install 25 Microsoft Updates, Cold Fusion Studio, WS-FTP Pro, The Sims 2 (yeah, I know) and move all files from old laptop to new laptop, including email which didn't at first want to cooperate and only transferred successfully after 5 attempts and 6 Internet searches for help
• Had dinner with Tony

So, needless to say, no writing was done yesterday. But today, I'm on my new laptop (!) and it has the monster screen. I can see the world! And now that I'm back from the store and all settled in, I plan on actually getting some writing done.

Even though I'm itching to try out some new stuff on the Sims 2... Namely, creating ghosts, which, yes, involves creating Sims and then killing them off by either a) burning them to death, b) drowning them, c) electrocuting them, or d) starving them. Even though they are only little virtual people, I feel very guilty about planning their demise, but the only way to get ghosts is to kill them off. Oh, and I want an alien baby. You can get one of those by having a guy Sim read the Beyond Belief magazine and then stargaze at night until he gets abducted by aliens.

Even reading that back I realize how bizarre it sounds, but there you go, that's my life.

But no Sims until 1,000 words! Or else!

Waiting...

I've been waiting anxiously for my new laptop to show up. Fed Ex came by yesterday and left a notice (I think they must not have knocked, since I was home) and they're supposed to do their 2nd attempt today. Argh. I just know he's going to show up as soon as I head out for my Dr. appointment. It's always either that or I've just gone in the bathroom.

So yesterday, on top of a good writing day, I also waded through over 80 new reader review submissions for the site. I guess it's good that the site has become more popular, but it's a bit of work to keep up with it now. Some of the new reviews were good, some were the normal "OMG!" and "Tha's tha bomb!" type of thing, full of misspellings. But at least they're feeling passionate about a book. Only had a few rotten apples with foul language. I don't know why people bother with that. I only just delete them. And they are never very original.

Today I'm planning on a) more writing, b) at least 3 new reviews on the site, c) getting my new laptop into shape (once it gets here! Agh!). I'm not a very good waiter. That's probably enough in the plan. If I add anything else, I'm liable to not get any of it done. Laundry be damned.

Pretty good day

Turned out to be a pretty good writing day, all in all. I'm at 10,928 words, so an additional 1,068 today. Not bad at all. I'm very happy if I get a 1,000 words in.

I think Saundra had a great suggestion. Nathan will be an okay guy, but no real substance. George is going to be the one she winds up with. Aubrey will be the jerk. Hey, with a name like Aubrey, he pretty much has to be. Or, I guess he could be gay. Or an English Baron from the 17th century or something like that.

In the beginning...

Okay, I'm currently at 9860 words. Just putting that in for posterity's sake so I can see where I am at the end of the day. It better be over 10,000...

I'm trying to figure out whether 3 love interests is one too many or not. I'd originally only planned for two, and then this other character pops in with all these interesting possibilities. Do I discard one of my original love interests (would have to be the popular kid from school who she's been crushing on for ever) or try and work them all in? Hmmm. Because you normally have to have some reason why they go for the one they wind up with. Like the crush turns out to be totally stuck on themselves (which is how the character Aubrey will be) or just a total jerk. I hadn't really developed the bit with Nathan yet, but then, what about all the stuff I was going to work in with the school project? I almost think I have to keep him because of that. Argh.

That probably makes no sense whatsoever to anyone else. But that's ok.

Useless

Today was a generally useless day. I really didn't do anything. I did no writing, even though I'm so close to 10,000 words I can practically smell it. I just kind of bummed around in my PJ's all day, played Sims 2 a bit, and washed the dishes. That was my big accomplishment for the day.

Sometimes I feel like a failure as an adult. I'm 32 for heaven's sake. What was I doing up at 2 AM last night reading Storky by Debra Garfinkle? (very cute book, btw) You'd think I'd have developed better self control somewhere along the line, but no. This is me. I stay up late reading books. I play games when I should be writing. I leave the dishes until the end of the day. Sometimes.

Sometimes I'm good. Tomorrow I will try and be good. Tonight I'm just going to try and go to sleep at a decent hour.

The plague

Yep, I've got the plague. Or something. Or maybe it's just a gypsy curse. I can't think of any gypsies I've accidentally pissed off, but who knows. I'm not even sure what would piss off a gypsy.

The rashy bit on my leg has now spread to my back, so I'm a regular party girl. The Dr. gave me this medicine-y smelling cream and told me not to scratch. Yeah, okay. Between the smelly cream, the doped-up-ness from the medication, the frumpy comfort clothes and the weird rashes, it's a wonder Tony comes home to me at all. Poor guy.

So far today I've written 500 words. Hopefully more to come. Also intro'd a new character that I wasn't sure I was meaning to, but there he was, quietly waiting in the wings going "Er, excuse me, what about me?" Not sure yet how important he'll be. Who knows. But he's there now.

An honest-to-goodness writing day

Well, I did waste a good bit of the morning, but I had a productive afternoon. Almost 1,400 words down today. I'm at a good stopping point though -- good in the sense that I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen next, so I might as well stop for the day and sleep on it. Hopefully the meds didn't make me too surreal. I've read back over what I wrote today and I don't think they did. Of course, how would I know? I need to find a non-related, non-spouse reader sometime.

I am about to crash now, though. S-L-E-E-P-Y. I desperately need a nap. I can catch a few Zzzz's before Tony gets home. Hopefully I don't just sleep away the rest of the night.

Channeling DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

In the continuing saga of "what could possibly go wrong with Kim next," I woke up this morning with a wicked rash on my leg. No idea why. Just another thing. Wicked itchy. And, of course, it immediately made me think of the Fresh Prince (Will Smith before he went and got all movie star) and DJ Jazzy Jeff's song You Saw My Blinker B---ch. It's a funnier song than the title would have you believe and there's a bit that goes:

takin' my girl to Palm Springs for the night
I was hoping I could find a short cut
I was tired plus I had a rash on my butt

So of course I've had that song stuck in my doped up head all day long. I truly am a child of the 80's, I suppose. Or maybe its the meds. Who knows.

In good writing news, one of the authors I recently interviewed offered to intro me to his agent. Very nice and much appreciated. I told him I'd take him up on it once my book was done. Now, if I could stay awake long enough to write...

My plan is to make tomorrow a writing day. We'll see how far that gets before I'm out like a light and snoring the day away. Keep your fingers crossed for me. And keep them double crossed that anything I actually do write makes sense. I'm not holding out a lot of hope there. A pox on pain killers.

Coleridge I'm not

Wowee, the new doctor put me on 3 new medications for my back and it is all I can do to stay awake. The back pain is better, but man...I can't string two thoughts together, much less two sentences. I don't know how anyone ever wrote when they were high on drugs. Hmmm. Maybe I should re-read Kubla Khan now and see if it makes more sense or not.

So, writing has been pretty much non-existent, as has my appetite, so maybe I'll at least lose some weight from all this. Toast is my friend.

The Dr. said I've got ligament and some other doohickey problem running down my leg + the bulging discs. He poked his thumb on one spot and my whole knee just buckled and I almost fell down. "Yep, that's a problem," he says.

Well, yeah.

I've got no balance to speak of. No dancing until dawn for me. Shoot, I couldn't stay awake until dawn if I tried.

And then this fish swims up to the bar...

Actually, I don't have any thoughts about fish or bars. A completely nonsensical title for today, probably because it is after midnight and way past my bedtime, but I'm up because I was lying in bed and a bunch of thoughts occurred to me for my novel and I figured I'd better write them down before I forgot them (which is what usually happens). So now I've got those down (whew), but I'm still up. Part of it is the whole stupid back/leg pain thing -- even the chiropractor gave up on me today and referred me to a pain management regular doctor. Appt. is tomorrow. My great fear is that he'll tell me that I'm just doomed and that I'll go on feeling like something's constantly stabbing me from here on out.

Anyway.

Some good thoughts on the novel, actually. I didn't get any writing done after my last 1000+ good day since the whole 3 day Memorial Day weekend interrupted. Hubby and I pretty much spent it working around the house and trying to buy wicker furniture from Pier 1. That's harder than you'd think -- they have a terrible distribution system. You can't buy anything big unless you get it from the store, so if they run out, you're just out of luck. I'm like...but don't you want to sell me something??

I should have written some today but I thought that if I didn't get the bathroom clean, I was just going to lose it (there was still sawdust from when they re-did the floors in there). So I was crawling around on my hands and knees with a bucket of water and bleach. Not too good for the back, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I want to feel clean after getting out of a shower. And I got the antique mirror I bought off of Ebay glued back together (ha! he said it couldn't be done!), got dinner made, washed clothes, mailed a bunch of books, and saw the chiropractor.

And then the bad thing...I really shouldn't have done it, but... on a whim last week, I put in a bid for Sims 2 on Ebay. Evil, evil Ebay. I didn't actually think I'd win it because most of the copies were going for more than I put as my max bid. But I did. It came in the mail over the weekend. I finally loaded it on my desktop PC to just "check it out." I am happy to say, at least, that I didn't play for very long. Just long enough to accidentally starve my Sim to death. It's no wonder I don't have kids.

I'm going to have to watch myself. I can get sucked into games way easier than TV or just about anything else. Maybe I'll use it as a reward. Write 1000 words, play a little.

How terrible is it to resort to bribing yourself?