Still very happy…

I have to start months ahead of this day in my history… It was Valentine’s Day and my future husband and I had been dating since Oct. He had been planning a special date for us. I had no idea just how special it was going to be.  Days The night before I picked out an outfit, and I planned how I was going to do my hair…

What I envisioned was near this…

Unfortunately my throat was really sore the day before and by Valentine’s Day I was sick as a dog.  I could only breathe with my mouth wide open, my eyes were extra watery, my nose was like a faucet someone had just left on, and I was flushed with a light fever… I was not a pretty sight. I looked like a sick cat or bunny. Reality sometimes bites.

My wonderful man wasn’t upset. He comforted me telling me that the next weekend we’d go out, and he still came over to visit with his sick girlfriend.  He brought me a massive purple ape, roses, a “bored” game, chocolates, and heart candy.  I made sure he didn’t sit near me, I love him and didn’t want to get him ill. I felt so awful killing our plans, but my immune system just wasn’t strong enough to fight off the black plague deadly flu nasty cold.

While I was sitting there blowing my nose watching a movie (I can’t remember what movie) something landed on my lap…

I was shocked! Did he really mean it? I turned and looked at him and asked, “Are you serious?”

INCOMING! Another candy landed on my lap, but he did not speak.

Like a deer in the headlights I was frozen in shocked. I didn’t know this was “the big plan” I crushed. Two more candies landed on my lap, a “Yes” and a “No” I had to decide… I looked at him from across the room and said, “I need you to tell me, in words, that you really mean this and it’s not a joke.” I didn’t think he’d play a prank like that, but really this is THE BIG QUESTION.
He FINALLY spoke, “It’s real. I am really asking you.”
I ate the “No” and put the “YES” on the arm of the couch. He looked at it and smiled. Then I grabbed it to put with the rest to save. I wanted to smother him in kisses and hugs, but I did not want him to get sick. So I sat there happy, but still unable to breathe through my nose.

Today my husband and I celebrate being married for a very long time. Ok not THAT looooong, but still it’s been a few.   My love for him has grown with every day of our marriage.

Happy Anniversary, to the man I picked to spend the rest of my life with. Thank you for sticking with me through the sicknesses as well as the health, all the great times and the hard times.  I hope that when death separates us we find each other on the other side. I also hope that’s in the very far future.

Note ~ Later on when we told others about the event I found out that because I was so sick he was unable to tell, at all, if I was happy, sad, or just plan shocked by the whole event. Poor guy, I was very thrilled.

Note note ~ Yes, I once had short hair and wore ankh necklaces. Hey, I was young once too.

Done At Last…

Yesterday I was very proud of myself, rarely are the dishes and laundry both done at once, but never do they coincide with a clean living room! All was done, and although the bathrooms still both needed a little attention, I felt I could kick my feet up and relax… aaaaaaah.

My rest and relaxation dream was short-lived.  When I entered the once clean living room, now missile testing area, I saw a pink blur wiz by and my husband chasing after it/her, trying hard not to re-injure the not-so-purple-toe.
Within a minute my older two daughters came to my… aide? They felt the urge to surprise me and clean their rooms. I thought it slightly odd that they didn’t bring me all the dirty stuff when I first asked for it. Well, they did it eventually, right?

I felt a little overloaded so I took a small lay down. At least I was able to get off my feet, but I don’t know if I’d count passing out in the hall a nice break.

Back to square one… One day when I’m in a nursing home, the dish will all be done, the laundry finished and folded, and the house entirely clean.  Who am I kidding? With whimsical ideas like that I should start writing fairytales not Vamp fiction.

My hot and sexy gloves…

Before my husband maimed his toe, he went to the store for me with a list of about 512 things.  Two BIG things happened with this list – one I will save for another blog post.  This one is about my new hot (or is it ‘hawt’), sexy cleaning gloves.

Normally I do all the shopping, but since we’ve had the baby it’s kind of been just whoever, whenever, and how-ever.  When I go, although I do not like pink, my first choice is the ‘Hope’ cleaning gloves. I believe in donating to help cure ANY type of cancer and then my next pick is the neon yellow or orange, whichever is in small. My hubby said that they had none of these when he went and he bought the only ones they had and they were in large only.  At first the older girls and I stared at them in bewilderment.

My 11 year old was fighting back laughter, I was at a loss of words trying to understand designer cleaning wear, and my 14 year old was thinking, ‘There is no way I’m ever going to wear those……  I am soooooo texting my friends about this.’  My hubby told me that they matched my shirt and I’d look good in them…

That was it, the 11 year old lost it and the 14 year old was trying to hold in the giggles.  I know he was just trying to flatter me, but I didn’t want to look good in those.

I knew eventually the dishes had to be done and, with the man’s foot out, I also had to take out the trash (Eeeeewwww, I hate that job)!

So I put them on and…

Like magic I transformed…

I was a Princess…I Struck a Pose… so Vogue…

I Shook My Groove Thing…

The John Travolta in me even came out …By the time the dishes where done and I was taking out the trash I know that I was HOT… really really hot in my new gloves.

When you wish upon a toad…

I don’t know if your wishes will come true or not, but what the heck?  I’m willing to try it. I wish for a bestseller, bazillion-mafillion dollars, and for the electric bill to be lower next mouth. Oh and for the baby to sleep in her crib ALL night long.

Anyone else want to see if the toad can grant implausible wishes?

Note ~ I think this is don’t-know-what-to-draw week. I took this idea from something I overheard about fairy-toads. I wish I could remember the who, what, when, where, why so I could give credit.

Note Note ~ August is our worst PG&E bill month, October and March are nice.

Note note note ~ But I’m not going to kiss a toad for a wish………………………………………… well, maybe for a bestseller. Just not the poison kind or the toads that make you see crazy things like Fairy-Toad-Queens.

To B, or not to B: that is the question…

I know lately I’ve drawn a lot on here.  It’s been fun but here is a normal blog post… boring I know, but I still needed to do it. (FYI ~ I couldn’t help myself there’s a funny at the end.)

This is the back and forth topic that a lot of us are now being forced to choose.  The first choice we have is do we self-publish or not.   That is an entire different blog post that many authors have done, and a choice that only you can make on your own.  But if you’ve made up your mind to self-pub, here is the second choice and a new question… Do we go with the $.99 book that Kindle is offering us?  We all keep hearing the rags to riches stories.  And, although we know our work is good, we are also aware that there is only one JK Rowling out there and unfortunately it’s not us. (Ms. J.K. Rowling, if you are actually reading this, please give me a shout out. <– Shameless promotion, mixed with wishful thinking.)

To get back on track, I’m going to list the perks and the downs. Yes, another pros and cons list by yours truly. This one is about the 99 cent books which are becoming labeled B books –just like the old B movies.  I shall start positive with the perks.

The pros…

1. Your book will sale. There is truth to it.  People don’t mind wasting a buck on a book when a latte’ costs 4 to 5 times as much.

2. You will make a profit — IF you did it all yourself.  You still might make a profit if you hired an editor, which, no matter what, you should do everything you can to be properly edited, even when it costs 30 to 45 cents a word!

3. Well, there is no three I just felt there should be at least one more…

The cons…

1. You will be labeled as a B author. That is not “you might,” you WILL be labeled.  The truth of the matter is we do not yet know in 20 years if that will matter, but we know right now it’s not a great thing.  If you are planning on NEVER going traditional or you think only snobs will care and bookstores are dead… then being labeled doesn’t matter one bit to you… which is great! Go for it!

2. Traditional publishing is not dead, it’s just a little sick and chances are it will recover. There will be changes but it will recover.  The only indie movement we have to compare this new one to is the one the music world faced years ago.  Music labels and big companies didn’t die, they just changed.  By stating this I’m saying we shouldn’t place all our eggs in either basket.  I think there is going to be a meeting ground.  Why is this a con when we can just about guarantee that self-pubs are here to stay too, you might ask. The reason is we know that self-publishing will not dirty an author’s name, but we have no idea yet if being a “B” author will.  If, by some unforeseen event, the entire self-pub dies out, and one is labeled a “B” author, traditional pubs are less likely to tarnish their name by publishing a “B” author.

3. This is going to sound very cliché, but there is nothing in the world like holding your book in your hands.  It’s very much like seeing your child for the very first time.  You love to just look at it and hold it.  After all you created that book.  I’ve held my book in e-format… not the same.

Here is a good link to read a little more…
http://www.publishingebooks.blogspot.com/

Now before everyone gets mad at me for what I’ve said please read this last part.  The reason this blog is up is because for the last 3 months I have taken this topic into the deepest consideration.  I have asked myself, “How fad is it?”  “How bad would I suffer?”  But after long, hard deep, consideration I have decided that I will just keep doing what I’m doing.

Note ~ I cannot stress editing enough. Before you submit to agencies, edit. Before you self-pub, edit. Before anyone but betas read it, EDIT! Have a pro look over it and fix what you, your friends, and your family didn’t see. It is VERY worth it! Your book Your baby deserves a fair start on the selves.

Note Note ~ Yes, I broke a writing rule and used ‘you’ all over the place.  Please forgive me Mrs. Brundidge, you and Mrs. Fleming are still my fav HS teachers! (My hubby is too, but he was never my actual teacher.)

Note Note Note ~ Some people do love B movies! Just NEVER watch Worm Eaters your eyes, tummy, and mind will thank you.

We should never be held accountable for anything said before coffee…

I think this will speak for my morning…….

Midnight; I have engery...

 

1:00am - A little sleepy, but she'll pass out soon...

 

2:00am - Ok, maybe a bottle will help...

 

2:01am - Fingers crossed...

 

3:00am - Can't... go... on.... Need... sleep.........

4:00am - ZZZzzzzzz (hubby walking her)...

 

I haz sleep...

NOOOOOOOOO!!!

So the first words out my mouth this morning were, “I will kill you ‘til you are dead.” It was directed to our beagles… which I would never do, but UGH……. Sleeeeeeeep…

NOTE ~ I can no longer nurse by doctor’s orders.
NOTE NOTE ~ I do love our dogs, but……..

 

I haz coffee but no sleepz...

 

 

The Family Portrait…

Since we’ve had the baby we haven’t had the chance to go get a family picture taken.

When we get the chance I hope it looks like this…….

BUT I do live in reality so I am aware that more than likely it’ll look like this…

NOTE ~ Thank you JC Little for inspiring me to draw again. 

NOTE NOTE ~ I had fun drawing the last time so why not do it again.

NOTE NOTE NOTE ~ I decided I’m going to *try* and not let the gremlins do what they planned and stop me from blogging.

My first book, The Flowers and the Flowers…

When I was 6 years old there was nothing I wanted to do more than to write.  I wrote a book called The Flowers and the Flowers.  It was all about flowers.  We were living with my grandparents at the time.  My grandpa had a big garden in his yard.  One day I went outside with him and looked at all the lovely flowers.  He told me all of their really long names and I got a little overwhelmed.  I told my grandpa that I was going to write a book for him about flowers.  He told me that as long as I didn’t pick any, he would be happy with it.  I wondered back in to the house.  My grandmother gave me some typing paper, I grabbed my crayons and I went into the back of the house.  I sat on the floor at the foot of the bed in the pink bedroom while my mother unpacked and I enjoyed writing and drawing.  When I was done I told my mother that I was going to be a ‘book writer’, I was corrected and told ‘author.’  I didn’t like the name out of fear of someone thinking I was changing my name to Arthur.  I called it a ‘book writer’ for many years before I would finally say, “I want to be an author.”  Looking back on it now, I think that everyone thought I just liked the flowers, and although I thought they were nice, I just wanted to write a book.

Skipping ahead now to when I was 10-11, a few friends and I decided to write a sequel to Stand By Me (the movie).  I didn’t know about laws, copyrights, and such at that age. We worked on the outline together and I was supposed to fill in everything else (write the main story) and they were going to take turns adding to it when they read it.  Anyway, I filled about 3 note books full of writing before one of the other girls wanted to borrow it, so she could see where we were, and I never saw it again.  I was sooooooo bummed.  We were sure Hollywood and Stephen King were going to love it.  I was so very naive.

Fast-forward about 3 years. We were moving back in with my grandparents.  I was bored… very bored… So I wrote about 6-9 comic books on an art pad my Aunt Barb gave me. In truth these were funny and good.  About 9 years ago I ran across them and laughed my butt off.  I wrote them in comic book format but like a very large comic strip.  I had read several comics by 13-14 so I knew how many pages they were.  I had 5 to 6 main people in the story.  I don’t want to say too much here because if I can find them I will share them.  The art work is a little on the blah side but the main people don’t vary too much from frame to frame.  I really had fun with it.

When I was a sophomore in high school I had a teacher who was mad at me for having “Too much imagination for creative writing.”  Somehow I was skipped over when the “tell’em what you’re going to tell’em, tell’em, tell’em, tell’em, tell’em what you told’em” speech happened so I was writing stories, not papers.  When I found out the formula all was great. But I still never understood why they called the class ‘creative writing’ when it was anything but.  I wanted to be creative when I wrote and I wanted to write stories.

I’ve always wanted to be an author.  There were years upon years when negative people told me that I couldn’t, I was young and trusted them.  I stopped tell people what I wanted to be and started telling people what I was told I could do and what I was told I wanted to be.  When I was 25 my ex-husband, who was my ex-husband at the time, told me that he knew I could be an author. He said that he knew that’s what I really should be.  He wasn’t my friend, he wasn’t someone who cared about me, but he knew me, and when he said it I knew one day I would write.  I didn’t know what would finally push me, but I knew I would write.  Then with the support, love, and constant encouragement (plus treats) I get from my husband I feel I was and am strong enough to do this.

Follow your dreams and don’t let anyone hold you back.  If you want it bad enough you will find away.  There are armless artists who use their feet or mouth to paint and draw, there’re dyslexic and autistic writers, there are one armed mountain climbers, and if no one else in this world has faith in you, I do.  If we can fly in the air, survive underwater, and be shot into orbit, your dreams might one day be a reality.  The only people I don’t have faith in are the bullies; the ones that bring us down so they can feel better and stronger.  I pray for them to grow past who they are, but experience has taught me too, I have no faith in them.

For those who read wish lists…

I was once pestered and bothered about what I wanted for Christmas.  I never ask for anything because I’m very content with all I have.  But a dear friend and a few others would not leave me be one year.  They asked me to make a list of the top 5 things I really wanted for Christmas.  Because I didn’t want them to waste their money on me and because I felt I needed nothing I came up with this list…
1. A pocket of endless twenty dollar bills.
2. A real fairy.
3. A life-size castle (tax free) with a massive amount of land attached.
4. To wake up 20lbs lighter without having a sickness, amputation, or liposuction … just to wake up naturally thinner.
5. For everyone in the world to be happy, healthy, and love each other.
I have added a few things to my list over the years and randomly pick one when someone asks me what I would like…
6. The winning lotto ticket, but no losing ones since that’s a waste of money.
7. For everyone in the world to treat others how they want to be treated.
8. For all lost, kidnapped, and missing children to return home safe.
9. For me to not have to look up how to spell “neighbor,” “definitely,” or “torture” every time I want to use them.  I have no idea why these words are hard for me but I would love to spell them right.
10. A 2006 Alpha H1 Hummer.  Those babies cost about $400,000 when they were new and are supposed to be the best.
Of course I do have a new wish right now (as everyone knows) … I would love for The Strongest Fire to be out before Christmas.
So there are a few things on my list that are a little selfish.  But the top three I truly hope for are number 5, 7, and 8.
I would love to read other peoples wishes, so if you have any you’d like to share, feel free to list them.    Or if you have any cute ones from your children, or ones from when you were a child… those always warm the heart.
I just love wishes.

 About the book.  I just opened an e-mail that said…

“Hello Sarah,
Our print data specialist informed me that there has been a back up at the printer for title to go LIVE, so there has been a delay in getting your book files set up.
I am very sorry for this, and wanted to let you know that I am in discussion with your book consultant about expediting your shipments and getting the books to you as soon as humanly possible once the files are set up.
Your book consultant, XXXX XXXXXXXX, will be contacting you very soon regarding your timeline.
Once again, I am very sorry for this delay; thank you so much for your continued patience, and I hope you have a wonderful day.”

I will let everyone one know what is going on, when I know what is going on.

I typed all of this very early yesterday but never got around to posting it.

Noted; one of my biggest flaws is I’m impatient…

I’ve been waiting to write a blog for when my book is finally released.  Still it is not out.  I know I was told “before Christmas,” but I was also told not to be too shocked if it was before Thanksgiving.  But that was a little iffy.  So now I’m waiting and hoping that it comes out soon.  The book missed “Black Friday” and the book missed “Cyber Monday,” both dates I was really hoping to make.  All I can see being done right now on MyUniverse is “Checking for Indexing” which, in all truth, I have no idea what that means.  I just know that I have been told it means I’m near done.  It has said that since the 16th of Nov.
So this is just a quick blog to say that I have not forgotten about my blog.  I’ve been keeping busy so I don’t stress and worry about when The Strongest Fire will be out.  In keeping busy I am done with my shopping.  Anything I buy at this point is just a bonus.  My little one asked for a few books, so I might jump on Amazon and see if I can find them.  Then I’ll just buy my oldest a few books when I do to make it even.
Here is a link to what I want…

http://sagas.is/vara.php
 
I’m not going to get it, but a girl can dream.  I also want a real *fairy, the **big winning lotto ticket, a castle (tax free), my book to be a big success, the world to be peaceful, happy, and healthy, to finish writing my 3rd book soon, and many other dreams to come true. 

*I really like the color purple, but any color of fairy will work (just incase Santa is reading this).
**The winning lotto ticket only costs $1 so I don’t see this as too foolish of a gift, but I don’t really want anyone to waste the money on a losing ticket since that won’t do anyone any good.

P.S. And Santa, if you’re reading, I’ve asked every year nicely… Can I please have a pocket of endless twenties?  I’ll use it for good things.