Crockpot Mania

In a desperate effort to spend less time in the kitchen, I've found myself using my crockpot to make dinners a lot more often. Before the past few months, the only thing I knew how to make in the crockpot was beef roast, cheese dip, and waissal. Now I'm expanding my repertoire as quickly as possible, especially since I discovered the new slow cooker bags that mean I don't have to spend days cleaning up my crockpot after cooking with it. Those things are awesome!!!!

But I digress. The joy of coming home to a dinner that is at least 80% ready to serve has me hooked. Luckily for me, the ladies that I work with are excellent cooks, making a variety of quick and easy meals after years of cooking while they were raising families. Here's one of my family's new favorites:

Chicken Tacos

(or nachos, burritos, whatever you want to do with it)

3 to 5 chicken breasts (if frozen, thaw before putting in the cooker)
¾ of a jar of Walmart brand black bean and corn salsa (other brands may work too, but this is the one I like)

Layer the meat and salsa in the crockpot and, after the pot is heated, cook on low. I usually cook it from 7:30am to 5pm, but I'm sure its ready way before then. Shred the chicken and use it for any of the above Mexican options with your choice of sour cream, cheese, refried beans, various veggies (I roast onions and red peppers in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes), and/or guacamole. My kids like tacos, but I like nachos.

Here's another recipe that I've put on the Must Try list. My family loves chicken, and anything with bacon and ranch (that's how hubby makes meatloaf!). I found it at a site Playground Monitor recommended to me called Crocking Girls.

Bacon Ranch Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp real bacon bits
1 tsp minced garlic
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
cooked egg noodles

Directions:
1. Combine bacon, garlic, ranch dressing mix, soup, and sour cream; mix well.
2. Pour over chicken in the slow cooker.
3. Cook on high 3-4 hours.
4. Shred the chicken and put back in the pot and then add the egg noodles; mix together.


What are your favorite crockpot recipes? I'm always on the lookout for more!

Angel

New Addition

Recently, my family took on a total new adventure! Something I swore I wouldn’t do for a long, long time…

We got a dog.








This beautiful husky puppy is a tornado refugee. Smarty Pants (who is like a stray dog magnet) called to ask if we were interested in him. She texted me a picture. I took one look into those blue eyes and fell. Hard.



A visit overnight showed him to love being with people and good with the kids (very important to me!). The vet said he’d travelled for several days on hot asphalt and done damage to the pads on his feet. But other than that and worms, he was surprisingly healthy. Soon, I’d picked out a name – Griffin (after Griffin Powell in Beverly Barton’s Protectors series for Harlequin.



Once his feet healed, he went back to normal, rambunctious puppy behavior, which had Little Man backing off a bit, but I’m teaching the kids to play with him in ways that expend that overabundance of puppy energy. Drama Queen has become addicted to the “Dog Whisperer” show and takes Griffin on a walk almost every day, without me having to ask her to. The only thing they don’t like about him is scooping poop. LOL

Despite declaring myself “not a dog person” for many years, I find myself smiling as I throw the ball for him and sitting on the back porch at night, rubbing his tummy with my bare feet. I didn’t think I had time to add a new pet to our household, but its been wonderful for us, and I hope wonderful for Griffin as well.

So today we celebrate our pets! Tell me all about your favorite… or the one you wish you had.

Angel

Life Lessons

This past week has been an interesting adventure in juggling family, work, and a sick child. We had our first childhood surgery last week – Drama Queen had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She did wonderfully, while I was a nervous wreck. LOL I’ve learned a lot about myself and my daughter through this entire process. Here’s just a few things:

1. My daughter is growing before my eyes – literally and figuratively.

When the nurse measure her height, DQ had grown over 2 inches to hit 5 feet – I’m 5 feet… and devastated. With their father being 6’3”, I knew this day was coming. I just wasn’t prepared for it to be so soon.

She also found ways to manager her nervousness before surgery and the dreaded liquid meds after surgery (she HATES them!), without me prodding or guiding her. This sign of maturity makes me very proud, but I’ll also admit to a touch of sadness, too.

2. My daughter isn’t me – and that’s a good thing!

I’ve always had a difficult time with any kind of surgery, especially anesthesia. Nausea, vomiting, difficulty waking… yuck! But DQ had none of those issues, for which I’m very grateful. Better she be more like her daddy… at least in that area. :)

3. I’m a planner, but life happens.

I packed and planned for days ahead of this surgery, then realized late the night before that no one would be at the hospital with us. Just me, the hubby, and Little Man. But all the literature said parents would be allowed back into pre- and post-op. Nothing about minor siblings. So I frantically put out an email for Playfriends who might be available to help.

The next morning, despite the lateness of my request, Playground Monitor surprised me by showing up with her Kindle and lots of comfort. Though they did let us take LM back, it was wonderful to have someone to talk to and distract me while DQ was in the operating room!



4. I’m getting better about letting other people be responsible for stuff.

Since taking on a day job, I’ve had to accept that I can’t be available for everything, especially this summer when the kids are often with a sitter. I never imagined leaving my child the day after surgery, but my husband already had that day off and there wasn’t a logical reason to use up a vacation day. This went against my motherly instincts, but I hugged her twice and left her with daddy.

You know what? She was perfectly fine. He gave her food and meds while they watched movies and he did laundry. And that’s a wonderful thing!

This balancing act I have going on is far from easy, but it becomes easier as I grow and learn and trust those in my life to love and support me. So tell me, when was the last time life taught you some positive lessons?

Angel

I'll Always Remember

When I got the phone call last week about Beverly's death, I was stunned. I wandered around numb all day, unable to focus on anything. Heck, I'm still wandering around in a daze. That's a typical reaction to grief, and I'm no stranger to the grief process. I've gone through it with my divorce. But I had to lock down so many of my emotions for a number of reasons during the divorce. I'd bottled everything inside to the point of physical illness. I was beginning to wonder if I was even capable of crying anymore.

I learned the answer to that very quickly. I've cried more over the last week than I have in the last two years. Maven LJ made reference to age and giving birth to the Playfriends. Well, folks, I COULD have given birth to all four of the others (though PC reminds me she'd have been the illegitimate child since she was born a little over 5 months before I got married). Beverly and I weren't that far apart in age, and her death has made me ponder my own mortality.

As I stood at her memorial service and watched her family, I saw how much not only her children adored her, but her children-in-law. Like Beverly, I have a daughter-in-law, and Beverly was a wonderful example of how a mother should treat her son's wife. Her daughter-in-law's name was always preceeded with the words "sweet" or "precious." And I saw first-hand just how true those words were when I met Beverly's daughter-in-law. The love went both ways.

I was quite familiar with the name Beverly Barton before I ever joined Heart of Dixie. I was working as the review coordinator for Writers Unlimited and had reviewed an anthology containing a novella by Beverly. It was a spin-off from another of her books and I tracked down that book to see what had led up to the events in the novella.

Then I found her Silhouette Desires and Intimate Moments and began reading any of her category backlist I could find. Somewhere along the way, I rekindled a love of writing, found out about RWA and Heart of Dixie and joined both. I was warmly welcomed by Beverly and the following year became one of "The Children." Heck, a couple years ago she even dedicated a book to me and the FBI agent I put her in contact with. What an honor. Somewhere along the way, I discovered another side to Beverly -- the side that wrote damn scary books with serial killers and psychopaths.

My favorite Beverly moment was in October of 2006. My sister had driven here from her home on the coast of Georgia and we were going to travel the Natchez Trace from just west of Tuscumbia, Alabama all the way to Natchez, Mississppi. I suggested we stop in Tuscumbia to visit Ivy Green, the home of Helen Keller. Tuscumbia was also home to Beverly. And since we were going to be finished at Ivy Green around lunchtime, I called Beverly early that morning and asked if my sister and I could treat her to lunch.

She graciously agreed to meet us in downtown Tuscumbia at The Palace, a renovated and refurbished drugstore and soda fountain, where we ate and talked and laughed and were made to feel special as only Beverly could do. She also brought us both a copy of an anthology, which contained a novella by her. It was titled "Sugar and Spice." She apologized for having to cut lunch short, saying she had to get back to the computer and her work in progress.

When I emailed my sister last week to tell her of Beverly's passing, she replied with this: "I’m glad I was able to meet her and share her joy for living. I’ll always remember her signing off for lunch with an 'I’ve got to go cut somebody’s head off now' statement."

Yep, that was Beverly -- the genteel southern lady who loved her family and friends dearly and who could cut someone's head off on the page and leave you quaking with fear as you read about it. It never ceased to amaze me how that sweet, grandmother could write such deep, dark, gritty books. But she did. And she did it well -- well enough to hit the New York Times list. Her most recent romantic suspense, Dead by Morning, hit the shelves yesterday, and I was at the bookstore early to buy my copy. I may never read it because the trailer on her website was scary enough. But by damn, I'll do my part to help that book hit the Times list.

I sat on my patio sipping a glass of iced tea Sunday evening as the sun went down and the stars appeared. I know Beverly is up there at the Pearly Gates making sure everyone gets a warm southern welcome and wipes their feet before they step inside. Then she'll remind them to write thank-you notes to God and St. Peter for inviting them in. She was a friend, mentor and example of the Golden Rule -- do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I'm reminded of a quote from Christopher Robin to Pooh.

Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

Beverly reminded me of that often with hugs or smiles or handwritten notes. And I promise I will always remember.

Beverly and me at the RWA conference in 2006, not long after MY sweet, precious daughter-in-law had given birth to my sweet and precious granddaughter.




P.S. Instigator is guest blogging at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales today. Pop over and tell her hi.

A True Friend

As many of you already know, the Playfriends lost our beloved Maven Beverly Barton last week. Beverly was an incredible woman, full of spirit and laughter. A true southern Lady, she admonished us on correct etiquette, encouraged us to love our families, and applauded our go-to spirits. In fact, Beverly was the first Maven to call us “the Children”, and we will be forever grateful for the gift of her love and encouragement.


This week we will be making a departure from our normal blogging procedures to share with you a few of our personal stories about Beverly Barton – author, mother, and dear, dear friend. If you have your own stories – about meeting her, reading her books, reading her interviews, etc – we’d love for you to join us. This week, we celebrate the life and legacy of Beverly Barton.

Mavens and Children -- 2006


How the Children Got Their Name

(written by Maven Linda Winstead Jones)


It was July 2005, Reno Nevada. Linda Howard and I were both on the National Board of RWA, so we’d flown in several days early for a meeting before the conference. Beverly was coming out a few days later, and she’d planned to travel with a few of the newer members of HOD, bright, wonderful women we’d all taken to right away. Maybe if there had only been one or two of them we would’ve called them by name, but when Beverly arrived she told us she’d flown in with “some of the Children.” Immediately it took, and a day or two later we were asking on a regular basis, “Where are the Children?”


I’m not sure why she chose “Children.” True, most of them are young enough to be our offspring, but without naming names -- (ahem, Playground Monitor) -- we could not have given birth to all of them. But they were all new in the business, and we adored them, and it just seemed right.


It must’ve seemed right to others, too, because it stuck. Word spread quickly throughout the romance world, and within a matter of weeks our young friends were being asked, “Are you one of the Children?” Other writers from all across the country, people none of us knew . . . even editors. When Beverly first said those words, I doubt she had any idea what she’d set into motion.






Beverly Barton and Angel at the RWA National RITA ceremony, 2006


Though I’m sure many of the stories this week will make me smile as I remember them, the story I want to share with you today made me cry when it happened, and makes me cry even more today.


You see, a few months ago, Beverly approached me at one of our local chapter meetings. She barely had time to come in the door and put down her purse before she stopped me at the back of the room. “Honey,” she said – she often called me Honey – “I had no idea what was going on and I want you to know I’m so sorry.”


Beverly had only recently found out about the troubles brewing at my house, and her sincere concern pushed me out of my precarious hold on that ‘stoic’ face we show the world. I immediately burst into tears.


I’ll never forget standing in the back of that room with probably 20 or 25 people milling about, but we could have been somewhere totally alone. Beverly put her arms around me and held me close, speaking quietly in my ear. She told me how much she understood, how she knew it was hard, and what a strong woman she believed me to be. At that moment I didn’t feel strong, but I didn’t have to be. She talked to me about my writing, telling me my time would come, that I couldn’t give up, that I had to believe. She said, “I’ll do whatever I can to help you. Whatever I can.”


Those words meant the world to me at that moment, and they are even more precious to me today. Not just that she was willing to help me, but more because she believed in me enough to say them. She believed in me as a writer, as a mother, and as a woman.


We emailed several times after that in the weeks that followed. She offered more encouragement, and reminded me often how important marriage and family are. As I stood amongst her family at her memorial service, those words took root in my heart. She wasn’t offering pat answers, but instead speaking from experience.


I’ll be forever grateful that she not only counted me as a friend, but reached out to me in my time of need.


Angel


PS. Our friend Barbara Vey at Publisher's Weekly is blogging today about Beverly on Beyond Her Book. The link is in our sidebar. Barbara will be visiting us for the luncheon on Friday.

Chores, Chores for Everyone!

Recently a friend told me that on her children’s 10th birthday, she wrapped a bottle of Tide and gave it to them. The message: Time to wash your own laundry.

I don’t remember when I started doing laundry or how MY mother taught me to do things like dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc. I just know I could take care of most household tasks solo. By 18 my sister and I were self-sufficient enough to take care of the house and farm by ourselves while my parents lived at the hospital in a nearby town when my baby brother was treated for spinal meningitis for 21 days.

Now, we don’t live on a farm, so I don’t need as much help as my mother did. But I do believe in children pitching in because the work of maintaining a family should simply not fall to one person. And while I’m getting a handle on my family’s new situation (my new job, hubby’s long days, and extra childcare) our strained finances require me to do more cooking, with virtually no eating out. That takes time – which I have less of.

I say all that to say this – my children need to step up to the plate and assist in the tasks that are required to keep family life running smoothly. Currently, they put away their own laundry, empty the dishwasher, and pick up their rooms. So they don’t do chores on a daily basis.

That has to change, because I can’t do it alone.

Only 2 months from 11, Drama Queen is about to start doing her own laundry. I think she and her brother could also fold the towels for their own bathroom too. Maybe empty the trash? Wipe down the table after dinner every night (they already do this at school). Dust sometimes?

It’s amazing how having one small thing done by someone else can lighten a mother’s load.

So tell me, what tasks did your kids do at what age? When do you think it is appropriate for them to learn new chores? How much do you ask them to help around the house?

Angel

Process of Simplification

They say life is about change, and I’ve had all the life I can handle in the last four months. In that time, my husband has changed careers and I’ve finally had to go back to work full time. I now clean houses 3 times a week, on top of my resume writing business. My husband’s new job keeps him out to really late hours, so on top of my new work I now have the morning and evening responsibilities for the kids alone on most days (can you say -- homework hell?).

Anyone reading this blog on a regular basis can probably guess that I don’t adapt very well. :) This has taken a lot of getting used to, and I spend a lot of days wishing I could go to bed and leave everything behind. There’s nothing like being overwhelmed already, then having children fight until bedtime, and refuse to stay in the bed without spankings, to leave you harried at the end of the day.

But though I don’t adapt quickly, I do eventually face things with a “might as well learn to cope” attitude. (Note I said: eventually) I’ve finally reached this stage with my new phase of life. Unfortunately, I couldn’t catch my breath long enough to see the best strategies for dealing with the chaos. Catch 22? So I came to a decision last week that my life had to slow down. If it wasn’t absolutely necessary, it wasn’t getting done. This was especially true for being on the road.

You see, I’m a goer. I practically live out of my car (as many soccer moms do, I’m sure, except my kids don’t play sports). But I’m always on the road to something. School, groceries, lunch, errands, writing stuff… there’s always some place to be. But in the midst of all that stuff, I’d lost the space to think, to breathe, to create. Something had to be done. I had to learn to say, gulp, NO.

Now, I make myself think twice before going anywhere. I’m even giving up my beloved “Write Out” for the time being. I’m limiting the amount of clients I take on to the ones I can comfortably fit in, and scheduling the rest into the next week if they want to wait. Right now, my focus has to be on working (to bring income to my family) and writing (to preserve my sanity and the one thing that is MINE). And by that I mean the actual writing, not writing-group related activities. The only exception is our local chapter meetings. Those days are my "treat", when I get to spend time with the Playfriends and lots of other friends and refresh my spirit and determination.

So tell me, have you figured out how to simplify? To create time in your life, rather than always spending it? If so, I’d love some advice. Otherwise, let’s discuss. :) I'm sure we could all use some "breathing" with the hectic holidays upon us.


Angel

Coming Soon!
The Playground has a birthday coming up! Next Monday, November 15, will be the Playground’s 5th birthday party. Join us for lots of fun and gifties, right here on the blog!

Blog Winner!
FBF winner is Tonya Renee Callihan! Please email your snail mail address to Smarty Pants to claim your prize. smartypants@writingplayground.com

Movie Night

For the past month, our family has been having a movie night each week. We usually do it on Saturday nights when my husband is home early, but sometimes its on Friday nights. I spread a sheet in the living room and let the kids eat dinner (usually fast food) picnic-style by the light of the big screen. My daughter insists that the other lights be off, or else it isn’t truly a movie.

The choosing of the movie hasn’t been as difficult as I expected, considering our children are 6 and 10. We try to alternate between animated and non-animated movies, so the younger one doesn’t get too bored. After seeing the newest version of the Karate Kid, our daughter was fascinated to learn there were previous versions that she could watch on Netflix. So for movie night we found Karate Kid (original with Ralph Macchio). The youngest found the karate parts cool, at least.

But watching that movie brought back a lot of memories, as did Karate Kid 2 when we watched it. (I think I’ll watch the one with the girl with my daughter for a girl’s night.) I can remember watching these movies over and over as a teenager, because we lived out in the boonies and only got 3 channels on the tv. Most of the times, not very well. So we watched a lot of VHS. J I loved movies like Karate Kid, Iron Eagle, The Young Sherlock Holmes, Star Wars (3 original), Disney movies, Goonies, and many, many more.

Goonies happens to be one of my favorite, with hilarious stereotypes and younger versions of well-known actors. Watching it for the first time with my daughter was like seeing it again for the first time. I laughed with her, caught some of the innuendos I didn’t understand as a kid, and explained some of the inside jokes to my daughter that she didn’t understand.

It was great. So tell me, what are some of your “old favorites”? Movies from your pre-teen and teen years that you enjoyed introducing your children to. Ones that you watch every time you catch them on cable?

Angel

Coming Soon!
Join us on Thursday as we welcome author Molly O'Keefe!

Guest Blogger: Homer Hickam

What's your dream?

Do you remember the final scene from "Pretty Woman?" The one where the man calls out, "What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'."

Today we welcome back friend-of-the-Playground Homer Hickam who talks about his newest release, which just happens to be about dreams. Please give a warm Playground welcome to Homer.



It's always fun to write for fellow writers so I appreciate the opportunity to write for the Playground. This year sees two of my books published, one of them a co-written memoir and the other a novel. Neither are remotely alike which is a good thing as I always like to make each book a challenge and therefore interesting and fun. With that in mind, let me tell you first a little about the memoir and the process I used to write it.

In September, 2006, I noticed in the newspaper that a young Iranian-American woman was about to be launched by the Russians to the International Space Station. The article said she had financed her journey herself, paying around $20,000,000 for the opportunity. I thought to myself—Wow, I bet there's a story there! At the time, I had contracts for two novels and was about to sign for three more so I knew I wouldn't have time to write it. Still, I was moved to email this woman, Anousheh Ansari, and wish her well. To my surprise, I heard back from her assistant who said Anousheh was happy to get my message and hoped to talk to me when she got back. And that's what happened! She called, and then we emailed back and forth with me encouraging her to write her story. She replied that she didn't know how and, anyway, she was immersed in building a high-tech company with her family. I gave that some thought and, against my better judgment because of the other writing contracts, called her and said I might be willing to help. Subsequently, she flew to Huntsville and we talked it over and I agreed to co-write her memoir. We made up an agreement between us, which specified my agent would also be hers, and then got going.

The first thing I did was go down to Dallas where Anousheh lives and works. She invited me to have dinner with her family the night I got there, then I spent the day at her office, interviewing her husband Hamid, her brother-in-law Amir, and Anousheh herself. It quickly became apparent that I was dealing with a very private woman and also a very private family. Anousheh was passionate about discussing her voyage into space but was reluctant to talk about much else. This, then, was my first challenge, to get her to open up on her life in Iran, how she came to the United States, how she made her fortune, and then how she came to fly into space. After awhile, I saw that talking about herself was difficult face to face but easier over the telephone. So, with that in mind, I began to tease out her story over the phone. Actually, that was a good thing. It kept me from having to travel so much!

As we talked, Anousheh dropped subtle hints about her childhood and the experiences that had formed her. One of them was her love as a child of The Little Prince, the novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I saw that it had influenced her early thinking so it became a bit of a touchstone as I fashioned the story of her childhood. There was pain and heartbreak to the story of her life in Iran, so I had to work diligently and gently to bring her to talk about it. When I didn't think I was getting enough detail, sometimes I would write about an episode telling it the way I thought it might have happened. This always evoked a response from Anousheh. "I don't remember saying that," she'd say, then tell me how the event really happened, dropping in fascinating details. After a while, I began to realize her story was a love story more than anything else. It was about Anousheh's love for Iran and for the United States, her passionate love for her husband, and her love of the stars and space. That's why the memoir begins with these words, Call this a love story.

Another challenge, one that I very much enjoyed, was learning to write in the voice of an Iranian-American woman. I have a good ear for that kind of thing, fortunately, and used phrases and words just as Anousheh would use them. I think she is pleased with the result which is, of course, the highest praise.

While Anousheh and I were writing the memoir, my agent was anxious to get to work shopping it but I asked him to hold off. I was convinced that to fully appreciate Anousheh's story, the entire manuscript needed to be read. I was leery of an editor buying it just for the space angle and I knew there was so much more to this lovely woman's life. Only after I'd finished a complete first draft did I give the go-ahead and, fortunately, it didn't take more than a couple of weeks for Palgrave-McMillan to pick it up. Now, we had a contract! Of course, there was still a lot of work to do but Anousheh and I did it and the result is My Dream of Stars. Its publication date was Mar. 2, 2010.

These days, book tours are the exception rather than the rule, but Anousheh and I are doing a few appearances together. One of them was in Huntsville a couple of days before the book officially came out. Naturally, in the Rocket City. the signings were a great success. Anousheh is such a gracious woman. I'm sending along a photo of her with a young fan named "Commander Paul," and the two of us at our signing at the Jones Valley Barnes & Noble. Interestingly, the Huntsville signings were so successful, Anousheh asked Palgrave-McMillan to set her up with some more. Now, she'll be signing in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Dallas, Houston, and probably a few more cities. So far, sales are brisk, always a good thing, and it could be the book will break out of the pack. Naturally, this isn't certain and no one understands how it happens when it does, but I think this book is certainly deserving.

My next book is titled The Dinosaur Hunter. It is a novel set in today's Montana, one of my favorite places in the world. I wish I could show you the cover as I think it's one of the best I've ever had for any of my books but it hasn't been completely settled so I have to keep it under wraps. Anyway, The Dinosaur Hunter is a fun, adventurous, romantic tale of murder, mayhem, the beautiful (but lonely) women and rugged men of the ranchlands, cows, dinosaur hunting, Russian Mafioso, and the big Montana sky all told through the voice of a former Los Angeles homicide detective turned vegetarian cowboy who is trying to escape from life which is obviously proving to be an impossible job. Whew! It opens with the c-section of a scared little heifer having a too-big calf. I always like to challenge myself and that scene required some work! The Dinosaur Hunter will be out on Nov. 9, 2010, just in time for Christmas shopping. St. Martin's is really high on this book and has all kinds of marketing schemes which I thoroughly hope will work. Like most writers, I savor a hit. Anyway, we write them to be read, correct? For more on these books and others I've written, plus also some advice to writers, I hope folks will visit my website at http://www.homerhickam.com/. That's also the place to sign up for our quarterly newsletter.

So that's where I am right now in the writing life. Oh, that and the fact I have a delivery date in June of my next novel and I am presently on chapter one which is making my wife Linda more than a little nervous. I'm challenging myself on this one, too. The story takes place fifty years in the future but is being written by a historian looking back after a hundred and fifty years. I get to put in all kinds of spurious footnotes and references. Some fun! And that's what writing is all about, anyway. Fun and more fun, especially if we challenge ourselves along the way. I hope you have fun today!




So... what's YOUR dream? I think we know what Commander Paul's is.


P.S. Here I am with Anousheh and Homer getting my copy at their booksigning.

The Next Phase of Life

Now that conference week, and the resulting brain drain, is over (for the most part), I’m moving on to obsessing about the next big event on my calendar: the first day of school. The Worsham house is busy pouring over school supply lists and discussing teacher assignments. For Drama Queen, this time of year has become old hat, though she mourns the end of summer. For Little Man, something very exciting occurs this year: he starts kindergarten.

He’s been in preschool for 2 years, so he is as prepared as he can get for this big event. And don’t worry, Mommy is prepared too. Sorry, but I’m not one of those women who weeps uncontrollably when the baby of the family leaves the nest. I enjoyed the preschool experience from the moment I first dropped him off, and am counting down the days until I can do the same for a much longer period. I know that isn’t how most women feel, but I can’t help being different.

I’ve been looking forward to this phase of my life for several years. So often, it seemed like what little time I had while he was in school got eaten up by errands, calls, and other people’s demands. But I, selfish as I am, want this time to be about me and my writing. How awesome to have uninterrupted hours in the day to write and revise, plot ideas and fine-tune submissions?

But I’m worried at the same time. I don’t want this precious gift of time to be wasted or devoured by other things. Yes, I’ll have to make the occasional run to the bank or grocery store, but I don’t want days to go by before I realize that I’ve gotten absolutely nothing accomplished in the pursuit of my goal. So many women don’t have the chance to stay home and write without worrying about a day job. Though I’ll have my resume writing service to handle, I’m still going to have more time to pursue my writing career than I’ve ever had.

I’d love to hear any advice you have on keeping this time set aside for my writing goals. How do you stay focused and not let others intrude on that precious time? I’ve gotten pretty good at saying no to outsiders, but I have a much more difficult time with family and close friends. Any advice for me?

Angel

P.S. The Playground’s Problem Child is guest blogging today at the I Heart Presents blog. Check it out!

P.P.S. Tomorrow is a very special day over at Publisher’s Weekly columnist Barbara Vey’s blog! Barbara told us about this over our annual breakfast at Nationals and you will love it!!! From Barbara: Tuesday, July 28th will be the world premiere of a very special Drive By Video™ that I put together at Thrillerfest. It's starring 8 super men authors and tells a story. This is a not to be missed event. There will be prizes and a poll (a la American Idol).

The Family Descends for Thanksgiving

This week I have the privilege (and I mean that) of having my mother and her family come stay with me for Thanksgiving. They’ll be arriving tomorrow evening and be here until Friday. We’re all excited. Me especially, because it has been years since I’ve had the fun of hanging out in the kitchen with my mother, who is a great cook. I miss those family preparations. Every Christmas I pack up the kids and head to my husband’s grandmother’s house to help prepare all the goodies for our annual Christmas Eve get-togethers, but since we only make desserts, it isn’t quite the same. Neither are the discussions, because my Mom and I talk about anything AND everything, with narry a silence in between.

So I’m really looking forward to them being here, but I’m not looking forward to the preparations. Now, normally, I’m not fanatical about cleaning my house. When it gets dirty, I’ll clean it. Eventually. But upon the imminent arrival of company, the house has to be spotless. (This is why I invite the Playfriends over all the time. It helps me keep up the housekeeping standards.) So I’ll spend today and tomorrow getting lots of dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping done (can you tell I have a thing about the floors?). Because you KNOW I've let everything go during NaNoWriMo...

The other thing I’m fanatical about is Being Prepared. I don’t like people to arrive for dinner to a meal that’s not done. It drives me crazy to not have everything I need laid out and ready when someone is coming over to work on a project. I’m just funny that way. Part of it is I don’t like keeping them waiting. The other part is I feel like a failure in some way if I’ve not completed my part of the bargain.

So for the last few weeks I’ve been buying up the groceries needed for our Thanksgiving cooking marathon. I made out a comprehensive list and started buying ahead of time to spread out the monetary damage. The plan was to have everything that would last in the house, with a last minute trip to buy perishable items. Guess what else I’m doing today?

So all this preparation may make me sound really organized, but I’m not. While I’m busy doing all this, the rest of my life is going to h*ll, because I can't be on top of everything at once. Oh well, we can't all be perfect, can we? :) And I'm still having to write until Wednesday, hopefully even more while everyone is here, if I can sneak away. I'd built in some Planned-For Days Off, but they got used up last week when my children were sick. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging along as best I can. (Check out my word count meter!!!)

How are you preparing for Thanksgiving this week? Any family coming in?

Angel

Relax, Don't Write

My family and I are on vacation this week. We decided to go for Fall Break this year, since we haven’t had a real family vacation since Drama Queen was 6 months old. So yesterday we drove off into the sunset… actually, into the mountains. Neither my hubby nor I are beach people, but we like seclusion and nearby shopping/restaurants. The mountains it is.

I decided to do something radical during this time. I rarely go anywhere, even overnight, without the accoutrements for writing. Just in case the bug strikes me. But this time I left my AlphaSmart at home. Even though part of me insists I could get lots of writing done, I’m cutting myself off. I’ve worked hard getting a whole book written recently, a couple of short stories, and have moved on to rewrites. I’ve got another book I’m plotting for NaNoWriMo. But I think my brain needs a vacation, just like the rest of me.

Though I may panic once I’m there, I’m going on this vacation with nothing more in the way of office supplies than a pen and journal, just in case plot points come to me that I need to write down. Otherwise, it will be just me, 2 children, the husband, and a slower pace. Let’s just hope I’m not begging one of the Playfriends to ship the alphie to me within 24 hours.

Since I’m gone today, why don’t readers and Playfriends share their favorite vacation memories? Mine is my honeymoon, but I’ll keep the details to myself. ;)

Angel

Coming Soon!

This week we have the adorable and funny author Christie Craig on Thursday, October 9th. So tune in!

Growing Up

Drama Queen, who is now 8, finally developed an interest in having her ears pierced. The prospect of pain certainly did not thrill her, and kept her from following through on any errant thought about it before. Like me, she has a very low tolerance for pain. (PS. We don’t call her Drama Queen for nothing)

Anyway, when she brought this up to her Daddy and I, the good ol’ hubby promptly chimed in with, “Yeah, maybe your Mommy can get hers done at the same time. You’d like another earring in your ear, wouldn’t you?”

Great. After that, there was no way I could tell DQ that I didn’t exactly relish the idea of having a needle stuck through my ear again. When I had my ears pierced as a child, I had some problems with one of them and had to have it redone. And it looked like now I’d be getting a double pierce.

We chose a Claire’s Boutique at the nearby mall. My mother-in-law was nice enough to join us to take pictures and decided to put a third hole in her right ear to complete this bonding experience.



I got elected to go first (lucky me!). It wasn’t so bad. More burning and pressure than actual pain. My mil went next. Then it was time for Drama Queen to climb up in the chair. They did both her ears at once, because we were honestly afraid she would get one done and refuse to go through with the other one.

Long story short (too late!), she barely even cried. Tears welled and spilled over a bit and she started talking really fast, but no dramatic swoon, no hollering, no crying from here to eternity. I was quite surprised. And proud. She hasn’t fussed about them hurting or bothering her while she sleeps, which has also surprised me. Quite frankly, mine are driving me crazy.




So, do you have your ears pierced? Double? Any extras we should know about? Secret hankering for a nose ring or tattoo? Come on, spill it… but keep it G-rated, okay? :)

Angel

Hey Sister, Go Sister, Soul Sister, Sister Flow

I’m the only Playfriend without a sister. (Okay so there’s a huge age gap between SP and her

sister, but they’re sisters nonetheless.) I have an older brother, but we’re not what you’d call close. I have female cousins, but I’m not close with the ones who are close in age because I lived away so much when we were young. There’s an age difference with my other cousins that just wasn’t ever bridged. I’m very close to my mom, but she’s my mom, not my sister, and there’s a difference.

We moved around so much when I was a child that I don’t have close friends who have truly known me since childhood. I have a few friends from Junior High that I still see occasionally or that I’ve reunited with via Facebook, and I have Counselor Shelley who’s been around for 20 years now.

But Shelley lives in Louisiana and has since 1991. It’s not like we just decide to have lunch on the spur of the moment. When we get together, it’s planned. I had plenty of friends, but very few were what you'd call really close.

While no man is an island, it is possible to be a peninsula?

Then enter the Playfriends. Nowadays, I have folks stopping by my house with only a moment’s notice, and I only make a perfunctory sweep of the big crap off the couch. I often make them pick up their own food on the way (and bring something for us to eat too). I’ve been known to make my husband baby sit their kids so we can go shopping. I “talk” to all of them constantly, usually all at once due to the wonder that is a yahoo loop. Very little happens in my life—good or bad, boring or not—that they don’t know about.

They know how much I paid for my house and weighed in on the color I’m going to paint. They know which medicines I take, debate with me over the tattoo, and have absolutely no problem telling me that something makes me look fat.

They help plot books and obsess over editorial letters. They advise on my hair and tell me I don’t need to lose weight. On Saturday, we fought over purses until we finally agreed to share.

Danniele makes my crafts, Kira orders my business cards, and Andrea does my makeup. Marilyn straddles that lovely line of mothering us while she eggs us on. (Yes, it’s an interesting trick, not to be tried my amateurs).

In reality, the Playfriends have only been around for a few years, but I really don’t know how I functioned without them. I was never in a sorority, but I’m thinking this is sisterhood.

Now I understand why catalogues have all the “my sister is great” stuff. Sisters are pretty cool.

Poor AC, she doesn’t have a sister either (and she’s not getting one, no matter how much she asks). She’ll just have to make do with Drama Queen, Baby Girl and Sweet Pea. But if they’re anything like their moms, it’s going to work out grand.

Do you have sisters? Is it as great as it sounds, or do you really want to be an only child? What’s the best or worst thing about your sister(s)?

PC

ROBERTSONREADS--you need to contact me ASAP! You were Heidi's winner, and if you don't claim soon, I'll have to give your prize to someone else!

TRAVELER--You're Julie Cohen's winner. Please send me your snail mail addy!

Home Alone

Nope, this isn't a movie review, but rather a continuation of the “Getting Ready for Conference” blogs. We've talked about coping at your first conference, our efforts to lose weight (I'm down 5 pounds and if I never eat tuna again I will die a happy woman), super-duper packing lists and how to win prizes while we're gone.

But there's still one more aspect of leaving I need to take care of (besides my pre-conference haircut (tomorrow) and manicure and pedicure (Monday afternoon).

I need to make sure the DH is taken care of.

Before I board that flight to San Francisco next week, I have to make sure he has clean clothes and plenty to eat. “Leave him a bunch of take out menus,” I hear from one corner of the audience. “Let him do his own laundry,” says another.

Yeah, I could do that. But for the past twelve years I've had the privilege of being a stay-at-home wife and mother, and part of the deal was that I handled the housework, laundry and cooking. He can do all those things. He did them on a regular basis while I worked because we had a weekly chores schedule posted on the fridge door every week.

Besides, we all know that restaurant food isn't the healthiest fare around. It's okay once in a while, but not every day. He has to travel fairly frequently on business and must eat out then. So when he's home, he needs good, healthy food.

Since 2000, the DH has been on a health and fitness kick. He's in the gym at least 4 days a week and plays competitive volleyball. So I'd hate for him to eat calorie-laden, sodium-infused food and blow his diet while I'm having fun in San Francisco eating overpriced bagels and rubber conference-luncheon chicken.

So I'll hit the supermarket before I leave and stock up on plenty of salad fixins and meats he can easily grill or nuke. I'll make sure there's a fresh half-gallon of 2% milk in the fridge and a full box of his favorite organic granola in the pantry. I'll have plenty of peanut butter and Polaner strawberry fruit spread for his favorite snack. And I'll get an extra loaf of wheat bread and tuck it away in the freezer.

I know, I know. I've spoiled him rotten. But spoiling works two ways. I have limited income from my writing and I pay for as much of my RWA expenses as I can. But when that runs out, he flips his Amex card to me and says “Go and have a good time.” So the very least I can do is make sure he has clean socks and underwear and stock the pantry, freezer and fridge.

The other Playfriends have babysitter and/or petsitter issues to tend to as well. So their “home alone” preparations are more extensive than mine cause it's a heck of a lot easier to stock a fridge than line up sitters for a week. Been there, done that too.

For some reason, I don't think the rabbits invading our backyard will notice I'm gone. But I do need to remember to put my potted outdoor plants by a sprinkler head so they'll get some water while I'm gone.

Then after I've left my heart in San Francisco I can come back home, crash for a few days (conference always leaves me exhausted, but it's a good kind of exhaustion) and get back in the swing of the routine at home. But only after I've downloaded my camera and sent the pictures to Angel. ;-)

Do you ever travel and leave your spouse and/or kiddies home alone?