One of Those Weeks

This week has been absolutely crazy. It was already shortened by the holiday and as much as I loved having a day off to spend with the girls...sometimes you regret those vacation days. At least I do.

I won't go into details because frankly I don't want to scare anyone. Suffice it to say that the Playfriends have talked me down off several ledges this week. Nothing life threatening or earth shattering just more than I thought I could handle at one time.

However, on the bright side of things, I'm an aunt again. My newest niece was born on Tuesday at 12:55 PM. She's adorable and I can't wait to watch her grow up. Seeing her big sister holding baby for the first time reminded me so much of my own girls. Which reminds me how quickly Sweet Pea and Baby Girl are growing up.

I have not held the baby yet - my children are both sick and I didn't want to risk it - but I have a feeling those nostalgic moments will only get stronger when I do. If I start looking moonily at her will someone remind me that phase in my life is over? I really don't have time for another infant... Nevermind. I just thought of changing diapers and the moment passed.

On another bright note, I got a new release date. My next book - the sequel to Whispers in the Dark - will be coming out January 2011. I'm very excited to see Anne and Blake's story hit the shelves!

To celebrate the happiness this week (and to make me forget the bad stuff) I'm going to give a copy of Afterburn to one commenter today. Tell me if there's anything new and exciting going on in your life. Anything you're anticipating? Was your week a wreck? Heck, even tell me about your vacation plans...and whether or not you'll regret them when you get back to the real world.

Instigator

Sending my baby off

Back in the fall of 1997 I sent my older son off to college. I still remember standing on the front porch, watching him drive away, waving at me through the sunroof of his gray Honda Accord.

Then in the fall of 2001 I sent my baby (who, by the way,turned 26 ten days ago) off to college.

So you'd think I would be used to sending babies off into the world.

Nope. Not when the baby in question is a 267 page manuscript that I invested small parts of several years, the entire month of November 2008 and a great deal of February, March and April 2009 in.

I wrote the majority of this book during NaNoWriMo last November, then finished it up in February so I could enter an online pitch contest. Much to my surprise, I finaled and then had to pitch the book online to the editor of Silhouette Special Edition. I studied up almost as much as I did before giving birth the first time. I had a cheat sheet beside me during the pitch. I had the conflict written out in a open Word document, ready for cutting and pasting. I hoped I knew the answer to any question she could throw at me.

I guess I must have done okay because she asked for the full manuscript.

Uhm... I had the whole book written, but it was word vomit as one of the Playground's best friends likes to call it. And as we all know, vomit must be cleaned up. My original goal was to edit and revise and mail off the book by April 1st. Oops! Didn't happen. So my revised goal was April 10, my birthday.

April 10 started off okay but Mother Nature reared her head and we had tornadoes that day. At one point I was in the utility closet with the civil defense sirens blaring and my manuscript in my lap, marking away with my green pen. I was able to finish the revisions, enter them into the Word document, print off a clean copy of the manuscript and make it to the post office about 6:30 that afternoon. I used the automatic postage machine (greatest invention since the microwave) and before I put the package down the chute, I gave it a kiss for luck.

I met my goal. Happy birthday to me!

And now I wait -- just like I waited for my human babies to grow up, graduate and make their way in the world. It's all out of my control now and worrying about it serves no purpose except aggravating my already sensitive gastro-intestinal system.

I'm out of town this week, checking up on my mom. She has some usual age-related problems and perhaps a problem with one of her medications that needs to be discussed with her physician. At least this is keeping my mind off my baby being in the Big Apple. Well, almost. I think about it sometimes. OKAY, all the time. It's what a mother does. Right?

Meanwhile I've also been brainstorming an idea for the next book and revising a short story that exceeds some recently revised word count guidelines. I finished teaching an online class last Friday and am tying up loose ends with that this week too.

I'm trying to stay busy so I don't worry, but it doesn't entirely work. Those of you old enough may remember a TV commercial for Bayer children's aspirin where a little boy asked if his friend could come out to play. The mother replied that the little girl wasn't feeling well. "Does she hurt and have a temperature?" he asked. The mother assured him she was taking good care of her daughter, to which the boy replied, "Mothers are like that. Yeah they are."

This mother is like that. Yeah she is.

Have you sent a baby (human or otherwise) off into the world?

P.S. I still love this make-believe cover for the book. Don't Hugh? ;-)

Glitter, Baby

No, I'm not talking about the re-release of the SEP book. I'm talking about the little glittery things all over my house. Glittery bits from sparkly tissue paper and the beautiful decoration I made for the table in my foyer. Glittery pieces sprinkled on the tables and rugs and hardwood floor and are hard to clean up, even with my super-duper new vacuum cleaner.

We undecked the halls over the weekend while I still had #2 son at home to help the DH wrangle down the tree. All the ornaments, garland, candles and reindeer are packed in their storage boxes, ready to be stored away. I even managed to disassemble the lighted reindeer and put them back in the boxes they came in. It was kinda like re-folding a road map.

We shop and wrap and decorate for weeks prior to Christmas and then poof! It's all over in a day and it's time to undo it all. I enjoy decorating even if I complain about it. I put on the Christmas music and sing along as I make the house look festive.

The week after Christmas I have to figure out why the stuff I pulled out of boxes has grown and doesn't want to go back in those same boxes. I have to put away my gifts and write thank-you notes (note to self: DO THIS). The bottom line is I'm undecking the halls, putting jingle bells and good tidings back in the closet and returning to ordinary life. And while I'm doing that, I see all sorts of things that need to be done like cleaning baseboards, dusting behind large pieces of furniture and washing a door with grandbaby fingerprints all over it.

The big problem is, I have a book to finish -- a book I'm having a difficult time getting back into. It's terrible when dust seems more attractive than writing. Add in that I had doctor's appointments on Monday and yesterday (got a clean bill of health!), a haircut appointment this morning, have a coffee date with a chapter member tomorrow morning and I need to get prepared for a presentation at our RWA meeting on Saturday. It's tax time and my DH-the-accountant will want my financial records soon.

My mother's birthday is next weekend and I still haven't bought a gift for her. And the DH and I are going to the Caribbean at the end of the month and I'll need to start getting ready for that soon. I have to find where I stored the sundresses I bought in August when the stores put them on sale. I know where my passport is, thank goodness, but I need to buy sunscreen. I have a Red Hat lunch next Thursday and a follow-up appointment with my orthopedic surgeon next Friday to check the foot he operated on almost a year ago. A proofreading job landed in my lap with a deadline of January 14th. Oh... and my Golden Heart entries arrived on Monday and need to be read and judged.

How is it that the most wonderful time of the year suddenly morphs into a glittery mess that's booked solid on my calendar?

Is anyone else having trouble getting back into the swing of things?

P.S. eHarlequin has been nominated for the Best Community Blog on Weblog. We're quite partial to eHarlequin on the Playground. Once every twenty-four hours you can vote here through 4 PM CST on January 13.

P.P.S. If you've been with us for a while, you may remember the post I made in July 2007 about a remarkable baby story. Well, this family welcomed another member last night. Romance writers just love baby stories. :-)