College Kid's in the House: Time to Have Fun

Hey Y'all, it's Spring Break!!! I'm so excited because the CK is home for the week and we are having a blast. We're shopping, going over my website design, and generally making mischief. She's a great girl and I cherish every minute I have with her.

And she's a big part of why I have the courage to write my stories. The CK is a brave, wonderfully talented, take it on the chin and get up again kind of girl. I guess you could say she's a Spunky Kid with a big heart. The girl is on fire and I love her energy, enthusiasm for life and the world around her.

Remember that no matter how important we think our work is that cherishing our families and our friends is far more important. At the end of my days, I hope that this is the lesson that my girl carries forward.

Who do you cherish? What crazy, fun things do you do together? If there was one person you could talk to again from your world, a family member or dear friend, who would that person be? For me it would be my Oma. I miss her. She was a Spunky Kid, too!

Life, the University & Everything Else

A lot has happened since I posted my last blog. Where to start? How to encapsulate it all? Um, I bow to the excellence of bullet points.

*Got a truck on Saturday with the Physicist. We were lucky to get it and to find the place that had the rental truck, but we got it. Strained the strings of our marriage license while hunting for the truck rental place, but we are still married.

*Married for another year. Celebrated anniversary on Saturday. Being lost and arguing about getting directions to the said rental truck place was not part of our anniversary plan.

*Loaded the College Kid's stuff onto the rental truck on Saturday. Again--just so happened to be our anniversary. No special meals. No take out. No presents. No cards. No time. That's real life over at the Glover House. Sometimes just doing tough stuff and getting through it unscathed is cause for celebration.

*On Sunday moved CK down to her new digs in her College Town, USA. Digs are decent. CK decorating with moss and fake tea lights whilst I scrub a nasty and dirty tub. Oh, and I vacuumed. The Physicist hung shelves and made bed frame. Two other CKs assisted in the move. Though it rained horrifically all the way down to College Town, USA, we were spared a massive downpour during the unloading of all the items.

*Took CK and her friends to fun restaurant that night. Fun listening to them talk about how "old" they were as they approach the big 2-0. Me? I'm considering every day that I get up out of bed a bonus day in this ol' life of mine.

*Left CK and drove to Hotlanta where we bought two chairs and two end tables at IKEA. We needed to replace the old furniture we sent to College Town, USA. Then we drove the truck to my CP's house and we've been here for two sleeps. A much needed respite from a busy weekend.

*CK calls on Tuesday, one day before classes begin--a call from the CK is never "good news." "What's wrong?" I asked first off. "I slept in my contacts and they were really dry and when I ripped them out of my eyes, my eyeballs started hurting really bad and I can't see." Me. "Take pain meds, and I'll find an eye dr." Found eye doc through our peeps in Hometown, USA. College Town, USA eye doc diagnoses corneal abrasions, prescribes medication, and follow up appt. in one week. Me? I'm just glad the eyeballs are fixable. Welcome back to Emergency Calls and Freak Outs and Handouts of Cashola.

*The Physicist and the Craftsman bonded over the grill. The CP and I brainstormed and worked on social media platforms. Much was accomplished. Wish we lived closer

*It's Wednesday and we're driving the rental truck home today. 4.5 hours in a yucky, bumpy rental truck with zero real music, uncomfortable seats, wheels that bumpety bump bump so much that your head feels like a rattle snake lives inside it, and we're both tired, sore and grumpy. Will the marital bliss never end?

*Keep Calm and Truck On!

Memories, Mayhem & Motivation

It's been a while since I've blogged. Frankly, I've been so busy this summer that my head is about to spin off my neck and what free time I've had has been spent doing the most important thing: writing. I've considered writing about my RWA National Conference experience, but there's no way to truly encapsulate how incredible that experience was for me.

Why? First I got to see so many friends and was inspired to go above and beyond my personal strengths as a writer. Second, I got to see friends who came all the way to see me and meet the writers. They had a blast and I really enjoyed spending time with them. Third, I sat at Lucky Table #55 where Eloisa James sat (and I was unable to speak to her because I was having a serious fan girl heart attack) and she won her first RITA. Fourth, I got to be a Golden Heart date with the awesome writer Gail Hart and we cheered on two RITA winners and two Golden Heart winners. Fifth, I was a Daphne date with Sharon Wray who won a Daphne and achieved highest overall score. Sixth, I was able to share in the best news ever:

My Critique Partner Pam Mantovani sold her first book to Belle Books at the National Conference.

Okay, that meant major screaming, a bit of crying, and lots of wine drinking to celebrate afterward. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was for her. We both sold within six weeks of each other. And we're both in the same boat. This is a dream come true and a great way to start the writing year.

But the writing has taken a serious hit because we've been so busy. The Conference definitely ate up a lot of time. The College Kid has been underfoot and quite frankly, if she's up and wants to spend time with me, I do. The Physicist has also been home more often and that has taken up time and impacted my ability to concentrate. Finally, the mayhem continues because we're gearing up to move the CK back to her college. There's a mattress set, a futon, a bookshelf, and an office chair in my bedroom. Her wing looks like a disaster area and needs serious gutting out. And there's a boatload of stuff stored in my attic and garage that we're moving to down south.

T-5 days till we hit the road. Loading the moving truck up on one day, driving down to the school the next, praying the key works on the condo door (don't ask), and moving her in. The following day we head to Hotlanta where we'll buy two chairs to replace the old love seat she's taking with her as well as to spend time with my CP and the Craftsman.

Then it's turnaround and head home again.

So all this stuff has impacted my motivation. I have to force myself to write a little every day on a story that I've pretty much vacillated between loving, hating, wanting to toss it away, wanting to save it for no other reason than for myself, and then I go through it all over again. Why am I revising this story? I have a request for it. I don't know if it will fly through the backdoor and succeed where others have failed. I don't know if it's going to pass the strict guidelines of this particular publisher's house and I have another set of stories to write that I know have to be written for the contract I signed in May. Still, this story is easier to deal with than writing a series prequel and a sequel, so I persist in writing it.

Bit by bit. There isn't a lot of time. Just a little. But I keep telling myself that if I only get a half an hour logged, it's better than nothing. So blogging? Well that has taken a nosedive, but I've decided to try to get one blog in a week and I'm shooting for a Wednesday Weekly blog.

Let's see if I stay on track.

How do you cope through the busy days of summer when you have projects that must be completed?