Wordless Wednesday: Mist

Cured?

Wow. I didn't mean to be gone so long!

My mom and dad were here (yay!). They spoiled me rotten for a week and then we went down to my cousin's wedding in Sacramento together. Beautiful wedding and I got to see all my cousins and meet some long-lost relatives for the first time.

It was fun, but I came home sick.

I've never been sick on a plane before, but on my flight from Portland I thought I was going to lose my dinner. I was holding the barf bag and trying to keep my screaming toddler from squirming off my lap as we landed.

No barf happened, but I think the experience cured me of my Dr. Pepper habit. At least temporarily.

See, we were at the wedding. And then there was dancing. I definitely did not drink enough water after dancing and over-eating and everything else that happens during wedding festivities.

Crazy times out on the dance floor! -- my aunt Linda

The next day I traveled all day and drank two big cups of Dr. Pepper. I spent my 4-hour Portland layover at my other aunt's house and she bought me a lovely dinner, but also bought me more Dr. Pepper. I tried to drink it because she'd been so kind to buy it for me, but even the smell of it made me sick.

And then the near-barf on the plane happened. The flights were so turbulent that the flight attendants didn't come down the aisles with carts of drinks, so there was no way to get water.

I got off the plane, passed the toddler to my husband, and collapsed, panting,  "WHERE'S THE WATER FOUNTAIN." But, as I'm sure you know, water fountains are not too good for dehydration unless you attach a hose and sit there slurping for an hour. I laid the seat back in our car and slept the whole drive home.

The next day, it came time for my ritual Dr. Pepper-while-writing and ... I couldn't stand the thought of it.

It's been green tea around here this week. Which has been good because I've had a bad cold and a case of the blahs.

I wonder if I'm cured of my Dr. Pepper habit for good. We'll see....

I hope all of you on the east coast are safe and sound! Stay warm and dry, everyone. Now to visit some blogs. I've missed you all!

Missing in Action

Friends,

My parents are here visiting from Hong Kong so I'm taking a mini-blogging vacation.

See you soon! Have a wonderful week.

xoxo

The view from our deck last night

Wordless Wednesday: Window

Celebrating with Interpretive Dance!

I think this new addition to the Hacky Sack Club stable of embarrassing videos pretty much speaks for itself:


Please, please stop by Janet Johnson's and Kristin Rae's blogs to wish them huge congratulations! YAY!!!

Healthy Writers Club: Bob Harper Is My Trainer

Shallee McArthur had the brilliant idea to start The Healthy Writer's Club. I am jumping on the band wagon  because I've always enjoyed working out.

Yes, you heard me right. I enjoy working out.

And the fact that I enjoy it is such a gift, I really should put it to use. I mean, it makes me healthier, it means I can eat more cake and I feel more energized. Besides that, I'm a stay-at-home mom. I'm busy, but I have the ultimate flexible morning schedule. The butt-in-chair life of a writer is making me flabby. And I'm drinking too much Dr. Pepper. So I told myself: NO MORE EXCUSES.

I meant to get my baby jogger tire pumped up so I could start walking again, but that hasn't worked out yet. So, instead, I went to the library and borrowed the Bob Harper strength training workout.

Of course, the remote for our DVD player is lost right now, so I can only do the hour-long work out, because that's the first listing on the menu and accessible by pressing PLAY on the machine. *rolls eyes* And I do have time to work out, but not time for a whole hour, so I've been doing the hour workout in stages.

The first day I did ten minutes ... and then my daughter accidentally turned off the DVD player. (And because the remote is lost, I didn't have the patience to start it all over again and sit through the intro that I can't fast-forward.)

The second day I did twenty minutes ... but quit when my baby daughter was clinging to the back of my legs when I was trying to jump back into push-up pose.

Today I managed over thirty minutes before the whining and crying began (not me, them). Getting better.

And oh my goodness, I'm so glad I'm doing this, because my muscles are sore. But it feels great because I know I'm actually using those muscles for something other than lifting children and carrying loads of laundry up and down the basement stairs.

Life is good.

So, are you up for joining the Healthy Writer's Club? I'll be posting about my progress occasionally on Fridays. Maybe one of these days I'll actually work up to the entire one-hour Bob Harper workout with five pound weights (as opposed to the two-pounders I've been using)!

What do you do to stay in shape?

Wordless Wednesday: The Artist

What's Up in the Bathtub?

Happy October!

1. It just occurred to me today that I've been enjoying my critique partners' books more than the books I've been getting at the library. Is that weird? This must be a reason to celebrate!
2. Emily King and I are keeping each other accountable for writing through the month of October. My goal is to write 50,000 words over the next thirty days, which divides into 1,666 words a day. (I'm giving myself one day off since there are 31 days in October.) And this is why I love the blogging community. I mean, Emily and I don't know each other that well (yet), but we're going to do this because we're at the same place in our manuscripts and have the same goal. I'm so excited!
3. And some sad news ... I've parted ways with my agent. I'm not going into detail here on the blog, but I'll just say I'd like to find someone who loves middle grade verse. (If you know of any agents who have a soft spot for verse novels, let me know!) So now I'm gathering up confidence to start querying again. *deep breath*

What's going on in your part of the bathtub?  

Photo courtesy of Morguefile by jdurham