But in a good way, though. Right now, my emotions are stitched on my sleeve. I can’t help it either. Anything that pops up on TV that has the smallest hint of love, or charity, or compassion, makes me blubber like a baby. I guess it’s fitting.
Yesterday, for the millionth time, I watched one of fav movies, Practical Magic. I love Sandra Bullock, don’t you? Well, in the end when she sacrifices for her sister and cuts her hand and says “my blood, your blood” I got sooo choked and tears began streaming down my face. (Oh no, it’s happening again!). Nevermind that I’ve seen this movie a gazillion times. Nevermind that I know it’s coming. It still got me.
And that’s not the worst of it. I boo hoo’ed one day watching HGTV. This poor girl bought her first house and later found out that the contractors who built the basement apartment did a shoddy job on everything and she had to spend $40K to fix it. Then, the new contractors she hired didn’t fix it and took her money. So she called HGTV and they came out with their lifesaver contractor crew and fixed it right for another $40K. While she told her story, she was crying like a baby and if I had her number I would’ve called her and told that I definitely could feel her pain. I’m a total sympathy freak right now.
But, I guess things could be worse, right?
I could be having daily conniptions over food. Wait, a minute…that’s already happened. Yikes!
Remind me one day to tell you about the hamburger fiasco.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Two goals down….
Ninety eight more to go.
First goal:
I’ve recently acquired an agent to represent my middle grade fiction novel. She’s a wonderful woman who I feel very blessed and honored to have as the champion for my work. Her name is L. Spencer Humphrey and she has lots of experience in publishing and I am sure she will do an awesome job pitching my story.
Philippians 4:13
Second goal:
My new agent gave me some excellent editorial advice on how to make my story stronger and more compelling and I took her advice and capitalized on it. It took me about 5 weeks (I think), but I’ve recently handed her the revised copy of my completed middle grade novel. The book is intended to be a series and book 2 has been drafted, but still needs work.
So, now all that’s left is for her to take her time perusing it and then offer her opinion on it. I am truly hoping that she think it’s ready for submission to editors. If not, then I trust her explicitly and work my tail off to make sure the book lives up the premise (which is awesome, I might add).
So wish me luck!!!!!
First goal:
I’ve recently acquired an agent to represent my middle grade fiction novel. She’s a wonderful woman who I feel very blessed and honored to have as the champion for my work. Her name is L. Spencer Humphrey and she has lots of experience in publishing and I am sure she will do an awesome job pitching my story.
Philippians 4:13
Second goal:
My new agent gave me some excellent editorial advice on how to make my story stronger and more compelling and I took her advice and capitalized on it. It took me about 5 weeks (I think), but I’ve recently handed her the revised copy of my completed middle grade novel. The book is intended to be a series and book 2 has been drafted, but still needs work.
So, now all that’s left is for her to take her time perusing it and then offer her opinion on it. I am truly hoping that she think it’s ready for submission to editors. If not, then I trust her explicitly and work my tail off to make sure the book lives up the premise (which is awesome, I might add).
So wish me luck!!!!!
LOVE/HATE
Only in pregnancy can a person have a true love/hate relationship with food. Those of you who have carried a baby in your tummy know exactly what I’m talking about. For those of you who have yet to enter into motherhood, or who are male, let me elaborate a bit for you.
When you are pregnant, you are in the process of creating a new human being on the earth. This new mass/matter does not come without other new mass entering into the woman’s body (i.e. food). It’s the first law of thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created nor destroyed. So, basically in order for a baby to grow, you need to create tissues. In order to create tissue, you have to EAT mountains worth of food. Well, not really mountains, but sometimes it sure feels like it.
So what does the body do? It makes you eat. It makes you eat, by making it extremely painful for you not to eat. Do you know why? Well, because if our bodies didn’t have some sort of mechanism by which to make us (or in other words remind us) to eat, then we’d just go about our busy little days and never nourish ourselves. How many of you, in your rush to get the morning started have ever skipped breakfast? Exactly. But the thing is, when you’re pregnant, this type of behavior goes out the window. If you do not eat, you will experience horrible, horrible consequences.
So that’s the Love part, believe it or not. You live for food. You live to find the next morsel of something you can tolerate so that you can pop it into your mouth and savor it. Food begins to sum up your existence on this earth.
But what about when you’re hungry (and sick as a result of the hunger) but can’t find anything, absolutely NOTHING, within reach that you can eat? Or better yet, what if you simply CAN’T eat?
Again, let me clarify. Sometimes when you’re pregnant, you get that familiar tug in your tummy that reminds you that you’d better get some food (and quick!) or else. But, because we are those busy little bees, we don’t always do what we’re told. Sometimes, we push it back a tad longer. And then what happens? Well for me, it’s morning sickness (as if I didn’t have enough already!). Scientifically, when you are pregnant, certain hormones (namely progesterone) are present in abundance so that the uterus can remain strong and the lining of it can remain thick enough to keep the baby safe. As a result of this, it also creates an excess of stomach acid which in turn causes more morning sickness (a very queasy, nauseous feeling for me). (There is also another theory regarding HcG, but we’ll save that for another day, shall we?). So when you feel morning sickness, sometimes it makes it impossible to eat at all. And other times, because of your body’s needs, you might be craving the one thing on the earth that you can’t find or just can’t have.
For me, it’s tuna. I looooove tuna when I’m pregnant. But, with tuna being a rather large fish, it also has an abundance of mercury (Hg) in it so it is not recommended to eat more than 8 or so ounces a week. I could down that in one sitting right now.
So that’s the hate part. You live to eat, but sometimes you just can’t. Which means that food further runs your life and now you’re a slave.
Okay….done with that lecture. Now on to cravings…..(I could so write a book).
When you are pregnant, you are in the process of creating a new human being on the earth. This new mass/matter does not come without other new mass entering into the woman’s body (i.e. food). It’s the first law of thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created nor destroyed. So, basically in order for a baby to grow, you need to create tissues. In order to create tissue, you have to EAT mountains worth of food. Well, not really mountains, but sometimes it sure feels like it.
So what does the body do? It makes you eat. It makes you eat, by making it extremely painful for you not to eat. Do you know why? Well, because if our bodies didn’t have some sort of mechanism by which to make us (or in other words remind us) to eat, then we’d just go about our busy little days and never nourish ourselves. How many of you, in your rush to get the morning started have ever skipped breakfast? Exactly. But the thing is, when you’re pregnant, this type of behavior goes out the window. If you do not eat, you will experience horrible, horrible consequences.
So that’s the Love part, believe it or not. You live for food. You live to find the next morsel of something you can tolerate so that you can pop it into your mouth and savor it. Food begins to sum up your existence on this earth.
But what about when you’re hungry (and sick as a result of the hunger) but can’t find anything, absolutely NOTHING, within reach that you can eat? Or better yet, what if you simply CAN’T eat?
Again, let me clarify. Sometimes when you’re pregnant, you get that familiar tug in your tummy that reminds you that you’d better get some food (and quick!) or else. But, because we are those busy little bees, we don’t always do what we’re told. Sometimes, we push it back a tad longer. And then what happens? Well for me, it’s morning sickness (as if I didn’t have enough already!). Scientifically, when you are pregnant, certain hormones (namely progesterone) are present in abundance so that the uterus can remain strong and the lining of it can remain thick enough to keep the baby safe. As a result of this, it also creates an excess of stomach acid which in turn causes more morning sickness (a very queasy, nauseous feeling for me). (There is also another theory regarding HcG, but we’ll save that for another day, shall we?). So when you feel morning sickness, sometimes it makes it impossible to eat at all. And other times, because of your body’s needs, you might be craving the one thing on the earth that you can’t find or just can’t have.
For me, it’s tuna. I looooove tuna when I’m pregnant. But, with tuna being a rather large fish, it also has an abundance of mercury (Hg) in it so it is not recommended to eat more than 8 or so ounces a week. I could down that in one sitting right now.
So that’s the hate part. You live to eat, but sometimes you just can’t. Which means that food further runs your life and now you’re a slave.
Okay….done with that lecture. Now on to cravings…..(I could so write a book).
Friday, April 24, 2009
Random Musings
Ooh la la, it’s my favorite day of the week! And you know what? All I want to do is SLEEP! I haven’t been getting enough Z’s all week and it has really been catching up with me.
I have a friend whose daughter has just been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and went to see her in the hospital yesterday so I didn’t get much shut eye last night. After I got home (which was after 10pm) I couldn’t stop thinking about and praying for this little girl so that kept me up a little longer. She’s such a little lady, and she’s going through the hardest time of her life right now. It’s hard for someone so young (she’s 11) not to feel like life is unfair. I sat with her and parents as the nurses came in to prick her fingers (for the millionth time) and inject her with insulin. The poor thing had throbbing little fingers and I know it was so hard for her mother to bear.
I bought her High School Musical 3 today…she said she knows 1 and 2 by heart, but has never seen 3. I thought it was a golden opportunity to show this little girl how much she’s loved and to hopefully allow her a couple of hours to check out of this world and jump into an imaginary one. She is so much like me when I was her age. She absorbs books like she’s a sponge, and she loves the same kind of cute, rinky-dinky movies that I did. (Of course, for me it was Grease 1 and 2…can you say “cool rider?”)
The baby in my tummy (thinking of Yo Gabba's song, "there's a party in my tummy" as I say this) is making me the hungriest chick on this side of the Ohio River. I can't seem to get enough of it. So far, luckily, I have managed not to put on any weight, which is really good. At one point, I even lost 5 lbs (just couldn't eat) but have since gained that back. Maybe it water weight, who knows. I think this baby is a boy. Why? Just say I have a divine intuition. God said he will give us the desires of our hearts, and not to mention that we've picked out a name that is a testimony to his presence in our lives. If it is indeed a boy, his name will be Mathias. It means "Gift of God" which is absolutely perfect. I can't remember if I told you this or not. But either way, boy or girl, this baby will loved fiercely, and wholeheartedly every single day of his/her life.
My little toddler has been keeping me on my toes as well. She’s saying all kinds of words now and we’re having a ball listening to her sweet, little melodic voice.
This is a list of her vocabulary as of yesterday:
Wow Wow (from Wow wow wubzy, a cartoon show)
On (she says this everytime we turn on a light or when she gets in the car and wants the backseat DVD player on)
Dora (need I say more?)
Door (she points to the door when we open it)
Bye (such a simple word, but it melts my heart when she says it!)
Hey baby (we greet her like this so now she says it to us!)
Dog, roof, roof (learned this at daycare)
No
Daddy
Mama
nose (points to her nose, but when she says it, it actually comes out like nor)
I (we’re trying to teach her I love you, but she’ll say I, but then she won’t say love)
Maybe this list isn’t very impressive (I honestly have no idea one way or the other), but let me assure you that the child knows and understands everything we say to her. It’s amazing really. Finally we have our little go-getter (or fetcher, whatever you want to call it). “Go get mommy’s glasses, please” and she’ll go straight to my glasses on the ottoman. “Go get the diaper and baby wipes” and she’ll bring that to you to. Needless to say, she’s fetched the remote more than once.
I have a friend whose daughter has just been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and went to see her in the hospital yesterday so I didn’t get much shut eye last night. After I got home (which was after 10pm) I couldn’t stop thinking about and praying for this little girl so that kept me up a little longer. She’s such a little lady, and she’s going through the hardest time of her life right now. It’s hard for someone so young (she’s 11) not to feel like life is unfair. I sat with her and parents as the nurses came in to prick her fingers (for the millionth time) and inject her with insulin. The poor thing had throbbing little fingers and I know it was so hard for her mother to bear.
I bought her High School Musical 3 today…she said she knows 1 and 2 by heart, but has never seen 3. I thought it was a golden opportunity to show this little girl how much she’s loved and to hopefully allow her a couple of hours to check out of this world and jump into an imaginary one. She is so much like me when I was her age. She absorbs books like she’s a sponge, and she loves the same kind of cute, rinky-dinky movies that I did. (Of course, for me it was Grease 1 and 2…can you say “cool rider?”)
The baby in my tummy (thinking of Yo Gabba's song, "there's a party in my tummy" as I say this) is making me the hungriest chick on this side of the Ohio River. I can't seem to get enough of it. So far, luckily, I have managed not to put on any weight, which is really good. At one point, I even lost 5 lbs (just couldn't eat) but have since gained that back. Maybe it water weight, who knows. I think this baby is a boy. Why? Just say I have a divine intuition. God said he will give us the desires of our hearts, and not to mention that we've picked out a name that is a testimony to his presence in our lives. If it is indeed a boy, his name will be Mathias. It means "Gift of God" which is absolutely perfect. I can't remember if I told you this or not. But either way, boy or girl, this baby will loved fiercely, and wholeheartedly every single day of his/her life.
My little toddler has been keeping me on my toes as well. She’s saying all kinds of words now and we’re having a ball listening to her sweet, little melodic voice.
This is a list of her vocabulary as of yesterday:
Wow Wow (from Wow wow wubzy, a cartoon show)
On (she says this everytime we turn on a light or when she gets in the car and wants the backseat DVD player on)
Dora (need I say more?)
Door (she points to the door when we open it)
Bye (such a simple word, but it melts my heart when she says it!)
Hey baby (we greet her like this so now she says it to us!)
Dog, roof, roof (learned this at daycare)
No
Daddy
Mama
nose (points to her nose, but when she says it, it actually comes out like nor)
I (we’re trying to teach her I love you, but she’ll say I, but then she won’t say love)
Maybe this list isn’t very impressive (I honestly have no idea one way or the other), but let me assure you that the child knows and understands everything we say to her. It’s amazing really. Finally we have our little go-getter (or fetcher, whatever you want to call it). “Go get mommy’s glasses, please” and she’ll go straight to my glasses on the ottoman. “Go get the diaper and baby wipes” and she’ll bring that to you to. Needless to say, she’s fetched the remote more than once.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Orlando, here I come!
So it’s official…We’re going to Disney World!! Yaay!
My husband’s 33rd birthday is April 12 and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do for him. He’s off work on the 10th and I have a mandatory vacation coming up (long story, company forcing all of it’s 400K employees to take 40 hours of vacation. It’s sucks, but it’s better than layoffs). The only real downfall is that he has to be back at work on the 13th (TCAPS—he teaches 5th grade and they have testing that week).
So I managed to schedule us for a mini-vacay from the 10th to the 12th to Orlando. We have to be back for church (Easter!) so we leave out on Friday at 9:30 am and will return at 9 am on Sunday morning. We’re going to Disney World on Saturday, not sure what we’ll do on Friday, but there’s lots of shopping in Downtown Disney so I am willing to bet that’s where you’ll find us.
We booked fabulously cheap airfare through Allegiant Air and will be staying in the Seaworld area. We’ll probably check out Seaworld too, if we can reconcile the cost with a two day mini-vacay. We’ll see about that one. I’d much rather go for a spa day.
Quick Reflection:
My daughter will experience Disney World before she’s even old enough to remember it. We include her in almost all of our activities. We love having her with us and until she’s older, we plan to continue to tote her around with us. My daughter also went with us to Italy (and celebrated her 1st b-day there). No doubt, that we won’t be able to top that for her 2nd. And, I'm already trying to think of ways that baby #2 won’t feel like a step-child on his/her 1st birthday. I can hear it now “why did Naiah get to go to Italy and all I get is Chuck-E-Cheese?”.
Sigh.
But, really, it’s interesting how much more each generation gets to experience than the one that came before them. I was tremendously spoiled as a child, but it’s nothing compared to the things we’ve done for my daughter. I guess, as time goes on, things become so much more easily accessible. For example, when I was eleven, there was no way I was getting a cell phone. Shoot, I thought I was bad when I got one of those huge Motorola phones my Senior year in high school. But, nowadays, lots of my husband’s students have them. And you know what? My daughter will likely get one too. As time goes on, and the world gets more frenzied, parents worry more. Besides, the cost of these things has gone down so much that it’s not necessarily considered “luxury” anymore. More like “standard”.
Having children is so wonderful. It really keeps you young, earns you patience, and makes your life soooo worth living. My daughter might not remember Disney World, but we’ll have the photos and videos of our time together. And that, as MasterCard would say…is priceless.
(Okay, so I’m cheesy. Wanna make something of it?)
My husband’s 33rd birthday is April 12 and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do for him. He’s off work on the 10th and I have a mandatory vacation coming up (long story, company forcing all of it’s 400K employees to take 40 hours of vacation. It’s sucks, but it’s better than layoffs). The only real downfall is that he has to be back at work on the 13th (TCAPS—he teaches 5th grade and they have testing that week).
So I managed to schedule us for a mini-vacay from the 10th to the 12th to Orlando. We have to be back for church (Easter!) so we leave out on Friday at 9:30 am and will return at 9 am on Sunday morning. We’re going to Disney World on Saturday, not sure what we’ll do on Friday, but there’s lots of shopping in Downtown Disney so I am willing to bet that’s where you’ll find us.
We booked fabulously cheap airfare through Allegiant Air and will be staying in the Seaworld area. We’ll probably check out Seaworld too, if we can reconcile the cost with a two day mini-vacay. We’ll see about that one. I’d much rather go for a spa day.
Quick Reflection:
My daughter will experience Disney World before she’s even old enough to remember it. We include her in almost all of our activities. We love having her with us and until she’s older, we plan to continue to tote her around with us. My daughter also went with us to Italy (and celebrated her 1st b-day there). No doubt, that we won’t be able to top that for her 2nd. And, I'm already trying to think of ways that baby #2 won’t feel like a step-child on his/her 1st birthday. I can hear it now “why did Naiah get to go to Italy and all I get is Chuck-E-Cheese?”.
Sigh.
But, really, it’s interesting how much more each generation gets to experience than the one that came before them. I was tremendously spoiled as a child, but it’s nothing compared to the things we’ve done for my daughter. I guess, as time goes on, things become so much more easily accessible. For example, when I was eleven, there was no way I was getting a cell phone. Shoot, I thought I was bad when I got one of those huge Motorola phones my Senior year in high school. But, nowadays, lots of my husband’s students have them. And you know what? My daughter will likely get one too. As time goes on, and the world gets more frenzied, parents worry more. Besides, the cost of these things has gone down so much that it’s not necessarily considered “luxury” anymore. More like “standard”.
Having children is so wonderful. It really keeps you young, earns you patience, and makes your life soooo worth living. My daughter might not remember Disney World, but we’ll have the photos and videos of our time together. And that, as MasterCard would say…is priceless.
(Okay, so I’m cheesy. Wanna make something of it?)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
*Writing Update*
I haven’t signed on the dotted line just yet, but I have an agent who has expressed interest in working with to get my story published!! I don’t usually blog much about my writing…I guess b/c writing the stories takes so much time out of my day that I don’t usually care to blog about the process, ya know? I don’t know. To each, his own, I guess.
But, I digress….This agent is the agent that I had great feelings about and really wanted to work with. I actually had one other agent express interest in my work, one who didn't want any major revisions. One full blown, unqualified offer and then this one, which was contingent upon a rewrite that I ended up agreeing wholeheartedly with. It really makes you feel validated!!
I am in the process of revising the manuscript now, it’s coming to an end soon, so hopefully, said agent will be pleased with my effort and want to shop it around soon to publishers. I am currently looking for beta readers (critiquers) who have a good eye for middle grade language and pacing. Also, someone who can easily connect with multicultural or urban dialect. My characters are funny, strong and innocent and you’ll fall in love with them, I promise.
But, I digress….This agent is the agent that I had great feelings about and really wanted to work with. I actually had one other agent express interest in my work, one who didn't want any major revisions. One full blown, unqualified offer and then this one, which was contingent upon a rewrite that I ended up agreeing wholeheartedly with. It really makes you feel validated!!
I am in the process of revising the manuscript now, it’s coming to an end soon, so hopefully, said agent will be pleased with my effort and want to shop it around soon to publishers. I am currently looking for beta readers (critiquers) who have a good eye for middle grade language and pacing. Also, someone who can easily connect with multicultural or urban dialect. My characters are funny, strong and innocent and you’ll fall in love with them, I promise.
*Life Update*
So life is going really well right now. My cup is overflowing and I am reveling in it. I’ve begun the early symptoms of pregnancy, such as tiredness, massive hunger, some morning sickness, but nothing too horrible. It’s funny b/c in my mind, since I’ve done this once already, I assumed that I’d be more patient as the days/weeks/months droned on. Um, not the case. I’m almost 7 weeks pregnant and I am subtracting from 40 thinking that 33 weeks is FOREVER away. Ugh!
So, other than being impatient at how long it will take for my little blessing to arrive, I’ve been at my happiness (although laziest) in a long time. We had to hire someone to help us clean the house last weekend. Yes, it had gotten that bad. It was a friend of mine and even with her help, it took me and my hubby pitching in hard core to get it all done. I am rather ashamed to admit this, but we actually had to take our clothes to the Laundromat in order to get it all done. You know, they’ve got those ginormous machines where you can get like 4 loads of clothes in at a time. Yeah, that was us on Sat. Now that we’re caught up, we should be okay. Or at least I should say, my husband will be okay. I DO NOT DO LAUNDRY. I hate laundry and feel that it is not my God-given talent and we must, absolutely must, operate within our God-given areas in life! If I have on clean clothes, 99% of the time, it’s b/c of my wonderful, patient, sexy husband. But just so you don’t think I am this spoiled doll living inside a bubble, I clean the kitchen and I mop and sweep and stuff (occasionally….joking!). How’s that for domestication!
Anaiah is growing like a weed. She’ll be 18 months on Monday and I just realized that she needs 24 months onesies now! OMG! This child is going to be tall. Tall runs in the fam, although it skipped us, so it’s no big surprise.
So, other than being impatient at how long it will take for my little blessing to arrive, I’ve been at my happiness (although laziest) in a long time. We had to hire someone to help us clean the house last weekend. Yes, it had gotten that bad. It was a friend of mine and even with her help, it took me and my hubby pitching in hard core to get it all done. I am rather ashamed to admit this, but we actually had to take our clothes to the Laundromat in order to get it all done. You know, they’ve got those ginormous machines where you can get like 4 loads of clothes in at a time. Yeah, that was us on Sat. Now that we’re caught up, we should be okay. Or at least I should say, my husband will be okay. I DO NOT DO LAUNDRY. I hate laundry and feel that it is not my God-given talent and we must, absolutely must, operate within our God-given areas in life! If I have on clean clothes, 99% of the time, it’s b/c of my wonderful, patient, sexy husband. But just so you don’t think I am this spoiled doll living inside a bubble, I clean the kitchen and I mop and sweep and stuff (occasionally….joking!). How’s that for domestication!
Anaiah is growing like a weed. She’ll be 18 months on Monday and I just realized that she needs 24 months onesies now! OMG! This child is going to be tall. Tall runs in the fam, although it skipped us, so it’s no big surprise.
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