Teeth, teeth, teeth.

So early last week was SO bad. My son had five molars coming in all at once. He slept only a few minutes off and on until four am. Needless to say I was completely unable to drive my school bus the next morning. It would've been more than dangerous to drive a bus load of kids on two hours of sleep.

My poor boy was in so much pain. I know a lot of mothers have experienced the same thing, although my son seems to get lots of teeth all at once. Making the days that they do come in horrendous. I'm glad my husband didn't have to work that night. My little boy didn't want to do anything but sit on my lap all day, sleep (very occasionally) and not eat. It was a very rough three days.

Anyone else have interesting cutting teeth stories?

On the up side my son has learned to brush his teeth on his own and it's incredibly cute! :D

Cheers!

UPDATE MAY 2014:

Apparently my kids love to have their teeth come in all at once. Last month when I had planned to do a ton of stuff on the blog my 1 year old girl got 8 teeth in over the course of 3 weeks. So practically nothing got done on my blog. What does this mean? It means as a mother you have to be flexible. Give yourself extra time because surer than sure when you're late is when your little one will have a poopy diaper as you're putting on her coat to go out the door. Teething is definitely painful and it's more than a little difficult to watch kids go through it. But I treasure these times when I can be a comfort to them, despite the fact that it's frustrating and hard, because they are my kids and I am their mom.

Why Being an 'Anne' is Both Exciting and Horrifying

If you're unfamiliar with Anne of Green Gables then this post will probably not make much sense to you. But suffice it to say I am an 'Anne'.

To quote her "I can't help flying up on the wings of anticipation. It's as glorious as soaring through a sunset... almost pays for the thud."

I love both the movies and the books. I haven't been in most of the situations and predicaments Anne got herself into but I imagine if I did find myself in her shoes I'd act the same way she did most of the time. (I probably wouldn't walk the ridgepole of the kitchen roof, but I most likely would faint in the haunted wood).

There are both ups and downs to having this type of personality and imagination. I love being excited about things. I like to be enthusiastic about the little stuff. At times I become very giddy and school girl like >> most especially when I'm around any of my sisters. It brings a profound sense of joy and links me back to my childhood to have this type of enthusiasm.

With such an imagination though (I'd definitely classify it as over-active) I tend to scare myself way too easily. I watched a number of episodes from the 'X Files' with my husband. Before even getting halfway through the first season I had to stop watching. Way too creepy and giving my brain too much fodder in the stimulating scary images in my imagination part. I can do certain types of suspense. I loved the Sixth Sense. But I have to be really careful.

I can't do horror. Movies, books, short stories, you name it. I read Stephen King's 'On Writing'. Loved it. In fact it made me want to read a number of his books because he (obviously) doesn't tell us the ending when he references them. I've resisted the urge to pick these books up however. Not because they're not good, but because they will be entirely too good. I'd probably have to sleep with the lights on for weeks and only be able to fall asleep while listening to Bill Cosby so my constant laughing would keep out the scary images. I distinctly remember one particular night where after watching an episode of 'Supernatural' (which I still thoroughly enjoy, as there haven't been any episodes nearly as bad recently) where it was just way too creepy, too scary. I couldn't sleep. I had to get out of bed and go watch a couple of episodes of a stupidly funny sitcom just to get my imagination back under control.

I have to say though being an 'Anne' is great. I definitely miss out on some things like good horror movies and books, and don't like having to deal with the fear that sometimes comes from my over-active imagination. But I love the excitement, I love the joy of feeling and anticipation. It's a huge part of who I am and I love it.

Is anyone else out there an Anne? I'd so enjoy hearing about your experiences.

Maybe we could even be 'bosom-friends'. :D

Cheers!

When a Cold Gets the Best of My House

So I've been attacked by the cold bug. Unfortunately this particular bug also attacked my house. It
keeps the toys on the floor, laundry unfolded, and dishes on my counter. When a vicious bus zaps you and then proceeds to zap your house, well that's just peachy. Colds make it so that you wear every single piece of clothing you have before you do laundry. You eat mashed potatoes straight out of the left over container in the fridge so you don't dirty a plate. You nap all afternoon and then crash again before 9. Your eyes struggle to focus as you read and then reread the dosage on the cold medication box. Not only has this cold attacked me but it's attacking my house and it's making me grumpy. Bah humbug! Colds are the worst..... who agrees with me? Maybe I should just break out the winter snow shovel and get all these toys and clothes picked up and get my house clean again?
Nah, the shovel would break my dishes.

Cheers!

Jersey Shore and George Clooney

So Thursday I was having a terrible horrible no good very bad day (Alexander is awesome). Later that night though I came across two things on my facebook that totally cheered me up and gave me great laughs! :D

The first thing that totally made my day was when Serendipity Literary Agency shared this photo on their Facebook page:

So so true! :D And don't you just love the pic of a book jumping off a shelf? :P

Second Virgin Radio shared this commercial:

I couldn't stop laughing!

Hope these fun things made you smile or laugh just like they did me! 

Cheers!

The Unfathomable Awesomeness of Star Wars

So I had to have been about 11 years old when it happened. When I first heard those two awesome words, "Star Wars". A friend of my father's happened to mention it while my sisters and I were around. We asked my Dad what Star Wars was and his friend couldn't believe we'd never seen the movies. So my Dad borrowed his VHS (Yeah crazy eh? We had a rewinder and everything. Back in the 'olden' days) and we watched Episodes IV, V, and VI.

I've loved Star Wars ever since. Who doesn't like the absolutely lovable R2 with his beeps and blips? 3PO's annoying and funny antics. And who could forget the mighty Chewbacca? For me the Star Wars movies are my go to favourite science fiction fix. Although my absolutely favourite aspect is the romances! Anakin and Padme, Han and Leia. "You like me because I'm a scoundrel." :D 

The big reason why I'm blogging about this is because for my husband's birthday we got Star Wars on Blu-ray. What a difference! I love it! I also can't wait to watch all the bonus features. If it was up to me, I'd be a Jedi in a heartbeat. If you've never seen Star Wars, go watch them. Now. What are you waiting for? Go! :D 

May the Force be with You.

Cheers!

Driving a Bus

I apologize for the extra long hiatus but I'm back now! :D I'll be posting at least every Tuesday, maybe a little bit more.

I'm now officially driving a school bus, hence the extra long hiatus as I got used to my new routine and everything else I had to manage. My husband started post-secondary the same day I picked up kids in a bus for the first time. Needless to say there's been a lot of changes in our house in the last little while but we're both adjusting and starting to get into a routine.

There's pros and cons to driving a school bus. -- I love the kids, I like the routine I'm getting. I like coming home after my morning route at 9am and feeling crazy that I've done so much before an hour I would usually sleep in to. I like feeling confident behind the wheel and meeting new people (other drivers, teachers etc).  I like how good the kids (one boy in particular) are with my 1.5 year old son. -- I don't like waking up super early and going to bed early. I don't like the long waits and how much time my son has to spend in a car just to go get my bus. I don't like the hassle of getting spare buses if something goes wrong with mine.

All in all though, it's been a pretty good week.

Cheers!

Short Hiatus

So I started training as a school bus driver today which was pretty interesting. But as training will be about 9 hours each day Mon through Friday for the next two weeks at least, I'm going to take a short hiatus from my blogs. I'll be back up again on Aug 27th the new deadline for sending out queries. Hopefully in the short amount of time I have in the evenings and on the weekends I can get my fill of time with my son and my husband and work on polishing my novel. Till then.

Cheers!

Lovely Lovable Libraries

Libraries are one of those wonderful places that I have amazing memories of, both from my childhood and as an adult. Summer reading programs and finding a new book you've never read before. Getting a new library card to put in your tiny purse at the age of ten. I hope we all have memories like that.

There's a lot of digital reading and eReaders that are around now. They are a joy and a treasure, but there's something about the tactile sensation of holding a book in your hand that you can't wait to read. As an adult the hardest adjustment I've had to make is that I can't start reading my book on the way home like I did as a child, as I'm now driving the car.

Picture via mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com

My son loves books, and I'm very happy to continue to encourage that.  I still remember sitting on my bed listening to my father and mother read me both the classics and other lovable books. Ramona and Her Mother, Heidi, The Wizard of Oz, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. I still have my first ever library card and I cherish it. 

Librarians were and still are amazing tools. You can tell them your interests and they'll often introduce you to a new book that you're sure to love. One such librarian introduced me to Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher when I was in grade three. It's now a favourite of mine and I've since enjoyed reading it out loud to my younger siblings. 

Don't let your library card lapse into a dusty ornament. Support our local libraries & librarians (& the amazing programs they run) and don't hesitate to pick up and explore the wonderfully crisp tactile pages of the books they are the guardians of. 

Go hit your local library :D

Cheers!

Thanks!

A big thank you goes out to my friend Josh! He helped me adjust the website so everything is easier to find and the title of my blog looks just the way I want it to. It took a significant amount of time, therefore this a huge thank you for helping me out with that Josh. :D Doesn't the site look so much better now?

Cheers!

Why I'm an Expert at Getting Bad Smells Out of Carpet

Sorry for the slight break in posts. It's been one of those weeks.

*** Warning Mommy Graphicness in this Post ***

So I had thought my son was beginning to outgrow his acid reflux. He'd gone from medication morning and night to just at night, and recently his nightly dose was decreased by half. Then Sunday happened.

For those of you who don't know acid reflux has a number of different symptoms. For Everett this manifested as throwing up. A LOT. Sometimes as many as four times in 24 hours. Most of the time he'd throw up two times one right after the other.

The worst of this was when he was almost 9 months old. In a matter of three weeks about 15 of the 21 days he threw up. I was SO done. I remember talking to my pediatrician—so stressed about it, only to be told I had to wait for him to grow out of it as he was already on as much medication as his weight allowed. I had to deal with this on my own most of the time as my husband Tim was usually at work.

When Everett threw up it wasn't just a small puddle on the floor. It spurted out of him, covering him and me, making a splat mark the size of two placemats on the floor. A couple of times when Everett threw up I was so overwhelmed I'd burst into tears. (Not to mention how difficult it is to clean up myself and Everett when all he wanted to do was play in the throw up ) The worst was when Everett was facing me or cuddling into me and then started throwing up. More often than not this would result in everything disgusting going all over and down my shirt. I will spare you any other gross details.

Suffice it to say I was getting extremely sick of the smell in my house. I tried everything I could think of to get the smell out. Nothing worked. After a number of internet searches I came across a site with the answer.

This last Sunday Everett threw up twice in his crib after a solid month and a half of not throwing up at all. The positive in this being that he didn't throw up on Tim or I. That and I was able to get the smell out of the carpet.

The answer? Scrub your carpet with whatever cleaning products you prefer until the throw up (or similar gross smelling stuff) is cleaned out of it. Use a spray bottle filled with water and spray the entire area where the throw up was.  Keep spraying until your carpet/couch/etc is soaked. After this generously dump baking soda over the wet carpet. Leave the area until the water has completely evaporated. Lastly vacuum up the baking soda. Voila! Bad smells gone. Yay.

I'm learning to deal with Everett's throwing up, but when your kid is throwing up it's definitely a huge downer. Though now that you know how to get the smell out of your carpets it's got to be a little bit easier to handle now doesn't it?

Cheers!

Writing Contest, Mermaid Books, and Spray Parks..... This is my life.

Isn't it amazing how many different things go on in your life? Or the many different 'hats' you wear?

Today I found out about a contest where you submit your first 500 words from your manuscript and you can possibly win 1000$ and a chance for representation from Catherine Drayton. Needless to say I'm pretty stoked about it! If any of my author friends are interested submit your entry here. I entered (obviously :P ) check out the first 500 words of my manuscript on my Lasera blog here. So when I entered this contest I was wearing my 'author' hat and trying to be professional but I was also very excited about the prospect of gaining representation and some needed extra cash from my writing.

I browsed today a number of different websites and a friend's goodreads list all about mermaid books. Watching a movie about mermaids in Pirates 4 and then seeing so many pictures of women swimming and performing as mermaids, can I help it if I put on my 'giddy as a teenager' hat and day-dreamed about being a mermaid?

And then yesterday I went to a spray park here in Calgary with a number of other mom friends and totally and completely enjoyed visiting and seeing how much fun my son had playing in the water. The sun was shining and the water was cold and it was a great afternoon. But for that entire time I had my 'mom' hat on and loved talking about our kids and the different things happening with each of us.

We all have many different hats that we wear and that's what I love to learn about new people, and about people I've know for years. What kinds of hats are in their lives, which ones are their favourites, which ones did they try on and find they didn't like? What hats do you come back to again and again?

I wonder what new hats I'll discover tomorrow?

Cheers!

Why Hermione is Amazing!

Just having gone to see HP7 part 2 at midnight last night my brain's on a bit of a Harry Potter kick. Love, love, loved the movie by the way. Everyone should see it! - Mischief Managed- :D But today I happened upon a really great article about the huge benefits of having a character like Hermione Granger out there as a female role model.

Hermione

She makes it cool to be smart - as her smarts saved lives many, many times. She also worked hard to be so, she read tons of books, studied, and asked questions. Hermione was never demure and spoke up when she had something to say. The last few lines of the article really say it all for me, if I ever have a daughter (crossing my fingers) UPDATE Jan 2013: I did! :D See: My New Joy
I really hope she'll see how great it is to be female and that we can kick butt and be good at whatever we set our minds too.

Yeah I love this :D

Cheers!

When good writing gets in the way of your writing...

Gah. Gah. Gah. Gah.

So I had an enlightening conversation with my mother the other day. She said that if she had a really busy week she'd have to make a point of not visiting the library so that she could actually get stuff done. I think for me personally I'm going to have to go one step farther and hide my library card.

I'm in the editing stage of my manuscript right now. A difficult and slow going process. Maybe that's why I'm reading so much. (I recently reread Shannon Hale's fabulous Goose girl series -- check out her awesome site/blog here: Shannon -- and I finished the entire Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. -- here's his great site: Brandon.) Much to my husbands dismay this meant that very little else has been done.

Sadly all this reading cuts into my writing time. But I can't seem to get my nose out of the book in order to get my fingers to the keyboard. Do any of my other writer friends have a hard time with this? Or even just anyone in general. I know a lot of you moms out there have a hard time putting those books down. Any tips or tricks on how to do so?

So I guess I'll have to keep out of the library for the next little while if I want to make the deadline for my book. Sigh..... but there's so many great books out there!

As much as the reading takes away time from other good important things, here's to books that are written well enough and engaging enough to make me forget about all those other things I should be doing!

Cheers!

The Strange Workings and Writings of a Mind that Skips Too Far Ahead of Itself

"Wow. I tell you what— wow!" I just read over a document I'd labelled as 'Science Project Novel'. Looking at the info on my computer I typed it up almost two years ago. Apparently my brain jumped faster than my fingers could type because it makes no sense at all. If you're a writer of any sort you'll understand that sometimes as you're typing you think everything will come back to you when you read it again. This time it definitely didn't. I actually laughed out loud when I read it. So enjoy the convulsions of my mind and see what you can discern.

>>>

magazine worked for a while..... sending things away but she didn’t know what she was doing and once she saw the title she freaked out and once she told people it stopped working as well.

in front of a whole bunch of people her sister disappeared (shoe lace pulled one way after levitating

 no one wants to believe their eyes

she reads a couple things to say off the magazine but then realizes....

We’re all just a science project!!

Magazine ----- Literary science alliance

----step through the magazine is one way........

many different instructions....... 

Community centre w/cafeteria and pool

everyone thinks she’s crazy in her class and no one believes her.... her sister gets sucked in to the other world and she has to rescue her

pull a shoe lace this way at this spot and you’ll get sucked in

she had to go to an info (?) counter and hand in a form for a blood test.... lady at the counter hear her complaining and tells her that she passes on this test to them but that she can do it if she want........”they get this paper? and just this? so i can send them a message? send my sister a message?”

 she has to open a portal above the cafe conveyor belt using the key from inside the detergent by the dish washing machine in the caf .... then hold her paper above it paper disappears in a white light opening that closes and shuts

So pretty crazy hard to understand. Hope it made you laugh. And that you caught a glimpse of the crazy inner workings of an author's mind.

Cheers!

How on Earth did I keep my head in the sand that long?

So three days ago I 'discovered' goodreads. I know I know. Right? How does an author not know about goodreads. Well suffice it to say that I'd heard it mentioned many times in reference to other authors or agents (or the like). When I would see the term 'goodreads' I simply thought of other sites where it's a small number of people writing the reviews. I had no idea it was a social site for reviews of books until I saw it on Medeia Sharif's site (http://www.medeiasharif.com/) She had a button to 'Find Me' on goodreads. I clicked on it not sure how she could be found on that site and I never looked back. Many many thanks go out to her. :D

I absolutely positively love goodreads! A place to review books you liked or didn't like, hear what other's think about a book before you read it, find other books similar to what you already read and a place where you can recommend many of your favourites to others.

So I suppose I've now been inducted into the official 'I'm a real author' guild. Here's to good reading, good writing and sharing it with others who share your love!

And —of course— here's (another) link to good reads:     goodreads

Oh and is it bad that in the four days I've been using my goodreads account the to-read list is now 27 books long? Good grief.

Cheers!