Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) A Magic Door - One that is just between my house and Colene's. This way, she can pop in on Sunday night for TRUE BLOOD and I can pop over every evening after dinner for an exercise partner. We can walk together, bike together and watch TV together. Bridge that gap between SoCal and Arkansas with a door. No scary wormhole traveling either. The door opens, I step into her living room. Although, if I feel like a Disney ride that day, maybe the door opens and I get on Peter Pan, which delivers me to her door. Who doesn't have days where they want to you "You Can Fly!"?

2) Scale Movement - Seriously. This is getting ridiculous. I was cruising along losing weight...down 8.5 pounds out of the ginormous amount that I wanted to lose. I got this brilliant idea that I wanted to up the exercise so I added running at the track and long bike rides. Um, weight loss came to a halt. Well, not entirely - I have been gaining and losing the same pound and a half for the last month now. It's frustrating. I haven't increased my eating, just my exercise. I can barely sit down this morning. I hurt EVERYWHERE. And the scale was up a pound and a half to reward me for my effort. Awesomesauce (as my kids are so found of saying).

3) Sara Larson - She was induced Tuesday. I am making this wish Tuesday night. My wish is that everything went well - that mom and baby are fine. She has her beautiful baby girl now!

I get an extra wish this week. Remember I said that Wednesday sometimes grants them. I want to wish for the people of Los Alamos - safety, and that they can return to their homes. I wish that the firefighters are able to get the fire under control without anyone getting hurt and that everyone is able to return to their homes INTACT. It's a big wish. A hard one to grant. But I'm wishing really, really hard.

What about you - what are your wishes for our magical cat?

Warren is Going to Die

Here's what life is like being married to a writer...

We went on a bike ride yesterday. It was hot and I don't do the heat. But I'm really good at pushing through and pushing myself these days so I insist. We hit our normal 8 mile mark and this one decides she can go farther. How much farther? Well, let's just go to the lake, around the lake and back. That's an extra four miles. Keep in mind I haven't been on a bike for three weeks. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. It was the scale doing the thinking for me.

So I realize about halfway around the lake that I can't do this. Options? Only one. Push through. Because it's halfway so there isn't any cutting it short at this point. To distract myself, I start picturing my current WIP. I'm working through a few problems, picturing more scenes, doing what we writers do best (shout out to Meredith who works through things on her runs).

The hubster? He's what you'd call an "athlete". He's done tris (athlete speak for triathlons) so 12 miles on a bike is nothing. Like a warm-up. We could get back to the car and he could run home. There's nothing he loves more than running in the heat. This means that he is enjoying his ride. Watching the ducks in the lake. Watching the ducks on the shore. Saying 'hi' to everyone we pass (at this point, I'm doing something that should resemble a smile but looks more like a grimace followed by a nod to everyone we pass).

I blurt out, "Warren is going to die!"

That got more than a few strange looks from the picnic area we had just passed.

The hubster puts his hand up and says, "Wait a minute! Don't tell me. Let me figure this out." He loves this game - I say something out of the blue that makes absolutely no sense to anyone but me because I just finished a conversation in my head that we started last week. He can usually work his way backwards to figure it out. It's fun for him and gets me laughing.

"I got nothing," he says finally.

"In my book. Warren is going to die."

"Really? Because I like him."

"Precisely why he needs to die."

During dinner, he confessed that it did make sense and would really "throw a wrench" into things.

To which I said (again), "Precisely why he needs to die."

What about you - killed any Warrens lately? Do you talk writing with your significant other?

FUN Friday

TGIF!!!

Today's FUN Friday is going to be all about the FUN movies coming up that I'm really looking forward to!


Little bit of useless trivia for you - Phyllis (Smith) was the Casting Associate on "Spin City". Her nickname for me was J-Dawg. And I can't tell you why or how that came to be. No one remembers.

I've got mixed emotions for this one - dreading it as much as I'm looking forward to it because it's the end.


I fully admit that I'm just excited about this because I love the story...I also love the eye candy. Feel free to judge me.


Erik and I will be visiting friends in Sequim, Washington this summer. On our back down to Cali, we're going around Olympic National Forest...and driving through FORKS! I haven't told him that Forks is where Twilight was set because I'm afraid he'll nix the whole thing. I intend to stop at familiar places and have my picture taken, which will tip him off. But at that point we'll already be there so there won't be anything he can do about it. Well, he could leave me there. I don't think he will, though.

Okay, so that wasn't summer...I had to throw it in there.

What about you - what movies are you looking forward to this summer?

Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) A Magic TV - I don't want to wait a week to watch the next episode of a series I am into. And sometimes I like to go back to rewatch things that I don't have DVRed or aren't available ON DEMAND. I want the tv to be sort of like Netflix, only everything I want to watch is available when I want to watch it. There are evenings when I'm in the mood for...let's take a new series - Falling Skies. Don't want to wait. Want it now. And Season 2 of Game of Thrones. Pronto. The Walking Dead - I could even be in a mood for the next season of that tonight. Click. There it is! Wouldn't that be cool? I wouldn't tell a soul what happens. If you lived close, though, you'd be welcome to come over. When I'M in the mood. We could watch a little magic tv together.

2) Magic Fridge (okay, two magic wishes this week, but I can't help it) - I wouldn't ask much of this fridge. I simply want to be able to buy fruit, place it in a bowl, put the bowl in the fridge, shut the door and open it ten seconds later (see, I'm patient!) to perfectly cut, perfectly chilled, ready to eat fruit! Strawberries, for example. Love love love them. Don't love the time it takes to cut an entire flat of them. I consume them daily once they are in season. I like them for lunch everyday. No, I'm not bright red. Yet. It would be nice to save that fifteen to twenty minutes. And watermelon! Oh, it's so yummy. But the cutting is so very messy. Watermelon juice and seeds everywhere. It doesn't cooperate and stay on the cutting board. We eat such mass quantities of fruits that I buy LARGE watermelons. Monsterous. Hard to cut. I've actually cut myself more than once struggling with one of those huge melons. If I could just set it in the fridge with a huge tupperware bowl next to it, shut the fridge and open it later - Oh, I would be the happiest girl ever. I could eat a big ol' bowl right now while watching the first episode of the second season of Game of Thrones.


3) A good pair of running pants. Don't laugh. I'm being serious. They're REALLY hard to find. I spend most of my forty minutes at the track with one hand on my pants so they don't fall down. I don't know if it's my shape or what, but I just can't seem to find a pair that will stay UP when I run. My friends have no problem. "Go to Ross!" "I get mine at Old Navy." "I'm telling you, try Target." Um, no. Done, done and done with NO success. And remember, I'm incredibly cheap so don't suggest that I go to some website with designer workout pants. I broke down and bought a pair of Nike black ones that I'm wearing right now. As I'm typing. Because they fell down. They only get worn around the house. Serves me right for shelling out the amount that I did for them! Although if you can swear to me your workout pants never slide a centimeter during Zumba, kickboxing or sprinting, you might have me sold. For the love of the gods, I just want one or two good pairs!! Help a girl out!

What about you - what are your wishes for our magic cat this week?

Good Distractions

How do you distract yourself when querying? Because if you don't, you're checking your email every five minutes. Even with distractions, you tend to only narrow it down to every ten.

Here's my list:

1) Create a new playlist. Playlists rule my life - for writing, workouts, road trips, cleaning. I love putting together new playlists!

2) Work on your NaNo from last year. I was scared to open it. I mean, I wrote it in 30 days. Granted, I had a pretty detailed outline, but I did allow myself some freedom - characters showed up that I wasn't expecting and took the story in a different direction. Then I'd spend the morning re-outlining and dive back in for my 2,000 words. Surprise! It wasn't bad. It's far from perfect, but it wasn't as horrible as I was expecting. So flushing it out is proving fun. I'm in love with the idea, which makes me look forward to working on it...hold on, I have to check my email...just kidding.

3) Deep clean the house. I'm talking get into all those nooks and crannies you've been ignoring while you were working so hard on your manuscript that is now being queried! Move those electronics and dust UNDER them. Move the furniture around and get those dust bunnies hanging out under it. Hey, wait...did I say move the furniture?

4) Rearrange a room or two. It's like we have a whole new living room and bedroom! The bedroom actually feels BIGGER.

5) Buy a pedometer. Program the pedometer. Figure out it's not logging your steps right. Re-program the pedometer. Take another long walk. Find that it's still adding extra steps you aren't taking. Re-program. Take a short walk. Find that it's still adding extra steps you aren't taking. Put it in the drawer in the bathroom where all things electronic that bug you gather. Hope they don't plot against you.

6) Go through your closets - gather old clothes to donate.

7) SHOP! Fill those closets right back up.

8) Search for new recipes! I'm committed to making two new dinners a week. This means using ingredients that I have previously shunned...like bulgur, quinoa and red lentils. Grate ginger. Grow your own herbs - my basil is out of control!

9) Catch up with friends - lunch and coffee dates have come in handy. It's so much fun to LAUGH and catch up!

10) Netflix. I admit that I'm watching a lot of my old faves - from Xena to Stargate Atlantis. But I'm vowing to watch two (yes, my favorite number) new movies a week. Mixing the old with the new!

I still haven't started that garden that I wanted to. I would love to plant a vegetable garden. The Hubster has Thursday off so we may go look at some plants (tomato - yummy!) and boxes. I just may be able to add Vegetable Garden to my distraction list.

What about you - what do you use as distractions?

FUN Friday

TGIF! Let's have some FUN!

What can put you in a good mood quicker than kittehs? How about kittehs in bubbles...appearing right after ice cream cake. This commercial has a lot of lovely things in it!


So she's not Hef's fiance anymore...she was funnier when she was!

The Playboy App with Crystal Harris from Crystal Harris

This may only be funny to my Whole Foods shopping Los Angeles living followers.

Paid $80 for the six things I got. Oh, I couldn't stop laughing through the whole song.

KID FUNNY:

Teaching 3rd Grade City Wildlife, I had my lizard tail on (made out of material and stuffing - thanks Mom!)...(great image, I know)

Me: Alligator lizards have a really cool trick that they can do with their tail. When they feel scared or threatened, say a coyote or a cat comes up. . .

Boy: They whack 'em with it!

Me: No, even cooler! They throw it really far off their body.

Boy: Whacking is cooler.

Me: Cooler than detaching a body part?

Boy: (thinks) No. What would be really super cool? If they detached it and THEN whacked the coyote with it!

Me: Yes, that would be really super cool, but they can't.

Boy: If they were The Rock, they could.

Me: Not even The Rock is THAT cool.

I don't know where they come up with this stuff. But it makes my day! :-)

What about you - anything funny this Friday in your world?

Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) Super Powers - I write because I'm bitter that I wasn't born with any. I create characters who have them and live vicariously through their abilities. Is that so wrong? Colene had a great post last week where we got to choose our fantasy favorites. Some of them were hard! It got me to thinking...why CAN'T I have a super power? In REAL life? But then, what to choose? Super strength is so tempting. Invisibility would be helpful. It would be beyond cool if I could fly. I wouldn't know what to choose. Would you?

2) A Massage - I'm overdue. I think I'll be booking some time with my friend Keren next week. She has the BEST hands. If only she lived next door. Or across the street. Or a few blocks away. How about within walking distance? That could be a few miles even.

3) No Jury Duty - In my 7 years with Erik, he has had received a summons twice. I get my notice every year like clockwork. And I always have to report. Downtown. It's a long drive in traffic, the parking is expensive and inconvenient, and it's dirty. I don't mind doing my civic duty, but I want it where Erik gets to do his - Burbank. He walked to and from. As much as I think it would be cool to be on a jury (I know, I have issues), I always end up being one of the first jurors dismissed. Prosecution strikes me without fail. I'm too honest. If someone is guilty, I want proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Don't show me a knife that could be like the knife that might have been used to stab the victim even though you're not sure whether the knife was a butcher or kitchen or had serrated edges. If you don't have the actual knife, you shouldn't be showing us one. I don't fall for that. So, you can see why I'm not their ideal jurist. And in civil cases? Well, I think there are waaaaay too many lawsuits clogging up the court systems. That doesn't go over well with the attorney for the old lady suing McDonald's because her coffee was...shocker!...HOT. Let's recap - if I can't get on a jury here in my own neighborhood, I'd rather make it through the week without having to report! Is that so wrong?

What about you - what are your wishes for our little magical cat?

How Do They Find Me

KarenG posted her stats last week. It made me wonder - how do people find me? What are they searching for?

There seem to be a lot of people out there wanting to clean garages. Four variations of it brought people here.

clean garage
garage clean
clean the garage
cleaning garage

I bet they were surprised to happen upon this post instead.

garden full of lily

Well, that one is downright boring. Too straightforward!

Let's move on.

sick
creep review tao
red hair
warped clock

A bit more exciting!


The oddest search that actually brought the most people here?

emily osment feet

It wouldn't be bad if they were just searching for Emily Osment. I used to babysit her (and Haley) so I'm sure I've mentioned her somewhere in a blog post.

But FEET? How disturbing is that? I picture someone with a foot fetish searching for pictures of "emily osment feet." Shudder.

What about you - have you checked your stats? What brought people to your blog?

FLASHBACK Friday

I had planned to go through some boxes in the garage over the weekend and pull more poems for FLASHBACK Friday, but that didn't happen. I have to pull from what I have in the house instead. There isn't much to choose from - and most has already pained you.

With summer upon us, I thought I'd share this little poem. I was about sixteen when I wrote this, I believe.

SUMMER WATERMELON
Alone in a desperate world,
you make me laugh
until my sides split
like a summer watermelon.
We spit out the seeds,
enjoy the juice
then disregard the peel.

I started out strong. But what was that ending??? Wow.

That picture is Twig and I dressed up for a Murder Mystery Party. We were striking our "catalogue pose". Twig, aka Jennifer, is now an L.A. County Public Defender! She rocks. Seriously.

There were five Jennifers on the Cheerleading Team so we had a Jen, Jennifer and Jennie, then a Twig and a Giggles. Can you guess which one I was?


Funny of the week - My friend's mom still thinks that LOL means Lots of Love no matter how many times she's corrected. Her mom sent her this email:

I can't believe dad has been gone almost 2 years now. LOL, Mom


I have a nice Saturday to myself so I'll be tearing apart my Dystopian from NaNo and putting it back together. I'm hoping for a nice long bike ride on Sunday!

What about you - any big plans for the weekend?

Wanton Redhead

Lea Zeqiri, Wanton Redhead, had a fun post here. Not the part where she refers to herself as an idiot. If you follow Lea, you will know that she is far from it. She's really nothing short of brilliant (see her profile if you doubt me!).

So...I've pulled open my NaNo project, which remains titleless. It's Dystopian. Let's take a look, shall we? First and last lines from my first five chapters. Keep in mind - this has not been touched. I am just now opening and reading through it. What you read is what I wrote in November 2010. Also, it's a mess. I started in 3rd limited, but my MC decided she wanted to tell the story herself so in the second chapter it because 1st person past tense. After a few more chapters, she wanted it in present tense so there it went. It's convenient that it's all over the map given that it's the end of the world as she knows it, she's losing everything and being carted off to god knows where without her family. This will all be corrected in the rewrites, though - not the situation, the writing.

Okay, enough with the apologies...buckle up, and let's go for a ride!

CHAPTER 1 - THE SCHOOL
1. The first explosion rocked the room, sending her books flying off the desk.
2. The car lurched forward, screeching out of the school parking lot into the chaos that surrounded it.

CHAPTER 2 - THE LIMO
1. I felt like I was in the spin cycle of my mother's washing machine, churning through the destruction.
2. I lunged, an animal like cry escaping my lips.

CHAPTER 3 - THE HANGER
1. He caught my wrist, twisted until I yelped and dropped the pen, then yanked me out of the backseat.
2. She was out. **

CHAPTER 4 - THE JET
1. I braced myself as the plane raced down the runway.
2. Before he could finish, the door burst open.

CHAPTER 5 - THE HOUSE
1. Bright, white light blinded me.
2. "I told them it wasn't a good idea," Meredith says.


**This reminds me of the summer that my parents decided to send me to some Bible Camp with my next door neighbor. I was ten. We were supposed to memorize a Bible verse as an assignment. I picked the shortest one that I could find. I don't remember which book it was in or what the number was, but...He wept. That was it. Two words. Simple! My friend said it was "cheating." There hadn't been any rules stated so the teacher gave me credit for it. For some reason, that three word line brought back that memory.

What about you - anyone want to post the first and last lines of their current projects or NaNo projects?

Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) The ability to spin in a circle and have the perfect outfit magically appear on me. Wouldn't that be cool? Oh, and my hair would be styled, my nails perfectly manicured (and matching my top), a purse that matches my shoes...All I would have to do is picture an outfit and spin! Or, if I'm too tired to think of one, I just picture where I'm going, spin and I look like I stepped out of the pages of Vogue! Man, that would save so much time in the morning. No more sifting through all the clothes in my closet and drawers. No more saying outloud, "I could have sworn I had (insert item of clothing, shoes, or purse here)." Only to find it a month later when I'm looking for something completely the opposite!

2) More Dillon time - My nephew is so adorable. He's five and going through a phase where he is extremely talkative. My mom has him two days a week so she's always in the car (he has lots of activities). I love that he thinks I can see him when they are driving. I call and he will say, "Aunt Jenn, LOOK what I made at pre-school today!" It probably doesn't help that the first few times he did it, I pretended that I could see. So now, he just thinks that I can. He's a blast to hang out with - a very creative, fun child who is perpetual motion. Good for the soul. But he's three hours away. This means we don't get to see him often enough and I have to settle for phone conversations. I want more Dillon time.

3) Candles - I am dangerously low. I was having lunch with friends yesterday and we were talking about our "weakness." Everyone had one - dolls (the creepy porcelin kind), make-up, shoes, purses...mine was/is candles. Scented candles. No perfume scents. Pine is a favorite when I'm working on Dark Forest. My dystopian - I can roll with just about anything but floral. At the moment, I have a cranberry that is rockin' my writery world. It's fresh and it wakes my brain up. Okay, maybe that's the coffee, but it seems like the cranberry helps as well! I'm running dangerously low on candles. Down to my last pack of assorted Yankee votives, two pillar candles (in vanilla and cinnamon) and one mega huge candle in fresh baked cookies (which is only serving to make me hungry). Need. More. Candles.

What about you - what are your wishes for Wednesday?

QueryTracker How I Love Thee

QueryTracker makes my heart sing. If you aren't on it, be sure to check it out. When you get closer to querying, I recommend joining. I paid the $25 membership fee and have not been disappointed.

For starters, I'm extremely anal and overly organized to a fault sometimes. QueryTracker is brilliant at helping me remain on top of everything. I can set my own list of agents for query, then I can keep track.

When you search agents, you can search for YOUR genre and then narrow it down further by agents who take email, snail mail or form. When you click on an agent name, you get to see WHO they represent! The agency site is listed - click to find the agent perfect for you at that agency and get their submission guidelines.

The comment section is great as well. We all know how supportive this community is. The comments are just more of that. Got a rejection, people are so nice - offering words of encouragement and commiserating with you. Got a request - people are right there celebrating with you.

You can participate in the forum, join groups, print reports, find out who reps who - the possibilities are endless. It's such a wonderful website. I love it. It's hard to stay away! It makes the whole query process simple, fun and ORGANIZED!

What about you - have you been to QueryTracker yet? Have you used it in your process?


P.S. - Elana Johnson's Possession came out today! On my way home, I'll be swinging by the bookstore for my copy! I can hardly wait to crack it open and read it.

What a Feeling!

My freshman year at USC, I had an instructor that gave us some sage advice: Don't expect that Flashdance moment because it doesn't happen like that in the real world.

Was he bitter? A bit. He had been struggling for years trying to break into 'the biz' with little success. Frustrated, he confessed to throwing his crucifix out his living room window. This was a huge deal as he was a devout Catholic.

What a feeling, bein's believin'

I can't have it all, now I'm dancin' for my life

Take your passion, and make it happen

Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life

What he probably meant for us to walk away with was - it ain't happening, kids. Give it up. You're a bunch of dreaming fools.

What I took from it (because I am allowed to take things as I want to whether they were intended that way or not) - It's not going to happen overnight. It takes a lot of dancing before you get there. Don't quit that day job.

Ironically, that bitter teacher is now an extremely successful Executive Producer in television. I'm not going to name him as he sometimes reads my blog and we have mutual friends that check in as well. If he happens upon this, I know that he will chuckle over the memory. I admire him deeply and I love the way that this unfolded. From the classroom to the writer's room (I had the opportunity to work with him later!), it was a long journey for him.

He taught me that you don't EVER give up. EVER. If you want something badly, you hang in there and you work for it. You fight for it. It will happen. Just not overnight. And throwing a crucifix through the window only shatters the window - leaving you with a hefty bill and years of paranoia that God is going to hold that against you.

QUERY STATS SO FAR:
16 queries sent
7 rejections
1 partial request

I'm still dancing. I'll be teaching all week as well.

What about you - do you believe in Flashdance moments? Are you taking your passion and making it happen?

(Note: No crucifixes were thrown while writing this post, sending out queries this week or upon receiving rejections. Okay, so I don't own a single crucifix but I do own dishes. Those are all safe in the cupboard.)

FUN Friday

TGIF!

Let's go into the weekend laughing, shall we?

For all my writer friends out there, here is a great speech to inspire by a young child who just rode a bike for the first time.



Oh these boys are just too cute. "I'm a Little G." And the G is for Genius!

I love when they ask what they would do with a million dollars...buy a big house so he can live it with all the other kids who don't have a home. Too sweet.

One last funny to take you into the weekend:

iPhone No Cancer Commercial - watch more funny videos

KID FUNNIES:

When I was done with Dog Bite Prevention, I had a really sleepy Kinder girl yawn the biggest, widest yawn that I have ever seen.

ME: My goodness, that was a big yawn!
GIRL: Yeah. It was a really BIG day.
ME: You're only five. There's going to be bigger days than today in your life.
GIRL: But I'll be way older.
ME: That will make it easier.
GIRL: No, but I can nap whenever I want to when I'm old like you.
(NOTE: This is the same little girl who said, "You're really pretty!" when I walked in the door so she was forgiven for the 'old' comment.)

In First Grade, I held up the Dog Bite Prevention board with Lily and Erik on it (She's our "safe" to go up to dog - she has all three things: leash, collar and grown-up owner.)
GIRL: That looks just like my dog!
ME: She does?
GIRL: Yes! My dog is white with brown spots all over.

I had to look at the picture of Lily again. Yes, her dog looks JUST like Lily. ;-)

DOG NAMES:
I have to say that I usually hear from the kids -
My dog is brown and her name is Brownie.
My dog is black and his name is Blackie.
My dog is white and her name is Snowball/Snowie/Blanca.

This week, I got a different version.
GIRL: Ms. Jennifer, I have two dogs. Did you know that they are chihuahuas?
ME: No, I didn't. What are their names?
GIRL: Well, the black one is Blackie and the white one is Milky!

Milky! We have a new name for white dogs!


I'll be wrapping presents at Barnes & Noble all weekend to raise money for Paws and Learn (8 hours each day). Plan to squeeze in a hike Saturday morning and a bike ride Sunday morning.

What about you - any big weekend plans?

Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) Magic Bed - I want to lay down on it and get up completely rested. After twenty minutes, I want to feel like I've slept 9 hours. I could get so much more accomplished if that was all the time I had to spend sleeping. Imagine how much more writing I could done! And reading!! I could burn through my TBR file in no time.


2) More Wall Space - I love pictures. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Nothing makes a house a home like walls covered in photos of friends and family. But when you live in a small house (1500 square feet), you start to run out of room. I'm almost at that point. I think I can squeeze in a few more collage frames, maybe a handful of small frames. What if I had expandable walls like in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland? Only no creepy voices and no woman walking a tightrope with an alligator underneath. Oh, and no skeleton swinging from the rafters. That way, I could push a button to expand it long enough to show off the pictures or to look at them myself!


3) Lily - Doesn't it seem like I'm always asking for her health? And we're only three and a half years into her life. Maybe she should just be my third wish every week. Colon and intestinal tract getting better! But we've been a week without steroids which means she has itched and scratched herself to the point of bleeding. She also has the worst ear infection that I've ever seen. I just want her to find some peace and get some sleep the next two to three days until we can try to introduce the steroids again. That's all. Oh, and the steroids have to NOT set her off again.

What about you - what are your wishes for our Magical Cat?

Stay tuned for my Summer Giveaway! I've got something FUN planned to celebrate hitting 200 followers!!