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?