Numbers...Do They Mean Anything?

Tomorrow I have an appointment with a specialist that I've been waiting since October to see. It's a very important appointment, one that has me biting my nails and wondering if I'm ready. But what is really bothering me, though, are the numbers.

311

Why? Try this one on for size...

My appointment is on 3/11 at 11am.
Address of the doctor's office is 311.
Phone number's last four digits? 3113.

Tell me that's not interesting...odd...scary...

So, anyone? What does that mean? Does it mean I made the appointment with the right doc? That there will be nothing found? That I might win a lottery I don't even want to be playing???

Here's to hoping the Universe is saying something good with these numbers...I'll let you know how it goes...

...

Deadlines, Editing, and My Unofficial Query Letter....UNofficial...

So, I totally blew my self-imposed deadline of March 23rd to have finished all edits and send out my first query letter. Death, taxes, 6 feet of snow, and the Olympics...all things totally unrelated, yet all things I've allowed to stray me away from my goal.

Therefore I'm imposing a more SANE deadline of "by summer", and this gives me time to polish and shine my query letter. A few weeks ago I polished and shined my "one sentence" pitch of my novel, and I am happy to say that I LOVE IT! No need to edit any further. Next step now, is to start with the paragraph synopsis of what happens in the novel, beginning to end, leaving nothing out...

How the hell?!?! The whole book, explained in detail, in one paragraph!?!?!?

Enter, the query letter...

Whether you snail mail or email an agent, you need to formulate one hell of a kick ass query letter to not only GET their attention, but also KEEP their attention.

I took a quick crack at swallowing my entire novel into one horribly written paragraph, just to see if I could manage to get all the major points in there (NOTE: there is much work to be done on this...the following is just for fun). But I did manage to capture the darkness of the novel, and then show that it all turns bright by the end. I think for me this will be my biggest challenge. I can't leave out the fact that my MC is a bit of a nut case in the beginning (of course 'nut case' by normal standards. I think she's fine, just needs a little TLC...we've bonded ;)

So, without further delay, here is one horribly written query for my amusement only (and yours too, I hope ;).

My novel opens with a past rape scene, moves forward to the present, where you see my MC living with the after effects of an abusive past, she goes to therapy, you are inside her head, see her odd living style, hear voices, all sorts of strangeness, until she breaks free from it all and finds a way to heal, finds her courage again, finds herself again...then she meets someone, falls in love, has a normal life, albeit there are still triggers from her past, some of which threaten to suck her back down into that deep black hole...but she's a new woman now, has tools to help her stay in her present and deal with her past, and she moves on and up and it's great at the end!

Phew!

That is one long run-on sentence ;)

Yet, somehow, I feel one tiny small step closer to my goal...Feel free to leave a link to your own horrible one paragraph synopsis!

;)

Sanity Check...Keeping Your Characters at a Distance

If you follow this blog, then you know I've written a novel, and I'm now in the process of editing it, start to finish. Although Waiting for Paint to Dry is a fictional work in it's entirety, it also has significant elements that ring true to my personal life, past. This brought up some great questions concerning the repercussions of doing so, mainly what other people will find out and how you will feel about them knowing these true details of your life.

Since writing Waiting for Paint to Dry and successfully finishing the first draft, I re-lived my real life events during the beginning stage of the novel. It was a rather cathartic undertaking, dissecting and examining those events and myself at that time, but it turned out to be one that had tremendously positive results for both my book and my psyche.

HOWEVER, there was something that I hadn't considered as a side effect of including those true life events, until recently. Although editing has improved my book to the point of publish ready, it has also incurred a dramatic negative effect on me, to my psyche.

The editing process...

I didn't realize that by going back through the chapters, beginning to end, I would again be brought face to face with the demons that I have already conquered. Although I worked through the healing process in real life long ago, then again while writing out the first draft, my character, Matty Bell, will forever live in still life.

Flip the book open to any page, and that's where she's at, at the moment. She's forever stuck. She doesn't move forward unless you read on.

At the beginning of the book, my main character has yet to over come anything. And since her emotions are so raw, so real, I've had to relive and relive and relive the roller-coaster with her, while I edited and edited and edited the first few chapters. They are dark ones, reader be forewarned.

And because I was in the trenches, again, with her, it took me a good long while to notice that her internal turmoil was effecting me. For a while there, I felt as though the events that took place in my own life, that I've weaved into my novel, were happening all over again...and again...and again.

And I felt stuck too! I haven't felt like that in years. Stuck in the past. I was again reliving the moments, not being able to stop thinking about them, talk about them, like I was at the beginning of my own healing process all over again...

The moment I finished editing chapter 3, its final run of edits, I finally pinpointed my problem: I was feeling stuck because I was reliving the trauma by reading and editing it so many times over. It was all coming back to life.

Needless to say, I started with a few mantras right then and there, reminding me that this happened a long time ago, and that I'm a new person now. And better for it.

Although I feel sorry for Miss Matty Bell, she too will be fine, soon. I just have to edit on so I can bring her to the place of healing that I've come to know and love.

And that will happen soon. Very soon...

I'm so excited and relieved to get beyond the dark shadows of my book. I'm now moving on into the lighter pigments, which cast a beautiful glow. I like the sound of that side effect.

The rest of the book, after she gets going, is a fun ride for sure, reader be ready!

Then, in the end, she... Well, you'll have to read it for yourself to find out.

:)

Food Snobbery on a Budget...

Hi, my name is Lia Mack, and I'm a food snob.

I blame my parents for having us live in Italy for three years while I was growing up. Every Friday morning, the town we lived in held an open air market - mercato - where you could purchase anything and everything fresh.

Fresh fish from the sea, fresh artichokes picked that morning, homemade pastas that took two seconds to cook...and eat ;) Oh, and let's not forget the cheese wagon. Every Wednesday at the same exact time, a man pulling a cart of cheese wheeled down our street singing, "formaggio... mozzarelli... provelone..."Now that's a real cheese wagon :)

So I got mega used to eating whole fresh foods...and fell in LOVE! There is no beating the taste of a ripe red tomato mixed with fresh basil, straight from the garden. I think that's why everything tastes so much better in Italy. Everything is fresh and local. So what if I couldn't drink the water or that the heat and electricity went off daily at 3pm because someone had to go home for siesta. I was in food heaven!!!

And then we moved back to the States - God love America - where there is a grocery store open daily on almost every corner. Only thing, most of the food available here comes in a box. Or a plastic bag. Or worse! And it's not fresh. It's not even local!

Oh, the horror!!!

Well, fast forward to today. I'm married to super conservation man and together we are raising two amazing little greenies. I've been a stay at home mom for six years and have not one thing in my life to complain about. Nothing, that is, except my food budget. It's tight. Living on one income in a very expensive part of the country and being able to buy good whole food that is fresh, organic, and local is difficult to say the least. But it's doable. And for a while there I was doing pretty good.

For the last two years, however, I've been feeling the pinch. Food prices continue to rise, utilities are still going up, and gas is expensive.

Yet, I still want to be able to feed my family well, but wanting to buy and eat only organic, local, fresh foods can be quite costly. I know of one local mom who spent over 17K last year in food alone because they ONLY eat local, organic, fresh meats, cheeses, fruit, vegs, ect.... That's a lot of money.

Of course I could easily manage to buy all sorts of shit food (pardon my language) with my food budget. I could feed my family from the box and dollar menu and have money left over! But I'm a food snob, remember? I cannot eat that stuff. Ingredients I can't pronounce? Food that doesn't even look or taste anything like food? Packaged, frozen, processed, freeze dried disgustingness???

Oh no. Not me, baby. Not after eating REAL food. It's just not possible.

Plus, I don't want my kids eating shit - crap - either. We are what we eat. When we eat crap, we feel like crap and therefore act like crap. And I'm not interested in taking care of kids who act up all the time and get sick all the time because they are being fed crappy food.

So, having very little wiggle room in the budget, but wanting only the best (what mom doesn't?), I've learned how to get most everything we need (aka: I want) on the budget we have. It's fun being a food snob. You just have to find a way to do it when you don't have endless amounts of the green stuff lying around. Below are some of the things I do to get what I want, thus enabling me to eat really yummy good for me food all the time

I don't do all my shopping in one place.
Some things at my main grocery store are too expensive, yet elsewhere they aren't. Took me a while to scout out all the good deals, but now I know that by going to three separate stores on a rotation, I can come home with a lot more of what I want for less $.

I garden.
I grow tomatoes and herbs and carrots and potatoes and all sorts of yumminess :) By doing so, I control what goes in and on my food. The kids have their own garden plots too, and we spend a good deal of time with our beloved Mother Earth to keep it going. After the cost of seeds, what we reap is free. FREE! Best price ever :)

I go to Farmer's Markets.
And stock up. What I find for good deals, I buy bunches of and freeze what we're not eating that week. Frozen blueberries, frozen green beans, frozen anything. Tastes great when picked and stored at peek season. Nothing better than pulling out veggies in the dead of winter that you bought fresh and know where they came from. Tastes great.

I buy in bulk.
When I can, I save up and buy staples in bulk. Flour, sugar, pasta, rice... This year I'm buying 1/4th of a bison and a neighbor of ours who likes to hunt is getting us a deer. Who knows how long this supply of meat will last, especially since we only eat meat two to three times a week. (Meat is pricey) This, of course, will happen after I find an inexpensive deep freezer on Craigslist (anyone have one they don't want?)

I do without.
Yes, you heard it. We don't buy pop (soda). The kids drink juice once a day and that's it, if that. Instead we drink water, H2O, aqua fresca...you get the picture. Same thing with junk food. Since we don't eat it, we don't buy it, thus we save big bucks. And if it's not on sale and it's not in the budget, oh well. Better luck next time, right?

I stretch it.
I can make five meals out of one chicken. And that doesn't include the amount of chicken stock I make and use from the bones. So I might spend a little more buying an organic chicken - or A LOT more buying an organic local chicken - but I'll make that dollar stretch as much as possible. With a little ingenuity, you can think of ways to make anything stretch more than one meal.

Of course, all of this takes time, energy, and knowledge, something that most of us are hard pressed to find. But it CAN be done if you put in the work. The biggest benefit from all of this? You won't have to compromise. I don't. Just know that there will be times when you can't get the big ticket items, but that's fine. You don't have to have exactly what you want ALL the time, do you? My goal is to have good for us food only, and don't concern myself with specifics.

Everyone can be a food snob on a budget. All you have to do is learn to go with the flow, enjoy what's in season, and make the most of what you've got.

:)

Breastfeeding: How I Naturally Weaned My Babies...

The nursing relationship is just that - an intimate interaction, connection, between a mother and her child. It helps us bond, communicate needs, and transforms us into one beautiful little unit.

From the beginning, though, many people - friends, doctors, family - all like to interject their opinions on what you are doing. How many times have we heard, "you feed him too much" or "I don't think he's getting enough". What about, "don't you think it's about time to stop that now?"

Enter weaning.

Weaning doesn't have to be a tragic ending...

Ending your nursing relationship on a positive note can bring just as warm memories as the beginning did.

Although many people, whether informed or misinformed, mean well, the ending your nursing relationship is not up to them. It's up to you and your baby. And every nursing relationship is different! No two babies nurse the same, no two mom-child teams wean the same.

Weaning is a part of breastfeeding, but it doesn't have to be an abrupt, sad experience. Gradual, gentle weaning that respects the feelings and needs of both the mother and child can be a wonderful way to transition into the next phase of your ever growing relationship.

Here are my two weaning stories...

My Baby #1 :)

When my son was born, he started nursing within minutes. He 'army crawled' his way up to my chest, lifted his head, and latched himself on without any help! He knew what he wanted and how to get it :) We nursed beautifully for the next two years without a hitch (minus two nursing strikes, but we worked through them! More on that later.)

When I became pregnant with my daughter, I was still nursing my son, who had just turned two. Although he was only nursing occasionally during the day and to sleep, he was in NO WAY near ready to wean. And I didn't want to push him to either. So I let him nurse whenever he liked during his busy days, which was sometimes only once or twice a day by that point, and to sleep. He was an active toddler ;)

Except, as it is for some women, nursing while pregnant can sometimes become really painful and irritating. The moment he latched on, instead of a rush of bliss and relaxation that I had always felt before, I was instantly climbing walls!

I was all for tandem nursing - nursing a toddler and an infant at the same time. I had read all the books and was excited to try it!...But nursing had become so uncomfortable for the both of us (you can't be a very nice mommy when you're flinching and grimacing), I sadly knew it was time to wean. My poor son would have loved to continue, and so would I! I fought it with everything I had, and was determined to keep going. But then he'd latch on and I'd hit the roof!

After two months of that, I decided to wean. But, instead of stopping instantly, which would have been great for my nipples, but stressful and cruel for my son, I wanted to naturally wean him. I slowly introduced the concept of "the baby is coming, and she needs the milkies now"... Least to say, my son was not amused!

He was not about to share his 'milkies'!

To help me naturally weaning, I used La Leche League's motto: do not offer, do not refuse. I also used mild distraction during the day (like outings, playdates, walks) and introduced daddy bed time (where daddy laid down with him and they went to sleep together, so no milkies from mommy) every other night, then increased it to two nights in a row, then three. This was all done very slowly, week by week, month by month, inch by inch. If I felt I was moving too fast, I'd pause the momentum until he was ok with moving on.

Over the course of the next four months, I gradually and gently removed night nursings first, followed by daytime nursings. This was fall. By the time Christmas rolled around, my son was down to nursing once or twice a week - and we all know the holidays can disrupt a nursing relationship with all that running around! By the new year we had weaned.

He wanted to do gymnastics and I had said that once he was ready to wean - be a big boy - he could do big boy gymnastics class. Of course it was a mommy-n-me class, but he still enjoyed it!

What really helped with his anxiety about the changes in our relationship was that I made sure to still snuggle him to sleep - with me falling asleep with him most times ;) And a lot of reassurance and cuddles during the day. I wanted him to know that mommy was going to be there no matter what. Yes, the milkies were gone, but that didn't mean that what we had created together - our bond - was over.

Once he understood and felt confident that we were still a team, he seemed to latch onto the idea of weaning better and weaned himself over the last month, slowly, gradually, on his time. I know it wasn't totally 'on his time' as I started the process, but I was happy and willing to let him take his time and finish it on his own terms. For me, that was natural weaning at it's best.

My Baby #2 :)

Then I had my daughter that May!...and although we had a rocky start to our nursing relationship, we found what worked for us and had a wonderful nursing experience for the next 3 1/2 years! :)

My daughter is now 3 1/2...I can't believe it! And she just weaned herself. I knew she was my last baby, and I wanted her to have a more gradual natural weaning when our breastfeeding relationship was coming to a close. And since I'm not having any more babies :(, I won't get to breastfeed again. So this choice was simple: Keep going until she was done.

I did want to quit a few times over the last year and a half, but since it was a relationship between she and I, I decided I was ok with letting her call the shots. That's what's great about a nursing relationship. It's only between the two of you. Too bad if no one else agrees. It's not up to them ;)

Then I got sick, and still am. It's all a mystery. That initiated doctors, family members, and friends telling me that I HAD to stop nursing. "It's got to be a drain on your system" is what they were all saying. Doctors would prescribe me things to 'try' that weren't OK for nursing, which meant I had to stop. And I almost did, but I decided to continue nursing, not 'try' meds that I knew weren't going to work anyway, and I'm glad I did. My 'illness' had nothing to do with nursing.

I was very fatigued for weeks at a time and I had to night wean her. Thankfully she loves her thumb as much as her 'mees' (her word for milkies) so I thought it was going to be easy. Boy, was I wrong! She was very stubborn, and I caved every night. One little please was all it ever took :)

Although I was tired as he-double-hockey-sticks, I was glad that I did continue. I loved nursing her. She's a snuggle bug, just warms my heart. Plus, I'd always get the urge to completely wean her right around the winter time, which is stupid. All those germs, colds, flu...so I'd keep going and was glad for it.

Two winters ago, when she was about to turn two, I was toying with the idea of weaning her soon. Gradually start the process. But then my little peanut got sick and couldn't eat nor drink for 4 days. She couldn't even keep water down!

At that point she was only nursing once every three days or so. Well, during that stomach virus, she nursed every two hours for 4 days and was able to keep all the breastmilk down! Kept her hydrated, fed, and out of the hospital. On the night of the 4th day she demanded pizza, we ordered it, and she was better from then on! :) What would have happened, though, had I already weaned her? She couldn't even keep water down. She'd of been hospitalized for sure.

Now, for the past six months or so, she was nursing maybe once or twice a week. Sometimes once every other week. I couldn't believe the milk was still there even when she'd go two weeks without nursing! But it was still there, and whenever she wanted it, I did not refuse. LLL motto!

About a month ago I told her that once she was ready to stop nursing, she could have a prize. She choose big girl ballet/tap lessons ;) She just started and loves it!

As for me...well, I got a prize too!!! A new bra! Breastfeeding for the past 5 or so years, almost nonstop, I didn't have anything else other than nursing bras. My new bra? It's a black lacy number, and if you want to see it, just ask. I love it! I do ;) I feel like such a big girl myself! ha ha LOL...

Remember: Weaning doesn't have to be a tragic ending. Ending your nursing relationship on a positive note can bring just as warm memories as the beginning.

Have you weaned? Thinking about it? How did you do?

enjoy the snow (if you've got it) ladies!

Body After Baby...A Week in Chocolate...

Yep, that's what it was... a week in chocolate...

And fast food, Chinese take out, left over chips, chips and more chips, a dip in the hidden Halloween candy dish, midnight runs to the kitchen for more junk...Yep...I think that just about says it all...

Fatigue is a b*tch, ya'know? I just didn't have it in me to even cook for a few days running. It was all I could do to just keep up with the kids, the house, and do a bit of laundry. You know you're not doing well when laundry, where your sitting most of the time, kicks your ass. But then I started to feel better (that's the day I started eating chocolate....) and then I was able to find energy again.

However, where I faltered (and, oh, did I falter) I picked up elsewhere big time. I took daily walks, shoveled snow and went sledding, danced with my little girl, and overall had a very active week! And even though the fatigue hit me two days this week where I could barely do anything, I felt great and more energetic during a week that is usually a NO fun, ZERO energy week for me.

Maybe there's something here...maybe it was the chocolate...

Hmmm....something to consider for the future...

;)

Body After Baby, Week 2...

I gave it a try and succeeded to increase my activity level once last week. Not exactly a great start, but a start all the same ;)

My daughter and I danced to an entire CD in the living room. I actually worked up a sweat, and she had a lot of fun dancing in her princess dress. I also took the stairs and parked farther away than usual. This week will be interesting. I'm feeling a bit winded for no reason at all, so I'm doing what I can when I can.

Oh, and I did shovel snow! Not that that counts, but it was fun anyway ;) I love snow.

I don't believe that people need to work out like crazy to be in good health, shape. I think eating and sleeping habits help take care of your body too. If you don't put junk food in, you don't have to work double hard to 'work it off'. And getting the right amount of sleep helps your body repair and heal.

I did find a new favorite all day snack, something I can munch on all day: almonds. High in Calcium and crunchy, they're a great snack for us mamas.

So, my goal for this week?
Do more days of increased activity, aka: adding some sort of aerobic exercise in addition to what I normally do (kids, house, cook, clean, work, kids, house, cook, clean, work...) And, also continue to eat and sleep right. Have to get to bed by 10pm! Doctor's orders.

How did you do?

;)

Body After Baby Challenge: I'm Joining!

Ok, so I joined the challenge...I'm motivated...but do I have any goals that I'm hoping to reach? Hmm, I don't know...do I?

I should, because having goals keeps up the motivation. So, ok, goals. Think, Lia, think...

Alright, I got it!

I don't have a goal weight in mind and I already fit into my pre-baby jeans, so I think my goals are going to go beyond the norm. That's ok with me, I enjoy my freedom outside the box ;)

I think I'll organize my Body After Baby Challenge goals into two separate parts:

Goal #1: Eat Healthy Choices Only
My main goal is to eat only organic, local, fresh, whole foods all week, no matter what meal/snack, so finding it within my budget...it'll be a challenge in and of itself! But I believe eating whole healthy foods without pesticides, growth hormones, and toxic chemicals is the way to go if you want to be healthy, not just look nice.

Goal # 2: Increase Activity Level Daily
Ha! Ha! This one's going to be hard. I am a runner and usually run 2-3 times a week, 3 miles as the norm. But I haven't run since November because of some weird health issues I've been having, and they've also been keeping me from my usual active lifestyle. Sooooo.... My goal is to add either some easy activity to every day, either yoga, walking, or dancing in the living room... :) I hope to get myself back into my normal swing of things, as I love being outdoors hiking and running and just being active! I think that's one of the best things about being alive.

I'll post updates too, because I think it's important to check in and make sure what you're doing is actually working.

My main goal is to feel as good - health wise - as I did before I had kids. Having kids is really hard on your body, and I want to get back in shape so I can keep up with everything and everyone I love. This might mean taking something that I don't want to take and seeing a few more docs to figure out this mystery thing. I don't know, I'm still up in the air about it...

Every week I'll keep track of how I feel in general and decide if the food/exercise choices I've made are working or need to be tweaked a bit.

My starting point right now?
Activity level = zero
Healthy Food Choices = so far, so good
weight = I'll tell if you tell!
pre-baby jeans = still fit, don't hate me

Ok, so you asked for goals, you got goals...I'll post weekly and see how this challenge pans out for me.

;)

Creating a 10-Second Elevator Pitch for your Novel...

Creating a one sentence, 10 second pitch for your novel is attune to condensing all the flavors in a margarita pizza into one small itsy, bitsy bite. Doable, but OMG, why?!
Simple...what if you get stuck in an elevator with a pizza editor and you only have under a minute in order to pitch your pie?

Ok, so the scenario doesn't really fly, but the deal is that we as writers are supposed to condense our whole story into one sentence just in case we are called upon to pique the interest of an influential in under a minute.

So, after you write your novel, spend countless MORE hours editing and polishing it, you have to do a few more things...

The synopsis...a 4 page write up of everything that happens in a novel in case...

someone likes your query letter, which is one single paragraph that explains your entire novel, which they'll only read after they get interested in your...

ten second pitch that will appear at the beginning of your query letter or, if you happen to be caught in an elevator with an agent/editor, you blurt it out, ever so eloquently, and they want to see more...

That, IMHO, is a lot of condensing!

I thought I was going to go in that order, write the synopsis, in hopes it would help me write the query letter, in hopes it would help me write that one little sentence that was supposed to entice readers to read my story. Of course I have to admit that before, I thought it was an editor or perhaps a marketing guru who did all this junk...why on Earth did I think writers weren't the ones who did this?

So, anyway, now that we've established that we have to write one, then how? I tried out many formulas, but I think I found one that really works. You have to work with it and give it your own flare to really make it sing, but the end result will be great.

I got the idea/formula from this blog post from WOW: Women on Writing.

Here's the formula:

My story is about ___(character)_________who wants more than anything to _____(goal)_________ but can’t because ____(conflict)_______.

Extremely simple, I know, but it gets out of your head what you need to include, so you're introducing your main character, their main goal and the conflict in their way. Of course there is more to your novel. But you can't explain it all in one sentence. Hell, you can't even explain it all in a query letter!

But this isn't about query letters - yes, I'm very nervous about writing mine! hence I keep mentioning it - this is about your one sentence, ten second schpeel. Phew!...

I took a stab at it, adding my own hint of Lia'ness, and this is what I came up with for my 10 second pitch for my novel Waiting for Paint to Dry:

Matty Bell longs to rediscover her self-confidence, empowering her to pursue and enjoy the passions of her life once more, yet is held captive by her painful past until the night of her thirtieth birthday.

Actually, I'm pretty excited - stoked - that in one sentence I was able to capture my main characters dilemma and conflict while hinting to much more. I might need to tweak it a bit now that I see it again - a lot of the word "her" in one sentence. Then again, sometimes you can't get a way from something like that.

You'll have to do it eventually, so why not try it now, and share yours too!

Now all I need to do is find some elevators and start pitching...

;)

Good-Bye 2009...Hello 2010! Bringing in the New Year with Peace, Love, and Good Health!

Happy New Year!!! Hope you had a great time bringing in the new year last night :)

I don't know about you, but I was actually glad to see 2009 go. It was a mentally exhausting year for my family.

True, a lot of good things happened in the course of that year that I am thankful for. I became an Aunt two more times, a new niece in August and a new nephew in December. I love babies. Plus it gave me the opportunity to watch my beautiful sister-in-law become a mother. And a beautiful mother she is.

However, watching my wonderful mother-in-law go through chemotherapy for breast cancer, helping to take care of her almost every week from January to June (whenever she'd let me help! ;), and watching her spirit drain out of her was how we started off 2009. Thankfully she made it through, has been doing good since, and had enough hair by Christmas to do it up nice. She's a spirited high energy woman that I want around for a long time. Yes, you heard me. I like my mother-in-law!!! :) How many people can say that? I hope and pray her 2010 is a healthy one!

The year also saw some of my best days. In the beginning of July, my husband and I celebrated our ten year anniversary! And our relationship is like a fine wine...as the years pass, it keeps getting better. Then a few weeks later I got to go to sunny southern California and run on the beach every morning, eat fresh local organic food each and every day. I felt fantastic! I've been having some of my own health issues and for some reason I didn't feel them while on vacation.... Fresh food, fresh air, beautiful vistas...Think I might have to make Del Mar my home sometime soon! ;)

Then I flew back to Maryland two weeks later that July...and not even two days passed before I experienced something that I hope and pray no one ever has to experience, ever. I watched a little boy die. Finding him. Calling 911. Watching them work on him. Holding his little hand, saying good-bye...

And for no reason. It was unexpected, unexplained. It happened just like that and the only reason the doctors and examiners can come up with is unexplained natural causes. Absolute horse shit.

Although we've become even closer to his mother and father, our good friends already, due to the tragedy, I'd rather have become better friends through something else. Like going on a week long vacation together, them with their kids and us with ours. We were planning something like that. Going to do it sometime in the future, not sure when. Don't we all plan something and take forever getting around to it, simply because we think we have time?

Why did this have to happen to little Andrew? How does a two year die for no known reason? One minute he was dancing with my daughter in the living room, playing with toys, and running around the house having a good ol'time. The next minute he was tired, laid down for a nap..can't wake him up. It wasn't SIDS. He was breathing, alive. But only faintly there...then gone.

It was SUDC - Sudden Unexplained Death in a Child. I agree with Andrew's father. The acronym should really be SUCD, because that's exactly it. It sucked. I hope no one has to live through that ever ever ever ever ever... The only thing I can pray for now, for Andrew's parents, is that they find peace and love in 2010. I know it has been hard for them. I know it'll never be the same or easy ever again. Anything that will bring them some peace of mind to help them through each day is what I hope for them for their new year.

My hopes for my own 2010? That it is an uneventful year. Sorry, but I just want it to be a quiet, low key year. Sure, I'd love to see my book finish it's edits and find an agent who wants to publish it. But I'll trade all of that for a year where nothing major happens. No one gets sick. No one dies.

So...Knowing that the Universe - God - gives you what you give, I'm getting all of this off my chest now so that I can start anew. Start this year on a good note, a happy note, a positive note. And you should do the same if you have any lingering angst against 2009. I am purging my negativity towards last year in hopes for a wonderful prosperous new year. I am filling up my heart, mind, words, thoughts, and spirit, with love, good things, peace.

Here's to a wonderful 2010 for everyone ...

Good health to all ... Peace of mind to all ... Love boundless to all

...

2010 Writing Resolutions...

I've been using my printed out first draft to start a fire and keep it burning all day long ...I just realized that it's sooooo different from my current draft due to all the edits and my writing is so much better now that I don't want anyone to read the first draft! My grandmother was in town for the holidays and took a few pages and started reading..."I can't tell what's going on, it's all over the place..." yeah...that's when I decided it was time to burn it .

Goal for 2010...finish edits by my end of March birthday and start submitting queries...and start my next book! Either the sequel to this one (The Bell Sisters Series)... or one of 5 other ideas I have stewing up in my head...

FUNNY: I told DH all my book ideas (all 6 of them, including the one I've already written) and he said, "Well, geee...no wonder you don't listen to me when I talk!"

The Great Christmas Tree Dilemma...

at the tree farm!

Ok, so we just got a fresh tree this year. For the first 7 years we used my Grandmother's old fake tree...but it shed more than any real tree could ever and I had no idea if it was full of lead or what! So we freecycled it - still had all it's pieces and it kept the tree from going in the landfill.


For the past three years we've gotten fresh trees. The first two years from a family farm - the organic tree wasn't as nice as the non-organic, but it was organic! and local! like winning the jackpot...

This year we ran out of time and went to a tree lot...in the dark...bought a tree...didn't realize the tree was spray painted until a few days later when I noticed the tree trunk was green as well...

So we can't very well compost that tree in the backyard...and it was expensive...hence the debate.

The hubby says buying a fake tree makes more $$$ sense. I say buying a real tree from a family farm is good $$$ for the local family, especially if they are raising the trees in an eco-friendly manner...

What is your take? What do you do? And how do you justify it as a good GREEN choice?

I'd love to get a plant-a-tree tree that I could plant after we use it to decorate it, but we don't have any land on which to plant it. I know there are other options...but which ones are the greenest?

Aside from having no tree at all, what do you do?

...

How Do You Celebrate this Season of Too Much???

I know how I'd like to celebrate this season of too much. Fly to Colorado, hunker down in a cabin in the snowy mountains, sip hot tea in front of a roaring fire, and cuddle with my hubby and kids.

The End!

I don't want to do the presents thing or the deck the halls thing or the running around for four straight days thing. Call me a hum-bug (my husband already does) but for me the holiday season is getting more and more stressful every year! It's getting to be too much!

Too much money. Too much waste. Too much energy. Too much!

So for me, the holidays - this season of too much - poses a challenge that I take on each and every year. How can I spread holiday cheer and enjoy this season with my family WITHOUT going overboard?

And here's what I've done so far to streamline...

• gifts for the kids ONLY - because, let's face it. Adults have jobs. Have money. They can buy whatever they whenever they want all year round.
  
  
• experience gift - last year we sent our niece to see Brittney Spears in concert. This year my nephew is going to see an NFL game. A few years ago we took all our nieces and nephews and our own kids snow tubing for a day. Memories last longer than interests in toys.
  
  
• avoid the mall like the plague!!! I'm not much of a shopper anyway, so this one suits me just fine.
  
  
• Online shopping is great when you want to find gifts that are eco-friendly, fair-trade, and made local!
  
  
• Have a holiday party with friends AFTER the holidays are over. There are so many family and work related shindigs slammed into an already crowded month. Get together with friends casually somewhere between Christmas and New Years, or after even better! There's not much chaos in January.
  
  

If anyone has other ideas, please share in the comments section! I'd love to hear how you enjoy your holidays the anti-chaotic way.