At long last!

Did something today I've wanted to do for a very very very very long time.

Yep. I did it.

I ordered high speed internet.

Go Lisa! Go Lisa! Go Lisa!

It's cable internet and it will be installed on Friday. I also switched our phone service to the same company, saving us beaucoup bucks and so, for the next 6 months anyway, having cable internet and their phone service (which is regular phone service not VOIP) will actually be CHEAPER than dial-up internet and our previous phone service.

After 6 months, I will re-evaluate.

Our phone number will remain the same.

Emily's Rummage Sale Finds

Clikits by Lego

Ello by Mattel

Both are building toys aimed at girls. Or as Ello calls itself - a "creation system".

Off to begin our observation of Jane Austen Day Continued (aka - let's watch Pride and Prejudice! heh)

Rescheduled, Reminded, Rewinded

Oh, I know what I forgot to say earlier. The lawyer DIDN'T view the video on the scheduled day. It was, yep, RE-scheduled. @@ It is supposed to happen at the end of the month. Hey, that's THIS WEEK.

The court date - a real one - is set for April 9th.

Also, yesterday, on our way out of town, I saw a sign for a rummage sale that was on RIGHT NOW. I had known about it before but had forgotten it was yesterday. There was about half an hour left for the sale, so we did an about-face and headed over to it. Emily got some Ellos and some Click-its, which she is enjoying. James got a Milennium Falcon 3D puzzle. V. cool. I think David is "helping" put it together. Got some books and a few clothes. Best part? It was $1 a bag!

Kids are watching Popular Mechanics for Kids - a DVD we interloaned from the library. I highly recommend it - it's a series with 4 episodes per DVD.

Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy, But Still Blogging

I was such a grumpy person today. And Friday morning too, to be truthful. I think my family would have chosen a different word. I've got to shake that tomorrow.

We went to Walmart today and I bought a DVD/CD binder - hope it works well. It looks more sturdily constructed than the smaller kind I had before for CD's. We also bought the Veggie Tale - The Wizard of Ha's, which we watched tonight. Cute!

And, I bought something I have longed to purchase for years and years now - the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice on DVD. Ahhhhhh...... I've never wanted to spend the money on it, but even on ebay it goes for a high price all the time, so I've never found a great deal. So, I paid retail for it at Walmart and it will be Worth It. One day this week, Cornerstone Academy will be having Jane Austen Day. heh

We finally had homeschool co-op Friday, after two cancellations (one due to weather and one due to a funeral at the church where we hold co-op). I believe it ran quite smoothly. I posted the kids' schedules over at Cornerstone blog a while back, but for myself - I am free first hour, second hour I sit in the Lego class David is teaching, third hour I am leading a moms discussion group, fourth hour we have a leadership team meeting, and I leave during fifth hour in order to have a little downtime before I have to go to work.

Bob bought a door tonight for our bedroom. That's been a long time coming too! Hopefully he and David can get it installed tout suite.

When we got home from Walmart (with Taco Bell takeout), there was a message on my machine that they'd like me to sub in Sunday School AGAIN tomorrow. This time it is Jamie's class. They called last week too and wanted me to do it for Emily's class, but I said no. If you'll recall, church was cancelled anyway. And the week before, I subbed in Jamie's class too. Am I the only person there is that can sub for Sunday School? Sigh. I DO NOT WANT TO. I do not feel very Sunday-school-ish.

I will be tracking down a high speed internet provider this week. That (and the P&P DVDs) is my splurge from the tax refund. Most of the rest of it will be paying bills.

The kids all loved Taco Bell food, despite much whining and crying beforehand that they hate Taco Bell and wanted McDonald's. TOO BAD KIDS. YOUR VERY GRUMPY MOM LOVES TACO BELL AND IS GETTING THAT. NYAH NYAH

And they love it anyway. @@

Ran into a mom whose kids go to the school I worked at last spring. She says the principal (also teaches 7th/8th) and his wife (teaches 1st) are retiring this year (as was planned) and also the preschool/kindergarten teacher is taking a position at another school. If I don't have some other way for making money soon, I'll probably apply at the school for next year. (And they'd probably hire me, since they offered me a position for this year that I turned down.)

And yes, that means the kids would very likely be in school. I can only keep doing what I've been doing for a limited time.

Yeah, I'm cheerful tonight. If I had more energy, I'd put charming Mr. Darcy in the DVD player right now. But I don't think I can even muster the gumption to wrestle the plastic off the DVD case, so I'll probably just go to bed. Yeah. It's early. For me anyway.

Birthday and Began Book, BEDDY BYE

I took Suzy to a birthday party for one of her co-op friends today. What a nice time! The party was nicely done. (Good job, Marla!) Suzy came home with a bag full of candy and she was thrilled! She even shared.

Tonight at work I had one of those easy jobs - the kind where I can write. I started writing my new novel. I completed 12 handwritten notebook pages. No time to type them in tonight though as we have co-op tomorrow.

I should be in bed. GOING NOW!!!!

Do I Need More Stress?

I didn't take the promotion at work. There were a lot of factors in my decision, but when it came right down to it, I thought, "Do I need MORE stress in my life?" Of course, I told myself that I did not. Then I asked myself, "Is more stress in my life worth $100 more a month?" And I said, "Self, no. More stress is not worth $100 an month."

So, there you have it.

I told them today.

And then I got the most boring job tonight - the one I HATE. lol

But... HA! I came up with an idea for a new novel while I was bored out of my mind and sketched a rough plot outline. This one is going to be a Christian romance novel and I am going to pitch it to Harlequin's Steeple Hill line of books. There are other lines of Christian romance novels, but I will start with Harlequin.

I am going to write this baby fast fast fast. Maybe I will have my own little NaNoWriMo for March.

By June, I sure would like to NOT be working in the plastics factory. That would be really really great.

Website Wednesday - Freerice.com

Free Rice is a vocabulary quiz site. For each word you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance. And it's fun! My 13 year old son likes to play it.

I've gotten to level 46. How high can you go?

I like to write.

Editing update - I have the whole book edited on the second go-through. It's 123 pages long and 49307 words. Now I have to write a synopsis (about 4-5 pages) so I can begin to query publishers and agents.

However, I realized I am missing a key scene - important information that will inevitably cause a conflict. Where I THOUGHT I could put it isn't going to work. At least I don't think so. So, now I have to figure out where to put this scene. The scene is mostly written - it just needs the specifics to make it fit in the proper place.

A friend told me I should keep writing because I like it, not because it might make me some money. I resisted that idea at first. I didn't really think I was doing this because I like it. I got the idea because I love a well-crafted challenge, and because I thought it would jump-start my non-fiction writing career by getting me in the habit of writing.

However, I realized just today, when I woke UP thinking about the previously-mentioned key scene, that my friend was right. I DO like writing. The creation of characters that seem to come alive on paper. The effectiveness of the precise word choices in creating a mood. The ability to move scenes around to better fit the plot! The power of the thesaurus!

So, yes, I do enjoy writing! I will keep doing it. I hope I am effective at it and can sell my writing. But I think I'll keep doing it regardless.

Dichotomy

This was a productive weekend in some ways, and lazy in some others.

On Saturday, we slept in. Then we went to the post office and the library. In the afternoon, we cleaned house. I started cleaning my bedroom and got the urge to straighten the bookshelf in there. I realized some books were in there that ought to be in the living room. And when I went to the living room, there wasn't any room, so I had to take some books from there and put them in the bedroom.

So, the upshot was that I organized my downstairs bookshelves by subject. Then David and I went to one of those resale video game stores to see if he could sell his GameBoy Advance and all his games. (He wants to trade up to a PSP.) They didn't offer what he wanted, so he didn't complete that transaction. Then we went to the grocery store, picked up some Little Caesar's pizza, and came home to watch The Three Musketeers (Disney version with Mickey Mouse).

Because of the ice forecast, I hadn't planned to get up for Sunday School and when we got the call that church was cancelled, I was still in bed. I slept in again. When I woke up finally, I had a book plot all planned out from a dream. But by the time I tried to write it down, all that was left was a name - Amy. Darn!!!

Most of the day today was spent editing my book. I've edited 79 pages now with about another 40 to go. (The page count keeps increasing because I am messing with the paragraphing.) This is the second editing. I have a good friend acting as beta reader for me - telling me what's clear and unclear, where I need something more, where I have too much of something. I also chatted with her today in IM for several hours - a luxury we don't get too often now that our lives are busier!

We also watched National Treasure - one of our favorites - and the kids poked around in the Special Features.

I also roughed out a schedule for the upcoming Sister Weekend with, who else, my four sisters. (and my mom and my brother and his wife!)

I've put Matrix: Reloaded's special features in the DVD player and I am going to keep editing until I fall over. :-)

Tomorrow I planned to take the kids to a free museum day. However, it occurred to me tonight that a lot of schools are probably off tomorrow and the free day may be a little crowded. So, we may reschedule that.

Icy

Church was cancelled this morning. I thought it might be, when I saw the forecast last night. Ice! Even if it hadn't been cancelled, I wasn't going to fight the ice.

So, we've had a lazy morning at home instead.

Valentine Boxes

Here are some photos of the three younger kids with their Valentine boxes.

Emily's has Cars stickers on it. She still loves that movie. She helped Suzy make her kitty box too - adorable! Suzy won a first place ribbon!

David helped James make his box. If you don't recognize it, it's a Playstation Portable (PSP). The opening for the Valentines is the slot to insert the games. His is the Darth Vader silkscreened version of the PSP, since that's the one David is saving to buy. James's box won a second place ribbon.

Better and Better!

I feel better! I actually napped while Bob took the kids to the Valentine's Day party. I dozed in and out for about an hour. I felt better than I did last night which is super!

Remember that color test I took at work? Tonight I was offered the promotion! I was stunned really. I'm not actually sure I want to accept it, but it's great to have the option! I have some questions for my boss before I actually take it, although I did tell them today that I was planning to. I need to work out the pros and cons.

I see James' Valentine box on the floor here beside me with a second prize ribbon on it! He apparently placed in the contest. I do have pictures of the boxes but they are not uploaded to the computer yet. Maybe I can get those on the blog tomorrow.

Oh yeah, it's snowing again.

Feeling Puny

Still feeling like something scraped off the road. Bleh. Trying to decide if I should go to work or not.

I'll probably medicate myself and go. I have never missed a day, except for the week of camping. If I miss, I get my first demerit, and that means no merit pay.

So, instead I'll go and spread my germs. Yeah.

Well, where do you think I got the germs in the first place? I'm just putting them back! :-)

Bob is taking the kids to the Valentine party and I'm going to stay here and rest until it's time to go to work.

A little tip to the family yesterday proved useful.

Me: You know, tonight you're going to town. And tomorrow [insert meaningful pause] is VALENTINE'S DAY. (said with gravity)

Bob: [says nothing, stares]

Me: You do comprehend what I'm saying, right?

David: She wants something for Valentine's Day, Dad!

Bob: I know, but what?

LOL

So anyway, when I got home last night, there were sweet homemade cards from each member of the family, a mini potted rose, some chocolates and a scented candle. :-) Color me cheerful, even if it's a pale tone of cheerful due to my general malaise.

I had treats for my family as well, and I made them little Valentine letters.

Oh yeah, and we're supposed to get 1-3 inches of snow tonight. Yippee. (Was that me that used to complain we never get snow anymore? :::grimaces at my ignorance:::)

Croak

:::tries to speak::::

:::tries again::::

:::tries harder::::

Croak emerges from throat.

Oh lovely. Laryngitis. Sore throat.

My speaking voice is about two octaves lower than normal and breaks like a teenage boy's.

Driving home in MORE SNOW last night was just as joyous, yet uneventful, as last week's drives home.

Tonight the kids are rollerskating with church and tomorrow we have a Valentine party with the homeschool group.

Below Zero

Oh my goodness, it is COLD. Less than ZERO. BELOW ZERO. Yikes!

And guess what? MORE SNOW IS IN THE FORECAST!!! Those are exclamation marks of HORROR not joy.

I bought some groceries on the way to work. Exciting, huh? I went to a store I don't usually go to and was shocked at the prices of a lot of the items, cereal being the most obvious. I much prefer my SuperWalmart and my Meijer stores, or even Kroger. Yessir.

I watched a couple of movies this weekend that I've had sitting here for a LONG time waiting to be watched. It was a movie weekend - no other plans and VERY VERY cold out.

First was The Green Mile, based on a book by Stephen King and starring Tom Hanks. I really liked it much more than I thought I would. The circumstances of the movie were thought-provoking and the movie was really well-done. A friend lent me this one and I'm glad she did!

The other long overdue movie was The Whale Rider. This wasn't actually as good as I thought it would be, from all I've heard about it. I kept waiting to love it, and that didn't happen. I'm not all that fond of movies where children defy the wishes of their parents or elders because the children so obviously know what's right. I'm also not all that enamoured with the Maori culture. But the film was beautifully photographed and well-acted.

I watched one more movie; actually it was on in the background while I did some work on the computer - How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. This is one of my favorites - Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson have awesome chemistry and are a joy to watch. Yes, they have a new movie, which I heard was a dud - Fool's Gold. (Anyone see it? I hesitate to waste $8 on it if it's as bad as the reviews say. Although a couple hours of McConaughey couldn't be all bad, right?) Anyway, reading about their new movie put me in the mood for this one. I actually put the commentary on since I'd never listened to that and I also watched the deleted scenes. For some reason, that never occurred to me before!

I am cancelling Netflix this week; hoping to get one more movie out of my month before I cancel. I've had a Netflix subscription since before Suzy was born - nearly six years. But lately, with my schedule, the movies just sit here for a couple weeks before I have a chance to watch them. I'm going to use the library more (esp. the interloan) and hopefully borrow more movies from friends! If I get really desperate, there's always Blockbuster. (Or I could just start watching Lord of the Rings again. That's a good 12 hours right there, and then there's all those special features! I haven't watched that all the way through in more than a year.)

Wow, it's 2:00 am and I am now rambling, so I guess I'll click "publish post" and go to bed.

Monday Report

I didn't get the editor job I applied for a couple weeks ago. Disappointing. I knew I would be good at it and the hours and pay were what I wanted. Ah well. It wasn't what God had planned for me, I guess. Something better must be coming, or He wants me where I am.

Saturday I got our taxes done. That's a relief. We'll have some tax money coming back, so we can pay some bills and make some purchases that we have been putting off. For example, I can actually buy curriculum for next year!

I edited my book on Sunday night. Made the rest of the little changes I had noted down and typed in a couple of new scenes I had written longhand a few weeks ago. I did notice that I had lots more changes in the beginning of the book and not nearly as many toward the end. I am quite sure that's not because the end was that much better than the beginning, so I probably have lots more editing to do. There are still a few troubling sections, where I need to make things clearer or add something. But all in all, it's coming together nicely.

OK, the kids are waiting.

Blizzard Photo

I gave David the mission of taking some photos of the blizzard's leftovers and here's one of his images.