Sunday, April 29, 2007
Take Me Out to the Ball GameToday, Mr. Thomas' company hosted a family day at Citizen's Bank Park, home of the Phillies. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, but a cool breeze kept me from getting too warm. I declared a Weight Watchers holiday today as I had two hot dogs and a bag of Cracker Jack. I got a touch of a sunburn on my face, but just a touch as I made sure I wore a baseball cap and applied more sunscreen.
I've always loved baseball movies - The Natural, Field of Dreams, even Major League, but I never was a big baseball fan. It not paced fast enough for me. I've come to appreciate the game in the past few years, because the game requires brains and brawn. And the slower pace allows for multi-tasking while watching on television.
I can't say I like baseball as much as hockey. I love hockey! But it's a contender for the number two spot.
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When I was busy procrastinating this evening, I took one of those goofy online tests.
I'm Clay Aiken?
Which American Idol Are You?
Brought to you by Tickle
Yikes!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Journey - A Writer's ClubI'm blogging over at Journey today.
Come check out my post on what writing has in common with reality show contestants.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
It's Progress, Right?I can hardly believe that I haven't updated the blog since last Sunday. I've had a fairly busy week, and while I have no writing news to report, the week was still a good one.
I've been doing pretty good on the Weight Watchers point system. I've lost 5 lbs. this week. I've got many more to go, of course, but I feel proud of myself that I stuck with it. The great thing about WW is that I can eat whatever I want. That's also the bad thing about WW. So far, so good, though. I even bought these neat food containers to bring my breakfast and lunch to work. I got the Lunch on the Go and Breakfast Chiller. Now, I just have to make sure I pack them the night before!
I have not gone back to the gym, yet. I walked the beach and boardwalk this weekend, so that counts as exercise, right? Right.
Anyway, I took a few pictures at the beach. This first one is in Longport, NJ. The plan on Saturday morning was to drive to Ocean City, Maryland. But I slept in, so we drove over to Atlantic City and made a right. This was our first stop. My husband and I collect shells, and we found some fabulous ones at this spot.
Driving back, we saw this elephant in Margate, NJ, and of course, had to stop to investigate.
"Lucy" is a National Historic Landmark, is 6 stories tall and was "born" in 1881. It's quirky, and you know how I like quirky.
And finally, I didn't take this picture, but...
...I'm gonna miss Sanjaya. I know a few posts back I wrote about American Idol jumping the shark, and I still think it's true. But I liked this kid. He's not the best singer, but he's not the worst, either. The judges complain that he's out of his league. Duh. Most of this year's contestants are underwhelming. But, hey, they put him on the show. And he may just have saved it. Besides, I think the show takes itself waaaaaaay too seriously.
So, that's what's up with me. What's up with you?
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Rainy Days and Sundays...So, it's my day off, and it's raining. Philadelphia is smack dab in the middle of a Nor'easter. It's such a lazy day. I thought I'd curl up with Persuasion by Jane Austen, but much to my surprise, I don't have the book. I could have sworn it was in my collection. Maybe I loaned it out to someone. Oh, well, I guess I'll have to pick up another copy.
I am working on another goal, though. Finally, I dug out all my Weight Watchers stuff. I'm so disorganized! I've been looking for it for a few weeks now. Today I opened my closet and there it was. The hubster is trying to be supportive. He said to me yesterday, "I think if you drank more water it would help." I know he's right, but water is so blah. So, he went out and bought me a case of spring water and some of those Crystal Light singles. Isn't he a sweetie?
I don't know what I'm going to do for the rest of the day. Maybe take a nap. Do some writing. Make some Garden Vegetable soup. Read a little. Enjoy the rainy day.
What are you doing today?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Thirteen Things I'd Like to Do Before I Turn 40I'm turning 40 in 307 days. Arrrrrgh! In the spirit of goal setting (terrible at this!) and visualizing my desires (good at this!), I present my Thursday Thirteen.
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1. Lose 80 lbs. - I really need to do this for my health, looks AND self confidence. 2. Become pregnant (or adopt a baby) - I have 3 great step-kids and 2 grandsons (I love, love, LOVE them!), but I've never had a baby of my own. 3. Write 2 Novels (OK - one I am working on, but must FINISH! The other is the story of my heart - I don't know if it will get published, but... I'm going to write it, anyway.) 4. Write 2 Novellas for e-publishers. 5. Submit something I wrote to Mrs. Giggles - Look I'm a chicken, alright? As much as I love her, I don't know if my fragile ego can take Mrs. G. 6. Revamp my website - I like it a lot, but I'm not sure it reflects who I am anymore. 7. Take a wine tasting class - the only thing I know about wine is red goes with beef, white goes with chicken. 8. Read Persuasion by Jane Austen. I've always wanted to read this book, but could never quite get into it. 9. Dye my hair blonde - well, blonde highlights... :) 10. Participate in the March of Dimes Walk-a-thon 11. Learn how to bowl and not look like a total dork. Really, I've no form whatsoever and I throw gutter balls. My high score is like 56. 12. Forgive the people who have hurt me and my family in the past. Just let it go. Sometimes this is not easy to do. I don't consider myself a person that holds a grudge, but sometimes I'm just not ready to make nice. 13. Take down my Christmas tree. I'm not kidding; I wish I was. I generally keep my tree up past my birthday every year. It's just too darn cold to be lugging everything down to the garage! |
here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners
is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in
others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen
with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who
participates and leaves a link to their 13 things.Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Coloring Outside the LinesDaisy Dexter Dobbs wrote a thought provoking post last week. I've thought about it for days. I hope you will read Daisy's post as I can't do it proper justice here. In a nutshell, she deals with some common personality traits of fiction writers. One common trait is the propensity for coloring outside the lines. And true to form, many of the readers commenting on the post say they, too, color outside the lines.
As a child, I desperately wanted to color inside the lines. I really did. And I never really could. This frustrated me until one day I didn't care anymore. I was going to go my own way and color the way I wanted to. As a romance writer, I am expected to write "inside the lines". Sure, there is room for creativity, but my mind and my characters often veer off course. And this has frustrated me. I am often asked what line I'm targeting. I've never known exactly what to say. Once I told a fellow writer, "I'm not targeting any line. I'm just writing stories." I wish I could describe the shock on her face. Then she told me I'd never get published that way.
Ummm. I don't care anymore. It occurs to me, just as it recently did to Jenn, maybe I'm writing the wrong story. I love reading and writing "literary" pieces with unexpected endings. And I don't need a happy ending to be satisfied. Maybe all this time I've been a plotter, when I should have been a pantser. Whatever. I'm still a writer - a published writer. One who is officially coloring outside the lines.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
I'm Sick and Tired...... of being tired and sick! I've been incognito lately because I've been fighting a nasty sinus infection. I don't know why, but this type of infection hits me particularly hard. I've been taking antibiotics for almost a week and just when I think I've got it licked, the coughing, wheezing, stuffy head, throat-on-fire, head-achy feeling starts all over again! Woe is me! LOL
Anyway, the silver lining to feeling so... well, crappy is that I've been doing a lot of reading. I just finished reading Nora Roberts' Key Trilogy. I also finished Northern Lights, recently. It's been awhile since I've read Nora. I used to be a huge fan girl, until I started writing seriously, and then I found myself picking her books apart. Yes, Nora is the consummate storyteller, but she is the consummate head-hopper, too! Still, reading her books is like eating a big old bowl of your mom's macaroni and cheese - warm, familiar, and comforting.
Next on the TBR list is Barbara Clark's Tears of the Hawk from Amber Quill and Elizabeth Berg's The Year of Pleasures from Ballantine. Ms. Clark is a new author and Ms. Berg is one of my favorites.
Do you have a "comfort food" author? Or book? Or movie?
