things to do

I wound up taking an eight mile bike ride on Friday. It was the perfect way to sort through the noise in my head. The weekend was really calm. No madcap rushing from one event to another. Just what I think we all needed.

I finished reading a trilogy of books over the weekend. "The Faerie Path" books by Frewin Jones started off pretty weak and although they did get better, these books are more geared towards J-fic instead of YA. After reading such YA fantasy titles from O.R. Melling and Holly Black, these three books just didn't hit the mark for me.

On the nightstand right now is the YA vampire book "Masquerade" by Melissa de la Cruz. It has been a while since I read the first book, "Blue Bloods", so I struggled a bit to recall the world de la Cruz built. But, I'm humming right along now and enjoying the story.

This week I have bookstore training to present today, a shift to work tomorrow and then I may finally get around to painting some trim in the house. Three windows need a coat as well as the baseboard trim in the kitchen.

I'd also like to get back to the wips and perhaps clean out the flower beds.

Just a real assortment of things to do in the next five days.

sis bah boom

My head is filled with so many oddball thoughts today. It sounds like a middle school band warming up. Nothing is in tune. Nothing has any sort of melody. The week was sort of like that. So much going on, but everything seemed disconnected and random. And today is Friday and I wonder just how I got here. The house is clean, the laundry caught up, the kids were delivered and picked up, writing was even thrown into the mix.

I think I need some quiet, sit outside and listen to nature time. May have to sneak over to the park today and just veg. Too much noise in my head and not enough clear thinking.

the trip to europe

I checked out Paris for Dummies yesterday at the library. Yep, we have our tickets to Germany and we have a hotel lined up for Paris. My brother is taking care of other details of this trip for us including the leg of it we are spending down towards Salzburg.

So our itinerary is such...arrive in Frankfurt, collapse. Get up the next day and visit Triere. Collapse. Get up again and visit Strasbourg, come home and collapse. Enjoy Christmas. Get on a plane or train and head to Paris. Paris, Paris and then back home. Get in the car and drive to Garmish, Salzburg, Neuschwanstein etc...have New Years...get back home. Rest and repack. Catch a plane back to the States and resume normal life. We will be gone exactly two weeks on this trip and I'm already thinking of how to pack, what to pack etc. I feel like I'm coordinating a small military campaign. I've read Rick Steves travel blog boards until my eyes crossed.

This is the trip of a lifetime and I don't want to blow it! Good grief, why do I put so much pressure on myself to make sure everyone has a spectacular time??

I'm sure I've spelled the names of the town wrong...I need more coffee.

recap

Short week with the holiday, but a very busy one. The oldest kid won both soccer games and as a result of the lopsided competition was able to work on receiving drop passes from the defense and putting the ball back into the field of play.

I read a couple of books and started a new one, "The Lady Elizabeth" by Alison Weir. So far so good, but I'm a sucker for historical fiction.

Didn't do any of my own fiction writing, but I did manage to get a few more words down on the column for Kim.

Made multiple meetings for the Friends with the final one coming this morning. I also get to read to the youngest kid's class today.

Up for the weekend, more soccer of course...going to be a good one weather wise as Gustav is long gone and is now dumping rain up in our old neighborhood.

best to be prepared

Once I learned that my library successor would approach our Friends group to appeal for funds to purchase gaming equipment for the YA department, I started researching. I learned a lot.

Did you know that 100 years ago kids weren't even allowed in libraries? Or that fiction books were not shelved in libraries because they were viewed as entertainment? Or that the Library of Congress catalogs video games? Or that the ALA has endorsed gaming in libraries?

Boy, things have changed. And I'm happy to say that my research did not have to be used to convince anyone, only to reaffirm what many of the ladies had already decided. We need to get those teens in the library and if it takes a Wii or a guitar hero game to do it, then so be it.

On other fronts, I need to finish my article for my friend Kim about how books get onto those library shelves. Haven't forgotten about you, girl, just been swamped with meetings and such.

crap, it's wednesday

I love/hate three day weekends. They usually arrive in the nick of time to give a respite from the hustle and bustle of school and soccer, but then before you know it, the week is half over. And nothing is done or on schedule!

I did manage yesterday to clean the house and get some laundry done, but the next few days will be busy with meetings for the library and soccer. Or at least some soccer if the rain continues to keep away from my corner of the county. Right now the remnants of Gustav are making their way into my region and for some reason the bands are narrowly avoiding our small town.

The computer was turned on all weekend, but no word documents were opened. I did some surfing on hotels and apartments in Paris for our trip, but that was about it. I didn't write and will probably not write this week.

I did read "Hunter's Prayer" by Lilith Saintcrow and started "Ironside" by Holly Black. Thumbs up on both.

Off to rouse the troops, the school bell looms dead ahead.

what I'm going to attempt to do

After noodling over my at home schedule for this school year, I've decided to give the following a whirl in my attempt to really finish and put to bed the completed wip, complete the started wip, and move on from there.

Monday is going to be clean the house day. It is a fact of life that a family needs to live in a clean house.

Tuesday is at the library day. I have my bookstore commitment for another 14 months.

Wednesday is write my butt off day.

Thursday is write my butt off day.

Friday is errand day as it also coincides with music lessons.

Now, I do intend on writing besides just on Wednesday and Thursday, but it won't be the marathon sessions I plan. I can do marathon sessions, I have done them before. What I'm not good at is squeezing in an hour or less at the keyboard on other days.

We will see how this goes....of course, laundry has to be done every day. Kids have to be hauled, fed, advised etc. Off to rattle the oldest out of bed, the bus comes in an hour.

friday recap

I didn't expect to work on any of my projects this week. The last four days have been consumed with getting back into the school year routine. I hope next week will start productive weeks to come.

Today is the big pantry stock day. I need to make a few lists. Make sure I get all the good lunch box packing treats.

Off to do that. Have a good weekend.

first week day two

The kids all made it through their first day of school. They arrived home with stacks of papers needing my signature and of course an accompanying check. Public education is not free.

Yesterday two other ladies and I worked on the store stocking closet. We boxed up books and made some room for ourselves to work. Let's hope our thought process was sound and we left enough inventory to replenish the store. Today I work my first regular shift. Should be fun.

While at the store I picked up the oldest kid's required reading books for high school. On the list: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bean Trees, The Hiding Place, Heroes Gods and Monsters, A Midsummer's Night's Dream and Animal Farm.

Let day two begin.

school buses and new crayons

Today is the first day of the new school year. All the supplies are sorted and packed. Brown bag lunch items are on the counter. First day outfits have been selected. Over the next three hours each of my kids will head out the front door.

The start of the school year means I have goals to set and things to achieve. So far the list includes repainting the window trim on three windows and repainting the baseboard trim in the kitchen. I also want to finish the final edits on Maddy Blue. I intend on writing the first draft of the Lani story. I want to revisit the short story I did last year and rework that concept. I will be working in the bookstore every other Tuesday and helping to stock the store on a more regular basis.

August through May are busy months and I've set quite a few goals for myself. Wish me luck.

freaky friday

I'm not even going to try and attempt the weekly recap today. I just don't remember what I did Monday-Thursday except juggle all the bits and pieces of my life. Let's just say it was busy and leave it at that.

Today I'm off to shop with the middle kid and possibly one of her friends. We will do lunch as well. Tomorrow she has soccer practice in the morning and after that, well, the house does need to be cleaned. We have a canine guest with us this week and while he is a delightful dog, between him and our mutt, the hair balls are taking over.

Sunday will bring church, a quick stop at the donut shop and I think a trip to the movies. We had debated on seeing Wanted, but now that The Dark Knight is out, I don't think we can resist seeing Heath Ledger as the Joker. Christian Bale isn't rough on the eyes either. We've already bought candy to smuggle in the theater!

I finished two Lee Child books this week. Both "Running Blind" and "Without Fail" were excellent. I just love Jack Reacher. The plan is to return them to the bookstore and see if I can find any others. Right now I'm reading a debut novel from a British author. "Brethren" was written by Robyn Young and is about the Knights Templar. She juxtaposes a young knight's story with that of a Muslim warrior....so far so good.

On a totally decadent front, the middle kid and I watched a marathon session of Project Runway this week. It was a rerun of season 4. How totally fun is that show?! Loved it. Quirky personalities, people with some serious talent, fabu clothes and cool looking hair styles. I think I've found my new guilty pleasure.

stick a fork in it

I'm done with all of the Stephanie Plum number books. Finished number 14 a couple of days ago, and because I've read the entire series in a two week span, I can say the last one wasn't her best. It was okay. No belly laughs, an okay mystery and no visit to Stiva's.

Yesterday I started another Lee Child book. It is one of the older Reacher stories and as usual it grabs you by the throat on page one.

I've morphed into a chauffeur over the last few days with no end in sight for my new vocation. Dwight, you are correct, the gas gauge on the mini van is heading towards empty at an alarming rate.

No writing or editing as I've become consumed with high school soccer and all the laundry it generates.

That is it, I'm done.

transitions

I just dropped off my oldest to her first high school event: soccer tryouts. What a bittersweet moment that was. Maybe I'm just being too emotional today, but driving home after signing her in was an odd experience. It hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. One of the strings that ties her to me has been snipped. Not that strings haven't been snipped over the past 14 years, but starting high school begins the major string cutting. Wow.

I just can't dwell on it for too long. The really weird urge to applaud, fist pump and sob all at the same time keeps rolling through me.

Hubby and I watched 10,000 BC last night. Pretty lame in some spots and pretty fun in others. What is not to love about seeing mammoths building a pyramid or stampeding?? On the agenda for today is a quick stop in at the bookstore to pick up #14 of the Plum books for my personal reading pleasure. The weekend went by in a flash, but it turned out rather well. Ate way too much, as I usually do on holidays. I'll have to be a good girl for the rest of the week.

4th of july eve

I can really hate holidays. Is it just me or is there an undercurrent of pressure to produce a wonderful holiday experience for everyone around you? The hubby has been traveling all week and informed me yesterday during a brief moment when he could get cell service, (he's in rural Mississippi) he may be in Oklahoma next week. Yep, he goes to all the fun places. Our town holds their big fireworks event tonight. He won't be home until after 8:00 and most likely won't feel like hauling all of us out to the park at that point. I really don't want to do the whole extravaganza without him. The kids are peeved that we may not go. We could have fireworks here in the family room with the way things are going.

Geez. I have three childhood memories about the 4th of July. I remember one when I was a little kid in Illinois and we drove to the park to see the fireworks, it started to pour rain and we dashed for the car and watched them from inside a steaming vehicle. We couldn't open the windows it was raining that hard. I remember burning my finger on a sparkler one year. I remember we took a picnic to Potato Creek and got rained out. We came home and the sun then magically appeared.

That's it. Not much. I do have to pick up a Boston Butt from the boy scouts at church. Our main dish for the 4th. Guess we will have all the side dishes to go along with it, maybe do some swimming, laze around. Happy 4th.

weekend dead ahead

Friday at last. Not that Fridays hold the same magic for me since I left the 9-5 workforce, but they still contain a bit of sparkle as the hubby will be home and under foot and the kids will be around and we have quite a bit to do on Saturday and Sunday.

Tomorrow the oldest kid and I are hosting a baby shower for her soccer coach. This is Coach Anne's first baby and most likely one of the first 'showers' the team will get to attend. Needless to say, the team manager and I have set out to throw the best shower we can. We have games. We have cake. We have door prizes. It should be fun. We spent a bit of time yesterday in Target buying our gift. Unfortunately for my youngest, he had to tag along. Of course he had question after question as to why we were purchasing all this stuff and what exactly is a shower. I looked at him and said, it is just one of those girl things. He hears this a lot with two sisters and a mom. He understood and set about looking at the variety of baby bottles lining the aisle we were stuck in at that moment.

Which leads me to comment on the new baby stuff on the market. Geez. Amazing. Mostly unneeded.

New mommies should rely on the old mommies expertise in this area. I'm sure a variety of comments will fly tomorrow about baby rearing technology. Which will probably be followed by labor and birthing horror stories. I never contribute to those in the usual way. I just pipe up that I had all three of mine without the epidural and gave birth to whopping 8 and 9 pound kids. See..if I can do it, so can you.

To top off the weekend, my favorite uncle should be arriving from New Mexico at some point. Everyone has an eccentric uncle and he is mine. He's been married multiple times and has just about as many degrees from universities. He is the world's easiest house guest.

Still reading the Plum books. The weekend's activities may slow me down a bit, but that is okay. I should be savoring these babies instead of gulping them down.

Enjoy the weekend.

odds and ends

I'm in a sort of rambling mood this morning. When that happens, I usually make lists to help focus on what I should be doing during the day. Figured, here was as good a place as any to start my list.

Talked with one of my volunteers yesterday. She wants me to write an article for submission to Southern Living or some similar magazine about the success of our bookstore. We have a shot at making over $30K this year. Unreal. We brainstormed about it, and I may work on that today.

The oldest kid made the soccer team of her choice for the competitive season and got the feedback that in the coach thinks, she is one of the top three goalies in her age group in the area. Woot!

I need to email my volunteer coordinator and let him know I want to split the Tuesday morning shift starting in August with our current worker. She needs a break and I need more of a routine so I'm not running over there more than I should.

The B&N issue has developed in regards to one of our mayoral candidates. Could the whole thing have been staged? Rumor has it, YES. Oh, and "bibliographic science" isn't a recognizable term when writing about every 'bell and whistle' in the library. Good grief. We wouldn't want an up to date and technologically current library because that would mean a better chance of having an educated electorate. Harder to fear monger folks who can read and research.

Managed to get in and out of the hospital yesterday in a half hour. Wow. Nothing serious, just the annual check the ta-tas appointment. On a positive note, middle daughter had to go with me as I wasn't wasting the gas to drive her home. She sat in the waiting room and had barely opened her book when I was done. Good to show them that taking care of yourself is important.

Speaking of wasting gas, has anyone besides me started to drive less and do without instead of making a mad dash to Schnucks or Target?

Next week is the big stock up at Aldi trip. I can't wait until they build one in our fair town. Will save me a 15 minute drive on the bypass. The drive is worth it as I buy enough pantry stuff to last a month, but I will relish a 5 minute trip when the new store opens.

Started Joe Konrath's "Whiskey Sour" yesterday. I love it already. Hey, a female police detective named Jack Daniels. How cool is that. I also love the idea of naming all the books after drinks. What a clever hook.

The paper is here. The dog is whining to go and retrieve. That is it for now.

this just in

I'm nuts.

Yep, I deliver the oldest kid to her volunteer job at the library. She is the one librarian's girl Friday this summer. I saunter back to the work area and there sits the new train table and pieces the Friends bought to spruce up the children's area. I kick off my sandals and start assembling. One of the staff went and found a Phillips head screwdriver for me and I was as happy as a clam for 45 minutes. See, those days of toy assembling are long gone from my life. Not much to assemble in Wii/iPod world. Bliss aplenty in those boxes from China containing a pretty spiffy Thomas the Tank Engine knock off set.

Other highlights of the day were watching kids 2 and 3 at their swimming lessons. Ah, the smell of chlorine and Coppertone. It really is summer in a bottle.

Earlier in the day I coerced the kids into helping me clean house. Yippee, that hateful chore can be knocked out in two short hours now with my able bodied assistants.

Oldest kicked some booty last night at soccer try outs. This was the spring league tryout...she came home sporting some new scrapes, but her squad won 2 and tied 1. No losses...you go girl. Protect that goal.

No bookstore drama to report. Thank God. Did have an interesting conversation with my cousin who is a HR gal at a major manufacturing facility for an international corporation. Gave me some great 'HR speak' to use just in case things get really psycho.

On the psycho front, one of our mayoral candidates is trying to stir up a hornet's nest at our local B&N. Guess the bozo found some 'sexually explicit' material in the children's section. Good grief. Can't wait to find out what title curled his toes.

mcsteamy

No, I'm not talking about some hunk of man. I'm talking about the weather. You know it is going to be hot when you let the dog out at 5:30 to retrieve the paper ( yes, our dog does that) and your glasses fog up.

Plan for the day, stay cool. Of course that is after the oldest goes for her soccer tryout conditioning run. I pedal along next to her muttering encouraging words.

Middle kid needs to mow the back yard. She is working off a debt and has yard duty the rest of the summer. The stuff is growing like kudzu and she will most likely end up mowing at least twice a week for a bit.

Youngest kid started his online math program yesterday. The grin when he signed on yesterday was blinding. How in the heck did I manage to birth a child who enjoys numbers? I won't even touch a soduko puzzle for fear of hives.

I've fallen victim to Mahjong Titans. Which is what I will be moving to as soon as I close this lame post. Video games are not my thing. Computer games until I discovered Mahjong weren't my thing either. Maybe the heat has addled my brain.

i'm outta here

As soon as the lovely-smarticle oldest kid 'gradumatates' from 8th grade in three short hours, we are outta here for points east. Taking a long weekend to visit my folks on the other side of the state.

So, Kim, per your request I'm heaving a big old jug of Corky's sauce your way....catch! Did you get a note from Kristi...she's in San Antonio now:)

Dwight...hope the hangover lifts and the work load in CLE lightens.

Off to finish packing! Yippee....summer dead ahead.

book vs.movie

Even though "Blood and Chocolate" published way before my YA library days, I kept a fresh copy in our collection. I read it and enjoyed it and figured the other kids out there would like it too. Thwarted romance, high school angst, werewolves, fights...Ms. Klause covered it all with panache. So, even though I had read the horrible reviews about the movie based on that book, I checked it out from the library yesterday. I also checked out Beowulf and Becoming Jane. How is that for an eclectic viewing collection? The girls and I watched it last night after Gossip Girl...our mega guilty pleasure.

The movie deserved the bad reviews...the only cool part...the way the loupe garou (sp.?) transformed from human to wolf. The whole sparkle-shimmer thing appealed to me. Other than that, even the adorable Hugh Dancy couldn't save this mess. I'm going to have to get the book into the daughters' hands quick lest they think the movie even remotely resembles this very readable and highly entertaining YA book.

Back to Gossip Girl...a cheer went up when we learned new episodes are on the way. I've not read this series, although they are often checked out from the library, much like the Clique books are. I love the show, much like I love Doritoes....both are bad for you, but everyone needs a guilty pleasure.

Visited the eye doc today. No bifocals yet, but my eyes are still a bit dilated...no reading for me and typing is a bit of a challenge. So, it looks like an afternoon of TV.