Month: March 2008

Daylight Wasting Time

I read once that the best way to cope with a time change (jetlag or whatever) was exercise. Sadly, I believe the writer of the article meant a nice walk in the sunshine, not aerobic weight training at o’dark thirty. I have one word for that:

Y-A-W-N

Things we discovered this weekend:

Andrew can put together his own pinewood derby car. Okay, so we bought the kit with the pre-shaped car. Still, he did it all himself. I just wish the manufacturers would illustrate the box with a car made by an actual eleven year old and not a computer enhanced image by a master craftsman.

The library book we can’t find is called Uh-Oh, confirming that the irony never stops around here.

Andrew has the same exact shoe size as I do, but he won’t let me wear his new skateboarder shoes.

Chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are a big hit.

I found the recipe at Marianne’s. I had to use a bit of water, however. While she said her mixture had a mousse like consistency, mine was like excavated dirt. And I swear to you, I waited until they were completely cool to frost them. Nevertheless, something happened.

Andrew asked me why I spooned pudding all over the cupcakes. I told him it was frosting. He shrugged and said, “Well, it still tastes good.”

And we congratulated ourselves on such a healthy, beta-carotene filled treat.

A conversation that could only happen in our house

 So, last night, the Marvelous Miss B was writing a play based on a picture she drew. She was working to assign everyone roles, who would play the bunny, who would play the squirrel, who would play the chickadee, even who would play the audience.

She couldn’t get Andrew to commit to the role of squirrel and was getting frustrated. At which point, I said:

“Why don’t you storyboard a few more scenes for your play?”

Miss, B, totally unfazed. “Okay.”

So she did. And in case you’re interested in getting your acting career off the ground, we’re still looking for a few good chickadees.

Cross. Word.

Ha. A brand new quiz and it’s mine, all mine.


You Are a Crossword Puzzle


You are well read, and you have a good head for remembering facts.
You are a wordsmith. You have a way with words, and you’re very literate.
You are a mysterious person who enjoys dropping little clues every now and then.
The only problem with those clues is I forget to pick them back up again.

Yawn, stretch, 100×100

 Oh, poor Miss B. She was down with the flu starting Friday. She was well enough to go back to school yesterday. However, thanks to some sleepless nights, I wasn’t in a place where I could string two words together, never mind a blog post.

She is also the sweetest little patient on record. Like there was ever any doubt. All please and thank you, and taking her medicine without compliant, and all Mama, just snuggle with me, that makes me feel better.

But I’m back! You missed me, no?

So, while sleep deprived, I decided to start (or try to start–we’ll see how it goes) a 100×100 challenge at a writing site I frequent. Now, I’ve had mixed feelings about this site; they’ve had their ups and downs. There are a handful of self-style experts handing out questionable advice (no, no, not me, never me).

But then I thought, in pure cheesy movie manner: if you build it, they will come.

So, I thought, well, what would I like to see happen at this site? What could I do to get it going?

On one of the email lists I’m on, they do a 100×100 challenge. That’s 100 words per day for 100 days. It’s a great way to build a writing habit. At the end of 100 days, if you’re consistent, you’ll have 10,000 words. That’s a decent start to a novel, or possibly two short stories, or even twenty pieces of 500-word flash fiction.

The idea is take small, consistent steps, kind of like exercise or any other lifestyle change. For myself, on the days I’m not working on MacKenna, I’ll be adding 100 words to a new short story I’m calling, for the moment, Speechless.