Happy Thanksgiving!

And here follows the obligatory gratitude post. ;)

But seriously, I have a lot to be thankful for. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll notice that I don't do the daily gratitude thing in November because, well, why try to do something I know I'll forget to do two days in?

So here follows some things that I am grateful for this year.

1. My family. Daniel is the most amazing husband and father ever. My boys are gems (most of the time). I'm so lucky that I live near my sisters and that my parents are able to come visit us, as well as being not too terribly far from Daniel's family. Oh, and Happy, I love my dog. :)
2. My job. I'm so grateful that I get to be a stay at home mom. As hard as it can be sometimes, I love being home with William and Jacob. Also, I love being able to spend a whole day in my PJ's. ;)
3. Writing. I love to write and create new worlds and characters to populate those worlds. I love coming up with stories. Again, it's not always easy, but it's worth it.
4. All the material things I take for granted. I live in a nice place. We have a good car. I'm able to buy food, clothes and other, less essential things. I love the internet and the TV. And books, so many books!
5. My religion. I'm grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints. It gives me peace and direction in my life, as well as connecting me to good people and new friends.

Well, I think that about covers it. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) and try not to over eat.

Oh, a programming note: Starting next week I'm going to start a series of writing tips over at Kricket Writes. I've been thinking about doing this for a while and I finally figured out a plan. So look forward to that. :)

And Happy Thursday! Thanks for reading!

*Poke, Poke*

Are we all still alive? I am, mostly.

I did that thing where I kept forgetting to update this thing or I felt like I just had nothing to talk about. Now, I'm not going to sit here and promise to keep to any kind of schedule right now, because we know that's not going to stick. Because, really, I'm not a politician. ;)

So let's do a quick run down of what's been going on and then we'll see where we're at from there. We'll start with the bad, just to get it out of the way.

Bad: I've been dealing with a lot of headaches and back pain as of late. I could use a chiropractor but that is expensive. I'm making due with drinking more water and watching how much sugar I take in. Plus I'm trying to not sit slouched over so much. Also, I haven't been writing like I should. Despite it being NaNoWriMo. I have no excuse except that I'm lazy. And I'm currently trying to come up with ways to teach William not to wet the bed at night.

And now some Good: I got a sweet new hair cut and color the other day. I've never had it this short and I'm totally loving it. Also, I got a new techie toy, a Microsoft Surface. I've only had a couple days but so far I'm liking it. It doesn't support Google Chrome, which sucks, but I'm managing.

And in other news, William turns four on Sunday. Is there a way to get kids to stop growing?

Well I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be back in a week, but no promises. I do have some book review I can do though.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday! And thanks for reading!

Fall, Already?

Okay, so this month got away from me in like every way possible. The first week of September I was in Utah visiting family. Then the next week we brought home a guest and she stayed with us for a week and a half. Then last week I went to a Fall Out Boy concert, which was my first ever concert. And somewhere in there, I turned 27. God I'm old.

Anyway, I've been busy and have totally forgotten to blog, or write, or do much of anything productive. I can blame some of it on a wicked cold, and then thus weekend I had a migraine from hell. I call those my "Post Stress Migraines". They only seem to happen after all the crazy has gone away. It's how I decompress I guess. It was either that or I killed my neck trying to see over people at the concert. Which was awesome by the way. And no, I don't have pictures because I was too busy enjoying the moment to film it.

And so, life is now back to normal. I'm in the process of revamping my daily routine, again. I do this a lot, but I'm still struggling to find something that works. Of course, one day I'll figure it out and then something outside of my control will change and I'll be right back to square one again.

But one thing that will not change is what I do here on this blog. We will be back to normal and hopefully I have something more to say at Kricket Writes, on Wednesday, than, "Not much." But I'll wait and get into all of that then.

So, I hope you have a Marvelous Monday and I'll see you on Wednesday!

BTW, do you follow me on Kricket Writes? Well you should. Go click that link and follow me, because, I mean, really, who doesn't want more Kricket in their life? ;)

Happy Birthday To Me!

I have a cold. Picked it up at the in-laws, go figure. :)

Anyway! Vacation was great, the boys had a blast. I know they've had a good day when Will comes up to me and asks to go to bed. But, it's good to be home.

Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm going to do for my birthday. I want to go out and stuff, but it all depends on how I feel by the time Daniel comes home from work. So off I go to make my self feel better.

Have a good week, dear reader! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all my birthday buddies out there. 9/9 is the best!

Going On Vacation

I feel like I don't have much to say today. We're going out of town for Labor Day so I won't be back on this blog until next Friday.

I got a couple kid related post in the works. One talking about the shows my boys like to watch on Netflix and one about the games William likes to play on my Kindle. Beyond that, not much else is going on.

I will be on time with my What's Up Wednesday post on Kricket Writes for this week and next, and hopefully I'll have more to talk about there.

Have a good Monday and and good week!

Book Recommendation

I don't feel like doing my usual Krank today since Monday's post was pretty cranky.

So I'm going to throw out some book recommendations.

Do you like YA with awesome female protagonist? Do you like a rich fantasy world full of magic? Do you like knights, mages, gods/goddesses, spies, international politics, mysteries, or crime solving? Then you will like pretty much anything by Tamora Pierce.

I'm a special fan of her Tortall series. I do own every book there is. I'm amazed by her writing skill. She's managed to write 5 different series that all exist in the same world. And each female protagonist is amazing and original.

So lets run down the list of awesome. Let me start by saying that you can pick up any of these series in an order. They do well standing alone, but you get the full effect of awesome if you read it in order.

First there is Alanna and The Lioness Quartet. Alanna is a girl with the Healer's gift, who also wants to be a knight during a time when such things are not allowed. So she must disguise herself as a boy to achieve her dream.

Next is Daine and The Immortals Quartet. Daine is a young woman who has a special gift with animals, looking for a new home while hiding dark secrets about her past.

Third is Kel and The Protector of the Small Quartet. Now that Alanna has paved the way for girls to become knights, Kel is the first girl to openly try for her knighthood.

Fourth is Aly and The Trickster Series. Aly is the only daughter of the famous Alanna. While trying to find her place in the world, Aly gets pulled into the dark underbelly of spy work and international politics.

And finally there is Beka and her series. This series goes back in time a bit to a, many times over, great grandmother of Aly. Beka wants to be a Provost Dog (aka a police officer). She has a special magical Gift that gives her a unique advantage when pursuing murders and other criminals.

Each of these characters and their series are so unique and original. That's what truly amazes me about Pierce. They are all young adult, coming of age stories, showcasing a different part of the rich world of Tortall. I've been a fan since I was a teenager and even now, as I reread these books, they still hold up and capture the same magic for me as an adult.

As a writer, I can only hope that my female characters will come off as amazing as Pierce's. Where each has a unique voice and story to tell.

So hopefully I've given you a good idea of something to read this weekend. Tell if you do or have read these and what you think.

Happy Friday and thanks for reading!

Mommy Confessions: My Big Fat Lazy Bum

This, you will notice, is not the usual Happy Korner, but it's not a Kranky post either. It's confession time!

Sometimes I feel like I'm the laziest person I know. I've been a lazy, procrastinating, lazy person most of my life. Why did I have less than average grades in school? Too lazy to do my homework. Why did I flunk out of college? Too lazy to go to class. Why did I have so many sick days when I was working? Too lazy to go to work. Why does my house get dirty and stay that way for days, if not weeks? Too lazy to get off my ass and do anything but the bare necessities.

Oh, I come up with all kinds of excuses for my self and those around me. I'm sick, I'm tired, the boys were crazy, I'm in a bad mood. The list goes on and on. But what it really gets down too is that I allow myself to get distracted with things. Books, games, this damn internet. I lack self discipline, period.

But man, what really gets under my skin is people who think that being a stay-at-home mom is easy. That we just get to do whatever we want and sit around and watch soap operas all day while we eat tootsie rolls (I do neither, I prefer M&M and Star Trek reruns ;)) Being a SAHM means that you have to be your own boss. You have to learn how to manage your time and keep your self on track. This is not as easy as it might seem, especially for me.

So how do I overcome this? Do I have the secret formula? No, but if you find one, please share, I'll pay you! The best I've managed to come up with is momentum. I have to get up in the morning and just get right to work and not stop until I have no more energy left. I've learned, over time, to pace my self. There was a lot of trial and error in that, but I've figured out what works for me.

And for all the tricks and tips I've learned and applied, there's still the part where I get up off my butt and actually move. Sometimes I think I need tasers on every chair and attached to all my electronics just to keep myself moving throughout the day. One day I'll have a computer smart enough to not turn on until I have proven that I got all the stuff on my to do list done.

But until then, I guess I have to hold my self accountable and not be a big fat lazy bum. Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to do the laundry I go!

Thanks for reading and have a Marvelous Monday!