Lord, Save Me

From my teenager, that is! Attitude, thy name is thirteen-year-old girl. I could come up with a gazillion of these today. The good news is I now know the cause of my occasional headaches. They seem to correspond with her displays of teen angst. Yesterday, she declared all our Halloween decorations (of which we have a huge collection) all sucky. Not a one was scary enough for her highness! Our response? TS (in cleaner, more parent-appropriate language, of course), but the sentiment was the same. Today she tells us she has "like no decent clothes." everything is either too small, too big or isn't her style anymore. Again - TS.
In other news, some of you know it's now NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. I've signed on this year and hope to complete a novel by month's end. But I wouldn't wager on me right now. Although I fully intend to do it, I have so many commitments this month, I'm not exactly sure when I'll be doing all this writing. I have a habit of putting out huge page counts for a short while, then stopping cold turkey. So, what'll it be? Time will tell.
What about you? Are you taking the challenge?

PS - It's a couple of hours later and the evil twin has disappeared. The good twin has apologized for the wicked behavior earlier and even offered to help with laundry!!! Just when I thought she was turning green and chanting spells in her bedroom!

I am such a chick. This idea is always brought home to me at times like this morning when I went outside to a dead car. Of course, DH was at work, so I was on my own. I called AAA and the guy arrived in like 20 minutes - I was in awe! After he jumped the battery, I ran it for a few minutes, but soon realized I couldn't go anywhere because I had an appointment at my house in less than 15 minutes. So - I shut the car off. Lo and behold a few hours later - dead car again. Color me a great big DUH! My blonde roots must have been showing.
After trying DH's work and personal cell phones to no avail, I called my other husband (my BFF's ex) - Got that? He explained how to jump start the car using my son's car (who had arrived home in the meanwhile and is nearly as clueless about this stuff as I am!) And yes - I am that girly that I don't know how to jump start a dead battery. If I were one of my heroines, I'd have killed her off for being Too Stupid To Live!
So my son nearly electrocutes himself trying to get my battery jumped. I drive the car to the mechanic who says, "Yup - battery's no good."
But - the auto parts store where DH bought the thing less than a year ago does not change batteries - they only sell them. So I go back home and am forced to shut the car off again since it's 2 hours before DH will be home.
Now, DH has 2 hours between Job A and Job B (He works a 12 hour shift at Job B) so he kinda likes a little nap in that time. Well, not today. He hurries off to the auto parts store, changes out the battery and comes home in the nick of time to take a shower and head out for Job B.
All this because I'm a girly girl. The guilt is killing me!

Blogging today at Romance Rules. Come check it out.

Goodies Galore!

Are you a gift-with-purchase whore, like me? Will you buy some makeup you don't really need to get that free gift come-on? Well I do. The better the goody bag, the stronger the pull to the makeup counter.
As I write this, my dining room is crammed full of boxes loaded with bags of 3 books each, coasters, fine chocolates, bookmarks out the wazoo, pens, refrigerator magnets, change purses, excerpt pamphlets and so much more.
You see, along with several members of my RWA chapter, we filled 75 bags for our upcoming Holiday Book Signing event to be held on Nov. 3 from 2-5 pm at the Altamonte Mall near Orlando. Publishers and authors responded to our request for goodies in an amazingly generous way. The bags are on a first come-first serve basis and they're calling to me. If I wasn't one of the signers, I'd surely be one of the first buyers. Each bag has to weigh at least 3 pounds. They make a gift-with-purchase whore salivate - trust me!
So, if you're anywhere in the vicinity of Central Florida on Nov. 3rd, you'll feel the magic aura drawing you to the Altamonte Mall. When you come, stop by my table and say hi! BTW - I'll break out my own smaller versions of the big bags after those first 75 are gone. But honestly, you'll want the big ones - they're amazing!

Cleaning Up

Yesterday my daughter spent two hours fishing garbage out of a local lake as part of a community service project with her class. Great, you say? It's wonderful that they do this, but the amazing thing is that thirty kids pulled 600 pounds of trash out of a tiny lake in the heart of a city. And this is only since last year's cleanup! Much of their haul was rubber bracelets bars give out to identify those who have paid the cover charge. These bands strangle birds and other animals. There were also hubcaps, teddy bears and beer bottles.
I find it unbelievable that people just toss trash into lakes, yet the proof is all around me. I often see people throw refuse out car windows and I want to make them stop their car and pick it up, only I don't have the tenacity to approach them in these days of road rage and gun violence. It's all really depressing when you stop to think about it. How are we supposed to stop pollution and prevent countries from damaging the environment when so many folks don't even care enough to find a trash can?
My husband now wants to move to the middle of nowhere so we can be away from all the evils that plague cities. Find a house on twenty acres where our nearest neighbors are not visible. I'm trying to hold out faith that people will get better. That the majority of folks are responsible and don't kill a person for his watch or the twenty bucks in his wallet. I live in a place that likes to call itself The City Beautiful in PR campaigns yet all we see is ugly lately. Can you tell we're fed up? So what do you think? Are we all going to hell in a hand basket or is responsibility going to make a comeback?

Bullets in the Laundry

Just when I think my life is normal and dull, something strange happens to shake that notion. Like this morning when I was pulling clothes out of the washing machine and something gold caught my eye against the silver tub. Yes - it really was a bullet. Amazingly, this was not the first time. Bullets of varying calibres have made their way into the washer and even into the dryer many times. I have visions of one exploding as the dryer tumbles it on high heat. But DH assures me that can't happen.
Such is life when you're married to a law enforcement officer. Thankfully I was alone when I found the ammunition.
The pest control man gave me the strangest look when he saw a pair of handcuffs on my kitchen counter. His eyebrow lifted and his lips curled in a knowing grin. And what was I supposed to say? "It's not what you think."
I must admit, I am often turned on by the tools of his trade. There's something about a man in uniform that does it for me. Don't male strippers often dress in police garb? Can't be just me.
What about you? Do you go for the macho hero in a uniform or the sexy suit clad one?

Friends - A Battery Charger

I don't know about you, but spending quality time with a group of friends is such a boost for me. Several times a year, we gather with a group of four to six families, depending on who is available, and we meet at someone's house. Everyone brings part of the meal so the host family isn't too burdened. Last night, we attended one such event and it was so fun, I left feeling terrific. And no - it wasn't the wine - I only had two glasses over the course of the evening.
Catching up with friends - discussing everything from politics, to how we're dealing with elderly parents to issues with our kids to our careers - is always so uplifting that I find myself refreshed and full of new ideas for books.
I can't put my finger on exactly what sparks my creativity from these parties, but it happens every time, so there's something going on. I am a very social person and I definitely get a charge out of social events, but there's such great chemistry at these things. I guess it's just a fellowship sort of feeling, but when there's a positive group dynamic, it heightens the experience.
What about you? What is it in your life that makes you feel great and sparks your creativity?