Back-up Plans
Dec 17, 2012 
*So we had guests over for dinner last night. 5:00 sharp.
And unfortunately they had to run at 5:45, so it was critical we be ready on time. And yes, you can probably see where this is going.
At 4:55 we pulled the (whole) chicken out of the crockpot. I whipped up the gravy while Darling Husband cut the thing.
The door-bell rang. Our guests came in. We smiled and ushered them to the table when my husband uttered those dreaded words.
“Uh-oh.”
Yep. Bad news.
Chicken NOT cooked.
My face turned red, but I smiled graciously at our guests and apologized (which they waved away very graciously as well).
“But no worries!” I said. “We’ll just move on to our back-up plan. Which is . . . ummm . . . . which is . . .”
Uh yeah, I had nothing.
And then I remembered the frozen homemade soup. Not enough for everyone, but enough for them since they couldn’t wait.
“Soup! Our backup is soup!”
Of course everything was fine. We still had the rolls which went perfectly with the soup, and they didn’t utter a single protest as we sat there and watched them eat (in truth, we had pleasant conversation about Christmas traditions — and I didn’t have to worry about talking with my mouth full!).
So the point of all this? This is the second time a meal has gone wrong on me, and both times soup came to the rescue. So the point?
Always keep a container of frozen soup in your freezer, and everything will end well. 🙂
And maybe keep a notebook handy to record the fodder for a scene in a future book. Who knows, It just might save you one day!
P.S. I will be taking a blogging break over the Christmas holiday and will see you all back here in January. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
*Yeah, the picture has nothing to do with this post, but I liked it and wanted to use it. Isn’t it pretty? 🙂
Quinn’s Cookie Exchange
Today I’m participating in Quinn’s Cookie Exchange. Quinn is the MC of Angela Felsted’s recently released YA novel, CHASTE.
I am sharing my famous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. And yeah, you may have a recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but this one is better. (IMHO) 😉
softened (not melted)
sugar
white sugar
extract
package semi-sweet chocolate chips (I usually use a lot less).
aside. Cream butter, brown and white
sugar in a large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Gradually add in flour mixture; mix
well. Stir in chocolate chips by
hand. Drop by rounded tablespoons, 2
inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
brown (We like them just before they turn brown so they’re super chewy). Drop
the pan of cookies onto the floor (face-up obviously) to make the cookies dense
and chewy. It sometime takes a couple of
tries to get them to drop all the way.
Be sure it’s on a carpeted surface and if you use a baking stone, be
sure to remove the wire holder before you drop it. Move cookies to wire rack to
cool.
Yield: approximately 3 dozen cookies.
~~~
Okay, I’m sure you just skimmed the recipe, but I am making a note here that is VERY important. The trick to making these the best cookies ever is DROPPING THEM. Yep. Drop the whole pan on the ground (from about a foot up). If you fail to do this, the cookies will be Meh. So don’t skip it!
And in case you haven’t read the blurb for CHASTE yet, here you go:
When he steps into his physics classon the first day of senior year, Quinn Walker is too exhausted from staying up
all night with his three-month-old nephew to deal with moral dilemmas. As a
devout Mormon who has vowed to wait until marriage for sex, the last thing he
needs is a very hot and very sexy Katarina Jackson as his physics partner.
Regrettably, he has no choice.
Kat feels invisible in her mansion of a home six months after losing her older
brother in a fatal car crash and will do anything to get her parents’
attention. Since her pastor father has no love for Quinn’s “fake” religion and
her ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone, she makes an impulsive bet with
her friends to seduce her holier-than-thou lab partner by Christmas.
A Day in the Life: Weekend Vacation
This past weekend, I took my family on a mini-vacation. Okay. I thought it would be a vacation, but that’s not exactly how it turned out. Here’s a summary of what took place:
8:00 AM
Pack, pack, pack.
Remember email I forgot to send.
Write email . . . Oh, look at the pretty Twitter . . .
11:00 AM
Drag myself away from the computer.
ME: “Shoes on everyone! Go to the bathroom! Move! Move! Move!”
CHILD: “But I don’t have to go to the bathroom! I WON’T GO TO THE BATHROOM!”
ME: “Just do it! . . .” Blah, blah, blah, channeling my parents, etc.
Buckle all kids in the car.
ME: “Wait! I forgot the camera, let me just run in and grab it.” Oh, dishes in the sink . . . can’t leave dirty dishes . . .
12:00 PM
Drive off.
12:10 PM
CHILD: How long have we been driving now?
12:11 PM
CHILD: How long have we been driving now?
12:11:30 PM
CHILD: How long have we been driving now?
ME: ASK THAT QUESTION ONE MORE TIME AND I’LL TURN OFF THE MOVIE!!!
1:00 PM
CHILD: “I have to go to the bathroom, and I can’t wait!”
Grumble, grumble, lecture.
1:05 PM
Stop at gas station. Make sure EVERYONE goes to the bathroom.
1:30 PM
3rd CHILD: “I have to go poopy!”
Sigh.
4:30 PM
Pull in to Hotel parking lot.
HUSBAND: “This is where we’re staying?
4:45 PM
CHILDREN: “I’m bored! Can we turn on the TV?”
“No!”
Game of tag begins over bed, through bathroom, under my feet.
Uncontrolled laughter.
High-pitched screeching.
4:50 PM
Turn on the television.
9:30 PM
Climb into bed.
10:00 PM
THUMP!
Climb out of bed, put 2nd child back in bed.
Get back in bed.
10:15 PM
THUMP! THUMP!
Climb out of bed, put 2 children back in bed.
10:30 PM
THUMP!
2nd child gets back in bed on his own. On the wrong side.
Lays back . . . THUMP . . .
2nd CHILD: “Owww!”
Climb out of bed, put child back in bed.
11:00 PM
3rd child climbs into our bed.
11:30 PM
Wake up to an elbow in the head.
12:00 AM
Wake up to find child sleeping on husband’s head.
3:31 AM
Stare at clock and wonder why I can’t sleep!
3:32 AM
Feel springs poking me and remember why.
3:33 AM
Decide there is no way we are staying the second night.
6:30 AM
CHILD: “WAKE UP! IT’S MORNING TIME!”
Breakfast.
Park
Lunch.
2:00 PM
Decide to try local amusement park before getting an early start home.
Purchase tickets online. Non-refundable.
Pull onto road for the 2 minute drive and discover that everyone else in the whole town made the same decision.
“I’m bored!”
“I’m bored!”
“This is no fun!”
4:30 PM
Arrive at amusement park.
Fight through crowds.
Ride rides.
7:00 PM
Christmas parade
8:00 PM
Get in line for bus back to parking lot
9:00 PM
Arrive in parking lot.
Drive home
10:30 PM
Stop for gas. Potty break.
11:00 PM
Pull over to side of road for potty break.
11:30 PM
“Help! Dad, help! My stomach hurts!”
Pass back a plastic bag.
12:30 AM
Arrive home, send kids up to bed.
12:31 AM
Go inside.
ME: “What is that awful smell?”
12:32 AM
Head upstairs. Discover trail of puke up stairs toward my room.
1:00 AM
Finish cleaning puke. Vow to buy a carpet cleaner.
Vow to reconsider next vacation.
Tuck children into bed.
2nd CHILD: “Mom, this was the best day ever.”
Vow to reconsider reconsidering next vacation.
So how was your weekend?
Infiltrated by Gremlins*
gbbbnmmgjkkkkkkkkkkkkkllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
UPDATE:
A certain gremlin* kept me up last night, and I made the mistake of falling asleep on the couch today while my computer was still running. I know I should erase the message the gremlin* left on my blog (surely scolding me for sleeping when I should be paying attention to said gremlin*), but the post and the comments I woke up to made me laugh so hard, I couldn’t do it.
Instead, take this as a warning. Gremlins are about!
*3-year old
Feeling Lucky
To state the obvious, I didn’t post last Monday. What with the Thanksgiving frenzy that starts at least a week before the actual day, it just didn’t happen.
We had family coming to celebrate the holiday with us, so that meant it was finally time to shrug off my writer’s mantra (being: Write first, clean later). Yeah, that was a good thing. My floor even got mopped. Laaaaa! (*read that: heavenly choir bursts into song*)
Anyway, they came and we talked, watched movies, played games, made a farce of going outside (with the freezing wind), and ate WAY too much—turkey, stuffing, cheese, gravy, potatoes, pies (and I know some of you are thinking that the cheese doesn’t really fit on that list, but let’s just say you don’t know my husband and his brother!). In short it was wonderful.
And I was feeling all kinds of grateful for everything in my life. Just like the license plate I saw:
In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about this, lately. I do feel lucky. Lucky to have a hard-working husband who loves me. Lucky to have 3 beautiful kids who are still happy to hold my hand and give me hugs. Lucky to have wonderful extended family including in-laws I love. Lucky to have a job I can do from home. Lucky to have writing in my life. Lucky to have an agent. Lucky to have so many friends scattered all over the world (many of whom I’ve never met . . . and uh, yeah, that would be all of you guys!). Lucky.
The thing is, my life is not perfect. In fact, far from it. I have struggles and hardships. Bad things happen to me and to people I love all too often (and uh, read that as understatement). I worry that I make wrong decisions (and I’m not talking the red-shirt/blue-shirt kind). I worry that I don’t do enough for others. I worry that I don’t keep in touch with my friends and family enough. And on and on.
But I still feel lucky.
Because I think “luck” (or perhaps a better word is “blessings”) is there for the finding. Even in the hard stuff. It’s just a matter of looking.
What do you guys think?
Where Does “Funny” Come From?
In October I went to a conference where I had a
chance to participate in a critique group. After reading my piece, a member of
the group asked where my humor came from.
clarified her question. “For example, are your siblings funny? Your
parents? Where does your ability to be funny come from?”
be transferred through DNA before. So I considered the question. And I mean,
sure my parents and siblings have their moments of funny, but I doubt any of
them could have a career as a comedian (Note: If any of you are reading this, I
didn’t mean that. You could totally have a career as a comedian. Just today I
heard about a prototype for pig-wings. ; ) You still love me, right?)
but it does make one wonder. Where does a sense of humor come from? Is it
innate? Learned behavior? What do you think?
NaNoReviMo 2012
I have known about NaNoWriMo for about 4 years now. And I have never done it.
My mini-writing challenge with Leigh Moore last March told me that I would pretty much stink at it. Like a lot.
Last year at this time, I was just gearing up for some major revisions on my book, and I was fortunate enough to discover a group working on revisions instead of writing. We called our November NaNoReviMo.
Ironically, many of us are in the same boat this year, so we have rebanded. Jessie Humphries is keeping us organized, so if you’re interested in joining, go check out her blog and shoot her an email.
Anyhoo, the point of this post is that we are supposed to publicly announce our revision goals to keep us accountable and junk like that, so here are my revision goals for this month:
- Finish revisions on PB&JF and send them to my agent.
- Finish revisions on my WIP (currently in round 2 of revisions) and send to my beta readers.
- Find a shiny new idea to begin outlining.
I know I should be more specific with daily goals, but since I’m super close on everything but the last one, my daily goal is simply to work on one of these three things. Six days a week. Definitely do-able!
So what are your writing goals this month?
Cover Reveal: Rouge by Leigh Moore
I know, I know. I’m here AGAIN this week. But when my uber-talented friend, Leigh T. Moore, invited me to be part of her cover reveal for Rouge, well, it was a no-brainer. So without further ado:
Ta daaa!!! Isn’t it awesome?!! Congratulations Leigh! So very excited for you. 😀
Set to be released Nov. 11, here’s the blurb:
A New Orleans chanteuse must decide
between saving herself (and her young charge) from the brothels by
marrying her well-heeled suitor, or following her heart and marrying a
poor stagehand.
And if you haven’t gotten to know Leigh yet, here’s where you can learn more about her:
Sandy Relief Kidlit Auction
Hey ya’ll, I know I don’t usually show up on a Thursday of all things, but just wanted to alert you to a Kidlit auction to benefit Red Cross in the wake of Sandy.
The amazingly organized Jen Malone has mobilized the kidlit community and all kinds of amazing writerly things are up for grabs. Here’s a sampling:
- Query and first 5 page-critique from Agent Kathleen Rushall
- 1st chapter critique for MG work by NYT best-selling author Adam Gidwitz
- Three chapter critique by Agent Julia Alexandra Weber
- Thirty-minute “ask anything” phone call with Agent Holly Root
And I could go on and on and on, but I won’t because that would waste precious time here when you could be bidding on a fabulous item over at Jen’s blog. So for details about how it works, go HERE. You’ve got until Wednesday, November 5 at 5PM EST.
And please, spread the word so we can really help out those suffering after that Frankenstorm.
Okay, okay, and I should mention . . . I’ve joined with a group of agented up-and-coming authors to offer a critique of the first 20 pages. No pressure! But if you want to take a peek, go HERE.
But most importantly, go bid, and spread the word!
Happy Halloween!
From the annals of My Halloweens Past:
- Longest my candy ever lasted: until February (unless you count the gross stuff)
- Shortest my candy ever lasted: until December
- Best costume in humor category: gum on the bottom of a shoe
- Best costume in the cute category: cowgirl (yeah, I was a tom boy. No princesses here)
- Worst costume: clown (I cried until my mom took it off)
- Most Recent costume: Geisha
- Best treat received: $1 bill
- Worst treat received: toothbrush
- Age I stopped trick-or-treating: 13
- Age I was first questioned about being too old to trick-or-treat: 10
- Most times I trick-or-treated in a year: 1
- Most time my children have trick-or-treated in a year: 4
- Parent tax demanded of me: all my Almond Joys and Mounds
- Current “parent tax” I charge my children: 2 pieces of my choosing (but they usually give me more)
