Funk

Some of you have noticed that I haven't been around in a while - at least, some of you have pointed out to me that you've missed my posts for the last few days. For that, I apologize. I've been in a bit of a funk the last week - too much to do and too little time, I guess. Not much motivation to hop into the blogosphere just to say, "Hey, I'm working on the book."

But I am, and that's what is taking up most of my time these days. That, and about six thousand other things.

3-0. With two more basketball games under our belt, the girls are getting off to a decent start. Last night's game was especially interesting - The Tall One did one little thing that set her coach off (she didn't take a shot where the opportunity presented itself), he lambasted her in front of the entire gymnasium, and she proceeded on the next three possessions to block a shot (stuffed the poor girl, actually), steal the ball and score two buckets. So there, I thought. The coach apologized to me after the game and explained that he's finally figured out how to motivate my daughter to play to her potential, and that is to ... well, tick her off (I would explain it a bit more eloquently than that but this is a family show). She ended the game with a team-high 12 points.

Dad's birthday. Last weekend the parents were down, and we had lots of family fun with concerts, football and basketball games. Sunday was Dad's birthday. I managed to remember to send him an e-card, but forgot to call him. So I'm sitting at the ball game last night and the cell phone rings - Dad told Mother to call me to make sure I was okay because I hadn't called and there was nothing on my blog. [Hangs her head in shame.] I am a terrible daughter. I'm blaming my short-term memory problems, but now I'm seriously thinking I need to address this issue with my doctor. How bad is this? I made myself a note to send Dad the e-card, sent the e-card, and threw the note away a couple hours later, which you would think would have reminded me to call the man and wish him a happy birthday in person. Wouldn't you? No. My brain did not process that logic for some reason. At about 10:30 Sunday night, lying in bed, I remembered that I hadn't called him. Sorry, Dad - I feel really bad about that. Happy belated birthday. We'll see you tomorrow.

Thanksgiving. It has become a Thompson family tradition that we throw sanity out the window and host Thanksgiving at our house. Table for 16, please? Both sets of parents, brother and sister-in-law, brother-in-law and his family ... fortunately, the big meal is nothing fancy - deep-fried turkey (we'll NEVER cook our turkey any other way again), sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn pudding, country-style green beans, rolls ... yep, carbohydrate heaven. Oh, and of course the deep-dish apple and pumpkin pies for dessert. Dad's bringing his famous cranberry-orange relish (yum) and cheese balls. Then there's the parade, and football ... most importantly, of course, it's all about family and being together and celebrating everything we have to be thankful for. I hope you and yours will do that on Thursday.

The book. After a very productive brainstorming session with the WMVR, Book Two now officially has a well planned out plot. Copious notes about the whats and the whos and the whys, and a bit of rewriting of what I already had written, but tons of new stuff in the works that will push me toward that goal of - no, not 50,000 words ... we're a little out of our league with that whole endeavor at this point - but to actually get the thing finished. Finished. Because as of December 1st, my dear, sweet, compassionate friend JT has threatened to kick my [ahem] if I don't start working on queries with "Book One". It does have a name, I'm just not at liberty to discuss that at this time. I will, however, follow her sage advice (which garnered hearty approval from both the WMVR and the BMWs) and write the synopsis and start punching out query letters. There will be progress by Christmas.

Darnit.

Thanks very much to all of you who wrote or called to check on me. I am here. I'm just a little buried. I promise to try to check in a little more often, but if you don't hear from me again for a few days at a stretch, please don't fear for my safety or well-being. Hmmm. You might fear for my well-being considering I'm going to have 11 extra people in my house in the next two days. But if that doesn't pull me out of my funk, then the quiet week between Thanksgiving and the 1st of December should do the trick.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

=) JB