Jollification*

My baby ain't a baby no more. Or something just as grammatically horrifying. Yep, we've reached yet another milestone. The Tall One is 18 years old today. She went out with an old friend of hers last night (how old can an "old friend" be to an 18-year-old?) to spend time with another friend they hadn't seen in several years. She called me around 9:30 or so and said she was going to stay with them until midnight so that they could say they hung out with her on her birthday. I thought that was kinda funny.

Hotter 'n blazes. I am sunburnt. We spent most of the day Saturday in town (our little town - where "uptown" is 1/2 mile up the road) for the annual Volunteer Fire Department Parade and Picnic. The Boy was in the parade with the marching band, of course, and for being so small (we're rebuilding, in the new director's second year) they sound great. The Boy has switched from bari sax to Sousaphone. For those of you who don't know what that is (and yes, there are those of you out there with furrowed brows - I can see you), it's the thing that looks like someone stretched out a big brass pipe and wrapped it around the guy playing it so that the bell sticks up over his head. Named for John Philip Sousa, of course, it's the marching band version of a tuba. Anyway, their band director is just tickled at how quickly The Boy has adapted to his new instrument. What can I say? Pure talent. It's genetic - and no, he didn't get it from me. The musicality is from the WGH's side of the family (from the WGH himself, mostly).

It was 90 degrees and mostly sunny all day Saturday, and we were right out in it. No sunblock (I know, stupid), but I did spend as much time in the shade as I could get. Watched some friends and other members of our community play softball, walked around and talked to a bunch of folks, and generally had a high old time. By five o'clock I was whupped (how's that for a Southern expression?).

Now, I told you all that to tell you this. Nowhere in the span of the last three days have I spent any time working on the book. Yikes! So, today is the day. Aside from figuring out what we're doing for The Tall One's birthday bash on Saturday, today is set aside for me to start finishing (is that an oxymoron?) the final edits on the manuscript.

I was glancing back through some of my old posts and came across one from November, when I was doing the NaNoWriMo thing and trying to polish up two manuscripts during that month. Do you realize that the one I'm working on now is one of those two books? Not that you'd recognize it, because the story's changed quite a bit, but most of the gist of it is still there, and it's so much better now. At least in my humble but accurate opinion.

Whatever is on your plate today, I hope you have a good time doing it. Life's too short not to enjoy it. Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB


Word of the Day: *jollification \jol-ih-fuh-KAY-shuhn\ (noun) - Merrymaking; festivity; revelry. [source: ArcaMax Vocabulary 07.27.07]

Is there any such thing as "normal"?

And I think it's gonna be all right,
yeah, the worst is over now
the morning sun is shining
like a red rubber ball

Remember that old song by The Cyrcle? You'd probably have to be at least my age or older, but it hit #2 on the Billboard chart in 1966 (see, even the song's older than I am - and for you diehard oldies fans, here's a really interesting article about the group). I love Red Rubber Ball for lots of reasons, but the one that's striking me today is the whole "the worst is over" thing.

The Tall One and I spent the past two days at the freshmen orientation program at her university of choice - hereinafter referred to as College. It boggles the mind - at least my mind - that I have a child old enough to be starting College in a few weeks. College. Whew. I'd like to say I remember college like it was yesterday - that's where the WGH and I met, of course - but the truth is I remember only bits and pieces of things from my 3-1/2 years on campus (no, I didn't quit; I graduated early). In truth, those years, for the most part, are a blur for me, as is a lot of my past now. I do remember obscure things sometimes, like my roommate throwing a pen at the mirror when I told her I was moving out (she could be a bit overdramatic at times). And being sick as a dog after one long, rainy football weekend and having to take not one but two killer exams on Monday morning (flunked both of them, by the way, so now you know with a major degree of certainty that I am not perfect). There are major things I remember - most of which have to do with meeting the WGH (awww, sniff - yeah, mushy-blech). Those years were tough, as I'm sure those of you who've been there, done that will remember - but they were also rewarding. My prayer is that my daughter will have the same positive experience at College that her father and I had.

I've come to the realization that life will never be "normal" as I've come to know it again. Does this mean I'm growing up? Heh. Yeah, right. No sir, not me. Nope. Ain't gonna do it. I refuse.

That having been said, I've also come to the realization that "normal" is a relative term. What was normal for me four years ago, before I quit my full-time job, is different from what's normal for me now, which is different from what normal will be in six weeks when the kids are back in school and The Tall One is off at College. Normal for me has to revolve now around something that will ground me in place as firmly as I can get, with all of my offspring running hither, thither and yon ... yeah, you've been paying attention, haven't you?

The book is coming along so swimmingly that I hesitate to mention it for fear of putting some sort of jinx on the whole process. There's a lot more going on than I originally planned, but for the most part I've stuck pretty well to that synopsis that JT went crazy over a few months back. February, to be exact - I'm looking at her email now, which I tacked to the board above my desk as a constant reminder of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. Five months, and it's almost ready for her to tackle. Progress.

There are other things on my to-do list, most of which I am devoting myself to as wholeheartedly as I possibly can so as to get them checked off as quickly as possible, but for me, it's a never-ending Cyrcle (aaahh, there's the tie-in - and I apologize for the pun). The worst may be over for the moment, but my life wouldn't be "normal" if there weren't some sort of chaos in it.

On an up note, my health issues are finally starting to work themselves out - I'm actually starting to feel better than I have in quite some time - so now maybe without that to worry over I can start concentrating more on the things that really matter.

Read a book - there are more on the shelf at the right now, so check them out. Feel free to wander and peruse all the amenities we have here in the Lunch Room, especially if it's been a while since you've been here. And if you've read a really great book recently, please pop into the Comments section and let us know what it was. Sharing is good for you. ;)

=) JB

What a week, what a weekend ...

An apple a day ... Saw the doctor on Monday, who tells me my thyroid levels are "perfect" (good news) but that I have a possible GI problem (not good news). I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice to say the test went very well yesterday and it turns out it's a simple, very fixable issue. I tell you, I think my body decided to fall apart the minute I turned 40.

The draft ... BMWs loved the new material I brought Wednesday night, and over the past several days I've been working really hard on the manuscript. It's not about word count any more, it's about getting the story in its absolute best form. I decided (with a little input from The Tall One, who absconded with the thing as soon as she realized what it was) that there are a few key points to the story that need a little tweaking. So I've been writing and rewriting furiously for the past three days and hope to have it ready to send off to JT and the WMVR in the next little while.

It's finally here ... My weekend started at a little before seven this morning when Sir Barksalot (who is now moved back into the house nights because it's getting darn hot in the South) decided he'd had enough of the sleeping in thing. I am working on the manuscript until such time that the UPS truck pulls into my driveway with my very own personal copy of - you guessed it - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. No spoilers allowed. The world will cease to exist for me until I've read the book from cover to cover, and woe to he who attempts to interrupt me or deter me from my quest. Hee.

Oh, and my soundtrack for Prisoner of Azkaban arrived yesterday, so I'm in serious Happy Land - even without the Versed.

So much to do, so little time ...

Read a book (perhaps the seventh and final installment in one of the most brilliantly written series of all time?). It's good for you.

=) JB

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

"He's good enough for one thing,
I should judge he can outjump any frog in Calaveras County."
from _The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
and Other Sketches_ (1867) by Mark Twain

Once again we have had a touch of excitement at the Thompson homestead as a result of errant wildlife, and from the title of this post and the quote above I'm sure you can guess what species we were dealing with this time.

Little Bit went into the bathroom yesterday morning and promptly came running out again. "Aaaaah! Mom! There's a frog on the toilet!"

I went in to look and sure enough, a tiny tree frog had somehow managed - to this point I'm still not quite sure how - to get himself inside the house and into our bathroom. The WGH is convinced the little froggie came up through the toilet itself, i.e. via our septic system. (Which, by the way, does not bode well in my mind, for how did he get inside the septic system in the first place?)

Anyway, as soon as I reached for it - and yes, I did have all intentions of picking it up and escorting it outside - the frog decided he was going into the toilet. I watched him swim around for a minute, and then I'll be darned if he didn't swim right down into the flush hole. Little Bit and I weren't quite sure what to do at that point. After waiting for a couple of minutes we decided he wasn't coming back out again, so I did the only logical thing - I flushed the toilet.

And, of course - you guessed it - the frog reappeared, swimming furiously.

Good grief.

I told Little Bit to get me a slotted spoon and then open the front door. With said slotted spoon (which was actually a strainer, quite flat, perfect for the purpose for which I intended to use it), I fished the frog out of the commode and proceeded to carry it to the front door.

You can guess what happened next.

Yep, he jumped - right onto the carpet. I chased him around for a minute, trying to steer him toward the open front door, when I noticed that Sebastian was sitting at Little Bit's feet, watching the show with what can only be described as a feline look of amusement. Fortunately, Little Bit had the foresight and good sense to grab the cat before he decided the frog was a battie-ball. I managed to get the frog back onto the strainer - for a minute. Of course he was back on the floor in no time, leaping around the living room. I never knew a tiny tree frog could jump like that.

Finally giving up on trying to get him back onto the spoon, I rather guided him toward the front door. Once I coaxed him outside, I told him he was on his own getting back to his tree and shut the door behind him.

Now, don't you envy us living in the country?

JT is due back from ThrillerFest today, so I'm working feverishly to get this draft finished so that she and the WMVR can peruse it and give me their considered (and thoroughly objective, ha-ha) opinions. I broke the 80,000-word mark last night, and this was after I had to delete a few things because of something I changed. It's a domino effect the writers in the audience can appreciate. You can change one little thing and then you have to find all the references to that one little thing all the way through the manuscript and fix those. Still, I've made some seriously good progress, and with just a bit more effort I'm confident I'll be able to wrap this up and let it go in the next day or two.

Provided I don't have to chase any more frogs around my living room.

Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

I'm just wild about Harry ...

Yep, we did it. The kids and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. An experience I'm not sure I'm so keen to relive any time soon (at least until HP and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in 2008). Whew!

We got to the theater at around 10:45 p.m., got our tickets (thankfully I'd bought them in advance) and proceeded to the end of a line that was so long we walked for five minutes to reach it, then waited about five to ten more for it to start moving, and by the time we got to the door it was twenty minutes later. They were showing it in five theaters. I don't need to say (but will anyway) there were a LOT of people there.

Long story short, it was worth the effort. Really well done film - and of course, who else would go to see this thing at midnight but the die-hard HP fans (with a few notable exceptions, like the boyfriend of a girl we were standing in line with, who'd not read a single book but was there because of the girl)? So there were moments of laughter at some of the funnier lines in the film, moments of cheering when something really "awesome" happened, and a few "awwww ..." moments as well. And applause at the end, even though I'm pretty sure the actors couldn't hear us.

Overall, it was very enjoyable, but you pay the price when you screw up your sleep patterns like that. At least I did. We got home about 3:30 a.m., I finally got to sleep sometime after four, and the phone rang at 8:39. Grrrr. Needless to say, yesterday was not at all productive for me as far as getting any writing done.

Today is a different story. Since JT is off at ThrillerFest, I have from now until Monday to get this draft done, and I'm hitting it hard and heavy this morning.

I'll leave you with this quote from Henry David Thoreau, US writer (1817-1862):

A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare. For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure.

Fuel for thought, writers.

Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

Quotable Quotes & Friday Funnies

Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now.
-P.T. Barnum, U.S. entrepreneur, showman (1810-1891)

As the clock ticks down toward a very exciting week, I'm working in a furious frenzy to check everything off my to-do list. So, like Jeffy, the only exercise I'm getting is from my extra-long sit-up and typing my little fingers to the bone.

The WMVR and I had a productive brainstorming session Wednesday night. While Little Bit was off with her friend's family, the WGH took The Tall One and The Boy downtown to brave the crowds and watch the fireworks - Nashville makes it a HUGE production. They said it was wall to wall people, and the WGH very astutely pointed out that was exactly the reason I would not have liked it. Instead, I spent a lovely couple of hours on the phone with my friend, my first reader, hashing out the solution to a problem I've been having with the book. Fortunately, the WMVR is quite excellent at playing devil's advocate for my work. She is a representative of my target audience and as such, I value her input. She won't hesitate to tell me when something doesn't work for her as a reader, and at that point I have to say, if it doesn't work for you, it's not going to work, period. But between the two of us we got a brain cell or two synapsing and managed to figure out both the problem and how to fix it.

I've managed to knock the book up to just over 78,500 words - with JT's input I decided we're shooting for 100,000 - and with the issues the WMVR helped me resolve night before last, I have a clear path ahead for finishing the draft. Wish me luck.

In addition to the Harry Potter premiere, next week also kicks off the 2nd annual ThrillerFest, at which my darling Wonder Twin and our Big Brother will be presented to the world along with their fellow debut thriller writers. Very thrilling. Ouch.

In the meantime, read a book, buy your Harry Potter tickets, and enjoy your day!

=) JB

Errata

It has been brought to my attention - as well as to the attention of the source from which I obtained the information - that Tom Hanks was not the only actor to win back-to-back Oscars. How wonderful that there are actually two ... Spencer Tracy did it back in 1937 and 1938 for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. And so we stand corrected.

Working Holiday

Happy Birthday, USA.

The brain is not quite geared up for the typical musings today, so I'm just going to share some tidbits and trivial things I've found scattered hither and yon. I mentioned the other day that I'm not big on fireworks, so we're not planning anything special except our steak dinner (yummy) and finding some celebrations to watch on TV. That, and I have to work, anyway. Today's really just another Wednesday for me - with respect to the job, that is.

The flag's waving.

Enjoy your holiday.



Today's Word: "coterminous"
coterminous \koh-TUR-muh-nuhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Having the same or coincident boundaries. 2 : Having the same scope, range of meaning, duration.
[source: ArcaMax Vocabulary, 07.04.07]

Trivia Question: What is a vexillologist an expert on?
A: Flags
B: War history
C: Historical clothing
D: Weaponry
[source: ArcaMax Trivia Quizzes - answer below]

Quotable Quotes: "Talent works, genius creates." -- Robert Schumann, German composer (1810-1856)

Answer to Oscar Trivia Question from 6/30-7/2: Tom Hanks [Philadelphia (1993); Forrest Gump (1994)]



'Nuff for now. Go watch some fireworks, and have a great holiday!

=) JB

Today's Trivia Answer: A

The Eye of the Beholder

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
-- Franz Kafka, Czech writer (1883-1924)

My parents called me yesterday afternoon just to chat for a minute, and Mom asked whether anything exciting was going on. I didn't tell her the raccoon story (they read the blog). When I said no, she asked whether anything not exciting was going on.

It's funny how some days you're glad when nothing exciting happens. I think we've become accustomed to living on a juked-up schedule in our day to day lives - always running here and there and not taking the time to sit back and enjoy the fact that we are ... well, alive.

Last Thursday on the WGH's day off - when I was working the schedule from hell - he and the kids did some major work in the front flower bed. Weeded, culled, tilled and mulched. The Boy - with his brand new license - drove (solo) up to our local mill and brought back the second truckload of mulch, and they finished sprucing up the landscaping in front of our house. You wouldn't believe the difference. My roses are blooming again and are absolutely gorgeous, and the rest of the patch no longer looks like Audrey II's bedroom in Little Shop of Horrors.

In addition to being a terrible housekeeper, I don't do well with plants. Or yard work, for that matter. But I'll do it when I have to. What I appreciate is the fact that as much as the kids grumbled about having to do it, they did it, they did it well, and their hard work paid off. I hope they learned a valuable lesson from it, though we probably won't see the benefits of that lesson for years to come.

I have been staying up way, way past my bedtime the past couple of weeks, working hard on the manuscript and a few other various and sundry projects. Reading, too. This morning I actually slept until after eight, and only woke up when Sebastian decided he had to hack up a hairball (he sleeps on my pillow). I'll spare you the gory details, but I did manage to avert a disaster.

So I'm back after it again - chained to the chair and pecking away at my deadline, feeling this story really start to come alive, and trying to appreciate the beauty of the work created.

Read a book. It's good for you!

=) JB

Word of the Day: affray \uh-FRAY\ (noun) - A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl. [source: ArcaMax Vocabulary 06.29.07]

Nuzzing*

Wildlife Adventures. There are times when living in the "country" can be an exciting undertaking.

Last night about 11 o'clock, I was hard at work on the manuscript (we're over 71,000 words now, thank you) when Little Bit stuck her head in the study and said, "Mom, McCartney is freaking out." So, I drag myself out of the chair and out to the deck to determine the source of the dog's anxiety. He's definitely agitated about something - running back and forth from the top corner of the deck down to the ground and back again, his attention riveted to something I can't see, barking his fool head off. I looked around, even moved the potted plant to see if there was a bug or something that he was trying to corner. Nope, nothing. So I go cautiously down the stairs - one at a time - and look around on the ground. Nothing there either. Then my attention is drawn to that corner of the deck that he's so furiously barking and whining at, and I see it. A rather small, furry ringed tail. Sir Barksalot has cornered himself a raccoon in the underpinnings of the deck.

Now, I don't know about you, but I've heard tell a raccoon can tear up a dog, and I didn't want to be a witness to that, so I went back up the steps lickety-split, grabbed the dog by the collar and dragged him inside. Once he was tucked safely away in his kennel-pen in the garage (still agitated as all get-out, of course), I did the only logical thing I could think of.

I shut off all the outside lights and came back to work on the book.

Well, for the love of Mike, what else was I supposed to do? That poor raccoon was probably petrified with fear - my dog is not a small dog, after all - and more than likely once he realized that the dog was shut up in the garage and everyone else was going to leave him alone, he high-tailed it the heck off my deck and back into the woods behind the house.

I'm still trying to figure out how the little bugger got up under the deck in the first place. Yes, I know they can climb, I'm not a blithering idiot. But there aren't any good sitting spots on the support beams in the decking floor - it's all flush. The little guy had to be wrapped around the post, clinging for dear life and wondering what possessed him to try to climb the thing in the first place. I don't know what he was doing - all I could see of him was the end of his tail.

Like I said, living in the country ... it's an endless source of entertainment.

July. This is going to be an exciting, busy month. Of course we're gearing up for the whole Harry Potter sensory overload, with Order of the Phoenix coming out on the 11th and the 7th book being released on the 21st. Besides all that, The Tall One and I have reservations at her college for freshman orientation on the 24th and 25th, and she turns 18 on the 30th. Eighteen. Whew, time flies when you're having fun ...

Oh, yeah, and our little country's got a birthday coming up, too. All three of my kids want to go see fireworks somewhere, and I'm such a horrid mother that I have no plans for them. They'll probably all go off with their friends, which is fine with me because the only fireworks I like to watch are the ones on TV. I love the lights and the pomp and circumstance and music and the visual of the whole thing - it's the noise and crowds I can't stand.

By the way, not one of you popped on with the answer to my trivia question from Saturday - I feel so unloved ;). But, I figure you were all busy this weekend, so I'm giving you another day to think about it. Post your guesses in the Comments section, and I'll give you the answer tomorrow.

In case you missed it (or are too lazy to scroll down the page a bit), here it is again ...

Only one actor has ever been awarded an Oscar for Best Actor in two consecutive years. Can you name him? For Bragging Rights, name the films for which he won the awards.

Monday morning. My very wise and powerful Wonder Twin once commented to me that I seem to work better when I follow a "non-routine". She is so right. I've tried all kinds of ways here recently to make the best use of my time, setting up a "schedule" to walk, work, write and do all the other things I have to do, but nothing structured ahead of time has worked thus far. Just jotting down a to-do list and then ticking away at it, bit by bit, seems to have generated more productivity from me than anything. So it's Monday morning, I'm getting ready to write up this week's list, the coffee is on, CD cued up, and I'm off and running.

Check in and let me know you're still out there, wouldja? And in the meantime, read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB


*Today's Trivia: "Nuzzing" is the sound a camel makes. [source: ArcaMax Trivia 07.02.07]