Full time mom for the summer (and Book Blurb Friday!)

The kids and I have been out of school for three weeks now and I wonder how full time mothers do it. I mean I love my kids, and I love spending time with them, and my house is much cleaner now than during the school season, but jeeper leepers there are a lot of hours to the day. By 9 PM I don't want to play another game of Uno (especially since I always lose and this is hard to take by someone who is both a type A and B personality!)  And if I don't have a "real" activity planned for the day look out. The kids get tired of doing their own thing and then the arguing starts.

I never thought about it before, but getting dinner ready has become my escape. "Sorry, I can't do_____ (fill in the blank) now because I have to get dinner ready." This is one of the only times I can take a "physical" break from the kids (playing outside doesn't last long-it's too hot or too cold or too windy-I don't want them sitting in front of the TV, and my shower or bathroom trips are only sacred to me.) But just when I think I will lose my mind (I mean I'm either loved or hated by one of my kids on any given day) there are the quiet moments with one or both kids that cancel everything else out.  Have the rest of you felt this way? How do you get through without feeling like such a bad mommy...sigh.
Boy, I'm glad it's

 Book Blurb Friday! This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover.  It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge?  Here is this week's picture and my story:

The Cinderella Switch
Yawning, Meredith stretched her slender arms and squinted at her dresser-she could barely make out the time without her glasses, but the sun streaming into the room told her she had overslept. She didn’t care-last night had been wonderful, just like something out of an old fairy tale, and she was Cinderella… She grabbed up her pillow and putting it over her face she squealed with delight, kicking her feet against the stiff mattress.

The old tower clock chimed reality, and Meredith tumbled out of bed and into her work clothes. She still had to clean the latrines and help with breakfast before the headmaster made her rounds and before students clamored into the dining hall. She put her glasses on and caught sight of her reflection-if she could pull this switch off, then maybe, just maybe, her life could be different. (142 words)

I don't know why I thought of Cinderella with this photo, but it had such a wistful quality to it that I couldn't help but think of a young girl dreaming. What did you think? I'm coming by to check it out!

Trying not to tip the scales...(and Succinctly Yours!)

The title of my post today is supposed to have more than one meaning. With the long winter and virtually no spring it seems that my eating habits are not what they should be. Colder weather always gives me the munchies-I guess it's Mother Nature's way of helping us stay warmer (you know, by giving us a little more meat on our bones...) Unfortunately, my "meat" settled in two areas where I didn't want any more "meat," and I'll leave it at that. So, instead of being ready to bear at least some in a bathing suit, I'm not ready at all-my jeans and capris pants don't lie, and I need to hit the gym now (ugh!)

I am also working on a very grand scale project that has taken away from my blogging time, and I am still trying to spend time with my kids and husband, and it's getting pretty hard. (The last two nights I didn't get to bed before 1 am, and it's taking its toll on my energy level the next day, so bear with me while I try to balance everything out.)

Now it's time for Succinctly Yours, another writing meme that piggy backs on the idea of Susan of the Stony River Blog. Grandma Goulash posts a picture and you are to write a 140 character or word story about it. You can also use the word of the day in your post if you wish.  This week's word is tribute. Here is the picture and my story:

Mary drove as fast as she could, but with the rain and brake lights up ahead, it was only a matter of time before they caught her. (130 characters)

Well, it's almost 11:30, and I'm beat, so I'll come by to read everyone's stories tomorrow. Oh, and before I forget, my dog thanks you for your kind words about his haircut-LOL!

My dog revealed (and Book Blurb Friday!)

This is Uno

Well, as promised, here is what my dog looks like now-notice the rather large shaggy head and small shaved body? When he runs the hair is in his eyes and he reminds me of animal from the Muppets (minus the red hair and chains, but still somewhat wild...)I'd like to say that I'm getting used to it, but I do miss his scruffy look. They say if you massage a baby's bald head it stimulates the hair follicles and their hair grows faster-I wonder if this is the same for dogs? Hmm... I would like to even up the hair on his head a touch, but every time I go for the clippers the dog runs and hides, so I'll just leave it.

This is Uno all fuzzy...

Boy, I'm glad it's

 Book Blurb Friday! This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover.

It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge?
Here is this week's picture and my story:

When the World Ended...

Lana never took much interest in her classes, or school in general, preferring instead to daydream about life after her prison term, more commonly known as high school. And when a class lecture turned into speculation about how the world would end, she vaguely remembers hearing her teacher drone on about how everything would end in fire, with nations battling it out over land and personal beliefs-just one man, pushing a button to send nuclear warheads into another country’s backyard. At least she thinks that’s what she heard, before the lights went out…

There were no rockets, or battling nations, only man’s disregard that brought about the end. The sun simply burned itself out, and the planet was entering into a second ice age. Lana and her classmates now face an uncertain future-stay on a dying planet or leave, and this decision will alter their lives forever. (147 words)

I usually get this posted Thursday night, but my husband is trying to teach me how to play chess and it took him a lot longer than he thought it would to take my king. (We decided to end in a draw, although if he hadn't shaken his head on some of my moves, the game would have been over a lot sooner...) I will stop on by to see what everyone else did later tonight.

My poor dog got a haircut (and Succinctly Yours!)

This guy actually has more hair than ours right now...

My poor dog-let's just say that he may be the funniest looking dog in the neighborhood. He's a Havanese, and if you are familiar with the breed it's a cute, silky, long haired dog of about 14 lbs. I should emphasize that silky refers to his hair and not fur, because it is so fine, you need to brush the dog at least 3 times a week to stay after any knots that develop. (Unlike other dog breeds, knots don't break off when you brush-I often have to separate them with my fingers because hitting them with a comb hurts him...)

Now his hair is perfect for cording because it is always knotting up anyways, but to cord a Havanese you need to completely let their entire coat knot up (and you give them weekly baths without combing afterward to speed up the process.) The thing is, the dog will look really, really bad until he is finally done and you separate these little braids, and I'm afraid everyone will think were abusing him. The only way to go back from cords is to cut them all off, and I'm not real big on the look...

Anyway, I am the only one with the patience to brush him-he doesn't like it and believe it or not he is worse on a grooming table that the Siberian Husky we used to have! My husband and I really went to town on him  before we went away Memorial Day weekend because I knew that he would get some tangles at the boarders-well, the some that he did get I couldn't get out because they were just too close to the skin, although I have been trying each week to tackle a little at a time. So, we had no other choice but to shave him down.

We left his hair and beard long (I just trimmed a couple inches off the length), and now he looks like a cross between a lion and a small dog. Plus, to top everything off, he got a bath, and now he is staying as far away from me as he can. (He still likes my husband, and he's the one that did the shaving! LOL!) I'll post a couple pictures of him after I stop laughing get used to it.  He had this done once before when it got bad, and in about 6 months time it will be long again.

Now it's time for Succinctly Yours, another writing meme that piggy backs on the idea of Susan of the Stony River Blog. Grandma Goulash posts a picture and you are to write a 140 character or word story about it. You can also use the word of the day in your post if you wish.  This week's word is fabricate. Here is the picture and my story:

Sir Reginald grinned. "The mirror says my chiseled chin and aquiline nose mean I'm destined for greatness, and I couldn't agree more!" (an amusing 138 characters)

I am betting that many of you saw the humor in this picture, but I am curious if anyone went for the "fairest of them all" (I almost did-LOL!)I can't wait to come by.

A little rest (and Book Blurb Friday!)

Now this isn't quite me-I have been doing laundry and "hanging" around with the kids-also no TV, but plenty of computer and book time...

It seemed that time nearly stood still when the school year ended, and the kids and I (or maybe just me) have enjoyed a much needed moment of slothdom. For once I didn't have to get up early or race anywhere, and I must say it was nice. (I realize that if left to my own defenses, I would make a great hermit-LOL!) But the kids are now bored with my lack of activity, and truthfully so am I, so I'm off to join the world once more tomorrow. (I'm ferrying my daughter and a team member back and forth to practice at noon, and then there's that trip I've been putting of to Walmart, and the store...sigh!)

What are you all up to now that summer is upon us? We had record low temps the past couple days (so no pool) and then it rained all day today (still no pool), so I'm glad it's

 Book Blurb Friday! This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover.

It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge?
Here is this week's picture and my story:

Lights Out in Vegas
Robert and Kate, recent empty nesters, decided to head to sunny Nevada for a much needed winter break. They planned to visit Las Vegas first, staying at the elegant La Casino to do a little gambling, and then move on to Lake Tahoe to relax.

The couple found the glamour and excitement that is sin city hard to resist, and won nearly a million dollars-most of it from La Casino.  However, Robert and Kate grew uneasy on their last night. There were looks from managers who doled out their winnings, and as they headed back to their room, all eyes were on them, watching, waiting…

The couple thought they were imagining things, especially after reading a card with well wishes from the owners, and seeing the gift of La Casino’s mints. But when they each took a piece, everything became fuzzy, and soon they were not alone. (147 words)

Well, it's getting late, and I promised myself to go to bed at a decent hour, so I hope to make the rounds to your blogs tomorrow. Can't wait!

A pile of pictures (and Succinctly Yours!)

For some reason I didn't remember to take pictures until after the party was over.  Here is my hard working husband tearing things down in the yard.

Well, I would call my son's end of the year party a success, although there were a few bumps along the way.  Out of 24 invites (he had announced the party to the whole class, so we then invited everybody!)we had only 11 respond back-4 "no's" and 7 "yes's." Now I was more than a little overjoyed at having a smaller number, but I was also amazed that 13 didn't respond one way or the other. I can't help but think what if it was them?  Would they be upset at the lack of manners? Hmm, I wonder... My son was also disappointed, and maybe that's why I'm upset about it too.

We also had one of the kids (a very good friend of my son's this year)RSVP that he was coming and I called the dad to make sure he knew how to get to our house, but on the day of the party he was a no-show. My son wanted me to call him, but I didn't want to pry. I'm just hoping that everything is all right.

This is the spider man bounce house we rented.  It was a hit despite the soaring temperatures.

My daughter decided to get in some solitary bouncing while all the boys were elsewhere!

Here are my three monkeys jumping around before we let the air out of the house.

Here are the last of the party goers winding things down with a game of beach bingo-we needed to cool off in the air condition after being outside all day.

We did a little more water balloon games than we had originally planned to keep the kids cool (and the water balloon toss turned into an all out war of boys against the only two girls), but all in all I thought things went well. I asked my son to rate the party on a scale of 1-10 and he gave it a 9 (where I lost that one point I don't know-LOL!)

Now it's time for Succinctly Yours, another writing meme that piggy backs on the idea of Susan of the Stony River Blog. Grandma Goulash posts a picture and you are to write a 140 character or word story about it. You can also use the word of the day in your post if you wish. Once again it's late, but I wanted to quickly get this one in...

This week's word is lavender. Here is the picture and my poem (yes, poem-I couldn't think of a story this week.)

Two geese by a pond

Pensive and still

One jumps in

The other never will

Alone on the bank

Time slips by

One still sits

But now asks why 

(138 characters with a lot of chopping and no punctuation, but what the heck, right?  Poetic license...)

This picture made me think of taking chances in life-I don't want to be that goose left on the bank (and I hope you don't either!) Can't wait to see what everyone else wrote-I'll come by tomorrow.

End of the school year madness, a party to plan, and Book Blurb Friday!

My last day of school was yesterday but instead of taking a much needed break, I have been running around all day picking things up for my son's end of the year party tomorrow, and cleaning my house. To say I'm sick of cleaning would be a definite understatement.

Yesterday I was scheduled to leave school at 11:30 (I was taking my half day compensatory time for four hours spent at back to school night in September) but I didn't leave until 1:30. I had my kids with me because I thought I could tear my room down and clean it for the summer in four hours, but there were trips to the bathroom, and then snacks from the snack machine, and then my daughter wanted to help me-I finally let her use my three hole puncher to update my class binders and things picked up from there.

After being together for 6 hours, my kids were bored and tired of each other, so naturally they began to argue-about where we were going to eat lunch, what we were going to do at the party, what we were going to have for dinner, etc. My son had a mini-meltdown because he wasn't happy about where we picked to eat at for lunch, and he sulked most of the time we were there, almost to the point of refusing to eat until ice cream was mentioned as an after meal treat.

Today I promised fast food after we ran around getting our party things, and my daughter nearly gave me heart failure-she discovered 15 minutes after we left that she forgot her purse, and inside that purse was her new cell phone, and $20 in her wallet... I turned the car around and called my husband to see if he could quickly look up the restaurant's phone number for me and then call me back with it while I raced to get back there. My saintly husband called the restaurant and found out the purse had been turned in with the cell phone and the $20, and I really can't believe it. There are still good people out there!

Now on to Book Blurb Friday. This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover.

It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge?
Here is this week's picture and my story:

A Race Back in Time
Jake’s capsule landed with a thud, and he was barley able to crawl out onto the rocky pavement. Where he was remained a mystery because the controls on his craft had been badly damaged by the landing, but one thing he did know- he had achieved his life’s goal and successfully traveled back in time. Now he could search for the prized compound his people needed to fight off fighters from Omega Centauri.

The time sweeper on his wrist read the year 2011, but there was something odd about this town. Jake kicked at a can lying on the ground and noticed metalloid pieces of what seemed to be some type of explosive device everywhere.

Jake picked up one of the shards and turning it over in his hand he saw a now familiar mark and his blood ran cold-could they have gotten here before he did? (147 words)

Once again I'm not too happy with the title, but it's growing on me... Sorry about posting so late-I can't wait to check out the other stories. (I am sure they lean more to the dark side-sorry, we've been watching the Star Wars movies, LOL!)

Succinctly Yours Today!

It's time for Succinctly Yours, another writing meme that piggy backs on the idea of Susan of the Stony River Blog. Grandma Goulash posts a picture and you are to write a 140 character or word story about it. You can also use the word of the day in your post if you wish. I wanted to quickly get this one out before I went to bed...

This week's word is ponder. Here is the picture and my story:

Charles watched nervously as Sheila drew the company's projected earnings downward, but his worry was whether he had a future with her. (135 characters)

Sorry everyone, but it's pretty late (again!) so I will be by tomorrow.

A New Outlook (and Book Blurb Friday!)

Well I had wanted to post a few pictures of our weekend, but time sort of got away from me this week.  Let's just say that the positives are now outweighing the negatives, and I thought I would list them quickly:

1. My daughter recovered from her stomach bug in 24 hours, which leads me to believe that it might have been a case of food poisoning. (My sister-in-law's a nurse, and she said that food poisoning comes on fast-about 1 to 2 hours after eating-and usually clears up in less than 24 hours. Stomach viruses do not.) We had stopped at a McDonald's on the way home (oh, how I hate fast food!) and there might be a link.

2. I never did get sick which also has me thinking it was the reason I mentioned above.

3. My son had his face looked at yesterday, and the lab showed that it was indeed a ruptured cyst. He was also given the okay to go swimming, and this was on our agenda for this weekend!

4. Finals are drawing to a close, and I have a good start on getting the grading finished. (Now cleaning my room for over the summer is another story...)

5. My daughter hasn't quit gymnastics, at least not yet, and seems to have a renewed sense of spirit after practice today-she has super coaches, so I'm guessing they have something to do with it.

Well, that's it for now, so on to Book Blurb Friday. This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover.

It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge?
Here is this week's picture and my story:

Windows Never Lie

A woman disappears without a trace, and does so from an apartment directly across from police? The girl’s parents call on the force’s best man, Detective Gerard Boucher, but even he is baffled.

Camille was a young starlet capturing everyone’s heart in her first major picture, “Cry Before Dawn”, and she was enjoying all the benefits of being associated with a widely acclaimed film. Her agent, Hampshire Smith, recently helped her acquire a flat in Paris, chosen because it was near popular nightspots and security.

Hampshire reported Camille missing when she didn’t show up for an interview. When he investigated, he found her flat unlocked and no sign of her anywhere.

Detective Boucher didn’t know why, but the apartment’s balcony and Camille’s neglected geraniums fascinated him-was there a connection? But as he was staring at the flower yet again, he saw someone watching from the window across the street… (149 on the dot-hard tonight!)

Well, I've been having so much fun that I've lost track of time. I'll be by tomorrow to see what you see!