Now Back To Your Regular Scheduled Program...

I'm sure I lit a few fires with my last post. Don't worry, I try hard not to post political stuff but once every blue moon. Or is that on a Harvest moon?

Eh. I forget.

At any rate, I am sad that I am not participating in NaNoWriMo. It is of my own choice, I know. But alas (yes, I said alas) it is for the best. Progress on the business proposal for my brother-in-law's invention is going well. Should be done with it here soon, then we'll have someone look it over, check our mistakes and such. Much like writing and editing, re-writing and editing even more. Only the end result won't be a book. I like being the one to punch in all the info and edit work as I go. Makes me feel like I am still writing something, even if it isn't my own work.

My actual job is going well, too. I love it. I have yet to say, "I don't want to go to work today..." and whine and sniffle about it. I just whine and sniffle about the snow and go into work anyway. It is fun. The kids are great and my co-workers and boss are the best.

Yes, I mentioned snow. We got a couple of inches during the night. It actually started to snow around dinnertime. Oh well, I do live in Alaska, after all.

I hope day 4/5 is going well for all of my fellow NaNo'ers. I am cheering you on and writing with you in spirit! Too bad business proposals don't count, I'd be well on my way to that 50K!

Have a great weekend everyone and write on!

Pardon My Rant...

I don't usually post political blogs. I tend to stray far, far away from two topics. Politics and Religion.

Why?

Because, as someone once said, the two things in this world that should end wars are the two things that begin them. You cannot talk politics and religion in polite company without someone getting offended and a shouting match almost always ensues.

So why do I choose this moment to post a political rant? Because I just can't remain silent any longer.

America, you have spoken in this last vote. We, as a whole, are tired of the continued downward spiral that has become our nation. It is proven that the methods Obama and the Democrats have chosen to adopt are failing. Now... if you still like Obama, I mean no offense. But how can you look at the state of our nation and not feel a little sad by what has come about in the past two years. We have had presidents come and go, screw up our country as well as do their best to repair it, but to keep turning a deaf ear to the majority, well. That just is not how we Americans like to run things.

But this is not the overall point of my rant. The point of my rant, the one thing that saddens me the most about all of this is the fact that Obama has ruined most any chance of another African American making it to the presidency. Obama will go down in history as our "First Black President", yes, but at what cost to those who wish to follow? It will be an unfortunate side effect of his term. There are plenty of people out there, and it doesn't matter what race they are, that would love the chance and could possibly effectively run this country, but we Americans are of a breed that tend to run in single minded circles. This meaning that there are those out there who are not racist and those who are. Those who will be the first to say, "I will not vote for another {insert race here} ever again!"

Most of these white racists, if you look close at their family tree, might have a couple of colors hidden in the roots...if not in-breeders. *Snorts with laughter*

So, yes, I just hope that we as Americans steer clear of racial shyness when it comes to voting in our next president. That's it for my rant! And I apologize again for posting my opinion in this matter. *Laughs again*

Halloween And Other Topics...

Happy Halloween to all you ghouls and boys. Sorry, I cannot resist that every year! How about boos and girls? Is that better?

I absolutely love Halloween. It is my all time favorite holiday. What can I say, I love it. Can't explain it and wouldn't know where to start.

I am having a grand old time getting caught up on things here on the internet. I have seen the emails informing me of NaNoWriMo's impending start date. Sadly, I will not be joining this one as I have far too much on my plate as it stands.

I have had to postpone even working on my own writing until I can find the time and or balance in my life. I have a part time job that I love. You all remember that. I can honestly tell you I look forward to going to work each day. I would not have it any other way. When I am not working, I am anticipating the extraction of tooth #2. Oh yes, I am having another tooth pulled.

That isn't really what is taking a lot of my time these days. I even have to say World of Warcraft will be played only when I can find an opportunity! *Gasp!* Yes, my beating of not-so-innocent Horde will trickle down to a minimum. No, my time has been spent helping my brother-in-law with his business plan as he has finally joined the ranks of Patented Inventor.

All I can really say here in this blog, is that his invention is of the fire prevention nature. I will be able to divulge more details sometime in the future, but have to do my bragging now and keep it to a minimum as well. I am certainly happy to sacrifice my personal fun time for this most worthy of causes. I do have my down time, I do get to relax. I will not work myself into a frenzy, break down and live at a funny farm. But I just wanted to give you all an update of things. I will try to write where I can and of course blog when I can. After all, you are all just as important to me! ::Passes out Halloween Goodies:: You all deserve the best treats and may your Halloween be full of treats and no tricks!

*Gasp* Could It Be...?

Yes! It is! It is me and I am back on the internet. I know, I know... took freakin' forever, didn't it? Well, I still blame it on small towns. But that is just me.

I'm burning the 2:00 a.m. oil, though. But I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least say hello to all of my faithful followers and wow, would you believe I have a couple new ones? And I wasn't even here. How cool is that?

And I just need to say.... I HAVE MISSED YOU ALL!!!!! Funny and sad how internet communication can become such an addictive thing, isn't it? I keep in better touch with my family over the internet than I did when I lived in the same town. Okay, that isn't quite true, but you get the idea. Have a super weekend and I look forward to posting more this weekend!!

Alrighty, Then...

I have absolutely no topic for today's post. I did warn you in the title of this blog, the part about the "Other Such Nonsense" so I suppose you will just have to bear with me, right?

Hehe!

So I have officially been working for about a month. I love it. I think the only thing that is going to get me in trouble is laughing when the kids do something wrong, yet funny and I am supposed to be reprimanding them. It is still fun though. And due to getting back into the working force, I ended up sick and am still recuperating.

Lots of things have been on hiatus, most especially my writing. I am working to try and get a schedule together for myself, but need to work on one for work first. Crafts are my thing. I love art, so I am doing all right in that respect. At least I think I am. Writing, well we all know that every writer out there either improves or doesn't get published. But setting down a schedule and then sticking to it, in the writing aspect of all of this is what will get me.

Well enough of my ramblings. I just wanted to put out a post to let you all know I am still here in theory. Lol! It will be much better once I get internet out at the house again. Which will be soon, hopefully. Until then, keep your ducks dry and your boots in a row!

Have a great week.

I Know...

You miss me, don't you? Well, you should. Just kidding! Don't stop following me, I really am not that arrogant, I swear. Okay, maybe a LITTLE bit... no, not really.

I'm in a good mood. Why, you ask? It isn't because I have been revising, getting feedback, etc. No, it has nothing to do with winning the lottery. It might have just a little bit to do with my new job. I feel productive again in an environment where I don't have to worry if I will hurt my wrists more, therefore putting me out of commission before I can reach retirement age.

I won't go into all the boring details, I promise. I am just having fun and finally feeling a little more organized.

I'm also in a good mood because I think I have hit yet another writing break-through. Now, I don't know just how to explain it, so you will have to take my word for it.

While I am here, I did get feedback from my new best pal, Nancy. She told me that publishers say "said" is the only acceptable tag when writing. Now, I am not doubting my critiquing buddy, nor am I harshing on her in any way shape or form.

But really? 'Said' is the only acceptable tag? I've been reading lots of books lately... okay my whole life. I like those authors who break the mold a bit and try to avoid using said as much as possible. 'Said' gets extremely boring. In my opinion. Am I the only one who thinks this way? Yes, just another item to make myself isolated, lol!

Seriously, since when do publishers get to make up these rules? Yes... I know, they ARE the publisher after all. I do get it. I just... I suppose I am one to fight the masses, stand out and probably now will never be published because I don't like to use 'said' all the time. :)

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend. And tell me, what do you think?

Party On, Wayne...

So yeah, I just got done checking out Karen G.'s BBQ Blog Party. Can I just say what a totally awesome idea this is?? I found lots of people and will have to go back to that one blog to see who else I can find and follow.

If you found me from her party, well right on dude! Or dudette, depending. Very cool to have you drop by! I love new followers and will do my best to make sure I follow your blog as well. Only fair, right? Absolutely!

So, I brought Seven Layer Dip to the party as well as Ham Rolls. Since I really don't have much else to blog about today, I figured, for those of you who don't know how to make either (yeah right) I'll tell ya.

Seven Layer Dip:
My absolute FAVE thing in the world!!! Okay, you plop some refried beans down into a nice sized casserole dish. Square, round, whatever you have. On top of that, spread down some sour cream. I find Darigold Mexican Style is the bomb-diggity for this recipe. If you are a guacamole fan, that would go next, or you can skip it. I am not a guacamole fan. Next, dice some tomatoes and layer them down. Slice some green onions, kind of thin and add those along with sliced black olives. The very last layer is your choice of shredded cheese. Break out the tortilla chips and dig in!

Ham Rolls:
These are super simple and oh, so addictive! So, you buy some sliced ham luncheon meat and soften up some cream cheese. Buy yourself a half dozen green onions and chop them to fit the width of the ham. Spread the cream cheese on the ham in a thin layer and roll the onion into the ham. Make a nice round roll and slice about a half inch thick. One ham roll like this should slice up into about 6. They are oooooh so yummy.

So there ya go. Bring either of those to any party and you'll never go home with left overs. So make sure you make enough for yourself and bring the rest to the party. Ha!

Have a super weekend everyone and I'll see you on Tuesday.

All Is Well...

Well, I am healing rather rapidly from the first extraction, but had to put the second one on hold. Mainly due to the fact that I now HAVE A JOB! No, not excited at all. I am now the Art Staff at our local Boys and Girls club. It is fun so far.
The other reason for putting off the second extraction is the fact that I sat in the chair for two hours. It had to be surgically removed, therefore costing me extra cash. So it will have to wait for when I can get a long weekend or even a Holiday break.

How cool is that? I don't work when the kids don't go to school. Wicked cool.

So thanks, all, for reading and responding to my little snippet. Alex, don't worry, I did get me some good painkillers.

I hope you all are having an awesome week and keep having an awesome week. I will post more later! Have a good one, guys. And gals. Hehe!

Just Letting You Know...

I'll be offline for the rest of this week and possibly a couple of days next week. I'm going to have a tooth extracted today and my husband will be using my truck for work. Even if I wanted to get into town this week, no dice. Not a big deal, I need this extraction.

Then next week I will be getting another extraction. Yep, two in one shot. Sort of. Oh well. Has to be done. I had to stop drinking soda. Good thing came out of it, I lost weight. But, my teeth were already having problems. Dentist always told me to quit, but did I listen? Noooooo.

I never listen. Sometimes it takes the Sledgehammer of Subtlety for this girl. Karma can't just slap me on the wrist and say, "Bad girl. Don't do it again." Nope, Karma has to whack me down until I am cowering in the corner, whimpering and begging her to stop. Seriously. Then I get the, "What did you learn?"

I know, this has not a flippin' thing to do with writing. Doesn't always have to be about writing, though, does it? Okay, you're right. It does!

I will be nice and leave you with a little snippet here. As you all know (because I whined and protested about doing it so much) I have revised my revision of LoBR. (Legend of Black Rose) I started in the middle. So I am going to let you all have a look at what I have ripped to shreds and painstakingly have put back together. Still sort of rough, but now much more doable. So enjoy. Have a great week and a great weekend. I'll be pining away for you all as I slurp soup, swallow pudding and applesauce and waiting for the day I can crunch on solid food once more.

The cool stone floor pressed into Black Rose's cheek. His mouth was dry from being unable to breathe through his nose. He could no longer taste blood, he supposed that was a good sign. After taking a mental note of all his aches and pains, he opened his eyes. It took a moment or two of blinking to realize he wasn't blind, just darkness pressing in on him.

So Quagha Li'endrin must have tossed him down into the darkest, dirtiest pit he could find. He could taste the foul air on his tongue since his sense of smell had been compromised when the guards broke his nose. Shortly after that, they threw him into the barred carriage that would transport him to Relavia.

Rose didn't want to move. Pain made him selfish. He knew he would have to sit up eventually, but for the moment the cool, damp surface felt good. Made him ache that much more, but that is how he knew he still lived. He hurt like all hells. His stomach growled, his mouth was dry from having to breathe through it. When was the last time he had something to eat or drink?

He closed his eyes and the past few days began to replay in his mind, like a dream that refused to let go of the waking world. At first, he could see his garden. The soil had just been turned, it lay waiting and ready for him to plant the seeds that would grow under his nurturing care. His garden was his sanctuary.

He remembered his conversation with Fizanu, the goddess of Justice. Rose had been chosen to be her Champion. She had chosen him out of all the hundreds of thousands of mortals on this world. There were times, only times mind you, he wished she hadn't. He wouldn't change his life now for anything. Okay, well maybe he would change his location at the moment, but that was just geography.

He breathed in slowly, his ribs protesting at the expansion required to fill his lungs with air. The pain as he breathed in was sharp and exquisite. He recalled Fizanu telling him to travel to the small kingdom of Jenlakai. The king and queen were being held against their will until they produced their only daughter to Quagha Li'endrin, king of Relavia. Quagha wanted to unite the two kingdoms in marriage; the daughter of Jenlakai to his old, ailing cousin simply for the sake of forcing them to be allies. Not exactly a faerie tale romance.

Footsteps sounded off to the right. Rose kept his eyes closed and his breathing slow and even. Perhaps if they thought him still asleep, they'd either leave him alone or say something they wouldn't otherwise say in his waking presence. Whoever approached didn't stop. The footsteps retreated, echoing off of the stone walls and fading off to his left. Must have just been a guard walking his rounds, Rose thought to himself.

Time in a place like this was difficult to figure out. Was it daytime? Nighttime? What day was this? Rose wouldn't be able to figure it out and had already seen his fair share of men who had gone mad trying to do so. His situation reminded him of several different occasions he had been held in similar cells, just not so far underground. He let the memories come as exhaustion saturated him.