Thumpety Thump Thump

It snowed in my neck of the woods. Oh boy did it snow!!

Little Sweetness had his Christmas Concert last Friday so we pulled big brother, Light, out of school, which was only supposed to be for a couple of hours -- but it had snowed so much while we were in the church hall that we decided not to take him back, just to turn around and come home on a school bus a few hours later... in white out conditions.

We spent the rest of the day, snuggled inside watching Christmas movies. Then we had an old fashioned Christmas sing-a-long which started out to be much fun,... until 4 yr old Sweetness, who is completely stuck on Frosty the Snowman, decided to add "thumpety thump thump, thumpety thump thump" to every other carol.

Silver Bells didn't ring-a-ling, they thumpety thump thumped, Silent Night wasn't very quiet with all the thumpety thump thumps going on and On the First Day of Christmas my true love actually gave a thumpety thump thump to me.

On the other hand, none of the Kinsons can carry a tune so those thumpety thump thumps probably improved our attempts.

Here's a pic of 9 yr old Light on Saturday. Despite the frigid temps, Daddy Kinson had the boys outside for most of the day - tobagganin, building snow forts (pictured) and getting them good and tired out! He's totally up for Daddy-of-the-Year, ain't he? :)

Oh - and the Christmas list of many-things-that-must-be-done is more than half complete, which is a big 'whew'. One more trip to the mall, one more trip to the grocery store, one more trip to the sanity store...

Oh crap. They don't have one of those, do they?

I'm screwed.

Bags and bags of pine needles

Pop over to Six Degrees of Sexy, where Christine d'Abo, who, btw, was just awarded a JERR 5 Star Silver Star Award for her latest short story Chasing Phoenix (woot woot), is chatting about story arcs.

And under that post, you'll see Red Garnier's HOT-HOT HOLY SMOKIN' HOT new cover for I Take Thee, which is coming soon from Liquid Silver Books.

HELLO to Victoria Krain (who commented on the cartoon below) who we haven't seen for months and months and months -- her last blogpost was May 2007!! She recently gave birth to a gorgeous little girl, so we graciously excused her from the blog world, but now that she's back, we expect her blog to get up and running again!!

How many needles are on a Christmas tree?

I can now answer this with some authority: A 7 foot tree has exactly 4 1/2 plastic grocery bags of needles.

How do I know this?

I took down my tree last week and every time I touched an ornament, the branch supporting it shed every single one of its sharp pointy leaves.

Why?

Because *SOMEONE neglected to water it since Christmas, and *SOMEONE forgot to close the heating vent behind the tree -- so for 2 weeks that poor little evergreen was blasted by warm air, sat in direct sunlight in the living room window, and thirsted.

And yes, the *SOMEONE was me *blush*

So that same *SOMEONE, after dragging out the naked tree, was left with a mountain of needles on the living room floor-- hardwood (thank GOD it wasn't carpet) -- to clean up. The cats thought it was hilarious -- like two kids jumping in leaves, those cats took running leaps through the mountain until it was scattered far and wide -- while I yelled, chased and swept as fast as I could.

The tree then sat on the side of the road waiting for pick-up. What the neighbors must have thought, I can't imagine. Their still-green trees, the occasional piece of tinsel shining in the sunlight, next to my brown heap of leafless twigs.

I may have to move.

I still have some Christmasy bits and bobs about - a few candle holders, some of the kid's artwork - that I MUST get to this week.

How about you? All un-decorated?

*but I will blame my hubby for reasons of self-preservation :)

Monday's Coming! and Reading Goals for 2008

Is it wrong of me to be counting down the hours until Monday?
As much as I enjoy sleeping in until 8 (or 9, as was the case this morning), I crave the routine of the regular 'work' week. I've blogged about this before, so I don't want to beat a dead horse, but dayum, Monday can not come soon enough.

We're having some friends over tonight for a Wii tournment of fun. *place thumb and forefinger against forehead to form L-shape*
I've been brushing up on golf, but I'm a total loser at tennis, and the fact that you have to get out of you seat and simulate the action of swinging a racket makes me look like a fool AND loser. There's a mental image that will have you cringing tonight!

This weekend, the goal list begins with work on edits for Law of Averages, followed by undecorate the Christmas tree and shovel the heap of fallen needles off the floor. And if I can find a few moments of solitude, I'd like to begin the first book of 2008 - a Susan Elizabeth Philips, whom I've never read before - Breathing Room.

I was going to do another 50 book challenge for 2008, but I'm a little worried that writing a novel and novella and reading 50 books may be too lofty a goal. Perhaps I'll target 25 (2 books/month) and hope for more. Meanwhile, the TBR pile continues to increase at a rate far higher than 2/month! In fact, my Six Degree of Sexy sisters, with their prolificiousness (made up word alert) may grab everyone of those slots!!

What are YOUR reading goals for 2008??

Ho Ho Ho-No!

There's a very good... no GREAT interview with author M.A. Ellis at Six Degress of Sexy today. M.A. will have you chuckling over buttercream icing and erotic poetry readings. There's also a hidden message about persistance ;D

Amy Ruttan is guest blogging over at Shelley Munro's and shares some FASCINATING historical research regarding stamina and contraception... (and by fascinating, I really mean EWWWY gross stuff that will make you thank your lucky karma you live in the 21st century)

This weekend I'll get to catch up with Christine d'Abo, who I haven't seen since March!! *woohoo*, at the Toronto Romance Writers Christmas social. Party on, C!

On Sunday, the Kinsons will make the annual trek to the Christmas tree farm (oh joy, says the mother who's inevitably left to decorate the beast by herself) where we'll tromp through knee deep snow, wrap our frigid fingers around too-hot-to-drink hot chocolate and stand shivering next to a giant bonfire and try to avoid choking to death everytime the wind blows the smoke our way.
Shucks, am I sounding Bah Humbug-ish? I'm not really, *ha ha ha* though looking at the box of unsigned, unmailed holiday greeting cards on my dining table is leaving a hollow pit in my tummy. When? WHEN??
All this xmas stuff and writing too *shrug* ...

And when I come up for air, I have to plan my son's eighth birthday party which goes down next weekend. Loot bags, cake-baking, present shopping, oh my!

What are YOUR plans this weekend? And is anyone else feeling the stress of the season yet?

Bits, Bobs and an Informal Poll

What a weekend!

We (as in the 'The Six Degrees of Sexies') had a fun chat over at the Delicious Naughties (I know, these names! Heee) and we'll be having another chat on December 16th at Ellora's Cave. Thanks to the Naughties for hosting us! I've got lots of new books on my 'to be acquired' list - next payday.

Rhian's having a HUGE ROCKIN' PAR-TAY to celebrate her one year blogoversary. There's prizes and silliness all over the place.

Happy Birthday Robin L. Rotham, author of that hotness Alien Overnight. Go over and wish her a happy 78th. That ought to piss her off :) :) :)

I'm so evil.

If you have a moment to kill, head over to the Redlines and Deadlines blog for a fun confernce adventure. Check it out HERE.

The weather in my neck of the woods was lovely enough to do outdoorsy stuff. Most of my neighbors got a jump-start on their Christmas lights, but the Kinsons? We goofed about, jumped in leaves, chased the kids on bikes and kicked balls. We'll also be the one stringing lights after a blizzard in a -10 chill, swearing our heads off.
Live and learn? Not us...

Informal Poll
How 'bout you? Christmas is coming. Are you:
A) decorated, shopped, and sipping eggnog
B) refusing to let commercialism trap you in the chaos until the calendar reads DECEMBER
C) looking forward to January
D) grateful that you're Jewish ;)

Christmas in September :o

TL tagged me for a Christmas meme and me being the Christmas lovin' fool that I am, I said "HO HO HO, I'll get right on it!"

What is your favorite Christmas gift? Giving someone else The Perfect Gift.

What is your best memory of Christmas? Hard to narrow down just one... The first with my husband (he gave me a beautiful ruby ring) and the first with my newborn son, who was all of 12 days old on the 25th of December.

Depending upon where you live, do you have a hot or cold Christmas? At present, it's a cold one. Having spent 18 years in the green, I do appreciate a White Christmas more.

Would you prefer to try the opposite weather at least just once? Been there, done that!

What do you prefer in a tree? Fake or real? REAL! Gotta be real.

What is your favorite carol? O Holy Night

What is your favorite Christmas dinner? Traditional roast turkey, lots of stuffing, mashed potatoes, cabbage rolls (that from the Ukrainian part of the family!) and cassava pie (from the Bermudian side).

Do you wear a Santa hat at Christmas? Absolutely. So does my son.

Have you ever seen Santa delivering gifts? Other than tracking him on the internet, no. It's all a big mystery!

I tag Leah, Red and SHG.

Legend of Mistletoe

Merry Christmas!
In the spirit of the holiday season, I'm posting this little legend surrounding the origins of kissing under the mistletoe:

Mystical power of mistletoe and the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe owe itself to the legend of Goddess Frigga and her son Balder. Frigga was the Goddess of Love and her son, Balder, was the God of the Summer Sun. Once, Balder dreamt of his death. He was worried and told his mother about the strange dream. Frigga was worried not only for the life of her son but also for the life on Earth because she knew that without Balder, all life on Earth would come to an end. Thus, she did her utmost to avoid such a mishap and went everywhere and to every being in air, water, fire and earth to extract a promise that they would never harm her son. She was promised safety of her son by every animal and plant under and above the Earth.

However, Loki, the God of Evil, who was the enemy of Balder and always had evil designs in his mind, was aware that there was one plant that Frigga had overlooked. It grew on apple and oak trees and was known as Mistletoe. Thus, Loki made an arrow and placed Mistletoe at its tip. He then beguiled the blind brother of Balder known as Hoder, the God of Winter, and made him shoot this arrow at Balder. Balder immediately was poisoned and died. Everybody was worried as the Earth turned cold and life became dreary. Every creature tried to bring Balder back to life for three days but it was finally Frigga who managed to revive her son with the help of Mistletoe. Her tears on the plant became pearly white berries and she blessed the plant anyone who stands under the mistletoe plant would never be harmed and would be entitled to a kiss as a token of love.

Who moved Christmas?

I'm in a tizzy. A frazzle. A PICKLED-TRAZZLE!!
For some inexplicable reason, I thought that Christmas was next Thursday.
NOPE -- It's Monday!!
I was counting on my Sweetness-free time (Sweetness, aka son#2, goes to his sitter on Mon/Tues mornings) to run around and do the last minute things - like shopping for Xmas dinner items, stocking stuffers, etc. To paraphrase the freshly departed Frank Romano, "HOLY CRAP!"
I'm a flexible sort of person, but I don't do quick change well. It'll take a couple of hours for my mind to grasp the situation, reschedule my to-do list, wrap my organizational & time-management skills around this self-inflicted SNAFU.
In addition - I forgot to put the garland on the Christmas Tree. It must go on right after the lights because if you do it at the end, you cover all the pretty baubles. My oversite disturbs me to the point that I don't want to even look at the sad, undressed tree (as perfect as it is), but am too lazy to de-ball it in order to apply the gold fuzzy garlands. And I can't find the beautiful ribbon I bought last year to decorate the pine garlands on the banisters. AND, we accidentally used the indoor, thick, studded-with-faux-pinecones garland on the pillar outside which left us with the cheap, thin, fakish, Walmart pine garlands for the banisters. It just looks sad.
Could this get any worse?
Yes, it could. Last year I accidently cooked the turkey upside down. Couldn't figure out why the bloody bird looked so deformed whilst cooking. When I went to slice into the breast, I immediately hit bone and thought I got a Kate Moss turkey!! It eventually dawned on me that I was slicing into the back - hence no meat. I was so embarrassed, it almost ruined my whole day. Luckily, my killer sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows - YUK!) saved the meal.
This year I'm serving ham. There's no top and bottom, is there? Oh hell, maybe I'll order Chinese.

I'm totally getting into the Christmas season, though what little snow we had melted in the rain last night. It's just not right having temps warm enough to melt snow, revealing the GREEN grass underneath. It's absolutely f%#ked-up to be able to walk around jacket-less in the middle of a Canadian December!!
Al Gore - I'm listening, dude!

Got our Christmas tree yesterday and it's perfect. Absolutely the finest most asymetrical tree I've ever seen. Shame it had to be cut down, really. I'll post a pic once it's trimmed, though it's so dang flawless I almost don't want to decorate it!

I'm working on assignment one for my children's lit course. I have to write a story based on a picture (one of a few choices they offered) of bears in a bathtub. I've decided to go with 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears II: Revenge of the Bears". It will be a picture book for 3-5 year olds.
Hmmm.... I may have to change the title.

The pirate story is up to a whopping 479 words! Just 9,500 more to go. Needless to say, I have NO IDEA where I'm going with it. I've changed my mind on the plot so many times that I've actually gone backwards in productivity. Is there a word to describe this? T.L.? You're good with words.

Good News/Bad News -- I sent a query off to an agent (kid lit) and got a request for full manuscript. Then I went on Absolute Write and found out they're a bunch of scammers. OUCH! Just as I was about to run for the hills, I rec'd an email from them saying they want to represent me. DOUBLE OUCH!! Better lace up my sneakers. Meanwhile, I'd sent a query to another agent (this one, legitimate) and rec'd a request for full ms today. Yipee! I'm used to getting rejections in the query phase, so this is a very positive step, even if it goes no further.

Two weeks have dragged by and I still haven't heard from Dream Editor at Dream Publishers re 'Destiny By Design'. She said she was swamped and it would be two weeks minimum before she'd get back to me, but despite her warning, I've begun the obsessive habit of hitting my 'check mail' button. My finger is starting to blister.

Hey - I've just found these label thingies. Cool!