You might remember that I mentioned Project 365 in yesterday’s post.  The idea behind the project is you take a photo a day to journal you life and hopefully start to see it a little differently.  Well, I thought it over and decided to jump in with both feet and give it a try.  So that’s what I did.  I signed right up and started taking those photos.

I actually decided to give this a whirl for two reasons.  The first, I want to learn a little more about photography and enhance my skills.  I know I’m not a great photographer, but I have taken some decent photos I think.  Only, I know they could be a lot better.  And the second reason (But the most important I think. ), I really liked the idea of chronicling the year ahead of me in pictures.  I have so much happening and my life is changing so much, I want to look back and smile as I remember every little detail.

So after looking around and trying to figure just how the heck I was supposed to do this photo journaling thing, I signed up at Flickr (Well, ok, I was already signed up there, but I did dedicate one of my accounts for the project), and I started a new blog.  There’s going to be a lot of photos through out the year, and I thought they should all have a dedicated location.

I’ll be adding links to both sites on my links pages, but I hope you guys jump over and check out my progress through the year.  It’s such an exciting time, and I want to share it with everyone!

Today marks the 100 day count down to my due date. Can you believe it?  Sometimes I can and sometimes I can’t.  Some days it seems like that day will never get here fast enough and others it seems like it’ll be here so fast I won’t have enough time to get through all the things I need too.

I was thinking of all this on my drive into work this morning.  I mean, I’m almost down to double digits!  It’s exciting.   But then that list of things I want to do loomed like the dark, heavy rain clouds over my head reminding me of just how few days that really is.  Then the bolt of an idea hit me, and I knew exactly what I needed to do.

I needed to pose a challenge!  To me and all of  you out there who need/want an extra push to jump start the year!

So today I challenge thee (that’s all of thee) to the 100 Day Challenge!

The rules: You join in the challenge and post your progress.

That’s all.  I’m not really going to make you guys post actual goals.  Because the whole point is to just do.  So by joining in you agree to DO.  Do anything and everything that is on your list of To Do’s…  You list of goals and resolutions.  It doesn’t have to be writing related.  But has to be something you wish to accomplish in the new year.  

This challenge for me is to make sure I get everything finished I need to and then some.  For you guys it can be whatever you wish to use it for.  Which includes writing, health, learning a new skill, enhancing a skill you already have… You name it.  Maybe you want to learn to bake, well join the challenge and get started baking now.  You’ll have a head start on the year.

I’ll be setting up a 100 Day Challenge blog for joining in and posting status reports.  I’m shooting for twice a week reports myself and the only caveat to my one rule to join in is you have to check in and let us all know how you’re doing.  Cause I mean, what’s the point of the challenge if you’re not going to hold yourself and others accountable, right?

I’ve set up a blog:  One-Hundred Days.

Jump on over and join me in reaching our goals!

Oh!  And for any of you who enjoy photography (and since photography is one of the items I’ve been wanting to learn more about) I thought I’d post this link also.  It’s a little late since we’re already 5 days into the year but better late than never.  Have you guys seen the Project 365?  I’m considering joining in.

So last night C$ and myself watched one of my favorite movies of all time- Blazing Saddles.  I just adore Mel Brooks.  I think he’s amazingly funny and so politically incorrect, I love it!

After the movie was over we messed around and did a few things around the house (and when I say we, I mean he did most of the work.). I worked on a knitting project I started Christmas Eve and had hoped to finish by now but still haven’t. Anyway, after awhile it was getting late and I wasn’t quite ready for bed yet.  So I sat down and clicked on the Interview with Mel Brooks section on the DVD and started watching.

I love watching movies with commentary and that is exactly what this turned out to be.  I expected a short little 5-10 min interview so I was very happily surprised.

While watching Mel made a comment that struck a cord with me.  I think it might just be my new motto for 2009!  He commented that when he turned in the finished project that became Blazing Saddles, he was worried about a few of the scenes.  When he commented about this to one of the Exectives, he said, “Mel, if you’re going to go all the way up to the bell… Ring it!”

I love that.

And it totally clicked.  I mean, why leave something unfinished.  Why bother to take it to the line and stop short.  Just go for it.  Ring the bell!

So that’s my motto going forward.  I intend to ring a few bells in 2009. Anyone care to join me?

Oh and because I just gotta.  Here’s a little video clip from Blazing Saddles.  Enjoy! 

Happy New Year!

It’s a brand new year, which means time for a brand new start.  Are you guys ready?  Even though I still can’t believe how fast 2008 flew by, I’m more than ready for 2009.

I have a lot to do this year. . .  Oh like having a baby. LOL!

But that’s not the only thing.  I have a lot of other things I want to accomplish this year as well.  So in the hopes of keeping myself accountable an on track, here’s a high level list of those items on my 2009 list.

Finish the remodeling of our house. There’s still a lot going on here.  We’re still painting and will be getting that carpet soon, but in addition, we’ll be laying down a new kitchen floor, working on redoing the cabinets and the bathrooms.  But let’s not forget the outside of the house.  In the spring we’ll be doing more landscaping and refinishing our deck.

Spend more time writing. I know this shows up every year on my list but I think given my track record for 2008… Let’s just say, I’m hoping to at least get back up to more form writing speed.

Submit more, more more. Kind of goes along with writing more.  But hey, the stories will never be published if they’re never submitted.  Right?

Spend more time working on my knitting, sewing and other home projects. I throughly enjoy doing these things and this is time that is spent just for me.  I need to indulge in them more often.

Learn something new. Kind of needs no explanation don’t ya think?  And yes, I know I’ll be learning a lot of something news when the baby arrives in April. But that’s not the kind of something I’m talking about.  I’m talking about doing one of those things I’ve always wanted to do.  I have list but since I’m not sure which item I want to tackle first I’ll refrain from posting just now.

Get back out there and visit with my online friends. I am soo sorry that I’ve let this slide.  I love all of my friends.  You’re all special and I’ve gotten so caught up in my own life I haven’t spend enough time with you all.  I intend to remedy this.

Let’s see what else…  Oh yeah, and have a baby! LOL!

Seriously, I think I’ll leave my list at that for now.  Seems like a good list.  Not too broad and not too detailed either.  However, one thing is for certain.  I’ll be blogging about all of these things in the year to come!

I can hardly believe that today is the last day of 2008.  It feels like it only just started yesterday.  I don’t know about you guys, but for me, 2008 was an insanely, crazy busy year.  I know a lot of people are looking back over the year, and I’m about to join their ranks.  I just can’t help myself.

Part of what inspired this post was a fortune from a fortune cookie.  Not one that I just got but one that I got at the beginning of last year.  I noticed it on my bulletin board in my office as I was taking everything down and boxing it all up for painting.  The quote read; “This year you will focus on family.”  How true that statement was!  For you see, my visits to the Specialist started in January.  Probably just a week, or maybe even days, after receiving that fortune.

Many folks don’t know my history, and I won’t go into a lot of details here today, but my dh and I have wanted children for some time now, but due to my issues we’ve encountered one problem after another.  Finally I was referred to this Specialist (A practice that was also recommended to me from a friend) and I made the call.  And so began one of the most self-learning journeys of my life.

After one surgery and many tests, I started on a path of wellness.  One that required I visit the doctor’s office almost every day.  In fact, I did visit the doctor every day for a month solid.  Which turned into other treatments and other avenues.

In all honesty, it was intense.  Very much so.  So much so that I actually turned inward a lot of the time and would just cry for no reason at all.  As the monthes went on, time became less and less as I became more focused.  My schedules were very rigid and didn’t allow me much time for anything else.   I pushed everything aside.  And to my family and friends, if I ignored you or anything I am sorry.  I did have some friends who knew what I was going through, and it helped to have people I could talk too.  But mostly, I just put all of my words and thoughts down in a personal journal.  In return, my blog suffered.  I’m very sorry for that as well.

Still, I pushed on and never gave up hope.  And then finally in August I found out I was pregnant.  The happiest day of my life.  And thus began another, very different journey.  One that included more doctor vists and a kind of sickness that I’d never known.  The term “Morning Sickness” is a joke.  It’s all day and night sickness.

I’ve learned alot about myself and what I’m capable of over the course of this last year.  I’ve grown.  I’ve changed.  I’m not the same person I was at the start of the year.  And I have the gray hairs to prove it!  Seriously, I don’t think these words have ever been more true.  And I know that I’ll be saying them again next year and meaning them with as much vigor as I do now as I embark on a new life where the two of us becomes the three of us.

This is my biggest and most important accomplishment to date.  Now I have 15 weeks to go!  I can hardly believe it.

I don’t want the above to imply that I didn’t do anything other than visit doctors.  But I did want to stress where my head was at for the majority of the year.  Alot of things suffered but I did still managed to do a lot of things.

I managed to write, edit, submit, revise, resubmit, edit, and see a story published in 2008.  Should it have been more. . .  Well, we’ll leave that unanswered for now because this post isn’t about what should have been.  It’s about what was.

I also wrote a first draft of two other stories.  They are not edited yet, but then that’s another post… As in a post of new goals post.

I bought a sewing machine and started teaching myself how to sew.  I did manage to sew a few things.  One that turned out really well if I do say so myself.

I also found an interest in canning.  Well, kind of.  I didn’t actually can anything.  But I did make freezer jam.  And since I’m almost out of the jam, I’ll be making more of it in the new year.

I don’t know about you all, but I have to say, this has been a very successful year and I’m looking forward to more successes in 2009!

Well, I’m back at work today after having several days off for the holiday.  I hope everyone out there had a great one!  I would have posted sooner, however, we were crazy busy and for a good part of the time my computer was down.

We dismanteled my office and painted it.  It looks great, albeit a little empty.  The only thing back up is the desk and computer.  Everything else is in storage until after we get new carpet.  Actually, we’re giving my office a complete facelift.  So it won’t look anything like it used to.  I can’t wait either.  Even more than that, I can’t wait to get the nursery set up.  Even though we still don’t have nursery furniture yet. But that is coming.  We’ll make that purchase after we get the carpet.  We decided to wait on purpose so we wouldn’t have the furniture just sitting around.

The good news is the carpet guy will be coming out next weekend to measure and work up an estimate.  So soon, very soon, I’ll have new carpet and be able to start putting my house back to rights and get the nursery set up. 

Well, I’m back online and the final days of the year are here.  Can you believe it?  I’ll be back tomorrow with a year in review and then later this week a list of new objects for the coming year.  Man, I can’t believe it’s that time already!

Hey everyone!  Sorry for the long delay between posts, but it’s been really tough for me to get online these past several days.  Not only have I been busy with the Christmas season - the shopping, wrapping, decorating, etc.  I’ve also been busy with baby stuff and house stuff.  Remember my long list of to dos.  I think I might have posted about them once or twice.  Well, some of that stuff has been marked off the list now. Yayness!  But every day I mark something off, something else gets added.

Still, I do feel as though some progress is being made.

My house is still over run with boxes and items and objects, but it’s slowly starting to clear up.  My office has been the latest sight for clean up efforts as we prepare for more painting.  So everything in my office is going boxed up.  Which is one reason I haven’t been able to post.  I haven’t been able to get to my home computer.  And soon we’ll be taking it offline for probably a week at least.

Which means, most likely after today’s (maybe tomorrow’s) post, I won’t be able to post again until I return to work next week.  That is unless I drag out my work computer and log on through that connection because my Mac will be offline, most likely through the New Year.  It just doesn’t make sense to take everything thing down to paint, put everything back up for a week or two just to take everything back down for when the new carpet arrives.

But on the creative front, I’ve done some things.  I’ve baked!  Oh yes I did.

And I’ve been clicking sticks.  I knitted up two towels over the past week.  They turned out really cool.  I managed to take a photo of one of the towels while in process but not the other and nary a photo of either of the finished pieces.  They were part of a Christmas gift of homemade goodies, and I was right down to the wire getting them finished.  I don’t know why I waited until the last minute to do them, but I did.  The good news is now that I’m finished with them, I’ll be starting on that baby blanket.  Can’t wait.  And after knitting last week, I’m in the mood to knit some more.

All right.  I guess that’s enough of that kind of talk.  I’ll get off and get to work.  Since I’m out the rest of the week, I have to get a lot done today.

Oh, but before I go, I’d also like to mention that I’ve been doing some editing also.  So there has been some progress made on the writing front as well.

The Best Seller list that is.  The Portal hit #7 on Cobblestone Press’s Best Seller List for November!  How utterly thrilling!!

To celebrate, here’s an excerpt!  (Took me a little bit to find a PG-13 excerpt, too. )

~~~

The clash of metal against metal filled the air. Every breath was a struggle as the stench of sweat and blood hung heavy over the battlefield. There wasn’t time to think, only react, as the Valkyan warriors attacked with a cruel ruthlessness meant to annihilate. Karrin could barely see through the chaos of bodies engaged in fierce combat. Somehow she’d maneuvered herself to the outer skirts of the battle-zone.

She’d lost track of time and her surroundings as the war raged around her. Karrin had no idea where she was and judging the distance to the Compound was impossible when she couldn’t even see it. They’d managed to meet and engage the Valkyan in battle far enough out to hopefully protect the Keep from invasion.

Despite having called upon the magic within her to shield her from the agony of war, the screams and cries of those in pain lanced through her. Even though she fought as hard as she could, she grew weaker with each passing moment. The heavy heat suffocated her, making her head spin with blurred images of the madness all around her. The sword passed down through the generations of Keepers was like an anchor weighing her down.

Damn. If not for the Portal draining her energy, she’d be better able to fight for her people, her life. As it was, she could barely stand on her own two feet. She had to try to make it back to her brigade. She was free for the taking out in the open field. It wouldn’t take long for a warrior to spy her weakened condition and seize the advantage.

She took two steps, and the world tilted. Karrin fought to maintain her footing. She’d never lost control in battle, and she wasn’t about to start now.

Not when that slight slip meant death.

So it’s that time of year. The time when we all go a little crazy with the baking and the eating and good cheering. It’s a hard time to just say no, but those little tastes and bites really add up. Although, I have to admit, I’ve been doing pretty good so far this year. Even despite it being the Fat Days at work and all.

Still, there’s always certain items that I just can’t say no to. Don’t want to say no to. Mainly because I only get them once a year.

Come on now. You know I’m not alone in this. We all have our vices. Admit it. You have your’s too.

For me this year it’s been Chocolate Covered Marshmallows.  Oh how yummy!  Mind you, I did not made these.  C$ brought them home for me.  I’ve been good however.  I didn’t eat them all in one sitting.  And I still have some left to get me through the next few days.

This is not to say that I have not baked anything.  I have.  I’ve baked these delicious little morsels called Iced Pumpkin Cookies.  They are really good and as luck would have it, there are none left.  I baked them to take to a Christmas party last Friday night.  None came back home with us.  Which is a good thing.  This was the second batch I’ve baked of these.  The first was at Thanksgiving.

I have to share this other link.  When I did my search for a Chocolate Covered Marshmallow recipe, I went to Allrecipes.com first, because I think they have one of the best selections of recipes out there.  It’s usually my first stop when I’m searching for a recipe.  However the did not have a Chocolate Covered Marshmallow recipe, but they did have this one.  And man, I want to try these out.  Don’t they just scream “Eat me!”?  Looks like I may be baking again soon.

So tell me, what’s been your temptation this year?

It’s been a tradition for as long as I can remember.  This thing called the Fat Days.  It started long before I ever moved into the position I’m in now.  However, I can still recall the earlier days because in my previous job I supported this department and was treated as one of their own for many years.

Now you may be wondering what exactly is this thing called Fat Days.  Well, I’m about to tell you all about it.

First, the Fat Days run from December 1st through December 23-24th, or in other words all the way up until our last business day before we close for Christmas.  Here’s how it works.  A general announcement is sent out via email to the entire department announcing that Fat Days is coming.  The announcement will include days and details.  For example, This year Fat Days is being  held from December 1st through Decemember 24th.  Everyone picks one day to bring in food.

The food can be anything from a fruit tray (although I have yet to see anything resembling fruit on the table this year.) to a full meal (One guy brought his crockpot and cooked up some chili, another girl did bar-be-que and yet another did Manwhiches).  Yesterday we had a tray of cookies, another tray of cookies, some donuts and muffins.  Getting the idea?

There can be as few as one person bringing in goodies on any day or as many for three to four.  You just never know who’s bringing in what.  Some folks don’t sign up they just show up with food.

Today is my Fat Day.  I know I usually work from home on Tuesdays, but I was threatened with bodily harm if I didn’t come today because today is also the group I support’s potluck lunch.  So I decided if I was coming in and bringing food anyway, I might as well make it a twofer and bring in all the food on the same day.  Well, it sounded like a sound plan.

After several trips to the grocery store (including one final stop this morning and over $50 later), I think I finally got my food for today - Strawberry Shortcake for the potluck and Southwestern Cheese Dip for the Fat Days.  I was up last night getting ingredients ready so that all I have to do today is throw them all together.  For Strawberry Shortcake I chopped up the strawberries - half will be served fresh and the other half I poured sugar on and let set to make a yummy strawberry syrup.  For the Southwestern Cheese Dip I cooked the bacon and chopped it up.  Although, I believe it should have been chopped finer than I got it.  I also chopped up the green onions.  When it get’s closer to lunch time I’ll take the rest of the ingredients for the dip and mix them all together and put them in my little dipper crockpot and they’ll be ready to serve.

This morning, it took several trips to my car to get everything in the door here at work.  I’m very glad that I’ll have less to take home than I did to bring.  Food weighes a lot.

So the point of Fat Days is you eat, naturally, but you also get to know other folks and mingle because everyone is always gathered at the food table.  It lightens the mood around the office and gives folks a chance to get away from their desks and get to know their co-workers.

Now the funniest part of the Fat Days is the Skinny Days that follow….  No food and everyone goes into withdrawals!  It’s not uncommon for folks to gain as many as 5-10 pounds during the Fat Days.  The goal for me this year is moderation (which it should be every year)!  I’m already gaining weight, so I have to be careful and make the right food choices.  If I want a cookie I need to make sure that it’s the cookie I want to eat and not have one of every kind just to find out the one I really wanted was the best one after all.

So far I haven’t done that bad.  Now if I can make it through the rest of the month.