Category Archives: Gravity’s Bitch….again

Monday Brain Dump

Posted on September 18, 2017 | Leave a comment

It’s been a ridiculous week. I have a lot of thoughts in my head. I’m not gonna share all of them, but I’ve got some stuff for you.

You all know my kiddo was in the ER for a head injury Wednesday. We went for a followup visit Saturday and he is AOK – just needs to try to take it easy for a few more days. Limited screen time (I think, all told, we’ve had <45 minutes total for the whole Friday-Monday morning time), limited running, zero falling down and whacking his head any more.

Peak bruising was Saturday morning…it’s starting to fade to yellow, although it’s still spreading.

Friday, I took the Beer Guy to the airport for his 2.5 week trip to Belgium. I already miss him like crazy. (As does the Bean who was super disappointed that the Beer Guy didn’t make it home for waffles and bacon Sunday morning…”Mom, he loves waffles and bacon. Why didn’t he come back for breakfast? It’s because you didn’t buy enough bacon for everyone, isn’t it?” Yep…totes my fault on that one, kid.) So when I picked Bean up from kindergarten on Friday, I said I’d take him anywhere he wanted to go for dinner.

AB: “Oooh – Pizza Fino is good!”

Me: “Okay, let’s go there.”

AB: “But Atomic is even better. Can we go there? The Beer Guy will be so jealous because he loves it and we can take a picture and send it to him and he will miss us.”

Me: “Interesting motivation, but sure. Let’s go there.”

As we approach Atomic Pizza, Bean says, “Mom. I don’t really want the Beer Guy to be jealous. Let’s go to Lucky Lab. He won’t be sad that he missed that.”

Truer words, kids…

Lucky Lab dinner date. I don’t really like that place, either, but I’d said he could pick.

Saturday late afternoon/evening we got to have a play date. Well, Bean played with his BFF (and eventual roommate – he’s planning on moving into their basement when he graduates from high school) and I got to hang with my good friends and former neighbors who were gracious enough to have a kid the exact right age for play dates.

Yesterday was a mellow day. Bean was wiped out and needed a break (and I needed to finish up my editing project for a client so that I’d be ready to start edits on The Ruby Blade when it comes back this week). We putzed around the house, did lego projects, messed with the kitten, and had a pretty quiet (activity wise, definitely not volume wise) day.

We kept watching the sky for rain, and it came in fits and starts, but not quite what I was hoping.

I stayed up too late Saturday and Sunday (Friday, I was asleep on the couch by 9, dragged myself to bed about 10, and then woke up at 1:30 am and was awake for 2.5 hours…dammit.) but still don’t feel too exhausted.

I got the final cover for The Ruby Blade and will be doing an exclusive cover reveal preview for all newsletter subscribers in a couple weeks – so if you want to see before everyone else, sign up for the newsletter (check the sidebar).

tiny sneak peek

This week is all about writing and editing and reading (and work, of course) for me. I have a milestone on book 4 I really want to hit. I also want to – now that I’m starting to feel a little better physically – start moving again on the regular.

But mostly, I want to snuggle my Bean up tonight and tomorrow night before he heads back to his dad’s for 5 days.

Rainy Days and Mondays…

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Posted in Aggressive Happiness, Book-It! Please send pizza, Gravity's Bitch....again, Made of Awesomesauce, Oh, Baby!, Priorities!, The Beer Guy, Where's My Towel, Write Now!, Zen AF

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Family Friday

Posted on September 15, 2017 | Leave a comment

Tonight, my baby (I AM NOT A BABY) comes home for five nights in a row. That’s never enough – I hate that Wednesday morning I’ll drop him off at kindergarten and won’t see him again until the following Monday after school – but I love my long stretches with my boy. In a month, we’re switching the schedule to eliminate the mid-week transition and I’ll get him for week-long stretches at a time (of course, this also means he’ll be gone for week-long stretches at a time, which is a major bummer…sigh). I would give almost anything to have him more. The sticky, cotton-candy kisses I got last night at back-to-school night are everything.

 

My other local family, the beer guy, is on his way to Belgium, which is his very favorite country, right now. He told me he’s eventually coming back, although for some reason, I had the return date wrong in my head (and on my calendar), and even though he kept correcting me, I still couldn’t remember the right date. I think I finally have it now, which means I’ll show up to the airport on the right day to pick him up and not leave him stranded for 24 hours. One of my favorite things to do when he’s traveling is to sky-stalk him with the Flight Aware app. He’s currently (as of this very second) flying over the flyover state of Nebraska. (Sorry, Nebraskans – but I’m from the flyover state of South Dakota…it’s just how it goes.)

One of my biggest challenges when I’m sans beer guy is to remember to eat and sleep. Yes, I know that sounds dumb, but it’s my biggest challenge. So I’m putting it out here that I will eat and sleep on the regular for the next few weeks. That means no skipping meals, no having “fruit salad” for dinner, and going to bed and to sleep at a decent hour every night.

This will NOT be me. Most of the time.

Fortunately, I have a lot to keep me busy. I’m wrapping up an editing project this weekend, just in time to get The Ruby Blade back from my editor to do revisions. I have a Raj chapter to write, I’m deep in Eleanor book 4, and I’ve started outline books 1-3 of my new series. Plus, all that kid time with the world’s best kid and future leader of a unicorn cult.

GAH! That bump!

 

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Posted in Aggressive Happiness, Friends & Family, Gin, Cheese & Other Necessities, Gravity's Bitch....again, Oh, Baby!, Priorities!, The Beer Guy, Where's My Towel, Write Now!, Zen AF

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Three Things Thursday

Posted on April 6, 2017 | 1 comment
  1. I have a 5K next weekend. I have sporadically trained for said 5K. Very sporadically. And then I twisted my ankle last week and it’s just now feeling better, as long as no one kicks it or drops heavy things on it or I wear shoes. I’m not going into it with any expectations of PR-ing, but I need to go, to walk/run that bitch, and finish, thus earning my mimosa in my commemorative running glass.

The finishing mimosas in 2015 before Jamie abandoned me for Boston

  1. I have another, longer race in six weeks. I’m hoping the success of crossing the finish line next weekend will spur me into being less sporadic. It’s weird when you get stuck in an endless loop of too stressed to run and have no long-acting stress relief. I know that once I get solidly back in the habit (and for me, that’s four-five weeks of 3x/week), I’ll love it. I’ll feel good (most of the time), sleep better, eat better, and have a significant reduction in stress levels. It’s just easier to stay home and not run or walk. Home is nice. No off-leash dogs, hardly anyone looks like a threat (solo trail running as a woman can be a bit nerve-wracking, regardless of how much I love it), and there’s wine. I have yet to come across a wine kiosk in Forest Park. (WAIT A MINUTE! NEW BUSINESS IDEA!)

I will set up a little wine stand in the middle of forest park. Like a lemonade stand, but for adults.

 

  1. Every time I start running, I get sick or injured. It’s like a curse. Maybe it is a curse! I read this morning that certain household objects invite demons into your home. And, since I have multiple tarot decks, a yoga mat, and–between the Beer Guy and me–two complete copies of the Harry Potter books as well as all the movies on DVD, we’re pretty much doomed. (That’s before we even look at the various religious studies books the two of us have. I’m sure all the non-Bible stuff is inviting all the demons in.)It’s nice having someone to blame. I finally get the Bean’s insistence that the Sugar Ghosts ate all the candy canes off the lower holiday tree branches one morning before I woke up.

    Earlier this week, the Sugar Ghosts struck again! I bought a Cadbury Creme Egg for myself the other day, and when I went to eat it, it was missing! It couldn’t have been the Bean–he was at school–and the Beer Guy swears it wasn’t him…must be Sugar Ghosts. They’re in league with the demons!

(You guys…I just spent way too long trying to find a font that screamed “exorcism” at me but was still legible. It’s way harder than I would’ve thought. I eventually gave up and just chose a font called “Sunday” because it made me laugh.)

Happy Thursday!

 

 

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Posted in Gravity's Bitch....again, Not Dead Yet!, Run Away!, The Beer Guy

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The day is getting right away from me…

Posted on April 3, 2017 | Comments Off on The day is getting right away from me…

This weekend was so busy and my week isn’t looking any less so!

Thursday evening, I did my best to take myself out. (Part of that included literally taking myself out.) I cut my right pinky on a pair of tongs while making dinner for the Beer Guy. Later, I broke a wine glass, and in an attempt to pick up the pieces, stabbed my right thumb with the broken stem of said glass. Later, after being bored to pieces, I talked the Beer Guy into taking me to karaoke. This was not my best decision to date. And then I fell down and sprained the shit out of my ankle, because that’s how I roll.

The "Most Interesting Man in the World" says, "I don't always roll a joint, but when I do, it's my ankle."

I went to the Rose City Romance Writer’s Spring Fling on Friday evening and most of the day Saturday. I’d headed over to meet up with some writers for a pre-conference happy hour, but I couldn’t find them (and didn’t look too hard, people are scary, yo!), but I did spend a very productive hour filling in my new planner, having a beer, and making plans.

A beer, a planner, and a week's worth of plans

The morning session on Saturday (on marketing) was fabulous, I met some great people, and handed out my new cards to just about everyone. I’ve gotten to the point where I can say I’m an author, talk about my book, and encourage people to look into it. I’ve really grown a lot in the last year! I also spent more money on books in two days than in the last few months. Autographed romance novels are a deductible expense, right?

Romance novels by Farrah Rochon and Cecilia Tan

Saturday evening, I had dinner with a friend in town for the weekend. I’d met her at the RT convention last spring, so it’s not surprising that our conversation was about 75% book and writing related.

gin and tonic

There was also a G&T. My first of…more than one…that evening

The Beer Guy had a friend in town this weekend, too, so we hit up karaoke Saturday night (and talked even MOAR books…turns out we have a mutual appreciation for a lot of the same paranormal books and authors).

karaoke screen

I swear the Beer Guy is in that photo behind the inconveniently placed pole

Yesterday was a lot more chill, but I still managed to get a lot done in terms of The Waning Moon (details Wednesday!).

Today is all about errands, little business things (finances, marketing plans, freelance business planning), and wasting spending a great deal of time on a PowerPoint (complete with charts!) that I will be presenting to the Beer Guy tonight. Ideally, all conversations would have an agenda, copious notes, line charts, and trend lines. I have been informed that it’s a little weird, but have decided that I can embrace being a little weird if it enables me to get my point across.

Powerpoint Slide that says "Death by Powerpoint" in blood with a zombie

I swear, it’s not as bad as all this!

I’ll have a book review up tomorrow, some writing updates Wednesday, and my “Letter to Alvie: Five Years” post on Friday. (Thursday will be a surprise for us both!)

 

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Posted in Aggressive Happiness, Book-It! Please send pizza, Friends & Family, Gin, Cheese & Other Necessities, Gravity's Bitch....again, Made of Awesomesauce, Oh, Baby!, Play us a song..., The Beer Guy, Where's My Towel, Write Now!

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This is Winning

Posted on June 20, 2016 | 2 comments

For the first time in a very long time, I feel like I got just enough weekend. Now, don’t get me wrong – if my job kept paying me regardless of whether or not I showed up to work, I’d be at home on the couch right now, watching Criminal Minds and drinking prosecco out of miniature bottles so I could feel like a lazy giant.

La-Marca-Prosecco-and-Gilt-City-Event-Mini-Bottles-700x700

But, since apparently “going to work” is still a condition for “getting a paycheck,” here I am. And not even particularly begrudgingly.

I got to start my weekend a wee bit early on Friday by volunteering at Cider Summit. It was fun pouring ciders, pretending I actually knew what I was talking about (hint: I was reading the backs of the bottles!), and getting to taste a few ciders myself. Bonus: I ran into a dear, dear friend that I hadn’t seen in a while and now we have plans to hang out next week! Hooray!

You guys, this is so good. I want to buy 144 cases of it and drink one every day for the rest of my life.

You guys, this is so good. I want to buy 144 cases of it and drink one every day for the rest of my life.

Saturday was a lazy-ish morning, followed by getting my hairs beautified (check it out! #40before40 item number eleven is taken care of!). Right? So pretty. Saturday evening was dinner out and then karaoke (because what else am I going to do on a kid-free Saturday night?)

2016-06-18 16.12.30-2

Sunday was another lazy-ish morning (I didn’t get out of bed until after ten…that’s just crazy), a nice little walk, waffles from the food cart, and then a drive south for more hanging out with people and eating and playing cards.

There was a lot of stuff fitted in to two and a half days, but I still felt like there was enough doing nothing to count towards weekend relaxation; really the best kind of weekend. I even did AOK with the sheer amount of hanging out with strangers and/or people I don’t know very well. There was some nervousness, but no real anxiety and not a single glimmer of a panic attack. That’s the real success, I think. It’s been a long time since I’ve been “on” for that many days in a row without needing a break to do some breathing exercises and to tell myself that it’s not a heart attack.

fabulous

 

This almost makes up for the fact that I’ve been terribly, terribly clumsy the last week. I attempted to remove a thumb (alas! I didn’t cut it at the right angle to meet up with the scar from a previous thumb-removal attempt, so it’s slightly less cool), fell down the stairs (yes again), spilled hot coffee on that same, troublesome thumb, and then to add insult to injury, managed to snag my thumb band-aid on my bra hook last night while attempting to disrobe. I’m assuming that last one was especially amusing and my only regret is that I don’t have a video of that to share with all of you.

...and cut off her thumb, and did impromptu interpretative dances with one hand stuck behind her back...

…and cut off her thumb, and did impromptu interpretative dances with one hand stuck behind her back…

I’m really, except for the random acts of gracefulness, feeling pretty good about a lot of things. I just need a million dollars and some more free time, and I’ll chalk this solstice Monday up as a really good day.

Today is the first day of Eleanor's adventures! Also, a rare summer solstice with a full moon. photo by: Jonathan Paulson

Today is the first day of Eleanor’s adventures and a rare summer solstice with a full moon.
photo by: Jonathan Paulson

 

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Posted in Aggressive Happiness, Friends & Family, Gin, Cheese & Other Necessities, Gravity's Bitch....again, Made of Awesomesauce, Write Now!

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