It seems as though when the weekend rolls around I find a new project to work on.  Last weekend I got a wild hair to start building a wooden walkway and it looks like this weekend will put the finishing touches on it. I hope.

As I started on that project, I started seeing more things in that part of the yard that I wanted to do. I noticed plants that I need to move, weeds that need to be pulled and of course, mowing that must be done.  I started redoing a flower bed next to the walkway and it is still in-progress, just like the walkway.

When I start a weekend project, I prefer to get it done over the weekend and then go on to the next project the following weekend. This walkway has carried over but only because I got held up by rain last Sunday and it takes time to measure, cut and attach boards.  So this weekend will see the end of the walkway. I swear!

Pardon me for a moment while I reminisce. We are approaching the time period of birthdays in my family – when my three kids all celebrate birthdays one after the other. We have a three week period of birthday celebration starting in mid-July and ending with the final birthday in early August.
The first special July day is my baby’s birthday. Rubenstein turned nine years old and I know that everyone says it – but it’s really true that it’s hard to believe how fast time goes by. I can honestly say that even though there are times when my kids make me crazy, they bring me so much joy each day that I can’t imagine any other life.
For Rubenstein, she came into the world quickly – I had a short labor. My favorite story to tell about Rubenstein – and of course she loves to hear it, is about having to track down my parents to take the older two children so we could go to the hospital. It was a Wednesday evening and my parents weren’t home – they were at church. Church was already over and I was calling the church and Mom and Dad’s house without getting any answer.
Finally it dawned on me: After church equals Dairy Queen.
We loaded up the kids and their overnight bags, and my overnight bag of course, and headed up to Dairy Queen in Marion.
There they were, with the after-church crowd, enjoying some ice cream. We had to cut their fun short to hand over the other two kids and get to the hospital.
Rubenstein arrived about three hours later. She was a tiny little thing with a small amount of black hair but she was beautiful! She looked just like her brother and sister but she was bigger. At 7 pounds, 3 ounces, she was my biggest baby. To look at her now you would never guess as she is a petite and tiny little lady.

She is big on personality though. Rubenstein is her own person and is never content to be on the sidelines. She is a little spitfire and when she’s unhappy, she makes sure everyone knows it.

Rubenstein is one of a kind – just like my other children are unique and special.  So on her ninth birthday, I want to wish my Rubenstein a very special “happy birthday.” She and her brother and sister are the light of my life!

The photo was one I took of me and my baby a couple of months ago.  I was trying to get a nice picture but didn’t know until after it had been taken that Rubenstein was hamming it up.  Yes, I probably dropped her on her head when she was a baby.

At age 17, I wasn't quite sure who I was or what I wanted in life. ..

This year marks 20 years I have been out of high school.  I remember when my parents had their 25-year class reunion in 1993, 25 years seemed like forever! Way back in 1990 when my senior class was graduating, 20 years seemed like a lifetime away.

Truthfully, it probably is.  So many things can change in 20 years and on occasion I even run into kids – well, no longer kids – that I went to school with. Sometimes I don’t even recognize them because in my mind, they should look like they did back in 1990 or thereabout. Some of my old classmates have children that are probably about to graduate from high school themselves!

When I look back and think about it, I realize that just as my classmates have changed over the years, I am not the same either. I don’t look like I did in high school – heck I haven’t had that same hair color in more than 16 years.

In truth, I feel like I am a totally different person than I was 20 years ago. I now have the advantage of experience and living life to make me who I am now – at the age of 37.

Back then I was unsure of myself and still struggling to figure out exactly who I was and where I was going in life.

Today, I still am trying to figure out things about myself but I am more comfortable in the skin I am in. I am less apt to be influenced by others and more grounded in my own ideas and beliefs.

At 17 I was idealistic and had a narrow view of things. Now at 37, I am much more realistic yet open to new ideas.

I look back and see mistakes I have made over the years that have led me to where and who I am today and yes, I could embrace my regrets. Instead, I believe that I will continue to see the mistakes as stepping stones – albeit cracked and crumbling stepping stones – that created the path to the person I am today.

I have read and heard some people looking back fondly upon their years in high school and waxing poetically about how wonderful the bonds of youth were. At the age of 17 I am sure I would have agreed that it was the best time in my life, but now – at 37 I can say that I am living the best time of my life and each day only gets a little better than the day before.

When I was 17 I looked toward the future fondly but now I simply live one day at a time – enjoying each and every one of them. I had big dreams at the age of 17 and I really didn’t even know what I really wanted out of life. At 37 I realize that even though I haven’t experienced the big plans I made at 17, I am quite happy with where life has taken me. In a weird, windy trail, I have ended up in a place in my life that I actually wanted but never realized.

So, in 20 years a lot of things can change but sometimes change is good. Very, very good.

And the ginormous panties in the picture? Well, that’s me in the picture (obviously) and the panties were a gag gift that I received for Christmas from my loving cousin, Gerry.

I have been piddling with a novel since September. When I feel a moment of inspiration I chip away at it adding words and expanding the story.

Sometimes I go back and read the whole thing (only about 11-12,000 words) then do some reworking. Mostly I try to keep writing on the story in an effort to turn it into a full-length novel that someday, somebody might want to pay me to publish and somebody else might actually read it.

This is not the first novel i have ever started, but it is the first one that I have ever made this much progress on. I am learning how to do this as I go and while it’s taking me several month and may take several months more before I actually complete the first draft, I am enjoying the process.

I am blessed to have writer friends who read my novel as I am writing it to give me input. I really believe that it is because of the encouragement and constructive criticism from these wonderful friends that I have actually gotten this far on my novel.

It is my hope that I will actually have this novel completed and ready to submit to publishers (please let there be one willing to publish it and pay me!) by the end of the year. My ideal goal would be July 1 but I also know that I am highly distractible and may not meet that date goal (especially considering I work sporadically on the novel).

So, friends – keep me on track and smack me around if I slack off! It’s nice to have friends.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my injury at the doughy hands of a can of cinnamon rolls and just a couple of days ago I suffered yet another injury.
If you haven’t already guessed, not only do I have a weirdness magnet but I am accident prone – a dangerous combination if you’re me. If you’re not me, it’s a humorous – or so I’ve been told.
I do things with a spastic flourish – or as I prefer to say – spaztastic. Whether I am running (which is comedy all by itself) or walking, I tend to hurt myself in new and unusual ways.
My latest injury – a large, raw scrape on my left shin – occurred because I fell off of my sidewalk.
How did I accomplish this? I have a sidewalk made of paving stones. I have not buried them in the ground yet so they stand up about two inches off the ground. I was walking out to my car after dark to get something and I stopped to admire the new solar lights I set up in my butterfly garden, which is right next to the walkway.
When I started to walk again, I had apparently gotten a little too far over and stepped off of the walkway with my right foot – which went into the mud.
I then lost my balance – ’cause you know, I’m sorta spastic – and went down, falling off the sidewalk. I caught my left shin on the edge of the paving stones as I went down. I landed on my knees – in the mud.
How many people do you know who can actually say they fell off of a sidewalk? I am amazing.

I was reading this blog post (The Zombies – They Ate My Brain) from another writer mom, Tracy DeLuca and it reminded me of myself.
I have a weirdness magnet that just seems to draw strange things and events to me. Murphy’s Law supersedes Newton’s laws around me. I wrote about how weirdness seems to be stalking me a few months ago in an article published on Associated Content (My Week Under a Zombie Curse) and yep, I still have zombie days. . .and weeks. . .and well, heck – I think I have a zombie life.
If something is going to break, it will break for me. If something is spilled it will go down my pants or down my shirt. I have gone out in public with my clothes on backwards and inside out. Yep, I have a zombie life.
Perhaps it is fitting that I like zombies so much.
I hope I’m not the only person in the world with a zombie life. . .at least Tracy can understand.

I took my kids to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie from Tim Burton and I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. You can read my full review on Associated Content.

Movie Review: Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland Makes Weirdness Fun and Great for Families
I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland but the truth is, I loved it!
Read More

I have written about our kitten Boo – a rescued kitty who is not quite right in the head. He sends instant messages and updates my Facebook status for me, but now he has taken to climbing the walls – literally. I caught Boo on top of my desk then before I knew it, he had climbed up on top of the kitchen window curtain. I snapped a picture of the idjit (one of my many pet names for him) and had to share it.

Boo perched on top of the curtain

Yep, Boo keeps us entertained. As a cat, he seems to occasionally forget his feline persuasion. He chases his tail – in circles and he comes running when he is called. He loves to jump on available lamps and snuggle up close. One of our other cats watches him with a look that says “I should kill you for that.”
Life is exciting with our little Boo but I realize that whenever he was thrown out into the ditch in front of our house as a young kitten, he landed on his head. Poor Boo.

You never know. Check out this how-to survival guide now just in case. You never know what tomorrow will bring. . .

10 Tips for Surviving a Real-Life Horror Movie
Follow these 10 tips and survive any real-life horror movie you may find yourself in. It could happen. You just never know.
Read More

Me in my new zombie t-shirt!

I seem to be known for my zombie love. Well, not that I have romantic feelings for the undead – but I just seem to be interested in all things weird and wonderful – especially zombies.

When a friend pointed out a zombie t-shirt online, I knew I had to have it. So I ordered it from snorgtees.com. The turnaround time was so quick – I had it within a few days.

Of course I had to show it off – and I asked my photographer friend – Amy Dungan (see her website – Amy Dungan Photography – she’s great!) to take a picture of me in my zombie shirt.

Yes, I’m a dork. I embrace it. I am good at it.

Why do I like zombies? No clue. I just do – there is just something fun and creepy about undead flesh eaters.  Some of my favorite writing has included zombies. The undead have so much potential.