Journeys and Life

Bonjour, mon amis.

I was recently reprimanded for my lack of blogs. I don't know what the deal is. Since February I've been a bit disconnected from my own life. Learning French took up a lot of my time. I stopped writing for a bit to fully immerse myself in the language. The car accident, well what is there to say about that. Nothing has been the same since. I guess I jangled a couple of things in my brain or something.

Well here's a recap of the missing months. I enjoyed my French class immensely and cannot wait to learn more of the beautiful if not aggrevating language. I made friends with my classmates; a first for me. I have been in school for a very long time but I never mingle with my classmates. I hope these friendships stick.

I went on Spring Break to Philly, DC, and Arlington. We saw some things me and my traveling companions:


Aren't my girls just beauties??? We laughed, we wanted to cry (lol), and we walked for dayssss. It's a miracle we made it but we did make it. So I brought back some great memories of times and travels with my sister, Stacey, and my niece, Lauren. (I realize now that the comedic personality is strong in THIS family of mine!!)



But what I bring back with me of all the wonderful sights, sounds, etc of the trip is this one perfect moment as I sat quietly among the Japanese magnolias, remembering my childhood and dreaming of the future I so desperately yearn for. I could have spent days on this park bench writing and dreaming:


This picture will always take me back; and I look at it often!

I celebrated my big 30th birthday with family and friends. We ate sushi at my favorite Japanese restaurant, Shangri La with my favorite waitress. Here's my BFF Crissy and my handsome baby brother, Jason :


This is the first bday celebration Jason has joined us on. Us Blanchard women have a long history of Mindy's Bday celebrations: partying for the 21st, male strippers for the 24th, etc. And finally Jason joined us on this one!!!. I hope we have many more to share. We celebrated at the club where I spent a lot of crazy nights of my 20s, Graham Central Station, which was a fitting place to spend the LAST night of my 20s. We had fun. The drinks and laughter were flowing. It was a great way to start this new period of my life known as my 30s.

I haven't been writing. Even though the semester ended with my wonderful A- (yes the minus breaks my heart - apparently I am a horrible French speaker - well I can't be awesome at EVERYTHING!! LOL), the jobfront has me in such a state of disgust and disappointment (at myself) that I cannot find the words or inspiration to get back to my writing. My novel and my character sits constantly in the background. Nalia simply looks at me sighs, paints her nails, does a bit of primping and filing and waits patiently for me to get my act together so that I can get on...with her story!

When I can't find my words, I go to my art journals, and usually something comes up! Well I now have 4 journals prepped and ready for my personal decorated covers, 32 pages of scrapbooked and art journaled pages in about 5 art journals, 10 pages of backgrounds waiting to be scrapped and A LOT of personal reflection, inspection, whatever...still no words.

But I refuse to lose hope. If I am anything I am determined. That will usually get me through just about anything in my life. And I have started a new journal: one of reflection and forgiveness. A way for me to pour out my hurts on the page and cover it up with the wonderful memories and characteristics that will hopefully help me get over the wrongs of my life. I'm hopeful that this will help me heal, because I am tired of being bitter and jaded and all of those other negative characters that we all know me by. I'm ready to be free!!

Here's my latest creation. I recently started playing with watercolors and oil pastels. Here's my first whimsy girl in watercolor:


And on the last day of my 20s I did this page for my dad. Completing this piece was a breakthrough in the start of the healing process. It took me 10 years to talk about him after he died. Its taken this long to commit my feelings to paper. But I'm not afraid. I'm dealing. I miss you, Daddy, every day. Til we meet again:

(The treehouse is an original design by Gil Zaunbrecher. He and his beautiful wife, Tanya, are amazingly talented architects and good friends of mine!)

Music: Linger by the Cranberries (I love Pandora.com!!)

Dried paint (and blisters) lingers on the tips of all of my fingers.

I live in hope that today marks the beginning of many great days!!!

Mood: forever hopeful

Lessons Learned

Bonjour, mon amis. Je suis fatigue. Je pense que le francais est tres difficile. Je vais le examens lundi.

Basically, I just wanted to check in, say hello, and let you know that I am tired; I think that French is very difficult, and I have an exam Monday.

Procrastinator that I am instead of studying for French I'll write a bit of French in my blog and that counts as studying, right. lol I'm learning a lot. I can introduce myself to others, go through my family tree (okay not that much), explain my oh-so-crazy schedule, tell you all about my university and campus, tell time, and almost make complete sentences. I can conjugate about 3 verbs. I'm really going to take the French world by storm. OK, maybe not. I can write it better than I can speak it. I was always good at remembering odd spellings (that helps) but my prof cringes every time I open my mouth to speak - Men! lol

I'll get back to studying in a bit, but I have to share the happenings of my so-called life. Since the accident in February I was forced to miss a meeting and due to conferences I'll be missing the next two meetings of my Lake Charles Bayou Writer's Group; I miss my friends so much. I can't wait to hear what's going on in your lives, writing or otherwise. I want hugs from everyone as soon as we meetup in May.

I took off of work Friday and drove to Shreveport, Louisiana with my mom and sister. A little vacay was in order for all of us. We shopped and ate sushi at this wonderful restaurant on the Boardwalk. I only experienced road rage once, so I guess that was good. We made it safe and sound.

Here's my sis, Stacey, and me:


We checked into the hotel and then Stacey and Moma left for some more sightseeing and shopping. I attended 2 fabulous early bird workshops about avoiding plagiarism and creating the page turner. There was a meet and greet with great food, and I drank the best glasses of Pinot Grigio I've had in forever, (oh wait it's been forever since I had a chance to drink).

I met up with a few old friends and met some new ones. I retired early to pound away at the keyboard having found some inspiration and a fix for one of my current probs with my current WIP. Here's me and the Vice President of BWG, Jan Rider Newman:

I met Jamie Colette at the 2008 Conference. It's great to meet up with an old friend:

Conferences are a great way to meet other writers. Here's a new friend, Betsy St. Amant:

The next day the workshops were fantastic; I learned so much and hardly know where to start. If I start naming names, I know I'll miss out on some of the major influences of the weekend and I should apologize for that up front. But thanks to the wonderful workshops of: Jennifer Blake, Karen King, Elle James, Delilah Devlin, Ramona Richards, Terry Spear, and Jade Lee I am so much smarter than I was 72 hours ago, and I am ready to tackle the rest of my current WIP.

I'm ready to take the rest of the journey with Nalia and her Merry Men to find the end of this book. The initial idea came to me exactly a year ago. In March of 2008 Nalia first stepped out of my mind and into my idea book. I didn't start writing the story itself until June of 2008. And while I have not been writing for all of these months since then, as I do have two jobs and attend night classes at UL, it is time to get to the bottom of the story. I had realized this going into the weekend but some happenings during the conference pissed me off enough to get the ball rolling for sure. I so do love a challenge.

As many of you know, I love everything about the learning process. I'm obsessed with knowledge and learning new things. What can one expect from the girl who taught herself how to read crochet patterns and then made up her own? But I digress.

I attend many conferences whenever I have the time, opportunity, and money even though I'm fully aware that I am losing out on opportunities to speak with editors and agents about my work, since I don't actually have a finished product. And while some feel quite comfortable speaking out when they don't have a finished product, my situation leaves me in a corner where I don't feel comfortable trying to sell something that I do not have and which I cannot guarantee would be reader-ready within a few months time.

But do I let this stop me? Heck no, I go to conferences and I learn and I get better and I network. Guess what? I'm okay with that. It works for me, and I'm fully aware that what works for one does not work for everyone.

During the course of the conference, I was asked numerous times whether I pitched to anyone. The answer was of course, "no." Most people just looked at me with pity in their eyes and nodded their head in encouragement as I spilled all the "excuses" why I don't have a finished product. Yeah, yeah so we all have excuses.

One remarkable woman actually compared going to conferences without a finished product to something like, saying I can be a race car driver just because I like watching Nascar. There are moments when I have no class. I curse like a sailor at the most inopportune times, and I tend to have a short fuse, but I have my moments. In the face of this criticism, all I did was smile and nod. I'm proud of myself for having class in that moment because the scenarios running through my head at the time were bad. In all walks of life there are those that can only feel better about themselves by putting others down. They just can't seem to help themselves.

While we all know that: Everyone has ideas. Everyone has the ability to write. Everyone usually thinks they have at least 1 good book in them. In this business, not everyone who aspires to write a book actually sees that goal come to fruition. We hear it a thousand times during our lives. But what I wonder is this, have you ever heard of tact? Find a better way of talking to other people.

I may not have finished a book yet. I may have had many ideas and actually gotten bored with some before completing them. I may have used all of the excuses in the book for my inability to finish a story. But newsflash: that doesn't make me any less of a writer.

Yes I attend workshops, lectures, conferences and I learn. I'm in college pursing a degree in English because I want to learn. I plan on going to grad school because I want to learn. These things do not debilitate me. Sometimes its daunting because there is so much work involved in the writing process when you worry about pace, hooks, characterization, etc., early on when maybe you should just worry about getting the story out.

Yes, it could be paralyzing for others, but it's not for me. My writing is stronger today than it was a year ago because I'm always learning how to become a better storyteller. My first drafts are still crap, just like everyone else's. Yet I've learned what to look out for, what my weaknesses and my strengths are, and how to fix them. So I'm more than a race car driver wanna be. I'm a writer, albeit a slower one than some perhaps. As much as it pissed me off to experience this, I didn't let it ruin my mood or my weekend.

Since I was a child, I have escaped to books, stories, anything I could get my hands on. I was Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I read all of the Stephen King books available by the time I was in 6th grade. I stumbled upon romance novels when I was 14. I've seen worlds that didn't even exist. I've been transported from the everyday toil and drudgery of life into the exciting pages of stories by the most fascinating of storytellers.

I immersed myself in stories of cowboys and Native Americans. I looked at each beloved line used in Cassie Edwards' books, and I knew that I wanted to one day write a story so beautiful. A few years ago I became bored with reading: cowboys, Native Americans, Englishmen, Scottish warriors, nothing helped me escape.

Lucky for me there is a Bookrack located 3 minutes from my job. I'd often spend my lunch hour perusing the shelves. The worker knew my tastes and took a chance on me, referring me a paranormal romance after I hit my reading rut.

I was skeptic at first, but Janet knew what she was talking about. It was love at first bite (lol). I've been hooked ever since. I don't know what the first book was, but I think it was a Christine Feehan (one of the Dark series).

A voracious reader, I tore through the shelves grabbing whatever I could hold. I eventually found the Crimson City series. I fell in love with the stories, the world, and the characters. I quickly grabbed onto any books the writers of the series had on their backlist and found the Tigress series of Jade Lee; a wonderful writer of Paranormal Romance, she helped me escape into the beautiful setting of Shanghai, time and time again.

Over the years I have found many favorite authors. These are my classics. These are my teachers. I learn from them. I read their stories to escape, and I work every day at my own writing in hopes that I will one day be able to write as well as they do.

Everyone knows how excited I was to attend the conference because one of my favorite authors would be attending and speaking. Of all the empty chairs in the joint, she chose the one next to me for lunch! I would like to think that I am now a woman of class and can handle anything, right?

Not so much. I couldn't even speak. I had to work to chew, and we all know I have no problems with chewing. I couldn't even answer her when she asked me a direct question. (What's the name of my blog - heck I don't know!! Thank goodness I had a name tag I'd probably have forgotten that, too.). Here's Jade Lee, trying hard not to run away from the crazed fan - being a famous writer is so tough!!:

She was wonderful and handled my dorkiness with grace. She even told a story to make me feel at ease with being starstruck. What can I say, I may be a writer but I was a reader first (and the dorkiness will probably never go away. lol)

I learned so much this weekend. I found so many ways to improve my writing, and I met so many wonderful people. I can't wait to get back to Nalia and her tale to see what happens before her first full moon as a shapeshifter.

For anyone who did not attend the NOLA Stars workshop and wanted to, get ready for next year. This is a yearly conference you can't afford to miss.

(It's wonderful to point out that I'm the only one in all of these pics that isn't published! Yep I like to surround myself with greatness!!)

Drinking: Mr. Pibb (need to get back to studying - caffeine is good!)

Music: Best of Baroque album (gets the learning juices flowing)

Mood: Relaxed

Currently: Doing anything but studying; who knew washing clothes was so much fun!

Dreaming of: Life before I had to become immersed in French

Realization: I'm so grateful that is so-called crazy life I have offers me the opportunity and ability to attend such fantastic conferences. Thank you writers for teaching me so much.

**Sorry - I seem to be having post issues. Sorry if there is a lot of space or not enough - I should be studying. Opps! lol. Until next time,

Mindy

A New View

Bonjour! Je suis pas tres bien.

It's been a while since my last post. A lot has happened, and I've been a bit under the weather. It seems I drove my car into a post, not intentionally but I should have avoided it easily yet I seemed to fail to see it entirely. Too busy and not too observant. I guess I needed to slow down a bit, and I was avoiding all of the other "signs"; so it seemed an actual sign had to come into my path.

Well, I thought my car was fine but it has been totalled. So I'm car shopping, which is the last thing I wanted, needed, or expected to do. There are currently 3 vehicles in the running but I'm not sure what I am going with. I spent all day Saturday car shopping with my wonderful sis, and all I got was heat stroke - fun times. lol

I go back to work tomorrow, and my soul is crying out in agony. The things we do for money. I have to be able to afford that new car note. I have to "work to live" rather than "live to work."

I watched "He's Just Not That Into You" tonight and it was fantastic. I love good movies that make you feel good no matter what your situation is! It's funny how the movie makes you want to analyze all of your past relationships to pinpoint the signs that you should have noticed way back when that would have clued you in that the "relationship" was headed nowhere fast. lol. but that's for another novel.

I haven't been writing or thinking about writing or anything of that nature. I did manage to read 4 books this week - I guess that makes up for the reading that I had planned during the break but never got around to. I love words. I see them on page as written by my favorite paranormal romance authors and I wonder if I will ever be that good. I hope so. I hope that one day the greats get excited when they see a book with my name printed on the cover and can't wait to get home and read it front to back. Big dreams there! But some days what else do we have to hold onto?

A wise friend told me this week that it's about the journey rather than the destination. I keep trucking and pushing everything aside while I focus on the end goal. I realize now that I'm missing everything along the way. I'm missing the journey and running through life. Having landed face first into a kryptonite post, I definitely don't want this to be the middle of my story - because I wouldn't read it. So point taken; I see the error of my ways and will work on improving them.

I realize how lucky I am. I have the best friends and family that a girl could ask for. I only hope ya'll know how much I love and appreciate you, even when I probably don't say it enough. It's in print now for all the times I'll probably forget to say it - Love You!

*Thinking of You: Driving in the car, I hear the lyrics to a song you shared so long ago. I watch a movie, bringing memories of your home state, and I think of you as a child and what that must have been like, growing up so different from myself. Yet I'll never be able to ask now. Every license plate I pass, shows your last state. Every third word spoken reminds me of our unfinished story. You're like a distant memory hidden in one corner of my mind and life. I regret that I didn't speak up - clearer and sooner than you did. I wish things could have been different, and I wish you luck in your life, miles away from my so-called life.

So here's to every possibility I didn't reach out to and all the new ones that I will reach out to. No more focusing on the destination. A clear view lies on the here and the now.

Current Addictions: Supernatural and sweets

Looking Forward to What Lies Ahead

Salut! Mon amies.

Comment ça va? Je suis très bien. Aujourd’hui c’est vendredi! C’est super vendredi! Je suis travaillez le week-end. (How’s it going? I am very well. Today is Friday! Its cool Friday! I am working on the weekend.)

Je pense que le français est un peu facile tous les jours. Je suis préparez l’examen pour le prochain cours. J’ écoutez le CD en français. (I think that French is a little eas(ier) every day. I prepare for the exam for the next class. I listen the CD in French.)

J’ apprenez culturelle, conversation, les jours de la semaine, comptez de zéro à trente, un autoportrait, heure, accent, l’alphabet, et expressions. J’écrivez facile mais je parle difficile. (I learn culture, conversations, the days of the week, count from 0 to 30, self portrait, time, accent, the alphabet, and expressions. I write easy but I speak difficult.)

*Sigh* Believe me when I tell you that this is more difficult to write than it is for you to read the madness. And I'm sure it's pretty horrible having to read this. Thanks for sticking it out for me; I appreciate it.

I've had a tough week with things. After some serious soul-searching, I realized that something had to give. Well, I sent out my last finished short story last night. Luckily I sent out three finished pieces this month. It really was a great month. I also sent out a submission the last week in December. So I started out 2009 with a bang. But it seems that this may be the last submission I have ready for a while.

Those who know and love me know that I continuously add more and more to my plate, figuring I'll either sink or swim and usually I manage to swim. But things are different this semester. I'm actually studying as students really should for the first time in my life, and I just can't swim anymore. I find myself in a position where there are few things that I can let go of. The only thing I was able to find to ease the pressure was to limit the amount of time I spend reading and answering emails (I must spend 2 or more hours a day answering emails) and writing.

Writing is in my soul. I don't know if I could stop if I wanted to. But I am able to slow down on the deadlines that I setup for myself and lower my own standards. I mean, who am I going to disappoint anyway. I will still write down my ideas and musings when time permits and the feeling moves me. But I won't be rewriting, revising, critiquing, submitting, etc. So free writing is okay but writing for others' enjoyment (Ha!) will just have to wait until this summer.

I'm really enjoying my French class, which may not be obvious since I'm complaining all of the time. It's exciting learning something new. I thrive on things that are difficult for me. I don't know if I like setting myself up for disappointment or if I just like surpassing my own expectations. My friends and family are so supportive. Encouragement, help, assistance is always flowing my way. I don't know what I did to be so lucky, but I'm grateful for you guys everyday.

In 2008 I took a chance in a part of my life that I gave up on a long time ago. And though it did not work out, in any sense of the word, the point is that I took a chance. After all of these years (yeah who's counting), I finally felt strong enough to put myself out there. As much as there was pain, it felt so good to feel again.

So I made a decision at the beginning of this month, to continue taking chances, to ignore the fear and focus on the possibilities. For once, I feel strong and capable and worthy of being the person that I know I can be. I'm looking forward to this journey and to what the new year will bring. I am secure and okay with the decisions that I have made. I chose this life, and I continue to choose it, each and every day.

Drink: Coke Zero
Quotes: "If at first you don't succeed try harder" and "If you do succeed, try something harder"
Music: Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
Dreaming of: Triple Choco Chip Cookie from Starbucks and Hot chocolate.

Question of the Day: If you could accomplish anything in 2009, whether it seems possible or impossible, what would it be?

To The New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and Happy Birthday, Stacey!! (My wonderful sister was born..ughh 21 ?...years ago today...lol)

I have been a bit off this past month as I needed some downtime. Chasing rainbows as I call it took a lot out of me. But I survived and will thrive because that's 'the way I roll.' But this year I will really try to keep up with the posting as I find it more theraputic then anything and I need to make it more constant.

I guess I should start with updates that I have left hanging in the wind:

Challenge Me: We had a scrapbooking meetup last weekend, where I chose a winning challenge from my previous Challenge Me! blog. I started on the project and should be completing it this weekend. The lucky winner will be chosen at that time and the prize distributed. So challengers, keep your fingers crossed.

Operation Get Stacey Reading Paranormal: Well she borrowed three books from my "library" and she managed to read all of the Twilight series. She's a vampire/werewolf addict at this time, and loves Twilight in general. (She now has the soundtrack and googles the books and movie for more information). My niece and I have created a monster, and we love it!! Welcome to my world, Stacey, where vampires, shapeshifters, witches, monsters etc., RULE! lol

Operation Studio: I have finished unloading the last (I think) of the boxes of clutter for separation and finding a home for everything. My new shelving unit rocks the house, and I wish I could have a room full. I'm currently working on my art journals and inspiration has struck to get some "inspiring" pieces for my room so that I can look at them and remember why I want to create and need a wonderful, clutter-free room to get it done. I plan on getting all my artsy-inclined friends to help me get some pieces so that when the room is finished I'll have the inspiration already waiting to be put up from people who inspire me every day.

Writing: I submitted a story this month. I critiqued a creative nonfiction piece and revamped a previous prose poem that I wrote in my creative writing class at the beginning of last year and made it into a short story piece. Those two pieces have been sent to my critiquers for review. I have compiled a list (30+ pages) of submission possibilities and have started a short story for one of the magazines on the list. So I have started the ball rolling toward my writing goals for 2009, which leads to my next update.

Writing Goals 2009: Finish, revise, and critique current novel, with the working title of Wolf Moon; send out at least one submission a month; write one new piece: poem, short story, exercise, etc., a week; attend writers’ conferences: Nola Stars, Jubilee, WGA, BWG; give an art journaling workshop; join an online critique group; try an unfamiliar genre; get published; stay in school - work toward that degree; art journal regularly; get organized in the submission process; stay on top of my tax deductions during the year; be on the lookout for all freelancing opportunities; and most importantly - WRITE MORE!

New Years Eve was a wonderful experience. I joined some friends for a night on the town to celebrate my friend Tanya's birthday (HAPPY BDAY!!) and the new year, complete with a limo to transport us from place to place so that we could "drink responsibly." It was a fun-filled night complete with thrills, chills, spills, and all kinds of stuff, including the best damn pizza I've ever eaten at 3am. lol (I have pics to share as my lovely camera suffered last night and the corpse may have to be buried this morning) but I'll get some posts in as soon as I get some pics from my friends.

I keep saying 2009 will be my year, and a tiny piece of my heart is crossing its fingers, pulling daisy petals, and wishing on shooting stars in hopes that it will be. Like any other year it will be filled with its ups and downs, which I will survive from either way because that's what we do. But I seriously need some happy moments this year.

In 2008 I stepped closer and closer to the person I used to be, joining with the person that I always thought I would be, mixed with the person that I am. I remember the girl I used to be, with all of her lovely flaws and gems, and I miss her. But she had to change, to grow, to become stronger, smarter, less naive. She lost parts of herself yet gained others. The parts that are integral to her true self were not lost completely I have found but merely hidden.

This past year I have managed to find some and merge those pieces of me with the person that I have become. It's a beautiful thing really. And I guess I needed those years in between of nothingness to gain the power and the desire to make the changes in my life that are making it all possible. I will continue to look for her, and I will continue to miss pieces of her for as long as I am able.

And it's the girl that I used to be that made me able to chase those rainbows this year. Though the ending did not come out to the fairytale that I had imagined in my heart, I found myself needing to go through with the whole process, excitement, fear, freaking out, ache, disappointment, happiness - because I had not let myself feel these kinds of things about the chase. So in 2009 I vow to continue chasing those rainbows because I won't find what I'm searching for hiding under a rock.

2009 Hopes:

I hope to have all of my friends, family, and loved ones with me throughout the year and beyond.
I hope you know how much your love, support, help, friendship, and beauty means to be.
I hope you get all of the things that you need in life.
I hope you have happiness in yourself and all that you do.
I hope that you find the thing that you love doing and make time to do it.

M

A Christmas Wish

I've been staying away from the computer lately. I tend to spend so much time on the Internet I never get anything done. So I had to put myself in Internet time-out for a while. I have found that there is life without the computer and it is so much easier to get things done now.

I am currently going through all of my scrapbooking, art journaling, writing supplies, etc. and organizing everything. My studio is starting to form and it will be beautiful when it's done (but the process for anything is that it gets messier before it gets better). So I'm in that super-messy stage. But I'm finding so many cool things that I bought (and I'm realizing where all my money went over the years (lol)).

For NaNoWriMo winners, the prize includes a free print copy of our NaNo story. So I'm working on that to get it ready by the due date so that I can get this crazy story (unedited and beautiful anyway) in print (good motivation to get some revising done.)

Yesterday I did some last minute shopping (the traffic was disgusting) including an (expensive) visit to Woven Treasures in Lake Charles. I ate lunch at one of my favorite Greek restaurants with my oldest friends, Crissy and Greg.

I find that there are times when I simply do not understand much of anything in life. Whatever is my purpose? I wonder. Or is it simply to take up space. Who knows? Probably none of us ever do. I guess others just have better things to do with their time then sit and analyze everything to death. But I find that sometimes I am tired of hopin' wishin' and dreamin' day in and day out.

Despite my doldrums, something remarkable happened. (This is not news to me for sure) I have the best friends and family in the world. They are so supportive and loving. I mean what more can a girl ask for?

My sis made me a fantastic Christmas present (and she just couldn't wait until Christmas to give it to me!! lol) She took my blog posts from day 1 until the end of November and copied my short story Heading Home and had a book published for me. So that I would remember how much they love me, support me, and are proud of me and my writing, and so that I did, in a sense, become published in 2008. I cry just thinking about it. My family rocks! (and are so much better than I deserve.) Because bad aunt that I am, I missed my nephew's last soccer game of the season because I was out chasing rainbows. Talk about make a person feel like a mess.

Had a girls day out today. Stacey, Lauren, Katie and I went to the movies - we saw TWILIGHT!!! Woohoo. It was great. So much better than I thought it would be. There are some parts that I would change to mirror that which was in the book, but you know Hollywood. It definitely makes me want to finish reading the series. I mean, I only have 1 book to go. So finish it already.

My niece and I are adamant that we will shift my sister's reading tastes to the paranormal. She left my house today with Christine Feehan's Shadow Game to let her dip her toe in. It's more scientific and not vampire/werewolf oriented so it may be just what we need to get her into viewing our kind of weird. lol. We shall see. (we'll have her hooked on vampires in no time!!)

The passage of time is usually never a beautiful thing in my life, but I find myself watching the calendar and anxiously awaiting the arrival of 2009. Hopefully the new year brings the end of constant disappointments and sadness. I pray that we are able to get through the tough times ahead. To my wonderful family and friends, I love you guys more than anything!

My wish: Keep my friends and family safe and happy this holiday season. Help us get through the troubles up ahead and let us always remember what really matters.

Have a safe and happy holiday to all!

Taking a Step Back

As the end of the month approaches with the NaNoWriMo Challenge due, 3 English papers due, and a newsletter due, I found myself a bit overwhelmed today. So I decided to take a step back from my life.

I threw my obligations into the (recently cleaned) backseat and opted to have a grand day filled with spur of the moment activities, like shopping at local flea markets, buying stuff for my new studio/workroom/writing room, visiting the local scrapbooking store which I never seem to find time to do, and watching a movie I purchased 3 months ago and never got around to opening much less watching, called Dedication, with Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore. (I'm a Mandy Moore movie-fanatic). He's a writer, she's an illustrator - really good!

Seeing Billy put me in the mood for another movie of his, so I pulled out one of my favorites, Stage Beauty. I started the day in a rut, depressed about a funeral I'll be attending this weekend, not wanting to write anymore, for my novel or my English class, and just in a general funk. (Wait! Me without words, (shudder); now what kind of world is that - a scary place for sure. But don't get too excited I can still manage to talk your ear off!)

Regardless, I made the best of it. And while the words were lost, I did the next best thing. Chin up with a smile, I escaped. And finding that escape I returned to my precious movies and found the passion and emotion that is missing in a lot of the movies that are made today.

I guess it's easier to show passion and emotion when you're quoting Shakespeare but Claire Danes and Billy Crudup really light up the screen, which is just what I needed right now. Because my character is headed for her onstage debut - which leads to her next BIG (hot) scene with the hero. Hmmmm. I should be able to breeze through 6000 words now!!!

Drinking: Coke Zero
Music: Sick Puppies - My World
Mood: Melancholy.

It's sad to see the heroes of our past fall. Rather than think of the recent situation - where I'm the hated black sheep of the family - I will remember us as we used to be. The family get togethers, crawfish boils, cousins everywhere, and the 6 men who stood strong as one family. I'll remember the man who came to the circus with us, who hung out with us, and who made us laugh. I'll remember the good days. Rest In Peace.