The dreaded S word.........

I'm one of those weird people that likes snow. Honestly, I kid you not. When I woke up this morning to find a very thin blanket of snow, I felt giddy. For me, there is nothing better than curling up on the couch with a cup of tea and a book with the snow falling outside. I don't mind bundling up to go somewhere and I have a very extensive collection of hats and mittens. It makes me feel like a kid to walk outside with the snow falling and I guess I find as I get older there are less and less things that make me feel 6 again.

So while everyone else is bitching and complaining about the snow I'll be enjoying our wonderful Canadian winter.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a snow angel to make.

Healthly eating and chocolate: God help me!

I think between now and the New year, I need to stay away from stores. And TV. We're trying to eat healthy and I am convince it is nearly impossible to do it at this time of year. Especially if you are like me and your weakness is chocolate and sweets.

Toblerone, Lindt, Turtles....... I swear to God I could live off these three and be quite happy. Of course I'd weigh about 600 pounds and be as unhealthy as Hell. But my taste buds would be in Nirvana.

I'm going to try something new this year, since I know %100 abstinence from chocolate will be impossible. Moderation. See you can treat yourself every once in a while to a small about of something not good for you. It's when it becomes a daily occurrence that you run into problems.

So this holiday season I'll have a little bit of chocolate here and a little bit of chocolate there. Except Christmas Eve. Sorry but all bets are off then.

The joy of gift cards

Normally around this time of year all I think about is Christmas gifts. I plan and re plan my budget and what I am going to get everyone. I also have to come up with my own list of what I want to give to my husband and parents. This stresses me out and quite often on Christmas Eve I find myself wrapping furiously and trying to remember when I put the gifts I had wrapped in October.

This year I thought I'd try something different: not letting Christmas stress me out. My plan involves gift cards and gift bags. You see, everyone on my list this year is getting a gift card. And I'm popping it in a gift bag. Merry Christmas to me. I'm also asking for gift cards so I can get stuff I really want and even some stuff that I need.

Imagine a Christmas where you don't end up with three pairs of reindeer slippers and enough body wash to clean a small country. It is possible.

Christmas Craft Fairs and Devil Ladies

Every year around this time there is a plethora of Christmas Craft Fairs. Every year we go to about four of them, trolling mostly for candles and fudge. Oh, we also make fun (politely away from the person, of course) of some of the cheesy crafts that are being sold. I know, it's mean, but it's oh so fun!

So far this year we've been to two: one was super crappy and the other one wasn't too bad.

The first one said it was a craft fair but it was mostly pre-made mass production crap that looked like it could be purchased through an infomercial. The only saving grace of the afternoon was the cheesecake.

The second one was much more crafty and this year I ran into an old friend from high school who has her own jewelery company, Knotty Handscapes. And I have to say, she has the nicest jewelery we've seen so far this Christmas season. I even bough a piece and she is going to help Jason as he embarks on his jewelery making career. We even managed to chat with her for a few seconds before being pushed on to the next booth by a throng of Devil Ladies and strollers. Really, you know it's going to be jam packed, was there a need to bring the twins in their double stroller?

Next week end is the one we've been looking forward to: The PEI Crafts Council at the Confed Center. Our friend Candy, who owns and runs Sweet and Sour Gargoyles is going to be there along with other top quality artisans. And this year we might even be able to afford a piece or two.

The cutest laptop ever!

While Jason and I were looking for a laptop for Mom, I came across quite possibly the cutest little laptop I've ever seen. About the size of a book, the screen is only 8 inches and it weighs a bit over 2 pounds. And at 300 bucks it was actually something we could afford.

So, I bought it! I'm going to pick it up this evening and I can't wait. My laptop bit the bullet about two months ago and I have been looking for an affordable solution.

My Asus eee is blue and I think I'll call her Betty.

Brain farts and other important moments

So, I know what I want to write for NaNoWriMo. A weird, wacky YA supernatural story. I started writing it, but was having a hard time because I had no idea what was going to happen in said weird, wacky YA supernatural story. I new I needed a big bad and a group of kids to stop it. Beyond that, nada, making it kinda hard to write.

Hit with a massive headache last night I headed to bed. Five hours later I was still awake and trying to figure out what to write about. Finally, around 4 am I started to drift off to sleep only to be awaken by my big bad, who was going to defeat it and why. It all kinda came out at once and I had my story. I scribbled it all down and went back to bed.

Now to write the damn thing.

NaNoWriMo and B12

So, I though all summer I was being a total lazy ass. I had no ambition and was only doing writing that was required, ie. deadlined paid writing. I was sleeping all the time and felt like crap. Figured maybe I was in some kind of a depression.
Then I did the smartest thing I have done in a long time: I went to see a naturopath. First thing she did was order blood work and guess what? I'm not lazy, just a bit anemic. Okay, a lot anemic.
See, there's this thing called B12 and it's wonderful.. it helps with energy, mood, though process, metabolism, anxiety and a shitload of other great things. In order for it to help, you need to have a range of between 400 and 800. Well, mine was at 100. And I went from being crazy to being deficient. My iron was also low and the two combined meant I was anemic.
I'm on supplements and slowly getting my energy up. Which means I'm back to writing. And in a big way.
November is National Novel Writing Month, something we writers like to call NaNowWriMo. Basically every November we hunker down and write a 50,000 word novel. I did this in 2006 and am attempting to do it again this year.
Crazy, I know. But so much fun.

Still here, somewhere

Well, it's been almost two months since I've written. I really don't have any good excuses for the lapse except that I hate summer, had a particularly crappy one and got a bit lazy. There were contracts lost, pets dying and stairs to fall down. But now that we are more than halfway through August I can sigh in relief and look forward to warm blankets and fuzzy sweaters.
And I've decided after almost two years of staring at my manuscript I'm just going to go ahead and edit it! One page at a time, right?

Chin up.

So, I am having one Hell of a time finding writing jobs. I have a couple but I'd really like to get a few more to up my income. And out of the ones I have, only one is a regular gig. I'm at the point right now where I'm finding it hard to keep my chin up and to keep plugging away.
I'm also finding that this is having an impact on the quality and the amount that I write. When I feel crappy, I don't want to write. I have to keep writing to get the jobs. When I don't get a job, I feel crappy. See the problem.
I guess for now i'll just take a deep breath and keep writing. It's all I can do, right?

Summer shmummer

Okay, I'm going to get this out in the open: I friggin' HATE the Summer. I hate the sun (I burn), I hate the heat (I sweat), and I hate the bugs (I swell). I don't enjoy the beach and I'm not one to sit in the sun and bake myself. In the Summer you can find me hiding out in my apartment in front of an army of fans, to Hell with the utility bill.

I don't understand people who go on and on about what a 'gorgeous day' it is when it is 26 degrees out with the humidity making it feel more like 35. I literally wilt in the Summer. I'm sweaty all the time and take about three cold showers a day. My hair looks like crap because it never fully dries and frizzes to about three times the size of my head.

So, if you see me coming, please do not gush about how much you love the Summer and how nice it is that it's hot. Because if I can muster up the energy, I'm gonna smack you upside the head.

An old friend lost, a new one found

Sadly, my hubby and I had to make the decision last week to put one of our birds to sleep. Russell Crow was a wee bit older than we thought he was. He had him pegged at around 5 when in reality he was closer to 12. He was dying of old age, and as we are all about quality over quantity, we decided to let him die with a bit of dignity.

Enter Ciaran. Ciaran is a 5 week old rescued crow that is as sweet as the dickens. He's still being hand fed, even though I caught him eating on his own a few times. He generally hands out next to my desk on the back of the couch playing and watching me write. Every once in a while he'll hop down onto my desk to help me work, which basically means he tries to eat everything in sight, especially my escape button. He loves pens and I believe there are currently about 8 on the floor behind the couch.

He hates being put in his house and I have to cover him so he doesn't flail around like a twit. I have a super big cage on order for him, so hopefully he'll like it when it comes.

He in no way replaces Russell. That's not what we are about. But we believe in providing a home for as many rescued animals as we can. Right now we are at our maximum, so when one of our babies passes on, we open our home to another.

it is June isn't it?

Okay someone needs to tell Mother Nature that it’s halfway through June already! Enough with the cold. I don’t know where you are, but here it’s freezing! I mean, windy and around 4 degrees out. And it’s June! I went out earlier with a jacket and sweater on. This week end last year I was getting married and it was about 25 out. This year I feel a bit bad for any brides who are taking out door pics today.

I'm Still Standing...kinda

I know, I know, I kinda dropped off the face of the earth for a while. Lets just call it Spring Fever. Or a sinus infection combined with a stomach bug. No, Spring Fever sounds much more exotic. And slightly naughty.

So I am on week three of the exercise and I have to say, I'm not seeing a whole lot of change. The program I am following is all about building muscle so I can't really go by my weight, as muscle weighs more that fat. But my clothes don't seem to be fitting any better either. I am hoping that when Jason gets home Monday (YAY!) he'll notice a difference in me. If not? Well I either need to step it up or go back to the couch and eat some chocolate.

After about 6 weeks freelancing I finally landed a second gig writing on line ad content for a British marketing company. I'm excited. The more money I can bring in, the sooner we can buy our house.

Speaking of which, we're going to look at some properties when Jason is home. I'll let you know how it goes.

Well, I have officially been working out for a week now. Yay! It's been hard, and today I just didn't feel like going to the gym. But I forced myself and while I didn't feel great afterwards, I felt satisfied that I had gone.
But I have to admit, I kinda hurt everywhere. My legs, my arms, and hey I have abs under the fat! How do I know? Because they friggin' hurt.

I'll Procrastinate Tomorrow.....

So I have been having a Hell of a time getting motivated this past week. I do my to-do list and then I ignore it. I think about writing and then I don't. I organize my books then don't crack open one. I find myself in front of the TV a lot watching nothing. And it's no mystery why. I'm like this every time Jason heads back out West. The first 7 or so days I feel like I'm in the twilight zone and don't know what to do with myself. Today I actually got 7 out of 15 required blog articles done. And I did 3 yesterday so I'm slowly snapping out of it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get even more writing done. Hard to call yourself a writer if you don't write.

Sparkling Water why have tho forsaken me?

I love sparkling water and I always have. When I was younger anytime we headed across to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick I would never buy canned pop. Why bother when I could get the bottled stuff at home? But there was no sparkling water on PEI. Anywhere. So I’d always load up on that.
When they made the decision to sell canned and plastic bottles on PEI I jumped for joy not because I had a fetish for cans, but because finally my precious sparkling water would be sold here. No more rationing it out. If I wanted some all I had to do was hop in the car and drive to Sobey’s. Or so I thought.
I refuse to eat or drink anything with aspartame or sucralose in it. Both are poisons linked to a slew of medical problems. No thank you. But it seems that that is all they put in sparkling water now. Which sucks for me. I hunted high and low last night for sparkling water without artificial sweeter. See, I’d rather be over weight than embalmed with chemicals. I finally found one lone bottle of peach flavor at Shoppers. I gleefully snatched it up and took it home with me. Now I just have to make it last. Cuz God knows when I’ll hit the Mainland again.

Cancer sucks

Say it with me. Puff out your chest and scream it as loud as you can. Whisper it if you want to. But say it, verbalize it with me. On the count of three. One, two, three: CANCER SUCKS!
If cancer were a person, I’d kick it in the shin. I’d spit on it. I’d give it the biggest wedgie ever. I’d make sure no one played with it and that it never got invited to any parties. I’d make it my mission to make cancer’s life miserable.
In the past two years my husband has lost four family members to cancer: his mom, two uncles, and most recently his maternal grandmother. He also has an aunt battling cancer. On the 7th of this month we got the call that his grandmother was near the end. So Jason flew home from Alberta on the 8th. His grandmother hung on until the 16th. We kept constant vigil over her, only leaving the hospital to rush to Wal-Mart and buy new clothes. We slept in the room or in the TV lounge. We sponge bathed in the washroom. We sat around with aunts and uncles and reminisced and got to know his grandmother a bit better. We cried when she finally passed, but we were relieved also. Cancer no longer had her.
Cancer has been a constant in our life. An unwanted friend who just shows up even though no one wants them around. The drunk uncle falling into the tree at the family Christmas party. The guy on the subway who stares at your boobs.
So every day from now on I’ll wake up and be glad that I did. And I’ll say my own little mantra, cancer sucks, taking away a bit of power from it. Making it a little less scary.

Would you like some honesty with that spam?

Okay, today I have to bitch just a little bit about something I'm running into when applying for writing contracts: scams. It's frustrating and I just want to grab a hold of the people running them and beat them over the head with my Webster's Thesaurus. Usually when you read the advertisement for freelance writing gigs you can weed out the ones that are just looking for you to do some free work for them. But Monday I applied for a job for an on line car magazine. A few hours later I got an answer back stating they LOVED my work and could I go to their website and fill out an application? Now, this is an actual legitimate thing and I've had to do it a few times when applying for other contracts. But when I went to the link I was sent to, I was redirected to a sales page about downloading a tool to add "bling" to my toolbar. At first I was confused. Then I was mad. I mean, it doesn't take hours and hours to applying for a contract, but it does take some time and thought. I have to word my cover letter and decide what writing samples to send. And besides, it's just wrong. A few others were taken in by this too, being directed to different sites. I figure buddy was doing two things: one, collecting emails for further spamming and two, getting paid for redirecting folks to various sites. So while I was wasting my time applying, time I could have been writing, I was making him some money. And the kicker? When I emailed him about the job I had to jump through hoops to prove that I wasn't spamming the account. Now how's that for ironic?

Will write for food

So, I went to the gym yesterday. Yay for me! Of course, being me I did the usual and started off way to hard: 20 minutes of cardio and an hour long strengthening class. Felt tired and sweaty but great after. This morning in bed I went to turn over and the pain in my arms woke me up. Quikcly followed by the pain in my neck, legs, tummy, back and bum. I guess it's what you would call a "good" pain. Uh huh. So I think maybe I'll go a little slower and skip today's planned hour on the eliptical machine. Maybe a walk will do.
After being unemployed for several months,and desperately not wanting to get back into customer service, my loving husband had a suggestion: why don't I write? I was like, okay, but I'd like to make some money. And that was when he introduced me to the wonderful world of freelance writing. I figured what the heck? I did some research and started applying on the 30th of April. I was aiming at my first contract in the first two weeks. Well, I was up and writing by the 1st of May. It's not a huge amount of writing or money, but with one more contract like this, I will be making what I was when I left retail. And that's pretty sweet. Plus, every penny I make puts us closer to Jason not working out West anymore and us in our very own home. Plus, I love it. So far anyway. I'll keep you updated.

False positives and sore boobs

So, you may have noticed I was gone for a few days. Kinda weird to start a blog then stop writing after two days, eh? Well I received a nice little email from the fine folks at blogger.com letting me know that I had been shut down on suspicion of spam. Well, I was a bit confused to say the least. So I did some reading and it seems their spam "robot" (their words not mine) sometimes flags real blogs as spam. It's called a "false postive". How cute. Anyway, I emailed them that I was a real person and back up I am. 'Nuff said.

So, I joined a gym. Again. I swear, this time I'm actually going to go more than twice. I have an appointment this morning with the trainer so that I can get a program set up without killing myself. See I tried running a couple of months ago and dicovered somethting very important: fat girls shouldn't run. Along with the sore boobs, I ended up running too hard and pulling the tendons in both knees. Not fun when you live in a basement apartment. Anyhoo, I decided I do need to get in shape and lose some weight ( okay ALOT of weight) so to the gym I go. I'm letting you guys know this because I figure the more people I tell, the guiltier I'll feel if I crap out and stop going, right? Or else I'll finally learn how to lie well.

Canned pop and the end of the world

Okay, so the big day is fast approaching. The day most Islanders have been waiting for. Canned pop is arriving. Yes, folks, canned pop. Now, I'm not a big pop drinker, so I wasn't all whoohooo! when the announcement was made that yes, we would be getting canned carbonated beverages back on PEI. But some people were estatic. Giddy even. Yet others have been bitching non stop about the demise of the glass bottle. Why the big hoopla? The environmental implications? Well some folks are concerned that most of the cans will end up in the trash. The measly five cent return on a can? This is being touted as the reason the cans may end up in the trash. The new deposit cost on other beverages like bottle water? Some people are upset, but hey, I like my tap water. But the real stink, my friends, is over taste. Some folks absolutely HATE the taste of canned pop. Others love it. Personally, I'm a bit curious as to how they'd do in a blind taste test. See, it's all about mind over matter. You think canned pop tastes funny, therefore it does. Here's an example: the first time I went to make chili for my husband, then my boyfriend, he was very clear that it had to be made with "real" beans. By this he meant beans in a bag, soaked over night, and cooked for about 6 days. Now, most of my cooking involves the microwave, so this whole bean thing was a bit of a piss off. But love is stupid so I followed his directions. He loved the chili of course. He also loved the chili the next two times I made it. With canned beans. Oh the trickery. I had previously learned this little lesson and felt I had to pass it on to him. Plus, soaking and cooking food? No freakin' way.
As for my mind over matter taste test, it was served on a pile of fries by my mother. I was a Heinz ketchup girl when I was younger and wouldn't eat any other kind. After I went away to university and complained about the cost of dear old Heinz, my Mom 'fessed up that I had been having no name ketchup for years. She just poured it into a Heinz kethup bottle when I wasn't home. Mind over matter. So you see, bottled or canned, it's still pop. And it's still bad for you. So skip it and have a big ole glas of tap water. You'll thank me later.

Miley Cyrus- new porn star?

Okay, like everyone else I feel the need to weigh in on the big Miley "scandal". Have you heard? She showed her back in a photo! Gasp! How dare she? I mean, she's only fifteen! No one needed to know what her back looked like. What a little tramp. Now tweens all over the world are going to become hookers and teen moms. Seriously folks, I see more skin when I drive by the junior high bus stop in the mornings. But Disney and parents all over the world are up in arms over this picture. Miley herself has put out a public apology and said she was "embarrassed" by the picture. Know what Miley, honey? You ain't got a thing to be embarassed about, except maybe the fact that Disney is running your life. The picture is beautiful, not trashy, and shame on the media for making such a big whoop over nothing. In comparison to some of the moves other poplets have been making of late, Miley's picture should never have even been a blimp on the scandal radar. But it was. And do you wanna know why? Because the media has been holding their breath for the last year or two waiting for Miss Cyrus to goof up. And according to them, she did. Big deal. She's fifteen. Of course she's going to screw up. And hey, if a picture showing her shoulders and back is the worst that she does, I applaud her.

Inside my head - a scary place

It seems everybody has a blog these days, so I thought, what the Hell? I mean, I already have the book blog, although I seem to be a bit behind in my reviews. But I felt I needed a place to just, well, spew forth some of the crap that goes on in my head. Don't worry, it isn't all that scary. At least most of the time.