Isn’t it lovely? I adore that bathing beauty stamp. I may have to get that for myself!

Some quick updates:

Writing update:

I’ve kind of put off writing because of some other things going on. I finished judging the entries I got from the Get Your Stiletto in the Door contest. I wanted to get them all done before the cruise so it wasn’t hanging over my head.

I’ve dug out an old story about a woman with three children whose husband was a hostage in the Middle East for three years and was just released to come home to a life that is very different from the one he left. The version I have now is very Catholic and while I’ve been hoping to get something ready to send to one of the conventional publishers, I think I want to finish this one the way it is and send it to Wings. Until someone is willing to publish Catholic romances, I guess I’ll have to keep writing those for small presses.

Today, between doctor appointments, I’m going to work on the workshops for the cruise.

Weight loss update:

Or should I say weight gain update. Yes, I was up 1.6 this week at my weigh-in. I had a long cry about it when I got home, and yes, I yelled at God about it. I know what I need to do, but I get discouraged at the idea that I’ll have to spend the rest of my life eating only fruits and vegetables, without treats. AND with the cruise next week, I don’t foresee my next weigh in being any better. Next week the topic is how we’re not our weight and I’ll miss it. That’s the one I need1

Sewing/craft update:

I finished a skirt and a pair of pants for the cruise. The pants are a little loose, but the elastic is sewn in so I can’t really fix them. The good part is I have another pair cut from that same pattern and now I know to cut the elastic a little smaller. I have another skirt done,but it needs to be hemmed. I will try to do that today.

I have been cleaning up the rec room/craft area because a friend from church who is a rubber stamper, too, is coming over to hang out for a while tomorrow.

General life update:

The Boy is going through a very rebellious, contentious stage. He throws a temper tantrum, complete with screaming and crying if he doesn’t get his own way. I’m trying to stay calm when these things happen. Yesterday I did pretty well. I firmly told him to go to the bedroom if he wasn’t going to stop fussing and crying. Of course he said no and we had a little bit of a chase around the living room, but eventually I got him “herded” (walking with me close behind him) to the bedroom. I got him on his bed and told him to stay there. He fought a little and I took two of his stuffed animals away. They were actually The Girl’s, but he and I’d collected all the animals in the house in our room for a party over the weekend. I left the room when he was “settled” on the bed, and set the timer for five minutes. He began to scream at me, and I went back in for a little talk. Came out again, and reset the timer. After about three minutes, I heard something hit the adjoining wall between the bedroom and the rec room. I went in to see what he’d thrown – a printer cartridge for a printer that doesn’t work anymore. I took his favorite stuffed animal and put it on a high shelf in the closet, told him he was to stay on that bed until I got back and if he threw anything again he’d lose more toys.

He made it through the next five minutes, but he acted up again after Daddy got home and got a time out again.

I just PRAY that this phase ends soon.

Last night I finished up the Valentine’s for the Boy to take to school. I’m very pleased at the way it turned out, and the teacher who let him out of the car said it was very cute.

Of course, the Girl saw me finishing up last night and decided that she needed seven of them for her friends. Fortunately, I had a few extra envelopes already stamped and some extra of the white squares already cut and run through my Xyron, so it didn’t take me long. Hershey’s minatures are tucked inside each one. Just sending my child to school with this cool hand stamped project made me feel like a great mom!

PERSONAL UPDATE:

We had a stinky weekend. Even DH said, “Well, I have a week at work to rest up from the weekend.”

Let’s see, Sat. the Girl and I went to the mall to look for a new printer. Mine has decided to print lines of text over one another. It doesn’t feed the paper smoothly. I have a $50 Sears gift card from Christmas and DH said I should be able to get a basic, decent printer for that price. Well, Sears only had 3 (not three brands – three printers) and they were all either over $150 or photo printers or both.

We walked around the mall a bit with my 17 year old telling me how she NEEDS new clothes. Her mother can’t remember when she bought something new for herself, but we buy t-shirts at Hot Topic about once a month when she likes a new band. Also, since she’s saving for a trip to PA, she can’t spend her own money on the clothes. Saving means spending Mom and Dad’s money instead.

We looked at the bookstore, which always leaves me feeling unsettled because books are being written without me.

We were going to go to a Mardi Gras parade that evening, but when DH and I told the Girl we were going to confession, she was in too much pain from menstrual cramps she couldn’t watch the Boy. DH told her that if she was well enough to go to the mall and well enough to go to a parade, she should be well enough to watch Noah for 1/2 hour. But when she complained he canceled the parade.

Around 7 that night, I remembered that I’d dropped off an Rx to be filled and I needed the pills that night, so DH and I jumped in the car only to find that the drug store was open but the pharmacy closed right before we got there. My pills (including the unempty bottle I’d dropped off) were locked inside the pharmacy and even the manager couldn’t open it. The people there were less than helpful. “sorry, too bad, can’t call anyone, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.” We tried to tell them these were immunosuppressants and I HAD to take them. “sorry, too bad, can’t call anyone, maybe try a different store.” DH was so upset he was yelling and telling them this was unacceptable. What if it were heart medicine or something life threatening. He told them he was changing pharmacies. “okay.”

We went to another Rite Aid, but they were closed, too. We decided to go to the ER and see if we could get the dose I needed for that night. Well, of course, it’s not a drug they keep in the ER so they had to see if the hosptial pharmacy had it, but then that was closed. What ended up happening, and by this time I wanted them to check DH’s BP!!!, was that they took me into an exam room! I was getting a little ticked and said that I wanted to just go home and wait until tomorrow. I wouldn’t die! The doctor finally came in, listened to my heart and our story and took probably 20 minutes to write out the RX for THREE STUPID PILLS! I think he was worried I was some kind of junkie looking to score. Like junkies ask for three 250 mg tablets of CellCept for crying out loud. We found a 24 hour pharmacy that we will be using from now on.

Sunday morning DH went to get my Rx and told the Rite Aid pharmacist about it. She said there is a 24 hour Rite Aid that could have helped us. DH said it would have been nice if the manager knew that. The manager came by and said, “I tried to tell you that but you were running off at the mouth.” I never heard anything like that from this woman.

WRITING UPDATE:

I worked on Gingerbread Hearts a bit at bowling practice yesterday, and I’m taking two online classes, one on revising and one on breaking into Harlequin/Silhouette

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I have an idea for a YA that is flitting around my thoughts.That would be fun to do.

Sword & Illusion continues in the editing process. I’m on Chapter Twelve. I would love to get this completely finished and sent to Wings before school is out. I was looking at March, but I’m not sure now.

Here’s one I made for my son. I’m going to make little Valentine’s Day gifts for each of this classmates and I think this will cute for him to carry them in. The tag has two stamps – one is a swirly lollipop with “Sweet Stuff” under it. The other says “Nothing’s better than a good friend with chocolate.” Both are Stampin’ Up! stamps. I’ll scan and show you the gifts I make for the class.

This care is one I made just for fun, but decided to send it to a friend in PA, Karin, who’s been going through a tough time with her husband who is probably going back to Iraq. The word stamp is the same as the one above. The cup of hot chocolate and the marshmallows is from the same set, Like it a Latte. The butterfly is from a SU! hostess set called Reason to Smile.

This card is made with the Reason to Smile set only. It’s for a card swap I’m taking part in.