Working

I'm working on a section of Mist and Winter! I'm crazy. I'm tired. My whole day was blown by my kids.

Mike moved out and he wasn't the problem. I had about 40 phone calls all day long. Mostly from the other kids! It was insane. Then, I'd agreed to keep Sarah but since my whole day was shot, I kind of resented it. Oh, I'm not going into it all here. No sense in it now. I am on my way to bed. I just wanted to let you who are reading the two above works to know what to expect.

Thanks, Jilly for your comments. They are incentives to keep going. I really want the story arc completed so I can start editing it.

Eyes closing on their own. Nite!

Thinking and Thinking

I just been thinking. Hard. I'm thinking I want me a laptop. I'm wondering, too. I'm wondering if I should try and find me a good used one for now. I don't really have any money to spend on me but I really want to get one that I can carry with me and write. I spend my lunch hour reading mostly but I've decided if I could get a laptop I could spend it writing. I also want to be able to leave the house and go somewhere that no one would bother me. The library is one block from where I work. I could spend a couple of hours there in the study rooms they have writing.

I borrowed the office laptop when I went to the conference. It is a Gateway that is about five years old but it was really nice. Some keyboards are not very comfortable but this one was ok. But the end of the conference I'd decided I wouldn't mind a laptop.

I've been looking around the ads but at the moment, $500 looks like a small fortune. I have this nice new computer at home and I use it all the time. Jerry is at work often when I get home but one of the kids is apt to pop in unexpectedly. I've wished several times that I could just stay away from the house for a few hours. Since I love my being at home that's strange.

Anyway, I don't know where to start looking for used ones and not sure what I'd have to spend. I couldn't t be sure that it would be any good either, I guess. So maybe it isn't a good idea.

Your input is welcome.

I am going to bed I think. I'm tired. Got to go get Jerry from work first. Have a warm evening. It is cold here.

Rain and Other Calamities

My sister in Florida went to the hospital last night with chest pains. Her BP was 249 over something. I can never remember the bottom number! I was so stunned at the top one I forgot. She didn't have a heart attack but they kept her. Some of you may be on her contact list. She's Roselynn. They said she had too much stress in her life. Those of you who have read her blog know about the foster kids? Well, she also handles problems with our mother. I'd rather have five foster children. 'Nuff said.

My mother, as you know, is also in the hospital. The same one, in fact. She had surgery today on her shoulder and they removed the metal they had put in months ago. Roselyn said they had to because her body was rejecting it.

My uncle in Georgia fell last night an had to go to the ER. He got very ill at a dinner they attended and when he throws up he faints. He fainted in the parking lot and smacked his head. He just had cataract surgery last week so she was worried but he didn't injure that. Just his face and pride, I'm thinking. They had to call an ambulance for him and he was sent home around 3 a.m.

It isn't raining but it is colder than a well diggers ankles. I'm tired and just want some chocolate. Think I'll go get hot cocoa.

Another Prayer Request

Keep my mother in your prayers today. She is in the hospital after a fall and has contracted a staph infection. I'm 12 hours away and my younger sister is taking care of things down there.

You might pray for her, too. Our family is crazy and she doesn't really have any help there since our other sister lives here where I live. I should qualify that. The boys are crazy in my family.

You know, the infection is serious but I'm more concerned for her soul than anything else. I was praying last night for her but all I could pray about was her spiritual state. There is a long personal story here but because of the involvement of six other people, I can't go into it. Let's just say that when you live your life your way, at the end of the day, your way may not have been the right way. So pray for her.

In other news, my shoulder is really hurting today and so are my legs. Could be the weather. The shoulder hurts from the curve of my neck straight down my back to the left of my spine to just where my bra stars. I'm sure that's a muscle but the name escapes me for the moment. I'm getting a headache as a result of that. Oh well, nothing last forever, I guess. I have too many doctor appointments coming up to take off for another cervical block.l I'm really nervous about them anyway but I did feel wonderful for nearly a whole month.

So, pray for me, too.

I gotta run. Work is calling. Wonder if I could just hang up?

What a Crazy World!

I have discovered Pod-cast! Really. I've decided I want an iPod, something I have not, until now, found a logical use for. But I've been listening to a audio pod-cast on my computer at home and work. It is a fiction program much like an old radio show. Well, I downloaded iTunes so I could just download it and listen while doing other things.

What I discovered is that there are a lot of free pod-cast that are really good! I can learn any language I want! I can brush up on my two year college Spanish! For Free! There are several of actual old radio shows. I like listening to these at work. Relieves the monotony of some jobs.I could listen in my car if I had a way.... {smile}. So, thus is born my reevaluation of the iPod.

I don't listen to the radio at all in the car. We.. maybe once in awhile the Christian station or the oldies station but usually not. I do frequently listen to gospel CD's. And imagine when I discovered you can get pod-cast of Christian programs.

I was just browsing, minding my own business. There were some that looked interesting. Most are not of my faith but there were some I thought might be good, like a Bible reading every day. Or maybe the XXX Church? WHAT! XXX CHURCH! I went to the information page. Yep. XXX CHURCH! A Christian Porn pod-cast!

My initial reaction: AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My second reaction: OH MY GOD! I can't believe that!

My third reaction: I gotta blog this!

Come on! CHRISTIAN PORN! Lord have mercy the world is filled with people absolutely devoid of any brain at all. They are walking around with their heads filled with pus and absolutely no idea of how stupid they really are! I do not usually blast anyone here but there are some forms of idiocy that simply can't be ignored. They boggle the normal mind, astound the intelligent, and shock the sane.

Fourth reaction: DID I READ THAT CORRECTLY??? I don't know what sicko even imagined that there was such a thing. What cesspool did they come out of?

For those who do not know... pornography can't, by its very nature be Christian! It is anathema to Biblical principals as stated in the ONLY authorized Christian text - THE BIBLE. Obviously, the moron who started this pod-cast didn't read the directions. Someone give them a bottle of Ipecac and tell them it's koo-laid! Clean that sewer out!

I am SO offended by this and there is not a darn thing I can do. Welcome to America! No wonder God plans to blow the whole place up!

Oh yes He does. Revelations is pretty clear on that.

Whew! I think I got it all out but I'm still not sure! I may be back. Sorry, folks. . . . . . . . no, I'm not. People need to say something... LOUDLY!

Rain, Rain, Rain

And snow on the way. I suspect. It has rained for the last two days and my guess is that we will have ice next. We may even get a white Christmas if this continues!

Hope all of you are doing well. I'm still caught up in other things and my posts are BORING! Nothing really riveting to post about unless it is the weather. I saw on Jilly's blog that it was raining in England, too. Doesn't it always? Seems like it rains a lot there. I wonder if it is like Seattle here? I'll have to look at the Latitude and Longitude to see how it compares.

They say it always rains in Seattle too. One of my favorite songs growing up was a sung by Sammi Smith and called "Seattle". "The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle and the hills the greenest green, in Seattle." It made me want to go to Seattle!

Boy am I reaching!

I gotta get back to work. I just returned from lunch and had appointment all morning. Maybe catch up later.

Finding the Center

Alice sent me this this morning and I really enjoyed it. I hope you will, too.

It is a powerpoint presentation and you will need a viewer on your computer. For those of you who don't have a Powerpoint viewer, you can get a free PowerPoint viewer from Microsoft here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/CD010798701033.aspx Just select PowerPoint Viewer 2003 and follow the prompts to download. Then, select the attachment and it will open in the viewer.

The End of Winter

A List of Updates

My word count is still rising as I am trying to get as much of this novel down by midnight as possible. I am really going to finish one!! Really. I know the whole story and it is just a wild ride. I really want to sit down and do the edit in December.

I seem to be coming down with the sniffles.

I'm dreaming like crazy. I was almost tired this morning when I got up from the crazy dream I was having. Every since they did that cervical block I've been having vivid dreams that I can remember when I get up. As I mentioned before, I haven't done that in years.

I posted another chapter to the blog. Remember, after tonight, the blog closes to those of you with links. Let me know if you are still interested in reading to the end. I should be done with the basic story in a week or so. After that, it is closed until the final edit takes place. I can say there will be some changes in the final draft. I already am considering what these are.

My son will be laid off after Christmas. Please say a prayer for him to find another job soon. He has a wife and baby. They have housing assistance with utilities paid so they won't have to move back in but they still have to eat and buy baby things.

It is raining here and snow is expected tomorrow. We'll see. Unless we dip sharply below the freezing point tonight, I don't think it will stick as the ground has not frozen but it could get messy. I wouldn't mind a white Christmas since I'll be home that week and the kids will be here most of the time.

Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. I'm really so ecstatic about my book I can't shut up. I will thought.

Still Rising

As most of you know, I've reached the goal of NaNoWriMo. However, the word count is still going up. I have until the 30th to log in additional word count. Currently it stands at 51,321.

I'm getting the most recent chapters on the blog too. I have chapter 16 almost sorted out and someone is reading because the hit counter is moving up. There is still a large gap between 16 and the end chapter. The end chapters present a problem because they aren't numbered yet and they are only partially complete. I know the final scene but haven't written that part.

However, I will post them, in some form so the truly curious can see where it is intended to go. I can't stress enough that this is a FIRST draft and the final draft may look nothing like this. But I think the overall story is a good one. So, I feel good about it. I wasn't sure when I started it if I would.

I can finish with a smile and enjoy my weekend.

At the Inn

An 18th-century vagabond in England, exhausted and famished, came to a roadside inn with a sign reading, "George and the Dragon." He knocked.

The innkeeper's wife stuck her head out a window. "Could ye spare some victuals?" he asked.

The woman glanced at his shabby, dirty clothes. "No!" she shouted.

"Could I have a pint of ale?"

"No!" she shouted.

"Could I at least sleep in your stable?"

"No!" she shouted again.

The vagabond said, "Might I please..."

"What now?" the woman screeched, not allowing him to finish.

"D'ye suppose," he asked, "that I might have a word with George?"

Celebration Time

Finally, the 50,000 mark had been surpassed and I have my purple bar and my award certificate. I am so glad to be done with that stress! I finished around midnight last night. Finally, the bones of the novel is assembled and waiting to be fleshed out.

By finished, I only mean I met the minimum requirements. I am still working on it and adding to the word count. I have posted another chapter to the blog for those reading it. Jilly has left encouraging comments. And ask a good question. Can you take a shower here in the States if the power it off. Yes you can and a hot one if you have a gas hot water heater. But if you have an electric heater, once the hot water in the tank is used up, you won't get a hot shower until the power comes back on. It is the only reason I've kept a gas water heater this long. I had a gas stove for years but finally got an electric one. We've had power outages where we could cook and bathe, two of the most critical life requirements. Since we've had the electric stove we have had an outage once and could bathe but couldn't cook.

Anyway, I'll be posting all the scaffolding on the blog but remember as of the thirtieth I will be closing it to those I put on the email list. This is to protect the work. If you aren't done reading by then, just PM me and be sure I have a good address for you. That will give you an additional 30 days. It isn't really that long.

A Dixie Girl's Place - A House of Worship

Link
I posted this last year about this time, in honor of the holiday. It is a tongue in cheek bit of truth. So, I'm posting it again. Think about it carefully.

Tired Hands

I am so tired! My hands are just worn out. Folk, I only need 11,189 words to finish the word count. That is clearly manageable by Wednesday. Please God! {praying hands here}

I'm still working on the end chapters. They're good, I think. I'm on the edge of my seat!

I am also starving. I've had nothing since lunch and I want a cheeseburger in the worst way! Jerry will be home shortly and if I can convince him to go to Sonic, I'll have one.

You have all been scarce lately. I'm missed reading posts but I suppose unlike me, you all have lives outside of Multiply.

Of course, the only reason I'm on her so much lately is because I am chained to the desk for NaNo. I have to take a mental break here and there. I am actually considering a television show but I know if I do, I'm done for the night.

So, back to the mines for me. Keep cheering. It gives me momentum!

Dixie, In the Study, With the Keyboard

What a Saturday. I've gotten nothing done except banking stuff. I'm going to sit down soon and try writing but I've really at a point today where I just feel kind of like doing nothing. I won't of course. I have to much to do.

Anyone know a sure fire way to get rid of mice? I keep getting them and I just hate it. I don't know what I can do. I've done traps and they work fine but it seems the stream is unending.

I am going to bomb the house for bugs this weekend and then try and attack the next vermin. I have never had problems until last year and it is just so frustrating. I don't know what caused it or what to do to really stop it. I can't really afford extermination services but it may come to that. I have got to send Jerry under the house to see if he can find where they are coming in. There has to be a hole somewhere.

Off now to work on 50K!

What's The Good Word?

Over 35,000 of them. I'm actually typing the ending so I don't flub it. Once I get that done, I am going back and fill in the space between chapter 14 and the ending I'm writing. Makes sense to write what I've been give in case I lose it.You wouldn't believe how fast this stuff is coming at me. It is unreal. I love it when it is like this but I have to tell you it is also frustrating. Every interruption known to man happens when the muse is demanding my whole attention. The voices in your head are all clamoring to be heard and you are typing or writing as fast as you can and someone walks in. The voices scream "GET OUT!" but no one hears them but me. They keep telling their story and I'm trying to write it and listen to the real world. I've been here for four hours writing with no interruptions. My husband comes in and sits down and I actually had to tell him last night to leave! He does try and understand but I don't know if you can really, if you don't write like this. This is only once a year for 30 days. You'd think that as of the third year they'd get it.It's the problem I have writing at all. Everyone walks in and demands something. Well, tonight, I'm finished and going to bed. I feel very good about the word count. Tonight in four hours I wrote 3482 words. Since the 16ht I have written 14,486 words. THat is just amazing! The first 10 days of NaNo I did right at 15,000 words. I done nearly the same number of words in half the time. Whoa!I'll be back at it tomorrow. I'd love to have this done by Saturday night. I probably won't but I'd like it. Then, I could use the rest of the time to fill in some gaps. Ah well, I'll be happy to finish by the 30 with the required count!

A Little Gun History Lesson

My friend Alice will absolutely adore this post. It came in my email today and I quite agree with it. The facts can be checked if you are a dissenter. My experience is that those who want elimination of guns in the hands of citizens truly believe the criminals won't have them either and the world will be a safe place. That's hogwash.

Guns will never disappear. Maybe citizen owned guns will but not all the rest. The gun industry doesn't care who has guns. They prefer legal guns. They will keep making them and selling them to anyone who will buy them, whether the buyer is honest or dishonest. They don't card for integrity. And money is the number one cause of blindness in illegal trades such as gun running. Criminals don't usually buy their arsenals at Wal-mart or the local gun store. They have illegal sources to buy them in bulk form or they steal them.

So, this little lesson shows that kind of pacifist thinking for the foolhardiness it is.

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

------------------------------

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

---------------------------

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated

------------------------------

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

----------------------------

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

------------------------------

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

------------------------------

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

-----------------------------

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

------------------------------

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australian taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The first year results are now in:

Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent

Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent

Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!

It will never happen here? I bet the Aussies said that too! While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late! The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind him of this history lesson.

With Guns...........We Are "Citizens". Without Them........We Are "Subjects".

During W.W.II the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

Note: Admiral Yamamoto who crafted the attack on Pearl Harbor had attended Harvard U 1919-1921 & was Naval Attaché to the U. S. 1925-28. Most of our Navy was destroyed at Pearl Harbor & our Army had been deprived of funding & was ill prepared to defend the country.

It was reported that when asked why Japan did not follow up the Pearl Harbor attack with an invasion of the U. S. Mainland, his reply was that he had lived in the U. S. & knew that almost all households had guns.

If you value your freedom, Please spread this anti-gun control message to all your friends!

It is not the guns in the hands of honest, law abiding citizens that cause the problems.

An End in Sight

I got a comment from Alice on one of my last post, The Roar of Wind when I asked her if she had read The End of Winter. She responded:

No! I'm afraid to get into it and then have no ending....I hate this "cliff hanger" stuff...

NOOOOOOOOOOO DON'T KILL EVERYBODY IN MIST! That's a good tale, one you should attempt to have published! But gee whiz ma...when can I get more of the story? lolololol"

Well, as a comfort, I want to let her know I'm not killing everyone in Mist. Far from it. And I am finishing it. I've learned something from this NaNo as with previous ones. HOW TO END A STORY! I just have to sit down and write it through in 30 days! LOL.

The End of Winter has an ending. I am working on it now. I have about 9 days to finish it. I am going to do it. For once, I have an ending that is so clear and I am having more trouble keeping up with my thought than I am in getting them. It is uncanny but actually, when I think about it, it is exactly what used to happen to me when I wrote before I started having all this pain stuff. Anyway, THE END is in sight for this year's NaNo novel. Has it been 30 days already? And for you Alice, THE END will be coming for Mist. I hope by December 30! When NaNo is done, I will try and shoot for that date.

I'm nuts of course but I'll try it. {sigh} Really, seriously deranged.

The Roar of Wind

The sound you are hearing is the sound of the wind as it roars past me in my wake. It is deafening. I am really clocking some words, folks. I am almost to 30,000 since the woes of a few days ago.On the 15th I was just over 20,000 and today, I am only 1353 short of the goal for today of 30,006. For the 16th, 17th, and 18th I have a total word count of 7892. Remember the daily quota is 1667.

That tells you the story is happening now. And I know the ending. Came to me last night when my head hit my pillow. I tell you, it is so strange how it works sometimes. I was really cranking it out and knew I was heading in the right direction but had NO idea at midnight how this story would end. When the bedroom light went out moments later and I closed my eyes, the characters simply played it out for me as I lay there and watched. I was almost crying at one point because it was perfect! I can't wait to get it all down. And tonight I've been writing like a fiend.

The first several chapters may stink but these last ones, well, they are so much better that I feel terrific! Don't get me wrong. This is like building a house. What I have here is a the framing for the whole story.

God, I love this stuff! Purple bar, here I come! God willing and the computer don't die.

Home Again

You can see I'm back no and getting things decorated for the holidays... at least here on Multiply. The house not so much.

Still have a bit of a stomach problem but it seems to be getting better. I posted a video blog post today so you'll have to watch that boring piece of stuff to find out detail of the my trip. Maybe I'll do it again but not sure what I'd talk about.