Be still like vegetables.

Is it over yet?

Thank the UNIVERSE!

I need some down time. It's time to lay like broccoli.

I don't think I've stopped moving since my son's birthday.

Busy...busy...busy.

Go...go...go...

1 birthday, 2 Thanksgivings, 1 village tree lighting, 1 holiday parade and 1 leftover day.

All wonderful but all exhausting.

The Wallington 10th Anniversary Holiday Parade was new for us this year. Our volunteer fire department decked out one of the engines in holiday lights...

...and drove down to NJ to enter the night parade. It was nuts. Almost 3 hours watching every shape and size emergency vehicle dressed up in lights and decorations rolling down the street with sirens and holiday music blaring. If you ever hear about one of these near you I highly recommend it!

I have been writing but I find when I write by hand in my notebook not only does my hand cramp but I also skimp on the details. I don't finish sentences. I don't add background. I barely tag the dialogue. It's just plain lazy! Typing this stuff onto the computer is going to take a long, long time. 

How was your holiday? Did you eat anything new and different this year? We could share recipes!

It's just the Tryptophan talking...

So I figure...this week...everyone has so much to do that no one will have time to read my blog let alone comment so I'm not going to post anything.

I mean after this.



Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Safe travels. 

Enjoy your day.

Eat, drink and be merry.

Remember to put out the cranberry sauce.

Don't argue at the dinner table.

Watch football or write!

Nap.

Don't forget the camera.


I'll see you all on the flip side.

And...Happy Birthday to my wonderful son, DJ, who turns six today!

I am thankful.

Hand...cramping...ouch...yeah!

I mentioned that I've been away from my laptop a lot lately.

So, I have been bringing work with me when I'm out.

Today I brought a notebook and some printed out pages from a short story I started about a girl on a motorcycle.

After reading through what I had I hand-wrote about 5 pages, front and back!

OWWWW!!

My hand still hurts from cramping up around the pen but I don't care. It was awesome to write.


I'm missing a lot of things going on right now out in the blog world. I feel bad. I'll try to get around to see some of you this weekend. Cause I miss you!


I am thankful for my cats. They are my fuzzy kids and mostly less annoying than the real one.


Have a great weekend.


Go FSU!
GO RU!

Blogging away from the laptop.

I'm sorry I'm not on my regular schedule right now. I have some family and work obligations to take care of and I haven't had time to post or write lately.

Hope you are all doing well.

Everyone ready for Thanksgiving?

I am thankful for my husband and son. One drives me crazy and one keeps me sane.

Thanks is never enough...

 

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

 

Local investments.

Let's face it...we're all broke.

Even if you make a lot of money you're still paying out more for the simple things than you ever have before so you're probably still broke. 

And Christmas is next month.

I'm not a religious person so I don't celebrate a religious Christmas.

I do celebrate the commercial side of Christmas.

More importantly I celebrate the wonderful traditions of Christmas. Family. Friends. Food. Love. Sharing. Food. Tree. Lights. Food.

To make a long story short...

The below post was floating around on Facebook today. It really struck a chord with me. Well, once I ignored all the blatant anti-foreign-country rants which I removed and only left the great ideas.

Since we are all broke and we still want to celebrate perhaps we could take some of these ideas and implement them this holiday season.

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift
certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or
motorcycle?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand lights for the house? If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

Do you celebrate Christmas?

Are you thinking about shopping locally this year?

We're what you call...experts.

Sometimes you just have to listen to the experts.

Readers.

This weekend I was fortunate enough to get to spend some face to face time with my 'editors'. 

It's one thing to send your words off to someone electronically and then they send it back electronically full of notes and ideas that you may or may not agree with.

It's another thing to actually talk about the book. Talk about the characters and find out what they like and what they don't like or don't find believable.

And to tell them what your thought process is to see if its coming across in your words.

I'm really lucky.

And now I have some serious work to do.

But that's okay.

Direction is good.


Thanksgiving is a little more than 2 weeks away. I thought it might be nice to talk about some of the things we are thankful for before things get to crazy with turkey and family and traveling and such.


I'm thankful for your support. I don't have a large group of friends IRL that I do things with or go places with.

Being a full time mom, a part time employee who works out of the house and a writer pretty much keep me in one spot.

Knowing that I can come to you guys for help or humor is great support that I can't live without.

So, thanks.

Anyone else want to share? If not today I will be bringing it up again this week!

This pretty much sums it all up for me...

Saw this on Facebook. Had to share.

This weekend should be full of manual labor as we try to clear our property, and that of my brother in NJ, of large broken tree limbs full of fall colored leaves.

Oh, and don't forget the time change this weekend. Well, for those of us who do that sort of antiquated thing.

The good news is that we gain an hour. The bad news is that we still do something so ancient.

Football should be good this weekend. FSU already played last night, and won, so now we just need to root for Rutgers on Saturday night!

On a final note...Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband on Sunday! Love you!


What are you guys up to this weekend?

Insecure turns to Inspiration!

Welcome to the next installment of Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group.

If you have been following my blog for any length of time you may have noticed that I like to do a little something called...Bitch & Moan.

It's like a disease.

Recently, I haven't been writing as much, mostly due to family obligations, but also because I had hit a wall and probably didn't want to admit it.

Not the kind of wall where you don't know what to write next but more of the wall where you wonder why you are writing at all.

Finally, I reminded myself to send it to my 'editors' to see if they even liked reading what I was writing.

What an ego boost that is!

The comments, questions and complaints are like crack!

It reminds me of a movie called Soapdish with Sally Field. When the long in the tooth soap opera actress gets depressed she goes to the mall and 'accidentally' gets recognized. Soon she is surrounded by adoring fans and signing autographs and kissing babies.

It's just the shot in the arm she needs to get back out there and prove her worth.

Seeing my story through another person's eyes is incredibly helpful. So many times I assume my concepts are getting across but that is not always the case. The feedback gives me new ideas and helps me flesh out the story. Find things that I missed or didn't even know were needed.

And now, I feel revived.

My tiny brain is again spinning the hamster wheel working on my story. My fingers may not be typing yet but I believe they soon will be.

So...thank you 'editors' (you know who you are)! Thank you for asking those questions and making those comments.

Thank you for saying 'I can't wait to read more!' so that I know I must continue and not give up!

I'm late...I'm late...for a very important date!

After a very long day out of the house yesterday I came home to find that the cable/phone/internet service had been restored!

We had lost those sometime on Saturday during the October snow storm. 

18+ inches of snow.

We were fortunate. We did not lose power or heat during the storm. I can't say the same for the rest of the tri-state area. For those unfamiliar with that term it's NY, NJ, CT.

We did lose a lot of branches, small and large, off of our maple trees. Again, we were fortunate that nothing hit our house.

I'll post some pictures shortly.

BUT!!!


Due to the lack of internet I was not able to post my 100 word story that I wrote for Tara Tyler Talks on Halloween!

 










So...better late than never...
------------------------------------ 
 

“I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“Really?” He moves close enough for me to see his pale blue eyes in the dim light of the hallway. “I believe in you.”

“You’re dead.”

“I am.”

I reach out to touch him. He’s solid. “You can’t be real.”

“Does it matter?”
“Of course it matters. Either ghosts do exist or my cheese has slipped off its cracker.”

“Maybe.”

“I buried you in this suit.” My body shivers. “Now what? Are you here to tell me something important? Finish your unfinished business?”

“I think I’m here to haunt you.”

“Why?”

“Because. You murdered me.”

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

As promised...

Bumble Bee!

That is is for now.

I'll be back tomorrow for the Insecure Writer's Support Group!

How was your Halloween?