Castle in the Clouds

Since it looks like the rain has no intention of going away, I have a feeling the kiddo won't have baseball practice tonight. This means I should be able to get some stuff done around the house. It also means I should be able to indulge in Alison Kent's new release, No Limits . Since school starts on Monday, I really want to indulge a little bit! Of course, there's pesky laundry that needs to be done. And, since it's the hubby's bowling night, I'll probably have to figure out something for dinner. Not that I'm opposed to cereal.

I'm trying to get a sense for what my blog readers enjoy reading most. Please indicate which type of post most appeals to you. Pictures Only Writing Updates Snippets Real Life Blathering Real Life Blathering with Pictures uggs

Final project has been turned in. For the next 6 days I am done with school. No homework, no deadlines. Of course, if I were smart, I'd probably start reading the Fitzgerald short stories and looking into my first presentation. But I never claimed to be smart. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've owned up to copious amounts of procrastination and laziness. Nope. I plan on avoiding anything that even resembles homework for the next few days. I'm going to finish Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and watch a lot of television. I'm going to indulge in a whole lot of nothing and I'm going to enjoy it!

I would love to make a few people I know watch this...

My weekend... I got 22 pages done and not a single one had anything to do a family vacation! I worked on whatever inspired me at that moment. It was liberating. I ate too much and had more than a few drinks Saturday night. We even managed to find a place to dance (no small thing when you're in the sticks!).

This is the reason I had to leave work today. As the doctor's office was already closed, we're going to have to wait for x-rays until tomorrow. For now, he's reclining against my headboard, munching on popcorn while his foot is being iced down. But, on a brighter note, this is what I found in the mailbox when I got home from the kidlet's school! Thanks to Alison Kent's twitter challenge, I got a free copy of her book, No Limits. Can't wait to dive right in. It's certainly good incentive to get my final paper done, don't you think? What a wonderful reward! Then there's Netflix. Oh, how I love Netflix. And last but not least, the pictures I ordered from Snapfish! I definitely have enough pictures to keep me busy this weekend while I'm off scrapbooking with friends and family.

These are my Dad's twelve grandchildren. Of the twelve, eleven of them are my mother's grandchildren. Of the twelve, ten of them are my nieces and nephews. Of the twelve, two of them are mine (the ones in the black jackets)

One final project to go. It shouldn't take that long. It shouldn't be difficult or contrary to write. I've done the research and have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do and where I'm going to go. Why, then, am I struggling to put the words on the paper? I told my husband yesterday that I have a habit of making things more difficult than they need to be. It's so annoying! I should be done with this project and basking in a few weeks of freedom already!

We're driving by the little country cemetery on our way home from Easter dinner Sunday and from the backseat of the car we hear: "That's where all the dead people live." Oh, Gage. That's almost as funny as your insistence that every deer in the world was a reindeer. I was sad to see that little Gage-ism disappear, which is why I recorded this one for prosperity.

Stumbled across this at Grammar Girl . Just had to share it with my handful of visitors.

Last night I drove through my old neighborhood. I caught a glimpse of the first house my husband and I had bought together; it still has the goose mailbox affixed to the front porch steps and I could see the fresh green sprouts of spring in the flower beds under the living room window. A couple minutes later I was paused a the stop light in front of the Kroger's we used to shop. It looked exactly the same. Even the parking lot had not changed - cracks and potholes aplenty. I don't normally have a reason to point my car in this direction. My daily work commute may whisk me by the old neighborhood, but the expressway leaves little time for reflection or even recognition. A quick glimpse of our old rooftop and siding is about as much as I ever see, and that's only if I'm paying attention. Last night, though, I had a reason to drive through this once familiar territory. A few weeks ago one of my instructors sent me an e-mail asking if I knew of anyone who might be in...

I put up a flash fiction piece over on Great Hites . You can either listen to the podcast or read the entries right there on the screen. Either way, your votes would be appreciated. And, no, you don't have to vote for me, although I would be tickled if you did! I know there are few writers who visit my blog. You should check out the weekly prompts to see if they spark off a short story! Jeff is always on the lookout for new talent.

20090404_3608 Originally uploaded by Krheiser I was going to post this yesterday, but either Blogger was being a pain again or my connection wasn't the best. Either way, late. Hope you had a great weekend and a very happy Easter.

School will be over in less than two weeks. I've got one major paper to put together, a few minor assignments to complete, and then I'm done! Done, done, done! Until Spring semester starts. Then I'll be reading lots of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Last night as I stood looking at the pile of short story collections and novels I'll be reading in the near future, I couldn't help thinking of my Grandpa and Grandma Spencer. I don't know why really, but I think they'd have been proud to see these books added to my ever-expanding library. These are books Grandpa would have had an opinion on, I'm sure. Grandma probably would have had one as well, but she'd have sat quietly and listened to Grandpa. Looking at those pile of books I wish my grandparents were still around. I wish I could sit down and talk to them about my reading experiences with Hemingway and Fitzgerald, that Grandpa and I could argue over our differences of opinions, of which I am sure ...

Here's the first chapter of the book I wrote about yesterday. Let me know what you think! Click here for the draft version of Chapter One of Endangering Destiny Oh, and I set this Scribd document to not show on the main Scribd page, so let me know if you have any problems accessing it. This is a first time attempt at using the private feature. Thanks!

I've been thinking about this on and off all weekend. Friday night I made it to my writer's group biweekly meeting. I took an old but persistant story with me to read. This particular idea has been with me in one form or another since 2002. (That's seven years. Yikes!) Considering the number of years it's been rolling around inside my skull, I'd really like to get the rough draft hammered out. I'd like to finish it! So I opened up the folder where I've stored all the bits and pieces. Research data, scene by scene outline, premise, character exercises, and several false starts. I probably have ten very different first chapters. I opened several of the false starts, debating on which one I should take. Finally I settled on the one that I thought did a fairly good job of introducing the worldbuilding I've done. Then I read. I got some great feedback. They brought up things I hadn't considered and should have, things I will be sure to incorpo...

Cash Originally uploaded by Krheiser

There are so many things I need to do, want to do, and should do. First and foremost, I need to get my act together and get some homework done. I'm almost done with Between the Flowers, but it's been slow going. Although it's not terrible, it's really not my kind of book. Too slow. Too descriptive. Too boring. After this book is done and returned to the library (thank goodness I didn't buy it!), I need to take a good long look at my final project. I hope I can finish it on time. I'm seriously worried that I may not be able to complete all the reading and research necessary for this particular assignment. That freaks me the hell out. I also need to go see my sister-in-law. I've been trying to give her some space because I know this surgery has been hell. I want to offer to take her kids for the night, but I know she's missed them and probably wants to spend time with them. Yet, I can't help thinking she needs rest and relaxation more than...