Castle in the Clouds

Go to bed on time. Staying up late to watch movies is not good for you. Hitting the snooze button when you should be getting out of bed will make you late, especially if your hair dryer has DIED and you are using a fan to dry your hair in the morning.

This seems like a good place to start talking about our very busy vacation. We pulled into the campground on Sunday, which just so happened to be Father's Day. My hubby - the chef in the family - wanted to put on a fish fry. At first he thought it was just going to be the four of us and his mom and dad. I had other plans. I really needed my dad to be there, too. You'll see why in a minute! Hubby doing his thing. After we had finished eating the walleye he had caught earlier this spring (it was delicious), it was time for gifts. I passed out the cards and instructed them to open them at the same time. No waiting for the others. That would have totally ruined my surprise! Opening the cards...oh, the suspense. Will my dad be able to read his without his glasses? Yes! He could! This meant all three of them found out at the same time that I had gotten them Detroit Tiger's tickets. Even though I spent way more than I probably should have on the 8 tickets (four for me, th...

Dear Faithful Blog Reader: I'm sorry I went MIA on you. Was on vacation. Will write more when I have time. Hugs, Krista

I have a new deadline that I'm working toward. August 1st. I want to complete a long short story (20-30K) by then. It needs to be written, edited, and revised by the deadline because I'm going to actually try to get my writing into an anthology. I'll let you know how it goes. Right now I've got about 4 pages written.

Just for fun, I thought I'd contribute to Laura's What's Your Play? I pulled the photo into Photoshop, played with levels and curves, added some noise and a dark border. Here's what I ended up with:

Today Joely Sue Burkhart's Dear Sir, I'm Yours is being released by Samhain Publishing. I am so happy and excited for her. Way to go, Joely!

Ken and I have been talking about this for a few weeks now and I've made my decision. I am not going back to school in the Fall. I'm taking a break. Not quitting, mind you. Just taking a break. A much needed, well-deserved break. Remember my post about being burned out a week or so ago? Yeah. That's part of it. A big part. I've been in school for ten years. Almost eleven. I'm tired. Yet, I probably would have just taken this summer off and gone back in the Fall anyhow, but Ken thinks he wants to go on a bear hunt this year. This means he'd be gone for two weeks during the kids' football seasons. I'd have to either get out of class early in order to get them to practice on time, or I'd have to skip class altogether. Neither option really appeals to me. I don't like missing class. And, before you ask, there's really not an online class I need or want to take. So...I'm taking off Summer and Fall semesters. And I am so excited ...

We spent the weekend at a small campground not too far from home. Perhaps a half-hour drive, nothing more. Most of the sites were taken up by permanent residents, you know, the type of campers who really only like going to one campground and, therefore, pay by the year. However, there were a few open spots for the random guest. Lucky for us, the three other families we camped with were able to camp right next door. This makes bonfires so much easier! Of course, this campground also offered golfing and fishing. Yep, the golf course is attached to the campground, which is why it was selected in the first place. You see, this camping trip actually had a purpose other than a little bit of well-deserved R&R. We were there mainly in support of a benefit to raise money for a scholarship program put together in memory of a sweet 17-year-old girl who had been killed in a car accident a few years back. The scholarship goes to qualified applicants who are pursuing a job in special ed...

I've been waiting for this season of So You Think You Can Dance to start. I watched the show for the first time last year and fell in love with it. I was going to try to embed my favorite dance from last night, but YouTube doesn't have it uploaded yet. It was the Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover's Bollywood number. The costumes were awesome and her handstand was stunning! However, since I can't seem to find that performance, I thought I'd at least share a collection of one of my favorite dance genres. Hip hop.

Things have been happening. Lots of things. Yet, at the same time, they seem to just be the same things that are happening over and over and over again. First, there's school. Lots of reading and researching. I presented two papers in as many weeks. No wonder I felt as if my life had suddenly been taken over by library books and internet searches! When I wasn't trying to find info, I was writing the paper and preparing PowerPoint presentations. Oh, yes. Each paper had to be presented in class and since we all know I have the world's worst memory, I opted for visual prompts in the form of PowerPoint slides. There has also been a lot of reading going on. I think we're on our last book now, though, so all's good! Garden of Eden by Hemingway. I'm only two chapters in so far, but I can already see this one is going to be dealing with sexuality. A lot. Of course, I have to admit I was tempted to ignore Hemingway last night and indulge in Jacqueline Carey...

I haven't had much to say lately, have I? I don't think so either. The truth is I'm exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Exhausted. My mind feels as if its filled with gooey, sluggish molasses, each thought mired in a sticky swamp of uselessness. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel more inspired. More able. More energized.

I am so excited! I've been dying to get Final Fantasy on the PS3. Looks like my wish should come true this December.