Ready for the weekend...

I am so ready for the weekend. All the kids are gone and it's just me and Trish. I have so much I need to get done this weekend. Dani's graduation/birthday party. Getting Ashley's room ready. Writing. Ravishing Trish. Writing. More ravishing. More writing, well, you get the picture.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

American Idol Final...

There was an upset on the show last night. Lee De Wyze won. He's good, but I was voting for Crystal Bowersox to win it. I know they both will be making LOTS of records, so I look forward to hearing them in the future.

I downloaded all the GLEE music yesterday. Love that show, and it's good to write to.

In my opinion...

After watching American Idol last night, it is my opinion that Crystal Bowersox is our next American Idol. Lee De Wyze is good, but he was "animated" on stage last night. I think his nerves prevented him from performing to his best.

I know how he feels. When I went and spoke with Cherry at the writers conference, I wanted to throw up, both before, during, and afterwards. By the look on his face, he probably had a bucket waiting off stage.

I think the only way Lee is going to pull it off and be the winner is if all the teenage/young girls gather enough votes. That's the only way he will make it.

And what's up with Simon Cowel? They announced it last night that he was leaving the show. I hadn't heard anything at all this season. I read online that he is having a rivalry with Simon Fuller the producer. I don't know if it will be the same show without him. I know the judges really don't do anything but bring us the final 20 people or so for the live shows and critique the performers each week, but I really do think their comments actually sway some voters on how they will vote.

Yes, I will watch next year if it's on. I wonder who they will pick to replace him. I'm still not sure about Ellen. Her comments just mirror either Randy's or Kara's. She really don't seem to have much of a voice of her own. Perhaps with Simon gone, she will become a better judge. I think part of it is because she wasn't with them on the road helping choose the contestants.

First Summer Holiday...

I haven't posted in a couple of days. We have been busy preparing for Ashley to move back, get our cars fixed, Dani's birthday, and Dani's graduation. Then we also have Memorial Day. So much going on in our personal lives, not to mention work.

Had to push up my schedule at work to get settlement completed for the upcoming holiday. Since we will not be working that day, even next week is going to be fast.

While going to Tulsa yesterday, yes it was Monday, I actually think I got my story all completed. I found the hook I have been searching for that can tie everything together and move it on towards a new level. It will even open more doors to sequels. Very excited about that and hope, no I will, set some time aside this weekend to do some major writing.

American Idol is on tonight. It's going to be very difficult to predict who will be the winner. Both Lee and Crystal are very good. Lee has progressed throughout the season and has become competition for Crystal, who I'm sure everyone will agree that they predicted she would win from the start of the season.

I wish them both good luck tonight on the live show. We will be watching. (BTW don't matter who actually wins, they both will be big stars and yes I will buy both their stuff.)

Changing Insurance Agents...

Last year, I had called my insurance agent to change my deductible from $1000.00 down to $250.00. Well She talked me into a $500.00 deductible since my car is an older model. Well, I just found out today, that she never changed it an is claiming that she don't remember that conversation.

Well, I like the "Company," but will be finding a new agent and getting my deductibles all fixed up. It has taken me this long to calm down and type without anger in my words. I don't think I succeeded.

Business ...

Today I have to take care of personal business. The hail storm did some damage to our cars and I will be calling the insurance company as soon as they open up. I hate dealing with stuff like this, but that's life. You don't always have the fun stuff.

Sad Day at work...

Just found out that my bosses boss was let go. From what we have gathered, it was not a choice HE made. I wish him luck and will miss him. I am now the longest employed person from the original company.

Hail storm last night...

Well, we were the victims of a hail storm last night. At least the only damage was dints and dings on the cars. The only glass breakage was the passenger side mirror on one of the cars. We were lucky since the hail reached golf ball size.

On American Idol, I guessed it, Lee and Crystal are the final two. Its going to be tough on both since they are very good. At the beginning of the season, I said Crystal was going to win it, but now I couldn't verify that or not. She has a good fan base, but Lee has built his up as well. Now that its just the two of them, the votes are going to be very very close.

I will post some pictures of the hail on facebook if anyone wants to see.

Working out plots...

I had a long day yesterday. Traveling back and forth to Tulsa is rough when you put in a full day there as well as the drive time. I actually enjoy the drive, get a lot of thinking done.

It's amazing how much you can work through a story hook and plot while your driving in the car, at least when your alone in the car that is. Kinda rude to be in your own little world when you have your wife there.

I'm looking forward to the weekend already so I can get the car's knocked out and do some quality writing. I don't feel like the stuff I write during the week is worth keeping, even though others say it is. I know I'm my own worse critic.

Can't believe the weekend is over!

Another weekend is over. Had some fun. Even got some writing done. Wish I had wrote more, but the editor in me kept butting in . I will have to plot his demise this week and take care of it this next weekend.

I am hoping to get some decent writing time in this week. Next weekend we are going to Trish's parents house in Wellston where I will become a mechanic. Going to get our car's tuned up and such.

After that, more than likely will be doing some writing. I do have the opening hook worked out. Everything else will fall into place now. Even worked out a few of the sub plots and sequel points.

Crawfish Boil..

Went to the annual craw fish boil over at our friend Kelly's house. She cook's up over 300 lbs of craw fish with corn and taters. Of course there is all kinds of other foods as well. There is also live music and booze.

This year I decided I was going to try one of the craw fish. I like shrimp, but never tried actual craw fish. I ripped off the tail and all the guts came oozing out into my hand. They are yellowish if you didn't know. Then of course trying to get the little piece of meat out of the shell enclosing it was a pain in the ass.

Needless to say, after about 5 minutes I had success. I was the proud owner of a hunk of tail meat the size of a cashew nut. I popped it in my mouth and couldn't taste it over the guts that were still swishing around in my head. I had to spit it out and go wash my hands and gargle with some beer to get the thought and taste out of my mouth.

But hey!! My brother in law and niece can continue to suck on the heads and devour those little things all they want. Now I know why they are also called "MUD BUGS."

Enjoy breakfast!

Quiet mornings...

I love to sit at my desk and listen to my wife sleep. I'm not saying that she snores, but of course I am HEHE. Not badly, it's very cute. It drones on in the background while I write and keeps the little editor in my head quiet while the creative part of me works.

I love getting up a little earlier than everyone else and get some writing done. The house is quiet, the coffee is brewing, and my mind is fresh. Staying up late all I can think about is the long day I have had and how much I would love to just lay down to take a quick nap. I did that very thing last night around 9:30 P.M. and woke up this morning at 6. But, at least my headache has eased a bit. I really wish this rain would go away.

Gotta really get to writing...

I keep planning on doing more writing, but also keep gettin side tracked. Nobody's fault but my own. I just need to really focus on it at home as well as while I'm at work.

I think about it all day, sometimes make notes, yet when I get home my mind is just a fog and I sit down and do nothing. I am going to have to get this done so I can get everything off to that agent.

Gadgets..

I just installed the Blogger Buddy gadget and Facebook Gadget for Windows. Pretty neat. Now I do not have to log in each time I want to blog or update my status. I imagine there is one for Twitter, but I can't understand Twitter. I mean, give me a break. I don't need to know EVERY little detail of someones life.

There are times I want more room to type and Twitter just dosn't give you but 2 or 3 lines. Even Facebook limits you, but at least you can rant or rave about something in their spaces.

Anyway, I can't wait till I get off work so I can go home and work on my novel. Been thinking about it all day and am very excited about it. Got some key elements worked out.

Rain, rain, go away...

Well, the camping trip has been officially cancled. With all the rain and tornado alerts the school decided it was best to reschedule it. Since I am unable to attend any other weekend this month, the teacher has cancled it. She said she relies on me too much not to do it without my help (I'm the cook and lead hiker, 1st aid etc.)

Maybe next year. But on a good note, will be able to get some much needed writing done this weekend.

Thinking...

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday. Hell, I was so tired that I didn't do any writing. After the long trip to Tulsa and back I was exhausted.

Yet, I did do some thinking about my writing and worked out some major points in my novel. I think I now have a good grasp of where it's going and the characters in it.

Another Monday..

Even though it's raining and gloomy outside, my heart is soaring. Life is good. I am loved. That is hard for me since I usually write from my emotions and it's hard to write horror when I'm so happy.

I have to admit that I can still write gloomy stuff, but I find myself wanting to add "other" stuff into my writing. I know it will only improve my writing, so I have not even second guessed some of the stuff I'm adding, but it is a shock to read it later on and see how "happy" it is.

Some of you may go ICK, but I can't deny the truth. I am happy.

Happy Mother's Day...

I hope all the women in my life have had a wonderful Mother's Day. If you have kids, I hope they treated you well. If they did not, well let me know and I will make them the victims of my next short story, HEHEHE.

Day of being lazy...

I thought we could relax a bit and be lazy today, but realized that besides the zoo trip I had planned, we told my sister that we would come over and have dinner tonight and see the completed deck.

Shouldn't be that long. Really wanted to get some writing in today as well. I'm all exicted about trying to get actual pictures of people who resemble the characters in my head.

TGIF

Thank God this week is over. Looking forward t relaxing with Trish and getting some writing done as well. We have plans on going to the Zoo and "people watch."

I want to get some snapshots of people for the characters in my stories. I figure that would be the best place to go and take pictures of people and not be asked a million questions since they will think I'm taking them of the animals.

I know legally, I can only use them for research and that's all I plan on doing. I see people and think, Now that is what "So and So" would look like. It's going to be fun to see if I can find people for all my characters.

Spirit of Giving...

It's almost time for the annual camping trip to help out a teacher at Newcastle Middle School. She tries to take her kids on an overnight camping trip. I enjoy being able to donate my time and spend it with the kids.

This year, Trish will be going with us. I hope we have a decent number of kids. Last year we got rained out, but I still went camping that weekend anyway. It's just better with other people to enjoy it with you.

Everyone should take time out of their busy schedules and spend a little time helping others out. Even if it's assisitng someone at the grocery store. You'd be surpised how much joy you can give someone just by standing in line and listening to them talk about their life.

Think about it and pray that in your time of need, someone will stop and give you a helping hand. It dosen't have to be financial, even a smile will brighten someones day.

Ramblings...

I'm really not sure what I'm going to put in here today. I know I need to write something daily here for prosperity and sometimes I will more than likely just ramble.

I do have plans to do some more outlineing for my story. I have a very very rough draft complete, but its progressing more and more everytime I read through it. I have a strange feeling that the end product is going to be far removed from the orignial rough draft.

Index cards are a lifesaver here. I am putting down chapters on them. Then after I have the chapters worked out, on what I want to occur then I use more cards to make sure I have all the elemenets there.

Exhaustion

It's been a very long day. I had planned on doing some major writing tonight, but my mind is pretty much slush tonight. I guess I will relax and drink some wine while watching American Idol and GLEE.

Monday Mornings...

I imagine everyone hates Mondays, I know I do, to a degree at least. It's hard to focus my thoughts after a weekend, especially after a long weekend. Of course, I'm still going off of adrenalin from the OWFI writers conference and my meeting with an agent. I know I will be on a rush for some time, but at least its gotten me motivated to get my writing carrier off the ground.

Completely re-vamp this site..

Over the next few weeks I will be redoing this site. I am now going to be so engrossed with writing that I plan on doing something here daily. I have met with an agent over the weekend (at the OWFI writers conference) and she has agreed to look at my work once I expand it to 100k words. I am almost done with rewrite # 1 and she wants to see it after rewrite # 2 (and I feel comfortable with it.)

Anyway, after attending this conference, I have found out the importance of blogging, facebook, tweeting, and all the other networking sites. I will also be working on building a website which I will also be putting some of my artwork on.