1. In case you didn’t already know it, I LOVE alliteration. In fact, I would be okay with this as my epitaph:

Jennifer Leigh Weadon Parker * November 18,1975 – November 18, 2075

Mommy, Grandmommy, Great-grandmommy and Astonishing Advocate of Abominable use of Alliteration

I know it’s a lot of letters and that will probably cost a lot of moolah, but for goodness’ sake I lived a hundred years and died on my birthday, aren’t I worth it?

2. kids…. ahh… just kids.

3. Writing sarcasm is easier than it sounds. (See what I mean, you couldn’t tell I was being sarcastic could you?)

4. Finished Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda last night. I really liked it! You should read it. I wrote Devil’s Kill first and took a minute to notice the mistake. Hmmm…

5. Mexican food rocks. Not sure I would feel right eating tamales on Christmas though.

6. My son read a book I recommended! SCORE!

7. Me likey Chucky.

8. Totally, completely, utterly frustrated with Joomla! (I did not add the !)

9. My ultimate Christmas wish: A maid once a week for a year. Must do windows.

10. Who came up with FIFTEEN? That’s way too many random ideas to come up with in one sitting.

11. Yeah, yeah, I know I did.

12. It was because I was afraid that five just wouldn’t be enough. I guess fourteen didn’t seem round enough.

13. Which is weird because fourteen is an even number and fifteen is not.

14. I’ve always thought that even=round. But now that I think about it, that’s not necessarily the case.

15. Rambling OUT. (Like Seacrest out…wow, that’s old. Oh well.)

1. It’s pretty outside, but it sure is cold! My car read 36 degrees. It hurts my teeth just thinking about it.

2. 19 days till Christmas…shopping for kiddos is done! Now the hard part, extended family.

3.  Let my 13-year-old walk to 7-11 with two friends this last week. I was so worried until I remembered that I was much younger than that when I would cross a four lane busy road by myself to get a slurpee (and Franco American spaghetti–sans cell phone). Well, I was still worried even after that. This article helped inform my decision.

4. Multi-braided my daughter’s hair after a bath on Thursday night so it would be all wavy for Friday. It was not pretty.

5. Feeling like a grinch when the kids want to listen to the Christmas station in the car. I let them listen and grumble only in my head.

6. Wish my cats would pile up for warmth. I googled ‘cat piles’ instead of ‘cat pile’ first…don’t make that mistake.

the inspiration for one setting in Sea Rose (Bishop's Palace, Galveston Island, TX)

Picking up the figurative pen again is proving an enlightening experience. I forgot during the 1.5 months I took off from writing new material (so editing is not included)–the freeing and fabulous feeling associated with creation. Luckily I didn’t come into it with nothing to start with. I’d saved the beginning of a short story sometime in September and promptly forgot all about it. I opened the file a few days ago and fell in love with the story again.

Starting again was weird at first. The things I was writing were stilted and awkward…but with just a small amount of perseverance I’m moving smoothly again…like riding a bike! Even if I’m never published, the joy of writing from my imagination is such a wonderful thing–it almost makes editing worth it.

All of us at Kirsten's house before the event

Picture it- the AMC in downtown Ft. Worth – two rows of maturish women (all who know each other) and Jacob Black’s abs. Why would you want to visualize this scene? I don’t know…let’s break it down.

1. We all rode in a parking garage elevator together and the cables didn’t break.

2. Amber wore popcorn within the first 10 minutes of being seated.

3. It felt like a premiere with all the camera flashes.

4. Kirsten let me pose.

5. We collectively held our breath the first time Jacob lost his shirt.

6. We weren’t allowed to discuss the movie until we arrived at our dessert destination.

7. When we were finally allowed to open the floodgates we analyzed every portion of the movie.

8. The consensus on my side of the table: New Moon was better than Twilight, they all took acting lessons, Bella’s mannerisms still tweak us a bit but not as much as last time, the chemistry between Bella and Jacob was excellent (and we’re all team Edward at heart), it was rude of the director to strip Edward’s shirt off AFTER we saw Jake’s bare tum.

9. I’m sure there’s much more (we hung out for a couple of hours after the fact)…but that’s the gist.

More musings on twilight–read about my odd obsession.

short answer – I took an undeserved break from the computer.

longer answer – the store, Wylie, the library, church (finally!), building a blanket for my forthcoming niece or nephew,  immaculatizing my daughter’s landmine field of a room;

Books! where I visited rural Alabama (The Splendor Falls), Utah and California (The Actor and the Housewife), Australia (Jellicoe Road), turn of the century England (The Sweet Far Thing), turn of the century New York (Splendor) and a fictitious city called Emond’s Field (Eye of the World). I know I’m forgetting something, but I think that’s okay.

PJ was feeling jealous

Maybe photos do steal your soul…if you’re a cat. Wait, do cats have souls?

This is my first ever Blog award!  Jim Harrington posted it to me (and four others) on his blog last Friday.

Apparently, “It’s the result of a discussion about what the acronym BLOG stands for, and the creative responses to the question.”

As always there are rules to follow:

1. Tell us your favorite superhero and why
2. Copy the badge and post it to your blog
3. Present the badge to five other worthy bloggers
4. Post links to five people you nominate
5. Comment on their pages to let them know they have been nominated

I bet you’re dying to know who my favorite super hero is.  Honestly, I’ve never really thought all that hard about who that might be.  Spiderman pops to mind first since he and I share a last name, but I don’t really care for spiders.  My husband mentioned Mal from Firefly, and if he had super powers I would definitely choose him.

I went on twitter for help with ideas.  First there was Mystic, then Catwoman…both villains.  Then the ideas got vague.  I like the idea of Stargirl, a petulant teen who eventually  shows growth, and since I’m a YA girl…I’m going with her.

And the nominees are:

Natalie @ Between Fact and Fiction

Danae @ Works In Progress

Martin @ F.O.R.C.E.

Amy @ amy sue nathan writer-editor-single mom

Debra @ Write on Target

Okay, okay…I will explain that last cryptic post.  If you clicked on it you would…well, never mind.  It still wouldn’t make much sense.

I was just messing around with my camera’s ( ’s to show possession, i.e. the camera has features; therefore, it owns the feature(s)) video feature and found out that it was a lot of fun.  While watching the clips (no apostrophe–no possession and not a contraction with ‘is’)  back it really sounded like I had a lisp.  So I talked about this new affliction and posted it.  Strange, huh?  Then I sent the link to my husband who thought I was actually affecting a lisp.  In other words, it’s ( ’s contraction–it is) all the camera’s (possession) fault.

The self-interview is a rare occurrence.  If thought through fully, one would hardly see the benefit of asking one’s self questions and then answering them…oneself.  Half the stuff I get done wouldn’t if I thought things through fully, (and I don’t get all that much done, kids) so, anyway…what was my point?  Oh yes, instead of waiting to become published and then, of course, famous for my ah-mahzing skillz, or instead of waiting to receive a “25 random things about me” note on Facebook–I’m going ahead and giving myself the third degree.  Just so you know, I’m no pushover interviewer.  Tough questions will be asked, we’ll just have to wait and see if they are answered.  I skipped all the hellos and how-de-doos and included only the meat of the interview:

Q:  I see that you’ve been posting on your blog a lot less lately.  Is there a reason for this?

A:  Not a good one.

Q:  Right.  K.  Your public has noticed that you can’t seem to keep your blog on one subject or another…one day it’s about your kids, the next about some writerly thing.  Why is this?

A:  My kids aren’t loony enough to write about every day and I don’t actually know much writer stuff so I just write what I know, ya know?

Q:  How many freakin’ pets do you have anyway?

A:  Wow, that was really out of the blue… ah, wasn’t expecting that one.  Let’s see.  2 dogs (Sam and Lola–and no they were not named after Denise Richard’s children.  That’s just a happy coincidence),  3 cats (Cally, Lil Kat and P.J.), and 2 turtles (Squirty and Toothbrush).  That makes 7 in all.

Q:  Why the heck would you name a pet Toothbrush?

A:  I’m sorry, that’s just a little too personal.

Q:  Moving on then.  Why do you use so very very many ellipses, parentheses, and em dashes?

A:  Why not I always say!  Plus it’s how I talk…gotta get that rhythm right.

Q:  What do you hope to accomplish with this self-interview?

A:  To kill some time.  Ha ha, honestly I’m bored.

Q:  That is so interesting.  Have you ever thought about renting a personality?

A:  It’s way cheaper than buying, that’s for sure.  And then you can try as many out as you want without committing.

Q:  That was an insult.

A:  That wasn’t a question.

Q:  Okay, this interview is over.  I don’t think we’re going to actually find anything out about this person.

A:  That wasn’t a question either.

This is the first year my daughter actually cared what her hair looked like, “Mommy, can you make my hair so the ends point out like this?” and she swooped her hands away from her head indicating a flip hairdo.  “Yes, sweetie I sure can!”  A good hair drying with a round brush, hairspraying and curling the ends later my daughter looked in the mirror and smiled a giddy smile, “It’s perfect!”

My middle child searched, yes, searched and FOUND(!!!) a belt, which I know within two weeks will be shunned for another five minutes of morning TV.  No messing with hair here, the lady at the hair-cutters unceremoniously shaved it all off a week ago (I could’ve done that for free!)  He checked and rechecked to make sure he had everything he needed.

My oldest was definitely cool about the whole first-day thing.  But I could tell he was ready to go back because he was dressed and had eaten before I even woke up this morning.

When I picked them up after school they talked over each other, mentioning old friends, favorite teachers and some not so favorite ones.  My middle child told me that he will know when his math teacher is having a bad day because he will continually brew and consume coffee during class if this is the case.  The less coffee, the happier the teacher.  We laughed.

I took them to the store to get stuff to make cookies.  We came home and my baby helped me make the dough.  I let them eat more cookies in a row than I think I ever have.  It was that kind of day.

1. That Summer – Sarah Dessen – Nice jump back into Sarah-land after This Lullaby.  Love the summer setting.  I was trying to think back to my last perfect summer before “everything changed”.  I didn’t have a summer like that.  I was always looking forward and never longed for the past, but this book made me want to.  Oh, me and my never-ending teen angst!  Just call me JenX…get it?! hahaha!

2.  Deenie – Judy Blume – I just felt like revisiting this old “classic” when I saw it at the library.  It amazed me how Blume can get that voice in my head to take on a Jersey accent.  It takes serious talent to get a reader to hear a character’s voice and it’s not like any other they’ve ever heard.

3.  Just Listen – Sarah Dessen – This book is now my all-time favorite Dessen novel.  Reading it made me want to write a book report about it.  I am not one who usually gets that urge…but there was so much here to learn I just wanted to take it all apart and dissect each individual piece.  For example, the Greene’s beautiful glass house.  People driving by think they can see everything that’s going on inside, but there are parts that are hidden from the street.  Beautiful Annabel is “the girl who has everything” and people think they know what’s going on with her, but those hidden spaces remain that way until she can turn on the light and open the doors to let others in.  Oh, and Greene…her last name, “the grass is always greener…” and there’s so much more! –It was also nice to see Remy and Dexter from This Lullaby make a cameo.

4.  Dreamland – Sarah Dessen – First Caitlin is invisible, and when she finally gets a chance to be seen, she makes the worst choices.  I guess some people might read the book and think that they would never let anyone abuse them like that.  But as an older (though not much wiser) person I could see how a laundry list of bad choices and of not knowing who you really are could lead to that kind of situation.

New Dessen ranking:                 Still need to read: Keeping the Moon and Along For the Ride

1. Just Listen

2. Someone Like You

3. Lock and Key

4. The Truth About Forever

5. That Summer

6. Dreamland

7. This Lullaby