Princesses, Jedi and More

We had early admission this morning. There was no rope drop and it was funny to see adults running along Main Street pushing strollers and dragging their children behind them. One mom in front of us kept going after her children stopped. She turned and stared at them. The kids asked her to slow down. She told them they needed to run and took off again. Those poor kids!

Getting there early is important, but some people can be a little intense about it. My sister is borderline, but she would never run someone down with her stroller. Though she did tell hubby not to stop and take any pictures on our way to Peter Pan. He still managed to shoot a couple pics, including this one of Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Thanks to the early admission, we managed in less than an hour and a half to hit every ride in Fantasyland. No lines on anything but the Storybook boats where this picture was taken. (I can't remember the real name and am too tired to look it up!) I love the miniature buildings and gardens. Not a bad morning at all, but as soon as the real park opening rolled around at ten o'clock, it got really crowded.

We then took the three girls (my two and my niece) to the Fantasy Princess Faire while my sister took all the boys to Tomorrowland. This was our first time at this new attraction. It was a long wait, but worth it.

The girls met three princesses: Pocahontas, Cinderella and Belle. Hubby had fun posing with all three! I was just completely relieved because we could check off meeting Cinderella. She's my girls' fave princess and we didn't see her the last time we were here. Rose was simply beside herself. She was in awe of them and wasn't sure what to say. It was very cute and the princesses were so sweet with her. The two nine year olds had no problem talking to the princesses, however, and they even found out that Belle read American Girl novels when she was a young girl!

After meeting the princesses, the girls went down and decorated crowns with stickers. Next came the royal coronation. The girls received princess lessons as well as dance lessons then got to dance with Belle as part of a May Pole dance. Snow White and Mulan took part too. Since hubby had his fun with the princesses, I posed with two of the cast members from the show we'd just watched.

After lunch my sister and her family headed back to the hotel to meet my parents who had arrived that morning. My family went to the Jedi Academy show. The one thing I wanted most on this trip (besides seeing Cinderella and safe travel there and back) was for the kidlets to be selected to participate in this show. A Jedi Master chooses 15 younglings to be trained as padawans. I'm a huge Star Wars fan and so are my kids, and it's the first time we'd ever seen the show so I even asked on Disneyland Forums how to get chosen. The key seemed to be having the kids act enthusiastic. If you've ever met my son, he's enthusiastic about anything until you ask him to be that way. I knew we'd be attending this show over and over again until he got chosen. He said he didn't want to do it, but I knew if he understood what would happen, he'd be all over it.

We arrived early so we were sitting right at the front. I told the kids to act like they really wanted this. Rose started crying saying she didn't want to do it so she went back with hubby so she wasn't in the front. When the Jedi Master started choosing kids, Finn froze. He looked down, sort of had his hand up. I was trying to get him excited. It wasn't working. He was getting mad at me. The Jedi Master passed right over them. I was so disappointed. But then he started back. Mackenna was jumping up and down. Finn finally raised his arm high. Both of them got chosen on that second pass. Huge relief on my part.

As soon as Finn got up there, I could see a change in him. He was smiling and looked thrilled to be a part of the show. Just like I knew he would be! They put the kids in brown robes and gave them lightsabers. They taught them how to fight. It was very cool.


Then the Dark Side entered. Darth Vader and Darth Maul. My two got to fight Darth Vader. Mackenna was even chosen to use her hand to Force push the two stormtroopers back. Hubby captured it all on video! At the end of the show, they each got certificates. Finn wants to frame his and hang it in his room (Star Wars theme room, of course!) He also thanked me for pushing him to do the show! Sometimes mom does know best!

We caught up with my family at California Adventure. I took the two youngest (Rose and my nephew) to see the Playhouse Disney show while everyone else went on the Tower of Terror. I still haven't been on that ride. I sure hope I get a chance before we leave, but I always seem to be the one who gets the little ones to watch! We also went to the coolest show with Crush, the turtle from Nemo. It was an interactive show and one of the neatest things I've seen. We all had a hard time not calling each other Dude! the rest of the evening!

Back at Disneyland we ate dinner at the Plaza Inn. Yummy fried chicken! Then rode some more rides. Then it was back to the hotel for a birthday party. The Grand Californian made the most beautiful Tinkerbell cake for Rose. It was tasty too. Chocolate cake with a whipped cream with fresh strawberry filling. They rolled it in on a table with enough plates and napkins for everyone. They even included candles and matches! And Tinkerbell is edible!

Rose was very surprised. She received presents from my sisters' family and my parents. I'd gone to the Dollar Tree and found some great Disney theme items so made favor bags for all seven of the kids! Needless to say, the best 5th birthday ever continues on!

Tomorrow is a makeover for the girls at Libby Lu's and lunch with the Disney Princesses at Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure!

What was your best birthday?

P.S. A belated birthday wish to Amy! I can't believe I forgot. It is written down in my planner, but I haven't looked at that in a couple of days. So sorry!

Fun times and hot princes

We ended up seeing the Electrical Parade again. We were fortunate to get reserved seating from the hotel! Once again Rose was enthralled. The best part, Sneezy came up to her during the parade. He touched her head and made her feel like the most important little girl there. She just beamed.

Seriously the best birthday ever.

At the Happiest Birthday Party on Earth earlier in the afternoon, Pat E. Cake led cake decorating and a conga line around the Plaza Inn. Even Mickey and Minnie showed up!

After our break in the room, we ate dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. We rode Soarin' California before watching the parade. Once again, Rose thought it was all real. She kept lifting her feet to keep them from hitting something. Seeing what Disneyland has to offer through the eyes of a child really is something special. I guess I'd forgotten what it was like the first couple of times we went with the kidlets. Not surprising since for Mackenna's birthday trip, I had a couple month old baby. For Finn's birthday trip, she was two. I'm sure both times, I was exhausted!

But this time, I'm not so tired. No deadline looming. Nothing to keep from enjoying each and every minute. And it truly has been magical.

I can't help but remember when I was a kid, living in Cypress not too far away from Anaheim, and being dropped at the gate when I was in third and fourth grade. (Not that I could ever imagine doing that with my own kids who are that age, but it was a different time back in the seventies.) I remember wanting to live at Disneyland back then. It's fun to hear my kids say some of the same things I did.

After the Electrical Parade, we headed back to Disneyland. Space Mountain was down so we rode Buzz Lightyear instead. We then headed to It's a Small World since it's closing tomorrow for refurbishment. As we were getting off the ride, the lights went out and the fireworks started going off. Seeing them from the other side of the castle was neat. We took advantage of the show to hop on the Matterhorn. As we were riding the bobsleds, fireworks were going off. Very cool to experience it that way.

As the show ended, we made our way to Space Mountain. The last two visits in 2003 and 2005, the ride had been closed. The only time hubby had ever been to Disneyland before that, the ride was just being built so he'd never been on it. Four of us loved the ride. It was a little much for Rose. But the refurb they did is very cool and I loved the ride. Not that I didn't love it before, but I'm sure it was showing it's age which is why they made all the changes. The kids especially liked the music being played. Rose didn't say much, but wanted to be carried out. I did, even though it meant a flight of stairs. Quite the workout.

Speaking of workouts, I actually did a Crossfit workout this morning. One of the traveling one's from the blog I mentioned. I did 5 rounds of 25 squats. It took me 5 minutes. Not much but something! Wish I could say the same about my writing.

But I did find new muse for my prince book. And I must say, he's perfect! He was on the cover of the USA Today that was delivered to my room this morning. I had no who idea, but I just stared at his picture and felt my heart melt. Yep. Definitely hero worthy.

His name is Ben Barnes. He's 26 and as they said in the paper...wow. You must google him. He's just my type. Long dark hair, gorgeous. He is even going to play Prince Caspian in the next installment of Narnia. Yep, the perfect Prince Hottie. What more could you ask for a hero?

You know what I've been up to these past few days. What about you?

Dolphins, Dolls and Disney

Update: Here are some pics and an edited version of the earlier post since I was in such a rush this morning! We're back in the room taking a break. The older kids are doing homework! Yes, I'm a mean mommy making them work on a holiday!

On the drive down Hwy 1 as we were passing through Malibu, we saw dolphins. I don't know about you, but I've always loved them. There is something so graceful, almost mystical about them. About 12 of them were swimming south We'd been told to watch for them, but what were the odds of seeing them during our drive? We pulled to the side of the road to watch them jump and swim. Very cool. As someone posted in the comment section, I too would love to do one of those swim with dolphin experiences.

We then headed inland through Beverly Hills. This picture was taken as we drove by this sign. We passed Rodeo Drive. Mackenna wanted to stop to see movie stars. Of course, her version of a movie star is anyone who stars in a show on the Disney Channel!



We made our way to The Grove to American Girl Place. Talk about doll overload. The girls were stunned with all they had. Two entire floors. A cafe, doll hair salon, photo salon, doll hospital and theater. Each historical doll had her own little room with everything you could buy. There were also different sections for the Doll of the Year as well as the books and rest of the stuff. Hubby and Finn were totally overwhelmed. And let's not go into what hubby had to say about the price tags. We didn't buy much, mainly a couple things that were specific to American Girl Place since we could always get the other stuff via the catalog.

Then it was on to Disneyland. We went to the California Adventure Park. Rode a few rides, had dinner and watched the Electrical parade. Rose thought everything was real. So cute. She bounced when she saw the mice from Cinderella dance by. She was watching that DVD on the drive down! The pirate ship with Peter Pan and Captain Hood scared her. She ran behind me and hid. Some when Pete and his dragon came by.

After the parade, we headed to Disneyland for the fireworks show. Talk about magical. It was just like the YouTube video I'd posted a week or so ago, but there's nothing like seeing it in person. At first they announced that the show might be cancelled due to high winds, but it went off as planned. Thank goodness. It was the kidlets first firework show ever. Not sure how they will ever top it. We then rode Star Tours, It's a Small World Holiday version and Buzz Lightyear. I really liked t he holiday version of It's a Small Ride. The decorations were lovely and they played Jingle Bells along with the normal song, but in all the different languages.

It's time to head back to the park! More later!

Have a magical evening!

A New Winner!

I figured I'd better pick this week's winner early since it'll be a busy day!

Here are your random numbers:

55
Timestamp: 2008-01-20 16:09:38 UTC

This week's free book winner is Dru. She won with a comment on the post, Road Trip Prep. Dru, please pick a book from the list here and email me your selection with your snail address. You can find my email via the contact link on my website. Thanks!

Last week's winner, windycindy, chose First Lady by
Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Enjoy! And I did get all the books I'd listed on Friday mailed before we left. Sorry for the delay!

We're having a great time with my brother-in-law's family. Today though we'll say goodbye and drive to Disneyland. It's about a two hour drive, but we're taking the scenic route. We'll be heading down Hwy 1 along the coast through Malibu to Santa Monica. This is what hubby wanted to do and it's his vacation, too! Then we'll cut over to The Grove in Los Angeles where we will stop at American Girl Place. The girls are beside themselves! Their Bitty Twins and American Girl dolls, too! After they've looked and shopped a bit, we'll head to Disneyland where we'll meet my sister, brother-in-law and their four children. They're vacationing with us!

I know it's going to be a day of "Are we there yet?" questions! We are going into the park tonight, ride a few rides and see the fireworks!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Camarillo, CA

We made it to hubby's brother's house and met our nephew for the first time. He's a real cutie! We'll go to Mass this afternoon.

When I said four days in the car, I meant two days each way. No way could I do four days straight. I used to do those cross country trips from California to Tennessee in the summer with my parents. It was horrible!

Off to visit some more!

Woodland, CA

We drove until 1 am and stopped in Woodland, California for the night. Okay, 5 hours. We're leaving in about three minutes to head to Camarillo where hubby's brother lives. Sound effects were what we will remember most about last night....sirens and trains with really, really loud whistles.

I drove from the shift from Medford than hubby took over around midnight. Rose kept asking when we got to Disneyland. She didn't understand that we wouldn't be there last night!

Have a great day!

Leaves on Trees

My nine year old got glasses yesterday. I was hoping she would take after her daddy when it came to eyesight, but unfortunately she's near-sighted. Just like me.

She's not happy.

Oh, she loved being able to read the signs, see faces and not have everything so blurry when she put them on. But she hates the idea of glasses. Why? Because boys in her class have already started making fun of her when she wasn't even wearing them yet.

Boys. No matter what the year, they never change.

I was halfway through eighth grade when I found out I needed glasses. I was new to school and had to have an eye exam by a nurse. I had no idea that the world wasn't blurry to everyone else or that people could actually read the words on the chalkboard at school without asking someone for help. And leaves on trees. That's what I remember most seeing that first day with glasses. A tree wasn't an undefined blob of green, but branches with leaves. So beautiful.

But I got teased, too. Another one of the horrors of Greenacres Junior High School.

Last night on the drive home, I explained to my daughter that I remembered how those "four eyes" comments made me feel like. I also told her how some boys will tease about anything and everything, but wasn't having a whole new world of sight open up better than worrying about them. I probably said too much by the time we arrived home. Needless to say, I don't think she was convinced, but she wore the glasses to school today. Fingers crossed her day goes well!

The worst part? She needs braces, too. Just like mom. At least we have a little time until all her baby teeth fall out, but I didn't even want to tell her what the boys are going to say about that!

Crossfit - Lynne

Today's WOD is called "Lynne" and consists of:

Five rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups

Post reps for both exercises in all rounds.

Yeah, right. I didn't even know what a bench press was until hubby explained it to me last night. No way can I learn and do that, I thought. I was going to have to wait to see what BrandX came up with, which was:

Puppies:
do 5 rounds of
max push ups
max pull ups or jumping pull ups

Buttercups:
Do 3 rounds:
max push ups
max pull ups or jumping pull ups

Okay, I can do that. Not doing real push ups, of course, but box ones and jumping pull ups. Though the "max" scared me a little. That meant you were really supposed to push yourself. BrandX said you should be falling off the bar. That sounds like it would really hurt. I work hard, but there are times I could probably push myself harder. Having a trainer is good for that.

I did my usual 500 m row and 2 rounds of warm-ups (Samson stretch, overhead squats with PVC pipe, sit-ups, push ups, pull ups, ring dips/jumps.)

I was going to do Buttercups, but decided to try Puppies. I did box push ups as best as I could. My arms and legs were shaking at the end of each round. Here's what I did for the five rounds (push ups/JPU)

17/15
18/16
16/14
14/15
16/15

I'm sore. I really pushed it, but this was my last workout at the garage gym until we get back from Disneyland so I didn't want to wimp out. Of course, I'm climbing at 9 this morning. It'll be interesting to see how I do!

Have a great day! Do something physical, whether it's a workout or walking a flight of stairs, if you can!

Update/note to self - A max Crossfit WOD and climbing the same morning is not a good idea.

The Prince and Me

Marianne had posted about Luke Malby, an actor who starred in the movie The Prince and Me. Since I'm writing a prince story, I thought this would be a great movie to watch to put me in a royal mood so to speak.

Please note, there will be spoilers so stop reading now if you don't want to know any more about the movie.

The other night, hubby and I put the kids to bed and put in the DVD. I told him it was a chick flick that I wanted to watch for research. He said that was okay. We settled back on the couch ready to be entertained.

I know many love this movie. I wanted to like it, but it just didn't work for me. Hubby, either.

First off, when I was at Stanford, the prince of Belgium was there getting his masters degree, so the whole prince going to college did not feel new or fresh to me. Add in Prince Edvard's motivation to go to college in the US--to see women take off their shirts--and it just didn't work for me. Rather, it made the prince seem to have the maturity level of a fourteen year old boy. Sure, I could totally buy his wanting to race fast cars and kiss women. What guy wouldn't? But given that many beaches in Europe are topless, I don't know why he just didn't fly down to the south of France for a few days instead of enrolling in a college in Wisconsin.

Still I loved Prince Edvard.

Luke Malby is totally crush worthy and redeems himself from his mammary infatuation rather quickly. He is totally charming as a stranger in a strange land of cheeseheads and dorm roommates. When cutoff from his money, he first asks his manservant, Soren, a great character, for his money, then gets a job even though he has no idea what he's doing.

Eddy's love for Paige is the catalyst for his change from boy to man, prince to king. When he threatens his parents that he not to become king if he can't marry Paige, you believe him. He's become a better person by the end of the movie. His character growth is clear and consistent.

The heroine, Paige, is a character many romance writers have used in books. So driven and focused on a life plan for her future that she's missing out on life now. That worked for me. Her character arc didn't. And because of that I could not believe these two would ever live happily ever after. That's what ruined the movie for me.

At the climax of the movie, Paige decides for no reason that I can see other than staring at a globe that her dream of being a doctor and traveling the world is more important than her love for Eddy. There is nothing to motivate this decision. All the while, you think she's grown enough as an individual (her flying to Denmark with her girlfriends all using their credit cards to pay for the trip is great) to see that what's most important in life is love. But no, what's most important to Paige are her dreams, not a man who was willing to give up the throne for her. Also for someone who was supposed to be so smart, it was surprising she gave no thought whatsoever that as Queen of Denmark she could do a whole lot more for Doctors without Borders than as an MD herself.

If you watch the deleted scenes, you do get more of an idea of why she made the choice she did. At least two of those scenes should have been in the movie. Still, Paige wasn't willing to make any sacrifices, and this was a big downfall of the movie to me. If you watch the deleted scenes, you realize that her graduation day is the same as Denmark's constitution day, so when Eddy shows up it's a big sacrifice for him to be there. Of course, this made his love for her feel even more lopsided to me, and just reinforced my belief of no happy ending there. I'm not even going to discuss the alternate unhappy ending.  

One other thing.  Hubby and I both had problems understanding the time passage during the movie. Thanksgiving was mentioned. I was thinking semester finals were in January when Eddy leaves, but it was always sunny. I thought it snowed in Wisconsin. Maybe that's just during Packer playoff games. So perhaps Eddy left at the end of the school year instead. Still Paige was in Belgium for two weeks. Why would graduation be delayed so long after finals? Maybe I'm too analytical, but questions like these pull me right out of movies and books and make them less enjoyable to me. (And in case you're wondering, I do drive my critique partner crazy with stuff like this!)

I don't mean to be harping on The Prince and Me. It was an okay movie. There were some laughs (the xbox roommate is funny) and nice, sweet scenes. I enjoyed the prince watching her dance and falling in love with her. The look on his face matches the words in the song so well. The scenes with her family during a Thanksgiving visit were fun. And what female wouldn't love to try on all those crown jewels in the safe! But I needed to believe in the HEA. That's my payoff with movies like this. (Books, too!) I think the movie could have been a lot better in that regard.

Did you see The Prince and Me? What did you think?

Crossfit - 5000m Run or Row

This morning's WOD gave you a choice between running or rowing. The scaled workout was as follows:

Puppies:
Run or row 1500-2500 m depending on your ability

Buttercups:
Run or row 1500-2500 m depending on your ability

I decided to give rowing a shot so I did two rounds of my usual warmup, but skipped the row I normally do. The farthest I'd ever rowed was 500m (what I do as part of my warmup) so this would be a challenge. My goal was 1500 m. When I got there, I wasn't that tired so I kept going.

My WOD: 2011 m row in 10:52

I owe my friend a drink!

Crossfit - Filthy Fifty

I met my climbing partner at 10 this morning and climbed for about an hour. I did much better this time. The 5.8 routes I did even felt good! I'll probably give a 5.9 a try when we meet tomorrow. I stopped by home to see hubby and Rose (who was still in her jammies!) than drove to the garage gym to do my workout of the day (WOD.)

To show you what I mean by scaled workouts, this is what the WOD on the Crossfit website for today is:

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

There is no way in the world I could do that. So I go to the BrandX forum for a scaled workout to do. They offer a Big Dawgs version, a Pack version, a Puppies version and the Buttercups version. I vary between Puppies and Buttercups depending on the day.

Here was my scaled WOD:

Buttercups:
10-15 Box jump, 10-15 inch box (box plus a 35 pound weight = approx. 10 inches)
10-15 Jumping pull-ups
10-15 Kettlebell swings, 12kg
Walking Lunge, 10-15 steps
10-15 Ab-Mat Sit-ups
10-15 Push press, 20-25 pounds (I used two 10 lb dumbells)
10-15 Back extensions (Good mornings with barbell)
10-15 Wall ball shots, 10-16 pound ball (Ball throws in the air, not against the wall)
10-15 Burpees (Burpees with knee pushups)
10-15 Standard Jump Rope Jumps


My workout was the Tenacious Ten since I did 10 of each exercise. I made a couple substitutions (those and other notes marked in red above) and did workout in 9:07:59.  I have no idea if this is good or bad.  I don't really care.  I just want to improve on that time the next time this comes around again.

Of course, I realized when I got home I was supposed to do Thrusters if I couldn't do the wall balls, but oh, well... It was a good workout. Though I only did a 500m row and one round of warm-up because I was a little tired from climbing and kind of dragging as I got everything set up. Still I managed to get it in!  That's gotta count for something.

Did you do anything physical today?

Ice, ice baby

The alarm went off this morning so I could get to Crossfit, but once hubby heard the reports of black ice on the road he asked if I had to go. Since I was going to be the only one at the garage gym this morning, I decided to go back to sleep and wait until later in the day. Most school districts in the area are running two hours late, too. I was also supposed to go climbing, but hubby wants me to wait until traffic dies down. Guess I'll take advantage of the extra time and write!

The December 2006 tragedy on Mount Hood led me to write my last manuscript. I heard on the radio this morning that two climbers are missing up there. They were supposed to return on Monday afternoon, but didn't. Their car remains in the Timberline parking lot. Portland Mountain Rescue members got the page last night, but the weather up there has the search on hold.

Sunday was gorgeous on the mountain. As we were driving home from Chuck E. Cheese, Hubby and I stared at Mount Hood, surrounded by clear blue sky, talking about how we should have been up there skiing. Today, snow is blowing sidewards and it's 10 degrees. Bad, bad conditions. It just shows how quickly things can change up there.

Someone posted on the climbing forum that the climbers were going to be ascending the Leuthold Couloir and descending the south side. When I first started writing my Mount Hood story, I was thinking of using the Leuthold Couloir route, but I later decided, after talking to PMR members, to not go with an avalanche scenario and have an accident occur on the Reid Headwall instead.

I have no idea what happened to these two missing climbers. There hasn't been much information released yet, but lets just say what I've heard so far is eerily close to the opening scene in Rescued by the Magic of Christmas. I just hope these climbers are okay and make it safely down the mountain. Please say a prayer for them. Thanks!

Update: If you want to know more, check out this article from The Oregonian.

Update 2: The climbers have been found and are safe! See Oregonian link above for full story.

And the winner is...

Better late than never. Also, I took all the comments up to now and entered them into this contest so we'll start next week's with this post. Boy have we been a chatty bunch this week. I love it. Thanks for all the comments!

Here are your random numbers:

80
Timestamp: 2008-01-15 04:19:22 UTC

This week's free book winner is windycindy. She won with a comment on one of today's posts, A Happy Day for Rose. Cindi, please pick a book from the list here and email me your selection with your snail address. You can find my email via the contact link on my website. Thanks!

Last week's winner, Brandy, chose If the Shoe Fits by
Stephanie Rowe. Enjoy!

Free Book Redux

I posted something similar back in August, but since I'm updating the books I thought I'd repost the rules, too.

Here's how the giveaways work:

1) A new contest begins today. The next one will start when I put up a post announcing the winner from the last one. I hope to do this on Sundays, making it a weekly giveaway, but hey, I'm only human, about to go on vacation and hopefully back on deadline soon so I reserve the right to have some leeway with this and to change how this works if I need to.

2) Your name will be entered each time you post a comment so you can have multiple entries for each weekly contest. Your entries are good for that week's contest only. If you want to keep your name entered each week, you have to keep commenting.

3) If you tell a friend who hasn't commented here before to post a comment and he/she mentions you sent them over, you're name will be entered again.

4) Your name will also be entered and kept entered in each subsequent week's contest for as long as I have books to giveaway if you post a review of any of my books on Amazon or another romance novel-related site. Just let me know where you posted it!

5) Books will be sent by the cheapest snail-mail means available so if you're overseas you might not see the book for a while! And if life gets hectic, I may not mail them right away, either. But you will get your book!

6) The winner gets to choose one item from the following list (more books may be added!):

Historical Fiction
1. Stephanie Laurens, The Truth About Books, Audio CD, Autographed
2. Samantha James, The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell

Category Romance
1. Sandra Marton, The Italian Prince's Pregnant Bride, Harlequin Presents
2. Melissa McClone, Fiance For the Night, Silhouette Yours Truly
3. Melissa McClone, If the Ring Fits, HMB/Silhouette Romance
4. Melissa McClone, The Wedding Lullaby, HMB/Silhouette Romance
5. Melissa McClone, His Band of Gold, HMB Tender Romance/Silhouette Romance
6. Melissa McClone, In Deep Waters, HMB/Silhouette Romance
7. Melissa McClone, The Wedding Adventure, HMB/Silhouette Romance
8. Melissa McClone, Santa Brought A Son, HMB/Silhouette Romance
9. Melissa McClone, Billionaire's Wedding Masquerade, HMB/Silhouette Romance
10. Melissa McClone, Blue Print for a Wedding, HMB/Silhouette Romance
11. Melissa McClone, Plain Jane's Prince Charming, HMB/Silhouette Romance
12. Melissa McClone, Marriage For Baby, HMB/Silhouette Romance

Contemporary (Includes Single Title Romance, Chick lit, Woman's Fiction and Erotica)
1. Linda Lael Miller, McKettrick's Luck

Paranormal
1. Lynsay Sands, Bite Me If You Can

A Happy Day for Rose

When I got home from the garage gym yesterday morning, the kids were already up and getting ready for church. Rose's eyes sparkled and her smile lit up her face. She hugged me when I wished her Happy Birthday. She couldn't believe she was five!

On our way out of the church, she asked me to tell Father that it was her birthday today. When we got outside to say hello, he mentioned that today was her birthday without either of us telling him. and asked if she wanted a blessing. She did! (I'd asked him at the garage if he would give Rose a birthday blessing after Mass.) Rose was so happy he knew it was her birthday without having to tell him. We went downstairs for donuts, then headed to the store to pickup her cake.

She wanted a High School Musical 2 cake. I called around, but the only thing I could find was a High School Musical 1 cake. This was fine with Rose. She just wanted to have a big girl cake! Her second choice was Tinkerbell (we're having one of those delivered to the hotel room when we are in Disneyland next week) or a princess cake.

We ran home to change, then hit Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. My brother-in-law (also Rose's godfather) and his girlfriend met us there. After a couple of hours pizza, games and cotton candy, those over the age of ten could no longer take the noise or the crowd (it was fine until about noon then people streamed in) so we headed home. Rose's godmother met us at the house to open presents and have cake and ice cream.

What does turning five get you? Well, Rose received pajamas and a robe from her godmother, disposable cameras from her godfather (for our trip), a princess softball set from her brother, a Barbie bath set from her sister, money from her grammy in NY, a jewelry box from the family and a Leapster with a couple of games from hubby and me. Quite a nice haul. She loved her gifts.

The only bad times were when the birthday girl cried at naptime (she didn't want to take one), but she fell asleep quickly and cried again when we had to wake her up to head back to church for religious ed. She told us she didn't get to sleep long enough. We told her she could go back home with daddy and skip her class, but we all had to go to help me set up my class. That sounded good to her, but once we got there she decided to stay.

We came back home for dinner (her choice-burritos) and another slice of cake. I think she fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow. Not a bad day for a five year old. And for mom. I have to admit it was really nice not having to deal with a party.

The celebration continues, too. We're sending in Go-gurts today for her class celebration. And at morning prayer, the entire school will sing Happy Birthday to her.

Plus there's the upcoming trip to Disneyland. We go there each time one of the kids turn five. This has led the kids to ask if it's the last time they'll ever go to Disneyland. Hubby answered yes. I told them he was joking.

Rose still can't figure out when we'll be in Disneyland. Yesterday, she told her grandparents over the phone that she wasn't going on this day. Time doesn't have a lot of meaning for kids her age. That means I'll be saying, "We leave on Friday" a lot this week! Not that I mind. I think I'm as excited about this trip as the kids. I love Disneyland!

Hubby thinks I go overboard with birthdays. I think he could care less about celebrating them if given the choice. I don't know if it's guy thing, family thing, what, but holidays just aren't that big a deal to him whereas they are huge to me.

What about you? How do you feel about birthdays (besides the getting older part)? Are they big deals or just another day?

My baby is five!

Happy Birthday Rose! My youngest turns five today. I must admit I'm somewhat in denial about it. I still remember being in the hospital to have her. Where has the time gone? Kindergarten is only 8 months away. Yikes!

Hubby said that must mean it's time to have another baby. Um, no. It doesn't mean that at all.

No birthday party since we're going to Disneyland, but we are having lunch at Chuck E. Cheese. Then we'll come home to have cake and open presents.

I still have to add the new books to the list of books you can win and let Brandy have first choice so I may or may not get the free book winner announced later today. Sorry! It's been a busy week.

Crossfit - Death By Pull ups

The name says it all.

The workout consisted of the following: With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

I did a 500m row and 2 rounds of warm-up (only did 5 pull-ups each round due to workout!) Since I'm a newbie and can't do pull ups, I did a scaled WOD subbing jumping pull ups (JPU).

I ended up with 12 rounds + 12 jumping pull-ups. That means I completed 12 JPU in round 12, but could only get 12 JPUs instead of 13 in the next round. So close. I really tried hard, too, but just couldn't do it.

The soreness continues on!

Crossfit - Elizabeth

I was supposed to go to the garage gym at 6, but when hubby woke me up I told him I was too sore and would work out in the weight room in the rock gym. It felt good to sleep in a little.

I hadn't climbed in weeks. The last time was before Christmas so I made plans to meet a climbing partner at the rock gym this morning. At the gym, I did as much of the Crossfit warmup as I could with the equipment they had. (And my sore muscles would allow.) I substituted as needed. I did two rounds, then gave the WOD a shot. Okay, I attempted it. Sort of. For two rounds. And didn't bother timing it.

The workout, Elizabeth, consisted of:

3 rounds (Buttercups version):
15-12-9
Dumbbell cleans
Bench Dips

I had watched the videos on how to do cleans last night. Luckily the rock gym had a lighter bar that I could use. They weren't hard, but because of that I wondered whether I was doing them right or not.

I'd never done a bench dip so I watched a video on how to do those, too. Ouch! They hurt so bad. I could barely do any. I'm sure my form was horrible.

When my partner arrived, I had her watch me do the cleans. She corrected something (keeping the bar closer to my body), but in general I was doing okay with the movement. But I need to work on whatever muscles you need to use for the bench dips. Those things are so hard.

Once I was finished, we hit the wall.

Climbing was so much fun though I felt as if I'd gone backwards in my skill level. I was climbing 5.8 and 5.9s in December. I went back to 5.7s today and was struggling a little. My instincts felt off and my movements clunky though I made it to the top of those routes.

I tried a 5.8 that is my nemesis at the gym. There's one part that I just can't get past. Today was no exception. I was closer this time, but just couldn't do it. There's really no hold and it's a bit awkward. It was really discouraging.

My instructor, Caroline, was there today. My partner and I were talking about what we'd climbed. I mentioned the red route. She made a face and told me to never get on the route again. That it was a bad 5.8. That one of the holds should not be on a 5.8. She made me feel so much better.

I saw one of the guys from my climbing forum and met his wife right before I attempted the nemesis climb. When I went to say goodbye to them later, his wife told me not to do that climb again. She'd climbed it after me and said it was horrible. Not worth the effort. This made me feel even better.

My partner still wants me to try it again on Tuesday. I don't know after two experienced climbers told me not to. I'll have to see how I feel next week.

I also bumped into another person from the climbing forum who I'd met at the Climbing Cutie's Ice Fest in September. She was the one who finally convinced me that Crossfit would be a good thing for this out-of-shape mom/writer. We've emailed a few times, and it was great to see her again. She's really nice and super supportive about my doing Crossfit. One of her comments to me back in October led to a little, I guess you'd call it, a wager. When I finally do a 2000m row, I owe her a drink!

The kids have their final swim meet of the season. Due to our vacation, they will both miss the Championship meets for their age groups. Kind of a bummer, but there's always next year. I better get busy and make sure they're ready to go.

Hope your Saturday is going well! What have you done or are doing today?

Harlequin Special Treat

Valentine's is over a month away, but Harlequin has debuted a new website to celebrate the holiday. Check out Harlequin Special Treat.

You'll find all kinds of goodies including free on-line reads (one by Linda Goodnight who is in the upcoming Wedding Planners continuity with me), games (aka Time Wasters), Inside Romance newsletter, an email valentine and the 2008 Romance Report will go live on January 23rd. Enjoy!

Four year olds and sparkly lips

Yesterday, my almost five year old daughter, Rose, wanted to go to the coffee shop. I assumed she wanted to go to the one we'd been to on Tuesday (i.e. the one that is mainly a play area.) Nope, she wanted to go to a little Italian one (with no play area or toys) instead. The only other thing on our agenda was a trip to the library to read and both places are close to each other so I said sure. Rose put her purse (a stuffed Chihuahua bag the same color as Paris Hilton's Tinkerbell) over her shoulder and off we went.

After she finished her hot chocolate, Rose placed her purse on her table. "It's time to put on my make-up."

"Make up?" I asked.

Rose nodded. "I need to do my lips."

I wasn't sure what this meant so I just sat back and watched. She removed a tube of Disney Princess Chapstick. She carefully took off the lid and rubbed it across her lips.

"Good job," I said.

She put away the tube. "I'm not done, Mommy."

Next, she pulled a mini tube of pink lipstick with a picture of Sleeping beauty on it. She rubbed that on her lips.

"Oh, what a nice touch," I said. "Your lips are shinier now."

She gave me one of those looks as she put the lipstick away. "I'm still not done, Mommy."

I'm not much into makeup. Lately I've been using a bit of a tinted moisturizer and a dab of mascara and that feels like a lot to me. "Sorry."

Rose held a tube of pink princess lip gloss, the kind with a sponge on the end, in her hand. She carefully ran the gloss over her bottom lip, dipped the sponge back into the tube and then glossed her top lip. She screwed the top back on and placed it in her purse. She looked inside the bag. "Oh no."

"What?" I asked.

"I forgot my mirror," she said with a pout.

"Let me see."

She looked up at me.

Remember how women wanted to know what lipstick Monica Lewinsky had used in her television interview with Barbara Walters because her lips looks so good? This was pretty close.

Rose had gotten a lovely color, perfect gloss and just the right sparkle from her three step combo. I removed an extra bit of gloss from the corner of her mouth. "You're lips are perfectly sparkly."

She beamed. "Thank you."

"So how did learn how to do this?" I asked, knowing it wasn't from watching me.

"Mackenna taught me," she said.

Hmmm. My nine year old knows how do this? Forget hitting the Bobbi Brown counter. Maybe I should be asking my nine year old for some make up tips instead?

Who taught you to put on make-up? Do you wear make-up a lot, sometimes or never?

Crossfit - Skills day

Today's WOD is Diane which consists of 3 rounds of deadlifts and handstand pushups. I'd learned deadlifts, but had only done them the day I learned them and never in a WOD. I emailed the Climbing Cutie for advice on weight. My max weight that first day had been 65 lbs. CC suggested half my body weight. (This corresponds within a couple of pounds to my previous max weight.) I also studied the videos last night to figure some alternate handstand pushup I could do and decided on the feet on a box ones.

I arrived at the garage gym to find the door down, but two other cars there. A new guy who started this week, Father and I were it.

I did my usual warm-up: 500m row and 2 rounds of the official Crossfit warmup. You're supposed to do three, but I'm just not there yet if I want to have a chance at completing the WOD and not meeting Mr. Pukie.

Since the other guy and I are newbies, Father decided to make this a skills day. He went through the deadlift with us using 65 lbs. Then instead of the WOD, he wanted to teach us the back squat, something I'd never done. We used a 45 lb bar. I still can't get low enough with my squats. After we had both learned the movements and done a few reps, Father had us do a mini WOD.

3 rounds (not for time)
5 back squats (45 lbs)
5 deadlifts (95 lbs)

I did it! 95 lbs. Yay for me! And though it was harder than the 65 lbs, I never felt like I wouldn't be able to do all the reps. Though the final one on round three I did take a pretty good pause and a couple breaths before lifting!

Father said the two of us will now be ready for future WODs that have these two exercises. I can't wait!

It's a Small World

The world of Internet forums is anonymous. You pick an avatar or user name and maybe where you live will come out or a few other things, but that's about it. You rarely know who you're talking to.

The other day, I posted a few questions on a Disneyland forum about our upcoming trip. I provided some information about myself, including I would be driving from Portland and listed the ages of the kids for suggestions on new things to see. Imagine my surprise when I got the following reply:

- clearly from your well worded post you must be a published romance novelist. We will be at the park during those exact times. Maybe we can meet up? I just happen to be the sister of a romance novelist and we would probably have a lot in common!

My first thought was what a coincidence. And then I took a look at the user name. It was the same name as one of my sister's old dogs. Yep, my sister figured out who I was by my post! She said she was going to write some really smart ass post, but didn't want to get flamed for being mean to me. Gotta love her!

Her reply led another poster to ask who the romance writer was because she was a romance reader. I emailed her last night. Turns out she has all my Silhouette Romance (and will now look for my Harlequin Romances!) She also lives in Southwest Washington just north of me. A very small world indeed.

Do you have any small world experiences to share?

Crossfit - Michael

Yesterday's WOD was called Michael. The guys were going to work out in the afternoon, but since us girls would have the kids, we decided to meet after we dropped the kids off at school. It was a little different with just the two of us there. Instead of listening to the harder music (not sure what else to call it) the guys prefer, girly music filled the garage.

We did the official Crossfit warm up, then went on to Michael. Since I was a little sore from the day before, I did the buttercup version (i.e. the easiest scaled workout.)

3 rounds for time:

400m run
10 Back extensions (I did Good Mornings with weighted bar)
20 situps (I used the abmat)

Time: 16:59 (I am sooooo slow when it comes to running!)

Today (Thursday) is a rest day. Thank goodness. I'm really sore.

For your viewing pleasure...

The proposal is calling me so I decided to use some visual aids to blog with this morning so I could get to work!

1) What I'm reading:


2) What I'm listening to:


3) What I'm doing to get fit:


4) What makes me smile:

moar funny pictures

5) What movie I can't wait to see:


6) Where I'm going to be very, very soon:


What about you?

A Melissa Cocktail

I got this from Marianne this morning:

The Recipe For Melissa

3 parts Creativity 2 parts Defiance 1 part Seductiveness Splash of Savvy Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong!

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

Back on Track!

I mentioned yesterday, it was time to get back to work. And that's exactly what I've been doing.

Last night I moved on to Chapter 2 of The Anatomy of Story by John Truby. I did two writing exercises. It's been a long time since I've done anything like this and I have to admit it was really fun. The first exercise was writing down all the things you'd like to see in a movie or read in a book, etc. A total brainstorm exercise. The next was to write one line premises for all the ideas you've had. This took a little more thought than the first one. Then you compare the lists. I did that instead of working on the new proposal so guess what I'll be doing today!

After a much extended vacation and recovery period, I was up at 5:35 am this morning and at the first one at the garage gym at 6 am. It felt so good to be doing Crossfit again. Five of us were there, and it was so much fun. The following is more for my own records. (I really do use this blog as a diary of sorts!)

Warmup: 500m row, 2 rounds of official Crossfit Warm-up

WOD: Cindy (puppies version) Do as many rounds in 12 minutes of: 3 jumping pull-ups, 4 box push-ups, 7 squats.

I did 12 rounds which is an improvement over my 10 rounds in November. Not bad for all the time I've had off! Now to get back climbing.

I forgot to mention. I read my first book of the year last week. (One of my resolutions was to read 52 books this year. And not counting all the kids books and easy readers I go through each day with Rose and Finn.) The book was Book 1 of the Spiderwick Chronicles. There's a title, but it escapes me at the moment. As soon as I finished, Mackenna put Book 2 on my night stand. Guess my TBR pile will have to wait!

I'm sitting at a coffee shop that's mostly a kids' play area. I thought while Rose played, I could do a little on-line stuff and writing. Of course, with all the noise, I'm not sure how much writing will be possible. I may have to wait until nap time, but it's nice to have a change of location from working in my bedroom or great room couch or kitchen table!

What's your fave place to do what you like to do?

This Week's Book Winner is...

Sorry for the delay in posting the contest winner, but yesterday was the last day of vacation for hubby and the kidlets so I played hooky from blogging and blog hopping.

Here are your random numbers:

6
Timestamp: 2008-01-07 16:22:11 UTC

This week's win a book winner is Brandy. She won with a comment on my "And the free book goes to" post. Brandy, please pick a book off the list here and email me your choice and snail address. If you wait a day or two, I should have a couple of new books added. I never got around to it this week. Thanks!

Last week's winner, Marianne, chose The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt.

Everyone was hoping for snow today and the kids wore their snow rally jammies to bed again. Unfortunately, the forecast changed so all are back to school and work. That means me, too. My Monday class resumes today. I have a proposal to write. Crossfit WOD to do. And books to mail. I haven't sent any since before Christmas break!

As I was putting away Christmas decorations yesterday, I put on The Nanny Diaries. It was one of the movies I'd picked up the other day from the video store. I'm glad I was multi-tasking because I probably wouldn't have finished watching the entire thing had I been just sitting and watching. I didn't like it at all.

Last week I asked what movies people recommended. Are there any you don't recommend?

Kidless and Carefree

Yesterday I had a bunch of appointments and things to do so I only opened my iBook long enough to get directions for where I needed to be at 9 am. No blogging, writing, blog hopping, anything. It was an unexpected, but not unwelcome break!

Last night was the Epiphany pageant and my class of 4-5 year olds did awesome singing Silent Night in front of everyone. We all met for a slice of King's Cake afterwards. My mom drove up to attend and took the kids back with her so hubby and I have the house to ourselves until Sunday. Well, the three cats are still here, and one woke me up this morning pretty early. Both are staring at the bedroom door right now waiting for hubby to feed them breakfast. That's normally the kids' job.

Continuing on our nightly DVD viewing, we watched Blades of Glory last night. Absolutely hilarious, especially if you've ever followed figure skating. Even if you hadn't, it would be hard to watch that movie and not laugh. It's totally inappropriate for children though.

My book order from Amazon arrived. I'd ordered a writing craft book by John Truby, a birthday present for my oldest who'll turn nine in March and one of my own books. I wanted to see how the ranking would jump for Win, Lose or...Wed with one sale. About 300,000 spots.

We dropped my daughter's Irish dance solo dress off to be altered. Good thing we waited until now. She's grown a lot since October! A dress designer, Alison Thrasher, creates some of the most gorgeous solo irish dance dresses around and we feel lucky she could altar Mackenna's dress that was made by a UK designer. The crown is too big and the headband a little tight so I'm going to attempt to make a new headpiece for the dress myself. Fingers crossed I can do it!

I have no idea what we are going to do today. It's nice not to have plans for once. What do you have going on?

DMDs and MDs

I decided to take one day of the kidlet's Christmas vacation and have them visit both the dentist and the doctor for their check-ups. Today is that day. Now I'm wondering if that was such a good idea. We'll be gone most of the day. And on top of everything, tonight is the dress rehearsal for the Epiphany pageant. Oh, well, it's too late to change things now.

But the day hasn't started off the way I planned. I was supposed to be at the garage gym at 6 am for my Crossfit WOD. I woke up at 5 am, decided it was too early to get up and fell back asleep...until 8 am. I slept right through the alarm. Either that or hubby turned it off. So this morning, I went for a run. I printed off the 12 week beginner's workout and if I can't make it to the garage gym on a particular morning and don't have the equipment so I can do the WOD at home, I'm going to do whatever's on the schedule. I really have missed working out, and now that my cough is almost gone, I feel strong enough to start again!

Oh, well...at least I got a little exercise in!

No one goes back to work or school until Monday so it's been nice to be on vacation-mode still.

Hubby and I have watched three DVDs over the past four days. Something we never do. Cliffhanger (a climbing movie that made me laugh now that I know more about climbing), Amazing Grace (a confusing beginning, but once I figured out the storytelling technique it was very good), and last night, Christmas with The Kranks (a funny look at the holidays based on the book Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.)

Have you watched any good DVDs that you would recommend?

The Face Behind The Blog Meme

I found a meme on David Airey's blog called The Face Behind the Blog Collection. I don't do many memes, but I'm doing this one. It's from May 2007, but better late than never. I'm also tagging everyone who reads this blog to do it, too.

For me, blogging is about building a community. A community of fellow bloggers, readers, writers and people who might stumble across the blog via a google or blog search. And, as I'm learning with the climbing community I joined last year, it's nice to put a face with a name and make that connection a little more personal.

So...although I post pictures of myself, here are a few more of the face behind Melissa's Diary.

This picture was taken at Smith Rock by one of my closest friends, Tiffany, when we were out climbing with the kids and my hubby. It was so hot, and I was taking a rest. Notice the helmet hair!









Another Smith Rock picture by Tiffany when the two of us went climbing with our guide, Will, on my birthday. We had just hiked around Monkey Face and I was so tired. It was a bunch of switch backs heading up. A few minutes later, Tiffany asked me to stand on a large rock overlooking the canyon, but my fear of heights wouldn't let me get near the edge.


This picture was taken in December when we baked Christmas cookies. The kitchen is not somewhere I usually hang out! I made the apron I'm wearing in a beginner sewing class I took years ago.









If you choose to do this meme, let me know and I'll post a link to your blog post along with others who have done this. If you don't have a blog, but want to share your picture let me know and I'll post it here! Thanks!

Face Behind The Blog photos:

The Climbing Cutie!

I added his link below since he's participating by having his pic on this post. And before any one asks, he did give me permission!






Face Behind the Blog participants:

Melissa McClone - romance writer
David Airey - graphic designer
Climbing Cutie - alpine climber
Brandy - reader and mom extraordinaire
Dru - world traveler, gifted quilter and author's dream reader
Marianne Arkins - talented author and review site goddess

Have a great day!

Happy New Year!

I really can't believe 2008 is here. 2007 remains a bit of a blur with all I had going on. I hope this new year is less hectic. A calm twelve months would be nice.  I'd even take a calm couple of months!

Let's see how I did with last year's resolution. Here were my 2007 New Year's resolutions:
1) Write everyday on a story (blogging and email do not count!)   I did not write everyday.  Not even close.  But I did finish three manuscripts.  That has to count for something!
2) Finish my non-category novel by the end of the year (this is the story I worked on during NaNoWriMo)  Nope.  I did do a little work on it, but really had no time or energy due to the three books I'd contracted to write.
3) Exercise three times a week (need a set number of times so I actually do it!)  The exercise was hit or miss.  Most weeks I managed two times.  Once I started Crossfit (until I got sick) it was three to five times.
4) Lose 15 pounds (being more specific should help me!)  I lost 15 pounds, but then gained back five.  I realized the scale doesn't always tell the story so I'm not going to worry so much about the number any more.
5) Keep in better touch with friends (this one should always be there, IMHO)  I did try to do this.  I'm sure I could have done better.  Deadline time got in the way big time.  Some understood.  A couple didn't.  Deadlines aside, a few people never responded to emails or phone calls.  At least I tried to keep in touch!
6) Be even more patient with kidlets (a good one to have again with all the deadlines I'm facing this year) and the hubby (I'm adding him this year due to all the deadline dementia coming up.)  I asked the kidlets how I did on this one.  They said I was more patient with them than in 2006.  Yay!  Of course, I know I wasn't as patient with hubby so I guess this resolution really wasn't met, either.  He takes the brunt of my impatience and I really do need to work on that.

Bummer.  I really didn't do well with my 2007 resolutions.  Let's hope I do better in 2008.  Here they are:

Writing resolutions/goals

1)  Write two really good category romances

2)  Start writing a non-category spec novel 

3)  Be more disciplined with my writing

4)  Be more productive with my writing (i.e. meet set page goals for a given project)

5)  Meet all deadlines

6)  Improve my writing craft

7)  Redesign my website

Health and fitness resolutions/goals

1)  Eat healthier (give The Zone a serious try once the kids go back to school)

2)  Sleep at least six hours a night (even during deadline time!)

3)  Do at least 3 Crossfit WODs a week so I'll be able to do Kim's 12 Days of Christmas Workout next December and be able to do all of the exercises (except maybe the handstand pushup!)

4)  Climb Mount Hood

5)  Climb a 5.10 rock climbing route

Personal resolutions/goals

1)  More patience with family (especially hubby)

2)  Read 52 books this year (one a week)

3)  Make more time for family, friends and fun

4)  Remember to fill the well (the creative well!)

5)  Grow closer to God

Okay, I've listed many more things than in 2007, but maybe now I'll have better a chance at achieving one in 2008.  

I'd like to thank everyone who takes the time to read this blog.  I'd especially like to give a big hug to those who post comments.  You've become treasured friends and I'm so glad I've gotten (and am getting!) to know you.  You are true blessings in my life and I appreciate each and every one of you!  I hope 2008 is the year dreams come true for all of us.

I also want to thank Patricia for including Win, Lose or...Wed! on her list of Favorite Reads in 2007! Boy, I love when google alerts brings news like that. I was all smiles yesterday when I saw that!

As for our New Year's Eve, we rang in 2008 at a friend's house celebrating both the New Year and his 40th birthday with people from the kidlets' school and church. Our priest was there for a little bit, too. The food was delicious, but I must admit the birthday cake was the best thing there. White cake with white fluffy icing. Yum! The kids celebrated New Years at 9 (pacific time) with a babysitter by watching the ball drop in New York, drinking sparkling cider from glass champagne flutes and eating ice cream sundaes.

I was so tired when we got home last night. We'd managed to sneak in Zoolights after all. We arrived at the zoo at 4:30, discovered it was free admission night, bought train tickets and got in line. Tom's brother and girlfriend met us there. We stayed a couple of hours and then drove home so we could attend the party.

This morning we attended 8:30 am Mass since it's a Holy Day of Obligation (the Solemnity of Mary.) Hubby said he tried to wake me up around 7-ish, but I didn't even acknowledge him. I woke up at 8 and even the kids were still asleep. Still we all managed to make it to the church in time. I'm going to consider getting us up and ready so quickly my Crossfit WOD!

Later today, the five of us will be attending a party at the home of one of my climbing friends. I need to make something to bring, but can't decide what yet.

What are you doing to kick off the New Year?

A year of blog in review

I'm stealing this idea from Marianne who got it from someone else. You look at the first couple lines of what you posted the first day of each month and comment on it with your current prospective.

1. Monday, January 01, 2007 - Happy New Year!

We had a great time at Zoolights last night. A great way to say goodbye to 2006 and hello to 2007! Of course a new year means new resolutions. I went back to the archives. Here's what I wrote exactly one year ago today:

I've also been thinking about my 2007 resolutions and wondering what I would put down for 2008. This will be 1/1/08's blog topic as well as a review of my old resolutions and how I did.

2. Thursday, February 01, 2007 - Win, Lose or...Wed!

LLast Man On Earth has been accepted with no revisions!!! Huge sigh of relief on this end, and I think I'll have to break out the bubbly tonight to celebrate. Here's a snippet of what my editor had to say:

"I went through a number of different emotions whilst reading; I felt Millie's fear before the abseil, and her exhilaration when she skydived, I felt absolutely gleeful when Millie stepped out in a bikini and saw the men's reaction (one of those "yeah!" moments!) and I cried at the end. And THAT tango seen is hot!!"

It's hard to believe that book has been on sale for almost a month when earlier this year I'd been writing it! I still remember how good getting that email felt because I worked so hard on the story. This was the day they told me the new title, Win, Lose or...Wed!

3. Thursday, March 01, 2007 - Second Go-around

I've been telling myself for the last week that I was just at the tail end of the sinus infection, that I was getting better. But when hubby got home from his trip and said I looked and sounded worse than when he left, I knew I'd been kidding myself.

Oh, I remember this. I was sick for a couple of months earlier this year that really impacted the writing of SOS: Marry Me. I should have gone back to the doctor much sooner. Stupid me.

4. Sunday, April 01, 2007 - Palm Sunday

We survived Mass this morning without any palm incidents. Rose wanted to swing hers and I imagined her hitting someone in the eye with it.

I'm almost packed. Just need to find my helmet. It's gotta be here somewhere. My parents are here, ready to watch the kidlets and the kitties, for the next couple of days. I still need to give them a list of where they need to be when. And directions. Cannot forget directions.

That was the day we left for our anniversary trip to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. My parents did fine with the kids and it was lovely skiing. On top of it, hubby loved his gift--a gift certificate with Timberline Mountain Guides to climb Mt. Hood. Buying that was the first big step of mine into the world of climbing!

5. Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - May Day


The Tally

New pages written: many (goal: 6.2 pages per day)
Old pages revised on paper: many
Pages of revisions typed in: many
Pages lost or gained due to revisions: many
Total page count to date: 108 (goal: 200)
Days remaining until D-day: 31
Emails from editor in UK: 0
Emails from agent in NY: 0
Emails from continuity loop: so, so many

Chocolate consumed: Hershey kisses last night
Junk food consumed: none
Exercise: One hour Pilates Mat class
Television watched: Heroes
Tears: yes
Link for the day: Phantom of the Opera clips set to a song I love, Because The Night. This is a great video. Embedding was turned off so I couldn't put the video here.

The tally is back. I'm already freaked out about the book. It's going to be an interesting month. I was hoping to have 120 pages done by today, but I didn't make it. That means I need to get extra pages written this week to catch up. Enough about that.

This was were I really felt the time I'd lost being sick in February and March. I was so behind on the book and in a total panic. Much earlier than my normal panics and freak outs that happen with each book. I really didn't think I'd be able to do it with this one! But I did though I did have revisions that needed to be done including deleting scenes and rewriting new ones.

6. Friday, June 01, 2007 - It's Done!

Final Tally

New pages written: 0
Old pages revised on paper: entire book
Old pages revised on screen: entire book
Pages of revisions typed in: entire book
Pages lost or gained due to revisions: -1
Total page count to date: 215
Days remaining until D-day: 0
Emails from editor in UK: 2 (from another editor about cover art)
Emails from agent in NY: 0
Emails from continuity loop: a few

Chocolate consumed: Godiva truffle
Junk food consumed: none
Diet: pretty easy since I have no time or desire to eat right now
Weekly weigh in: 130 (down 8 pounds total)
Exercise: 30 minutes of practicing climbing footwork outside
Television watched: none
Tears: just couple
Clip for the day: A bit tongue in cheek, but this is how I feel about my manuscript right now. Enjoy!

Okay, I did it. But I only have five minutes to get ready for Pilates so I'll write more when I get back. Oh, and hubby made sure I ate three meals yesterday! Plus I remembered to take a vitamin.

The video I posted is no longer available, but was Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson. I have never been so relieved to have finished a manuscript as I was with this one. I hope I never feel that way again!

7. Sunday, July 01, 2007 -Happy Canada Day!

One of my furbabies, Spirit, wants to wish all of our friends north of the border a Happy Canada Day! Okay, really she's letting me know how much she hates the vacuum cleaner.

I was (and still am) so happy to see Spirit healthy and more like her old self after her bout with Hyper-T and I131 treatment. Now to get her brother, Rocket, the same treatment in 2008!

8. Thursday, August 02, 2007 - The Grim Rea-Purr

Some of you cat lovers might have already read about Oscar, the Death kitty, who's been the buzz around the Internet and various publications. I found out about the tabby, who lives in a nursing home in Providence, RI, yesterday in this article from Slate. Turns out Oscar can sense when the end is near and has nuzzled over 25 patients right before their deaths. Not sure I'd want a cat with that ability (I'd be too paranoid), but it's an interesting read.


Oh, I remember this one. That was one kitty I wouldn't want. Though he and Tori would probably hit off quite well. Tori comments on this blog and I called her the Grim Reaper after she predicted the deaths of a few celebrities earlier this year. My biggest cat find of the year was the website icanhascheezburger. That's one of the places I visit daily.

9. Saturday, September 01, 2007 - Working hard

These pictures are from Smith Rock. They were taken by my friend, Tiffany, on our Friday climb with the kids. Hope you enjoy the nice scenery shots.

Now for today's entry...



I haven't been on-line much in the last twenty-four hours. But I have been busy. Pilates killed me (a different instructor who tortured us on the reformer machine.) Enjoyed a great and enlightening talk with the wife of a PMR member and a member herself though she doesn't go out on rescues. Procrastinated very little (though did pay a visit to the climbing forum to see if anyone was climbing this weekend around here), but other than that I have been so disciplined. Which means I've been writing!

Let's see, Tiffany is still taking gorgeous pictures and I can't wait until she's back in town so we can climb. The wife of the PMR member had a baby-a girl-in November. Talking with her that day really helped me with the book. And I wasn't 100% disciplined while writing Rescued by the Magic of Christmas, but I was better than I had been with the other books. Progress. Yay!

10. Monday, October 01, 2007 - What Famous Pinup Are You?

This quiz is from Marianne. I had a good laugh over the result.

You are Marilyn Monroe

A classic tortured beauty You're the dream girl of many men Yet they never seem to treat you right

What Famous Pinup Are You?

Haha. This was one of those can't think of anything to blog about and it's going to be another manic Monday so let's find a quiz or something easy to post. Though it was kind of cool to get Marilyn Monroe.

11. Thursday, November 01, 2007 - Random Thursday

The title for today's blog could have been one of the following:

1) NaNoWriMo Begins
2) Pics from this week
3) Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Instead, I decided to borrow the Random Thursday title from one of the radio shows I listened to this morning on my way to Crossfit. Today was a skills day. Rather than do a WOD (workout of the day) I worked on my form on a variety of exercises. It was still quite a good workout.

Aw, Crossfit. The other thing besides climbing I discovered in 2007. I haven't been feeling up to full workouts still due to this cold/allergy/whatever so it'll be like starting over, but I'm up for it. I really miss my early morning workouts and can't wait to get back to it.

12. Saturday, December 01, 2007 - One Day To Go

The book is due tomorrow. Chapter 9 is back from my cp and it's much better. Huge sigh of relief. I have 10 pages of Chapter 10 revised. That leaves the last half of that one and Chapter 11 to do today. I will spend the day writing. I may skip the swim meet this afternoon since I still have a bad cough and congestion. Plus I really can't justify losing five hours of prime writing time for approximately 4 minutes of swimming (if I add up how much time each of the two kids will be in the water) when hubby can video tape it for me.


Hard to believe I'm still sick with the same thing nearly a month later! Staying home had been the right decision. There seems to be no negative psychological effects on the kidlets. Though I'll know more in about twenty years when they'll come back and say I ruined their childhood by not being there! Haha. I remember feeling as if everything had come together finally and that this was going to be the book I wanted it to be. The one I'd imagined back in December of 2006 as I watch the drama on Mount Hood unfold.

So that's my year of blog in review! 2007 seems like it flew by and that I didn't do all that much except write. What about you? How was your 2007?

And the free book goes to...

Today isn't just the day I give out a free book to someone who posted a comment on the blog. It's also hubby's birthday! After Mass this morning, we went out to breakfast. Today I'm going to make him a cake, devil's food with chocolate icing, and wrap his gifts. Tonight, a bunch of us are getting together for dinner at the Rhinelander and a visit to see the Festival of Lights at the Grotto. It's the same thing we did last year, but he didn't want to do anything different this year.

Here are your random numbers:

17
Timestamp: 2007-12-30 18:27:22 UTC

This week's win a book winner is Marianne again. She won with a comment on my "Post-Christmas Wrapup" post. Marianne, please pick a book off the list here and email me your choice and snail address. Thanks!

Last week's winner, Marianne, chose The Runaway Duke by Julie Anne Long.

If you posted a comment on Christmas Day, make sure you read the comment section. I've only heard from Brandy, Dru and Tori. Thanks!

As I was cleaning my closet, I found a couple of new books I'd received in my goodie bag at the romance readers luncheon I attended. I also have a few duplicates of books already selected on the list. I'll add those to the giveaway list in 2008.

Random Things

I posted in the comment section yesterday that I started writing the new book. The working title is Princess Nobody. I'm not sure what I'm doing or where I'm going with it, but by the time I shut down the iBook for the night I had seven pages. Not bad! I'm still trying to figure out who the characters are, but it was really fun to sit down at a blank screen and write. I can't wait to get back to it which is surprising since this is the part I usually don't like! Taking a break from writing was definitely what I needed!

But my mind is on the story so I really couldn't think of anything in particular to blog about so this will be pretty random today.

This morning I was trying to find my long underwear shirt. I'd already searched for it before to no avail so I decided to take everything out of the shelves and the dresser in my closet. As soon as I did that, I found it. It was on the bottom of a stack of summer clothes. I didn't know how it had gotten there until I remembered a hike I took in June in the rain. Of course, with everything out, it was the perfect time to organize the shelves and drawers.

I'm beginning to think my cold that won't go away is now the result of an allergy to our Christmas tree. Nothing else makes sense. Granted, we got the tree after I got sick, but my runny nose and cough have only gotten worse over the last couple of weeks. It seems like every year I get a cold around Christmas time and last year thought it could be the tree (mold spores, actually). I asked hubby if we could try an artificial tree this year, but he said no way. We had the tree shaken, but next year I'll try spraying it down with water to remove more spores before bringing it inside. We usually leave the tree up until Epiphany, but I'm not sure I want to suffer that long.

When I went out shopping a couple of days before Christmas, I picked up a couple extra book-type gifts from us to the kidlets. You can never have too many books no matter how old you are! I got Mackenna and Finn the Daring/Dangerous Book for Girls/Boys, a Fairy/Tinkerbell reading set for Rose and a really cool hardcover set of the Spiderwick Chronicles in a cardboard chest for Mackenna. She started and finished book one today. She's already moved on to book two. I love when something captures their attention like that.

Hope you have a great Saturday. Hubby wants to stay home and watch the Patriots play tonight. (Did I mention we're tied for first place with our fantasy football team. If we win this weekend, we win the league!) I want to take the kids to Zoolights since the rest of our nights until it ends are booked. I'm guessing the weather will decide what we do.

Do you have any plans for today?

Simply Enchanting

We saw Enchanted yesterday. It was the first movie the five of us had attended together since Over The Hedge. With the cost of movie tickets we usually just buy the DVD when it comes out. It's cheaper that way. But my cp had already given me the thumbs-up-must-see on the movie after she, her husband and another couple saw it together. Given I love fairy tales, princes and princesses, I knew this was one movie I wanted to see in the theater.

I wasn't disappointed.

"Mommy will be buying this DVD," my oldest said as we exited the theater. She was correct. This romance writer of happily ever afters loved Enchanted.

Amy Adams plays Giselle and is a delight in the movie. I can't imagine someone else in that role. James Marsden is a great Prince Edward, too. My fave part of the movie was the big musical number in Central Park when Giselle starts singing much to the dismay of Robert played by Patrick Dempsey.



Several shots in the movie pay homage to movies (Disney and others) that came before, including the clip I posted above.

The clever script was written by Bill Kelly. It's not without a few flaws. In true Disney fashion, Kelly gave each character a HEA. The only one that left me with an "okay, I guess" feeling was Prince Edward's. The others, however, including the two "authors", were perfect! And hubby had issues with Robert's wife leaving him. (I reminded him I used the same backstory for my In Deep Waters hero, Ben Mendoza, so he wouldn't believe in love, but hubby's point was this was a kid's film and I do see his point. Why not just kill off the wife?) But it's still a wonderfully crafted, enjoyable story. Here's a story techniques article written by John Truby about Enchanted that writers might find interesting. I did.

Have you seen Enchanted? If so, what did you think? If not, do you plan on seeing it or not?

It's Snowing!

The kidlets woke us up this morning at 8:15 am (can't complain about that!) laughing and shrieking with delight. White stuff was falling from the sky and they were so excited, but the best part, in their opinions, was that it was sticking to the grass. The pulled me out of bed and took me to the oldest's bedroom so I could see for myself. Yep, very exciting!

I told hubby last night to run out and get some groceries unless we wanted to survive on cookies, candy and fudge. He didn't, but there's still time this morning. We planned on skiing this week, but with the littlest one, taking her out for the first time of the season in bad weather might not be the smartest thing. She did it at Mount Bachelor, but that first day was a total wash.

I did, however, look for a place to rent for a few days during spring break up on Mount Hood. My oldest's birthday falls on Easter this year and she wants to ski (and stay there) rather than have a birthday party. (Do you hear the choirs of angels singing?) I found two possibilities that would work and are reasonably priced. Of course, she'd also like to climb and go on a dog sled ride, but both of those are over near Bend so might have to happen some other time.

I also reserved a yurt at Cape Disappointment for this summer. I'd forgotten to do it before due to the book and when I checked after the book had been sent in, nothing was available. The kids were really disappointed. Last night, with all this vacation planning happening, I checked again, and the same yurt we'd stayed in last year had three nights open in July. Someone must have changed their reservations. YAY! I booked it right then and there. The kids are thrilled.

Obviously, I'm a planner. Though I still like to do things spontaneously. What about you? Do you plan things out way in advance or not?

Have a great day!

Post-Christmas Wrap-up

I was out the door before 6 am to hit Kohls. I'm donating a Christmas Basket to the kids school and figured this would be the perfect day to buy things on sale. Then I had to swing by Toys R Us because my youngest turns five in a few weeks and wants a Leapster. They had games buy one get one free. Michael's is right next door so I dropped by there, too.

I now have enough things for four or five baskets, plus all the stuff I need to put together really cute teacher gifts next Christmas! I couldn't help myself. I just love buying Christmas things.

Our day was great yesterday. We even had snow! It was very exciting and just what I'd been praying for. Unfortunately, the snow didn't stick, but it was lovely watching the big white flakes fall from the sky. The only thing that didn't go well was my brother-in-law's girlfriend was sick so she couldn't come. Other than that, everything was wonderful.

Let's see: Present opening in the morning (we'd gone to Mass on Christmas Eve), the day spent playing with all the new things and then dinner. We smoked a Prime Rib and had Alaskan King Crab legs, too. Mashed potatoes, asparagus, cranberry sauce, salad and crescent rolls rounded out the menu. Dessert consisted of a buffet of chocolate fondue (with assorted items for dipping), Baskin Robbins ice cream birthday cake and various baked goods.

The kids loved all their gifts. Faves for each:

Mackenna - Tamagotchi from Santa
Finn - Guitar from us
Rose - Bitty Twins and stroller from Santa

The biggest hit though seems to be the Wii that my parents gave the kids on Christmas Eve. We didn't set it up until after dessert last night and now that's all hubby wants to do. I fear I will become a Wii widow. I already made them turn it off. That lasted approximately eight minutes when hubby decided that had been long enough. The good thing is he's playing with the kids. The bad thing is he's very competitive and wants to win. Sigh...

Oh, and the tortoise I gave my nephew was a big hit, too. It's name is Yoshi!

Hope everyone had a nice time yesterday.

Also, if you commented on my Christmas post, please make sure you go to the comments and read my post. I have something for you!