Writing News
I got over ten hours of writing done this week, whoohooo! I am such a chart person and it feels so good to walk by my writing chart and see the hours adding up, which of course means that I get a star this week. But, as far as what I actually accomplished: Research, found some more agents I like online and queried them, found a Christian Writer’s Conference online and ordered info (usually I attend the regional SCBWI), and I’ve been reading through “Writing the Breakout Novel” for fun and brainstorming brilliant ideas for L.M.R. as I go. I’ll read the section on scenery and then write down one idea for how to make L.M.R.’s scenery glorious and then I go on to the next chapter. This is really going to help because I didn’t read this book until I was two years into Overturned and it was very helpful but feels more helpful to be using some of the info before I start writing.
Breaking News
Taking the three cyclones outside has been quite hazardous this week. We got freezing rain awhile back and then instead of big puffy piles of snow to cover it up, we received just a skiff of soft and shiny ice crystals. The ice was fairly slippery on its own, but now that we have a delicate layer of ice crystals the danger level has skyrocketed. I had sweet boy #3 in the stroller (if I put him in the backpack I’m sure I would fall and squash him) and sweet boy #1 and sweet boy #2 were pulling my old runner sled (yes it’s 20 yrs old but I swear it mostly works and there is only one rusty nail sticking out of the bottom) and we scuffed and shuffled our way down the driveway toward the boys snow tunnel and Grammy’s house. I put double hats on them for cushioning and they were falling all over the place, which is to be expected at their tender age. But the highlight of the trip occurred when I was pulling sweet boy #3 and the stroller out of Grammy’s woodshed, slipped and fell on my butt, and pulled the stroller down on top of me giving sweet boy #3 an unexpected adrenaline rush. But nonetheless we press on (no broken hips yet) and the ice crystals really are quite beautiful when they sparkle from the tree branches in the early morning light. Not that I’m out in them in the early morning. This is purely a “from the window” observation. But it is so cold they refuse to melt so we continue to enjoy them.
Harrowing/Heartwarming
Parent Moment of the Week
Let’s see. During prayer time sweet boy #2 thanked God for “Mama’s chin.” While the rest of the family was vacuuming, sweet boy #3 toddled over and got his little musical vacuum thingy and ran it all over the carpet with an important and proud expression on his face. We had much talk of the boy’s imaginary cabins this week. Both sweet boy #1 and sweet boy #2 have an imaginary cabin. Not sure where this came from but they are very competitive about them. “My cabin is so cold! My cabin is so hot! My cabin is big enough for Mama! My cabin has a short short roof! My cabin is close by! My cabin is so far away!” You get the picture. Well this time sweet boy #2 declared “There’s a Christmas tree at my cabin with “onesies” for decorations!” That’s right “onesies”. And later sweet boy #1 was explaining that there were “Big big fridges and freezers that hold millions of food in my cabin!” It was all very enlightening. But regretfully the harrowing parent moment of the week was one of those times that your stomach presses up against the back of your teeth and your heart scrambles against your ribs like some doomed rodent under the shadow of a hawk. We were visiting a much beloved elderly relative, who unfortunately has to ingest a wide variety of deadly pills. Normally I crawl around on my hands and knees at child level looking for anything that has been dropped, but of course this time I did not. I see sweet boy #3 eating something in the kitchen and I pull it out of his mouth. It is a pill. He’s eaten half of it and a bunch of those little balls that are inside these sort of pills are stuck to the inside of his mouth. I rush to the sink and rinse out all the little balls, grab the pill bottle from our horrified hostess, and call poison control. Now you must realize that there are heart pills in this home, anti-cancer pills, and the worst of all blood thinners. The poison control lady calmly listens to my panicked rush of words and informs me that it was only a mild stomach medication. Apparently “he could have eaten the whole thing”. What a game of Russian Roulette! Believe me I will be crawling around a lot on return visits. And I have offered the big boys the bribe of a “big piece of candy” if they find a pill and bring it to us. Ahhhhhh, I still feel a little crazy just writing about it.
