Lessons I learned this Thanksgiving

I thought I'd make this a holiday tradition, since Lessons I Learned This Halloween was such a hit. So without further ado, I give you...

Lessons I Learned This Thanksgiving

1. You CAN get a hangover from Turkey. However, the remedy is definitely NOT more turkey.

2. I don't care what the doctors say, the tryptophan in turkey will get you EVERY TIME. In my case, it knocks me out for three days.

3. It doesn't matter that they have about 1,000 options of Thanksgiving Day yumminess to choose from, my children will STILL ask for Peanut Butter and Jelly.

4. I will NEVER be able to make a Thanksgiving dinner as good as my Mom's. I'm not even going to try. My family will be lucky if I can make them turkey sandwiches without something going wrong.

5. Don't wait until the last minute to try and make Pumpkin Stuff. Why? Because there will be a NATIONAL FREAKING SHORTAGE of canned pumpkin.

6. By all means, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. However, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you try and imitate the Radio City Rockettes. Just trust me on this one.

7. Next year I'm buying handcuffs so that I can keep all of my family here. It's just not the same without them around...sniff.

I truly hope all of you had a lovely Thanksgiving. You have my blessing to put up your Christmas decorations now! :P

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Broadcast

Apparently, I have an alter ego.

I've decided her name is Lizzy, because that sounds like a good thirteen year old name, doesn't it? Also, my full name is Elizabeth, so it's not too far of a stretch. Lizzy has decided that she has ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh A LOT to tell you all. So, I'm going to let her take it from here.

What's up people?! So, I just had to pop in here and let you all know that I totally saw New Moon last night (the midnight showing - booyah!). IT IS AMAZING. Like, more amazing than Twilight - and that was PRETTY DANG AMAZING. You all totally need to go out and see it...TWICE! 

Taylor Lautner got all kinds of ripped up to play Jacob in this one, and he does not disappoint AT ALL. Too bad he's all hung up on Taylor Swift (love you Tay Tay!) :( Plus, there's like, totally more Edward than I thought there'd be - can somebody say BONUS! The Volturri are totally creepy, natch, and the wolves are incredible. Chris Weitz is a genius...he deserves an Oscar, or at least a Moonman. I'm already counting down the days until Eclipse comes out, and in case you're wondering, it's 222! TTYL! xoxo Lizzy

Well, that was interesting, wasn't it? Before I go, I have a few people to thank for gifting me some truly special blog awards:

Thank you, Jessie, for the One Lovely Blog Award!

Thank you, Jennifer, for the Honest Scrap Award!

Thank you, Roni, for the Best Blog Award!

If I didn't have my family arriving this evening and an entire house to clean before they arrive then I would be handing out some awards myself, but that will have to wait for another post. 

Posting next week will be light, as I will be taking some time to enjoy my family here for Thanksgiving!

Happy Friday!

DO IT

I'm sitting in the library to do my writing this morning because Starbucks was WAY crowded. Don't you just hate when that happens? It seems that there are always ways to get distracted with our writing, whether it be people (I'm looking at you Loud Talker Guy), places (Megan Rebekah did a great post on change of scenery today), or things (remember the laundry?).

The thing is...THE THING IS: How bad do I want this? How bad to I want to finish this novel? How badly do I want to be a GREAT writer? Do I want it bad enough that I'll drive the extra ten minutes to the library so that I can have peace and quiet? Will I maybe NOT watch that certain show (or in my case, SHOWS) this week so that I can get in some extra writing time? The proof is in the pudding, folks. And if the pudding box is in the pantry, well...then MAKE SOME PUDDING. (Okay, I know I got carried away with it...I was going for motivational and I think it just got ridiculous.)

How bad do you want it? What are you doing to GET IT?

 And to reiterate my point, go watch this clip from Starsky and Hutch. Not only will the "Do It" get stuck in your head, it is fraught with writing analogies (he talks about adding depth and backstory to your characters AND voice. It's a win win! Plus, it'll make you laugh - and let's face it...that's what I'm here for!).

Christmas Lights? Really?

People, it's not even Thanksgiving yet! Are we just going to skip the "thankful" holiday altogether this year?! For me, it's kind of like wearing white shoes before Easter - you just don't do it!

I don't know why I kid myself EVERY YEAR thinking that I won't have to explain to my children until AFTER Thanksgiving that Santa will be coming soon. Now, we're just barely past Halloween and they're already asking, "When is Santa coming?" Actually, my oldest asks that, and my youngest just screams, "SANTA!!!" at the top of his lungs. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT TWO YEAR OLD'S DO.

Seriously, people are already putting up Christmas lights in our neighborhood, and I'm all HOLD THE PHONE PEOPLE...NOT EVEN DECEMBER YET! I'm actually one of those people who really enjoys decorating (when the time is right, of course). It's the TAKING IT ALL DOWN part that gives me ulcers. I literally cringe when I think about de-ornamenting the Christmas tree.

What about you? Are you irritated by early Christmas decorations? The sound of Christmas music playing in stores even though Thanksgiving Day hasn't even passed? Or are you ONE OF THEM? Fess up, I promise I won't yell at you - I might, however, send my two year old to your house so YOU can explain why Santa won't be here for another MONTH AND A HALF! :)

*Photo courtesy of Google Images

How to Lose Your Sanity in Ten Minutes or Less

Try to wrangle three children under five into a semi-decent picture pose. Trust me, it's buckets of fun. 

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are here visiting from Florida. They leave tomorrow to go home, and I am none too pleased about it. I'm thinking about letting my youngest play with their keys, because he NEVER loses things. 

Today, we took all three boys to the Georgia Aquarium. I don't know who was more upset that the beluga whale attraction was under construction, me or my kids (just kidding, IT WAS ME - they're my favorite). The boys had a great time, and we (the parents) were appropriately worn out. 

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I promise oodles of fun next week, and I'll have a few award thank-you's to say as well.

Buckle in...this might get bumpy

So I'm going to attempt something I've never done before. Mommy Monday and Writer Wednesday ALL IN ONE DAY. Can you handle it? I hope you've got your big girl panties on (or big boy briefs for that lone male reader out there a.k.a my husband. Ahem.)!

Mommy Monday was, well, busy. I had just come off of a LOVELY weekend with some even more lovely ladies (thank you JODI!!!). My husband was all alone with the children the whole weekend, so the house was...well, it was a little bit of a disaster area when I got home. I was able to get the majority of it cleaned up while the boys were in preschool, and also get a little bit of writing done. However, I was NOT able to get my Mommy Monday post up, so this will have to suffice. Mommy was BUSY.

As for Writer Wednesday? Well, this writer is trying to get herself ORGANIZED. I gotta tell ya, it's not looking so good. I have been trying to save bits and pieces of advice (from other writers/publishers/agents blogs) in file folders for future reference. I've got them labeled according to type of advice, ex. first draft, editing, critique groups, grammar, publishing, etc. However, at the moment I have a stack of mish mashed papers staring at me, just begging for a home. Quite frankly, I don't have the energy to find them a home right now. All I want to find is my bed and go to sleep.

What do you do to stay organized with your writing, whether it be research for your book or research on writing in general?

Mommy Needs a Time Out

I'm gearing up for a little Mommy's Weekend Away with a few girlfriends, and I am so excited. I am SO looking forward to doing NOTHING, feeding NOONE but myself, and wiping NOONE'S BUTT BUT MY OWN. Too much information? DEAL WITH IT.

I'm eager for a break from the craziness that's been my house the last couple of weeks - a knee surgery recovering hubby*, two cantankerous kiddos whose only words lately have been "Mommyyyyyyy" and "That's MIIIIIINE", and a dog whose only goal in life is to pee on every square inch of available flooring in our house.

The weather is GORGEOUS this weekend and we're staying at a cabin on a lake in Tennessee FOR FREE. Can't beat that. I'm also taking along my notebook to use some of the quiet time to do some novel plotting...woohoo! 

The only problem I can foresee with this whole scenario is that they're going to have to pull me kicking and screaming to leave on Sunday. Oh wait, NOT MY PROBLEM! :)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. I hope it's restful and full of great things!

*And a special thanks to my hubby for venturing to take the children on his own, so that I don't completely lose my sanity. I LOVE YOU!

Just Another Reason I Love Blogging

There has been a lot of talk around the blogosphere and elsewhere about building your platform as an author and how blogging can be beneficial in doing just that. While that is one of the many reasons why I blog, another is that I have learned SO MUCH from reading other writer's blogs. On that note, I have a story to tell you from my day today, and I hope that you gain something by reading it. That is the beauty of the blog. Someone shares, another person learns and grows.

I sat in Starbucks this morning, (thankfully without loud cellphone talking guy) typing furiously away on my novel, piecing together a scene between my main character and her current love interest, when a tidal wave of negative thinking hit me square between the eyes. 

This is crap. I have no plot, my characters are flat, and I've wasted nearly 30,000 words to tell part of a story that absolutely no one will want to read. Yep, this whole thing is a giant, steaming pile of C-R-A-P.

I have no idea where it came from (actually it might stem from the fact that I'm not feeling well, am overtired, and just generally grumpy lately - which in and of itself is enough to bring this big baby to tears), but it nearly brought me to tears. This is the first time I've faced this overwhelming sense of self-doubt, and I'm thinking, no, I'm pretty sure, that this won't be the last time this happens to me.

So what did I do? I stopped writing for a little while to get out of my own head, and I started perusing the blogosphere in search of something, ANYTHING to take my mind off of my general suckiness (if that's even a word...and if it isn't, it SHOULD be). 

In my searching, I came across this post by Natalie Whipple over at Fact and Fiction (Natalie also happens to be represented by the agent/blogging hero that is Nathan Bransford). It pretty much said exactly what I needed to hear in that moment to allow me to keep writing, whether it was crap or not. It's not about my talent, it's about my skill.

All of us struggle at one point or another in this writing journey, but having a community of other writers just a keystroke away makes it just that much more bearable. So thanks, to all of you agents/editors/publishers/fellow writers, for putting your experiences down for the rest of us to read.

Lessons I learned this Halloween

1. You CAN get a hangover from candy. The remedy? MORE CANDY.

2. Your child COULD be allergic to his costume. But since you paid $40 for it, you WILL give him Benadryl and tell him to buck up.

3. Carving three pumpkins = insanity.

4. Use old Christmas lights to light your pumpkin instead of an actual candle if you're going to be leaving your house on Halloween. That way, your house doesn't burn down and everyone can still enjoy the stenciled-on ghost face that your husband painstakingly carved out of your enormous pumpkin. Everyone wins.

5. Buy a smaller pumpkin next year.

6. Trick or treating in the cold and rain is still fun for kids. For adults...not so much.

7. Make sure you're invited to a friend's house where this recipe is being served. Trust me.

8. Make sure that friend is a great photographer, because you might get just about the cutest picture you've ever seen of your kid in a costume.

And now a word about the Fall Back time change: When you think it's a good idea to stay over at your friend's house and keep your kids up later so that they'll "sleep in" the next morning instead of waking up an hour earlier? IT'S NOT.

That is all.

You're welcome.