Baby Bunny Plays Bike Dodge

How awesome is this?!

I let the kids ride their bikes to daycare this a.m.

The youngest (7) is just giving it with all she's got to keep up with the 9 yr old and her bigger bike. (7 yr old's bike is too small and has very small tires).

Baby bunny comes racing from a yard, runs right between the 7 yr old's small bicycle tires, comes back and dodges her again, and runs off.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it. The little bugger came back to sit in the middle of the road. I had to shoo it off so I wouldn't risk running it over.

My awesome 7 yr old didn't even flinch, and no wipeout. She managed to avoid hurting both herself and the baby bunny playing a game of tire dodge.

 

Cuban Adventures – 5 days, 7 nights in Cuba Part Five: Highlights, Lowlights, and Stuff In Between.

There are two things we noticed immediately about the Cuban people that we came into contact with.



First was their unfailing friendliness. It seemed that nearly everyone we dealt with was friendly, courteous, and helpful.



Perhaps that is in part because they were the lucky ones. No matter how bad we thought their job was, at least they had jobs. And maybe it was in part because of their culture, a culture dependent on us vacationers and our tips. Despite having to take the often unreasonable and undeserved abuse of a bunch of overtired and cranky vacationers, they still managed to turn around with a polite smile to help the next cranky vacationer.



The second thing we noticed goes hand in hand with the first. Everybody wants a tip. While we’re used to certain service positions coming with the assumption that tipping is their due (like waitresses, waiters, and hairdressers to name a few); that tip culture in Cuba seemed to involve everyone.



Imagine going on a local sight-seeing trip with multiple stops, a bus ride, boat ride, a meal, and a show – all inclusive – where every stage of the trip involves the people passing around the tip hat and cheerfully letting you know what is considered a proper tip. And then as you get back on the bus to go home, your tour guide reminds you to tip the driver too. By the time it’s all done, you’ve likely doubled the cost of that already pricey sight-seeing trip.



The big difference was that, unlike our local waitresses, these people were still friendly on the occasions when you didn’t tip. And let’s face it, when you spend a week at an all inclusive resort where everyone from the cleaning lady who makes your beds to the lifeguard at the beach are looking for tips every time they rush to do something for you – it’s not easy to always be tip-ready on your first inclusive vacation.

We struck it pretty lucky with our room by all accounts. Our room was huge for a single room, with not two but three double beds. It was nice and clean and in decent shape.



We had a bit of a trek to get to the main hotel and the beach, but it was a nice walk and we had only ourselves and a bag of sunscreen to carry. So, instead of a two minute walk, it may take us anywhere between ten and twenty minutes, all depending on how much the kids dawdle to look for the little lizards that come out in the afternoon.

Pool with "Snack Bar" in the background

The extra walk also meant we were in the nice quiet area where the kids were asleep within moments of going to bed, while their movie prattled on quietly to deaf ears. All the loud partiers were in the main hotel building close to the beach. But we still had a pool close by and a 24 hour “snack bar”, which turned out to be loosely translated from a bar that serves bar food like hamburgers, pizza, and hot dogs.



Some of the people from our plane that we talked to weren’t so lucky. One guy on his own was put in a small basement room of the main building. Some begging, pleading, and a tip got him moved to better accommodations.



A woman and her husband were put in a room she was completely unhappy about. But then this woman seemed to be completely unhappy about a lot of things every time we saw her. She said their room was full of mold that was painted over, peeling paint, and that she couldn’t breathe. All valid complaints, but despite her angry words, demands, and complaints, the hotel staff couldn’t find them another room. Oddly enough, it was about that same time that her husband got drunk and went AWOL. My guess is that he’d had enough of her complaining. This same woman had also been loud, obnoxious, and rude to the hotel staff on our first day, making sure everyone in the area knew she was tough enough to kick in the locked door keeping everyone’s baggage safe while we were all waiting for rooms to be ready.

On our way to the "family" buildings

Another family that was in the cluster of family buildings where we were had a room like ours, but poolside. We were envious until we found out they had no hot water (and that lasted for days). Being on the ground floor, they also found they were sharing their room halfway through the week with the large cockroaches common to tropical areas.



We did get our turn to rough it without hot water, but luckily it was repaired that same afternoon.



Of course, you also get what you paid for and we were in one of the cheapest low end resorts.









Ah, there's the beach ...

Most of the vacation was spent at the beach and visiting the two swimming pools.

Unfortunately, Sidney didn’t have a whole lot of fun, but all that lounge-time gave her lots of time to just sleep and get lots of fresh air. What better place to be sick than in a relaxing tropical paradise? The poor girl started running a high fever the night we arrived and was sick the whole vacation. Luckily we were prepared for it with all the medicines a sick kid might need.

I spent most of the week by Sidney’s side, sitting pool or beachside watching the other two have fun.

Let's go Dad!

Steve and Robyn, of course, were having a blast. Robyn discovered the coconut slushy (Pina Colada mix without the alcohol), and they both spent a lot of time playing in the water together.

Going in to ride the waves

Robyn couldn’t get enough of riding the large rolling waves of sea water, and thus our Robynism for today:



With the large rolling waves of the beach in Cuba, you wait and watch for the wave and turn away just as it hits, jumping so you ride the wave. Otherwise you’ll just end up with a face (and mouth) full of salty sea water and knocked off your feet.



Being all of about 3 ½ feet tall, Robyn couldn’t reach the bottom and happily rode the waves up and down in her life jacket. One day the waves were higher and even more fun for her.



With great delight she squealed, “This is AWSOME!!! It’s like riding a roller coaster from Evil Heaven!”




Of course, it’s not hard to figure out that at six years old she’s just coming up with the best way she can to describe that other place (Hell) – she just couldn’t remember the name of it.





That SPF 60 lotion sure did its job. With all those hours spent on the beach, we surprisingly weren’t all that more tanned by the end of the week.

Sleeping the bug away

It wasn’t all boredom sitting beachside with a sick kid, though. It was somewhat entertaining watching the people who were so determined to get deep enough to ride the waves, but just didn’t have the timing right. They would get just so far only to be tossed over on their heads (or arses) and out of the water by the waves.



I even managed to ride the waves myself once for a short time. I held on to Steve for dear life, of course. I’m not exactly a good swimmer. It was the day of bigger waves, but no yellow warning flag and we’d made it out past the knock-you-on-your-butt zone with no problem. We were a little further than most of the people in the water when three big waves came in, rolling in one right behind the other. When we looked after the third wave, we were suddenly two of the very few people left in the water. Anyone closer to shore had been dumped unceremoniously out of the water by the waves.



This was also when we had our third casualty of the week – my new bathing suit top and the first bikini I’ve bought since I was twenty (and I’m not even going to say how many years that’s been!). Apparently George bathing suits with plastic fasteners just aren’t meant to actually be worn swimming. Luckily for all the other beach goers, nobody saw a thing. The saggy boobs of a middle-aged housewife with two kids and a few pounds to lose is not something anyone is going to want to see.





And who doesn’t go on vacation without making at least one friend? Not my kid!



It didn’t take long before our usually outgoing six year old had bartenders giving her high-fives on sight, waitresses stopping her to give her a hug and a kiss on the head, and was amusing French foreigners sharing our lunch table in the packed cafeteria with her complaints the food wasn’t spicy enough.



Robyn and Steve even managed to make themselves a couple of friends very quickly in a single mom there with her daughters, one of them just the right age for our girls to play with. They played in the water at the beach and the pools, and even had lunch together when Sidney was feeling too sick to go for lunch and spent the afternoon sleeping in bed. The girls played in the sand at the beach and sat together on the bus for the catamaran and dolphins tour.





Hanging out on the catamaran

 We managed our one and only outing at almost the end of the week - a full day excursion on the catamaran. This was a boat ride with a stop for snorkelling, lunch on the beach of a small island, and swimming with the dolphins. With a sick kid all week and tips eating up most of our spending money, we were lucky to manage that trip. Unfortunately for Robyn, their friends ended up on another catamaran boat and, except for waving at them in the water during the snorkelling stop, we didn’t see them again until the bus trip back to the resort. Sidney and Robyn were too nervous to try swimming with the fishes.

catamaran

snorkelling

Swimming with the dolphins

And some other stuff too – While most of the food was just different enough to make it not always very palatable, we always managed to find something to eat.



Well, all of us except for Sidney who was by far the fussiest person on the entire Island of Cuba. The rest of us ate well enough, especially when we ate at the “snack bar” and for our turn in the Italian restaurant. Sidney pretty much lived the week on not much more than bananas and water. We got her to eat pizza one day, one of her usual staples of life, and tried every meal to get her to eat something more than bananas. Apparently even the bread was inedible – she didn’t like the butter. The coffee was very different than we have here. And the pork chops they had at lunch one day were possibly the best pork chops I’ve ever had. Or maybe it was because we’d grown accustomed to the food there. Despite the lack of seasonings, we only broke out the salt, pepper, and garlic salt for our last two days of our vacation.



Another thing to get used to is the lack of toilet seats in Cuba. Finding a toilet the kids would use that had both a toilet seat and toilet paper available was a challenge. If you were lucky there was even soap too. But don’t count on anything but your pants to dry your hands on.

We must not forget what was probably the best part of the vacation for the kids – the day the clowns came!

And when at last our vacation was over, it was time for one more lesson in vacationing overseas.



Our flight home wasn’t as crazy early as the flight to Cuba. We were up early, rushed to pack every last thing and give the room a once over, and rushed off to put some breakfast in everyone’s tummy and double-check the time for the bus one last time.



We waited around a little, trying to find the bellhop to help with the luggage and, watching the clock closely, gave up and headed back to our room to haul it all for the long trek to the main building.



Now here’s where the lesson comes in. We got there, thinking we would still have time to wait for the bus, only to learn they’ve been waiting (and desperately looking) for us! We were half an hour late for the bus! I’m not sure if we would have been able to scrounge enough for the tax fare with tip to get us to the airport. Yep, we could have missed the plane, the only plane, and would have had to catch the next one – in a week.



The time on my watch had been changed!



I’m pretty sure I know exactly what happened.



Paranoid about not hearing the little watch beep alarm, worried about not waking up on time, stressing over what if we don’t make the bus – I couldn’t sleep. Most of the night was a groggy blur of fitful dozing and waking, checking to make sure it’s not daylight (remember, it was full light out well before six a.m.), and fumbling around in the dark for the watch on the night stand and trying (usually more than once unsuccessfully) to find the right button for the light to check the time before dozing off for a few more minutes.



Next time I’m bringing a backup clock!



But we made it, and after a very long wait and many lines followed by a much longer wait at the airport – we were on our way home to icy post-blizzard roads.

Cuban Adventures – 5 days, 7 nights in Cuba Part One: Heading for Cuba.

The clock did not yet read two A.M., the alarm had not yet rang, but still it was time to get up. You might as well when you have been lying more awake than asleep in fitful bouts of dozing all night long and the alarm will sound in less than ten minutes.



The house was still a shambles, having exhaustedly run out of time trying to clean it the night before and gone off to bed.



The state of the house is only one of the casualties of trying to be Supermom and returning to full time work after six years exclusively as a stay at home mom.



Seriously sleep deprived, we were up, showered, and stumbling about to frantically get the last things packed, the car loaded, kids up and dressed, and out the door by three-thirty A.M. We really should have been hitting the road before two-thirty to get to the airport when they recommend – three hours before our six A.M. overseas flight.



And then came the hours of waiting. Waiting in line while the four of us felt we certainly couldn’t possibly stand another minute. Then more waiting, waiting in chairs and again in another line. At last we made it to the security line. We scrambled to put everything in those little plastic trays, jackets etc off, and sliding things though the x-ray machine one at a time. Finally we were ready to go through the metal detector. Steve went first and was immediately swarmed by three stern looking airport security guards waving menacing looking wands over him. It was kind of funny, all the fuss over a little blue jeans button. But the kids were a bit scared watching these stern guards waving their metal detecting weapons all around their daddy. It was their first experience going on and airplane, and my first since very many years before all the need for high security on airlines and at the airports. We scrambled to collect our things and make room for the people behind us, rushing off … to spend what felt like many more hours waiting to actually board the plane. Naturally, the plane was delayed by an hour and a half.



After a great deal of waiting the kids learned that wonderful magical plane ride they had been so eagerly waiting for weeks for wasn’t so wonderful and magical after all. At roughly five minutes and thirty-six seconds into the flight they were completely bored with a four hour flight to go.



The plane ride was pretty much as expected. The kids couldn’t really see the little television that folded down from the ceiling some rows of seats ahead, the picture and sound were choppy and cutting out through much of the movie, and the seats were cramped. The kids had no interest in the movie anyway. It was more of an adult movie. Seven year old Sidney’s distaste for the choices for the limited airline menu was just a taste of what was to come.



Despite the utter exhaustion of only half a night’s sleep at best, none of us slept on the plane ride.

Some Worthy Tweeters

I haven't had time these last months for anything writing - blogging, schmoozing, writing - with the whole family adjusting to my return to the working life after six years as a stay at home mom.




I haven't had the time for things like Twitter's #FF (Follow Friday)



Making up for lost time, here is a list of worthy tweeters that I follow on Twitter. (Now let's see if I can manage to write that 1st ever book review I've been meaning to write.)



You follow 115 people - @ Apr 8/11

Note:  All tweeter descriptions are quoted directly from their twitter pages (except techdirt).


Groups & Communities:



Gather_Inc Gather_Inc

Maker of new friends.Sharer of content.Photography lover.Foodie.News & gossip junkie.Ga-ga for giveaways.Parenting guru.Haver of hobbies.Social Networking fan.



goodreads goodreads

The largest community of readers in the world. Find new books, recommend books, track your reading, join book clubs, win book giveaways, and much more!



Horror_World Horror World

Communicate with dark fiction's best known authors Read reviews of the latest horror book releases Original Fiction by some of the Genre's biggest names



HorrorWriters Horror Writers Assoc

The HWA exists to promote and protect the careers of professional horror writers and those seeking to enter their ranks



IndieHorror IndieHorror.org

Join the leading horror author community to workshop your fiction in our forum, learn the craft from our blog and meet people just as messed up as you are.



mbwriters MB Writers' Guild

The Manitoba Writers' Guild



NextBigAuthor Leading Publishers

In May 2011, the publishers of Dan Brown, J.K. Rowling, & Stephen King join to support TheNextBigAuthor.com. Simply write some opening chapters in May to join.



publishingtalk Publishing Talk

The online community for authors and publishers interested in social media, digital, and the future of the publishing industry. Run by @jonreed.



redroomdotcom Red Room

Redroom.com is an exciting online community for authors, book-lovers, and people who love great writing. Become a fan on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/yhrlkrc



webook Brian

A leading online writing community that helps writers achieve their goal of publication. Home of PageToFame and AgentInbox.



Writers_Cafe Writers Cafe

A place where all writers can congregate to share, learn and network. Not related to WritersCafe.org.







NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) & Scriptfrenzy:



NaNoWordSprints NaNoWordSprints

The official home for Twitter-based NaNoWriMo word sprints!



NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. The goal: write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November.



NaNoWriMoYWP NaNoWriMo's YWP

The youth program for @NaNoWriMo's novel-in-a-month challenge. Tweets for young writers, parents, and educators.



scriptfrenzy Script Frenzy

The challenge: Write a script in April. Are you in?







Publishers:



AccentPress Hazel Cushion

Accent Press is a feisty independent publishing company based in the UK



AlgonquinBooks AlgonquinBooks

Founded in 1983, independent publisher of literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. Opinions our own, not representative of the company.



americaspress America's Press

America's Press is a Book Printing company that specializes in short run books for publishing companies and self published authors.



ApexBookCompany Apex Publications

Painting the landscape of dark fiction.



CarinaPress Carina Press

Harlequin's digital-first press publishing all genres/subgenres of fiction. Where no great story goes untold.



ChronicleBooks Chronicle Books

An independent publisher of distinctive books and gifts. Community Manager @zenguin on deck.



GraywolfPress Graywolf Press

Founded in 1974, Graywolf Press is an independent, nonprofit publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, & poetry. Tweets by Erin Kottke (@eekottke).



HarperCollinsCa HarperCollinsCa

News, views and a bit of attitude about HarperCollins Canada books, our authors and the world wide web.



HarperPerennial Harper Perennial

We're one of the paperback imprints of HarperCollins. We like you.



harperteen HarperTeen

Teen division of HarperCollins, publishing quality young adult books. Frequent contests, giveaways, and the latest news for YA readers!



littlebrown Little, Brown and Co

One of the U.S.'s oldest and most distinguished publishing houses, Little, Brown publishes James Patterson,David Sedaris,Anita Shreve,Malcom Gladwell &more



MacKidsBooks Macmillan Kids

Macmillan Children’s is home to some of the most highly acclaimed and noteworthy children’s imprints in the publishing industry.



Patchworkinfo Doug Burchill

The Patchwork Project is an effort to increase the awareness of domestic abuse through the horror genre.

http://www.patchworkproject.com



PenguinCanadaYR Penguin Canada YR

Publisher of quality children's and young adult books. The Canadian affiliate of the internationally renowned Penguin Group.



penguinusa Penguin Group (USA)

Penguin Group (USA) is the U.S. affiliate of the internationally renowned Penguin Group, one of the largest English-language trade book publishers in the world.



PitchDarkBooks Pitch Dark Books

Your source for paranormal & supernatural YA reads.



randomhouse randomhouse

Random House book and author news



Scholastic Scholastic

The official Scholastic Twitter account. Tweets by book lovers and education enthusiasts from around the company.



scholasticCDA Scholastic Canada

Scholastic Canada, the country's largest children's book publisher and distributor, tweets about our books, authors, and children's book news



ShadowCastAudio Jason Warden-Editor

Author. http://JasonWarden.com Podcaster, Always looking for new Dark fiction stories, art, and music for the podcast.



simonschuster Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster is one of the largest English language publishers in the world. Follow us for book, author & industry news and free book giveaways!



StoryCasting Jeff Reid

Creator of StoryCasting, the premier fantasy-casting website. Cast your favorite books with current stars.



torbooks Tor Books

Publisher of SF, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal Romance, Mystery, Thriller and Suspense, and other speculative fiction (Tweets by Jen & Laura)

Followed by you!



unbridledbooks Unbridled Books

Promising that rarest of pleasures, a good read.







Industry News and Such:



ABooksBlog A Books Blog

A books blog is the place for blog content about books.



bookbench The Book Bench

We're the literary blog of The New Yorker. Who's tweeting? Macy Halford



DigiBookWorld Digital Book World

Digital Book World focuses on publishing strategies, not tools; solutions, not theories; practicality, not punditry. Tweets by @muttinmall



eBookNewser ebookNewser

The First Word on Digital Publishing



GuardianBooks Guardian Books

News, reviews and author interviews plus tweets from the desk: Sarah Crown, Michelle Pauli, Richard Lea and Lindesay Irvine



googlebooks Google Books

Popular passages, quotes, quirky images, and occasional product updates from Google Books.



LATimesbooks LA Times Books

Literary news + reviews from Los Angeles Times Jacket Copy blog + Books section. See latimes.com/twitter for more streams. See you at the #LATfob in April.



LibraryJournal Library Journal

Library views, news, and book reviews from LJ staffers



NewYorker The New Yorker

The New Yorker is a weekly magazine with a mix of reporting of politics and culture, humor and cartoons, fiction and poetry, and reviews and criticism.



nytimesbooks nytimesbooks

Recent Critics' Picks, News and Author Interviews by the Writers and Bloggers of NYTimes.com/Books



PenguinTeen PenguinTeen

The latest info on today's hottest writers for teens: John Green, Richelle Mead, Laurie Halse Anderson, Sarah Dessen, Jay Asher...



paperbackhorror Paperback Horror

Reviewer for Paperbackhorror.com and KinderScares.com
Dangerous Arts n' Crafts type of guy.



PublishersLunch PublishersLunch

Publishing news tweets from the trade's biggest newsletter/website



PublishersWkly Publishers Weekly

The international magazine of bookselling and publishing



pubperspectives PubPerspectives

international publishing news and opinion served daily!



PWreviews PW Reviews

PW is the industry's leading news & reviews magazine & covers 7,000 books a year. Who's tweeting? Reviews editors Parul Sehgal, Jonny Segura, Mike Harvkey.



randomhousekids Random House Kids

Random House Children's Books news and updates #books #kidlit



RoomtoRead Room to Read

World Change Starts with Educated Children



sljournal SchoolLibraryJournal

School Library Journal is the world's largest reviewer of children's & young adult material, from books to digital content. Serving up tweets: @kishizuka



VirtualWriters Virtual Writers Inc.

The one-stop web resource for all Virtual Writers.



womenonwriting WOW! WomenOnWriting

WOW! Women On Writing promotes the communication between women writers, authors, editors, agents, publishers and readers. Tweets by Margo, Angela, Jodi, Marcia.



WriterResource The Ivory Tower

We are a FREE market listing site for authors and artists! The site is totally ad/donation supported so there is no cost involved. Over 1100 markets to date.



WritersDigest Writer's Digest

Helping writers since 1920. Publisher of Writer's Market series.



YABookShelf Melissa Montovani

Want an honest review of the next YA book you'd like to read? Come on by and stay awhile.











Agents & Other Insiders:



BostonBookGirl Lauren E. MacLeod

A literary agent @strothmanagency with an emphasis in YA and MG fiction and nonfiction. Opinions are my own.



chavelaque Cheryl Klein

I'm an editor at Scholastic, a blogger at home, & a reader & writer everywhere. All opinions expressed here are solely my own, not my company's.



ColleenLindsay Colleen Lindsay

Publishing browncoat. Cat herder. Queer human. Professional nerd. TARDIS fan. Athlete's foot survivor. Part of Penguin Group (USA) Business Development team.



DeidreKnight DeidreKnight

Literary Agent and New York Times bestselling author of romance/women's fiction who loves to travel to far away places, mentally and geographically.



BukowskiD Denise Bukowski

literary agent



EvilWylie Evil Wylie

Evil publishing industry insider. Curator of EVILREADS.COM. Follower of the dark lord @EmperorFranzen.



GalleyCat GalleyCat

The First Word on the Book Publishing Industry



Ginger_Clark Ginger Clark

I am a literary agent. I work at Curtis Brown. I respond only to queries I'm interested in. This twitter account will be boring.



indiepridejenna Jenna

Chief Book Editor. We have gathered a team of editors to facilitate you in putting your best foot forward with your books.



Kid_Lit Mary Kole

Kidlit enthusiast and associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency!



literaticat jennifer laughran

literary agent at andrea brown lit, children's bookseller, reader, raconteur, eccentric multi-millionaire and patron of the arts... and some of those are lies



LucienneDiver Lucienne Diver

Agent, author, blogger. www.knightagency.net www.luciennediver.com



MichaelBourret Michael Bourret

Literary Agent, bran muffin enthusiast and nerdy cat person



moonrat moonrat

book editor. rabid reader. love to eat. yumm.



NathanBransford Nathan Bransford (agent)

Author of JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW (coming in May)



RachelleGardner Rachelle Gardner

Literary agent, firefighter's wife, mom of two awesome girls, Starbucks freak.







Authors, Writers, That Sort of Thing:



BDCWB Best Damn

The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog---Getting Your Literary Life.



bonnietoews Bonnie Toews

novelist of intrigue and suspense and advocate for Canadian Vets and Parkinson's Caregivers



cafeofdreams April

I am a proud mom of 2 as well as a happily book obsessed reader, reviewer, blogger, freelance writer and author/book promoter.



candiwall Candi Wall

Aspiring author - a.w.a K.R. Lawson, I'm an Animal Control, mother of four, and always working on a new WIP while editing others for submission.



chavelaque Cheryl Klein

I'm an editor at Scholastic, a writer at home, & a reader everywhere. My book SECOND SIGHT is out now! All opinions here are solely my own, not my company's.



ccmalandrinos ccmalandrinos

Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a freelance writer and editor. She is a tour coordinator for Pump Up Your Book. Little Shepherd is her first book.



djledford Deborah J Ledford

Author of The Hillerman Sky Award nominated SNARE (Second Wind Publishing). Three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, book lover, Native American.



Donna_Carrick Donna Carrick

Author of The First Excellence, The Noon God & Gold & Fishes Amazon.com



hollyhardin Holly Hardin

I am a children's author. My first book Aurora of the Northern Lights is a Yuletide tale with a message for tolerance.



jakonrath JA Konrath

I write thrillers.



JeffStrand JeffStrand

Author of PRESSURE, GRAVEROBBERS WANTED (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY) and a bunch of other stuff.



JeremyCShipp Jeremy C. Shipp

Bram Stoker nominated author of CURSED and VACATION, repped by Mark McVeigh. Live in a semi-haunted farmhouse. Yard gnomes like me. Attic clowns--not so much.



KreelanWarrior Michael R. Hicks

Author of the acclaimed IN HER NAME novels, Amazon Kindle owner and publisher, BEACHBODY (P90X) fitness fan, and servant to two Siberian cats... ;-)



LindaThieman Linda Thieman

Author of the Mom's Choice Awards(R)-winning chapter book series, Katie and Kimble: A Ghost Story, for ages 7-10.



MargaretAtwood Margaret E. Atwood

Author



mcbourque Marie-Claude Bourque

Author of gothic paranormal romance (Dorchester) & steampunk fantasy. French Canadian. Physicist. Oceanographer. Fitness pro, Mum. Future Sciences teacher.



Nicole_Odell Nicole O'Dell

Author, Scenarios Interactive Series @scenarios4girls, Speaker, WAHM of 6 w/2yr triplets! Host of #TeenTalkRadio http://www.choicesradio.com Thurs, 10pm EST.



PatBertram Pat Bertram

Author of Daughter Am I, More Deaths Than One and A Spark of Heavenly Fire, available from Second Wind Publishing. Look for Light Bringer in March, 2011!



ScottWesterfeld Scott Westerfeld

I write novels for money and fame.



sherikayehoff Sheri Kaye Hoff

Inspiring living in Success and joy everyday, Life Coach, Author- Keys to Living Joyfully, Professor, Spirituality, Wine Lover, Mom of 3, Married to Randy



10MinuteWriter K Grubb

Mommy, homeschooler, novelist, comedian wanna be, who writes in very small increments.



thebookmaven Bethanne Patrick

Blogger, book reviewer, author interviewer, author --but above all, a reader.



toricarrington toricarrington

Dynamic duo of Lori Schlachter Karayianni & Tony Karayianni with 50 titles incl Sofie Metropolis, PI series. Have baklava, will travel!



UWannabeawriter Jane WJ

From @JaneWenhamJones, author of Wannabe a Writer? Hot tips for would-be authors, struggling scribes and all those who twitter instead of getting on with it...



victoriastrauss Victoria Strauss

Novelist (7 books), book reviewer, co-founder of Writer Beware, a publishing industry watchdog group. I don't autofollow, but I do check & answer @ replies



WebbWeavers WebbWeaver

Co-authors of 2 books in the 'INNOCENTS' series. We review books & interview authors for you!



writers2follow Follow That Writer

I'm Ann Douglas, a writer who follows and recommends a lot of other writers on Twitter.



WritingSpirit Julie Isaac, Author

Award winning author & content creation coach. Creator of #WriteChat 12-3pm PT Sundays & the #SHINEonline Blogging Challenge that starts on 1-11-11 for 111 days











And Some Other Twitter Peeps:

allgreatquotes Tom

Your Daily Inspiration pill! Take one quote three times a day.



Quotes4Writers Quotes4Writers

Quotes junkie. The words of the quote may belong to just one writer or author but the sentiment may be shared by more than one.



RoseCottageLisa Lisa Shipp

I am a Christian, a young wife, a mother to two darling cats, and a full-time student. Rose Cottage is my home.



susieqtpies Susie QT pies

Love doing Product reviews, family,coffee,homeschooling twin teens 1 tween, Recipes,lipstick,Games, watchin' movies, books and playing with my Android Phone!



techdirt techdirt

Diggs up the dirt on writing and a whole bunch of other stuff involving technology.









And This Miscellaneous Twitter Stuff:



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Week One - Returning To Working Life

Well, we all survived my first week in my new life as a working mom. Ok, more or less survived maybe is a better way of putting it. It has been a week of adjusting in a big way for all of us.




I have gone from getting up at around 6:30-7ish to 5:30 and am unbelievably and completely exhausted with my body balking at the rudeness of getting up that early. And I think I need to change that to 5am. By the time I’m driving home at the end of the work day all I want to do is crawl into bed and go to sleep. Hopefully my internal clock will have adjusted by the time this term job is over and I can sleep in until 6:30 or so again. Of course, then I’ll be waking up at five out of habit and cursing myself because I can finally sleep later again – at least for a few months or so until we (fingers crossed, and toes tied, wiggle your nose and hope hope hope) get the kids into permanent daycare and I find a permanent job.



So far it’s taking me an hour and a half each way to get to work and back home – that’s three whole hours I could have spent writing! But that’s what comes from working in the middle of a city. At the start of the day, half the city grudgingly makes their way to the heart of the city all at the same time, which of course inevitably causes traffic chaos. When the day is done and all the little ants are desperate to escape the crushing overpopulation of downtown on a work day, there is no escape. I think the city planners planned it that way, a way of trying to centralize the population and try to make everyone live and work in their little downtown cubicles.



The kids are getting up earlier, have no time to play, and are being rushed out the door an hour earlier than they’re used to. Then it’s to the babysitter where they have an hour to play before the school bus and a couple hours again after school. Of course, with mom rushing off in the morning and not coming home until supper, they don’t have that morning and afternoon mom time any more. The girls are definitely feeling that loss.



And for this first week of working, my husband has been the wife. Yep, that’s right; it has been a complete role reversal for this first week.



This week, he has had to get the kids fed, dressed, and brushed. He has had to get all their stuff together, which is typically all over the house despite your best efforts to keep it in their backpacks, and off to the babysitter. And then he’s rushing home after work to pick up the kids.



Say, did I mention that he even starts work a half hour before me and finishes a half hour later? But he doesn’t work downtown, so he doesn’t have that extra hour travelling time needed each way to ease excruciatingly slowly through the slow crawl dance of the rush hour traffic that is trying to get in and out of downtown.



Then, he has been making supper while supervising the kids activities and breaking up their fights, trying to get them into the bath on bath days, washing the dishes, and doing their reading (while I’m sitting with the engine idling and hoping to creep up another car length before the light turns red yet again).



And then I’m the one who finally straggles into the house tired and grumpy to kids who are eagerly waiting and a husband-wife who is frazzled.



And, as my day finishes off, it’s supper, kids ready for bed, and then I have time to do household chores until bed. Of course, I should also be getting all my stuff together for the morning – my housecoat ready for the shower, clothes pulled out and put where I can find them in the dark, lunch made, and shoes and whatnots packed and ready to go. Yeah, but that’s planning ahead.



And now for the part that everyone likes – the highlights!







The highlights of my first work week:



Day 1 – Let it Snow



Snow came late this year, but when it did it came with a whollop. By Thursday before the start of the new job 42.6 CM of snow had been dumped on the area (37 CM between Nov ember 18th’s first snowfall of the year and November 26th, and the rest after that). That sure beat the November average of 21 centimeters for the whole month. By my first day of work, the city crews were still cleaning up the mess.



For my first day of work it snowed again, and with the snow came very slippery roads, treacherous highways, and impassible glops of snow marking the edges of lanes that made lane changing difficult or sometimes impossible, and even slower than normal traffic and an extraordinary amount of traffic congestion.



After almost seven years as an unemployed bum (a.k.a. stay-at-home mother) I felt like I was fresh out of high school and taking my first job ever. In other words, I felt like a bumbling idiot and was sure everyone else was thinking the same thing. On the plus side, I’m neither fresh out of high school nor completely inexperienced. I had all those years of work experience, although it really doesn’t do much for you when you are learning new software and procedures because every workplace has a different way of doing things. And, with all those years of life experience behind me I was not the shy and downright terrified nineteen year old that started that very first job.



The parking I managed to find is a bit of a trek from work, and I had the fortune of passing through impassible sidewalks. I got to the end of one sidewalk to discover that I was trapped with not enough time to make the journey all the way back to the start to cross somewhere else. With a low wall on one side topped by high banks of snow, a filthy guard rail and heavy traffic on the other, and the end blocked by a dirty snow Mount Everest dumped there by the snow plows. There was nothing to be done but to hike up my skirts, hope I don’t get too dirty, and make the climb.



By the time I got to work I was tired and my legs were sore.



I left my lunch at home, sitting (I believe) conveniently beside the coffee machine and had the added pleasure of having to wear broken eyeglasses. Naturally, my glasses broke and I hadn’t gotten them replaced yet before starting a new job.



By the end of that first day I was exhausted and not looking forward to the hike over impassible and slippery sidewalks back to my car.



I had also forgotten some of the unwritten rules about getting around downtown. Specifically about which corners pedestrians do not cross in certain directions regardless of what signs the city has put up. Perhaps some city planner was snickering when they planned out the downtown intersections. Or maybe it is a means towards population control.



Regardless, without thinking I waited for the light to change and that walk sign to show it is safe to cross, waited for the cars packing the intersection to clear it on their red light, shoulder checked for turning cars, and proceeded to swiftly cross the road oblivious to the unwritten rule against crossing in this direction on this side of this particular intersection.



One woman motorist, who was turning, was kind enough to remind me of my error by trying to run me over with her car. I’m convinced it was on purpose. Either that or I grabbed the wrong coat and was wearing my cloak of invisibility. There was no possible way the woman did not at some point notice the large bulk of a heavily coated person directly in front of her car, unless of course I was invisible.



It was dark when I left home and dusk had well descended when I was heading home. I can get glimpses of daylight through the window, which looks onto another window that gives a dirty glimpse of outside. Total sunlight experienced – zero.







Day 2 – Let it Snow Some More



Despite promises of clear skies, it snowed again (or maybe it never stopped) and once again the roads were slippery and virtually un-passable in some places. The highways were icy and the winds and blowing snow left visibility even worse than the first day. It was a long slow ride both ways.



I took a different sidewalk route on my hike between work and parking, but with the drifting snow it meant plowing my way through deep snow down the entire long length of one stretch of sidewalk.



By the time I got home my legs were painful even to touch them. Man, am I out of shape!



I had learned from the blinding migraine I got home with on the first day, and had ibuprofen with me, which I popped before I started the drive home, having once again left work with a headache already building.



I managed to write about a hundred and some words on my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) novel for the last day of NaNo month.







Day 3 – Now That’s a Bad Santa Suit



The day started just like day 2, I got up and showered, and cursed myself for forgetting to put out clothes the night before. I’m not good at stumbling around in the dark looking for clothes, so I had to wait for the hubby to get up before I could get dressed again.



The roads were still slippery but not as bad and traffic moved a little better. My legs cried and threatened to run away from home when I told them they had to make the hike between parking and work again. They hurt, but I convinced them to make the walk anyway.



I felt a little less useless at work and got through the day.



I was surprised it took until day 3 to see my first panhandler. I don’t know how I missed him, but I didn’t see him until it was too late.



I crossed the street only feet away, hoping to not be seen. Luckily he was focused on the cars and left me alone. I had spent my sidewalk toll money on lunch that first day and wasn’t about to hand over twenties out of the grocery money I had on me.



The man wore a rather bad version of a Santa suit, minus the beard. He had a sad little half tree strapped to his back as part of the costume, its ornaments waving cheerily as he moved. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to the other half. Did he buy it that way? Or was another bad Santa suit guy harassing motorists somewhere else and wearing it as part of his costume too? I didn’t catch what words were crudely drawn in dark marker on the cardboard sign he waved around. Bad Santa suit guy was going from car to car, gesturing and waving his sign, and going right up to the drivers windows in an aggressive in-your-face attitude.



Those ones are the worst, the aggressive in-your-face ones. Those are the ones that seem to think you owe it to give them your money simply by right of who they are. Those are the bullies. They are the ones you see robbing people of their bus fare or lunch money, or even of their lunch. These are the ones that you see threatening or assault people with no provocation, if you aren`t the victim yourself. Not all of them do of course, but it’s almost always one of these ones.



We needed groceries in a bad way, so I made the first of three stops for groceries – getting everything I can at the cheapest place to get it. I got home in time to tuck the kids into bed and eat a late supper alone.



The laundry and house cleaning is piling up.







Day 4 – Happy Birthday to Me!



Yeah, it’s my birthday.



My body is in revolt and refusing to get used to the new routine of getting up at 5:30. I am more exhausted than I have ever been in my whole life.



Things were improving but at the same time it would be a day of big guilt.



The pain in the legs is lessening, and I now feel like any other schmuck starting a new job and learning the ropes, rules, new computer program, and procedures of the new place. It’s not feeling so much like I’ve been out of work for almost seven long years.



I spent the day feeling guilty because the kids were trying so hard to get attention from me in the morning. It’s clear they’re badly missing their mom time, but there just isn’t any time in the mornings.



On the slow drive home it occurred to me just how much my body is rebelling at the stress of that first week back to work after so long. It seems to have shut down certain bodily functions. I haven’t even felt the need to have a bowel movement since before I started the new job.



I came home to the seven year old crying in her bedroom and refusing to come out. Apparently she was practicing a special birthday dance as a special surprise for me and it was ruined by daddy and her sister. Daddy could only take so much of her angrily whining “Robyn, stop it” at her sister, and only so much of the younger one trying to torment her sister and put them for a time out. Daddy put them both for a time out after about a dozen warnings and she couldn’t finish practicing. And about three minutes later I came staggering through the door wanting nothing but to put on my pajamas and go to bed.



My husband was scrambling to make a special dinner for me. The kids had set the table with a birthday balloon in a vase, candles, and the going-on six year olds special folded napkins.



The seven year old finally came out of her room after refusing to come out for supper and cried through dinner, too upset to calm down. My husband ate hurriedly, produced a small and wonderfully delicious chocolate caramel cake, a quick rendition of happy birthday by him and the girls, and he was rushing off out the door to play hockey. I managed to get the kids to eat a reasonable amount of supper while they kept begging off dinner to eat cake and finally gave up on trying to eat my own. They both loved the cake, even though it was more of an adult type of cake. The seven year old even had a piece of leftover birthday cake from her sister’s birthday too.



And then the crying started. My younger daughter came to me, crying her heart out, for a cuddle. She tearfully begged and begged me to quit my job and stay at home to be with them. She told me how she misses her mom time and even forgot what the cat looks like. Almost in tears, the seven year old came and said the same thing while I was consoling her sister. I felt like crying myself seeing how upset they were.



I finally got the kids to bed and the phone started ringing. I missed most of my Thursday night writers chat and got absolutely no household chores done. I was still getting off the phone when my husband returned from hockey at 11:30.



The chores are going to need an intervention soon.







Day 5 – Friday! At Last!



Driving has gotten better. I’m getting used to it again after years of only having to drive a few times a month, in daylight, no rush hour traffic, and having the option to stay home if the roads are bad. Everyone else seems to be starting to get used to snow driving too.



The pain in the legs is still improving.



I barely feel like I was out of work at all and am getting my work confidence back.



But the body will find new ways to revolt to change. Beginning at about 3:00am and roughly every fifteen to thirty minutes after that, my body woke me up to tell me the alarm was about to go off. I’d look at the clock and swear. Then it was trying to get back to sleep only to repeat it all over again.



Now I really was more exhausted than I have ever been in my life, even when I was up feeding babies every four hours twenty-four hours a day. I was burned out before noon.



Leaving work, there was Trapping People Trying To Cross The Street guy, and of course he was of the in-your-face aggressively panhandling group. I managed to avoid Bad Santa Suit guy. I had the rest of the grocery money on me and managed to avoid having to give away any of the bills on the way to my car.



I made the slow drive home, making three of four needed stops for gas, groceries, and stuff, getting home in time for the kids to put on their pajamas and get ready for bed.



I hauled in loads of groceries to the seven year old bragging about her sister being bad and a stressed out husband telling her to mind her own business.



Uh oh.



Long talk with the almost-six year old about what bad thing she did at the babysitter’s house, kids finally pj-ed and off to bed (late), and a phone call to the babysitter later and it was too late to bother with supper. But that’s all right, I wasn’t hungry anyway.



But hey, it’s payday! I came in halfway through the pay period and got paid for my first week. After filling the tank with gas, paying the pre-paid parking for the month, the babysitter for the week, and putting aside gas money for next Friday, I’m left with roughly a hundred dollars to put in the joint account for household expenses. Yep, all this and I earned roughly a hundred dollars for that first week. This is why we all love working so much.







At last, my first week is done. I’m exhausted and the house needs disaster relief with the laundry and chores piling up. The kids are moody with adjusting to the new routine and losing those hours of time normally spent with me. I want nothing more than to spend the weekend relaxing and recuperating, but need to play catch-up on all the household chores. And the kids need their mom time too.



I have to try to find time to start decorating and buying present for Christmas. I have doubts that I’ll manage any Christmas baking this year.



I have had zero sunlight exposure this week, sucked enough gas fumes in traffic to kill a roost of chickens, and lost fifteen hours to commuting – ten of those just because traffic doesn’t move at rush hour.



My kids miss me, my cat misses me, and my husband seems like he might not survive another day rushing the kids, dinner, and dishes.



We have a Saturday night Christmas party for my husband’s work to go to that I feel too tired to go to, and really should stay home to get that laundry and those chores done.



I have managed to write a measly hundred and a bit words one the one evening I managed a small bit of time, but was too tired for writing.



I also lost about five pounds after five days of no time for breakfast, hiking impassible sidewalks, and little interest in supper.



Monday is a new week, and I expect nothing but improvement while we get into the groove of the routine of our new lives.

"Tis The Day Before Employment

Today is the last day of my life as an unemployed bum (a.k.a. stay-at-home-mom).

'Tis the day before employment, when all through the house

Every creature is stirring, somewhere I’m sure is even a mouse.

The clothes are hung in the closet with care,

In the hopes that quickly out the door I will be on my way there.

The kids are laying out their Barbies and Bratz in their little doll beds,

While visions of snacks and games at the new babysitter dance in their heads.

And mama bear in her apron and some ken doll chap,

Had settled with their pet Pinky and his friend Brain for a long days nap.

When out on the street there was such a clatter,

I sprang from the laptop to see what was the matter.

Away to the window to see what I was certain,

There I pulled open the long blinds curtain.

The grey cloud-dulled sun on the fresh powdery snow

Didn’t blind me with too bright glinting off the objects below.

When, what to my sleep deprived eyes should appear,

But a throng of gas powered sleds roaring by much too near.

With the drivers pushing their sleds much too quick,

Undoubtedly they thought they are pretty slick.

They were gone as quick as they came,

I’m sure later more will do the same.

Now, Blogger! Now, Facebook! Now, Goodreads and Twitter!

On, MySpace! On, HorrorWorld, on Redroom and Gather!

To the top of the postings! To the top of them all!

Now blog away! Schmooze away! Network away ALL!

As snow flurries before the snowploughs will fly,

From the grey and windswept cloudy sky.

So up to the screen-top the mouse curser had flew,

With the keyboard keys clattering and working away too.

Soon I will be lying sleepless on my pillow,

Watching the warm air from the vent make the curtain gently billow.

Too soon from my bedside will come an alarming sound,

And from my bed I will leap with a bound.

Quick! Shower and dressed all in a blur, from my head to my foot,

And my clothes all nicely pressed with a neat and tidy look.

A sandwich and ice pack tossed into a sack,

And oh please don’t tell me my kid just put syrup on my back!

This last day will be spent in a mix of anticipation and dread,

Thoughts of “How will I do it?” rambling around in my head.

Doubts, and worries, and too many oh dears,

After all, I haven’t done this in almost seven whole years!

But alas it’s only a short three-month term,

It’s an experience from which how much I remember I expect to learn.

As I make my way through traffic and downtown one ways,

In search of illusive parking and walking icy walkways.

And don’t forget the change to pay for the sidewalk tolls,

The toll takers standing forlornly and often looking more like trolls.

Each coffee shop I will pass with a tempting look,

Imagining myself stopping with laptop to work on my book.

I sit here on my last day and try to blog, Facebook and tweet before the day is done,

Blowing out words on my NaNo novel with three days left ‘til the challenge is gone.

The kids are all excited, hyper, and in a titter,

I know I’ll likely never make it to my novel or my Twitter.

Tomorrow dawns that bright new day,

And life will begin working in a whole new way.

At the end of the day I will sigh and exclaim, “I did it!”

While all day long hoping the kids won’t make the babysitter quit.

* Adapted from the famous poem “Twas The Night Before Christmas”

The New Job

I am going back to work soon after being an unemployed bum (a.k.a. stay at home mom) for close to seven years, that’s since December 1, 2004.


I am optimistically terrified. That’s another way of saying I am positively positive that I am scared to death. It’s a big change after all; a life-altering change. Seriously, I haven’t worked in seven years. What if I suck? What if I have no idea what to do? What if I come across as a bumbling stumbling fool?


The number crunching alone to figure out what it will cost to work and how much money I’ll need to earn to almost make going to work worthwhile was worse than doing taxes. Ok, so I never had a nervous problem with doing taxes, but if I did this would have still been worse. Seriously, I needed one heck of a raise over what I left my job at seven years ago just to break even on the costs to work with two kids needing child care.


One thing in my favor is the simple fact that the minimum wage employers have to pay has also increased drastically in the past seven years. A salary that was higher than the minimum seven years ago is now just barely scraping over the new minimum wage.


Going back to work is a big upheaval of course, not just for me but for my entire family. The search for before and after school child care was ridiculously difficult. In fact, further up heaving the kids’ lives by pulling them out of their school and away from their friends to put them in a new school just to find child care still isn’t out of the question. If you think it’s hard to find child care in the city, you should try doing it in a rural area. I’d be tempted to move if it wasn’t such a nice little town and such great neighbors.


Our whole schedule has to change. The main focus our lives will now revolve around getting the kids to and from daycare. Everything else is secondary. But that’s nothing new to the seasoned daycare parents. As newbies, it’s a bit of an adjustment for us.


Mornings are expected at first to be a frantic frazzled stress-filled scramble to get the kids up and ready (and ourselves ready too) to leave an hour earlier than they had to be out the door before. No more throwing sweats on and a jacket to hide my pajama top to walk the kids to the bus, and no more leisurely picking away at eating their breakfasts for the kids.


And only time will tell how our evening schedule will change with getting supper done, homework and reading, baths, and kids to bed.


I’m almost afraid to see what the house will look like. On the one hand, the kids will have a lot less time at home to spend trashing the place. But on the other hand, all those household chores, laundry and cleaning and grocery shopping and stuff, will all have to get crammed into a few too short evening hours and the weekends now. Yikes.


The one thing I do regret is that the kids will never be able to enjoy those lazy day school breaks I had as a kid. You know the kind, the ones kind of like a weekend day where you have nothing planned, nowhere to rush off to, and kids actually have to think for themselves and use their imaginations to entertain themselves – an amazing thing happens when not every moment is pre-planned for them, their imaginations come alive.


My second regret isn’t really a regret at this point, but more of an unknown. Will I be able to find the time for writing? I’m keeping my toes crossed – I’m using my toes to keep those fingers free for typing, after all I do have writing to do.