Finally got around to putting up Tomcat’s wallpaper border tonight. It went more or less okay until we got to the closet.
This crap should be drug out into the street and shot. Repeatedly.
In other news, tomorrow I will probably have a post on how awesome Tomcat’s room looks. You know, after the electrician finishes installing his ceiling fan and I get everything put back in his room where it belongs. 😀
That is all.
(c) 2012. All rights reserved.
I’ve spent all weekend prepping and painting Tomcat’s bedroom. We’ve lived here three years now and we’ve painted Tadpole’s room and Cricket and Thumper’s room (they share), but we hadn’t done Tomcat’s. We haven’t painted our room yet, either, but it’s gonna wait a while longer yet. Anyway, his room is gonna rock when it’s done. Meanwhile, I forgot how much painting sucked. We ran out of paint, so while we’re waiting for the first coat to dry, Seymour took Tomcat and Tadpole to town to buy supplies and I put Cricket and Thumper down for naps. Time to relax!
P.S. Stay tuned – Friday’s photo post will feature the before and after pictures. 🙂
(c) 2012. All rights reserved.
Here we are, at the end of another week, and I must say I’m glad of it. I’m not looking forward to spending the weekend painting, but that’s another story. Anyway, on to the photo of the day!
Photo by Kay Kauffman
Today’s photo features Tomcat, my oldest son. Clearly this is not a recent photo, as my darling baby boy will be nine on Wednesday. Nine! How the heck did that happen? Oh, right. I blinked. I remember now. He was just over two and a half when I snapped this picture, slightly older than Cricket is now. He looks so little! And now he’s so big! I can’t believe I have a third grader on my hands!
Night after night he sat there, hunched over his desk with a paperback in hand. He angled his desk lamp over the page so that the incandescent bulb glowed mere inches away from his head. I can’t count the number of hours I saw him sit like that, devouring page after chapter after book. He read all kinds of books: westerns and poetry and biographies and anything else he could get his hands on.
But Louis L’Amour was his favorite. If he didn’t read every book that man wrote, he sure came close. He would read the books and when he was done, round them up and donate them to the library. Other times, depending on the author, he would give them to me. Our home was always stuffed to the gills with books and I am proud to say that such is still the case – I have far more books than places to put them (which only means that I need more shelf space).
Daddy instilled in me a love of books that I hope to instill in my own children, that I am trying to instill in my own children. I love to see Cricket’s face light up when he sees a new book; I love to discuss the Goosebumps series with Tomcat and tell him which ones I enjoyed when I was younger and hear which ones he likes. I love watching Seymour install beautiful custom bookshelves in every nook and cranny our old house has to offer and believe me, there are plenty.
But of the many wonderful memories related to books that spill forth from my childhood, the one that will stick with me the longest is the one of my father in his squeaky desk chair, his jacket sleeves shoved up his forearms and his hair mussed up because he hadn’t combed it yet that day, hunched over his desk devouring another book with a beer and a cigarette nearby.
(c) 2012. All rights reserved.
I like to read WordPress’s Freshly Pressed articles. I don’t always read them, but every now and then, one will catch my eye. The one that caught my eye today was called Frankie v. Debra, Roe v. Wade: Can you still be a feminist if you’re anti-abortion?
I read the article, but not all 200 comments. The article began by comparing two of Patricia Heaton‘s sitcom roles and then discussed some of the actress’s personal opinions, including her membership in a group called Feminists for Life, a group that apparently is very pro-life.
So! I’ve been a bit absent (as well as a bit absent-minded) lately, but here’s hoping that September will be an all-around better month, both for my blogging habits and my sanity. My stress levels have dropped considerably since getting my revised version of The Lokana Chronicles sent off to its requester, and I’ve even had some time to read a few books. Talk about relaxing! It was really nice to read books not intended for children ages 5 and under for a change, though I must admit that the ending to one of them is still pestering me. If it continues to do so, I may have to write up a separate post. I may do so regardless. 😉
Anyway, you may or may not have noticed the Gearing Up to Get an Agent Blogfest button that appeared in my sidebar a few days ago. Someone on Facebook was kind enough to point me in the direction of Ms. Deana Barnhart’s lovely blog and this blogfest in particular and once I’d had a look to see what it was all about, how could I say no? Even if it’s a longshot at getting an agent, I’m sure to meet lots of lovely new people and have some fun doing so.
So! The rules! Of course, all good things must come with rules. (Wow, can you tell the books I’ve been reading were set in the nineteenth century or what?) The rules are simple. Answer the following questions, include a brief bio, visit other blogs over the course of the week. Simple enough, right? Right. And now, the questions… behind the cut!
The world-famous Butter Cow, hand-crafted by Sarah Pratt.
Once again, I find myself penning a post about a family vacation. This time, summer has come and gone, taking our family vacations with it. This time, due to school starting in the middle of August (don’t ask me why), we were forced to cut our trip short by a day and decided not to go camping. See, from what I understand, schools are not supposed to start till after Labor Day (September 3 this year), but they are allowed to apply for a waiver if they would like to begin prior to that date and the governor can either approve or deny the request. I can’t recall him ever denying a waiver request and I can’t recall school ever beginning after Labor Day; it’s always started in August, and it starts earlier every year. This year, our school started classes on August 15, but I know some schools were in session last week.
Ah summer, how near at hand is your end!
The last week has been somewhat thrilling (not always in a good way), but it will make for some nice long, newsy posts when I return from Family Vacation Extravaganza Number Three (Home of All Kinds of Food-on-a-Stick). Happy Monday, y’all! 🙂
It’s been a week of ups and downs here in my neck of the woods. Thumper is now walking…when he feels like it, which frankly, isn’t that often. Stubborn little guy. He and Cricket are working on molars, so I’ve got two cranky little guys running around my house. Seymour’s grandma passed away yesterday after years of health problems, so we’re dealing with everything attendant with that as well. We’ll be seeing a lot of the family over the next few days, as the visitation is Friday, the funeral Saturday, and the family reunion/40th anniversary party for Seymour’s parents/Thumper’s birthday party is on Sunday. Going back to work on Monday will feel like a vacation at this rate.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Wiedmeier via WANA Commons
Revisions continue. I’ve added over 10,000 words and more than 30 pages in the last 27 days, and I still have about 90 pages left to go before I’m finished revising.
My friend Kina has been inundated with awards lately. As such, she put together a massive awards post yesterday and invited readers to select an award from her long list of accolades. In keeping with her idea of awarding yourself and paying it forward, I selected the Fabulous Blog Ribbon. The rules for this award entail sharing five fabulous moments, as well as five likes and dislikes, then nominating five other bloggers for the award.
For someone who’s received as many award nominations as Kina has in such a short period of time, I think this was kind of a brilliant way to handle all the award posts. That way, people aren’t always reading post after post after post about which award you’ve received.
And now, without further ado, the questions…
Suddenly they all died. The end. 