"If you don't start being good right now, I'm going to email Santa and tell him that you need to be on the naughty list!"

The technology may change, but so much stays the same!

Speaking of technology, got myself an early Christmas Present, an iPhone. I looked for a Live Journal app, but so far no joy. I've had a lot of fun though getting it going. I updated all my contacts from gmail, so I have everyone's email, but very few phone numbers. I also downloaded Pandora Radio and a bunch of other free apps. Anyone have a recommendation for me?

I'm so exhausted. This is basically the second night this week that I've been home. I've been so busy that I almost forgot to register in the Amazon sweepstakes. If you knew how much time I generally spend trolling Amazon, you'd know how amazing that is. And yes, I have discovered the Amazon app. Gotta love it!

Today was a testing day at school, the second of three that we are having this week. What this means for me is that I spent most of the morning either monitoring kids at the bathrooms or covering classes so that teachers get their breaks. Then in the afternoon, in the library I get the leftover kids who're still testing--because this is not an official state test, that's okay. So naturally, I spent most of the day reading.

Today I...

• Read the first 70 pages of The Roar by Emma Clayton
• Read the first 70 pages of Thirst No.1: The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike (a recommend from one of the teachers at my school. I can't find any professional reviews for it, so I don't know if it is Junior High appropriate. So far I would say no.)
• Read the first three chapters of The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade
• Wrote the first several pages in a Twilight fan-fic that I couldn't not write, but I may not finish

From this experience I gained this insight: Beginnings of stories are a drag. Beginnings are when authors lay on all of the problems that the characters will have to spend the whole rest of the book solving. Except for my little fanfic, these particular stories' set-ups were all a little disturbing. With all of them, I feel like if I can get beyond these beginnings, then I will really enjoy the book. Or at least, I'll enjoy The Roar. The other two I am less certain of.

I don't especially like to read about people's problems. I like to read about how they Overcome their problems, Rise above, and become Heroes. (Yes, I am a genre reader, and proud of it too!!!) I have actually had this thought before, but only as applied to certain stories. And of course, there are those stories with totally fun beginnings for a chapter or so, but I'm talking more the first third or so of the book.

So back to my random thought, if story beginnings are a drag because they're where problems are made, should we mention this to kids who are reluctant readers? I guess it depends though on what they like to read. I was talking to one of our school counselors a few weeks ago, and she was saying that while she prefers to live a calm, peaceful life, she loves to read/watch crazy drama, à la Gossip Girls or Housewives of Whatever Location. I wonder if she finds beginnings emotionally difficult like me? I have to admit that frequently my favorite part of a book is the epilogue.

How about the rest of you? What's your favorite part of a story?

I've decided to make a New Year's Resolution a month early. I'm really bad about reading only the books that look interesting to me, and not giving anything else a chance. That's fine for my own pleasure reading, but for school, I need to read a wide variety of books. On top of that I need to get the Lone Star books read as soon as possible, so that I can start telling kids about them.

I was also kind of wondering if anyone else would like to join in the fun? If my goal is too much maybe read these on a slower schedule or modify the goal to half of the books? These books are intended for students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Or if you prefer straight teen books, there is also the Tayshas (weird name, I know) list for High School students. It has a lot more books on it then either the Blue Bonnet or the Lone Star list. Interested readers could make the goal to read twenty of those books?

My goal: Read three Lone Star books each month. If I really hate the book or otherwise find it difficult to read, then I'll be skimming it. By that rate. Post here and in Goodreads about each book after I read it to keep myself on track and accountable.

I'll list the books again, but a list of the books With annotations is now available on the TLA Lonestar Website.

All the Broken Pieces, Burg

Bull Rider, Williams

The Demon King, Chima

Donut Days, Zielin

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Kelly

Girlfriend Material, Kantor

Graceling, Cashore

The Hunt for the Seventh, Morton-Shaw

Killer Pizza, Taylor

The Maze Runner, Dashner

North of Beautiful, Headley

Pop, Korman

Prophecy of the Sisters, Zink

The Red Blazer Girls, Beil

The Roar, Clayton

The Season, MacLean

Slob, Potter

The Sweetheart of Prosper County, Alexander

When You Reach Me, Stead

I'll be starting today. We already have three of these books in the library, so that takes care of my December selections. First up: The ROAR.

As I was running around shopping on Black Thursday, I came across the New Moon Score for a dollar less than it is on Amazon. This particular CD has been on my wishlist for two or three months now, so a dollar was definitely reason enough to snatch up a copy right then. Now I have two CDs for each of the movies that have come out. I listened to the New Moon score all last evening while I read, and then I listened to the Soundtrack to both Twilight and New Moon on the drive home today, and somewhere along the way it occurred to me...with Eclipse coming out at the end of June, I'll be able to buy two more CDs for that movie too!

It's the little things...

Am I the only one who thinks that maternity pants would be ideal for Thanksgiving? Every year, I tell myself that I will not over indulge, and every year they bring out all my favorite foods plus four different kind of desserts. Who could resist such fabulousness? Thanksgiving went well. The biggest problem being what to do with all the leftovers.

Black Friday was a blast and super successful! We went to bed at about 8 PM last night, and then we were both up by 2 AM, but we waited out our alarm which went off at 3 AM. We then headed towards the local Wal-Mart. The nice thing about Wal-mart on Black Friday is that they actually let you in early so you don't have to wait in the cold. We were the first in line for the Cricut machines--that was for Julie. I actually bought the New Moon board game and Cranium for $5 each, a set of 13 picture frames for $13 as a secret santa gift, and a set of 600 thread count sheets for $24. It took about forty minutes to get through the cashier lines, so we got out of there at 5:50 AM. Then we headed for JC Pennys, where I ended up getting 60% off of all my purchases! Very Successful day.

I've been thinking about Black Friday, why I like it, what works, what doesn't work, etc., and this is what I've come up with...

Reasons I like Black Friday:
--Hanging out with my sisters
--Fun of doing something different
--Getting good deals
--Lack of traffic--this one is key, because I can get all the three others by shopping at any time. It's my opinion though that congested streets + congested stores = maximum frustration and aggravation. I can handle one or the other, but the two together is too much. As it is, when we left the craziness of Wal-Mart this morning, we breezed over to JC Penny's and then back to our hotel with almost empty roads the whole way. It's a relief to get out of the store, but not if you have to face bad traffic when you do.

Tips for Black Friday Shopping
1. Don't get caught up in the craze--just because they say it's a good deal, doesn't mean it is (look at quality as well as good price)
2. Don't get caught up in the craze--just because it's on sale, doesn't mean you want to buy it.
3. Go for the smaller items--while everyone talks about and gets excited about the big ticket items, we've actually had more success buying smaller ticket items. Last year I got a cart full of Christmas Tins at almost 80% off saving $50 or $60, gifts for all the people I work with, and I didn't have to knock anyone out of the way to get them. Plus on those big ticket items, I think it's usually better to take your time and get what you want rather than just getting whatever is on sale.
4. Look for the practical items--this year has been especially good for practical doorbuster items
5. Be flexible--Be open to the unexpected. Spontaneous purchases aren't always bad, just don't forget rules one and two.

So that's my Black Friday shopping philosophy. TMI, I'm sure. Happy shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving! We've talked to half a dozen people this week who are all driving to San Antonio this morning just like us, and we've told them all the same thing, "Meet you at Buc-ee's Around 10 AM!" Buc-ee's is our favorite place to stop when on road trips. Not only do they have four different kinds of hot chocolate, four different kinds of Icees, umpteen kinds of soda with five different flavors you can add to them, but they also have clean bathrooms. The other nice thing about stopping at Buc-ee's is that it breaks up the monotony. The interstate just isn't that interesting between Houston and San Antonio.

Soon I shall be playing with nieces and nephews, and causing trouble like I love to do!

Have a great day everyone!

--The nice thing about baking is that while I'm sitting here not doing anything, I'm still doing something! Now if I could only get my money to behave in a similar manner...especially the part about doubling in size.

--Watching the Seasonal Music Channel, isn't it funny to see a picture of a musician totally rocking out when the music playing is something syrupy sweet like Winter Wonderland?

--Request for Stephenie Meyer:: if you ever get to writing the Jacob story, do you think we could see a baseball game with both the vampires and the werewolves? I'd actually like the teams to be mixed, but either way. I think that would be so fun to watch!!

--Any Castle fans? I love that they've put out a book by Richard Castle. I started reading it, it reads like an episode, so it's a bit extra of each of the characters. Really, I think they ought to have more author characters on TV so that they can publish more books by those author characters.

--Travel Wishing-- so we will not be going on a cruise until Thanksgiving 2011. *sighs* Of course, there are other vacations that I like better, but this is just what we can afford, and it is a lot of fun. Our 2012 plans to go to London for the Olympics are pretty much out of the realm of possibility. I'm ready to go somewhere new. We're going to San Antonio tomorrow, so I guess that's something.

--Yay, it's almost Black Friday! We're already making plans!

I just bought my fourth copy of the book Twilight. This always happens to me when I like a book. I end up buying multiple copies for inexplicable reasons. At one point I had eight copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

This time, it went like this:

• Copy 1: Large (trade) paperback--I bought this to read the book that my youngest sister had told me to read. Once I read it, I loved it, so I gave this copy to my sister-in-law to spread the obsession (it worked) and bought copy 2.
• Copy 2: Hardcover, keeper copy--I bought it, but I've never actually read this copy all the way through because I bought copy 3.
• Copy 3: Small paperback (mass-market)--I wanted something easier to carry around, so when I saw these at Barnes & Nobles, I quickly snatched it up. However, along on the shopping trip was my brother's new girlfriend who had always wanted to read the book, but just never been able to afford it. This of course completely offended my librarian's soul! So I gave her copy 3 of Twilight for Christmas.
• Which brings me to Copy 4: the Kindle version--I wasn't going to do it. I mean I still have my keeper, hardcover edition, and I need to use all my dollars wisely during this season of spending, but finally I couldn't resist, because reading things on Kindle is the best, best, best!!!!!

If you do not yet have a Kindle, comment here and I'll join you in wishing for you a Kindle of your own! (The other ebook readers may be just as good, but it's the Kindle that I have, so it's the Kindle that I love!)

Oh, Kindle, how I love thee, let me count the ways...

1. No line, with Kindle in hand, is ever too long any more, including the always really long line at Taco Bell during lunch.
2. Books that I want are seconds away even at two o'clock in the morning when Barnes & Nobles is closed and Wal-mart is a re-stocking wasteland (And yes, I've gone to Wal-mart at that hour of the morning hoping against hope that they would actually stock a copy of that book that I wanted....foolish, foolish hope!)
3. I have hundreds of books in my purse now. I took Book-Mobile size library of books with me on vacation this summer. This is important because I'm a mood reader, and there's never any telling what I'm going to be in the mood to read ahead of time.
4. If I'm telling someone about a book that I read and loved, I always have that book with me so that I can make them read the first few pages. Yes, I do do that.
5. Covers are not visible, so if I'm reading extreme teen angst like One of the Survivors by Susan Shaw or a romance novel, I don't have to feel like people are judging me because of my juvenile taste in reading. I always look smart, no matter what I'm reading, when I'm reading from my Kindle.
6. My Kindle cover is my favorite shade of purple!
7. I'm sure I could think of more reasons, but I'm off to the movies for an early matinee of The Blind Side (Love sports movies), I'm going to get there pretty early, but that's okay, because I have a kindle! Ooh, that reminds me, I should bring my booklight too.

I'm so excited, we are actually having company for dinner tonight! A family from church invited us to dinner in October, which was so nice, so we are returning the favor. We've been cleaning like maniacs and cooking our favorite recipes. The family has four little girls, so we tried to have a mix of kid-friendly and adult recipes. We've had so much fun just planning this, that we'll have to do this again! I'm going to have the girls help me decorate my Christmas tree with candy canes. And we went to Ikea yesterday, and got the girls some candy they like (the family used to live in Europe). Hope the kids and adults like the food.

Here's the menu:

1st Course:
Salad

2nd Course:
Herb Crusted Snapper
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Chili-Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Dessert:
Warm Dove Chocolate Cakes
Homemade Vanilla Ice Dream

My Christmas Tree leans. You think it might be time to get a new one? This one only cost $25. Hmmm....

I've had poem a day calendar on my desk all year, "Poetry Speaks." I've really enjoyed some of the poems and quotes that I've come across.
Have a great day!

Hi Everyone,

Still remember me? I have a plan. I want to start writing again, and I know that writing is like a sport. You have to exercise that part of your brain on a fairly regular basis and build up some strength before you can tackle any big projects. I'm looking at a big stretch of time when I could be working on a project if I'm ready. Julie and I aren't planning to go on any big vacations this summer. So either I should get a summer job and clear off some debt or I should write. (Great incentive to write, isn't it???)

Also, I've decided, after a couple of months of lurking that I prefer Live Journal to Facebook. I like the longer thoughts. Many ideas are more interesting in paragraph form rather than single sentences...at least interesting ideas are.

So, you'll probably be hearing a lot more from me in the future. Hey the 2010 Lone Star book list for Junior High and Middle School students was just released. The 2009 Lone Star list has been so great! It introduced me to Hunger Games and Compound, not to mention the Great Wide Sea and Waiting for Normal. I look forward to reading these books:
2010 Texas Lone Star Reading List

• Alexander, Jill S. The Sweetheart of Prosper County. Fiewel and Friends, 2009.
• Beil, Michael D., The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour. Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.
• Burg, Ann E. All the Broken Pieces: A Novel in Verse. Scholastic Press, 2009.
• Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008.
• Chima, Cinda Williams. The Demon King. Disney/Hyperion Books, 2009.
• Clayton, Emma. The Roar. Chicken House, 2009.
• Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. Delacorte Press, 2009.
• Headley, Justina Chen. North of Beautiful. Little, Brown, 2009.
• Kantor, Melissa. Girlfriend Material. Disney/Hyperion Books, 2009.
• Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Henry Holt, 2009.
• Korman, Gordon. Pop. Balzer + Bray, 2009.
• MacLean, Sarah. The Season. Orchard Books, 2009.
• Morton-Shaw, Christine. The Hunt for the Seventh. Katherine Tegen Books, 2008.
• Potter, Ellen. Slob. Philomel Books, 2009.
• Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Wendy Lamb Books, 2009.
• Taylor, Greg. Killer Pizza: A Novel. Fiewel and Friends, 2009.
• Walker, Sally M. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. Carolrhoda Books, 2009.
• Williams, Suzanne Morgan. Bull Rider. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009.
• Zielin, Lara. Donut Days. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2009.
• Zink, Michelle. Prophecy of the Sisters. Little, Brown, 2009.

I've already ordered copies of all these books for my library.

Today is the last day of school before the Thanksgiving break. Wow, I am so ready for it. I don't know why we can't start a week earlier and throw in some holidays in the fall. This two and a half-month stretch is really hard.

Hi Everyone,

Have any of you ever published original fiction online?  If so, what website did you use?

I'm considering trying this because:

1. I need a short term writing goal to work towards and publishing a several-chapter original fic online seems doable
2. I know that my writing is no where near good enough for publication, but I need to practice and it is nice to get some feedback

I found a couple of sites just googling, but don't really know anything about them:

• FictionPress.com
• Fictioncentral.net

Does anyone have any experience with these or other sites?

So if you have any opinions/experience/suggestions, I wold love to hear them!

Thanks!

Should I warn you that I'm feeling grumpy and whiney tonight?  Nah.

( Cut because I can )
Good news, the weather's beautiful and I'll have the house to myself this weekend.  That bad news is that I have a bunch of chores to do.  blah!

So how is everyone else?

HI Everyone,

I haven't written in a long while, and I'd love to give some excuse but it's just been life and too much TV.  Speaking of TV, are you Joss Whedon fans excited about this new show tonight, Dollhouse?  We're recording it.  I'm kinda psyched even though I'm not really a Whedon fan (Love Eliza Dushku though!).  I can't get over how much sci-fi is on the rise.  The 09-10 Lone Star reading list, which I'm currently reading through, has five sci-fi books out of the twenty!  For years after Harry Potter, everywhere and everything was fantasy, but now I'm seeing sci-fi all over the place.  And some cool stuff too!  (Though someone really should have told me that Hunger Games was part of a series!)

Loving life as a school librarian!  I'm gearing up for my first real research project as a librarian.  Had an inservice at the beginning of the year for IIM research method, and I really liked a lot of their stuff so I now get to try it out!  Woo-hoo!  This messed up TX school funding is hitting our district really hard.  We've been told that any elementary librarians who quit will be replaced with aides.  :-(  This is not good people!  I really hope the legislature makes some changes soon to school funding cause some of these proposed cuts are going to be long-term damaging, as in it will take years to get the quality of faculty and programs back to where they is now if the cuts are made.  Dammage has already been done this year from trying to spread faculty to far. 

And in other news, next week I get to help chaperone my first dance as a teacher.  Not to excited about that, but it is for a really good cause, so I'll do my bit.

Random question of the week:  (Been watching True Beauty, and it got me thinking about the character in Piers Anthony's Xanthe novels, Chameleon.)  So fess up....
Poll #1348637 Random Question one
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

If a spectrum existed with one extreme being absolute beauty and the other absolute intelligence, where would you want to fall along the spectrum?

I had so much fun, that I have to share!  Sorry if this is anti-interesting! :-P

WOW!  Everything was packed this morning!  Did anyone else go shopping the Doorbuster sales?  We go every year, and by 4:30 (a late start) the parking lots at Walmart, Best Buy and JC Penny's were all full!  We ended up going to Fry's, this mammoth, huge electronics store (imagine four Best Buys in one building), and the line circled half way around the building (that would be twice around a normal Best Buy). That unfortunately turned out to be really miserable.  Not only was it really warm and muggy this morning, but we were near a smoker and the guy in front of us reeked of alcohol.  Eventually we got through, but of course with a line that long, we didn't get the 8 gig flashdrives for $10 that we had wanted.  However, we did each get a 2 gig flashdrive for ten dollars, so that wasn't too bad.

Anyways, the place where we had the most fun turned out to be the new JoAnn's store that has recently opened here--it's huge.  I had a 50% off one item coupon, a 60% off on a custom framing order coupon, and a 20% off on the entire purchase coupon--which included sale items.  Plus all of the notions were 50% off and a lot of the Christmas stuff was 70% off.  WOW!  We had fun!  :-D  I got Christmas tins for all the people at work which I'm going to fill with that orange rice recipe like I always do.  And of course, I got notions.  Who doesn't need more notions?  I got two leather fingercap thimbles, because I lose those like nobody's business.  I wonder how long these will last?    And I got a bunch of muslin for my next quilt project which is going to, hopefully, use up a lot of my fabric scraps and never-used portion of my stash.  Actually, I'd love to start on it now, but I think I better wash that muslin first.  It has that funky treated fabric smell.

It was so funny, while we were all still waiting in line, a salesperson walked by and a person in front of us asked her where the Cricut machines would be in the store.  Julie turned and asked me what the machine was, but I had never heard of it either.  So we looked through the sales flyer and found it.  We're having a gift wrapping party in a couple of weeks, so Julie decided to buy it since the deal was really good.  :-) I've just been watching the video demonstrations on their website.  What a fun machine!  I'm evening thinking that I should get one for my school library.  This totally could replace the die cutting machines!  And everything can be tailored to what you're doing!  

Who knew that JoAnn's was the place to go for Doorbuster sales?  We're going again tomorrow because I have another set of coupons for tomorrow!

I always have so much fun going to these sales the day after Thanksgiving, and you know, I think it is even more fun if you are not trying to buy one of the big ticket items.  All the little stuff is so cheap and much easier to purchase since you don't have to fight for a place in line.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Mom set the tables up in the garage, and that worked wonderfully!  It might not have been the prettiest place for dinner, but it was so nice to essentially have an extra room in the house while we had so many people there.

I've noticed that other people seem to be doing the numbered updating thing, and so I thought I would join in too. :-D

1. I spent all day at Barnes & Nobles yesterday (as in 9 AM to 8 PM) for the book fair we were having for the library.  I think several kids came during the day, but they were too shy to say hi to me, and since I'm still new at this school, I didn't know for sure who anyone was.  We had a good turn out last night though thanks to the Choir.  My principal and the teachers at my school are really happy with my work in the library.  And I'm glad.  I just hope that the kids will feel more comfortable with me in time.  The teachers were really supportive of the book fair though, and several came out yesterday to buy books.

2. After the book fair, several of us went out to eat.  Naturally we talked about education.  You know for years I've thought that this cookie-cutter idea of what education should be for Americans was wrong.  I mean, why does everyone need a bachelor's degree?  Plumbers do good work too, and I for one am very grateful for what they do as I would not be happy depending upon an outhouse.  Why is there this idea that you can only be successful if you have a white collar business job, when there are so many worthwhile careers that would suit people better?  Anyways, I was amazed and delighted to hear my thoughts of many years echoed in what the other teachers were saying.  One told us about this article in the current issue of Newsweek about the financial problems several families are facing despite their educations.  I mean, of course everyone should be educated, but what I'm saying, and they seemed to echo, is that education, the getting of the degree (because of course learning should be lifelong), should be individualized to a person's skills, talents and preferences.  It doesn't seem like there are enough alternatives.  And college educations are being required for jobs that frankly don't require that level of education...which would be fine except that higher education is so expensive and time consuming.  It seems like we've all gone degree happy! 

3. And NaNo Write...will not be making the goal of 50,000 words.  :-(  I've surpassed 20,000, so I don't feel too bad, and at least now I'm writing again.  I'm going to try again next year though.  And, I'm going to keep writing!!!!

4.  My mom got laid off last week.  I don't know, since my dad died, my mom has had one bit of bad luck after another, 'cept none of it has been in bits.  I know that there are a lot of us praying for her, and I keep hoping that this is one of those situations where everything will go wrong until she turns in the direction that God wants her to go.  With this latest bit, she's decided to try and sell her house in January...and though Houston isn't as bad off as other parts of the country, we're still affected by the economic crisises and the real estate slump.  Plus mom's house is a fixer upper to put it midly.  In other words, we'll be needing some major blessings to get it sold.  Mom will be so much better off though.  Anyways, I think this will be a test of faith for us...among other tests.  Fortunately, other people care and are trying to help too.  Sunday mom's bishop pulled her into his office and asked her what all of her problems were.  Her fridge broke last week, and so she mentioned that.  "We can take care of that for you!"  So tonight, she got a new fridge!  :-)  

5. Planet Earth, the BBC documentary, have y'all watched that???  It is simply amazing!  Amazing.  Can't get the image of the fungi-attacked-ant in the Amazon out of my head.  That's totally sci-fi-ish, can't believe it's real!

6.  Oh, and I love the new themes in Gmail!  Everytime I open my email I get to see new mountains!  How cool is that!  

*Hugs* to everyone!  Hope you have a great Thanksgiving...whenever you may celebrate it!

Hi Everyone,

I have recently started a facebook page.  And let me tell you how that happened. 

My cousin sent me a invite to her facebook, and in trying to comment on her page, I inadvertently created my own.  I was going to delete it once I had realized what happened, because as a teacher/librarian, I don't think I'm even supposed to have a page on a social networking site...not sure though since I wasn't paying attention when they talked about that.  In any case, I was going to delete my facebook account, but within days I had about ten friends--mostly family and people I went to church with, but still gratifying!  :-)

So I'm keeping the facebook page, if only so that I can keep track of all my cool friends, some of whom I haven't seen for years.  But I won't be adding to it.  If you want the scoop on me, this blog is still the place to go.  :-D

And if the kiddoes at school start friending me on facebook, I shall have to delete after all.  :-(

Today is a big day for emoticons, isn't it?  Well, I'm using all my words for NaNo obviously.

Well, so far so good.  I'm over the 14 thou mark which means I'm keeping up at least.  I've even been to three write-in's, so I'm not only participating, but I'm also socializing.

Which reminds me, any of my Texas Librarian friends coming to Houston this Spring?  It would be fun to meet up with peeps...course, TLA is just plain fun!!!  Does anyone know when they announce the Lone Star nominees??? 

So back to writing.  Ugh, I'm tired of it.  Someone tell me why I thought this would be a good idea?  Yeah, and good luck with that because the answer is mostly that I didn't think.  

Tomorrow though, I get a day off from writing!  Woo-hoo!  Thank goodness I decided to take Sundays off!  Course, that does not mean that I'll have a restful day.  I got a class of three-year-olds waiting for me at church for one thing!  :-)

Oh, and the election...my choice for Board of Education did not win, and I'm really bummed, really, really bummed.  I'm actually even thinkin' of writing a letter to this incumbent (aka incompetent???) guy and telling him what I think about the state of school finance in Texas at the moment.  It is, in two words, a horrible mess.  And it must be bad if even someone as non-confrontational and passive agressive as me is actually considering proactive behavior.  Ugh.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.  We're having wonderful, lovely weather here.  I'm really enjoyin' it.

::sidenote::  Vastly amused by the "Undead Live Journal" Title bar.

NaNo NaNo
I am about half way through Chris Baty's book, No Plot? No Problem!  I really like that book--very positive and practical....my boss might think it too practical if she read the suggestions for getting away with writing at work.  :)   Found out from a friend that I  missed the Houston area kick off party...bummed.  I was encouraged to read that this last week is the time to begin planning the novel....because of course, I have planned nothing!  Nothing! 

Gift Baskets and Love for Barnes & Nobles
Woot!  I won a gift basket from Barnes & Nobles!  I got a autographed copy of Brisinger, two little games, a swanky pink thermal travel mug, a Godiva chocolate bar, a book stand, book cover, and a bunch of other goodies too!  I knew it was a good idea to get myself out of bed early on a Saturday morning to go to their party for educators!  Course, I'd really have loved to win the $500 GC.  Just imagine what I could do with a $500 GC to Barnes & Nobles!!!!!!   My heart is palpatatin' at the thought!

Manga Club
The students at my school want to start a Manga club.  I assured my principal that it would be all good, and that we'd be strict about only discussing books with age-appropriate ratings.  My prinicipal is still a little nervous about it.  I've told the student brain-child behind the club, that she is their leader and I am just her helper.  I googled for rules/guidelines for manga clubs and got nadda.  Anyone with experience of them have any suggestions for me?

Elections
I am still undecided...well sorta, I know for sure that I don't like either candidate for President, nor-really the vice-presidential candidates, I know who I am voting for state board of education, but all the other stuff...clueless.  It's on my to do list to research this week since early voting ends on Halloween.  I keep listening to the news, and Still all that they talk about is campaign strategy...are they trying to tell us that there is a correlation betwixt campaigining and reigning as President.  That only depresses me since McCain has gone so negative and Obama is spending out the wazoo.  The whole election business is quite interesting for me.  I come from a Republican background.  My family members are all republican (though strangely enough the most rabidly Rep. of my brothers is actually for Obama), but everyone I work with is a Democrat.  I guess in a way that is good, right?  I get to hear everyone's opinion.  What is weird is how everyone assumes that I agree with them.  :-P All of that makes me feel like:

I have done the scary and unthinkable thing and joined NaNoWriMo!  ( Here's my userpage for interested parties.) I'm going to really try.  I've been reading Chris Baty's book, No Plot No Problem, and I really feel like this will be good for me if I can do it.  He talks about how writing works better when you're busy because then writing because the break from your life and work, whereas if you schedule huge chunks of time for writing, it becomes your work.  I noticed as I was reading the book, that first year people only started finishing on the 29th of the month.  I've been discouraged before when I've gone on the website and found that just a week into November people have already finished, and one lady even was doing the challenge twice.  I'm just going to plod along.  I'm going to schedule myself an hour in the mornings before I go to school and then an hour in the evenings after I come home and before my sister arrives.  On evenings when I don't have other committments, I'll try and write for another hour after dinner.  Then on weekends I'll write for as long as I can, minimum two hours in the mornings, and the same again in the evenings.  My thing is that I really prefer writing by hand to typing, but I've found that a page of writing is just above a hundred pages, so I'll be working towards five hundred pages.  Wow!  That's a lot when put that way!  I was going to continue my current notebook, but I think I'll begin a new one for this challenge.  Another thing Baty said in his book that resonated with me was about how good writing can make you feel, even if you never publish anything, writing feels good.  That's going to be my goal, to write for clarity of soul and inner strength as well as plain old fun!  :D

So, are any of the rest of you joining?  I'd love to meet with a local group, but other writers aways seem so serious to me--reading and writing the kind of prestigious books a high school English teacher can only hope to assign.  It is no coincidence that I'm a junior high librarian.  I signed up for my regions though, so hopefully I'll hear of local events and make some new friends in the process.

Wish me luck!  

Tonight is our church Trunk-or-Treat.  I'm dressing up as "the New Librarian at Hogwarts, aka the kind and interesting witch who will replace Madame Pince!"  ;)  A girl can dream!  

*Hugs to all*