Happy Holidays! (and bon voyage to Bon Voyage)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and continue to enjoy the holiday season. We had a very white Christmas. On Christmas Eve we bundled up to go down to my parents, but didn't even make it to the car. It was snowing badly, very cold, and poor visibility. My husband refused to drive in it. The next day we learned his brother came up the other direction and it took him an hour longer than usual to get to his destination due to the storm, traffic, and accidents. Glad we weren't on the road.

 

I didn't miss the celebrations as much as I thought I would. I have lots of memories to draw on, and it was nice having a quiet Christmas with just us three. We ate cooked cereal for dinner which tasted very good after coming in from the cold. Then we watched the movie "A Christmas Story". B actually went to bed on time and slept in Christmas Day (until 8 am; his usual time is 6:30, so we were happy). We ate a big breakfast of waffles, sausage, and grape juice, got B dressed and let him discover his stocking while we took turns showering and getting ourselves ready, then took turns opening presents. Christmas Supper was Tyson Pork Roast Kit w/vegetables which we popped into the slow cooker for six hours. It was so yummy and we had leftovers last night, and enough meat that it will feed us for lunch as well. Next time we get one (and there will be a next time) we won't use the seasoning packet. It was good, but a little salty for our tastes. We don't use much salt and pepper, and even have to be reminded to put it on the table when we have company. We have decided that from now on we are celebrating Christmas Eve at home together, start our own traditions.

 

Presents were good. We all got some new clothes and books. I got a Book Lover's Desk Calendar, some new video games, and a lot of new music to listen to. My husband got the Spiderman movie trilogy, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, some anime, and music as well. B loves his Thomas the Tank Engine Hideaway tent (from us) and his doodle board (from Gma J). We also got a Signing Time pack with three DVDs and a music CD (from Gma W). B loves watching them and does really well imitating both the sounds and signs. B didn't get many toys this year (mostly clothes and books) so we bought him another one when we went to Walmart yesterday to exchange a gift (a duplicate from my wish list). He was very excited when we got the Hot Wheels V-Drop. You can never go wrong with something car or train related. Speaking of cars, he did get a remote control car, but won't be using it much until Summer as we don't have much space to run it inside.

 

Sadly, after a week of troubleshooting with EA support over my Sims 2 Bon Voyage game not working, it has been labeled unresolved (I do wish they had sent me one last email instead of just changing the tag on their site though). I have all the Sims2 expansions and when we tried uninstalling the whole thing and reinstalling I tried the game after each one and it works fine until the latest expansion. So the problem lies somewhere with Bon Voyage. It's rather depressing that they couldn't find out what the problem is. The game worked fine for three months but last week suddenly stopped working. Nothing changed on my system that I'm aware of. The game simply won't start. I click on the shortcut, get the launch screen, hit launch... get a spinning disc icon then nothing. It says the game is running under Processes in task manager, but that's it. The disc still works as I can install with no problem and My Computer recognizes the disc. Hopefully the next expansion will solve whatever the problem is. In the meantime, I guess I'll uninstall Bon Voyage and play with Seasons instead. At least that one works. I will have to start over though, as none of my saves are compatible with previous versions. Oh well. Starting over can be a refreshing change.

Christmas Cookies

Earlier this week we made tiny sugar cookies (thanks Mom for the cookie cutters!). Turned out so very yummy. They are so easy to just pop one in your mouth though... so over half gone already. Tomorrow I'm going to make coconut macaroon cookies. Hopefully those will turn out as well. At least the recipe looks easy. Here's some pictures for you (had to clear the camera for Christmas ;-) ).

 

Christmas table (before pressies from friends and family).

Sugar cookies, in keeper, then with regular sized mug of cocoa (was a snack, not breakfast). Shapes are Santa, tree, and stocking. Colors are from a neon dye pack (thought we'd do something different this year).

 

Mmm... cookies... *wanders off*

Tuesday Tally - One Week to Christmas

Status of my novel

1. first draft
2. read and revise for plot
3. read and revise for continuity
4. read and edit for grammar
5. polish prose to prettiness
6. write query and synopsis
7. query agents

total words to date: 89,746

pages: 396

chapters revised: 21/20

Last week's goals:

• finish going through writing.com inbox - slow progress (it's a huge mess)
• minimum one article a week (new or old) for AC - sent one in as nonexclusive, go rejected because it's already on a highly ranked site (!?) 
• Wilcox Writers Newsletter - in progress. should get it out today 
• write a new poem - not happening... a poem can not be forced. one must at the minimum be in the mood, not simply wanting to write a poem

Goals for the next two weeks (no planned update on Christmas):

• write a synopsis for The Blazing Princess and prep story for submission to Drollerie Press after the holidays
• minimum one article a week (new or old) for AC
• get more feedback on plot and character in EotF
• make list of goals for the new year, and write about this year's goals 

The Celine Dion concert last night was amazing. Gave me chills. One benefit to seeing it on the big screen instead of in person (other than the huge price difference) was being able to see the dancers better. The cameras have the best viewpoint. And Celine is so talented. I loved every single song. It was a night worth experiencing. I was not surprised to learn that the choreographer was Mia Michaels - another talented woman.

 

Nothing to report writing wise. In some ways the break is nice, but at the same time I feel like I should be writing something. I think I'll go ahead and start fleshing out plot and character sheets for Trinity Coven. That way I'll have more to work with when I start writing next year.

Update

Tonight we are going to see Celine Dion. One of her Las Vegas performances was recorded and will be broadcast to select theatres participating in Fathom Events. It's a one night only event. And we got tickets! I'm very excited.

 

I was very happy to send B to school today. He woke up full of energy this morning (even singing before getting out of bed). P was feeding off that and things were already getting crazy for the half hour they were together. It's been so nice having my husband work from home the majority of the week (due to icky parking issues at work). Today he volunteered to take B out and wait for the bus. It's been so cold lately.

 

It has been reconfirmed that electronics don't like me. My Sims 2 Bon Voyage suddenly won't run anymore. Apparently it's not just me. I looked on the forums and others have played just fine for months until it up and won't run anymore. Don't get an error or anything, just hit play on the launcher, get a spinning disc icon, then nothing. *sigh* At least there seems to be a solution. Sounds complicated, but I'll mess with it today. At least it's not the disc itself, or my computer. It's an issue with the software. But that same day (yesterday, that is) I went to turn on a CD in the kitchen while I fixed dinner, and my CD player doesn't work anymore. :-( It will play the radio just fine, but won't spin or recognize discs. I guess it had to die eventually. I've had it for about ten years now. Guess I'll stick to listening to the radio in the other room.

 

One week until Christmas Eve! Got your shopping done? I didn't bother putting up the tree this year. By the time I was done with one of the puzzles from my birthday, only had a couple weeks left until Christmas. Don't have a lot of space out in the front room, and we don't spend a lot of time out there anyway. So I left the card table up instead, put a red tablecloth on it, and a Santa figurine to watch over the presents. Much less work than shaping and decorating a tree. Happy Holidays everyone!

Vocabulary B

B is doing much better with his vocabulary since he started preschool this year. He can point to a lot of pictures if asked, and identify some of them on his own (with a sign or sound if not the actual word). He's a lot more interested in repeating back words and phrases, and is more understandable when he does so. Reading books to him is a lot more interactive now. It's exciting to see the progress.

 

One more note regarding Rock Band: If you call while one or both of us is playing, please leave a message. There is a high chance that we will not even hear the phone ring (sorry Joanna) or be in the middle of a part where it's hard to pause if we happen to hear it ring. At least we don't play all day (or get many phone calls for that matter...).

A Rockin' Tuesday Tally

Status of my novel

1. first draft
2. read and revise for plot
3. read and revise for continuity
4. read and edit for grammar
5. polish prose to prettiness
6. write query and synopsis
7. query agents

total words to date: 89,746

pages: 395

chapters revised: 21/20

Last week's goals:

• clear out another chunk from writing.com inbox - slow progress (it's a huge mess)
• finish first read through of EotF - mostly made notes, couple more changes, need other eyes to look at it now while I take a break from it 
• celebrate finished novels with Liz - mmm, sparkling grape juice. we had a rockin' time! see more below 
• write a new poem - didn't do this. need a topic. open to suggestions! 

Goals for this week:

• write a new poem 
• Wilcox Writers Newsletter
• minimum one article a week (new or old) for AC
• finish going through writing.com inbox 

Last Friday we bought Rock Band. My husband was interested, and I said "sure, why not". I knew the price, wasn't too excited about that or the game, but thought it would be nice for another one we could play together. I don't really know rock songs, not my fav type of music, but was at least a little intrigued by the idea that it came with a microphone. Rock Band is a glorified karaoke for the X-Box 360 - guitar and drum controllers, and mic. Hesitantly I tried it out with him that night. This game really does rock. Both of us were surprised by how much we enjoy it. It's not hard to learn the basics, and the feeling of rocking out together is awesome.

 

So, Saturday when Liz was here, we invited her to play with us. She started on the mic, J (husband) on the guitar/bass, and I on the drums. After a bit, Liz and I switched. We created a band for the Band Tour once we got the hang of things - settled on Vapor Furnace (yay for the random generator). There is so much you can unlock with this game. You create a character, unlock venues, clothing, earn cash to buy new instruments and outfits. We even earned a van to go on the road. There's also online play, you can do a battle of the bands, leaderboards, download new song packs, all sorts of stuff. A band can have up to four people - drummer, guitarist, vocalist, and (with a second guitar controller) bass.

 

My place is definitely on the microphone. The drums are still a little overwhelming (though fun). Sunday J and I started our own band, Unicorn Gun. The same characters can be used on the solo tour, which we haven't tried yet. He's getting better at the guitar, and I'm actually learning some lyrics. Last night we cranked the difficulty up from Easy to Medium. Definitely harder, but we have gotten a couple five stars. We had to increase the difficulty level because we had maxed out our fans on easy, and needed more fans to unlock certain venues. Did I mention how much I love this game? What began as a tentative purchase for both of us has become very worthwhile.

 

Favorite songs so far: Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and I Think I'm Paranoid by Garbage.

 

Not us playing, but here's what the game looks like with a full band:

 

And here is what the instruments look like:

You've Got Mail

Last weekend we watched The Postman - a post-apocalyptic show with Kevin Costner. After finding undelivered mail, one man delivers some in exchange for food and lodging. But what started as a con becomes a quest to return hope through restoring postal service. Very good show. It made me grateful for the communication lines we currently have in place. It would be difficult going back to a time with no internet, no mail, no tv. No way to know what's going on in the world. Each city would be an island.

 

I love mail. My daddy is a postman, currently a supervisor at a post office. But I didn't really appreciate mail until we moved when I was in fifth grade. Letters were my link to everything and everyone I knew. I'd rush to be the one to check the mail each day, even going out barefoot in the snow. Getting a letter would make my day. It was a rush. Though it's rare for me to get an actual handwritten letter anymore, what with everyone having e-mail, there's still that little thrill when I hear the mailman come. And sometimes it pays off to be the one rushing out to get the mail. Yesterday my Christmas gift to my husband came. I had to hurry and hide it in the closet before he got a look, especially since the name on the package is his (his name on the card and Paypal account and all).

 

E-mail is equally addicting, especially with the speed of sending and replies, but I do miss the feel of writing a letter.

Tuesday Tally next gen (err, draft)

Status of my novel

1. first draft
2. read and revise for plot
3. read and revise for continuity
4. read and edit for grammar
5. polish prose to prettiness
6. write query and synopsis
7. query agents

total words to date: 89,680

pages: 393

chapters revised: 8/20

Last week's goals:

• start tackling writing.com email inbox... - cut pages in half, but still a lot to go through
• fool around with Flip.com  - my first flip book is linked below 
• prep and send Fantasy newsletter and EotF mailing list  - done
• celebrate finished novels with Liz  - postponed to next Sat due to sickness. Get well soon Liz! 

Goals for this week:

• clear out another chunk from writing.com inbox 
• finish first read through of EotF
• celebrate with Liz
• write a new poem

The page and word count dropped because I cut the first scene entirely. The first part was moved to a different chapter, but the rest is gone. Unneeded. I'm hoping the new first scene (which was the third) is a better place to start. I also rearranged the remaining scenes of chapter one so all of Marian's POV are first, then the two in Jex's POV end the chapter. That should give the reader more time to connect with Marian. Other than that, I've mostly been making notes and a few minor changes. I'll be breaking chapter nine in two, as it's twice as long as the other ones. So far I haven't seen much in the way of plot that needs fixing. Keeping an updated outline with scene details a few chapters ahead of where I was writing seemed to help in that regard. Of course, other eyes will be better to see the plot holes and flaws I'm sure exist.

 

Here's the flipbook I've finished. It's a fun tool, but does require patience. As does making a website presentable, so I've had practice there.

 

Glimpses feywriter Three haiku....