Big, BIG, HUGE NEWS!!

So, I haven’t been very active on the blog lately…holidays and all that fun stuff, but I have another reason why. I’m actually starting a new business venture with two other close friends. We’ve been talking about this for years, but the time feels right and we’re finally starting it. We’re still in the planning stages, but we’ve now gotten to the point of actually making a business plan. The next step is registering with the state, meeting with a CPA and attorney, filing with the IRS, getting the website set up and then actually marketing! My youngest is going to be our Administrative Assistant since she’s very detail oriented, tech savvy, and organized. We still have another person we’re considering bringing in as a coach on a contracting basis who provides services we don’t. My boys both have management degrees and will be consulting with us as well.

Wow.

What is this business, you ask? We’re starting up a spiritually-based coaching business with three, possibly four coaches and could even add two more later on! We’re very excited to get this off the ground. Once we get a website up, I’ll let you know what it is.

But wait! What about my writing? Right now, this is consuming my time and energy but once things get started and I can actually quit my current job to work on the coaching business, then I’ll be able to get back to writing again.

Whew! 2018 is going to be my year to shine!

Sweet 16

My youngest, Thing 4, recently turned 16 (though she thinks she’s going on 24). Where has the time gone? I looked through old pictures of her…missing her two front teeth, first day of kindergarten, and the list goes on.

It was a bittersweet day, as she shares her birthday with her recently-departed grandmother who she was very close to. So, while we celebrated her birthday, we mourned the loss of her grandma.

I took her and one of her good friends to Chicago where we spent the day. We checked out Noodles & Company, where we discovered their servings are huge! The three of us could have shared one bowl of noodles rather than each of us getting our own. For those of you who’ve never been there, I recommend sharing a meal if you go.

Afterwards, we headed out to the Nutella Cafe where we were met with a line that went around the building! I think we waited for at least an hour to get in, but Thing 4 had her heart set on going. We had the waffle with a side of ice-cream, which both were delicious. The waffle had fresh berries on top. It was a nice size in that the three of us were able to share that too.

The only store she made purchases at was Lush. Even though she had a decent amount of spending money, she decided she didn’t want to buy just anything in Chicago since she could get clothes and whatnot back home, but we don’t have a Lush close by so that was the only store she really wanted to go to. Other than that, we walked around and she took a ton of pictures, which a few of her pictures are going to be featured in an upcoming photography contest/show. Unfortunately I don’t have access to those pics so I can’t post them!

All in all, it was a fun albeit exhausting day! I wore very comfy sandals so my feet didn’t hurt, but her feet were killing her by the time we left. She wasn’t happy that my cheap Walmart sandals were more comfortable than her expensive Vans. -snerk.- I tried telling her not to get the Vans considering there isn’t much arch support in them, but I was basically talking to empty air.

Beware The Bread-Wielding Gunman

True story…

My mother was recently getting her hair done–it was just her and the salon owner in the building–and in came a man wielding a machine gun, telling them this was a robbery and he was going to kill them!  Needless to say, my mother was extremely frightened and was just sure her life was over.

Then, she got a good look at the gun…

The guy was holding a loaf of bread–a long baguette–like a machine gun!

The shop owner yelled at the guy to get out of her shop, and he immediately left!

Can you believe that? My mother was held up by a guy with a freakin’ loaf of bread!  Luckily, it was only a loaf of bread and not a real gun.

Needless to say, this story is somehow going to end up in one of my books, LOL.

 

 

Yard Sale Days

Today we’re having a yard sale, and I’m wondering…should I put my business cards out too? Tell people I’m also a Tarot card reader? Thing 3 thought no…”It’s a yard sale, mom. No. Just…no.”

-le sigh-

What do you think?

Bring Your Own Hygiene Products

First of all, a bit of background about that title…

My older daughter, Thing 3, is turning 18 in July. She designed her own birthday invites and unfortunately added that title in the “What to bring” section of her invite. I about died laughing. I mean, really? What 17- or 18-year-old girl isn’t going to bring along her own hygiene products? Oh, gawd.

Thankfully her younger sister, Thing 4, saved the day by redesigning her invites. You see, Thing 4 is a whiz when it comes to all things Photoshop and design. By the way, Thing 4 is a photographer and artist, is the owner and CEO of her own photography company, and she’s only 15. She is one talented little stinker.

 

Words of Life By Thing 4

The other day me and Thing 4 were at the store because she was having a candy attack. She had a limited amount of money to spend and perused the candy aisle. After a bit, she became discouraged because, let’s face it, high-quality candy and chocolate is expensive. She threw her hands in the air in exasperation and said, “Why is candy so expensive? You’re basically paying to get cavities!”

How right you are, Thing 4. How right you are.

And The Birthday Shenanigans Begin…

Thing 2’s birthday is coming up on Wednesday.  She turns 17…not sure where the time went.  Yesterday her and I went out to the mall, and I ended up letting her get a tattoo.

I can hear it already. Oh my gawd! What parent lets their minor child get a tattoo?

Hold on to your underpants. It’s not permanent. Even though she’s begged me to let her get an actual tattoo, I’ve told her repeatedly she’s simply going to have to wait until she’s 18. This way, when she’s older and possibly decides she doesn’t like it, she only has herself to blame for it. Not that I have anything against tattoos. Heck, I’ve got one myself. But, seeing as how a tattoo is a lifelong commitment…well… she needs to be old enough to make that commitment on her own.

So, here she is, getting a henna tattoo.

And the finished product:

Tuesday her boyfriend is taking her out to dinner.  I believe Wednesday she’ll be with her dad. Thursday I’ll take her out, and then Friday I’m taking her, Thing 3, and my niece to Chicago for the day. Then on Saturday, I believe her grandmother is taking her shopping.

Whew! Let’s hear it for week-long birthday celebrations!

Stop Squeaking!

Apparently this little mouse toy was madly squeaking and wouldn’t stop. Thing 3 determined it must be possessed, so she stuck it in a salt ring.   As soon as she put it in the ring of salt, the squeaking stopped. Coincidence? Or do I have a demon-possessed cat toy?

Uh…No. You Can’t Publish An Unfinished Book.

Thing 2 has been trying her hand at writing. She had been working on a book for about six months then decided, before finishing, she was going to restart it.

She restarted the book, then once she got to Chapter 4, got an idea for another book and started on that one.

Then, a few days ago, got an idea for yet another book and started on that one too.

She’s asked me about publishing to which I explained she needs to first finish a book. She laughed and said she has so many ideas in her head that once she gets another idea, she has to start on that one. I tried telling her to write her ideas down but then go back to the original book, but alas, she’s working on her current idea now.

She told me she’s a multitasker and can work on two at the same time…this coming from a girl with ADD who normally has a hard time listening to two instructions at the same time.

Yeah,  okay.

I guess we’ll see how that’s working out for her, won’t we?

Holy Shit. A Full Freakin’ Year?!

I realized my last post was in August of last year! I went over a year since my last post! Damn.

I have no excuse.

Okay, now I’m going to list all of my excuses. -snerk-

Most of it has to do with Thing 3’s health issues. They haven’t gotten better but worse. In fact, I’m now working full-time from home because I was having to take her to the doctor so much, the hospital decided to let me work from home. They gave me a laptop and the rest is history.

Last July she was diagnosed with pain amplification syndrome and hyperflexibility and told to do intense physical therapy. She started the physical therapy and…got worse. In fact, exercising seemed to bring on a fever, more body aches, sore throat…and then, she actually passed out during one of her sessions. Since then, she’s been going to the Chicago Children’s Hospital’s pain clinic, which they no longer think she has the pain amplification syndrome but autonomic dysfunction, Ehlers- Danlos syndrome, and POTS disease. Next month she goes to more specialists to see if she has those conditions, and if so, then it’s on to Mayo Clinic for a few weeks to figure out exactly what type of autonomic dysfunction, what kind of exercises she can do, and what foods she can eat. Her condition has worsened quite a bit since a year ago, and now simply standing for 20 minutes to bake a cake is almost too much for her to do. Her body seems to be set on a setting of pain, so she’s in constant pain–it never lets up. A good day for her is a pain rating of 6. A bad day for her is to be in such excruciating pain that simply touching her makes her scream. The last time that happened she had been swimming for an hour and apparently it sent her body into such a mess that she was pretty much comatose for five days.

In the meantime, I’ve been working odd hours, taking her to school when she can go, and trying to keep up with housework, yard work, and writing. Last year she tried going to school for 4 hours a day, but that got to be too much so that she ended up missing six weeks straight. For second semester, she went three days a week for an hour each time with one-on-one sessions with a teacher.

This year the school started up a new blended learning which is a combined online/onsite schooling. Some kids do all of their schooling online, others might only do a class or two online and do the rest of their schooling in the classroom. She goes in when she can, but she does most of her schooling at home online. It’s great because she gets to be around other kids who are doing the same program, and when she needs extra help, she can go in and a teacher is there to help her. The classroom is pretty cool too. There are lounge chairs with tables, a high table with barstools, and a worktable with chairs and desktops. There are laptops for the kids to use and a fridge for drinks, lunches and snacks, or the kids have the option to eat lunch with their grade.

Other than that, I’m working on revising my query letter. Mine is pretty good, but I’m sure I can make it better. I feel like I’ve been working on this book for forever and I just want it done!