Falling in love is the easy part.

I'm already done with Thanksgiving and it's not even here yet officially.
We've done one dinner with my Dad and Step mom and that end of the family, and that was at MY HOUSE, so I'm done.
No more turkey/pumpkin pie/ham/overeating 'til I puke for me.
Ok, that's a lie.
Just like all the other holiday's I really love thanksgiving. I love hearing what people are thankful for, and although it's mostly the usual suspects (husbands, wives, children, friends....), it is what people are truly thankful for, and I can understand that.
Here, in a blatant copycat move, I will list my top ten things I'm grateful to have in my life.
10. A job. Despite all the criticism and guilt, I like my job, and am actually good at it, and it's helping to keep us afloat right now.
9. Humor. I love the fact that even when times are tight, and stress is high, Mike and I can still laugh (at each other, at some random movie, at a goofy comedian) It makes me feel more equipped to cope.
8. A hobby. I like having a creative outlet (or several) into which I can funnel my frustrations.
7. My mom and dad. Both experienced health crisis' last year and the fact that I still have them around is not only a gift, but a blessing as well.
6. Human rights equality. I know a lot of people are displeased with the election results, and I know President-elect Obama is not completely African-American, but he's halfway there and to be a part of a generation that has accepted equality to this degree makes me proud. (I would have been prouder of a woman, but OH WELL)
5. My children. I am, at best, a mediocre mother, but I love my children fiercely and believe with all my heart that they are amazing, wonderful little beings.
4.Friends who 'get me'. I have always been lucky with friends, and right now I have a tightly woven support system that keeps my head above water when I'm drowning in responsibility.
3. Civil servants and Military Personnel. Almost every day I talk with someone who has a family member who is deployed or who has been deployed (or is getting deployed). Although I'm not a fan of the war, I know it is a noble duty to protect our country and the freedoms we hold dear. Also, as the economy becomes more uncertain, crime generally rises, and I have a brother who is a police officer that I'm both thankful for and terrified for. Please give your officers the respect they deserve, just like teachers they are not paid their worth.
2. Saturday Mornings. Mike lets me sleep in since I usually have to work late (and even if I don't) and I look forward to that extra forty five minutes (or three hours) all week.
1. Mike. He's my best friend and an amazing father. His worth to me is beyond measure and there are no words for how much I adore and admire him. I'm proud of him for who he is and our lives together.
Happy Thanksgiving.
R

The Writers Diet (my next..er first bestseller)

I love to read.

Which is good. You learn things from reading.

I started reading around age four and I remember piling my books around me in my bed and cuddling with them as if they were my lovies. On more than one occasion I've been informed that my reading is a problem, from statements like, 'You'll never have a real life if you keep living in those books' or 'Your brain doesn't benefit from you reading a book over and over' (this second statement was a TEACHER, that's right an EDUCATOR told me to not read as much. As horrified as I am to think about this as an adult, I was mortified as a child.

The thing here is, I never thought my reading was a problem.

I love it. Like I said, I honestly believed that reading opened up worlds to me that I'd have never been privy to otherwise. Worlds from time long since past and places that only exist in other authors minds. I love that my daughter now loves to read, that I don't have to force her, and that she (almost) loves the new book smell as much as I do. I just love it, I love the thrill of having a new book that I have waited and waited for and cracking it open with some warm tea, a couple cookies and a cozy blanket.

But lately, when I should be writing, I've been reading.

I know that most great writers read a lot, but in theory, most great writers actually write at some point as well.

So, my pledge.

Starting Monday November 24th, I will NOT read For a WHOLE MONTH.

Thirty days.

NO READING.

NONE.

NO READING THAT ISN'T ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

for thirty days.

Thirty L-o-o-o-o-n-n-g days.

I'm getting light headed, is the room spinning?

No reading until Christmas Eve.

A reading diet, when I can hog out on turkey, ham, pecan pie and various other evil but delicous foods.

So here what I need from you faithful bloggies.

(bloggettes is a little sexist, but I do like it better)

Don't recommend a book or several books to me unless you are prepared to sit by me AA sponsor style and talk me down from the ledge.

Don't ask me about what I've read lately and if my eyelid starts to twitch step away slowly.

Expect me to cheat and love me anyway.

So hopefully I will be churning out mass amounts of writing this upcoming month which means updates on WritingMommy and I will of course keep you posted on my progress with not reading.

Happy Thanksgiving Turkies!

R

I ran from spam and new things I'm loving

So, if you have a blog you know how it is.
You send your million random thoughts (in my case, seventy or so) out into the blogverse and then you wait..


and wait...

and wait some more.....

For a comment on your myspace, on the blog, when you see someone who has commented on your blog, and then it comes..a COMMENT!
VALIDATION!!
CONFIRMATION!!
SOMEBODY LOVES ME!!
I HAVE AT LEAST ONE READER!!
The joy....and then..

the heartache.
IT was SPAM.

UH. About VIAGRA.
I suppose the fact that I get spam should flatter me (it doesn't) but VIAGRA?
Do they read the blog?
Honestly?
Pampers or a chocolatier would be much better served to spam me than Viagra.
I'm just saying.
and although I have a great poem about Viagra (and the kajillion rhyming words, Niagra..ok maybe one rhyming word) I will spare you and move on.

TV I'm Loving despite the fact that I only really watch adult TV one day a week.

1. The style networks new reality show Ruby.
This lady is amazing. I believe the show only started last night but immediatly I identified with her struggle. She's funky and beautiful and is four hundred pounds, get the tissues, it's that awesome.
2. True Blood On HBO...I know the last thing we need is another freakin vampire show, but the male hotness on this show + the outlandish fantasy storylines keep me hooked. ONLY TWO EPISODES LEFT!
3. Ace of Cakes. I know that naysayers say who can watch a show esclusively about cake? ME ME ME!! I love this almost as much as the challenges on food network.I don't know how you can be rock and roll and a pastry chef, but Duff makes it work.
4. My old favorites, My name is Earl, The Simpsons, and THE SOUP.
Ok, I'll watch paint dry if they amp up the drama!
Don't rot your brains!!

OFCourse I'm FINE!!

Hope the onset of the holidays is not causing seizures of anxiety, because I know I'm fine!
I'm totally not worried about when to bake, put up the tree, roast the turkey, make the pancakes, wrap presents (er..buy presents.) order holiday cards.
I mean, just looking at my abbreviated to-do list is not making me want to run away for the holidays for a nice vacation to oh, say, Tahiti, where I'm almost positive Christmas, Thanksgiving and the entire brouhaha of the holidays is more um, how do I say, laid back.
Because here's the thing,

the one thing that's most important,
spending time with people you love, and letting them know you care.

And I know that, I do.

Totally.

but the thing is,

I still feel the pressure to DO all the things that well, frankly, I'm not sure why I do.

Well, I know why I send out cards...duh, so I can brag about my cool family. I know why I bake cookies. To create lasting memories with friends and family (that disappears in the time it takes my family to devour them)Plus, I like cookies.
But why do I kill myself will all our other commitments?
Because that's life? It's just what's expected of me?
That come the day after Halloween, we turn into tinsel be-decked chickens sans heads and proceed to run willy nilly in every direction?
Well, not me!

I know, right? What am I going to do? Boycott one of my favorite holidays ( a note to people who do not know me, personally, I love all holidays, boycotting one or two may actually do me some good)
No, I'll just keep complaining until I fall into my bed (flannel snowman sheets) some time in January and sleep off the madness.
Here's hoping you have some sanity time!