Random Thoughts - "I Should Be Doing NaNo" Edition . . .

Every year, so many good books come out in October and November!

 NaNoWriMo temptations!!

---------------------

People who are defensive and don’t own their crap – pet peeves of mine.

 OWN YOUR CRAP.

--------------------

Ever feel like you spend way too much time trying to help people

 who love their excuses and don't own their crap?

Seriously. OWN YOUR CRAP.

--------------------

Am I the only person who likes summer better than fall?

So many people call this their favorite time of year.

There are things I love, but the colder weather is NOT one of them.

--------------------

Found the Vera Dietz book!

 $2 goes to Kate!

--------------------

Kate says that she is always so sad when she sees

 a sad kid who has dropped his or her ice cream cone.

-------------------

Speaking of sad.

Our kids very, very rarely ask for anything.

They just do NOT have the "gimmies" at all.

And when they DO get excited for something, 

they tend to save up for it.

Poor Max has had his eye on a specific Nerf gun for a while now.

He has been saving for months (they get $1 spending money/week).

Now that he has saved enough, it's a discontinued item.

On top of that,

when he finds one on eBay,

he keeps getting outbid.

 (They're selling for a bit more than what he's saved

 now that they're discontinued, plus that pesky shipping).

-----------------

My daughter took a 1.5 hour break from our Gilmore Girls date

(and she LOVES our Gilmore Girls dates)

 because she wanted to watch a webinar on character development in writing.

 I kid you not. 

All. Her.

-----------------

We have had a house full of kids A LOT lately.

 We host at least a dozen things a month here. It’s fun.

I love older kids!

 It’s also nice to enjoy the quiet afterward.

-----------------

We're getting to that stage where your kids grow like crazy

and use expensive "toys."

We've recently replaced our Wii and an iPod

 and Max's laptop is currently on its last leg.

Oh! And shoes and clothes -

They are outgrowing them like crazy!

We are replacing shoes sometimes every few months - 
 I kid you not!

And winter coats and pants and and and . . .

Holy moly.

It's almost comical to think of those early years of buying diapers.

Diapers have nothing on all of this stuff.

Oh, and books! So. Many. Books.

----------------

Our daughter likes to remind us that she is coming up on driving age.

Oh boy.

I know the kids are eyeing the Saturn,

but speaking of being on its last leg . . . 

----------------

I used to love getting the mail.

 Now I’m terrified of it.

 PTSD from that stupid IRS mistake this past summer.

----------------

Our kids spent October counting down to NaNoWriMo,

 completely skipping Halloween countdowns – is that odd?

-----------------

It's ironic that Max likes dressing up so much,

because he resisted it as a toddler at Halloween time.

-----------------

We spent all day Saturday at a fantastic kid-lit festival.

We attended tons of great workshops and lectures and signings.

We got to talk to so many fascinating authors and illustrators.

It went by way too fast.

Kate's friend Mary was in town so we took her along with us.

It was a GREAT event.

-----------------

I’ve had bangs since before it was cool.

Take that, fashion trends.

-----------------

I love fuzzy socks.

-----------------

Every once in a while, we play this game

 where we play songs on our iPods

 and see who can "buzz in" first to guess the song and artist.

Recently our kids each "buzzed in" and guessed

 a Stevie Wonder song (Max) and a Bill Withers song (Kate).

That's all kinds of awesome.

------------------

Both of our kids are what neither Mark nor I am – 

an older sister with a younger brother

 or a younger brother with an older sister.

------------------

We spent an evening with Edgar Allen Poe.

Double date and everything!

Very dark and so very different from our evenings with Charles Dickens,

but also so well done.

Dave, Christie, Stacy, Mark (with Edgar Allen Poe)