Yes, I'm Still Here...For Now

I have been chided for not keeping my blog updated (you know who you are). I find it a little amusing that during the time of year when I typically have nothing going on, I can't seem to keep up with anything.

Summer is my lazy time of year (well, lazier than usual :) ). We don't plan any vacations, we don't get away. We just went on our first camping trip of the season last weekend and summer is almost over. I feel like summer is my time to hibernate.

If that's true and I have been in hibernation mode, I can feel spring creeping up on me. Fall is just around the corner which means I will soon have no time for sleeping or relaxing or spending an afternoon catching up on Facebook. My beloved stories that I'm writing will be pushed to the side and my unread novels will just have to stay that way. There are far too many things calling for my time.

It 's almost time to start school up again. Along with homeschooling the 3 kids comes co-op. This semester I will be teaching two classes as well as accompanying Logan to two classes. It's only one day a week but it's amazing how much energy it saps from you.

I also have my usual slate of craft shows. During this season, craft shows are our livelihood. After the kids are in bed, I retreat to my cave and work, typically until midnight or 1am. Everything we sell is handmade and I have to make sure I have enough stock to last to December. Whenever I can, I also slip in a few hours during the day. Most of the time I enjoy it, but again, no sleep.

This year has an added bonus. My husband and I are in charge of our church's missions auction and dinner. It's a very big task but we feel so strongly about it that we couldn't NOT do it. It happens to fall at the end of October. The time of year when I am usually in my cave anytime that hubby is home and can take care of the kids.

Those that know me know I won't be seen for the month of November and only sporadically before and after. I always laugh when December comes and everyone else starts to feel the pressure and stress while I am grateful for the downtime.

I will do my best to keep up with my blog now that summer is coming to an end. And my movie blog as well since I have a whole page list of movies that I want to discuss. But just keep in mind that if I haven't written for awhile, it probably meant that I chose sleep over blogging!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I have a garden. I know it's hard to believe but I do. And it's actually producing edible food. If you know me at all, you know this is an amazing accomplishment. I'm great at growing houseplants but outdoor plants? Not so much. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I actually liked to be outside or if I enjoyed playing in the dirt but I really don't like either one.

So why start a garden? That's a very good question. Like everything else, I blame it on my mother. When I was young, my mom had a garden out back. She grew peas, zucchini, tomatoes and lots of other things that I don't eat. I can remember going out to the garden and picking tomatoes off the vine and eating them. I remember opening up the pea pods and popping those little green balls out and eating them right there. I've always told myself that I was going to have a garden like my mom did.

Now, I'm not a complete idiot. I knew that I needed to wait until I had the time (and yard) to devote to this garden. My house has the perfect spot and for the last 3 years, our friend and renter grew lots of things in it while I watched, shaking my head as she watered and weeded at 6 in the morning. She loved to be in her garden. I was content to watch her through the window.

This spring however, she wasn't here to plant her garden. I got the brilliant idea that I should keep it going. I spent days clearing out the space. Weeding, tilling, preparing the soil. My mom went shopping with me for seeds and starters and stakes and tools and gloves. Almost $200 and a few weeks later and my garden was planted. It looked perfect. For about a day.

What I didn't realize was that my friend didn't spend every spare minute in her garden purely for pleasure. It takes every spare minute just to keep up with all the weeds. Not to mention battling slugs and crows. I'm fighting a losing battle against all the critters that have found my strawberries so appealing. And it's not enough just to turn on the sprinkler and water every day. Some days it needs more water than that. And watering the plants also makes the weeds grow so I have to spend more time digging those out.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against a little hard work. I just really don't enjoy working outside...in the dirt...with all the bugs. I've come to the conclusion that my kind of gardening is best suited to flowering shrubs surrounded by beauty bark. You pull a few weeds here and there, do a little pruning and water occasionally. Done. I'm not even against having nothing but grass and then all I have to do is mow.

And I can't say anything tastes better just because I grew it. I'd rather spend the money to buy organic from the grocery store than to have to live on the fruits of my labor. Someone needs to keep those farmers in business.

So far I think the idea of having a garden and growing my own fruits and vegetables is so much better than the reality! But really, isn't that the case with most things?

Why Women Can

Why Women Can’t Sleep at Night

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The Descent

PLOT: A group of thrillseeking girlfriends explore an unknown cave system only to find some really nasty creatures dwelling underground.
STARS: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza (both pretty much unknown)
A year after Sarah (MacDonald) loses her husband and child in a car accident, she joins her friends on a cave exploration led by gung-ho Juno (Mendoza). Juno lies to the group, taking them to an unknown cave system as opposed to the mapped out one that they had planned to explore. I'm not generally a fan of horror movies but as soon as I saw a trailer for this one I HAD to see it. It is scary but it's really good. What's great about this movie is it's not until about halfway through the movie that you are even introduced to the creatures living in the caves but you're on the edge of your seat the whole time. There are plenty of surprises that will keep you jumping until then. The only thing I didn't like was the ambiguous ending. I don't need my movies to end with happily ever after but I need closure and this movie did not provide it. It's just a personal preference, not something that takes away from the movie. If you want something that will keep you in suspense, this will work. And my rating for this movie is based on scary movies always being better on the big screen.
(*****)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

STARS: Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand
PLOT: Kristen Bell is the Sarah Marshall of the title and she dumps Jason Segel for Russell Brand's British pop phenom character. Jason's character then flies to Hawaii in an attempt to forget her but unfortunately, Sarah and her new man have also gone there as well, staying at the same hotel of course. Mila Kunis plays a hotel employee that Jason develops a crush on. I was a little surprised at this movie. It's really funny. I've seen Russell Brand do a few interviews and I was ready to hate his character but he actually ended up being one of my favorite things about the movie. And the nice thing about Sarah Marshall is that eventually you see why she broke up with her boyfriend. She's not just an evil shrew, she just couldn't give any more to a doomed relationship. Yes, Jason Segel is naked during the break up scene and yes, it's more than a little awkward and unnecessary. But he's great as a guy hopelessly addicted to his lost love. Best line of the movie? Jonah Hill's character asks Brand if he's listened to his demo CD yet, and Brand responds, "I was going to, but then I decided to get on with my life." (paraphrasing).
(****)

Ahhhhh!

It's finished! Five months and hundreds of pages later, my first book is finished. I am so excited, it's hard to sit still. I've read and reread, edited and re-edited and I'm quite pleased with the finished product. I have passed on a copy to a select few to read and give me their opinion so now I just sit and wait...anxiously. My dream would be to have it published. Along with the next books that I have planned (some of which are already being outlined). I've already looked into the publishing process and I have a game plan. But for now, I am just living on the high of having completed my book!

Latest Twilight News

Okay, if you're a hard core Twilighter than this probably is really old news to you, but for the rest of the world, this is for you. I was stoked to find out that Michael Sheen is set to be a vampire in New Moon. He played a vampire in the Underworld movies and he was one of the best things in the series. He has to be playing one of the Volturi. Aro, to be specific.

If you've never heard of Michael Sheen, let me give you some background on him. If you look him up on IMDB, you'll see a bunch of pics of a somewhat nerdy looking British actor. If this is all you know of him, you'll be at a loss as to why I'm so excited. But look at his resume. He was "Frost" in last year's Frost/Nixon. He played Tony Blair in The Queen. I can't wait to see what he will do with the creepy, sinister leader of the Volturi.