I Love To Hate-

Now that we got Valentine's Day/week out of the way, let's talk about Hate.

It's okay to hate. Don't gasp and look horrified and hide your face. Here's a list of things it's okay to hate:

1- Cruelty- in any form, disguised or overt, it's never cool.

2- Eggplant- I mean really, it's a purple, nutrient and vitamin free, tasteless vegetable.

3- Those ugly shoes that look like skeleton feet- They are uglier than almost any fashion accessory I have ever seen. Even zombies think they're ugly (I asked one.).

4- Cold feet. Mine are always cold. And my hands and nose. I HATE being cold! Where's summer?

5- Mini-Coopers- can you just get out of the clown car and into a real one? For that much money to buy that dumb-looking, not as good on gas as it should be death-trap, you can almost buy 2 American cars.

I'm going to stop at five- I'd hate to go overboard.

Char

497, 498, 499...

Shoes? No.
Cats? Never.
Diamonds? I can dream.

But no. Those numbers represent the overly repetitive use of the word 'just.' Natalie was editing her latest manuscript and found the word used over 500 times.  Yikes! So I did a check on the word 'had' in Sirenz Back In Fashion, which I'm editing now. It was used 297 times.

Did we need all of them? No.

Some of them? Yes.

Over the course of 60,000+ words, that's barely a bump. But where I deleted it, it made the sentence stronger because had is a helping verb. I like to think of it as 'helping ' water down the action (I jumped vs. I had jumped.  Both are past tense, do you really need the 'had'? No.)

I'll get back to you and let you know how many I took out. Maybe you'll want to look at your manuscripts and see which words you overuse and get rid of them. Keep a few, but dump the rest. If you're looking to reduce your word count, this is a great place to start.

Char

Checking In

And checking right out.

Because I'm sick.

Manana... Maybe

Char

A Little Self Indugence

When we renovated our house, it was toward 'What do we need?' More space. 'What will give us the best return on our money?' Not doing anything crazy or trendy or overpriced.

But in all the practicality (that master ensuite will lure buyers in when we're ready to sell. really), I wanted something unique, just for me, that didn't have to be practical.

So I begged, pleaded, cajoled, whined and demanded my library. The old dining room became my book sanctuary:

Why yes, that's Sirenz in the middle, waiting for her sister, Sirenz Back In Fashion. I hope to add many more siblings.

Char

Looky!

I took this just moments ago- in my front walkway gardens.. Daffodil sprouts!

It makes me....

So......

Char

Why Is It...

That smoke alarm batteries die at 2:47 a.m.? The heat is low, it's cold, don't want to wake anyone up (as if! No one wakes up for anything around here unless it's a hot breakfast!), so I'm tiptoeing in the dark. This is my brain/body at 2:47 a.m.:

 And if you crazies are on the road AGAIN today, like you were yesterday, cutting me off THREE times so I had to slam on the brakes, well, I'd give me a WIDE BERTH today.

Not even a Chai latte may improve my mood. Just sayin.

Char

Yeah, One Thing I Got Down Perfectly

It's taken me 15 years to perfect. The ONLY way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Anyone who sends kids to school with that staple (provided it's allowed), needs to learn this. It will save you money because your kids won't throw away soggy sandwiches then come home and eat you into homelessness. It will save you from untold hours of lamenting, fighting, whining that they hate their lunch. And it will make you the Goddess of the Brown Bag.  (You do know that lunch boxes, pouches and grocery bags are uncool, right?)

Here's the secret:

Thin coat of peanut butter on one slice of bread.

Thin coat on the OTHER slice.

NOW put the jelly (I'd recommend jam because it's thicker and more consistent to spread) IN BETWEEN.

The peanut butter protects the bread from getting soggy.

I know, brilliant, right? And I'll even let you take the credit with your kids for being the smartest mom ever. :)

Char