Getting Back to Awesome

If you are going to have kids at the same time as your best friend it will initially be kind of awesome.

Or, rather, as awesome as things can be when two sleep deprived people get together with hungry, crying infants on their own separate sleep schedules. So, basically, just like being at home except that when you are still in your pajamas at eleven in the morning covered in milk stains and spit up, your company will smell just like you. Jessie, Sarah, Ivy and Natalie

Eventually the time will come when you get talking, walking kids together. When that happens you can watch the remaining awesome dissipate like mist in the sun as the first kid declares, “Mine!”

As we are now painfully aware, one and two year olds mostly just horde toys and fight. So a “fun” weekend together will in actuality turn out to be exhausting weekends of parallel parenting while refereeing wrestling matches over the toy of the moment. Of course this stage is relatively short lived but, if you do it like my best friend and I did, just as one starts getting out of the wrestling match stage another new kid shows up until you suddenly look at each other and wonder how you produced six kids when the oldest is only four.

But I’ve got good news. If you can just hold on, through the insanity, the lack of sleep, and the toy wars, in just a few short years (nine short years to be exact) the kids will grow up enough that the biggest problem is that no matter how many plates of food you serve, as soon as the food is put away, one of them will show back up in the kitchen proclaiming, “I’m hungry!”

My friend and I… we seem to have made it out the other side. This spring we got together for multiple days of actual, real life, fun.

Yes, dinner time was hectic and there was still plenty of refereeing to be done. But at the end of the day we put the kids to bed early and fell back into our old habits of staying up too late laughing until we cried.

If you are going to have kids at the same time as your best friend, initially it will be kind of awesome.

And then it won’t.

But don’t give up, best friends can always make it back to awesome, eventually…

Of course those friends might not have a picture of themselves taken together since those first kidos were born, but I’m sure that’s just part of the awesome that is yet to come!

This Moment – Soaking Up Spring

Apr15

A Friday ritual.

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Jane

Raelia by Lynette Noni

Apr14

The worst thing about this whole Medoran Chronicles series, of which Raelia is book two, is that the author, Lynette Noni, lives in Australia.

I on the other hand live in the USA, far from Australia. So far from Australia that hard copies of her books aren’t even sold here.

This is a terrible problem because these are books that need to be shared.

These are the kind of books that I want to be able to loan to the next young adult who walks through the door.

These are the kind of books I want to hand to the next adult who enjoys YA fantasy.

These are the kind of books that I want to lend my Harry Potter fan friends.

Then I want to pass them off to a person who claims not to like fantasy but that is enough of a reader that they will give them a try when I tell them how great the characters are.

And then, once everyone is done gushing, I want to put them nicely on my bookshelf where I would smile fondly at them whenever I passed by until the next reader dropped by my house looking for a good book.

Would I recommend it? Not only would I recommend both Raelia and Akarnae (which you should really read first) I encourage you to buy them, especially if you are outside of Australia. Perhaps then, one day, we’ll get some paper copies on the shelves here!

Also, if you, like me, are fond of “real” books come check out my Book at the Door giveaway, I’ve got books to share!

Guide to a Sleeping Mother – Addendum

Apr11

I’m very sorry children.

If, in the last week, you have lost life, limb or been sentenced to an eternity of floor mopping, you have my apologies.

I forgot.

I forgot the thing above all other things you must never do to a sleeping mother.

Do not ever touch her face!

I learned this lesson myself the day I tapped my mom’s forehead to wake her up.

It is true that tapping her head work her up. Still Sleeping

It’s also true that to this day she yells at me for the time I woke her up by tapping her forehead.

Children.

Do not tap.

Do not gently pat.

Do not set paper snowflakes on eyelids

Do not, under any circumstances, lightly brush your fingers over her lips or eyes.

And, most importantly,

Never. Ever. Put your finger up her nose.

Ever.

Just don’t.

I can not guarantee your safety if any of these things are done to a soundly sleeping mother.

Apologies again for the late warning. I’m pretty sure that had I gotten just five more minutes of sleep last week, I would have remembered to tell you.

P.S. You should thank Jane for “reminding” me of the horror that is sleeping face touching, because heaven knows I didn’t.

In case you missed it here is last weeks Guide to a Sleeping Mother.

Spring Always Comes

Apr8

Spring never slips over the earth in an instant, instead it comes in fits and spurts.

A flower pops up here, while a bit of snow falls there. A chilly day today is followed by blue skies and sun tomorrow as winter slowly cedes to spring. snow drops

This year instead of sharing time, winter and spring are sparring. The ground’s dusting of snow is quickly burned off by the hot sun, only to be replaced by evening. Warm days are chased with frigid ones. A sunny day is repeatedly interrupted by howling wind and snow. Its a war between the seasons, but I know who will win. DSCN1816-(2sm)

Life always marches on. Spring always follows winter.

The baby chicks are peeping warm and safe out of the biting wind and the daffodils are slowly blooming despite their occasional covering of snow. New bees have been installed with plenty of honey to keep them fed until the weather warms and new fruit trees have been planted in spraying snow with fingers crossed.

Spring always wins, but that doesn’t mean winter has to make it easy.

This month we said our first hellos to brand new family, brand new friends.

And this month we said our last goodbyes to others. crocus

Spring always comes, life always goes on, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Round Trip Fare by Barb Taub

Apr6

You know how when you wait and wait for a sequel to come out and then it finally comes and you read it and it’s so great that you just have to go back and re-read all the books that came before it while wondering why you didn’t do that before it came out to make the reading of it even more enjoyable and then debate with yourself if you really should just re-read the sequel again even though you just finished it mere days ago …

Yeah.

This book is just like that. Round_Trip_Fare-Barb_Taub-500x800

Would I recommend it? Yes! This book can be read as a stand alone but, it’ll be much better if you read the rest of the Null City books first.

Or second.

Or first and second.

Basically you just need to read them all because once you enter Barb Taub’s world of urban fantasy where super powers sometimes just suck, angles aren’t always what you’d expect them to be, and with a short ride on a sentient Metro you can arrive at Null City where superpowers will fade into a thing of the past, you aren’t going to want to leave. The men are just too good looking (and tattooed), the imps make fabulous coffee (once they’ve been living in Null City for a bit anyway), the women kick butt (with large amounts of sass and style) and the dogs are awesome. Sure, you may very occasionally raise an eyebrow at the “convenience” of a character’s actions but don’t let it get to you. Focus on the snarky dialogue, the tattoos and the Firefly references and you’ll be having too much fun to care!

Round Trip Fare comes out on Thursday (Yeah, I totally got an advanced copy. And yeah, it’s pretty much reader heaven.) Luckily for you the first of the bunch, One Way Fare, is FREE right now!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Book at the Door: April Giveaway

Apr5

Happiness is a good book.

Happiness is a package on your doorstep.

Happiness is sharing a great read with a friend.

I’ve got a book.

Would you like it?

Despite the fact that I regularly post book reviews, I don’t always like reading them. I don’t want to know what happens. I want it all to be a fantastic surprise as it unfolds. I don’t like reading the back of the book, it gives away too much. I like reading the first page, the first line.

“It was as black in the closet as old blood.” At least three quarters of the credit for this masterpiece goes to John who came up with all the ideas and drew the chemical structure!

That’s the first line of the book I have here.

This book is used. Or shall we say, softened. Broken in, ready for a new friend. It is a book I’ve read and loved and if you stopped by to chat I’d try to send it home with you.

Leave a comment with the title of the book in it and I’ll throw your name in the hat.

Maybe the happiness will come your way.

Contest will be open through April 18th.

Winner will have the dubious award of receiving our hand letting artwork in the mail as well as the book.

Artists of all kinds (Yes, you photographers and you who says you can’t draw and you who just wants to practice hand lettering and you who is selling paintings online and…all of you!) if you are interested in providing a small piece of work that includes a first sentence I would love to hear from you!

Authors, have I read your book and tagged it as a recommended read? Would you like to donate a hard copy? Let me know!

Guide to a Sleeping Mother

Apr4

Pay attention children. It seems that many of you are unsure how to act around sleeping mothers. Today, for you, I have outlined just exactly what to do when you encounter a sleeping mother.

First we have identification.

If the mother is in bed under the covers with her eyes closed, this is called sleeping. It is unnecessary to call her name multiple times. If she’s not sleeping, she wants to be sleeping and should be treated as if she is.

It should be noted that sleeping mothers do not need things.

They are sleeping.

All they need is at least five more minutes of sleep.

Extra blankets, toys, and books are unnecessary.

Hugs are nice but will actually be appreciated later in the day and if snuggling with your mother means stealing both covers and pillow, skip it.

Tea, however, may always be quietly left by the bedside.

This: Still Sleeping

is not an awake mother.

This is a mother who has been badgered long enough that she has opened one eye to confirm which child will be scrubbing the toilet for the rest of the month.

Do not continue talking.

Under no circumstances should you demand anything.

In fact, unless you or someone you know is actively bleeding or something is on fire, drop off a cup of black, highly caffeinated tea and back quietly away.

No doubt after your considerate tea donation she will roll out of bed on her own. And once she is standing upright beyond the confines of her bedroom you may start your day of demands.

Now children, read, memorize and say thank you. This information could save your life, or at very least prevent a few extra toilet scrubbings.

Did I Just Say What I Thought I Said? XIV

Mar31

It’s the fourteenth edition of “Did I Just Say What I Thought I Said?” in which I share phrases that I never thought:

A) Would ever need to be said in the first place,

B) that I would need to be the one to say them and

C) that I wouldn’t just be saying them, I’d be yelling them.

Today’s ridiculous, ineffective and only partially true edict?

There is NO furniture rearranging during dinner!!!

Yup, ridiculous, ineffective and untrue, obviously someone had been rearranging furniture.

Yet, these are the kinds of crazy things that come out of my mouth when the six year old shoves the seven foot long bench at the table down so that the four year old can’t reach her plate. But why, you ask, can’t the four year old reach her plate? Well, that’s because the bench was moved and so her plate was now nine inches to her right. This was an issue because, for the first time in her short life, instead of standing or bouncing or wandering while eating her dinner, she decided to glue her butt to the bench as she’s been repeatedly told. Also, apparently, she has alligator arms that are too short to reach nine inches and move her plate in front of her and her older sister knew it so that’s why she was smirking sitting on the end of the bench with no table in front of her. So I, from the kitchen, hands covered in dough yelled about furniture rearranging and was met with blank stares – deservedly.

Then I threatened to cancel dessert.

The bench slid back into place and dinner resumed.

There may be people who can parent without the occasionally ridiculous decree- but I’m not one of them. And, you know, by this point, if things like this didn’t occasionally fly out of my mouth I’d probably wonder if I was still a parent.

Black Cape Case Files by Matt Abraham

Mar30

It has come to my attention that not everyone innately understands the merits of books about a private investigator in a town full of people with super human abilities.

This is baffling to me.

I can only suspect it is my tendency to babble and throw my arms about when excited that confuses people and distracts them from the topic at hand. So let me explain in the written word…

Dane Curse is a small time private investigator. Not just any old PI but the type that brings to mind old radio shows:

“The door swung aside and in walked a woman. She had a long, flowing overcoat atop a tailored black suit that hugged her hips like an old friend it hadn’t seen since high school. Her broad brimmed hat cast a shadow over a pair of almond eyes so smokey they could teach a Navajo communications course, and with two full lips as red as the menace that scared my ma she said, “Mr Curse? I’m Mandy Marcus.” – The Coconut Swindle

The difference is that Mr. Curse happens to have super strength and invulnerability and when Mandy Marcus (aka The Widow) shrugged off her jacket, she had four arms underneath.

While I love the idea of a PI working in a town full of super heroes (white capes) and their counterparts (because seriously, how fun is that) that isn’t even the best part. The best part is Dane Curse himself. Former black cape turned PI for the “bad” guys and their families. He’s not got great luck, but he’s good with brute force and persistence. And while he might kinda, sorta, still be a tiny bit of a bad guy, he’s still doing his best to do right by his clients.