Ohhhh The Weather Outside is Frightful

...and let's just leave it at that, shall we?

Of course, it's nowhere near as frightful as what my friend Natalie got but it is pretty gross.  No matter where you are, snow and wind and single-digits temps are no fun.  I had to park my car on the front lawn so Hubby wouldn't have to park in the street where he ran the risk of getting plastered by one of the many ijits who drive past our house on a daily basis.

Yesterday, while stopped at a red light, I got to watch a semi headed toward me begin to jackknife.  Wheeee.  Lucky for him, me and the people around him, he managed to pull out and get the truck under control before he smashed into anyone.

One would think people who live in Colorado would know how to drive in snow.  Unfortunately, they don't.  I saw the same thing when I lived in Michigan.  Why some people think they can drive in snow the same way they drive on dry pavement is beyond me to understand.  So, here are a few things about winter driving I thought I'd share

1) Underneath that fluffy white stuff the road is slick.  So...
  1a) You won't be able to stop as fast (i.e. don't tailgate)
  1b) You'll need to gently apply the gas when you want to accelerate otherwise your tires will spin and you'll go nowhere.
  1c) You can't maneuver like Vin Diesel in an action flick.  Whipping in and out of traffic is frowned upon even on the best of days - and this ain't one of them.

2) Pay Attention!  Other people can't control their vehicles any better than you can (and trust me, you can't control yours as well as you seem to think).

3) SLOW DOWN.  The life you save may be MINE, you dumb shit.  I don't want to die because you have ten minutes to get to your hair appointment and the beauty salon is eleven minutes away.  There is nothing at the grocery store you need so bad you're willing to die or kill others getting it.  If you think your boss is going to fire you for coming in late again, leave the house ten minutes earlier. 

In non-driving related reminders, let me point out....

- Just because your pets are wearing a fur coat doesn't mean they can't get frostbite or even freeze to death.  Don't leave your animals outside when it's this damn cold.  If you do, don't be surprise when a good person just happens to call Animal Control on your stupid ass.  (Like I did one January in Michigan when the dog next to my office building had no food, shelter or water for days and every step looked painful because her little paws were frozen.)

- If your kid hates wearing his winter clothing, and screams when you put it on, leave him at home. If you can't afford proper winter clothing, please locate your nearest Goodwill, St. Vincent DePaul, Salvation Army, Deseret Industries, church, or other charitable organization.  Coat drives are going on all over the country right now.  And if worse comes to worst, socks work very well as mittens.  Yeah, it loooks stupid, but so does having a kid with eight fingers because you couldn't keep his hands warm.

- There's a reason snow blowers have warning labels.  When it says not to stick your hand inside, DON'T.  I knew two guys when I was in college who were missing the same two fingers from separate snow blower accident.  True, the first guy was just a kid when he lost his, but the other guy was in his forties - and he KNEW about the first guy's accident. 

I guess what I'm saying is: use common sense during this time of year.  I know it seems like common sense is lacking these days, but everyone really does have it - even if they often choose not to use it.

And since I know those people reading this are chock-full of common sense, I'd just like to tell you all to be careful out there. You never know when some moron could decide he's such a good driver, he doesn't need to worry about ice and snow.  I don't want to learn that any of you have become a victim of senselessness.

:HUGS:

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging and back to shoveling for me.

Thoughts on Editing

I love writing.  Really I do.  Editing on the other hand...  Bleh.

Yeah yeah, I know...  I should never admit that in public.  90% of writing is editing.  Getting the story on paper is the easy part.  Editing is the work part.  blah blah blah

As I've said before, I'm terminally lazy.  I'd much rather just do the easy part.  Been this way since I was a kid...

And you know something?  I don't really even hate editing.  I do love the part of editing where I'm picking just the right words so that my thoughts shine through.  What I hate is the second-guessing part where I'm not sure if this scene is the right one or that scene would work better.  Which would make this more grabby and thus more sellable?

Anyway, I know the progress meter still hasn't moved.  I'm still stuck*.  So, what I did was the tried and true method of thinking my way through this stumbling block.  I took out my yarn, sat on the couch and crocheted while I watched football.  (Or listened to football, since I have to look at my hands while I'm crocheting.)  As I went through the automatic steps of a single-chain crochet - over and over and over - I thought about the story.

Since I've actually got three different beginnings written for this story, I have three paths to choose from.  On the last round of edits, I snipped the other two scenes and tucked them away in a file for safe-keeping.  Today I'm planning on pulling those out of storage, seeing how they read, and whether I've started in the wrong place again.  If neither of those work, I'll rewrite the entirety of Chapter One.

I know where I have to go and what I want to accomplish with this opening.  Now I just have to make it interesting for the reader.

Wish me luck.  I know I'll need it today. 

On the bright side, if I don't get past this, I should have another blanket done by Christmas.

*I knew if I just wrote a post about it, I'd shake the damn thing loose.  I'll explain what I did tomorrow - if I still think it works by then.  

:HEADDESK:

Ever have one of those mornings when you're editing your work and you realize that everything you wrote was so lame you want to bash your head against a hard surface until you lose consciousness?

Yeah.  I'm having one of those.  The Prologue is fine, but Chapter One makes me want to follow the directions below...

*All images deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement*

Weekly Update

It's been an interesting week at the Sanderson household, even if not necessarily productive.  This week saw the end of NaNo, the beginning of the Christmas season and the recommitment to a book I haven't touched in what feels like years (but in reality was touched in July). 

In the span of twenty-four hours I went from 'Whew.  November's over.  Time to relax.' to total panic that looked something like this:

"OMG, it's December.  Christmas is coming, which means the office party in almost here, and the annual Cookie-Stravaganza needs to begin.  I have to shop for ingredients...  And all those presents I meant to buy online need to be bought now if they're ever going to arrive in time."

Needless to say, I panic easily sometimes.

Last night, Daughter finally gave me her Christmas list, so all that shopping I haven't done can be tackled.  Yay?

On the writerly front, I've started editing Nano again - see the meter?  It moved.  Not much, but it did move.  Of course, last night was a wash.  I want to edit this book.  Really I do.  But every time I sit down to think about how I want this book to be, my recently completed WIP jumps in the way.  I can't stop thinking about it.  My muse wants to play in that book.  RIGHT.  NOW.  But I promised myself I wouldn't touch it until after I finish this other book.  Arrgghh.  I may end up shifting between the two to satisfy muse and still keep my promise.  If my head explodes around New Year's Day, you'll know why.

So, what about you?  Any plans for the coming weeks?  How's the holiday shopping coming along?  Is your work playing nice or is it being a brat like mine? 

Evil Pastries

Can you tell I'm hungry this morning???  Well, it's the fault of some insidious email I received today...

Years ago when I was a manufacturers' rep in Michigan, one of the companies we represented would send each of us the most wonderful pastries ever.  So gooey and buttery filled with pecany goodness.  :drool:

If you've never heard of this wonder, it's called a Kringle.  And, in my opinion, the people who do it the best are the folks over at O&H Danish Bakery in Racine, WI.

Of course, being the moron that I am, I signed up to receive news and flyers in my email box.  Every so often, I open my gmail to find a flyer covered in sweet goodness.  :commence excessive drooling:  Evil evil evil.  Especially since I'm sure just looking at them is adding poundage to my ever-widening ass.

Sooo...  This morning I'm sharing the evilness.  I wish I could send you all a pastry - because they do ship these evil  pastries.  Ooo, and they even have a Kringle of the Month Club. Those rotten demons of temptations.

Anyway, if you're in the mood for something different this holiday season, order yourself up a Kringle.  They're especially good if you nuke them in the microwave for a few seconds.  Mmmmm.

Now I must go forage in the kitchen before I short out my keyboard with all the drool.  Gross, I know, but these things really are that good.  I'm like Pavlov's dog over here.  Screw ringing a bell.  All I need are pictures of food.

;o)

Post-NaNo Post

Midnight Monday saw the end of another year's NaNoWriMo, and from what I've seen around the web, many people reached their goals.  The question that comes on December 1st is "What now?"

After spending a month typing furiously, I'm feeling a little bleh.  All I really want to do is lay on the couch.  I keep telling myself that I earned a break, but all I'm really doing is giving myself an excuse to slip right back into my old lazy ways.  I need to find a way to keep the drive November gave me. 

But...

I refuse to touch my NaNo novel.  It needs time to cure.  If I look at it now, it won't be with fresh eyes, and I won't see the problems I know must be in there.  (Typing that fast lends itself to flaws, after all.)  So, for now, this book will be tucked away.  Of course, that way lies the potential for total laziness.

Except I have other things I need to do.  A couple weeks ago, a writerly idol of mine posted something on her blog about not doing your NaNo book an injustice by shoving it into a drawer and forgetting about it.  I'm not even close to doing that with this year's book, but her words reminded me that I have another book I never finished editing.  It's been eating it's head off in a drawer for almost a year now.  Poor thing.

So...  As I said on Monday, I'm going to finish the book I affectionately call Nano.  I admit that so far this week, I haven't done diddly-squat.  I realize I can't allow that malaise to take over again.  I have to write, even if it's not new words.  In honor of that, I'll be putting up a new word meter to show my progress, and please feel free to kick my ass if you don't see the colors move. 

As soon as I'm ready to tackle the edits for this year's NaNo novel, I'll begin a series of posts regarding all those errors I advocated in my Pitfall posts. 

Now, I'm off to start the day.  Have a great one out there, people.  =o)

Cake Cookies

It's creeping up to that time again.  You know the time I mean... Cookie-Stravaganza!  Wherein Darling Daughter and I bake cookies until our eyes are bugging out. 

Anyway, sometime in the next two weeks, we'll be baking our brains out with Coconut Rum Cookies and Cream Cheese Cookies... and fudge... can't forget the fudge.  Anyway, we used to make every recipe totally from scratch, and that was fine.  Time consuming, but fine.  And while I still don't used store-bought cookie mix (Okay, I admit to the occasional use of those Pillsbury pre-cut cookies with x-mas trees designs), I did stumble across a recipe last year that cuts some of the time out.  I posted it on my old blog, but for those of you who weren't around back then, here it is again...

Cake Cookies

1 box cake mix (whichever one turns you on)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, candy bits... whatever works with whichever mix you pick

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until firm and slightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to cool.

Super easy and super quick, so if between writing and shopping and wrapping and life, you're up to your ass in alligators, you can still do a reasonable cookie-stravaganza in half the time. 

If you can find the Caramel Cake Mix from Duncan Hines, I recommend using that one with Hersey's Toffee Bits and chopped walnuts.  Another favorite here is Devil's Food with Peanut Butter Chips.   This year I picked up butterscotch chips on sale, so I'm going to create something with those... maybe with Butter Pecan cake mix.  A gal I gave this recipe to last year used Betty Crocker Funfetti cake mix and Fruity Pebbles for a fun new cookie.  The point with these is to have fun and to save time.  And in this economy, you can also save money - especially if you find cake mix on sale.  =o)

Enjoy, and if you come up with any awesome combinations for your cookies, share in the comments.  I'm always open to trying new things.  =o)