Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sunday Stealing, 2/20/11

Haven't done one of these in a while.  I felt like blogging, but didn't know what to blog about, so here we go.

1. Make a list of 5 things that you can see without getting up:



a. Cell phone
b. Jack
c. Sandy  
d. Meds
e. Snowman

2. How do you style your hair?

I have naturally-curly hair, so I just scrunch it with gel and go.
 
3. What are you wearing now?


Jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt.
 
4. What's your occupation?

Writer, mom, wife.
 
5. What do you hear right now?

Law and Order SVU.

6. Who was the last person you hugged?

Becca.

7. What is/was for dinner?

We grilled burgers and dogs.
 
8. What did you do today?

Writing, errands, chores.

9. Dog person or cat person?

Cat person, then we got Sandy and I became a fan of both.

10. If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?
 
I actually like my name; can't think of what I'd change it to.

11. What was the last thing that you bought?

A couple copies of the local paper I had stories published in this week.

12. If you could afford to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Greece - the area featured in "Mamma Mia"

13. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully writing more, maybe editing and getting paid for all of it!

14. Where's your birthmark?

No birthmark, but I do have a chicken pox scar on the end of my nose.

15. What are you doing this weekend?


I took Becca and some friends to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday; we also went to Matsutake, a Japanese steakhouse.
 
16. Which book are you reading at the moment?

Actually reading several books at once; I need to review them all around the same time.
 
17. The last movie you've seen?

Paranormal Activity 2 (DVD)
 
18. What are you doing tomorrow?


Lunch with my parents!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Thanks for Nothing, Weight Watchers

I used to love Weight Watchers.  Well, not love it exactly, but found it the perfect program to lose weight on.  I was happy with my weight loss; I rocked the Points system.  But I gained a bit of weight back; some of it due to junk food, some of it due to meds.  I knew it was time to get back on the program.

But they changed it.

Now they have Points Plus.  Everything you eat is now higher in Points, but you also get more Points per day than before.  And on the old program, you had to count the fruit you ate.  Now it's free.  

I tried Points Plus for over a month and lost less than four pounds.  I gained and lost the same half-pound for the last couple weeks.  I followed the plan to the letter, but had no success.

I decided to try Spark People, a free online weight-loss site.  I started it this past Monday.  I've lost THREE POUNDS since starting it.  I realized that the new Points Plus system is giving me too much food and expecting me to lose weight.  And after researching online, discovered that a lot of people are very unhappy with this new program, but Weight Watchers isn't really listening.

So if you're having success with the new program, that's great.  But if you're frustrated like I was, and having no progress, give Spark People a try.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

I am now THAT MOM...

Today Becca went home with a friend after school.  I texted her to find out what time to pick her up, and she said she was eating dinner there.  No problem.  Later I texted her again - this time she asked if she could spend the night.

I said yes.

I've never let my kids spend the night with a friend on school nights before.  But Becca just got her report card, and once more made the Honor Roll.  So why not?  


My kids also watch horror movies and read pretty much anything they want.  We don't censor the TV too much, either.

So to all my friends with kids - I'm sorry.  Because now I'm the mom your kids will talk about when you say "No" to something they want to do.  "But Becca's mom lets her..."

In other news, I have some writing to share. 

In Came From the 80s: Midnight Movie Memories

The Infection by Craig DiLouie, book review

That's all for today!




 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Writing Updates

I haven't blogged in so long!  I've been really busy with writing, reading and reviewing.  It's been great and a lot of fun.

Here are links to my recent stories and articles:

From my new weekly column at Forgotten Flix:


It Came from the 80s: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

It Came from the 80s: Friday the 13th

Book/Magazine Reviews:

Amy Grech's Blanket of White


Basement Stories #3


Flash Fiction:


The Lying Dead

Watch Your Step

Those are my most recent writings; I hope you read and like them!  Tonight I am heading to the elementary school to report on a cute program they are having (Tunes, Treats and Tales), which will be published to our local newspaper.


I am also beta reading and editing a friend's unpublished novel, which is something I've always wanted to do.  Hopefully this will lead to similar opportunities in the future.

I've started reviewing for Permuted Press, a small-press horror publishers, so I'm looking forward to that.  Just got my first couple of books to read and review, and they sounds great. 


I think that's all the writing news I have for now, but hopefully I will have lots more as the year goes by!