The girls and I are in Texas this week, visiting my dad. Unfortunately, Chris has work commitments and couldn't join us - so I drove from Maryland to Texas all by myself! The first day I drove 20 hours, stopping in New Boston, TX. From there it was only a couple more hours to my dad's house. Both Chris and my dad thought I was nuts, but I was just in the zone, and it was hard to stop.
On Tuesday, we took the girls to the Speedzone to ride go-karts. They had a blast. First, Dad and Lauren drag raced, which was really cool. The drag cars were neat and went amazingly fast.
Lauren getting ready to race:
Dad and Lauren in their cars:
Dad out of the starting gate:
Lauren out of the starting gate:
Then the girls rode go-karts. They had a blast. Here they are waiting in line:
Belted up:
Zooming around the track:
Then Sarah did something crazy. I've watched this type of ride in Ocean City many times, and never had the nerve to do it. But Sarah did. Since none of us chickens would join her, a ride worker went on it with her - she got lucky, he was a cutey!
Thanking the cute guy for going up with her:
And hugging Becca, feeling lucky to have come off the ride in one piece:
You can watch her crazy ride here:
More Texas fun to come!
I swear, this past winter seemed to go on FOREVER. The cold lasted in May at times, it was dreary and school didn't end until June 15th - which is so stupid.
But I let Becca blow off the last day, and took her, my mother-in-law, and two of Becca's friends to Ocean City overnight. Lauren chose to stay home and attend a band pool party. She's at the age where hanging with Mom and Grandma isn't as cool anymore.
As soon as we checked into our hotel, The Princess Bayside and got settled, we headed right for the beach.
The girls looked adorable in their suits:
Becca absolutely loves the beach as much as I do:
Then they wanted to check out the hotel roof pool, which is really nice. They also have a pool bar. Mom and I just got Diet Coke, but next time there will be an icy-cold beer in my hand.
After we freshened up and got dressed, we headed to Fish Tales for dinner, which is one of my favorite restaurants. It sits right on the bay, and I love to watch the sun set as I wait for my food.
Mom and I had mango margaritas, hers frozen, mine on the rocks (hold the salt, please!):
We walked the Boardwalk after dinner, where the girls ran us ragged going from shop to shop, trying to spend the money apparently burning holes in their pockets. Finally, around 11pm, we called a halt and went back to the hotel.
The next morning, the girls hung out on the deck while Mom and I got ready.
We had breakfast at The Fractured Prune, which has the best donuts IN THE WORLD. Then it was back to the Boardwalk for the girls to shop. Becca climbed into a hammock, which swallowed her up:
After the girls FINALLY found stuff to buy, we headed to Seacrets for lunch. Seacrets is a rowdy bar by night, but they have great food during the day and they let kids in then. It's also right on the bay, and those over 21 can sit on floats right on the water. Someday I will do that! Mom and I split the crab dip and a plate of fruit:
And this guy was just waiting for the girls to finish and leave the table:
After lunch we took the girls to ride go-karts. I actually rode one for the first time! I let Becca drive; I was too nervous to drive. Once that was done, we headed to the Boardwalk again for a snack and so Mom could buy some taffy, and then we headed home.
Can't wait to go back, but first there's another road trip in our future, and it's a big one - we're driving to Texas!
Just a quick post (I will update soon) - I have started a new blog about song memories called My Life in Song. I hope you check it out and follow along!
I will keep this blog as well.
Thanks!
We had a crappy winter here - so many gray and dreary days, rain, snow. I really despise winter, and also suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I'm always counting down the days to spring.
Well, spring has sucked as well. Not much sun, lots of rain and dreariness. Chilly. It's been more like fall than spring. So when the kids had off during Spring Break, there wasn't much to do here outside. And I like doing stuff outside when it's nice; we live in Maryland, close to Annapolis, Baltimore, DC. Beautiful places. Not so beautiful when it's cold and rainy, though.
Desperate for something to do, I researched nearby weather. Ocean City, MD - cold and rainy. Hershey, PA - cold and rainy. Richmond, VA - sunny and 75 - JACKPOT! Road trip! I did a little more research and discovered a place called Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Perfect!
Becca, her friend Emily and I picked up Chris's mom and then we were on our way. Lauren didn't want to go - "Flowers bore me." - so she stayed home and played video games. The trip was nice; it started off cold and pouring rain, but by the time we got to Richmond about three hours later, it was sunny and gorgeous.
A few pictures of our perfect day (and we were lucky; it rained ALL DAY back home):
Me, Becca and my mom-in-law:
Emily and Becca:
Some beautiful flowers:
Check out this little guy:
And we stopped by Steak and Shake on the way back:
Awesome day!
Wow, it's been over two months since I last blogged! I have been crazy busy with my reading, writing and reviewing. OK, and Twitter and Facebook. I have had a couple stories accepted to anthologies since my last post, as well as had a winning story at Necon E-books monthly flash fiction contest for April.
Here, read my story, and then the note at the bottom. Let me tell you, I was stoked for days. Still am, actually.
I am now proofreading for the UK magazine Morpheus Tales. I am a grammar and spelling nerd, so this is very enjoyable. I was also given a twice-weekly guest blog at Altered Realities Radio; my blog is called Something Wicked. I'll be writing about horror, of course.
I stepped out of my comfort zone this past weekend and attended an event with a group called Momzshare, local moms who blog, write, own their own businesses; in short, go-getting women. Not so sure I fit in, but I was invited and it was an 80s party with drinks like Flux Capacitors, so I decided to give it a go.
If you know me, you know I'm very shy in real life; it's hard for me to make small talk and mingle. Thankfully there's a woman here in my little town who is part of Momzshare, and she offered to help me out. We carpooled together, and I kind of stuck to her like glue after we got there. I hope she didn't mind (thanks, Shannon!). I did dress somewhat 80s (yay, Commander Salamander!), but some of the women were DECKED OUT. It was cool.
I had fun, but don't know if I made any kind of impression; I didn't exactly volunteer the information that I read and write and breathe horror because these were normal women with normal children. As time goes on, I'm sure my little oddities and quirks will come out and either the Momzshare community will embrace me or run screaming. I'll keep you posted.
I will try to update this blog at least a couple days every week. I don't want to disappoint my public, after all.
It's been a while since I blogged, but I've been busy - with writing for a change, not Facebook and Farmville! I've also helped edit Draven Ames's first novel. That was a fun experience; I got to read a great book and learn new things about editing in the process.
I've been reading a lot and writing up book reviews, which I really enjoy doing.
Not to mention reporting on stuff for our local paper, which I actually get paid for! Life is good.
And my biggest news: I was accepted to a Bigfoot anthology!! I wrote a story about ten years ago that I was never able to find a home for, but thanks to Twitter where I first saw the call for submissions, it does now! The acceptance made my YEAR, especially since the first word in the letter was "Wow." So freaking cool.
Links to recent writings:
It Came from the 80s:
The Fly (1986)
Stripes (1981)
My Honorable Mention story in Necon E-Books February Flash Fiction Contest:
Rescue
Book Reviews:
Jack's Magic Beans by Brian Keene
The Wide Game by Michael West
"Crooked Stick Figures" by Lee Thompson (short story)
Gateway Drug by Scott Nicholson
The Machine of Death by Ryan North (anthology)
I'm extremely proud of my Machine of Death review, because the editor wanted an in-depth interview touching on such subjects as politics and morality. I think I really nailed this review.
That's all for now, but there will be more to come!
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!
