GAH!!!

NOT A GOOD DAY!!!

My Photobucket Account is, like, GONE - all my Jensen and kitty pictures, all the book covers from the WNP site, EVERYTHING!!!

I went to the forums at Photobucket and it seems I'm not alone, but I hope hope hope I won't have to reload all those pictures, especially all the WNP bookcovers!!

Yesterday started out good. I had on a new outfit, it was a gorgeous day, and then - you know that screech they use in movies, of a record needle scratching across an album? Only it was the crochet hem on my BRAND NEW skirt. It's not a terrible rip, but I'd only been wearing it about an hour!

The day went downhill from there. I gave the kids a TAKS practice test, and they started out working very hard, but when I noticed some weren't reading the passage 3 times, or showing where in the passage they got their answers, I called them on it. Three of them gave me attitude, like I was insulting their intelligence. One was so bad I sent him to his 2nd grade teacher for about an hour, just for space.

Only 10 kids actually passed, and the last two boys who were working turned in their tests practically clean! They didn't show where they'd found their answers at all!!! I blew my top. I have no desire to go to work today, but I'm driving my mom, since my brother's car is broken. And the hell of it is, I gave up Starbucks for Lent, so we're reduced to stopping at Sonic. Not the same kick, ya know?

And then the Gilmore Girls episode was out of order! They skipped two or three episodes, including Luke and Lorelei's First Time!! ARGH!

I'm wearing another new skirt today, only this one's denim. Pray for me.

40,026 / 80,000 (50.0%)

Bummer. I read in EW that Shonda Rhimes has put off Jeffrey Dean’s series to work on a spin off for Addison Montgomery. (I guess that means she and Alex won’t end up together, huh?)

I also saw that Nora’s new series is subtitled Blood Brothers. Anyone have any scoop on it? I used to know everything about Nora. I DO know that in July one of the Maryland teams will be giving away Nora Bobbleheads. I kid you not.

I WANT ONE!

Ghost of a Doubt BIAW

39,908 / 80,000 (49.9%)

I did my taxes this weekend and was very happy with my $1000+ return....until one of my friends told me he's getting 10 times that back. I know, I know, it's his money, that's he's given the government an interest free loan for a year, but what I couldn't do with $10,000 in one swoop!

I got my Chadwicks order yesterday. I'd ordered a blouse, 2 skirts, 3 pairs of pants and a pair of sandals, and got a tote set free. I'm keeping the blouse and the skirts and one pair of pants, and one of the totes is the perfect size for a purse. Now to decide which outfit to wear and NOT FREEZE! I don't have any hose left, so I guess it will be the pants ;) It's in the thirties AGAIN!

I wrote a scene yesterday where the heroine is taking a bath and the room starts to freeze around her. I have no idea where I'm going with that scene, but I was SO COLD.

I called my mom on the way home from school yesterday and we met at the flower nursery. I bought a begonia and a gorgeous deep red ivy geranium.

Didn't see Prison Break or 24 because we went out to eat, then I got tired watching Heroes and went to bed. Still have to se BSG, too!

Ghost of a Doubt BIAW

39,180 / 80,000 (49.0%)

Can I make it??? I slept till 5:45 and I went to bed around 9:30!

Yesterday my BIAW group did timed writing exercises. We had a chat, we'd all start writing at the top of the hour and check in with our pages at 45 after. I got over 2000 words written in 3 hours!

38,828 / 80,000 (48.5%)

After breakfast, the dh, ds and I went to Office Max (I'm hooked on Vision Elite pens, and they had ALL different colors) and B&N (the dh likes those moleskine notebooks). I went through B&N so fast, I felt like I was in a whirlwind! So much to see. I bought Vivi Anna's Nocturne. I look forward to reading it.

We watched Stranger Than Fiction this weekend. My son LOVED it. I thought it was good, but that's it. I rented A Good Year yesterday. Anyone seen either of those?

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy. You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Well, duh!

My house was built in the 1950s. It's a long, low ranch, and has been remodeled so that all the living area connects - no rooms are shut off from another. We have a big sun room along the back of the house, so my style to this point has been something of a garden style. I have not had particular good luck with paints. One Labor Day, the dh and I painted the living room wall green. It's called basil green, but it's....pretty bright. We painted the hall summer before last and what was supposed to be white with a touch of blue is actually baby blue. Ew. The kitchen was remodeled before we moved in, and there is a lot of brick, the counters are terra cotta and the tiles are a beigy grey. One bathroom has grey fixtures and the other peach. EW.

The rest of the house we haven't touched, though I'm sick of the peachy color on every wall. I want to paint COLORS but I'm scared.

Ever since we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, I've been enamored of the Tuscan decorating style. It's earthy tones, creams, browns, greens, and lots of wood and iron. Only in the living room I have some of the original elements of the house, like light fixtures, that are retro, which I love. And with Tuscan style, the colors are more rust than silver. (I was going to change out lightswitch plates and other light fixtures, too, but until I decide what to do....) Also, I have a bunch of white accents that go well with the green wall and wouldn't do so well with the Tuscan colors.

The dh and I went to Lowe's yesterday and picked up paint chips - a ton! I was drawn to the Tuscan colors, but then I saw this deep deep blue I love for the bedroom (I have plantation shutters in there, white, so wouldn't that be pretty?) The dh is so cool, he loved that color, too. Which put me back at the beginning of my dilemma - colors or Tuscan creams?

Are you an adventurous painter? Or do you stay on the safe side?

I tried and tried to find pictures of Tuscan decorating - came up short.

Ghost of a Doubt

36,098 / 80,000 (45.1%)

Yesterday, I couldn't WAIT to get home to see Gilmore Girls (on at 4 here.) I've been watching the tension tighten between Lorelei and Luke, between Rory and Dean, and I knew something would happen yesterday. I even looked up episode guides to be sure. The boy was home sick and so had Serenity on, so I decided to do the taxes (FINALLY!) When I finally got the TV, I had to stop myself from fast forwarding.

Luke brought Lorelei flowers.

Rory and Dean almost kissed.

Jason showed up.

Luke and Lorelei kissed. (YAY!!!)

Rory and Dean kissed. At her house. Alone. (Uh-oh - Dean is married!)

My mom called.

ARGH! All that tension, dissipated. Okay. Off the phone. Back to the show.

And Lorelei walked in after Rory and Dean made love. You could see the understanding on her face, the shock, the sorrow. The discussion (wow, who doesn't wish they could have talked to their mom like that?)

But after the show was over, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Rory would never sleep with a married man, Dean would never be so dishonorable. Not the way they went about it. And it left a bad taste in my mouth.

It was the last show of Season 4. I have to wait till Monday for Season 5. Can you imagine having to wait all summer for that resolution?

My plan this morning was to get up after the dh left for work, put my jeans in the dryer (the bad thing about getting to wear jeans all week is that I only have 2 pair) and type the rest of Ghost Hunters into the computer so I can really use BIAW to get new pages.

I fell back asleep. So I guess I'll wear yoga pants to the grocery store, drop my Sheila entries at the post office, THEN come home and type like the wind.

Suzanne Brockmann is a phenomenon. Honestly. Nora is awesome, and popular, and has movies, but Suzanne has the Power of Organization. I listened to her workshop about writing all these different characters and how she keeps them all straight, but I'm reading Into the Storm now and I'm just stunned at how she can make every single person so unique, and fitting in a niche the way she does.

This book makes it more evident than the others, because she has the Troubleshooters AND Team Sixteen. So much SEAL goodness!

I haven't really loved the last few of her books, though, not since WildCard's story. I really didn't like the Hollywood one, and Tess and Nash's story was just okay, and I know there was another one in there. She does manage to keep the romance in the forefront, which is really incredible despite the situations she comes up with, ones that would put Jack Bauer through the ringer. She also makes a point of not all her heroes being pretty boys, which makes sense, but in this one, the hero is short, and I keep picturing Michael J. Fox, but ripped.

Okay, like I hadn't already proved I'm shallow....

Do you read her books? Big fan, or less so?

Yesterday was Jensen's birthday - he's 29. I ALMOST don't feel bad for posting these anymore ;)

I love March. It's absolutely one of my favorite months. The redbud trees are blooming, and this big white flowered tree in our neighborhood. The mountain laurel hasn't come out yet, but the ash trees are budding, that beautiful spring green. We're expecting a light freeze this weekend, though we slept with the AC on last night (it's HUMID!)

Spring Break is in 9 days, daylight savings time is coming, and the longer days give me a burst of energy (though it is nice to go to work in daylight now).

I'll be getting out my spring clothes and I love my spring clothes. I've already worn sandals twice (because I'm out of hose). I want to get new nail polish.

And then there are the GH calls going out at the end of the month. I will honestly be okay if I DON'T final (Surface has never done well in this contest) but I'm still eager to see what happens that day. It's supposed to be on a Sunday - do you think they'll call on Sunday?

So, love March? Or could do without?

BTW, wrote 10 pages longhand yesterday.

So the story I plotted this weekend has been calling me, and then I read Spy Girl on Monday and that's calling me. But I figured the only way to actually FINISH something is to, you know, work on it. So yesterday I did the same activities we did at the retreat for Ghost Hunters.

First I did the Novem plot structure (we learned the hero's journey as well, but that one seemed off-putting to me.)

Novem follows this:

The Story Begins:
The Idyll is Shattered:
The Hero and Heroine Meet:
Three Bumps and a Push: (The middle of the story, three major events. The push is the external black moment.)
Commitment:
Plan A:
Turnaround:
Plan B:
The Wrap Up:

Then I did the plotlines spreadsheet. Since I have my ghost hunters at 4 houses, I only made 6 columns. I can break it down into chapters later. But I have the external plot, the romantic plot, the hero's arc, the heroine's arc, two subplots and the days all laid out. And I did five handwritten pages last night. So I'm on the right path, and I signed up for BIAW with my chapter.

But I've already found the charm I want for the story I plotted this weekend.....

Look, Supernatural uses Apples!!!

I was such a good girl yesterday on my day off! I went to the grocery store and to Lowe's (I totally intended to buy new lightswitch plates, but got there and couldn't make up my mind.) I stopped by the donut shop and got The Boy donuts (I have no idea why he was off, yet he was. Had a pretty steady stream of friends by, too.) Came home and potted my new geraniums and hydrangea, cleaned up the back patio, cleaned both bathrooms, all before 10:00! I did a few loads of laundry, sat down and finished the first love scene in Ghost Hunters, then started reading Spy Girl. I still love that book! I made supper, watched Grey's again, watched Bloodlust again, watched Gilmore Girls, Prison Break, Heroes and 24. (Wow, that was a lot of TV!) But I'm relaxed and ready for the next 9 days till Spring Break!

I finished judging the contest entries I'm judging (different from the contest I'm coordinating). I had five ST entries and THREE of them were written in flashbacks! What's up with that? And in one, the present day story was awesome, but the flashback story (she flipflopped) was less so. My comment was that, according to the synopsis, she had enough going on without the flashback story, and to weave it in some other way.

My busy month is over. All I have this week is Pam Morsi's booksigning, and I'm thinking of signing up for BIAW. This morning, though, I've got to hit the grocery store and clean the bathrooms.

So, I'm home from the retreat. Actually, I did all my stuff that we're doing today last night during the movie, and decided not to go back today. I slept till 8:15! The sun is out, it is beautiful, and I have so much house stuff and taxes to do, and I have an incredible headache. I think it's because I haven't had caffeine since yesterday morning! They bought a 12 pack of Diet Coke, and at least 6 of us were drinking it. Last time I drank nearly a whole 12 pack by myself!

My story, which I didn't have a very good handle on, changed significantly. We worked on it almost 2 hours. We started by changing my heroine into a hunter a la Buffy, but with different abilities, but I didn't really want a paranormal heroine. So we changed it to a witch story instead of a vampire story, but I'm not sure how I feel about that, either. Good thing I'm setting it aside to finish Ghost Hunters and Breaking Daylight.

What did you do this weekend?

With grifters hanging from every branch of her family tree, Danni Ford was trying to do the impossible—play it straight. Until an undercover G-man played her with a few tricks of his own…
The tip-off should have been the way Eric's gaze met hers only when they talked dirty.

So Eric was using her to trap her shady relatives. He was still off-the-charts sexy - —why shouldn't she get something pleasurable from this con?

Danni's revenge is going to be very, very sweet and it will start with tying up her FBI agent boyfriend con man to get to the truth. Before he discovers her secrets first!



Not really here - came home to sleep, heading back to retreat in a few!

Man, I forgot how much I loved Denny!







I'm not sure how I feel about the overall episode, but I cried when Denny and Izzy crossed paths.

What was with The Office? I don't get Jan, and I don't get Roy going all ballistic. Karen was cracking me up, though.

What about LOST this week? Did you like it? Interesting about the tattoos - "That's what they say. That's not what they mean." Does he believe that?

I only saw the boys on AI - love Chris and Blake, and the daddy who went last. I missed the girls because I wanted to Tivo Jericho, but it didn't happen. It replays Saturday night, though, late. But let me tell you, Tivo is the way to go - I watched all the boys sing, and the comments, in 45 minutes.

I'm 2 weeks behind on 24, will hopefully catch up on Monday.

Prison Break - so didn't see that happening with T-Bag! I'm glad, though. And I'm way over the C-Note story, anyway. I hope Sucre and Maricruz get a HEA!

What did you watch this week?

Tonight starts my plotting retreat! I'm excited and anxious all at once.

Yesterday before lunch, three of my kids came over to tell me that two of my girls had poured hand sanitizer into baggies so they could sniff it. Y'all, I teach 4th grade. Both parents were called, one came in, the other didn't. The one who came in is coming back today because she was going to get the story from her daughter. Meanwhile, the counselor and principal got the story from me, and are going to call in my witnesses before the mom comes back. The instigator is the one who wrote one of the filthy notes last week.

How great is my principal, though? He comes in when I'm talking to the counselor and says, "Mary! What are you teaching these kids?" He was joking - at my old school, it would SO not be a joke.

I had a good time at SARA last night. They did actually ask me to be PRO liaison (why is that word so hard to spell?) but I said it would be too depressing. They understood, at least. The ladies cracked up because I got three phone calls (I NEVER get 3 calls in one day.) The first was my son, asking if I meant to Tivo Jericho or AI. All I said was, "Jericho," and "Bye" and Stacy cracked up because she thought I was speaking in code. Then one of my students called, TWICE. The first time I told him I was in a meeting and hung up, the second time he called to ask if I was watching AI because the girl from San Antonio was on. The ladies couldn't believe my kids would call about that. They've clearly not met my kids ;)

Grey's tonight!!! DENNY!!!!!

Supernatural is a rerun I've seen 50 times ;)

This is HILARIOUS!



So, I'm going to that plotting bootcamp this weekend. I've finally come up with a heroine. Well, her name and her problem, anyway. No visual yet. I know I want her tall and athletically built, but that's it. I don't even know if she's blonde or brunette.

And I think I'm setting the story in Savannah or Atlanta.

Hey, it's more than I had yesterday!

I'm blogging at Wet Noodle Posse today - come say howdy!

They won't let me post pictures of Dean, though ;)

I recently started watching Gilmore Girls - you know why. I started with the season of Rory's senior year, and I'm up till half way through her freshman year at Yale. I live for Lorelei/Luke scenes.

But.

On Valentine's Day, they showed an episode out of sequence, where Luke and Lorelei are talking about their wedding.

The magic was GONE! Everything that I thought made the couple magical was now a neon arrow pointing to thm and blinking "WRONG FOR EACH OTHER!"

What happened in the intervening seasons? Why is it so hard to keep up the sexual tension once the couple gets together?

Trish and I love Bones, but we know the writers will have to do some fancy footwork to keep our interest if Tempe and Booth get together. I don't think it would be the same with The Office if Jim and Pam get together, because I think they would be more in awe of the love they find in each other, do you know what I mean?

For example, in the In Death books by JD Robb, you have Eve Dallas and Roarke. They're married but they still sizzle (or did during the last book I read, about ten books ago!) We see Roarke look at Eve with admiration and love and we feel he understands how lucky he is to have her. And we still feel her awe at his love for her.

I haven't really explored long term relationships, after the HEA, but I'm about to, in my next ms. Showing them happily married and expecting a baby won't cut it for these characters, so I'm thinking I'll show them in different situations than they had in their own book, and show their admiration for how the other handles each situation. I think that, combined with a few instances of familiarity that will just make my heroine think, wow, he feels this way about me, will help keep up the tension.

How do you work it out, especially in a series? Where do you find the sizzle?