Sara in the Fall

I'm tired. Not talking run of the mill lethargy, but honest to goodness near narcolepsy. But there's big news around here, so I'm going to push through.

If parts of this don't make sense, you've been warned.

I found out last night that the release date for Simply Sara has been shifted from Jan 1, 2011 to September of this year. Which is great, because it means that a few people might remember Plain Jayne when Simply Sara comes out. The trickiness lies in the fact that:

1. Writing Sara has been like typing through molasses. Thick, unsulfered molasses. That's been in the fridge, cold, for some unknown reason (I warned you, I'm tired). Mind you, it's a good book, and those who read and critique the early stuff (who are not the the sort to spare deserved criticism) have thus far agreed, but it has no intention of entering the world at anything resembling speed. So the fact that

2. I'll probably be eyeballing a cover for Sara sometime next week; dealing with early production and likely working on a synopsis so this puppy can go into a retailer catalog while figuring out how to market both books at the same time is

3. Just a bit overwhelming.

4. But everyone needs motivation. And this is the literary version of an extraordinarily sharp object poking in your back.

Did I mention that this release time is really great? Because it really is. One of the (many) reasons is that there's a fair amount of Christmas content in the first third - since SS picks up right after PJ, and that's mid-November, I think. Pretty sure. I'll check later. Anyway, as a reader, I think I'd enjoy reading about Christmas before Christmas, rather than after, when the tree is dried up and the lights need to come down. Before=magic. After=I don't know what. I just know that it was a lot to be writing Christmas scenes after Christmas, because I was really ready for all of the holidays to be over!

Oh. And a fall release means it's so totally available for holiday shoppers. Yay!!!

So, the lesson here is that writers who write for publication truly have at least two jobs. Not talking about what all they do to pay the bills or raise children or clean the house, but the actual process of writing for publication.

The secret is it's not just writing. It's assisting as much as possible with the production process, with marketing, and doing the editing so the book that winds up on shelves (or online retailer's warehouses) is the best possible book. There's a lot of non-writing that goes into this, but it's important. You don't get to sit in a hole and write, not if you want that lovely warehouse space.

In the end, it's a good thing. Because all of the production legwork means you get a lot more exercise.

And you know what exercise means?

That's right. You get to rationalize the cupcake.

P.S. I'm sure there are all sorts of typos in this blog. Don't worry. I'm sure my mom will catch them.

On the ______ day of Christmas

We decided around here that we're celebrating Christmas through epiphany. If you follow me on facebook or twitter, you probably already know that. But my thinking (for those of you just coming in on this conversation) is that if you're going to work quite hard, the payoff should last longer than two days.

Even better, some of the payoff days might be quiet, relaxed days.

So I'm trying to come up with activities to include during the twelve days, from December 24th to January 6th. I'm thinking on the 6th, I'll make a nice dinner. In between, no specific plans.

Here's a log thus far:

December 24th (Christmas Eve): Danny doesn't get off work until mid-afternoon, so I catch up on a couple last errands (but do not set foot in a grocery store) before returning home to do a tiny bit of last minute wrapping. Danny comes home, and after a short nap, we dress for the Christmas Eve service at church. This particular service featured children in a nativity pageant, a first for a First Baptist Christmas (at least, in my sentient memory). Afterwards we had dinner and exchanged gifts at my parents' home, and had a very nice, very pleasant evening.

December 25 (Christmas Day): Sloooooow start to the day, and I realize that while most of my wrapping is done for family members next weekend (Danny's family), none of the Christmas Day extended family wrapping has even been touched with a ten foot pole. Also, the kitchen is a tiny wreck (tiny, because the kitchen itself is tiny). Danny tackles the kitchen, I tackle the wrapping. We finally exit for the Big Christmas Extended Family Event, each in one of our new, cozy Christmas present sweaters (mine, a cute ruffled J. Crew merino sweater from Danny, his, a handsome Calvin Klein, dark emerald green merino sweater from me. Truly. This Christmas brought to us by sheep. Love it.) We greet, we eat, we enjoy the barrage of family. I receive a cupcake cake stand that gives me yet another reason to finally throw a cupcake party.

December 26 (Boxing Day/After Christmas Shopping Day): Considered doing some After Christmas Shopping, but when faced with the option of staying home for a cozy day with my husband...husband won out. I made Blueberry Buckwheat pancakes for breakfast, and Magic Chicken for dinner (a mango, coconut milk, tumeric, and chicken slow-cooker dish). We saw Sherlock Holmes later in the evening, and really enjoyed it.

December 27: Taught Sunday School in the morning, enjoyed a very nice nap afterwards, then went to my grandma's and played her piano while Danny studied. We both munched on tree-shaped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and watched Pushing Daisies episodes on DVD. We may finish Les Choristes afterwards; it's been a nice, relaxing day.

Not sure what we'll do tomorrow - I need to finish Chapter 11 soon and get to work on Chapter 12. I also have yet to make Christmas sugar cookies, but may wait until we're in Lincoln City with my niece and nephew. I do need to take Danny's Christmas sweater from last year (as yet unfinished and ten-stitches off) to the Knit Shop to ask for assistance. I don't know where I went wrong, and am willing to pay cash for help! (Not to say that I couldn't figure it out, but it's a whole lot of brown wool stockinette with a whole lot of decreases, and for the sake of finishing the sweater, someone else needs to take a look before I go a little crazy).

Lots of things, but open to ideas - leave a comment if you've got a suggestion!

From Our Fridge to Yours...

Merry Christmas!!

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given . . . His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
~ Isaiah 9:6

The Red-Nosed Herald Angels Sing it Twice

I've wanted those refrigerator word magnets for years. Last week, my mom gave me a set of them, all snippets of popular Christmas songs. Here are some of my favorite rearrangements:

Jack Frost walking our reindeer

Deck the halls with chestnuts on the first day of jingle bells

Making a list and checking your nose

Mommy gave to me the nose

(there's a lot of noses in secular Christmas music. Just noticed)

'Tis the season

we don a partridge in a

very shiny town but

Christmas in a pear tree

is coming

to find out who's gonna be

jolly

Santa Claus is frightful

The red-nosed herald angels sing it twice

I saw a one horse open sleigh dashing through a Winter Wonderland

Rudolph nipping at boughs of holly

and my personal favorite:

Hark!

kissing my true love is nice

he's so delightful

since we've

got no place to go

let it snow

outside

And now I'm totally hooked on word magnets, this was so much fun!

The Little Mermaid and Me

Disney's The Little Mermaid released to theaters in the fall of '89. I was six. I remember my parents taking me to see it in the theater. I remember being frightened at the climax by Ursula (Giant evil octopus woman on the big screen? Who wouldn't be?), but it didn't change my feelings about the movie. I was hooked.

I collected all things Mermaid. Pencils, beach towel, at least one, if not two swimsuits. My best friend and I watched the video over and over, singing the songs. I dressed as Ariel the following Halloween, wearing an old sea green dress of my mother's, with curling ribbon around my feet to make it look like a tail. I think I had orange curling ribbon in my hair, too, to make it appear more "red" like Ariel's.

While I loved Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, for some reason The Little Mermaid was the seminal film of my youth.

I know I'm not alone. I know several women my age who can sing "Part of Your World" word for word, without much provocation.

For the last couple years, we've attended Christmas concerts at the Hult with my family. It started with the Eugene Symphony Yuletide Celebration, last year it was the Mason Williams show, and this year back to the Symphony. We missed the tap dancing Santas, let me tell you. The other lure to this year's Symphony extravaganza: Jodi Benson. Who is none other than the voice of Ariel. Daughter of King Triton. Wife of Prince Erik. Inspiration to all.

The moment she stepped out onto stage and spoke, I waited for her to tell Flounder he was such a guppy. I loved every moment, especially when she sang "Part of Your World," and believe, me, I didn't know until moments beforehand if anything from Mermaid would be sung at all.

After the show my mom and aunt were on a particular mission. First, they wanted an autograph, but they both knew that was child's play. What they really wanted was a photo. With me and Jodi.

You should have seen my aunt. She positioned herself at the autograph table, and when the moment was right, she said "Jodi!", expecting Jodi to turn when she heard her name.

Which she did. And smiled beautifully.

Holiday Shopping, Part II

I really love finding gifts for people. Gifting tends to be one of my love languages. I don't usually gift other than Christmas and birthdays, but when I do, a LOT of thought goes in to it.

The kinds of gifts I give vary per person, but the response I'm after is always the same - lit eyes, a smile, interest. I've had my hits and misses, but I always like to try.

For example, we gave my nephew potatoes for Christmas last year. Yes, we got him books too, but when he and I had talked earlier (he was eight at the time), he told me he wanted potatoes. So I gave him potatoes in a gift sack, with ribbon tied around each potato. He sat there, on my in-laws' couch, and proceeded to take the ribbon off each one. It still makes me happy thinking about it.

Finding Christmas gifts, though, can be overwhelming. So here are some thoughts from me about keeping life as (relatively) simple as possible during the holiday season...

1. Make a list of everyone you're giving to. Write what you're giving - or thinking about giving - to that person next to each name. Save this list for next year. Sure, you'll remember some of these gifts, but I never remember what color of earrings I've already made for my sister, and I hate asking. Keeping a master list of the finals solves everything.

2. Keep your recipient in mind. You might think something's the greatest item ever, but if your gift-ee doesn't think so, it's not a good gift. And don't choose just because you want to borrow it later. Make sure it's something the recipient will actually like.

3. Consider a theme. Two years ago, I knit hats for my brothers-in-law and nephew, and hat and scarf sets for my sister and niece (in case you're wondering why my own brother didn't get a hat, it was because he was going to Africa in a matter of weeks, and a woolen cap didn't seem all that practical. Oh, and Danny already had a hat). Last year with the book I scaled back and we did a book Christmas for most everyone. It was really handy, because we did the bulk of our shopping on Amazon and Half.com. More on bargain shopping in a bit...

4. Shop year-round. Okay, saying that in November this isn't so practical, but Christmas will return next year. Generally, I'm too tired from the holidays to consider shopping until later, but one of these years I'll actually buy yarn and knit far ahead of time.

5. Shop online - the deals are there. We found really great products for great deals the year we did our book Christmas. And last year, I found superwash merino yarn for Danny's (as yet unfinished) sweater online at a really great price. The rule to online Christmas shopping is to do it early. We had a close call last year for one item, which almost didn't arrive on time. It was stressful!

When buying books, DVDs, CDs, that sort of thing online, condition is everything. I'm all for finding good deals, but for a gift, don't buy used. It's like pulling a book off your shelf and wrapping it. A dinged, cracked case or dented cover sends the wrong message. Visible dust is a no-no. I have no issue with remainder marks on books (black marker line on the top or bottom of the pages), since you can buy books new from bookstores like that.

If you buy a book that's marked new by the seller and it arrives obviously not new (and I've had this happen a couple times), by all means notify the seller. Most of the time they're horrified and send you another, gratis. This is another reason to order early, so you've got all the time in the world.

6. Speaking of damaged goods, re-gift with care. Anything you re-gift shouldn't look re-gifted. And if you're re-gifting, it should be the kind of thing you'd give the recipient anyway. Obviously, this does not hold true for White Elephant Gifts, which are my favorite way to discard odd gifts with style. Just try to take things that could potentially be enjoyed by someone at the party. This is why you invite people with a sense of humor...

7. Try to finish all of your shopping at least two weeks before Christmas. I'm not saying that to make people's lives harder, it's just that entering into places of retail in those last two weeks is like stepping into the Fire Swamp. On purpose. The crowds, the lines, the lack of parking, why do that to yourself?? Also, stores get picked over at this point.

8. Shop TJ Maxx, Ross, and Marshall's. Again, the deals are there. This kind of shopping you have to do with an open mind. What I like about these stores is that you can find really nice, high quality items marked way down. Cashmere is suddenly affordable (TJ stocks a lot of cashmere in the winter, btw). These stores get VERY picked over in the weeks before Christmas, so hit them early. Look for leather gloves, scarves, glassware, bath and spa items, hats, blankets, runners - walk through the whole store, you don't know where a good find is hiding. Check Costco, too, for books, clothes, and food gifts.

9. Rules for happy shopping still apply, especially if you have children with you! Make sure everyone goes potty/ gets a diaper change before you leave. Stay hydrated, bring snacks. You might opt for stores with easily accessible public restrooms.

10. If you're shopping alone, and you hate lines, you might try my sanity trick - take a library book in your purse. Library book, because you're clearly not shoplifting. Having something to do in line can make all the difference! You may look a little nutters, but at least you're happy by the time you reach the register.

A note on After Christmas Sales:

1. Case the joint ahead of time. This is a particularly good idea for stores like Target.

2. Only buy items if they're truly a good deal. Honestly, this is the only time I buy Christmas decorations.

3. This is also a good time to stock up on gift wrap, gift bags, gift tags, ribbon that sort of thing.

And most importantly -

4. Store all of your After Christmas Sale Loot in one place, near your Christmas stuff. If you can't find it come December next year, that's kind of sad.

Not that it has anything to do with shopping, but I'm also intending to wrap as I go this year. Last year's last-minute wrapping was almost as much fun as invasive dentistry. If you're buying items one at a time, you might consider wrapping them immediately afterward.

My gift shopping starts tomorrow. Now I have to decide when the Christmas music is coming out...

Resolved:

Granted, New Year's Eve was a few days ago. Today is Epiphany, the day the wise men showed up with gifts for the baby Jesus. We attended a White Elephant gift exchange (does anyone want a turtle-shaped flute? An inkjet cartridge refilling kit?) that discussed the advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas, not the song. I like the idea of Christmas lasting that long, although I'm ready for my tree to go away.

(Nothing against the tree. It's a great-looking tree. I've just been irrationally bitter about it since it arrived, damp and unshaken, at our tiny apartment.)

Today, however, I've scored the assitance of my lovely sister to help me with the take-down of the tree. Seems if she's given chocolate (preferably Dove) and if Gilmore Girls is playing on the background, she'll agree to any number of tasks.

But I was thinking around New Year's about resolutions. I'm not much for resolutions - I don't like to resolve to do things and then not do them in two months. One year I resolved to buy a pair of gray pants - that one was pretty cut and dried. This year, I've made two decisions.

1. When there are people on the side of the road holding advertising signs, dancing, waving, and possibly dressed as a gorilla, I'm going to wave back.

2. I resolve to limit the amount of time my clean laundry spends in my hallway.

The latter will be the tougher one. We have a washer and dryer conveniently located in our hallway closet. Clean clothes come out of the dryer and land on the floor if I'm not immediately prepared to deal with them. They may spend a lot of time afterwards on the floor. One pile in particular spent a great deal of time there before Christmas (granted, this is when I was sick), and when I folded everything up before a trip I was amazed. Who knew our hallway was so large?

So here's hoping the resolution helps.

It's going to be a busy next few months. The book is due at the end of April. I want to be finished at the end of March and spend April doing dry edits (dry edits are when I've printed up material and edit on real paper). To comfortably reach that (very neccessary) goal, I need to be putting out two chapters a week for a while. If I kept it up throughout this month and the next, I could conceivably be done by the end of February. The idea of not worrying anymore about the deadline has a certain appeal.

So here's hoping. On top of that, I have a mound of wedding photos to be edited, as well as a Heart Gallery shoot (and subsequent edits) coming up tomorrow afternoon. There's a lot to be done in the Lodge household.

Including folding laundry.

"I'll be home for...crap."

I kid you not. During my sister's piano recital (which she RULED, by the way), one sweet little boy stepped up to the piano, played the opening chromatic chords to "I'll be Home for Christmas," but had a little trouble with the beginning lyrics. The above title is a direct quote.

It's Christmas Eve Eve, the equivalent of "Dead Week" for last minute shoppers of the family. For other families that day would be tomorrow, but my family celebrates the Birth of Christ on the evening of the 24th, which moves everything up a bit.

This has been a difficult Christmas season in some respects. I love Christmas, and I love everything that comes with it - the baking, the tree, the lights, the choosing of gifts. I was sick - the first time - when we went out for our tree. It sat undecorated for a while, until I felt better enough to go on a rampage.

I've learned a lot about myself and sickness this month. I've discovered that if I'm sick for a while, the moment I feel a bit better I'll go on a bender. All of a sudden, come hell or high water, I find myself 100% devoted to getting something done. The first time it was the tree, which I decorated myself (Danny was sick by then). In my infinite wisdom, I started the lights at the top and worked my way down. It seemed logical at the time. Now...less so.

Things were equalizing, we were both healthy, until I got sick last week. Again. So when I started coming out of that one, I began wrapping gifts. All the gifts. I blew my nose, then wrapped more.

I take wrapping pretty seriously. There is something deeply, deeply troubling to me if the identity of the gift can be guessed just by looking at it. Starting at a young age, I learned how to ID my gifts. I thumped the front, feeling for a plastic window. I felt around the edges to see if it was a Nordstrom box (they had wide edges at the time). I pressed the paper down to try to see through it. I shook. I rattled. I annoyed my parents with my startling accuracy.

Oh, and I had my patented question: "Is it in its original box?"

Seriously. After that, my parents took the wrapping up a notch. Clothes for my American Girl doll were wrapped inside a standard garmet box...along with a seatbelt clip and some bolts. Christmas has never been the same. What's funny is that I married someone who does not have the same compulsion to examine his gifts. He's happy opening them and being surprised. Can't understand it.

Anyway, I got sick, I felt better, I wrapped. There is one gift I'm particularly proud of in its sneakiness - not only is the item entirely disguised, but I disguised it using a collection of objects I've been trying to get rid of for six months.

Then my Christmas cards arrived from Costco Printing, and I started in on those. Fifty cards. Twenty-four hours. I'm actually quite proud.

My sister's Christmas recital was the night before last. She played "Falling Slowly" from Once, and it was incredible. But as the rest of the 75-minute program progressed, I had some time to think about music. Particularly Christmas music.

Such as...have you ever though about how creepy the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" really is? It makes him sound like a KGB operative...he knows everything. Scary. I mean -

"He sees you when you're sleeping,

He knows when you're awake,

He knows if you've been bad or good,

Because he wiretapped your place. Hey!"

(Note: I tried to put in a line about printing seditious pamphlets, but I couldn't get it to fit. "Pamphlets" is a tricky word to rhyme with

Other songs I dislike:

"Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" - Too cute-cutesy. Like the phrase "fro-yo", but worse.

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" - I'm not sure how this works, since most people put their trees in corners or against walls. Maybe the line "Rockin' back and forth in front of the Christmas tree" didn't make it past the test group stage. Either way, there's no lyrics with any meaning or cleverness, and even if there were, I'd likely resent it anyway.

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - BO-ring melody, and that line about bringing us the figgy pudding has always set me off. I don't know anyone who has ever baked fig pudding, so demanding something so disgusting and likely unattainable is doubly rude.

There's my riff on Christmas music. As far as the rest of life, I need to work on my book today, which I'm officially halfway through. The plot is progressing well, and my character is currently outside of Amish country, which makes my life easier. I've had a copy of Amish Grace sitting around for a month, but I haven't been able to get myself to read it. Having read about everything to do with the Amish, I think I've found my limit.

Ideally, I might bake today. We'll see. But whatever happens, it won't be to the tune of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas," because I'm clean out of figgy pudding.

P.S. Australia review coming soon. In the meantime, go see it.

Take Another, I Blinked

The Christmas season equals Christmas photos. Trick is, if you're like me, you'll get the photos back and go "euh" (irony being that people have me take their pictures). Here are some tricks to lower the "euh" factor:

1. Tilt your chin down. Very few people have really, truly fantastic necks, and for some people, when placed in front of a camera they raise their head. No one needs a photo of your neck, and if the photographer is shorter than you are, you'll get even more neck than you bargained for.

2. Women - stand at an angle, keep one leg straight and place the other one forward, slightly bent. This creates a long leg line, slims your torso, and provides a defined jawline since your head will be turned toward the photographer.

3. Men - if you want to appear broader in the shoulder, stand square to the photographer, and for Pete's sake uncross your arms. If you're wearing a cowboy hat, do tilt your head up a bit - it will allow light to hit your face.

4. Another trick for women - did you know that the sunscreen in your foundation reacts to the flash of a camera? Well, it does - if you've ever noticed that you're looking particularly white, it's because the sunscreen particles reflected light - and not in a good way. If you know you'll be in a situation with flash photography, you may want to skip the sunscreen. The higher the SPF, the worse it gets.

5. If you're the photographer, always, always, always take more than one shot of an image you care about.

6. Smiling really is a good thing. Smile like you're in the middle of a tickle fight. It's Christmas, after all!

P.S. I know I'm terribly behind in my movie reviews, for both Twilight and Transporter 3 (and hopefully Australia after this weekend). So sorry! I've been sick for a week and just now getting my feet back, so hopefully those posts will be appearing soon...