Entries Tagged 'gratitude' ↓

A month ago I was contacted by an editor at a traditional publisher. She wanted to know if I would be interested in having a conversation about turning Home-Ec 101 into a book.

Immediately I turned to Google and Facebook, looking to see if it was a legit company.

Yes.

I returned the email and a few days later we had a conversation that outlined the whole process.  The biggest hurdle is the pitch. She sent me a sample proposal and from that I began piecing together one for Home-Ec 101. After stressing about it and pestering people into giving their opinions, I finally turned it in -before the deadline, thank you very much.

Since then, it’s been a waiting game. Well, until yesterday that is. Around 1pm I got an email from the editor saying they really liked the idea and that it seems marketable. In fact, they wanted to hear it pitched in a larger size. (The original specs were for a paperback, slightly taller than your average novel, but not as thick (about 240 pgs ). Apparently they want to see it priced out in a larger book, I don’t know if that has anything to do with the number of words, adding content, or if it’s to allow for more whitespace.  I’ll negotiate my contract when the final size & cost of production are figured out.

Regardless, I’m beyond excited, if nothing else, this is flattering and validating. I plug away at HE101 hoping I’m not wasting my time.  Insecure much?  Always.

Publishing projects take a while, so it will be some time before I make the big announcement on Home-Ec 101. It’s not a secret, but I’m going to try to not make a big deal out of it until closer to the release.

I’m still on cloud nine.

Happy birthday, baby!

Aidan has finally let us take off the training wheels.

I love that look of pure joy.

An open letter to the young mom at Bi Lo:

I apologize if I made a scene.

All I saw when I called to you and ran toward your daughter was a little girl on the brink of falling.

Maybe she wouldn’t have.

Maybe you would have turned before she did.

I couldn’t take that chance.

What I do know, is it won’t be the last time either of us breathes a sigh of relief while flushing with shame. I did see that you had to unsnap the belt to buckle her in. You see, I have three kids, too and I know how easy it is to turn your back for just a moment.  My kids are escape artists, too. I ‘ve been there and I know how embarrassing it is to feel caught in a moment of inadequacy. I promise I wasn’t implying you were careless.

In just a few short years, when you can draw a breath between diaper changes, you’ll be in my shoes.

We don’t watch to accuse, we watch because it’s what we do.

It’s a small town, I bet someday you’ll stop one of my children from doing something stupid while I stammer out a thank you and I will mean it, just like you.

Hopefully this will be the last of the random brain dump posts for a while, but focus hasn’t been one of my stellar qualities of late.

The summer is flying by, Mikala will be going home soon. I know she has a million activities she should get to sample, but selfishly, I want her here longer. She’s an amazing kid and genuinely enjoyable to be around.

I can’t get the mail, let the dog in, or head to the car without doing the spider web dance. Eew eew eew, get it off, get it off.

Sunscreen? Yeah, don’t forget the tops of your feet. All those magazine articles and it never sank in.

I had my second round of allergy testing. It’s official, if it’s alive, I’m allergic. Well, it’s not that bad, but yeah it’s enough to where every season there is something ticking me off. With luck and a lot of shots, next Spring shouldn’t be as bad.

I’ve shaved almost four minutes off my 5k time. It’s amazing what the ability to breathe can do for a person.

I feel human again. The cruel joke is that I have to stop taking the new allergy medicines in just a few days for another round of testing. You see, I had a reaction strong enough to the scratch test to worry the doctor and they stopped the testing.

Does your throat itch? No.

Are your lips tingling? No.

We have an epi pen right here.

Thankfully it never came to that.

It was absolutely vindicating to learn my allergies are that bad; that I’m not just being a wuss. I’m such a neurotic weirdo, I know I lean toward hypchondriac, but then I always end up waiting until I’m absolutely miserable so I don’t waste a doctor’s time. That happy medium is a hard place to find.

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I went to the Summerville Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago and I’m very happy with some of the pics I took.

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Mikala is here for awhile. I’m enjoying the heck out of having willing help in the kitchen. I let her choose and today we’re going to tackle spring rolls for this week’s Fearless Friday.

This is one of the many reasons I wanted to move home.

Some would say we are slow. We’re going to go with efficient. The Solos kids have been baptized. Tim and I are breathing a great, big sigh of relief.

 

Last month Chuck posted a wish on his blog. It was only a simple wish, just to celebrate his 70th birthday in a special way. I am so grateful to be part of a group of people willing to make those little moments in life so special.
Thank you Heidi for coordinating last night’s meet up and thank you to everyone who came.

There’s a tree in my yard that blooms each spring. The leaves hide most of the blooms, but they are lovely.