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| Little Michael-Gus! Born Saturday, Nov. 21st at 7:50 pm 7lbs10oz 21 inches (the delivery....ah the delivery....if it had a theme song, it would be "This is Hell" by Elvis Costello....except, hmm....one didn't "get used to it, after a while" ....but you know what I mean, methinks. Three words: missed the epidural. Five more words: Planned on having the epidural. Ten more words: Didn't have "pain-managment" training such as lamaze or other (see five more words). BUT! Back to the happy stuff! Little Michael Gus! He's too adorable! I'm fully of weepy, frustrated, bitchy hormones (aftershock) but little Michael Gus is FABULOUS. To wit; the following pictures:    
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| TICK-TOCK, wait. Well, I am not certain how another month has zipped by (and yes, without an entry), but since Little Michael August Parsons is due to be born any day now (C'mon little guy! Let's go soon!) I figure y'all understand. In case you're wondering, we let my mom pick/ suggest the names this time. The one thing we said was it was going to have "August" in it (shortform: Gus) for my great-grandfather Gus (mom's side) and the ancestor I am most intrigued by. As for first name, my mom came up with a list and we all agreed that Michael is a most lovely name. And I liked the sound of "Michael August" and so there it is. And yes, his initials spell MAP - so hopefully he'll never lose his way. TA DA! So what have we been up to in the meantime? Jack's bday, halloween, work, writing, bathroom renovation, stuff, stuff, stuff.  Before After
 Halloween Dinosaur!   Jadk's Third Birthday Party - the riding track in the basement! A big hit with all toddlers!
So that's the brief update. Baby boy soon! | | |
| WHOA! I'm BACK? REALLY? Yes, it appears so. See, the thing is, I joined facebook. Umhm. And facebook is nice. I like seeing lots of little "here's what I'm doing" messages from my friends. But man, it doth suck the little computer time I have. I mean, it sucks it right out. Add to that the fact that darling Husband ADORES facebook (naturally - he gets to chat with his aussie fam alot) well, we're sometimes vying for the laptop (because we surf our neighbor's wifi - thanks neighbor! If I knew who you were, I'd bake you a cake and bring you random neighborly gifts!). ANyway, so when I get online at home, I usually check facebook, say g'day to a few friendies, then I'm done (or the battery runs out - let's blame Bob, shall we?). But, ironically, even though Facebook is great in a twittery sense with shout-outs here and there, I found that I was missing my friends-who-blog blogs and then LO! I realized that at some point they'd managed to shake off the computer-suck-time that is facebook and started blogging again. To which I say: whoa! When did that happen? So, feeling perpetually hopeful and inspired by my facebooking-friends-who-blog, I am going to try this blogging again. SO! WHat's been up with me since last post: Went to wonderful wonderful Chautatuqua, NY to the fabulous, fabulous writers' conference. It was the most amazing thing. Seriously one of the top 5 things I've done in my life. Top two if you take out marriage/family things. Anyway, Many things are occuring in my writing life as a direct result, domino style, and my mentor author ---let's call her Fauna Mo Sharpeli ----has taken me on as a little-writer-who-needs-nurturance. It's quite the most wonderful, exciting thing. She's taken to emailing editors (so far - 2) on my behalf - and is including the most wonderful words that anyone has ever written/said about my writing (that is - someone who isn't married or related to me by blood or ties of friendship) in said emails to eds. While the market is abysmal, I am super pumped with this development and am finding it hard to wait for eds to look at the MS because I am just so pumped to have Fauna Mo on my team ---I can't wait to see what she'll suggest next! There are /were many other wonderful things/developments/big and baby steps growing at the Chatqua. workshop - just spending a week in such lovely surrounds, "BEING" a writer was wonderful.  This is the Hotel where we had brekkie every morn and also opening and closing banquets. Like something out of SOMEWHERE IN TIME, yes?
 This is the Hall of Christ where we had half of our workshops/lecture. LIke being in college - in a GOOD way.
ANyway, apart from that, Bobby and I both forgot our anniversary. And I am so awful with numbers - what was it - the 6th year? 7th? All I know is, this Feb. we'll have known each other for TEN YEARS. My, how time does fly. We are both kinda going "where did the time go?" and trying not to get depressed that it is going by so fast. That's a good thing, at the end of the day, how much fun we're having. We want to have more and more. Little baby boy #2 - MICHAEL AUGUST PARSONS ---is due in NOvember, right before Thanksgiving! I am completely surrounded by boys!  Here are my current boys! Plus 1 soon!
We are excited and I've taken on a HUGE ammount of cleaning/nesting in the house. DOesn't look like it right now, but I've gotten rid of TONS of stuff. I was ruthless in the basement - ditching all these childhood things that my rents snuck in when I wasn't looking. Yes, I threw out ALL my college notes (except for one or two classes that were exceptional) and I threw out all my old college annuals and most of my school yearbooks (except for 1 or 2). I threw out tons of movies, swim team ribbons, playbills (why did I save those?), books, and other things. You should SEE our basementnow! Jack can ride his bike all through it! That's great on a rainy day. Jack will be 3 in October! Again! What's with time going so fast? So that's it -- oh - except we're remodeling the hall/guest/kids bathroom. I guess our thinking is ash preggers = bathroom rennovation. Kidding! Hopefully it will be done in a few weeks. So - we're caught up. Hope to be back soon! | | |
| Muchness. Much, Much, Muchness. I don't suppose I will have any readers - It has been about 2 months since I posted anything (2 months? 2 months, really?) But anyway---obviously a lot has been going on and time and events have conquered me. And, vis my last entry, I chose other activities over blogging. To sum up (just in case I missed you on my group email - sorry if that happened): Bob's father died - not unexpected, but sad nonetheless. Bob went to Oz for the funeral and to help his mother/see his family. I was a single-mother for two weeks - work, daycare, toddlercare, sleep - rinse, repeat. Mother had a huge surgery in TX on her tumor - removed very well and recovery excellent. While Bob was away and thanks to a wonderful babysitter (and a hefty babysitting bill....) I went to another wonderful writer's conference (prescheduled/ prepaid)- didn't have any *huge* breakthroughs - unlike last year - but did still get motivated, learn some things, will submit some things --and possibly I have found a new, super-sweet, part-time job? We'll see.....keep one's fingers crossed. Then it snowed 5 inches and I barely made it home. Played with Jack in the snow - the snow melted - went back to work. Went to a restaurant and Jack pulled out a highchair that had a glue trap stuck to it. Stuck to the glue trap was a squeaking, thrashing rat. Will be reporting that to the health department. Will never be setting foot in that restaurant again - muchlike will not set foot inside local fern-bar restaurant where a cockroach fell onto my table years ago. Jack locked me out of the house - did not know he could do that! I broke a window, scared the crap outta Jack, cut my finger- bled like Julia Childs on SNL, climbed in the backwindow, cleaned up. HIred a handyman to fix the window and a yardman to mow the lawn. Bobby came back and all exhausted and stressed out. An agent requested the first 50 pages of my manuscript. Drove out to TX to see family and recovering mother. Went to neat restaurants and the Fabu RODEO. Observed young men with young backs possibly do lasting dammage to their backs. Wanted to tell them "no - don't!" also wanted to cheer them on. Won a scholarship to a super-cool week-long children's writing workshop this summer. Came home. Went to church. Am starring at the pile of laundry and general mess in my house. Am choosing to blog instead of clean. but really....must go clean. And so that is the update of my last two months - emphasis heavy on the latter one. Hope all is well with you. All is well with us - we are just exhausted and ready to relax. When will that be? Also - I read The Astonishing Tale of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation Vol. 2 The Kingdom on the Waves ---what a fantastic novel. What a mesmerizing talent - oh to write like that. | | |
| The Year in Books..... Well, I haven't made any resolutions - I'm just chewing everything over still. I'm more and more aware that when you chose something - that eliminates another choice....just because time is finite....so all that to say....there are so many wonderful resolutions I'd like to entertain....and not enough time for all of them....perhaps when I decide I'll post some here...but for now, what I came for.... A few summers ago, Sweetie and I had a week at the beach - just us and Jack. SOmetime around then, I decided it would be fun to list in the back of my journal (I still use a paper journal -although I generally only write when pissed off or when something major (good or bad )happens) all the books I had read. I used to fill a paper journal every year. Now I keep the same one for two years or more. But anyway, I started listing the books I'd read and their authors - a one word or one sentence review. I put stars next to the ones I thought were exceptional. At some point, I decided to put a time check to see how many books I read in a year. I thought it would be fun to share the list here. As you can see, I do go slumming sometimes - but I will be honest and even list embarasing ones. I will reproduce the stars for notable titles, but not the reviews. So here it is: "five-hundred, twenty-five-thousand, six-hundred minutes. HOw do you measure a year in the life? How about....Booooo-ooooooks!" Sorry - little Rent shout out there..... The Undertaker's Gone Bananas - Paul Zindell I am America, and so Can You! - Colbert Water for Elephants - Gruen Thirst - M. T. Anderson Whales on Stilts - M. T. Anderson (I just love him. He can do no wrong and is so very versitile.) Terminal - Andrew Vachss (getting near the end of the Burke series. Good that he's ending it but I will miss it all dearly. I wonder what he has planned next?) Animal Farm - Orwell (realized I never read it! Decided I must try to read a classic or two. Or perhaps just one.) ***The White Darkness - Macchrean (fantastic, eerie, and realistic with such a fantastic setting/premise. Perhaps the best book of the year for me) Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer (this series is not as good as it's first book.) ***The Condition of Ice - Burns (fantastic - a mountain climbing period piece. Very well done and illuminating. A book that sat on my shelf for EVER, too! So I guess it pays to read the book you bought at that book warehouse on vacation all those years ago then never got around to for years.....) The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Sleznick **Twisted - Anderson (very good teen read. Very quick read. Very well done) Dog Days: Dispatches from Bedlam Farm - Katz (I've enjoyed reading this guy's posts on SLATE.com for a year or so, so I decided it was high time to read the book.) Charlatan - Pope Brock (nonfiction - wild story) Boy Toy - Barry Lyga Wicked Lovely - Marr Self-editing for Fiction Writers Prom - Anderson **When You are Engulfed in Flames - Sedaris (essays) Excellent. The Shadow and the Star - Kinsale King Dork - Portman *Child 44 - Smith (great atmosphere/sense of place) **Milkweed - Spinelli (wonderful but something about the ending didn't gel for me.....) Dance with the Devil - Kenyon Acheron - Kenyon The Graveyard Book - Gaiman Battle Royale - Takami (my students are STILL clamboring for the library copy of this Lord-of-the-flies meets The-most-dangerous-game story) Breaking Dawn - Meyer The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove - Taylor (a play) A Man in Full - WOlfe (reread - still working) And there youhave it. Minus a book or two that I forgot and one I didn't finish. Around thirty books in twelve months. The year in books for me. Check some out if you want. | | |
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