What a day it's been.  Got up, cooked both girls breakfast.  Took them to school, came home and posted three articles (links will be below), walked a mile, did 2 loads of laundry, and snuggled with Splotch.

Now, I have five more articles in the hopper, three to research, and another ready to go.  Ahh, the joys of being a writer at home.  Life is good, my friends.

And, Veronica may get some good news that will help ease the morale beating she's taken a couple times this year. 

Have a great week, all.  I'm just saying...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2771384/taylor_swift.html?cat=33

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-40149-Tunnel-Hill-Parenting-Teens-Examiner~y2010m3d8-The-community-college-advantage

Well, actually my manic Monday has rolled over to Wednesday.  After a busy weekend which found me waking up Saturday with a sore throat and taking care of one with strep, I kept feeling worse.

Finally today, I feel, a smidge better.  Not a lot.  Head still aching, but I can work with that.  Actually, I wrote five articles yesterday which means I can apparently work sick.  I even went back to ensure they weren't total gibberish.  So, assuming my mind is clearer today, they weren't.

But, the week is not going as planned.  I guess that's what makes it manic!  I've decided to scrap my original book, "Watermelon Pockets" for the time being.  For some reason, I can not get it to progress, so why waste time?

Fear not, though, I've already sketched out (in my aching head) a different book.  It's a crime book.  Thanks mom, for the "Ellery Queen," it's where I got my inspiration...well, that and a horrific dream about a brutal rape.  Yikes, the things I dream at times (she says shuddering).

So, I'm off to post up my character's bios.  It would be so easier if I had a room where I could hang butcher paper.  Guess smaller note cards will have to work.  Maybe if my book hits the best seller list (hey, a girl can dream), I can get an office!  I'm just saying...

Hi everyone!  I wrote an article about Andrew Koenig, child actor's, and the curse that seems to happen to so many of them.  Please check out the article and pass the post along to all of your friends.  As always, the more hits I get, the more I can earn.  Thank you so much for your help!


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2739093/another_actor_falls_victim_to_the_child.html?cat=40

Well, the cakes were delivered, but I left before they were eaten.  Hey, I'm subbing in first grade tomorrow and need to sleep AND I'm on a 25 year reunion diet, remember?

Anyhow, apparently my last minute (because I jacked up the cupcakes), made from scratch, pound cake was delicious and everyone wondered what was in it!  Apparently, I am a Goddess in the kitchen after all.

Granted, I don't think anyone mentioned my from the box sheet cake, but who cares.  It's from scratch that counts, right?

So I am off to get a good nights sleep before I shape the minds of our youth.  Scary, huh?  I'm just saying...

OH, and Sarah - I lifted the batter bowl so much, I think I got a work out!  Not to mention, all the stomping around in a huff!

Remember the scene in Bridget Jones Diary after she gets the journalist coup and interviews the couple with the help of Mark, she decides to cook a birthday feast for herself and says, "have a feeling I'm a Goddess in the kitchen as well," only to realize that no, she is not?

Yeah, welcome to my day.  I needed to bake something like 48 cupcakes and bought the stuff to do so.  I'm all set to make the first 24, when I realize that hmm...this filled the cups more than it should have, but I went on to bake them.  Only to, 20 minutes later, realize my pan was for 12 cupcakes, not 24.  I figured this out when I saw the ginormous mushroom clouds that would make even a nuclear bomb feel jealous.

But, I thought, ok, I'll make the second box into a cake, we'll have 12 cupcakes and life will be swell.  Well, the cake is done and covered with frosting (who knows how it tastes, I could not care less at this point).  I went to put icing on the cupcakes, and you know what?  They crumbled and fell.  Yes, they tasted good, but NOOO, they were NOT pretty or servable.

Now, I have a from scratch pound cake in the oven.  I had to borrow my mother-in-law's bundt pan (why don't I have one?), and the batter tasted good.  If the cake doesn't do right?  I'm quitting the cult and giving up my kitchen.  I've the powdered sugar ready to turn into drizzle...and hopefully I'll be done.

Unfortunately for Hubs and the girlie-q's, I'm so sick of the kitchen, they're getting frozen pizzas for dinner.  Yes, I'll bake them, but nothing else!  I'm done.  Finished.  That's it!  I'm just saying...

So here it is.  The reunion weight loss blog.  So, I'm 5'7" and I weigh...um, over 130, but less than, hmm, if I say 160, you'll assume 159, which is not true, but I'll go ahead and say 160.  When I graduated high school 25 years ago, I weighed something like, 100 pounds.  At our last reunion, which was the 15th, I was pregnant, so that doesn't count!

I can't get on the treadmill as it's in the bedroom where Hubs is sleeping (he's on midnights).  I can't walk outside because it's doing some sort of misting thing.  I think I'll do some plie's and releve's.  That should speed up my heart a bit.  Then, I'll do some light free weights and some crunches.  I think instead of going all out, I'll do parts of upper body each day instead of the whole upper body.  should help since I'm having rotator cuff problems and I don't want to have to go to physical therapy...again.

So, here goes nothing...

Another Monday.  This one is dreary and damp, but hey, yesterday was so sunny and warm, I'm not complaining.  Well, I guess I kind of was, but anyhow.  Today I have a lot to do.  Write, of course, although I'm a bit blah, bake cupcakes, which after purchasing, I realized needed beat with a mixer, something I can't do while Hubs is asleep.

Then there is take the girls to dance, come home and cook, then go to a cult meeting.  I really don't want to go as I've got to write, but I will go since my mom is in charge of it.  Argh!

And did I mention I have a reunion in a few months and I'm still...doughy?  I don't think I grasped the full extent of the reunion until I realized it's 3 days until our planning party.  And I'm still doughy. 

So, in addition to my Monday blog, there will now be an exercise blog.  And maybe, just maybe I'll get back to my novel and write a First/Last blog again.  Oh, well, the weights are calling...I mean, so are the unbaked cupcakes, but first, I will...write.  I'm just saying...

I've been writing.  A lot.  Everyday in fact.  But the second I was told I had a column?  My brain shut down.  I'm four paragraphs into an article that is to be the first in my column (4th for the paper), yet, I can't focus on what I'm trying to say.

I'm kind of freaking out since my article is due tomorrow.  I mean, I know what I'm getting at, yet it's not flowing.  So, what I'm going to do is take the girls to school, come home, slip on my Mp3, and shut out the world. 

Wish me luck...I'm just saying...

I am SO excited.  I am now a regular columnist for Heartland Women.  I wrote three articles for them and when I pitched my first March idea, Chanda Green (owner/publisher/editor) said it sounded like a column idea.

So, my column is called, "I'm just saying..."  I know, big shock, right?  My first column under that heading is about my favorite day of the year.  If you don't know it, check out "Random Facts-O-Kristin" way back in the beginning.

I hope I still get to write random articles each month, too.  I enjoy that research, but if not, I'm a columnist!  If you aren't local, check out www.heartlandwomen.com each month.  Oh, and check out there archives beginning January 25, 2010, which is when my first article was published.  I'm just saying...

Well, today has been a bit lazier and less manic than most.  First, school was canceled last night so we all got to sleep in.  Well, I was up at 2:20 a.m. stoking the fire, then fell asleep in the living room.  Got up again at 6:15 to re-stoke, but Hubs got home and he did it.  So, he came to bed and I slept all snuggly.

The girls got up and I baked cinnamon squares.  Yummy!  Then I researched an article, read and commented on my fellow AC writers new posts, and watched 3/4 of a cute Disney movie with the girlie-q's, until it showed that for whatever reason, DVR didn't tape the whole movie.  Thankfully, it's on again tonight, so I added some time and we should get the whole thing.

Then I read some in my book that I started reading a year or so ago, but found so boring I quit.  Well, I was wrong.  The book is hilarious.  Now, I'm going to get the girls dance gear together as we have to be at dance class at 4:15 and the roads are less than perfect. 

Guess I'll write some more tonight.  Although, tonight is our late TV night for the girls and I.  They get to stay up until 9 p.m.  Yeah, we're wild ones.  I'm just saying...