I Just Lost Twenty Pounds!

At least it feels like it! Well, I really have never lost twenty pounds before except with the labor of my two children. Men can't beat it. They stand around talking about how they started working out and lost ten pounds in two weeks. Any woman who's birthed a child can drop the line, "Oh, yeah? I lost ten pounds in one day!"

Just in case you're reading this and haven't experienced the joy of birth yourself, let me review a few facts:

~labor can be painful and is definitely hard work
~the birth itself is messy and miraculous at the same time
~the second it's over, the mother forgets how hard it was and the pain was all worth it

Today, the 28th day of February, I gave birth to my second book! (Depends on how you count it though, as I only wrote half of the book with Mom--so my 1 1/2 book?) The baby was conceived sometime in July, dug into the nutrients of my brain on the 26th of that month, but grew slowly until November. By November 14, I only had written 12653 words. I know this because I kept a baby journal, as all obsessive mothers do.

But I buckled down and made writing my job. Today at 3:07 PM, I wrote the last of 91,294 words and Undiscovered came into the world. "Now wait," some of you authors are saying. "It's not born until it's published.

I beg to differ. I brought neither of my children home with me from the hospital, but left them in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. My novel is now in the MICU--Manuscript Intensive Care Unit. I can go visit it often, feed it, burp it, change it, but it's not ready to be out in public yet. The more care I give it, the more purposefully I edit the junk away, the healthier it will be when it does leave the MICU.

But I'm twenty pounds lighter! I've got tons of writing related tasks scheduled for the next month, but no more quotas to meet until April. The weight on my shoulders--the one I call Should--has left for a time. Should likes to sit on my back and tell me YOU SHOULD BE WRITING while I read emails and blogs, play with the kids, do the dishes, scratch my husband's back,.... And, when I'm writing, Should says YOU SHOULD BE WITH YOUR FAMILY.

Good riddance, Should. See you in April.

Birthday Surprise

Kevin's birthday was last week. We had a little family party; later, he and I went to dinner and saw a movie. Then his birthday was over.

Or so he thought! I told him his gift was coming late, which was extremely fun because he always figures out what I'm getting him. On Wednesday afternoon, when he got home from work, I convinced him to take a nap. And, come on, most of us don't need much convincing to rest. I turned the fan on to mask noise, slipped the hidden lasagnas into both ovens, and readied the house for a par-tay.

A few guests showed up, but we were still missing two families. I called the first man. Let's, for the sake of privacy, name him "Mr. Pastor."

Mr. Pastor: Hello?

Me: Hi, I'm wondering how much longer until you guys are here. I'm about to wake Kevin up and we'll wait if you're just a few minutes away.

Mr. Pastor: Yeah, we're just a few minutes away.

Me: Like five?

Mr. Pastor (bashfully): We're at home. I forgot, totally spaced it, but we'll be right there.

Guess I better call the other family. Let's call this man "Mr. Officer."

Mr. Officer: Hello?

Me: Hi, it's Christina. We're going to wake Kevin up for his surprise party and I'm wondering how far away you are.

Mr. Officer: Slight hesitation. We're pretty close.

Me: You're at home, aren't you?

Mr. Officer: Uh-huh.

Me: Well, try to beat Mr. Pastor because he forgot and is coming from home, too.

In the meantime, as we're waiting for our forgetful friends, the other men convince me that I shouldn't wake up Kevin. Noooo. That would be boring. The exciting thing to do would be to let them crawl in bed with him and wake him up.

I fell for it, and have the video to prove it.

We had a great time, Kevin was very touched by my effort, and all proceeds were donated to the XBox 360 Timeshare Program. (Kev ordered the system today.)

I'd just sat down after mopping the kitchen floor when I turned to my husband and said, "I don't feel so good." From then on, through the dark night and into the wee hours of the morning, a bucket was my best friend. I think I managed a few moments of sleep here and there, curled up on the bathroom floor. Thank You, God, that it held off for the party. I consider that a blessing, a small miracle that shows my Father's care for me.

The bad news was that I got 2200 words behind while I was sick. The great news is that I wrote just over 3000 today! Back in the saddle, baby!

Charis Connection

I'm so excited!!! Click on my link to the left and go to Charis Connection, but promise me you'll come right back!

All right. That's MY question on Ask the Authors Monday! I also asked this question of the expert panel of writers this past weekend at the OCW conference.

Wonder why I wonder about such a thing? Because my husband has Sundays and Mondays off, we go to church on Saturday, and the kids are in school Mon-Fri. I really don't like the thought of writing the same day I go to church, but I wasn't sure which day should be a Sabbath. My husband used to feel a bit put out if I wrote when he was home, mainly because he works so many hours. He wants to spend time with me, not with me and my laptop. And who can blame him. He didn't know he was marrying a writer because I didn't know that's what I wanted to be almost 11 years ago when we said our vows. That's all changed recently because he sees how hard I'm working on my newest book.

Today I finished my quota in time to go out to dinner and to the movies with Kevin to celebrate his 34th birthday. I've only got about 12,000 words to do before the end of the month. Bette Nordberg says the last 15,000 words are like coasting downhill on a bike. I'll see if it proves true over the next two weeks.

No matter what else happens, I plan to keep my Sabbaths HOLY.

Speak These Nevermore

My grandmother was telling me a story on Valentine's Day about one of my uncles. He was a strong little guy. One day, they went to visit her parents. My uncle rushed up the steps and through the door to hug his grandpa. Next thing she knew, my uncle was lifting his grandpa in a bear hug.

"You put Grandpa down this instant!"

One of our family's favorite meals is thinly-sliced chicken (stir fried in Italian salad dressing) on a bed of rice with cucumber cubes. The kids scarf it down! Rice was flying all over the place, Joshua was eating so fast. A piece of rice fell on his shirt and, instead of using his napkin or his fork, he tried to use his mouth, but he couldn't quite reach it.

"Joshua, don't lick your armpit at the table!"

And, yet another entry for the Mother of the Year Award: The kids hadn't been finishing their soda pops and I was tired of throwing away flat coke after it sat in the fridge for days. Pop is a treat, but I don't want to waste it. They each also had a piece of candy they wanted to eat.

"You can't have your candy until you've drunk all your pop!"

Feel like sharing your never-should-have-been-said stories?

One Rose vs. One Dozen

What kind of a church has a senior pastor that looks like this?!? Try to look past the crazy Don King hair and the thick glasses...until you can see the heart pattern on his love-ly vest. He's the host of the famous Oldywed Game. Cue the music. (For a more complete story about the game, go to The Mother Blog.)

The Wapato Heartstrings (pictured below) entertained us with song and Pastor Eric just entertained.

The fun-filled night kicked off the church's annual couples retreat. All day on Saturday we got to drink in the wisdom of our speakers, David and Kelli Pritchard from Tacoma, WA.

The Pritchards are very intentional parents and spouses. They have to be: they have eight children! Soon, we'll all be able to learn from them by going to our nearest Christian bookstore and ordering their book, Going Public. It won't release until next year, but as the first book to fill a gap in the publishing world by providing a message of how to do well with your children in public school, I'm sure it will sell extremely well!

I'll be posting their website as soon as it's up and running!


The most unique question they asked the women in the audience was whether we would like one rose or a dozen. Quick, choose for yourself before you read on. Consistently--and Wapato was no exception--the women choose one rose. I distinctly heard one man gasp and say, "What?"

Helpful hint for men: If you're thinking of getting your wife flowers, it's the thought that counts, truly, and not the amount you spend. Happy coming Valentine's Day!

A Late Super Bowl

Every year we have a Super Bowl Party since we have a huge screen downstairs. (The projector actually shoots onto a flat wall.)

Here's my confession: it's now more than a week after the big game and I still haven't seen it. 16 adults and 20 children ran around during the party. Okay, mostly the men hid in the basement and the women played cards! The kids enjoyed a warm (70 degrees!) day with football, non-parental approved wrestling, jumping on the trampoline, exploring the woods, being licked to death by the dogs, etc.... Here's a picture of just seven of the bunch.





And here's proving adults can have fun,too!

Oh, the food was so good! But bad, if you think about how much we ate and the nutritional value of the stuff. :-)

The DVR is calling out my name, but I've resisted because I'm hard at work writing to an end-of-the-month deadline. Maybe if I get my words done for today, I'll be able to fast forward and get to the meat of the game. You know, skip the plays and watch the commercials!

Tattletale

I signed Andrea out of school fifteen minutes early so we could make it to her dentist appointment on time. Despite my best efforts at helping her brush her teeth, sticking my huge hands (relatively speaking) into her mouth to floss, and providing a fluoride rinse she ended up with one cavity. In a baby tooth, which is cool, but one she'll need for the next couple of years.

One thing my husband and I have always promised our children is we will never choose to lie to them. The word "choose" is just to cover those times when a parent promises a trip to the roller rink, but out-of-town company shows up or something. From a parent's perspective, that's changing plans. From a child's, that can seem like a lie. But, I wondered, how much should I tell her in preparation for her first filling? Do I use the word "shot" or not?

Blessedly, we have the best dentist in the world. Dr. Myers kept up a humorous, running commentary the whole time he numbed, gave shots, and drilled. Afterward, I told Andrea how impressed I was with how she'd done only to find out she'd been terrified the whole time.

"Mom, I thought it was going to be like on Finding Nemo when he jabs the shot into the guy. But after the first shot didn't hurt, it was okay."

Andrea also shared her experience with Grandma when we got home. She expanded upon her fear, the two grunts she made with the first shots (which I didn't hear), and how she'd shook the whole time (which I didn't see).

"So did Mom hold your hand?" Grandma asked.

"No. She was writing."

Busted. Yes, I must confess I added 400 words to my WIP during her appointment, crunched into a corner of the room, elbows lifted awkwardly to be able to type. Bring on the Mother of the Year Award!

The Not So Funny Pages

Have any of you been keeping up with the comic strip Better or Worse? Michael, one of the boys who's grown up and married during the time I've been following the strip, just received a contract in the mail for his first book. A few weeks ago he returned to a burning house to get the MS. Not a sane thing to do, but it's paying off for him. The publisher is offering him a $25,000 advance!

Can I tell you how frustrating it is that a cartoon character has gotten a book contract before I have?!?