Staying Warm

Well, we are in the midst of a winter storm. We were warned it was coming and just like promised it arrived early this morning. First with sleet, then with snow. It is not yet 10:00 AM and we are already in a winter wonderland.

The fire is crackling in my fireplace across the room, it is pretty but doesn't give off much heat. I miss my super duper heating fireplace in our old house. That fireplace could virtually heat almost the entire house. There is something to be said about little brick houses that were built in the 1950's. My kids are frantically duct taping an old plastic sled. I now regret not buying that super duper sled that was on clearance at Target the other day. Oh well, I was just being hopeful that spring was on it's way I guess. But there will be no sledding until the snow stops blowing in horizontally and the wind chill reaches the double digits! I do not need 3 frozen Popsicles on my hands.

It would be a great day for snuggling up to read or write. But I think I will have my hands full keeping the troops entertained. Maybe this afternoon I will get a chance to curl up for some me time, we'll see.

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

And The Winner Is....

for the 50 dollar CSN give away is Wander from Hope's Cafe!

She was lucky number 10 that the RIG picked.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

10
Timestamp: 2010-01-21 02:34:54 UTC

Thanks everyone who participated! Hope I'll be in touch soon:)

We're On The Road Of 2010

picture by Scott Flathouse

Wow, we're already on the road of 2010 and even though December looks a far way off I know we will be there before we know it. I decided I needed to chart a straight path for this year. I'd like to stick to a course and avoid getting squashed somewhere along the way. I need determination and drive if I'm going to get to my destination. I need to write down my goals and look at them everyday!

Since I began homeschooling this year I realized it just isn't possible to do it all. Through much prayer I believe now is my time with my children. They grow fast and before I know it they will be off on their own. Plotting their own course, which may take them far from home. So this year I have decided to keep my writing short. I'm putting the novel aside, and I'm going to concentrate on things of a shorter length.

The paper I write for is trying to go weekly this year which means my articles will need to be ready each week, instead of every other. That's at the top of my list along with keeping up with my blogs. Next, I'm going to start researching getting some articles published in magazines or journals. I would love to write some stories for Chicken Soup and the likes. I guess, I'll mostly be concentrating on non-fiction for the time being.

I also plan on catching up on reading both novels and trade. A lot of this might have to be done during home school breaks. It will be my treat to look forward too. Lastly, I hope to arrange my schedule so I can get up earlier and do most of my writing before the sun and my children are up. Of course to do this I will have to get to bed at a decent hour and actually sleep! I'm hoping my 2 1/2 year old will help me with this plan.

My eyes are firmly focused on that yellow center stripe, my feet are firmly planted and I'm off.

I know many of you have a course for 2010, what's your destination?

What A Whirlwind...

I'm back home and amazed by all we've done in the last 2 weeks. Our Christmas was wonderful here at home with just us. We enjoyed a few moments of quiet between my husbands crazy work schedule recently and weekend quick trips. We headed to Houston to see my family for a late Christmas celebration, which was very nice.

On the heels of that celebration WB celebrated his 40th birthday! His parents came in from Austin, his youngest brother and family came in from Victoria and my mother made yummy spaghetti pie for dinner.

We had such fun with everyone, but before we came back home WB and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. My parents took the kids to the beach for a few frigid days while WB and I visited Messina Hoff winery near College Station. We had the bed and breakfast villa to ourselves and it was lovely. It was the first time ever to be away from Little One, but she had a great time with my parents, so all was well. WB and I had a wonderful time just worrying about us and enjoying each others company without any interruptions.

Now we are home and I'm nursing a ruptured eardrum, wishing my house was clean, and my husband's job would slow down enough so we actually saw him during waking hours. But that's life. I'm just glad we had the time we did to slow down and have fun as a family. Those are the moments I treasure.

Any secrets you'd like to share on settling down into a routine after the holidays? I'm very open to suggestions:)