oh blessed respite (otherwise known as vacation)

Tonight I am sitting at my parents computer.
My niece, Alyson, is making a pie in the kitchen.
My sister, Jenny, is reading a magazine.
My sister, Erica, is looking at old family photos.
My brother-in-law, Van, is asking me why he is not being included in the blog.
Mom is surrounded by grand kids.
I have no idea where Scott is. Probably chatting with his brother-in-laws.
My brother, Chris and his wife, Traci are getting ready to do a dry run of
their fantastic gourmet pizzas for a late night movie viewing.
We are relaxed. Usually, when I am writing this is not the state of things.
So as you can imagine it is a pleasant change.
I posted about it here. On Faithchick.
But that said, I will be taking a brief blogging hiatus because of all the lovely
relaxing we have going on here. And I am hoping, tsgs, that you are getting some relaxing in yourselves before the bustle of the new year begins
and we have to start thinking about all the chocolate we inhaled over this holiday season.
(or is that just me?)
Blessings on you, tsgs, and your friends and family!
May God grant you peace and some relaxation to boot!
See you back here in the New Year!

the book is here

So here is the thing.
28 years ago I wrote my first poem....about my flute....don't ask.
23 years ago I wrote my first fictional story about a girl named Kelin
and listed all the different colors of mascara that she wore in the story.
I believe teal was her favorite. That is jr. high literature at its best.
17 years ago I wrote my first kids book in honor of my niece Aly's birth.
It was about Nysola, a little trilly (fairy type person) from the land of Floralon.
10 years ago I attended my first writer's conference.
I began to dream of getting published.
9 years ago I was asked to submit my first proposal to a publishing company,
a picture book about a girl who couldn't stop complaining, Miss Minerva St. Clair.
7 years ago I got a rejection letter for Minerva St. Clair.
6 years ago my gift book about pregnancy, made it through two publishing comittees and a meeting with an editor before tanking.
4 years ago I was asked to submit 3 more proposals to 3 other publishers and received
very lovely rejection letters from them as well.
2 years ago with the help of Wendy Lawton, my highly esteemed literary agent (she rocks), I sold my first manuscript....and wept.
10 days ago this arrived at my house.

Dreams come true.

crazy christmas

My friend, Kristi, and I used to meet for what we called "crazy coffee".
This entailed dragging 3 children ages 2 and under to Starbucks.
There was a general flinging of straws, the inhalation of madeline cookies
and chocolate milk, 3.4 spills and some screaming thrown in for good measure.
I think I was usually the one screaming.
Kristi and I would get to talk about 3 out of the 60 minutes we were there due
to the mayhem. But we kept going to crazy coffee because we loved being together.
As of this morning, I'm pretty sure I am having crazy christmas.
I got up at 6:30 to prep for all of the goodies to take to the boys classes.
Around 8:00 when the boys were supposed to be heading out the door,
I was losing my salvation in the kitchen.
Scott tried to keep the children occupied and away from me as I ranted over
my lack of baking powder.
Who would know that baking powder could be so vital to one's sanity?
Then there are the lines that I have been encountering during my Christmas
shopping forays.
It's like going to Disneyland except that there is no fun ride at the end of the line. Just people who want my money.
I was in Ross the other afternoon and I believe half of Redwood City was there.
The line extended almost the entire length of the store.
The funniest part was you couldn't tell the length of the line
from the front of the store.
So each person would round the corner and call out to the heavens in despair
when they saw the line.
One man made eye contact with me as he viewed the incredible line.
"It's just a scarf....without a price tag," he said forlornly.
I gave him a firm look. I knew this man was not up for a price check.
No one is up for a price check at Ross.
The people who are checking the price get lost amongst the clothes for hours.
"It's not worth it," I told him.
In my head I thought, Run far far away and don't come back to Ross until February.
He heeded my shopperly advice and left.
When I was finally at the front of the line, another gentleman rounded the corner
and burst into a colorful array of language. Rather descriptive.
And while I prefer to keep my language a little less colorful, I felt for the man.
I really did.
And then there is the part where in purchasing gifts every thing has to come
out even. And fair. All is fair in love and Christmas shopping.
I can't spend $20 on one person's gift and $5 on another.
We must have equality in the gifting arena. That puts the pressure on.
So these are just a few of the dilemmas of crazy christmas.
But just like crazy coffee, I can't stay away.
And that is the craziest part of all. I love all the trappings of Christmas.
Most of all that in 6 short days all the scrurrying and cooking and baking and wrapping will be done and I will be sitting with family, soaking up their presence,
singing christmas carols and hopefully nibbling on some type of cookie.
It's about to get good, tsgs, it really is.

breathe

With the holiday season upon us, we really don't know if we are coming or going.
Actually, we are mostly going. Going to the store. Going to see friends.
Going for meetings. Going to the store....again. Going to Christmas programs.
Going to teas. Going to church. Going. A. Little. Crazy. Just a little.
And this holiday season doesn't really seem to take into account real life.
I was talking with my friends Paula and Lisa the other day, and we noticed different appliances have decided to go on vacation during the holidays.
Between us we had an unsealed toilet, 2 broken dishwashers,
a washing machine that forgets to drain and a dryer that caught fire.
(helpful hint from Lisa...lint also collects UNDER your dryer...
you need to pull it out and sweep because the heating coil is underneath...
I have never once swept under my dryer....that is cause for concern)
The lack of appliance help seems to up the ante considerably.
My Christmas decorations are sitting on our back patio
and have yet to make it inside the house.
Addison keeps asking me, "Mommy, Christmas come to my house?"
I'm not sure what to tell him. I hope so.
Maybe I should ask him if Christmas coming to his house entails having a tree?
That hasn't made it's way into the house either.
In the mayhem of work and school and added events all normalcy has taken a back seat.
Like schedules and nutrition. After their school performance last night,
the kids were up until 10....their bed time is 8. Crazy.
This morning as I tried to sleep in, I yelled bedside directions to Jack,
"Yes, everyone can have sugar cereal!" Crazy.
In all our cavorting, I haven't made it to the grocery and our fruit consumption is way down.
I have 1 semi-brown lemon in the fruit bowl.
We're talking about a random can of spaghettios for lunch and dinner will be pizza at Jack's friend's birthday party . Crazy.
Let's all say a prayer on behalf of our arteries.
So this week as we gear up for school parties, gift exchanges, visits with friends, Sunday school lessons, cousin time, birthday celebrations, writing deadlines
and trying to figure out a meal plan for next week,
I am going to be remembering to breathe.
Breathing in. Breathing out.
Breathe in.
Christmas is at my house...
Breathe out.
Even when the Christmas decorations are not.
Breathe in.
There is so much to be thankful for...
Breathe out.
Even when I'm washing dishes by hand.
Breathe in.
Loving people counts.
Breathe out.
Everything else is negotiable.
If I can remember the reason for this time of year....
the reason to rejoice and celebrate and hold the people I love close....
that God is with us....than I can breathe.

two new giveaway winners

We have two new winners for the 10 day Thanksgiving giveaway!
A very sparkly reindeer goes to
#12 - Amy
Timestamp: 2008-12-10 16:30:47 UTC
A very snuggly sleep sack goes to
#13 - KC Shipe
Timestamp: 2008-12-10 16:45:24 UTC
Please e-mail me at sfaughtmon@comcast.net to claim your prize.
Congratulations!

so it's christmas picture time again

So just in case you thought the Aughtmon crew was amazingly photogenic at every turn
and have no struggle getting a family christmas picture.....
Here is the real story.
We took our own picture on with the timer on our camera.
There was bribery and chocolate cookies involved.
We had to re-take more than once because after getting a pretty good shot
we realized someone had chocolate on their face....
that would be me...not one of the children.
I will neither confirm or deny that I ate the chocolate bribery cookies myself.
And here we have the Christmas photo montage.












As you can see, we lost Jack by the end.
The Christmas picture taking is rarely pretty or without tears.
Or apparently without smudges of bribery chocolate.
Hope yours goes well.

laundry: a pictorial

laundry



more laundry



and yet more laundry



folded laundry



no laundry....:)



laundry

10 days of Thanksgiving winners

Okay, tsgs, here are the lucky winners!
Sara Groves new Christmas CD winner: #14 Beth K
14 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 05:56:23 UTC
Everyday Grace notecards winner: #13 Rebecca
13 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 05:58:40 UTC
A very snuggly sleep sack winner: #6 Meg
6 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:00:12 UTC
A very sparkly reindeer winner: #15 Moziesme
15 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:20:46 UTC
Cute Bonbon Charms winner: #4 Jodie
4 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:01:38 UTC
Chocolate covered joe joe's winner: #32 thetnpreacherswife
32 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:02:38 UTC
Bizzie Lizzie's zip bag winner: #27 The Oswalds
27 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:03:50 UTC
Lovely fancy soaps winner: #18 Traci
18 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:34:59 UTC
Shiny minty lip gloss winner: #11 Pamela
11 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:29:34 UTC
Rene's Christmas novels winner: #23 Maria
23 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 06:05:17 UTC

And last but not least....
The-put-the-10-day-giveaway-button-on-your-blog Drawing Winner: #3 Kelly@lovewell
3 Timestamp: 2008-12-02 05:59:31 UTC
(only those who put the button on their blog were included)

Pretty fantastic! Those who won, please e-mail me (sfaughtmon@comcast.net) with
your address so that I can forward it on to those who donated their lovely items-
so that they can send them to you and make all of your holiday wishes come true.
Any prizes not claimed by December 6 will be re-drawn.