Hubby's 300 Debut!!

Hubby has brought it to my attention that it's been a while since I've posted, and yikes--he's right!! And you know how much I hate it when he's right!! LOL!!

The past month's been a blur of end-of-school meetings and helping the kids study for finals. Son #1 has been sick, but thankfully, he's feeling better now. Hard to believe the kids will be sophomores in a little over a week.

We had a yard sale last weekend that was EXHAUSTING!!! We spent the proceeds at the Muskogee Renaissance Faire, and had a ball!!


Here's Hubby striking a 300 pose!!

Daughter has always wanted a corset, so we broke down and bought her one. Isn't she cute??!!

Son #2 had never ridden a camel, so we forced him to climb aboard!!!












The neighborhood pool opens in a couple weeks, so Hubby and I have been trying to get in shape. Ugh. We've been walking a nearby park trail that's 3 miles around. Yesterday morning, I did my 3 miles, then, since I can't seem to get one of my kids to do it, I mowed the lawn. OUCH!!! I never realized that we live on a mountain!! The front yard wasn't so bad, but the back is awful. Lots of rocky spots, and it's marshy by the pond. At one point, I fell--double ouch!!

On the writing front, I finished up the last of my Harlequin contracts (an anthology project out of the NYC office that'll be released in January), and my fingers are crossed to hear great news soon about the latest batch of proposals I sent to Harlequin American in Canada.

Hope everyone has a great start to their summer!!

Stickers!!!!

I have a dirty secret to confess . . . I'm addicted to stickers!!!!! Any of you who know me (or have been checking in to my blog with any frequency), accept the fact that I'm horribly date challenged. I'm flawlessly punctual--assuming I know the date I'm supposed to do something. But more often than not, I need reminding.

Enter stickers. I've been breakfasting with my writer gals Karen Crane who writes as Karen Toller Whittenburg and Amy Lillard who's a soon to be writing star!! Anyway, Amy's incredibly organized, and has a darling planning book that she decorates with stickers. It's gorgeous!! I was so jealous!!! Anyway, long story short, I now have my own sticker book--ahm planner --and no longer need reminder calls about every little thing!!!

What got me on the topic this morning, is that Daughter and I went out last night for *bling* to decorate her new dresser with--long story--and wound up at the dollar store (don't you just love those?? ) I found Barbie stickers, My Little Pony, and even fabulous iridescent fairy stickers!! I've already been playing with them, even though Hubby shot me a dirty look for purchasing a cute binder to store them all in.

In other news, my anthology that's due May 1st is coming along nicely. Daughter's shoulder's healing well, but she found out she needs glasses. I didn't figure she'd even wear them, but we bought her a pair of Coach glasses (with the matching Coach case, of course), and now she wears them all the time! Yay!! She just got her grade check for cheer tryouts, and she's doing MUCH better in class, so they must be working!!

There's not much news with any of the boys. Hubby's been behaving (aside from his sticker grumbling! ), Son #1 is so smitten with his new girlfriend that he's always in a great mood, and Son #2 has been helping me redecorate the downstairs. We had to plaster the walls in the bathroom, which turned out to be tougher than I thought, but seriously cute!! I've got to get one of the kids to take pics. Why can't I do it, you ask? Hey--I finally learned how to write down a date, but no way have I figured out how to work the digital camera!!! LOL!! (This pic is of Son #1 and his girlfriend. Aren't they cute??!!)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!

We're having low key celebration this year. Son #2 has to work an eight-hour shift sacking groceries, and Mom and Dad said they're tired after their return trip from the Bahamas and didn't feel like making the two-hour drive to Tulsa. Hubby and I are still cooking up a storm, though. Plenty of ham, baked beans and cheezzzy potatoes!! We made Granny Sylv an Easter basket, and will go see her soon.

Monday night, Daughter was running from being tickled when she ran right into a wall!! She complained about it hurting pretty bad, so we took her to the emergency room and after x-rays discovered she has an AC separation on her left shoulder, which is a fancy term for she tore the ligament from her bone. I spent a huge majority of the week taking her around to various doctors. Poor thing is in a shoulder-harness-immobilizer-thingee, and is still in a lot of pain. Her pain medicine made her throw-up, so she's just having to suck it up pain-wise.

Compounding the problem, is the fact that cheerleading tryouts for the coming year are next week!! Her orthopedic specialist said he wasn't prepared to make a prediction on whether or not she'd be able to even move her arm--let alone tumble--until this week. I'll keep you posted on how this turns out.

Like we hadn't already had enough fun earlier in the week, Hubby was grabbing something out of the car Thursday night, when he hollered for all us to come. Why? Because we had a tarantula on the driveway!!! AGGHH!!!

On the writing front, I just finished a flurry of mini-revisions and the last round of page proof edits for my September book, Dancing With Dalton. My latest project is due May 1st, so this week--barring unforeseen kid trauma--I'm hoping to lock myself in my office and write, write, write!!!

In the mean time, however, I'm off to make potato salad! YUM!!

Mixed reviews . . .

Saturday morning, Hubby and I took Granny Sylv to the nursing home. She's been there before on short stays, and all the workers fuss over her, so she was happy.

From there, we took Daughter to her first beauty pageant. She looked gorgeous, had a ball, won Prettiest Smile and a sparkly crown she rarely removes!! Daughter's happy.

Sunday, we rearranged furniture and deep-cleaned Granny Sylv's room, as Daughter's moving in there. The eeeuuw-factor was off the charts. We found lots of very odd things I won't get into, and while I painted, poor Hubby scrubbed.

Okay, so Monday morning comes, and after doing carpool, I arrive back home where I should've gotten a ton of writing done. I should've been happy. I had no breakfast to prepare, no bath to run, etc., yet I felt frozen. After staring at the computer, waiting for the words to come, I finally gave up and cleaned the kitchen. Hubby and I did lunch, but ended up bickering.

We went to the nursing home around six to drop off papers and have a quick visit, and we found Granny Sylv glowing with happiness. She kept saying over and over how this was the best place she'd ever been in her whole life. Patsy--her main caregiver--is a sweetie, and dotes on all of the folks in her charge.

I thought I'd wake this morning feeling great and ready to write, but I have to drive Son #2's Christmas kitten about thirty minutes North to get spayed and declawed. We adopted her from a shelter up there, so the vet services were included in the adoption fee. How cute is this pic of Foxy napping on my desk?!

I'm hoping at some point during the drive, I'll figure out what's bugging me!! If there are any armchair psychiatrists out there--or real ones--who have ideas as to what's wrong, please feel free to chime in!!

Spring Break in Altomville

It's spring break here in Altomville, and seeing how we're not going anywhere fabulous, that means a messy house and whiny teens!! LOL!! Seriously, the house is a disaster, but I'm trying to keep boredom at bay by providing plenty of activities. Sunday, we did the zoo (this pic is of me & Hubby on a popcorn break), yesterday we did errands and the orthodontist, and today, we're lunching with Margaret at Olive Garden. I think we're going to a movie, too, but will have to check with Margaret's schedule. Being a teacher, she's on spring break, too, but she has an action-packed schedule even on vacations!!

Tomorrow, we're headed to a miniatures museum, and then on to the Philbrook, which is a fancy schmancy art museum here in Tulsa. The kids will probably slip into a coma midway through our tour, but all three of them could use a massive dose of culture!! Hubby thinks I'm nuts for this, and in fact has said he's thrilled to not be on vacation so I won't be torturing him with force-fed culture!!! Nice, huh?? LOL!!!

Ignoring hubby, Thursday, we're trekking to Bartlesville (about an hour north of here) to learn about Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Phillips. We were recently at the airport, picking up Hubby, when the kids were checking out a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit and asked who he was. Having majored in Interior Design in college, during which, I spent a year studying Architecture, I freaked!! By the end of Thursday, at least two of my apple dumplings will know about Mr. Wright!! Son #1 is narrowly avoiding our family study day by going to a friend's lakehouse!! Hubby finds this most amusing!!

Happy news for Granny Sylv . . . She'll be staying in a private home that houses six other elderly men and women. They have round-the-clock nursing, eat in a family setting, etc. She's stayed there before on a temporary basis and the caregivers are great!!! We're relieved to have found her such a perfect home, and will move her in Saturday morning.

Sad Granny Sylv News

Boy, have I done great on my wish to become a regular blogger again, or what?? In the words of Borat--NOT!! LOL!! In my defense, things have been a tad crazed around here. But then that's the usual, so I should be getting used to it!!

One sad thing that's happened is that Hubby and I have made the tough call to put Granny Sylv in a nursing home. She's as sweet as ever to me and spooky mean to him. She's constantly taking things from the kids and staring at them in the middle of the night. She's spitting, etc., etc.. It's too much. With Hubby traveling a lot with his new job, I can't care for her on my own and still stay sane--like I ever was!! And the kids are all pretty freaked out. My job for the next few days is to scope out some homes that have Alzheimer units. In talking with her lawyer, he said that he has a client who runs a nursing home, and that 95% of her workman comp claims come from the Alzheimer unit. He went on to tell us that she's seen Alzheimer patients become Jekyll/Hyde and snap someone's arm in half!!! Anyway, two years after bringing Granny Sylv to live with us, we're thinking it's not only best for us that she go, but her.

On a lighter note, I'm lunching today with Heidi the cheer coach, so in between looking at nursing homes, that'll be fun!! She's such a hoot, and always full of good stories!!

Hubby and the boys are doing great, but Daughter's been grounded for grades. To be ungrounded, she had to get three raised, and so far, she's fixed two of the three. Next week is spring break, so I'm really hoping she pulls it together by Friday!! I remember my parents feeding me the old "this hurts us more than you line" as a kid, and rolling my eyes, but it's sooo true!! She's one of my favorite "toys"!! When she's not allowed to play, seeing how she's usually my playmate, that means I'm crazy-bored, too!! LOL!!

Oh--before I forget, if anyone's out there . . . Drum roll, please, I redesigned my website!!! It's not fancy, but totally updated, and since I'm now handling it myself, I'm hoping to get updates done more often. Also, I added a mailing list, so get signed up!! (lauramariealtom.com)

All right, I'm off to yell as three out of three kids ignored my first "get up!" rant!! Time to get ugly!! LOL!!! ;-)

Hello? Anyone Out There?

Okay, so I was at Ladies' Night last night, when my gal, Sandy, comes up and says that she enjoyed my blog, but what happened? So I was like, what? Could you possibly be referring to the fact that I vanished?? LOL!!

Truth of the matter, I had a *baby*, and he's taking some getting used to. Remember Son #2? Well, he's now legally ours, and something about having an added son, on top of caring for Granny Sylv, has emotionally taken a lot out of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm over-the-moon happy with the new member of our family, but I wasn't prepared for the amount of worry that came along with him--both emotionally and logistically. He was sort of a blank slate in terms of dentistry, health care, government documentation, etc., so it's been an adventure getting him on the *grid*.

Yesterday, he got his learner's permit for driving, and both boys have gotten jobs at our local grocery store, so there's been banking to do in setting them both up with new accounts. The job is more work for me than them, in that I'm now driving to and from work in addition to cheer and track and tennis!! They make $6.00 an hour, but hit me and Hubby up for snack money during their breaks. So far, between gas, snacks, and buying their uniforms, it would've been cheaper for them to stay home loafing!!!!

Daughter's great! We just got back from a trip to Orlando with her cheer squad. They competed in the UCA National Cheerleading Championships, and while they performed their hearts out, the other teams were SPECTACULAR, so they didn't make it to the semi-finals. Coach Heidi explained that many of the teams have had programs in place for twenty-plus years, whereas our school has only been competitive for the past two. I was still impressed with how our girls performed!!! But you know me, I was REALLY impressed by Disneyworld caramel corn!!! LOL!!!

As for my diet . . . Sigh. I'd lost seventeen pounds before Christmas, only to gain it back during the holiday rush. It's finally gotten pretty again outside, so I've started walking again in the park. Hopefully, that'll help offset my love of McChickens!!!

Hubby's great--currently in Minnesota. He took a new job that he's happy with. It's a much smaller, specialized consulting firm VERY close to home, plus, he's great friends with the guy in his office, so now that we're past the hump of switching insurance, etc., I'm thinking it's going to be a great fit.

As for the writing front, I just finished a flurry of new Harlequin American proposals that I'm excited about! (Let's hope Johanna and Kathleen are, too!!) Speaking of my poor, new editor, Johanna, she shattered her ankle weeks ago, and as far as I know is still out of the office. I just finished edits on my September book, Dancing With Dalton--yay!!! LOL!! Johanna made some great suggestions, and I was pleased with how it turned out. I'm now fine-tuning a detailed synopsis/outline for a project I've been contracted for out of the NYC Harlequin office.

This was MAJOR excitement for me, hearing I'd been invited to participate in a winter-themed anthology headed by my first editor, Tina Colombo. It's been fun catching up with her again, and crazy-flattering that they thought to include me in the project!! Lindsay McKenna and Cara Summers are the other two authors!! Cool, huh??!!!

Now that life has settled into somewhat of a regular routine, I'm hoping to get back into my regular routine--meaning blogging and an updated website and answering e-mails!!! In the mean time, time to wake the kiddos!!!