1. The Adirondacks were beautiful. So many lakes and mountains and we had great weather. Favorite places. The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, (don’t miss the otters) as well as the Blue Jay camp ground there. My kids are just starting to be independent and campgrounds are a great place for that.
2. Lake George was over-developed, commercial, and quite tacky. That was a little disappointing, but if you’re looking for temporary tattoos or Simpson’s t-shirts, you’ve come to the right place.
3. Favorite moment, taking the kids white water rafting. E was scared through the first rapid and then laughed out loud on the next ones. I love watching them grow and experience new things.
4. New York State campgrounds were all clean and beautiful. The Sacandega River Campground was my favorite.
5. Family reunions mean family. Lot’s of it. Also, reunions mean lot’s of food. I’m sure I’ve gained weight. I have to teach aerobics tomorrow and wonder if I’m going to be able to get through the hour.
6. I’m really glad that my children are out of diapers and sleep through the night.
7. Let sleeping children sleep, let playing children play. It is so easy to overschedule a vacation. Relax and do nothing sometimes.
8. We visited the Wyoming County Fair in Pike, NY. The same agricultural fair that my husband showed cows at during his youth. Nothing has changed. I could tell he really enjoyed sharing that bit of his childhood with the kids.
9. Driving 12 hours in one day stinks.
10. Disappointing your child by not stopping in hotel when your hubby wants to drive all the way stinks too. Especially when they cry.
11. If you are a kiddo, ending up at Grandpa’s where there is a heated pool makes the long drive and no hotel a moot point. But not until you’ve had some sleep.
12. Having Grandpa tape the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance, made the drive okay for me.
13. Coming home to 140 emails, a pile of laundry, and fuzzy stuff in your frig is just part of the trip.
Tag: about me
Tagged, eight things.
I was tagged this week by Donna Farrell…
Here are the rules:
Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
1. It took me a while to say that I am a children’s author and illustrator but now that I own it I am ready (read: salivating) for the elusive book contract.
2. There are plenty of days that I want to run away from being a mother but then I see my beautiful children smiling when they are truly having fun, or all lit up from learning and discovery, or radiating this amazing glow of peaceful innocence when they sleep and I know I’m in it for the long haul.
3. I used to think I was a country girl but recently I’ve been longing for public transportation, local grocery stores, and neighbors. This causes disequilibrium with my wonderful farmer-at-heart husband but we’ve made it 14 years and there’s at least another 40 to go. Maybe a year or two in Boston or New York or even Madison, or St. Paul would allay this urge.
4. More than anything, I want to go to art school. (Some paying illustration jobs would be a close second.)Why? I achieve at a higher level when I am completing assignments and surrounded by honest critique. I am also longing for a period of time when I can be totally selfish and being a student is deliciously selfish. I wish I knew in college what I know now about myself.
5. I am trying to decide if I need an MFA, in art? in writing for children? or is it just another stupid piece of paper that doesn’t mean anything?
6. I need to get a day job for financial reasons. While I am an educator at heart and experience, I get leaping frogs of doom in my stomach when I imagine going back to teach in a public school situation. Thinking of staff meetings where no one wants to try anything new, no child left behind testing and paperwork, and huge numbers of students to manage and assess, makes me want to cry.
7. I’m a piler not a filer and I hate housework. My mother gave me the I-can’t-get-rid-of-paper-gene. Thanks, Mom.
8. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to find 8 blogging friends who haven’t already tried this so I’ll go with four.
Let’s try… Tami, Mona, Val, and Kristen W.
Crazy busy.
Things have been crazy busy. I’m finally getting a minute at the computer so here’s a quick list of recent happenings.
1. The NESCBWI conference went well. I’m really glad I got to see my friends with whom I have a once-in-a-while critique group. It was great to catch up and discuss the emotional ups and downs of the publishing (or not) business. I attended a few workshops that taught me something, others were a good review of stuff I know but need to be reminded of from time to time. My paid critique went well and I am hopeful.
2. My parents are visiting and I took them to Peaks Island yesterday during the amazing weather we had. Beautiful ferry ride, fabulous meal at the Cockeyed Gull overlooking Casco Bay, nice time with family, and lot’s of walking. My face is a little pink though. Mental note to self: Use sunscreen. The sun is at summer levels now even though it is chilly.
3. My printer is freaking out on me and I would actually like it to be done for so I could have an excuse to get and Epson with waterproof ink. However, I’m afraid that all it needs is a new ink cartridge.
4. I shared the first three chapters of my WIP at my regular crit group and the work was well received. The suggestions and criticism were right on. Now I have to figure out the answers to the questions my wonderful friends asked.
5. Laundry is stacking up like you wouldn’t believe. Who am I kidding? You believe it. Your house probably looks the same.
6. My sons were in a very professional but student danced version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They were the spiders and did a great job of looking spidery. Their teacher and director, Elizabeth Drucker, is an absolute saint (I never heard her raise her voice through out the rehersals) as well as a choreographic genius. She is able to let everyone shine and really showcase the talent and experience of each dancer at his or her own level.
7. I’m starting to look forward to summer camp when both my kids will have full day schedules and maybe I’ll eek out the time to complete some of my WIP’s.
Unloading stuff
1. Hubby comes home on Friday after being away for two and a half weeks. That’s a long time. I’m so tired I could sleep for an entire weekend. In that two and a half weeks I have…
2. Done three poetry workshops for 1st graders: very successful and fun. Beware of teachers who try to revise student writing for them ie: “maybe you could choose some words that rhyme,” or rush them, there-by negating the whole discussion about a writing process, “okay, let’s finish these. We have computer lab next period and I want you to type them up.” Befriend teachers who say wonderful things like, “let’s try acting that one out so we can really understand what the poet is trying to say,” or “let’s put those in our writing folders and you can continue to work on them during writer’s workshop times.”
3. Pasted up the dummy into more of a book format and sent it out to agent who requested the material for May 1st. Please send especially good vibes my way.
4. Completed huge proposal for a mural project at local library. I feel really great about the proposal but if I get it, it is another probono gig. Promises a lot of publicity though so I’m going with that. (See end of post for panel example.)
5. Learned choreography for new aerobics routine and participated in big launch day.
6. Completed synagogue newsletter.
7. Continued love and care of my patient children who heard me yell much more than they should. At least they can laugh with me when I say sarcastically, “Aren’t you glad your Mommy is so calm and understanding?”
8. Endured big storms and rain and power outages.
9. Sort of cleaned, went grocery shopping, and did laundry (as in “Mom, I don’t have any pants!”, and “Oh cool, cereal for dinner.”
10. Built a desk. (A cheapy one made in China kind that I got at Christmas Tree Shop.)
11. Had a sinus infection and took 10 days of antibiotics to get over it. Ended up with the side effects instead. Yup, had that. Yup, that too.
12. Got a babysitter a few times so I could get out. (Salsa dancing lessons from a Latin Hottie is a great way to release. Had a couple of great illustrator and writing meetings too. ) Very worth it.
Okay, so now you are all caught up. And I’m going to sleep. At least until I have to take someone to some extracurricular activity.
Click for bigger image.
Caller ID
Okay, this is a crazy, obsessive thing but… I just checked to see if I had any messages. Yes. One from my Mom. Then I did a quick scroll through my called ID and yesterday… Scholastic called. WHAT! I don’t think I even have anything out with them right now but I just did an illo mailing. You know I have butterflies in my tummy and will freak out about this all of next week. Maybe it was just wrong number. If it was on purpose, they just want to talk to me about a book order, or the Illustrators’ Collective or something. Right? Oh mi god, I’m going to loose it.
A shard of blue
The mood of the country is sad and the weather in the Northeast isn’t helping this part of the country perk up either. The rains and winds paired with astronomical high tides left destruction in their path. There are houses literarly in the sea from this last storm. Our family only lost power only for one day so I’m thankful for that. We are also on a hill and have not had to deal with much of the flooding that others have had. For those who were worried about my not calling, it turns out that my dear hubby switched our phone to Vonage and I didn’t realize it had kicked in. I had many voice mail messages when I finally figured out how to connect the various colorful cables. They came in a box addressed to my husband which I promptly stuck in the corner of the mud room. I guess I needed those.
In other news, I am prepping for three days in first grade classrooms next week to help them celebrate Poetry Month. We will be focussing on our five senses, and noticing how poets engage our five senses in their writing to paint mind pictures for the reader. Next we will be gathering sense words during an outside exploration and then coming back to the class to create a group poem. I’m really looking forward to it.
A shard of blue
by Anna Boll
a shard of blue
sliced through
rain clouds
and sad news
bringing hope for tomorrow
but there was no rainbow
Power Out
I just got my power back last night at 8:45 after two days without. Over 170,000 customers were affected by the snow storm here Wednesday and Thursday. I am embarassed to admit that I felt a little lost and disconnected without my LJ fix. Now I have two days of drawing to try to catch up on before the Easter traveling and visiting commences.
Creative Chaos 