Do I have everything?

Yesterday, we were not ready for Monday. My son’s scribbled on homework sheets that they "forgot" were due. We missed the bus. We jumped into the truck but it wouldn’t go. I had to ask my neighbor to take my kiddos to school. My usual Mommy-mobile was at the BWI airport with my husband who took it at 6 am. That was fine, I figured it didn’t matter what car I had as long as I could get around. After plugging in the truck for a half-hour it started right up. That’s when I realized that the college parking sticker I bought was on the Mommy-mobile too. Ack! The security people at the college were very nice and gave me a temporary pass for the week.

Today my sons jumped out of bed for waffles and strawberries. They packed their bags. My "organizationally challenged" child utterer the following words, "Do I have everything?"

Illustration by Ian Yates

Yes my friends… self awareness. I hugged him and kissed him. Then he zipped up his backpack, and put on his shoes without me asking. Have we turned a corner? Ask me in a month.

In conference news…
Special events are filling up quickly so get your registration in. Remember that if spaces fill for something, that offering will not appear on the registration form. novel intensive with Sarah Aronson (thru_the_booth ) is closed. (If you want to be on the waitlist write to shirleydpearson at yahoo dot com) We currently have…drum roll please…185 attendees registered.

In writing news…
I’m still in the waiting room on a PB manuscript and a novel. I’m working on the illustrated dummy book for my collaboration with Joyce Johnson.

In other news…
I’m taking two college classes this semester to further my art knowledge for illustration and to expand my teaching certification to include an Art Educators endorsement. I have the same instructor for both Color Theory and Drawing. She’s a great educator and artist and I look forward to learning a lot.

Finally, it is snowing. There might be a inch but I doubt it. However, it is a big deal for these Southern Maryland folks and I just got a robocall that kids are being sent home 3 hours early. Early? Have you ever heard of such a thing? How are the parents suppose to get off of work and make it home to be there for their kiddos? I have class then. Good grief.

Edited to add:
Turns out the college is closing at noon. You call this snow?

Birthday Wishes

Yesterday, my children and hubby dragged me, kicking and screaming, away from my computer. (Obviously if I kicked and screamed I must be a little looney. Most people would be happy to exchange work for fun.) We took a little road trip up to Annapolis, had a lovely lunch, strolled the brick and cobblestone streets of the port city, bought comic books, and found awesome candy and pastry shops. At night, I went to book club where the discussion was about Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl. The discussion ended up with a wonderful round of favorite family recipes and food moments.

This morning, I reopened my computer to find Ooo-gobs (that’s a very specific and scientific value of love and friendship) of birthday wishes via Live Journal and Facebook. Thank you all. Many of you guessed that this was my 29th or 30th birthday. Aren’t you funny. I won’t be 30 again for another two years.

Seven ways to give

A huge thank you to jamarattigan for the Kreativ Blogger award. I feel honored, especially because my blogging consistency is spotty at best.

Tonight, I blog as I’m about to enter my 38th year. I know. Just a baby you say and in some ways I know you are right. Jama says that this award entitles me to share seven things I love. She also says that I can be "kreativ" so in light of the new president and his call to service, I present seven ways to give. Giving is one thing I love.

1. Become involved with an organization that interests you. It doesn’t have to be a huge bunch of your time. Volunteer to help with a mailing, stuff folders, or pass out papers. (Be careful, once you say yes to one opportunity you are bound to be asked for more. It is okay to say no.)

2. Share your knowledge with others who are new to your area of expertise. You’ll find that as much as you give in this area, you will undoubtedly receive new friendships and unexpected knowledge. A huge thank you to kellyrfineman for her awesome poetry posts. I’ve learned so much from them.

3. Do Pro Bono work. It is difficult to say how much to give in this area because ultimately, you want your work to be compensated fairly. However, building a base of people who know and respect your work is money in the bank, and recommendations on the website. (I know, I haven’t updated mine in a while.) I find this to especially true of school visits. Teachers talk to each other.

4. When in doubt, give food. When I had my first child, my friends gave me dinners to freeze. This was the best thing they could do. If you are willing to organize such an effort, more power to you. If not, fire up your crock pot and invite a friend over for a meal. Or freeze your leftovers for someone who needs the extra time at night.

5. Give when others are done giving. As previously mentioned, when I had my first child, my friends gave me dinners to freeze. When I had my second child, everyone figured I knew what I was doing. That’s when I needed their help the most. Ask for help when you need it.

6. Give to the people closest to you. You’re probably saying that you do this all the time. Laundry, dinners, rides, support. Sheesh how much could you possibly give? I can only speak for myself and unfortunately, I’ve been giving my family a lot of "not now’s" and "why can’t you just’s" and "I’m busy’s". That’s okay sometimes, but sometimes I need to stop and give them a hug, a story, and attention.

7. Don’t forget to give to yourself. Time. A pat on the back. The permission to celebrate you. An hour to exercise. A nap. It’s all good.

There’s my seven with this addendum. Give honesty and honestly.

Hope it wasn’t too hokey and sappy.

I guess I need to nominate others for this Kreativ Blogger award. I have to go with those who I always feel I have to catch up with when I’m out of the industry for a while. jbknowles , cynthialord , and kellyrfineman

Thanks ladies.

Happy New Year!

Each year I check the archives and see what I wrote last January. I’m amused that I was contemplating an MFA a full year ago and that I’m back to the same discussion. It seems a perennial inner conflict. Now to the top 10 high points of 2009.

1. The Move. While it has not been an especially happy highlight, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give it some space. Interestingly, it has become its own character in our family story. The Move and the Job sit on our shoulders a menacing reminder of grown-up decisions. Certainly, we are lucky to have Job and therefore Move was necessary. However, they are the characters that catch your eye in the mystery. Red herring or villan?

2. Old friends. My old writing group disbanded and I moved, but I became even closer with some of my writing buddies. The Schmooze was again a high point as was my collaboration with Joyce. Facebook and my 20th high school reunion allowed me to reconnect with friends of long ago from school and camp. It is good to know that those folks are well.

3. New friends. A move is hard on everyone but I’ve made a few new connections here in Maryland that have helped me through difficult times.

4. Family. The best part of this year has been being physically closer to my family. It has been great for the kids and even better for me to be able to get to see my parents and siblings more often.

5. Freelance work. I really loved writing to deadline and interviewing some amazing military servicemembers and tradesmen and women about their work, and their dreams for the future. To all of those who are away from their families in service to our country I send you wishes of Peace.

6. WRITING. Even though things have been crazy (the move, freelance work, the conference) I have continued to write. I finished and revised a novel for submission, revised a PB for an editor (still waiting to hear), and collaborated on a new PB.

7. The election. What an amazing year for a political junkie. The results. I’m confident that President Obama will bring honesty, and intelligence to the office and restore our standing in the world even if he cannot "fix" the great number of issues that plague us.

8. The 2008 NE SCBWI conference. While it is a ton of work, being involved in the regional SCBWI on this level is incredibly rewarding. I loved working with our fabulous volunteers, meeting industry professionals, and seeing it all come together. See you April 24-26, 2009 for this year’s conference. Note: registration will happen online, and participation will be limited to the first 400 registrants. Watch the mail for your informational postcard and http://www.nescbwi.org come mid-January.

9. My kiddos. From piano to poetry, plays to playoffs this has been a big year for my children. I’ve so enjoyed watching them solve problems, try new things, excel, grow and question the world. I’m very proud of them.

10. I got an agent! I am very thankful that Steve Fraser is such a supportive agent. It has been difficult for me to release control of the manuscript marketing piece but letting go is part of shaping a relationship. The other is communication and honesty. I found that when I was straightforward about my needs, I felt more comfortable about representation.

The year is brandy new and I’m looking forward to all that it has to offer.

Five on Friday

1. I’d really like to get my MFA in writing for children. One of the things that has held me back is that there doesn’t seem to be any program that includes a certificate or even studio classes in illustration. (the other is money)

I’ve been looking into Simmons, Vermont and Hamline and I’m wondering if any of you graduates would be willing to talk a little about what you think is different about the programs. Certainly faculty is different and that must effect the culture of the program. If you’d like to comment that’s great. If you have more to say and you’d prefer to write me directly contact me at anna at annajboll dot com. That is my website address. Thanks

2. I love snow, but ice storms not so much. I guess that is one benefit of living south this winter.

3. My freelance work may be over. The client says they love me but are cutting expenses. They might try to do it in house or they may hire me. We’ll see.

4. My toe is healing from a nail-echtomy. It actually hurts less than it has for the last two weeks. I originally injured it on the surfing simulator at the Great Wolf Lodge. I know, I know… I didn’t mention it before. What? I didn’t want to be bother.

5. I’m heading into DC tomorrow to see Mom and Sister. I better get Chanukah candles while I’m there. I sure as heck won’t find them around here.

bonus:
6. I’m in the waiting room on a picture book manuscript. All fingers crossed.

I’m sick.

The good thing about working from home:
You can still work even though you look and feel like death warmed over.
The bad thing about working from home:
See above.

I wish I had jamarattigan ‘s chicken noodle soup but instead I have gathered the following arsenal from the grocery store:
1. three (3) huge boxes of Puffs
2. one (1) large carton of OJ
3. two (2) cans of Progresso Chicken Noodle soup
4. one (1) box of Sinus Decongestant and Pain Reliever
5. one (1) box of Little Debbie Chocolate Fudge Brownies
6. one (1) bag of cough drops

A huge shout out to all those New England SCBWI folks who recently were honored by an SCBWI Grant and a special wahoo! to Kirsten Cappy who received a letter of merit in the unpublished category. Most New Englanders know Kirsten as the person who put together the Portland, Maine Mugglefest, the engaging LL Bean scavenger hunts for Melissa Sweet, and many more highly creative publicity ideas for children’s authors. She’ll be giving a workshop in April at the NESCBWI conference.

Silly me, I didn’t even realize that you were writing and submitting Kirsten. Congrats!!!

A List. Why not?

1. The kids were home last Tuesday for Veterans’ Day, and then Thursday and Friday sick. It was hard to get anything done

2. I was so happy to get some Mom and Dad time this weekend and they were happy to see the kids. There was much leaf raking and jumping.

3.. My mom, a long time journalist, editor and public relations guru, is always my first editor so I was pretty darn pleased with her positive reaction after reading my novel through this weekend. I’m ready for my own read through and revisions now.

4. Sunday, I slept all day long as I got the same virus the kids had.

5. Hubby away to Las Vegas for the week. "A little less conversation, a little more action…" He said he wouldn’t do any of the fun stuff without me even though I told him he could. Isn’t he sweet?

6. This list is not very insightful but it is easy to read.

Five on Friday

1. Looking over my blog posts recently I can report that they are decidedly political. (Go figure) I am not apologetic because politics is a lot of what makes me, me. But, since this blog is mostly about me and my pursuit of the allusive book contract, I’m posting more policy and political stuff on my Obama.com blog page here. So many feel a sense of ownership after this week’s amazing events. Come on over if you’d like to stay apart of the Obama community.

2. Like d_michiko_f I have a husband who is often out and about on business. (I haven’t counted the total days this year Debbie, but I’m sure you’ve got me beat.) To those of you who single parent all the time you know that it is no piece of cake. But I think the difference is that when you are always the single parent you own that constant sense of decision making and responsibility in a way that on again off again single parenting does not allow. Hubby will be home on Sunday. Good thing because I’ve run out of energy. Last night we went out for dinner, this morning we ate breakfast at McDonald’s, and tonight we had macaroni and cheese (and broccoli) Needless to say, I’m ready for my sweetie to come home.

3. The reason we ate at McDonald’s is because my children left their homework papers at school. This has been a regular issue for my organizationally challenged (OC) child so last night I barked, "We will wake up and go to school at 7 to get those papers and you will complete your work!" Well at 7:30 we did indeed make it school. "Mom," says my OC child, "it’s not going to be open." "Why didn’t you say that to me last night," I asked, "or this morning when we got in the car." "Because I didn’t think you’d really make us do it," he said. I got a chuckle out of that one. Once in, we got the papers and staked out the McDonald’s fun room as a quiet study hall away from the old guy coffee club. (free refills) They finished everything.

4. I finished my freelance newsletter and a press release in the midst of election euphoria. So glad! Today, I worked on getting out the rest of the workshop contracts. Now onto the folks who are doing any sort of crits. Hopefully I can take a few days to just do novel work and not worry about freelance stuff. I’ve noticed that my internet cruising has decreased sharply since the election was decided.

5. Today is poetry Friday. Here is a fall acrostic from my son. E.C. Boll (his own spelling)
Leaves chanje color
Evereone is playing
Apples are ripe
Varee quiet
Everething is still
Sharing
It reminds me a little of cfaughnan ‘s thoughts today.

Reunions and such

This weekend I didn’t attend my 20th reunion but I did go to a lovely party hosted by a fellow classmate. If you read my blog regularly you know that before the event I was full of healthy anxiety. I didn’t need to worry. Twenty years seems to mellow out people and the cliques in which they were involved. It was interesting to find out what everyone has been doing in their lives. There were a lot of people who had gone into teaching, and many involved in politics and production work. A modern twist on an old ritual, everyone passed around their cell phones with pictures of their children on the screen. This made me smile.

The counterpoint to this experience was High School Musical 3. Yes, I was one of those families helping the Disney empire rake in billions this weekend. The movie is everything you’ve come to expect from the franchise. My two boys love the hip hop scenes and there were too few of those. Instead they had to deal with quite a bit of romance and even a … kiss. (GROSS!) This was actually the funniest part of the movie. Troy and Gabriella finally kiss, it is all serious and in the packed theatre we hear a single kid, "Ewwwww" which started a chorus of "Ewwww…" and then all of the parents laughed hysterically because we each thought that it would be our kid to start the chorus.

After the flick, I went into Disney repair mode. I’m a sucker for a sappy Disney flick but I can see the misogyny coming a mile away and always feel required to point it out to the kids. I’d like to have boys who are respectful to whoever it is they choose to like and know that not all girls feel that they’ve "waited their whole lives for prom." That said, coupled with my reunion and my walk down memory lane I think that when I was 15 and 16, I really wanted the East High experience however ridiculous and romantic and absolutely unattainable that is. Maybe these movies and teen mags are so successful because as mature and educated and wordly as they may be, so many teen girls have these expectations. As a writer for children, I think we have to challenge this assumption but I do wonder.

I think the biggest discoveries at a reunion is within one’s self. I often remember my high school experience as one of being unwanted. I certainly had my share of unrequited love. I identified myself as having only one or two good friends. Looking back, it is sort of silly actually. I was very involved I was on the crew team, in plays, ran for senior class president…but still I always felt on the outside looking in. Perhaps this is the angst of high school no matter who you are and how involved you choose to be. Perhaps with the expectations I had, nothing would have been good. Perhaps I just need some therapy.

Twelve Blessings on a Wednesday

I do not want to complain this morning so instead I will count my blessings and then get to work.

The whether is chilly and lovely.
My sons are happy.
My hubby is a lovely caring man and I’m lucky to have him.
We all have our health.
Hubby and I both have jobs and healthcare.
We live in a country that allows a voice for everyone over 18 and allows for dissent.
I’m part of a wonderful community of writers who try to give voice to those under 18.
I am able to write for my work.
I know how to look at the world as an artist even if I’ve not been doing my art recently.
My agent is excited about a PB manuscript I sent him and is going to start making some calls about it.
My family is near by.
I am educated and connected.