Because we must

Nicole over at The World of My Imagination wrote about writers and blogging... Her conclusion is sound... Writers need to blog. Why?

Writing - copyright J. Paxon Reyes

Well, I firmly believe that writers blog for the same reason they write. They must. It's similar to mountains and mountain climbers. It's there, so it must be climbed. The words exist, so they must be put down. Hell, I've been writing stories since elementary school. In my case, I always felt the stories churning around in my head and had to get them out on paper. It's like a sore in your mouth. You know it hurts to touch it, but you still poke at it with your tongue.

I can't help but write. I get antsy if I don't write, but I also have a love-hate relationship with writing. I'll go through spurts where I write nonstop. I throw every word in my head onto the page and then some.... And then I look at what I've written and trash it because I am convinced it sucks. I feel like it is the worst writing that has ever been since the first caveman (or woman) spit paint around their hand. I understand this is a common problem with writers. We are our own worst critics.

I haven't figured out how to get past that yet. I'm open to suggestions, because I have several half-started books kicking around and random story bits that never seem to get finished. Part of it may be my ADD/perfectionism, though. I have so many partial projects and so few completed ones. It's scary. I think that's where my difficulty in applying to grad school is stemming from as well. What if I get in, and I'm told my writing sucks. I can take constructive criticism, but to be told that I CANNOT write would be horrible.

It doesn't even matter that I know I am at least a passable writer. It doesn't matter that I have had people nag me to finish stories so they could read them... I still am convinced all my writing is horrible... So I hide it away and only let it out occasionally. I want to finish my book(s). I know where I want the stories to go. Unfortunately, I sit down to work on them and end up getting distracted by revising... Which leads me to reading them... Which causes me to think: "This is horrible! No one wants to read this!" And then I abandon writing it for another few months, only to start the process again.

I think, this November, I am actually going to buckle down and do NaNoWriMo... Anyone want to do it with me?

A Gardening Metaphor

Flowers, flowers everywhere

At Toddler in Tow, Amyables talks about her gardening adventure this year, and I must admit a bit of jealousy.  We didn't have a garden this year.  I decreed at the beginning of the season that we were moving, which meant anything I planted would be left behind in the move.  I refused to let someone else play the grasshopper to my ant. 

Now, however, we are in a place to garden and I intend to garden when Spring arrives.  I'd like to get Little Guy more involved and give him a place to garden as well.  It could definitely work as part of his science curriculum.  We were lucky that our landlord was a pretty avid gardening guy himself.  He had an amazing garden set-up to start with, and I look forward to maintaining and adding to it.  Little Guy already pulled out his watering can to water the flowers in the back yard.  There's a planter near the front door that I may give him some seeds and let him go to town. 

I would love for Little Guy to get the enjoyment and peace from flowers that I find in the dirt.  The past few years were difficult, and my garden really reflected how I felt about where we were.  Dropped into crap soil, we had to fight to survive.  Some parts did.  Some parts didn't.  I'd classify our family as much hardier than we were three years ago, but I suppose that happens when you prune away some of the dead wood. 

Pruning, in life as in the garden, seems to be an ongoing thing.  I unpacked with my mom today and she took 3 boxes and a bag to Goodwill.  She also took a couple boxes home for my nephew.  I feel bad about that because they were baby clothes and I would love to have another baby around the house.  Little Guy is getting so big and, while I know he loves me, isn't at the chubby-cheeked, wide-eyed innocent stage anymore.  Now he's a full boy with snips and snails and puppy-dog tails. 

But, I want our family to survive, so away go the baby clothes and other items we have no intention of doing something with.  I want my soil to be primed and ready because we deserve it.  Like most American families, the economic downturn has hurt.  Big Guy lost his job a year ago and we're limping by on unemployment and what I earn in teaching and writing.  But, we're also very blessed.  We've moved to a place that we intend to be a long-term stepping stone.  We're closer to my work and closer to our friends.  Big Guy has been able to be home with Little Guy and both were able to pack while I worked. 

Every rose does indeed have its thorn.

I believe that this time we have landed in more fertile soil and the garden is a reflection of that.  I look forward to seeing what comes up!

  

Potty training body parts

Stephanie at The Dirty Mommy blog discussed an amusing tale with her young daughter showing her anatomy smarts on the playground.  I think most parents can recognize how embarrassing it is, particularly since kids seem to pick times when you least expect to be having that particular discussion. 

We've been dealing something similar with our Little Guy.  We try to use the correct terms for his body parts and he seems to understand it pretty well.  He's known for a while that he has a penis.  However, he's reaching a point where he's now recognizing the difference between boys and girls.  So far we have established that (always at the top of his lungs) Little Guy has a penis, Daddy has a penis and boy-cat Tiger has a penis.  He's always so proud of himself for identifying them.  Petting girl-cat Caitlin, on the other hand produced shock and concern. 

Caitlin was sitting on my lap, getting pettins, and I was scritching that little spot where the tail connects to the body because she loves that and always arches her back for more.  As we were petting her, Little Guy noticed that there was something different about her. 

"OH NO MOMMY!" he screeched.  "Where is Caitlin's penis?  Where did it go?"

I explained that Caitlin was a girl and, therefore, did not have a penis.  Big Guy and I both emphasized that boys have penises (penii?) and girls do not.  So far, we have not had to deal with what girls have instead.  Now, however, he's just as proud of his knowledge of who has a penis and who does not.  This is becoming even more important to him as we work on potty training and he spends a good portion of time nude.  This makes it difficult to try and enforce appropriate times for identification because right now he needs to be naked to get to the potty in time.  Add to that, our desire to not give our son body issues and sometimes the embarrassment reaches epic levels. 

On Sunday, as I was preparing to take a shower, a very naked Little Guy burst into our bathroom proudly announcing that "Mommy has no penis!" 

Er, yes, thank you.  Go find Daddy. Go sit on the potty.  Go do SOMETHING else! 

"Little Guy has a penis!  It's naked, see?"  Cue typical boy dance.  "And dancing!" 

Yes, I know.  Go into the family room. 

"I have a butt!  It's naked too!  See?" 

Luckily, Big Guy appeared to shoo our son into the family room and his little potty.  I know I need to thank my lucky stars that I have a smart, clever son.  He puts pieces together and figures things out much faster than I expect.  Now, if we could just get him to understand the importance of using the potty!

Related Seeds:
Are Anatomically Correct terms okay? 

Chicken Soup for the Writer's Belly

The first day of class went well.  The group seems, if not interested, at least energized for now.  This is a good thing because we'll end up feeding off eachother's energy.  I find that if the class is more energetic, I am more enthusiastic.  And that leads to a higher energy in the classroom!  It becomes a cyclical thing and keeps class interesting and fun. 

We went through the writing process last night which. I told them, is the reason that most writers are alcoholics, drug addicts or both.  I also explained that no one, not even writers, like the writing process and that writers have a love/hate relationship with their chosen profession.  I love writing, it's in my blood, and I adore it but oh how I hate the process. 

I've been working on my novel for 6 years.  Yes, you read that correctly, SIX.  I found out that there's actually a term for this process.  Unpublished Guy calls it "Slow Writing your story into oblivion". 

On the one hand, it's nice to know, as a writer, you aren't alone.  On the other hand, I really wish that I could find the wherewithal to finish the book.  Finding the time, the energy and the desire to write is difficult.  Of course, that's why I've gotten back into blogging.  I am forcing myself to write on a daily basis and perhaps, eventually, work on the book again.  Good luck to me! 

Yesterday was somewhat chilly despite the sunlight.  I woke up early and was unable to go back to sleep, so I got up and decided to make chicken soup.  We had ended up with 3 large chicken breasts thanks to Big Guy and his ideas.

The plan, initially, was a chicken marinara with melted cheese.  And it certainly sounded delicious...  Right up to the point that I realized Big Guy had bought the cheap chicken breasts, with the skin on them and bones still in them.  When I explained the work it was going to take to debone the chicken, he decided that, perhaps, the chicken marinara wasn't the right meal after all.  I assuaged his sadness with a promise to make my chicken soup though. 

Big Guy loves my chicken soup, and I try to make it most often in the fall or winter. It's a long simmering soup that takes about a day to cook and is truly worth it.  This one started out with a pot of water and some seasoning.  I added celery seed, black pepper, sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, salt and garlic. I always kind of eyeball the addition of seasonings and taste often throughout the cooking process.  After I got the pot to a rolling boil, I added the defrosted chicken breasts and let that cook for an hour.

The house smelled so good during that hour, my belly was rumbling.  I was relieved when the timer went off and I was able to lower the pot to a simmer and pull out the breasts.  While the broth simmered and bubbled, I skinned and deboned the breasts and tore apart the largest one to add back to the pot.  The other two will probably be shredded into a cheese and chicken omelette for Little Guy and I for breakfast. 

I added the shredded chicken and chopped up a carrot and an onion to throw in the pot and let it cook for another hour, getting the carrots soft and the onion practically invisible.  I then threw in some frozen green beans and let it finish cooking.  I managed to nab a small bowl before I left for class and it was really, truly worth it.  While I was gone, Big Guy and Little Guy finished off most of the soup and then I had a couple more bowls when I got back. And not alone either, Big Guy had another bowl and Little Guy had two more. 

Kitten's Chicken Soup

Chicken Breasts (bone in & skin on)
Salt
Pepper
Water
Seasonings - recomm. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Bay Leaves
Veggies - Recomm. Carrot, celery, onion, green beans

This simple and tasty treat involves hours of simmering goodness

1 - bring water and seasonings to a rolling boil. 
2 - add chicken breasts and simmer for an hour, adding water as needed.  The skin will add all the fat you need to the broth
3 - Pull the breasts out of the water and let the broth simmer while you debone and skin the breasts.  Then, shred the meat and add to the broth.
4 - Chop and add the veggies and simmer
5 - Add water and seasonings to taste during the cooking time

Delicious!