Let's Make A Deal

Bargaining with babies is hard. I thought the Schmidtlets and I had a deal: no learning to crawl until after I turned in my revision.

The Wild Imp had other ideas. And he is fast.

Baby A isn't yet crawling, but he's still mobile: rolling around like a top, scooting backward across the room, and calling: "Mama. MAMA. MAAAAAAMMAAAAA," if I dare to leave his sight. Better yet, the little wombat would like me to constantly be within reach of his chubby little paws.

Chasing and clutching aren't the best revision-companions. But that's what PEI was for. That's what the hours between bedtime and sunrise are for.

And I finished last Thursday.

Pressed *Send* on the e-mail to my editor – and then, before I could even gulp a panicked breath or sigh in relief:

THUNDER.

POWER LOSS

THE WAILS OF TWO WOKEN NAPPERS

Have I mentioned that one of the major threads in my book is superstition?

My first thought was one very like my main character, Mia, would have had: That was a very bad sign.

Later, after the twins had been soothed, the power restored, and my confidence petted by some Twitter support, I revised my thinking: That was a very good sign – if the power had gone out even a minute sooner, I would've been prevented from sending.

And we all know how little I like to wait.

Apparently the Schmidtlets have inherited that trait from me: The Imp is extremely IMPatient, and Baby A is currently calling my name.  

Maybe we'll strike a new bargain: Ten more minutes of naptime in exchange for peaches at every meal.

*goes to buy peaches in bulk*

Prince Edward Island - A Photo Perspective

Growing up, I summered in the land of Anne of Green Gables and Gilbert *heart-a-flutter* Blythe.

As a grown up, I don't get up there nearly as often as I'd like. For one thing, I now live six hours farther from the island. That's six hours on top of the TWELVE hour drive from my parents' house in Massachusetts -- where I'm sitting right now typing this post-vacation.

Our last trip was two years ago -- and what a difference those years have made:

Beach naps:

 2009

 2011

 Hammock Time

 2009

 2011

Beach Walks

2009

2011

2011

Packing:

Packing the car 2009

Actually, I don't have a picture of the car all packed this year. Probably because I was too busy holding two babies and checking off All The Important Items on our many, many travel lists while St.Matt scrambled around like a packing genius and got All The Important Items to fit. 

Just picture mounds of stuff strategically packed. And me sitting in the backseat between two carseats singing songs, waving toys, and being generally entertaining while St.Matt chauffeurs and navigates. For. Twelve. Hours.

Is it next summer yet? I can't wait to go back...

Procrasti-baking

These are too fun to be the product of Stress-Baking.  

Rice Krispie Cake Batter Treats - recipe found HERE

Maybe they're Procrastination Treats? We leave for two weeks of vacation tomorrow –- a working vacation for me, since my revision is due at the end of the month – and I'm not packed. I haven't packed for the boys yet either.

Every time I look around our house, I can't help but feel like they twins need All The Things. And then I look at our car and panic.

Did I mention we'll be spending about 20 hours in that car over the next few days?

*panics*

And my head is totally in the Revision Cave and doesn't want to stop and think about whether or not we've packed the boys' sound machine or laundry detergent.

It's such a good thing I'm married to a saint. He not only remembers these things, but also that I have library books due before we get back, the boys' vitamin prescriptions needs to be refilled, and the memory card on the camera needs to be emptied.

AND, he went and photocopied my line edits last night. Because, let's face it, it's me – things just happen, and a backup copy never hurt.

So, nope, I'm changing my mind again. They're not Stress-Baking, or Procrastination Treats, they're Gratitude Goodies. I am so grateful his head's on straight when mine isn't.

***Also, I'm noticing a decidedly sugar-y theme to my posts lately – I swear I eat vegetables, too. Pinky promise***

A SWEET Winner

The wonderful thing about being at a writing retreat set in a hunting lodge in the middle of the woods is… well, almost everything. There's great company, time and space to write, conversations that fuel creativity, discussion that challenge and stretch, and beaucoup laughter.

The downside of being at a writing retreat set at a hunting lodge in the middle of the woods was missing the Schmidlets. And, that every time someone entered my SWEET Giveaway, I had a new candy craving and no way to satisfy it.

·      Whoppers & Bottle Caps! I hadn't thought about them in years.

·      Twix! I used to try and convince my mother those weren't candy, but a form of granola bar.

·      Milk Duds! Delicious and a handy way to tear out fillings.

·      Licorice! I always bite the ends off Twizzlers & use them as a straw. Tasty & functional.

·      M&M's are clearly the chocolate version of Revision Skittles – Wasabi peas are the healthy version.

·      Peanut Butter Cups! I recently heard that these can be used to make S'mores – have any of you tried this? I need to ASAP.

·      Kit Kat, Almond Joy and Heath lovers – I challenge you to try S'mores with your candies of choice too – make sure to report back to me with your results.

·      And gummy-lovers (both sour and not), you people are my tribe. Let's all get together and ruin our teeth with chewy deliciousness.

Initially I had big fancy-pants plans about how I would choose a winner – writing all the numbers on gumballs and then filming the winning one coming out of the gumball machine.

But we don't have a gumball machine, I'm still in my pajamas, and am quite busy making up four days of Schmidtlet-snuggles. So, I defaulted to a random number generator.

Without further ado – the winner is: Loralie! 

Rock your Revision Skittle Boombox with pride – I highly encourage recreations of the scene from Say Anything.

Thanks, everyone, for entering and stay sweet!