I've taken the first step toward getting my book published. I got my first book submittal out -- a book synopsis and the first 50 pages -- as requested. I know it’s going to be a long, long process, but it has to start sometime. I decided to submit to a publisher, Kore Press, that specializes in women writers during its January open submission period before submitting to any agents. Kore will send me a written critique even if it isn’t interested, and if it is, it will ask to see the whole book. Just meeting this milestone is so exciting. I was so busy at work the last three weeks, I had doubts that I'd make the January 31 postmark deadline. Well, I did with four days to spare.
And now that the big work push has subsided a bit, I’m getting my life back together – grocery shopping, medical appointments, a facial, maybe a peel – I’m looking into one called the Vi peel that is supposed to do wonders for aging skin and only needs to be repeated three to four times a year. In the meantime, I’m going in for a massage on Friday, hair and nails on Saturday, and a facial on Sunday. Maybe by then I’ll feel like a human being again.
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Friends in stone
My darling niece, Dara, sent me this piece after reading my last post. It needs sharing:
TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING
THROUGH THE DESERT
DURING SOME POINT OF THE
JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
IN THE FACE
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING,
WROTE IN THE SAND
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE
THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
WHERE THEY DECIDED
TO TAKE A BATH
THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
MIRE! AND STARTED DROWNING,
BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
THE NEAR DROWNING,
HE WROTE ON A STONE:
'TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE'
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
ASKED HIM, 'AFTER I HURT YOU,
YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?'
THE FRIEND REPLIED
'WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF
FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES
SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
WHERE NO WIND
CAN EVER ERASE IT'
LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BENEFITS IN STONE.
THEY SAY IT TAKES A
MINUTE TO FIND A SPECIAL
PERSON, AN HOUR TO
APPRECIATE THEM, A DAY
TO LOVE THEM, BUT THEN
AN ENTIRE LIFE
TO FORGET THEM.
IF YOU DON'T
SEND IT TO ANYONE,
IT MEANS YOU'RE IN A
HURRY AND THAT YOU'VE
FORGOTTEN YOUR FRIENDS.
TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!
DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS
YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE
WHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE!
TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING
THROUGH THE DESERT
DURING SOME POINT OF THE
JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
IN THE FACE
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING,
WROTE IN THE SAND
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE
THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
WHERE THEY DECIDED
TO TAKE A BATH
THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
MIRE! AND STARTED DROWNING,
BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
THE NEAR DROWNING,
HE WROTE ON A STONE:
'TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE'
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
ASKED HIM, 'AFTER I HURT YOU,
YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?'
THE FRIEND REPLIED
'WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF
FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES
SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
WHERE NO WIND
CAN EVER ERASE IT'
LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BENEFITS IN STONE.
THEY SAY IT TAKES A
MINUTE TO FIND A SPECIAL
PERSON, AN HOUR TO
APPRECIATE THEM, A DAY
TO LOVE THEM, BUT THEN
AN ENTIRE LIFE
TO FORGET THEM.
IF YOU DON'T
SEND IT TO ANYONE,
IT MEANS YOU'RE IN A
HURRY AND THAT YOU'VE
FORGOTTEN YOUR FRIENDS.
TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!
DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS
YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE
WHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
More for the bucket list
We saw "The Bucket List" on Friday night. It was funny and tender and even though the list had lots of travel and daredevil feats on it, it also had some emotional things -- like laughing so hard it makes you cry, bringing joy to someone else, kissing the most beautiful woman in the world who turned out to be a granddaughter. Good stuff, some of it outlandish and predictable, yet definitely doable. It makes me want to refine and add to my list again. One thing that I definitely need to work on is being a friend -- spending time with my friends no matter what. My usual excuse for not keeping in touch is my workload. Well, that's no excuse. I need to make time and I will make time.
I also need to say a word or two about the death of Heath Ledger – from a possible overdose of sleeping pills – at age 28. And his poor mother and father had to find out from the media. He was so young and beautiful, and so talented and successful. What would make him take his life? I know they are saying that they think the overdose of sleeping pills was accidental, but how could that be really? You either take too many pills or you don’t. Unless he died of natural causes like a heart attack or stroke and that’s very unlikely for someone his age. It was stated that he was having trouble sleeping and working very hard. Sounds like symptoms of mania to me. But in the end, he had the same destiny as my son – to die too young and leave his family with grief and guilt that will stay for the rest of our lives. It makes me so sad. It brings so much back to me. Every death of a young person is another reminder.
I also need to say a word or two about the death of Heath Ledger – from a possible overdose of sleeping pills – at age 28. And his poor mother and father had to find out from the media. He was so young and beautiful, and so talented and successful. What would make him take his life? I know they are saying that they think the overdose of sleeping pills was accidental, but how could that be really? You either take too many pills or you don’t. Unless he died of natural causes like a heart attack or stroke and that’s very unlikely for someone his age. It was stated that he was having trouble sleeping and working very hard. Sounds like symptoms of mania to me. But in the end, he had the same destiny as my son – to die too young and leave his family with grief and guilt that will stay for the rest of our lives. It makes me so sad. It brings so much back to me. Every death of a young person is another reminder.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The spot remover revisited -- not!
I said I'd get back to the subject of whether or not I go back for another laser spot removal treatment. The answer is no. I'm not going back. The pain and discomfort are just not worth it. I'll just have to be happy with concealers or with whatever new products Dinah, my facialist, comes up with. There is absolutely no reason for someone my age to go through that kind of torture.
However, I have decided to reup for another year of Health Miles at my gym. So, I'll be counting my steps again in 2008 -- with a few groundrules:
Work out 6 days a week instead of 7
Aim for no more than 12,000 steps a day
Enter no more than two challenges during the year, and
Be happy to end the year with a maximum of 36,000 miles.
That way, I'll give myself a little break this year and still get paid for doing something I do anyway -- working out. I'll never give that up so I might as well be rewarded for it.
So, I haven't been idle this year even though my lack of posts so far make it seem like I have. My excuse for not posting is a work attack. My boss took back his promise of no proposal work for awhile and gave me a killer assignment for the month of January. I'm still thinking about how I'll retaliate. I'll keep you posted on that too.
However, I have decided to reup for another year of Health Miles at my gym. So, I'll be counting my steps again in 2008 -- with a few groundrules:
Work out 6 days a week instead of 7
Aim for no more than 12,000 steps a day
Enter no more than two challenges during the year, and
Be happy to end the year with a maximum of 36,000 miles.
That way, I'll give myself a little break this year and still get paid for doing something I do anyway -- working out. I'll never give that up so I might as well be rewarded for it.
So, I haven't been idle this year even though my lack of posts so far make it seem like I have. My excuse for not posting is a work attack. My boss took back his promise of no proposal work for awhile and gave me a killer assignment for the month of January. I'm still thinking about how I'll retaliate. I'll keep you posted on that too.