Lianne's Little Corner

Drum Roll.............. Well, I don't know. *G* You'll have to go over to the Long and Short Reviews site to find out. And there's a new contest going on now, so hurry on over and check it out. :) Thanks, y'all, for participating.

A contests! What fun! Ok, so I've used up my quota of exclamation marks for the decade. Don't sue me, but do go check out the pre-Grand Opening contest for the new Long and Short Reviews site at The Long and Short Reviews Contest Page . This really is an offer you can't refuse. If you like free books, that is. I won't hold you up here, so just go to The Long and Short Reviews contest page and check it out. Oh, this is a sticky note, btw, so if you are reading this on any day other than Monday, August 13, 2007, you'll have to scroll down for any more recent posts I might have up here. :)

Well, we survived the first two days of school. I wasn't so sure Monday morning. I put my two "babies" on their respective busses and walked home from the bus stop feeling very empty. Then I walked into the house. And IT was very empty. I had a glimpse into what empty nesters go through, I guess, with the exception that I knew the kids would be home in the afternoon. But I made it, and so did the girls. Day two was just a little easier to let them go when the bus came. I got alot done around the house, and didn't have any lights left on in the bedrooms to be turning off every five minutes. *g* Hey, I might just get to the point where I enjoy this new phase of my life. And once the girls find their place and make friends, I know they'll be glad they aren't having to put up with Mom teaching them any more. :) I don't regret a single day of homeschooling, but I suppose it was time to let them go. Thanks to all of you who have left comments. You guys are great...

**Note: This should have been posted on Friday, August 17, 2007. I'm a day and a half late, but here goes... Hey folks. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to all you wonderful people who took time to comment. Made my day. Several times in a row. :) So it looks like we've survived this week. Well, the week's not done yet, but it's almost. Still have some last minute school stuff to take care of. Daughter number 2 has everything but a gym t-shirt and a back pack. Daughter number 1 needs those, plus a bus schedule! School starts on Monday, and we still don't have her bus schedule. How utterly trying. Plus, DH goes out of town today for two weeks. **sigh** I'll miss him. That means, of course, that anything that goes wrong the first week of school I'll have to deal with alone. (But that's not the reason I'm sighing and complaining that I'll miss him. I'll just miss HIM.) So the five am wake-ups will probably begin all over again. On a positive n...

So does that mean I was an ugly duckling?? ::giggle:: I know I felt like one often enough growing up. I don't do these things often, but I really like birds so I thought I'd try it. I first saw this on Marianne's blog . (By the way, head on over to her site and check out the cool contest she's running to win one of her books.) So here's what the bird quiz said about me: Your Power Bird is a Swan You are a truly graceful and gorgeous creature. You easily see beauty in yourself and others. Intuitive and in touch, you can often guess what the future will bring. And you're flexible enough to accept the changes that life has in store for you. What's Your Power Bird? I think I can live with that. Don't know that it's particularly true, but I still like it. :) Have a great day.

We survived the second registration yesterday. Woo-hoo! But I'm not sure how the rest of the year is going to go. School hasn't even started yet, and already they've got me running ragged! Two kids, two different schools, two different school districts. Well, not quite. But that's a different story altogether. So that means two different parent orientations. On the same night. At the same time. On opposite sides of town. Two separate kid orientations. On the same day. At the same time. On opposite sides of town. Two parents, granted, but only one car. The girls want to try sports, and choir, and drama, and...Hold it! I'm only one, and I may soon be getting a job. How will I do it all? And I thought homeschooling them was hard. Different challenges, of course, (and all of them worth the effort) but at least I didn't have to be in two different places at the same time. I may turn in to supermom yet. :)

So I posted yesterday. Twice! ::g:: Which means you know I survived Friday's registration. We get to go through it again today with my second child. Friday's went so well--we all survived, and we still have all our limbs--that I think I'm at peace. I guess if we get through this one, we'll be set. At least for a year. And next year it should be a piece of cake. Live and learn, huh? I guess I can sleep past 5 AM the rest of the week. Until Monday, Agust 20. First day of school. (gulp) Then the early morning jitters will start all over again.

So I garnered a comment from a new person the other day. Yippee! I'm pretty new to blogging, and every new person who comments makes me do the Snoopy Dance. Hey, it even inspires me to try to do more posts. (hint, hint! Please comment if you've read my blog and liked it.) One commenter (the single comment on my post on the feelings of futility in writing) asked what I'm writing. So I thought I'd go ahead and give a little blurb here. Tentative title: The Face in the Mirror. It's historical women's fiction (which only means the main character is a woman, but men are certainly more than welcome to read the book...WHEN it's published). It is set in 1867, during the period of Reconstruction after the American Civil War. But to put a new twist on an old story, I decided to send my pioneering American characters...not to the western wilderness of the United States of America, but to the untamed wilderness of southern Brazil. Fact: At the end of the Civil War in 18...

Does that not sound like the title of a horror novel or movie? No? Ah, well maybe you're a veteran at this thing. Today is registration day for my 9th grader, and I woke up at 5 am and couldn't go back to sleep because of it. What's the big deal, you're probably asking. See, we've been homeschooling up til now and this will be the first in many years that she's gone to regular school. Did it for a year in 2nd grade, but for some reason, it wasn't as scary for me when she was that age. Now I'm sending my first baby off to high school! **gasp!** So this next year will be full of new things for all of us. I'm trusting it'll be a good year, but that trust doesn't keep the knots from forming in my gut. Ah...the joys of having teens. :)

Ok, so not exactly a crime stopper, but a tardy policeman stopper, maybe. Here, take a look at this article from the New York Times: To Punish Thai Police... So if you don't want to actually read the article (at least go and take a look at the picture) or then if you can't access it, in brief, the Thai police might soon be required to wear a pink Hello Kitty armband if they commit some minor infraction such as arriving late to work or parking in the wrong place. It's a cute armband, if I must say so myself, and my twelve year old would love it. But I guess it's not so cute for a macho policeman to have to wear around. Hey, it might actually be a good idea. A non-violent form of punishment? Or maybe not. The ridicule the officers would likely receive might lead to violence. We'll just have to wait and see how it works out.

I don't have anything important to say today. I've got a nasty allergy attack going on. You know, the runny nose, watery eyes...ugh! As you can see, the brain isn't in very good working order today. So I'll just leave you with a video of one of my current favorite Celtic Woman songs. Enjoy. :)

Gah! This blogging thing is hard. Or then I'm simply the world's worst blogger. I feel very strongly about things, and every day I get an idea for something to blog about. But when I open up the new post page, my mind draws a blank. Some writer I am, huh? lol. So all that aside, I do have something to say today, and I even remember what it is. :) As you might know if you've been reading any of my posts, or if you know me personally, I am a writer. I've had one book published, but it seems the muse left me after that. Well, not really. Life got in the way and I got lazy. But now I'm back to taking writing seriously. I cannot cry the woes of most writers, of having lots of rejections plastering my walls. You've got to send out proposals to get rejections! I have three stories that are almost finished and that I would love to try to pitch to some publisher out there. I want to finish all of them, but I feel this block when it comes to trying to finish any one of th...