Confessions of this Married Writer by Robin Janney

My first confession is that I've been a slacker this week.  I haven't posted on my own blog, and have put off working on this post until today.

The three day weekend last weekend had a lot to do with it, because my husband had all three days off.  And let me tell you, there is no getting any writing when he is home.  Not because he bothers me, just because I set it to the side so I can spend time with him.

Clare Dunn opening for Parmalee

Saturday, we decided to go to the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fair even though we knew it meant sacrificing our grocery money for the week.  Thankfully, it didn't matter because we had enough already so that it wasn't an issue (although I did have to end up using my change to buy a loaf of bread). My husband has such a good heart; one of his co-workers has been down in the dumps so my husband decided to invite him to go with us.  I walked waaaaay too much on my foot that won't heal, even sitting down on benches here and there.  But I got to eat Triton pizza and later had homemade ice cream.  We ran short on time after the concert, so we missed out on funnel cake this year.

One thing I like about this fair is that their concert area is in this little bowl in the land.  They fill the bottom part with chairs, but they let people bring in their own chairs and sit on the side of the banks for a cheaper price.  It used to be $5, but this year it was raised to $10.  Still a good deal.  Three years ago they had the Roots and Boots Tour: Aaron Tippin, Sammy Kershaw and Joe Diffie.  Unfortunately, there was a bad thunderstorm that blew up and rained us out an hour into the show. :/ That didn't happen this year with Clare Dunn and Parmalee. While it sounded to hubby and me that their sound was off (screechy) we still enjoyed the songs.

Parmalee

The second coming?

Oh, there they are!

Sadly, sitting on the bank means that the pictures my phone will take are less than stellar.  But that didn't stop me from taking them.  :)

Which leads me into another confession I guess.  I love taking pictures.  Which is something my husband finds amusing, unless I'm trying to take a picture of him.  The handsome lad doesn't like his picture taken because he thinks he's ugly!  It's far from true, but sometimes how we view ourselves isn't anything close to how others view us.  Neither view is 100% accurate, is it?

But as long as I'm not aiming at him, he doesn't care.  In fact when we were in the fair's southern field, about five minutes too late for the Big Cats show, he laughed when I pulled my phone out to capture what pics I could of the gorgeous animals.  "I knew that was coming out!" he said.  Even though we missed the 'show' we still got to see animals we'd never seen before. It was quite exciting.

Meow Meow

Meow

Meow Meow Meooooow!

What can I say?  The majesty of these big cats speak for themselves. Though caged, they still have this regal bearing that says: "I'm only tolerating this because you're shoving chunks of meat through the cage to me."  I can only hope that when they're not on the road being shown, that they have a bigger home than the cages we saw.  Part of me hates that they're caged, but another part of me recognizes that without the cages, I would never have been able to see them.

Well, that covers day one of the three day weekend, you say.  What about Sunday and Monday? you ask.

Sunday, I still wasn't feeling well from a stomach bug that had been bothering me for over a week and from overdoing it at the fair (I didn't even mention the Tough Truck Competition because I didn't get pictures).  So I pretty much bummed it.  All I really remember doing is a lot of reading.

Which leads me into confession number three.  This should be no surprise to any of you readers out there.  I have more books than what I know what to do with, but that doesn't stop me from buying more.  From the library last week, I picked up two paperbacks for fifty cents a piece (and am eyeing more): The Stand by Stephen King and The King of Torts by John Grisham.  I've never read any of Grisham's books, and while I've read some of his short stories, I've never read a King novel either.  I'm usually hesitant about trying out authors I'm not familiar with, but I've been feeling the need to expand my horizons recently.  For fifty cents, you really can't lose.  AND, while at the fair, I picked up two more!  The Green Mile, another Stephen King, and Vision In Death by J.D. Robb.  I love love love the book stall at the fair! :)

And that's not all.  I recently bought Breathe of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann.  I don't read Christian fiction much anymore unless I want something light to read because much of it lacks a certain energy.  What I've read of Kristen's has that missing energy other works seem to lack. I've been trying to read that at the same time as reading The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, but Shadow has been demanding my full attention.  Sucks me right in, every time.

Mage Ciera without her armor

Monday...well, uhm, see this is a hard confession.  I'm not the level of gamer that my hubby is.  Not much for Xbox, although I can play a decent game of Halo Wars (better if he's on too giving me 'orders') and I like Hexic (think Bejewled Blitz).  But I love the online role playing game RuneScape.  Monday, hubby was on his account and well, I can't exactly let him get too far ahead of me now can I?

Sitting in the same room, on separate computers, it's not uncommon for us to ask each other "Where are you?"  We had our characters in different places in the beginning, but ended up in the same dungeon room killing zombies and crawlers. And picking up whatever loot the other players let go.  I leveled up my Herblore almost ten levels by cleaning the herbs left behind by other players' kills.  They snooze, they lose.

Just like in real life, somehow I ended up making sure hubby, or rather his character, had enough to eat.  Those critters fight back, and if you're not paying attention you can kick the bucket.  And then he needed bowstring for a bow he wanted to make and he was going to buy it from the games "Grand Exchange" and I'm like, "No, no, no!!  I have some I can give you!  Don't buy any!"  Apparently he's forgotten where the flax fields are and how to make bowstrings.  Just a silly game, but it's fun and relaxing (except when others don't play nice).  As I was reading the Wikipedia article I linked above, I was amused to discover that there has been three fantasy novels written based on the game.  Why not?

Tuesday is a bit of a blur.  I didn't do much of anything fun.  Dishes.  Which is five minutes on my feet, and ten off, which can make doing dishes quite the ordeal if I've let them pile up like I did over the weekend.  I'm so bad.

Today, my mother and I went on a road trip of sorts.  My foot doctor has ordered Orthodic inserts for my shoes and the place he sent me to is in Johnson City, New York.  It's roughly an hour from my home, traffic and road work permitting.  Road work did not permit today and I was about fifteen minutes late.  :|  For an appointment that maybe lasted fifteen minutes.  If that.  All he really did was take down my info, look at both my naked feet and them make impressions of both in blue foam.  I get to go back in three weeks.  Praying that my insurance covers it, because otherwise that'll be a nice bill of $420!!  Yikes!

After that, I decided to splurge a little and take my mom out to eat.  I found a Friendly's to stop at.  Which the booth mom and I sat at had mirrors behind my mom, so out came the phone again to take pics.

Trying not to laugh too hard at me

My mom...I <3 her...

Food was good, the sundaes even better!  They give you these huge plates to make you think you're getting a lot, but you're not really.  You're just getting a normal portion.  I can't say the same about the five scoop sundaes we had.  Those were niiiice...

Those are the best confessions I can come up with.  Not exactly earth-shattering, or entirely shocking in same cases.  But enough to let you know what this crazy writer has been up to recently.  I'll be getting back on the ball tomorrow and back to proofing book number two.  I'm getting so itchy about wanting to release it!  But I can't yet, not until I weed out as many typos as I can find!  And touch up a few weak spots.  Once I've finished my present going through, and have made all the corrections, I'm going to upload the file and get my proof copy and then read through that one to make sure I've gotten as much as I can...again!  I'll never be 100% satisfied, but I'll reach the "confident enough" level after I've done that much.

But I'll leave you with a teaser of the cover as I ask you, "What did you do for Labor Day?"

Coming soon, I promise!!

School's Out For The Summer (and my quiet time is gone.) By C.P. Stringham

     It’s that time of year, folks. School has officially let out for the summer. How long did it take those of you with children to hear, “I’m bored!”? I think my youngest said it on her very first day home--and several times since. Despite that, I love having my children home for summer vacation. I really do. All three of us benefit from taking an academic break.  

First day of the 2013-14 school year. Seems like it was just yesterday.  

My oldest is pretty maintenance-free as far as needing my assistance with schoolwork. While she usually makes honor roll, her grades don't come to her as easily as they do for others. She has to work really hard for them. Like me, she's more of a language arts/history academic. Math and science makes us cringe. Specifically, algebra and chemistry. Don't get me wrong. We have a total appreciation of those subjects and their importance, but lack the critical understanding needed to perform them. No, with her, the most difficult act I'm involved in is getting her out of bed on school mornings. In plain words? She's a pain-in-the-ass to wake up and get moving. Truly. She’ll be a senior next year. The last year I’ll have to fight with her to get up. Time sure flies. I’m sure I’ll look back some day and wish those days hadn't gone by so quickly.

My youngest has an Autism Spectrum Disorder and, along with it, she has a learning disability. Fortunately, we've had incredible teachers who are understanding, helpful, and extremely caring. They've been able to make strong connections with her and have encouraged academic gains. The best part for me personally? They tolerate my "helicopter mom" tendencies! A few teachers have even offered yours truly some good-natured ribbing over my possessive worrying since I openly admit to it. I embrace my idiosyncrasies and poke fun at myself. Unlike her older sister, Mackenzie has no trouble getting up for school. Some days, she’s up before my alarm goes off. Where my early riser gives me fits is with her homework. She hates homework. Hates it and not in the same way typical kids do. She and I go around and around. It takes us an hour to do a fifteen-minute assignment because she drags it out by whining and complaining—even worse is when she shuts down entirely. Her developmental pediatrician says it’s quite common in children with autism to hate homework. Their brains take things and put them into the most concrete, black and white, categories. For her, homework comes from school, therefore, it should be done AT SCHOOL. No gray area for it. Fortunately, her teachers try to accommodate her as much as possible and give her time to do homework at school. Mackenzie has made many gains and works diligently during her school days. She gets off the bus, at the end of the day, and goes to her room to decompress from all of the sensory overload she’s had from being around people all day. Grumpy Gus turns into Miss Mellow from an hour's worth of isolation with her computer or MP3 player.

We’re only into our second week of summer vacation and, while we haven’t had one of our famous family road trips yet, there’s bound to be adventures in our near future. Northeastern Pennsylvania has so many wonderful places to visit and within close enough proximity for a fun-filled day trip. Ithaca, Watkins Glen, Corning, Wellsboro, and Galeton are some of our favorite destinations. Up and out of the house reasonably early for the commute, shop, see the sights, grab a late lunch at a mom and pop joint, see some more sites, and then head home. Those trips have led to our meeting some pretty awesome people and forming new friendships. Most of our trips involve supporting as many small businesses as possible. They are the best places to enjoy the American experience--meeting the local people and learning the history. I take a camera along because you never know who or what you will see. Capture those adventures!

Wellsboro, PA: L to R - My family passing the historic Penn Wells Hotel; Tioga County Court House; Wynken, Blynken and Nod Statue on the Green. 

 Here’s to fireflies, s’mores, swimming, and cookouts! May each of you get the most out of what summer has to offer. After the winter we’ve had, I’m doing just that!

What are your plans this summer? If you're looking to visit Potter County, stop in and visit Rob and Cindy Pflug at The Brick House Cafe & Deli. It's located along PA's historic Route 6 in Galeton, PA. Have a hearty meal, enjoy the comfortable atmosphere, and make sure to introduce yourself. They're good people! 

The Brick House Cafe & Deli: L to R - The front view overlooking a street in Galeton; Our host, Cindy Pflug, who makes AMAZING cole slaw--among many other scrumptious things; My husband and our oldest with full bellies and happy smiles!