Last Weekend
FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY I came back sunburned, of course. The girl just tanned. Sigh.
Real Life
The Not-So-Good-Housekeeping Life of Meljean Brook
Still catching up…
Sorry! I need to get back to my steampunk Q&A, I know, but real life has been intruding a lot lately, and catching up on the writing has to come first. So I’ll get back to it ASAP, but it might be after December 1st. I did catch up today on this week’s Astronomy Pictures […]
Yummy-Yum
The girl is home sick today, and when I set her lunch in front of her, she said: “This doesn’t look very appetizing.” I’m kind of astonished by the implication that, in eight years, something *has* looked appetizing enough that she comments on the lack now. God knows that when I’m eating my own food, […]
Hello, Oregon Beaches!
We left and it was hot and sunny. We got over the coastal range and it was cloudy and windy. *sorry for the sappy mommy post. What can I say? I didn’t see her for THREE days, and she was sick the whole time. SOB SOB.
Looking for Missing Woman (Salinas, CA area)
My sister just told me that my brother-in-law’s cousin, 23-year-old Ryann Bunnell Crow, has been missing since Jan 30th. Here is the TV news report and the article. If you are in the area, please take a look.
Husband Training Journal, Year 8.3
Progress on: Toilet tissue roll replacement: satisfactory, though still needs reminding. Washing & drying laundry (his own, but that’s enough): satisfactory. Training complete. Putting away laundry: mostly satisfactory. Toast-making: excellent. Training complete. Washing own dishes: utter failure. Cannot comprehend that rinsing it out is not equivalent to soap, scrub, rinse, dry. I fear anything he’s […]
Sad truths about Meljean
1) She almost passed out while trying to sing the last part of “Nessun dorma” along with Pavarotti … while driving to Safeway to get groceries for dinner. Road safety = FAIL. 2) If a fresh loaf of French bread enters her car, still warm from the Safeway bakery oven, chances are it will not […]
The real-life inspiration for every line of sexual-tension-laden dialogue I've ever written:
SETTING: Meljean’s kitchen, 10:25, about twenty minutes after she and her husband (who we will call Bobby) have returned home (and not having eaten yet.) COMPLICATIONS: Meljean doesn’t want to cook anything substantial or time-consuming, so she pulls out the mac & cheese (generic brand, because she likes that better, and in dinosaur shapes, because […]
*headdesk* (take ten)
I went to bed about four-thirty last night after finishing a scene that I really liked (even if it was also very rough), woke up late for 1st day back to school, somehow got daughter/husband there on time, drove sister to work…and was stopped because my brake light was out. While stopped, I learned that […]
Happy Turkey Day!
I am heading down to my parents’ house tomorrow morning (with my laptop). While everyone else is cooking, I’ll be writing … which is probably for the best, as my culinary skills are not legendary. Yesterday I took a day and made sure I had all of the story threads mapped out through Michael’s book […]
Things you learn when you don't wash the dishes as often as you should:
1) The mini meat cleaver that came in the Hillshire Farms gift pack that your sister bought on sale after Christmas last year — and you aren’t really sure if she bought it for herself or if she planned to give it away this year (because summer sausage lasts a disturbingly long time), but it […]
Oh, man — I'm old.
So, yesterday I was at the school picking up my daughter and husband, and had to kill a little time before we went home. So I took my daughter out to the playground, where a second-grader was doing a cherry-drop off of the bars. Only her cherry-drop wasn’t what I’d always thought of as a […]
To my daughter on November 5,
I told you that November 4th was an important day. What I didn’t tell you, because I don’t share my cynicism with you just yet, is that last November 4th I’d have said I really didn’t think this could happen. Because I haven’t told you this, either, but your daddy has had the n-word shouted […]
Update: My caffeine addiction (and the size of my ass)
No, I haven’t weaned myself. But to save money, I have stopped going to Starbucks every morning for my triple mocha, and have been downing tons of Diet Pepsi instead. And I’ve lost about five pounds*. …maybe I should also take up smoking? I know I should be drinking, because that is the writerly thing […]
Feeling very old.
I gave one of my daughter’s kindergarten friends a ride home today. Currently, I’m driving my FIL’s Corolla — he’s out of state for a while, so I’ve been switching between cars so that neither one is sitting for weeks on end — which doesn’t have any of the extras. Even the extras that aren’t […]
A letter to Meljean from Meljean's Hair.
Dear Meljean, Really, you know better than to try pepping up your hair color at home. But if you must do it, please remember that ‘copper shimmer’ ends up looking more like ‘ruby fusion.’ Very dark ruby fusion*. If you can do that one little thing, I think we will get along much better in […]