Halloween Soup
31 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in A Zany Life, Joined at the Heart, Recipe Tags: Halloween costumes, Pumpkin Soup Recipe, trick-or-treat
As promised, here are the girls in full regalia.
We do the same thing every Halloween. At dusk we meet our neighbors and travel the cul-de-sac together. The older, childfree couples ooh and ahh, and give special treats to the kids, and call one another out to check the costumes. On the next block, our friends give Bacon a beer. All of us eat snacks before trick or treating that cul-de-sac. Back at our friends’ house, the party is still going on. Bacon has another beer. We talk a while before walking home. By this time, Coco’s candy bag is too heavy for her to carry, and both girls take off parts of their costumes because it’s hot in San Antonio on October 31. Cherry and Coco dump their candy sack on the table, eat all they can, and pick 20 pieces to keep for tomorrow. I buy everything that’s left for $10.00 per kid. In the end, it’s cheaper than paying the dental bill.
For dinner I make Halloween Soup.
Halloween Soup
1 small sweet pie pumpkin (Split in half, deseed, and cook in a pan, rind-side up for 1 hour in a 350° oven in an inch of water. Scoop the flesh out into a crock pot) or 2 cans pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
4T butter
2 cans chicken broth
1T honey
½t cinnamon
½t nutmeg
½t kosher salt
Combine and cook all day on low in the crockpot. Before serving, blend and add 1 can fat free evaporated milk. Stir. Do not boil after adding the milk or it will break. Garnish with a lump of brown sugar, and serve with slices of crusty bread.
Insomnia
29 Oct 2008 2 Comments
in Goals, Joined at the Heart, Writers Write Tags: Halloween, writers, writing
I tried to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. I reclined on my very tall bed with my very tall husband for a very tall time. An hour and a half later, I’m wide awake. After blogging everyday for a few weeks, I feel like I’ve fallen off the side of the cyber-world. Here’s the run down of what’s going on:
The girls took tests for cash this week. Bacon signed them up to tryout new school achievement tests. It was a giant hassle because they tested on two different school nights, but they were paid $30.00 each to do it. Both were thrilled to use their brains to make money. I think we’re on to something.
I bought Halloween costumes this year. Later in the week, I’ll post pictures of a very cute witch and an adorable pirate. I nixed all the princess, ballerina, butterfly, ladybug, dog, and cat suits. We’ve done them, and it was time to branch out. Cherry and Coco made excellent decisions. I have a little residual guilt over not sewing, glueing, or painting. It’s in my genes after all. When I told Bacon we had to buy, he said, ”But you’re their mother. You’ve always made their costumes.” (Wow, did he have to kiss up to live that one down?) I told him, “Yes, but their mother is writing a book, on a deadline. This is what I can do, now.” He drove to Target, and they got to pick the costumes they wanted.
I worked 30 minutes on, 15 minutes off, all day today. I finished the pages at 2:30. It’s a good way to write because I have to get up and move before I’m wiped out. At first, I had to force myself to sit in the chair for thirty minutes. By the end, the time was up, and I had to make myself get out of the chair.
I’m two days behind. That doesn’t sound like much until I say, I’m 20 pages behind. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day to write, but I’ve made notes, and I’m ready when I get the chance.
Lao Shi’s Couch
26 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in Goals, Writers Write Tags: Chinese lessons, writers, writing
I’m writing from Lao Shi’s couch. It isn’t really a couch. It’s a futon on a stand with pillows. It makes for awkward posture because my feet don’t quite touch the floor, and I’m leaning back too far. Lucky, the Jack Russell Terrier, is curled up next to me. The girls are having a Chinese lesson. I finished the last three of today’s ten pages here. I hope none of those Chinese words find their way into this draft. In another book it would work, but not for this one.
Stuff I’ve learned this week:
- It takes roughly half an hour to do one page of rewrite. For 10 pages that’s 5 hours a day.
- I’m still walking and doing morning pages. The time debt is 1 hour for those two things.
- Rereading before I go to bed is a bad idea. There’s always something more to do to that particular arrangement of words, and when I’m tired, it’s better to leave well enough alone.
- I’m still concerned that the whole thing isn’t long enough, and it still isn’t growing. Maybe it will in later sections.
- I’ve managed to do 40 pages in 4 days. I’m on target so far.
- Don’t force it. Just do the work and move on.
Thanks to everyone sending encouragement. Your emails and posts help more than you know.
Target Lust
23 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in Writers Write Tags: Artist's Date, writers, writing
Once a week, I take myself on an Artist’s Date, an idea borrowed from Julia Cameron’s books. I can go anywhere I want, but I have to go alone. It’s been more than two weeks since I’ve been anywhere alone except the park and the supermarket. So today, I checked out the new Target.
The store was shiny and bright. I saw about a thousand things I’ve never seen before. I tried to imagine the heroine from my story, Annie, wearing a lime green t-shirt or a jacket with ruffled sleeves. I imagined myself in the black dress with the chiffon shirt. Where would I wear it? Maybe, I could put it on during the day and wear it around the house? I found solar powered LED christmas lights, just what I need for a back yard project I’ve dreamed up.
The clerks were helpful. They weren’t destroyed yet by working in the same old place, day-in and day-out. They seemed happy to be in a new store where the fixtures weren’t broken and shelves were stocked for the first time.
In this depressed economy, in my depressed budgetary state, I got a big case of Target Lust. It’s a condition where I can’t shake all the promises of material happiness out of my head, although I know better. I keep imagining what I might do with an empty red shopping cart.
Time to get back to work on my book.
Ready, Set, Revise
21 Oct 2008 1 Comment
in Goals, Writers Write Tags: revisions, writers, writing
I finished the read through today. The entire copy is marked up in pink ink. Some of the notes are random. “What was I thinking?” or “Who wrote this?” Some are specific. “Shouldn’t the dog be in this scene?” If I die before I finish, the notes will make no sense to anyone, so I guess I have to live through it and finish the damn thing.
Tonight, I bundled the manuscript into packets of 10 pages each, stapled in the top left hand corner, and wrote a number on each packet. We’ll see how it goes from here. I know myself. If I bite off too much, I’ll give up. The plan is to work on one packet a day. I can’t go back. I can’t go forward.
I don’t have any cute stories to tell today. I didn’t get out much. Bear with me, I may have more days like this.
crisp |krisp| adjective
