Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween

I was all excited about Halloween for a few years.

Well, first we ignored it. I mean we gave out candy but when my oldest was born I spend about five years trying to keep the news of Halloween from her. Saved a lot of work for me.Then I bought this pattern for a kind of boring, floor length dress, long-sleeved, that had ??? four seams.Up the sides, curl around down the under side of the arms, then across each shoulder.

For YEARS I'd just make this in every larger sizes for my three older girls, and by changing fabric, I could make them a:

Witch
Pioneer Girl
Angel
(rotate)

I bought black hats for the witch,
made a bonnet (hardest thing I ever did, it came with the pattern) for the pioneer girl
Halo & wings
(rotate)
:)

Those were good years.
We had a lot of fun being pioneer girls. I read the Little House on the Prairie series to the girls every winter for years and it was wonderful, except for a while there they all called me MA and that got old.


Then, as for ugly scary costumes, well, I just got tired. Sure I started out all idealistic and unwilling to compromise with 'horror' costumes.

At some point thought, I'd let them be anything if they'd just leave me alone.

My gosh, there were a few years with daughter number 3 got on this kick of wearing a beige trench coat.

She'd put sunglasses on and carry a briefcase.

Every year.

She'd say, "I'm a FBI agent."
Next year,"I'm an accountant."
Next year, "I'm an IRS Auditor" (Nothin' scarier than that, admit it!)


Then the horror began

This was a great costume. Lots of work too. Only, look at her feet. Cheap white tennis shoes. It would have been fine...except for the BLIZZARD. Her feet got so wet and cold she ended up staying in the car. Poor kid. You know how much it takes to get a child to stay in the CAR on Halloween instead of running up and yelling Trick or Treat? Why didn't I just slap black boots (or pink boots, that's what we mostly had back then) on her feet and forget the look???
Anyway, it worked out because her sisters took her bag and asked for candy for her. Kinda like Linus and Lucy and the Great Pumpkin.

I remember fondly the year I found a white blazer, dripped 'blood' on it, (red paint) dangled a fake stethoscope around my daughter's neck, painted her face white and her lips red so it looked like blood was dripping out of her mouth, and put black around her eyes. Ratted her long blonde hair up wildly--A ghoulish mad scientist.


Only trouble? By the end of the day, the white paint had mostly worn off, the red lips were mostly gone, the hair had died down. the black around the eyes had faded a bit. She looked kind of like an intern who'd just put in a 100 hour week. But I was too busy (or lazy, you be the judge) to re-up her make-up so she just looked tired. Poor baby.


We hit bottom the year I let my youngest daughter go as DEATH. We found an old scythe laying around in the barn. A real scythe.

Plus, I just used that same long dress costume, with black fabric, and BOOM, she's DEATH.


Or maybe, The Grim Reaper would be another name for her.


She got to school and her teacher took the scythe away from her. Mrs. Miller considered a deadly weapon--which is fair.

But she looked pretty cool.

The next year?
DEATH again, only this time I bought her these horrible fake hands and a mask that was just ghastly. So she didn't just look like DEATH she looked like HORROR DEATH.


They get the same amount of candy regardless, in case you've never noticed.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Buffalo Gal


Buffalo Gal releases Oct. 1st

“ When I realized you and your family could be
killed by the buffalo, I was so scared I would
have bet I’d never laugh again.”
Wyatt heard more in her voice than the worry of a rancher for
her neighbor. He heard the same thing he’d heard that morning
two weeks ago when she hadn’t liked finding him with Jeanie.
The same thing he’d heard behind every insult and apology.
There couldn’t be anything between them. . .but there was.
Without making a conscious choice, Wyatt reached for her
and pulled her into his arms. She looked startled, but she let
him drag her over to his side of the truck.
Wyatt, knowing every move was pure stupid, lowered his
head.
Lights in the rearview mirror jerked them apart.
Buffy scooted away from him so quickly, Wyatt thought
she’d been snagged by a lasso and hog-tied to her door.
This isn't the finalized cover, no title included, but it will look very much like this.
Mary

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

SARAH PALIN: Before it got to the other side, I shot the chicken, cleaned and dressed it, and had chicken burgers for lunch.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented chickens.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken doesn’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

this is one of those email forwards that I thought was pretty funny. I did NOT write this.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

FREE BOOKS ON SEEKERVILLE



Check out Seekerville today or any day this week
Leave a comment and get your name in the drawing
For three books from Seeker authors.
Debby Giusti
Missy Tippens
Mary Connealy (me!)

BECAUSE WE'RE CELEBRATING OUR BIRTHDAY.
SEEKERVILLE BECAME A DAILY VACATION DESTINATION ONE YEAR AGO.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEEKERS
____________________________________________________________________

Monday, October 27, 2008

Single Sashimi

Single Sashimi is book three in Camy Tang’s Sushi Series. Fast paced, funny, romantic chick lit set in an American Asian family. I’ve read all three books and loved them. Single Sashimi is my favorite of them all.
Venus, is the career-minded, of the cousins.. She’s beautiful and hard driving and very successful…until she gets passed over for a promotion…to a job she’s already doing. In the male dominated world of video games, Venus has proved herself an equal to any man, but she can’t quite convince her jerk of a boss that she’s not just another pretty face.
When the promotion doesn’t come through, not only is an incompetent underling given her job, and his now her boss, but the new boss restructures the company so she still has to do his job, and now do her own job, too. Leaving him little to do except collect his hefty paycheck.
Venus gets a job offer that is a huge step down. But she needs to step somewhere before she explodes. But the only offer in town is from Drake, who was her boss once before, and lost her when he asked her to do something disgusting to please a client.
Venus can’t get a break.
Drake swears he’s changed. He vows to give Venus the freedom to run his sister’s start-up company with complete freedom. He apologizes sincerely and often for the mistakes of the past.
And still Venus can hardly look at the man without strangling him.
It only makes it worse that he’s the most attractive man Venus has ever seen.
And then comes Venus’s grandmother. The meddling matchmaker, who has more business connections than any bossy little Asian lady ought to have. And she’ll use them to help Venus get back on her feet, if only Venus will do Grandmother the tiny favor of dating the man Grandmother says she should.
I had so much fun visiting Camy Tang's strong-willed Asian cousins again. I am so hopeful this series isn't over. Single Sashimi is my favorite so far, and I loved the other books. Funny, fast paced, great characters, great plot, great romance.
I loved this book. I love Venus. I'm even starting to like Grandma...a little. A must read.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Trip on a Narrow Gage Railroad

wonderful, rugged vistas from the train. We went to 10,000 feet and allllllll the way back down to about 5000. Pratically sea level!
Me and Kathleen Y'Barbo havin' a good time, but note the coats. It got a little cold up there. Snow and one kinda lazy bald eagle and quaking aspen trees and pines and just stunning beauty.
Tried to catch the whole train in a picture. There were plenty of curves and lots of steep uphill climbing. Someone had to stoke coal into the engine the whole way. There's a job for me if writing doesn't work out!!!!
The Cumbria Toltec Narrow Gage Railroad. Fun and beautiful and so interesting.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK


Today is my day on Petticoats and Pistols.
Stop by for my blog about my new book Buffalo Gal and my bold experience of TOUCHING A BUFFALO--with my bare hand.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

My Day on Seekerville

Talking about writing mostly
but a bit about
Buffalo Gal
coming this month from
Heartsong Presents.
And I just got my cover for
book #2 in
the South Dakota contemporary series.
Clueless Cowboy
I love this cover.
Note the dirty jeans
The big old house behind them
These two have quite a time finding True Love.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Writer's Heaven?

Writers' Heaven and Hell
A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell.
She decided to check out each place first.
As the writer descended into thefiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in asteaming sweatshop.
As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thornylashes.
"Oh my," said the writer. "Let me see heaven now."

A few moments later, as she ascended into heaven, she saw rows of writers, chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop.
As they worked, they, too,were whipped with thorny lashes.
"Wait a minute," cried the writer. "This is just as bad as hell!"
"Oh no, it's not," replied an unseen voice. "Here, your work gets published