I'm Back and Talking About Traveling

So it has been a seriously long time since I've blogged here. I check in because the guinea pig post gets the most hits and random comments show up periodically.

What I've been doing: I've been working on writing and had a crisis this last year that put all of my goals on hold. And the stress actually sent me to the ER. Never been there before for myself even though I had been there 3 months in a row for before that for someone else in my family. I had a stress event on my heart and have been slowly recovering ever since. That is a long story saga of its own I don't want to retell here. But my heart is okay. My blood pressure is all over the place but mostly fine when I'm chill and I'm ready to find my focus again.

My other love next to family and writing is traveling and photography. We tripped to Disneyland in January. I'll blog about that later.

Today's blog will be about our latest trip to Portland and the Oregon Coast.

Portland is just over a 7 hour drive from Boise. The hubby and I decided a couple weeks ago we would celebrate our 25th anniversary by going that direction. I mean it was maybe under 2 weeks ago. So I made a plan and by golly, everything worked out beautifully.

Now I've made cross country trips with my kids. I love the fact you can look anything up and plan a trip by doing your research long before you get in the car. Looking at maps of cities you want to visit can give you some amazing insight as to what is in the town even better than just doing a Google search. I love those Road Atlases you can get at Wal-Mart. You can look up the cities and read all the little words and see if there is interesting things you want to see that you had no idea existed there until you viewed the map. So I scanned Portland. My husband had an idea of his own.

Here is how our journey started. We left when he got home from work Thursday night, gained an hour on the drive and made it to the Super 8 by the airport by midnight. I searched motels all over town and looked at each website and choose this one because of reviews, low-cost, nicely renovated rooms and of course availability. It also looked easiest to find while tired in an unfamiliar city. I checked out a Motel 6's reviews that was just coming into town and several people said that it seemed like they were in a questionable part of town so that turned me off. The Super 8 it was and I was not disappointed. Super easy to find, nice room, lots of fast food nearby, nice area. Bonus- Ikea was right on the other side of the freeway along with a really nice, recently built, enormous shopping area. It didn't bother me at all we were staying 2 nights and this motel. Also, motels can really gross me out in a hurry.

Our first day we started with the hubby's activity. We drove by the Evergreen Air and Space Museum years ago on our way to the Oregon Coast. I only remember it being one building back then. It is about an hour and a half from north Portland on one of the roads you can take to get to the Oregon Coast. Now it is 3 main buildings with an indoor water park off to the side. With an airplane on top of the building with slides coming out.

 I took pictures on my phone and sent it to my kids and one of them replied she Googled it and really wants to go there.

We didn't go there. I thought the admission was a bit pricey at $25.00 a person. It was the thing to do without the extra expense bringing the girls. My husband was in his happy place. He loves WWII airplanes and they had plenty. The Spruce Goose is the main reason why the whole museum was even built, the first building was made specifically to house the huge wooden plane.

Under the wings are numerous other planes. From Orville and Wilbur Wright's first contraptions to modern day military aircraft. I realized I enjoyed looking at the planes in the comfortable climate controlled building, I've been to my share of airshows and took no pleasure looking at planes when it's so hot out. I took lots of pictures of propellers and unique views of the planes with the intention of making something for my husband's birthday at the end of this week. I think there's nothing cooler than having pictures on the wall of something you love that you actually saw with your own eyes. We will see if he thinks the same. We payed an extra $4.00 a person to tour a B-17. My hubby likes that plane more than I ever knew so it was a special experience for him.

That high admission to get in was probably worth it in the end. We got to see a movie in the center building. Huge Imax looking screen as we watched a National Geographic movie about fighter pilot training. We then went to the Space part of the museum. More of the military fighter jets were in there with a lot of rocket and space travel information.  I've been to NASA south of Houston before so a lot of the space exploration stuff was a lot like what you can see there. For those who haven't been to NASA before, you will be more impressed.

For food at the museum, they had concessions in each building. I bought a fountain drink in the first building. They had mostly snacks there, nothing substantial. The lady that gave me my small $2 cup said it was refillable. So I refilled it after the movie in the middle building. We didn't buy popcorn there but it sure smelled good. In the third building, they had a cafe. It was very nice. A little more upscale with real plates. We ordered cheese burgers at $8 a plate, with fries, and they were very good, restaurant style. Well worth the money.

We were there on a Friday and the museums weren't over crowded with people at all. It was very pleasant, easy to look at all the aircraft, and very friendly and knowledgeable staff.

So this was the first leg of our day. I'll save the rest of the places we visited for my next post.

 Some view pictures of the space museum. Yes, there two nice cars there too.

Writer's Voice Contest Post

Welcome Writer's Voice hosts to my blog. I'm excited to be selected to participate.  My Twitter is @Laycrew 

Thanks for reading!
Kimberly Lay

GYPSY GIRL Query:

Sera’s high school experience complete with mean girls, cyber bullying, and her first love triangle amid fair rides, fried foods, and horses, nearly costs Sera and her family everything.

Sixteen-year-old, home schooled, Seraphina wants to hang out with someone that's not her little sister when she’s not performing in her family’s gypsy-storytelling show at the fair. Her wish is granted when she bumps into Noah, and he can’t take his eyes off her. But he’s there to show horses and Sera’s terrified of them. 

Sera's horse terror isn't her only problem. Her presence instantly creates friction with the five small town, horse-loving teens. Noah’s flirty best friend, Josh says he’s the short, pasty, and average sidekick, but he’s fun, protective, and just as endearing as adorably kind and patient, Noah. The Dark One, Kelly is the trouble-making ring leader of the three girls, preying on Sera’s horse fears, and posting it all over Instagram and Facebook. While the boys help Sera conquer her fear of horses, and help fix the messes their friends have made, Sera can’t help falling for both boys. Kissing Noah and Josh creates a rift in their friendship. Kelly takes tormenting Sera too far when jealousy over Noah costs her family Peppy the capuchin monkey, threatens to close the show, and may end their gypsy way of life. To polish off a week full of drama, Sera also must make a difficult choice before the fair comes to an end, and hearts will be broken.

GYPSY GIRL is a 68,000 word YA contemporary novel. 

First 250:

THURSDAY

The view from the castle and pirate ship themed roof was the best part of Sera’s traveling home. Once they parked and settled in, she could sit up top to enjoy some quiet time away from her family, and the zoo stink from their pets. Sera loved watching the carnival rides in motion on the other side of the fairgrounds as they finished their final light check.

The only people on the grounds were vendors, the kids with animals, and carnies. No pungent scents floating in the air of fried foods mixing with beer and the sour smells of overflowing garbage. No screaming from the rides or bumbling drunks, just the peaceful light show.

Before the fair opened was when Sera enjoyed it most. However, if she could make a few friends while they were there, the fair would be so much more fun.

Sera slightly closed her eyes. The Ferris wheel lights blurred, blending together.

“Seraphina?” She heard her mom’s muffled call coming from inside.

Sera squinted more. The blended lights turned into swirling rainbows. Oh, how she loved rainbows.

“Seraphina, did you feed Millie?” her mother yelled from the grass below.

“Yes, and she almost bit my finger off.” Sera rubbed where it still hurt from the macaw. There were some days she wished they had normal pets and a normal life.

“She’s always testy after a long day spent on the road. Why don’t you let her out?” Her mom was also testy after a long day on the road.
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The Story Behind the Story

The contest is wrapping up and there have been a few things I've wanted to share just for fun since I plan on leaving this post up. I hoped to get in the contest but there is stiff competition for a lighthearted story like mine.  But I wanted to share some things that inspired Gypsy Girl. 
I went to the fair last summer and saw this fancy camper thing. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen and I walked away thinking about how cool it would be to write a story about a modern day gypsy girl that lived in something like that. 

 A view of the roof. Sera's traveling home is a bit longer in the middle than this.

This is the stage view but in Sera's home it is more colorful inside, old gypsy style. Sera and her sister's room is one turret. Her mom's is the other.

Another thing from my past I used in this story was when I was 15, I was in 4-H learning all about horses, and that summer I camped at the fair to show my friend's horse. That was the most fun. The independence, roaming the fair when we weren't showing horses, and a few little crisis moments my friend and I had to deal with when we were on our own. Noah and Josh are more like my friend and I. Noah loves horses more than anything, until he met Sera. Josh is Noah's best friend and he's learned about horses hanging out with his friend, kind of like me all those years ago. 

Truthfully, the story was a blast to write. Fair fun, flirting, some typical mean kid stuff, horses, and in the end this bunch of kids are learning how to navigate the world they are in, making mistakes, and figuring out how to make things right.

For some reason I was really drawn to Hunter Hayes while writing. I'm not a country fan but his music totally fits this story. Besides, he is adorable. Kacey Musgraves 'Follow your Arrow' was perfect for Sera and Josh as they figure out how to identify themselves apart from their unconventional mothers. Sera's mom looks gypsy all the time with dreads and the whole gypsy outfit 24/7 and it comes out later that Josh's mom is a lesbian.  Sera is quirky in her own right though. She has chalked rainbow colors in her hair, loves cartoon t-shirts when she's not in gypsy costume, and she adores shoes. Combat books, cartoon and glittery converse, anything fun and she doesn't care how it looks with what she's wearing. 

One thing I've written into 3 of my novels are some really fantastic young men. I don't know if it is because I have no boys but the 4 boys in all these novels just tug at my heart. Probably because I tend to break their hearts with the girls that they fall for. Where were these guys when I was a teen? I did know some and I broke one boy's heart much like what happens in Gypsy Girl. He was the nicest boy and I realized when I finished this novel and thought back to some love triangles I was in(there was more than one, they do happen in real life), Noah and Josh have some of his great traits. Sadly, I never gave that boy a chance. 

I really enjoy creating characters and they do tend to stick with me long after I finish writing these stories. That has been the most fun for me when it comes to writing. 

Spring has Sprung

This is the time of year that nearly drowns me completely. December has nothing on April. Kid chasing galore.

Hannah was allowed to do track this year while Kylee and Autumn played high school varsity tennis. It was going well until they bumped Autumn to JV for the last few games. They will do that for the low varsity kids. But Autumn is not driving and they don't bus to away games. The last 3 matches were home for varsity. Where's the aggravated smiley? We found out she was bumped to the JV game the night before and it was on a day I was already obligated to car-pool Hannah and another boy to honor band. Grrr. So just this one day after a month of kid chasing- Went and picked up boy, drove to Elementary school to pick up Hannah from track, drove to jr high on north end of town. Drove to girls' high school. Kylee started warming up. Varsity tennis takes forever BTW. Drove to high school away game on west side of town. Thankfully friend carpooled the honor band kids back home. Watched Autumn play. Picked up Autumn and her friend, brought them back to their high school again. Kylee was still playing. An hour and half and four schools later, I did my supermom thing and still watched both girls play. All I can say is I'm so glad there are no boys playing baseball. That is entirely a commitment I would not embrace.

Our Alaska humanitarian project goes on. I sent Easter and clothes to six Yupik children. I'm still gathering things. It is costly to send stuff up there though.

Lee Joe is headed back up to Scammon Bay anytime now. Another small Yupik village right next to the Bering Sea. We are making plans to visit him this summer. What would be the coolest is to also meet with some of the Iditarod mushers, visit with family, drive down the Kenai peninsula with the kids, and maybe meet with my 6th grade best friend who I haven't seen in person in ohhhhh almost 30 years. Okay, that sounds gross. How did I get that old?  

Life, giving to Alaska, and all that...

This blog has been in a lull again. Much has happened. And if you ever wonder why I don't post more pictures-sometimes blogger and my computer don't get along. I'll post more pictures later when they decide to cooperate.

Daughter #2 is married. That should have been a complete blog post of its own. It was a beautiful wedding. Everything was amazing. I loved the place where we had the wedding and reception. Even though all this went so well, I'm still not a happy party planner. But Kelsea loved it. Her husband is the best. We love him so much. Our 2 son-in-laws are just adored. I just wonder how I will manage the other 3 when the first 2 have been so hard for me.

The most popular blog post on my blog at the moment is the one I posted about when my guinea pigs that had mites. There is some sad news. Twix, the middle brown colored one, died this winter. He fell ill with pneumonia and we didn't catch it in time. The other two are well but not having the 3 little piggies is kind of sad.

As far as writing, well I'm writing lots, querying agents, and getting some close calls but nothing as of yet. It is a difficult and discouraging process and kind of deflates my creative energy. But I'm still weighing a few things, pulling myself up by the bootstraps as I keep plugging along.

The main thing I wanted to blog about was the hubby's experience in Alaska. He worked clear until mid-November and grew the love the Yupik people. There were a few Aleuts and Athabascans he got to know as well. He tried new foods-seal, walrus, and whale. He disliked the whale the most. We have a freezer full of moose we are still trying to figure how to cook with since some of it is so gamey flavored and us city people aren't use to that.

My husband has an enormous heart and is so giving and saw many of the needs in the remote Alaskan village. There are no thrift stores or dollar stores there. The whole reason he was there was to stimulate the economy teaching all he could job skills they could use to better their lives. What's hard is once summer is over and the snow flies, there is very little people can do there. They hunker down for winter and visit those they can. So there is great need especially in winter.

We have had a garage full of stuff I'm ashamed to admit. But now, I know why much of that stuff might have been sitting there for so long. My husband wanted to help. Of course I here the stories of need and I was right with him. I guess in the end it was me that did the work. He mailed the boxes.

I'm an excellent clearance shopper. Even though my husband was facing unemployment once he came home, I still went out and shopped trying to find socks and underwear for kids. My timing was a little off though. I found several packages of large girls socks and a big bunch of jrs socks. I bought some small stocking stuffer things for boys and girls, some dollar packages of perfumes and colognes for teens. I had some stockings in our garage sale stuff and I gathered all the pants, long sleeved shirts, and coats I could find and stuffed the boxes full. I also had a box full of stuffed animals. I packed 5 good sized boxes and it cost us $180 to send them and we sent them all on the same day. They were supposed to show up on Dec 23rd. I knew they wouldn't make it on time for Christmas but I sure hoped they would.

One box showed up a day or two after Christmas. That one was full of girls coats. I have all girls and I had planned on donating them to the coat drives here in town for several winters. I kind of missed getting them out the door. Finally these coats made it out of my house.

We shipped the boxes to one family in Pilot Station so they could give to things out to those who needed it. This family already has 6 kids of their own and took in 4 more whose parents weren't able to care for them. Likely due to alcoholism which runs rampant there. I'm not stereotyping. I know you here that, but it is the truth. But the children are shared with family members usually so they are cared for. So anyway, the first story we heard was how a widow with 3 daughters got 3 of the coats from the box.

Three of the boxes showed up on New Years Eve. My Christmas gifts I sent didn't get there in time but it didn't matter. The woman that recieved the boxes filled the stockings and took them to some of the children that didn't have any Christmas at all. That is when my heart breaks and yet is filled since they did in fact get something. All the stuffed animals found a home. The socks I sent, the ones where I couldn't find much in any other size, went to 2 girls. A 12 year old and 16 year old that had no socks at all. No socks in Alaska. Can you imagine? Then that is where I know why I found the socks I did. Those girls also didn't have a Christmas at all and got a stocking.

We got stories tricking in on where the clothes were going and time and time again they went to people in great need. The last box didn't get there until the middle of January. We had to call a couple of the post offices from Bethel to Pilot Station to find out what happened to that box. That is how the mail works there. The weather is bad, mail doesn't fly. Sometimes things sit a long time. But we had request for kid gloves. There was a kiddo that needed a pair. The man my husband was talking to was going to buy him a pair. But they were $50. When he decided to buy them anyway later, they were gone.  I asked people if they could help, if they had any. I didn't get any response so I found some new ones. Some people from church had given me money to mail stuff. So I filled a package with gloves and mailed it off as soon as I could. I probably spent $50 buying about 6 or 7 pairs of gloves along with the cost of shipping them. That small package made it there before our lost 5th box.

I didn't have many boy clothes. We did get some after an event where our church had a community giving event for Christmas. We did give to that too by the way. Once everyone had finished shopping, we were able to get what boy clothes were left to shop to ship to Alaska. SInce money has been tight, I haven't been able to mail the big boxes as soon as I would have liked to. But a friend came through and gave us more money for shipping. So I sent a couple more boxes with the boy stuff and infant stuff. They are finding homes for everything we have sent.
My husband asks what they need, we had a request for boys shoes, I spent about $17.00 for a couple of pairs at Target and mailed them off with a few other pairs of used shoes I was able to collect.

Now I am on a hunt for boys pants and household kitchen items for a young mom with 3 kids who is starting over. She has nothing. There are no resources there and we are doing what we can. But it means so much to us to help them since their resources are so limited. Our resources are limited but I feel we have so much compared.

The hubby will be working in Scammon Bay this summer. I'm sure it will be another village he will want to adopt. There is a possibility we may go and visit for a couple weeks to have the experience ourselves. I'm brainstorming how I want to make it into something bigger so we can share our experiences with others. With my love of writing and my curiosity of life in the Alaskan bush, I think there might something we can do. It would all be to help all of them in the end.

Short Story is out!

So it finally happened! My short story is out in the Anthology.

Here is the Amazon link for the Kindle version. It it called Mental Ward: Echoes of the Past. I'm not listed with all the authors on this page because they capped it at 10 authors. If you click to look inside, I'm there.

http://www.amazon.com/Mental-Ward-Echoes-Past-ebook/dp/B00FFNNTLE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380866291&sr=8-1&keywords=mental+ward+echoes+of+the+past

This is the link for the paperback. I am listed with the authors on this page as Kim Lay.

http://www.amazon.com/Mental-Ward-K-Trap-Jones/dp/0615890490/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1380866291&sr=8-1

You can also find it on Goodreads.

I was waiting and waiting for word to when it would be out and just a few days before my birthday I got word it was out that night! So happy surprise for me!

It is appropriate it comes out right now in time for Halloween.

I still think it is weird to be included in something that might be considered horror or paranormal. I think I do such a good job of scaring myself that writing about all the things that scared me kind of worked. Also when I worked at the Gold Hill Hotel just down the hill from Virginia City everyone liked to talk about ghosts around the area. I would drive home terrified at night. Especially the ghost they told us about that liked to ride with women that were driving alone so he could keep them company. That one freaked me out the most. I was always driving home from work late at night by  myself. Virginia City has so many ghost stories and if you spend any time there, you totally believe the whole area is haunted.

I also used Virginia City as the place where the big climax scene takes place in my YA Western novel that takes place in 1884. I don't want to write too much about the process of getting this out there too much. But I am still querying this. I have had some requests from agents and waiting for more responses.

In the meantime I'm writing another YA novel that takes place in Alaska. I also have a character in it that lives in a Russian village of Old Believers. It is something I had to research more about and have found it interesting. Along with the Iditarod. I am almost half way done with that one and had to take some time off writing. I needed the break. This story is tough to write. It is pretty dark, emotional story to write. I have had wedding planning too. But now I want to hurry and finish this before the Nov NaNoWriMo starts. Not sure I will get it done but I hope so.

For Nov NaNo I'm thinking about a YA contemporary story that has a little gypsy influence in it or expanding a short story that is total sci-fi, more adult, and takes place in space. Big difference between the two.

As far as wedding goes, the planning got bumpy for a few weeks having to start over with trying to find other people to do the cake and marry them. That last one---big huge part of the whole thing.

I wish I liked party planning more. I am ridiculous. If I can plan it and hide for the day, that would be ideal. But I don't like crowds and I have been struggling. And Kels is just as bad so I'm concerned she will be trying to keep it together without falling apart all day. The best part is the venue and the people that run it. I think the fact that the people that own it are related to her fiance and are so warm and welcoming with us will ease things quite a bit. At least I hope so. Here's hoping all goes well here on out.

Hubby in Alaska

I haven't mentioned this much but Lee Joe is in Alaska working. I did probably mention he left around the first of June. He is having an interesting time.

He is in  village called Pilot Station located on the east side of the state along the Yukon river. For the summer he is one of only 3 white men in the town. The rest of town is mostly Yupik Eskimo. He was asked if he was a preacher since most of the white men they see are. This past week the teachers have all come back for the school year and so he is not the only white man around.

Basically he is there to supervise road building. He has hired the locals with and without experience. Most have none. The ones that have CDLs are limited in their experience. He is doing a lot of training.

He is learning a tremendous amount about the Yupik culture. It is quite fascinating. I learned quite a bit from Alaskan history when I lived in Anchorage and on the Kenai Peninsula. So he is sharing things with me from his first hand experience. In the picture above is a wedding reception. He is invited to everything that takes place there. I don't even think he was there very long when he was invited to this wedding. They are wearing what Eskimos wear in the summer. It is basically their lightwieight summer parka. When we lived in Alaska I bought a summer parka that was made for cabbage patch dolls back in the day.

There is a high mortality rate there. Considering how few people are there, he has been to or watched the entire town depart to attend funerals about 4 or 5 times in 2 1/2 months . When he first got there everyone went to the funeral of a man that committed suicide. Then not long there was a feast for an elderly person that passed away. Then he attended a funeral for a 17-year-old boy that drowned accidentally. He said it was interesting. The boy's body was on the floor in the middle of the main living area of the home. Everyone visited or said their goodbyes and the body laid there for several days as people came from the small towns around the area. In the meantime the family members closest to the boy built a coffin for him. 

 

 

One thing he noticed right away is there are lots of children everywhere all over the town and they just play and play. Since the sun wasn't going down until long after midnight, kids were coming to his door at 11pm asking him to fly his remote control airplane I sent him for his birthday. They practically mobbed him when he showed up and that happened for a few days where they asked him his name and what he was doing constantly. Then he realized he would probably need to hire people just to keep an eye on the kids to keep them out of the way of the equipment. They don't supervise the kids the way we do. Little 2 and 3 year old wander around. Just the fact that the Yukon river running next to the town makes me freak out and I'm not there. But the real tragedy was when one of his employees lost their 22 month old in a horrific accident. The little one was run over by an uncle in a pickup truck coming around the corner. He couldn't see the little one and it happened so fast. I was spared the gruesome details but I can only imagine. It was just a couple of weeks later Lee Joe was invited to go down the river on a boat ride to go on picnic with the employee, his family and the uncle with his family were all together. Lee Joe said it was a little uncomfortable for him but everyone got on well enough.

 

Life is hard there. There is no economy really. They have a store and a gas station. You can just imagine the cost of food. There is no bank. Just one of those store ATMs. When he got there people in town were pulling downed trees from the river and dragging them to the other side of town to gather firewood in the spring to prepare for winter. The fish and game department count fish and they leave the ones that die in buckets and leave them for the town people to claim. Lee Joe has had several different kinds of salmon. Right now it is berry picking season and there are blueberries in abundance and the town has also been out berry picking for days now. Whipped cream was hard to find though. He has to let his crew off for commercial fishing days. He has been able to sample moose meat and says it's not that bad. He's been given quite a bit since he's been there and is trying to figure out how to get a hold of a moose and send it home. He says Eskimo ice cream is interesting. He sampled some. I wouldn't have been so brave to try Crisco (in the old days is was whale blubber or seal fat), ground up fish, and berries mixed together.  

 

 

They get around on 4 wheelers mostly and they pile everyone on to ride around town. But it's rainy season right now so that's a rough way to get around. Cars and trucks are in short supply there.

 

The ones that have vehicles like that don't necessarily know how to fix them. He's been helping where he can.

 

It is like progress only went so far there. They are still living lives rich with their culture but struggle with the remoteness of where they live and harsh climate. The suicide rate is high. They give what they can. That is how they find value in their lives by how much they give in this life. Not by how much they get.

 

I have a hard time getting to talk to him on the phone partly because we are 2 hours later here. But he is always talking to someone, asked to visit, or has visitors.

 

He will be there until Oct. Maybe I'll have a few more stories to tell. If the work isn't done before he leaves, he may return in the spring.  





July

Very uninspired title huh? I'm falling to the wayside in keeping up with this whole blog thing. I'm not so good at keeping up with pictures on Facebook or anywhere else now either. Last time I tried to change the family pic on here I couldn't get it to load.

But kid #2 is engaged and is getting married in October. This is totally different kind of planning than the first. For some reason I'm not so worked up over it. But they are having it at a great place and there isn't as much decorating for it. I have dresses for the the 3 youngest. Need ot get busy on losing weight before I buy mine. I'll be taking pictures of them sometime next week.

We are spending this summer the same as when the 1st was engaged and married. Lee Joe is working in Alaska until November. He'll have to fly home for the wedding. He's in a small village called Pilot Station. He is one of maybe 3 white men there. The rest are mostly Yupik Eskimo. He's learning a lot about their culture and is enjoying the experience. He's putting people to work and he always enjoys doing that, finding people jobs not watching people work.

I'm holding down the fort so to speak. Like last time, things like to break and not work. I've had problems with the AC in the house and car, I've fixed the outdoor faucet, I've had to replace the pool pump and patch the pool to death (big leak around the drain plug that keeps spreading all the way around it), moved the fish tank yesterday and had to replace the filter pump because I stopped working and the light because the light crumbled to pieces. I guess the fuse blew on the outdoor plug that pool is plugged into last night. The computer won't recognize the printer and can't fix that yet. Something new will probably show up tomorrow. It was 103 today. Everything wants to go into crisis when it's over 100. I'm done with the nonsense now. I think it's best if I sit tight and do nothing so nothing will break or stop working.

Oh well....

On writing, I'm querying a project at the moment and it's getting some interest. I've started something new in the meantime. The short story that is going to be published is officially done with edits and now I'm waiting for a publication date. There will be lots of publicity going on with that and I've started and Author Facebook page in anticipation of that. Hopefully soon I'll start a blog that is writing oriented so this can still be my personal one. If only I can get back into the swing of it.

 https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.kennedylay/posts/10201692426577915?comment_id=6930919&offset=0&total_comments=6&ref=notif&notif_t=share_comment#!/authorKimberlyLay