Chaos Uncontrolled

Last week, I was on vacation. It was the first full week the kids have all been out of school. And it was insane. I had all these big plans for what I wanted to get done. Very little of that happened.

I am totally ready for a break from them and some peace and quiet. That never happened. I almost look forward to returning to work. This is not the kind of chaos I want for our house. It has a very negative energy and nobody is happy. I am hoping balance returns soon.

 

Here is a pic of our front yard. My brother was playing with the kidlets. I was standing in the driveway. Still lots of things to clean up/fix, but all that room for playing is awesome.

A shout-out to some interesting things:

My online friend AJ Clarkson was nominated for a PARSEC award for her audio drama Fortuna. She just launched her blog, ClarksonPunk.

My other friend Joshua Roots has a new book, Summoned Chaos, coming out soon. The first one, Undead Chaos, was pretty entertaining.

And to round things out, a snippet from Abigail Quinn #2:

My mother’s face filled the mirror as she waved furiously. Only my mother. When technology wouldn’t let her in, she used all sorts of magical means.

“Mom, can you turn for a minute while I get my robe, please?”

“Oh, of course.”

She promptly moved out of sight, and I grabbed my robe from the hook by the door. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I said, “Okay, Mom, I’m ready to talk now.”

A little white lie never hurt anything. I needed a pot of coffee and a hot shower to deal with her on a good day.

Change is Good, Bad, and Ugly (But Mostly Good!)

2014 has been crazy so far in ways both good and bad. We moved to a new place on December 28 and rang in the new year trying to get things set up to be functional enough to survive. The move was great for us though. We now have more room and a few acres, complete with a big front yard and a small bit of woods in the back. We also have an abundance of doors and a certain youngest child who likes to escape whenever he deems the weather nice enough to ride scooters on the back patio.
New Year’s Day was a sad in that my husband’s stepfather lost his battle with cancer. And after a few weeks, another relative of his was in a serious car accident. If the other driver hadn’t been paying attention, he likely would have died.
Now we are settling into a new routine. Kidlet 1 loves to ride the bus, so thanks to a flexible work schedule, I was able to shift things around so she can ride in the mornings. I think her sister looks forward to riding with her when she starts Kindergarten next year.

Then the news came that we are losing my mother as childcare at the end of this summer. I understand the reasons, but it doesn’t make the finding of a new care provider and the associated costs easier. I do look forward to my mother being able to the “grandparent things” which means it might be possible for my kidlets to stay the night on occasion, which would let the hubs and I have some time together. So it’s not the most awesome thing, but it’s not the most terrible.

I challenged myself to do the 2013-2014 Sekrit Solstice SFF Story Swap, affectionately dubbed the SSSFFSS, over at Absolute Write. I was given a prompt to write a story of indeterminate length. Then polish and give to a fellow writer. I’ve not done something like that, and I’ve not shared anything really before, so it was a new and boundary-pushing experience for me. I enjoyed it, and my giftee seemed to enjoy the story, so I was pleased with the overall experience. I’m challenging myself to write more this year, and I’ve opened up a whole new world with my short that makes me look forward to writing.

I’m trying something new where I dedicate a section to each post of something interesting in the writing arena, especially writer folks with an upcoming book or intriguing blog post. So, look no further, writer shout outs are below.

Several of my online writerly buddies have upcoming works:

Anna Zabo has new book coming out in August. Takeover looks mighty intriguing and the cover is gorgeous. You might remember I featured Anna and hosted a book giveaway when Close Quarter came out.

Tiffany Allee just had a book come out. Don’t Blackmail the Vampire is a delicious tale you can really sink your teeth into. (Don’t mind me, I’m just a dork.)

One of my favorite author teams has a THE mega book in the series coming out later this year. Ilona Andrews has the next Kate Daniels book coming out in July. Magic Breaks is the pivotal book in the series. Can’t wait! There is also a new series coming out in October, the first book titled Burn for Me. Also, the lovely duo has picked back up with the second book in their free serial, Sweep in Peace.

What new things do you have going on?

2013: Year of Many Things

At one point I was going to write all these delightful goals for 2013. Things I was going to do, all these wonderful things I was going to accomplish. But alas, life has a way of taking all of my plans and scattering them to the four corners of the earth. So, let’s recap a bit.

Thanksgiving holiday I was as sick as a dog. The week I had off between Christmas and New Year’s, I was sick as a dog. I’ve started a new job. The past week I started fully into my new job and my brain is mushy, full of new things. It will all sort itself eventually though. I’ve also had a horrid headache for the last two days.

So let’s just say that for 2013, these are the things on my plate:

• Settle in to my new job
• Write more
• Get the house decluttered & hold a garage sale
• Save a significant amount toward a Disney vacation
• Focus on eating right including more real, whole foods
• Make regular exercise a thing for me
• Pay off some debt

That seems to be plenty. Some of it is simple. Some of it repeats from last year. And some of it is new to a public list but has been on my mind for quite a time.

I am excited to get back into the writing seat. I am also grateful for a new job that allows me more time with my family and involves working with a great group of people. I get home much earlier than I have in years and my commute is cut in half. Score!

If you are a urban fantasy fan, Ilona Andrews is putting out the Innkeeper Chronicles. Book One is called Clean Sweep. The link takes you the beginning. I find it awesome.

Some of my friends are out in an anthology called A Spank in Time! Way to go, folks!

I think that’s about all I have for now. I am currently reading Tiffany Allee’s Lycan Unleashed. Just started. Somewhere I need to keep a list of books I’ve read this year.

Why Breast is Best, But Formula is Okay Too

Okay, so we’ll just start this conversation by saying that “Breast is Best” sounds very gimmicky. Probably because it is a slogan and it is. But it is also true. Breastmilk has things that breastmilk replacement (aka formula) is never going to have. There are no antibodies, no stem cells, so special sugars that were once thought as useless, but now are known to feed certain gut flora and promote a healthy digestive tract. These are just a few of the numerous benefits of breastmilk for the baby. It doesn’t even include the benefits to the mother.
But there are times where formula can have a benefit. Sometimes it saves a mother’s sanity because she lacks proper support from those around here, which is a huge societal issue in the US best left for a discussion another day. Sometimes the mother is sick or the baby is sick and things don’t work out. Sometimes a mother doesn’t actually make enough milk. Sometimes donor milk is not available or is too expensive. There can be lots of reasons.
So while I am in full support of breastfeeding and encourage everyone I know to at least try it, I won’t criminalize formula. Each of my children has used it at some point or another. In fact, my third kidlet was the first where I actually felt like our breastfeeding attempts were a success. At least until I returned to work. Then no amount of Mother’s Milk tea and pumping seemed to net me enough milk to keep him fed while I was away. So after a month of my best efforts, I introduced formula for him to use while I was at work. And sometimes at home. We still did a lot of night nursing, but formula filled the gap.
My second child I utterly failed breastfeeding trying to take care of the baby and the three year old with no support and no car because it was rolled down an embankment when my husband had an accident driving to work. The no support part was because of the unsafe weather as well. I failed at taking care of myself and therefore my supply suffered. My first child spent days in the NICU and I think that messed us up quite a bit. That and me not knowing a thing about what I was doing.
Those experiences are part of what leads me to believe that it takes a village to successfully breastfeed sometimes. If it’s not the norm for your family and you don’t have relatives to turn to for advice, ladies in the community can be so helpful. This thought was one of the reasons I took the Neighbor to Neighbor Breastfeeding Information class from one of the hospitals. The goal is provide tools for sharing resources and education to mothers in the community so that they can go out and help other mothers.
It takes all of us working together to provide the community support mothers need to breastfeed. I am all for compassion and helpfulness in our communities. The trend toward ignoring what goes on around you and not offering assistance to others has been detrimental to our society, in my opinion.