My Addiction to the Internet Has Reached a "Look for Professional Help" Level.

For those of you who don't know, my internet access comes from a little T-Mobile stick thing-a-ma-bob I can plug in like a USB. And because I've been so online absorbed the past few weeks and getting next to nothing done on my WIP, I told the hubby to take the internet with him to work yesterday so I would be FORBIDDEN to go online.

Here was my day without the internet:

Woke up.

Peed.

Got dressed. (A rare occurrence, btw)

Got the kids up.

Made breakfast.

Pulled out WIP.

Made it two paragraphs in and I clicked the internet tab.

Oh right... I don't have that today.

Alt Tab back to WIP.

Kids start beating each other.

Put them both in separate time out corners.

Sit back down.

Pull up internet tab.

Oh, gosh frickin' darn it! I forgot. I don't have that today.

Can't think of anything to write. 

Pull out book I'm critiquing.

Kids crawl out of time out and start raiding the cookie jar.

Get up and stop the sugar high before it begins.

Notice the kitchen is a disaster.

Grab computer and listen to music while I clean.

Click refresh on internet tab in between each dish.

That's right. I DON'T HAVE THAT TODAY.

Get pissed at myself and type up a crap paragraph in WIP.

Delete.

Type another crap paragraph.

Delete.

Attempt to chuck computer across the room without actually letting go of it.

Make lunch.

Put kids away for nap.

Pull up internet tab.

@!$#@#%#@$#!

Turn on Lego Harry Potter.

Beat all storyline levels, but can't find some locked characters.

Pull out computer to use Google.

ARG!!!

X-Box freezes while I'm playing.

Pull up WIP.

Type a crap paragraph.

Delete.

Play Just Dance.

Play more Just Dance.

Shower off the sweat from playing Just Dance.

Get kids out of their room from their nap.

Get snack for kids.

Pull out WIP and write 2 pages before clicking the internet tab to look up something on Google Maps. (for WIP, I swear!)

Stupid effing... why the heck did I do this to myself??

Count down minutes till hubs gets home.

Half hour...

Eat a granola bar.

Fifteen minutes...

Chew on my nails and look out the window.

Five minutes...

Answer phone call from the hubs, telling me he'll be home an hour late.

@!%##@%@#$@$!

Start laundry 'cause I'm pissed.

Empty out hubs' pockets.

Look who forgot to take the internet stick to work today.

And look who had access to it all day, and didn't know it.

At least I wrote a little bit, right?

I'm Feeling Sexy and Sweet

First, thanks to all my wonderful peeps and for some awesome people I hadn't really met before for tweeting and FB-ing my Flash Fiction post. Guys, I've never written flash fiction, so you totally made me goofy grin all day long.

It must be award season, cuz they're flying around the blogosphere like no other! I received a couple more shout outs, and two of the awards I've already gotten, so I'm gonna say a BIG THANK YOU to Melissa and Laura!

Also got the Stylish Blog award from Martha, (Thank you!) and score! Haven't gotten that one yet, so I'll just add it to that big huge sidebar thing that I should really think about organizing.

Alright, so these awards came with questions which I've already answered, but Melissa said she'd like to hear more random from moi. A dangerous request... but I accept!

Once the spewage starts, it's hard to stop, just sayin'.

1. I have been known by the following nicknames: Dribble, Owl, Cookie, Knuckle Dragger, Cassie Maybe, that one girl who talks to herself, and Cassandra Veronica. (Yeah, I don't remember why he called me that, but I just went with it.)

Then of course all the C-names Mark can think of :)

2. I like to tell people when they first ride with me in the car that I was in 7 car accidents within my first year of driving, just so I can see the look on their faces. But in my defense, only 5 were my fault.

3. I have an Edward poster in my basement that I sometimes forget is there, and when it's dark, that pasty white guy scares the crap out of me.

4. When singing in the car, I'll keep singing as I get out of the car. One time, I got out singing the line "I'm feeling sexy and sweet." And the guy next to me in the parking lot sang the next line. He officially became the coolest stranger ever.

5. I've woken up stark naked twice this week, and have no idea how I got that way.

Alright, I'm stopping there to try to keep this post short :) I'm working on the whole talking too much thing. 

Oh, and let's give the Stylish Blogger award to...

Suzi
Ilima
Rachel
and DL

Also, Alex should know he's an honorary recipient of all the awards I pass along, I just have no idea how many you've gotten! I think I've always assumed you just have them all already, lol.

Okay, everyone have a great weekend! Peace out! (The cool people still say that you know ;) )

Don't Look at Me When Your Tongue's in My Mouth

Okay, so I wasn't going to participate in this because I'm terrible at flash fiction, but then I read an entry for a good buddy, and POOF! Out popped 300 words. (exactly I might add ;) )

I hope it's okay that I used Flashes instead of Flashed. I'm a present tenser :)

Lightning flashes across the stadium.

“Holy crap!” I say against his lips. I know it’s totally not the right time, but it scared the pee out of me. “Did you see that?”

Dan pulls back, his forehead crinkling in that cute way that so made me fall for him. “Uh, Rach… you kiss with your eyes open?”

Darn my outburst! We don’t have time for talking. I just want to start making out again. The bleachers provide perfect cover from the downpour and he’s gotta head back to the band soon. So I spurt out the truth, hoping he’ll just shrug and smack one on me.

“Yes.”

“That’s… weird.”

“Not really.” Now shut up and kiss me.

He shuffles his feet, scratching the back of his neck. “Don’t know how I feel about that.”

“Why…?”

“Because you’re staring at me when I’m doing my thing.” He shifts again. “What if I look funny?”

I bark out laughing, which is so not attractive, but he’s been witness to it before. “Trust me, you don’t look funny.” ‘Cause he doesn’t. He looks hecka hot no matter what he’s doing.

“Still…”

I let out an explosive breath, crossing my arms. “It’s not the SAT’s. Now kiss me before you have to head back.”

“Alright, but I’m keeping my eyes open too.”

“Fine.”

He leans in, but it’s not like how he normally macks me. It’s so… funky ‘cause he keeps his eyes locked on mine. Then we get cross-eyed and he’s kissing me, but all I can see is his gaze. Yeah, his eyes are sexy, but this is so not sexy.

He pulls away, cocking his head to the side and giving me that look I want to smack off his face, but I can’t because he’s right.

“Yeah, that was weird.”

Big THANK YOU to Cherie for hosting!!! This was fun. :)

Oh, and I'm also over HERE today if you wanna come and check me out.

90210 Isn't the Zip Code

It stands for how many times the characters can switch partners and get away with it. Now, this post will contain spoilers, but given the amount of spit swapping on the show, I doubt I'm spoiling any future love connections for you.

Forgive me if I come off as 'ranty', but I have to say this is SO NOT how to write romance. At least not a romance I want to keep reading. Once they get together, the character couples spend so little time with each other it's hard to be invested in the relationship. Now, I could do this with every single one of the mc's, but I'm just going to take the boys here.

Navid Shirazi

Starts off this really dorky and cute kid who just wants to get together with his lifelong crush, Adriana.

After finally getting said lifelong crush, they break up after 4 or 5 episodes and he dates a random girl that was cast just to be the rebound. Then he goes back to Adriana after forever and a day.

Then she becomes rich and famous and a bit of a selfish beast so he cheats on her and moves on to Silver.

Silver and him are a thing for a good half a season (the longest relationship of the series.) Then she finds out he's involved in some car embezzlement scheme or something and she dumps him.

He has yet to win her heart back.

Total main character babe count: 2

Liam Court

Starts off as the sexy new guy who replaced that other guy from season one. Spends his entire debut season trying to win Naomi.

Gets her at the start of his second season. Their relationship lasts I think only 2 episodes. He sleeps with her sister and something else that happened that made them move on.

Then he has a little somethin' somethin' with Ivy... but I don't think they ever get together.

So he gets this thing for Annie. They flirt for another entire season, then kiss at the end, and then for some reason can't be together until halfway through the next season, then when they get together they last for about 4 episodes. He proposes, she says no... he sleeps with a married chick.

Then he dates some girl that showed up just so he has someone to have sex with for a few episodes. Then he breaks it off with her and has a one night stand with Silver. Which turns out to have 'meant so much more!'

Total main character babe count: 4

Dixon Wilson

Starts off as the new kid and goes right for Silver. (Apparently, she's the one who gets around on this show.) Finds out she tape recorded their sex sessions and made a movie out of them and showed it to well... just about everyone. They get past this, because she's got bi-polar disorder or something.

Then Silver boinks it off to be with Teddy for a bit, but turns out he's gay, so yeah, that didn't work.

But Dixon's moved on to be with Ivy. And they date until she sleeps with someone else when she 'meant her first' to be him. Apparently she slipped and fell on some other guy's junk.

So Dixon dates a few here and there's, until Adriana starts doing music with him and they get together. But then he goes to rehab for his drug addiction, then ditches her to go on tour.

Total main character babe count: 3

And if you didn't read the major spoilers, at least read this, because it's the whole point of this ranty post. I've gotten so used to the partner swapping that I'm not emotionally invested in the romance AT ALL. If two people are having the whole chemistry thing going on, I know it'll take a whole season for them to get together, only to have their relationship last 2 or 3 episodes before they move on.

Even if the relationship is going to blow up in their faces... MAKE ME CARE. As a reader, I want to root for them even when one or both of them are being incredibly stupid. I hate to use Twilight as a reference, but most people know the story.

Let's not get into the whole Team Jacob/Team Edward thing. Let's just look at the romance between Bella and Edward, yes?

When writing romance there's a certain 'chemistry formula'. The build-up, the happy pappy, the blow up, the resolution. (Those names are totally made up, btw)  In the Twilight series, Twilight was the build-up ending with the happy pappy. The blow up was obviously New Moon when Edward skipped off. Now... here's where the romance works. The entire book I was waiting for the resolution. When will he come back?

But the resolution didn't come. Even when they got back together, there was still residue of that blow up. But the chemistry worked for me. I was still rooting for the resolution because I was invested in their romance. Because of book one.



Where 90210 (and a lot of other shows) fails at this is they have great build-up, but no happy pappy. If I don't see the happy pappy time, then why would I care if everything blows up? Because it will. I know it will. But WHY WOULD I CARE?

Even if there is crazy crap going on, you write fantasy or sci-fi or paranormal or whatever... if you have romance in your book, give those characters that moment. Build-up is important, but so is the time they actually have together. Let the reader see them happy with each other, that way if/when things blow up, we root for them to get resolved.

And there is my very long post on romance. Any thoughts?

Award Ceremony Time!

Award time! And I don't blame anyone if they wanna just skim on through this post. May save me some embarrassment, lol.

Alrighty, first I gotta thank these awesomesausage peeps who bestowed the honors on yours truly. Darci Cole for the Versatile Blogger Award, Lyla Lee for the Smart Cookie Award, and EJ Wesley for the Real Trooper Award. THANK YOU!!!

And now you know who to blame for making me word vomit today :)

Since there's all this stuff about how you gotta share crap about yourself to accept these, and I'm a trooper ;) here we go!

Rule number one: Answer these here questions.

Alrighty...

What's your favorite song?

Changes depending on the mood I'm in, but my fav. music video is this one right now. HILARIOUS!

Favorite dessert?

Junior Mint cheesecake. And lots of it!

What ticks you off?

When there's no toilet paper in the bathroom.

What do you do when you're upset?

Take it out on my husband. You may interpret that however you want.

Your favorite pet?

One that doesn't lick itself in the middle of the floor.

Do you prefer black or white?

Is this a racist question?

Biggest fear?

May I direct you to THIS POST.

What's your attitude, mostly?

LIFE. IS. AWESOME!

What is perfection?

Paul Wesley's arms.

Guilty pleasure?

Nick Jonas. Yeah, not even the hubs knows about this one. But this is the cute song that did it for me. Thank you Camp Rock 2!

Okay, I'm also supposed to share some random facts about me, but I'll save those for another time. Post is getting long and I've already spilled too much with that last question.

So, here comes the fun part, which is passing these babies along!!!

I bestow the Versatile Blogger award to:

EJ Wesley @ The Open Vein

Robin @ Robin Writes

Martha @ Seaside Simplicity

Kyra Lennon @ Write Here, Write Now

The Smart Cookie award to:

Tracy @A2ZMommy and What's in Between

SL Hennessy@ Pensuasion

Nancy@ Nancy Thompson

 Emily White @ Emily White

And the Real Trooper award to: 

Danielle @ Entertaining Interests

Elizabeth @ Use Your Words...

Vic Caswell @ Hairnets and Hopes

Joshua @ Vive le Nerd

Also, if you have time, I'm interviewing Joshua le Nerd over at my group blog Falling For Fiction today. Pop on over if you wanna listen to some geeky conversation. :)

You Want to Party?

Haha, sounds like a nasty pick up line.

So there's this cool critique partner mixer going on over at my group blog, Falling For Fiction. So if you are looking for a cp, or a beta, or someone to party with writer style, head on over to THIS POST.

Yup, that's all from me today. Well, maybe a picture describing just how my week has been :) (And why it's taking me SO LONG to respond to all your comments on Monday. I am getting to them I promise!!!

First Loves Blogfest: I Love Me Some Nerdy Things

Okay, host shout out goes first, so SHOUT OUT to Alex for coming up with this blogfest! You already know you're full of awesome, but I'll say it again... Alex, you're full of awesome! And I can't wait to see all these posts. :)

Here's a fest where we talk about our first loves. Let's just dive in shall we? PS, you are not allowed to judge me even though there are major nerdly things in this post. (and also, I apologize for the quality of the pics. My darn camera isn't working and the one on my phone is craptacular.)

First Movie: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Don't judge me for having Twilight on the special shelf.

Oh yeah, this movie still rocks. In fact it sits on my shelf next to the other movies in the 'Keep high on the shelf so the kids don't ruin them' section.

Me and my brother had the costumes... like they were HUGE! Like sumo wrestling costumes, lol. And we wore them all the time.

And we quote this movie to this day. In fact, when I called the hubs claustrophobic once, he spouted off, "You want a fist in the mouth? I've never even looked at another guy." That's when I hugged him and said, "I knew you were a keeper."








First Band: BSB

I'm sad to say, I had it bad for the Backstreet Boys. So bad in fact, I kissed Nick Carter's picture nightly before putting it back under my pillow. I would also act out embarrassing make-out displays with my pillow (named Nick. Thanks Becki, for that idea.) while listening to "I'll Never Break Your Heart."

This is all I'm going to say about this.






First Book: HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

I opened up my Harry Potter closet for this post so I could be accurate. Ready for some nerdy stats?

Amount of times I've read the entire series: 27
Amount of actual movie posters (thank goodness for all my siblings and myself working at one at one point): 5
Amount of total movie posters: 17
Amount of unopened action figures: 23
Amount of opened action figures: 42 (Yes, it was a while before I bought two of everything to make sure I had some that weren't opened.)
Amount of HP candy (not eaten, btw): 121
Amount of HP Lego sets: 5
I have HP calendars for the years 2002-2008, and then 2010.
And then there's a lot of memorabilia, too much to mention, but I have one rarity, and I took a picture of it because it is one of my most prized possessions.

That is the trailer for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Isn't it beautiful?

And I mentioned the HP Electronic Castle on my blog before and someone asked me what that was. Only the most awesome thing in the world.

And in the box. :)

First Person: The Hubs

I've already written an entire post on TWO NERDS IN LOVE. I was reminded when I was putting this post together why I love my sexy nerdman so much. He saw me taking pictures of my HP stuff and I was telling him about my most prized possession, and he pulled out his Geek Box. It was the small one, but he was looking for one figurine.

Haha, her hand looks HUGE! And all those clothes come off, BTW.

Now I don't feel so bad about kissing Nick Carter's picture.

And ya, I own a Leia Golden Bikini, but we will not show you a picture of that one. ;)

There you have it! Now you can leave me a comment on how cool I am for having a lot of geeky first :)

For All You Mommas (and Daddas) Who Know How It Is :)

I don’t even know why I have an alarm clock anymore.  I’ve found the only use of it to be purely decorative.  A small body leaps onto my sleeping figure and because I’m half dead with sleep a big whoosh of air rushes out my lips.

“Momma!”

The four-year-old jumps again making me grunt and whine like suddenly I’m younger than he is.

“Wake up!  Wake up!  Brother is crying.”

He bounds off me and shouts in his and his brother’s room.  Well, the baby is crying now.

I roll from the bed to start the daily routine.  Prayer, scriptures, dress, then leave the privacy of my room till it’s time to bunk down again tonight.  I sigh as I shut the door behind me.

The older boy bounces around my legs, talking too fast to form coherent words.  I nod and yawn, still trying to kick-start my brain.  And I don’t think the baby ever goes a night without peeing over everything!  He tells me so as I lift him from the underarms and carry him arms’ length to the changing table.

“Pee pee!  Pee pee!”

“Yes,” I say.  “You did pee pee.  And now mommy has to do laundry again.”  I smile as I use my voice I save especially for my boys so he knows I don’t blame him for his bodily functions.

The day goes along just like every day, but today seems to take its toll on me.  By lunch time, the house seems to have imploded with me and the kids inside.  The lunch I make for the kids ends up getting tossed on the floor by crying children who wanted PB&J, not grilled cheese.  I give up after cleaning the kitchen for the fourth time that morning and put the baby down for a nap.

“No nap, Momma.  I’m a good boy,” the oldest tells me.  I nod because the nap ship has sailed and gone halfway around the world with him.

“Go play with your toys while Mom does laundry.”

“Um… no.”

I sigh.  “Well, Mom needs to do laundry, so you need to stay out of the way, okay?”

“Um…”  He turns and runs down the stairs and I’m not sure exactly what the ‘um’ meant, but he’s not in the way.

The pile of clothes I need to fold actually swallows me whole.  It’s been way too long since I’ve had the time to sit and do it, and putting them away is another thing that rarely gets done.

About a third of the way into the folding, I’m suddenly overcome with grief.  I have to check my emotions, wondering if I’m PMS-ing, or if there was any reason for the change in spirit.  But the only thing I can come up with is I’m just tired.

Tired of the mundane.  Tired of the day to day.  Tired of getting very little appreciation for the work I do.  Tired of the work I do never getting all the way done.  Tired of being told I’ve lost my ambition, my go-getter attitude because I’ve decided to stay at home with the kids.  Tired of trying to be perfect.  Wondering if every little decision I make are the right ones.  Whether my kids will end up hating me.  Whether my husband will ever understand how I work hard too.

Just. So. Tired.

I stop folding and bury my face in my hands.  I can’t control all the thoughts and feelings of inadequacy of my parenting skills, guilt for wanting something different sometimes, and worry over why I feel this way when my life is continually blessed.

I also hate that I reminisce over the days before I had the worries I have now.  When I was single or just newly married.  I lived on my own schedule.  I could get up and leave whenever I wanted.  Travel to who knows where whenever I needed a break or change of scenery.  Even the simple things don’t happen anymore.  Going to movies, to dinner, sleeping in, sleeping period, eating when I’m hungry and not in between diaper changing, breast feeding, naptimes, playtimes… blah blah blah.  And time with the hubs has cut back so much I don’t even know how people have more than one or two kids because that part of life ceases to exist.

I hate myself for thinking these things.  For missing them.  I hate how selfish and ungrateful it is, and this sends a fresh new wave of tears to cascade down my cheeks.  Days like these make me wonder why I do it.

Then I feel small arms wrap around my neck and a soft and tiny body snuggle into my lap.  My little boy cuddles against my chest.

“What’s wrong, Momma?  What’s wrong?”

I give him a faint smile as tears continue to roll down my face.  “Nothing, buddy.”

“Don’t cry.  It’s okay.”

He hugs me again, a lot tighter than before and I laugh as I choke from his hold.

“I love you, buddy.”

“Aw… I wuv you.”

He stays in my arms just long enough for the warmth in my heart to spread through the rest of my body.  And I’m reminded of why I do it.  For these small and unexpected pay days in the life of a mother.  Through all the chaos there are moments of clarity, of pure joy I never felt before I had these little miracles in my life.

Being a mother is the hardest yet best job with the best pay off.  And when he climbs off my lap and starts running and screaming, effectively waking his brother from his nap, I shake my head and laugh. 

I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

Oh Those High School Dances Bloghop: I Play Dirty

TMI WARNING! Yes, my lack of a filter provides this post with a few times of, "Oh my gosh! She totally just said that!"

Thank yous to Emily and Kelley for hosting!!!

I've got a few funny dance stories, but I'm going with the one that makes me seem really clever, because things are funnier that way.

Oh, I have to provide a picture of one of my dances. Alas, I couldn't find the one from the dance I'm going to relate the story from, but I will describe what we wore to that dance so you get a good picture of it.

Here's one from the Charlonian's Ball. (Yeah, NOT PROM! 'Cause my boyfriend (who is now the hubs) didn't see fit to take his girl to the prom. Yes, you may all give him crap about it now.)

You see that smirk on his face??? It's cuz he totally farted right as this was taken!

Okay, so the dance I'm going to talk about was the Christmas Dance. We were allowed to go in Pajamas and since me and the hubs are the dorks we are, our group went as the super heroes. (Me and hubs as Batman.)

We went Laser tagging for our activity, and let's just say, I play the wimp part before we start, then I go in like a crazy person and shoot at anything that moves. My aim isn't that accurate, but my trigger happy finger makes up for it. Yay for unlimited laser beam shots!

This was the first time going with the hubs, and kind-of at the beginning of our relationship so it was that hot and messy smooch-fest every two seconds. Hubs is NOT a PDA person, but it's dark in the laser room, right? So here was my tactic...

We're just about to go in and hubs has been talking about how I better watch my back cuz he rocks at laser tag. I pull him down and whisper in his ear, "How about you show me how good you are with something else."

(Everyone get your head out of the gutter. I was talking about his lips. These legs were a 'No Open Zone' until there was a ring on the finger.)

It got his attention and ya, we found a corner and made out for the 10 minute (or 15, I can't remember how long it was) game.

We came out and got our score cards. His was blank on one side since he didn't shoot anyone, but he looked at mine and saw I had over 100 hits on the same person.

OBI-WAN (I made him pick that name)

His mouth drops and I'm doubled over laughing. Yes, during our major make-out, I shot him in the back the entire time while he thought someone else was taking cheep shots at him.

He begged for a rematch, but it was time to go to the dance. The whole time he refused to kiss me, but hey, it was totally worth it.

Come to think of it... maybe that's why he didn't take me to Prom. Lol.

Me Likey Your Comments!

Oh my gosh, A to Z was so much fun!!!! I'm so glad I was talked into participating. :)

And look! I get a cool little badge too! SCORE!

For my reflection, I've come to the conclusion I need to be more careful about how I title things, lol. A lot of weird google searches popped up from these.

Examples?

Sure, but I'm warning you, people look up some bizarre stuff. :)

Peed my pants (9 hits! Haha!)

Glad to know I’m not the only one.

Show me a boob.

Okay… ( . )

You said one…

My gstring smells like pee.

How about you look up: No Bladder Control… but that may bring up my blog too.

Cassie and Vic naked.

I thought that was a private post!

I don't remember eating a sexy beast.

Count your blessings. I'd rather NOT remember that.

What if your girlfriend uppercuts you in the nuts?
You get a new girlfriend or a cup.  

Girls who need to poop in a dress.

I also searched this. It’s not easy holding a ton of fabric while trying to use the potty.

Butt naked Cassie blog.

Sorry to disappoint.

Sex in the trunk of your car.

Let me know how that works out for you.

Dumb fears.

:(

Also, you guys had me laughing all month with the comments you left on my blog. Had to share a few of my favorites, and you had me beat on trying to come up with a clever reply. :)

Alf post: Nope. Loved ALF. Even had a stuffed doll of him that talked. :) Then one day when I was in my 20's and we were cleaning out the attic so my parents could move, I found him.... and realized the cat was missing...From Juli

Bathroom post: When I was a kid, there used to be TV commercials that showed how super clean the soap was by showing the well muscled man's hand reaching out of the washer. My child's mind, of course, did its own thing with the image and shifted it to the toilet. I was always afraid that giant hand would pull me down into the world of turds. From Donna

Crowd post: I'm afraid I would get caught up in the mob mentality and start a car on fire or something equally as stupid :) From Angie

G-String post: I don't wear underwear, that way if someone tries to give me a wedgie, they grab ass instead. From Joshua

Ice post: So are you one of those drivers who sees a single snowflake falling out of the sky and then spin into the ditch? From Emily White

Lightning post: i do that too! i mean, run around in the rain- not piss myself... although, if a lightning bolt struck five inches from me, i'm sure i'd add some chocolate sauce to that tall lemonade! YIKES! From vic

Myself post: This sounds like me and my husband. The one nice thing about having kids and lots of other responsibilities is that when you are actually alone together you're ripping each other's clothes off like you're in a romance novel. From Sharon

Nighttime post: Solar night lights. I had one for my kids. From Elizabeth

Oompa Loompa post: I am not sure where I would rate oompa's unless I saw one run through the house in the middle of the night. From Gossip Girl

Porta Potty post: Gawd your hilarious! At camp we had outhouses so when we had to do "two" everyone could hear it hit bottom. UGH! From Danielle

Unitard post: Maybe I should've watched the dancers practice when I was a teen...
Wait, did I say that out loud? From Alex

Zombie post: Only you would want to have the Zombies hook up and get it on... what would you call the offspring? Zombettes? Zambinis? ZZ Top? From Mark

Thanks for all the MANY laughs I had last month, which I totally needed :) A big shout out to all the hosts of A to Z!!! You people are amazing :)

About to Pop from the Pressure

Here's my freak out post for the month. Then I promise to chill :)

Three things have happened to me in the past month.

1. Hubs got hired at the Department of Corrections. (yes... Cop. Yikes!)

2. False pregnancy alarm, so all that junk I ate was me just being a pig instead of a bun in the oven. Sigh...

3. Received 3 R&R's for How to Date a Nerd.

I'm going to freak out about number 3 today, but know the other two contribute to my wacko emotions.

If anybody has received an R&R, I feel for you. At first, it's sort of overwhelming to get an email from an agent you have to scroll down a couple times to read it all. And it's a great feeling to hear an agent give you their honest thoughts about what worked, what didn't, and why they are hesitant to offer.

And then comes the freak out. What if I can't do it? What if I disappoint them again? How do I deal with this pressure, and do all the work... only to be full out rejected?

(Bad Cassie for thinking negatively, I know)

I did two rewrites, and was super proud of the final product, ready to let all the agents know I've got a revision ready for them, then I got the third R&R. And that agent brought up stuff I kept the same in the rewrite.

*Bangs head on keyboard*

I couldn't even look at the book anymore. It was draining me, and I knew I wouldn't get the changes right if I tackled it so soon afterward. I took off three days (which doesn't seem long, but it is for me) to soak in the agent's suggestions, and if I really wanted to do another month or more of revisions.

Yup... I do. So here I am, rewriting for another agent and praying to the literary gods I get it right this time. Hoping I'm capable of pulling this off.

Back to the Norm. Well... kinda

Thanks a whole heap load to all of you who stuck around to witness my embarrassing and TMI posts during April. And to everyone who is new... thanks for not shunning me and giving me that follow!

So, there's this little blog called Falling For Fiction, and I'm doing a giveaway over there today... just in case you wanna go check it out.

I'm tired, and taking a break like the rest of the blogging world. I'll be posting my insecurity tomorrow and doing the blog hops I've signed up for... and reflection post is a must! (I laughed so hard writing that one, my eyes were streaming rivers.)

Everyone enjoy the break if you are taking one!

*grabs a pillow and X-Box controller.*