Karen

BAFAB: Deadline January 8th

January 8, 2009January 8, 2009 Karen

TIME’S UP!

The winner is …. number 115 – kathemc!!!

In the event I can’t reach kathemc by Tuesday, January 13th, I’ll attempt to contact the second person listed.

Aargh, I wish my blog template would number the comments. It sort of sucks to have to count, and then recount, and then count one more time just to make sure.

At any rate, THANK YOU to everyone who commented and visited!! I hope you’ll consider putting me in your RSS reader and/or come back and visit me on a regular basis. Have a great day, everyone!!

Comments are closed to avoid confusion.

_________________________________

Yep, it’s that time once again – time to give a book away for no good reason!

So how does this work, you ask? Here’s the short version, I’m participating in the program and would love to buy someone a book of their choice ($15 max). If you would like to put your name into the pot and win a free book, please enter your name in the comment section below. If I draw your name January 8th then I’ll buy you a book!

Winner will be announced on Write From Karen after 11:00 a.m. (U.S. central time) January 8th.

And … if any of you are feeling generous and would like to buy ME a book, I’ve included a link to my Amazon.com wish list to make it easy for you. 😀

Easy-smeasy, right?

Want to learn more? Read the long version.

Please help spread the word! Copy the code below and paste it into your blog today!

Banner Code:

To include this banner (130 pixels wide) in your post or sidebar, copy and paste this code:

Open to U.S. addresses only.

If anyone is participating in BAFAB week, please let me know! I also love to win free books! 😀

Project 365 – The Beginning

January 8, 2009January 7, 2009 Karen

Okay, I’m doing it. I’m going to participate in Project 365 because remember I said one of my resolutions this year was to take more pictures?

Well, you can’t beat taking one picture every day.

However, I don’t plan on posting these photos to my blog every day – I think that might get old fast. So, I’m going to post an update every Thursday because the year started on Thursday and it actually ends on a Thursday.

If you would like to keep up with my daily pictures, you can subscribe to the Flickr RSS feed here. Otherwise, check back here Thursday for a photo collage.

I’ll shut up now and present this week’s Project 365 pictures along with a short explanation (which is really for me because by the time the end of the year rolls around I’ll be all like, “What the heck? Why did I take a picture of that?”)

1. My goofball husband has a photography light/globe whatever on his head. I bought him a set of professional photography lights for Christmas and he was showing his enthusiasm. 🙂

2. January 3rd, we had over 60 degree weather. In January?! How unusual. (But not because of Global Warming! It’s because weather is cyclical! We’ve had 60 degree Januarys before). So, we thought we would take advantage of the nice weather and go to the Nature Trail. This is me, awkwardly posing and wondering if anyone can see my poochy belly behind my sweatshirt. No? Score!

3. MK pausing while playing the Wii to smile for me. I like this picture because his eyes look so cool. Normally, they’re blue. But that day, they were a light gray. Click here for a closeup.

4. MK again. He’s very busy (and very frustrated) building one of those huge Bioncle gun/space ship looking things (it’s a boy thing). He finally finished it. I’ll take a picture of that soon.

5. My nephew, M, and his uber-cool fedora. The same one that has the boys salivating all over themselves for. In fact, I mentioned they were on the lookout for one. We’ve been unsuccessful thus far.

6. The Bookmooch package I put together for a gal that requested three of my books. Woot! Three less books in my book storage container thingie, three more points for me, three cool books for her!

7. FINALLY! A good hair day!!!! What, you don’t think that warrants all of the exclamation marks! Are you kidding me?! My good hair days are so far and few between I SAVOR them when they happen. Actually, I’m toying with the idea of taking a photo of myself once a week and then stitching all of the photos together to make a slide show and laugh over at how much I’ve aged at the end the year.

8. I’m walking the son. HA! There’s a story behind this photo. Stay tuned for the blog entry coming to your computer very soon.

I’m having WAY too much fun with this Project 365, er, project. Of course, it’s only been a week. Ask me how much fun I’m having in say, July.

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen – Words that Begin with D

January 8, 2009January 8, 2009 Karen

null

Thirteen “D” Words that Describe my Life

Scrolling through my life, one letter at a time.

1. Dabble – And boy, do I. In fact, I have so much fun dabbling that I forget the “F” word – finishing.

2. Daft – I can be, yes. In fact, I would say, on average, I’m usually firing on all pistons maybe …. seven percent of the time. That’s not a very flattering percentage, is it.

3. Daily – I post up to thrice daily. Because I’m a blog addict. And I am alone most of my day and there’s no one blowing garlic breath down my neck and telling me to get back to work. I need a boss. Preferably a good looking one wielding a whip. *winkwink*

4. Dainty – Something I’ve never been, unfortunately. I SO WANTED to be one of those cute petite girls in high school. So much so in fact, that I forced myself to wear smaller shoes because I was under the insane assumption that if my feet were small, then somehow the rest of me would be small too … yeah, I was high. (kidding) You should see my poor feet now because of this abuse. On second thought, you really shouldn’t look at my feet – they’re grotesque.

5. Dairy – I love dairy. Dairy … doesn’t care too much for me. I could live on cheese, ice cream, creamy coffees and yogurt but then I wouldn’t be a very pleasant person to be around … what am I talking about, I’m not a pleasant person to be around now. To hell with it, pass the milk.

6. Daisy – Remember those pretty little daisy chains that the elementary school girls would gather in a circle and make at recess and then proudly wear them around their necks the rest of the day? Yeah, I was never invited to any of those daisy making groups. Thanks to the daisy girls, I have issues now. Thanks.

7. Damage – Sometimes, and this is going to sound crazy, I wish I was damaged. Then I would have so much to blog about. And people could relate to my problems and I’d become popular because I’m damaged and I’d go to BlogHer and make a ton of friends and sponsors would scramble over themselves in an attempt to buy space on my blog and my husband could retire from his job and I could get paid to do something that I love to do … but alas, I’m normal. And happy. And boring. And my issues are pretty lame compared to so many other issues out there so … never mind.

8. Dance – I love it. And only do it in the privacy of my own home. And only when my guys are no where around because the ONE time they caught me dancing (I was pretending I was one of those dancers you see behind the lead singer on MTV), they made fun of me. They STILL make fun of me. So yeah, I’m a closet dancer. (And remember the Daily Dancer? *sigh* I miss him).

9. Dandruff – I don’t have any.

10. Dangerous – Not the risk-taking dangerous, but the if-you-don’t-get-out-of-my-way-when-I’m-on-a-mission-to-get-my-grocery-shopping-done-as-quickly-as-I-can-and-get-away-from-you-people dangerous. I’m impatient. And when I get hormonal, my impatience level drops into the negative range. When that happens? Yeah, I’m pretty dangerous to be around.

11. Daring – I’m not. I tend to over analyze any given situation before thinking about doing anything and even then, I have to list the pros and cons. I’m pretty predictable and I don’t like surprises. Unless I’m hormonal and then, all bets are off.

12. Dark Horse – Though I can be pretty predictable, I have my moments. In fact, that’s why my boys are so well behaved – they’re scared of me. They never QUITE know what I’m going to do next. And though I feel guilty about that at times, I sort of like it, too.

13. Dated – I think that became obvious when I mentioned MTV. (Does anyone even watch MTV anymore? Do they EVER play music videos anymore? I remember getting wasted at a friend’s house and watching MTV videos all night. Oh wait, that wasn’t me. *cough*)

ADDED: I know the Thursday Thirteen hub has dissipated, but I’m going to go ahead and continue with the TT’s because, well, I’ve been doing them for a few years now and I enjoy the list-type format. I’m including a Technorati link below, and I would suggest you do the same, so that other TT participants can find each other. You can find the code for the tag on this page.

thursday thirteen

Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction: Caught on My Space

January 7, 2009January 7, 2009 Karen

I love flash fiction. It’s so challenging to write a semi-complete story in 250 words. Try it sometime, it’s MUCH harder than it looks. If you want to participate and write your own flash fiction, feel free to take that nifty button below.

Fiction under 250 words
null

I let him in. I didn’t want to. I knew what was going to happen, but I swallowed my anxiety, stomped on my panic and I quasi-calmly opened the door to face my ex-boyfriend.

“Hey you,” I began but no sooner were the words out of my mouth that he snarled at me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I had convinced myself that he had come over to try and reconcile the damaged relationship. But judging by the sneer on his face and his diamond-hard eyes, that wasn’t his intention.

“I have no idea …”

“You are mental. Wait. You’re more than mental, you’re insane and wow, I’m so glad I dumped your ass because you’re one scary bitch.”

Even though I knew what he was referring to, I forced my expression to maintain a blankness that I was far from feeling on the inside.

He shook his head in disgust. “I can’t believe you thought you could trash my apartment and get away with it.”

Again, I tried to interject even though my heart had now squeezed through my rib cage and had settled just under my vocal cords. I suddenly found it hard to speak and my words came out squeaky. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You deny breaking in, and yet you post pictures of what you did on My Space,” he snickered.

I swallowed.

“I’m filing charges.” He thrust a piece of paper at me. “I’ll see you in court.”

____________________________

Inspired by this true story. I need to write more flash fiction – I eat this stuff up.

Oh, one more thing, the new [Fiction] Friday writing prompt has been posted if you’re itching to do a little fiction writing.

Reflections

Reflections: The Origin of My Name

January 7, 2009January 6, 2009 Karen

This was originally published on my self-hosted blog, March 31, 2006.

From time to time, I’ll be recording thoughts and events from my childhood. These memories are prompted from the Reflections from a Mother’s Heart – Your Life Story in Your Own Words. I plan on filling this book out one of these days to pass onto my children. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds the lives of our parents fascinating. It’s weird to think of my parents as children and it’s really fun to hear stories about their past, how they met, etc. If my children read about my past, perhaps they will understand me just a little better.

___________________________________

Who gave you your name and why?

I learned, some years back, that mom had wanted to call me Carrie instead of Karen. I never knew why she liked that name but I was profoundly grateful that my parents didn’t stick with that name. Any and every time I hear the name Carrie I immediately think of Stephen King’s “Carrie.” Carrie conjured up wicked images of a blood-soaked wannabe debutante who killed people with her supernatural powers.

Then Carrie Fisher played Princess Lea in “Star Wars” and suddenly the name Carrie was cool. Though I’m still glad my parents didn’t stick with Carrie. I think it was dad who talked my mom out of naming me Carrie. They compromised and named me Karen.

Did you have a family nickname?

The only name I can remember being called other than Karen was KK. I’m not sure who or why that got started, but I remember being called that a few times by my mother. I like KK, it has a musical ring to it.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday – The Mommy Cry

January 7, 2009January 6, 2009 Karen

null
Want to play?

Boy, do I remember THOSE cries.

_______________________________

Don’t forget to leave your name in the comment pot for a FREE book of your choice!

General

Please Missouri, Go Hands Free

January 6, 2009January 6, 2009 Karen

So I heard on the radio last week that there’s a proposed bill on the floor banning hand-held cell phones in Missouri.

Dear God above, please let it pass.

And no, I’m not trying to be sarcastic, I truly hope it passes. There are bad drivers everywhere, but here in SW Missouri? I think we’ve gotten more than our fair share. In fact, you could skim the top of the bad driver cream, I’m betting you, most of them would be from Missouri. Some of the stupid stunts people do just to save a few seconds nowadays … *shakes head* it truly amazes me.

And I can’t tell you the number of people I’ve had to swerve by, or slam my brakes for, who have been absolutely clueless to my existence because they were too busy yapping nonsense.

Truly. I should keep count. In fact, I think I’ll start carving tally marks in my dashboard just to prove my point.

Of course, even if they pass the law and they ban hand-held devices, there will still be jerks out there doing the same sorts of things like this guy.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Please Missouri, Go Hands Free", posted with vodpod

This wouldn’t be so funny if it weren’t ACCURATE.

Seriously. Have you HEARD about voice mail? It’s a handy device that records messages when you can’t talk on the phone, you know, like when you’re driving and responsible for not only your own safety, but those in the car with you as well as those around you on the road.

It’s pretty cool. Check it out.