Mini Mind Splat #2: Snow

MINI MIND SPLAT WARNING: Nothing I comment on is meant to offend. It's simply my opinion and how I feel about certain things (mostly inconsequential things). I'd love to see thoughts from others in the comments. Just remember, have fun with it. This isn't meant to be super serious.

Snow! Who likes it? Who hates it?

I'm kind of in between, but mostly leaning toward the hate it camp.

We're just finishing up a snowstorm here, and I'm quite thankful I don't have to go out in the mess until tomorrow. And I don't have to go out in it because the kids have a snow day, so I don't have to get Preschooler to and from school. This, of course, is a double-edged sword. Both kids are home to drive me crazy and make it impossible to get any work done.

Preschooler did an awesome job thwarting my plans by goofing around while she was putting her milk in the fridge. Spilled... milk everywhere! In the fridge, outside the fridge, under the fridge, and all over her. Ugh.

Wait, this post isn't about kid roadblocks. It's about snow!

It's kind of interesting, the development of liking or disliking snow. As a kid, I loved it. Making forts in the snow was awesome (forts were more fun than snowmen). It's like the cold and wet didn't phase me in the least.

Then as I grew older, I liked it less and less. I don't want it near me! It's cold and wet and inconvenient. Hell, I'd move down south if I could, but I'm pretty much stuck where the winters are long and cold unless we have a sudden, unexpected windfall (yeah, right).

Unfortunately, my Grade Schooler (almost Middle Schooler!) is already at the point where she's not a fan of the snow. She hates dragging her snow pants to school and dealing with boots. Do kids grow up faster these days or what? Or maybe my perception is just skewed and I don't remember when I actually transitioned from loving to disliking snow. With my memory, it's highly likely.

At least when I send Grade Schooler outside with her younger sister to play in the snow, she does seem to end up having a good time (even though I get grumbles before she gets outside -- heh).

Now, I don't completely hate the snow. I just hate going out in it. You know how many people don't shovel their sidewalks making it super difficult to walk? A lot.

But I'm happy to enjoy its beauty when I'm nice and toasty inside. Especially watching the snow fall at night, it's kind of hypnotizing. And the blanket of unmarred white (before people tromp through it) is definitely pretty. Again, as long as I can enjoy it all from a cozy house, I don't care. I'm also super happy (and super lucky) that Hubbie is the one who snow-blows and shovels.

So, how do you feel about snow? And if you haven't experienced much (or any) snow, what are your thoughts on it? It's hard for me to imagine a winter without snow, so I'm fascinated how those who don't get snow often or at all perceive it.

1001 7 Reasons Not to Write

What, you were expecting 1001 Reasons Not to Clean? I really hope I can't find 1001 reasons not to write. But lately, as you can see by the delayed blog post, a lot has been getting in the way of my writing. So, here's a mini list. I hope someone can get a chuckle out of the aggravation below (or others can completely relate).

7 Reasons Not to Write

1. The flu. Not just you with the flu, but your eldest child and your husband. Of course, the youngest child escapes the wretched sickness unscathed, so not only are you dealing with feeling miserable, but you have to contend with a preschooler's high energy level. Even if you had the energy to write, or the brain space, your joints hurt too much to type.

2. One of your cats has a UTI. And the first round of meds didn't work properly. So you're trying to keep an eye on his litter habits and also conferring with the vet. Then you need to take him in another time because the second round of meds still aren't doing it. Finally you need to stress over buying him new, expensive food (that you feel is filled with crap)... which all three cats in the house will need to eat because you'd waste too many hours keeping them separate. Exactly when am I finding time to write with all this going on?

3. One of the computers in the house decides to stop starting up properly. Since you're the one who built the computers in the house you not only need to fix it, but also troubleshoot what's wrong. This includes taking apart your other computer to test a part in the problem computer. After determining the failing part, you need to jump through hoops to request a replacement because it's still under warranty. Though you wonder why you just didn't buy a new one after paying an insane amount of shipping to send out the bad part. When the replacement part arrives and you sit down to install it, you realize they forgot one of the cords needed (oh, you think I don't need power to the CPU?), so then you need to stop in the middle and wait for them to send the missing cord. Once it arrives, you finally fix the computer, and breathe a sigh of relief when it turns on and stays on. Writing? Hell, yes, this whole debacle sucked up a lot of writing time.

4. Yup, caught the cat with the UTI peeing in a corner (unfortunate side effect of the poor kitty being sick). After dealing with the mess he made, you realize that the computer room hasn't had a good, full clean for years, and your paper clutter is turning into new, sentient beings. So you move everything out of the computer room and decide you're taking a week off of writing to get this room cleaned and then everything moved back in, excluding the paper clutter that needs to be gone through, then recycled, shredded, or filed. Surely this will only take you a week. Two weeks later with that paper clutter still filling the dining room and living room, you laugh. It's a sad, miserable laugh because you've spent a decent amount of time dealing with it all, but life still decided to get in the way of better progress.

5. It's fucking cold. All you want to do is hide upstairs under the covers and hibernate. Winter sucks and needs to go away. Typing at the desktop computer freezes your hands and feet. And of course since you have Scrivener 3 on the new Macbook, it will be a headache to convert files back and forth from Scrivener on your desktop (since 3 isn't out for Windows yet), and you don't want to deal with the slow as molasses HP laptop when you have a super speedy and shiny Macbook which is ten times better. Revisions? Hahahaha.

6. You have to walk in that fucking cold 2 days a week for 2 hours each of those days (the things us parents do for our kids). And no matter how much you try to resist falling asleep in the afternoon, it's a losing battle since you're so exhausted from the cold and the walking that you nod off instead of writing.

7. Because all the proverbial shit seems to be hitting the fan, your will to even try has been depleted. To the point that it's coming up empty. I mean, every time you try, you just get more shit flung back in your face, so what's the point? It's much easier to play a game on the iPad or watch some TV to drown out the screaming coming from the inside of your own head.

***NOTE: I understand some people have it a lot worse off than I do. The above are all a bunch of little, rather annoying things. But they're all my little, rather annoying things, and it feels like a lot when it's personal. Right now, I don't have enough spoons left to think past my own personal world, so please forgive me.***

1001 Reasons Not To Clean - #16 through #20

Welcome to 1001 Reasons Not to Clean! The main goal of this series is to see if I can actually reach 1001 reasons, 5 reasons at a time (the final post, if I get there, will be 6 reasons). I'm sure I can. It's not just my crazy brain being unrealistic, right? Links to previous posts are below. And feel free to share your excuses, and they might get added to my list (with credit, of course)!

#1 through #5 ~ #6 through #10 ~ #11 through #15

❦

16. It's winter. Yes, you'd think you'd have less excuses in winter because you spend more time in the house, but the truth is the cold and gray sap your motivation and you get less cleaning done than you do during the warmer months.

17. Winter doesn't want to let go. It's fending spring off with its icy fingers. And this depresses you too much to even think about cleaning.

18. The house is too cold, so you'd rather stay in bed under your warm covers.

19. Your kids are sick. Not just sick, but plague-ridden. If you clean anything, it's just going to be smeared in germs shortly after, so why bother?

20. Your kids got you sick. OK, yes, #9 is "You're sick." But this is a different kind of sick. This is the kind of sick where not only are you trying to keep yourself alive, but you're still dealing with sick kids at the same time. And then you keep passing the sick back and forth until you kind of think being dead might be a better option than being sick all the time. Cleaning is obviously the furthest thing from your mind at this point.

This Is Where I Stand Snippet

Tales of Chyraine released yesterday! It includes two stories, "This Is Where I Stand" and "Cold, Oh So Cold." Right now, it's available via Amazon, and like the last two releases, you can read it for free using Kindle Unlimited or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

If you're interested in a snippet from "Cold, Oh So Cold," I'll be sending one out in my Newsletter tomorrow - so Sign Up Now if you haven't yet! But I won't leave you completely hanging. Here's a bit from "This Is Where I Stand."

❦

This is where I stand: in the kingdom of Ambrosia, within the palace, in my spacious yet suffocating room, before an open window which faces northwest. A broadsword rests on the stone windowsill, my sword, once my father's sword. My hands are upon the steel blade. I can just see over the palace walls, beyond to the rolling hills dotted with wildflowers and groves of trees.

This is where I wish to stand: further northwest, over the wall, beyond the moat, across the hills, and through the trees, where lies an invisible line with the forests Destiny to the east and Feargate to the west. My spirit brushes the trees that tower over the passage and shadows that line, into the kingdom of Trugor.

But that desire is irrelevant, for I am the Queen in Waiting, the one of all the young female warriors of Ambrosia to emerge victorious in competition. Sometimes I ponder what the waiting means. Waiting to become Queen, waiting to be recognized, waiting to have all the weight of a kingdom's people on my shoulders, hanging on my every word and trusting me implicitly... waiting for the old Queen to die. And in turn, one day another Queen in Waiting will be waiting for me to die, when I'm old and wrinkled, and the people cry out for fresh blood.

❦

This Is Where I Stand

A warrior torn between obligation and desire.

Zenya fought for and won the right to be Ambrosia's next queen. Now, she waits for the current queen to die and she finds the honor her aunt forced her into is instead a burden. She longs for her childhood home, Trugor, where magic drifts on the winds and infuses every blade of grass.

Those in Ambrosia think magic an abomination. If the reigning queen discovers Zenya's heritage and thoughts, a quick death might follow. Possibly that would be the kinder fate, since her desire to return home and breathe in the magic consumes her. How can Zenya rule a people she despises?

Cold, Oh So Cold

Hearts of men as frozen as the kingdoms they live in.

Hear the static of a radio? Feel the chill sink into your bones and refuse to leave? Then you must be in the three Ice Kingdoms of Chyraine. No matter where you turn, the icicles can be seen forming in the hearts and minds of all the inhabitants. Or being driven into their backs and throats by their enemies.