Summer is here

I'm know. I'm doing a horrible job of keeping updated. I barely have time to think sometimes, let alone try to come up with something witty to share with you. Spring was an insane season in the Elliott house: volleyball, baseball, end of the school year, AWANAS... Like I said, I've been busy.

I can tell you that we will be rearranging rooms soon. Lisa is very excited to be getting her own room & Nate has loved spending nights with Ben & Lisa. He really only uses his bed for naps. Of course, right now there is a huge pile of toys in his room. I'm trying to sort through and downsize, so I thought the best way to do this is to get the toys all in one place. Yes, I have enough faith to move a mountain and there is definitely a mountain in Nate's room. WATCH it move. It may take all month but it will get done.

On the book front, I've been rejected by my first five submissions. I guess I have like 300 more to go. (Yet another mountain I plan on moving). I haven't had much time to submit to other agents. I guess that's good. With this little break from not looking at it, I've had some thoughts on how to improve it. But, that too is the mind of a writer: always editing and rethinking.

I hope to keep you with a constant flow of randomness, but I'm not going to make any promises that I'm not sure I can keep. Here's to next time. =)

Keep Playing

Rejection is not so bad. Sure, I wished I'd beaten the odds and had gotten an acceptance my first try. Isn't that why people play the lottery? To beat the odds? I actually find that my first rejection wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. Perhaps it's because I had prepared myself mentally. I know what the statistics are and what my chances would be. I rolled the dice anyway. You can't win if you don't play. I'm going to play, and I'm going to keep playing until I win. And then, I'm going to play so more.

The Package has been sent.

I'm wavering between relief and being so nervous that I want to throw up. I've researched and researched so more. I've written and re-written and still think it could be re-written again. But, at some point you have to bite the bullet and take the plunge. I finally wrote my query, have my synopsis ready and my book is done. I sent out my query today. Statistically, I should be receiving a rejection soon. But, like people who play the lottery, I believe that someone has to win. Why can't that be me? So, I'm hoping for an immediate acceptance. Hey, it is possible. Think positive. "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can...."

The Long Cold Darkness Has Ended

I firmly believe that the long cold darkness is coming to an end, and no, I'm not really talking about the weather. For my family the past year and a half or so has been pretty rough, both physically (with several broken body parts) and emotionally (loss of family pet, job related issues, OCD). The amount of stress that we were under seemed almost unbearable on some days. Honestly, my faith was shaken. I never doubted that God existed, I just wasn't sure how he felt about me. But, I never gave in. I searched for answers and sought him. God is definitely big enough to handle it when we ask "Why?"

Through the long dark hours of not being able to see and wondering if things were going to work out right, I found that God, my savior, was with me the whole time. With all that happened, the silver lining showed me that things could have been worse. When I fell down my steps and broke my ankle, I wasn't carrying my 9 month old. When I twisted my other ankle, I didn't fall of the roof. When Ben broke his leg, it was a clean break and he didn't have any internal injuries. Not to mention all the additional stress in other aspects of our lives which I will not go into publically here.

My daughter is a huge fan of Hannah Montana and the new movie came out last year. In it was a song "The Climb" and it totally defined my life. One line really spoke to me "Keep the Faith". Now I know this was not ment to be a religious song but God can speak to me through anything. This song gave me hope to ride the storm through to the end. God often speaks to me this way through everyday ordinary things.

As the New Year turned, peace came over me and I felt the Lord speaking to my spirit telling me that the long night has passed. I often hear others asking "Why do bad things happen to good people?" A friend once told me, "the rain falls on the good and the bad alike. There is no distinction." Do I wish that these things would have passed us by and my family had been left alone? You bet ya! However, I have learned and have a better understanding of my faith. I was often reminded of Job and my husband often referred to Joseph. When I read these stories, I discovered that they both had happy endings.

Happy New Year?

I hope you had a great New Year's Eve. My daughter, Lisa, had ours planned out from 9pm-midnight. She's my planner. Both her and Ben get really excited that day because it's the one day we let them stay up so late. I don't know why she picked 9 o'clock to start the festivities, but that is what it was. From 9 until 9:30 we played Hide and Seek. Have you ever played with a two year old? There is no place you can hide. We all took our turns being it. Nate was the last one. It's was so cute as he counted "4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 9 ready not here come." Yep that's how he counts. Of course we picked easy hiding places, but I think he would have found us anyway.

From 9:30 - 10 we drew New Year's Eve posters. We got out the markers and paper and everyone participated. Nate made Lisa's poster very colorful. When it comes to Nate she has endless amount of patients; when it comes to Ben, not so much.

From 10 - 11 was Wii time. We put Nate to bed and the others played Wii Sports, mostly bowling and then some tennis. We only have three remotes so I didn't play, but I did watch.

At 11, we turned on the TV. It took some convincing for Lisa that the one with Dick Clark didn't come on 'til 11:30, but she wasn't satisfied. That didn't work with her schedule. I can't blame her. I know what it's like to have your scheduled messed up and it's not fun. She finally adjusted and we watched the ball drop.

The twins went to bed (Yeah, that was in her schedule too) and Rick and I stayed up until about 2:30. Here is were no amount of planning can help. At 3:30 Nate woke up throwing up. This lasted every 20 or 30 minutes until about 9. Needless to say our New Year didn't start out very well. Rick took care of Nate the most because I almost throw up at the sight and smell of someone else's vomit.

Poor Rick, 6:30am the next morning was his turn. Lisa and Ben did the twin synchronizing thing and started in the afternoon of the 2nd. I did my best to withstand, but I succumbed the next day. Needless to say, our New Year weekend sucked. I enjoyed New Year's Eve, but the New Year, not so much.

Lisa and Ben threw up so much that their features turned ghostly white. Lisa gets it the worst. Whenever she gets a virus like this, it doesn't want to let her go. She is still having troubles today, while the rest of us have mostly recovered. Nate still doesn't have an appetite, and Ben doesn't have much of one either. But I think the worst is over. Happy New Year anyone?