Santa

This year my kids got their first picture with santa. Not that I didn't try before, they just didn't want to sit on santa's lap and when I tried, they screamed bloody murder... But not this year! At four and six, they finally got brave and went to see santa!

Funny thing was, my boys are not very patient. When we got there and found out the shortest line time was 1-1/2 hours, I kind of panicked. That's forever when you have restless children that like to pee every half hour! Luckily though, the moment they saw santa, they did not complain once through the entire line! :) I couldn't believe it...

Today, I must say I'm very proud of my little dudes for being so good and patient, but also... beware! -Mom now knows that you 'can' be good when in a long line! And in the future, I will be much wiser about your antics!

Happy holidays everyone!

Take Time to Smell the Flowers

After my critique group last night I have learned a couple things. For one, my writing has shown improvement after a few months of working in the group. Second, I am finally doing more showing than telling, whew hew! Third, and this to me is the most important, I realized that part of why I was doing so much telling is because I was not stopping to smell the flowers.

Honestly, that is the only way I can relate what I was doing. Before, I rushed into the field, took a quick look around, then moved along. Now, I notice the color of the grass, is it green, blue-green, yellow, dead, prickly, soft, short, overgrown, does it smell musty, like large amounts of moss are growing, or is it new growth, very firm? Taking the time to find details in my scenes makes a big difference in my writing.

I also learned how to use the five senses when describing something. What did the character smell, feel, hear, see, or taste. Granted, that last one is a bit more difficult as none of my characters taste trees, grass, houses, etc... But still. Taste has it's uses, just maybe not as often.

So what is the lesson for the day? Stop and smell the flowers! Notice every little detail.