Heart of American ~ 3

*vbg* Yes, Hall, you snagged the first post.

It's been insane for me. The older two of my brood are currently with their father leaving me with a very bored nine year old. So, I've been reading posts in here, nodding along with ya and nothing stays in the brain by the time I'm set to actually say something. It's been so hot, so he and I have been sitting poolside. The only thing I seem to be working on is a tan. I take the alphasmart with me, but he's not a great swimmer yet and peer pressure is such a wonderful thing, so he's delving into the deeper water, gets nervous, gets out and wants me near by. And unlike a lot of other parents, I can't just drop him off at the pool and hope that the lifeguards will keep an eye on him.

We'll be going again today--I think it's to be the hottest day yet...I know it's nice to get into cool water.

How's everyone else doing?

Rae

Rae,

I-remember-long-summer-days-of-swimming

lessons.We-went-to-the-park-with-our

parents-seated-on-benches-behind-the

chain-link-fence.Lessons-were-early-from

6am-to-8am.Later-that-day-the-pool-was

open-to-the-public.I-went-from-6th-to-9th

grade.I-got-my-Jr.Lifeguard-card-at-age-14.

Has-anyone-written-a-story-for-the-hero

to-be-a-swimming-instructor?Certainly

that-is-as-American-as-apple-pie.

Aurelene

Hey, ladies!

I've been reading posts and catching up, but I haven't had time to post myself, because all week I've been teaching Vacation Bible School at my church. I had the kindergarteners. And boy, did I get a rough crew! I AM EXHAUSTED. lol!

Actually, I too pooped to to say anything else. LOL!

Have a good weekend!

My friend Susan is a yard sale guru. It really depends on your area, If you're in a higher end area, you might be able to price higher end items higher. If not, price it all low. We did one together and my take was $167. VHS tapes will sell for $1, DVDs you can get $2. Hardback books will go for $1 and paperbacks for 25 cents. You might get up to $3 for some books if they are those big coffee table things. Try to keep everything under $10 unless you are willing to take checks. Most yard sale goers pay with cash. Keep it all divisible by 5 to make counting easy.

Start at 7 AM (or earlier) and be sure to have everything visible from the front--so don't make them go to the backyard. If you have a lot of items for college dorms/apartments, make sure to say that and you'll get the back to school shoppers.

Good luck. And yes, take the boxes right to Goodwill and get your tax receipt of everythign that doesn't sell.

Michele (who is 13 pages from writing "the end")

I've only done a few yard sales and admittedly they're fairly hit or miss.  No guarantees.  I told my kids whatever they put out if it sales they can pocket the money.  Maybe that will inspire my daughter who is now 9 to get rid of some toys she's had since age 3.  LOL

Sandy

Morning.

Well, we had a pretty uneventful weekend here at Casa Rae. The best laid plans were to go to Erie for the weekend and attempt to catch a glimpse of one of my favorite authors....but alas, I didn't know it was bike week and there weren't any hotels to be found for the dates I needed a room. *sighs*

I'm thinking perhaps, there are all kinds of possibilities with swim instructors. Glad you found your way over here Lynette.

Rae, who forgot she had a meeting and will bbl

Holly- I'm glad the writing is going well. Mine is, too!

Rae and Holly- I never get picked for jury duty. Well, that's not quite true. Once I did. About 15 minutes into the thing, they decided to settle! Rae, it sounds as if you're counting the days to see your two oldest return. That's a good sign. Vomit Island, though... Funny!

 Tomorrow I leave for Indianapols, to visit my parents and other relatives. I'll be seeing old friends, too, but I think I already told you that. Or did I? Reunion time!

I'll be back Monday. 

LOL  Ellen.  She doesn't need more trouble...she's single, pregnant and 44.  Some days life has a sense of humor!  Her name is Elinore, btw!  It's close!

 Holly

 Glad to see so many familiar faces here! 

Hey_Holly!

I'm-deciding-what-movie-to-go-see.I'll

probably-see-'X_Files'.I-want-to-see-MammaMia.

One-woman-I-know-critisized-PierceBrosnan's

singing.I-heard-a-clip-and-he-sounds-ok.

I-went-to-a-luau-last-evening-with-the-women's

group-of-the-church.It-was-held-at-the-home

of-one-of-the-women.We-sat-under-umbrellas

poolside-and-ate-a-great-meal.The-punch

had-pieces-of-fruit(blackberries,blueberries,

strawberries,and-rasberries).The-church-youth

group-dance-team-did-island-style-dancing.

Have-a-good-day.

Aurelene

I'm back from my vacation week just in time for everyone to leave for SF.  I'm not going but I hope that everyone has a blast. Let those of us who stayed home know what happened.

Rae, sorry to hear your getaway to Erie fell thru. Maybe you'll get another chance this summer.

Michele, so sorry to hear things didn't go well with your dd's test. But congrats on finishing your ms.

Holly, my dd just got her questionaire for jury duty and was completely appaulded. She's already going to have a crazy hectic schedule this fall with eighteen credit hours and two jobs. Sheesh. How did yours go? Did you have to report?

Ann, hope you had a wonderful reunion.

Jennifer S, hope your life slows down a little so you can squeeze in some writing.

Hope, good to see you here. Are you ready for NaNo again? LOL. Can you believe it's only three months away. Where did the summer go?

Holly, huge congrats on the contest win. That's totally awesome. You are on a roll.

Aurelene, your luau sounded really nice. Glad you had a nice time.

Okay, I'm off to tackle a ton of emails and dig back into my story. I also have to squeeze in some time to work on my fair entries. This is my busiest time of the year. 

Have fun at the conference,

Jennifer

Everyone going to San Fran, have a safe trip, take lots and lots of photo's and have fun!

We went away this weekend up to Gettysburg and met my kids there, unexpectedly. We were supposed to meet them in Breezewood on Sunday and then their grandparents changed plans on us. But it's all good. I'm glad to have my kids back. We spent the night in Breezewood and meandered a different way back home and literally stumbled across the Quecreek Mine Rescue Site. I have pictures up on my Facebook and Myspace, and my personal blog. I think I'm going to start doing a personal blog over here as well.

Rae, who's still tired from all the walking....

Thanks for the "have fun" wishes, everyone. I had a blast!! It's so fun to reconnect with people who came of age (or started to) right along with me. We have a bond, a connection, that cannot be broken. Plus we all laughed up a storm, which makes life fun. A good 10 percent of the class (or those we located, which, out of almost 1000 was about 350) have died for a variety of reasons: cancer and other diseases, car accidents, one homicide, two heart attacks. Aack! Makes a person appreciate every single moment!

Due to storms, my plane was delayed. The airline switched me to a different airline, and I arrived in Seattle three hours later than planned. Sans luggage, but they tell me that will be delivered today. I hope so, since a few things in the suitcase need washing and ironing in time for SF. I leave Wed. morning. I'm so excited, but will also be glad when all the traveling ends for a while.

Have a great rest of the day, one and al. 

Like me, my editor isn't going to be in SF, so I shipped her my finished CEO book tonight. It was due August 1, so she's getting it a little early. I just finished my copy edits for my March 09 book. The CEO book is also a 09 release, but I don't know what month yet.

It feels awesome to be done. Sure, there will be some revisions (there always are) but for now, I can relax and get up at 5:15 tomorrow to go distribute yearbooks at 7 AM.

Michele

Everyone going to SF... think of us often. LOL! And have a safe trip!

I'm actually writing this week! I set up a little challenge with my crit partners and so far I've written 6 pages. Woo-hoo!

I-hope-all-who-are-going-have-a-great

time!!Once-you-arrive-and-breathe-a-little,

start-telling-us-a-report.Let-us-know-a-day

by-day-account-of-the-happenings!!

Aurelene

Not sure how many of us are left here and how many are living it up in SF, but I hope everyone is having fun wherever they are. I am heading into the busiest month of the year. It's fair month and my last 'get ready to go back to school'. *sniffle, sniffle* My baby is now officially a senior. Boy, saying that makes me feel old, even though I'm not.  So if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm preparing for the fair, writing, shopping, and having a relative fly in and stay with us in the midst of this craziness. LOL. Wonder if they'll come back.

Michele, I read on the HAR blog that you got a Wii, congrats. Let me know if you like it. I've been toying with the idea of getting one. We have a PS2 now and dh and I enjoy it in the winter months. BTW, I saw you wrote that your editor didn't go to SF, but I thought I saw that Joann and Kathleen were attending, how many editors does American have? Curious minds want to know. Congrats on finishing your CEO book and shipping it early. Hats off to you.

Hope, so you're already doing your prep work for NaNo. That makes one of us. I don't know if I'm going to do it this year or not. I still have last yr's ms to revise. We'll see. There's a lot that can happen between now and then. Good luck with whatever story you chose.

Holly, glad to hear you got called off jury duty so you could make it to the conference. Dd asked what she'd do if she got called to serve, she's worried about missing her science classes and labs. Things you just can't make up. I told her she'd have to plead her case to the judge. You should have seen the appaulded look on her face. LOL.

Ann, glad to hear you got your luggage back before you had to leave for SF. Boy, you are a lady on the go this summer.

Jennifer S, congrats on getting back to writing. You go girl. I'm struggling right now to squeeze it all in.

Lisa62, so glad to hear you've set a deadline for yourself on finishing your story. Fingers crossed you make it.

My other big news is dd just finished her summer semester and has graduated with her associates degree. Yippee!!! So we are going out for Japanese tonight to celebrate. She gets a three week break and then she's back in classes working on her bachelor's. She wasn't going to get her associates but I told her why not. She only had to take a couple extra classes this summer to fulfilll the requirements and since she doesn't know what the future holds, it may help her.

Okay, I'm off to do some crit'ing. Have a great day everyone.

Jennifer