Charlie's Scribes goes sweet on Robyn :)

Aloha,

Having survived the laughter and comments following my St. Patrick's Day post, it's time to help Charlie's Scribes (You Snooze, We Muse) jump into action.

Today, Liz, Tammy and I helped sweet Robyn Engel over at Life By Chocolate.

Surprisingly, Robyn wanted something about chocolate.

This was a hard one for me (Mom always said I was sweet enough), but I stepped up to the counter, and ably supported by the two professional Scribes, we ended up with this here.

*** If you know anyone who needs a blogging break or simply needs to escape from Blog Fog, shoot us an email at charliesscribes@gmail.com.


You never know.... you, too, may be lucky enough to have Charlie's Scribes miss your house and knock instead at the neighbors.

Coconut Bra/Grass Skirt Promise: DONE & Happy St. Paddy's Day :)

Aloha,

Never say I don't follow through with promises :)

Although SIGGY couldn't make it - I can't find his cape and the face paint has dried up after a year in a Hawaiian garage (duh!!) - I do have other pictures to share.... sigh...

Here then... oh wait, I do have ONE annual Public Service Announcement to share (apart from the fact I'm wearing a coconut bra and a grass skirt).... so people, please for the love of all that is holy and green....

Remember... it's St. PADDY'S Day... not St. Patty's Day (although he'd surely have my vote to be the patron saint of In-and-Out Burgers :)

Oh gawd.... here we go....

So, first up is our SIGGY-mobile, which we will be using to and from the Honolulu St. Paddy's Day parade.

This Stroller Goes from 0-60 depending on how far away the next pub is :)

Who Needs Racing Stripes on St. Paddy's Day :)

And I still have room for me Lucky Charms :)

The Other Side of the SIGGY Mobile

OK, fine....

The Clown Suit belongs to SIGGY

And finally.... the coolest picture of all...

No.1 Son made this for me (but it needed the plastic cover...
 ...otherwise the geckos would eat the green stuff :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone. and as they say in Lansdowne Road... "GO ON, IRELAND... Go on, ya good thang!!!"

"You Know You're a Parent When..." (#17 - the Exhausted Edition :)

Aloha,

To continue my ongoing "You Know You're A Parent" series, I'd like to pay tribute to any about-to-become parents for the first time and if it's okay, let me give you one piece of advice:

Get Some Sleep Now... (seriously :)

(We return you to your regularly scheduled post)

So, without further adieu (seeing as you just got here) I present the YKYAPW (Exhausted Edition):

You know you're a parent when...






The Final Diaper (and yes, it's clean :)

...No. 3 Son graduates from diapers to Pull-ups!!!
Nearly seven years of continuous diaper changing is OVER... (and it only takes ten minutes to control the weeping of gratitude.)

 

 

 



You look at the package below and wonder how this will end up being a speedy Derby race car (seeing as we never had these growing up in Ireland!)

Lightning McQueen, eat your piston out :)
 

...After enjoying a power nap during a red light, you remember that once you dreamt of selling a million books, plus being wined and dined at the Ritz.
You smile at the reality that you've probably bought a million chicken nuggets and the closest you've been to the Ritz was those new crackers that were on sale last week!


...No. 3 Son, still happy from his Potty Promotion, now seems determined to conquer the world - or at least the back garden...

The magic works & the Balls Dance!! Next stop, Metropolis!!

 

 

 

...While No. 3 Son takes a pre-World Dominance nap, you choose a foreign language movie on Netflix.
Sadly, you lose out on being hip with your friends when you can't use the usual "I'm just resting my eyes for a minute and can still listen to the dialogue" excuse.


...While coaching soccer to No. 1 Son and his U-6 squad, the following conversation happens during practice:

"Coach, you've got hair on your arms," said Player 1.

"Yep," said a tired you.

"Coach, you've got hair on your legs," said an insistent Player 1.

"I do, yes, now lets-"

"Coach, why don't you have any hair on your head?"

(You wonder if suspensions are allowed ahead of the first game...)

"Oh, it's okay," said Player 2. "I know, it's because Coach is old like my daddy and he has no hair, too."

Players 3,4 and 5 then moderated the round-grass discussion on male pattern baldness. (Lord Baldernot would have been impressed :)



...And finally, your new favorite toy (evah) is Woody from Toy Story.

Bald really can be beautiful (and square-looking)

And, I never knew... :)

IWSG and my 80,000lb elephant on the keyboard

Aloha,

I'm frustrated, but most of all feeling humble because I must apologize to anyone who's commented to me over the last couple of months.

For the most part, I haven't returned your comments - which has bothered me to no end - so I want to address the huge elephant in my writing world.

If I sound like I've bottled up some whine and am enjoying a glass or two, you're right, but the kids are asleep, and if I don't get this down now, I never will.

Here's my insecurity, and I shall use a mathematical equation to help me out (perhaps some of you recognize the formula?)

We pause ten seconds for station identification...

(Yes, it’s IWSG time again, so thanks as always to Alex J. Cavanaugh, aka The Dude in the Black Jammies who founded the Insecure Writers Support Group.)


Previously on "This used to be my writing schedule."

Actual can-focus-on-writing time per 24-hour period: 2-3 hours

Blogging needs and responsibilities per 24-hour period: 3-4 hours

Writing to advance WIP (or submit queries for current ms): Zero Time

My finished ms is a memoir of an opera singer. (It's been a true blessing to write, a real labor of love and I know it will find its proper home one day. That project I'm leaving alone: It's all about God's timing.)

The problem was (is) I'm hungry, pregnant with words to complete something that's one hundred percent mine. Therefore, I want to focus most, if not all, of my extremely limited time on pushing WIP and experiencing a natural book-birth :)

But, something had to give - and will continue to give until I find more free time.

For those who know me a little, I love Paying It Forward, so Charlie's Scribes will be my main blogging focus posts for the foreseeable future.*








(*Except for a certain, promised photo that *may* [or not] be published on St. Patrick's Day :)






Lord Baldernot will also guest star, I believe.

And for that, I bow down eternally to Al Diaz and say in my best Oirish accent that, "Oi may be bald and have Mr. Clean as an unpaid sponsor and logo on all my polo shirts, but truly Oi'm not wordy to lose the dance off against the Dude in the Black Jammies."




PS... as return-commenting is my biggest issue, I do have a solution and wanted to throw out an invitation.

I am a Twitter nerd and *ALWAYS* return comments there... and how can you not?

It's a maximum of 140 characters to read (and reply, which also hones your writing skills :)

I'm here or here: https://twitter.com/markjkoopmans


Cheers and don't let the wee Leprechauns mess with your lucky charms  :)