Mad Ravings....

Blogging About Blogs

2009-06-25T20:56:20Z

Yes, i'm super excited! I'm having my blog re-designed (or actually designed since i'm only using a generic LJ template right now). I'm going to switch over to WordPress which I have and didn't even realize. *sigh* I AM wordpress challenged.

Other things that i'm challenged with:

*Twitter Challenged: like really, what the heck does all the # and @ mean? ?!$#@!

*Walking in Big Shoes Challenged: I love wearing big shoes that add inches and make me look only a little short instead of way short. Except I have problems just walking on flat surfaces barefoot, so we'll just leave the big shoes alone for now...

*Heathly Food Challenged: I can be eating great and healthy all day..until I spot chocolate. Or anything that contains sugar. Which leads me to--

*Giving into Sugar Tempation Challenged: Yep, no explanation needed.

So I slightly got off my topic of my almost new soon to be blog. So it got me thinking--is Wordpress better/worse than Blogger? I know both have pros/cons, but anyone have a stronger prefernce for one of them? Yeah, sadly, I am Blogger Challenged too.

How Old Are Your Hands?

2009-06-23T15:47:42Z

This was something interesting I heard on the radio.

You can tell how old a person really is by looking at their hands. Even with all those actors/actresses that never age with the help of plastic surgery...their hands will usually be wrinkled (if older) or not match the age of their face lol.

Okay, so one way we can find out how old/young our hands are is by doing this simple test.

1. Take your hand, palm down, and place on a flat surface.

2. Looking at the back of your hand, locate the middle.

3. With your other hand, take your index finger and thumb and pinch the loose skin on the back of your other hand (in the middle).

4. Now let go. Watch how quickly/slowly your skin bounces back. The faster it bounces back, the younger you are.

yay, I have hands like a 20 year old! lol

How fast does your skin bounce back?

My "WOW" News!!!!!

2009-06-11T21:49:23Z

Okay, so I'm a bit behind. I posted that I had great news, but then lots of stuff took over and my life has been kinda hectic, so I forgot to post. Oops =) Better late than never, right?

So, the most incredible thing happened to me...

I GOT AN AGENT!!!

It was so amazing because my book generated a lot of agent interest and I even got a few phone calls based only on a partial. But there was one agent who was so on top of things and was so quick and easy to communicate with and, well...a dream agent. My agent! I signed with Rosemary Stimola.

I think I'm still trying to get past the "Who, me? an agent? No way!" feeling. Or maybe I'll just wake up and it will have all been a dream. But a fabtastic dream...

Need help with LJ!

2009-05-04T05:26:54Z

I'm trying to embed my LJ into my website and it Will. Not. Work. I have a paid account, I've used the info from the developers page regarding the ways to embed, when when I add the html or javascript it just shows up as code writing on the actual webpage. So frustrating!! Can anyone spare a moment to help me with my LJ disability?

WOW Part 2

2009-05-01T22:29:08Z

Okay, the last few days have been a complete roller coaster of emotion. I've been mentally drained from it all. Here are a few things that my good news is NOT about:

1. babies or being pregnant or anything medically related.

2. hubby related. nada. nope. zip.

3. juicy gossip. If it were, I would've immediately posted the news :)

4. fruit, actual roller coasters, bugs, computers, or any inanimate objects.

5. lottery although some amount of luck is definitely involved.

Yay!

WOW

2009-04-29T04:55:49Z

Totally excited. Thrilled. In shock.

That's all I will say for now.

Facebook

2009-04-23T01:44:31Z

Current Passions:

Tattoos. Just got one on the top of my foot. OUCH! x a million.

Facebook. I've had an account for awhile, but actually using it now. Add me if you're on there.

Reality TV. I'm totally addicted. And my world would suddenly come to a screeching halt if I didn't have my DVR.

Currently Wondering:

Twitter--What? Am I just behind on things or is this really the newest "cool" thing to do? Maybe I need to work on my coolness.

Thank you, Myspace

2009-04-23T01:36:27Z

Okay, so the most incredible thing happened. About five months ago my mom told me I have a sister. Somewhere. My fathers daughter. Just for quick background info--my father died when I was 3yrs old and he had been married one time before my mom. Anyways, I'm thinking, me? a sister? yeah right! But she gave me the girls name and I Googled. The power of Google is so awesome!

The first link in the search was to the ancestry.com site. I clicked it and there, right before my very eyes, was a post from a girl with that same name looking for her sister, Rose. That's me! all the info she posted was true about my family so I knew it was her. I emailed her but it bounced :( So I left a post with my email address hoping she would someday go back to that site and see.

Well, that someday happened a week ago!! I got a myspace message from my sister. She ended up finding me on there. Long story short, we talked, we met, and we're a part of each other's lives. We talk or text almost every day and it's just so incredible finding her. Oh, and she has spent 20-something years looking for me. She is a little older, so she remembered me when I young.

So in the end, Myspace brought us together :)

Cheap Halloween Costumes and Weird Phobia’s

2008-10-09T15:00:11Z

Check out my latest articles featured at BellaOnline!

Halloween Costumes on a Budget
Is Halloween quickly approaching and you're still searching for that perfect costume? Here are some great ideas if you spent all your money on a random pointless shopping spree, or if you're on a limited budget.

Unusual Phobia's
Are you afraid of becoming insane? Maybe have a fear of clocks, cemeteries, or bicycles? An estimated 18 million U.S. adults suffer from a phobia. Do you?

Stand Up Comedian Live DVD Taping

2008-10-07T19:35:12Z

Saturday October 4th was not only my anniversary (wedding) but a live dvd taping for stand up comedian, Jimmy Turner. My husband and I attended this show at the Geery Theater in downtown Sac and I can honestly say I ached from laughing afterwards. My hubby used to work with him back in the day, before he was funny and got paid for it.

I got to interview Jimmy and another headlining comedian at the show-Rick Pulido, who's a great guy too. I'll be posting the interview shortly, along with a review of the show and dvd. It will be up on my website and my humor site BellaOnline. I'll include links when it's up. DVD's are for sale on Jimmy's website, and I'll be giving away a dvd to one lucky person :) Did I mention I managed to get on camera? lol

You can learn more about the comedian by visiting his website LaughatJimmy.com.

Cynic Mag

2008-09-30T04:05:12Z

Just got a contract emailed to me from Cynic Magazine. They want to publish not one, not two, but three of my articles! They will be published January 1st, February 1st, and February 16th!

My article is featured!

2008-09-17T15:28:25Z

My article is featured on the front page and published in OnTopic Magazine!

Once you're dead, the journey doesn't have to end there. Here are some creative ways to cross the final frontier once you're on the other side. Read
Ashes in Orbit.

blows dust off

2008-09-12T00:19:46Z

I completely forgot about posting on here. Life has been hectic. I took a summer school class (for work) and handling 3 boys while working...not easy. The baby is 7 months old now and crawing everywhere. Make that, speed crawling everywhere. He's even got rugburns on his knees, lol. My oldest started 5th grade and my now middle boy started preschool. They grow up too fast!

I've been doing a little with my writing. I have articles that will be coming out soon (details to come later) and I'm an editor at BellaOnline now. I also became a humor columnist with The NetWits.

How's everyone been? Any great news?

~R

I'm Back!!

2008-02-13T18:41:09Z

Hi Everyone! I had my beautiful baby boy on February 1st--exactly on my due date! My dr. didn't think I'd have him for awhile, but I proved her wrong :) We were still arguing/talking about names after he was born but we finally settled on one and his middle name is after my husband's dad who passed away 2yrs ago. I'll post birth story and pictures very soon--but that's him in my icon, isn't he precious?!

Samuel Dennis Cooper
Born February 1, 2008
9 lbs 1 oz
21.5 inches long

Long Time....

2007-09-13T21:26:01Z

It's been forever since I've posted on here! This pregnancy has really been kicking my butt. Luckily I'm feeling much better now and have a tiny bit more energy.

We had the ultrasound on Tuesday and it looks like the little bugger is a boy! So that makes three boys now--i'm severely out numbered! But, it will make things a lot easier since I already know what to expect and my youngest will only be 3yrs older when the baby is born.

Now comes the hard part...deciding and agreeing upon a name. It would be so much easier if it were a girl since we've had that name picked out for years!

Small Tings

2007-03-02T19:23:06Z

My fortune cookie says:

Live life not expecting, then even the small tings you be grateful for!

Small tings, huh?

Seriously.

Confucius Say:
If You look in fortune cookie, you are a pathetic fool who seeks advice from bakery products.

Lauren's Contest

2007-02-14T00:46:05Z

Lauren Barnholdt is holding a contest to win an ARC of her new tween book, THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY -- and all you have to do is mention the contest on your blog to enter, and then email her at lauren (at) laurenbarnholdt.com to let her know. You can find the details on her blog at www.livejournal.com/users/laurenbarnholdt

Shop 'till I Drop

2006-12-15T19:37:53Z

Which is basically what I did last night. Being such the procrastinator that I am, my Christmas shopping wasn't finished. Or even started. If my mom hadn't asked me to go shopping with her, I'd be that person on Xmas eve looking for gifts still. I just don't really enjoy shopping all that much, especially during the holidays when it's so absurdly crowded. I get really crabby and want to push everyone out of my way, lol.

So I ended up getting everything I needed for Christmas for the boys. I got Alexander the most adorable chair-it's Elmo, has fur covering it and when you sit in it, the thing laughs (like the tickle me elmo dolls) and starts vibrating. He's really Elmo obsessed right now, so I can't wait to see the look on his face :)

I didn't get home till 1am...I literally was ready to drop. Shopping is very tiring. I'm glad the holiday is only once a year. Oh, except Alexander's birthday is Jan. 4th so I'll need to start planning and shopping for his birthday. *sigh*

Any ideas on what kind of birthday party to throw for a 2yr old? Last year for his 1st, we did Chuck E. Cheeses. NEVER AGAIN! It was a total nightmare. Now I know why they serve beer there. They really should be selling shots. I don't want to have a party at the house and I can't seem to find any other kid oriented birthday parties other than Chuck E.

One of those days...

2006-12-13T19:07:24Z

Today is one of those days. For ten reasons.

1. My oldest son forgetting his homework at home so we had to drive back and get it, which caused him to be about 20 minutes late to school. AND his teachers just had a talk with me about him being late previously.

2. Which in turn, caused me to be late for work.

3. As if that wasn't bad enough, as I'm rushing to get out of my car, I pull my coffee mug from the cup holder and see a huge piece of chewed gum stringing from the bottom of the cup to the cup holder....

4. In my brand new car. That my son didn't wrap tightly enough back in the wrapper when he spit it out.

5. Scraping the gum off, i'm rushing through the parking lot to the office building which is about a mile away. Seriously.

6. My scarf gets hooked to the tiny velcro patch on my purse as I'm walking....

7. And as I yank it away, the string starts the unraveling process

8. and my coffee splatters all over my skirt.

9. So I head to the bathroom to clean up before heading to my desk

10. Only to run into the head manager in the bathroom. who asks me how I am and I spill everything to her, including how late I am. What is wrong with me???

On top of everything, I'm feeling sick all over again. I had finally got rid of my bronchitis, but now I'm having the same miserable symptoms all over again. It's a never ending cycle. I'm way too stressed and feel yuck today.

/rant

That is all :)

Everyone else is doing it...

2006-12-11T21:18:26Z

So I must too!

Xmas Stocking

leave a gift for Rose_thomason

get your stocking

rose_thomason @ 2006-12-11T12:25:00

2006-12-11T20:25:06Z

I've really been neglecting my LJ :(

So much has been going on, including house hunting, keeping up with the boys, and getting over a horrible cold that led to bronchitis and laryngitis--which is especially bad since I have to talk to people all day long at work. I had also pulled a muscle in my neck (don't ask) and had to walk around work with my head completely tilted to my shoulder. Some of my co-workers had the gall to ask, "Did you hurt yourself?" No, I just wanted to walk around all day looking like an idiot :)

Anyways, I totally bombed with NaNo and came nowhere near my goal. Maybe next year, right? On a more positive note, I have several fulls out to agents after reading the partial (a few more since my last post). I'm still waiting on all of them which is difficult, because I'm anything but patient, lol. I've started working on my newest YA and plan to concentrate on that for the time being. It's a bit different from others I've written, which makes it all the more fun.

The Wedding

2006-10-11T18:24:39Z

Six days off of work went by more quickly than just a regular 2 day weekend :( The wedding couldn't have been any more perfect. The weather was terrific (no snow) and it was SO great having time away without the kids. After the ceremony we went out to The Four Seasons for lunch, then we parted ways with the family and checked into our hotel and did a little shopping at the Heavenly Village. From there we did some gambling at Harvey's--we were disappointed in the new casino MontBleu (formerly Cesars). We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and the waitress was so sweet and brought us a sundae topped with a candle because "weddings are special" she said. So that ran us a bit behind and we were almost late to a fantastic comedy/magic show at the Horizons Casino called The Chipper Lowell Show. We had to run about a block away in like 5 minutes! Almost running over innocent bystanders and one sprained finger later, we arrived just in time. We gambled some more that night and the next morning/afternoon before heading home. It was so much fun, I wish we could take another week off!

WEDDING PICTURES!

A Wedding Gift!

2006-10-01T15:20:05Z

Saturday night, Carl (my fiance) came home and surprised me. He brought me outside to see my wedding gift--a 2007 Prius--fully loaded! We also got new cell phones that are blue tooth and work with the car, so I can talk in the air and dial anyones number and talk (it's through the radio speakers) as long as my cell phone is somewhere with me. It has sooo many cool features that I've never seen in a car before! He's the greatest--but my wedding gift to him could nowhere compare!!

A look into the future

2006-09-26T17:14:27Z

Nine more days till the wedding (and the countdown continues...)

Everything is in order and now all I have to do is sit back and wait. So why do I still feel stressed? I think the night before I'll need to go out for a drink. Or three.

Okay, so I did something this weekend I've never done before. Something I've always been curious about doing. I talked to a psychic. It was actually pretty fun. Several of my friends did too.

So I asked her about the stuff that is probably pretty common. Like career, family and such. I then asked her, "what about my writing?" and that was all I said. She answered by telling me about my writing habbits (which were dead on) and that everything I've been going through is a learning process that will build up to something. She said something will happen when I least expect it, that I will turn in a direction that I wasn't necessarily meaning to and it will be a complete surprise.

About my upcoming marriage: she said it will lead to a long life of happiness and told me things about my fiance that were also totally dead on!

It was kind of eerie how she was so completely right about things (hence the psychic part, lol). She explained things to me about my eight year old and also told me about my past life. Apparently I live somewhere near Nebraska and was very poor and lived off the land (like a farmer or something) and before that I was middle class living in Europe. Both times as a woman, and never rich.

She also said I'll have two more kids (probably boys)! Can you imagine...me with four boys? I'll be the only girl in the house with my own little football team. Geez!

THE BUZZ

2006-07-25T04:19:15Z

Contest!! Win an IPod Shuffle!!

Introducing....

THE REALITY CHICK BUZZ THE BOOK contest!

The PRIZES:

(1) Your choice of either an iPod Shuffle, OR a fifty dollar Amazon.com gift certificate
(2) An autographed copy of REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt
(3) A copy of the August issue of Teen People, which lists REALITY CHICK as a Can't-Miss Pick for August
(4) Free tuition to a session of Lauren's YA writing class

THE CONTEST:

STEP ONE: Simply copy and paste this whole message (including the info about the contest) into any blog, message board, email list, or myspace bulletin.

REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt is NOW IN STORES!

Going away to college means total independence and freedom. Unless of
course your freshman year is taped and televised for all the world to
watch. On uncensored cable.

Sweet and normal Ally Cavanaugh is one of five freshpeople shacking up
on In the House, a reality show filmed on her college campus. (As if
school isn't panic-inducing enough!) The cameras stalk her like
paparazzi, but they also capture the fun that is new friends, old
crushes, and learning to live on your own.

Sure, the camera adds ten pounds, but with the freshman fifteen a given anyway, who cares?
Ally's got bigger issues -- like how her long-distance bf can watch her
loopy late-night "episode" with a certain housemate...

Freshman year on film.
It's outrageous.
It's juicy.
And like all good reality TV, it's impossible to turn off.

IN STORES NOW!

Check out Lauren on the web at www.laurenbarnholdt.com or on her myspace at www.myspace.com/laurenbarnholdt

STEP TWO -- Email Lauren at lauren (at) laurenbarnholdt.com and let her know you've posted about the contest and the book, and you'll be entered to win the prize pack! The winner will be picked at random on September 1st. The more places you post, the more entries you get. Have fun and good luck!!!