Being cheap at Christmas

I have an ugly Christmas tree.

It's true. I got it seven years ago. My cats have done their dead level best to destroy it. I have cemented it into a tree stand, and although it was prelit, I have covered it with lights since the lights it came with no longer work.

I am going to try to get one more Christmas out of it, though. I just need more lights. And if I drink enough eggnog, it will start looking better. Instead of beer goggles, it will be noggles.

The tree was priced at $29 and came with a wreath, so not counting the wreath, it comes to about $4 and change per year. But if I keep it next year, the price drops in the $3-a-year range. It's looking better already!

See, anybody with a checkbook can have a great-looking Christmas tree. Christmas-onomics happens when you are a journalist by trade (i.e., not one of your higher-paying gigs) and a writer on the side. Plus, it gets to be a game with me. How far can I stretch that buck without being a total tightwad?

It's that and I like to splurge on some things. My Dear Son laughs at my $3 and change-a-can coffee, but I will gladly plunk down some cash when all the family's together for a dinner out. I will wear pumps from Target to the office, but $100 Adidas when I run (cheaper than an injury or a heart attack).

The more I look at it, the more I like it. The cats can't do anything more to it than they already have, and it is impossible to knock over since it is stuck in a tree stand filled with 20 pounds of cement.

And there's an ornament for each of us. A guitar for one Dear Son, a mortarboard from when the oldest Dear Son graduated from high school, a basketball for the youngest Dear Son and a princess for the Dear Daughter. She hates it because she is not into princesses like when I bought that ornament when she was 5.
And for me, a little figure of Gina from "Dennis the Menace" because I sort of look like a grown-up version of her, only with the same hair.

That tree's looking better and better.

Getting it together

There was a funny old saying: "Once I got it together, I forgot where I put it."

And I do have those days. I have days when I can't remember why I went from one room to another, or crazy days at the day job editing and days where I am so far behind where I would like to be on my second book.

But there are things that, if I do them, make me feel like I have at least part of life together. I was talking with a friend about this the other day ... when parts of life are together, you somehow feel like the rest of it is in place.

Understand that the Food Network is not coming to my house, nor are the Southern Living photographers. I do not have an immaculate home and our meals aren't gourmet. But these things do make me feel like everything else will turn out OK.

• Coffee in the maker before I go to bed. Then all I have to do is turn the coffee maker on first thing and voila: coffee. A shake of cinnamon in the grounds is a nice touch, or a spoonful of hot chocolate mix stirred into my coffee mug. Mmmmmmm.
• A loaded Crock Pot. I do write a lot about these little appliances, but they are a mother/editor/writer's best friend. Load them and then do whatever. Dinner will be ready. We had peas and mashed potato casserole left over from Thanksgiving, so I popped in some rolls last night and put a meatloaf into the Crock Pot. Dinner was super easy, which was good because I had a couple of stories to write that afternoon at the day job.
• Dishes in the dishwasher. A pile of dishes in the sink just drives me crazy. I could have the rest of the house in trainwreck mode, but having an empty kitchen sink makes me feel better. Weird, but true.
• Making my bed. Yes, I know I will mess it right back up at night, but getting in a made bed just feels fresh. 
• Getting up early. If I can get going about 5 or 5:30, I have the bathroom to myself before the kids get up. I have time to dress and not be in a hurry. I can write on my other day job, the super early one of writing books, for a good 45 minutes to an hour. I can drink my coffee and eat breakfast. And I am awake and in good shape when it is time for my kiddos to get going. If I don't get that time, I feel like I am running behind the rest of the day.
• Clothes in the wash. They don't have to be put away, but I feel better about life if my kids have clean folded blue jeans and there are fresh, folded towels in the bathroom.

What home chores make you feel better once you do them?

Back to normal ... sort of

We're eating leftovers now. The kids are back in school, be it middle school or college. I am working away on a Monday morning.

Life is getting back to normal, sort of. It's that post-Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday, we're now in Advent sort of normal.

Christmas lights are up around my neighborhood. Football kept me from putting mine up first this year.

I got out Sunday with one of my besties to walk off some of the food I ate. Thanksgiving is just a hard holiday when you are trying to maintain the size you got down to. It's the only holiday when it is socially acceptable to eat two pieces of pie in one sitting. We walked for an hour and a half, which ought to burn off more than a celery stick.

I have already started shopping for Christmas gifts, which is not the manic rush it used to be. Some of my kids are getting stuff and others are getting money. That part gets easier as the kids get older. That makes up for the schedule craziness that you get when your children are grown. Instead of working around your own work schedule, you are working around multiple school and work schedules. But that is OK, because it is nice they are employed.

I didn't write as much as I would have liked, and that needs to change, but I am stubborn about putting people ahead of writing projects. A book isn't worth missing out on time with those I love. Today, it also wasn't worth getting out of bed, because I slept through my early morning writing time.

But I've now had my coffee, and I have my to-do list. So it's time to get busy. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a busy week, no, wait, a busy month! I've been a print journalist for longer than I haven't been one, and I can tell you that it is nothing short of amazing that writers and editors can stand holidays at all. Holidays mean early deadlines and cray-cray weeks, just to get a day off.

Then if you are also a mom, you're doing the holiday stuff at home, too. And no matter how many times you go shopping during the holidays for special meals, you will always forget something. Always.

But in the midst of all this craziness, newspaper deadlines, book deadlines, kids out of school, family coming to visit, there is so much to be thankful for. By the way, blessings usually come disguised as a busy schedule.

I've personally been blessed far more than I deserve, with loved ones who know me better than I know myself sometimes and yet they love me anyway. I have a house that's a fixer-upper, but it's a great house and I love living there. My editors and publishers get me excited about what I do every day, and I have a church family that's pretty darned close to a family family.

To you and yours, a happy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

Being a good writer ...

I'm not sure I have hit the "good" stage yet. But it's like being a runner or being anything else. If you do the activity, then you are what you do. Run a few steps, you're a runner. Write, and you're a writer. Do the mom things, and you're a mom. And chances are, you do these things enough, and you are good at them.

The trick, though, is to not get distracted.

And dang, but the internet is just so good that that. Facebook. Holy cow. Facebook. If Facebook had existed when I was in college, I'd have never graduated. Who am I kidding? I would have never gotten out of high school.

I should be thankful that Facebook did not exist then, as there are no selfies of me taken in dirty bathrooms with me sporting 1980s hair and tacky clothing with enormous shoulder pads.

And Pinterest. I pin up recipes, and then order pizza because I was too busy pinning recipes to cook.

Thank God I have not gotten into Instagram and Twitter so much. Just a few Tweets here and there. Otherwise, I'd have to give up sleeping and drinking coffee, which occupy the yin and yang parts of my life.

Anyhoo, I am working on the second book, which is focused on things I am totally awesome at, love and money. Just kidding. I tend to be fairly bad at both. It's a cautionary tale. So far, I'm enjoying the journey and writing as much as the day job allows by getting up at 0-dark-hundred to get that writing time in.

And I had to share this awesome meme, from the blog http://allmeanssomething.wordpress.com.

Nothing like a deadline

I was reading an article last night about having deadlines.

I'm an editor by trade, so I am all about some deadlines. There is nothing like a deadline to make me get going. No deadline, no focus.

Anyhow, this was a story about losing weight. The writer was saying that losing that 5 or 10 pounds can be done faster if you have a deadline, like, say, a class reunion, a wedding, a vacation or swimsuit season.

That's interesting, because I am heading into the holiday season with 5 pounds I want gone. I do not want to be looking at them and 15 of their friends come Jan. 1.

So I have a meal bar in my purse and will pick up some fruit to supplement around lunchtime. And I hope that I do not veer off to the Mickey D's on the way to the Kroger for my healthy stuff.

These deadline thoughts are good, because if you have a smart plan that's realistic and can be broken into baby steps, then you will meet your deadline. By the way, I have a May 1 deadline on my second book. I was up and writing at 6 a.m. and need to do a lot more of that to meet this deadline since I have a rich personal life and a full plate at the office, but I'm not in the business of missing deadlines.

Baby steps. Take a few of those toward the deadlines you set. You'd be surprised at how far a baby step will take you. And here is a link to that article: Weight Loss

Mixing and mingling

It is Monday, and I need to go to work to get some rest. Had great fun over the weekend and late last week, and got some writing in, but we've had something literally every night for nearly a week! The calendar at our place has been full!

Wednesday: Church night

Thursday: Screen on the Green showing at the Mississippi Museum of Art. The Clarion-Ledger and the Gannett Foundation showed "Monty Python and The Holy Grail," and it was a blast. We were handed coconut shells to make the horse sounds. Gotta love an interactive movie.

Friday: Ice skating at media night at Christmas on Ice in Madison. One of the perks of being a journalist. This evens out when election night and early holiday deadlines happen.

Saturday: Going with the Gentleman Friend to see our kids at the Mississippi State-Alabama game. He had his two daughters there, and my middle Dear Son was there with his sweet girlfriend.

Sunday: Church, then a trunk show at my friend Katie's for Noonday Collection, which has some really cool and socially responsible accessories. Got a jump on Christmas shopping. Then I took our rotten but lovable dog for a long walk and got the kids off to UMYF. We were hosting all the kids from the East and West Jackson districts, so big gathering for pizza and worship. Meanwhile, I got to enjoy a dinner out with the Gentleman Friend before the fun continued with a middle-school girl sleepover. Don't worry ... they went to bed at a fairly reasonable hour and got up on time. I made the kiddos chocolate chip muffins and got them on the bus.

And ... wait for it ... Sartoris Literary Group sent me a contract for my second book over the weekend. Now I just have to finish writing it!