The Dread is Sinking into my bones...

Ok, so that's a touch on the dramatic side, but I really am feeling that "oh no, it's about to be winter again" panic. I know that with the world in general chaos it's super whiny to be complaining about weather that hasn't even arrived yet, but the promised 30 degree in 24 hour temperature drop has my weather related anxiety on full alert.

I know there are people who like snow, who actually welcome it even, but I am not one of them. The idea that for six months (if I'm lucky) I have to wake up every morning wondering if the roads are going to be ice covered death traps does actually drive me a little nuts. And I think Tracy hates it even worse than I do.

Anyway, I'm just feeling icky today, and the weather seemed like a safe place to vent it.

"Compelling"

I got another rejection letter today, it was a nice one, as rejections go, the agent said my work sounded "compelling," which is a good thing I guess.

Anyway, the next one is already in the envelope and ready to go but I was feeling a little gloomy, then I clicked on Shannon Hale's blog http://oinks.squeetus.com/2009/09/verified-reject.html#comments . In her blog she posted two of the (really quite painful) rejections she recieved from publishers even after finding an agent. My little blessing and shot of hope for the day.

My Husband is Very Happy

Tracy and I have been looking for a new grill for a while, our little one has been good but it's worn out a bit and has a pretty small grill surface for the projects we've been attempting. Today, Tracy's mom came to visit, and as an early Christmas present, helped us fund the grill Tracy had been eyeing at Home Depot (it also helped that the thing was FINALLY on sale). So here it is, in all it's shiny glory. We should be enjoying rotisserie chicken off of it any minute now :)



Anyone want this one?

Evil, Evil, Project

Ok, so in keeping with my new goal to send out more query letters for Rell, I'm finally trying to write a synopsis. Apparently some agents want to know the entire plot of your book before they bite, which I get, but this has been a painful process. It basically means taking my 330 page book and distilling it into a 2-5 page double spaced summary that covers all the major plot point and is, in itself, utterly fascinating.

You'd think if I could write a 330 page book, help make the horrors of Native American first contact easier for fouth graders to digest, and write a thesis, that I could manage this thing, but it hasn't happened yet.

And I'd better finish it before my husband gets sick of hearing me grumble about it and takes my laptop away!

Macaroni and Cheese

I used to think I didn't like macaroni and cheese. When I was growing up my wonderful Mom (who is in all other ways a fantastic cook) always made the kind that came out of the box. You know the kind that has the atomic orange powder pack? Anyway, when Tracy and I got married he thought it was a little nuts that I didn't like macaroni and cheese, but that's because his family made it with actual cheese.

About a year or so ago, emboldened by a semi-successful attempt at making cheese sauce for a different recipe, I made macaroni and cheese for real. (Except I don't do that annoying baking part most recipes call for at the end.) Yum! Today I made it with mozzarella and cheddar cheese, with bacon and peas thrown in as well. Now I get why people think mac and cheese is comfort food.

Terrific Sandwich

Roast Beef + Havarti w/Dill + Croissant + Mayo = Sandwich Nirvana

And my oh so serious posting streak continues :)

A Wild Kingdom Moment

So I was standing there talking to Karri at the archives and she says, "Look, we have a bat." I didn't have any idea what she was talking about, so I gave her an odd look and she pointed to the ground right by the table I would have been sitting at, and there, crawling along in a really sad and wierd fashion was a little bat. Luckily the guys at the Archives scooped it up and took it outside, but the little guy hardly moved. I don't have a lot of hopes for his ultimate survival.

Now if it had been a mouse I would have been like, "Yeah, nice knowing you guys." But I don't know, the bat was kind of cool. The big question we all had is how it got into the Archives in the first place, I mean we have loading doors that are open sometimes, but you think someone would have noticed a bat fly in.

I felt a little better for my earlier lack of mental clarity when I went to tell Darryl about it and he gave me the same look that I must have given Karri. "A bat...like as in Batman," was the statement that finally got the message across. Yeah, I'm definitely a pop culture junkie.

What on earth?

Today I read that they are repackaging Wuthering Heights with a Twilight like look and the words "Bella and Edward's Favorite Book" on the cover. http://shelf-life.ew.com/2009/09/01/twilight-wuthering-heights/

Now, I love Twilight and all but this seems the height of weirdness to me - -

#1- Uh, anyone obsessed enough to read a book just because it was in Twilight would know that the statement isn't even accurate.

#2 - I thought using fictional people to hype products was generally considered, well, fraud.

#3 - IT'S WUTHERING FREAKING HEIGHTS!!!!! Using the flavor of the month (albeit a delicious one) to advertise a classic that has been popular for over a century seems like an excellent example of how annoyingly disposable our culture can be.

Ok, sorry, rant over.

Curriculum Project

If anyone is interested in taking a look at what I was doing last year, the Utah Indian Curriculum Project's website is up. It's at http://utahindians.org/Curriculum/index.html.

I wrote (with lots of feedback, input and editing help of course) the Navajo lesson plans for all three grade levels as well as the Ute High School lesson plan. I worked on some other stuff to, but those four lessons were the ones I was the most involved in. Just thought I'd post it in case anyone was curious.

The Utah Indian Digital Archive is up as well, which I wasn't involved in but is also extremely cool.