The Countdowns Begin!

Ok, you caught me.

Hey, we're sneaking up on February, so a little daydreaming about summer is allowed. Long, warm days, bar-b-ques and sipping cold drinks on the deck. Won't be long now. Well, let's see.....groundhog day is approaching, and I believe this is how it works. If the groundhog either sees or doesn't see his shadow we either will or won't have approximately 6 weeks of winter left. Now, let's see, 6 weeks from groundhog day is...........oohhh March 15. Yup, wouldn't be too surprised if the weather starts warming up around then!

Excuse my sarcasm, I certainly don't mean to offend any groundhog day fans. I blame the cabin fever, or, as we call it where I come from, getting "shack wacky."

Well folks, about a week or so from now, my new grandbaby is due to make his way into this world.

The finishing touches on the crib and other preparations are most likely being done as we speak. We were able to get the majority of things done on Friday, but ran out of time. Today was spent going on a little road trip with my oldest daughter to my Mom's house a couple of hours away. The reason for the trip? My mom is awesome! She is giving my daughter a great baby cuddling chair as a baby gift! Kerianne was thrilled when she found out!

I'm so excitedscaredhappyworried for her. She will be a spectacular Mommy!

Soooooo, on the book front.

This week, I sent out a few "feeler" emails to try and pick some brains on marketing children's books.

Here's hoping I get a reply from at least one of them. The trick with this is getting information for free. Well, it's worth a try, if it doesn't work, I'll just have to find another way. There has to be one, I just haven't figured it out yet.

Also, this week, I started the polishing process on the story that is going to become the next book. I'm going to have to rework it a bit, to take it from "story" to "book", but it's coming along. I have a few more weeks to make it work. I'm still working toward having the book and notes ready to send to Hazel to begin illustrations by the beginning of March.

So, for the upcoming week:

Be on the ready for "go time" with grandbaby!!!!!

If I don't receive an answer from any of my "feelers",  come up with some brilliant plan to put my books on the best seller list by the end of the year. (Piece of cake, right?)

Put further polish on the next book.

Gratuitous nose wiping, diaper changing, and playing of ring around the rosie

The heady glamourousness that is laundry and housework.

So folks, until next week, I leave you with this wish.

May joy lead the way of all emotion, followed closely by confidence and gratitude.

May everyone you encounter be experiencing only the most glorious of moods.

May every day bring with it happiness, laughter and success.

May a light be shone on the great "little" things, for they usually are the best.

May you feel an undeniable, insurmountable urge to skip down the street where you live.

May you be, just bearly, able to suppress the impulse to break into song, for you know it's there in your GLEEful heart to give.

Thanks so much for reading these ramblings!

Until Next Week!

www.margyreidbooks.net





"Lexi" and "Crazy" Head to New York? Maybe!

Hellooooooooooo!


Well, this has been quite a week.

Along with so many around the world, I was very saddened to hear about the passing of Etta James. She was an incredible voice, and did so much for women in music. Her courage and determination to, not only follow her dreams, but to do so through incredible hardships and with such passion, makes it very clear I, for one, have no excuses not to chase down my own.

When those before us break through and overcome more barriers and difficulties than we can even entertain as a thought, I feel it kind of becomes our responsibility to give our dreams a real shot. I can't believe, in good conscience, they went through all that they did so we would sit around  doubting ourselves, and talking ourselves out of things because of what others might think or say.

That being said, we are all still human, and in a lot of cases, fear failure, and, I think, in even more cases, fear success. Either way, it's fear. Fear can't drive our lives, that job, I beleive,  is for Joy.


You may have noticed the picture of "Lexi's Magic Clothes" and "A Crazy Day" at the top of the page. I stepped another step out of my comfort zone this week, and sent an email to the McNally Robinson in New York. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, and it might not turn into anything at all. In fact, it more than likely won't. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, but, have been very hesitant about doing. I'm not even sure I can explain why. Fear. Fear of the unknown. Will there be rules about going across the border? Will they give me a shot? What if they don't? What next? What if they do? What next? I'll be sure to let you know if and when I hear anything back.

Also this week, I managed to get to work for one whole day! Yep, it was only a matter of time before old man winter reared his ugly head here in good, old Saskatchewan. With the wind, it felt like 45 degrees below zero for most of the week. Travelling any distance at temperatures like that is not something you do unless you absolutely have no choice.

The good news is, the cold snap didn't last very long. We are looking at much more reasonable temperatures for at least the next little while. But, hey, it's January, it's Saskatchewan, it's a crap shoot.


The extra time at home wasn't spent toooo frivolously. I'm happy to report that our income tax crap, I mean, papers, are ready and waiting for the accountant. I was able to get completely caught up with housework, and, had time to cook meals that required more than a george foreman grill and a microwave!

I also took upon myself to set up a facebook page for margyreidbooks.net. I have a few "likes" already, and I'd love if you would search "margyreidbooks.net" on facebook, and "like" my page. I'm hoping to get more pictures on there of different trade shows and things. Again, I'm going by the seat of my pants, so we'll see where it takes me!


The week finished off in a great way. I spent today with my youngest daughter, sorting through, washing, and folding tiny little baby clothes in preparation for her little man who is due to make an appearance in about 2 weeks. That, homemade soup,Yahtzee and a Brad Pitt movie, a good day.


So, for the upcoming week:

Research marketing strategies for promoting books.

Drop off tax stuff at accountant office.

Work.

Attend  local Library Board meeting.

Laundry, toilet scrubbing and other glamorous things.


Thanks again for taking the time to read these ramblings. Wherever they find you in this world, I hope they always find you well.

Until next week, I'll leave you with this wish:



May you spread the warmth of a smile, no matter how bitterly cold the weather may be.
May you share the light in your laughter no matter the hours of darkness remaining in the day.

May you pink up someone's "winter blues" with a grin or unexpected hug.
May you find fires to sit by, and mugs of hot chocolate and homemade soup to chug.

May your kids bring home their own boots and mittens from the kaos of the "hometime" bell.
May they only eat the "clean" snow, and keep their snowpants from becoming laundry hell.


Would love if you checked out my books!

www.margyreidbooks.net

Cat Stories and Baby Games!

Hello, Folks!

The above picture depicts our cat in the position in which he spends 99% of his time.  As cats go.... well, let me put it this way......... he's not exactly the the sharpest claw on the paw.  For example:

As we watched through the window one lovely afternoon, we discovered our cat in the midst of putting his instinctual cat prowess to the test. You see, there were several sparrows hanging out in the lilac bush in front of our house, and beside it...our cat. He crept, oh so slowly, and deliberately, toward said bush, stalking his, or what he so hoped would be his, soon to be, prey.

Then, his time came, his time to attack, his time to reap the rewards for all of his hard work. As it happens, the timing of "his time" was off, just a titch.

Long story short, he jumped waaaaaay to soon, scared all of the birds away, and landed himself square in the middle of the lilac bush. Stuck. Yeah, not the sharpest claw on the paw.

People sometimes ask what we call our cat. He is a cat. It doesn't matter what we call him, he doesn't answer to it anyway. He is a cat, he will call us when he wants something. He is a cat, an inept, starve to death if left to his own devices cat, but a cat, all the same.

Anyway.............

I don't know about you, but, this week went by very quickly!

 I did get in touch with the disaster relief people, ( an actual person! ), and they assure me that we will be assigned an adjuster by the end of the month and an assessment of the damage will follow shortly thereafter. Yay! The ball is rolling! It may be rolling at the speed of dark, but it is rolling.

Income tax stuff is not ready for accountant yet. Might be a good job for a Sunday. Ah, who am I kidding? It's not a good job for anytime, it will suck no matter when it gets done.

It was my first full week with my new schedule, with 2 days off during the week. First one went great, hubby had the day off too. We got a few little odd jobs done, I got caught up with my sisters and mom on the phone, laundry, etc. The second day off, I was going to take a DAY OFF! I was going to have a long soak in my beautiful tub, go downstairs and play around singing a bit, go for a walk........yeah, none of that happened.

You see, I was expecting a delivery from a courier and it was supposed to show up by no later than 1 or 2 in the afternoon. So I put off my soak in my beautiful tub, didn't dare go downstairs for fear of not hearing the doorbell, couldn't go for a walk, in case I missed him. Once 4 o'clock came and went, I tried to call the courier office and was met with a voicemail. I tried again at about 5, again voicemail. I then went to the website, typed in the tracking number, and, imagine my surprise when I saw on there that the driver had put in that he had attempted delivery, but the business was closed! Not exactly sure what business he was refering to, as the delivery address was that of our house.

I called the office again...........When we got home Friday after work, the package was in our entry, and there was a profuse apology on our voicemail. As the saying goes, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil."  Sometimes I can be a very squeaky wheel.

The week ended on a very high note. Today was my baby's baby shower. Organized by her big sister, hosted by her godmother/auntie, assisted by other big sisters, attended by good friends. It was a lot of fun, interesting games that involved examining and identifying contents of diapers, ( chocolate, not poop!), word scrambles, and DON'T say cute! All in all, a really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

So, for the upcoming week.

Income tax stuff. (speaking of poop!)

Book polishing.

Help my daughter get her apartment ready for baby.

Play with munchkins at "work"

So, with babies on the brain, I'll leave you with this wish:

May you get the opportunity to snuggle a baby, and have them fall asleep in your arms.

May you breathe in their innocent baby scent and fall deeply under the spell of their charms.

May you take time to gaze at a sleeping face, where eyelashes so long brush a chubby cheek.

May you absorb some of the utter contentment and calm, that, as adults, we can only seek.

May you touch this angel's hair so fine, give each soft, gentle curl a lift. 

May you deeply understand, in that moment, how every baby, all babies, are truly, a gift.

Until Next Week!

www.margyreidbooks.net





Baby Talk, Toddlers, and Touchdowns!

Hello All!

I just thought I would put up a couple of pictures to show you what it looked like in my driveway this time last year (top pic) and what it looks like tonight (bottom pic). Personally I kind of like the lack of snow. I know, I know, it's pretty much sacrilegious to say so out loud here in good old Saskatchewan. The skiers, both downhill and cross country, snow boarders, snowmobilers, sledders, ice fisherman, skaters and tobogganers would probably have me deported! So, let's just keep it between us, k? It's not that I don't enjoy snow as much as the next Canadian, but I have to admit it's been pretty nice to travel back and forth to work without the threat of getting stuck or snowed in every other minute.

So this week. Well, we brought the new year in with good company, a few cocktails and playing "Wipeout" on wii. It was a lot of fun.

Then it was back to work time, or so it should have been. I was supposed to start back to work on Tuesday, but, yeah, that didn't happen. Finding sleep Monday night was like trying to find a tap dancing snake that quotes Shakespeare. I sooooo hate it when that happens. The severity of the insomnia seems to be completely relative to earliness of the hour at which you need to get up. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that because I needed to get up at 4:45am, I finally fell asleep at 4:05am.

Driving for a couple of hours to work and another couple home just didn't seem like a safe thing to do. So, although I hate to do it, I had to contact the lady I work for and let her know I wouldn't be in.

I've heard from women friends going through menopause, that insomnia comes with the territory. I'm really not looking forward to this becoming a regular thing. But, I'm 45, going to be 46 in a couple of months, so I guess that could very well be the reason for it.

I keep wanting to blame the craziness that has been surrounding our lives in the last little while, what with bathroom reno, interrupted by basement flood, back to bathroom reno, dealing with disaster relief people, readings, trade shows, karaoke shows, and maybe the surprise of a new grand baby on the way, but, maybe it's just good old fashioned menopause. I guess time will tell.

So, now that I have that little rant out of the way, I can tell you that there are 29 days left until above mentioned grand baby is due to make his appearance. We are all getting very excited. I'm so honored that my daughter wants me to be her delivery coach.

Having been there when Ethan was born, I know this.

Although it is incredibly hard to watch your child go through what she needs to go through to have her baby, and, although, in those moments you would trade places with her in an instant to save her from what you know is coming, it is the most amazing thing in the world to watch as your baby becomes a Mother.

You look in her eyes and watch the expression go from "Mommy, please make this go away" to one that holds a sudden realization and understanding of everything you have said, and tried to say. You see on her face the love for her baby that you have for yours, and she gets it. You can tell. In that instant, your baby is a baby no more.

So, this coming week will be the first full week of working with my new schedule. I'm going from 4 days a week to 3. I think it will work out great. It will provide me a bit more time for writing and working on promotional and distribution ideas for books. I'm kicking around a couple of things, I'll definitely keep you posted.

I'm going to have to get serious about getting things ready for the accountant this week, I usually have it done and handed over to him by now... have to get a move on.

As we still haven't heard from the disaster people, I'm going to try, again, to get in touch with them. It's government run, so I foresee a long fruitless journey down an arduous path of red tape in my future.

Also this week, I need to start putting some polish on the next book. It's going to be March before I know it!

This week's adventures will also include very exciting things like laundry, vacuuming, dusting, and gratuitous toilet scrubbing, but, it will finish on a very high note with our daughter's baby shower and supper out with friends.

As more readers from more countries are joining in on this journey, I thank you all for taking the time to read these ramblings, once again.

Today, we were visited by my hubby's sister, her husband, and two of her three beautiful grandkids. Keeping them in mind, I'll leave you with this week's wish.

Until Next Week!

May you have the opportunity to shove your hand in a sock and make it talk to a toddler.

May you experience the joy in playing dress up, including sparklies, with one, who, in high heels, is quite a wobbler.

May you know the thrill of watching a 3 year old do her very first touchdown dance.

May you get to witness a toddler, by his granny, get spun, pretty much, out of his pants.

May you get to spend hours being silly and goofy, and playing spur of the moment games.

May you play until you can play no more, until exhaustion steals your mind of your own name.

www.margyreidbooks.net