Friday Five . . . on Sunday

I found a free minute (five minutes?) so I’m updating. It’s safe to say blogging will be sporadic throughout the holidays (in case you haven’t already noticed).

1. I think my sore throat/cold/cough is *finally* gone. Seriously. The sore throat and cough lasted about three weeks. Am happy to see it go.

2. We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I took two full days off to spend time with family and get some things done around the house. This means two classes didn’t see their essays graded. I apologize. Sort of. At any rate, I’ll have a busy Monday through Wednesday trying to play “catch up.”

3. Most of our decorations are up for Christmas. We have to put our real tree up downstairs, but everything else looks *so* festive. We’ve taken a few drives to see Christmas lights, and the Christmas radio station is running 24 hours of Christmas music from now until the 25^th. Best. Season. Ever.

4. I’m still writing/revising and working on a few personal writing projects. I’ll have some easy weeks around Christmas, so I’m hoping to get some of these knocked out.

5. If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, you only have a few days left to meet your deadline! If you don’t make it, though, I hope you’ll keep writing through December. There are no two, more satisfying words than “The End.” At least, not to me. But that could be the OCD talking. :)

I hope you had an awesome holiday weekend!

Love,

~Leigh~

Quick Update

I’m stepping back into the land of the living. Sort of. It started with a 36-hour stomach virus last Monday, and evolved into a full-fledged cold: sinus headaches, congestion, sore throat, cough (cough, cough). Seriously. The Guy I’m Sorta Married To But Not Allowed To Talk About Online is about ready to rent an apartment until I’m better.

Which will be . . . ? Um, any day now. Seriously. And Robitussin Cough and Cold? You suck. Truly.

I also had a pile of papers to grade this week. As in . . . four classes’ worth. I have to wrap up the last few this morning, and then I can move on to discussion boards. I have some other projects going on, so I’d *really* like to have Saturday and Sunday free (in the words of Delia from THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER: Please, God, I’m begging you).

In the meantime, I’m leaving you with a link to Janet Gurtler’s Thinking on Thursday blog, because really? She says it all, and so much better than I ever could.

Pay her a visit over here!

Have a Great Weekend!

Love,

~Leigh~

Meeting Carrie Ryan

I must blog very fast today, because I am *SOOO* behind. (I know, I know. And you’re totally going to hear this until my next month off, which is um, June. So I apologize in advance for the whining.)

I do want to say that I left my house long enough this week to hear the *fabulous* Carrie Ryan speak in Kinston yesterday. No one *ever* comes to speak to us in Eastern NC, so this was a big deal.

I snatched my little brother and met Shana Norris (TROY HIGH, SOMETHING TO BLOG ABOUT) so we could show our writerly solidarity (I don’t even know if that makes sense, and I don’t have time to look it up) and support Carrie.

Actually, I was hoping to steal some of Carrie’s magical, New York Times Bestseller Greatness for myself.

Seriously though: she gave an awesome presentation about everything zombie, talked about getting published, and (as a writer) putting your characters “through the fire” to prove they can handle it.

She almost made me want to go out and rent every zombie movie ever filmed. (coughs) Almost.

I was able to get a photo. Yay!




(Thank you, Shana, for sending, because of course my camera is Crap.)

(I usually don’t post photos of myself without doing some retouching, but if there’s no time to blog, there’s definitely no time to spend hours and hours playing with my photo-editing software. You’ll just have to deal with my shiny face, and what my mom calls my *default* smile: all big and toothy. Carrie, of course, is adorable.)

And . . . Carrie signed my copy of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, which I’m planning to read (again) after I finish Melissa Marr’s INK EXCHANGE.

It’s actually with my brother right now, anyway. He started reading it in the car on the way home, and made me drive 40 minutes in silence (no discussion/no radio). It was worth it, though, and I guarantee he stayed up late last night to finish it. I love it when I’m right.

(sigh) It’s back to work for me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Love,
~Leigh~

P.S. Yes! My red hair is gone. The color faded, and my roots were looking heinous, so I re-colored this week. Unfortunately, the store didn’t have Ruby Rush, so I had to go with Ruby Fusion, which is *not* a Feria Power Red. My hair is sparkly and auburn, but I miss the *red* already. The guy I’m sort of married to but not allowed to talk about online and my mom seem to feel differently.

*Am going to paint my fingernail tips black in protest*

Friday Five: Melissa Joan Hart Edition

TBS keeps screwing with my morning programming. Saved by the Bell wasn’t running for a few days this week, and you know: that’s the *only* thing that keeps me on the treadmill, so it’s like, ESSENTIAL that they stop doing this or I will turn into a blob that has to be peeled off my couch. . . .

Or maybe not, because ABC Family is showing reruns of:

1. Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I officially have a back-up plan!

I mean, how cool would it be to zap the living room clean? Have dinner on the table in five seconds? Piles of papers graded in under a minute? Yeah, I could deal.

Now, I have *always* liked Melissa Joan Hart, starting with:

2. Clarissa Explains it All. Was there ever a cooler show? And why didn’t I have a cute next door neighbor climbing into my second-floor window?

And then there’s. . . .

3. Holiday in Handcuffs. Yes, it’s a cheesy Made for TV Christmas movie.

And maybe I shouldn’t admit that Mario Lopez is what sold me, but it has *easily* become one of my Christmas favorites. So Slay Me. (Sleigh Me?) (groans).

And then there’s the Holiday in Handcuffs knockoff for year-round:

4. My Fake Fiance. Which I just saw for the first time (on Hulu) a few weeks ago. And then I watched it again. And again. And (coughs) again.

And yes: another cheesy Made for TV movie. But I loved it. Seriously. But it could have something to do with. . . .

(coughs). Yeah.

Which brings me to Melissa and Joey’s new sitcom:

5. Um . . . Melissa and Joey. Which I have been watching faithfully for the last few weeks and is kind of funny and includes two of my favorite Made for TV people.

I mean, we have neurotic and adorable and someone I can totally relate to:

And. . . .

Need I say more? Didn't think so.

Have a Great Weekend!

Love,

~Leigh~

It's Raining, It's Pouring. This is my Nightmare.

No Friday Five Today. Why? Because it would turn into Friday Five: Waterlogged Edition. Friday Five: Why I Should’ve Invested in a Canoe. Or Friday Five: Why I Hate Rain.

Because my hair frizzes into a puff of cotton and it can’t be controlled. Because it’s dark and depressing. You get the point.

I’m not a fan of any cold, wet thing, really. I’d never make it in Seattle. Or the Pacific Northwest. Forks.

It has been raining here almost nonstop since Sunday. I haven’t seen the sun once. And you know I *need* the sun and the warm weather. I got caught in a major downpour on Monday while grocery shopping, and have made an effort to remain indoors since then. The schools here were closed yesterday, so I had a SuperGirl SideKick to entertain. Today we’re on a two hour delay. And yes, I’m taking her, even though her “school day” will last all of an hour and a half.

The ground is soggy, roads are closed. . . .

They are saying we got 15 inches of rain in four days. It was kind of nightmarish, actually. We had a major drought this summer, and it barely rained at all, which is unusual for the South, as we’re known for those freak, afternoon thunderstorms. Still, it’s like all the rain we were supposed to get this summer was stored away, and then dumped on us all at once.

So I’m glad I gave myself permission to take September off from projects and writing, because I got *nothing* accomplished this week. Crazy thing is: it’s October. WHAT? I know. And it’s 63 degrees, which is below my threshold. I’m a 78 degrees cool breeze kind of girl. It’s getting colder. I’m going to have to pull out sweaters, there are pumpkins for sale on the side of the road.

I will unwillingly embrace fall . . . if I absolutely must . . . if only because fall means that Christmas is just around the corner, which is, of course, the best holiday ever.

But please Please PLEASE, Authorities that Be: make this rain Go Away.

Wishing you a warm, sunny weekend wherever you are. . . .

Love,

~Leigh~