The End of a School Year

Friday is the last day of school here in Coweta County. It's the end of my daughter's kindergarten year. I know she has enjoyed her first year of school and will be looking forward to spending the summer playing and having fun. I couldn't help but think of Alice Cooper's song "School's Out For Summer" when I contemplated the end of Brenna's first year.

I remember when I was a kid that it seemed to take forever for summer to come. The school year seemed to take forever! Now that I'm all grown up time really flies by though. The wheel of the year seems to turn faster and faster as time goes by. Now holidays and birthdays seem to come around before I know it. I know that scientifically the minutes and seconds haven't changed at all. It's all in perception. Time doesn't actually pass by any faster, but it is perceived as passing more rapidly as a person gets older.

Summer plans aren't all that grand. There's no cash for a vacation (yet again) so we're not taking one. We haven't been on a real vacation since 2010 when we spent a week at Disney World in Orlando. We're working on saving money so we can go back though! We're all so ready to go back to Disney World.

It won't be a boring summer for our family though. We're planning on still having a good time, even though we're not taking a major family vacation. We're planning on visiting White Water in Atlanta and getting season passes if we can. We did last year and I'm hoping we can just renew them. Brenna loves White Water! That little girl would stay in the water all the time if she could!

Enjoy your summer. Even though you may not be taking a big family vacation, take some time to make the summer fun for the whole family. It's all about the memories you make. For example, I can remember being a little kid and going fishing with my dad. He'd get up around three in the morning, throw on clothes, and head for the lake. He'd let me come with him. I've never been a morning person so waking up that early was definitely not easy! More than once I fell asleep in the truck on the way to the lake. We'd reach the lake and he'd get his bass boat into the water. We'd climb in and set off for the best fishing holes before the crack of dawn. We'd stay on the lake all day long! It was just us fishing, talking, drinking sodas, snacking on Vienna sausages and sardines in mustard sauce, and having a good old time! We'd come back home telling my om about the fish we caught and smelling like the lake. Those are the kinds of memories that we want our children to have of summer vacations. I'm looking forward to making lasting, fun memories with my daughters as well!

Camp NaNoWriMo Win!

Well today's April 30. It's the final day of Camp NaNoWriMo. I achieved the goal of reaching the coveted 50,000 word count! My novel, Pagan Ways, still isn't quite done yet but I managed to get enough words written to achieve a NaNo win. That's enough for me for the night! I can spend May editing and working on improving this novel.

Last November when I achieved my first NaNo win I was a bit lost after the month ended. I'd gotten so used to coming home from work and writing until I couldn't see straight that when the month was done and I wasn't spending my evenings glued to the computer I felt odd. I will probably have that same sort of writing withdrawal for the first week of May too. However, there will still be plenty to do now that Camp NaNo is over.

The Search for Mrs. Claus will be coming out in six weeks! I can't believe the release date is so close! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this! It's a dream coming true!

Well, last Sunday we did successfully get the pool from my mom's house to ours. However, the filter pump cord was chewed through by some sort of little critter and there's an inch long hole in the bottom of the liner. We can buy a patch for the hole and my husband's going to order a new filter pump. Once we get those we can get the pool set up and ready to swim! My daughter will be so excited to have a pool at the house! I'm hoping this year we'll be able to teach her how to swim.

Well, my brain is shot and my fingers are tired. It's time for this gal to take a break from the computer for the night. Tomorrow is another day!

Quick Update

Happy Sunday everyone! Today's going to be a busy day for me. We'll be heading to my mother's house shortly to help her clean out her garage. She also has an above ground pool that we're going to bring back to our house and set up for the summer. It will be fun to have a pool this year! Honestly it gets so incredibly hot here in Georgia and a pool will be fantastic for the summer! I'm looking forward to being able to come home after work and float in it to cool off. I know my daughter will be in it from the time we get home until the sun sets!

I finished reading a really great book this morning as well and wanted to share it with you. Now, you know that I typically read romance novels. I rarely ever branch out of my little comfort zone. However, K.R. Morrison's Be Not Afraid is classified as a horror novel. There's absolutely nothing romance about it! This is a chilling tale of God vs. the vampire Vlad over the soul of a Christian woman, Lydia. Now don't get the image of Edward and Bella in your minds when you start considering Lydia and Vlad. They are far from that image! This book kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last. I am truly looking forward to the next book in the series! You know, this may encourage me to branch out of my romance comfort zone more often. I'm looking forward to the next installment so I can find out more about how Lydia and her family deal with the frightening changes taking place around them!

I've still got some writing left to do on my Camp NaNoWriMo novel. I had a rather lofty goal of 75,000 words set for myself and I will most definitely not reach that. However, to get a true NaNo win you need to write more than 50,000. I've just a hair over 40,000 words right now. I can definitely make 50,000 by April 30. The book, Pagan Ways will not be complete then but I can continue working on it even after Camp NaNoWriMo is over.

I've got to go get ready and head for my mom's house now. Have a fabulous day and happy reading!