Sick of Sick

Dane's missing another day of school due to sickness. He and Aubrey have missed a lot of school again this year -- I"m afraid to count how many days. Anyway, Thursday he was diagnosed with an ear infection. He's got a cough and sore throat, too. He's been on antibiotics since then and he's not contagious, but he's still dragging, so it's another day home.

Here's the kicker: When I called the school today, the secretary said there are 14 kids out from Dane's class today with the Flu! That's half his class! And his teacher's out, too! Dane doesn't even have the Flu (he was swabbed for Flu and Strep on Thursday and came up negative), but wow.

The nurse also said she had 2 pages of names of kids out for some reason or other today.

What's the scoop in your area? Are kids getting sick, too? Do they all have the same symptoms? Sheesh.

Write 1 Sub 1 - early January progress report

Done:
Okay, I've submitted flash fiction  to The Coachella Review and The Pedastal Magazine.

To Do:
I also have a personal essay I plan to print and snail mail to THEMA, but first I have to add ink to my printer and buy some envelopes. Should happen by early next week.

I've also written a bunch, as resolved, but none of it is turning itself into anything -- no essay, no poem, no short story, no nothin. Yet. I'll probably end up eking something out on the last day of January. That's okay. I'll play the game.

FYI:
I'm still embracing rejections. I'll submit like crazy and collect rejections as if they're love letters.

Quote of the Day - Medical Advice

On our cruise, Dane had an ear infection and was given his first-ever pill-form antibiotics. He kept trying, but couldn't get one down.

Aubrey, who's never taken a pill, advised: Just pretend like you're swallowing your gum.

Dane: gulp.

Not only can he swallow pills now, but he can do it without water.

Not so sure how proud to be of this.

First Port of Call: Cape Canaveral (aka Orlando and Harry Potter!)

7 AM -- dolphins frolicking in the morning sun as we stood on our cabin deck and watched. Coming from the PNW, we just don't experience that. It was adorable, awesome, delightful.

8 AM -- sitting in the rental car with Mick, Dane, Aubs and Mick's cousin Andrew, headed toward Orlando.

9-something AM -- dropped off at Universal Studios, Islands of Something, headed with the kids toward Harry Potter's Wizarding World, as were thousands of other excited people. (Ca-rowded!) Mick and Andrew headed to Orlando Watersports Complex to wakeboard among tens of other excited people.

10 AM to 4 PM -- while Mick and Andrew braved the chilly waters -- and the ab workout -- at the complex, the kids and I did this:

Waited in line for the Pteranodon Flyers.

Oh, wait, let me elaborate: the ride has a new rule that one person above a certain height and one person below a certain height (and no singles) could go on this ride. So, the kids decided to ride together and got whisked in a line away from me -- where I couldn't even see them! -- for 75 minutes at Universal Studios. And there were multiple routes they could take out of it when they got off. It was nerve-racking and frustrating. I tried to stay chill on a rock, again, for 75 minutes!, and updated my cell phone addresses, but I had no idea where they were or when they'd show up again. Not fun.

When they finally came off, in different areas, they said it was a total bust (bust, not blast): 75 minutes of waiting for an 80-second kiddie ride. Aaargh!

But we decided to embrace the experience and use it as a way to approach future rides: gauge wait time and thrill before getting in line. Lesson learned. Went okay after that.

Besides, we had an 11:20 time slot for Harry Potter, which was right next to Jurassic Park.

Pteranodon Flyer - bust

Jurassic Park was worth this shot.

At Harry Potter World, we met up with the cousins. An awesome group to experience the magic and wonder of this place with. We did the Forbidden Journey, which the kids LOVED in its 4D splendor (I had to close my eyes the whole time to keep from puking), and Dane and some of the other cousins did another thrilling ride a couple times, but Aubs was too short. Bummer. :(

She helped me grab Butterbeer for the gang, though, this delicious butterscotchy, cream soda-ish concoction straight out of the books.

Waiting in line for Forbidden Journey.

BB waits too just outside the castle.

In line.

The sorting hat spoke to us!

Their weapons of choice. Petrify! Stupefy!

A quick hot dog lunch before The Hulk ride, which apparently was the best ride ever.
I'll sign off now because Blogger's acting up on me and I'm getting stuck with picture formats and layout and font in this size. Stupefy!

Cruise Quote of the Day

Aubrey defines the ship's casino after a walk-through: "Oh, that's where the rich people go to smoke."

Let The New Year Begin!

It's sunny, the kids and Mick are up skiing, and I've got my dog at my feet while I catch up on some writing. I'm missing some good snow and family time, sure, but, trust me, I'll make it up in the upcoming Saturdays. Today, though, I needed to be a writer again -- because the last three weeks (maybe three months!) haven't been so much about writing.

Last year, one of my goals was to publish something every month. I'm happy to report that this went swimmingly.  For the first six months. As I wrote and revised and submitted like crazy ("I'll collect rejections like love letters!") I met that goal initially:

January: "Pedaling into a new way of life" was published in The Christian Science Monitor.
February: "A Story of Love and Teeth" was a finalist in a career change essay competition.
March: "Bar After Bar" was flash fiction accepted at Drunken Boat and published in August.
April: "Cop A Feel" was an essay accepted at Mom Egg and Underwired. I let Underwired publish it.
May: "Romancing the Poem" was a poem published at Chronology.
June: "Tree" was a short essay accepted at The Writer's Workshop Review and published in September.

But then summer and ScienceWorks and road trip and a Fall job teaching 9 credits at RCC hit and nothing got published. Nothing! I still submitted, but not so feverishly. Oh, and in September and October I participated in three 48-hour legs of a four-leg Flash Fiction writing contest at NYC Midnight -- productive and fun -- but nothing published from it. (Yet.)

Ultimately I met only half my goal.

But I'm okay with that! I'm excited about what I accomplished and learned.

So this year, I'm newly excited to take on an official challenge with other writers: the Write 1 Sub 1 for 2011 challenge. Similar to last year's goal, where I submitted like crazy, this year I promise to write something once a month and submit every month. Totally do-able.

I'll keep you posted on that.

As for other writing, teaching, parenting, etc., goals I'll keep writing them in my journal and pressing on.

Happy New Year to you. What's your goal?