To a Great New Year!

The past few years have had lots of downs and ups, but something tells me 2014 is going to be BIG.


I'm rich! I've got millions of dollars coming my way. Well, the lottery group I had didn't turn out that well – after five months we won $2 (minus the cost of the tickets). But now the odds must be in our favor – that's why everyone wants to do it again! After losing, you're more likely to win, right?

Espen is awesome! He just is. That's not new.


I'm a writer! Maybe. Basically, all of my life I thought I was good at writing and wanted to write a bunch of really awesome novels. In 2011 I started a YA novel, which I finished at the beginning of 2013. The book was bad. The biggest problem is that over the entire course of writing, It was the first time where I felt like I had enough time and enough constructive feedback. In other words, I had everything I needed to do my absolute best... It still was horrible. So, my failing despite all of that effort made me think that my dream would never realize. However, I never completely gave up, and my writers group (Columbia Writers) has breathed new life into the novel. It could actually be a good book! Hopefully I can finish by the end of 2014.

whatever the quality of the book, I know the cover will be good

I'm writer! Really! Plus, this year I'm going to self-publish a book related to education. Natasha is helping, too; she's the illustrator. The novel I mention above has issues, but this education book will be AWESOME.


I won't look like a monster! I've had really crazy irritation in both lower eyelids, making me look like an evil monster. Last week I started an extreme action plan with a new eyelid specialist, who will in two weeks remove the nastiest part of the problem. This time I really have confidence that the efforts will work and I might look like a regular human again. Then I'll only be ugly on the inside.


My arms are made of iron! Really. Touch them. You might be surprised.



Here's to a great 2014, everyone!

Things that give me a thrill

I was walking into Target and some guy asked me if I knew the area. He asked me about the roads, if it was Montgomery or Dobbin, and I immediately knew that he was looking for the Columbia location, not the Ellicott City one we were currently in. Shopping is one of my biggest thrills (even though it’s for basics like toilet paper and groceries). So at that moment I felt like a woman. Then I gave him directions to the Columbia Target, using directional words and names of roads. So I felt like a man.

Another thrill has been rewatching season 3 of the Vampire Diaries. This show has amazing storytelling, with so many interesting characters and their lives and desires interweaving in unforeseen ways. There was one scene, though, that really made it hard for me to suspend disbelief and just distracted me from the heart of the episode. Here there are vampires, werewolves, witches. At the beginning of the season, the werewolf kid reveals to his mom his bizarre curse, and he does this by putting her in this weird dungeon place where he can transform during the full moon and hopefully not hurt anyone else. The mom is forced to stay there through the entire night and witness how her only child transforms into a horrible, savage animal. No doubt she was scared. I’m a very sympathetic person, so I kept thinking: “If I were in a cage all night, I wouldn't care if my son were a werewolf - all I’d be able to think about was needing to pee.”

Tyler's mother went through something no parent should ever have to endure:
She unexpectedly had to spend 12 hours without a toilet.

For that reason, this was the scariest episode of the series.

Then we watched the Avengers, and they put Loki in this super cage prison thing. If he tried to escape from the virtual bubble, he would plummet to a sure death. Natasha asked me where he was going to pee.

Another thrill I used to get was going to church. I used to love thanking God, praying, and in general thinking about all of the blessings he gives us. But now all I do is fight with my three-year-old son. So now that thrill is more like angry shudder.

And I’m working on a young adult novel. That’s pretty cool.

WRITING - this blog

Dear Everyone,

Look, it's been a while.

Fortunately not tooooooo long. And I shared the epic story of the the carrot in the nose, which I hope you enjoyed. So I wanted to say thank you for reading and let you know a little about what is going on.

First of all, to address the name of the blog. Originally the name of the blog was Between Wednesdays. I went to a writers group on Wednesdays, and so the blog name indicated my passion for writing, implying that everything else was simply whatever happened outside of this extraordinarily important event. Then I stopped going. That is, now I only go on special occasions, having decided to stick to a different group that I joined and have been an active member of since 2008. So the Wednesday group is essentially out, and now the blog is named The Days of the Week to carry more of a day-to-day, "teacher" feel.

Second item of business: I've had some writing projects going on. In fact, I recently finished a revised draft of my young adult novel! I'll still be working on it for a while but hope to have it in presentable condition by the end of the summer.

Third, no more hiatus. Why the lull? It's been a rough year. And then the novel has taken a lot of my writing time. And I always have a top secret project or two going on, link not provided. But from now on, I'll make a new post in the middle of every month. Promise.

I hope you enjoy. I like sharing with you.

Sincerely,
+Grant

PS: the YA novel thing is not a joke. I really wrote one.