Every spring, as the weather warms up and more and more skin is exposed to the light of day, I begin to see the need to get myself back on track and feeling healthy.
The Easter Bunnies have been eaten and now it is time.
Today I am doing a 24 hour detox.
I’ve done program detoxes before and realized that I already have everything I need to reboot to default settings. So, I have my favorite detox tea. And my Vitamix…
And don’t forget lots of water with lemon too.
I felt great until about noon and then, even though I don’t ingest a large amount of caffeine, what little I was missing started getting all snarly with me. And the guy who came to look at the AC units in the house kept talking to me. Seriously–talking.
But I’m still holding up. One meal to go–I won’t mention that it’s Pizza Tuesday at the Sabatini house. *head thunk* Gosh, I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep. Just seven more hours and all the after school activities to go.
And here’s the thing–I’m not 100% sure if a 24 hour detox makes me miserable because I’m detoxing or I’m just brutally hungry and crabby. BUT there is one big reason I always find myself doing it at least once every year. If I can survive that 24 hours then anything I put in my mouth the next day is spectacular. If I don’t go cold turkey, but cut back instead, I find that I struggle every day, feeling deprived.
Make sense? Heck if I know. But for now, I’ve got to believe that one day with a clean plate gives me a clean slate.
Lately I’ve been thinking about Quirky Don’t Want To’s. Never heard of them before? I’m not surprised, I like to make stuff up whenever it’s convenient. In my world, the Quirky Don’t Want To’s are the bizarre, unpleasant things that cross the line–the line between chores and activities I enjoy doing or will tolerate AND stuff I avoid at all costs. Need an example? Here’s a few…
*I will do laundry all day long, I’ll even fold it. But it’s that last step–putting it AWAY that I find soul crushing. It’s the reason, if you stop by for an unexpected visit, you’ll find sheet and towels on my dinning room table. *sigh* It’s festive, right?
*Raking leaves or cutting back bushes. I’m like a sculptor when I pile and prune, it’s an act of art, but don’t make me bag the leaves and stems. *pouts* The yard work is the clean up. The clean up of the clean up is cruel and unusual punishment. Where’s the yard elf?
*If you feed me, I will help clean up and do the dishes at your house, but I really don’t want to divvy up the leftovers. There’s way to much pressure, like container choices or what you want to keep for lunch tomorrow. And what you secretly don’t want to keep. And what about what I want to take? Or even worse, what I want to take, but shouldn’t because my pants are getting too tight. And opps were those your good containers and now I have to get them back to you? Ummm that’s not going to happen.
*I love to help out at my kids’ school when I’m comfortable. (Think book, writing, soccer, dance related activities etc…) I do know I sometimes have to do things outside my comfort zone. (Like the 8th grade Pizza Fundraiser.) And once I learned how to do it, all of my skills from working at Denny’s came right on back. (watch me handle a tray of food people!) But DO NOT make me the chair of anything or an officer in the PTA. Not if you know what’s good for you. I am not an organized, responsible adult. I am a SPAZ who masquerades as a parent.
*If you are MY child, I will clean up any and all disgusting fluids or solids that get ejected from your body during illness and injury. Not my favorite activity, but I’ll cope–IF YOU ARE MY CHILD. I solemnly swear. But the deal breaker is whining. I will sit with you, cuddle with you, jump up and down a 1,000 times to get stuff that makes you feel better. I’ll clean up the ejected stuff. I’ll even look at your broken bones and skin that needs to be sewn back together. Unless you are a whiner. Just a note with broken bones and flapping skin, I have been known to get really light headed once the adrenaline wears off, so try to make sure I land someplace soft. Thank you.
*I would rather pick up food off the floor of my kitchen and wipe the crumbs and dog hair off of it and eat it (30 second rule and all) than clean toilets. I hate cleaning toilets. Maybe the fact that I’ve birthed THREE squirters has something to do with that. Did I tell you about that time in the middle of the night when the toilet seat was down… Yeah–I don’t want to clean toilets. I’d rather do all the other Quirky Don’t Want To’s than clean the stupid toilets. I am not kidding. Those of you out there that think cleaning the bowl is calming and therapeutic? I think you’ve got a screw loose, but you’re totally invited over for relaxation therapy any time you’d like. *grin*
And just so you know, the more I contemplate the Quirky Don’t Want To’s–the faster I think of more. They are like dust bunnies, multiplying right before my very eyes! Oh, look there’s that screw you were missing LOL!
In order to stop thinking about my own quirks, I need to fixate on yours, so tell me what’s on your Quirky Don’t Want To List…
Lately I’m having an unusually hard time coming up with blog posts. At first I thought my struggle was because I’m busy, both with life and writing. And I’m sure that plays a role, but after careful consideration, I don’t believe that’s the truest of answers. I think the most accurate reason for being stuck is that I have internet whiplash.
Unfortunately, blogging and social media have begun to seem a bit off. Kind of the way state testing and the common core feels uncomfortable. I’m not against some testing or having standards. In fact, I think they can be wonderful tools, but there’s something, not-quite-right about the current state of our educational system or the things going down on the internet lately.
For the first time, the trolls and the cyber bullies feel bigger than the things about social media that give me great pleasure. And then there is the sheer intensity of the opposing and highly volatile online opinions. I’m not suggesting that I only want to hear one side of an argument. I love intelligent conversation–I really do. But it is April of 2015 and already I can’t deal with the political FB stress. The hate mongering. How will I ever make it until November of 2016??? I refuse to comment, but can I also stop reading? I think I need to.
Of course, I’m smart enough to know the internet is the same functional and dysfunctional slice of pie you see in any microcosm. You should see some of the screaming, crying, throw-down dinners that have been had in my family over the years. I’m no stranger to the cray-cray, in fact I can bring the cray-cray just as much as anyone. But somehow the rapid, viral reach of the internet seems more sinister than I’d ever considered it before. When I fight with my family and friends, we make up and eat dessert and stuff. The world wide web doesn’t do that. Instead of stories I’ll laugh about at my kids’ weddings, there’s online shaming, which is probably as easy to catch as the stomach bug in a day care facility.
This is where the internet whiplash comes in. If you want to be heard, you MUST say something worth hearing. If you say anything worth listening to, there WILL be people who dislike what you’ve said. If you’re lucky those people simply disagree with you, but if you’re unlucky, it’s highly likely that they’ll abusively attack you online. My feelings about this state of affairs are whipping back and forth with such intensity it’s almost painful. One day I feel brave, the next cowardly. One minute I feel energized, but the next it’s depressing.
I’ve been trying very hard to find the remedy to my internet whiplash. I’ve been searching for a black and white truth that would clearly define how I move forward with my cyber life. As you might expect, that isn’t really working out for me. Today’s blog post sums it all up perfectly–writing makes me see things clearer, all while mudding the same water quite a bit. So, there’s only one conclusion…what I need most is to be unsure. If I’m rigid, I will get injured. Instead, I need to be bendy. Perhaps it’s time to be flexible and blog when it feels organic and not blog when it doesn’t feel good. It’s a scary but liberating thought for someone who’s blogged regularly for years, but I should probably only blog when I have something important to say or share.
Is anyone else dealing with internet whiplash? What’s the worst part for you? What do you do to combat it? How do you feel about blogging at the moment?
I’m losing track of blog posts, the laundry is piling up and no other “projects” in the house are getting done…much to my husband’s disappointment.
But I love it because it means I’m writing. To hell with unpacking the rest of my stuff from when I moved in just over a year ago. Piles of stuff everywhere aren’t disorganization for a creative person–they’re a fort!
Recent discoveries in neuroscience reveal that “the flow state” might be the most addictive experience on earth. The mental and emotional payoff is why highly creative people will suffer through the highs and lows of creativity. It’s the staying power. In a real sense, they are addicted to the thrill of creating.
This is why, the closer I get to the “end” of this manuscript, the harder it is to do anything else. As I inch along, the addiction to possibility becomes more intense, making me want to abandon the rest of the world so I can be holed up in my imaginary one for as long as I wish. It sounds so simple, but the reality of living with an addictive flow state is a mash-up of creativity, sanity and motherhood and it can be a bit painful to look at, kind of like an eclipse LOL! I just try to remind myself that soon enough I won’t be celebrating my creative flow because…
5. They create in cycles.
Creativity has a rhythm that flows between periods of high, sometimes manic, activity and slow times that can feel like slumps. Each period is necessary and can’t be skipped just like the natural seasons are interdependent and necessary.
So, I guess I’ll unpack stuff then. Or maybe not, I’m sure I can find better slump activities to do. *grin*
What other things on the list resonate with your creative soul? Or are you stuck living with one of us highly creative fools? If you are, which one of the 20 drives you bat shit bonkers?
And did I apologize for working on my manuscript instead of this blog post? Yesterday was a great writing day. That doesn’t make me a fartbag, right? I want to sincerely apologize for blowing you off and asking the Vlog Brothers to save my butt, but I can’t, because a good writing day is what it’s all about and let’s face it–I know I’d do it again LOL!
What’s the “worst” thing you’d unapologetically blow off for your writing or your job, even if it sort of makes you a fartbag?
As much as I look forward to vacations, I always look forward to coming home and the familiar routine when I return. Last week I was away in St. Louis visiting family. It was a fabulous trip–the perfect mix of laid back relaxing with family and a super fun time seeing the local sights and eating ALL the food. Here are some highlights…
And the nice part about this trip was we were able to build in enough days at the end of vacation to come home and straighten life out, before heading back to school and work. Of course, things are about to get hectic with spring sports and activities. My command central boy calendar is already starting to look intimidating.
But no matter how fun vacation was or how hairy the future schedule. Writing is back at the top of my list of priorities. *does a happy dance*
My question for you…is it harder or easier to write in the spring when the weather starts getting nice? It depends on the day for me.
Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for a prize–one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!
Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are EIGHT (yes, you heard me correctly!) contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM!
But there is also RED, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, TEAL, PURPLE, & PINK teams. You can participate in all the hunts for a chance to win different sets of signed books!
If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Hidden somewhere below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number in GOLD. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the GOLD team, and then add them up. And don’t worry if you have to take off your socks and use your toes to keep track. A calculator works too.
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Rules: This contest is open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by 04/5/15, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
Alexandria Monir
Alexandra Monir is an author and recording artist in her twenties. SUSPICION is her third novel published by Random House. Her debut was the popular time-travel romance, TIMELESS, followed by the 2013 sequel, TIMEKEEPER. Alexandra currently resides in Los Angeles, where she is at work on her next novel, while also composing and recording original songs. Her music can be found on iTunes, and you can visit her website at www.alexandramonir.com. Follow Alexandra @TimelessAlex.
“If Alfred Hitchcock had directed Downton Abbey, the result would have been this book. Alexandra Monir takes us on a gripping, nonstop thrill ride with just the right amount of supernatural and an ending that you definitely won’t suspect. I devoured it in one sitting.”–Jessica Brody, bestselling author of the UNREMEMBERED trilogy
“There’s something hidden in the maze.”
Seventeen-year-old Imogen Rockford has never forgotten the last words her father said to her, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family’s English country manor.
For seven years, images of her parents’ death have haunted Imogen’s dreams. In an effort to escape the past, she leaves Rockford Manor and moves to New York City with her new guardians. But some attachments prove impossible to shake—including her love for her handsome neighbor Sebastian Stanhope.
Then a life-altering letter arrives that forces Imogen to return to the manor in England, where she quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind Rockford’s aristocratic exterior. At their center is Imogen herself—and Sebastian, the boy she never stopped loving.
Combining spine-tingling mystery, romance, and unforgettable characters, SUSPICION is an action-packed thrill ride.
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Hi Readers! Thank you for joining us on the YA Scavenger Hunt! For my bonus content, I’m excited to share the opening scene from my upcoming fourth novel for Delacorte Press, THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE!
I hope you enjoy this opening scene! While you’re waiting for GIRL IN THE PICTURE to come out next year, check out my current release, SUSPICION. I’ll be giving away 2 signed copies for the scavenger hunt- to enter, please follow me on Twitter @TimelessAlex and mention SUSPICION and YASH!
Love and Happy Reading!
Alexandra Monir
THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE by Alexandra Monir
Chance
At first it’s no more than a blurry shape on the ground, large enough to beat me up, slow enough for me to get away. Then my focus clears, and I see why the body won’t move. Its limbs are tangled and twisted amongst the fallen leaves. Mud cakes the sleeves of a well-worn varsity jacket. A once-familiar face has turned an ashy gray, its mouth frozen on the last word spoken, a word now echoing in my ears. “You.”
I take a step closer, bracing for the gut-wrenching pain of recognition. But as I stare at my maimed self lying in the woods behind the soccer field—my soccer field—there is no pain. No emotion at all, really. I guess I shouldn’t expect to feel anything. I’m dead.
Still, there is a flicker of something, an image—no, images. They push to the forefront of my mind, growing stronger the more I stare at my rigid body. Lips on lips, the sound of her voice calling after me, a jagged rock hovering above my skull, the last face before it all went black.
Footsteps. They’re coming, mere seconds away from finding my body. Soon this section of the woods will be roped off with yellow tape, newscasters and Oyster Bay students clamoring for a view of where I died, of what happened. Then the detectives will swarm, full of theories and names.
I think I know who the first two names will be.
I have somewhere to go, don’t I? Some afterlife waiting to check me in?
But I can’t go just yet.
I need a little longer.
One more glimpse of her.
I need the truth.
Thanks, Alexandra!!!!! And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Alexandra Monir, and at least 7 or maybe more than SEVEN fabulous authors! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is. Have you figured it out yet? Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the GOLD team and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next GOLD Team author, Katherine Longshore!!!
Spread the word by Tweeting #YASH
And before you go…BONUS CONTEST!!!!!!
Here’s a chance to win TWO signed copies of TOUCHING THE SURFACE–one copy for you and one copy for your favorite school or local library. Check out my Rafflecopter for the details on how to win.
What is the YA Scavenger Hunt? Let me fill you in…
The YA Scavenger Hunt is a biannual online event that promotes collaboration between YA authors from different publishing houses, offering fans an opportunity to see the latest and greatest in young adult literature. During the hunt, we showcase exclusive bonus material, give readers access to top secret insider information, and offer fabulous prizes and giveaways for zealous YA fans.
Yup–totally awesome. And because I want you to be ready to play on April2-5th. I’m giving you a sneak peek of the participating authors and their books. I’ll start you off with my group–TEAM GOLD!
A fabulous group! And here are all the rest of the teams…
I’m trying to get my act together. But the truth is I’m dropping balls left and right LOL! Somedays I drop the laundry ball…one of my favorites to “drop.”
Other days I drop the eat breakfast ball. Crap! Did I really manage to leave the house without eating? Cause I won’t be back for 4 hours. *checks to rearview mirror to be sure all three boys and dog made it into the car*
I also tend to drop the “getting the dishes done ball” until they start climbing out of the sink. Or something starts to smell.
Additionally, the kids were moaning yesterday, because I dropped the “get the groceries they wanted ball.” (PLEASE get the GOOD bread for sandwiches, school snacks, cranberry juice and dessert for God’s sake!)
And now *insert giggle* (I have to giggle because it keeps me out of full on panic mode.) I’ve got a spring break trip coming up in the future and my “pets, boys and personal preparations balls” looks something like this…
Need I say more? You get the picture. But there is some really good news. I haven’t dropped the “writing ball.” I’m never as fast as I want to be, but I’m happy with my progress, so the high from that, makes it easier to maneuver around all the other balls scattered all over the floor LOL!
I’ve also been reading a ton, thanks to audiobooks. It’s my bonus when I’m walking the pup and throwing an actual ball. And this is not just entertaining multitasking. Every book I read is a master class in how to be a better writer–and often a better person. And just to prove how awesome it is to drop the “household chores balls” instead of the “reading balls.” Here’s a quote from one of the best books I’ve read in awhile…
“That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.” ― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
I don’t know about you, but despite all the balls all over the floor, it feels like I’m manifesting something great.
What are you manifesting at the moment? What’s the “best” ball you’ve dropped recently?
Last week has left me needing guidance and inspiration from those who are wiser and more eloquent than I…
“To be Jedi is to face the truth, and choose. Give off light, or darkness, Padawan. Be a candle, or the night.”–YODA, Dark Rendezvous
“It is not nearly so important how well a message is received as how well it is sent. You cannot take responsibility for how well another accepts your truth; you can only ensure how well it is communicated. And by how well, I don’t mean merely how clearly; I mean how lovingly, how compassionately, how sensitively, how courageously, and how completely.” Neale Donald Walsh
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”
Helen Keller
“The most important thing is to not stop questioning.”
Albert Einstein
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
― Oscar Wilde
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt, This is My Story
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
― Thomas A. Edison
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
― Elie Wiesel
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.”
― John Lennon
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
― Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
“Peace begins with a smile..”
― Mother Teresa
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
― Dalai Lama XIV
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they make a good excuse.”
― Thomas Stephen Szasz
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead
“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
― Abraham Lincoln
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