Busy... busy.
I keep waiting for one of those SLOW roasted days- where the autumn leaves make even the air glow with yellow embers. No appointments, no rehearsal, no practice, no auditions, no deadlines, no meetings... no laundry. SLOW.

Thing is... I fear that unless I snatch one of those slow days up with my own bare hands, they're not going to happen all on their own. Leisure doesn't behave like that...anymore. Did it ever? I can't remember, but I think it DID!! Well, it doesn't behave like that anymore... at least on my continent. On my continent, I need to create those days for myself, and for my family. That is why, as the long weekend approaches, I asked my tee-NAGERS to each think up one thing they would most like to experience outdoors this coming weekend.

Here are a few of MY ideas for a "slow roast":

1. Go leaf crunching- this activity is best done on a path of crisp yellow, orange and red leaves. As you walk, listen to the crunch-crunch-crunch.

2. Make hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks and sip-sip-sip.

3. Leaf Pressing- Yes... this hobby is alive and well- you just have to bend at the waist, reach down, pick up leaf, stand upright, go home, put between wax paper and press in book for a week.

4. Make "carmel" corn. Recipe: 1 cup unsalted butter, 1/4 cup light corn syrup, 2 cups packed dark brown sugar, 1/2 teas. salt, 1/4 cup water, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 8 quarts popped corn(not air popped.) Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Melt butter in pan, add brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, water. Heat to boiling boil for 5 min.- Remove from heat add baking soda, stir. Pour over corn and coat. Place on cookie sheets, bake for 40 min. using lower and middle rack of oven- stir occasionally- remove corn from sheet promptly after baking. Yum-yum-yum.

4. Give "carmel" corn to loved ones, especially my mother and sister (hi thee,) cuz otherwise you'll eat the whole darn thing yourself. :) :) :)

5. Buy some pumpkins.

6. Harvest... something.

7. Rake. Or not.

8. Toss around a ball.


There you have it! Wonder how it will compare to my kids list.
Stay tuned for the tee-NAGERS list.... coming soon... to a blog near you.

5-4-3-2-1!!! Blog officially launched! Thankfully someone finally answered my echoing "Hellloooo?? Anyone out there???" calls. It was my husband. Figures.

As you can see, there's a lot of loose ends in my so-called "launch." But anythings possible in blogdom! Right? Let's hope this techy challenged girl can figure out how to place her book titles in the sidebar instead of front and center, (including a snappy link to Amazon.) Maybe there will be a link for purchasing personalized and signed copies of all my books, too! And hopefully I'll figure out how to sidebar my bookstore and school visits and newsy news about... me, I guess.



There's more on the way, too...

"Do Princesses Count" will be out in the early spring. It marks my first board book (ages 1-4!) Who would have thought that writing a book about counting one to ten with a total of 44 words would take such careful thinking! Good thing I payed attention in 1st grade math class. (We won't talk about 10th grade geometry, now will we.)

Hello?
HelloooOOOOoooo out there!
Testing. One Two Three Four....
Can you hear me? (tap, tap)
Hellooooooo? It's Carmela!
(tap,tap) Ahhummm. Can you guys hear me? (tap, tap)

(long, uncomfortable pathetic pause)

Hey! Anybody out there?

(pan out into unfathomable darkness.... silence...)

:O)