Megan Bostic's Blog, page 45

Mom Fail

[image error]So my girls and I laid around all day Sunday doing absolutely nothing because we had Monday to get the Christmas decorations down, clean the house, and finish up homework.

Yesterday rolled around and that's exactly what we did. I took down decorations, Thing One cleaned house (all the messes were from her New Years party, eight teenagers somehow turned into twenty), and Thing Two was finishing up her homework.

Well, sometime between 1:00 and 2:00 pm, Thing Two says, "Mom, did school start today?"
Me: "No, it starts tomorrow. Why?"
Thing Two: "Because I just texted a friend and asked what he was doing and he said he was at school."
Me: "Really? Well maybe he's just hanging out or something."

Thing One walks up the stairs as I hit the computer to check the school calendar.
Me: "Oh my god, you guys were supposed to start today."
Thing One: "I was wondering why everyone was complaining about going back to school today on Facebook."
Me: "You didn't think to mention this to me earlier?"
Thing One: "I thought they were crazy."

Um, so I pondered if my kids were confused or playing me. I'm going with the former, giving them the benefit of the doubt, because how on earth could their mother be wrong.

Er.

Hopefully this will be my only #momfail story of the year, but I highly doubt it.

Monkey Madness Monday: Goals, Obstacles, and My Addiction to Netflix

So, it's officially the commencement of 2012 (resolutions don't begin on the 1st, at least in my world), so thus begins the attempt to reach all my goals for the year. Today will actually be a little difficult because I'm going to be taking down the Christmas decorations and cleaning house, but I will fit in the elliptical, hopefully some writing and reading (there's a book I need to finish in the next couple days).

There are things I'll have to sacrifice to reach my goals for the year, and this is all part of my resolutions to balance my time. I need to cut back on the Netflix. This will be hard because I think it's actually become a crutch for me on the weeks my kids are at their dads.

When they're gone, I crawl into bed early with my Kindle and watch stuff, right now I'm watching Gray's Anatomy. I just need to shift gears. Instead of crawling into bed and watching Netflix, I need to be reading. OR, I need to not crawl in to bed and I need to be writing.

As you all know, if you've been reading me for awhile, I suffered from exhaustion the last few months of the year, so I'll have to fight this as well. It leaves me too tired to do much of anything except lay around and watch shows and movies. I'm going to kick exhaustion's ass this year to get my butt on the elliptical and get back to the things I love, reading and writing.

But I'll probably need to take baby steps.

Do you have any goals you want to reach this year? What are some obstacles you foresee that may keep you from those goals? How will you get past them.

Super Special New Years Eve Blog Because I Have No Life

Dear 2011,

We've had some good times; we've had some bad times. You've given me a new car, new friends, and a new disorder (I could have done without that last one btw).

You've kept my daughters healthy, happy, and beautiful, however, 2012 and I are going to have a serious discussion about their grades. I got to see one daughter excel in music while the other one became a Duchess, and both still rock on the soccer field.

You've given me some awesome memories: Sundance with my mom, Forks with Heidi, ocean trips with friends and my girls, Arizona, surprising Gae in New York.

You've been good to me and my little book. Going through the process was like watching a child grow up. From first pass pages to ARCs to the finished product—what an amazing journey.

You've sparked new relationships in my life and ended others. You've shown me death and brought new life into my world.

Thank you 2011. For the most part, you've been good to me, but it's time we part ways. Tell 2012 I'm looking forward to meeting him and to bring it. Whatever its plans for me, whether they be challenges, cataclysms, or celebrations, I'm ready, and I've got back up.

Goodbye 2011. It's been swell.

Megan

2011 Year In Review

Life, Love, and Resolutions

[image error] I know people don't like to make resolutions, but I like to challenge myself to be better every single year (every single day). I did okay this last year, but I'm going to take it up a notch this year. I want 2012 to be epic.

Health: I will exercise more. This will include cardio (rule #1), weight training, and calisthenics. I'm going to start at 3 days per week, but hope to work up to 5.

I will take on healthier eating habits. I mean, I already do whole grain, low fat, etc, but I guess I'll have to take it up a notch. I don't know what this means yet, but I guess I'll have to figure it out.

I want to take 30 minutes of quiet a day to reflect. Hopefully this will help me to take the time to figure out what happened that day that needed change, what moments to celebrate. It will also give me the opportunity to regroup and plan for the next day.

Writing: If I don't finish this rewrite by the end of this year than that will be my first priority.

Aside from that I would like to write 2 books. I know those are lofty goals, but I think I can do it if I set my mind to it, set priorities, and plan my time better.

Life: Speaking of planning my time better, that is one of my goals, figuring out how to balance work, writing, kids, and all the other pleasures in life.

I want to read more. I did pretty good at the beginning of this year, but the end of the year was an epic fail. I think one book of month is doable. That is the goal I'm setting though I'm hoping for more.

Staying organized. This is a big challenge for me. My office is a complete mess (if you've been reading me, you'll know this because I've talked about it about every day for the last two weeks). My office at work is a mess. Even my writing style is all over the place. If I organize a few spaces in my life, I'm hoping everything else will fall into place.

I want to travel more and meet some of the friends I've made throughout the last few years.

Love: This is self love I'm talking about. I need to learn to love myself unconditionally. I need to accept the things about me that cannot be changed, and try to change the things that are under my control.

I need to accept that I am human and therefore fallible. There are times in which I'll succeed, there are times in which I will fail. If I fail I'll try not to be too hard on myself and just either try again or move forward.

I'm going to try to trust myself as well as those around me.

And this year, instead of trying so hard to find happiness, I will let it seek me out.

Basically, like I said before, I'm going to try to change the things I can, and let everything else fall into place. It's all I can do.

Happy New Year all. Stay safe and sane and don't die or kill someone else driving drunk. Peace.

New Year's Resolution Recap

 I was thinking about making some new resolutions, but I wanted to go back to last year and see if I achieved any of the goals I'd set for myself.  I didn't promise myself I'd achieve them, but I did say I'd try like hell.  Here are last year's resolutions and how I fared.

The first resolution was:
I will be more physically active.  Seriously people, I've let myself go.  Haven't set foot in a gym, or exercised for MONTHS.  So I resolve to get off my ass and get moving.




Well, um, I've exercised.  I bought the elliptical and used it, I went bike riding, I let Jillian Michaels kick my ass on occasion.  I think I've accomplished this, not as much as I would have liked to, but a little bit.

 Next resolution was:
And hopefully with all this action will come the dropping of a few *cough cough* extra pounds I've put on this year.

I didn't lose as much as I wanted, but I did lose seven pounds.  Not epic, but something.

Next resolution was:

I will write more.  I did write one book this year, Cheesy, which I'm in love with, but I finished that ages ago.  I've written very little in the last six months.


I wrote a book again this year, Sliced.  I'm rewriting it, so I think I've done well on this one.  I don't write every day like I should, but I do write when I can.  Day job kind of sucks my creativity right out of me.

Next:

I will try once again to find some peace and be happy in life.


The year started off pretty rough.  Then I went in and told my doctor I was bi-polar, and I was right.  New meds and I've been pretty balanced this year since March.  I've had a couple relapses, but not even close to where I was last year and the beginning of this year, so I say this resolution was a WIN.

Lastly:

I think the most important thing is to find out who I am.  I know the mother me, the wife me, and the writer me, but I don't really know that much more about myself.  I want to explore that and see who comes out in the wash.

I'm not sure I'm there yet.  I know I've worked hard to learn web design.  I've become a pretty good marketer.  I've worked hard to market Never Eighteen.  So, I guess I'm a hard worker.  But that's not me.  I've not been around many people this year, I've stayed pretty home based.  I watch myself fairly carefully, being bi-polar I have to be careful with who I go out with and what I do.  I'm still that mom, that writer, but I guess I'm not sure what else yet.  I guess I'll work on that more again next year.

Tomorrow I'll share the resolutions I've made for myself this year, and hope they stick.

Never Eighteen Project Pass It On

[image error] So, awhile back, my publicist from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Rachel Wasdyke, and I came up with a campaign to spread the word across the nation about Never Eighteen.
I chose some folks I knew from around the country; friends, writers, Facebook friends, family, and asked them to participate.  The idea was for them to read the book, then to "pass it on", to another reader, teacher, librarian, leave it somewhere for someone to find it, etc.  I told them to be as creative as they wanted, then to record what they did in video, pictures, or words.
I'm not going to post all of these here on my blog (well, maybe I will), I'm going to keep them together on my Facebook Page and will probably vlog about them as well.  However, I just received word from my first Pass It On participant, Melissa Cunningham from Fairview Heights, IL. (No stalking please).  This lovely woman is a Facebook friend and artist (Click here for her artist page on Facebook), and is the first to respond, so I thought I'd share.
Here's what she said:
"Megan, Loved your book! I couldn't put it down last night and had to finish it. My husband is going to wait until our copy arrives to read it - he said that we should pass it on now, to get the word out before it is released... So I went to my favorite coffee shop this morning and I was going to leave there. I had a change of plans when I ran into an acquaintance of mine. He is a high school English teacher. I gave it to him. I created a bookmark to go inside of the book, explaining the idea of getting the word out and passing the book on. While I was drinking my coffee with a group of friends, I watched him read your book. His eyes filled with tears as he turned the last few pages. He put the book mark in the book and set it on an empty table. Then he got up and called his brother. 
 A few minutes later another patron picked up the book, read the note on the bookmark and began reading! I wish you the best of luck! Happy Holidays and I look forward to January, when my personal copy arrives!"
I want to thank Melissa for participating in Project: Pass it On  I can't wait for the others to come in so I can share.

F³A: Roiling angst and where the day takes me

My angst is at its apogee (this is me and my new goal of using a new lesser used word every day).  It's the time of year, not only because of the season, but for personal reasons both from the way back machine and present day Tacoma, which I'm not going to bore you with at the moment.

I told today I was going to kick its ass, it's not going to go down without a fight.  Number one, thank god for LOL Cats.  Number two, do not look up "bad day" on Google images because lots of icky gross stuff comes up.

Anyhoo.  I said, "Hey, Day, bring it on.  Give me your worst!"

Day said, "Okay first of all, I'll let you have your coffee and do your stupid computer stuffs.  But after that, your ass is mine.  And you're lucky I'm letting you slide on the promise to get on the elliptical today."

Me: "Okay, fine, then what?"

Day: "Hmmm, what to throw at you first.  How about the kitchen."

Me: "Pfft.  Piece of cake."

Day: "Maybe I'll let you pick up your girls today, but then there's groceries, and perhaps some gift delivery."

Me: "Is that all you got?"

Day: "Cookies."

Me: "That may be work to you, but I call that fun."


Day: "Well, then I'll have you catch up on the laundry, wash, dry, fold, AND put away.  You have guests coming on Christmas you know."


Me: "Shit.  Shit.  Okay.  Okay.  I can do this.  Next?"

Day: "You sure you're ready for what comes next?"

I close my eyes, start jumping around, breathe in and out, shake it off like a boxer.  "Okay, yeah, I'm ready...wait.  No.  Yes."  My body calms, I get in my best I-can-take-it-stance.

Day: "Your office."

my office
I almost collapse, but I maintain my cool  I don't want the day to know that its, in a single two words, almost beat me.

Me: "You're on.  I'm kicking your ass Day.  You can't stop me."

Day: "I'm not worried.   I've always got tomorrow."

Okay, time for the Friday Scribbles:

Christmas Song of the Week: Jingle Bells by Sammy Davis Jr.  No one sings it like him.

Book of the Week: Still on Just Cause by my friend Ian Healy.  Christmas has taken away my ability to read in a timely manner, but hopefully will finish next week.

Christmas Movie of the Week: Going with The Family Stone.  I love it.  Luke Wilson is so cute and funny in it.  And I love Rachel McAdams in it too.

Quote of the Week: "As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same." ~Donald Westlake

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa.  If you don't celebrate a holiday, celebrate you.

Tis the season to give to those in need

I swear, I thought this was going to be a nice calm week for me.  Um, not.  My intention was to post about giving all this week, but I've not even really had the chance to blog until today.  So, yeah, go give. 

[image error] My mom and IMy mom, she inspires me.  She donates every year to the
Hospitality Kitchen is run by
You company can also adopt a family for Thanksgiving and Christmas through CCS, which my day job does every year.

[image error] My beautiful Thing TwoThere are so many ways to give, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year.  Find something close to your heart.  I'm donating money to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital here in Tacoma.  They saved my daughter's life when she was just five weeks old.  I can't imagine a life without seeing this face every day. *points left*

Also, at one of my release parties, I'm hosting a raffle to benefit the hospital.  Plus, I have my Never Eighteen store at Cafe Press, in which I will be donating every dime I make to the hospital.  You know, if you wanted to buy some Never Eighteen stuff. *hint hint*

Not sure who to donate to?  There are websites that rate charities, like charitynavigator.org , so you can be sure your money is going to someplace worthy.

Try not to forget those in need while making your shopping lists this season.

Happy holidays.

Megan

IF I LIE by Corrine Jackson Cover Reveal

Corrine Jackson, part of my Class of 2k12 clan has revealed the cover for her upcoming release, If I Lie.  It's gorgeous, check it out here.

Here's a short summary of the book, which is coming to you August 28th, 2012:



A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception.
Quinn's done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. 
Because Carey's not just any guy—he's serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she's vowed to keep—secrets that aren't hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she'll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.
Sounds totally and utterly awesome, right?  But it on your TBR list.Congrats to Corrine, you can find her here:
https://twitter.com/#!/Cory_Jacksonhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Corrine-Jackson/154559914605231