Erika Mitchell's Blog, page 11

Up, Down, Left, and Right

Yep, this man has multiple job offers. Probably because he knows how to enjoy a pineapple properly.

This was a really, truly, very strange week. Up, down, left, and right, if you catch my drift. Wes received job offers this week! Hooray! My best friend’s baby had some tummy trouble and they had to spend a few days in the hospital. Sad. I finished enrolling my kids in school for next year! Hooray! Wes and I are putting the finishing touches on the logistics of wrapping up his company. Sad.

And there were other things happening, too. A whole bunch of people wrote and posted reviews for Blood Money on Amazon for me, which was awesome, and my friend Matt (who is King of the Beta Readers) finished reading through and giving me his notes on Take the Bai Road (which is book #2 of my upcoming series), and THAT is awesome too. I’ve been emailing, organizing, phone calling, budget figuring, and baby visiting like crazy this week, and now that we’ve finally made it to Friday I find myself so. very. happy. to put a cherry on top of this week and call it done.

But! The important thing to remember is, my friend’s baby is A-OK and Wes has job offers. Offers, you guys. As in plural. He’s going to make his final decision by the end of today and then we’re celebrating with a bottle of Prosecco and some homemade chocolate chip cookies. We roll hard here at Casa de Mitchell.

We’re hopeful for a Seahawks win this weekend, because nothing would tie a bow on top of the successful conclusion of Wes’s job search like his team going to the Super Bowl.

And that’s it for me. Like I said, up, down, left, and right, and through it all the reliable, never-ending narrative of my life that is laundry, grocery shopping, and house cleaning.

Go Hawks! And happy weekend to all of you! May you all have a terrific weekend, unless you’re rooting for the Green Bay Packers, in which case I kind of hope the very end of your weekend is kind of disappointing but only because your football team lost and not for any other reason.

Thanks for sharing!

A Ringing Endorsement from Yours Truly

When you’re an author, sometimes you’re lucky enough to make friends with other authors. If you’re really lucky, those other authors have been writing longer than you have and you can learn from them.

I have found in fellow author Karen Burns both a mentor and a friend. We’re critique partners, which means we send each other chapters of our in-progress works and give no-holds-barred critique feedback. We know each other’s characters so well, we know intuitively what they will or won’t do.

Her book, Rules For the Perpetual Diet, just came out. Because I’ve gone through every single chapter of that book with a fine-toothed comb, I can say with certainty that it’s an excellent book. It’s clever, terribly interesting, and not in any way typical. The writing is solid, the characters are unique, and the setting is spot-on perfection. (A large part of it takes place in Paris {some of it under Paris} and Karen’s descriptions are perfect because she’s spent many months exploring Paris.)

If you’re in the market for some solid, well-done fiction, I can’t recommend her book highly enough. Trust me: I’m a professional.

Click here to read reviews or purchase it on Amazon!

Thanks for sharing!

Go Hawks!

Living in Seattle with the Seahawks in the playoffs is interesting. It’s like the team’s colors are this state’s unofficially official dress code, and it’s perfectly acceptable to assume everyone you might meet while out in public is a fellow fan. I’m not saying you’ll definitely get your car keyed if you have a 49’ers license plate holder but…I wouldn’t count it out.

Even children and dogs are not immune from Seahawks fever. Did you know they make teeny tiny little football jerseys? They do. And you can pay a small fortune for one so your whole family can stand united in NFL team-loyal fervor.

I know what this guy’s name is!

As for me? Yes, I have a Seahawks t-shirt, but I rarely wear it. I bought it on sale at Costco but it almost never makes it out of my closet. Why? Because I feel like a fraud every time I put it on. I can barely name three members of the Seahawks, the only football term I’m super solid on is a touchdown, and my first thought when I hear the term, “Turnover” is still, “Mmmmmmmmm, pastry.”

But Wes loves the Seahawks. I’m pretty sure he loves me more then he loves the Seahawks, but during playoff season it’s a close call. (Ha ha, Wes, just kidding! A little.)

Kick-off for the playoffs game against the Panthers is in a little less than four hours, so I’m legally required, as a citizen of Washington state, to conclude this post with, “Go Hawks!”

If they win this game, they could go to the Super Bowl, and wouldn’t that be great?

Thanks for sharing!

Handling the Unexpected

So Monday was interesting…

It was the kids’ first day back to real life after the holidays and, much to my surprise, I managed to clear out the cobwebs and get everyone out the door on time. After dropping my son off at school, I was driving my daughter to music class when traffic slowed to a crawl. There was a car accident up ahead, and everyone was slowing down to pass with care.

I resisted the urge to rubberneck when it was my turn to pass the nasty wreck and was happily on my way down the hill when my car started acting a little…funny. Like, wobbly and pulling to one side and is that a weird flupping sound I hear coming from my car? And oh, hey, there’s the tire pressure indicator light on my dashboard! Fantastic.

Before I even finished pulling into a parking lot off the busy road, I called Wes and, when he answered, I said, “Feel like teaching your wife how to change a tire today?”

While I waited for Wes to saddle up his trusty Camry and ride to my rescue, I pulled out ye olde owner’s manual and got as much stuff ready for the tire change as I could. By the time Wes rolled up, I had the tools out and just needed his help undoing a wing bolt so we could liberate the donut spare from its hiding place in the most inaccessible reaches of my rather capacious car.

Now, I should mention that the weather was terrible on Monday. The temperature was in the low 40’s, it was pouring rain, and there were strong, steady winds that blew rain into our faces almost the entire time.

So there we were, two goofballs with a two-year old and a flat tire. It took us about forty-five minutes start to finish, and I dare say we did a darn good job. Good enough to get me to the tire shop less than a mile away, at least, where I had the frustrating honor of shelling out $350 on tires that I’ll only be driving on for three more months until my lease runs out in April. Boo.

The good news is, we had a blast. Sure, we were soaked through practically to the bone by the time we were done, my hands are all scratched up from the cruddy jack lever, and I’m still annoyed at the unanticipated expense, but you guys? We frigging HANDLED that flat tire. And I was able to lift it into the back of my car without help, which I feel pretty proud of.

Maybe next time I’ll manage to pull over to a spot that has a wide awning, space heaters, and a waiter who brings me hot chocolate while I change my tire. That’d be just about perfect.

 

Thanks for sharing!

A Pretty Great Way to Start Off the Year

I don’t know about you, but so far 2015 is off to a pretty great start. I cleaned my house really well, finally got this huge stain out of the carpet in my dining room that three different brands of carpet cleaners couldn’t vanquish, and, oh yeah, my best friend (the one I helped throw a baby shower for) gave birth to a healthy, GORGEOUS, smushy little baby girl.

The two of us got along famously, though that could have been from the altitude sickness because I am just so very, very tall.

Ten out of ten recommend being on this side of the whole having-a-baby thing, by the way. You get all the fun of snuggling the delicious little newborn lump-of-cuteness and none of the sore nipples, sleep deprivation, and assorted other goodies that come with creating a brand new person using your body.

Still, I’d be lying if I weren’t enjoying some pretty intense nostalgia right now. There’s just nothing, I repeat NOTHING, like holding your own newborn baby. Memorizing every eyelash, letting yourself get bewitched by every tiny knuckle crease, counting chub rolls and then counting them again to see whether they’ve multiplied yet. It’s a super special time, and it’s only when your kids are way too big to swaddle that you really understand what all those old people are saying when they tell you, “It all goes by so fast! Cherish these days!”

Every time I leave the hospital I have to go right home and wrap my babies in great big hugs because man, oh, man, that time really did go by fast. And even though my son is more than half my height and my daughter no longer fits under my chin the way she used to, I can still remember exactly how they looked and smelled when we were each other’s whole world, and how it felt to hold their tiny hands and watch them breathe while they slept on my chest.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m making myself cry in a Starbucks and needs must hop off the nostalgia train before strangers start asking me if I’m okay. Because I am okay, I’m just a mom, and I’m really, really happy for my friend, who’s got her very own baby to snuggle and love and memorize.

That’s a pretty great way to start off a new year, no?

Thanks for sharing!

An Up and Down Farewell to an Up and Down Year

I was reading back through some of my old New Years Eve blog posts and realized I have the same reaction to most years: I always hope the new year will be a happy one because the previous one was challenging in some way. While I admire my perpetual hope (which, it seems, does spring eternal), I have to admit I can be a tad over-simplistic in summing an entire year as either good or tough (usually tough).

Here’s a picture of Wes and I from my freshman year of college for no reason at all.

Here’s the thing 2014 has taught me about adulthood: Things are often difficult. People get sick, money runs out, kids struggle, family members disappoint/antagonize/take-your-pick. Bodies fail, natural disasters ruin things, plans go awry.

Often, you can do something about it, but sometimes you just can’t. You can’t change people, you can’t fix some injuries, you can’t make every dream come true.

Wes and I both reached high this year. We attained some goals, but as many dreams as came true also came crashing down on our heads. In retrospect, there was nothing we could have done differently to make things turn out better, sometimes things just don’t work.

I know I’m being vague here, but that’s because you don’t need to know the lyrics to recognize this particular tune. I’m sure you’ve been disappointed by something. It sucks.

But here’s what I learned this year: It’s okay to feel disappointed. It took me twenty-nine years to realize you can sit with an emotion, especially if it’s an unpleasant one, without trying to change it, because sometimes you can’t change it and then you get to add futility to whatever emotional cocktail you were experiencing before.

I’ll admit, 2014 was…up and down. Not my favorite year by far, but it had enough bright points to make me realize that there’s never going to be a magical year wherein everything comes up roses and we don’t struggle with something. The key, I think, is taking it in stride, and for me taking it in stride means acknowledging that I do not have the power to control everything. The best I can do is be proactive, try to make wise decisions, and weather whatever storms come our way without beating my head against the wall.

I definitely have hopes for 2015, and from what I can tell it’s going to be a good year, but I’m not going to hope it’s a better year than 2014. Instead, I’m going to hope I don’t forget what I learned in 2014 and will be able to use it to help me roll with whatever 2015 brings. Kind of boring, but sounds pretty darn mature, huh?

Regardless of my newfound, uh, New Years boringness, tradition is tradition so here are my hopes for 2015:

My number one hope is for a truly excellent, engaging, challenging job for Wes. I hope he gets offered a job that will encourage and empower him and keep him learning constantly.
I also hope for a successful book launch. Great googly moogly, Bai Tide is coming out in, like, four months!!!
I hope to take our kids to the beach in Oregon again. That was a remarkable vacation and I would love to repeat it.
I hope for fantastic health insurance so Wes and I can address our various health conditions without spending every last penny we earn.
I hope for a long, glorious summer.
I hope to make it to the gym on a regular basis, a hope that will be much more likely to happen after I get more joint injections for my knee.
I hope to attend ThrillerFest in NYC again in July. Christmas is nice and all, but that’s the most wonderful time of the year for me, hands down.

My hope for all of you is that you’ll have a lovely New Years Eve and that 2015 will start off with good news for all of you. Thank you for reading my blog posts (and my books)! May 2015 be our best year yet!

Thanks for sharing!

Before and After the Storm

One of Wes’s and my favorite Christmas traditions is a screening of all three Lord of the Rings movies (special edition, of course). We don’t watch them all in one sitting (hi, we have kids), so the process usually takes us four to five nights.

There’s this one scene where Gandalf and Pippin are watching Mordor from a balcony in Gondor. Pippin remarks on how it’s so quiet and Gandalf replies that it’s the deep breath before the plunge.

I think about that saying often, as it applies to a great many situations, but you know one example it doesn’t work for? Christmas. There’s really no deep breath before that plunge, is there? Just a series of accelerating situations that bring you closer and closer to Christmas, whether you’re ready for it or not.

While there’s no deep breath before Christmas, so to speak, I love love LOVE the peace that comes AFTER Christmas. If you’re able to roust yourself from your house in the days immediately following Christmas, you’ll find empty stores, discounts everywhere, and clear roads.

Wes and I took the kids to Target on Saturday to buy exciting stuff like a storage bin and a small bookshelf and we practically had the store to ourselves. It was such a pleasant contrast to when I took the kids to Costco two days before Christmas and had to psych my son up for what he’d find when we got there. We went into Costco with a battle plan, which consisted of three parts: Get in, get out, stay alive. There were a couple close calls wherein my son almost lost a limb when a shopping cart careened perilously close, but other than that we were fine.

So now our Christmas decorations are put away, the gifts are all unpacked and organized, and life is settling back down from the frenzy pitch that is Christmas no matter how hard you try to have your act together beforehand. Life is a little less colorful but calmer, which for now I prefer.

I hope your Christmas (if you celebrate) was merry and bright, and that you were surrounded by the people who mean the most to you. My hope for next year is we’ll all manage to find a little more peace, even if it’s just in the form of a half-empty Target.

Thanks for sharing!

My Sharp-Dressed Man

For the many of you who don’t know Wes and I personally, Wes is on the job-hunting warpath. Watch out, local companies and hiring managers, he’s terribly charming and undeniably clever. If you’re not careful, you might fall in love.

Anyway, Wes has a final interview for this really, really, super fantastic company at their out of state headquarters soon and he’s in need of a suit for that interview. They’re a formal company and, as such, expect their women to be fashionable and their men to be dapper.

Those of you who know us well know Wes and I tend to veer toward the casual side of the spectrum when it comes to off-duty fashion. Neither one of us has ever met a pair of sweatpants we didn’t prefer to real pants at home, and if we had our druthers we’d stick to jeans and cotton t-shirts every time we left the house. We’re well matched in that respect.

The thing is, though, the jobs Wes is being considered for are high-level. Companies tend to expect people at that level to dress well to represent the company well. What’s a chronic frumpster to do?

ZZ-Top was right! Every girl DOES go crazy for a sharp-dressed man!

Go shopping, that’s what. We took the kids to Men’s Wearhouse (where we were treated SO WELL) on Saturday and bought Wes his very first suit. And had it TAILORED.

You guys, I wish I’d been able to take a picture of how good he looked because, take my word for it, he was SCRUMPTIOUS. He looks like a million bucks in a nice suit and I have good reason to suspect the people he’ll be meeting with will think so, too.

It’s just funny, though, because Wes and I both kind of realized at the same time that we were growing up. We were in the car on our way back from the store when it hit us that this is a new phase for us. When we met, we were kids. We bought all our clothes at Old Navy and Target and that was fine. It’s a weird moment when you realize that it’s time for you to start dressing like a grown up.

Thankfully, I haven’t gotten there yet because I’ll be a stay at home mother/author for many years to come. There’s no dress code for either, unless you count sweatpants.

Anyway, wish Wes luck. He’s off kicking butt and being terribly impressive and now he’ll look FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC while he does it.

Thanks for sharing!

Writing With a Live Audience

Hard at work catching a murderer.

I had the pleasure of helping to throw a baby shower for my best friend over the weekend. She’s pregnant with her first child and, seeing as I’ve known and loved her for over half my life, I knew I needed to throw her a truly special shower.

The first thing I knew I had to do was…Not cook. Ha! Seriously, though, my friend is a first-class baker and cook and there was no way I was going to be up to her caliber. I asked her and her mother (who is also an accomplished cook) to handle the menu and food.

The second thing I did was delegate the decorating to my friend’s sister in law because, again, decorating isn’t exactly my strong suit. I can do it, but neither well or with aplomb.

So, after that, there was nothing for me to do except handle baby shower entertainment. I knew we had to step things up in that arena because my friend is an exceptionally entertaining person. She’s irreverent, hilarious, candid, and unscripted and, as such, canned baby shower games simply would not do.

No, she needed something special. Something I could do well. Something like…A murder mystery game!

It was terribly interesting learning about how to write those. I had a lot of fun and ended up with a lighthearted caper that somehow managed to contain no less than five inside jokes for my friend and a solution that included light cannibalism (which is perfect for my friend {who loves the Hannibal Lecter books [don’t worry, the victim was The Stork]}).

What was most nerve-wracking for me, though, was having a live audience reading something I wrote. I could see their reactions firsthand and, I gotta tell you, it was so strange! I’m used to people buying my books, reading them on their own, and then telling me later what they think. A live audience was both exhilarating and discomfiting.

Everyone seemed to have a splendid time, though, and I received a great many sincere compliments afterward, so I’ll count it a success. My friend was showered with love and gifts, the food was awesome, and I found out that nothing bonds strangers faster than solving a fictional murder together.

In other news, Wes and I are off to Las Vegas for a few days to celebrate our ninth anniversary. See you later, alligators!

Thanks for sharing!

Christmas Shopping With Kids

Just in case there are some of you out there among my blog readers who don’t have kids, or else have kids who haven’t been born yet or are still in that wonderful stage where they’re basically just Tamagotchis you have to feed every time they make noise, allow me to paint you a picture of the peculiar joy that is…Christmas shopping when you have kids.

So let’s say you have kids, and they’ve been good enough this year to have earned some toys under the tree for Christmas. Hooray! Now all you have to do is find those toys, hide them, and then wrap them without your kids knowing about it. Pretty easy, right?

Well, you can go one of two routes here. You can order gifts online and have them shipped to you, or you can buy them in a store. Let’s talk pros and cons for each.

If you go the store route, you get to try out and hold the toy before you buy it. Definite pro. Unfortunately, you either have to go shopping in the store while your kids are somewhere else or bring them with you. Definite con, because you’re either using your precious alone time to battle for a parking spot and fondle a bunch of Elmo toys in search of the perfect one, or you’re taking your life and sanity in your hands by bringing your kids to a store where they not only do not get to touch all the toys they see, but they have to see you buy them and then disappear them once they get home. If you want to give a four year old a rage stroke, that’s a pretty good way to do it.

If you choose to do your shopping online, you get to skip the crowds, lines, and parking lot massacre. Pro! But you have the challenge of trying to assess toy size, quality, durability, and function using nothing but a screen and some product pictures that are specifically designed to mislead you into thinking the toy is awesomer than it actually is. Con. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered a toy for my kids online and had it arrive looking either smaller, cheaper, or less useful than it looked online.

Of course, you could go shopping in person and then order online, but that’s really just compounding the shopping experience, isn’t it?

I wish I had some advice for you, but I really don’t. Whichever way you do it, you’re going to have a lot to do, but it’ll be worth it when Christmas morning is done and the presents have been opened and your kids are blissfully content and quiet while they figure out their new toys. At least, that’s the hope.

And if not? Well, you probably have enough wrapping paper and tape left over to make a perfunctory straitjacket for them so you can sip your coffee in peace. Merry Christmas, everyone. May your kids be well-behaved, endearing little moppets who love everything you get them and show you by showering you with hugs and smiles, or, at the very least, some well-earned peace and quiet.

Thanks for sharing!