BAZINGA!

My sleep patterns had finally begun to regulate last week when all of a sudden the last five days I have been waayyyyy too sleep deprived.

My manuscript is coming along well, its just that there are scenes that are keeping me up - making me go crazy. I have been up at odd hours - working like a crazy woman only to discover the pages are not where I want them to be. Mind you this is not revision... yeah.

My hubby has been patient: Not asking me to come to bed at a reasonable hour, ignoring the snarky tone when asked silly questions like "What's for dinner?" and "Did you wash my jeans?" He has even caught on and began to do the dishes without a nod from my direction. But the dark circles under my eyes finally got to him last night.

He came into the living room where the laptop sat on my knees.

Hubby: "Let's go to the back."

Me: "Why?" continues to read & type furiously, never looking up.

Hubby: "You need to go to bed a little earlier tonight."

Me: "Why?" *tone is snarky again...run away*

Hubby: "Because I said so." Now this is new. Nothing from either of us is ever "BECAUSE I SAID SO." We don't have kids so this statement is rarely used and normally it is in complete and utter jest.

Slowly I look at him. He is leaning away from me and the couch. His eyes are a bit wary and it appears he is ready to bolt at any second. I know that he is expecting some snarky-mean-witchy-retort, but I surprise both of us with:

"But I don't wanna go to bed." The voice is soft, whimpering a little and more childlike than I intended.

We stare at each other and he chuckles.

Hubby: "Don't make me take you back there."

Immediately I grin. A flash of the Big Bang Theory crosses my mind. I press ctrl + S to save then close the laptop. I sit it on the ottoman, slowly inching over to the edge of the cushion. I stand up and stare at him.

Me: "You will have to catch me first!" honest to goodness I took off for the dining room and he followed suit. I slid through the kitchen (our floor is like a skating rink! We polished a few weeks ago) and slammed into the hallway. He stood back in the living room and eyed me for a second. Peanut stood between us, tail wagging, waiting to see what we were going to do next.

Then I could not help it...

Me: "BAZINGA!!!" I ran to the back, sliding down the hall and flung myself into our room and shut the door. I let him in after a few minutes of pounding & laughing. Then I collapsed onto the bed.

I slept like a baby.

This morning I woke up to get ready for the day job and honest to goodness think I may have figured out my scene issue. We will see when I work on it this afternoon. Either way, Sheldon helped me get a good night's sleep. ;o)

Do you ever work yourself into a tizzy over a scene or character issue, only to discover that if you would just let it sit for a while the answer just may come to you? How do you handle those moments? Do you fight sleep and try to force the answer; a la Sheldon?

A Dream and A Husband

Just to warn you: this was last nights dream...

Small pieces of parchment fall haphazardly around me....

A glimmer of blue ink catches my eye and I reach for it...

The paper dissolves before I can read the words....

Larger pieces land silently along the ground and I bend to touch them.

Soft green ink creeps along the paper and I yearn to read them before they disappear.

My fingers caress the edge and I watch the language shift,

Each letter disappears...one after the other...I think of dominoes on a kitchen floor...

I straightened. Looking up I see them fall from the dark blue sky....no end...no beginning...

A piece softly touches my nose, eyes closed I remember snowflakes and warm hot cocoa...

The pieces are piling up yet I am not held down...

They are in front of me, yet I know I can step forward...

They are behind me, yet they do not close me in...

A drawing slides to the ground in front of me..

A girl of seven climbs a tree and I smile...the branches were strong, the wind was light and my thoughts were happy...

Another lands upon my head and my hands grasp it quickly...

Soft music from a harp...flowers all around..dancing..laughing...vows...a tear slides down my cheek with joy..

The picture fades and the flashes begin..

Myself at a computer... reading in a wheelbarrow at ten years old...

A father's strong hands...the sweet sound of a mother laughing...

Christmas morning...Thanksgiving in the heat...summer waves along a coast...

Dogs rolling in the grass...cats lounging in the sun...children chasing each other...

The scenes are not all full of beauty but I see the beauty in their existence...

They fall around me as I sink to the soft grass..

I watch them with excitement..

I worry as they disappear so fast..

Then I see it...the paper that is like a mirror...

Its surface is clear and I pick it up...I see my reflection..

Unlike the others before it does not change...

At first I am worried..I look to the sky...

They still rain down but more slowly and fewer increments...

Then I see that they all are like the one in my hand...

All around me the silver surface shines back...a lake...clear and without distinction...

I stand and frown...

One falls... a picture of me standing and frowning...

I smile...

I wake up.

4 a.m.

I was just nervous when I woke up. I was not sure what in the world it meant. I told my husband about it at lunch today.

He laughed at me.

Yes HE LAUGHED!

Then he blew my mind...

Husband: "Don't you see..that lake was everything you have yet to do. The pieces were memories. "

Me: "I got the memory part but was not sure about the mirror pieces."

Husband: "I think it is your own mind telling you that everything you want, everything you are going to do is there... out there... for you to make happen. Whatever step you take next will be the next pieces...So keep doing what you do. Just think if you have it again it might be you sitting with your agent...talking to a publisher..reading aloud from your own book..."

Then he proceeds to eat his lunch as I sit there and think about the dream.

He is right you know and I love him for it...

2009 Birthday Week - The Husband

For my readers who don't know, my husband's birthday is in December. Now this year he plans to curl up into a fetal position, suck his thumb, and randomly scream words like "Why God?!! Why?!! We had a deal!! Let the others grow old! Not me!!"

Yes he has decided that on the 8th he will merely turn 29 and 365 days old. Yep and when he reaches 40 he will actually be turning 30. Yes Yes lunacy is one of the reasons I married him, keeps my days interesting.

Anyway... If you were not a follower last year or the year before you may not be familiar with a tradition of ours: Birthday Week. We feel that since our mothers carried us for 9 months enjoying the fun wonders of pregnancy (you can tell I don't have kids) we should get more than one day to celebrate. So we created Birthday Week. Yep 7 days of fun. Now in a relationship this can be tricky. You see the rules are as follows:

1. Birthday-ee can decide what day the week begins so long as somewhere in the seven days his/her actual birthday occurs.

2. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee does not have to partake in any household chores. NONE.

3. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee may choose any meal they would like to have. ANY Meal. The Non-Birthday-ee must then make, pick up or go with the Birthday-ee in order to insure they get what they want.

4. During the 7 days, gifts will be given each day. These gifts can range from the unexpected simplicity of doing something for the Birthday-ee that normally would not be done or it can be extravagant.

5. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee has full control of the television channel selection.

6. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee can do whatever they want. i.e. sit around, nap, eat, shop, whatever. (the only stipulation here of course is any activity that could damage the marriage - course if you damage the marriage you lose birthday week anyway, sooooo.....yeah)

7. During the 7 days, the Non-Birthday-ee cannot complain about having to do any of the chores, activities without help.

So that is what we do. You must remember that when it is your birthday all of this applies to you, so the last rule is very important. Because if you do complain or make the birthday week difficult the previous Birthday-ee has the right to reciprocate. *yikes*

December is a crazy month for Birthday week, but it also makes it fun. I get to make cookies for Christmas tins & for Marcus. I cook because I love too and he chooses his favorite things which always make me smile. They are typically recipes that my mother taught me and the fact that they are some of his favorites is a compliment to heritage not just product quality.

With the big 30 this year, I am trying to pull out all the stops for each day. We have had an interesting year so I will have to get creative on a few things, but overall starting on Friday 12-4-09 we begin this year's Birthday Week.

So all of this was explained, not just because I like to share with all of you, but because I need a little help. #4 talks of the daily gifts. I need some new creative gift ideas. Like, in the past I have done the love coupons (ladies give these an expiration date or fine print - trust me on this), bought some DVDs and I have done things like wash/clean his car, etc. I need some new ideas or inspiration; plus it is always fun to hear about the kind things we do for those we love! Okay, so let me know of some things your loved ones have done for you or maybe something you plan to do this holiday season.

MY 3 a.m DATE WITH A FIRE ALARM!!!

Okay this is just crap!

Recently I commented on Shannon Messenger's blog about those pesky dates with insomnia. Well karma came and sat by my keyboard last week. You see my 3 a.m. 'friend' had been MIA for about a week... then last night he came with bells on! Actually with high pitched, make my dog shake and crawl up onto my chest in the middle of the night bells.

Our battery in the master bedroom smoke alarm decided to die out at 3 a.m. last night/this morning. Universal smoke alarm SS-790 decided that my insomnia's nice easy wake up and sit around had been leading me into a boring relationship, so it decided that not only would we bring insomnia back over for a sip of cran-grape juice but also made the choice to add horrible musical atmosphere! Oh and by the way the Universal SS-790 and I came to terms with who really is the boss....

This is what kills me: Marcus actually slept through the first 11 beeps, my dragging of the ladder, my cursing as I could not find the batteries with a flashlight, then the cursing as I stubbed my toe on the bedpost. However he did not sleep through Peanut climbing under the covers and literally trying to burrow into Marcus' back as he slept.

one hour later and one serious talk with a 9 volt battery, my date continued until 4:45 but the music stopped. The best part about this date was that it occurred with a beautiful open sky full of stars. I stepped outside after getting my juice and from the deck saw such a beautiful heavenly space that my heart actually melted a little for my date. He may pop up at the worst time with terrible choice in music and cause me to be very grumpy at work; but every now and then he lets me in on those secrets of the night...

Monuments, Injuries, & Duff oh my!

The past few weeks have been a flurry of activity. After I returned from Arizona I found myself more excited than ever about certain ideas for my life. Again the move towards actually completing them is the actual issue I find myself dealing with. But for once I have been able to actually wrap my head around the possibilities and can see the promise.

Work has been busy & good. It sent me to Washington D.C. this past weekend. I had a 3 day conference (Sunday - Tuesday). The conference took us on a few tours and they were wonderful!

One was a cruise of the Potomac, with food and everything! It was a beautiful site to see old Town Alexandria, the base, and the beautiful homes that are down the waterside.
Oh my gosh, the International Spy Museum has this awesome attraction: Operation Spy that you can do as well as just tour the exihibits. It takes 12 people and you get to interact with a "Covert Agent" in the field as he/she is trying to discover who stole a nuclear weapon & whether or not our contact is a double agent. You run up stairs, you hit the floor, you crack a safe, you listen & decode conversations... for about 1.5 hours. It is so much fun! There is nothing like 12 adults acting like 10 year olds. I thoroughly enjoyed this attraction. The museum is neat too, really did you know that they really did use the transmitters in the bottom of their shoes in the 70's or that the KGB hollowed out umbrella stems for documents or that women would line their dresses with important documents? There are also some quite disgusting ways that history shows us information was transferred, but I will let you visit the museum yourself to discover those...
Though I have been to D.C. many times before there is never enough time to see everything. It would take months to see all the museums and sites. With the changing exhibits it would take even longer! This trip though I was able to see some things that I have never seen, like this monument dedicated to Columbus. It sits at Union Station. Three poles hold the American flags and represent his three ships. There is also a monument to the Liberty Bell right behind it.
At the museum of Natural History this Colossal Head sits and watches everyone who passes. It is huge and the only remains of some temple ruins. The tulips at its base make it much more cheerful than it really is.

There are so many memorials here. The WWII memorial is absolutely beautiful, the Vietnam & Korean Memorials elicite erie otherworld type of feelings, but majestic is a word that describes the below 4 memorials.
The Lincoln memorial yields a view of the river and the path way down the Mall. Its huge columns & state seals definitely create an imposing structure. It is said to be the most visited monument. I believe it. People are everywhere at this one, climbing the huge steps, standing in small repose beside the huge state of Lincoln. It is beautiful!

The Jefferson sits over the water and cast a gorgeous reflection, it is a very striking building. All of them bring thoughts of Roman & Greek historic architecture.

The Washington Monument is just so tall! You can see it from everywhere. They even have a law that a building cannot be built over 9 stories tall or at least it cannot be the height or taller than the Washington Monument. 899 steps to the top... or ride the elevator. :)

One of the interesting things to me was Fords Theater (where Lincoln was shot) and the house where he died. The theater is literally 45 steps fromt the house across the street. Did you know that there was really only 6 people in the room with him (the room was so small) and that he died while laying diagonally on a small bed due to his being so tall that he would not fit lying on it from head to foot?
I met some great taxi cab drivers from all over the world. Everyone was so nice. D.C. is not exactly known for being cordial, so this trip was quite surprising. All the times before when Nina & her family lived there we did not have bad experiences per say with the people of the District, but they are definitely separated from the south by more than just the bridge! :)
I saw these tulips at the Australian Embassy. They were everywhere & I thought of New Moon. The flowers were just gorgeous. Tulips were everywhere in D.C. but the Australian Embassy is the only place I saw the two toned.

Even though the conference was well worth my company's time & experience and I learned a great deal more than I did know there was a downside... you know me....clumsy me...I fell down, quite hard, got to tour a local medical station in the Georgetown area.... X Rays, blood, VERY sprained ankle. Nasty swelling, pain medicine, wrapped foot & lots of pain. YEP. I have to laugh.

The first day when I arrived in D.C. my taxi driver from the airport was so nice. I inquired as to whether or not he knew where Charm City Cakes was in Baltimore. He said yes. He had customers before me who had wanted to go there just to take a picture of the door. (they won't let you in unless you are a real customer). For those of you unfamiliar with Charm City Cakes: Duff is the Chef; he has a crew that makes some of the most extraordinary cakes you have ever seen. He has a show on Food Network: ACE of CAKES. The CakeWrecks blog also has featured some of his wonderful creations on her SundaySweets blog entries.

Anyway, I had set up for the same driver to pick me up to take me to the airport. So I mentioned again that I would love to just have a picture of the door and see where their workshop is. He said it was only about 10 minutes from the airport so it would be no problem to get there before my flight. Mind you I am seriously hobbling due to my injury so my driver, Randy, was like: I will help you get a picture however I can.

So we get over to the location. It is exactly as it looks when you see it on t.v. So Randy & I get out of the taxi & proceed to try to get a good shot. I notice in my peripheral vision someone walking across the street from a little hole in the wall diner. At first I don't even pay attention, but then the person gets closer.... IT IS DUFF!!!! I whisper to Randy: Holy crap that is HIM! THE GUY - DUFF!! Randy then calls out: Mr. Duff, hey, this girl came all the way from Alabama do you think she could have a picture?~ (please forgive the horrible pic of me - no makeup, travel clothes, crazy hair...yeah he probably thinks southerners are crazy people!)I almost pass out. Duff laughs, smiles, and says sure! SO as I am still laughing over the whole moment, Randy takes the picture & we also get one of Duff in the doorway of his establishment. I realize that he is holding an empty plate with a fork. So I guess that Diner might house some good food. :) Anyway, he was a doll & very kind to have posed and spoken with me for a few minutes. What luck? WHAT TIMING. Crazy. So even with my blue & green foot my luck comes in spurts...so who is to say what is lucky & what is not...

COURTNEYPALOOZA 2009 - MEXICO!!!

The breeze blows my hair back with an assurance much like the Mayan gods must have had thousands of years ago. The boat sways softly as the sun begins to dip into the azure blue sea; soft sounds of waves, warm rays of light begin to cascade all around me. I find myself looking out into a never-ending ocean and within its waves mysteries, surprises, and life bubbles continuously never knowing my pondering mood or the lives of the humans who scurry above…..
Yeah, ponder is definitely something I found myself doing the first full week of 2009. I was blessed to have boarded a huge ship and set sail for the most beautiful sandy beaches and warm 100 degree sunshine. A tan in January…who would have thought?? :)
The entry passage to this blog is one I scribbled down while sipping a Pina Colada and laying on a deck chair just outside of Progresso, Yucatan. There are not enough words in the English language to describe some of the things Marcus & I viewed last week. Thank goodness I like to write because capturing my vacation in words & pictures was so satisfying. Life is so amazing. Beware – this is going to be a long entry I have a week of vacation to review!
We set sail on Saturday with great aggravation. Fog had settled over Mobile Bay like pea soup and no one could come in or leave. We sat in the Mobile Civic Center (a building that makes the BJCC look like the Taj Mahal) from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. We were supposed to leave Mobile at 4 p.m. Yeah – wasn’t happening. Once we were on board we ate and FINALLY set sail (5 hours late). Marcus & I have the worst luck with room locations by the way. On our honeymoon we were the FURTHEST room from anything, on the ship we were the LAST room at the BACK of the ship by the upper ENGINE. YEP!! We were startled around midnight by the loudest most horrible noise that rattled the room like an earthquake and we got up decided to go “out”. So we headed to the one of the clubs on the Promenade Deck. Well as we went past windows we noticed rather than the oil rigs being behind us they were now beside & in front – we were going backwards. YEP. A young woman got injured about 2.5 hours outside the Mobile Bay and the medics on board could not attend to the problem she had so we had to call the Coast Guard and turn around. YEP. CRAZY DAY! But Sunday was Fun at Sea our Carnival Capers newsletter proclaimed. As we stepped out onto the Lido Deck we were met with blue skies, warm breezes, and a blinding sun – we were finally truly south. Mexico was almost in our sights and the tropical climate was becoming a nice comfortable blanket. We played Bingo, gambled in the casino, I participated in Gem & Diamond lecture series the Shopping Expert was putting on then we put in our headphones stretched out our beach towels and soaked in the glorious sunshine. Relaxation never was so good. We then decided to try our hand at Putt Putt Golf on a ship. Um can you say hilarious?? The holes were maybe 20-25 feet long but with a swaying boat and whipping wind on the highest deck not only did this game create new challenges but it created new forms of exasperation. You actually could putt on hole four and thanks to the wind the ball would start at one end and roll all the way to the hole around it and back to you at the start. I KID YOU NOT! We laughed until our sides hurt. That evening was formal dinner. The very first night (Saturday) after our long wait in the Civic Center we had randomly been seated with 3 other couples: Roger & Shawna from Decatur (we only saw them once more after Saturday), Anna & Pat (daughter & mother from Cullman, Al) and Bart & Tiffani (from Louisville, Kentucky). Well when formal dinner came on Sunday we were pleasantly surprised to find we would only be sitting with one couple for the duration and to our even bigger surprise that couple was BART & TIFFANI! How bizarre. 2000 people randomly sat together & boom we get the couple that we had randomly sat with the night before. Thankfully the four of us got along swimmingly and enjoyed every night.
Monday found us entering Progresso, Yucatan. Marcus & I had scheduled an excursion to visit some Ruins & the beach. We knew that we would want to just explore Cozumel on Tuesday so we figured Progresso needed to be our historical port. Our guides were Carlos & Manuel – Carlos is from Merida in Yucatan, Manuel is from Progresso. Not only were they welcoming they were hilarious. We boarded a big, chartered, clean, air conditioned bus and 25 minutes later we entered another time completely. Carlos had done a great job of telling jokes and inserting a quick history lesson about the area as we rode. At first it was like any park, you went through the entrance, received a ticket, wandered a gift shop area, but then our guides lead us down a simple rocky path. Cactus, stones, sand, dirt, huge red and yellow flowers, birds, iguanas, cats were scattered among the flora. We arrived after about a ten minute trek to what at first appeared to just be another road. But at one end stood a huge stone temple structure and the other appeared a crumbling city. We had reached Dzibilchaltun (tzee-BEEL-chahl-toon). Dzibilchaltun means “writing on flat stones”. This ancient city once was home to some of the greatest minds in history. Here the Mayans created a calendar that is more accurate than any other one to date and their engineers & astronomers studied the heavens. This site also was one where trade was most important to the Mayans. The market here was one of great wealth but when the Spaniards came and took over the area everything changed. A ruin of a Franciscan Catholic Chapel still stands almost perfectly in the center of the plaza. The temples to their gods still shine beautifully and below an area where a Spanish stable stood there is Cenote Xlacah. A cenote is a sink hole found mostly in the Yucatan and some Caribbean islands. These holes are amazing. The one at Dzibilchaltun is around 144 feet deep. YEP. DEEP. But the water is like turquoise glass and the temperature is so cool and just fresh. They are an amazing natural occurrence. These sink holes house crystalline fresh water - not salt water- the only marine life found in each of the sink holes scattered in the Yucatan is one tiny little fish (about 2 inches long, 1/2 inch wide). No snakes, no other fish, nada - it is fascinating. This particular cenote has not shown any remnants of human sacrifices. Around Chichen Itza there are many that still have skeletons in the walls and hieroglyphics that detail the sacrifices. The cenote pictured here that we swam in was listed in their markings as a fresh water source - thank goodness. The atmosphere is surreal and so…oh gosh surreal!!! We jumped off the edges landing with a splash. Our group was hot, tired & ready for some relaxation. After two hours of this surrounding we loaded up in the bus and headed to our next stop: THE BEACH! A private beach with two pools, large beds (yes beds that you could just layout on!!!) on the sand, open bar & REAL Mexican food waited for our tired bodies to just plop down! Anything frozen that tasted of wonderful fruits were brought to us by some of the sweetest guys. They had a blast messing with anyone who had never done a tequila shot or wanted to try something exotic! It was awesome. When 2 more hours later we were back on the bus we all were so pleased with our choice of excursions! That night we heard a great comedian on board, danced to 70’s music in the disco hall and passed out around 2 a.m.
8 a.m. Tuesday we found ourselves enjoying breakfast with a couple from Hoover. We actually only met 5 families from Alabama on the entire trip. After breakfast it was time. TIME TO SHOP!!!! COZUMEL HERE I COME!!! WOOHOO! Lol. Truly we exited the ship and hit the stores with complete abandon. 4 hours later we had a ton of items to come back and pick up at the end of the day. We were starving and had passed Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville two blocks down…. So of course in the islands don’t you find the nearest & best Margaritas???? So we sat down only to find a couple we met on ship there as well as the ship golf pro & art director. After some good food, better drinks, and great conversation Pat appeared (Pat the woman traveling with her daughter from Cullman) and said “Hey we have two extra seats at our table, would you like to join us?” She had been so sweet & seemed like loads of fun so of course we accepted. WELL COULD WE HAVE MADE A BETTER DECISION…. NOPE! 30 minutes, 4 margaritas, and 2 shots later the man himself appeared. YEP – JIMMY BUFFET performed LIVE in COZUMEL on the day we were there at MARGARITAVILLE!!!! Marcus could have passed out he was so excited and just in ecstasy! We literally could touch the man. He signed a hat for Pat and we got some amazing pictures. It was just awesome. We still cannot believe it happened. Then after he played & left we headed to Paradise Beach for more sunshine & beautiful water. This day was so great! Wednesday was my birthday and after two days of crazy non stop action we just enjoyed the ship. The whirlpool, the activities, everything was great. Dinner with our favorite couple, Bart & Tiffani was of course wonderful too! I mean it was our last night. We realized how many people we had met and how great a time we truly had. The staff was so sweet, the friends we made were awesome! Time well spent. CourtneyPalooza 2009 has been a true adventure. Thursday we arrived in Mobile then swept through Camden to get Peanut. Once we finally made it to Tuscaloosa we were exhausted and ecstatic: HOME!! Though I must say these gray skies of January are quite depressing when you have recently seen the sunshine & endless blue of the ocean. Life is full of crazy surprises. We were not sure what to expect and that made each day so much more fun. I am forever grateful to Marcus for being a partner on this journey. I hope you enjoyed the recap & I hope I did not bore any of you.