Enter to win a FREE Fun Camera Strap!

I've finally managed to get my Quick-Relase SLR Camera Strap and Koozie pattern up on my site. One of the hold ups has been, that during testing, the women had trouble locating the webbing size needed.

So I added two cheap and EASILY attainable options to the pattern instructions. To demonstrate the process, I made up the following four FUNKY new camera straps.



You can enter to win one, or all four, of them at http://www.makethemyourself.com/contest.html. Straps will be given away on June 1, 2009.

Oh, yeah, you can also purchase the pattern at http://www.makethemyourself.com/strap.html.

Sunday Ham

Photos of Will, taken Sunday out in our front yard.

Nasty letters on the table

The more I've become acquainted with other writers and their publications, the more I realize that in today's society, the book I am writing is NOT an erotica.

I think the reason I originally thought it was, has to do with my age. What is commonly acceptable in the way of sex and language in books now day would have never been allowed for sale at places like Walmart or the local grocery. Those books would have been purchased online and shipped wrapped in brown paper -- not that I would know from first hand experience. Not more than once, or twice -- honestly!

My book is a paranormal with real language used by real people during stressful times of their lives. And the sex? Well, it happens. There are actually only two or three detailed love scenes in the book, the rest are left up to your ability to imagine. But the detailed ones are . . . well, detailed.

Twenty years ago, (and doesn't that just suck to reach an age where you can use that phrase) I would have been shocked at the degree of openness and detail found in sex scenes today. Now, it is normal.

What brings all of this to the fore at the moment, is that I am currently rewriting a chapter where the entire 16 pages of it are one long, hot, detailed love scene. The reason I wrote it originally was that I was having trouble meeting my daily quota during NaNo and I figured writing sex was easy. Hell, I have more than 20 years experience in, how hard can it be to describe it?

Now that I have to reexamine the chapter I am still not sorry I wrote it. It actually serves as a turning point in the main couples lives. What I need to do is add more feelings, emotions, reasoning into it. I also need to find more ways to call a carrot a carrot.

So over the last few weeks, as I've read books with similar scenes to the one I'm editing, I have jotted down notes on papers. Words, phrases, positions. Anything that will allow me to broaden and add depth, or varsity, to my sex scene.

It was raining today, so I took Will to Burger King to play. It's close to our house and we are there so often they know my order before I place it.

I printed out my chapter, and took along all my loose papers on jotted notes along to work on. After eating, Will went off to play and I spread out everything and started rewriting. It was going wonderful.

Then Will had one of those, "I have to go NOW" moments and I grabbed my purse and ran for the bathroom. Where we remained for the next 15 minutes. When we walked back into the play room, a female employee was cleaning up the table next to ours while craning her neck to read the papers I'd left spread all over the table.

She immediately finished up and left the room, without looking me in the eye.

I've been wondering all day, exactly what she read. And who she told.

I'm almost embarrassed to think about going back to that place for lunch.

Conversations with Will

These are snippets of conversation I had with my 4-year old son today.

After he had tied a chalk line around his monkey bars twice, wrapped it around a 6-foot standing ladder, and then tied it to his trampoline.

"I need help, please," he asked.
"No sir. You made the mess, you clean it up."
"No. I am the mess maker. You are the cleaner upper."


While the two of us laid on the hammock. He was holding a half-eaten banana out in front of him like a torch and attempting to tuck his other arm underneath himself.

"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to hide my arm so the bugs don't see it."
"What bugs," I asked nervously.
"The bugs that want to come eat my banana."
"Is this another trap?"
"A bug trap. The bugs will not see my hand and they will come eat banana. Then I will do this."

At which point he pulled his hidden hand out and whacked his banana so hard it fell out of the peeling and into his lap.


As we are leaving a gymnasium he loves.

"I want some water," he demanded as we're preparing to leave.
"You just finished a box of juice. Please put on your shoes and lets go."
"I'm thirsty, i want some water."
"Will, we are going to get lunch. Please put on your shoes so we can go."
"I don't want lunch. I want water."
"I will get you water. Put on your shoes, please."
"I want water now." He tries to help himself to a $2 bottle of water.
"No. I think I have some water in the car."

Shoes on and we make it to the car.

"Where's the water?"
"Sorry. I don't see any."
"I want water."
"I know, and as soon as we get to McDs you can have some."
"I don't want to go to McDs. I want water."
"We will be there in two minutes."
"I don't want to go there. I want water."
"They have water, Will. As soon as we get there, I'll get you some lunch and a drink."
"I don't want lunch. I want water."
"I said 'and a drink'."
"I don't want a drink. I want water."

We arrive at McDs and I help him from the car.

"I want water."
"I know."

Inside the front door.

"Where's the water?"
"We have to get a cup from the lady behind the counter."
"I want water."
"I know. But we need to wait our turn. What do you want for lunch?"
"I want water."

After we place our order and ask for a cup for water.

"Where's the water?"
"She's getting us a cup."
"Where is she?"
"Getting you a cup for your water."
"Is this the cup for water?"
"No, that is a cup for my soda."
"Do you want water?"
"No."


It's a wonder any parents end up even reasonably sane after raising children.

Writers always write!

This is an expression my dad, Steve's dad actually, has used more than one time over the last few months. It's always in context to either my writing, wanting to write, or Ann's writing.

While driving today, I was thinking about if I had been "writing" all my life. And oddly enough, I have. I just had to think about it a while.

For the last few years, I've written instructions for making items.

Prior to that I managed a department that I wrote guidelines and established procedures for.

Prior to that I worked for a map company where I wrote points of interest blurbs and assembled date for maps and atlases.

Prior to that I wrote letters. It's odd, because I quit writing people once I moved past this stage. But I use to write long handwritten page, upon page, upon page of detailed information and funnies about life and sent them to everyone. I did this almost the entire time I live in Brady.

And yes, prior to that, I wrote for the joy of writing. Poems. Stories. I even wrote an entire book in long hand when I was 16, then burned it in one of those teenage rebellions against one's self.

It was humbling for me to finally realize exactly what Lew was saying.

A writer always writes.

New E-How Articles I've Published

Here are links to the E-How articles I've managed to get up over the last month and a half.

How to Build a Dog Ramp/Bridge on a Budget This one includes a photo of Will helping me build this ramp.

How to make Your Own Automatic Watering System for Potted Plants and Cut-Offs

How to get Your Bulbs to Bloom Faster

How to Plant Tomatoes Hanging Upside-down in a Hanging Basket In about 6 weeks, this article has already made me over $60. Wish I had more like it. LOL

How to Remove Wallpaper

How to Get Your Manuscript Edited for Free

Up to My Eyebrows in Toner

My home business is dependent upon two major items; my printers.

HP DesignJet 600

I have an older model HP Plotter that prints on 36-inch wide paper rolls. I use it to print out my patterns. It allows me to make my home based patterns look professional. If I did not use a plotter I would have to do one of the following:

1. Trace pattern pieces onto newspaper rolls. Which is how I started out, but SO not professional.


2. Pay a professional pattern making company to print out my pattern for me. The minimum run for a pattern is 500 copies at about $2 a pop. Not happening.

So you can see how important this product is to my continued business. I managed to pick up the one I have off of craigslist for $250 about a year ago. The same model easily sells for $500-$750.

HP Color Laserjet 4050N

This is a large office printer. Also older. My printer has an extra 500 page drawer and a duplexer. I use it to print out all my instructions as well as my cover sheets and advertising pieces.

When new, this copier sold for clsoe to $3,000. You can purchase them used now for about $350. I picked mine up for $100 about 1-1/2 years ago. It uses toners which I am able to purchase on ebay or discount sites since the printer is older.

It prints beautiful color, pretty fast.

But what if . . .

Every time one of these two machines has an issue my heart stops. I don't have a back up of either and I don't have another way to provide what they both contribute.

I know enough about office machinery to know they need regular maintence, and they don't get it. I do try cleaning off rolers and such ever few months. I've even taken them both apart and located issues at least once during their life span.

But with either machine, I would be looking at a minimum of $200 for a house call from a technician. No telling what parts would cost me. And if parts were ordered, I'd have another house call visit to pay for. Easily paying more for the possible help than the printer was worth.

The bad news is I don't have money to have them fixed or replaced; I just need them to work. Which means they don't. For three days my color printer hasn't worked right. At first I was able to limp through the process and get out what I needed with tons of effort. Today I couldn't fill my orders at all.

I told myself it was simply a matter of cleaning them printer good. I had to wait until Will was in bed to work on the printer. Toner dust is very bad for you, especially so for the very young.

I just spent an hour and a half taking every easily removable piece of the printer and cleaning it in alcohol. I also used q-tips dipped in alcohol to clean rollers.

During the process, I found two tiny pieces of plasitic that were lodged in places they didn't belong and thought "Thank God! This has to be the issue."

I have toner all over me, my office, the outside of the printer, and in my small vac. I turned the printer back on and booted it up and it still does not want to work. So far, I have removed four paper jams and rebooted the printer three times.

If I can't get it to print tonight, I will have to take the file to a copy shop tomorrow and pay $1 a sheet for them to print it out for me -- since it's in color.

Toner isn't the only thing I'm up to my eyebrown in tonight.