Friday, September 28, 2007

Conversations and venting...

"Mommy, where's my snuck?"
"Huh?"
"My snuck, where is it?!? WHERE!?!? I WANT MY SNUCK!!!!"
"#3, calm down. Your 'snuck'?"
"Yes, from park."
"Oh! You're nut?"
"NO! My SNUCK!!"
"You mean this acorn right here?"
"Yay! Thank you, mommy! My snuck!"
"You mean, 'nut'."
"NO! SNUCK!!!"
"Fine, whatever."

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I ran 4.2 miles this morning. My body is rebelling against all this running and so RB (running buddy) and I have decided to run MWF and walk TTH. We're hoping it helps are tiredness.

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I have written 6 children's books. Three of them are ready to be sent into publishers. Then comes the inevitable rejection process (I've done my research, people, and it ain't pretty!). I'm prepared. Bring. It. On! I can handle the rejection! Well, at least that's what I keep telling myself.

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Our Elementary School is TERRIBLE at Parking. Picking up and dropping off kids has turned into a nightmare. I'm writing a letter to the school district and the principal. Something needs to be fixed. Here's the scene:
One small parking lot. Drop-off lane in the morning; No pick up lane in the afternoon. No one is allowed to park in parking lot. Children are not allowed to cross parking lot. Everyone parks along street (only one side because it's not "safe" to park on the other) or up the four neighboring streets. Teachers are inside their classrooms. Only parent volunteers are there to help in the morning. There is one crossing guard for two cross-walks on one end and NO crossing guards for the other cross-walk on the other end. It is completely insane. And almost daily the kids are sent home with flyers telling us what we CANNOT do. "Don't park in parking lot, don't pull up to parking lot, don't drop off kids near curb, don't cross here, don't cross there, stop being impatient, etc." but the funniest one is: "Be on time when picking up your children." Umm, do they realize that unless I get to the school 35 minutes before school lets out to get the prime parking spot, I have to hike it to the school and I'm gonna be late? And what about my younger children? If I have to hike in, I've gotta take them with me. That will make me later. So, every day, I go 35 minutes early, park right near the school and my kiddies watch their movie/sleep and I read a book. Not a bad part of my day, really, but I have to plan it into my day. And sometimes, it's hard.
~sigh~
[Oh, and btw, if we want our children to ride the bus, we have to pay an arm and a leg. Thus the myriad of parent drivers. ]

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I am SO excited for the RS Broadcast tomorrow! I just wish BYU would STOP planning games around it. Every single year, BYU plays during the RS Broadcast. It's rude. They wouldn't do it during the Priesthood Session, so why do it during our night? Brandon's promised to sort-of watch the kids --I'm hoping they survive. :)

6 comments:

brenbot said...

are you doing the illustrations for your children's books or do you have someone in mind? if you don't, i think tamra and/or i should do them.

Scrapbooks by Amanda said...

Isn't it funny how kids decide certain words mean certain things? I remember T would say "nish!" Took us forever to realize that he wanted us to sit down by him.

You really whipped out 6 children's books all ready? I am impressed! I know that there are eventual denials, but you are a good writer so I am sure that one will get published. Excited to hear.

Good luck with the school bus situation. Sounds frustrating!

Cheryl said...

bren-
Thanks for the offer, but after doing extensive research, unless I am an illustrator and submit my pictures with my words, editors are not very likely to accept work submitted by two names (a differing author and illustrator). Most publishing companies prefer to match the author with an illustrator they already have worked with. So, I'm going with no pictures for now. :)

amanda-
These books came quickly, but 5 of them are in one "series". We're talking picture books, though, and so the text is very short. But I've revised and revised and revised. In fact, one of them has been revised 7 times, but I'm working on the 8th. :)

tamrobot said...

I'm impressed as well. I should get Jared into gear - he has some great ideas for children's books.

Anonymous said...

one of my friends has submitted a few manuscripts. she started with j.k. rowling's publisher because hey! no big deal to get rejected by HER publisher! she has the rejection letter taped above her desk as inspiration. good luck!

i'm excited about the broadcast, too! my husband is working tonight and works tomorrow night, but has offered to skip some z's so i can go. i hope it works out because i'll be bummed if i have to miss it.

Anonymous said...

For Liam it was "wif". He wrote a little note that said LIAM WIF MAREN. He kept asking me what goes WIF. I had not idea what that meant. Then I saw what he was writing and I figured it out. I said Oh, you mean WITH with a TH. He said, "NO, W-I-F, (sounding out each letter) with an 'F'." So yes, strange words, I understand.

Good luck with the book. I know in Don's classes they had to come up with a comp to show publishers and he got better response. The comp consisted of a dozen or so black and white sketches with the type on it. Pretty much a very rough draft of what the book would look like. So, maybe finding someone to do some illustrations for you might help. Good luck. The publishing world is very fickle. We have a friend who publishes his books himself, but that is not always good either.

I am glad you guys had a good time on your trip!