Color me Surprised

Plagiarism Boy turned in his essay yesterday. You know, it’s moments like these where it feels good to be a teacher. No, it wasn’t great, but it was HIS. Clearly he had written it (and it was handwritten, as I’d requested). The grade won’t be all that great, but it’s better than a zero. I still haven’t heard a peep out of the dad. I think he’s still choking on that humble pie (because I really think he believed his son COULDN’T have plagiarized. The evidence of it made him keep his mouth shut). 12 more days of school and then–glorious freedom! :wave:

I’m at a good place in my new book. 191 pages. :dance: Sure, it needs smoothing out and fleshed out with certain scenes. But on the whole I *think* (knock wood) that I won’t have to delete as many sections as the last book. I have a very bad habit of slashing 75 pages and writing 100. I gape in awe at the authors who can complete their self-imposed revisions in a week. :kneel: Perhaps now that I have a better grasp on internal conflict and keeping it going throughout the book, I’ll be able to join their ranks? Hope so.

My tentative “deadline” is August 31, but I know I’ll finish it sooner. Summers are great for that. I just wish I had a better sense from the Powers that Be whether I should go ahead and write the third Irish medieval or whether I should wait and find out what they want me to do. I’m not able to submit anything new to them until a decision is made on the current book.

Today in my history class, we’re studying Watergate. I’m still doing my Song of the Day where they listen to a song from the era we’re learning about. Today’s song is “YMCA.” I have a feeling that NO ONE will be copying their homework or warm-up. We’ll all be dancing instead. Heh. :dancingfool:

What songs absolutely SCREAM 1970’s decade to you?

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

I’m back from the long weekend! I spent three days of letting my children be spoiled by their grandparents (I don’t want to think about how many pounds of M&Ms were sneaked behind my back), relaxing, and we also went to the National Zoo. In my opinion, it’s the perfect place to take children under five. It’s free (except parking), animals of all sorts are there, and you never know what you might see. These are my pictures.

The last time we went, my daughter was an infant. I’ll never forget when we went into the ape house, we saw a mother gorilla. Her baby couldn’t have been much older than mine. She came down from her perch, right up to the glass, and stared at my baby. A definite moment of connection. I was fascinated.

This time, the main entertainment was watching the children enjoy the animals. A black bear decided to pace back and forth, while a sea lion stuck his nose in the air and refused to interact. The lions and tigers slept.

I’ll admit, now that all the television season finales have played, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself at night. I do know that I’ll be writing like a maniac pretty shortly, trying to wrap up this next book. I’m past the midpoint, and it’s the moment where I have to stop and figure out what loose ends need to be threaded in. I’m already discovering scenes that need to be in there that I forgot about. Oh, and my heroine’s goal is a little murky. Must firm that up.

So what did everyone else do on their long weekend?

Happy Ending?

After I sent home the e-mail about the plagiarized essay, Dad went ballistic. :angry: I haven’t received a volatile e-mail like that in a LONG time. He was outraged that I would accuse his son of cheating and ranted about what an awful person I was and how I never had a nice thing to say about his son. I think my patience hit its limit. I e-mailed him back that he should look at the essay and I’d call him the next day.

Silence via e-mail. I called after teaching and received voice mail, so I extended my invitation for after school help again to his son. Later that day, I received the signed conduct notice in my box at the office with a note scrawled at the bottom, “I still don’t agree with this.”

But you know what? The kid showed up for help. It was 45 minutes late, but he was there. I’m not sure whether he was splitting his time between teachers or whether Dad drove him back to school. In any case, we spent 25 minutes going over grammar and toward the end, I asked him to show me his note cards for his essay. The notes were fine; he just didn’t have a clue how to tranform them into paragraphs of his own. We spent the next ten minutes going over how to write an essay from notes. The more I talked with him, it was clear that he actually did know the facts–he had just panicked on the essay and didn’t know what to do. Instead of asking for help, he took the wrong path.

After we had a solid paragraph in ten minutes, I made him an offer. I would accept a HANDWRITTEN essay by him, with a significant late penalty, if he would do the work on his own. Due Tuesday. I also helped him with some supplies for his oral presentation today. By the end, he seemed excited about the presentation and he was smiling when he left.

Am I rewarding a kid for cheating? I don’t think so. I truly think he made a misguided decision. In the end, what’s important to me is that he learn how to research and write a paper. I want him to have the confidence that he can do this. Will he turn it in? Hard to say. But at the end of the day, I know I walked out with a kid who felt better about himself. To me, that’s worth it, and that’s a happy ending. What do you think? Am I being a sap to make him that kind of offer?
(I’ll probably still have hate mail in my in-box from the Dad about what an awful teacher I am.):loser: Oh well.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from the editor at M&B, reassuring me that my book is still under consideration and is sitting on the senior editor’s desk. Bless her. :worthy: I was starting to get a little antsy. Okay, obsessive. Neurotic. Needing therapy. But all is well, so far, and I wrote another 3 pages on my book last night.

TV Update–
Idol: Thank goodness Taylor won!
24: Not as exciting as I thought it would be. I swear George Lucas wrote the romance dialogue on this show. Ick!
Lost: Hey, at least they have a logical explanation as to why the plane crashed. Still, I’m wondering what in the heck that “disease” storyline is. And how much do you want to bet Michael and Walt end up right back at the island?

A new toy

My Mother’s Day present arrived. A new laptop! :shimmy::typing::worthy:

Oooh, I love new toys. Particularly ones that involve technology. Oh, the power! :kneel: I bought a Dell because I could customize it the way I want. Hubby is an engineer and the government buys Dells, so I figured if it was good for them, I’d go with it. I’m just tickled that I can now do wireless Internet. :dance:

Oh, remember the story about crazy Dad who was mad because I DARED to give his son a late penalty for the week-late essay? Hoo, boy, it gets better. The kid plagiarized the entire thing off the Internet. Wasn’t hard to grade that one at all. Nice big old zero for that grade. I decided to stay one step ahead of him, and I e-mailed my principal to give him some of the background. Figured, just in case… I also printed out the web pages, highlighted the paragraphs that were directly lifted, and photocopied it for myself. Gee, wonder if Dad will want a conference? :blahblah:

Did anybody watch 24? What did you think?

Finding a good agent

I’m still on my agent quest, and I’ll be the first to admit that Publisher’s Marketplace is definitely the way to get the real scoop on them. It’s funny how certain people who call themselves agents can truly look reputable, but PM will give you the true story.

Case in point. As I was signing up for agent and editor appointments in Atlanta, I noticed the name of an agent I had met briefly in the past. She was very strongly outspoken, with definite opinions. I had a weird feeling about her, like something wasn’t right. She now has new colleagues working with her. Anyway, she’s been in business for around 2-3 years now, so I decided to look up her sales records on PM. Now, I’ll grant you that Publisher’s Marketplace might not list everything, but most agented deals, they will show who sold to whom and a rough idea of what their advance was (a good deal, a very nice deal, etc. with a key for how much $$ that really entails). The aforementioned agent has no sales on her record. She also has no clients’ sales listed on her website. Hmmm…sounds kind of shady to me.

Then let’s take the opposite kind of agent. I met a different agent in NY, one who reminded me of a spunky Grandma. She was a real kick in the pants, and I just enjoyed talking with her. Her name is rarely mentioned among the who’s who of agents. For fun, I checked out her sales record. 75 sales in the last year. Just goes to show, you can’t always tell from appearances.

I’m finding a lot of agents are saying that they like my writing but my books need to have a bigger hook, a stronger marketability factor. And you know, I wonder if I had a book contract in hand and approached these same agents, would I get the same response? I’m not sure. But one thing the process has shown me is that there are certain people who have class. Those are the agents I’ll remember and query again. So it has definitely been worth it.

Will I get an agent? Do I need one? It’s hard to say at this point. I know that long-term, I will. I’ve no doubt of that. But at this stage in my career, unless I have the next DaVinci Code or the next blockbuster book, I don’t know if I’m even a blip on their radar. Likely not. And that’s okay, because it allows me to see their true nature. I’ve also learned that I do need a warm-fuzzy agent, instead of a cut-throat shark. This is not to say that warm and fuzzy should be malleable and a pushover (otherwise, they’re not much of an agent). But I want someone who I can bounce ideas off of, who will support me in my career, and look out for my long-term interests. So we’ll see how that pans out.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up soon, and I’m taking the kids for some spoiling. My poor mom. She has no idea what she’s getting into. My youngest is into the “screaming” stage where she bellows at the top of her lungs when she doesn’t get what she wants. Lovely. Teaching her to be civilized is like taming a tiger. It’s almost funny to see her look of complete indignation. How dare we not give her candy for breakfast?

So this is season finale week for a lot of television shows. Which ones are you looking forward to? For me, it’s Lost and 24.:wave:

Slackers R Us

So a week passed and I barely blogged. Maaannn…:whip: What is the matter with me? SOL testing, gang. Aptly named, I might add. One week of throwing my teaching schedule into the proverbial toilet. I’ve seen my 3rd period class twice in the entire week. I had my 4th period class for an hour and forty minutes today. There might be some of this going on during the weekend…:drunk:

To make the week even better, I’m dealing with Crazy Dad Who Lies on Behalf of His Son. I e-mailed to explain that Slacker Boy hadn’t handed in his essay. Dad flipped out and proceeded to inform me that it was ALL MY FAULT. You see, the school computer didn’t find a file on the boy’s disk and he couldn’t print it. Errr….yeah. Like it’s my responsibility to print the boy’s essay out for him? I pointed out that I hadn’t even seen a pencil rough-draft (that was due the previous week), and I can’t grade what I haven’t seen. I said I would accept it late with a 30 point late penalty (10 points off for each day it was late–it was over a week late at this point).

Dad flipped again and said that his son would NOT have a late penalty because our computers couldn’t open the file and he DEMANDED an immediate conference. :hissyfit: Yes, folks. I really love to attend the conferences that are out to skewer the teacher. Nope. I pointed out that there are four weeks left, plenty of time to raise the grade, starting by handing in the late essay. I’m sure there will be a happy love note waiting for me on Monday morning.

So it’s been quite the week. On the bright side, I am making fantastic progress on the new book. I’m going back into the manuscript to develop the hero’s character growth a little better. I can’t seem to do that until I’ve written half the book. I’m hoping this will cut down on revisions later. My self-imposed deadline is the end of August, but if I don’t do anything crazy, maybe I’ll have a final draft sooner. I have a bad tendency to write everything the wrong way and then go in with a machete later to fix it.

Anyway, thank goodness it’s the weekend! :wave: For those of you with children getting out of school, I am so jealous. I have another month of teaching.

Random observation–in the tv show LOST, what in the world are they doing with Walt’s character? Did you notice that he’s aged and grown up incredibly fast? Whoa…I wonder if they have different “tribes” around the island. And what the heck is this vaccine for?

Itchy Travel Feet

In the month of May, I frequently get itchy travel feet. It’s ironic, really. All my life, I’ve been dragged from one place to another moved around. We never lived in one place for longer than four years until high school, when my father went to his military assignment early and let me finish in order to graduate. More than anything, I wanted an answer to the question, “Where’s your home town?” For the longest time, I would shake my head and respond, “When?” I’ve lived in Thailand, Georgia, Maine, Germany, England, Virginia, Indiana, back to Germany, and back to Virginia again.

When I married my husband, I prayed we would settle down and I’d finally have a home town. I do, here in Yorktown. But strangely enough, the longer I’ve lived here, the more I want to travel. As I’ve grown, I find it exciting to go to new places.

One of my part time jobs is a hotel mystery shopper. I pretend to be a guest and evaluate the staff. Through that job, I have the luxury of picking and choosing where I want to travel. Lately, I’ve signed up to go to a few places (though they haven’t told me whether I’ll get the assignments or not). It’s exciting, even going somewhere for a day. My favorite assignment was a resort in San Destin, Florida, for a week (where I had to go play golf and get a massage).:hissyfit: Oh, the suffering. :bath: Another favorite was the Marriott hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We used that one to help pay my airfare overseas where the hubby and I enjoyed a second honeymoon.

The downside of mystery shopping? You will never again eat dinner in a restaurant without being conscious of how often the staff come to your table. You’ll wait for them to come back at particular intervals, and you’ll be aware of when something’s gone wrong. But the best side to “shopping” a hotel is knowing how everything works. If you need an extra coffee packet in the morning–you know you can call Housekeeping. Or if your door doesn’t lock properly, you call Maintenance. And the best part is, you get to visit new places and perhaps meet up with friends along the way. It’s exciting. This is the company I work for. You can also sign up to evaluate grocery stores, banks, bowling alleys–it’s really fun. I don’t think you could do it full time as a career. You only make a limited fee. But for some folks, it’s perfect. My mom can take my dad out for breakfast and someone else pays for it. What’s not to like?

I’m getting excited about Atlanta for the National Romance Writer’s Conference. I can’t wait to meet up with other writing buddies as well as grovel before meet editors and agents. I may have to go shopping for some conference clothes. Fun, fun.

So what’s the coolest job you’ve ever had? What did you like best about it?

Mothers Day

Okay, so I couldn’t come up with a creative title. Oh well. I am hiding in the office right now while the children whine, “Mommy! I need help with my belt!”
“Mommy, I need to go potty!”
“Mommy! I’m hungry!”

Before I had kids, I thought it would be the most powerful thing in the world to have “Mommy make it better” and a child hug me while they were sobbing. Now, I think the one thing mothers around the world would truly like is some Alone time. A time where you AREN’T cleaning up messes, wiping someone’s behind, or vacuuming up the fish food that is covering the floor like a confetti party.

Click here for a list of funny Mother’s Day sayings from Margery.

I remember a Mother’s Day five years ago, when I was sitting in my church choir. We had been trying for a baby and the priest asked all mothers to rise for a special blessing. Every woman in the choir stood up except me. I remember getting choked up inside, my eyes getting teary because I wanted to be a mother so badly. As it turned out, a few weeks later I got my wish.

But there are still many friends of mine who have not yet had that wish granted. I pray that one day, that blessing will come to them. I pray that next year, they will celebrate Mother’s Day for the first time.

For all of you who are mothers, may you have to clean up fewer than three messes today.:wave: May your children give you hugs and kisses and plenty of love.

For grandmothers, may you sit back and bask in your grandchildren’s adoration while you gloat that you don’t have to clean up any messes.

For my husband–thank you for the spa gift certificate from the kids. And since this man knows me well and knows the absolute best gift of all for a woman who dreams of becoming a published writer–he also ordered a new laptop for me. Let’s just say that my old one has Windows 98. Enough said. :help: I love this man!

If you could have one Mother’s Day wish, what would it be?

Randomness

Apologies in advance for this being random blog day…I know I haven’t been blogging daily. It’s that whole question of what do I want to do with my writing time–blog or write more books? Sometimes a girl’s gotta choose, and sorry, but the hunky Irish warriors won. :woot: This morning, my allergies hit hard. Nothing like waking up at 4:30 in the morning all sneezy and drippy.

Yesterday, I hosted 50’s Day at my school. Imagine a slew of sixth graders in their poodle skirts and bobby socks. We did the Bunny Hop, the Hand Jive, and I taught them some sixties dances like the Twist, etc. We also did the Ice Cream Soda Shoppe while watching “I Love Lucy” and played marbles/jacks in the third classroom. Fun was had by all. :wave:

Then I had to complete my proctor training for the SOL tests. Yes, they are aptly named. These are state-standardized tests where I had to sign that I would not in any way help the kids cheat. Yes, I could lose my teaching license if I forget to cover up a poster that has the parts of speech on it. :loser: I do think people stress over standardized tests way too much. I’ll also lose a week’s worth of instruction because the class periods are scattered into absolute craziness. I’ll see kids in one class on Tuesday and the next time I see them might be Friday. It’ll be a wash.

Anyway, Mother’s Day is this weekend, and I’m wondering what my little darlings are doing at daycare. I’ve seen decorated boxes and I had my picture taken with my son and daughter yesterday. You know, I actually like the homemade gifts. The kids do put effort into them, and it’s nice. My dh asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day, and I told him Chronicles of Narnia would be fine. Or maybe a trip to Ireland would be even better…:bath:

What are your plans for the weekend?

But I don’t WANT to go home!

My 4-year-old son had his first unaccompanied play date yesterday. A friend from his daycare invited him over, and I dropped him off at their house for an hour. It was nice to let him play and not be constantly hanging around the kitchen while I’m cooking. Children are like ravenous piranhas after school, let me tell you. The only way to get them to stop whining is to cram an apple in their mouths. :popcorn:

Anyway, on the drive to the friend’s house, I drilled him on being polite, using good manners, and making sure to keep his shoes off inside. I thought I had covered my bases. Um, not so much.

You see, I had forgotten to rehearse the procedure for picking him up. My son truly believed he would be able to stay with his friend for as long as he wanted. When I came to get him, he denied it, saying, “No, it’s not time to go home.” Then of course, the royal fit. :hissyfit: The melodrama! The agony! The Evil Mommy who is taking him away from his FRIEND! And worse! The boy had Star Wars Legos!! :starwars: How dare I take him away from such bliss??!

With physical force, and a great deal of whining. :help:

Next time (if there IS a next time!) I’ll know better. But for those of you who are parents, what would you suggest? What do you say to make sure the kids don’t act like little beasts when it’s time to leave?

Also–Lost is on tonight! What will happen to Michael?

And I think either Elliott or Katherine will go home tonight on American Idol. Everyone was going on about how great Elliott is. Not so sure about that. I like his voice but not the style of music he does.

On the writing front…it’s been suspiciously quiet from Agent Land. And Publisher Land. But at least I have half of another book finished! :shimmy: