Entering the Dark Zone

Getting a five-year-old to keep his room clean is nothing short of a miracle, I think. My husband and I stayed in today, planning to clean the house. Instead, we spent about four hours going through my son’s toys, sorting, organizing, and pitching things he no longer played with. I am now a believer that McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys are the curse of the devil. How many of those things do children NEED? I can see the advertising executives brainstorming, “Now which toys will drive parents absolutely insane? Yes! That’s it! Let’s pick those!”

In our quest for order amidst chaos, we found Legos mixed with marbles, action figures, and crayons. My brain is swimming with the number of puzzle pieces and other odds and ends that were beneath his toy box. Thankfully there were no dead animals or laundry older than a week. (shudder)

I considered leaving only one toy within reach and putting everything else in the attic, but I suppose that’s a little extreme. Mostly I moved a lot of stuff to the top shelf of his closet so he has less to put away.

Yesterday I had my last booksigning for Her Irish Warrior. This one was a group signing with friends from my local RWA chapter, and it was fun to catch up with everyone while hanging out in the bookstore. I’m a little sad that my first book will no longer be in stores, but it’s a good feeling knowing that The Warrior’s Touch will be out in September (or August on eHarlequin.com). Now hopefully I can get my plot finalized for a new proposal and get that going.

Starting tomorrow I am cracking the whip on myself to get back to my daily pages. Brainstorming is a necessary evil, but I always feel like I haven’t done anything productive. It’s tough to lose that mindset and realize that planning ahead is a Good Thing.

How was your weekend?