Too Much

Don't let these scenes of summer fun fool you.

Right now, Charlie's in the next room hacking his lungs out while he watches his "Imagination Movers" DVD. John's upstairs half dead and I'm down here blogging to stay awake. Yes, another cold has wiped out our family yet again. Last night I told John rolled his eyes when I told him we needed to make a family suicide pact. I bet he thought more seriously about that around 3 in the morning when Charlie was croaking (yet again!), "Mommy! My daddy!"

This past week has been crazy, so I'm not surprised that I got sick. But, I got sick after I got everything done, so I can look at that as a blessing.

I've been working like crazy on our Primary Program and the Road Show. On Wednesday, I was getting ready for a rehearsal that night when I got a call asking me to make some baby shower invitations. Since the woman doing the shower is moving in less than a month, and the mom the shower is for is about to pop, the invitations needed to be done by Sunday. Usually when I make cards in bulk, I'll make one really nice one and have it reproduced at a local print shop. Well, I found out the print shop would be closed all weekend. I don't trust Kinko's or any other print shop, so it left me no choice but to make them all myself. It was about an hour later when Charlie woke up from his nap with a fever. Not again.

Well, the rehearsal went great and was actually tons of fun. The Primary kids are getting used to the idea of dancing in front of people . . . so much that we couldn't get them to stop, even for brownies! Let's hope the youth are as excited . . . yeah, right.

That night was spent on the couch with Charlie. Even though I was dying for a nap, I had to go to the dermatologist only to find out I have some kind of funky excema (sp?) on my hands that is, as he put it, "Notoriously hard to get rid of." Why do I only have gross things wrong with me? My mom said she could see me being one of those little old ladies that wears gloves all the time to cover up their nasty diseases. Thanks mom. Maybe you can glue sequins to the left one in memory of M.J.

Luckily, John had work off on Friday and he helped me put the cards together. He's brandishing the scissors at the camera because he told me not to take a picture of him. Too bad, ha! I only had to make about 25 but me and my big ideas . . . of course I had to do something insane. The mom's nursery is going to be a barnyard theme so I made barn cards. Cute but corny. I guess that's the M.O. for baby showers, right?

Sometime on Friday (I literally don't remember when), I finished the Road Show script that I had promised the director I would give her on Sunday. Then Saturday was the 4th of July. I usually dread these holidays because the house is packed with people. I was especially grumpy about it this time around because I wanted a break. But it was actually fun. We set up a Slip 'n' Slide in the backyard and I couldn't resist trying it out. It was a lot of fun. Painful fun, that is. I have bruises on my knees, elbows, shoulders and hips. Mari and I then took an impromptu field trip to Ross, sans kiddos . . . talk about independence! I got a skirt, shirt and shorts for under $30.

Some time that evening, I started to feel a little congested . . . which has now turned into yet another full-blown cold. John made a doctor's appointment, so he must be feeling pretty nasty. I pretty much have the rest of the week "off" before things get crazy again. John's gone to Scout Camp from Saturday to Wednesday, so that's the next big adventure. Gotta go . . . I'm hoping Charlie will sleep so I can, too!

Pool

Yay, it feels good to be back in blogging mode. I need to update this so badly. I like to clog my camera with pictures until it almost explodes, then dump them in my computer. Picture diarrahea.

It's so nice to have family members close . . . especially when they have a pool! John's parents were nice enough to come let us swim in their pool. Charlie did not want to get in the water but we made him and eventually, he enjoyed it. I did too . . . especially since it was cloudy and I didn't have to worry about a sunburn!

Hopefully, some more interesting posts will follow. July is going to be busy, busy, busy. Road Show is going to keep me insanely busy and Scout Camp will keep John, well, gone. Don't get me started on that one. But I am grateful for the busy work . . . at least I won't have as much time to think about the screenwriting contest. My head is filled with the sounds of "Cotton-Eyed Joe," "Thriller," "Disco Inferno" and "We're All in This Together" (from "HSM"). Yup, that's right. It's going to be an interesting Road Show! : )

Laura, I will try to get all the choreography on video . . . we'll see if the kids will let me tape them. If nothing else, we really want to tape the actual show and YouTube it. I wish you were here to help me out! You can be the Tabitha to my Napoleon. The Franz to my Jean Marc. : )

I spoke too soon.

I think I doomed myself with that love song to Road Shows I wrote a few days ago. Our activity did not go very well . . . so I'm not feeling the love for LDS theater that I was when I wrote that last post. Hopefully things will get better . . .

So here is Cupcake Card 2.0. I made this for my friend Lindsey's (not Gruwell, another Lindsey!) b-day. I really worked my butt off for this card. Lindsey is an amazing artist (she probably started the cupcake trend . . . she started painting them way before they were cool), so I always work extra hard on her cards. I try not to use premade anything. Plus, she's one of my biggest "fans". . . she's saved all the cards I've given her (which is really scary when I think of the kinds of cards I was doing 3 or 4 years ago). So I'm always excited to make Lindsey cards . . . I think it feeds my vanity because it feels really good to hear compliments from such an amazing artist.

Anyway, this is mostly a bunch of folded paper. The frame was originally just chipboard. I painted it pink, then flocked it to make it fuzzy. I'm obsessed with this flocking kit my mom gave me for Mother's Day (yes, my mom gives me Mom's Day presents!). You'll be seeing a lot of fuzzy stuff on my cards in the future!

This is hilarious. I was eating dinner with my family, when suddenly my brother Ethan pointed out we were both wearing Ghostbuster t-shirts. The funny part of this is when we were little, we had matching "I Ain't Afraid of no Ghost" t-shirts. I had to take a picture, even if I did look totally scuzzy that day. Ethan is notoriously camera shy, so this is a special picture. I've GOT to find a picture of us as kids wearing our Ghostbuster tees . . . that would be best scrapbook page ever.

Out of the Closet

No pics this time! I haven't updated in awhile because I've been really busy with church stuff, namely the Road Show. I know it's a lame LDS tradition that most people loathe . . . but I'm stepping out of the closet, baby.

I LOVE ROAD SHOWS!

2 years ago I was Road Show director . . . at the time, I was huge, pregnant and miserable. There was a lot of problems and I was severely taken advantage of . . . don't want to get into that, it's over now. It was a horrible experience, until the show itself. Watching everyone perform was so much fun and rewarding.

This Wednesday we're having a Primary/RS activity to get ready for the Road Show. The kids will learn their dance (disco, choreographed by moi), and the moms will sew costumes. I told the kids Sunday that they should come and participate, even if its not their "thing." Then, Hannah Wolfe (bless her heart, I LOVE this girl!) pipes up and goes, "The Road Show is FUN!" She went on about how much fun she had 2 years ago being in it, etc.

Thanks for giving me the courage to "come out of the closet," Hannah. Road Shows are fun.

So deal with it! : )

Better

Finally I'm feeling normal! I've been sick for the past month and a half with a sinus infections and now it's finally gone! I finally feel like things are getting back to normal.

On Saturday, John and I took Charlie to see "UP." If you haven't seen it, go! Go now! It's so refreshing to see a movie that puts marriage in a positive light . . . the "boring things" truly make life wonderful. Pixar never ceases to blow my mind . . . the writing is so amazing. I love how this movie tells you so much about the characters' marriage, without one word being spoken. This movie could've easily been cheesy, but it's not. It's probably the sweetest movie I've ever seen. Not to mention it's hilarious and exciting. Go! Now!

If you haven't noticed by now, it looks like I pulled a Fergie and peed my pants. Charlie grabbed my water bottle during the movie and poured water all over himself . . . and me. A kid without a shirt and a wife with wet shorts . . . poor John. We looked like total white trash walking out of that theater!

Here's just a couple of cute pictures of Charlie eating a popsicle. He's technically not supposed to have fruit juice (tummy issues), but it was a hot day, so what the heck? It's always fun to just let go sometimes and let the kid get messy and eat what he wants. Although, later that afternoon, he had a horrible stomachache. That's why it's good to deviate from the "routine" only once in awhile . . . I'm glad I took pictures, because he probably won't get many more popsicles!

This is entirely my mother's doing. My parents are native Texans and visit my grandma there a couple of times a year. My mom brought him back this hat . . . you can't really tell in the picture, but it says "Texas" on it. This was actually my mom's second choice. She almost bought him chaps. Chaps! And everyone tells me I'm going to make him gay.

He also got a bear that has the state of Texas embroidered on its tummy. I told Charlie that it was Texas, so he immediately started saying it over and over. I had him say it to my parents and of course, the hooped, hollered and clapped (what is it with Texans, anyway?). So, of course, he had to do it again and again, louder each time. So now, if you go up to Charlie and say, "Texas," he'll immediately scream "TEXAS!" and clap like some deranged monkey. Quite entertaining.

5% of 6,378

So, I went to the doctor and found out I have a sinus infection and another infection I'd rather not talk about . . . okay, I've got a fungal infection on my foot. Ew, I know. I came home with four separate medications. It's party time. Hopefully, I'll be feeling better soon . . . I'm so sick of being sick.

Okay, now the real reason for this post. As a lot of you know (and have probably heard waaay too much about), I entered the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting Competition. It's put on by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscar people) and it is the most prestigious screenwriting competition out there. They award 6 writers $30,000 a piece. It's a fellowship, so it's meant to give you some extra money so you can devote more time to writing. I got the idea to do this at a screenwriting conference last year. Scott Frank (okay, now I'm shamelessly name dropping!), one of the screenwriters there, told me to enter, and if I didn't win, my script wasn't good enough. Harsh, right? He explained that the competition for screenwriting is so intense that if you don't stand out, you won't make it.

At this point I'm not even thinking about winning the whole thing (except for maybe a few moments where I imagine what I'd wear to the awards ceremony!). The real prize of this contest is getting your name out there, which is the hardest thing to do for a measly screenwriter like me. Even if you don't win a fellowship, you still get your name out if you make the quarterfinals (and the semi- and final rounds, too). The Academy sends out a list of the people who've made it into these qualifying rounds to hundreds of producers and agents. They send out a synopsis of your script, the genre type, along with contact information. Plenty of people have sold their scripts before they even have a chance to make it in the finals. Right now, my eye is on getting to the quarterfinal round.

So, a year ago I made a goal to submit 2 scripts to this competition. At that time, I only had one decent script written, only to find out at this conference, that it was 40 pages too long. I had a great idea for another script, but I doubted that I could finish it in a year (especially since Charlie was still a baby at that point).

Well, I did it! My personal deadline to submit these scripts was April 15, 2009. The month leading up to that date was murder. I had a lot of stuff going on with Charlie and church, etc. I seriously doubted I could meet my deadline much less the May 1st contest deadline. Guess when I submitted them? April 16th. I was so stinking proud of myself!

I thought that once I submitted these scripts, I would be a nervous wreck for months. Turns out, I'm at peace, writing-wise. I can not explain to you how much happiness it gave me to set a goal and meet it . . . even if it was a day late. I know that I've done the best I can do . . . and I don't mean that in a self-defeating way. I'm really proud of what I've done. Now it's in someone else's hands.

I had barely thought about the contest at all since I sent in my scripts . . . until last night. I got confirmation emails that yes, both scripts are in the competition. Kind of random to get that a month and a half later, right? Well, read part of this email and you'll know why:

"Thus far, we have received 6,378 scripts for this year’s competition. We hope to complete first-round judging by the end of July. We will then tally the results as quickly as possible. We expect about 5% of this year’s entrants to progress into the quarterfinal round of judging. If all goes smoothly, you will be hearing from us near August 1 as to your status in the competition."

5% out of 6,378? Okay. Now I'm worried.

But I guess I can't feel bad if I don't make it, right? Plus, they do this every year. I'll just keep plugging away at it. I know even if I never make it, I'll still keep trying.

Those who've asked me anything about my writing know that I'm completely secretive about it. When I'm writing something, I just don't want to talk about it. I need to keep it to myself for awhile. Now that my two scripts are done and sent away, I've decided to finally reveal what I've been working on. I'm going to (gulp!) share the summaries of my scripts I sent in. Here they are!

A Piece of Cake

Legend says that if a girl sleeps on a piece of wedding cake she'll dream of her future husband that night. Robin Jenkins believes she's met the man she dreamed about twenty years before. When she finds out the man of her dreams is engaged to her boss, she learns that destiny is not always a piece of cake.

(The "Cake" synopsis isn't that great--the actual script is a lot darker and quirky. Oh, well. It's the best I could come up with. The next one is a lot better.)

Script Girl

It's Hollywood, 1947. Kate MacArthur is a "script girl" for the struggling Bronze Age Studios. When she witnesses the murder of an aspiring actress, her uncanny eye for detail proves useful to the police investigation. As the victims pile up, gruesome secrets about Kate's co-workers threaten her loyalties and life.

Well, there it is. I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread these ideas around. The scripts are registered with the Writer's Guild, so I could totally sue your sorry butt if you do! : )

Wish me luck!

Family BBQ

We've had a rough few weeks. Endless illnesses, sleepless nights and a funeral to boot. One high point was a postponed Memorial Day BBQ with John's family last Thursday. I'm glad it got put off, because I was in bed all day on Memorial Day with a horrible cold (so bad, I'm still sick . . . got a doc appt. in a hour!). I'm grateful to have such a nice hubby. He took care of Charlie pretty much all Memorial Day weekend because I was literally bedridden. By Thursday, I was still feeling sick, but I decided to be a trooper and go to this BBQ. I'm so glad I did. I love being around this big ol' family! I apologize that the pictures are horrible . . . I'll just blame it on the cold, since almost all of these are out of focus!

Olivia: "My sister drives me crazy!"

Charlie and his cousin Lyric eating cookies.

Charlie loooooves Aunt Sarah.

Big hug!