My birthday list...

New things I did on my 30^th birthday:

The boys gave me peppermint roses (they were stripey!)

I went into the Blast Zone and got shot by foamy balls

I went down the biggest indoor slide in Utah

I slid down two twisty black slides, too!

I razor scooted around with our two-year-old

I played multiplayer Pacman, Fast and Furious, and Guitar Hero (without sound!)

I ate beef and broccoli at the Asian Potato (no potatoes were on the menu)

I touched a five foot spoon at the Asian Potato

I touched a five foot fork at the Asian Potato

I tried Ginger Beer from Cy’s Market (ew)

I tried Rose Lemonade from Cy’s Market (meh)

I grossed my sister out with Egg Drop Soup (like “snot,” she says). Proceed to eat it in front of her.

I ate a carrot shaped like a flower (from the Asian  Potato)

I ate portabella chicken at Applebees

I wore hoop earrings

I went inside a gun store (where all the guns looked like plastic toys, but they really, really aren’t)*

I touched a barrel in Crate and Barrel (they have no crates)

This is where we went for the Blast Zone and razor scooter stuffs. 'Twas fun!

 * I was going to shoot a gun for the first time, just so I could maybe understand gun culture more (probably not, but maybe). Unfortunately, the first time we went both me and my husband forgot our wallets, and the second time we went they'd closed a half-hour early (who is going to argue with someone that heavily armed?). So we went to the nearby mall, because all the new activities my husband could think of were illegal, and hoop earrings seemed like a good alternative to arson.

 

What are some experiences everyone should have in their twenties?

I turn thirty this week. So, as the title asks, what are some experiences everyone should have in their twenties? I plan on shooting a gun, getting a pedicure, maybe paintball...stuff like that. But I need more ideas! If you give me some, I will send you virtual birthday cake! It will look like this:

This is from this awesome blog. It makes me happy!

Spider

Our two-year-old got a lot of two-year-old-boyish stuff for Christmas: trucks, cars, the occasional ball. We know he likes running. We know he likes drawing, especially on walls. We know he likes apple juice. But we weren't sure what he would want come gift time.

The spider puppet was sort of an afterthought, a thing we got from a friend for free. We wrapped it up for "The Family" and stuck it under the tree.

And now our two-year-old never lets it go.

It rides on his head. He tucks it under his arm for his daily run. He insists it says "Bzzz!" and he carries it around like Calvin carries around Hobbes. It is his best friend.

And it is awesome.

Bzzz-Spider may be less fluffy than this one, but it is significantly more loved...

Payment

The other night, as I put my five-year-old to bed, I told him: "If you go to sleep without waking up in the middle of the night and stay in your room past 7 a.m., I will totally pay you with cookies."

He thought for a moment, looked at me, and said, "I'd rather you paid me with real money."

Drat.

Creative careers

I like this:

That is all.

The Wicked Witch of the West

When I turned five, my mom made me a birthday cake that looked a lot like this:

I love witches. The Wicked Witch of the West terrified me and quickly became my favorite character in all of Oz. Dorrie the little witch (from Patricia Coombs's lovely picture books) inspired me to play for hours, running around and shooting evildoers (read: little sisters) with magic from my hands. I'm not a huge Wicked fan, although I wanted to be, but I am curious about the Wicked Witch in Oz, The Great and Powerful. I hope she gets to throw fireballs.

I doubt she'll be everything I remember.

From a list! Because everyone loves lists?

Revising

I've got a system for writing up until about the sixth draft. First draft = mess with some glimmers of ideas. Second draft = flesh out ideas, but still messy. Third draft = work on plot. And characters. And...well, everything. Fourth draft = look at worldbuilding. Feel some despair. Keep at it. Fifth draft = polishing characters and plotlines more. Sixth/seventh draft = examine awkward parts again. Make them less awkward. Write, read, repeat.

It is after this point that I'm trying to figure out stuff. And I came up with an idea that seems to be working--usually I try to work on a chapter a day when I revise, but this time I broke up my book into sections. Some of them are a couple pages long, while others are a mere three paragraphs, but I put all my focus into making one section (or so) good a day. This is time consuming. I'm surprised, though, at how much better I'm making my eighth book just by breaking it down. I feel like my manuscripts are always this close, and I'm hoping that this time I can figure out more about the magical process of rewriting.

Some more tips from here. Tell me if you have any nifty revision tricks!