My Town Monday: Kicking It In San Diego, CA

Happy Monday!

We're living very laid-back and lazy days at chez Summy. All the students are now on spring break. Some of the family have left for Oklahoma to visit relatives. College decisions have been pushed to the back burner. Child #4 is on her second week of vacation. I read an entire book in two days: Elizabeth and After by Matt Cohen. Great book! Cohen won the Governor General's Award for this novel in 1999, only sixteen days before dying of lung cancer. If you've got a few minutes and want to learn a little more about Matt Cohen, here's a link.

And because we're all relaxed and de-stressed, today's My Town Monday post will follow suit.

Yesterday was pretty much an all-female day here. Child #4 invited a friend over. Here they are chatting in a chilly pool (72 degrees!) I do love fifth graders and eavesdrop every chance I get!

Child #4 and her friend spent HOURS going back and forth between the cold pool and a warm bath. Finally, they got dressed, then spent HOURS scrapbooking.

It was one of those days when all disputes can be solved with a game of "rock, paper, scissors."

I'm hoping for more mellow today. Although we may have to take Mr. Conehead (our male veiled chameleon) into the vet. The pointy casque on the top of his head is swollen. I'm wondering if he has an infection of some sort. Maybe from a cricket bite?

Wishing you all a slowed-down Monday, where you get a chance to stop and smell the roses.

I'm this week's hostess. If you throw up a My Town Monday post, let me know here or on the official My Town Monday blog, and I'l link to you on both.

Please check out these delightful My Town Monday posts:

Debra of From Skilled Hands' gallery gets a new look in the Village of Peninsula, OH.

Jim Winters posts about the death of a streetcar in Cincinnati, OH.

Clare2E of Women of Mystery brings us a strong and indepdent daffodil from New York.

p.s. Random House sent me several paperback copies of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP. If you're interested in a free copy, leave your name and email in the comment section. I'll have Child #4 pick a winner next Friday. She can choose two winners (one from here on the blog and one from Facebook).

Week Round-Up at the Summy House

It's been a full week with Child #4 (10 year-old daughter) off for the first of her two weeks of spring break. Does she continually mention to the brothers that she has two weeks while they only have one? Uh, yes! Because that's what little sisters do!

Below, in order of excitment (most exciting to least) are three events from our week:

It's a box of Makeups! My copies of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP arrived from Random House. The paperback came out earlier this month.

Actually, I'd forgotten they were sending so many copies. So, if you want a free copy of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP, leave your name and email in the comment section. I'll have Child #4 pick a winner next Friday. She can choose two winners (one from here on the blog and one from Facebook).


We had a good visit at Occidental College. Child #2, a senior in high school, is considering this college. We went on a campus tour, chatted with a counselor in the Career Development Center, chatted with Financial Aid, chatted with the water polo coach, watched a polo practice, checked out the bookstore, ate in the cafeteria with students, chatted with random students. Well, the latter was mostly me.

When do we have to make a decision? By May 1st!!! And we are not a family who makes decisions in haste. In fact, one of us is intensely indecisive and is known to revisit a decision over and over and over. Me!

Oh, the photo? The conveyor belt in the cafeteria won over Child #4's heart. She was ready to sign on the dotted line post lunch.


Our local cricket farm (where we buy crickets for our veiled chameleons) finally figured out how to get rid of the cricket virus they've been battling for months. The virus paralyzes crickets at four weeks of age.

How did they solve the problem? They switched breeds of crickets. Now they're raising crickets from Florida. This photo shows our container, along with a few quarters to give you a sense of size, of 250 5-week Floridian (love that word!) crickets. See how well we feed them--kale, apples, damp sponges for drinks of water. We're the ultimate in cricket motels!

Remember: if you want a free copy of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP, leave your name and email in the comment section. I'll have Child #4 pick a winner next Friday. She can choose two winners (one from here on the blog and one from Facebook).

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

My Town Monday: Invasion of the Sea Lions, Oceanside, CA

This past February, I wrote about selling our baby veiled chameleons to a reptile store in Oceanside. A year before that, I wrote about a great Oceanside Thai restaurant and its awesome aquarium. And in 2009, I visited the Oceanside Pier.

For today's My Town Monday post, we're headed 39 miles up the coast, back to Oceanside, CA. To investigate....(cue scary music)...

The Invasion of the Sea Lions!!!

This is a California sea lion. (Thank you google images.) Not to be confused with a harbor seal, the California sea lion, known in science-y circles as Zalophus californianus, has external ear flaps and, with their noted intelligence, often are the trained "seals" you see at zoos and aquariums.

The California sea lion is found along the Pacific Coast from Vancouver Island, Canada (Hello Homeland!) all the way down to Baja, Mexico. There are also California sea lions at the Galapagos Islands. And there used to be some in the Sea of Japan, but this group has been extinct since World War II.

More recently, though, California sea lions have invaded the Oceanside Harbor! Yes, bulls (adult males who can reach seven feet and weigh 850-1,000 pounds) and their harems (females can reach six feet and weigh 220 pounds) have taken over Oceanside Harbor and show no signs of leaving.

The natives are not amused! The sea lions leave behind smelly poop, are raucous barkers all night long and eat the live bait kept in underwater cages by fishing companies.

To complicate matters, sea lions are protected under federal law. However, it is legal to hose them down, pelt them with paint balls, and accost them with loud noises and pinwheels. Thus far, hosing them down hasn't fazed the pinnpeds in the least. Pinwheels will be tried this week. As of yet, no one has resorted to paint balls. Although mating season begins in May, at which time the bulls become more aggressive.

I'll keep you posted.

And, going totally off topic for a second, I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP will be released in paperback TOMORROW!! Woohoo!!! Please feel free to buy a baker's dozen. Or more. :) Sorry, but I have to do a bit of this promotion thing from time to time. :)

Click here for links to more My Town Monday posts. It's always fun to see what's going on in other corners of the world. Enjoy your first Monday of April!

p.s. The Oceanside California sea lions are not to be confused with the harbor seals at the La Jolla Children's Pool.

sources:

http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/marine-mammal-information/pinnipeds/california-sea-lion/

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/article_3dd4c2f7-7455-5cbe-a013-40193d346147.html

A veiled chameleon egg bites the dust ;(

Look at this sad veiled chameleon egg. It's covered in mold. I removed it from the deli dish where it was hanging out with a bunch of its friends because I don't want the mold to spread to other eggs. I set the moldy egg in its own dish and left off the lid, in the hopes of drying it out. But, I basically think it's a lost cause. :( You can add humidity if an egg/eggs are is/dry and shriveling. But we've never successfully removed mold. Still, it doesn't hurt to try.



The remaining eggs in that dish are white and plump and healthy looking. Fingers crossed they stay that way!

So, we're down to 83 eggs.

In similar news, Child #2 jumped into the pool yesterday with his cell phone in his pocket. First cell phone death of the summer.

**UPCOMING FUN AND FREE EVENT!**

This coming Monday (June 28) at 1:00, I'll be at the Rancho Santa Fe Public Library (107040 Avenida de Acacias, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067, phone: 858-756-2512).

There will be a makeup artist. There will be giveaways. There will be me, chatting. Also, I will happily sign any books you bring (or win). Should be a blast!

Where have I been?

I turned in the revisions for I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS. Today. On time. Yay. Oddly enough, my elbows are sore.

Child #4 was particularly happy. "Now you'll have more time to spend with me!" She was a little less thrilled when I brought out the math homework! And, just so that you know I'm not all work and no play, the two of us went out to dinner (the boys were all at various activities involving pools).

I've also been skipping around cyberspace, guest blogging!

Here's a fun post at the Teens Read Too Book Club. They provided some of the questions, and I, uh, tossed in a few of my own. ;) And the stuff about the parent-teacher interview when I was in kindergarten is true. Also....there's a chance to win a free copy of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP.

And here's a link to a review of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP and another chance to win a copy of the book: The Divining Wand

All in all, I'm VERY glad to have the revisions in. I'm looking forward to catching up on blog reading, book reading, the gym, and sleep. My family hopes I return to cooking, cleaning and laundry. Ha!

School Visits, MAKEUP reviews and a Contest!!

Today, I'm guest posting over at The Divining Wand about weird and wonderful questions I've been asked at school visits!

Thank you to the following blogs for lovely reviews of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP: Carrie's YA Book Shelf, Library Lounge Lizard and YA Book Central!

There's a discussion on the hardback vs the paperback covers of I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES over at Pop Culture Junkie

And there's a contest!!
There will be FOUR winners.

One Grand Prize winner will receive autographed copies of the three books in the series, I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP, I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY, and I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES, plus a tote bag and t-shirt! Three lucky runners up will win an autographed copy of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP and a t-shirt!

To enter, send an email to ISoDontDoMakeup@gmail.com
(note: no apostrophe!) with the subject line "Pick Me!" In the body of the email, include your name and email address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and email address). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on June 30. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on July 1 and notified via email. Check back here after July 6 for the list of winners!

Please feel free to repost the contest details hither and yon! ;)

BOOK RELEASE DAY!!

Yes, it's THAT day!

I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP is out!

Please say hello to Sherry and her friends if you see her. Better yet, buy her. ;) (Hey, I have to say promotional stuff like that from time to time. It's in my contract. :) )

Exciting times!!!

i so don't do makeup: book trailer and first copy

A HUGE shout-out and thank-you to the wonderful, creative, awesome BOOKWORM READERS who created this fantastic trailer for i so don't do makeup. I got an email from Bookworm with a link to the trailer on YouTube. What a great surprise! Incredible the number of photos she found of the model for Sherry! (Oh, and the link is to her blog and the super review she did of i so don't do makeup.)

And then the UPS man dropped off a package from Editor Wendy. A copy hot off the press of i so don't do makeup, festively wrapped in a bow!

A fun week filled with gifts. :)

And I can't believe i so don't do makeup will be out in ELEVEN DAYS!! Whee!!

And we have a cover!

Yes, we have a final cover for...

I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP!!

I So Don't Do Makeup--Book #3 in the Sherry Holmes Baldwin humorous middle-grade/tween mystery series will be in bookstores, May 11, 2010



And, in case you've been tossing and turning at night, worrying that you're not in the know, here you go...


I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES--Book #1, paperback version, Nov. 10, 2009

A girl. A guy. A ghost. A heist. Yikes!
Meet reluctant sleuth Sherry Holmes Baldwin!



I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY--Book #2 in the series, hardback,

in stores December 8, 2009.

(Which is practically right around the corner. Ack!)

Sherry Holmes Baldwin is baaack!! Sherry and her ghost mother team up in a new mystery involving The Ruler (Sherry's stepmom) and a stalker. It's scary. It's spooky. It's fun. Oooooo.
(And for those of you have emailed, yes, Josh is back too!)


All these books are available for pre-order.

In the U.S.: amazon and Barnes and Noble

In Canada: Chapters Indigo



And so as not to leave out any of the covers: Book #1, hardback version, is currently available all over the place.








Many thank-yous for indulging me this blatant self-promotion post. At least you know I don't do this very often. ;)

End of commercial.

odds and ends ( all good)

HUGE quadratic-formula-like congratulations to Child #3 who just finished GRADE 7. And who, a couple of weeks ago, took the high school district math test for entrance into HIGH SCHOOL HONORS GEOMETRY.

HE PASSED! So, next fall, he'll start his school day in 9th grade honors math, then return to middle school for the rest of his classes.

This is proof positive that dh's brilliant math genes totally dominated my very sorry math genes. Probably at the embryonic stage. Because all my children are better at math than their mother. Which leads me to believe that my math gene is BLANK!

Anyway, seeing your child succeed where you would've failed is...I'm not sure how to describe it, but it's an incredible, floaty feeling.




One of my sisters and her three girls are coming down this summer. My sister is fun and sensitive and interesting. Someone you want as a your BFF. And she'll be under my roof for close to two weeks. I CAN'T WAIT! I've already started stockpiling meals in my freezer so we'll have lots of time to play and still be able to feed our kids. Thank you Southwest for the great deals from Buffalo to San Diego.






Today I rewrote the first paragraph of I So Don't Do Makeup. (Waves to Editor Wendy who may or may not have been expecting this!) I read aloud the revamped paragraph to Child #2 who paused after I'd finished, then said, "Oh, that's good."

Yes, I raised his allowance.

Oh, and you know that the nanosecond I have a cover for Makeup, it's up here on the blog. The nanosecond.

So, you're all having a good summer so far, right?

I'm Baaaack!!

Hurray! Hurray! A million hurrays!

I handed in I So Don't Do Makeup on time! I love you little book, but we need a break from each other. Now, it's Editor Wendy's turn to work her magic!

My family is very very happy. They felt I was paying far too much attention to Sherry and her family and not enough to them. Ha!

I'm a creature of habit and I'm loving getting back to all my little routines.

Like the gym, which I have totally missed. And reading. My TBR pile was about to crush San Diego. I've already chosen a book for the June Book Review Club. I know what I'm posting for next week's MTM. I'm getting together with friends this weekend.

And I'm CATCHING UP on INCREDIBLY FUN chores like picking up extra rubber bands from the orthodontist for Child #3, ordering piano sheet music for Child #2, practicing multiplication facts with Child #4, messing with the solar cover for the pool, tackling mounds of laundry and dust and bills. Motherhood is not all kisses and bonding. It's hard work.

Of course, I deserve a reward or two for turning the book in on time.

My beloved sushi! This is a rainbow roll. Yum.

New sandals! Yes, DH, I heard what you said. That I'm the only person you know who can take good money and go out and spend it on ugly shoes. But, you've NEVER tried Keen. And you've never tried turquoise.

I'll be catching up on your blogs over the next couple of days. I can't wait!!!

BTW, if you received a phone text from me today calling you a poopyhead, IT WASN'T REALLY FROM ME. Child #4 was a little too quiet in the car on the way to swim team. I should've known something was up!

Missing in Action

This is sorta kinda me! I am SERIOUSLY over-extended. With writing and kids and school visits/other book events and home improvements. Yikes!

But I did want to let you know how much I've missed you all. It's lonely being this busy. I miss visiting all your blogs. I miss blogging.

Yes, we will have The Book Review Club next Wed., May 6. Reviewers can expect an email from me on Thursday (the day after tomorrow).

A quick update:

The book (I So Don't Do Makeup) is shaping up nicely. No word on the cover yet.

The home improvements are going well. I'll have some before and after shots to post soon.

The kids are doing fine. Child #3 has SEVEN water polo games this weekend! Child #2 has a swim meet. Child #1 is saving up for new music equipment. Child #4 scratched a message into our BRAND NEW cement. This is it (spelling uncorrected):
Child #4 is way cutter than Child #3!


And here's something I learned today about teens. How do your get a 15 year old son to say "I love you?"

Text him at lunch from his high school parking lot saying you have a surprise. It's a roast beef + lettuce + tomatoes + chipotle sauce Subway, Doritos and a medium coke! (I love you back, Child #2!)


I probably won't blog again until The Book Review Club next Wed. Be good. Be well. See you then!

xo

p.s. If I get any free time, I'll spend it visiting blogs, not blogging myself. That's how much I miss you!

A Cover Story

This is a true cover story story.

Once upon a time, a wonderful publisher by the name of Delacorte Press/Random House decided to change the cover for the trade paperback version of I So Don't Do Mysteries.

They looked and they looked through lots and lots of stock photos and finally found two brilliant and magic pictures of the perfect girl to represent Sherry (short for Sherlock) Holmes Baldwin.

Why two photos? One for I So Don't Do Mysteries. One for I So Don't Do Spooky.

Enter Book #3: I So Don't Do Makeup. A book who deserves a brilliant and magic cover with the same perfect girl. But, alas, there are no more stock photos of this girl.

I get an email from Editor Wendy which cautions me in upper case letters not to get my hopes up. It's highly unlikely that this perfect girl will be located. And if she even is located, the odds are slim that she'll be the right age.

Three days later, I get an email from a dad. From a dad who got a phone call from a local photographer who got a phone call from Delacorte. Yes, it was the perfect girl's dad. I'm guessing he googled I So Don't Do Mysteries or I So Don't Do Spooky or me. I'm guessing he found this blog and saw on the sidebar jpegs of the covers with the perfect girl.

Guess what? She wants to be on the cover of I So Don't Do Makeup.

Guess what else? She's the right age.

Guess what else? Last weekend, a bunch of photos were shot of the perfect girl in order to choose a brilliant and magic cover for I So Don't Do Makeup.

This is SO exciting!

p.s. I am dying to see these photos. HINT, HINT! :)

Available now!                      Coming November 2009           Coming December 2009

Writing and Linkage

Guess what I'm doing? You got it! Writing my little heart out. I'm working hard on the third Sherry (short for Sherlock) Holmes Baldwin tween mystery, I So Don't Do Makeup. While it's pretty much plotted out, there are always surprises. Plot stuff that looks like it makes sense in the outline, but doesn't on the page. Characters who decide to take matters into their own hands. Children who forget their swim gear, thus forcing their busy, focused mother to make an additional trip across town. Yes, Child, #2, I'm referring to you.

But, but, but...I didn't want you all to feel forgotten. AND I've been given a couple of very adorable awards and must link and thank and even list some obsessions. Say what?? Me? Obsessions?

Thank you Barbara Martin for this, well, fabulous award! HOWEVER, what makes you think I have ANY obsessions, let alone FIVE?!

I am so very tempted to say I have ZERO obsessions, but I sense a sharpened bolt of lightning winging its way toward me. So, I will admit that Obsession is my middle name and that I'll have a tough time limiting my list to five. But here goes....

1. The first obvious one is licorice. If you've been reading this blog for even a little while, you'll know I adore adore adore licorice. Red. Black. I adore you equally. Way, way more than chocolate. Which I don't really adore at all.

2. Disposable plastic gloves. I always have around 500 of these in a kitchen drawer because there are many things I don't like to touch. Such as, raw meat, laundry, certain cleaning supplies (Comet), onions, turkey guts, wet sponges, people. Ha! Kidding about the people. Just checking to see if you're keeping up!

3. Christmas tree ornaments. I buy a new one every year and date it. I try to find an ornament that represents something significant about the year. Some years have more than one new dated ornament because I couldn't narrow down the field.

4. Packing up the night before. I just don't sleep well if I'm not ready for the morning. I haven't managed to pass this particular obsession on to my children. Pity. It would make our mornings much smoother.

5. List making. I don't know how people navigate life without lists.

And here's an obsession I've successfully given up: letting the gas gauge dip below half. My gas light actually came on this morning!

Thank you, Barbara Martin for this very fun exercise. Although I'm little worried at how quickly I was able to type out this list! Seriously, folks, I'm reasonably normal, lots of fun and not nearly as odd as this post would suggest!

I'll take care of thank-yous for the other adorable awards in another post.

Please, please don't feel obligated, but I am curious about others' obsessions. That said, I completely understand if you don't join in (busy life, privacy issues, eating lunch). But if you do want to play, I'm nominating the following bloggers (in alpha order--oops! another obsession!) for the Your Blog is Fabulous Award:

Brian Kell of The Eyeball Afterlife
From the Desk of Bee Drunken
Gabe of Gabe's Meanderings
Maggie May of Flux Capacitor
Sara of Putting the Sara in Sarakastic

ENTER THE I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP CONTEST!

There will be FOUR winners.

One Grand Prize winner will receive autographed copies of the three books in the series, I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP, I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY, and I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES, plus a tote bag and t-shirt! Three lucky runners up will win an autographed copy of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP and a t-shirt!

To enter, send an email to ISoDontDoMakeup@gmail.com
(note: no apostrophe!) with the subject line "Pick Me!" In the body of the email, include your name and email address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and email address). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on June 30, 2010. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on July 1 and notified via email. Check back at this blog after July 6, 2010 for the list of winners!