January

I'm back again. I'd really like to post more, but it just doesn't seem to work that way! Christmas was pretty good here. I'm not a big fan of holidays, but the kids really enjoyed it and I had some time off from work to spend with them.

The best gift I received for Christmas was both one money can and can't buy. No, I'm not crazy (at least not about this LOL!). My wonderful son used money he had saved up, had my mom take him to the store, and picked out and paid for a beautiful watch for me. Yes, the watch is gorgeous and my son has great taste in jewelry. I love being able to show this watch to people. However, it is about so much more than a piece of jewelry. A 13-year-old boy picked out and paid for a watch for his mother for Christmas. He could have had my mom buy something and put his name on it or he could have picked out the watch and asked somebody else to buy it for him. No, he did it all on his own. He spent more of his money than I think he should have, but it is the thought and love that went into this gift that means so much more than the gift itself. I am so proud of my son. He truly made me feel loved and blessed.

Santa brought Aurea the Wii for Christmas and she has been on it continuosly every since. Adam got a new weight bench from Santa. I really don't see the need or desire for him to lift weights, but hey, he wanted to get fit before football season comes back around. I think he and his friend had more fun putting it together than they ever will actually using it! I finally joined the 21st century, Kevin bought me my first MP3 player for Christmas. There were more presents, but I think everyone gets the general idea.

I came back to work on Jan.5th, but it has been nasty weather ever since we got back. It has snowed this entire month. Monday we got snow that has since been followed by more snow, ice, freezing rain, and a basic state of emergency as thousands lost power and countless trees fell to the ground. School has been out all week, something that Fayette County does not do. Also, UK cancelled classes and shut down the University Wednesday, which it has not done in years. We were on a two-hour delay Tues. and Thurs. Today is finally back to a normal schedule, but the snow started back up again, so who knows what this afternoon holds. I know my road is still ice, it's awful! I will be really happy to see Spring come. Right now, I'd just be happy with temperatures climbing above the 30s!!

In other news, I got notification from Outskirts Press that my manuscript has been accepted for publication! Below is the email they sent for my acceptance:

Dear Kathy,



Thank you for submitting your book to Outskirts Press for evaluation. We are honored you have chosen us to publish your book with us. On behalf of our manuscript review team, I am pleased to report that we have accepted Multiple Sclerosis for publication. Congratulations!



The next step is to assign one of our professional Author Representatives to help you through the publishing process. You can get started today with a deposit (just $35) that is applied toward your publishing package.



Before I explain some of the options and services at Outskirts Press, I’d like to touch on our thoughts about your work. You have an interesting and timely composition. Your organization and thesis are clear, which compliments your voice to create a tangible, poignant narrative. You use this along with solid sense of dialogue to really let the reader ‘in’ on what’s important. That creates value. Overall, your work demonstrates strong writing with a dialogue that paces and develops nicely. Your writing has an air of eloquence as you write about this difficult topic of Multiple Sclerosis that is especially notable, your sincerity is obvious and I think many readers will gain valuable insight from your research and experiences watching Aunt Suzanne suffer through this disease’s progression. Your book is well written and it’s clear that you have put a good deal of thought and effort into the planning and presentation of your manuscript. I see you have included some images, so you’ll be happy to know that Outskirts Press has a graphics review team that will help review and format those images to the best print production quality possible for publication. Based on your goals, there may be extra fees involved, and your Author Representative and production team will help with those and any permissions required when the time comes.



With that being said, you are in good hands with Outskirts Press. Unlike other self-publishers, you never really do anything yourself with us. Along with your Author Representative, your book will be assigned to a production team to handle interior formatting and cover design. And after publication, you will have access to the strongest base of optional marketing services and author support in the industry. Take a peek at some of what our Author Support department is doing now: http://outskirtspress.com/marketing.php



One of the main advantages of publishing with us is that you always keep 100% of your rights, 100% control, and 100% of the profit. No other publisher out there will offer you the level of value, flexibility, and customization that we do. So, while services like editing, custom cover design and Book Reviewer Submission Service are highly recommended, they are completely optional.



In all cases, it is important to consider your goals. Do you hope to see your book featured at a local bookstore or are online sales sufficient for you? Either way, we have custom pricing plans for you to choose from, and options that can help you meet your goals, like the Retail Returns option available with our Diamond, Pearl , and Ruby packages.



Outskirts Press takes pride in offering the best of both worlds: combining the advantages of independent self-publishing with the advantages of a traditional book publishing company. And you have an invested friend to guide you along the way.



Congratulations again on your work. When you’re ready to start publishing with the help of your personal Author Representative, simply log-in to your Author Center at http://outskirtspress.com.authors.php and click on the large START PUBLISHING button for your next steps. We look forward to working with you.



Sincerely,

Manuscript Evaluation Team

www.outskirtspress.com


I'm a little nervous about the whole self-publishing aspect and have not made a final commitment one way or the other. However, I'm just really excited that someone appreciates my work and accepted it for publication!! If anyone has any advice, please let me know.

December

I can't believe it is almost Christmas! Where has this year gone? The whole month has been nothing but rain and snow, yuck! I'm ready for Spring already. Guess I'm just out of luck on that one.

December 4th was Aurea's birthday, so we had McDonald's for dinner. That child could live for the rest of her life off of nothing but chicken nuggets if I let her! That was her birthday treat. We had her party on Saturday, despite the first big snow of the season. Now Kevin's car broke down the week before so keep in mind we had this car (Kia) less than a week and still had dealer tags when getting ready for the birthday party. We were driving on a the next street up from our house and waiting at a red light to turn left. A Ford F150 fishtailed in the rear side of our car! Thankfully, nobody was hurt and it only scuffed the car (amazingly), but Kevin was really upset about the car. Not to mention it set us back. The police merely said to get each other's information and go on since nobody was hurt and there were wrecks everywhere.

We managed to get the cake picked up and to get to the birthday party with no further issues. The party was at Gattitown and almost everyone showed up, despite the snow and ice. I was impressed. My parents even drove up for the party. Aurea loved her Hannah Montana cake and all of the presents. Then, the kids split up throughout the game room and proceeded to be wild and crazy. Unlike last year, Aurea actually got on the bumper cars this time and had a ball. It was fun, but when we finally got home, Kevin and I curled up on the couch (after undoing a million twist ties) and Aurea went upstairs to play.

Aurea started Upward Cheerleading the following week. She is really excited. We got the uniforms at practice Tuesday night and now all she wants to do is dance around the house in her uniform practicing! It's really cute though.

Adam starts indoor soccer at the YMCA next month. I'm not really sure why he wants to play since he's never really liked soccer, but if it's something to try and he wants to do something different, go for it.

I had 3 of my wisdom teeth pulled on Friday. One was just pulled, the other two were extracted and then pulled. I'm still sore and ready for the pain to go away. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday, maybe I can rest and finally feel better this weekend.

I'm almost done Christmas shopping, hopefully I can finish this weekend. I hope everyone else is done or almost done as well. If not, be careful, it's chaotic out there!

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine went well, although very unusual. Normally, I drive back to Glasgow and have dinner at my grandmother's home with the whole extended family. Then, we have a full day and get all tired and have to drive back. I didn't do that this year.

Adam wanted to have Thanksgiving with the whole extended bunch, so he got to do so. Aurea and I stayed in Lexington and had Thanksgiving dinner with Kevin's family instead. It was much quieter than I'm used to. There were only seven of us, whereas I'm used to a house full of noise and chaos and many more people. Also, there was no football game or anything I'm used to on Thanksgiving.

This is not to say these are bad things, they are merely different than I'm used to on this holiday. We still had a great meal and everyone was really nice.

I picked Adam up on Friday morning and brought him to Lexington. We didn't do much for the weekend - I'm not a Black Friday kind of person, but we had a nice weekend anyway. He had a friend stay over Saturday night and let me tell you, two 13-year-old boys can demolish a chocolate cake and eat everything in sight!

I was glad to have four days off from work and to be able to spend time with the kids. I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving also.

I have an editor

I mentioned before that I was working on a book about Multiple Sclerosis that has been several years in the making. I finally reached a point where I was ready for an editor. The good news, I found one! Thank you Damama for your help, your links and advice truly paid off. I now have an editor and she sent my first round of edits to me yesterday. Some of them are simple clarifications and/or revisions and some will entail some more work. Regardless, this dream of mine is finally coming to light. I am extremely excited about how things are coming together. A couple more rounds of editing and I'll be ready to submit to a publisher. If anyone has any suggestions on this other than randomly sending my manuscript to every publisher in the country, it would be greatly appreciated. Either way, I am really happy and glad to see my hard work is finally paying off. Thank you.

My job

I finally landed a job I love in September. I am now working at the University of Kentucky in the Undergraduate Education research department. My supervisor is a wonderful woman who is not only easy to get along with, but also understanding about family life. She is willing to work with me on meetings and appointments during the day. Although my position is temporary, it is guaranteed until Dec. 2009. Hopefully, it will become permanent in July when the new Fiscal budget comes out and the department grant is renewed. If not, I will be eligible for other positions within the university. Regardless, I finally have a gym membership where I take Yogilates, dental insurance (my wisdom teeth come out Dec. 12) and vision insurance (I get glasses next week). I hope to stay here for years to come and I am finally able to be proactive about my health. Now just to get permanent so I can have health insurance!

On a personal note, Adam turned 13 on Halloween! I am now officially the mother of a teenager! He acted like one before then, but now it's official. We went haunted housing to Nightmare Haunted House, Trail of Terror, and Terror on Tates Creek. The first and last were great, the middle was a huge waste of time and money. Regardless, we had a blast. Nov. 1st I threw him a surprise party at the house with an Ohio State theme (his favorite football team). Three of his friends stayed the night and they had a great time playing football and XBOX 360.

Aurea is getting ready to turn 7. Hopefully, I can update again before her birthday, but we are having her party on Dec. 6th. She is really excited about the party. She is also on the academic team at school and starting Upward Cheerleading in December.

We have had some family issues since moving back, but I won't get into my dysfunctional family issues. All-in-all, we are doing well. I love my job and Lexington and the kids are doing great.

What is wrong with this world?

I went to pick Aurea up from school on Thursday as usual. No big deal, until I pulled into the parking lot and saw several police cruisers and five or so policemen standing at the front of the building.

Aurea got in the car and told me the school was on lockdown because the police were "chasing the bad boy." She is 6-years-old, so that is really all I got from her. The note home from the school explained it a little better, but here is the newspaper article on it (I've taken out the names of the schools and stuff though).





Posted on Thu, Sep. 25, 2008

Two (local) schools sent letters home with students Thursday following separate incidents: a brief lockdown after fourth-graders allegedly saw a man with a weapon and a high school student's "personal medical emergency."


______ Elementary School was placed on lockdown for about 45 minutes Thursday after some fourth-grade students reported seeing a man with a weapon as they were going inside after afternoon recess, according to a news release.


School district officials and (local) police determined the facility was safe after a search of the building and surrounding grounds. An investigation continues.


"We are very proud of the students who did the right thing by alerting adults to the situation and we want to remind our kids that anytime they have any safety concerns they should tell an adult immediately," said a news release from the school district.


Meanwhile, at ____________ High School, an ambulance was called after a student experienced a "personal medical emergency" Thursday morning.


The district said privacy laws prevent them from sharing more details, but said rumors that the students was a victim of violence or criminal activity are untrue.


Okay, the kids did the right thing by reporting the adult with the weapon. I'm also glad the school was put on lockdown so they could check for danger. However, the police stayed the rest of the day, well past 45 minutes to ensure safety. I'm also glad they were being cautious. What bothers me is that a man with a weapon would even be near an elementary school in the first place! It also bothers me that the school didn't call parents.

Some of my friends think I'm overreacting and can't expect the school to call every single parent in this type of situation, especially when no danger was found. That might be true, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Especially the parts about no danger found yet the investigation continues. What does that mean? Does that mean the man existed but left before being apprehended and could come back? The kids were out Friday for records day so should I worry about a repeat incident on Monday? Should I be freaking out or am I overreacting?

A similiar incident happened at an elementary school in Pensecola, FL on Wed. A high school boy was arrested in Oklahoma City on Tues. for bringing a gun to school.

Nobody seems to have these answers. I just know I don't like the situation and it scares me to pull up to my daughter's school and find cops everywhere!

The world is insane and it is extremely scary. Sorry if I'm overprotective, but I think I have reason to be. Something is seriously wrong with the world today.

I'm back

Obviously, it has been quite some time since I last updated my blog. I have actually been reading the blogs of my friends and fellow bloggers, I just have not had time to respond to each one. I have been keeping up though! I moved back to Lexington in July and I've been using the internet at the library ever since. Unfortunately, the library has time limits so I have not posted or responded like I wanted. I've had way too much to do in a very short time.

We finally got internet back at home on Friday, my 30th birthday! OMG I cannot believe I turned 30, it does not even seem possible. Kevin made it a very romantic birthday though. I got lots of new clothes so I had a new outfit to wear out. Then, we went to Red Lobster for dinner where I received a gold and diamond necklace, it is absolutely beautiful! Then, he took me to Comedy Off Broadway. I love comedy clubs, I laughed until I cried! Then, yesterday I got a manicure and pedicure! I certainly got spoiled this weekend. It makes getting older a little more bearable!!

The kids are doing great. Adam is almost 13 and talks about football constantly. His favorite team (besides his school of course) is Ohio State. Aurea is 6 and loves first grade. She is back at the school where she started with her old friends. Her best friend lives across the street now so I feel like I have two daughters! It's great though because they are always playing with each other and being occupied.

I'm enjoying being back in Lexington and having a fresh start. I miss talking to everyone and hopefully I'll be able to update more often now. Talk to everyone soon.