Deal, or No Deal?



Got word from a publisher. I"ll fill everyone in on that soon. If and when we get a book deal going, we will keep everyone posted

"Wrestling The ABCs"

A Children's Picture Book for Wrestling Fans of All Ages
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Lazy Weekend


This past weekend was so relaxing. Izzy didn't have any games. The boys (well just Logan) had a meet Saturday morning out at Kensington, and after that we went out to Deidre's to visit with the cousins. Rem and Izzy decided to sleep over there, Logan had plans with a friend for the evening so he went back home with me. Sunday was Tom's Duathlon. He did great. He is getting so fit -it's very impressive. After the Duathlon I had a wedding shower to go to for one of our wrestlers who is getting married in December. I hate showers. Well, I sort of like baby showers, but that's it. After the shower Deidre brought Rem and Izzy home and that pretty much took care of the weekend.

I got asked to be the high school PTA President. I couldn't say no to that FAST ENOUGH! Doing the Reflections for Webster is more than enough PTA involvement for me thank you very much.

Speaking of PTA Reflections, our first workshop at Webster went very well. Two of my writers seem very promising. Gifted little rascals some of these kids.

Speaking of Webster, Izzy is so loved at Webster. All the teachers fight to have her help them after school. In fact, I never even have to pick her up. She usually stays with the teachers until at least 4:00, and then they bring her home. Plus, they all love Chewy and Lulu and like to visit with them when they bring Izzy home. It's fun being such a small community. We know every principal, most the teachers, and tons of the kids. I love it. Everywhere we go we see kids or someone that knows us. Very friendly and close-knit here. Even if I can't ever get to sleep because of our noisy neighbors, the good far outweighs the bad.

Rem had his bone scan Tuesday, and we're still waiting to hear from the doctor. I'm pretty sure it's fractured though, because as his skeletal system was appearing on the computer screen, I saw a large white area on his femur, and when Rem had a bone scan in 2005 (which also revealed a fracture), I saw the same type of image under his knee where the fracture was. So now as far as I'm concerned, it's just a matter of waiting for the doctor to confirm what I am pretty confident I already know. So he's been off of it for almost two weeks now.

Logan came home with some of his cross country friends after practice yesterday, which was nice. It was perfect timing for them too, because I had just cooked a big turkey breast with roasted potatoes, corn, and some apple crumpets with whip cream for dessert. High school boys can eat A LOT!
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The Waiting Game



I hate waiting! The two publishers that took copies of my "I Wanna Be..." series manuscripts at the conference I attended last month told me it could be weeks, or MONTHS before they get back to me regarding any interest. The one gal really seemed to like the idea that my ideas were directly generated from the students I work with everyday. She thinks that could make a bigger impact on marketability. The two manuscripts they took away with them were "I Wanna Be A Baseball Player", and "I Wanna Be A Rock Star". In progress are: "I Wanna Be The President", "I Wanna Be A Teacher", and "I Wanna Be An Artist". This is just the beginning! These kids are dumping ideas in my lap left and right! Every day I get a new idea. I simply have to determine which ones seem to be more popular with the kids, and Whammo!, new manuscript. It's fun, even if it goes nowhere. The hard part is trying to focus on just one at a time. I'm a tad ADD, and ideas are floating around in my head like crazy!

In regards to our ABC book, Tom and I are currently working an an activity book to market with the picture book. We have features such as: crossword puzzles, word searches, fill in the blanks, unscramble the words, what's missing in this picture, coloring pages, etc. All of the activities will in some way connect to the picture book, and will feature a "freebie" to win when the book is completed and turned in to Davids Gold Medal Sports!

Tom also started working on a Wrestling 1,2,3 book last week. I'm not so sure that one would sell as good at tournaments though. It seems like it would be more appropriate for the very young set, and we don't get a ton of kids in that age group at our tournaments. Maybe we can tweak it and turn it into more of a math type picture book. We'll see. That is at the bottom of my priority list right now.
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Do The Mash...The Monster Mash!!



Most of you should be getting these tomorrow or Saturday at the latest (I popped them in the mail today). Hope to see everyone there! We've yet to have a Halloween without hosting some sort or party. This year plans to be no exception. After the party, all the kids that want to spend the night are going over to Grandma Dodd's, and all the adults that want to party are welcome to stay here with us. We will be sending out separate "adult" invites in a day or so. And sorry grown ups, costumes ARE required. Tom and I are going to be "All That" (me), "And A Bag Of Chips" (tom). Watch for your invites!
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Kids Can Drive You NUTS!!!



Izzy's enjoying band (probably because she gets out of class!), although it was a struggle to convince her that my trumpet from when I was in band is just as good as any that she could rent. Rem and Logan both played it in 6th grade. Rem switched over to baritone at the junior high, and then totally abandoned band. Logan never did have any interest (like Izzy, he probably only joined in 6th grade to get out of class). Anyway, she's the most mule-headed child ever, and was convinced my trumpet was "no good". So begrudgingly, she took it to school last week or so for the band teacher to inspect (Rem had already lubed and adjusted the valves for her). He gave it the green light, so she's fine with it now. It always takes someone other than MOM to convince that girl. She is loving it though. Her and the little boy across the street is trumpet too, so they sit out front on the lawn and practice together. It's soooo cute! Sounds pretty darn good too.

Izzy's team beat Vardar Friday, so she was pretty excited about that. They had tied them the weekend before. Logan's time was pretty good Saturday (22min. 04 seconds). His best time this year has been 21 min. 35 seconds. Rem didn't run on Saturday, the coach thought he should rest his leg more (it still hurts him to walk on it even). We got a referral to the orthopaedic surgeon, and is going for a bone scan on Friday the 5th.

Tom and the A.D. at the high school have been pretty busy organizing the Hazel Park Michigan Cities 5K. It should be a blast. A lot of elementary schools have put together teams of students to run. Hazel Park has a team together (izzy is going to run, or Logan, for the "Under 19" age group, since Rem's leg is still bad). I got one of our Michigan State interns to run in the "20 year old" age group. Tom's running the 40 year old age group.

Dad Davids had his procedure and is doing well. That is one part of getting old that I am not looking forward to. I really don't mind most aspects of the aging process. I feel that all our wrinkles and grey hair are earned. Not everybody is fortunate enough to grow old, so I'm grateful for that. But...the medical invasion of my body....well, I'm going to stall on most of those as long as possible. Tom and I both live and eat very healthy so we're doing pretty good. Neither of us takes any medications (except when Tom gets a sinus infection), so..so far, so good! We both still work out regularly (me 5 miles a day, Tom triathlon training almost everyday). So, that hopefully will help fend off physical ailments. And as soon as the kids all leave, our mental health will be on the mend! (ha, ha). But seriously, kids can drive you nuts!
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