Magical Monday

What's Jack up to? Jack's had a good weekend. He got to chill on the 4th of July. All was pretty quiet in our neighborhood on the 4th. Most of the action was the 3rd and Jack hung in the basement with toys and treats where he wasn't bothered much by the loud noise.

I hope you all had a magical weekend filled with good food, fun and fireworks and when I say fireworks I mean only in the best way. Not in the crazy life kind of way. LOL.

The family and I decided to brave the crowds and head downtown to see the Macy's fireworks spectacular. Something everyone should do at least once. This year it was held on the Hudson River instead of the East side. As you can see there were people galore but the big show made it well worth wading through the crowds. Just amazing!

I hope you have a Magical Monday!

Best,

Kwana

Happy Independence Day!

Do it up in style!

Best,

Kwana

Sunshower

Happy Friday!


I'm still wondering if the rain will ever stop here in the NYC. Whenever we get a bit of sun it's gone in a flash on a Boom of thunder. Yesterday the storms just kept on coming even with the sun. I had to grab my camera and take a few pics of the Sunshower.









Oh and please enjoy the mood music.






Have a great 4th of July weekend! Don't eat too much BBQ. I'm sure I will.





Best,
Kwana

Tweetup

What's Jack up to? Just chilling on his couch perch as I type this. He's had a cool and lazy day, then a good night and is in no mood to let it go. I understand Jack.

So yesterday I attended my first tweetup hosted hosted by @smartbitches. You remember Sara Wendall from her Beyond Heaving Bosoms guest post here.

"What's a tweetup?" I hear you asking. Well a tweetup is a sort of meet up with the call going out over Twitter.

So Sara sent out the tweet: Come to the Smart Bitches Tweetup tonight @ Irish Rogue @ 530pm

And I thought about it as I was doing afternoon errands of grocery shopping. I really wanted to head downtown to meet up with friends for a quick drink and some book gab. Really.

So after much back and forth in my mind I was on the train, headed downtown and then...

Tweeting up! It was a perfect evening to sit outside and people watch in the city.

See Twitter can be fun!

Photo thanks to Sara. Check out co- Bosom author Candy Tan in front looking

so cute in stripes!

Best,

Kwana

DIY- Why!

What's Jack up to? Well Mr. Cutie got me a a book contest win on Twitter yesterday. I tweeted this picture of him and won a Dean Koontz book from agent Colleen Lindsay. Go Jackster! I'm sure it was the tail wag that did it.

So I tackled the screen door yesterday. Man that thing took waaaayyy too much time and sweat.

Here's Jack doing his version of help. Check out the crazy eyes. Nope, he's nothing like the handy dog from yesterday's post. I sure could have used that dog.

Of course after I got the old piece of screen out and the plastic tubing from that skinny little channel. Eek. (thanks needle nose pliers) It took an extra trip to the hardware store because the tubing I had was to thick to go back in. Ugh!

And still it was too hard to put the tubing back in. Even when it was thinner. Ugh, again.

Joe our lovely hardware guy gave me the ol' head shake on my second trip. It would have been so much easier if I could have just taken the door off and brought it over for him to fix. But no. That wasn't happening.

So after much mumbling and swearing under my breath, I finally kinda sorta got it in. At least good enough to keep the bugs out for now. Look closely, that's mesh!

So, Until I feel like a do over, it's gonna have be good enough. I'm tired and my poor hands can't take it. I'm much better with a paint brush.

There's a reason they pay folks to do these things. But end the end total cost for the job: $9.00. Of course now I need a manicure so there's the trade off.

Best,

Kwana

Quit Bugging Me!

I need to get my handyman on and bad. My darn screen on my back door is all a tatters, letting in all sorts of flying bugs and I’m just a magnet for them. I just know it's because I'm so sweet.

It’s bad enough that I have 2 angry looking welts on my shoulder where I was bitten my something (I think a bee) while doing planting over the weekend. I don’t need a bunch more mosquito bites to go along with them.

Eek. I’m getting all itchy just thinking about it and I'm highly allergic to the world.

Wish me luck. I’m sure Jack won’t be nearly as helpful as the dog in this pic. How funny is that?

Best,
Kwana

Howdy Monday

What's Jack up to? Right now he's sitting next to me on the couch ever so sweetly. I swear you'd never believe he's same rowdy, heck raising, chair knocking over, neighborhood terrorizing little nut job that kept me going mad this weekend. I guess it's moments like this that keep me loving him.

So how was your weekend?

We still had some surprise pop-up storms in New York, but isn't that just like life?

Full of pop-up storms. And you're forever dodging the raindrops or caught without your umbrella. Well,hopefully with the official start of summer the weather will get a little calmer so we can all breathe easy and relax a bit.

Happy Monday!

best,

Kwana

Memorials

Yesterday when the family was going to pick Nana up to bring her back for a visit we decided to drive by the Apollo theater to see the marquee with the the memorial to Michael Jackson. We had heard on the news about all the folks who had come gathered there as soon as the news of Michael's death got out. Well, it didn't seem that the days break slowed the tide.





There was still many people gathered and music being played. Like everyone, when I first heard I was shocked and saddened. Like I said yesterday, he was my first crush. What I was not prepared for was how upset my DD would be over the news. I mean she's a whole generation behind me. How can this be? Well, she was almost inconsolable. My good friend, her God mother, who was also a HUGE fan eventually got her smiling with stories of how the two of us once dressed in our Thriller outfits to go out to the movies and we thought we were soooo cool. I had not shared that with the DD:)



In the end the DD and I got out of the car as my DH double parked. We signed the makeshift memorial cardboard to say our own goodbyes and thanks to Michael for giving us music and memories that touched both our hearts.



Best,
Kwana

Double Shot

Yesterday came with a double shot of sadness with the loss of two of my childhood icons.

First came Farrah with her bright and beautiful smile gone forever.



Then out of left field the shocking news of the death of Michael Jackson. My very first childhood crush.



The lesson here: Love and appreciate all that you love while you have them.

Best,
Kwana

Crying in Argentina

I would have probably written about something else today, but this story stopped me in and tracks and saved me from thinking of a topic so, um, thanks? Not.

It's just too much. And he's running an entire State while just running off without a word and on Father's Day weekend no less. And we wonder why we're all in a hot mess. Cut to me shaking my head.

One of the most interesting things I found about this video of South Carolina Gov. Republican Mark Sanford confessing to his affair and subsequent strange disappearing act was the Dow index in the corner. Just watch the DOW. Very telling.



Best,
Kwana

Pins and Needles

What's Jack up to? Jack is being Jack just amped up a notch with the kids on high level with it being the end of the school year. So he's extra snappy since they are snapping at him. All this is making for a snippy snappy house. Eeeee.

I have to say like Jack I'm a little on pins a needles. Trying to get used to it being the end of the school year and still on worry alert as I wait to see how the school year will end. This has the mind racing with plans for the summer and how that will all wash out. Which then brings me into the Fall. Yep, that's me. Summer hasn't started and I'm already into the Fall.

I really must work on living in the moment but I've never been a particularly good at that. I'm always five steps ahead in my mind with all the scenarios that go with it.

I admire those that don't do this. Those that can turn a problem over in their mind ponder it then let it go even if it's not resolved or can't be. I know there is a secret to peace somewhere in there. But you have to be able to do it authentically and until then... I'll be on pins and needles.

Best,

Kwana

Image:

Madame Bovary: "Emma"John Archibald Austen (British, Kent 1886 - 1948 Kent)Black ink over graphite; sheet: 4 3/8 x 4 3/8 in. (11.1 x 11.1 cm)

Ignorance=Bliss

The other morning I woke up with one thought on my mind. “I wish I had a straight contemporary romance novel.”

Seriously, these were the words that entered my mind as I opened my eyes. Strange right? Now none of my three ideas which I’m still very excited about and talked about is as a straight contemporary. But I know where this came from. I have just finished reading Lisa Kleypas’ Smooth Talking Stranger and she’s one smooth writer. You seem to pick up her books, you get involved with the characters, you read it and ‘poof’ it’s done. I love it.

Then it came to me, I did have a contemporary romance, my very first book from waaaay back when.

Now I know this book is a hot mess and I do mean a hotttt mess. But I went to the old computer and after some frantic searching I found it along with a very embarrassing query letter. (I can't belive I sent that hot mess out eek!) The embarrassing thing about this query is this is before I joined RWA and had done all my reading and learning about queries so it’s really long with no hook to speak of. The crazy thing about it is in its longness I found that I wrote the shortest synopsis of my life when I didn’t know anything about writing a synopsis at all. Nowadays my goal is to write a short synopsis and I’m having the hardest time doing that. Getting anywhere near 5 pages is torture and suddenly there it was, right before my eyes, written by me, a 1 ½ page synopsis.

Amazing!

Ignorance is Bliss in some ways I guess.

Best,

Kwana

Manic Monday

What's Jack up to? Jack is really going stir crazy with all the rain. You get a glimpse of sun then in a flash it gone replaced by torrents or rain that seem like they'll never stop. Sadly, the forecast in not so hot for the next few days. Sorry, Jack I'm over it too.

Yep, It's another Manic Monday. Man, they come around so fast. We're in the last week of school here in NY. The last bit of finals for the Dear Twins, then I hope for a bit of the wildness to die down. We'll see. Does it ever really? Nope. In the meantime I'm cracking that whip and lacing up my skates.



What's on tap for your week?

Best,
Kwana

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Dear DH.

We love you way more than we say and you deserve.

You are a blessing to me and the twins who are teens and so far from these pictures now that I fear they hardly ever give you the thanks anymore for the:

hard work,

early mornings,

late nights,

full fridge,

car rides,

sideline cheers,

sleepless nights,

reprimands,

punishments,

long talks,

short walks,

quick answers,

BBQ,

take out,

warm beds,

cool air,

mall runs

and countless other things

but most of all

for the...

LOVE.

Love Always,

Kwana,

K & W

oh and Jack too your BFF!

Hug A Dad Today!