Evil Genius~

We have this “spare” room. You know the room. You’ve all got one. Don’t try to deny it. It’s that sinister place that holds all the junk you aren’t quite sure what to do with, but can’t seem to find the time to get rid of.

Some people are open with this, brazenly calling it the “JUNK” room. Not me. It’s our “Spare” room, soon to be office. Anyway, our room has several bags of clothes that no longer fit the kids as well as their toy boxes. The problem is, at some point, the kids got into all the bags and all the toys so now you can’t even tell there’s a floor in there.

I’ve been meaning to get in there and clean up so I can donate the clothes and weed out some of the toys. It’s just that other things have been more important and I had the added enabler of being able to close the door. You know, the whole “out of sight, out of mind” thing?

But, I really wanted to write today. So, I was happily going to ignore the spare room yet again. Then, the kids got up and started climbing all over Keith, who was still trying to sleep (it was pretty early), and I decided they needed something to occupy their time.

I called them over. “Hey! You two want to do something fun?”

Jonas and Amelia both nod their heads.

“Great! This is going to be exciting. It’s going to help you find toys you’ve forgotten about. It’ll be like getting new ones!”

Jonas turns to his sister, “We’re gonna find our old toys, Amelia!”

I give them a big smile. “Yep. Here’s what you need to do. Go into the spare room and pick up the clothes...but ONLY the clothes. Put them in the bags and stack them in the corner. You know what will happen then?”

Amelia and Jonas look at me with wide, wonder-filled eyes.

“You’ll be able to see all the toys! I bet you find a bunch of stuff you’ve been missing.”

Jonas tugs at Amelia’s arm. “Let’s go do it, Amelia!”

They run off and my husband looks at me with this kind of fearful shock. “That’s evil genius.”

I just smile.

He shakes his head, brows furrowing. “Kind of makes me wonder what you’ve gotten me to do.”

*Snerk*

Tell me about your “Spare” room. Got grand plans for it once you’ve sorted through all the clutter? Oh! How about evil genius? Got any sinister manipulations you can share? Enquiring minds want to know!

~ Sandy :-)

*September 29, 2007 at Sandra's Goings On - Guest Blogger, Frankie Y. Bailey ~ You Should Have Died on Monday

WHAT is he doing?!

Ok, so I chaperoned my daughter's kindergarten field trip to a kiddy amusement park yesterday. On the one hand, it's a cool place. All the rides are meant for young kids. There were a few I had to go on with them...the tilt-a-spew and this one that looked innocuous enough until you got ON it! Sheesh. Needless to say, ain't as young as I used to be. Talk about queasy city! Blech.

Luckily, there was a kindergarten teacher who seemed to be into masochism and happily took my daughter and her little friend back on the rides. Cause, let me tell you, when Amelia wanted to go right back on the tilt-a-spew, I thought I was going to. Spew, that is. Her teacher took them and I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to calm my stomach.

Mind you, this weak stomach does not extend to super fast roller coasters. Those, I love. It's the spin-your-innards-out-your-ears rides I can't take. (Remind me to tell you about the time my dad and I were forgotten on the tilt-a-whirl while the minimum-wage lackey argued with his girlfriend...That's how I came to dub that ride the tilt-a-spew. Trust me, 10 agonizing minutes on one of those things and...well, you get the picture.)

Now, while Amelia and her classmates were entertaining themselves on the rides, I began to notice the...er, statues. If I said they were odd, I'd be understating it. Definitely creepy. And, of course, I took pictures! *bg* These pictures have an entertainment factor all their own. So, I think I'm going to start a little tradition with them.

Each week, I'm going to post one and open the floor for discussion. Hmmmm, the more I think about it, the more I like it. So, without further ado, here is the first statue that caught my eye.




Any clues as to what he's doing? Or, is it a girl??? Maybe SHE is hiding her...you know?

Sandy ;-)

*June 30, 2007 at Sandra's Goings On - Guest Blogger, Elisa Adams ~ Secrets Volume 19: Timeless Passions

Knocked Up (The movie, NOT ME!)

So, Keith and I were kidless last night and he suggests catching a movie. His choice? Knocked Up. Ummm, remember how I confessed my crush on Agent Seeley Booth? Well, Katherine Heigl is one of Keith’s many crushes. I have to admit, the girl is beautiful. And, she can act! Knocked Up was very entertaining. In fact, I laughed my ass off! And, so did everyone else in the theater.

This was a dialogue driven movie. I love those. And, its R rating was VERY well deserved. Do not take young children to see this movie. I repeat, DO NOT take young children to see this movie. However, do take yourselves. If you want to laugh and be grossed out and see a movie with a nice message. Shocking, I know. But, this movie really did have a sweetness about it that was well balanced with the raunchy—Oh! Was it raunchy!—humor.

All in all, I’d give this movie an A. It was very satisfying and real. The problems faced, the growth of the characters, the witty—and sometimes not—dialogue, all made this movie experience fantastic. I’d love to watch it again.

WARNING!!!! If you don’t like lots—and I mean LOTS—of swearing and bad behavior (drugs and such), don’t go to this movie. But, if you liked movies like the 40 Year-Old Virgin, and Something about Mary, or Dazed and Confused, I think you’ll enjoy this one. Just be warned, this movie is not for the faint of heart, or sensibilities. It will offend! But, it’ll make you laugh too.

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Sandy :-)

*June 30, 2007 at Sandra's Goings On - Guest Blogger, Elisa Adams ~ Secrets Volume 19: Timeless Passions

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Hmmmm, relaxing...

The cat pooped on my bedroom carpet...Amelia wouldn't go down to help with my breakfast the first 3 times Keith and Jonas called her to do so and when she finally did get down there, she threw a crying fit because the eggs were already done! ROFL! I told her she should have listened the first 3 times they called her. People aren't just going to sit around waiting on her.

On the good side, Amelia and Jonas came up with scrambled eggs, an English Muffin, a glass of milk (which I can't stand to drink. The only milk I ever get is in my cereal or coffee. LOL), and a small vase with three carnations. I am a very lucky Mama.

Keith got me an MP3 player that also acts like a jump drive with 2 gigs of memory and room for an external memory card. It ROCKS!!!!! He even loaded some of my favorite Celtic music on it. And!!!! He is entertaining the kids so I can get a little done on Andromeda’s Tear before we head to his parent's house for a special lunch.

Does anyone have some special/funny/crazy Mother’s Day stories to share? They don’t have to be about this particular Mother’s Day.

Sandy :-)

*May 26, 2007 at Sandra's Goings On - Guest Blogger, Tawny Weber ~ Double Dare

Where I like to hang out in the Great Blogosphere

Wow! This has been a busy week. I really wanted to get this post up on Wednesday, but the next thing I knew, it was already Saturday. (Note to self, look at calendar once in a while.)

I recently had a bout of temporary insanity and submitted my query letter for Andromeda’s Tear to Evil Editor for ridicu—er, constructive criticism. Right now, there are 9 queries ahead of me in the queue. He usually critiques one every business day, so I figure I’ve got close to two weeks before I really need to go into full neuroticism. In the mean time, Evil Editor has some great industry information and advice to share. If you are an aspiring writer, I suggest you head on over to see what he has to say.

Along the same lines, I’ve recently joined a new social networking community at Clary Novels. I really think this up-and-coming resource is going to benefit a lot of artists, not just writers. It’s free. What are you waiting for? Join. Now. *bg*

Now, here is a fun one. No writing advice. No sales pitches. Just plain old caveman fun. I make it a point to visit OGER & the Primitive Thoughts of the Modern day Caveman at least once a day. Oger, you are so much fun!

And, finally, but by no means last, Jestertunes is an excellent, well-written blog. Jester is entertaining and always has something worth reading. Head on over and read some of his past posts. You won’t be disappointed.

So, how about you? What sites do you visit on a regular basis? Share them with the rest of us.

Sandy :-)

*March 31, 2007 at Sandra's Goings On - Guest Blogger, Anna Campbell - Claiming the Courtesan

Gah!

Ok, so I’m out of town for my job. Last night, I had to stay at a different hotel because the one I normally stay at was booked. First, you need to know it is FREEZING cold where I am. I think it might have been 20 below yesterday and that isn’t even exaggerating. Brrrrrrr! Anyway, I get to my room and the first thing I notice is it is sweltering in there. An odd thing to notice, since just seconds before, I didn’t think I’d ever feel warm again. But, I was soooo wrong! It felt like freaking Hades. And, if I wasn’t careful, my skin just might melt off.

But, wait! That isn’t even the worst part. Oh, no, my friends. Not by a long shot. You see, the hell unit producing this inferno kept cycling on and off EVERY FREAKING 8 MINUTES OR SO!!!!!!! And it was loud, people. Very, very loud. I tried adjusting the temperature and changing it from the auto setting. Nothing worked. So, in desperation, I turned the thing off. An hour later, it was chilly. An other hour and it was down right nippy. I contemplated grabbing the blankets from the other bed, but I had this vision of me, all blue, buried under a huge pile of bedding. So, I did the only thing I could do. I turned the hell unit back on.

Ten minutes later, I was in a sauna again. And, of course, the thing started to cycle on and off. Again. I blocked it out of my head and went to bed. But, it never got better, only hotter. Sigh
Then, today, I checked out and was able to book at my regular hotel. Again, it is FREEZING out. Painfully cold. I wanted to cry just getting from my car to the lobby with all my bags, but I was afraid my tears would freeze to my face. So, I check in and they give me my warm complimentary cookie (I did say I like this hotel, right?).

So, off I go, luggage, both laptops, keys, hotel paperwork, and my warm, chocolate chip cookie in hand. My paperwork says room 508 so I trudge to the elevator, maneuver my way in then out and locate room 508. But, my key doesn’t work. I try many times. Nothing. I reread the paperwork. Clearly written on the top, it says room 508. I try the key again. Nothing. I look at the paperwork again. I so don’t want to have to take all my shtuff back down to the lobby so I open the paperwork again and notice the inside says room 520. Ok, I can handle this. I take my luggage, two laptops, keys, hotel paperwork, and my cool chocolate chip cookie and trudge to the other end of the fifth floor.

Ah ha! Room 520. I stick my key in, it turns green, I turn the handle. Nothing. Nada. Zip. I do this about 5 more times while balancing my luggage, two laptops, keys, hotel paperwork, and cold chocolate chip cookie. Finally, I set everything down and try one last time, because, people, at this point I was starting to get a little frustrated. You know? So, I put the key in, it turns green and voi la! The door opens. So I wedge it open with my luggage and bend over to pick up my two laptops, keys, hotel paperwork, and—the freaking cookie slides right out of its little bag and onto the FLOOR!!!!! I might have sworn here. I can’t remember past the loud rushing in my ears. I might have gone cross eyed too, because things got a bit blurry for a second there. But, hey, I got kids. They pick stuff up off the floor all the time and eat it. Five second rule and all. They haven’t keeled over yet. So, I grab my cold, dusty chocolate chip cookie and, damn it, I eat it! And it was GOOD!

So, that was my two days out of town. I’m glad I’m coming home tomorrow.

Anybody got any stories to share? You know I love it when you comment. *BG*

Sandy :-)

PS
Ummm, I forgot to mention I also ran out of gas on the thruway yesterday. But, that's a whole other story.

~ That's My Husband ~

Some of you may have already noticed, www.sandra.barkevich.com no longer points to my blog. As I’ve planned from the very beginning, it now points to my author website, which has a link to my blog (www.sandra.barkevich.com/blog). Of course, convincing my husband to create my site was another story all together. So, in the mean time, I used my author URL for my blog.

Now, after much begging and cajoling, my husband has out done himself once again. From highly emotional photo slide shows, to incredible photography (He took my author shot right in our front yard) to the website of my dreams. This husband of mine never ceases to amaze and delight. Thank you, Keith. Words cannot express the love and admiration I hold for you.

Pssst…to all my blog readers, Keith loves to have his ego stroked (uhhh, get your minds out of the gutter, people. I tend to save the erotic comments for my writing. You’re gonna have to wait until I’m published to get a taste of that. *BG*) if you peek around the new site, please leave a comment for him here. Thanks!

In other news…

I don’t know if you are familiar with Karin Tabke’s 1st Line Contest. She ran one last year, which turned out to be THE most addictive and exciting writing contest I have ever had the pleasure of participating in. I made it all the way to round 7 of 10 total rounds. And, let me tell you, the competition was fierce.

Well, January 15, 2007 marked the entry deadline for this year’s contest and I made the first cut. Actually, I’ve made it to round 4, which was just announced today. If I thought last year’s competition was fierce, I didn’t know what was coming. There are soooo many great lines. I consider myself honored to have made it this far. I’ll be posting my 4th line tomorrow night. If you get a chance, hop on over to Karin’s Blog and check out the competition, but don’t blame me when you get addicted and start franticly refreshing the screen to see who’s added their next line…er, not that I do that or anything. *glances at ceiling, whistling tunelessly*

Sandy :-)

The Bed What?!

Last night, our 5 year-old daughter (she’ll be 6 in April) had her first sleep-over. Ummm, that would be at a friend’s house. I don’t count nights with Abuelita (My mom) and Grandma (Keith’s mom). This was a full-blown official sleep-over, and something I was not prepared for. Emotionally, that is. However, I like this family and Amelia has been friends with their daughter since they were three. Now they’re in kindergarten together and are almost inseparable. So, when she asked, and Kristina’s dad said he was going to set up Kristina’s pup tent for them to sleep in, I just couldn’t bring myself to say no. And so, Amelia Grace had her very first sleep-over while Mama (That’s me) had to suck it up and admit her little girl is growing up.

Now, this is what transpired last evening, while Amelia was happily sleeping at her friend’s house. I put our 4 year-old son to bed. He sleeps on the bottom bunk and Amelia has the top. Inevitably, sometime through the night, Jonas always ends up in the top bunk with his sister. Last night, however, Jonas knew his sister wouldn’t be there. So, instead of climbing to her bed, he came into our room. For the life of me, I will NEVER understand how that tiny little 4 year-old boney body can take up SO MUCH SPACE!

Keith and I are not small people. We have a queen-size bed that fits us comfortably. Enter Jonas or Amelia, or--God-forbid--both, and space becomes a premium.

So, last night, Jonas climbs into bed with us. Then, my husband says “Why don’t you go sleep in Jonas’ bed.” I jumped at this opportunity. I like my sleep. And, that bottom bunk is actually comfortable. So, off I go. I’m totally ready for a good night’s sleep (Uhh, at this point it was already 3:00am). I snuggle under Jonas’ trucks-n-cars comforter and drift off into nighttime bliss.

Then, an hour or two later, (I don’t exercise at 4:30am on Saturdays) Jonas climbs over my head, shoves his boney feet into the back of it, tells me he loves me, and promptly falls asleep. I lay there. Fully awake. After all, I get up at this time all week long. But I want to SLEEP! I need to sleep after getting up at that time all week long. It ain’t easy, let me tell you. So, I force myself to drift off again. Only this time, I’m soooo not comfortable. I mean, this is a twin-size bed for crying out loud. A few hours later, I roll out of the bunk with a kink in my back. This did not work out the way I planned. *Sigh*

Anyway, I go back into my room, Keith is sprawled across the bed, snoring the rafters down, and all I can do is shake my head. Looks like computer time is in order. A little while later, Keith wakes up and Jonas comes back to our room and climbs into my lap. Then, Keith asks me, “How’d you sleep?”

“Terrible, since Jonas decided to sleep with me.”

Keith’s reply? “Looks like I won the bed wars.”

The bed what?!

I had no answer but this, “Don’t think that’s ever gonna happen again, buddy.” Sheesh!

Sandy :-)

It’s not all fluff!!!

I recently began the re-vamp of my current work-in-progress. You know, the one I couldn’t write because the original plot sucked? Well, it doesn’t suck anymore! *bg* And I am way past the writer’s block! Wooooo Hoooo!

So, last night, one of Keith's friends read the small, eleven sentence, prologue I’d recently written, and he gave me this look. The who-is-this-woman-I’ve-known-for-12years look. He was shocked. LOL. He said, "What are you writing here?!" Then he started quoting snippets, shook his head and turned to Keith. "You aren't afraid to sleep at night?" ROFL. He then turned to me and said, "I thought you wrote romance novels." Doubly ROFL! Especially after the look he gave me when I told him this was a romance. *eg*

What do you like in a romance? Besides the guarantee of a happily-ever-after, that is. Do you go for the dark, gritty stuff? Or, are you partial to lighter works? Romantic comedies? Romantic Suspense? Dark paranormals? What's your must-have story?

Sandy :-)

Why you probably shouldn’t drink heavily at the office holiday party… (CONTEST read to the end.)

My husband ran across this on Digg. Wonder if this girl still had a job when she got back to work on Monday morning…


Drunk At The Office Party - video powered by Metacafe


When I was about 8 months pregnant with my first, Keith and I were coming out of the supermarket and when we got to his brand new--as in only a couple of weeks old--truck, there was a shopping cart pushed right up against the passenger side door. Before I even thought, I said, “Stupid people! Can’t even take care of their carts! Sheesh!” As the words came out of my mouth though, the empty baby “bucket” that was still sitting on the cart began to register. My stomach dropped as I turned to the car next to us. A very frazzled woman with twin babies, about three or four months old, popped her head up from trying to wrestle one of the babies into their car seat and said, with a stricken expression, of course, “I’m sorry.”

What does my husband say??? “Oh, don’t mind her; she’s not usually this mean. She’s just pregnant.” Gah!!!!! Not like I didn’t already feel about 2 inches tall.

As I think back on that embarrassing moment, I realize I could have been a little gentler with my words. Keith was right, I’m not usually that caustic. But, in my defense, his truck was brand new. It’s not like we have tons of money to throw at our vehicles. Keeping them unscratched longer than a few weeks is certainly important.

And, after a couple of days--I couldn’t get the incident out of my mind--I came to the conclusion that, with the exception of the disgust in my voice and the harsh words I used, I don’t think I was out of line. If I needed to lean my cart up against something so I could get my kids into their car seats, I would have leaned the cart against MY car. In fact, I have done that on more than one occasion. So, even though I look before I speak from now on, I also don’t beat myself up for that woman’s stricken look. Use your own car next time!

So, what is your most mortifying moment? Did you say something that was overheard by the wrong person? Or, even better, were you ever on the receiving end? Oooooo! I want to know! Tell me. Oh, and to make this more interesting, all comments received to this post by...Friday, January 5, 2007, will be entered into a random drawing to receive a $5.50 GC for Borders or, if you are a blog explosion member and don’t want the GC, 500 credits (worth $5.50).

Ok, now, can we make this a little more exciting then my last contest? You know, like having more than 4 entrants?

Good luck!
Sandy :-)
Happy New Year