Posts Tagged ‘romantic comedy’

I live a high stress lifestyle. I manage a restaurant, I write, I design websites and design jewelry. I’m not tooting my own horn; I’m just pointing out the opportunity for stressful situations pops up fairly consistently in my life.

Like when the lady cursed me because we didn’t carry the right kind of salad dressing.

When the cat ran off with one of the earrings I’d just sold.

When the guy from Texas wants his logo moved. No, move that to the left. No, down a little. No….

It gets a little stressful.

What do I do when the stress levels peak? Admittedly, nothing takes the edge off like a little chocolate and Jack Daniels. But man cannot live by chocolate and JD alone. (Ok, technically I might try that sometime just to prove the point.) (And I hope you realize I’m joking.) (Mostly)

=)

So when I’ve JUST HAD IT!!! I look for some comedy relief. How?

By watching a funny movie -

Young Frankenstein :
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [to Igor] Now that brain that you gave me. Was it Hans Delbruck’s?
Igor: [pause, then] No.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Ah! Very good. Would you mind telling me whose brain I DID put in?
Igor: Then you won’t be angry?
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: I will NOT be angry.
Igor: Abby Someone.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pause, then] Abby Someone. Abby who?
Igor: Abby Normal.

And I laugh hysterically every time.

Stress level goes from 100 down to 88.

If watching Young Frankenstein with Orville Redenbacher’s Pour-Over Movie Theater Popcorn? It will drop to 72.

Cats :
My cats are insane. When I come home from work, and pull into the lane, the cats are waiting. Lying in the driveway. We’ll creep in a few feet, and Spook (he’s the worst one for it) will walk a few feet forward, then sit. He looks at the sky, the stars, the moon. As if he has no idea there’s a ¾ ton truck sitting behind him with the engine idling. Hubby has to get out of the truck, cursing the entire way, and pick up the cat, dragging it to the front door. I can hear him lecturing the cat in his English accent, and I just giggle. The other night, three cats played the game. Picture my husband trying to gather all three cats pretending to be sound asleep in front of the truck?

Stress level drops to 57.

Books are always a great de-compressor.

Kristan Higgins All I Ever Wanted –
The latest book currently on my nightstand. It’s perfect. I admire the writing, the humor, the wit. I giggle about the prosthetic, the dog, the funeral parlor. It’s so well written I don’t want to put it down, I don’t want it to end. On the other hand, I can’t wait to pick up the next in my TBR pile – Christie Ridgway’s Crush on You.

Stress level drops to 41.

Munchies -

Gardettos –
Nectar of the gods. Just the right amount of salt and crunch. Now if they only made it in a resealable bag. This darn humidity.

Stress level drops to 27.

Email/Facebook/Texting –
A little last flurry of venting, name calling, day sharing, plan making, plot devising, moaning, wardrobe tips and dirty jokes are the final call of the day. (thanks jen!)

Stress level drops to 12.

Lights out.

Sweet dreams, carrie.

=)

Share on Facebook

Iowa weather has been sucky these past seven months. Spell check informs me sucky isn’t a real word, but if you lived in Iowa – well, it’s sucky.

December – April brought mountains of snow, power outages, high winds. You might picture me snuggled all warm in my house by the fire, writing brilliant words by the thousands.

You’d be wrong.

You’d be better off picturing me huddling by the gas stove, wearing 13 layers of clothing and shivering so badly that typing on my Alphie was out of the question. Brain freeze does not inspire plotting nor characterization!

We finally moved into spring, that lasted maybe 15 minutes. Seriously. Summer waddled in and it’s basically the same weather as what we had in January, but no snow – just rain. Not freezing – just 100+ degrees out. Now we huddle around the air conditioner, hoping to stay cool.

And again, writing is a chore. We’ve been having violent electrical storms. Major lightning strikes taking out trees and power. And of course, like a good girl, when it lightnings, I turn off my computer and unplug the network cable.

Is this just all Mother Nature’s conspiracy to disrupt my writing? Could be. But she didn’t count on my Alpha Smart. Almost twenty hours of battery time, recharges in a few hours, and works pretty darn sweet.

Bring it on Mother Nature! I’m still writing!

=)

carrie

Share on Facebook

I think I’m certifiable. I should probably be locked up, away from internet access. It’s for the best.

I work approximately 40+ hours a week at my day job, I work 20+ hours a week designing websites. I also design/repair jewelry in my spare time. I moderate online writing classes for a writers group, I write on three blogs, and I write.

For some reason, I’ve also decided to take three online classes this month, and for some other crazy reason, I started writing two YA novels. At the same time.

Yes, I need to be locked away.

But, can you leave me with my Blackberry please?

=)

carrie

Share on Facebook

So, I’m writing along, minding my own business, when suddenly – and I mean completely out of nowhere! – this secondary character appears. I look at my outline, no…no secondary character there.

Where had this woman come from? And considering she was over six feet tall, why hadn’t I noticed her before?

Has this ever happened to you? I swear I’m not using any hallucinogenic drugs, I’m not typing at 3 in the morning, but there she is.

Sheila. 6’4″ of pure muscle who just walked into my story.

And immediately took over. Like five pages worth – so far! I know I’m going to have to trim her waaaaaaaaaay down, but for the time being Sheila is having a wonderful time gamboling through my story, taking on a gang of hoodlums and dispensing advice.

Looks like I’d better go re-write my outline, because I don’t think Sheila’s going to be leaving anytime soon.

=)

carrie
3,132 words so far!

Share on Facebook

So I loooove Jodie Thomas. I didn’t know I did, it was a surprise love. I thought her book covers looked like Debbie Macomber’s so I didn’t even look twice. Then, one day when I was bored and had NOTHING to read (y’know, except the 3 bags full of books sitting on the sofa – but still) I bought Rewriting Monday. What a blast I had reading it!

Pepper Malone is a journalist who suddenly leaves her last job – after her life is threatened – to move to Bailee, Texas. Her aunt has left her a house in her will, and Pepper needs somewhere to hide out for a bit. Problem is, the aunt isn’t dead. And it isn’t a house so much as a trailer. Complete with a disgruntled cat.

Mike McCulloch runs the local newspaper, who has a motley crew working for him. He hires Pepper and the fun begins. There’s murder, mayhem and the FBI is called in. And that’s just one night in the nursing home! Jodie Thomas writes extremely well, with lots of giggles and outright guffaws. There’s romantic tension, suspense tension and even cat tension. Well worth the money spent and I’ll buy from this author again. And again!

carrie

Share on Facebook