de_scribes

The loverly tamarak and annemariepace tagged me for this one. Thanks, guys!

Quick! Off the top of your head, what are the last five things that made you smile?

1. Getting tagged by Anne Marie and Tammi!

2. This morning at the table Son #3 asked Son #2 why he was sending a Candy Cane Wish (PTO fund raiser where you can send candy canes to friends) to two kids in his class that he didn't think were very nice. Son #2 said, "I don't think anyone will send them one."

3. Receiving a chocolaty kiss five seconds ago from my daughter.

4. Getting my Christmas cards sent out today!


5. Realizing, as I put the cap on, that I accidentally put Neutrogena Anti-Wrinkle Cream on my frizzy hair, and Frizz Ease on my wrinkles.



I'm tagging sbennettwealer , walkwrite , tracyworld , kellyrfineman , missrodeo , annamlewis, crissachappell , newport2newport , robinellen , and nic_owens.

. . . from the BookStop Literary Dancing Elves . . .

Tanya Seale thatgirlygirl
Alma Fullerton almafullerton
Kathy Erskine kathyerskine
Kristy Dempsey kristydempsey (Sorry about the play button in your face, KD!)
and Me!

May your stocking be filled with chocolate and contracts!


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First, in writing news, one of my favorite books is being passed around and up the chains in various places, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

And in dancing news (that's right--dancing news) you are not going to believe this one! Do you know who George Foster is? He was a part of the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine" during the 70's and was the National League's MVP in 1977. I've never met him, but my husband did at a party recently. They got to talking and George told my husband that he was getting an audition tape together for Dancing with the Stars. Somehow it came up that the only dance George's instructor didn't know how to do was the Jitter Bug (Lindy Hop, East Coast Swing--very similar). So my husband tells him that I WILL TEACH HIM how to do it! So guess who calls on Sunday? George! We talked and now I am meeting him for several Sundays starting Dec. 7th so I can teach the guy to SWING!

Only problem is that the style I know is not the same style they do on the show, so now I'm having to teach myself (and my guinea pig husband) how to do it so I can teach it to George.

My writing group buddies are sure there's a middle grade novel in here somewhere. I think they may be right!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here's what I'll be doing over the weekend. Doesn't this look like fun? Wish me luck!









Oh, and look what I found today. Here's a petition to get George on the the show that will be sent to the ABC executives. If you'd like to help him get on, just click on the link to sign it. You can even sign anonymously if you like. Thanks!
Online petition - George Foster on

A couple times a week I teach the Cardio Kids class at my gym. This means that I get to listen to my favorite music while playing with my children at stations like the parachute (love the parachute!), hula hoop hopscotch, etc. And I get paid for it! Here's what my room looks like:

So usually I have my four kids plus 8-10 others in my class. But the other day, my little ones had somewhere to be. Can you guess how many other students happened to show up that day?

One! And what a character. Remember the bee girl from Blind Melon's No Rain video?

That was totally her. She looked and acted exactly the same. And she said things like, "Yeah, but can you do THIS?" as she danced around freestyle and did fancy cartwheels ending with a "YES!" and a stylish pose. Just like in this video!
www.youtube.com/watch <---No Rain video that refuses to imbed.

She was awesome! And I'm so putting her in a book someday. Have characters ever serendipitously walked into your life like that? Don't you just love when that happens?

BTW, I hadn't seen this video in a while, but if you watch it (I hope you do--it will make you happy!) you might see yourself in the bee girl. Outsiders don't understand her and then she finds a field of bees. It's exactly how I feel when I read LJ or go to a writing conference. And the precise emotion I felt when I attended the Highlights retreat this summer. I found you! I found my bees! It makes me want to dance like they do in the video.

(PS--Here's some writing news that makes me want to dance, too: My editor at Instructor asked me to write a feature. Yay!)

I really like her style, but I have a problem with whiners who can't take a critique. Don't you want to learn something and get better, Miss Kenley? It's the same for writing. You have to listen to learn. And what's with laughing at other conteztantz! when they're getting their critiques? That's just mean. I guess she could be a victim of editing, but I don't know. Seriously, anyone who can tick off Tim Gunn must be pretty bad.

Respect the Gunn, Kenley! I mean look at that mug. What a sweetheart.


Rant over.

Back to drafting! (and revising based on critiques!)

This is De's hair:






This is De's hair on 80's music:



Any questions?

(No seriously. That hair has a life of its own. I'm sure it can answer all life's mysteries. Fire away.)

When last I blogged, I was off to a beach vacation with the fam--a.k.a. The Crazy People Who Live In My House. :) It was 7 days of fun fun fun! But the packing for the beach, cooking, and doing laundry part was somewhat unpleasant, formidable, and dare I say hazardous. Upon our return, I had only 6 days to prepare for my departure to a working writers' retreat!

re*treat

NOUN:

1. The act or process of withdrawing, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant.


Heh heh heh.

Here are the retreat peeps that could make it this year:


Baby Got Back Row: Cassandra Reigel Whetstone, Sara Lewis Holmes, Anne Marie Pace, Alma Fullerton, DeAnn Marie O'Toole, Loree Griffin Burns, Katy Duffield, Kristy Dempsey, Linda Urban, The Swingers: Kathy Erskine, Tanya Seale

( Lots more photos under here . . . )

My my my! Did I take a long blog vacation or what? I missed my own two year Blog DeAnniversary. I hope I’m not P.O.’d at myself. I might be sleeping on the couch tonight.

Guess what?! While I was out, I won an ARC of Revealers by Amanda Marrone! Yay!


This book is freaky cool and VERY entertaining. Come September, you must MUST buy it. Thanks for the awesome read, Amanda! You are one talented writer.

Now. I know it’s Thankful Thursday and I really am thankful we’re leaving for a family vacation tomorrow. But let’s be honest here. “Vacation” for the mom of the family is a little different than for everyone else. For instance. Here’s a breakdown of the things we’ve been doing this week to get ready:

ME: laundry, call and rent bikes, get books and CDs from library, pack for 6 people, oh crap-laundry again, print directions, get camera ready, get an oil change, there’s lots more but it’s making my head hurt just thinking about it

DH: pack swim trunks

See?

And let’s be clear. This is no resort holiday where we’ll be hippity hopping around to one of five restaurants on the premises (not that I’ve ever done this, but I’ve been told these exist). No, no, no. We are staying at a CONDO. Which I’m pretty sure stands for
Cook ON premesis--DeAnn O’Toole.

Of course the stealthy Who Gets to Drive? War has begun. It started when DH casually and chivalrously stated, “Don’t worry about a thing, Honey! I’ll drive the whole way.” Like he’s doing me a favor. C'mon. Who does he think he’s fooling? Shotgun isn’t FUN like it was when we were kids. No one’s calling “shotgun!” anymore. Shotgun sucks. That’s right. I said it. There’s a reason it’s called shotgun, people. By the 586th here’s my used Kleenex and can you open my juice box request, you’re ready to freaking shoot yourself.

Okay, I kid. I’m a kidder. Although this is all mostly true, of course I’m really looking forward to some beachy fun with my family. :)

I hope you're having a fun summer so far!

Off to do more laundry and pack.

Road triiiip!

Dear Starbucks,

WTF?

And by “F” I mean Frappucino.
Here’s my beef.
Well, okay, first let me congratulate you on your ability to mix ice, coffee, and chocolate chips in such a way as to make me perma-magnetized to your little shop here. I have nearly managed to spend my entire birthday gift card in a mere two weeks.

Bravo!

Or is it Bravissimo? Bravacino? What language are we speaking in here anyway? I don’t have to pay with the Euro do I? I mean, wasn’t your first indy in like Seattle or something? That’s right. I’m on to you. You’ll never get me to order a Grande. I want a Medium. And you can’t make me pay $5.00 for coffee just because you’ve been to Italy. Okay, maybe you can. Especially if you promise to blend chocolate chips into it.

Anyway. Here’s my gripe.

What’s with that big plastic lid thingy on the top of my drink? You know. The one that’s keeping me from that giant snow mountain of whipped cream and chocolate sauce you’ve heaped on my frappy? To me, it is The Globe of Doom. The Protector of Confection. The Frappucino Fortress. The Dome of Despair.

Do you see me standing here with my four kids? Well, do ya? Do you see that I am holding a child’s hand, two Target bags, my keys, a jacket, a Ziploc container of Cheerios, and someone’s used sucker stick? Do I look like I have the wherewithal to remove the Snow Globe of Sadness and get to that whipped cream that I so greatly desire?

Are you taunting me?

You know, you make that thing right in front of my face and then you proceed to hermetically seal it away from my precious lips. Yes, I could drink from the straw. But by the time my Java Chip Frap is gone, so is the whipped cream. And what’s the point of consuming all those calories if it’s just melted into the rest of my drink? That would be like blending up a cheeseburger and hiding it in a glass of juice. (Not an easy task, I realize. Or tasty even. But you get my point.) And also, I must ask . . .

Are you trying to kill me?

Are you going for death by tongue cuts? Do you know how many licks it takes to get to the whipped creamy center of a Frappacino?
‘Cause I do.
A ka-jillion. That’s how many.
I look like a Saint Bernard with an empty jar of peanut butter over here. Do you know how difficult it is to lick through the minute hole on this Plastic Orb from Hell you’ve provided?

And are you aware that I almost suffocated when I tried to suck the whipped cream like a Dyson through that same teeny opening? It went straight to my lungs. I now have Reddi-Whip-enduced asthma, thanks to you. I have a spontaneous attack every time I drive by one of your locations.

You know, my card still has three dollars and eleven cents on it and I just discovered that if you add a shot of peppermint to a Java Chip, you’re basically walking around with liquid mint chocolate chip ice cream.

How can I possibly Just Say No?

I hate you.
And love you.
I late you.
And hove you.

But basically, I hate you.

Your newest addict,

DeAnn

1. Quaker Oatmeal can seal cracks in your sidewalk.

2. Once you go south on Pig Out 'Cause Your Pregnant Highway, it’s a long way back to Normalville. (And you can forget about Skinny Town. You can’t get there from here.)

3. A child will get the biggest forehead goose egg of his life the day you’re going to JCPenney’s portrait studio.

4. A newborn will only do his thing into a fresh diaper. And usually only once he’s buckled into his car seat.

5. The first time the Dairy Fairy makes an appearance it feels more like a dairy truck has landed.

6. If your kid isn’t sick when he goes to the doctor, he will be when he leaves.

7. If a toddler is constipated, you may have to cheer him on and rub his back to make him feel better in the bathroom. If you do this enough times, you can legally call yourself a Certified Poop Doula (CPD).

8. Dried Gerber sweet potatoes only show up on a baby’s face once you’re in public.

9. The first time your daughter asks why she doesn’t have outdoor plumbing like her brothers, it’s during a conference with your son’s teacher.

10. The day you become a mother is the day you stop thinking of yourself first. And somehow, you start to see the world from every mother’s eyes. You realize that each person is someone’s child, and that we all need taking care of. You finally see what’s truly important.
It’s the happiest day of your life.

Happy 10th Birthday Lowercase J!

a FOOL was born. My mom!
Exactly twenty-four years later, another FOOL was born. Me!
(And about that same time, still another FOOL came to be. kellyrfineman!)

That's a lot of foolishness, people.

I already got some great presents:

1. editorial notes (that I agree with!) on my favorite book (This is actually one of the best presents of every times! as my daughter would say.) I'm so excited to work on this manuscript I think I might 'splode.

2. a card from my son that reads: "I stole this card from Kinko's and now I'm in jail. The son you see now is just a virtual son. I love you, Mom. Happy Virtual Birthday!" Do you think "virtual" may have been a spelling word this week? And why Kinko's? That made me laugh.

3. My first article came out in Instructor magazine! It's five activities to do in your classroom on . . .guess what? April Fool's Day! I found a link to the article heading online, but only the picture that accompanies my article is there. But guess whose article is on that page? lisamullarkey's! So that's pretty cool too! And if you read her article, you'll see that she ain't no fool at all.

Happy birthday Mom and Kelly!

*My mom is not 87. It just sounded kinda cool and o-fficial-like.

It's Carrie Jones' online convention! So if you're a Mainer . . .Mariner? Mainliner? Mandible? What are you people? Mainers, methinks. Hee. Anyhoo, if you live in Maine, then Carrie Jones is your best bet for Maine Legislature.

If you don't believe me (or Grover, and how could you not believe Grover?), then check out her site. And be sure to read the Finding Heroes page. You'll clearly see why she deserves your vote.

Now, I live in Cincinnati. Do you what today is here? It's Opening Day! This is a national holiday for the O'Toole clan. Me and 50 of my closest relatives are heading down to our riverfront Great American Ballpark for the first pitch of the baseball season. Let the mayhem ensue! Woot!

my father-in-law, Jim O'Toole

My mom lives 90 seconds from my house, but when we see each other, the kids kind of take over and we don’t get much time to catch up. So we decided that every late Wednesday night we’d have coffee, chat, and watch an episode from the first season of LOST together. Last night was our first time and it was so fun! I think my mom is hooked, and I forgot how exciting the pilot was.

Speaking of lost, I’m feeling a bit off course in my latest novel. This used to scare the Charles Dickens out of me. But experience tells me this is part of the process. I always find myself here at some point, frightened there’s no way out. But I’ve learned that you have to continue pushing through the painful walls--keep opening the closed doors.
Trust is the key.
And wine.
No, no, just kidding!
Beer works just as well.

And hey, look what I snagged from saputnam’s blog. You know Sawyer who is always giving Kate new nicknames? Well, you can take this little quiz and it will tell you your Sawyer nickname. He calls Kate Freckles, Sassafras, Puddin’, Shortcake, stuff like that. Whiskersink got Ladybug. So, um, guess what name came up for me?

JUMBOTRON.

What the heck? Do they have a webcam on that thing or something? I know I’m big, but jeez!

::Ego clean-up in aisle seven::

I hope you’re finding your way in your WIP today!

Here are a few things I'm loving today in no particular order:

I love this stuff:That's right. I have one gray hair for every student I ever had. And ten for each of my children.
I don't know how they get it to match all those different shades, but it really works, people! It's awesome!

I love drop-what-they're-doing-and-help-you-this-instant crit partners.

I love my agents. I don't think I've said that publicly, but I totally do. Kendra and Minju rock the casbah.

I love this guy. My hubby. There's just something about a man with a Baby Bjorn Borg. Don't you think?

I love this guy, too.


He's Kyle Ensley, future President. I'm so sad he got kicked off the island.

I love the writing life, and being here with you! Awwww!

And finally . . .

I love that when my first grader was being a ham at the breakfast table, his second grade brother said, "He thinks he's a stand-up Canadian."

::spit take::

Happy Valentine's Day!

Or something like that.
Hello there LJ peeps! These past few weeks have proven most interesting. Some good fortune has come to pass. Some bad.

Jolly Good:
I wrote a brand spanking new manuscript! It’s a chapter book mystery that was freshly fun to write.

Oh, Boo:
I realized that a picture book I’ve been working on for years was written by David LaRochelle and published. (Actually this happened more than a few weeks ago, but the sting is still fresh like vinegar to a paper cut, baby!)

Quite Nice:
I won the grand prize at our church’s Winterfest raffle! (Bonus points if you can guess the bountiful booty.)

Perplexing:
I realized that men and women are so different that it is the Eighth Wonder of the World that our species has managed to propagate.


( Just sees what I means under this here cut . . . )

For the past few weeks, my three-year-old has put together some inventive holiday medleys.
I finally caught one on film last night. Can she turn a phrase or what?
This is especially for our sweet newport2newport and her holiday display.
I hope this music makes you smile!










Happy Holidays to all!

May your season be filled with song, love, and laughter.

Yesterday, I wrote two chapters of my ending and suddenly, an unexpected chapter popped up. It was the LAST LAST one, and I had to wait until this morning to write it. As I started, I kept thinking to myself, But my MC hasn't made a big decision yet. He needs to make a decision at the end, and there isn't one for him to make. This isn't going to work. I'm doing this wrong. But I kept typing. And do you know what happened? Before I knew it, his big decision was right there in front of my face. Actually, he made it before I even had time to think about the fact that it was happening. I was proud of him. And I cried until I got to the last word. Because really? I had made a decision, too. And I was just as proud of me.

Sorry to be a gush.

It is a happy day!

JoNoWriMo has inadvertently turned into DeNoBlog,Yo! What's my deal? It's like I can't be on LJ very much when I'm writing a first draft or something. Maybe it's because I get distracted easily. No, that's probably not hey! a chicken!

See?

Anyway. After much writing and rewriting, I finally got into a good groove with my WIP. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll finish by December 1st. If I stick to 1K a day, I should make it, but it's going to be close. I've been working my little turkey feathers off, so I will be truly excited when I finish this down draft. Wish me luck!

Oh, and here was another distraction. Guess what I contracted.  Fifth Disease! It's a little kid virus like chicken pox. What is up with that? Have you ever had it? And do you think it's a coincidence that I am currently writing about fifth graders? Hmm? Yeah, I didn't think so either.
Vedy interestingk.

And in the embarrassing department, I have this recent telephone conversation to share:

Librarian: Milford-Miami Public Library, this is (name withheld for privacy), may I help you?
          Me: Yes, I was wondering if the books I requested came in yet?
  Jennifer: Sure, I can check on that for you. What's the name?
          Me: O'Toole.
  Jennifer: One second.
::at least one second goes by, probably more like 10, but definitely less than 20, maybe like, you know, 12::
  Jennifer: Yes, they're here if you'd like to come pick them up.
          Me: Great! Thanks a lot.
  Jennifer: No problem.
          Me: Love you.
                  Wait. What did I just say? Huh? Who said that? Crap. That was me.
  Jennifer:
          Me: I mean ::clears throat:: goodbye!
  Jennifer: ::giggling in anticipation of retelling this story over the loud speaker at the library:: Um, bye. (you freak)

I am such a dolt. A dolt who loves librarians, yes. But a dolt just the same.



And last but not least, Happy Thanksgiving!  My prayers go out to everyone for a safe and happy holiday!

Although they're good readers now, when my sons were this age, they never chose reading on their own.
So imagine my glee to find my daughter frequently choosing The Dark Side all by herself. :D

Speaking of glee, I have the whole house to myself until 3:25 today! This NEVER happens.
I will not turn on the TV. I will not finish cleaning out the basement. I will not open the humongo bag of Halloween candy. (Yeah, right!)
I am going to write. And write. And then write some more. And after that, I might do a little writing.

Hooray for the rare writing day!

THE GOOD

Right this very second now, I'm loving my novel. All is going well and I think I'll meet my jonowrimo goal. (But, um, you know, ask me tomorrow 'cause I may very well loathe it by then. heh.) Another good thing is that I got a YES to an article query I sent to Scholastic's Instructor magazine! Woohoo! This writing assignment is right up my alley, and it'll be great to switch between writing fiction and nonfiction. It helps me to write both simultaneously for some reason, and it even seems to speed the process.

THE BAD

Yesterday, a VW loaded with teenagers caught me doing some overly-enthusiastic CAR-eography to What Time Is It? from High School Musical 2. It wouldn't have been so bad except the windows were down, so I couldn't play it off like I was rocking out to U2 or Fall Out Boy (which would actually only make my middle-aged dorky self cooler in my own mind anyway). It's okay though. I'm owning my love of the HSM2 soundtrack. And if it weren't for those tinted windows in the back, those teenagers would have seen my 4 backup dancers throwing down too.

I'M UGLY

I just got my hair cut. It's a little shorter than I'd planned. And by a little I mean a lot. Ah, well. It's not like I wear it down much anyway, right? But just so you know, the metric conversion when you cross the border from the United States into The Land of Great Clips is 1 inch = 1,000 cm. Or if I break that down further, it's actually 1 inch = however much Tamee with two Es cuts off while telling the other hair stylist how much fun she had at the concert with TJ (possibly TeeJaa) but how she had to pay for everything and she knows she's never going to see that money again because blah de blah de blah aaaaand DeAnn's bald.

But hey! It's okay. I'm enjoying my work and I'm just going to ignore all mirrors and roll with that good feeling.
Off to tappity tappity. I hope you have a Fabulous writing day!