Sometimes things just stink

Right now, it's money. Money is the bain of my existence at the moment. Sunday I sat down and went over the guest list with a fine tooth comb in regards to people we know won't be there, people who may be there and people we know will definitely be there.

I was not so happy afterwards.

Of the people we know WILL be there, there are 93 adults and 21 children. And that's not including those on that guest list who MAY bring their kids that we KNOW will be at the wedding. That number is not includng the "maybes" and it's not including the list of people from my dad's work that my dad wants to invite (And yes, I'm cool with that. It's not just random people from his work that I don't know. I worked there for years and my dad has worked there since I was born, so I know these people really well, too). It;s also not including the extras we know we'll end up inviting, such as friends of friends who hang out with us but aren't really our friends. Sometimes it's just easier to let them come than to just say no. :P

The problem = the room we reserved only holds 100 people. Yeah. Shit.

So I had to call my guy yesterday at the Holiday Inn Select and we worked something out so that Myles and I will now have out reception in the Grand Ballroom instead. The problem in that more people equals more money. So now, instead of a four-thousand dollar reception (Food, drink, champagne serving, etc.) we now will spend five or six thousand...if we're lucky. Now, I don't know about you, but I can't shit out that much money. I wish I could, but I still haven't figured out the combination of greens to eat. TMI, I know, but well, that's how I feel right now. And we won't even get started on how much the photographer is that Myles chose. The package I'd love to have is five grand. *sigh*

And you know the kicker? I'm the one who gets to put up with his shitty attitude when I'm not even the one who wanted to do it up this big. I wanted to keep it simple with just immediate family and our very closest friends and VERY LITTLE MONEY. Oh, but, someone in his family put it perfectly when they said "That's how things are done in my family." Not fucking in mine! We do things simple. Simple is good. Simple is fine. Simple is less money!!!!!!!! Needless to say, if Myles starts in about the whole money and wedding thing again, he can take the shit and plan it himself. Let's see how much better he can do, cuz I'm doing all I can and it's still too damn expensive.

Ah, the NY Resolutions check-in

Hmmm...let's refresh our memories.

1. Quit smoking = I've done pretty good with this one. I've bought some packs to go to the bar with, but other than that, I'm doing well. I'm not REALLy smoking anymore, so I'm doing really well on this one.

2. Lessen my swearing = Nope, not so much. I tried to go a whole day without saying the word "fuck" and I couldn't do it. I have a really bad mouth. I'm okay when I'm around kids, but any other time, all bets are off. It comes from being Irish and tons of boys being around my whole life.

3. Eat better = I'm doing decent on this one. Of course, I don't eat healthy ALL the time, but I'm doing pretty well.

4. Exercise more = HAHAHAHA. Yeah. Right. This hasn't happened one bit. Man, I need to get on it. I've got to wear a maid of honor, strapless dress in June. Eek!

5. List of chores so I don't power clean on wknds = Yeah. I suck at this one, too. Hasn't happened. Probably won't until I'm able to stay at home. Not even going to both to check my progress on this one again.

6. Be nice = I've been doing better, but I'm still me. LOL

7. Be more appreciative of family and friends = I've done well with this one. =) Even though I'm a broke ass because of the wedding and getting a new car in May, I've done well. E-cards are free. =) And so are phone calls and emails to tell people I love them. And so are favors like baby-sitting so my friends can have a night to themselves.

Embarassment

Yeah, I'm feeling a bit embarassed. Sorta, if that's the right word.

So, I've been hearing all sorts of stuff about Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus. I don't really know anything about it other than the fact that it's a show/music geared for 8-14 year olds, or thereabouts. Okay, whatever. Teeny bopper stuff.

I've also been hearing this song on the radio that I adore. I turn it up and jam everytime I hear it. Then, on my way home from South Bend on Sunday, the DJ said "And here's the new one by Miley Cyrus".....and my new fave song started playing. Oh lord. "See You Again" has been stuck in my head, and it's a frickin' Hannah Montana song. LOL Oh lord, my neices, who are 10 and 12 will crack up laughing at me. And so will their mom, my best friend Ann.

Playing hooky

Yeah, I'm playing hooky today. I woke up at about six this morning and just, well, didn't feel like going. And you know how that is. Once the idea is in your head, it's there and it ain't going anywhere. The only thing that put a kink in my plans is that Myles stayed home as well. *sigh* Except, he really doesn't feel good. So now I have to share the TV and I can't go get a bunch of Dairy Queen to pig out on. Grrrr. Right now he's sleeping so I've got the TV on HGTV and I'm putzing around on my computer writing some revise and resubmit letters, getting some edits done, and reading some submissions. Hmmm...I played hooky from work to work. LOL But I I love editing, so that's different then heading to my dayjob. It's hard to think of work as work when it's something you really love doing.

For those who have asked...

I've had a few people ask/tell me to share some more about myself...so I'm going to share. Random Tera quirks, likes, dislikes, etc.

1. The reason my name is spelled funny is because my grandmother's favorite book/movie is Gone With the Wind and my mom didn't want to spell it Tara because of that.

2. I LOVE elephants. I love elephants so much that I even have a tattoo of a pink elephant on my hip.

3. I hate it when people say "I seen them at the store yesterday." Drives me nuts!

4. I look just like my mom. Most people think we are sisters.

5. I can be really lazy sometimes. Especially on the weekends. Most days I don't get up until eleven or twelve...of course, I'll have to say good-bye to that when Myles and I have kids.

6. I don't like to wear dresses.

7. I'm a tomboy through and through. Have been since I was born.

8. I like to go out in the words and traipse around.

9. I love fishing and hunting and probably know more about both than most other girls you'll meet.

10. It's all about cars, baby. I love them. Working on them, driving them, racing them, admiring them. Love 'em.

11. I have really really small hands. Random people actually comment to me about how small my hands are. People I don't even know.

12. I have OCD. But not horribly bad...=P

13. I love to sing. Absolutely love it. Myles wants me to do more with my voice, but I don't have the confidence too. Karaoke when I'm drunk is about as far as it goes.

14. I love hanging out at my favorite bar, drinking and singing.

15. I adore kids. I can't wait until I have my own.

16. I'm Irish and American Indian.

17. Yes, I know, I'm young...I'll be 26 this year.

18. I'm getting married in October to my best friend. And yes, I'll be wearing a dress.

19. My one regret is that I didn't go away to college when I graduated from high school.

20. I'm extremely opinionated and not afraid to tell anyone exactly what I think.

21. I talk A LOT. Way too much actually.

22. I'm too trusting.

23. I love shoes, but I hate wearing them. It makes sense to me, dammit.

24. I have more scars than most guys I know. When I said I was/am a tomboy, I really meant it.

25. My family is more important to me than anything else. And I consider my close friends to be family.

No Disneyworld for me this year

Yeah, I'm really bummed about this today. We've been planning it for awhile, but it looks like it's just not in the cards this year. Finances suck because of the wedding and stuff, so we can't afford to go to Disneyworld with my mom and dad and little bro. This stinks.

I know I'm supposed to be happy with what I have, but that's always so hard to do. It's hard to not be so disappointed when something you've looked forward to for over a year gets taken awhile. Myles keeps telling me that I should just go, that we can afford for one of us to go, but I would feel so wrong doing that. I don't think that's fair at all. Plus, I just wouldn't have as much fun without him. =(

Maybe next year we can go, but with the wedding, we just have to put all of our money to doing that. Yup...I'm giving up Disneyworld, that I REALLY wanted to do, for a big wedding that I really didn't want, that we have to have because that's how Myles family does things. I'm not going to get started on that one, cuz I'll just get even more angry. Spending 15-20 grand on ONE DAY is just retarded to me. I could buy a lot of shoes and Starbucks with that, dammit.

Let's talk about....

The use of commas with proper names. I've been seeing a lot of mistakes with this lately. I'm not going to go into a big long boring explanation of this. I'm just going to show you an example. If you don't understand the example and what it indicates, you should probably take a grammar class or maybe just not writie anymore. LOL

"Let's eat, Dad." Johnny indicated the dinner table with a sweep of his arm.

"Let's eat Dad." Johnny indicated the dinner table with a sweep of his arm.

Today pretty much sucks

Considering the fact that I just find out my brother is going back to Iraq. He'll be going to Camp Adeberry to mobilize and then he'll be heading to Kuwait in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to see him before he goes. :( He'll be stationed in Kuwait, doing transport from Kuwait to Baghdad. We won't know how safe his job is until we find out what he's transporting. Last time he was transporting fuel...that's no good. And then he was in a mercenary/assasin squad in Baghdad. Needless to say, he didn't come back the same person from Iraq when he came home from his first tour in July of 2007. Hopefully he doesn't have to do the assasin stuff this time. So, needless to say, I'm in a really crappy mood today. Plus, it's about 3 degrees outside...literally. So that does nothing to put me in a better mood. I'm sick of this cold shit. I don't care about snow, I just hate it when it's this frickin' cold. And anyone who knows anything about Indiana knows how bad that is, since we have all this damn wind. It's miserable this time of year.

Things to watch for when editing your ms

I've been noticing a lot of the same thing popping up in submissions lately and I thought I'd take a moment here to share them with everyone.

1. Tense. I cannot stress this one enough. If you are telling a story in the past tense, everything must be in the past tense. Words like "here", are", "is", "tonight" in the narrative can through a reader off. And keep in mind, that is only a small list.

2. Lack of a hook. I cannot stress how important it is to suck your reader in right from the beginning. A solid hook is a MUST.

3. Dialogue tags. We editors don't like to see a ton of "he said/she saids" in a story. And neither do readers.

4. Proofread!! Oh, for the love of God, proofread your work. Or have someone else proofread it. When we read it, we take note of every mistake because that's something we have to fix if we offer you a contract. The more mistakes we find, the more likely you are NOT to get offered a contract.

Ah, the wedding

I'm finally getting my ass into gear and doing stuff for the wedding. Last night, I knew I wasn't going to get any editing done while watching the Super Bowl, so I looked at wedding stuff. Ended up ordering 7 invitation samples and I ordered our guestbook and pen set. Friday we also had our reception tasting and chose the food for the reception, so that's all done. And today I'm calling to make appointments with a couple of places to have our cake tastings. So, yeah, I'm finally getting stuff in gear. And I will MAKE Myles help me, like I did last night. I narrowed the guestbooks down to three and then had him make the final decision. And, I got him to basically chose a cake topper last night, too. We're going with the monograms with partial Swavroski crystals on them. We decided we're not really into the people toppers. :P

And now I have another wedding to get ready for, too. :P My best friend is getting married on June 7 in Gatlinburg, TN, and I'm her maid of honor, so I've got to go shopping with her for a dress and such coming up here soon. Shit, I've got to get in shape and lose the Hawaii weight. Blech. I'm trying. Right now I'm drinking my breakfast...two bananas, a yogurt, two egg whites, some cinnamon, and some skim milk mixed together. And believe it or not, it actually tastes pretty good and it's really healthy. So, yeah. And Lean Cuisines for lunch with bananas, oranges and almonds for snacks during the day.

Not so good Friday

Last night wasn't so good for me. I had a friend over and we were having a couple of drinks and gabbing when my phone rang at 10PM. Once I looked at my Caller ID and saw that it was my mom, I immediately knew that something was wrong...she doesn't call that late unless it's NYE. So I pick up the phone and her first words out are, "Tera, I don't want you to freak out." Yeah, that's never good. My first thought was plane crash, since I knew my dad was traveling home to South Bend from Dallas yesterday. He had a layover in Cincinnatti and shortly after he got on the play, he passed out. So therefore they had an ambulance waiting on the tarmac when his plane landed to rush him to the hospital. So, needless to say, I was freaking out. But, he's okay. They have no clue what happened to him, but he's okay. I got the full story from him today. Turns out, on the plane, they thought he was having a heart attack. He said he started feeling clammy and sweaty and queasy and was trying to make his way to the bathroom. He ended up passing out in the aisleway and vomiting twice while he was passed out. I didn't know this, but vomiting and stuff the way he was are classic symptoms of a heart attack. So air traffic control gave his plane a priority and a normally 45 minute flight took 20 minutes. But, I talked to him today and he's okay. They tested him for everything under the sun and they have NO CLUE what happened to him, but he's okay now. He said he's got some bruises and stuff from falling and he feels tired, but other than that, he's okay. Regardless, a 45 year old man shouldn't have that happen to him. That's the one thing all the doctor's agreed on. And yes, my father is only 45...they were YOUNG when they had me. =) Hopefully this was the first last and only time something like this happens because I don't need another scare like this one. My daddy has to walk me down the aisle in October, dammit!