Lynn Raye Harris

Some people think I’m a food snob. I don’t know why that is. I just like food without mystery ingredients. What’s so wrong with that? The fresher, the better.

But then, on Friday, I was shopping and realized something. Something that indicated to me that I might just be a teensy bit of a food snob after all. I had NO clue where to find Velveeta cheese. I wanted to make that cheese dip that’s so popular at parties, you see, because I was hosting a chapter board meeting at my house on Sunday. And I like that dip, but I’ve never made it, so there I was searching.

Not. A. Clue.

And I was too stubborn to stop and ask. (Or maybe I didn’t want anyone to know what I was looking for. I had visions of Tony Bourdain going all Invasion of the Body Snatchers on me if he saw the stuff in my cart.) I figured out pretty quick that it wasn’t refrigerated. And that’s just wrong! What’s in that stuff anyway?

So I wandered down to the chips. Nope, not there. I wandered back to the canned tomatoes (you know, because you pair it with Rotel). Nope, not there either.

I wandered past the macaroni and cheese. I never look at this stuff because I don’t eat it. But before you think I’m an unrepetant snoot, the first meal I ever learned to cook, when I was about eight yrs old, was boxed macaroni and cheese. Loved the stuff! And I’ve made plenty of Hamburger Helper back in the day. Oh yes, used to go to Sam’s Club and buy the stuff in bulk.

But somewhere along the way, I changed my stripes.

While I was searching for Velveeta, I remembered Government Cheese. Remember that? I think it was the gov’t version of Velveeta, and they used to give it away. My parents used to get it, and we put it on crackers and who knows what else. Probably made grilled cheese sandwiches with it.

Finally, I arrived at the Velveeta. It sort of has it’s own place in the store! It was down the aisle from the mac & cheese, and it comes in varieties now. Pepper Jack? That looked kind of good.

But then I saw the price. Seriously, cheese* that the gov’t used to give away for free costs as much as gourmet cheese from France?! Mon Dieu! Somewhere, Julia Child is rolling in her grave. After deliberating, I chose the smaller package, 2% milk version. And forked over enough money for it to buy a hunk of brie.

What food do you consider funky? Do you use Velveeta? Remember free gov’t cheese? And yes, I made the dip — and it was good! But now that I’ve gone searching for how the stuff is made, I don’t think I’ll be buying it very often…

*Actually, it’s a “cheese product.” Kraft was sued for calling it cheese because real cheese has 51% cheese or more. Velveeta does not. They cook it with a lot of whey, and then it congeals into the stuff we know as Velveeta. And it did look like a shiny congealed mass of something yellow to me.

On Tuesday, something momentous happened. Yes, I cut my hair. (And, oh yeah, some guy won an election or something. *g*)

I have not changed my hair in about fifteen years. It’s always been long and straight (once I grew out that spiral perm). But I felt like making a change finally. My stylist was actually worried I’d get upset after he made the first cut – but I didn’t, and I haven’t yet. In fact, it’s not really all that different to me. I have layers now, which I haven’t had in years, and I have to relearn how to use a curling iron and hairspray. But it’s still long. It just feels more versatile now. If my hair wasn’t so fine, and would hold a curl better, I could have kept the weight of the longer hair forever. But I’m not sorry I made the change.

Indeed, November seems to be a time for changes. Leaves change colors, the nation changes leaders, and I changed my hair. What about you? Made any changes lately? Planning any changes? Worried about change? Thinking about change, but not sure if you’re ready? What’s the biggest change you’ve ever made to your appearance?

I had a blog post written, but an unscheduled trip made me change my mind. See, my post was a bit cryptic and slightly whiny. Something happened last week that made me stop and think about a few things. And I was feeling hurt and irritated and wanted to whine. Without divulging the issue, of course. It wasn’t really a big deal, but it bugged me.

And then on Sunday, we took an unplanned trip to Nashville.

See, Saturday was an author event, a reader’s luncheon in Birmingham that was simply fabulous. I got to hear the wonderful and inspiring Christina Dodd speak, and I got to visit with fellow Pixie Chick Louisa Cornell. I received an engraved heart box, balloons, and a cake from my Southern Magic chapter mates for my first sale. More awesomeness. And I got to hang out with two of my friends and fab authors, Kira Sinclair and Kimberly Lang. (They forced me to overeat in a restaurant called Brio’s.)

But as fun as all that was, I was still feeling whiny. Until Nashville. Why? I think because the Nashville trip had nothing to do with writing, publishing, reading, etc. Nothing to do with my JOB. It was a spontaneous trip with my hubby and parents. So spontaneous we didn’t leave until 1:30 on Sunday.

We were at the Bass Pro Shop (yeah, the men wanted to go) by 3. Mom and I headed into the mall and had a blast going through the stores. I tried on a pair of Christian Louboutins that were on sale for the RIDICULOUS price of $118. Too bad they didn’t fit because I have never, ever seen Louboutins that low.

We hit Ann Taylor, Liz Claiborne, and several shoe stores. I bought nothing. When the men finished picking out lures, baits, and whatever other kind of weird things men love to shop for, we went to a restaurant called Aquarium and had dinner while watching fish swim around in a 200K gallon tank. Too cool.

It was soothing, it was spontaneous, and I didn’t think of writing or publishing for hours. I loved it. On the way home, I blew $25 on lottery tickets. I came home feeling much better than I did when this weekend began. Sometimes, it’s the unscheduled trips that give you a new perspective, or give you exactly what you need to recharge.

Where’s your favorite place to go when you need a recharge? Or what’s your favorite thing to do? Shopping? Dinner with friends or family? Long walks or drives?

Did you decorate for Halloween? I have two pumpkins, uncarved. I bought candy. I think that’s good enough. What about this place, hmm? It’s in West Virginia. There are over 3000 pumpkins, and a group of volunteers carves them (ya think?). You can read more about it here.

When I was a kid, I used to look forward to Halloween so much. I didn’t live in a suburb, but in the country. My mom had to pile us into the car and take us driving around the countryside for candy. These days, kids have such safe choices — neighborhoods banding together, malls, churches, etc, that hold Trick or Treat for kids. I think that’s great.

Indeed, Halloween has turned into its own season now. The decorations, parties, greeting cards, etc. It goes on and on. When I was a kid, costumes were chintzy — K-Mart or Wal-Mart things with those horrible plastic masks that you couldn’t see through or breathe out of. I can’t remember any of the costumes I had. I do remember one I threw together though.

I wanted to be Samantha from Bewitched so much. My mother had this flowing black coat that made me think of Samantha’s coat. I borrowed the coat, and a blonde wig (not that I wasn’t blonde already, but my hair didn’t look like Sam’s). I think I wore a pair of my mother’s shoes (they were too big, naturally). That was my costume, LOL. I imagine I looked seriously odd, but I was happy.

What was your best costume ever? Will you be dressing up for Halloween today? What was your favorite Halloween candy? I loved candy corn, though I can’t stand the stuff now.

As expected, my plan to talk about Twitter just sort of evaporated. Events of the weekend overtook me. Namely, my hubby’s obsession with the World Series. May I just say I do not care? Oh, I do actually enjoy it a teeny bit when it’s the LAST game. But this was game three. Not pivotal so far as I’m concerned.

And yet the man had to watch it. The game was rain delayed, which meant it started late. And then it finished really late. Probably 1 AM Central. I don’t know because I went to bed. Hubby stayed up for the whole thing. (Though tonight he decided to go play on the computer instead of finishing Game 4 — odd, hmm?)

I have to admit, however, that I do find an almost 46 yr old pitcher too cool for words. Jamie Moyer of the Philadelphia Phillies. This is his first World Series, which I find fascinating given his record with the Majors, and he’s a lefty. THAT’S what interests me about baseball. Human drama.

That’s probably why I love baseball movies but don’t much care for baseball itself. Baseball movies have so much drama, don’t they? Bull Durham is my favorite, probably followed by The Rookie. I also love For the Love of the Game and The Natural. A League of Their Own is pretty cool too. I am not so much a Field of Dreams fan, however.

Is it just me, or is this World Series stuff mostly a Mars thing? Because, aside from Jamie Moyer, I just don’t get it. I’d rather watch paint dry. I’d rather watch paint dry than watch most sports, come to think of it. I get excited when the stakes are HIGH. Last year’s Superbowl? Too cool. Loved it. I suppose, knowing me, if the Phillies get within true striking distance, I’ll get excited because I want the ancient (by sports standards) guy to win.

So, opinions about sports? About the World Series? Football? (Please take a moment to think of me tonight; Hubby is having a Monday Night Football party. I’m sure I’ll eat the food, say “rah rah” and disappear.)

Tomorrow is the drawing for the Gift Card!! Don’t forget to signup for my newsletter for a chance to win! (See sidebar.)

Today, I feel the need to unplug from the computer for a while. Oh, I do not kid myself this will be a total unplug from sun up to sun down. I know me.

But I’m feeling a bit too much like I’ve got too many plugs draining power, you know? And I need to write this book.

So I’m going to make a very concerted effort to be somewhere else with my Alphie, or the laptop in a place where I have to pay for Internet (and therefore won’t). Once I reach my goal, I’ll be back to see what y’all have been up to!

Do you ever feel the need to unplug? Are you successful at it, or do you still manage to let the energy be drained away as you try to keep too many things going at once?

Monday: The beauties of Twitter. Unless I change my mind.

Oops, didn’t get around to writing a new post until now. The anniversary graphic, while nice, is no longer relevant. We did have a nice time, though. Nice dinner out the first day, home cooked meal at Mom’s house the next. Pleasant times.

Finally, it’s starting to cool down a bit in Alabama. There’s a Fall nip to the air in the early mornings. I like that. You can still wear shorts or capris during the day, though. I like Fall. When I lived in Hawaii, I loved the weather. Summer all the time. But I realized when I moved that I did miss the seasons. I could do without Winter, of course. But Fall has that feeling of new beginnings, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s conditioned into us from the school years, but Fall is when you embark on something new. More so, I think, than New Year’s.

I love fresh start feelings. I think of new projects, or get into the mood to revitalize old projects. I have a new manuscript planned, and I’m having fun thinking about it. And yes, this pantser is trying very hard to write a synopsis and character backgrounds FIRST. It’s tough, but I think it’ll make the writing easier. But I won’t be committed to a definite path, so I can still change things as I write.

Any fresh starts for you this Fall? Busy weekends? Anniversaries?

Today is my anniversary! Not saying how many years, but it’s more than I can believe. When you spend enough time with a person, you get to a point where you’re amazed it worked out and positive you couldn’t live without each other.

Tomorrow is our anniversary too. We were married in Germany, so one day was the Burgermeister wedding, where we had to get married in the town hall, and the next was the church wedding for family and friends.

And we’re going to spend the day with both sets of parents. Kind of cool since we are all quite a bit older than we were then…..

Do you get a lot of it? Because I don’t seem to lately. I go to bed at a reasonable hour (sort of) and then I lay awake thinking about what I need to do, what I want to do, and what is going to happen. Not a lot of fun to be tired and have your mind race.

When morning rolls around, the hubby gets up for work. And I can’t help but get up with him. Right now, his parents are visiting. And there’s a whole relationship with coffee that I thought I understood but apparently don’t. I love my coffee in the morning, don’t get me wrong.

But my FIL is SO worried about it, like I’m going to oversleep and he will have to sit there without it for hours on end, that I make sure I get up and put a pot on. I just can’t listen to the endless questions every night — “Will you make coffee in the morning?” or “Is there going to be coffee in the morning?” or “Are you making coffee?”

As IF.

So, even if I haven’t slept well, I have to get up and make the coffee. Add in the stress of revisions, submissions, and waiting for news and you have an insomniac writer. Guess I could work on the next book idea…..

Do you have trouble sleeping? What do you do for it? Do you have a crazy FIL who obsesses about coffee? Let’s talk. Just wake me up if I’m dozing….

There is a sense when you’ve turned in a book that everything is about to fall apart. Or at least that’s how I feel. I know this is normal. All my writer friends tell me so. Published authors still get worried about what their editor will think when the manuscript is turned in. (It goes without saying that unpublished writers are anxious when they send out books!)

Anxiety: A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties.

This is my state today. I’m in that no man’s land between having turned in the book, waiting for the response, wondering whether to work on something else, and just thinking I ought to climb into bed and pull the covers over my head.

Anxiety comes with symptoms, among them headaches, nausea, insomnia, trembling, pacing, inability to concentrate, etc. There are many, many symptoms. Mine consist of the nausea, insomnia, and restlessness mostly. The headache is always an option with me.

I’ve pretty much decided this is part of the writerly state, part and parcel with the job. Every job has its stressors; I’m experiencing mine now. The book is gone and there’s nothing I can do but worry about it.

Anything making you anxious today? Any anxiety remedies?