Becka's Babble

MY BLOG HAS MOVED!!!

2009-01-30T21:34:00.001-08:00

To all the readers of my blog, Becka's Babble has officially moved to WordPress! You can now find my ramblings directly off my website located at http://www.RebeccaGoings.com.

All my latest blog posts will be found in the upper right-hand corner of my new website.

Please be patient, my website is under construction, so you won't find all my information readily available. As the weeks go on, I plan to get all my books listed and up. :)

It's been nice knowin' ya, Blogger!

See ya at Rebecca Goings dot com!

~~Becka

Got Our New Insurance Cards

2008-12-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

DH and I got our insurance cards recently, so the health insurance snafu was deftly avoided by the skin of it's teeth. LOL We're still set to be induced this Saturday and all is well. I asked the doc if she'd be open to inducing me early before the end of the year and she basically said no. Since my blood sugars have been good, there's no reason to get the baby out, as every day in the womb is beneficial to the development of the lungs.

She told me birth at 38 weeks and birth at 39 weeks is the difference between 97% and 99% with regards to survival rates. Both percentages are very high, but with the addition of just one week, there's one heck of a chance of having a happy, healthy baby. A little disappointing, since both my good friends Karen and Val have HAD their children, and thus get themselves a nifty little tax break. SIGH

No such luck for me having baby by midnight tonight. My doctor, although she said she wouldn't induce, said she's not against "helping things along" for natural labor. She stripped my membranes on Monday, and told me it gives you a 50/50 chance for your cervix to thin on it's own due to the release of prostaglandins, and thus speed along a natural labor. If anything happens, it happens within the first 24 to 48 hours.

Nothing's happening. Like I told a friend of mine, guess I'm like Fort Knox until we can break through the walls with Pitocin.

I've only ever been induced with Pitocin once in all my four previous births. From administration of the drug to babe in arms was 3 hours. Of course, I was a week overdue and my water had already broken two hours before, so my body was ready for labor then. Not so sure about now. Yes, for those of you who can do math, my second child had only a 5 hour labor, that is, if you count the 2 hours of nothing between my water breaking and the Pitocin drip. Otherwise, it was 3 hours.

I'm going in at 8am. If I have another 3 hour labor (wouldn't that be wonderful??) I'll have baby Sophie before lunchtime. But, if it's like I suspect, I'll probably labor into the afternoon and/or evening before having her. I just don't think my body is ready this time to slam into labor. But who knows? I've been feeling "pre-labor" for weeks (popping/spreading hips, false labor, Braxton-Hicks). Perhaps I just need that Pitocin push one more time. :)

~~Becka

No Baby Yet, But...

2008-12-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

I've had some pretty good contractions this morning. They did indeed taper off (darn it all), but they were strong with lots of pressure. I'm still having a few off and on, but they're not painful as much as it's downward pressure. Probably just some intense Braxton Hicks.

Aside from that, I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow for my non-stress test and I'm going to ask her if she can induce me early.

I know, I know, January 3rd isn't that far off (next Saturday!) but seriously, DH just got a new job, and we don't have our health insurance cards or even our member numbers yet (which the hospital will need to bill them) so I'm kind of in between a rock and a hard place. We paid for Cobra this month to keep our current insurance, but that's up on the 31st. We'd like to avoid paying hundreds of dollars to Cobra again just for a few days in early January. DH thought he'd get his new health insurance information by now, but he hasn't, which means... what exactly?

Well, according to his new job, we ARE covered. We have health insurance right now through them. But they haven't given us cards or numbers as I stated above, and I really don't want to deal with the CF *THAT* would mean with a two-day hospital stay and trying to get new insurance sorted with no information to give them. Aside from the fact of new deductibles and/or co-pays and/or premiums we've already paid through the old Cobra insurance.

If I can convince my doc to induce me before the end of December, I could avoid all this.

Now, I know it's cutting it down to the wire. We thought we'd have his health cards by now, which is why we waited. But now that it's after Christmas and fast approaching New Year's and we don't have them, it's a mad scramble to figure out what to do.

So I'm going to talk to my doctor about it. Maybe it won't be a big deal. Perhaps they'll be able to verify our new coverage with just DH's name and SS#. Or, perhaps the doc will be amicable to inducing early. Maybe by some miracle, we'll get our new cards sometime this week (crosses fingers). I tried to get a hold of my doctor earlier than NOW, believe me I did. But she was on vacation, and due to the snow, the doc's office was totally shut down, so there was no one else to talk to.

I hate crap that's down to the wire like this, but what can you do? BIG DRAMATIC SIGH

Anyhow, that's my update. Next time I blog, I may or may not have a new daughter and an interesting story to tell. :)

~~Becka

Getting Ready for Christmas!

2008-12-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

I'm getting excited about Christmas, finally! We've got all our gift shopping done, everything is wrapped, now we're just waiting for DH's mom to get here. She was scheduled to fly in on Sunday, but due to the horrible record-breaking snow we've gotten lately, our airport has pretty much been shut down. So her flight was canceled. She was told there was another available flight out of Palm Springs, so they got their tickets transferred, drove the hour out there, only to find THAT flight had been canceled as well. :( So, they decided to drive, because they were NOT missing Christmas with the grandkids.

We've gotten about a foot and a half of snow so far, with more promised to come on Christmas Eve. Aside from the headache of poor Grandma trying her hardest to get to fricken' Portland, the snow hasn't been too bad for us to deal with. Thankfully, we live a few blocks from our grocery store, so if we do have to go out, it's not that far. Chains are required everywhere around here, and if you don't have all-wheel drive or studded snow tires, you'll get ticketed if you don't have chains.

You see, this is the heaviest snowfall we've gotten in 40 years, so Portland, OR is NOT as prepared as other places around the country might be. We have to truck in our snowplows, borrowing them from here or there. In fact, our local Target's parking lot was plowed by two backhoes because they had nothing else!

Another friend of ours had been stranded in Sacramento after going to a funeral, and as luck or Divine Providence would have it, my DH's mom just so happened to be going through Sacramento on her impromptu drive up. She was able to swing through and pick her up and they're going to be here later today. Thankfully, due to the CF that is their vacation traveling, DH's mom was able to get a few more days off of work so she doesn't have to turn right back around and go home after getting here. Hopefully, they'll still be in town for Sophie's birth!

We shall see...

~~Becka

37 Weeks and Feeling Better

2008-12-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Despite all the pain I've been having recently, I'm finally feeling a little better. The sharp pains in my pelvis come and go, which is a good thing, since the other weekend I was in Deep Hurting. My doctor said it could be the position of the baby, with either a shoulder or an arm dropping down and pressing on things, since sometimes sitting for a few minutes will "fix" the problem.

Rolling over in bed is nigh impossible, comparable to a three-point turn, and is a maneuver that wakes me up every time. Therefore, I spend most of the night on my right side, which means that whole side gets numb by the time I wake up to use the bathroom. When I go back to bed, I try to lay on my left side, but DH says I snore when I lay on that side (LOL) and lying on my back is both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. So I can't lie on my back for longer than a few minutes, which means it's back to my numb side for the rest of the evening. Needless to say, I'm pretty tired by morning.

I've been going in twice a week for my non-stress test, and so far, the baby has been moving just like she should, with a perfect heart rate. In fact, this next week, I only had one appointment on Monday and the doctor asked me to make another appt. for Christmas Eve at the hospital since no one would be at the office. *SIGH* So I go in to the actual birth center where I will be giving birth to have my second non-stress test of the week. Might have to do the same thing on New Year's Eve as well, assuming baby Sophie decides to stay cooking in there.

I think she will. All my babies have gone to term. Only one of them was 11 days early. We shall see, I suppose.

My good friend Karen, who is also just as far along as I am with her second child, is actually in the hospital right now due to labor complications. She'd been scheduled to have a c-section on Jan. 4th, but the baby has had different ideas, flipping around to be breech on top of making Karen go in and out of false labor. She's 3 cm dialated, and I guess her amniotic sac is bulging a bit, so they've moved up her c-section date to this Sunday. So she'll have her baby in two days.

My other good friend Val is also pregnant, with a c-section scheduled for her on Dec. 30th. Even though we all got pregnant at or around the same time, I'm going to be the last of the bunch, trailing both of them with an induction on Jan. 3rd. Nope, not jealous at all. Lalalalalala, I can't hear you! :P

My baby is right on schedule with her growth, weighing in at about 6 lbs. By the time she's born, she should be just over 7 lbs., as babies gain 1/2 a pound a week in their final weeks. Even though I'm the last to have my baby out of our circle of friends (assuming I don't go into labor before-hand), Jan. 3rd is only 15 days away. JUST over 2 weeks.

It's seriously not long now!

~~Becka

This One Goes to Eleven

2008-12-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

If you've heard the phrase above, the title to this post, but don't know where it comes from, here is the classic scene from Spinal Tap that will familiarize you with this particular piece of pop culture.

You see, I've posted this funny vid because I've been complaining lately. Complaining about my pain level ever since Sophie dropped. Sure, I've had to waddle around, but it's just been within the past couple of days that my pain level has gone "up to 11".

Usually in my OB visits, they ask me if I'm having any pain and I've been telling them my pelvic pain is about an 8 at it's worst, which is usually at night. When I get up to go to the bathroom or roll over in bed it's the worst. But during the day, it's more annoying than anything, probably a 4 or 5.

Well, Thursday, I went in to the doctor for my twice-weekly baby monitor check-up (where they hook me up to the monitor that records baby's heartbeat for about 20 minutes) and my regular doc wasn't in, she was at a conference in Las Vegas. Okay, my appointment was with another doctor, but SHE was out due to one of her own patients who'd gone into labor that day. So I was seen by yet another doctor, who seemed to be swamped with everyone else's patients that day. Instead of 20 min. on the monitor, I think I spent closer to 40. But, I understood, so I didn't complain.

She goes to help me up, and I don't get up some weird way, I'm not flailing about, she holds on to me, but still, I feel this sharp-ass pain in my belly, like almost bringing me to tears. But, the baby seems fine, she's still rolling around in there, all seems well. Maybe I'd just squished something.

Ever since then, my pelvic pain has been almost unbearable. Sitting down, I'm completely fine. But the moment I stand up, my entire right side screams at me. My right hip feels like it's threatening to dislocate whenever I walk. Just lifting my legs is excruciating, whether it's climbing a staircase or getting into a car. Moving my leg from the gas to the brake is also painful. Hence, the 11 rating of which I spoke.

Of course I hobble around all day today, even going to our local Freddy's because I desperately needed some things at the store. By the time I get home, I'm in serious pain. By this time, it's about a quarter to 5pm on Friday evening, but I still decide to call the doc just in case she might be there. Nope, everyone's gone home except for the poor lady stuck answering the phones. She suggests scheduling an appointment with the doc on Monday and if my pain gets worse, to go to the Urgent Care or the ER.

Well, I already HAVE an appointment on Monday at 10:15am due to my monitor tests, but my doc always told me to call if I had concerns... Guess that doesn't include almost 5pm on Friday evenings. Dammit.

So, it seems as if I have to wait out the weekend and take things easy until I can go in and see the doc on Monday. Monday is also the date of my final ultrasound. Perhaps they can figure out if the baby has an arm or a shoulder wedged into my pelvis along with her GIANT FREAKIN' NOGGIN!!! lol

DH doesn't believe me when I say she's enormous in there. "You say that with every one," he poo-poos. I dunno. I think I've got an elephant growing in there. Iii-yii-yii.

~~Becka

Went to the Doc Today

2008-12-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

Today was the first of my twice-weekly doctor visits to be hooked up to the baby monitor. They're measuring the fetal heartbeat to make sure it has ups and downs, basically, whether the baby is active or lethargic in there.

The doc told me in 20 minutes time, they like to see about 2 or more ups and downs in baby's heart rate, but at least 2. Sophie had about 25 spikes! The doctor said that was a very active baby. :P She scheduled my induction date on January 3rd at 8am, just in case I don't go into labor on my own. She did say if I went into labor right now, she wouldn't stop it. Baby is growing just fine, and in fact, the doctor busted out the sonogram machine and confirmed the baby had dropped with her head down (hence all my painful pelvic...pain. lol). While she was looking around on the sonogram, she could see Sophie "practicing" her breathing, with her little chest puffing in and out. So cute!

Since the baby has dropped, she did mention I could go into labor at any time, but it's no guarantee that I will go into labor on my own. Some women can "drop" a few weeks before they give birth while others don't "drop" until they're in labor. I'm seriously hoping it's sooner rather than later. Despite having an early baby, I kind of want the whole hullabaloo over with before Christmas.

Ah well. She'll come when she's ready. If not in December, at least by the beginning of January. Assuming I don't spontaneously go into labor, Sophie should be here in 26 to 27 days! Little less than 4 weeks. :) Woohoo! There IS a light at the end of this LOOOOONG tunnel. :D

~~Becka

Had a Great Baby Shower!

2008-12-07T21:25:00.001-08:00

My good friends Joleine and Michelle threw me and my other good friend Val a baby shower this past Saturday. A good time was had by all, and both Val and I received some awesome fat loots.

I got lots of outfits for Sophie, most of which are Classic Pooh, which I love. An awesome tie-dye onesie/hat/pants outfit specially ordered, along with many footies, socks, and other hats. I also scored some fluffy blankies, none of which were duplicates - a green Pooh, pink Pooh, and purple fuzzy blankie I wish they made in adult size.

I got the bouncy I'd registered for (although my registry at Target was apparently ONLY online, not available in the stores, bugger all. I don't know why, though, as I WENT IN to the store to register... GRR) and also a shelving unit that rolls on wheels that stores diapers, wipes, blankets, towels, etc. Pretty cool!

Speaking of diapers, Joleine made me an awesome tiered "cake" of diapers. She'd taken a cardboard cake holder and placed rolled up diapers around the perimeter, secured with rubber bands, then placed a smaller cardboard cake holder on top of that, doing it again, and finally a third time. In the middle of the diapers, she placed a bottle, a bib, some socks, baby shampoo, Desitin, etc. secured with some pink ribbon (placed strategically so as not to see the rubber bands around the diapers), then wrapped the entire thing in cellophane. Totally an awesome idea. Val and I were both in awe of the three tiered diaper tower. :D

We played some fun games, both blindfolded. The first was to spoon cotton balls into a bowl, the player with the most wins. Not as easy as it may sound. The second was to identify tiny gold safety pins from uncooked rice. They all feel the same! So weird!

Yummy food was had, homemade pasta salad, deviled eggs, croissant sandwiches, crackers and veggies with dip, not to mention a super nummy punch I probably had too much of. Heheh

After the shower, DH and I decided to go to Target and purchase the items we didn't receive. We bought mundane things such as shampoo and diaper rash cream, along with more bibs, hats, spit-up rags, bottles, formula, baby monitors & a baby gate for our stairs. We've found a swing that we want (but it was sold out at our local Target) and I still need to buy a bath tub that will fit in our sink until baby is old enough to sit up on her own. Aside from all that, I do believe we're finally ready for this little one whenever she decides to come! Both mentally and materialistically. :)

~~Becka

35 Weeks Pregnant and Miserable

2008-12-06T08:57:00.001-08:00

Well, here I am, 35 weeks pregnant. If I don't go into labor on my own this month, my OB is going to induce me by January 3rd. My due date isn't until Jan. 10th, but due to my diabetes, the longer the fetus is inside me, the higher the risk of fetal demise. She mentioned the fact I take medication to control my blood sugar has something to do with it. Anyhow, the point is, I'm not going to be allowed to get to my due date, much less go beyond it.

However, that still doesn't comfort me.

I don't know if it's because I'm older now (It's been almost 6 years since my last pregnancy) or because I've simply "forgotten" what it was like. But holy moly, this is getting old.

DH says I complain during every pregnancy, and he's right. But I don't remember being quite this miserable. Sure, I had my fair share of aches and pains. In fact, my son's pregnancy was, perhaps, one of my hardest, considering he was Sunny Side Up. (If you don't know what that means, Google the term for babies.)

Also, my pregnancy with my second daughter was hard as well, considering I'd gotten pregnant a mere 5 months after I'd given birth to baby #1. I don't think my body had fully "recovered" from the first.

But now, with this baby, I have mad ligament pain. Getting up from lying down or even sitting is a major chore, and even then, I can only "limp-waddle" to get to where I need to go. I can feel my lower back and hips "popping" when I walk sometimes, no doubt my pelvis getting ready for business. It's almost impossible to lie on my back, even though it is simultaneously THE most comfortable AND the most uncomfortable position I can lie in. For my body, it takes away the stress of a hunched-over back and evens out my hips. But for the baby, it's like placing a watermelon on my belly. She literally sits on some nerve in there, making the left half of my face and scalp numb. Weird, eh? Not to mention the pressure she exerts on my colon. Not fun times, my friend.

I'm currently measuring 36 cm from pelvis to the top of my uterus, and I'm going in for my final ultrasound on December 15th. It will measure the baby's size to make sure I don't have Baby Kong in there. The doc seems to think she'll be normal weight seen as how my sugars have been doing good (aside from the occasional lapse when I eat rice or tortillas lol).

But Ho-lee-crap, she feels like a 15 pounder. I know in reality, she's probably 5 *maybe* 6-ish pounds right now, but wow, it feels like she's the size of Simone! (my petite 7 year old).

Braxton Hicks are getting stronger now, and in fact, it's just pissing me off when they stop. LOL I'll have one, then look at the clock hopefully wondering if labor is actually beginning! But alas, no such luck. I really don't want to give birth to a preemie, but at this point, I'm ready to trade those sleepless nights for these aches and pains. It's seriously so draining, that I'm constantly exhausted.

DH says, "Oh, you say this every time." Perhaps I do. But I don't think the man appreciates just how uncomfortable it is to carry this bowling ball in my gutsky day after day...

~~Becka

Okay, I Gotta Blog About This...

2008-11-26T21:52:00.000-08:00

DH and I decided to go out to the Dollar Tree tonight to buy new ornaments for our Christmas tree. Yes, we're on a budget since DH lost his job, so we can't (or shouldn't) buy the uber-expensive nice Christmas ornaments. Believe it or not, Dollar Tree had some decent stuff. In fact, I'll probably go back when it's time to fill up on stocking stuffers.

Anyhow. So we come out and realize we gotta go to Target (same parking lot) for a tree topper, as they didn't have anything we liked there. No prob. On our way out to the car, we meet up with some people who are selling tamales for $1.00. Ooo, we think. Awesome. But we still gotta go to Target. We tell them we'll be back because we wanted the tamales to stay hot while we shop.

We get our tree topper, come back, and there's a few people buying tamales from these people already. Now mind, they're just average people selling food off the back of their truck, with tamales in ice coolers, presumably to keep them warm. So, DH and I buy 20 of them, because there were two kinds, made with either red or green sauce. We got 10 of each.

Now, these people were very nice, and they were also offering free Mexican hot chocolate, which has a distinct flavor of something cinnamony. It was really good. They had their kid with them, and they seemed more than happy to serve us, along with two other ladies who'd noticed them selling tamales.

Of course, the draw of tamales is that it's one of my favorite Mexican foods, and handmade tamales are the shizzy. Not to mention tamales made by Mexican folk. Our neighbors, whose daughter is our daughters' best friend, make kick-ass Mexican food. They sometimes send over their Chicken Mole or homemade tamales and tortillas to which we will never say no. Scoring Mexican food made by Mexican people is nothing but a win-win situation in my book.

We come home, we eat, and I feel the need to Twitter my experience because the tamales are frickin' good--better than I've ever made. Two of my Twitter friends are aghast that DH and I trusted random strangers with food in a parking lot. I've got to wonder to myself... why?

These folks were obviously thinking outside the box to earn a little extra cash for the holidays. They knew people love tamales - they could make tamales - sell them for a buck each and have a few extra dollars in their pocket. What's the harm?

I can only think it's the inherent "terror" we have of "strangers". You all remember hearing, "Don't take candy from strangers!" as a kid. Or the reports of wackos putting razor blades in carmel apples for Halloween (as a result I could never have any homemade stuff little old ladies dropped in my Halloween bag as a kid because my parents were paranoid). But seriously, is this where the "fear" of strangers comes from?

I believe most people are good. They are. What's wrong with trusting someone you don't know?It's few and far between you'll meet someone who actually *is* a wacko out to specifically hurt you.

"But Becka," you say, "They could have spat in those tamales!" (because I'm seriously not gonna buy the "razor blades" in the tamales argument, come on! --cue Gob from Arrested Development). Well, seriously, how is it any different than buying a tamale from a restaurant? Or a roach coach that's in a random parking lot? Because they have a license to make it? Because they're in an "establishment"? Reality check, folks. ANYONE CAN SPIT IN YOUR FOOD, DON'T MATTER WHERE YOU EAT.

So, I choose to believe most people are good, and I choose to give most people the benefit of the doubt. Just because some old man behind me in line might pat my kid on the shoulder doesn't mean he's an OMGCHILDMOLESTER - KILL IT WITH FIRE! lol

You get my point.

So, someone explain to me how buying tamales in a parking lot is any different than accepting food from my neighbors or buying it from a roach coach. It's not, really. Like I told my friend on Twitter, it's not like they were in a back alley selling crack, stolen watches... and tamales! I seriously doubt food made for the public would be made in unsanitary conditions. I suppose it *could* happen, but no, again, I choose the benefit of the doubt.

Bottom line here is... Christ would have eaten those tamales from the poor folks trying to make a buck for the holidays.. I'm confident of that. (They were chicken, not pork thankfully haha) That's good enough for me.

Then again, they *were* made with lard... Perhaps He wouldn't have after all. LOL

~~Becka

The Adventure That Is My Life

2008-11-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so yesterday, I decided to go to KFC to pick up dinner for the fam. As I'm leaving, DH gives me a grin and tells me to pick up some wood while I'm out, as he wanted to start a fire. With all the camping we've done this year, we depleted our wood supply. *SIGH* All right, I'll go, but only because I need to get dog food, too.

So I get to Safeway, and notice a minivan with the driver door wide open, lights on, nobody's home. I didn't think much of it, I thought perhaps the owner was scrounging for something and I just couldn't see them. But it still raised a red flag for me. My daughter Simone and I go in, pick up the dog food and the wood, pay, then go back out to the car. As I'm loading up, I notice the van is still wide open with no one in it. I warred with my own conscience at that moment, because I was so very hungry, you see, but being somewhat of a goodie-two-shoes, I knew *I* would want to know if I accidentally left my car door open.

I go back inside to the customer service desk and wait for about 5 minutes to tell someone about this, after I got the license plate number of the car. Finally, someone took down the info I had and announced it over the loudspeaker in the store. Feeling good for doing a good deed, I go back out to the parking lot with my daughter, only to find the minivan was gone. I'm happy the person who owned the vehicle (I'm assuming) drove off after realizing their mistake, however, I became extremely annoyed that I'd "wasted" 5 minutes of my time going back into the store to do my good deed for the day when the person had already left the parking lot.

At this point, I keep telling myself I'm racking up treasures in Heaven. Treasures in Heaven, Becka. LOL

Okay, so we drive to the KFC, order our food, and the guy taking my cash has an "Are you kidding me?!?" moment. My order was $30.04. I handed him $40.04 in cash. This kid hit some button that didn't show him the change he needed to give me, so he LITERALLY, and I kid you not, hit the cancel key to re-enter it so he could figure out my change. I'm staring at this kid in disbelief, mind, because my own seven-year-old could tell you I should get back a ten dollar bill. YOU knew that, right? Because I couldn't believe this kid wasn't that bright. Maybe I didn't understand what he was doing and he had to do that for the drawer count after hours. But I don't think so. WOW.

So after we get our food, I have to remind them of one other meal I'd ordered (they'd forgotten it in the bag), then I go back out to the parking lot only to find someone had parked their GIANT SUV about 6 inches away from the driver's side of my car. Like, literally, I'm surprised my side-view mirror was still attached! My daughter had to slide in from the other side while I went around to assess whether or not I could get in the car.

Despite my giant 8-month-pregnant belly, there was NO way. Not even a super skinny person could have done it.

At this point, I'm so upset (low blood sugar + pregnant + are you kidding me moments = cranky Becka), but I'm one of those "non-confrontational" people. I'll get in your face if you get in mine, and I'm a biatch on the road, but I don't go looking for a fight. So while marching back into the restaurant and giving the SUV owner a piece of my mind made my inner dark side grin with glee, I resisted the urge. If I'd had a piece of paper and a pen, I WOULD have left a note on their car. I was sorely disappointed I didn't have any. GRRR

In order to appease my raging temper, images of slashing tires and keying their passenger door flitted through my mind with unabashed abandon, no doubt cancelling out the "treasures in Heaven" I had just racked up for my good deed of the day not 15 minutes earlier.

Therefore, I had to get into my car through the passenger side and climb over the console into the driver's seat while being both overweight and 8 months pregnant. It must have been comical. I think I sat on the emergency brake. Fortunately, there wasn't anyone else in the parking lot to observe, other than my daughter, who thankfully, didn't laugh at her mama.

I hate people.

LOL

~~Becka

The Dreaded Dentist

2008-11-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, the dentist. DH and I are actively trying to spend our flexible spending account for health related issues through his old work, because if we don't use it by November 30th, we lose it.

So, we've been to the eye doctor, gotten new glasses for him, me, and our youngest daughter Simone. Now, it's on to the dentist.

They called us out of the blue to schedule cleanings for us, so we decided to go. I knew I had some cavities which I neglected to take care of due to the hubbub of my pregnancy, and let's face it, my own procrastination. Well, they wanted to EXTRACT my wisdom teeth! GAH! No, didn't want to go through that while pregnant.

Come to find out, my dentist tells me after the age of 25, they don't like to extract wisdom teeth unless they REALLY REALLY have to, because recovery time is so much longer and painful for us fogies. I have a couple of cavities in them, but she was confident she could fill them rather than pull them. She didn't want me to be in agony with only a few weeks until baby bunting is born. Nice lady. We like this doc.

So, I schedule my first filling appointment for the very next day after my cleaning (which was today) and now my teefies hurt. :P Of course, that is to be expected with all the poking, proding, and **shudder** drilling they were doing. I have to go in next Tuesday to get the other side worked on, as well as a third appointment yet to be scheduled. ACK!

Not all of my fillings are for cavities, per se. Some of my teeth are cracked on the top, needing to be filled in lest they become top cavities or what have you. I dunno, I'm not a dentist. Thankfully, they break it all up so I don't have to endure a marathon dental hell.

But it does mean all my appointments have to be close together in order to use up the flexible spending. And damn Thanksgiving for closing down the dentist! That third appointment I've got to make will likely be in December, meaning I'll have to pay out of pocket for that one. But oh well. At least I'll have all my dental crappola done once Sophie arrives, AND, I don't have to have my wisdom teeth extracted!

The dentist did say they have to be diligently brushed more than the other teeth, since they're against my actual jawbone and hard to get a brush back there (hence my cavities), but just because you have wisdom teeth doesn't mean they have to come out. Truth be told, they've never bothered me. I had enough room in my mouth for them to come in without crowding my other teeth, and they came in straight. Other than filling them, I've had no problems. So yay! No horrific torture for me!

The dentist did keep telling me I didn't "look" 8 months pregnant, which I'm still trying to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing... I seem obviously pregnant to myself and to friends, and the dental assistants had no problem assessing the state of my pregnant-ness. Of course, the doctor didn't see me STANDING, which could have been part of the problem. When I sit, I do resemble just a fat lady with a Buddha belly. LOL

Maybe I *should* take offense to that after all... :P

~~Becka

Operation Christmas Child

2008-11-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

I heard about Operation Christmas Child back in July, but decided to put off blogging about it until closer to... Christmas. I'd never heard of it before, but it's apparently a big organization, bent on giving children in need gifts for Christmas from total strangers in a shoebox. Here's the link to the webpage:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

It's a Christian organization, in case you haven't put 2+2 together, but you don't have to have anything Christian in the shoebox or BE a Christian to donate. Here's the link to how to pack the shoebox:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Pack_A_Shoe_Box/

Basically, you find a standard size shoebox OR one of those shoebox sized Rubbermaid containers. You don't wrap the gifts inside, but you can wrap the box and the lid separately, so don't wrap it as a single gift. They have to open the boxes to inspect what's inside to make sure people aren't giving knives and shards of glass, etc.

You determine if your box will be for a boy or a girl, and you print out their nifty boy/girl card on their site along with a $7 donation (to cover the cost of shipping and such) and put this inside your box as well. You also determine the age group of your child, so toddler, child, or teen.

Then, you go to any store you like and buy small items that would make a child happy. Here's a list of their gift ideas.

GIFT IDEAS

TOYS
small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch A Sketch®, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries), Slinky®, etc.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES
pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.

HYGIENE ITEMS
toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth, etc.

OTHER
Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries)

A PERSONAL NOTE
In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. (If you include your name and address, the child may write back.)

DO NOT INCLUDE:
Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snowglobes or glass containers; aerosol can.

~*~*~

If you want to send a shoebox, you need to do it fairly quickly, as the drop off times are this month. Here's the info:

Place a rubber band around each closed shoe box and drop off at the Collection Center nearest you during our collection week November 17 - 24.

For locations and hours of collection visit our Drop-Off Locations page where you can find the nearest place to take your shoe box by entering your ZIP Code or you can call 1-800-353-5949.

~*~*~

I just love this idea, it's cheap, and if you go on You Tube and look up Operation Christmas Child, you'll find so many inspiring videos of kids who literally light up upon opening their box full of awesome "wonders" to them. I've become a sap since I've had my own children, and watching TV shows and commercials with children in need, sad, or injured, makes me tear up and ball like a baby myself. So I think I'm going to do this, which means I need to get out and shop NOW, but how awesome for some little kid somewhere in the world who can have a Christmas morning because of you. :) Make the world a better place, one child at a time!

~~Becka

31 Weeks Pregnant

2008-11-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

I'm 31 weeks pregnant today! Which means "little" Sophie is about 4 pounds and 17 inches long. At my last ultrasound, she was 3.3 pounds, which was 3 1/2 weeks ago. Considering the baby will be gaining about 1/2 pound a week until birth, I figure since then she's got to be around 4 lbs.

My Braxton Hicks contractions are getting a little more "powerful" than a mere tightening in my belly. Whenever I get them, they last for about an hour or so. They're more uncomfortable than they've been in the past, so whenever I get them, I'm very aware of how long they last and how frequent they come. I've never had a baby *this* early, but dang, these contractions sometimes feel like the beginnings of real labor, so I'm more in tune with them.

Of course, it could be my own anxious-ness to have the baby. :P

My next doc appt. is on the 13th, next Thursday, and I'm assuming at that point my doc is going to have me schedule my final ultrasound to check baby's weight at 36 weeks. I have 9 more weeks to go, but I'm thinking it's actually going to be sooner than that, since the doc wants to induce me early, and there's talk of doing so before the end of the year. I'm kind of hoping the baby will come on her own in December so I won't have to be induced. I'm not a big fan of "La-tee-da-feelin'-goo-HOLY-CRAP-I'M-IN-HARD-LABOR!!" :P

Anywho, just a quick update with me and bebe. We're doing good, I feel like a stuffed turkey most days, sometimes describing it as feeling "15 months pregnant". LOL The only thing that sucks about Braxton Hicks is the tightening also pulls on my ligaments and I've got to lay down or risk Deep Hurting. Ah well, par for the course, I suppose.

~~Becka

Life, Personal & Political

2008-11-06T00:12:00.000-08:00

Wow, so many things to ponder, I don't even know where to start. I'm pretty darned uncomfortable these days, and I can't believe I have just over 9 weeks to go in this pregnancy. UGH. Thankfully, I'm not going to be allowed to go past my due date, and in fact, have probably a 100% chance of delivering early, due to when my doctor wants to induce me. So yay on that front.

Scary thing is, DH was recently laid off from his work, meaning, we'll have to pay for Cobra to keep our health insurance unless he can get a job soon. We might just pay for Cobra until after the baby's born anyhow, since we've already paid all our co-pays with this baby. Good news is, because all the programmers and designers at Jive Software were in their late 20's, early 30's, the premiums for health insurance are relatively low, due to the collective age and good health of the company. Meaning, DH and I won't have to pay out the nose for Cobra. I thought we might end up paying $1500 a month, but it turns out it's only about $650, plus another $125 for dental.

His work laid him off on Oct. 10th, but allowed him to stay on until Oct 31st to wrap up loose ends and such. Because the company was very nice, they decided his official last day was Nov. 1st, so his health insurance wouldn't run out until the end of November. I thought that was very awesome of them, something they totally didn't have to do.

Which means this nation's elections were specifically poignant this time around for the Goings family. DH and I are registered Republicans, but we could not bring ourselves to get behind McCain. His policies were vague where Obama spoke of specific plans, not to mention his age and his unfamiliarity with technology. Or his "yeah yeah yeah we'll get to that" stance on global warming and what we need to do to turn things around.

I voted for Obama, I'll come right out and say it. Why? Because I want health care reform. I want to find other energy sources that don't harm the planet. I want to get out from underneath the Middle East's thumb with regards to foreign oil. I want more jobs here in the U.S. of A. I want the dang national debt to get smaller, if at all possible! Geez! I want my kids to have the opportunity to go to college or at least get college funding if DH and I can't hack it for whatever reason. If these things mean higher taxes, well, then it's got to be done. Taxes aren't necessarily evil. Where does the federal funding for these kinds of projects come from anyway? If we want this country to change, we've all got to do our parts.

Aside from the issues, I just could not stand country bumpkin Sarah Palin. Enough with the winking and the you betchas. Her Christian faith wasn't enough to sway me, nor was the fact she was female. And even the tried and true stance that Republicans are traditionally against abortion wasn't "enough" for me to vote with my party this time around. Not to mention the fact I've become somewhat ashamed to be a Republican in the first place with people shouting "terrorist" and "kill him" at McCain's rallies. Even during McCain's concession speech, they were vehemently booing Obama. Did you watch Obama's acceptance speech? He praised McCain and the crowd was respectful and clapped for him. Where did this hatred in the GOP come from? It disgusts me, frankly.

I'm not a "Democrat", but I'm not sure I'm Republican either, at this point. Heck, even now, I'm not sure what either party stands for.

The fact Obama is a black man never even entered my mind, and shame on those people who didn't vote for him because of it. I must admit, I got a little misty when they announced he'd gone over 270 electoral votes to claim the presidency. My children got to witness history being made. On that note, so did I! I always thought a woman might get there before a black man. But I believe it was Obama's likeability and his clear intelligence that won people over. Imagine, someone who doesn't make stupid jokes and stumble all over himself in the White House! What a breath of fresh air! :P Seriously, who wants a president who acts like your crazy Uncle Jethro you never want to put up with at family BBQ's? We've had enough of that for the past 8 years. God forbid we have more of that with Sarah Palin as veep.

I'm very proud to be an American right now. Not just because the guy I voted for won, but because I believe the best candidate won. And if he can live up to his promises, he just might be one of our greatest presidents. If he doesn't, he could turn out to be one of our worst. Only time will tell. There's a tremendous amount of pressure on the guy right now, but if there's one thing Obama is, it's cool under pressure. Let's hope he brings some of that into his administration.

And let's hope this country is finally headed in the right direction with our heads out of our butts and our priorities straight.

~~Becka

Good News

2008-10-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I saw my doctor today and have some good news to report. First of all, the placenta moved away from my cervix, so I no longer have placenta previa and I'm all clear for a vaginal birth. Yay!

Second of all, I've only gained half a pound since the last appointment. Considering that's probably the baby's weight, since it is now putting on a half pound every week until birth, I'm pretty stoked! :D

Also, my doc said she wants to induce me in the week before my due date of Jan. 10th regardless of the weight of the baby. Because I'm a diabetic that's on medication, they have to monitor me very closely in my final weeks, moreso than a diabetic who's controlling their diabetes with diet. So she mentioned the week between the 3rd and the 10th, in there somewhere. DH mentioned, "Or the 31st?" She looked at him and said, "Oh sure, for the tax break? You bet!" LOL

I suppose the baby will be healthy enough at that point being 38-39 weeks old. She will be at term by the end of the year. Hopefully she was serious about the end of December induction! LOL Maybe I can whittle her down as the weeks go on. Heh I have to go in twice a week in December so they can hook me up to the fetal monitors to make sure there's no stress on the baby. I just don't want to be in the hospital on Christmas day. Baby can come before or after Christmas, but not ON! I want to be home opening gifties with a warm fire, some cinnamon rolls and holiday cheer, darn it!

I bought a few things for the baby just in case she decides to come before I have my baby shower (many smooches to Joleine and Michelle for throwing me one. :). I have about 5 onesies, 3 jammies, 3 pairs of socks, and 3 hats. I know, not much, right? Jim's mom already bought us the uber pack-n-play complete with a baby changing station, mobile, lights and music doo-dad, and an adjustable bed height for infant or toddler, along with a carseat/stroller combo. So, if baby comes early, all we really need now is some diapers and wipes. I'd considered buying a giant box of diapers from Costco, but read online that you should really only buy a few packages of newborn-size diapers, since the baby grows so fast. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about that situation. We shall see. The rest of my kids didn't grow like weeds, so perhaps Sophie will be the same way.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share that info. Funny thing is, the tech at the ultrasound told me baby's head was down, but my doc found baby's heartbeat high up on my belly, which means she's probably sitting head up at the moment. Guess the wee one is still rolling around in there! Let's hope she rolls back into position before D-day... :P

~~Becka

The Goings Last Camping Adventure....for awhile at least

2008-10-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know, DH recently got laid off from his job. Couple this with the fact I'm just a housewife, who happens to be pregnant, and the sudden, dramatic downturn of our economy, this doesn't bode well.

However, there are a few irons in the fire for my ol' hubby and his job prospects, so all is not hopeless. Due to this craptastic crapfest, we decided we needed to get away for awhile and relax. As you know, we've gone camping a few times in the past, but never "by ourselves". We've always gone with friends. This time around, we decided to meander on up to Ft. Stevens, Oregon on our own, a place we've actually never visited - the only stretch of American soil to be shelled by the Japanese in 1942 (as Hawaii wasn't a state when they bombed Pearl Harbor).

Anyhow, it was awesome to camp out there, amidst the many different batteries protecting the mouth of the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. We had fun exploring the catacombs of the bunkers and the old giant gun pits.

But that wasn't our only adventure. The first night, we discovered our air mattress had a hole in it. We tried patching it, but to no avail. Thankfully, DH had just bought an air mattress for the kids, a "king" mattress, which is actually two twin mattresses that will zip together to make a "bigger" bed. Well, that first night, they were sound asleep, and we didn't have the heart to steal it from them then. So we "roughed it" on the hard ground with just our blankies and two half-inch thick foam pads we had. You might think this is what camping is all about, but not when you're 7 months pregnant! Holy cow, I couldn't sleep at all that first night. I was so uncomfortable.

Not to mention the LEGION of raccoons that descended upon us once we were safe in our tents. Once we'd doused our lantern, they were bold enough to enter our campsite while me and my oldest daughter were sitting at the campire. They were trying to get into our chip and bread duffel bag. LOL Okay. So I shooed all FOUR of them away - yes, four - and my daughter was freaked out while they snorted and hissed at me, little buggers.

I then proceeded to put our dry goods bags in our van which was just a few feet away from our site thinking, "They can't open the ice chests. We're all good."

We finally go to bed, and a little later, we hear THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Little bastardos CAN get into the ice chests! Let this be a lesson to y'all. So we put a few of our heavy items on top of the ice chests while DH shooed away SIX of them. The four came back with two of their friends, I guess. Cute as all get out, but dang, are they little pests! One even tried to make off with our kids' clothing bag which had their toothpaste inside, which we figured they could smell. LOL He was snorting, huffing and puffing, trying his hardest to drag it away, but it was just too heavy, I suppose. We got a good laugh out of it all, especially when raccoons lined the pathway to the bathrooms a few yards away. Fun times when you're heavily pregnant and have to get up 2 to 3 times due to shivering.

Yeah, when I shiver, it makes me have to go more often for some reason. And I was shivering. Why? Because it wasn't just cold, it was BASTOGNE cold. Holy cow.

So the next night, we steal the air mattresses from our kids, tell them to deal with sleeping on the ground (with our pads and a few extra blankies as more padding to lie on), but even these mattresses suck due to the gaping CHASM between them! Sure, you can zip them up, but there's still a crack about 2 to 3 inches wide in the middle. And since the nights were BASTOGNE cold, cuddling is a must to stay warm. So that crack didn't do any wonders for DH's back, lemme tell you. LOL

We managed to go for a family bike ride to one of the batteries, which was fun, and another day, I was exhausted (due to lack of sleep), so DH took the kids for a longer ride. We had good food and many a roaring fire, played Apples 2 Apples Jr. with the kids, and had a fun time.

We originally were going to stay there for four days, but the cold and the uncomfortable mattress situation made us come home a day early. But it was fun nonetheless.

You might think we're crazy for going camping at the end of October, but it was only because baby Sophie is going to make her debut sometime in January, and camping with a newborn isn't going to be pleasant. So while DH might be able to take the kids on his own, I won't be able to go camping with the baby until she's older. Fort Stevens was our "one last hurrah" as a family. Also, there was NO ONE else at the camp site aside from a few older folks in their campers, which was probably why the legion of raccoons descended upon us as easy picken's. :P

We liked the empty campsite because we never had to wait for the potty and we always found an open shower. (Yes, there are showers, we don't like "roughing it" camping in the back woods). Well, let me rephrase. DH would probably like that, but I like my car-camping. I don't necessarily mind if there are showers nearby or not, but there MUST be some sort of outhouse/toilet/honeybucket on hand. I can't stand hiking, so trekking to the campsite with gear from the car doesn't appeal to me.

Anyhow. :) DH has his perspective of the camping trip on his blog at www.jimgoings.com, or you can see our camping pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimgoings/sets/72157608393198748/

~~Becka

What the Heck is Wrong with Other People's Kids?!?

2008-10-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, folks, time for a rant. What the heck is wrong with other people's kids? Seriously?

Today I was taking my kids to their art class. We have to go to the Cultural Arts Center, which is a converted Lutheran Church, and their classes are downstairs. There's a little swinging gate on the stairs down the kids love to take turns opening.

Anyway, we go downstairs, I drop off the kids and head on back upstairs. When I'm literally on the top stair right at the swinging gate, a troupe of four kids go racing by me, none of which say, "Excuse me" or even look at me as I'm forced to wait for them to thunder on by before I can continue on my way. When I do, one more child who must have been in the rear of the pack comes around the corner and literally PUSHES me out of the way so he can get by me. PUSHES!!!

I was this close > < to yelling, "Excuse YOU!" But then came mom, who didn't say one word to me, didn't even look at me. Nothing like "Excuse us" or "I'm so sorry". I was appalled! Now, keep in mind these kids are older, maybe 7,8,9 years old - they should know how to be polite. I might expect a toddler or little kid to push by me, but older kids? And not even MOM was polite??

It takes a lot to offend me, folks, but today I was. I don't know if it was the pregnancy "Bitch" hormones going into overdrive or the fact it was my snacktime and I needed to boost my blood sugar. Perhaps it was just plain ol' righteous indignation.

Because seriously, if you don't instill MANNERS into your kids, no wonder they turn into little hellions.

My second daughter Miriam asked me the other day while we were at Fred Meyer's, a big grocery chain here in Oregon, "Mommy, how come every time we come here we hear that?"

"Hear what?" I say.

"That baby crying."

I listen, and sure enough, there's some kid wailing away a few aisles over. I guess I'd just tuned it out.

"Well, I don't know," I answer. "Guess someone's cranky."

So when we catch up with said squawking child, he's throwing a tantrum in the cart and mom is shopping like NOTHING'S GOING ON!!! Uhm, woman, your baby's crying, and you might think ignoring it will make the child stop, but I'm here to tell you that you've gotta instill some kind of DISCIPLINE to your child, yes, even in the MIDDLE OF FREAKIN' FREDDY'S IF YA GOTTA!!!

When my kids act up at the store (on those very rare occasions), I speak softly to them, so no one else can hear (because really, it's no one else's business). I say, "You keep this up, I'm going to smack you right here in the store, I don't care who's watching."

My kids, knowing that I MEAN what I say, back off and behave afterwards, perhaps all the while misty-eyed at the thought of Mommy punishing them in public.

I'm telling you right now, I was downright afraid of my mother when I was a kid. She didn't ask for respect, she demanded it. I'm not talking fear like OMG she's going to beat me, but fear as in I knew she meant every word she said and I didn't dare test her limits. This is the same kind of mommy I wanted to be with my children, albeit loving on the same token.

I love you to pieces, but if you give me attitude, disrespect, or disobey me, there WILL be Hell to pay.

Now I don't beat my children. Please. I do believe in smacking their hand, and we have, on occasion, spanked our kids. But our kids learned early on not to do the things that prompted spanking, and now, it's very RARE we ever have to do it. Just the threat usually reins them in.

Of course, we also teach them to be respectful, to wait until it's their turn to speak, never to push anyone, say "please" and "thank you" not as an afterthought, but as the first thing you say when someone does something nice for you.

This just seems like common sense to me. My husband and I did NOT get "lucky" four times over. We were not blessed with overly angelic children. We simply taught them early on the meaning of respect and that they are expected to obey our rules. Why is that so hard for some parents? I just don't get it.

Perhaps I can't expect too much from that mom who had no manners herself...

~~Becka

Random Ponderings...

2008-10-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

I'm officially 7 months pregnant - into the final stretch - the third trimester. Baby is about 15 - 16 inches long and weighing in at about 2 1/2 pounds. I'm going to have another ultrasound on Wednesday to measure the size of the baby and the location of the placenta. Last ultrasound, it was 2 cm away from my cervix. Apparently, it can float away during pregnancy and attach itself elsewhere, so they want to monitor that and see where it goes (if it goes).

What's really weird is despite feeling the baby kick and my expanding waistline, and having to make a 3-point turn in bed just to roll over, it's hard to wrap my head around the fact there's a baby in there! I guess it's just been so long since I've been pregnant. But it's not much longer before we'll have a new little one in the family! My mom-in-law just sent us off our gifties of a new carseat/stroller combo and a pack-n-play.

Friends are talking about throwing me a baby shower and I need to go buy some stuff as well. I just want to be prepared. I'll probably buy some newborn diapers, wipes, and some onesies and jammies. At least we'll have the carseat - that's a big load off! (Thanks, Mom! :D)

Aside from baby news, I just recently went to a book club meeting to discuss my book THE WOLVERINE AND THE ROSE with the ladies at Powell's Books in Beaverton. Pretty awesome, I've got an "in" over there. The lady who coordinates the book club is also the same woman who does the signings AND who orders the romance novels for the store. So she told me to send her all my ISBN info on my other print books and she'll order them. They love to support local authors, and I think that's just fabulous! :D

It's too awesome to say I've got books on the shelves at Powell's! :D Just need to conquer Powell's downtown next...

I got my cover for my latest book coming soon! It will be released in November from Champagne Books, and it's entitled ONCE A DREAMER. Here it is along with the blurb:

When her adoptive mother dies in a bank shootout, orphan Karina Vadislav is sent to live with Patrick Baker, her uncle in Dodge City, Kansas. After years of abuse, she flees, meeting Benjamin Sawyer, a gambler with a sordid past. He agrees to help her claim her inheritance in Topeka, posing as her husband to keep her safe.

But there are men who are out for Ben’s blood and will stop at nothing to see him dead. Coupled with Karina’s bloodthirsty uncle, neither of them is safe on the trail.

When bullets fly and truths are revealed, will Ben and Karina’s fragile love survive the ultimate betrayal?

~*~*~

Anyhow, that's all for now!

~~Becka

FINALLY Updated My Website

2008-10-14T22:51:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, my website has been full of dead links forever. Mainly because DH and I switched Internet providers an eon ago and I never got around to having him make me an FTP log in to update things. Not to mention the fact that two of my publishers also totally changed their eBookstores in the interim. SIGH

Anyhow, I've finally poked around in there and updated all my buy links for every single book, as well as updated the new releases featured on the front page. I still have a few things left to do, as the print release of LEATHER & LACE isn't on my site yet. But if you see another dead link or a typo or something that seems out of place, let me know.

Otherwise, you can check it out at: http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Who knows how many sales I might have missed out on with all those dead links? Yikes! Laziness does not PAY folks. Nyuk nyuk.

~~Becka

Okay, This Thing is the Coolest Device I Have EVER Owned

2008-10-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, I know I already have a post about this, but I've just got to spread the Gospel of iPhone to the masses. I have a 3G, which retails for $199. Considering everything this nifty little device does, that's a SCREAMIN' deal.

Let's review what it does for ME, Beckabecks:

It's a calculator. Handy for when I'm at the store.

It's a notepad. Handy for when I want to jot down a grocery list or reminders to myself.

It tells me the temperature of any city I choose. Excellent for finding out what the beach might be like this weekend.

It's a clock.

It's a map. Enter any address and it will pop up a map. If you're in the map app (lol), you can also enter in say... "Thai Restaurant" and it will show you all the local Thai restaurants in the area. Oh, would you like to call them? Here's their number. Just push "call". Do they have a website? Yes? Why don't you browse it?

Which brings me to it's connected to the Internet via the cell network. So you never have a "disconnect" to the Internet. Nope. Check email? You bet. Browse You Tube? Go ahead! In fact, you can turn your iPhone sideways and it will play the video in a "widescreen" format. Can you go to websites? Need you ask? And no, it's not the craptastic text only websites. You can totally see every picture and every inch of pink on Becka's Babble. :P

And let's not forget that if you have to squint to read that text, you just pinch your touch screen to zoom into the text and/or website. You can spread your fingers wide to zoom back out.

It's a hand-held game device. There's an app store with hundreds of games you can either pay for - and some for free! Some apps aren't even games. You can download the dictionary, for example. Or the Bible. Or a bajillion other things. One of the things I downloaded was a Diabetes program that keeps track of your blood sugars throughout the day.

And yes, I bought Bejeweled 2 for it. Love that game, as well as some other word games, solitaire, hangman, and an app for Pandora, the FREE Internet streaming radio (for lack of a better example.) You put in an artist you like to listen to, and it will pull up that person, and play *other* artists that are similar, that you might like. Pandora is cool in that it's not just for the iPhone, it's also online. You should check it out.

Oh, did I mention that this nifty thing is also an iPod? Sure, I have an iPod already, but I could ditch it if I wanted.

It also does awesome texting, as it's smart, with a "qwerty keyboard" (all touch screen, of course, no buttons), and if you happen to make a typo, it suggests a correction for you, and 9 times out of 10, it guesses the word you were trying to type. It also remembers previous texts, so you can browse through your older texts to your contacts.

It's a calendar, and I can make appointments on whatever day I choose.

It's a camera. Want to take a picture of something cool? No prob. Point and shoot. Want to email that photo? Okay!

Oh yeah. And it's a phone.

:)

I never thought I'd use one as much as I have used this little thing. I was so wrong. Now I wonder how I lived so long without it.

I love the thing so much I've named it "Vera", after Jayne's beloved gun in Firefly. LOL

Seriously, folks, if you've been thinking of getting one, you really should. $199 is NOT that expensive for everything it does. And I'm just in awe of all the apps that are available for it. My phone could do SO much more if I downloaded more apps.

THIS is why I will always keep it charged and always keep it close to my person. Never again will my phone be lying useless, dead on the counter. Forever and ever, amen.

**snort**

~~Becka

Becka's Newest Toy

2008-10-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, DH loves me... Yes, DH loves me. Yes, DH loves me... for my iPhone tells me so! :D

Yes, that's right, DH gave me an early birthday present this weekend, my very own iPhone 3G:

I've wanted an iPhone for a long time, pretty much ever since DH got his about a year ago. Thing is, I'm not really a "gadget" person, and put off getting one for myself because I thought it would be too much for me.

Turns out, this phone is exactly what I need. My old cell phone was this archaic flip phone from like 1950 or something (lol). Texting on it was a PITA, as you had to press the number buttons a few times to get to the "letter" on that button. Gah. I always forgot the thing, and never charged it, because I never used it.

But the iPhone is so much more than just a PHONE. Sure, I don't have many people to call, and I basically have a "phone" just so I can make the random phone call or when something "bad" might happen - flat tire, dead battery, etc. But this gadget lets me connect to the Internet. No matter where I am, I can check email, visit my websites, check the news, play games, listen to music on the built in iPod feature...

With all the bells and whistles, it pretty much ensures that I'll keep it charged and with me at all times, much to DH's relief. Every time he calls me, I never answer, because like I said, the phone was never charged, or I forgot it at home. :P I don't think I'll be doing that anymore!

Woohoo! I have been assimilated!

~~Becka

Becka's Birthday Bash

2008-10-03T22:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! If you've been following my books for the past few years, you might know I hold an annual birthday party for myself every year. :) It's called Becka's Birthday Bash, and it lasts for an entire week, the week of my birthday, October 9th.

This year, it will be held from Oct. 6th to Oct. 10th on my author loop, The Magic of Romance. I will be posting excerpts, posting fun facts, fun questions, holding contests and giving away sweet wrapped "mystery" birthday gifties. :D If you'd like to come and partay with me, you can join my group at:

http://groups.google.com/group/themagicofromance

The best part is, all of my author friends are coming as well! (Well, most of them. :P) You'll be reading their excerpts and entering their contests as well! So it won't just be a Becka Bonanza. :D

I'll be giving away some sweet prizes - you don't want to miss it!

Remember, Oct. 6th thru Oct. 10th, Monday through Friday of next week. Hope to see you there!

http://groups.google.com/group/themagicofromance

~~Becka

Well, It Was Inevitable...

2008-09-30T20:21:00.001-07:00

I am starting to gain weight nowadays. :( Thankfully, it's not a lot, fluctuating between 3 and 5 pounds so far. Some days it's up, others it's back down. Of course, it could be due to the funky digital scale I have...

But the baby is fast approaching 2 pounds herself, so I know it's not all body fat. In fact, I can still fit into my "medium fat pants" comfortably, AND bend over to tie my shoes. Heheh I can tell it will only be a matter of time, though, before baby will expand beyond these pants' waistline.

Yes, I am planning a trip out to the maternity store at some point to buy clothes. I'm tired of looking merely fat rather than pregnant. I need more shirts with an empire waist! LOL I look OBVIOUSLY pregnant when I wear those maternity shirts, but when I just wear a big t-shirt, it's "Yup, there goes a fat lady." :P

I'm a little bummed the weight has started to creep up on me. Hopefully I can keep it down to a marginally acceptable amount. I expect I might gain another five or so just due to the baby's weight. SIGH

I've thought about getting into my exercise regime again, doing my walking videos, but the problem is my feet have started to swell to epic proportions from just doing normal, everyday things. I think I have varicose veins in my feet, seriously. My mom has spider veins in her feet, so I think it's hereditary. It's sooo bad, though, like a hundred times worse than what Mom ever had. Friends freak out and think I have some kind of broken foot because of my large purple-ish "bruises". Ever since my blood volume has increased during this pregnancy, one of these bruises has just been swelling and aching. I can barely get through my house-hold chores without having to take frequent breaks and prop up my feet. It's getting worse the farther along I'm getting.

Even my Diabetes doctor said I should see a vascular specialist for it. I have some discoloration on my legs due to Diabetes, but the "bruises" aren't caused by it. It's so bad, I've considered getting an Ace bandage to wrap up my foot to keep pressure on the spot so it can't bulge out. Gross, I know. And probably TMI. But hey, all this talk about my "cadaver foot" (as DH likes to say) is leading up to the point that I'm not sure I could do my exercise video now without being in deep hurting for the rest of the day. Even just sitting is painful without propping my foot up. :(

Hopefully there is a light at the end of this tunnel. After I have the baby, I might just see that vascular specialist. If they can inject something, shoot a laser, or just plain cut it off, I'd be happy. Seriously. I should have DH take a picture just to gross y'all out. LOL

~~Becka

Awwww!!!

2008-09-30T16:15:00.001-07:00

IMGP2239
Originally uploaded by jimgoings

Simone loves Sophie!

Pregnant Bellies

2008-09-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

Beck and Val
Originally uploaded by jimgoings

Here's a pic of me and my good friend Valerie Howland. We're both pregnant with girls, and we're both due on or around the same day (but she's getting a c-section before the end of the year). We're comparing bellies in this shot, and I thought I'd share it, as it's a cute one. :)

We were at the Portland Pirates Festival, which was held last weekend in St. John's Park, I believe. It was a lot of fun - my son was in HEAVEN with all the pirates walking around. We were severely under-dressed, however, and felt out of place in our normal "street garb". Next year, we'll know to dress like pirates. AARRHH!

Highlights of our experience was the fat and flabby King Neptune (*shudder*) and the leather-clad Dread Pirate Roberts, both of whom were merely attendees, not paid performers.

Oh, and the guy with the real bird on his shoulder was cool too. Let my son hold his bird. On his head. While telling his bird to take a shite. LOL But it was a good bird. No poop on my son's Privateer Press 'do-rag, however, Mr. Random Pirate did indeed have some crusty old bird nasties on his OWN hat. Har har har!

Enjoy the pic!

~~Becka

More Pics From My Booksigning

2008-09-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Another one of my friends took some pictures with his iPhone and sent them to me. I thought you might get a kick out of seeing me looking like I actually know what's going on. LOL

You can see Meljean sitting behind me in the chair with the sweater draped over it. The woman standing with her back to the camera in the blue-grey shirt and red hair is my good friend Joleine. On the other side of her is my other good friend Val, however, you can't really see her except for a small bit of her head. heheh She's my "pregnancy buddy", who's also due around the same time as I am. However, she's talked her doctor into doing a C-section for her by the end of the year instead of waiting until January 10th. Lucky ducky. She's had her other two children via C-section, and I guess they really frown on VBAC's these days. (Vaginal Birth after C-section) Pretty much if you've had one, it's guaranteed you'll have another unless you're very vocal about it and you don't have a complicated pregnancy.

*shrugs*

Anyhow, I thought you'd enjoy these pics. Too many books on the table in front of me. LOL

~~Becka

My Latest Booksigning

2008-09-21T12:50:00.001-07:00

Well, my latest booksigning, held on Fri. Sept. 19th, was a success! Due largely to the fact I wasn't alone in my endeavor. :P There were a lot of other authors present, and I sat between two sweeties, Lacy Danes and Megan Clark. There were hoards of ladies swarming the tables, and I had a few good talks with some of them. My friends showed up for support, and I talked with them for awhile. They took some good picks, both of me and of my books on the shelf.

I was surprised by the amount of books they had of *mine* on the shelf. They had at least 10 copies EACH of the entire series of The Legends of Mynos, not to mention about 10 copies of my latest book, CURSED HEARTS. Here's a picture one of my friends took from the rack of books written by all the authors at the signing:

All the other authors had like one or two books on the shelf. The only other author's books to rival mine was, of course, the lovely and beautiful Meljean Brook. :) She came over to our side of the signing (the tables were set up like a horseshoe and she sat on the other side from me) to say hi to her friend Megan Clark. Megan then showed off my awesome cover for CURSED HEARTS to Meljean, which Megan said she thinks is the best cover at Samhain to date (that was cool). While they both were drooling over the two men on my cover, Meljean decided to buy my book! :D So awesome.

So, I signed her copy, then bought myself a copy of her latest book DEMON NIGHT, because we were all drooling over her cover model as well. :P Haha!

Then, after all the hubbub, the booksigning coordinator for Powell's Beaverton came over to me and said, "I don't know if Minnette told you (Minnette Meador, my great friend who makes sure I'm in the know about local events), but we've chosen THE WOLVERINE AND THE ROSE as our October book for our book club! If you'd like to come in on Oct. 17th and maybe give a reading, you're more than welcome!"

At this point, I think I fell out of my chair. Well, metaphorically speaking. They chose MY book for their book club? POWELL'S BOOKS?!?

Sure, it's not the *same* store as Powell's City of Books, the big-ass bookstore in downtown Portland, but it *is* an offshoot. In fact, these same ladies I signed with the other day are doing another signing around Valentine's Day (not sure where, though).

On top of another signing I'll be doing at this same Powell's in December, with just Minnette and myself.

Dang, I feel like I'm going on a book tour! Too cool for words. Now I just need to write a book for New York and have my books sold in super markets and Wal-Marts across the country! LOL

~~Becka

6 Months Pregnant!

2008-09-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm now officially six months pregnant. :D Cool thing is, I still haven't gained any weight. My doctor is impressed and doesn't seem to be concerned. In fact, she says losing weight right now wouldn't be bad either, since I do have a lot more to lose in the long run.

I found a website that states adequate weight gain for a woman my "gestational age" is about 5 pounds in the first trimester, and one pound per week for the rest of the pregnancy. That would make me at about a 17 pound gain. Since I haven't gained at all, does that mean I'm losing weight as fast as I'm gaining, and therefore it's canceling itself out? Is my "true" weight 17 pounds lighter than what my scale reads right now?

Here is a breakdown of where the weight on a pregnant woman comes from:

* Baby = 7-8 pounds
* Increased breast size = 1-3 pounds
* Increase is uterus = 2 pounds
* Placenta = 1-2 pounds
* Fluid surrounding baby = 2 pounds
* Increase in blood supply = 3- pounds
* Fluid build up = 2-3 pounds
* Storage of fat = 6-8 pounds

Of course, this weight breakdown is when you're ready to give birth, as seen by the 7 to 8 pound baby. Right now, Sophie is only about a pound to a pound and a half, and about the size of a ruler from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. :)

But even so, I'm still impressed at the lack of poundage on my body. I blame it on not being able to eat as much as I used to, due to squished stomach in my abby-domen. :P Seriously, I get FULL by eating just a scant amount of the foods I used to eat. I sometimes have to force myself to eat my snacks in order to keep my blood sugar up, because I'm just not hungry.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are things I used to love that I just can't do anymore. I can no longer have a tall glass of milk for any reason. Even drinking all the milk from my cereal bowl spikes my sugars like there's no tomorrow. It's the carbs. I can't (or shouldn't, because I do from time to time) have a whole bagel, as again, the carbs spike my sugars. Even just a scoop of rice can do me in. I have to be careful how much I take. I've even passed up the corn and refried beans on some meals I make for my family, because I just can't have too many carbs. It makes me sad because carbs are(were) my best friends. LOL

Despite not gaining any weight (yet), and despite crowing I could still fit into my small "fat" jeans, today I found out the bebe is a'growin'. I won't be able to wear my medium "fat" jeans for too much longer. I'm going to have to break down and buy some maternity pants. I bought some online, but one pair was out of stock (lovely) and the other pair was made by Omar the Tent Maker. :( So I have a couple of maternity shirts, but no pants. The store I can go to (maternity clothes for fat people) is in our local mall, but that's about 15 miles from here. UGH. Just don't want to drive that far! At least by myself. Maybe I should convince a friend to go on a shopping spree with me. Val? lol

Anyhow, just wanted to give you a baby update. Things are going fine for me, aside from the random Braxton Hicks contractions and ligament pain I get from time to time. I bought some yarn a couple of weeks ago to make the bebe a blankie, and I just finished crocheting that today! I was inspired, I guess, as it usually takes me longer to make an afghan. But it's made with a purple-ish pink-ish fuzzy yarn and accented with white. It was hard to work with due to the fuzz, but it's so beautiful. :) Maybe I'll post a picture of it at some point.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

~~Becka

My Daughter's Gunboats

2008-09-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

Today, I earned my "Best Mom of the Year" award. My daughter, pathetic as she is, came to me today to show me her flip flops, the ones she's worn every day since sometime in June. They're dirty, disgusting, and look like they're ready to fall apart at any given moment. Unfortunately, her regular tennis shoes are now too tight for her, because children have this annoying thing called "growing" that unfortunately, they cannot control. GRR

With puppy-dog eyes, she asks if I will buy her new shoes.

Upon examining all my kids' feet and tennis shoes, I've come to realize they all need new shoes. Wonderful.

Like a moron, I wait until Payless Shoes has run to the end of their "Buy One Get One" sale (@$&*!), however, they do have a "few" items on sale. So we go, and I find out my eldest child (who is 9 years old, btw) wears a size 6 1/2 in WOMEN'S shoes! That's only a size and a half away from what *I* wear! I was so taken aback, that when I regained function in the speech part of my brain, I announced to all and sundry how EPIC my daughter's feet are.

Of course now, being in women's sizes, no longer can she pick the cutsie "Hannah Montana" shoes or anything remotely pink and princess-y. :( What she did pick, however, are a pair of black sneakers with bright pink shoelaces and pink stitching and whatnot. They're really cute. My other kids rejoiced that they all got new shoes as well, my son with his Ironman light-up shoes, my daughter, with her Dora the Explorer light-up shoes, and my other daughter, with her silver and pink shoes.

Even at a store like Payless, I still don't get out of there for cheap with four kids to shoe. I really really really should have paid more attention to the BOGO offer at Payless. That is, AFTER I realized "Bogo" wasn't some fancy designer shoe after all and actually stood for "Buy One Get One". Dang stores and their dang new-fangled acronyms... >:(

~~Becka

First Day of Art Class

2008-09-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today was Simone and Levi's first day of art class at the Cultural Arts Center here in Hillsboro. My two older girls will start their classes next week.

It's funny, the Arts Center is actually a converted church, and I've driven by it a few times. It's closer to my house than my kids' doctor's office, and I never even knew! Funny thing is, the building is actually fairly new, I have no idea why the church sold it to the city, but it's awesome. They hold concerts in the "sanctuary" and all the art classes go on in the rooms downstairs.

The place is actually pretty good size, despite the fact they have a relatively small parking area. It's inconvenient in a way, because all the streets are one-way surrounding it, so I have to drive past it and go around in a circle to get there. But the place still kind of has that church smell. I don't know what it is... perhaps it's in the carpet? I don't know.

You know how you go into some traditional church, like Lutheran or Episcopal and they have that "smell"? It's not a bad smell, just a church smell. More contemporary churches, such as Calvary Chapel, don't seem to have this smell about them, I've noticed. Very odd.

But the kids had a lot of fun today, considering the teacher chose -- dinosaurs as today's subject! They all love dinosaurs, and it just happens to be my son's subject of choice. The class was 4pm to 5:30pm, and Levi was still drawing away. In fact, I had to wait about ten minutes until he finished. I'm thinking he really likes this class!

My older girls are sooooo excited to start! They have classes for adults as well. I'll have to check out what they offer. Art class used to be my very favorite subject in school. :)

~~Becka

It's All About the Suit

2008-09-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

I could have come up with a catchier title for this blog post - "Pick Your Suit" or "What Suits You?" or "That Suits You" or "More Than an Empty Suit" LOL.

But I have an honest question.

Why does every important man wear dark-colored suits? Seriously, look around the media, politicians, actors... everyone is wearing a dark suit. Now it's probably not black, as that's usually reserved for tuxedos, but I've seen a few black suits in my day. But I'm talking about the tan suit, the light grey suit, rather than the varying colors of navy blue.

Is it because it's considered more professional? Are you taken more seriously? Are lighter-colored suits considered more "casual"? Or do they not photograph well on TV?

Occasionally, you'll see politicians (like the ones we've been closely watching) wear light-colored slacks with their white shirts and sleeves rolled up when they're giving a "less formal" speech and/or press conference. But you never get the blazer in there. It's more of a dress casual look, I guess.

Perhaps I'm answering my own question with the tan/grey suits, but honestly, I'm getting tired of navy blue and smoky dark grey, aren't you? It's like... every man on TV is wearing the same suit! I've got to wonder seriously how many ties these men own, because that's really the only splash of color in there! Sometimes you might see the random yellow shirt or light blue shirt that vetos the white button-up for the day, but to me, that's not enough of a "change".

For all I know, these guys could be picking up these suits at the dry cleaners and wearing the very same suit every day of the week! How do we know? Only the ties change!

~~Becka

Saw the Doctor

2008-09-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

Just in case you missed my comment on my last post, I did go and see the doctor. Baby seems to be just fine, with 150 heartbeats per minute and measuring at 23 cm on my belly. :)

As far as my medication, I've been switched off the Metformin to a medication called Glyburide. My doctor put me on a low dose, since this medication is known to make you go hypoglycemic, and it's better to start out low and go higher if you need to. So far, for the past two days, it's kept my sugars down under 95 in the mornings with a decent reading after breakfast. Perhaps that's just what I needed.

"Bad" thing is this medication gives me side effects. It's giving me headaches, stomach aches, and making me really foggy/tired. Well, I guess I don't have to take it "forever", and it's better to keep my sugars down than harm the baby.

My doc did mention the ultrasound showed the baby looked very good, however, the placenta is only 2 cm away from my cervix. This is bad news for a vaginal delivery. BUT, I'm still early enough in my pregnancy that it might float away and I'll be perfectly fine.

Because of this little complication and my diabetes, they are going to be giving me two more ultrasounds, one at 28 weeks and one at 36 weeks to monitor both the size of the baby and the position of the placenta.

You see, if I go vaginal with the placenta so close to the cervix, the placenta will deliver first. This is NOT good, as the baby is still attached to the placenta, which is what they get their nutrients and oxygen from. And because the baby hasn't come through first and stretched things out, the placenta would have one heck of a messy delivery (ew, I know), and endanger the life of the baby, as for that few minutes after the placenta is "destroyed", the baby will be without oxygen and nutrients in utero. Bad news!

After a normal birth, the baby's umbilical cord is clamped and cut and they take their first breath and they are no longer connected to mom. But the baby has to be OUTSIDE the mommy in order to be out of harm's way.

Anyhow, if the placenta doesn't move, it's likely I'll have a c-section. Or if the baby gets too big, I'll have one. *sigh* Darn high risk pregnancy! I've had four kids and haven't had to have a c-section yet. It kinda scares me, to tell you the truth. I hope all goes well in the months to come.

~~Becka

Life as a Pregnant Diabetic

2008-09-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

I'm just now finding out how difficult it is to be pregnant and a diabetic at the same time. Now, I don't have gestational diabetes, I have the real deal, I just so happened to get pregnant. I was first diagnosed in January, so I haven't known long. I'm on 500mg of Metformin every night at dinner time, which is also when I take my prenatal vitamin, along with my fish oil pil (which actually looks like a HORSE pill) that my doc suggested I take for brain development of the baby. You know, Omega 3 fatty acids and such.

Anyhow, doctor told me how later on in my pregnancy, it's possible my diabetes might get "worse" due to the placenta releasing sugars into the bloodstream right along with the pancreas. They're going to be closely monitoring the size of the baby to make sure it doesn't get too big in there. Some babies of diabetic moms have fat deposits on their bodies that make them "bigger" due to all the sugar floating around in there, thus making the chest and shoulders the biggest part of the baby rather than the head. If you deliver the head and can't get the rest of the baby out, you're in deep hurting.

So, if they baby gets upwards of 9 1/2 pounds, my doc isn't going to take her chances, she's going to give me a c-section.

Throughout this whole pregnancy, my sugars have been normal. You need to be under 95 in the mornings after you wake up, and one hour after you eat, no more than 135. If you test at two hours after you eat, no more than 120. Been nailing that no problem.

But recently, my morning sugars have been about 10 points higher than they should be, fluctuating between 101 and 109. This causes my after-breakfast sugars to spike to the 140's/150's. Not good. But then, what happens is, somewhere between breakfast and lunch, my blood sugar crashes, and I've GOT to find something to eat and quick. Despite my high number, I must eat a snack or risk going hypoglycemic. And that's not fun.

It's happened to me a couple of times. You get a raging headache, you feel like you're going to puke, nothing can stop you from shaking, and you feel like there's a brick in your stomach. DH has had to make me eat even if I don't want to, because it can get really bad if you don't. It kinda scares me, actually, because I'm not sure why I'm swinging both ways so drastically in the span of an hour.

Now, my after lunch sugars and after dinner sugars are both normal. It only seems to be my morning and after breakfast sugars. This means I'll probably be prescribed a higher dose of Metformin.

The doc did mention its possible that by the end of the pregnancy, the diabetes could get so out of control that I have to inject myself with syringes. I hope it doesn't come to that. When every woman goes into the doctor once a week in their last month, I'll have to go twice a week for a non-stress test. They'll strap me into one of those fetal monitors that goes on your belly and leave me be for about 30 minutes, monitoring the baby's heart rate when I have Braxton-Hicks contractions. If they get dangerously low, they'll have to induce me.

I'm seeing my doctor within the next few days, so I will definitely be talking to her about what's been going on. And not only this, but the ligament pain and the back pain - I'm telling you, this pregnancy is already "miserable" and I'm only 21 1/2 weeks along. I'm actually dreading the months to come.

Because seriously, if I'm out and about too long, like at the store walking around, not only do my feet swell like balloons, but I get this weird feeling like I have a brick in my stomach and I'm going to hurl at any given moment. I'm getting to the point where I might have to carry sweets in my purse because I can tell when my blood sugar crashes. It's not quite as drastic as Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias, but it's enough to be a bit scary at times.

Good news is, I'm still maintaining my weight and fitting into my "small" fat pants. They're getting tight, though. I'm going to have one heck of a jelly belly when this baby finally does come out. LOL

~~Becka

I've Been Tagged - sigh

2008-09-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Donica Covey tagged me in the comments section of the post below, so I guess I'm "obligated" to do this blog meme or something. *sigh* Here are the rules:

This is an Unspectacular Meme. Here’s the details: First, the rules: 1) Link to the person that tagged you. 2) Post the rules on your blog. 3) List six unspectacular quirks you have. 4) Tag six bloggers by linking them. 5) Leave a comment on each person's blog to let them know they've been tagged.

1. I homeschool my kids. Might have already known that, but some people don't. I have four of them, aged 9, 8, 6, & 5, with one on the way (obviously). So far, it's still pretty easy. We'll see how it goes when they get into the higher grades.

2. I taught myself how to crochet about 10 years ago, and now, I'm teaching my three daughters how to crochet. My oldest is really good at it, making hair bobbles, pillows, scarves, etc. My second daughter is still trying to get the hang of it, while my third daughter mastered the single crochet just this weekend. Found a lot of cool tutorial videos on You Tube recently. Might have to check them out! But I hold my hook over-handed like a steak knife, not under-handed, like a pencil. Those of you who crochet by holding your hook like a pencil, how do you do that?!?

3. On sunny days, I go out and sit on my deck for a little while, spending some quiet time outside with my kitties, who also love to bask in the sun. It's a great time to think without any interruptions.

4. I hate sneezing. I don't know why, but I get really annoyed when I have to do it. Probably because my sneezes come in twos, and once I sneeze, I'm destined to sneeze again, so having a conversation whilst sneezing is no fun. Really, doing anything while sneezing is no fun. I just can't stand it!

5. I'm pregnant, and three of my girlfriends are pregnant as well! Valerie and Karen are both the same gestational age as me - all three of our babies are due on either Jan 9th or 10th of '09. Monica is just recently pregnant and is due in April of '09. The funny thing is, all of our hubbies are best friends and have been for years. Kevin, Chris, Jim and Damon all used to work at Disneyland back in the day. Now none of them do, but I think we've all retained our Partners Federal Credit Union accounts. :P

6. I love cats. When I was a kid, I used to be a dog person. I had three of them and played with them all the time. But as I grew up, something changed, and I now like cats more than dogs. In fact, if I wasn't married with kids, I'd probably be the "Crazy Cat Lady" in my neighborhood. LOL As it is, we have three cats and only one dog. We recently rescued a cat that nobody else wanted from DH's work. I figured it's better she come to us than go take her chances at the shelter. Her name is Penelope, and she's an all white cat, just like our other cat Spike. But she's a LOT fatter (lol) so it's not hard to tell them apart. It took her a while to acclimate to us (I don't think she'd ever seen a dog before, and our big dumb dog trying to chase her for fun probably didn't do much to bolster her courage...) but now she's pretty social. She's still skiddish, but she's a good kitty. But I've got to be careful, though. If I actually *go* to the shelter, I want to adopt ALL the babies! :P

I'm actually breaking the rules of this meme and not forwarding it on to anyone. Why? Because it's effort and I'm lazy and I don't necessarily like sharing memes. :P I guess that's #7 on my mundane list.

~~Becka

NIGHTWISH & SONATA ARCTICA!!!

2008-08-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

DH and I just purchased tickets to go see a concert I am SO TOTALLY EXCITED about!!!

Nightwish is coming back to Portland, and they're bringing Sonata Arctica with them!

If you're not familiar with either one of these bands, I'm sorry.

:( They're gothic rock, singing "epic" ballads complete with double-bass drums and full-on strings and horns in some songs.

Back when I was doing my book videos to promote my books, I used Nightwish's songs for all three Legends of Mynos videos, so you might remember them from awhile back. I saw them in concert last year, as a matter of fact, and I told DH they are a must-see band. I will see them every time they come to town.

Why?

Well, because when they sing, even though it's gothic rock, there isn't any demonic references, there's no religious references at all, actually, the make-up isn't overdone in black eye-shadow, they don't act all pissed off, and in fact, they seemed genuinely happy to be there and SMILED as they rocked. Totally awesome.

And, I'd just like to add, one of Sonata Arctica's bandmembers plays the keytar, which is so full of WIN, my head is going to asplode. :P

So, if you're in Portland, OR on Sept. 10th at the Roseland watching the Nightwish/Sonata Arctica concert, come say hi. I'll be on the mezzanine drooling over Tuomas. ;)

~~Becka

It's Promo Time!

2008-08-25T20:42:00.001-07:00

Okay, folks, for an author, I rarely do promo for my books on this blog. That's due in part because I believe that sometimes the best form of promo is to have your readers get to know who you are, to get used to the way you write or to understand where you're coming from.

But today, I'm just going to brag a bit. :)

I have SO MUCH going on in September, it isn't even funny. First of all, my big announcement is that I finally finished my book, ONCE A DREAMER, one of the 6 books in the new Orphan Train series from Champagne Books. I've been working on that one for over a year now, and the ending has been eluding me. I knew what I wanted to happen, but for whatever reason, I couldn't pick it from my brain, even though the historical Western is my favorite genre of romance.

Due to the magnanimity ($10 word) of my publisher, she allowed me to push back my dead line again and again... and again. But now, I'm DONE and I'm CROWING about it! :D Here's the book's blurb:

~*~*~

What began as a sham of a marriage soon becomes ‘til death do we part.’

When her adoptive mother dies in a bank shootout, orphan Karina Vadislav is sent to live with Patrick Baker, her uncle in Dodge City, Kansas. After years of abuse, she flees, meeting Benjamin Sawyer, a gambler with a sordid past. He agrees to help her claim her inheritance in Topeka, posing as her husband to keep her safe.

But there are men who are out for Ben’s blood and will stop at nothing to see him dead. Coupled with Karina’s bloodthirsty uncle, neither of them is safe on the trail.

When bullets fly and truths are revealed, will Ben and Karina’s fragile love survive the ultimate betrayal?

~*~*~

So there's that bit of good news. And the book is going to be released probably mid-September-ish. Woohoo!

Also releasing this month on Sept. 5th is my installment of Cobblestone Press' Vampire Oracle, entitled TOMB, which you might remember from my blog post here. (My book cover is at :42 seconds into that vid). I'm so excited for this one! Here's it's blurb:

~*~*~

Douglas McCarthy is a vampire haunted by the screams of his victims. After
killing a woman accidentally, he vows he will never kill again, and entombs himself within the walls of his own cellar.

Diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, Holly Cartwright knows she only has months to live. Buying the Whispering Pines Plantation with her life savings was, perhaps, the best thing she ever did. Holly doesn't care that the manor appears to be haunted, as she'll soon be joining the "ghosts" herself.

But what she discovers behind the walls is more than she ever dreamed possible...

~*~*~

Along with these two new books, two (actually three, but you'll understand why I say two) of my older eBooks are going to print next month as well! On Sept 3oth from Samhain Publishing, my novella HIGH NOON, from the LEATHER & LACE anthology will be coming to print (which just garnered a 4 star review from Romantic Times -WHEEE!!!), as well as two of my other novellas about twin brothers, HEARTS ETERNAL and HEARTS UNBOUND, which are going into their very own anthology together entitled CURSED HEARTS.

And here are their awesome and most excellent covers. :D

If you're a "Becka Aficionado", you'll notice the cover they chose to represent the L&L anthology was *MY* cover for HIGH NOON's eBook. I was so thrilled they chose my cover over the other two novellas' covers in this series. :)

And then there's the Brothers Moreland. My cursed twins, one a ghost, the other a vampire, who each received their own novella. Because the two stories are related, my publisher decided to just give me a print anthology all of my own. YAY! And it makes sense, as these books must be read in order or you'll be lost. It's actually like a POV switch to the other brother, but the story is still ongoing in the second novella. I'm so happy these ones are going to print, as the first novella, HEARTS ETERNAL, had a long, rocky road to publication before the dust settled and it found a home at Samhain. I'm so happy to finally be able to share these stories with a broader audience. :)

So there you have it, everything that's going on in the month of September for Becka, as far as my novels go. The print books can now be PRE-ordered from Amazon, or any online bookstore, really, if you want to reserve your copy. My TOMB book is scheduled to be going to print as well in anthologies along with the rest of the series, but I have no idea when that will come to fruition. Probably after all the eBooks are released.

Just in case you were wondering, "Hey, how's your writing going, Becka?" Well, here ya go. :)

~~Becka

Holy Fat Pregnant Woman, Batman!

2008-08-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I get out of the shower this morning and put on my black jeans - they're not Maternity jeans, they're just my "medium" fat pants. (Yes, I have small, medium, and large fat pants LOL). Since my belly has grown round and outward, I have been wearing my medium and large fat pants, despite the fact I can pull them down my hips without unzipping them. (Well, my large fat pants, anyway.)

As I was putting on my black jeans, I noticed how much the front flaps overlap and I thought to myself, "Hmm. I wonder, just for the heck of it, if I can still fasten my small fat pants?

Mind you, I haven't worn these pants for about 2 1/2 months due to the assumption there's no way I'd be able to zip them over the massive, expanding waistline. I was wrong! Pulled them out of the back of my closet, blew off the dust, stepped into them and ZZIIPP!! No problem at all.

Now, they're not as comfortable in the belly as they once were BP (Before Pregnancy), but it's not uncomfortably tight, either. However, I must say, they fit sooo much better in the leg/butt area, that I no longer feel like MC Hammer! :P

Anyhow, I thought I would brag that yes, I am still losing weight even though I'm pregnant and most women gain. I've been doing a good job at maintaining my weight, but this weekend, I saw a couple of significant dips on the scale.

So, I'm 20 weeks pregnant, 5 months along, and I can still fit into my small fat pants! Woohoo! Yes, they're still "fat pants" (lol), but it makes me wonder if I'd be even a size or two smaller than these pants without growing bebe. I guess only birth will tell. :)

~~Becka

Halfway There!

2008-08-23T15:31:00.001-07:00

Today marks day #140 in my pregnancy. I have exactly 140 days to go. I'm officially "halfway" through my pregnancy! YAY!

It's actually a milestone for me, as I've been worrying this baby might not make it, like the one I miscarried in January. However, that baby was only a few weeks along. I am now starting my 20th week, officially into month 5!

Already, I alternate between days of feeling like a stuffed turkey or a beached whale. I move slower than I did in the past, mainly because I get ligament pain easier with each consecutive child. For those of you not "in the know", ligament pain is felt when the ligaments that hold up the uterus stretch tight, giving the pregnant woman sharp, knife-like pains in the abdomen. It's not like a contraction pain, but kind of like a charley horse, or a bunched muscle.

I get these when I move funny, either bending over, rolling over in bed, or sometimes climbing out of the car. So far, this pregnancy hasn't been too bad, although I'm dreading the days of being ROUND with child - around Christmas time. I don't mind having a baby born during the holidays, I just don't want to be IN the hospital on Christmas day. Sophie isn't due until January 10th, but sometimes babies have a mind of their own and come when they want to.

I have a feeling I'm going to be miserable in the coming months, but it will all be worth it. When your kids start to grow up, you don't realize how much you miss the infant/toddler stage of their childhood. Despite all the "bad" things people associate with newborns and toddlers, it really is one of the most precious times in your kids' childhoods. I'm so looking forward to it again. :)

~~Becka

Hood to Coast

2008-08-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well, my hubby and my oldest daughter have gone for the weekend to volunteer for Hood to Coast, the largest relay race on the planet. No, they're not running. DH's company, Jive Software here in Portland, has a team this year and DH decided to volunteer our giant 15 passenger party van to the cause, to trail the runners and transport the ones who have already ran, or who have yet to run.

My daughter has the task of running along side the runners every now and then to hand them much-needed water.

Now, if you've never heard of this relay, never fear, for some Hollywood bigwigs are actually filming a documentary of this race THIS YEAR. It will be released to theaters next year. Hey, maybe you'll see the red Goings party van if you go see it!

In short, this race is exactly what it sounds like - you start at Mt. Hood... and race until you hit the ocean in Seaside, about 2oo miles away. Obviously, it's a relay, so there are many runners per team, hence why my hubby volunteered our Dodge behemoth. Most teams merely have a minivan to port them 'round.

The race goes through the night, and the drivers and other volunteers pretty much can't sleep, for about 30 some hours. Gah, I hope my daughter will be all right! She's only 9. However, DH did manage to figure out they can get about 3 hours of sleep once they hit Portland on their way to the coast. Thank goodness for that!

So, I'm alone for the weekend, at least until Sunday, more than likely. The kids are excited, because that means we get to eat things we don't usually eat when the hubby is here, like frozen pizza and ravioli. YUMMY! I also went to Blockbuster and rented some movies for them to watch, and for me to watch after kids go to bed. :) Movies I know DH wouldn't touch with a 10' pole. :P Movies like - Fool's Gold, with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, P.S. I Love You, with Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank, and The Reign of the King, with Jason Statham.

You see, I've heard The Reign of the King was HORRIBLE and that it was directed by Uwe Boll, apparently, a gawd-awful director. But the movie has some decent people in it, it's a Medieval fantasy-esque type movie, and it's got Jason Statham. I really want to see this one, regardless of the level of sucky cheese. You see, I've long had a love affair with Mr. Statham that neither my hubby nor Mr. Statham know about. LOL

Well, I'm pretty sure my hubby suspects.... Heheh

Anyhow, we should have fun this weekend, even if we're "alone" for a few days. :)

~~Becka

Baby's First Pictures - Sophie Grace

2008-08-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the lovely ultrasound photos I promised to show you. DH upstaged me by posting them first (grumble), however I have now posted them as well. I can already tell she's going to be just as gorgeous as her sisters. :P

Jim, we're in a LOT of trouble. LOL

Little thing was a squirm worm on the U/S! It was amazing to me that I couldn't feel most of the moves she was doing, as she was rolling around, stretching her legs, raising her arms above her head. So totally cutsie! But dang, U/S's are a lot better now than they were in years past - I could literally count all her fingers and toes. She has the normal amount, of course, I couldn't tell if they were webbed or not. *snort*

~~Becka

IT'S A GIRL!!

2008-08-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Had my big ultrasound yesterday to measure the size and overall health of the baby, and we were able to find out the gender. It is a girl! Very obvious, as the tech checked three times, and the last time, the baby opened her legs and gave the tech a nice spread-eagle, showing the goods (or lack thereof). :P

Levi, my son, was disappointed to say the least, and squawked a bit after the tech left the room to develop the pictures, but after a few hugs, he stopped his blubbering. He felt better when the tech gave him and my daughters each their own picture of the best baby profile pic.

The cool thing about these pics is they are on 8 1/2 X 11 sheets of photo-quality paper, not the crappy ultrasound ticker-tape we've all seen. DH took them to work today to scan them, so hopefully I'll be able to show them off soon enough.

Baby is 10 ounces and about 10 inches long at the moment from crown to feet. I can feel her rolling around in there all the time now. She's very active, and even on the ultrasound, she was rolling everywhere, as if she wanted OUT! LOL I wonder if the babies can actually hear those ultrasound waves...

Anyhow, I'm about 19 1/2 weeks along right now, this weekend marks the midway point of my pregnancy! Woohoo! Baby is due on January 10th, 2009, and her name is: Sophie Grace Goings.

Just Sophie, not Sophia. I think we like Sophie better because the accent for the name is on the "o", whereas in Sophia, the accent is on the "i", making the pronunciation a little different. Besides, "Sophia" makes me think of an older woman, but Sophie makes me think of a cutsie little baby! :D

I just registered today at Target. Only thing I didn't put on there is the carseat/stroller combo I want to buy. Figured I should buy that myself and make sure I get the model I want.

Anyway, just a quick baby update! Yay for ultrasounds!

~~Becka

A Note to Those Who Insist on Hovering Over Public Toilet Seats...

2008-08-15T17:18:00.001-07:00

...clean up after yourselves!! Please! Don't you know that YOU are part of the reason you don't want to sit on those toilet seats?

If yer gonna sprinkle when you tinkle, then wipe that damn seat! This goes for the moms who have to make little Sally hover as well, or who allow Johnny to whiz wherever the wind seems to take him.

I can't tell you how often I've got to go in public now that I'm preggers, and how often I'm left with cleaning someone else's mess. It's disgusting! And most of the time, it's not like I can just get another stall, as you know women, we go to the bathroom in droves 9 times out of 10.

It's just nasty, people. And common courtesy. You yell at your men for doing the same at home, why, then, not have the decency to wipe up YOUR mess for the next lady who comes along?

I don't care if you want to sit or hover on a public toilet seat. But when either me or one of my kids has to go in after you, I don't want to be left with your nasty leftovers. **shudders**

~~Becka

Evidence of Bigfoot....Finally??

2008-08-14T18:12:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm a little skeptical, but how can you fake a DEAD BODY?!?

Found this article on CNN today with picture goodness:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/14/bigfoot.body/index.html

Well, I'm open to the idea there may be Sasquatches roaming our woods. Seems unlikely, but heck, if these guys have proof, then dang. This would be like finding the Holy Grail! I mean seriously, if they're truly giving the body to science, they're either the ultimate hoax artists (which I doubt, I mean, there's a pic of them too... They just seem like backwoods Georgia type. Doubt they could pull off something so elaborate as a dead body of a Bigfoot. But I could be wrong.) Or they really do have the "Find of the Century".

Guess we'll find out soon enough. I hope we will, at least.

~~Becka

Olympic-Sized Ego

2008-08-14T10:58:00.001-07:00

So, I've been watching the Olympics off and on, seen as how they've taken over the network and I'm forced to watch the games rather than my normal shows. Nothing really exciting. Some diving. Some soccer. I always seem to miss the events I like, such as gymnastics and such. But I want to talk a bit about the Olympians themselves.

Are they so "coached" for gold that all else is crap? "If it's not gold it's crap!" is that how the saying now goes?

Check out this article I found today:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26200165/

Headline reads: Wrestler discards medal in Olympic tantrum

Couple this with the American women disappointed they didn't win gold for gymnastics and shedding tears for silver. And who can forget the Olympic Russian gymnast a few games ago who tore off her silver in disgust after the medal ceremony and stomped away.

So, the article quoted above obviously doesn't have key details, like if the refs really did make a bad call that cost this guy his silver (or gold) medal and I didn't see this event myself. It's all together possible. But why do Olympians often think you're a "loser" if you don't get gold? What happened to "I won the silver!" or "I won the bronze!"

I seriously think it's because there's so much pressure to be the best of the best. But here's how I look at it. I would be seriously jazzed just to participate in the games. Just to have the opportunity to go would rule. Would I dream of medaling? Sure, who wouldn't? But being able to compete would be an honor in and of itself, to represent your country.

If I happened to medal in something, regardless of the medal's color, I'd be all, "Holy crap, I'm on the freakin' podium!" And you'd have something to take home, to prove you have an Olympic medal, even if it is "only" the bronze.

Be thankful you got one at all! Why so darned ungrateful? It's such bad sportsmanship, and proves these people are sore losers. "Dang, Bob, better let Jack win that hand of Poker. You remember what he did when he didn't win gold at the Olympics!"

I've got to wonder about these people. Not every Olympian is going to be the best of the best. Many factors determine who gets the gold, sometimes by fractions of a second. On any other day, YOU might have won instead of someone else. But winning silver or bronze shouldn't be a shameful thing. They give out THREE medals at every event, not just one, folks. It's time the Olympians learned that lesson.

Like I tell my kids... You get what you get and be thankful.

Seriously, you're at the Olympics. You won a medal. Get over your Olympic-sized ego and accept the darn thing.

~~Becka

Politics! Politics! Politics! Politics! Politics!

2008-08-11T20:21:00.001-07:00

"Yes! The Roman Senate. The Roman Senate is the best legislature that money can buy! Corruption starts in the streets with the little peddlers, they bribe the assembly man, the assembly man bribes the counsel man, the counsel man bribes the Senator, and the Senator bribes the... it goes all the way up to the Emperor!"

Why am I quoting Mel Brooks in one of my favorite movies of all time? Because I'm seriously rethinking things about politics and the way I've been voting over the years. On top of all the things the Bush Administration has done over these past 8 years (which I won't go into detail over, since we all know what's been going on), I heard today that Bush wants to modify the Endangered Species Act. You can see the full article here:

Bush's Endangered Species Act Policy

Now, I've been keeping a close eye on these new candidates for presidency. Why? Because the Bush Admin. has really (and I mean REALLY) made me question what it means to be a Republican. My parents were Republicans, and so when I registered to vote, that's what I've been registering as. Being Christian as I am, they do have the policies I favor, such as pro-life. However, as Bush is painted in a more and more negative light (FISA Bill, anyone??), it's made me wonder if I even want to be a Republican anymore. Do I even know what "being Republican" means?

Is my president off his rocker giving my party a bad name? Or is it my party's beliefs that's giving me the heebie jeebies?

You see, I rarely talk about politics. But the more I hear about policies Bush puts in place that I do not agree with (modifying the Endangered Species Act, for example), the more I've got to wonder if the Republican Party is not for me. I find myself more into protecting the environment, and have recently been making the effort to recycle as much of our trash as we can. I'm not a big supporter of the death penalty, and I do wonder if we should have more gun control laws in place (which would make Chuck Heston turn in his grave). However, I'm still not a proponent for abortion and I do believe marriage should be man/woman, BUT, I don't necessarily care what the gay community does. If they get married, it doesn't affect me or my children, really. I might not agree with it, but I won't stop them.

Okay. So I'm not sure if I want to be a Republican, however, I don't think I'm a Democrat either. Is there something in the middle? I know there's the Independents and the Libertarians... Perhaps I should read up on those.

But the actions of our President has made me seriously rethink how I think about political things. Never again do I want to vote blindly, trusting that the "Republican guy" knows best how to lead, whether it be my country, my state, or my city. In fact, I'm not that jazzed about McCain, in all honesty. I might not agree with everything Obama says, but this might just be the first presidential vote where I vote for the other party. You can bet I'm going to be glued to the upcoming debates.

But surely I can't be the only one who's confused about their party, or at least wants to do some research into other options. I haven't been answering those political calls, because no, my candidate can't count on me for the vote.

I've noticed many of my Christian friends, both online and in real life also feel this way, and also voting Obama in November.

If these past 8 years have taught this country anything, it's that voters no longer want their vote to be defined by their party any longer, especially when an unpopular Republican president keeps making unpopular laws/decisions/vetoes. Not that the presidency should be a popularity contest, but heck, when the planet is going down the crapper with global warming and consumers are bitching about high gas prices, you don't modify laws that could potentially put endangered animals at risk and you don't try to scramble the ol' offshore drilling. Perhaps it's finally time to research alternate fuels.

We need a change something fierce. I have a feeling most people don't care who wins the election, they'll just be damn happy it won't be Bush.

~~Becka

Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-08-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

This video I found is awesome. Some fan put it together, and it's just of still pictures set to music, but the pictures are very poignant, and the song is wonderful.

The song is "Yours" by Steven Curtis Chapman, one of my favorite singers. If you'll remember, I blogged about him in May after the tragic accident that took the life of his young daughter. Recently after the accident, Mr. Chapman re-recorded a NEW verse for this song as a reminder that even though bad things happen, it's all part of God's plan. The song with the new verse is available on iTunes, and yes, I've already downloaded it and have it on my iPod. :P I absolutely love it.

THIS video, unfortunately, does not have the new verse, as it's an older vid, but I thought I'd post it anyway, as I love the song and it really pulls you out of the day to day of your life to realize, "Yup, it really does all belong to God."

If you're not into religiosity, might want to skip this vid. If you have an extra 6 1/2 minutes, enjoy!

~~Becka

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I say!

2008-08-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so recently, the city decided to replace some turn signals close to my house due to traffic backing up during rush hour. They changed this signal into one that flashes yellow while the main light to go straight is green.

Now, can anyone tell me what the flashing yellow light means, even if it's a turn signal?

Don't worry. I'll give you time.
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If you answered, "Well that's easy, Becka, it means sit there like a dumbass and do absolutely nothing" you'd fit right in here in Hillsbutto!!

In all actuality, you'd be WRONG!

What a flashing yellow light actually means is (pulls out whiteboard, draws diagram, and points with a laser-pointer) you can GO AHEAD AND TURN when there is no traffic coming your way. How hard is that, honestly?? It's like a yield sign. And a flashing red light might be a little harder for y'all to grasp... You treat it like a stop sign. Yes! I'm not lying! You stop, look both ways, if you're good, you GO!

Why is this so HARD, people?!? Gah, I know what question these people got wrong on their dang DMV written test....

Is it rude to lay on my horn when I'm stuck behind these morons?

~~Becka

Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-07-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

This video has recently been circling around the 'Net and certain media circles, but I saw it for the first time today. If you've seen it before, enjoy it again. If you haven't, you'll need a hankie. I've watched it like 5 times already and I'm still balling. Of course, that could be due to hormones... :P

~~Becka

Jalapeno's

2008-07-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, if you're an avid reader of my blog, DH and I love Mexican food, more specifically, a local Hillsboro restaurant named Juan Colorado's. In fact, all of our friends love it too, and people visiting from out of town insist on going there at least once.

There was another JC's way up the road in Beaverton, but that one has since closed, probably because even though it wore the same name, it was no where near the level of "Awesome" the one on this end of town is. I'm not sure why their food tasted different, but it did.

Now, DH and I are very critical when it comes to Mexican food. This weekend, we were both in the mood for it, and wondered if we should go to one of the local roach coaches along the road, since they seem so popular with the Latinos in our neighborhood (local "slang" calls my town "Hillsburrito"). Anyhow, DH got on the computer and looked up Mexican restaurants in Hillsboro and found one with two 5 star ratings on City Search. It was "Jalapeno's", and it just so happened to be right up the road from us.

We've lived in our current house for 3 years now and we've never tried this place. Mostly because it was out of the way, kind of "hidden" from the road, in a small shopping center tucked behind the Bi-Mart. I'd seen it before, but it was an out-of-sight-out-of-mind kinda place. Since it was within walking distance, we decided to leave the van at home and have a nice evening stroll to go have some dinner.

Let me tell you, I am both saddened and ecstatic to have found this place! Why sad? BECAUSE WE HADN'T EATEN THERE SOONER! And ecstatic because they're fricken' good. I'm not kidding when I say this place is just as good, if not better, than Juan's. When the chips come out, they automatically give you dippin' refried beans. MMM Their food is comparably priced, but they give you SO MUCH MORE. DH got a 4 item combo, and there was no way he could eat it all. The food came on two plates! Even my food came on two plates, and I just got the chicken fajitas. Their flour tortillas were yummy, and not as cakey and fluffy as JC's. I'm not always in the mood for a big pillowy tortilla. Sometimes, I just want a nice thin one, and these were very good.

The chili relleno DH got was AWESOME!! Perhaps the best relleno either of us have ever had (and I should know, I've been ordering rellenos regularly in Mexican restaurants ever since I was 13 lol). It was huge, the guy called it a Poblano pepper or a king pepper? Something like that. Chock full of artery-clogging cheese and coated with a crispy egg coating and smothered in sauce. OMG, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

We went there on Saturday night, and there was NO ONE else there, except for one other table that left about halfway through our meal. No one else came in. If they're that slow on a usually busy night, DH and I are crossing our fingers they won't close up shop. But they've been there for the three years we've lived here, so maybe it's one of Hillsboro's best kept secrets. And seen as how we really loved it *that* much, I'm sure over the coming months/years, we and our friends will be keeping them in business, especially if they're regularly slow on busy nights. That's actually a bonus for our usually big group, as we can never think of a place to go that isn't packed on Fri/Sat. nights.

And get this, I have no idea if they do it for all the customers (as we've only been once), but at the end of our meal, the server came out with a plate of little mini-desserts which looked like deep-fried tortillas cut into wedges, dipped in cinammon and sugar with some whipped cream and a cherry sauce drizzle on them. So good! We didn't even ask for them, and I don't believe we were charged. It could have been, however, that we have such beautiful and angelic children. :P

We may never know...

So, if you're traveling through Hillsboro, OR, stop by Jalapeno's on TV Hwy across the street from the Hillsboro Esplanade (where the Target is) and right next door to the Bi-Mart. You'll be so glad you did. And out-of-town family and friends will now be taken here when they visit--at least once. :)

~~Becka

Okay, So I Was Off By A Week...

2008-07-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm not 15 weeks pregnant like I thought, I'm 16 weeks. Saw the doctor today and she corrected my error. I had thought I was a week farther along, but the first time I saw her, she said I was measuring at 11 weeks when I thought I was at 12. So, I naturally thought I must have been a week earlier than I'd thought. Seems I was right all along.

Baby is measuring 15 cm above the pelvis bone and all is looking normal. She gave me a sonogram because her doppler for hearing the heartbeat was broken. Unfortunately, the sonogram thingy they have in their office isn't as "sensitive" or as "detailed" as the big fancy ultrasound machine at the hospital. Therefore, I have to wait until my U/S appt at 19 weeks, on August 18th, to find out the gender. Kinda sad I gotta wait three more weeks, but hey, three weeks isn't that long in the grand scheme of things.

Saw the baby kicking and squirming in there. Literally, just one foot...kick...kick...kick. And it was rolling around like it was practicing the "stop, drop and roll" we all learned as kids. Too funny!

When she measured my belly and did the sonogram, it actually was kind of painful, probably because she was pressing down a bit. For whatever reason, when I lay on my back and press down firmly on my belly, it hurts. Who knew? :P

Anyways, Baby Goings is doing just fine with a nice, strong heartbeat. Four more weeks, and I'll be halfway through this pregnancy! Yeehaw!

~~Becka

So Much to Blog...

2008-07-23T21:35:00.001-07:00

I've been neglecting my blog the past few days because I've been so busy with all the stuff going on in my life. Where to begin?

Well, first, let's begin by giving a HELL YEAH! to the ending of the best damn cartoon on the face of the planet, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I don't care what you say, if you haven't watched this series from show #1, then you're not watching this show. It's not one you can "jump in the middle of". There's an epic story going on here, and you've gotta watch from the beginning. I have friends who aren't that into this show, and I'm about this close - ' ' - from disowning them. WTF??? How can you NOT like all the sweet-ass bending they did with the elements? And delving into the other things they figured out they could do - bend lightning, metal, BLOOD.... It was just too fricken' cool.

I'm so happy to see this show had an ending that stuck with Aang's character and didn't compromise it. Zuko always was and always will be my favorite character. Things didn't quite work out for him like I wanted... Zutara, anyone? **sniff sniff** Ah well. The show ended with a literal bang, and I just have to say I wasn't disappointed in the least. Love love LOVE this show.

As for the live action movie they're planning, I don't have much faith in it, to be honest. M. Night Shyamalan has been "signed" to do a trilogy, and I've gotta say, I'm not impressed. I do like *some* of his films, not all, but this storyline is a little too "out there", in my opinion, to be live action. It could be cool as an animated movie, but since it's already an animated series, that would be overkill. I'll believe it when I see it, let's leave it at that.

~*~

Recently, the Goingses went camping - again. We originally set out to Jones Creek, which is on the way to the beach. The sites there are first come, first serve, and of course, the place was packed with a capital "P". So, we and the friends we were camping with decided to have a look at Gales Creek and Elk Creek, which are just up the same road. Same story. Ugh. So, since we're halfway there, we decide to drive the rest of the way into Tillamook and see what camping is to be had on the coast.

Cape Lookout, where we camped last time, is booked to the gills, and every other campsite out there seemed to be full up too. Well f**k. This is what we get for not bothering with reservations. Seen as how the campsites were "first come first serve" where we originally wanted to go, and our camping buddy, "Mr. Man", told us it's never full when he's been there, we didn't think anything of it.

Now, we had three vehicles packed to the gills with camping equiptment and excited children. We couldn't disappoint the children!

We found a map of campgrounds at the Chamber of Commerce at Tillamook (which just so happens to be in the same parking lot as the Cheese Factory), and Mr. Man began "dialing for dollars." No one was open! Ft. Stevens had some sites, but it was an hour and a half away, and it was already 5pm. No fricken' way, man.

Finally, we found some random campsite that happened to have two sites right next to each other - the last two sites on the grounds. We said, "We'll be right there!" and headed out. We camped at a place called "Trask River", an out-of-the-way place with hicks and rednecks aplenty. It wasn't very private, and our sites were right on the main road, but thankfully, there wasn't much traffic aside from the campers' motor bikes and quads.

We even witnessed a wedding on the grounds across the street from us, complete with father of the bride wearing a red flannel shirt and a red ball cap, which he so graciously took off to walk the bride down the aisle (then promptly put back on once he sat down.) The festivities were then followed up by a riveting game of "after-wedding volleyball." Oh yeah, did I mention the rednecks?

Thankfully, our sites were actually a little ways away from everyone else, and the only noise we kind of got annoyed with was the late-night "hits from the 70's-80's" marathon from the camp across a small field from us. Thankfully, they didn't rock out any later than 11pm. So nice of them. If I have to hear "Brick House" one more time...

You can see pics of our camping adventures on my DH's flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/jimgoings

Anyways, that's all for now. I'm sure there's other stuff I wanted to blog about, but I can't remember now. :P Enjoy the pics if you follow the link!

~~Becka

I've Been Invited to a Booksigning!

2008-07-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

I've been contacted by a local author, Jenna Bayley-Burke, who's invited me to do a booksigning with other local authors here at Powell's Books in Beaverton! It came out of the blue for me, so it's very exciting. :D

I will be signing copies of THE WOLVERINE AND THE ROSE, and the event will be held on September 19th at 7pm. I only know one other author at the event, Minnette Meador, a sweetheart, really, and I'm looking forward to doing a signing with her.

The line-up of other authors in the mix are:

Minnette Meador
Megan Clark
Elizabeth Boyle
Jenna Bayley-Burke
Delilah Marvelle
Dawn Calvert
Vannessa Gilfoy
Lacy Danes
Alexis Morgan
Mary Vine
Genene Valleau
Terri Reed

I'm hoping it will turn out okay, considering my other flopped booksigning, but of course, we'll have a lot more authors and more opportunity for interest. :)

I was just surprised Jenna approached me, and also touched that she'd want to include me. I'm sure I'll give you another reminder closer to the event, but if you're local and you want to meet me (and/or the other authors on the current list), mark it on your calendar! This booksigning will be held at the Powell's Books in Beaverton (not downtown, dang it! --Wouldn't that rule??) It's in the Beaverton Mall, off Ceder Hills Blvd. next to the Old Navy and Best Buy.

Woohoo! Many thanks to Jenna for approaching me. How exciting!

~~Becka

13 Weeks!

2008-07-12T21:38:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm officially 13 weeks pregnant, finally into my 2nd trimester and boy, am I glad! That 1st trimester was a doozy. I felt yucky all the time and took two naps a day. Nowadays, I'm only yucky in the morning, for about an hour after I wake up, and when I get tired, my body is more fatigued than sleepy. Don't get me wrong, if I do anything strenuous (like running errands lol), when I come home, I *am* sleepy.

When I nap, I am OUT. I go into such a deep sleep, that when I finally do wake up an hour or two later, I literally cannot move. It's so odd. I don't sleep that deeply at night - at least I don't think I do...

The wee one is officially due on January 10th, and my doctor isn't going to let me go past that date due to my diabetes. She doesn't want there to be any complications. My blood sugar has been doing very well, despite the fact I gotta stick myself four times a day **grumble grumble** My weight is also doing well, as I've lost about 6 pounds in the past month and a half. Not too much, but hey, at least I'm not gaining! For the most part, I'm maintaining my weight. I know, I know, I need to start exercising again and I'd probably be losing even more. I stopped after I became sick and tired (literally) every day. Now that I'm feeling better, I have no excuse, really.

My doctor told me if I lose weight during pregnancy, that's perfectly healthy, seen as how I can stand to lose! :P As long as it's not too dramatic a weight loss, I should be fine. We'll see if I can do it. Once Baby Goings really starts to grow, it might be harder to maintain my weight.

Right now, it's about 3 inches long, give or take, from head to rump and can fit in the palm of your hand, like this lovely pic shows (sans the clothing, of course heh):

We should be able to find out the sex of the baby within the next few weeks, and believe me, we wanna know. Having a boy would be so much "easier" than another girl, because we could just have new baby share a room with our boy. But our three girls are already piled into one room, so if this baby is a girl, she might just end up bunking with her older brother for a time anyway. Despite the big house we live in, finding room for baby will be a challenge.

The good news is now that the 1st trimester is behind me, the chances of miscarriage drop remarkably. My doctor said about a 2% chance now. My dad asked me when the chances drop to 0%. I told him: BIRTH. LOL There is no such thing as "0%" chance.

Anyhow, just wanted to give you an update on me. I definitely feel pregnant now. Not really "showing" at the moment, but my pants are noticibly tighter. They still fit, but after a meal, they're uncomfortable. I'll need to be buying maternity threads very soon, methinks. This is why I've been sporting my elastic shorts lately. :P

And yes, I've been feeling the baby moving regularly now. It's still a tiny little thing, and I can only feel it when I'm sitting down, but I do feel that fluttering in there. I feel it around the same times every day, usually early morning/late at night. Perhaps that's only because that's when I'm in my "quiet time" and thus feel it more. I can't wait until we find out what it is! I've been LOVING the Classic Pooh theme lately (the more "old skool" Pooh look, rather than the modern Disney-fied Pooh), and I'd love to run with that, but I gotta know... Pink or Blue?! :D

~~Becka

What Was That Sound?

2008-07-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, that's the sound of the 4th Amendment being flushed down the crapper. Many thanks to Congress and the current Administration for making the Founding Fathers proud. /SARCASM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25613318#25613182

~~Becka, who doesn't like to get too political, but who couldn't keep my mouth shut any longer. Let's hope our future president can and will bring some kind of charges against those responsible - if it's at all possible.

Becka's Impromptu Book Review - STORM FRONT

2008-07-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

DH and a few of our good friends have been trying to get me to read the Jim Butcher books for like, ever. DH never thought I would. These books inspired the Sci Fi Channel's awesome (yet cancelled) tv show, The Dresden Files. Funny how these books are also getting noticed not only in the geeky circles DH and our friends frequent, but the romance authors I know as well, as I do know a few authors who are reading them. Perhaps it's the whole "urban fantasy" angle that seems to be the next best thing in romance these days.

Anyhow, I loved the show and was kinda pissed they cancelled it, I'm not ashamed to say. The Dresden books were always a "someday" kinda read for me, because I usually only read the kind of things I write - romance. Yes, I get ribbed for that by friends and family, but it's what I enjoy. If I go out on a limb to read something different, it has to grab my attention almost at the first for me to continue reading.

So finally, when the day came when I actually didn't want to read any of the romances in my TBR pile, I picked up STORM FRONT, the first Dresden book. I read the first chapter, then read the next and the next. Good Lord, after a few chapters, it was like crack! I needed to read more! In fact, Saturday I sat down and read the last half of the book. I love days where you just kick back and read. And I had a blast.

The reason being, I love the character of Harry Dresden. He's a guy I kinda wish were real. The way Butcher writes him, it makes you feel like you're there with him, going through the investigations. It also reads less like a "book" and more like a show or a movie on TV. Many times, the book disappeared, and I was living the action. There's not many books I can say that about, which is why this particular book struck me.

Part of the reason for that is the first person point of view. As a rule, I hate hate HATE first person POV. Why? Well, it always feels either too trite, or like the author is trying too hard to be cool or hip, wanting to tell the story in a new and provocative way. Butcher, on the other hand, pulls off first person POV so flawlessly, that authors should take classes from him. Seriously. If done wrong, first person is painful to read. If done right, it is a joy as it seems to flow naturally, pulling you into the story, and giving you a more "personal" connection to the main character. STORM FRONT could have been written in third person and still been a wildly successful book, however, taking the first person angle was a genius move, making people like me really fall in love with Harry. We're there with him, we're feeling what he feels, seeing what he sees.

DH has told me STORM FRONT isn't even the best Dresden book, and it is probably the "worst" of the bunch, if you can call it the "worst", seen as how, in my opinion, the book was an excellent read. Apparently, there are 11 Dresden books - so far. Holy crap, I'm dying to read them ALL!! :P Even now, I'm about 75 pages into book two, FOOL MOON. It has been a long time indeed since a book has fired me up that hasn't been a romance (hey, no snickering back there).

I have no idea why the fervor for the Dresden books didn't hit when the tv show aired on Sci Fi. That show has been cancelled for what... a year now? And it's only just now I'm hearing everyone talk about the books, from friends and family to the online communities I'm a part of. But I'm glad I gave Mr. Butcher a chance. Not only do I love the plots and the prose, but you get a sense that the author enjoys being a smartass at times. Most authors "write what they know" and put a lot of themselves in their characters. I've got to wonder how much of Mr. Butcher is in Harry Dresden. LOL Let's take a look at one of his author pics:

This guy looks so awesome. I told my DH that I can glean a few things after just looking at this picture.

#1.) He's a geek, through and through. I'd be willing to bet he plays D&D or some MMORG like World of Warcraft or LotR Online. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, since my own DH owns a geek website himself: Dragon Avenue. Perhaps this is why I can just tell Butcher is into that kind of thing. lol Probably a Browncoat. I'd be willing to bet an "original" Browncoat too, who watched Firefly while it aired on FOX.

#2.) I'd be willing to bet he's into computers. If he doesn't know them inside and out, then he at least tinkers, and maybe even has his own server in his closet.

#3.) He's a democrat. Or, at the very least, a liberal.

#4.) He's a smart ass. /obvious

#5.) He probably fricken' LUVS steak.

Am I right? Well, only Mr. Butcher can answer for certain. :P But one thing's for sure; the man knows how to write an entertaining story. And those of us who struggle with ending our chapters should really study how Butcher ends his. I haven't read an author in a LONG time that has me cussing at the end of their chapters because gorramit, I've GOT to read the next one!!!!1

Sure, these books are popular right now, and probably someone you know is reading them. Let me tell you, you don't want to miss these books, especially if you liked the now-defunct tv show. Thank you, Jim Butcher, for the kick-ass entertainment. :) 5 out of 5 stars. And if this is the "worst" book of the bunch, then hot damn, I'm stoked to read the rest!

~~Becka

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

2008-07-06T00:12:00.001-07:00

23:44 my server's kernel said "oops", I'm taking it down, hoping for the best #

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July 4th, 1776

2008-07-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

Imagine living in colonies under a tyrant's rule, being so fed up, pissed off, and utterly disgusted that the time has come to do something, to go against one of the most (if not THE most) powerful countries on the planet.

Imagine gathering ALL the members of Congress, from all 13 colonies, on one day, to sign a document that basically gives the finger to the British king. Imagine coming to your wit's end and realizing that a war to win your independence is better than living under the rule of a man who clearly doesn't care about, and actively goes out of his way to oppress, his colonies.

For the first time, I decided to READ the Declaration of Independence. Sure, we've all heard the famous lines, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, etc. But have you read the entire thing? The founding fathers wore their balls on the outside, if you know what I'm saying. It's folklore in America that John Hancock's signature is so much bigger than everyone else's because he wanted the king of England to be able to read it without his spectacles. I don't know if that's a true story, but it sure is amusing. I'd love to have a beer with that guy.

If you haven't read the Declaration in it's entirety, give it a whirl. And if you have, read it again to remember what true patriots are like.

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm

Sure, our founding fathers weren't the pristine, righteous men we all sometimes think them to be--they were MEN after all, fallible, just like you and me. But you can't help but respect them for what they did on July 4th so many years ago.

So while I celebrate the 4th this year with my trite little BBQ and my "fancy" fireworks, I will think back on what transpired on that day in 1776 and shake my head in awe of it.

Now, if only I can get my kids to stop calling it the DECARATION of Independence, that would be good. :P

~~Becka

Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-06-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

DH made a cool video for my kids' Karate belt test on Saturday. Enjoy!

Karate Belt Test from Jim Goings on Vimeo.

Becka's Impromptu Book/Movie Review Comparison

2008-06-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

BEWARE! SPOILERS!! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK OR SEEN THE MOVIE, THE PLOT *WILL* BE SPOILED FOR YOU IF YOU READ ON! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

~*~*~

Well, doing something a little different here. I personally love the movie "Stardust". I can watch that movie over and over. Because of this, I found the book "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman in the library and borrowed it. I've only read one other book by Gaiman, "Neverwhere", and it was excellent. DH and I have seen the movie "Mirror Mask", which was very odd to say the least, but I've never read the book, which is also by Gaiman.

Anyhow, I thought I would give the book a try and see how it compared to the movie and which I liked best.

If you're not familiar with "Stardust" or just don't remember it, here's the movie poster:

Basically, the premise is this - a dying king of a magical land challenges his murderous sons that whoever finds the magical necklace will become the next ruler of Stormhold. So he tosses this necklace into the sky, where it hits a star, and "she" falls to earth. Elsewhere, in *our* mundane world, a young man and his "lady love", a girl who really doesn't like him, witnesses the star falling to earth, and he promises to prove his love by bringing this star back to her. So he crosses over to the "magical land of Faerie" and has all kinds of cool adventures.

First of all, I just want to say as a fellow author, Gaiman's prose is to die for. LOVED and enjoyed the way the man puts his words together.

Here's how the book differs from the movie. It opens telling the story of the main character's father, as it does in the movie. However, he doesn't go to some town, he goes to the "bazaar" that's held every 9 years in the meadow beyond the crumbled wall, where he meets the slave girl, has a good time, and nine months later, is presented with a baby boy.

Now, the movie makes it seem like the dad is a widower or has no wife. In fact, in the book, he was married and also had a daughter. Also, the boy's name is "Tristran", not "Tristan" as it is in the movie. I suppose he *could* have been "Tristran" in the movie - I'll have to watch it again, but I could have sworn they called him "Tristan". Hmm, why change that?

When Tristran goes into the land of Faerie, he meets a small, furry man who helps him on his journey and gives him the Babylon candle. In the movie, he was given the Babylon candle by his mother, as it was "included" in the cradle he'd been found in when baby Tristan was left on his father's porch step. Also, the book explains why it's called a Babylon candle - from a nursery rhyme - mentioning that mere "harmless" nursery rhymes in our world hold great power in Faerie.

One of the biggest changes the movie made was to have the crew of the flying ship "expect" their captain to beat up and throw Tristan overboard. Also in the movie, Robert DeNiro plays a - for lack of a better word - fruitcake. There was none of this in the book. They were accepted into the crew, and even healed of their wounds. There was no dancing love scene in the book as there was on the deck of the ship, but I suppose the movie wanted to flesh out the "love" between Yvaine the star and Tristan a bit more. I thought it odd, however, that this was such an obvious change. Perhaps the movie writers felt the movie needed some brevity? I dunno. I did love how the movie portrayed DeNiro's character, however, so it was a good change in my opinion.

Another of the big changes the movie made was that there is no Big Bad Fight With the Big Bad Witch in the book. In the movie, Yvaine is kidnapped and taken back to the witches' castle and Tristan and his true mother must rescue her while fighting the animated corpse of the last dead murderous prince of the dying sovereign at the beginning of the story.

This never happens in the book.

In the book, when Yvaine realizes she loves Tristran, she's given him her heart, rendering her heart "useless" to the old witch for the use of making her young and beautiful again. The witch admits the star is a good person, and I assume goes on her merry way, perhaps to finally die from old age. I liked the movie's climactic ending better. For all the evil the witch did in the book, I felt this ending was too trite to fit her character. Also, the sisters were only mentioned one time in the book and never revisited.

The ghost prince brothers do make an appearance in the book, just as in the movie. However, they aren't as funny as in the movie, they are merely watching over their brothers, to see who kills whom to become the next ruler of Stormhold. In the movie, they're great with their banter.

All in all, despite Gaiman's lovely prose, I have to say I like the movie better. Yvaine never confesses to Tristan she loves him when he's a mouse, and they never make love in the book. Of course, being a romance writer, that seemed oddly left out, seen as how there *was* a sex scene for Tristran's father in the beginning. I didn't believe their love in the book like I did in the movie. It was better executed in the movie. Also, Yvaine never "shone" when she was happy, like she did in the movie. Gaiman portrays that she does shine at times, but I never got the impression that she did when she was happy.

Also, at the very end of the book, Tristran eventually ages and dies, leaving the star behind to rule Stormhold, because she never ages. Does she die? Can she die? Who knows. I found this very sad, as I do so love my HEA, and the movie gave me that HEA at the end, alluding to the fact that both Tristan and Yvaine returned to the sky together as stars. I know, I'm a sap. But to me, I hate tragic endings.

I did enjoy the book immensely, however I think I'd rather watch the movie. But that's just me. :) This is one instance, for me anyway, where the movie is better than the book.

~~Becka
http://www.rebeccagoings.com/

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

2008-06-21T00:05:00.001-07:00

16:55 I've just renewed loudtwitter's domain (thanks to donations), which remind me that loudtwitter is now almost one year old! #

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Alegra Day Spa

2008-06-20T17:40:00.001-07:00

For those of you who are local to the Hillsboro/Beaverton/Aloha area of the Portland suburbs, you might have heard of Alegra Day Spa. It's a foofy spa slash hair salon my DH booked me at for a Mother's Day present. I'd gotten my hair done at a salon only one other time in my life, and had reverted back to doing my own "box color". It wasn't working for me, clearly, so he made an appointment and away I went to get my hair done.

The coloring was a decent job. They got rid of the "orange" in my hair from my box attempts to get my frickin' hair blonde. :P I got blonde highlights and a light brownish color that can now be lightened at my next appointment if I so desire.

So, let me regale the rest of my experiences. Upon walking in to this day spa, located near the corner of Cornell Road and Cornelius Pass Rd., in the Winco/Joann's shopping center, you can tell it's a foofy place. They have comfortable chairs, wood accents and lovely lighting. While my coloring was great, I was very pleased with that, my haircut was not. I'd wanted layers, and the woman did cut layers into my hair, but you could barely see them. Perhaps she didn't go as "short" as I'd wanted on my layers, I don't know. All I know is, my hair doesn't look like my friend Val's. :P Maybe I should take Val with me when next I cut my hair.

Second of all, my husband was quoted a price over the phone and told they would honor that price, no matter the work. I didn't know of this conversation, and thus they charged me a different, higher price. When I told DH this, he became irritated, because he'd been promised this other price. But the deed was done and they'd been paid - why bitch? It sucked, but hey, I had no clue about this conversation, or else I would have haggled.

I then made another appointment for 6/28 and went on my merry way (this was a few weeks ago). Just recently, I'd remembered this appointment and lamented my own stupidity for scheduling it on my daughter's 8th birthday. Not only is she testing for a new belt in Karate that day, but it's her birthday party AND she wants to see the new movie Wall-E. Well, can't exactly squeeze in a 2 1/2 hour hair salon trip that day.

So I called them today to cancel, and the lady who answered the phone actually sighed heavily into the phone when I told her. Her once jovial voice faded into a monotone as she said, "What's your name?" I told her, and said I'd be calling again to reschedule for sometime in July, but I just didn't know when, as I should come in on a Saturday, and I want to make sure I have the money. She kind of grunted at me, then said, "Okay." Nothing else.

I had no clue whether or not she'd found my name in her book, so I said, "My appointment was for 10am." To this she replies with a very nasty, "OKAY!"

I was kind of taken aback, so I just said thanks and hung up.

Now, their website says something to the effect of if you cancel within 24 hours of your appointment, they charge you 1/2 the fee of the job. Okay, I can see being pissy about canceling so soon. But 8 days out? I dunno, maybe that's too soon as well. But things happen. I mean, heck, I could have a family emergency and you're gonna give me shiat for canceling a dang hair appointment? Boo hoo for putting you out, man.

Your pedicurist doesn't even do cute little toe art. (Found that out from my friend who also had an appointment there.) LOL

Long story short, I will be finding a new salon to go to from now on. Life's entirely too short for someone to give me crap for canceling a hair appointment an entire week in advance.

Professionalism. You have none.

~~Becka

Road Construction is Killing My Inner Child

2008-06-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

When I first heard the city of Hillsboro was building sidewalks up the streets by my house, I rejoiced. The street is constantly walked by many people and families with strollers, who either have to brave walking on the busy road, or brave walking on someone's lawn.

This is a good thing. Excitement and joy was felt all around. That is, until, the work got underway.

You really have no concept of what needs to be done to put in a simple sidewalk until you see it for yourself. Last year in the fall, crews came through and chopped down all the lovely ancient trees lining the road to make room for the sidewalk. It was a sad time, as those trees were very lovely, but sacrifices must be made if you want to walk to Safeway without getting hit by a car.

After they chopped the trees, they had to uproot the trunks.

Then winter came and not much was done. But in the spring, work resumed, which consisted of ripping up sections of road to lay down new water pipes. For what, you might ask? For the new fire hydrants that must be placed according to code. Oy.

Okay, we understand that once you start building something new, you have to comply with city code. I get that, and in the long run, it will be better for the street, in case someone has a housefire.

After this fiasco, they then begin ripping up the road itself. Why? Well, in order to make a sidewalk, you must first make a curb. And this curb needs to be level with the road, and obviously that was not going to happen. Since they'd already ripped up sections of the road, it must therefore be better to tear it all up and repave from scratch than to go over the old road with a quick fix.

Problem is, they take their sweet time in doing things, and sections of the road have been ripped up for many days on end, making for many a wild ride through rock-infested potholes. Once they finally get the curbs in, however, they do level out the dirt and rocks and repave. YAY! But then, they move on and rip up the next section of road.

The problem is that we live on a cul-de-sac. So the construction they're doing on the other road makes me feel like I'm "trapped" on our little street. They have been making people take detours while they work, and I'm not sure I'd be able to get back home if I left! Even DH was accosted by the lady holding the "Stop" sign the other day when he had to come back home for his forgotten wallet. She kept telling him to take the detour and he said, "But I live down that street!" It didn't matter to her, and she kept pointing at the detour. He ignored her and drove on, to which she wasn't very pleased. But what are you going to do when you LIVE THERE and they won't LISTEN TO YOU?!?

Gah.

They haven't even begun construction on the sidewalks yet, even though they've had the first curbs up for a couple of weeks at least. I have no idea when they're actually going to START the project they were commissioned to do. But you really have no concept of everything that has to be done first. Wow, what a PITA.

I hope they finish soon. Because seriously, I've recently been waiting until after 3:30 to leave my house (as they promptly finish up around 3:30), and that kinda sucks with errands to run. SIGH.

Seriously, I can't wait until they're finished. I just want to walk to Safeway. Is that so wrong?? **sobs**

~~Becka

Letting the Bag out of the Cat. Wait... Strike That. Reverse it.

2008-06-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Well, y'all, I feel like the woman who cried "wolf." I can't believe this is happening to me again, and in fact, when I found out, I literally yelled, "ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!?"

You see, I'm pregnant. Again.

I'll give you a moment to wrap your head around that little nugget. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Yes, folks, you are not being punk'd, I'm seriously pregnant again. Almost 10 weeks. Friday will be my 10th week. I found out around the beginning of May, but delayed "going public", what with the dire outcome of a few months back. My friends and family will think this is old news, as DH and I decided to tell them. But I wanted to at least have my first doctor's appointment before I shout out to my publishers and readers.

I went yesterday, and was actually congratulated on all the weight I'd lost since January, which is around 43 pounds, give or take. In fact, I haven't gained any weight - yet. I'm managing to hold my weight so far, fluctuating up and down between a 5 pound window day by day. But it's perfectly acceptable to lose weight while pregnant, as long as you do it the right way, with diet and exercise. In fact, a pregnant woman needs no more than 300 extra calories a day. Perhaps that's why I'm maintaining my weight, as I'm eating normally, with perhaps an extra snack if I'm feeling rumbly. Maybe the baby is taking those extra 300 calories from my fat stores. Who knows.

I do know that if I can manage to maintain my weight throughout my pregnancy, then that means I *am* losing weight. When you get pregnant, you have the weight of the enlarged uterus, the weight of the baby, the weight of the amniotic fluid, the weight of the increased blood volume, not to mention the increase in your breasts (which DH is highly fond of, btw - just wish they didn't hurt so badly.)

Right now, I'm in nausea/sleepy land. I swear, I could sleep all day long if I could. I haven't puked yet, but I get nauseated all the time. Sometimes while I'm eating. I'll be hungry, then after 4 or 5 bites, I'll be like, "Ugh, take this away from me."

I have two more weeks before I'm out of the "miscarriage zone", as the first three months are when it's most likely to occur. In fact, on the very day of my 12th week, June 27th, I'm going to get an ultrasound to determine the correct size/weight of the baby and when it's due. We're probably looking at a January baby, which is funny, since my youngest son has a birthday in January. Maybe I'll have two January babies! A few of our friends are hoping it'll come in December, for the tax break. LOL Lord knows with the economy the way it is, maybe I'll ask them to induce! No, no, no... :P

What's funny about this is, two of my other real life friends are pregnant as well, both of them also due in January. Our three husbands are all best friends, so that's what makes it rather poignant. Musta been gettin' it on 'round the same time! Wacka chicka bow now! Heheh

So. Becka is Knocked Up Take Two. This is my do over - my reboot, if you will. I'm a firm believer that there are no coincedences. For whatever reason, the Good Lord wants me to have another one. Last time, I miscarried around 6 weeks, now I'm 10 weeks along. This one is looking good so far, aside from the fact I feel like I'm lugging around a small cantelope. LOL

I'll keep you updated as things progress, but I just wanted to let y'all know why I haven't been around much lately - because I've been asleep!! :P

Gah, here we go again...

~~Becka

(for those of you keeping a tally, this will be baby #5 for the Goings clan.) :D

My Sweet Camping Trip

2008-06-05T22:28:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been back for awhile now, but I have neglected to blog about my sweet, sweet camping trip. Last week, last Thursday, to be exact, the Goingses, the in-laws, the Howlands, and the Siglers went camping, along with two other couples to Cape Lookout on the beautimous Oregon Coast.

T'was chilly, but that is to be expected when rain is predicted off the ocean. It only rained on our last day there (Sunday), but it threatened a couple of times. But we lucked out more often than not. We were able to get a group campsite, which held up to 25 people. At the height of camping, we had 23. :) Much fun was had around the campfire, making s'mores with chocolate marshmallows. Let me tell ya, peeps, the chocy marshmallows are NOT a nasty gimmick, they're FRIGGIN' GOOD... So if you see them in the store, swipe a bag and make yourself some kick-ass krispie treats!

Here's a pic of me, all snuggly in my blankie. Hey man, it was cold, even by the fire! But that blankie kept me toasty for the most part. Aren't I like, totally cool in my "Chopper" sunglasses? (Borrowed from my super-cool DH, no less. Those glasses squeezed my head, tho. I couldn't wear them all day.)

One of the cool events on the trip was the sea lion who hopped out of the ocean and chilled on the rocks by the beach for a bit. The park rangers were swarming the place, setting up signs - "Don't Feed the Sea Lion!" and "Don't Touch the Sea Lion!" LOL Guess people are, in general, pretty stoopid and need a sign to keep away. Regardless, DH was able to get this shot with his paparrazzi lens. (Actually, he wishes he had a paparrazzi lens. This was taken with just his run-o-the-mill wide angle lens).

The kids had fun, we explored the beach and brought back loads of shells and sand dollars. Everyone got dirty, regardless of the showers that weren't too far away. But hey, that's par for the course when you're camping. Taking a shower during the experience is almost sacrelige. lol You haven't been camping unless you smell like the campfire!

You see those rocks the sea lion is basking on? Well, they were a ways up the beach, and in fact, you had to traverse them in order to get to the beach. I happened to twist my ankle on one of them **grumble grumble** but anyway, the cool thing is the tide would come in around sunset and the surf would wash up on the rocks. Then it would lift all the rocks off the ground and pull them out a bit then push them back on the beach. The resulting noise of this phenomena was a sound I had never heard in my life. Almost like... Rice Krispies when they crackle in your milk, but with ocean water and smooth stones--and much, much louder. Nature's rock tumbler, I guess!

All in all, we had a great trip. We headed out to Cape Meares, saw the lighthouse that is no longer in use, then proceeded to the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook (about 10 miles from our campsite). Of course, here in Oregon, you can get Tillamook cheese and ice cream in every store you go to, so it wasn't *that* exciting. But the cool thing about it is watching them make cheese. If you go on a weekend, it's boring, because no one is working. If you ever go to Tillamook, go on a weekday so you can watch them package the cheese with their cool mechanical doo-dads. We were able to get some cheese you can't get in the normal grocery store, such as Cracked Pepper White Cheddar and Garlic and Chili Pepper Smoked Cheddar, along with what we call "Squeaky Cheese", the cheese curd they sell. Totally bad for you (as it's the stuff they scrape off the top of the cheese when they make it, but o-so-good...) If you're freaky about food textures, tho, you prolly won't like it, because like I said, it's squeaky when you eat it. LOL

The cool thing about our campsite was that it was literally ON the beach. Well, there was a dune "burm" (sp?) that kept most of the wind off us, but for the most part, all you had to do was walk past the cars, traverse the rocks, and you're there on the beach. Too cool. Waking up to the sound of the ocean crashing is pretty awesome, I must say.

If you ever go camping on the Oregon coast, I highly recommend Cape Lookout 10 miles south of Tillamook. It's sooo much fun! I'm glad to be home, but seriously, it's *just* now that I've finally caught up with all the laundry I've had to do... With four kids, a dog, and tons of clothing, towels and blankets that all smelled of campfire... That part I didn't enjoy so much. :P

~~Becka

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

2008-06-03T00:13:00.000-07:00

15:32 @puuikibeach business model is donations. So far it's working well: $5 which means that loudtwitter has less debt than most web2.0 companies #

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Becka's Impromptu Book Review - THE DEVIL WHO TAMED HER

2008-05-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

I must confess, I'd been excited to read this story ever since I knew of it's existence. But since I personally cannot stand hardbacks, I waited until the paperback came out. In fact, I had no idea this book was out in paperback until I went to my local Fred Meyer's and saw it on the book rack. Immediately my Inner Impulse Buyer squee'd like a schoolgirl.

Why have I been looking forward to it? Because I fell in love with Rafe, the heir to a dukedom in another of Johanna's books, aptly named "The Heir". The book wasn't about him, however, it was about a Scot who finds love with his best friend. Rafe was merely a secondary character in that book, along with the hateful shrew Ophelia Reid. Putting those two together in a single book and watching the sparks fly was interesting to say the least. And I must say, I enjoyed it a lot because I did read the previous book first a few years ago, but this book can stand alone without first reading "The Heir".

Basically, the plot is this: Rafe takes it upon himself to show Ophelia her "shrewish" ways and reform her to be a nice, loving woman. She's superiorly beautiful, and because of this, she's been made callous and cold-hearted, because none of her friends are genuine, and every man on the planet swoons at her feet due to her "bane of a face".

Of course, Rafe decides the best way to do reform her is to whisk Ophelia off to his Secret Underground Lair... **cough**cough** no, no, his family's secluded cottage in the middle of BFE.

Now, the premise, while kind of shoestring in and of itself, is actually kinda fun. I enjoy the bantering back and forth between the hero and heroine, as stories with a lot of heated passion can then erupt in heated passion of a different kind if you know what I mean (wink wink nudge nudge). This story does indeed have that, however, I was a bit disappointed by the love scenes.

Perhaps it's because I'm "spoiled" by being e-published, by reading/writing hotter stories, or perhaps I've just "forgotten" the heat level of a Lindsey book. Or maybe, Johanna is writing a little less steamy these days. I seem to remember certain hot scenes in "Hearts Aflame" that made my face flame, that's for sure. This book didn't quite have that heat level. While I don't read romance strictly "for the sex" (quit rolling your eyes, my male friends who have my blog on their RSS feeds...), it is the crux of a good romance, the culmination of the sexual tension, the climax (no snickering back there) of the relationship. I felt Ms. Lindsey "told" me rather than "showed" me what the characters were feeling.

Another peeve I had about this book was that so much time was spent talking about the heroine's beauty, that the hero gets pushed to the sidelines as far as his good looks. Oh, she talks about his golden hair and how handsome he is, but I never got a clear picture of him in my head of a romance hero, because no one was falling over HIM, other than some random mothers at the "ball" who wanted him to meet their daughters - and even that was glossed over. His characterization suffered due to all the time spent on Ophelia's characterization, and in fact, the scenes written in his POV (point of view) were few and far between. I would have LOVED a love scene in his POV.

Also, when they do return to London (which was too soon for me, I wanted them to spend a little more time at the secluded cottage/mansion), the book then felt like the movie Return of the King to me, with each new chapter someone else the heroine "makes up with" for being so rude and spiteful. Not that the plot is even remotely similar as RotK, but that the 500 endings Peter Jackson made us sit through was reminiscent of the last few chapters of this book. (Lubs Peter Jackson and LotR films to death, so don't be hatin'.)

The book started with a bang, a great lead up, fun times at the happy hideaway, only to be cut short to go back to London where tensions are high. I enjoyed the "taming of the shrew" aspect of the plot, but I did feel the book was a little long, and that the dark moment of the book went on for longer than it should have.

The book is predictable, so don't go into it thinking you won't see what's coming. However, just like a train wreck, you can't help but look! Not that this book is a train wreck, per se, because I did enjoy it and it was better than a few recent Lindsey offerings (A Man to Call My Own, anyone?).

To sum up, I wish the love scenes had been a bit hotter - and you know, I DO remember Johanna writing hotter. Chandos and his heated words... Challen and his arrogant ways... Royce and his erotic "play"... Angel with his sexy boots... Why was Rafe and Ophelia short-changed here? I don't know, but it saddened me.

I wish there had been more scenes in Rafe's POV. I don't want him to be a wallflower hero! Ms. Lindsey did try, but it fell flat, in my opinion.

I loved the scenes at the cottage at the beginning of the book, but when they got to London, it kinda dragged for me, because that one-on-one intimacy was lost.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, and it gave me something to do today when I wasn't feeling too good to do much else. For a light day read, it's great. If you're looking for something meaty, you might be disappointed. But the cover is GORGEOUS and it was an entertaining read, even if I did nitpick it to death. LOL

Ms. Lindsey, I give your book three and three quarter stars (3 3/4 *'s) out of a possible five stars. Thank you for writing Rafe and Ophelia's story. I enjoyed it and it kept me occupied all day. You missed 4 stars only because I wanted Rafe to... gah, I don't know what I wanted him to do. Most romances revolve around the sex appeal of the hero and I just wasn't feelin' it. You would have gotten 4 1/2 stars if the sex scenes had been as hot as your previous works. The book would have been worthy of 5 stars if they'd stayed at the cottage longer. :P All those factors, however, knocked it down to a 3 3/4.

If you're a big fan of Johanna Lindsey, you shouldn't be disappointed by this book, except, perhaps, the factors listed above. :)

~~Becka

http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Shocked and Saddened

2008-05-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

This morning, I found out that one of my favorite singers has recently had a tragedy in his life. It was hard for me not to cry about it, since I've been listening to his music for close to 20 years. He's like a part of my family, almost.

That singer is Steven Curtis Chapman.

His youngest daughter, 5-year-old Maria Sue, was struck and killed by an SUV driven by her teenage brother. Apparently, he didn't see her in the driveway, and it's nothing more than a tragic accident. This is particularly heartwrenching, because Maria Sue was a little Chinese girl they'd adopted through Shaohannah's Hope, Mr. Chapman's adoption foundation.

I ask that you pray for Steven and his family, not only for the daughter that they lost, but for the son who took her life. I cannot imagine the guilt and sorrow he must be feeling. I do know Mr. Chapman's sons banded together to make a "band" of sorts of their own, called "Stevenson" (I believe), who also sing Christian songs, but the news article I read didn't mention the name of the son who was driving the truck.

Please, please, please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. I've seen Steven Curtis Chapman in concert and know almost every word of his songs by heart. He is such a strong man in his faith and a pillar in the Christian music scene. I can only imagine the pain and suffering this family is going through right now.

To read the article, click here:

CNN Article

We love you here in Oregon, Steven. You have our prayers and sympathy. I pray you can find comfort in God's arms during this ordeal, and find the strength to carry on.

Much love and thanks for your music over the years,
~~Becka

P.S.
Edited to add the web URL of a special blog set up to share condolences with the Chapman family.

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

I Know This is "Old News", But...

2008-05-21T18:05:00.001-07:00

I know this is old news, but I decided to share this with you anyway. On Sunday, Barack Obama had the largest rally of his campaign, right here in Portland, OR. It's estimated that over 75,000 people attended. Sure, some people attributed the large crowd to the GORGEOUS weather we had that day, or even to the "free concert" that opened for Obama - however, the band was The Decemberists, a local Portland band with a few thousand fans, I'm sure, who are mostly punk and alternative, if I am correct. But one thing's for sure - they don't have the following for THAT big a crowd. No, these people were out there to see Obama, and the awesome weather sure didn't hurt.

Portland itself is a very LIBERAL town anyhow. It's pretty obvious when you walk down the street. lol But I do so love this town regardless, even though I'm a registered Republican.

DH and I have been thinking more and more of re-registering as Independents, since we are growing more and more frustrated with the Republican party. We're definitely not Democrats, but I'll tell you what, I'm thinking hard about who I'm going to vote for this November, and Obama, if/when he wins his party's nomination, is looking more and more attractive the more I learn about him and his policies.

I've been watching the videos on his website, http://www.barackobama.com/, and he is an excellent speaker, and speaks of tackling issues I want to be tackled in this country. I'm tired of "voting Republican just because I'm Republican". It's one of the reasons DH and I didn't vote in the Oregon Primary, because state law mandates you must vote for your party in the Primary. As an Independent, DH and I would be "allowed" to vote for anyone we want to, and that seems more "fair" and "equal" to me.

Anyhow, I thought you might enjoy a video from Obama's Sunday rally here in Portland. To give you some perspective, Dave Matthews gave a free concert in Central Park right after 9/11, and 80,000 people came and packed the park. Obama's rally was 75,000 people, not that much less. You'd think this man was the Second Coming! Where's the 5 loaves and 2 fish?!? LOL Enjoy the vid.

~~Becka

Becka's Movie Reviews

2008-05-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

Without anything else awesome to blog, I thought I would regale you with my opinions of current movies, as if you actually give a damn. :P

If you haven't seen IRONMAN, drop everything you're doing **right now** and go see this film. It is arguably THE best superhero film ever made. I loved it, mainly because Robert Downey, Jr. stole the show. If there was any doubt about this man after his history with drugs, this movie has laid it all to rest. I knew he was a good actor, but in watching IRONMAN, I have learned that Mr. Downey is actually one HELL of an actor, and not just because I was drooling over him in his muscle shirt. He was perfectly cast, and I don't think anyone I know came away from that movie saying, "Well, that sucked. I'll never get THAT 2 hours of my life back." Go and see it if you haven't already. It's worth a theater trip.

Another movie worth a theater trip is The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It has a different feel to it than the first movie, but that is to be expected 1300 years after the kids accidentally left Narnia. The places they know are now either destroyed or look totally different. The creatures are the same ones you're familiar with, but the enemy they must face is quite different. The one character that made me smile fondly in the theater, reminiscing about reading these books as a young teen, is Reepicheep. I had forgotten all about him, but upon seeing him "again" for the first time, I had to wonder how I'd forgotten him. He reminds me a bit of Puss in Boots from the Shrek movies with a big difference - he's a mouse, not a cat. LOL

Go see the Narnia movie. If you liked the first one, you'll like the second one.

The Mist. Okay, folks, you may or may not remember this little gem, but it was a campy movie made from Stephen King's famous short story of the same name. Upon it's release, this movie was forced to be shown in color, against the director's wishes. The studio thought showing it in black and white (to resemble a '50's B movie) wouldn't gel with today's young teen audience. Perhaps they were right.

But the director of this movie has released his Director's Cut version, and it's in - you guessed it - black and white. Now, let me just say that DH and I never saw the color version of this movie, nor will we now that we've seen it in B&W. The B&W seems to enhance something in this flick, perhaps giving it a grittier feel, and sort of "uncamping" it in a way, since yes, they know it's kinda cheesy, but when shown in B&W, you are kind of "expecting" that, and thus, the movie seems better than it would have been in color. Make sense?

Well. If you like horror and/or suspense, you'll like this movie. If you hate it when every movie under the sun has a picture perfect ending, you'll like this movie. If you literally get pissed off and start yelling at your TV, you'll like this movie. Now, I don't mean "pissed of and screaming" in a bad way. We've all yelled at the screen for the asinine things people do in horror flicks. But in this movie, you'll be so engrossed, that you'll literally want to jump through the screen and take care of fricken' business yourself.

Yes there is gore and bad words and all kinds of horror flick-y goodness. But this one won't scare you as much as it will f--k you up. DH and I fell in love with the B&W version of The Mist. If you happen to pick this one up at the video store, make sure you're getting the B&W director's cut. You'll be glad you did.

~~Becka

Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-05-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here is an awesome video my DH made for his mom on Mother's Day. It was her present, along with a nice, shiny new blog. She was so moved and loved the video very much. Heck, it made ME tear up, it was such a beautiful vid.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy looking at crazy pictures of my DH from his childhood... :P Enjoy!

Mothers Day is for My Mom from Jim Goings on Vimeo.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

40!

2008-05-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well folks, another milestone has been reached. I'VE LOST 40 POUNDS!! It's hard to believe myself. I've been working pretty hard toward my goal weight. I have a ways to go yet, but there is a (faint) light at the end of the tunnel!

I work out every day (except weekends - but lately I've been doing more active things on the weekends like bike riding, yard work, etc.). Usually Sunday is my day off of everything physical, and that's nice. It's recommended you have at least one to two days off a week, as your muscles need time to "heal" (for lack of a better word) from the work outs - then the next work out day is kind of a shock to the system and you start the cycle all over again.

The key I've learned with work outs is to switch them up and change them. Your body gets "used" to doing the same ol' thing, so if you do one kind of work out every single day, you won't lose weight as fast because the muscles become in tune with the work out and thus, burn less. So I have these DVD's I'm following, Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home, and they're wonderful. I have the 1, 2, 3, & 4 mile walks on DVD, as well as a Fast Firming DVD with a resistance band and a You Can Do DVD with a stability ball. I do the walking almost every day, depending on what else I want to do that day. I try to do the strength training (the band and the ball - with weights) twice a week, and then I'll do a shorter walk if I do the strength training. On a day I don't do the strength, I do a longer walk, thus mixing it up for my muscles, as they don't know what they're going to get day by day. :P

I've started drinking my allotted 8 cups of water a day. It was hard at first, but once you get used to it, it's not so bad. One water bottle is 16 oz. Since a "cup" is 8 oz., drinking one full bottle is 2 of your cups of water. Therefore, I drink four of these water bottles a day. Here's how I do it.

I have breakfast every morning - no exceptions! It's not that hard to pour a bowl of cereal or scramble some eggs with toast. After I eat, I drink a full bottle of water before I exercise. I don't chug, although I have had to make myself chug on occasion to get it done. But I sip off it until I'm done, which isn't that long, because I don't procrastinate about drinking it. Once that's gone, I'll do my exercises and immediately afterward, I'll drink another water. Two down before lunch!

Throughout the afternoon, I'll have another bottle I sip from, and then my final bottle comes with dinner. I do still have one soda a day, usually with lunch. I truly believe upping my water has helped me lose weight. Not because I feel more full (well, there is that) but because keeping my kidneys hydrated allows my liver to do *its* job of metabolizing fat. Not only that, but the combination of exercise plus increased water consummation has sped up my metabolism.

Not to mention the breakfast. I also believe breakfast plays a pivotal role in keeping my metabolism going.

Anyhow, 40 pounds is just about the equivalent of a 5 gallon jug of water you have for your water cooler at work. Those actually weigh about 41.something pounds, but you have an idea of about how much weight that actually is. WOW! That's a lot! My youngest daughter weighs around 43 pounds. I've just about lost HER from my body! Amazing stuff.

My goal was to get to a 50lb loss before our camping trip at the end of May. Not sure I'll get there, since I just cracked the 40lb mark today, but all in all, I'm able to put my wedding ring back on without forcing it, so it's a happy day!

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Sleeping With the Fishes

2008-05-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

The end of an era... The Goings pool is no more. Here is a pic of the pool two summers ago, all nice and blue and $$hundreds$$ of dollars worth of getting there from the black sludge that used to lurk within when we first bought our house.

Every summer, it has continued to be $$hundreds$$ of dollars worth of beautifying it from the winter nasties to the summer swimmies. Not to mention the electric and water bills every summer from running the pump and filling it little by little over the months when people splash and such. We were constantly filling that thing. I'm confident the water that was in there recently was not the original water it had once contained.

But the thing is just so *ugly*. An eyesore, really. DH wanted to paint the sheet metal white, to make it a little more "friendly" to the backyard, but even so, it was covered 7 to 8 months out of the year, just sitting there not being used. Not to mention the big tree that overhangs the pool eventually dropped its leaves into the water every fall.

In short - an above-ground Dough Boy pool = no fun in Oregon. A below-ground pool with a heater in a covered lanai is another story altogether. But alas, we didn't have that. After we had our deck rebuilt, we had to take out the firepit the previous owners had built in. We were saddened, as many a happy time had been had around the firepit.

Therefore, in the middle of our yard, we are going to rebuild it - correctly this time - with bricks and mortar in a covered pagota with patio furniture and cobbled concrete - not "just"a slab. It's pretty much gonna rule.

So today, we disassembled this pool. Since we had just uncovered it from winter, the water was funkytown. Over the past week, we've been draining it - wasn't that horrible as the water pretty much soaked into the ground and didn't flood the yard like we thought it might. Then we hired a guy to come and help us cut up the sheet metal with a "saws all" and we cut up the liner into small pieces. Someone from Craig's List is coming by later today to pick up the scrap metal and aluminum.

This pool was 24ft. Having it gone from our backyard makes our yard that much more HUGE! Having a new firepit is exciting! I can't wait to have it again, as we'd spent many a night out there yakkin' around the bonfire. Now, it's going to be so much BETTER!

Goodbye, pain in the ass pool! Hello big-ass backyard!

~~Becka

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

2008-05-02T00:05:00.001-07:00

19:17 @mpeace, please try with email posting, it looks like there is some kind of issue with LJ + Atom #

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Good Lord, I Haven't Posted in a Week!

2008-04-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

My poor blog has been neglected. Mainly because I've had nothing to blog as of late. Last weekend, the fam and I took my purdy girl (and their bikes too) out for a bike ride. Gorgeous day. We packed a lunch and rode around the bike paths near the Hillsboro Main Library. We stopped to eat on the grass near the pond and were accosted by two big, white duck bullies, who would literally chase away their "competition". It was rather amusing. My daughter named them "Buck" and "Chuck". LOL

My oldest daughters have finished their curriculum for 2nd and 3rd grade. I don't follow the school year in September when I homeschool, because the company we go through has awesome sales in April/May, so that's when we buy their new books and we start shortly thereafter. But my kids do have a break in the spring, which is when we usually take our family vacations. My son and youngest daughter will be finished this coming Monday, because they had a few more "sick" days than my older two. :) But everyone is excited to have some time off. We have family and friends coming to visit us in May, so we're going to have a lot of fun on our "off" time!

I've been sticking to my exercise regimen and have lost a few more pounds. Since April 2nd, I've lost 7 more pounds! The weight loss has definitely slowed down since the beginning, but I'm happy to see it's still going down. I plateaued there for awhile, but I once read an inspirational quote that says, "A plateau is nothing more than a 'dress rehearsal' for maintaining your goal weight." :P I've been drinking tons more water (hello toilet!) in an effort to keep myself hydrated, as I'm an avid Diet Coke drinker. Even though a Diet Coke is "free" according to my dietitian, I've read on a few websites that your liver is what metabolizes fat into energy for your body. If your kidneys are deprived of adequate water, then the liver is forced to "take over" some of their job, thus taking the focus of it's job off of metabolizing fat. So when you drink more water, you're keeping your kidneys hydrated enough to do their own job, allowing the liver to do *its* job. Fortunately, it only takes a week or two before your body to get used to the increased water intake, so the light at the end of the tunnel is that you won't spend the rest of your life on the pot.

I believe it's definitely working for me. Yesterday, I was down two ounces. Today, I was down another six ounces. Of course, it could be due to the fact I exercise every day as well. I'm doing some strength training to get definition (and erase flab) on my arms and legs. Obviously I don't want to be a weight lifter, but I don't want to have chicken arms and chicken legs when I finally do lose the weight. I think a defined arm and leg are sexy. I'm using a resistance band as well as a stability ball to strengthen my muscles and tighten my core. Lord knows I need that!

Let's see, what else? The sun is finally peeking out here in Oregon, but the days are still chilly. What's up with that? It's almost May, people! Wonder if we're going to have a mild summer?

Anyways, I'm sorry for the boring ol' post, but I thought it's better to post something than nothing at all! All this exercising and finally writing a book I owe Champagne Books has been sucking up my free time to blog! Ah well, it's for the greater good. :)

~~Becka

OMFG - Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-04-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

**SOBS**CHEERS**CRIES**WAILS**GNASHES TEETH**GOOSEBUMPS**SHOUTS**

A~V~A~T~A~R!!!

Becka's Hottie of the Week

2008-04-20T17:25:00.001-07:00

Okay, okay, yes, yes, I've given you one other bike on this blog for my Hottie of the Week, but I just had to blog about THIS one. Why? Because I just bought this baby!

We went to the bike shop to buy my son a new bike (which we did) and saw this lovely bike sitting there in the showroom, calling out to me. Actually, we saw this bike before, when we bought my youngest daughter her bike. In the few weeks since, no one bought it.

I don't know why no one wanted it, I think it's beautiful. True, I'd talked about getting the pink Townie and tricking it out with the Hawaiian accessories, but the pink Townie was kind of expensive, and adding the accessories would have been about $200 more than this bike was on the floor.

So I thought about it, not wanting to buy it until we get the tax rebate owed to us by George W. next month. But DH overheard two other people eyeballing this bike, saying something along the lines of, "Well, you could always get that white Hawaiian..." DH walked right up to the sales guy and proclaimed, "WE'LL TAKE IT!" lol

It's kind of a blustery day today, so I only got to actually ride my bike for a few minutes up and down the street, but it's mine. My own. My PRECIOUS!!!

Oogle my bike to your heart's content. It's an "older" '06/'07 model, so they don't make them in white custom any more (even though you *can* get the Hawaiian doo dads), which means this bike is a rare find. It's a sweet ride, 21 speed. I haven't had a brand new bike since I was a kid. Congrats to me, as my new bike is Becka's Hottie of the Week!

~~Becka

Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-04-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

DH showed me this video. It's too cool not to share. And because of the complexity of the one-take lip dub, this vid has now become my Moment of Zen. Enjoy!

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's Impromptu Book Review - IRON COWBOY

2008-04-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

IRON COWBOY is a Silhouette Desire, written by Diana Palmer. You can find the book on Amazon.com. Here is the back cover blurb:

Rancher Jared Cameron was a mystery to everyone in Jacobsville, Texas…and he liked it that way. Only sweet-natured bookseller Sara dared to intrude on his privacy—informing the loner that a book on ogres might be more appropriate for a man of his qualities. Charmed by her audaciousness, Jared seduced the town's plain Jane. But their burgeoning relationship soon thrust Sara into Jared's hidden world of intrigue.

Now the iron cowboy had to steel himself for the fight of his life…and his heart.

~*~*~

Let's be honest, I bought this book for it's cover. It's gorgeous, really, and promises to be a wonderful western read from Silhouette Desire. Being written by Diana Palmer, who's had a successful career in romance, half the cover is taken up by her name. I've read another Desire book by Ms. Palmer with the same malady, HEARTBREAKER, of which I reviewed on my Google Group, The Magic of Romance, not on my blog, unfortunately. In fact, a quick search of "Diana Palmer" shows a trend in her covers, of GIANT author name, itty bitty book title. With a cred like Ms. Palmer's, where her name alone will get you to buy her book, I've just gotta see for myself if she can live up to her publisher's hype.

First of all, as I also said in my review of HEARTBREAKER on my loop, this book's cover has NOTHING to do with the story within. The hero is mentioned more times as being an oil tycoon than a rancher, even though he owns a ranch, for all intents and purposes. Unfortunately, we never see him on the back of a horse wrangling wild horses. In fact, I'm not even sure why the book is entitled IRON COWBOY, because aside from his Stetson, there ain't nothing "cowboy" about this guy. He calls the small town both he and the heroine live in, which is Jacobsville, TX, "Outer Cowpasture", as if he's making fun of the place. This seems rather odd for a "cowboy", as true cowboys love the wide-open range. I'm sure there are plenty of city-cowboys, but even those men, who's passion in life is on the back of a horse, love to get away from all the hustle and bustle for a cozy campfire and the bay of coyotes.

Therefore, both the cover and the title are misleading, right off the bat.

Secondly, the book appears to be one in a series, and admittedly, I have not read this series. It revisits plenty of other characters from Ms. Palmer's previous books, but I skimmed this information, because it wasn't interesting to me. In fact, in reading one such scene, it seemed to be "filler", to get the book to the appropriate 50K word count for the line. These characters were thrown at me as if I should know who they are, and even the explanations of "this is so-in-so who did such-in-such" were murky at best. Hence the skimming. To tell you the truth, skimming those scenes didn't hurt the story one bit. I still understood everything going on between the hero and heroine.

The love story between the two main characters seemed forced at times. In fact, the hero is so busy, the heroine spends more time "on camera" with the secondary characters, Tony the Dancer and Harley Fowler. I had to wonder to myself why the heroine wasn't falling in love with Harley, because he was obviously a cowboy and a nice one to boot (no pun intended), and he actually LIKED the heroine, unlike the hero. Of course, conflict between the H/h is an unwritten rule in Ms. Palmer's books. If done correctly, the sparks that fly could seriously up the ante with regards to sexual tension. However, Ms. Palmer writes their butting heads as she would two enemies, people who genuinely hate each other. This makes for the tender scenes between them to seem contrived. Why would two people who were just hurling nasty words back and forth suddenly agree to be each other's "family" if one of them gets sick? It made no sense to me.

Let's not even talk about the forced love scene. Well... maybe we should. Many reviewers on Amazon.com call it a "rape" scene. The hero loses so much control, he doesn't "notice" when the heroine is pushing him off, thus he goes all the way, and only notices her tears and shoving after his Big O. Then, he proceeds to tell her it's all her fault.

"Small town girls and their damned hang-ups," he muttered. "What now? Do you think you'll go to hell for sleeping with a man you haven't married?"

It was close to what she'd been taught all her life, that she didn't even bother to reply.

"I don't believe this!" he raged. "I can't be the first man to--" He stopped dead, remembering the barrier that he'd dealth with. "I was the first," he said slowly. "Wasn't I, Sara?"

"Please go," she pleaded tearfully.

He drew in a long breath. "Tell me you're on birth control," he demanded.

"I never needed to be," she bit off.

"Great!" he burst out, furious. "That's just great! And you see me as a meal ticket, don't you? If I made you pregnant, you'll have a free ride for life! Except you won't," he added coldly. "I don't want children ever again. You'll have a termination or I'll take you to court and show everyone who lives here how mercenary you are!"

Wow. Just...wow. The problem with writing such a harsh hero is the fact that there is next to no redeeming values about him. The HEA of this book seems more about the hero getting his way than something Sara truly wants. Therefore the ending isn't satisfying. I don't believe the hero and heroine are truly in love. He seems possessive, domineering, controlling. There's a fine line to writing an Alpha hero. I usually love a possessive hero in books. But when the Alpha male comes off as a selfish bastard, I just can't bring myself to like the guy.

Aside from the romance, there is another plot throughout about a drug cartel trying to kidnap the hero for his millions. I skimmed this plot too. I just couldn't read it. Partly because it, too, seemed like "filler" to up the word count, but really, I couldn't read it because it was more and more pages where the hero and heroine were NOT together. And that's really the crux of why this romance didn't work for me. Sure, the whole forced seduction/rape scene seriously turned me way the heck off, but you cannot have a successful romance when the H/h are never together.

However, one of the main reasons I skimmed both the drug cartel plot and the revisiting of previous characters was the style of writing. Ms. Palmer does a lot of telling in her writing rather than showing. One thing happens, something else happens, which makes something else happen. It was like reading an instruction manual, almost, not because I was learning anything, but because the writing and prose were so dry. You do this. Then this and this. Here's an example:

Could she possibly have an ulcer?

It would pass, she told herself. She'd just sit very still and not move around and it would go away, like it always did.

But it didn't go away. An hour later, it hurt to walk and nausea washed over her unexpectedly. She barely made it to the bathroom in time to lose her breakfast. The pain was horrible. She'd never felt anything like it. She felt feverish as well. Something was wrong. Something bad.

A.) Nausea
B.) Barely made it to bathroom
C.) Pain horrible
D.) Never felt anything like it
E.) Feverish
F.) Something's wrong
G.) Something bad

The problem is, the entire book is like the above passage. It reads like a novel from a first time author, not a multi-published been-around-the-block author. Take a look at the very FIRST line of the book. It pretty much sets up the tone for the rest of the book:

It was a lovely spring day, the sort of day that makes gentle, green, budding trees and white blossoms look like a spring fantasy has been painted.

It's just...unpolished. We're told what it looks like. Put us in the scene. Show us what's going on, don't tell us. Is there a light breeze? A fragrance in the air? Are there puffy clouds in the sky? The above sentence is the only "set up" we get for what the day is like. While I don't need a 10-page diagram detailing every little nuance of the lovely spring day, I would like to picture my scene a wee bit more.

Sure, as authors, we sometimes write books that aren't that great. Not every book we write is going to be the "book of our hearts". This is a business, after all. However, I can't help but wonder if the editors at Desire relax the rules for well-known authors. If "Jane Author" submitted a manuscript with elementary prose and a rape scene, it's doubtful she'd get that coveted contract.

Overall, the cover and title are poor representations of the book, even if the cover is gorgeous. The story within is shoestring at best, with a luke-warm romance and forgettable drug cartel. The prose of the writing is very basic and hard to read at times, as the author in me is cringing at the "she felt" / "that was" wording, which permeated the book.

THE BEST line in the entire book came out of the blue for me. If Ms. Palmer had written her book around that ONE line, it would have been a much better read. The hero actually melted me with that one line, but then goes on to prove himself all kinds of an ass. I found myself wishing and hoping Ms. Palmer would have her romance live up to that ONE line, but alas, she didn't. Here it is, to quench your curiosity:

He felt her shiver in his arms. His mouth roughened for an instant until he realized that she was just out of the hospital, and her side hadn't healed. He lifted his head. His eyes were blazing. His face was set, solemn, his gaze intent on her flushed skin.

"Wh...why?" she faltered, all eyes.

An odd expression crept over his face. "When you smile, the emptiness goes away," he said in a rough whisper.

This book gets one star out of a possible 5 from Becka. It would have only gotten a half-star from me, but that one line bumped it to a full star. Only read this one if you're a die-hard Palmer fan who loves her asinine heroes.

~~Becka

Twhirlin' on Twitter

2008-04-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

DH and friends have been using a site called "Twitter". Basically, it's a site you send periodic updates about what you're doing or thinking at any given moment. They've been trying to get me on Twitter for awhile now. I noticed DH and one of my other friends had their Twitter updates posted on their blog. I had to do the same, of course, so I hunted and searched and finally found the code to add it on.

Therefore, you'll see my Twitters in the sidebar over there ---->

If you're on Twitter too and want to connect to me, I believe my "page" is at www.Twitter.com/rebeccagoings.

Anyway, just letting you know what those weird Twitter updates were all about. :)

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-04-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

I don't usually post about political things, but this one was just too funny to pass up. Enjoy!

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's Booksigning Bomb

2008-04-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I had a booksigning this past Sunday (4/6) at the Hillsboro Main Library in my hometown of Hillsboro, OR. I'd been talking to Dave Pauli, the man who coordinates special events with the library since September. We'd scheduled the signing 8 months in the future, because the library was brand new and already booked with many other events.

This got me all excited. Sounds like this library is pumpin'!

So the months pass, and as the date got closer, I posted about it on many of my forums and blogs. The library also did their part, by putting my event in their calendar of events not only on their webpage, but in their newsletter, as well as the community events flyer that goes out every month for the city of Hillsboro. They even made a "poster" for me (just an 8X10 flyer) for their bulletin board. I mass-emailed my friends about the event and even lobbied my local author friends to attend.

The morning of the event, I was rushing to get everything ready, sign-up sheets for my newsletter and weight loss group, a raffle and freebies I was going to give away, and my obligatory chocolates to lure people to my table. I even raided my own personal book stash (my books I buy for posterity) because I only had copies of my fantasy books available, not my BEAST books or any of my historicals.

I spent about an hour and a half on Saturday just signing my swag, 200 bookmarks, 10 bookplates, and about 100 business cards, not to mention about 30 post cards. I went over what I was going to talk about and even made "cue cards" for myself so I wouldn't forget and look like a dumbass going, "Uh, uh, uh..." (this event was actually a "talk/slash/booksigning")

I wondered what the heck I was going to wear, and finally chose my blue jeans and a dressy blouse. I'd worn the dressy blouse on Easter with a skirt, but I thought the matching skirt would be a little "too" dressy, so I went for the dressy-cazh. Loaded all my goodies and off I went.

While setting up, Dave Pauli got on the loudspeaker and announced my talk to the patrons 20 minutes before, then 5 minutes before. Yay! My author friend Minnette Meador and her lovely DH came to support me and I informed Mr. Pauli of yet another local author, and he was interested to talk with her.

Unfortunately, after all of this, only one other person came, a lady with her young son, who was almost 7. So okay, two other people, but the boy doesn't count (he was a very good boy even though he was obviously bored out of his gourd). At this point, I'm wondering to myself how advantageous a raffle is, but to heck with it, I had a free book and a $10 Border's gift card to give away.

So I gave my talk, with Mimi, her hubby, the guy who coordinated the event, and the one lady (bless her heart) who came. Four people in all. If Mimi hadn't have come, I wouldn't have sold anything. She bought THE B*E*A*S*T* WITHIN from me, of which I signed. The other lady actually won both gifts in the raffle, which I thought was funny. She obviously had a good time! I signed her book as well, handed her some swag and talked about myself for about 40 minutes while answering questions and such.

Dave himself checked out ON EAGLE'S WINGS from his own library, as he said he loves time travel books. Heh, hope you like that one, Dave! Might be a bit steamy for you, but... :P Well, his wife will be happy he's reading romance, I'm sure.

Yes, my booksigning was a bit of a bomb. If Mimi hadn't shown, I would have been talking to only one person (plus Dave). I suppose it was worth it if only to gain one more fan. Who knows if her friends/family like romance. Perhaps she'll spread the word. I got some great name recognition from the event, as my flyer had been posted to their bulletin board for a few weeks, not to mention my name in their newsletter and the city flyer. If nothing else, people might recognize my name the next time they see it.

I look at this signing as a trial run for any other event I might attend. In the future, I'll try a signing with more than just myself, to try and lure the readership with authors who's name might reach a bit further than mine.

I must say I was disappointed my real-life friends didn't turn out, but they all had plans, I'm sure. But none of my friends read romance, there's the rub. For me, it's hard to be two people, and disconnect my author persona from my reality. Online, I'm "Rebecca Goings", author of best-selling romance, with scads of 5 star reviews under my belt and fans up the wazoo with plans to break into Harlequin Desire.... But in real life, I'm just "Beck", the housewife/mother people sometimes hang out with.

If my head had gotten big from winning the Best-Selling Author of 2007 Award from Champagne Books,

then this booksigning sure did deflate it and gave me a reality check. I'm not quite "there" yet. Someday I might be, but that day is not today - or last Sunday, either.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Charlton Heston Has Passed Away

2008-04-06T01:24:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite actors, Charlton Heston, has passed away. :( I remember my mother loving Mr. Heston, as she grew up when he was a big, handsome hunk (her words). I didn't really care about the man until high school, when our World History teacher made us watch the epic Ben Hur over the course of a week (yes, the movie is THAT long lol - well, for 5 hour classes broken up over 5 days *the movie is 4 1/2 hours long).

Every kid in class loved that movie. I mean LOVED. When it was over, we wanted to watch it again. And not because it got us out of more school work. Well, perhaps there were some... lol

After this, I remember catching The Ten Commandments on TV (back when they used to show it every year on network TV) around Easter time. I was a newbie Christian at the time, and I LOVED that movie too. So what did my sister and I do? We found an old video tape (yes, video) and taped it off the network, editing out the commercials, of course, by pressing "pause" whenever they'd come on. :D

For whatever reason growing up, I'd watch The Ten Commandments every Thursday night. It was a ritual. I have no idea how many times I watched that movie. At least until the tape wore out. Heheh

Nowadays, I have DVD's of both Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. Watching them now reveals the overacting, but all in all, I still LOVE these two films. They meant a lot to me growing up, that's for sure.

Fast-forward to 1997, I had a job at a company that copied medical records for attorneys. We had software that had everyone's address listed. Well, just about everyone's. A friend of mine who worked in the cubicle on the other side of mine also LOVED Mr. Heston. So, she looked him up and found his address up Coldwater Canyon Road (I think that's the name of the road...) Anyhow, she decided to write him an unsolicited letter, telling him how awesome she thought him to be.

He responded by sending her a signed 8X10 glossy of himself, of which she squealed like a school girl, framed, and placed on her mantle (I'm just hypothesizing, I don't know where she put it LOL). I never wrote him myself, because I thought it was a terrible invasion of privacy to write him a letter out of the blue. Perhaps I should have. :(

Thank you, Mr. Heston, for the totally awesome, totally over-acted movies you have given us over the years.

Rest in peace. So let it be written, so let it be done.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's Weight Loss Challenge

2008-04-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hello again. Just letting you know I've opened a new Google group, Becka's Weight Loss Challenge. I thought hey, since I'm losing weight and DH and my Mom-In-Law are losing along with me, that perhaps some of my online friends might want to join in the fun as well.

You do NOT have to lose weight if you join. You do NOT have to post your weight if you join. The point of this new group is for motivation, sharing, and successes. I will NOT be promoting any of my books in this group; it will strictly be for friends/family to chronicle their weight loss, or for others to cheer us on.

If you'd like to join to either lose weight yourself or keep on top of my weight loss journey, join my new group at:

http://groups.google.com/group/beckasweightlosschallenge

I really hope to see you there, because no one wants to "go it alone" when it comes to making such a drastic life-long change. Whether you have 10 pounds to lose or 100, anyone is welcome. Even if you're just there to wag the pom-poms. :)

~~Becka

Becka's Hottie of the Week

2008-04-04T22:25:00.001-07:00

This week, I've chosen a woman. Yes, it's true, my first female Hottie here on Becka's Babble. I found this lady in a roundabout way. My mom-in-law told me she was watching some vids on You Tube about the correct way to exercise and such, so I decided to go on the site and watch them as well. I found a work out guru who makes walking videos, the exact work out I love to do, but rarely can because it's hard to get out of the house with all my kidlets. And when I do, it's not like I can walk aerobically with 4 kids behind me. *sigh* Who did I choose this week? Ms. Leslie Sansone.

She's got a website located at http://www.walkathome.com, and I just bought her "Walk Slim System", located at: http://www.lesliesansone.com/store/product3.html.

Check out these 30 and 40 second pieces of her workout. How easy is that, honestly?!?

Basically, her program is walking in place, mixed with some jogging in place, little kicks, forward and back toward your butt, side steps and arm curls. Excellent.

So I'm going to try her out and see how well I do on her program. It seems so easy. Perhaps that's the "catch". But I can't imagine this wouldn't help with speeding up your metabolism and burning calories.

And check out her awesome 3-minute walk to get you out of your mid-day office slump, when your eyes are crossing and you're drooling on your desk... LOL

Congratulations, Leslie Sansone. You're Becka's Hottie of the Week! **please help me lose weight!**

~~Becka

Becka's Moment of Zen

2008-04-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, this You Tube video has its embed capabilities disabled, so I can only give you a link to follow instead of showcasing the video here on my blog. But this is worth following and watching to the end. The video is 8 1/2 minutes long, but you'll be amazed the entire way through. It will change everything you *think* you know about animals that can paint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

30!

2008-04-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

OMG! People, I've lost 30 pounds so far! I am not kidding. It must be due to how I'm eating, as I'm not exercising as much as I should. I've been doing my part in trying to move MORE throughout the day, such as parking far away from the store so I have to walk, trying to go up and down my stairs more :P, playing Rock Band drums on "hard" - hey, even though it's not a hard work out, my body is moving, and a moving body is burning calories. Heck, even a stationary body is burning calories, but you get my drift. LOL

I've noticed recently that I'll be really hungry by mealtime, but when it comes to making my plate, I only want smaller portions. I look at the portions I used to eat and think dang! That was a lot of food. Yesterday for lunch, I had half a ham sandwich, ten wholegrain rice-cake chips, and a small cup of yogurt and I was stuffed. Dinner time was pork chops, of which I cut some meat off of mine and even so, didn't manage to eat it all. I ate most of my baked potato, half of my corn, and about half of my unbuttered roll. I just couldn't eat it all.

These changes are only for the better. I'm starting to think like a skinny person, I'm noticing. A smaller amount of food fills me up nowadays, and I'm keeping my calorie intake between 1500 to 1800 calories a day (except for the days I "cheat", which is usually Friday and/or Saturday). I used to eat about 3500 calories a day, just whatever I felt like. Fast food, chocolate, 3 rolls with dinner, a huge bowl of ice cream.

The big change for me is thinking of food as fuel for my body rather than an entertainment or some kind of reward or solace. I don't really cheat during the day, meaning, I don't pour myself an extra half cup of cereal. I don't take another handful of chips. I don't double up on my snacks. I do, however, still have the cravings and the urges to do that, so I'll drink some water before I eat, that way, I feel more full when eating the portions I should be eating. Then, I get used to being full with those portions, and before I know it, the thought of eating more makes me go, UGH, no thanks.

What's really helped me is finding the 100 calorie packs of junk food. LOL If I want salty chips, I grab one of the small 100 calorie bags. If I want chocolate covered pretzels (one of my favorite things), I grab a 100 calorie pack sold by Hershey's at Costco. Sure, it's only got two medium sized pretzels in the pack, but it gives me that taste of chocolate I crave at times while giving me a light snack if I'm not too hungry.

Anyway, I'll probably only shout out when I lose ten pounds at a time, as every five pounds might be a bit excessive. :P My goal is to reach a 50 pound weight loss by the end of May. I'm going to be buying a new bike the beginning of May, so I'm hoping that will seriously help me with some weight loss. Sometimes it's hard to get out and walk, but riding a bike is fun and is something I can do with the kids and not have it feel like "work".

Probably not going to get the "Karma" beach cruiser from my Hottie post, I'm thinking about getting a pink Townie with black Hawaiian accents - a black seat with white Hawaiian flowers, black handlebar grips with the same pattern, and black fenders with the same pattern, not to mention a black bag that fits between the frame bars with the Hawaiian flowers as well. Think this bike, but in this color. :)

YAY! The big three-oh. I'm feelin' good!

I Frickin' LUV My Cast Iron Skillet

2008-04-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was first married, I've wanted to own a cast iron skillet. I've heard such good things about them. Never bought one, though, because I was always "scared" of the care I'd have to give it, as I liked the convenience of popping my pans in the dishwasher or hand-washing the non-stick ones. This whole "oiling" nonsense was for the birds. I don't have time to baby my pan. :P

Boy, was I wrong.

After 12, almost 13 years of marriage, my DH gave me my first iron skillet this past Christmas. Lucky for me, it was pre-seasoned. Bonus, as I was still wary of the whole seasoning process. According to the directions, you need to spray it with PAM the first time you use it. Okay, did that. Then, after every use, merely wash it out with hot water and a non-abrasive, non-metal scrubber. Once it has been rinsed, you thoroughly dry it, then spray it again with PAM, let it cool, and put it away.

OMG, it's *that* easy?!?

Away I went. I ended up using the plastic scrubbers Pampered Chef gives you when you buy their stoneware. It's just a flat piece of plastic, with one pointy edge and three rounded edges. It scrapes my skillet with ease, without scratching the surface of the iron, eliminating the seasoning, or promoting rust. Using HOT HOT water softens the crusties, allowing you to scrape them away. The beauty of the cast iron is the fact that the flavor of the food stays in the metal, making every subsequent meal you cook THAT much better.

After it's scrubbed, of course I wipe it down immediately. That's one of the rules of owning cast iron. Do NOT let it sit with water droplets inside of it and NEVER NEVER NEVER soak it in water. After it's dry, on goes the PAM until it's all glisteny, then away it goes back in my cupboard. I actually prefer caring for this pan rather than caring for my others. It's so EASY, a child can do it.

And let me tell you, everything I've made with it is **drooly**. Oh yeah, this guy makes the best food evar. In an effort to get it infused with all kinds of flavors, I've been using my skillet more and more. It's only the 12 inch size, but now that I'm in love with cast iron, I want to get all kinds of sizes and shapes.

They're not even expensive! They sell them here at Fred Meyer for like $12 for a small one, $15 for a 12 incher and like $21 for a 15 inch. In fact, my brother-in-law's niece just got married recently and for her wedding gift, I bought her a cast iron skillet. If she doesn't LOVE that thing, there's something wrong with her. LOL I only wish I'd had this skillet when I'd first gotten married. It would have made all those meals on a shoe-string budget taste SO GOOD. :P

So, rules for cast iron are:

Never soak it in water.
Never wash it with soap, only hot water rinse.
Never use a harsh metallic scrub pad (like an SOS pad or copper scrubby - try to find a dedicated plastic scrubber if you can. If you get a bristled scrubber, make sure it's only used for the skillet, because if you ever soap it up for any other use, that residue could get into your iron)

Always oil your pan: peanut, canola, vegetable oils work, as well as PAM, however, do not use extra virgin olive oil. I don't exactly know why, but I've read that on a few websites.
Cook fatty, oily foods the first few times you use your skillet, like bacon, fried chicken or the like.

Believe me, you'll be so excited to use your skillet every single day, you'll want to buy more too! In fact, now that I know how to care for one, I wouldn't mind finding some rusty ones and trying to restore them. The seasoning process isn't that hard; you scrub off the rust, wash it with light soap (the ONLY time your skillet should ever see soap), then dry your skillet completely, put your "naked" skillet into a cold oven, then turn it on to 300 degrees. Once it's at 300 degrees, carefully take out your skillet, oil it with a light coating (stress the light), then put it upside down on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for one hour. For older skillets, you might have to season it two or three times. But it's really not THAT bad of a PITA. :P

It won't be long before your cast iron skillet glistens and gives you scrumdiddlyumptious meals. I actually have NOT made cornbread in mine yet (GASP! I know), but only because cornbread is loaded with carbohydrates, and since I have diabetes, it isn't that great of an idea. Perhaps one of these days I decide to "cheat", I'll make some chili and cornbread. By that time, it should be really yummy, since I've used the skillet so very much. :)

Happy cooking!

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Amazon's "Goliath" Tells Small Press "Davids" to Assimilate or Step Off

2008-03-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com is perhaps one of the last existing and most successful "dot coms" from back in the day. It has grown to become a corporate giant on the web, carrying just about every book under the sun.

A few years ago, Amazon bought MobiPocket, which is an online e-bookstore that sells a certain type of electronic books. Before this purchase, you could buy Adobe PDFs and other forms of eBooks on Amazon's website. But Amazon removed ALL other eBook formats in favor of their one and only MobiPocket. Now, you cannot buy an eBook on Amazon unless it's MobiPocket or Kindle, for their proprietary eBook reader (whose files cannot be read on any other device).

Now, Amazon is doing this again, however, with print books.

Recently, they bought a POD (print on demand) publisher named BookSurge. I have no personal experience with BookSurge, but I've heard scuttle that their POD offerings aren't as streamlined as Lightning Source's books, the POD extension of Ingrams, the largest book distributor in the world.

Well, Amazon is now telling small press publishers (of which I am published) to switch their POD services to BookSurge or face a virtual "blackballing" by having your "buy" links removed from your authors' listings. Whiskey Creek Press has already had their listings tampered with by "Goliath" Amazon. I'm not sure what POD service they use, but it seems as if it's only a matter of time before they sink their teeth into my publishers, Samhain Publishing and Champagne Books.

Both of these publishers use Lightning Source through Ingrams. We are unsure what Amazon will do with these listings, but it seems grim. Many authors are crying foul, that Amazon is trying to monopolize the eBook/Print industry from small press publishers. And of course, there's a fee for converting your POD books to BookSurge, the cheapest I've heard about is $299 per book. This is all hearsay, as I haven't read any reports to support this, but it's rumor floating around the blogosphere at the moment.

If Amazon succeeds in their iron fist tactics of "print through OUR POD publisher or be gone!", then a lot of small presses won't have the opportunity for growth that they had in the past. Samhain, for one, grew by leaps and bounds once they listed their print offerings on Amazon. New companies might not have such an opportunity in the future, especially if it costs an arm and a leg to convert the eBook files to BookSurge's print program, capital the smaller presses just don't have.

The short story is this: You might not be able to buy any more of my print books through Amazon.com, aside from what's available in their MobiPocket and Kindle store. Other booksellers such as Barnes & Noble and Borders are uneffected by this, so you can still purchase there. However, since Border's online site is driven by Amazon, who knows if they'll blacklist the "other" POD books as well.

This could be a devastating blow to electronic publishers everywhere trying to get their foot in the door with print. It was electronic publishing that turned the print world on its ear with hotter romances and paranormal romances. Now, everyone is jumping on the erotic paranormal bandwagon, even big name New York publishers. If electronic publishing isn't allowed to flex their proverbial muscles on Amazon any longer, will the potential they had to drive the market be lost?

Only time will tell.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Bronwyn Jameson is My Hero

2008-03-25T11:58:00.001-07:00

I'm sure a few of you have heard of this author, Bronwyn Jameson. On a whim, I checked out one of her books at the library because it was a contemporary cowboy story in the line I want to write for, Silhouette Desire. It just so happens this book was set in the Australian Outback. Awesome.

Little did I know the book I read was the first in a series. It was entitled THE RUGGED LONER. Soon after, I went back to the library and checked out the other two books in the series, THE RUTHLESS GROOM and THE RICH STRANGER. All I can say is:

"WOW!"

lol

These books are what you might expect from a romance with angst and misunderstandings and all those things. But what got me with Bronwyn's writing is the emotion. The showing vs. telling. The beauty of her prose. I love the way she tells a story. Silhouette Desires are between 50K and 55K words. That might sound like a lot, but these books are pretty thin if you've ever seen them at the store. What impresses me about Ms. Jameson's work is the amount of emotion and depth she's able to capture in such a small word count. I've read a lot of categories to get into the swing of them (as I'm planning on writing one at some point), and she's one author who stands out to me as someone who really knows her craft well.

I decided to pick up another of her books that was outside of this series just to see if it could compare to them. The book I chose was JUST A TASTE, a book in another series by a whole bunch of Desire authors about the Ashton Dynasty. While the book started out slow (as I have no interest in wine making :P), the emotion and angst were still there between the main characters.

The tension in her stories is thick and the way she writes it is like savoring a fine Swiss chocolate amongst the Hershey bars. While we all love the Hershey's, sometimes it's so wonderful to indulge in the expensive, glorious chocy. :)

I believe I've found a new favorite author. If you want to check out her books for yourself, you can find Ms. Jameson on the 'Net at www.BronwynJameson.com.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

He Is Risen

2008-03-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

He is Risen Indeed.

Happy Easter.

~~Becka
www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's Hottie of the Week

2008-03-21T07:42:00.001-07:00

All right, folks, I knew (finally) a few days ago who I would feature today. DH and I recently watched a movie called "American Gangster", starring one of my favorite actors. I've actually lurved this man for years, I'm surprised I haven't featured him yet. He's made it to my "Top 10 Men I'd Leave DH For", even though I've never compiled a list of my Top 10. Heh, perhaps I should do that sometime. It would be fun. Maybe a Top 13? One of these Thursday 13's perhaps I will do that. Anyhow, I'm getting off course. Who have I chosen this week? None other than Mr. Denzel Washington.

Mr. Washington also has the honor of being my first black hottie. I've pretty much loved the man in any movie he's done. He's just so suave and cool, you just know he'd treat you right.

I especially love Denzel with facial hair. In fact, I love facial hair in general. How ironic that I never write any of my heroes with a mustache or goatee. Perhaps it doesn't "translate" well to the written word, but when men have facial hair that works for them, like my DH or Henry Ian Cusick, it's so friggin' sexy. At the Oscars this year, Denzel was a presenter, and he had a goatee. Mmm, yummy.

It's the swagger, the smile, the intensity, that makes him hot. You know he's also kind-hearted, and according to Wikipedia, a devout Christian. To me, those are hot traits as well. You know, Denzel has filled his career with box office hits. For once, I'd love to see him in a romantic comedy, or perhaps a comedy in general. I suppose he has been, if we count "Much Ado About Nothing" or "The Preacher's Wife". But it's been 12 years since the release of the last one. Perhaps he's due for another?

Congratulations, Denzel Washington. You're Becka's Hottie of the Week!

~~Becka
http://www.rebeccagoings.com/

25!

2008-03-18T07:54:00.001-07:00

Good Lord, I don't know what I'm doing, but these pounds seem like they're melting away. In fact, I'm almost worried at how rapidly I'm losing. However, perhaps it's due to the fact my body is trying to adjust to this new diet and the extra things I'm doing to take the weight off.

It's shocking because I freely admit I don't exercise every day like I should. This past week has been particularly bad for me - I've hardly gone out and walked at all. However, running down the short hill on our cul-de-sac with my youngest daughter teaching her how to ride has probably helped out in that regard. :)

I fully expect to plateau soon, and in fact, I've already had one about 11 pounds ago. For over a week and a half, I was stuck, not losing, not gaining. I have no idea what I did to break through that plateau, but perhaps with this diet my metabolism is changing.

When you're losing weight, the first few pounds are always the "easiest", as you kind of shock your system. It isn't until you get to say... pound 100 that you're finally feeling the burn. So far, I've lost about 15% of what I need to lose. But I'm finally seeing results in the mirror. You know how it is, everyone can see results but *you*.

Well, I wanted to lose 25 pounds by Easter. Done!

Next goal, please. Okay, how about another 25 by the end of May? We're going on a camping trip with our circle of friends and I would LOVE to tell them I've lost 50 pounds.

But that's assuming this rapid weight loss continues. I've lost 25 pounds in 51 days. To quote my dietitian, "Dang, do you EAT?" lol Perhaps it's the combination of eating less, being active more, and taking Metformin. She says that drug is an appetite suppressant and she's seen doctors prescribe it to people who need to lose weight. DH says I'm "cheating". :P

Hell, I'll cheat my way to thin any damn day of the week!

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's Hottie of the Week

2008-03-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little late posting this, so what? :P I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to post this week, so I decided to shake things up a bit. I *did* fall in love this weekend. With what, you say? With a bike. :D DH has a bike, and our two oldest kids have one. We just bought a new bike for our youngest daughter, and she's furiously learning how to ride it (almost there!). Now, we're going to get our boy a bike in the next two weeks to a month, and at some point, we're going to get me one too. The ultimate goal is to have family bike rides at the beach or on bike trails, or heck, even where we go camping. So which bike do I absolutely adore? The Electra Cruiser named "Karma".

It's paint job is called "purple fade", starting at pink and fading into purple. On the fenders is a gorgeous, fancy gold paint job.

Isn't it LURVLY? Wow, it was so beautimous that I instantly said to myself, "I MUST HAVE THIS BIKE." I haven't seen it in person, but I can't imagine it would look so awesome in pictures and not be breathtaking in real life.

I can't post the next picture on my blog as it's way too big... It's basically the same pic as above, but bigger, showing it in all its glory. **Le sigh**

http://www.suusbikeshop.nl/2006/img/artikel/ECRL053.jpg

Congratulations, Electra Karma Cruiser. You're Becka's Hottie of the Week!

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Am I the Only Schmoe On Planet Earth Without a Camera in Their Cell Phone??

2008-03-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Dang it all, people, today of all days, I wanted to have a camera phone. But alas, my phone is so "two years ago". I took the kids to the library today because A.) we had books due and B.) my contact at the library told me due to a change in the law, he needed a copy of my car insurance card before I could give a talk and book signing on their premises, so I went in to give him a photocopy of it. Strange, I know, and even he doesn't understand that little clause in da rulz.

(In case you didn't know, I'm giving a talk/book signing at my local library. LOL It will be at 2pm on April 6th at the Hillsboro Main Library, address is 2850 NE Brookwood Parkway, Hillsboro , OR 97124. If you're local, you're more than welcome to watch me babble on incessantly.)

Anyhow, to commemorate this event, they made a sweet flyer for their bulletin board. It was a little bigger than an 8 1/2 X 11 paper, with fancy script writing announcing my talk, and a giant pic of an open book with two of it's pages turned in toward the spine to make it look like a "heart", all tinted red for romance. It was AWESOME! And if I'd had a damn camera phone, you'd be looking at the pic right now.

DH is always ribbing me that I never charge my phone. Hell, if my phone was my iPod, it wouldn't be a problem. :P But no one calls me, so I forget about it. I never use it except to send the random text message to friends. I basically have it for emergencies if I'm out and about by myself and need to call someone. But if I had a camera on that phone, I think I'd use it more and have the batteries charged so I could take pictures and blog about what I see. It's what my DH does on his blog.

*SIGH*

Well, my contract is up for my phone, so now I can upgrade. Have you seen those new *purple* Razr phones? Those are sweet. :)

Oh, and get this. I went to the doc today for a follow-up check on my diabetes. Lost weight, check. Labs look good, check. Cholesterol is good, check. Other weird things they check for in your blood is good, check. But... "I'm prescribing you a cream to put on your face for your Rosacea."

S'cuse?

Guess that redness on my cheeks wasn't from being flushed all the time and I wasn't just "breaking out" in little *gross* pimples. It's not bad, meaning, it's not like those ghastly pictures you see on the Internet, but it's enough to make you go, "Hey, what's that red spot on your cheek all about?"

Great. One more thing. So now, I've got this cream I gotta put on every day.

I'm falling apart, y'all, I'm tellin' ya. Better get in as many books as I can before body parts start falling to the wayside. lol

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

20!

2008-03-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

Stepped on the scale yesterday morning only to find I'd reached the 20lb. mark. :D Yup, I've lost 20 pounds! Not too much, but a big step toward getting healthy and doing right by my body. When I lose 10 more, I'll be at the same point I was at when I finally gave up on my Weight Watchers a year and a half ago.

But this diet is much different than WW. While WW is cool in that you count points and can eat anything your heart desires, my diet focuses on cutting fat and watching carbs. Yeah, I was a little shocked when my dietitian told me I needed to watch carbs rather than sugars for things that really skyrocket my blood sugar. So, for meals, I am allowed 45 grams of carbs and for snacks, 15 grams of carbs. Three meals, three snacks a day.

Now, I do have to be careful, because even though I meet my 45 carbs for a meal, things like cheese and meats don't have carbs, but they can still be fatty. Since my weight is compounding the diabetes problem, I have to lose weight as well as watch my carb intake, thus the need to also be eating low or non-fat.

But I draw the line at non-fat milk. We've made the switch to 1% milk rather painlessly (we used to drink 2%), but it will be a cold day in Hell before I drink milk-flavored water. **shudder** But we do have the non-fat cottage cheese and the non-fat sour cream on hand.

I've managed to cut chips completely out of my children's lunch meals. Now, they only eat chips if we happen to go out somewhere for lunch. They have their sandwiches and a piece of fruit, usually, or a handful of Goldfish, which is actually not that bad fat & carb wise. Sometimes they have graham crackers or raisins as well, but they really love having bananas, apples, oranges and nectarines on hand. :) Still working on their veggies, though. They all seem to love raw carrots, but then again, they all loved carrot baby food back in the day and they all turned a lovely orange hue... no joke. LOL

But anyway, I now (again) fit into my slimmer jeans I had hidden (again) in the back of my closet. :P However I need to lose another few pounds before I can wear them comfortably in public. Heheh

Walked today while the kids were at karate class. Did a few laps at the Noble Woods Park, which is a nature park right in the middle of Hillsboro. I circled the entire paved section three times "power" walking, which actually wasnt that bad, even though there were a few hills to climb. If you keep up a good pace, going up those hills doesn't "hurt" as much, of course, perhaps I'm building some stamina. Here's hopin'. :P

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Everything Happens for a Reason

2008-03-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

If you're an avid reader of my blog, then you'll know I'm a religious person. While this story isn't about "God" per se, I kind of got chills just from reading it, as it seems to me God's hand was leading this man on to make an incredible legacy, the kind we only see in movies. Seriously, this man's story would make a gripping book or a tear-jerking movie.

A WWII pilot was shot out of the sky over the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, fell into the jungle, and from there, a story of faith and hope was born.

Now, I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as "coincedence". Everything has a reason for being. While at the time, this pilot may not have known the reason for being lost in the jungle, starving and sick, but hindsight is 20/20. Now, decades later, we see the "reason".

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
~~1 Corinthians 13:13

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23538741/

Read the four-page article to the very end. You'll be glad you did.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's Hottie of the Week Three-Fer

2008-03-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, folks, I'm well aware that I've slacked off the past couple of weeks for my Hottie. Therefore, I will be showcasing three men for your eye-candy enjoyment. First up, we have a man I've actually "followed" since I was a child. I first saw him on Silver Spoons back in the day and thought he was cute even then. Nothing's changed. When DH and I began watching Arrested Development after the show was canceled (because we were morons and didn't watch the show when it was on the air), I couldn't help but realize how handsome this man grew to be. Who am I talking about? Mr. Jason Bateman.

He's a few years older than me, but hey, we're both in our 30's, so it's all good. LOL But yeah, he's still got it, from teen pin-up back in the 80's to now, he's pretty much shed his child-actor persona. Good for you, Jason!

Next up, we have a guy that makes me want to watch the news more often. Yes, I realize my posting of Brian Williams as one of my previous Hotties should have clued me in, but this man has solidified my opinion. Heck, I don't even care what he's reporting about. I don't even have to listen to any of his political views. Just turn the volume down and stare, my friends. Who am I talking about? Mr. Anderson Cooper.

Who knew that beneath the suit was a hot bod? I love his salt-n-pepper hair, and there's not many men I can say that about. Did you know he's the son of Gloria Vanderbilt? Neither did I. Cool. I'm going to look for more broadcasts where Anderson goes out into the field just so I can see him wearing something other than a stuffy suit. This is one man I actually prefer seeing in every day clothing over dressing up.

And last but not least, we have Hottie number three, a man people might not lump into the "Hottie" arena, except for myself and a few other geeks, of course. He stars on Stargate Atlantis, and while he might not be as knucklebiting as Joe Flanigan, I find him extremely good-looking in his own right. If you watch Stargate Atlantis, you might think his character is annoying, and rightly so. But that's what endears me to him. I didn't like him much when they had him on the original show (SG:1) before the spinoff, but now that they've fleshed him out a bit more, I just cannot live without Rodney McCay. :P Who am I talking about? Mr. David Hewlett.

Funny trivia about David--his sister on the show is his sister in real life. :) He seems like such a geeky guy himself, someone DH and I would love to have over for a game of D&D or something. lol

Congratulations, Jason Bateman, Anderson Cooper, and David Hewlett. You're Becka's Hotties of the Week Three-Fer! :D

~~Becka
http://www.rebeccagoings.com/

Thursday Thirteen #30 - Why Romance is NOT Chick Porn

2008-03-06T08:21:00.001-08:00

Recently, my DH and a few of our mutual friends ribbed me for writing "chick porn". Perhaps they were trying to get under my skin, but I believe that they believe what they said for the most part. "You do know that's what you write, don't you? Porn for women?"

Ahem.

Well, as fate would have it, this very subject is being hotly contested on a site I read, Dear Author. It would seem ignorance is everywhere. Therefore, I've decided to educate the readers of my blog with 13 reasons why romance is not chick porn.

1.) Let's first examine a porno. Hot horny housewife calls dishwasher repair man and the two bang a gong for an hour and a half in all kinds of kinky ways - roll credits. A romance novel, by comparison, is different, as there is love involved, not just hot sex.

2.) Further, romance novels end in happily ever afters, meaning the hero and heroine "get together" in the end.

3.) Romance novels have a plot. While pornos have a thin, laughable plot just so the characters can have sex, romance novels have sex that furthers the plot, either complicating the relationship between the hero and heroine, or defining their love for one another.

4.) Reading a romance is no different than watching a rated R movie. How many sex scenes have we been subjected to in today's entertainment industry? So why the poo poo on romance novels? Every single "chick flick" under the sun could have been a romance novel made into a movie. Even a blockbuster such as "Atonement" could have been a romance novel, if told from the point of view of the hero and heroine (and had a happy ending). And that movie had hot against-the-wall-sex-in-the-library. Porn? Hmm...

5.) Porn is meant to titillate someone to become sexually aroused. Unless you're specifically reading "erotica", that, for the most part, is sex for sex's sake, a romance novel isn't read to go have fun with yourself (or your S/O) in the bedroom.

6.) Romance has emotion, meaning, there is plenty of angst and drama. Perhaps it is cheesy, perhaps it is cliche, but it is there nonetheless. When's the last time you teared up while watching a porno?

7.) Romance revolves around the premise of two people falling in love over the course of the book, not merely meeting to have a quick tumble in the sack. While yes, there are love scenes, the fact that they are open door love scenes connects the reader even more to the depth of their relationship, as sex is a very powerful part of loving someone. Therefore, if the book closed the door and moved on to the next morning, the subtle changes in their relationship would have been missed, because he might have been whispering loving words to her all night long, and then in the morning left her high and dry. Showing the love scene of the night before tells the reader exactly how deeply the hero broke her heart.

8.) Sex is a deep connection we have with our partners. There is no difference with that deep connection in a romance novel, which is why they are filled with emotion, drama, and angst. You do not get the sense of "deep connection" in a porno, aside from the obvious pun I just made that, no doubt, my friends are snickering at right now. But the point is valid.

9.) Sex is not "beautiful" in a porno. Sex is carnal. Something to be taken hard and fast, with much screaming and cussing. Sex in a romance, however, is tender, loving, and a coming together of the characters who are just realizing their love for one another.

10.) Sex in a porno is f**king. Plain and simple. Sorry if I've offended, but there it is. Sex in a romance novel is making love. Yes, Virginia, there IS a difference.

11.) There's "romance" in just about everything we read and watch these days. Even books that aren't on the romance shelf still have sex in them. And sometimes even explicit scenes at that. But the book isn't marketed as a romance, because that's a secondary plot to the big picture. But of course, that book is NOT a porn novel because it's high fantasy or crime drama or horror or whatever the heck. But shift the focus to the relationship and boom! you have a porno? Uh, pot, meet kettle.

12.) Romances focus on the fairy tale. If you think about it, women have been fascinated with Prince Charming ever since they first watched a Disney movie. Romance novels are fairy tales for women, where the girl gets the boy and has a satisfying relationship with him. The closest a porno comes to a fairy tale is if Snow White gets tag-teamed by all seven dwarves.

13.) If you want to get high and mighty about it, think about this - there is a romance novel in the Bible. The Song of Solomon is VERY sensual if you read it in the context of sex. Solomon isn't talking about real "wells of flowing water" and "mountains of myrrh", no, he's talking in flowery passionate prose to be sure. The men of ancient Israel weren't allowed to even READ Song of Songs until they were 40 years old. And yet we take it for granted. Perhaps we should read some verses, shall we?

"5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies. (Did he just describe her breasts?!?)

6 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense.

(I'm thinking he's talking about going "all night long" to her special place, if you know what I mean)

7 All beautiful you are, my darling;
there is no flaw in you." ~~Song of Songs 4: 5-7

~*~

"11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue." ~Song of Songs 4:11
(Look away! French kissing, ZOMG!)

~*~

"15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon." ~Song of Songs 4:15
(GASP! Is he saying his lover is *wet* for him?!?)

~*~

So, is the Song of Solomon a porno in the Bible? No, of course not. Why? Because it's a book of romance, about how a man desires his lover through the beauty of lovemaking. Wait, isn't that what I've been talking about all along?

Bicycle! Bicycle!

2008-03-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

Remember those idyllic times when you finally learned how to ride a bike? Our kids just learned within the past few days. We took their training wheels off a long time ago, but they were too "scared" to ride the bikes without them. This year, one of their best friends, our neighbor's kid, showed them how easy it was to do, and then of course THEY wanted to do it too.

So, we put some air in their tires and lowered their seats so they wouldn't be too scared of falling over - they could just put their feet flat on the ground. Once they got the hang of riding, we raised their seats and now they're riding fools.

Here's a video DH put together this weekend. It's cute. Enjoy it!

I Want to Ride My Bicycle from Jim Goings on Vimeo.

~~Becka
http://www.rebeccagoings.com/

Becka's Babble

MY BLOG HAS MOVED!!!

Got Our New Insurance Cards

No Baby Yet, But...

Getting Ready for Christmas!

37 Weeks and Feeling Better

This One Goes to Eleven

Went to the Doc Today

Had a Great Baby Shower!

35 Weeks Pregnant and Miserable

Okay, I Gotta Blog About This...

The Adventure That Is My Life

The Dreaded Dentist

Operation Christmas Child

GIFT IDEAS

31 Weeks Pregnant

Life, Personal & Political

Good News

The Goings Last Camping Adventure....for awhile at least

What the Heck is Wrong with Other People's Kids?!?

Random Ponderings...

FINALLY Updated My Website

Okay, This Thing is the Coolest Device I Have EVER Owned

Becka's Newest Toy

Becka's Birthday Bash

Well, It Was Inevitable...

Awwww!!!

Pregnant Bellies

More Pics From My Booksigning

My Latest Booksigning

6 Months Pregnant!

My Daughter's Gunboats

First Day of Art Class

It's All About the Suit

Saw the Doctor

Life as a Pregnant Diabetic

I've Been Tagged - *sigh*

NIGHTWISH & SONATA ARCTICA!!!

It's Promo Time!

Holy Fat Pregnant Woman, Batman!

Halfway There!

Hood to Coast

Baby's First Pictures - Sophie Grace

IT'S A GIRL!!

A Note to Those Who Insist on Hovering Over Public Toilet Seats...

Evidence of Bigfoot....Finally??

Olympic-Sized Ego

Politics! Politics! Politics! Politics! Politics!

Becka's Moment of Zen

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I say!

Becka's Moment of Zen

Jalapeno's

Okay, So I Was Off By A Week...

So Much to Blog...

I've Been Invited to a Booksigning!

13 Weeks!

What Was That Sound?

Becka's Impromptu Book Review - STORM FRONT

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

July 4th, 1776

Becka's Moment of Zen

Becka's Impromptu Book/Movie Review Comparison

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

Alegra Day Spa

Road Construction is Killing My Inner Child

Letting the Bag out of the Cat. Wait... Strike That. Reverse it.

My Sweet Camping Trip

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

Becka's Impromptu Book Review - THE DEVIL WHO TAMED HER

Shocked and Saddened

I Know This is "Old News", But...

Becka's Movie Reviews

Becka's Moment of Zen

40!

Sleeping With the Fishes

Becka's Random Twitters of the Day

Good Lord, I Haven't Posted in a Week!

OMFG - Becka's Moment of Zen

Becka's Hottie of the Week

Becka's Moment of Zen

I've Been Tagged - sigh