Happy New Year!

The beginning of a new year always freaks me out a little bit. For one thing, since my birthday is New Year's Eve, I start it out exactly a year older. OLDER. Argh, I hate that because I never feel any older than I did 20 years ago. That's the good part about birthdays- the numbers going up thing is what really sucks.

Anyway...off of that depressing tangent. Like just about everybody else, I start the new year off with a list of resolutions. Or to be more exact, I start the year off with things that I want to accomplish in the next 12 months.

1- I am going to stop cussing. Absolutely, put my foot down, going to make it happen. That is one of my worst habits and I really have to stop. Now, I'm not stupid enough to think that I can stop being a potty-mouth overnight, so I'm going to concentrate on getting to PG-13 first and then down to PG. I think that's realistic.

2- I am going to spend more time with my sisters. There is a huge age difference between us (21 between me and Savannah, 24 between me and Sarah) so we've always had a weird sort of relationship. But they are growing up so fast! I don't like it. I am going to make a conscious effort to get closer to them this year.

3- I am going to lose 20 pounds. You would think that since I lost about 110 pounds a few years ago, I would be satisfied but nope. What's a new year without a resolution to lose weight?

4- I want to get 500 followers on this blog. I started this blog as a way to communicate outside of regular face-to-face channels with people and I want to get more people onboard. Please help me with this...let all your friends know about the blog. Ask them to comment on posts and to sign up as followers. I would very much appreciate it.

5- I AM GOING TO GET MY BOOK NOTICED BY AN AGENT. Sorry I went all Kanye West there for a second but Destiny is really important to me. I am proud of the work that I put on it and I don't think I'm deluding myself to think that other people would read it and enjoy it. I was at Barnes & Noble yesterday, looking at the Young Adult section. It was overflowing with vampire books and, although I'm a vamp lover myself, it's time for some new blood (pun intended). Once the holidays are over and things settle down, I'm going to start the agent query process again. Keep your fingers (and eyes, legs, toes and everything else) crossed for me!

I'm sure I'll add to the list as I go along, I always do. But I really am going to work hard to achieve good outcomes for all of my tasks.

So...what sort of resolutions do you have for 2010?

Happy Black Friday

Arrgh, just shoot me in the head right now. Every year, I swear that I am not going to get up early to hit the post-Thanksgiving sales. This year, I really meant it. I absolutely WAS NOT going to get caught up in that mad rush of lemmings all blithely rushing around for deals on stuff, just stuff. And then...I saw a Wal-Mart sales paper. Damn Wal-Mart! Why oh why did it have to put GI Joe and Star Trek on sale for $9 each. See, that's the way to make a movie junkie like me lose her bleeding mind and go rushing out before the sun comes up, still wearing my pjs by the way. Well, guess what I didn't get? Yep, you're right. By the time I got into the store, all the $9 copies had been snatched up. I figured it was best to leave before I completely lost it and bludgeoned somebody with one of the $4 copies of Breaking Dawn (It's big enough to actually do some damage!)

So, how about you...did you stay all snug and warm in your bed this morning or did you get up and brave the craziness? If so, what sort of deals did you luck upon?

Happy Thanksgiving!

When I sat down to Thanksgiving lunch with my family today, I sort of felt silly because the first thing that ran through my head was that I was thankful that we were having ham instead of turkey. (I know, I know, the crazy tangents my mind goes off on!)

But then I straightened up and thought about the things I truly am thankful for...

1. My daughter. I am thankful each and every day that God blessed me with such a wonderful child.
2. My amazing family and friends
3. My great students. Believe me, a great set of students is a true blessing.
4. The fact that I love my job. Jobs are hard to come by as it is right now and I am lucky enough to have one I absolutely love.
5. My books, short stories and other writings. I hope to have the opportunity to share them with everyone at some point.

I'm sure there are a gazillion other things that I'll think about later. But regardless, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

So, what are you thankful for this year?

New Moon Mania

In case you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of a little thing called New Moon that opened to a quiet opening this past weekend. And by "quiet" I mean HUGE, like $143 million in a little over 2 days huge. This puts it at the #3 biggest opening after The Dark Knight and Spiderman 3.

And before you even ask, yes $15 of that $143 million did come from the pocket of yours truly. Caitlin and I went to see it as soon as I could get out of my Friday class in Franklin. But no, I wasn't one of the crazy women who were drooling and making loud giggles and sighs when Taylor Lautner took off his shirt. That would make me feel too much like a pedo!

Needless to say, I love the Twilight Saga (books, movies, stuff, etc.)I would be lying if I said that I wasn't just a tad bit envious of Mrs. Meyer, an unknown housewife who has a wild dream that leads her to create an equally wild universe about vampires, werewolves and the humans they love. As an amateur writer myself, I would sacrifice my left pinkie toe, hell, both of my pinkie toes, just to have a fraction of the success she has had!

So my question for you is...have you seen the movie?

Introducing...ME!!!!

For some reason, I feel like Saliva's "Ladies & Gentlemen" needs to be playing here.

Welcome folks to my inaugural blog posting. I started this blog as a way to communicate with my students outside of class as well as my friends and family. In class, I am always going off on crazy tangents- something I really don't have time to do considering the amount of work we should be covering in lecture- so I figured I would start this blog to discuss crazy history stories, all sorts of pop culture stuff and, well, anything else that I find interesting.

Just to let you know a bit about me... I am a professor of history (American and Western Civ) at colleges in middle Tennessee and central Georgia (and before you ask, yes I do drive to both of them. It's a killer, but in this economy, I'm glad to have a job). I absolutely love my job. I get paid to tell stories, TRUE STORIES!!! Hollywood can't make up half of the stuff I get to talk about. To me, nothing is more fun than to dig up the most insane stories about people in the past. They all have them and, for some reason, it always makes me feel closer to those people when I find out that they were just as crazy as I am.

This love of telling stories sort of parlayed itself into writing. That has become my new passion. When I'm not working up class lectures or with my nose stuck in a book or the TV, I'm writing. At this point, I have finished my first novel, Destiny. It's a young adult novel about Alexandra Montgomery. Alexandra is a certifiable genius whose archaeologist father has an Indiana Jones-type reputation. Her whole world gets turned upside down when she discovers her father is actually a spy for the government, searching for historical artifacts that have real or perceived power. She decides that she's going to help him with his job, even if it means getting herself killed. At the same time, Alexandra finds herself drawn to her father's new assistant, William. When Alexandra's father is kidnapped, she and William have to work together to save him from a group of religious fanatics who are out to take over the world.

In addition to Destiny, I am also working on its sequel, Legacy, a 5-part series of middle grades/young adult stories about the Greek goddesses and an adult murder mystery. In case you can't tell, I REALLY love to write. Now if I could just get an agent notice me and help me take my stuff to the next step...getting my books on the shelves. Do you know how wonderful it would be to walk into Barnes & Noble and see one of my books out there for people to read? I would probably sit down in the floor and cry like a baby.

On top of teaching and writing, I'm also a mother. My daughter is more than just my child. She's like my sister and my best friend, my biggest critic and staunchest ally, all rolled into one. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. My friend Dawn always calls us the Gilmore Girls. Move that show from New England to Tennessee and you've got us.

So...enough about me. Add your own post to tell me all about you!