Aarrrggh! I’m growing my hair out (from shorty-short) and it’s taking every ounce of willpower I possess not to chop it all off again. I’m not used to having to expend any effort on my hair, so it’s really killing me to do it now. For years all I had to do was wash it and scrunch in some product, and I was good to go. Now I wash, condition, brush, blow-dry, try some product, add some more, back-track, shift things around, put a clip in, smooth it down in some areas, fluff it up in others—and still, I’m not happy with it. Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve never been good with styling my own hair, and that certainly hasn’t changed. I never mastered hot rollers, clips, braids, or even ponytails. I spend so long trying to make things work, my arms get tired, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it. That sounds so unbelievably pathetic, but in my defense, I think it’s partly the fault of my hair. It’s extremely finicky: straight, fine, and thick to boot, and I’ve only been able to manage it cut short. It’s time for a change though, and I’m really trying to make an effort. I don’t know how long I can last…

Are there any good style options for me at this phase in the grow-out process? (I’m relatively conservative).

I saw Ice Age 2: The Meltdown Sunday with my sons. We all liked it, although I thought that maybe it was a smidge too long. Still, there was something for everyone. That seems to be a new trend in kids’ movies, which is very nice for adults. And suddenly there are tons of kids’ movies coming out. My sons and I have started making a list…one for every month.

April: The Wild
May: Over the Hedge
June: Cars, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
July: Monster House
August: There is one, I know. I just can’t think what it is…
September: Open Season
October: ???

November: Happy Feet
December: Charlotte’s Web

Seeing as these ‘kids’ movies are almost exclusively the only ones I see in the theater, I’m kind of excited about them myself. There is an impressive amount of cleverness required to write/direct/produce a movie that both kids and adults can both really enjoy.
What I don’t’ appreciate is some of the language they use. Not bad language, per say, just stuff I don’t want my kids saying. I’ve noticed that recently in kid’s books as well. I love reading Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones series to my sons (and they eat it up), but the things that come out of that girl’s (Junie’s) mouth are a bit dicey. Just makes my job as a mom a little bit trickier. I think I’m up to the challenge…

Saturday marked the deadline for two contests I was personally involved in. The first, I was using as a promotional tool for Unladylike Pursuits. In order to answer the question required to enter the contest, a person would have to read the excerpt posted on my website. My hope is that they’d like it so much they’d run out and buy the book. And if not, at least I could then add their email to my newsletter mailing list for updates on future releases. It’s a typical author ploy. And evidently I posted in some good places this time because I was impressed with the number of entries I received. Now the contest is officially over–I posted the winner on my website and notified her by email. She was very gracious and happy to have won. Hopefully my next contest will be targeted towards my next book… I need to pick up the pace a little bit.

The other contest was one I entered. I submitted the first thirty pages of my WIP, plus a synopsis I’ve written over the past week, to an RWA chapter-sponsored contest. I’m hoping to get some good, unbiased critiques that I can use to improve my manuscript. Certainly I also hope to win, but at this point I’m hoping I won’t be disqualified. After I printed all five copies of the 30 pages, I realized that the header was in Times New Roman font. Well…the contest rules expressly state that the manuscript and synopsis must be in Courier or Courier New font. So I didn’t know what to do. I changed the header to Courier New and it wrapped onto two header lines. I wasn’t sure if that would be disqualification. My husband suggested I use a smaller point size. Again, 12 pt. was specified, so deviating from that would be breaking the rules as well. I didn’t know what to do. So rather than print 175 pages again with no good fix, I left it and mailed it. I figure I’ll know within the month if I’m disqualified. I’m really hoping I’m not.