I’ll take an order of silence with some caffeine-free on the side. . . .

Finished: 1 issue of serial handwritten; 2 issues of serial completed and off to editor

To do: 1 issue of serial handwritten; 1 issue of serial completed and off to the editor

I need to stop the caffeine. I can feel my body reacting and not in a good way. I’ve been jittery and my heart keeps a rapid beat. I’ve always been rabid about my caffeine intake because of my lifestyle, but since I’ve slowed my pace I need to make some changes. I added one scoop of regular coffee and filled the rest of the filter with decaf. I hope that will be all I need for today. I cannot go cold turkey because I did that four years ago and I ended up throwing up by lunchtime. I purchased caffeine free Diet DP at the store on Sunday only because the shelf where the “leaded” version should be was empty. I’ve been drinking a ton of water just to detox.

What about the silence? Well, this does belong in my Suburban Dairies Blog, but since I put it on hiatus until after the holidays, I'll write about it here.

My darlings were in rare form last night – giddy, rowdy, and out of control. I’d asked them to settle down at least twice before I yelled. Well, after my rampage was over, my oldest daughter smiled. That one smile led the other two to burst out into hysterical laughter. If I would have had a bpm on my arm, I would have been rushed to the hospital.

I don’t deserve such disrespect nor will I tolerate it. By 6:30 pm three of them were tucked in their beds and sobbing into their pillows. My oldest one was not involved. Sure I got the usual teary pleas of “Can we have a second chance?” or the sad whispers of “I love you Mommy,” so I know they felt a slight tinge of guilt. We’ll have to see if this did any good. I’m sure it will – for a little while at least.

I listened to Christmas music on my drive into work today for the first time. I listen to classical public radio unless the kids are with me then it’s the alternative rock station. They broadcasted timeless traditional Christmas carols and mixed it with a few pieces of Tchaikovsky, just for flavor. It was beautiful.

Not much new on the writing front. I haven’t heard anything from my submissions and I’ve pretty much written them off until after the New Year. There are some that are aging a bit and I’ll probably submit those pieces elsewhere around the first of February. I’m now four issues ahead on my serial and if I stay on track, I’ll be eight issues ahead by 12/20 and nine issues ahead by 12/22. Oh, Happy Christmas to me! After that it will be just two issues per week to keep at nine issues at all times.

I forgot my Firelite at home so I can’t work here and save anything. I’ll have to email it home. Arrgghh!

I need to take one more look at my writing goals for 2005.

BK