Discombobalated

Okay, so it's not Wednesday. It's not even Thursday, the day I usually remember I forgot to post on One Writer's Journal on Wednesday. But I've got excuses. A good writer should always be able to come up with excuses. Or reasons. So, I'm blaming those grandkids who were here a few days ago. By the time they left, I didn't know what day it was. Since I wasn't brave enough or energetic enough (the truth is I'm not young enough) to take the four kids to church, I felt like I was missing Sunday and who knew what day it was after that? If you don't have Sunday, the days just melt together. So you might say I was discombobalated.  Now there's a word that sounds just like it should. I looked up its meaning on line to be sure I wasn't discombobalated about that too.

Discombobalated or discombobalation is a word used to say that something confuses you or a word used to say that someone is a bit mental in their head. can be used as an insult!!

Don't you just love words? Without them, storytellers would be in a fix. Especially if they weren't good at being a mime or drawing pictures. Words are what I need. I've had a romance with them ever since I was a kid. Words spread across book pages carried me away on adventures, caused me to fall in love over and over, let me chase along behind people saving the world from the bad guys, and made me laugh and cry. Words were my favorite games in Scrabble and crossword puzzles and playing hangman with my sister on our chalkboards. I just did a guest post about having a romance with words on Romcon. If you want to check out the post and leave a comment there, you'll have a chance to win a copy of my new book. I'm also visiting on Katt Scribbles this week where you can leave a comment for a chance to win a book. Lots of those opportunities this month. Along with my own giveaway at my website.

It's always a kind of gift when the very right word comes to me from seemingly nowhere when I'm writing. Sometimes it will be a word I would never think to say in my own conversations, but somewhere in the murky depths of my writer's mind it's been buried, waiting for the right scene, the right character, to rise to the surface, waving its hand in the air, screaming, "Here, I am. Use me." A lot of the time, I'll pull out my ancient dictionary, not the on-line kind, but the open it up and flip through the pages kind, to make sure the word means what I think it does. Discombobalated was not in my dictionary. I had to go on-line to find it. Lots of new words have gained entrance into the book of words since my old dictionary was printed years ago. 

But it was the right word. I was discombobalated. It could be that I am discombobalated. But I do know it's Friday. I do know that I'm supposed to have my first book launch for Words Spoken True tonight at the Corinth Book Store in Frankfort. I do know that the weathermen are talking about a winter storm advisory starting at two o'clock this afternoon. It hasn't snowed but a skiff all year. The photo above is the bit of snow we had a couple of days ago. Not even enough to call off schools. By noon tomorrow, we're supposed to get an inch, maybe two, but the weather guys are making it sound like we're going to have a blizzard. A weatherman misses snow, I'm thinking. It would have to be the day I was hoping to meet and greet some readers that the snow would start falling. Oh well, maybe all of you have four-wheel drives and you want to test them out. If so, come on down to see me. I'm sharing the time with another local writer, Jennifer Johnson, with her book, Shoebox Surprise. 

Thanks for your patience with this discombobalated writer. I appreciate you dropping by. What words do you like? Which ones bring a feeling or thought to mind for you just from hearing it? Joy. Boisterous. Whisper.  Readers! That's one of my favorite words. :)

The Wheels Turn

It's been a grandkid weekend that started on Thursday night and won't end till late tomorrow night. A couple of the kids are a little homesick. The other two aren't showing much signs of wishing for home. But for sure, I'm one tired grandmom. The twins are sweet as they can be, but two three-year-olds keep you on the move. Especially when they know how to open the doors. I've had to keep my ears tuned for the sound of knobs turning. Barefoot right out in the rain - no problem for them. They love it outside. And two of them like the dogs while the other two are just as happy to keep the dogs back. Of course, the twin who likes the dogs is the one who's allergic to them. Naturally. The six-year-old asked me if she could have Oscar - my big black dog. I said no way. Her dad would have said no way even faster - for different reasons.

Both the boys like to play with cars, but the one in the picture above likes watching those wheels roll. Just the same as his dad did at that age. His dad would lie on the floor and roll his cars or lie on the ground - whichever and watch those wheels the same way. So it's sort of like going back in time to see this little fellow do the same. The other twin likes cars too, but instead of rolling it, he's burying it in the rocks. That's the thing about kids. They're all different. Even when one echoes the past, he's still different - his own unique person. 

That's one of the fun things about having several grandkids - seeing how they are different personalities. Having several makes for a grandma who needs an extra pair of hands. Maybe two extra pairs of hands. I did have help this weekend with my daughter here for several days and then grandpa came home from recording a new project with his gospel group. And he's helping guard the door and has had a lap full of grandkids most of the day. 

It's also been my book release weekend, but I haven't had much time to think about that. I have had a couple of guest blog posts go live.  In the one yesterday, I talk about my romance with words. It's at RomCon and if you want to go make a comment over there, you'll have another chance to win an autographed book along with a box of Bauer's Modjeska candy. So far, your odds of winning would be good. I've got several blog appearances this month. So it's a good thing I like words and putting them together. 

Thanks for reading. Got to turn in and get ready for another full day of grandmothering. The eight year old told me earlier that I had to be nice to them because I was their grandmother. That was right after I made the two girls sit in time out.  Oh, to be told to sit on the couch and do nothing for five minutes. It's all in the perspective, isn't it?