Goals for the Year 2012

I know from past experience that Writing Lists keeps me on track. I have a lot of goals and plans for the New Year. I always do, but I like to think that the coming year will be different. I’ll keep my resolutions and reach my goals. I know better than to think I’ll reach ALL my goals, but writing them down does make a difference. I’m making a commitment, even if it’s only to myself.

Another technique employed by many is the reward system. If I do this than I can have that… I’ve tried that before without much success but I’m going to try it again.

My first goals are my fitness goals. I’ve written about them before but I’m going to reiterate them. The biggest challenge is walking. I want to walk 1,500 miles this year. It’s doable. It works out to be 8,000 steps a day. That’s approximately four miles a day. I can do that, but it will take some effort. My second fitness goal is to return to the gym. They have water aerobics four evenings a week. I used to go all the time, but I was so busy at school this fall that I slacked off and then stopped. Going twice a week is not unreasonable.

This brings me to my third fitness goal. It hinges on succeeding with my first and second goals. I need to lose weight. I’ve known it for years, committed to one weight loss program after another, succeeded and then failed. I need to lose 60 pounds, but setting that as a goal is just setting myself up for failure. If I lose thirty I might find the gumption to keep going.

That brings me to another point, the reward system. I want an electronic writing tablet. That way I can draw on the board and have it automatically upload onto the computer. If I’m to make my book project a reality I’m going to need one.

So, if I lose the weight AND make significant progress on my book project, I will reward myself with an electronic writing tablet. As I really want one, getting one should be an adequate incentive.

My writing goals are a little more complicated and beyond my book project, I haven’t decided what to focus on yet. I would like to keep my blogs going. I want to write and publish science related articles, post more on RedGage and keep up on Gather. The list is too long. I’ll never be able to keep up with all that.

I have the day to think about it, but once the ball drops, I’m committed.

Evaluating Goals

The year is almost over. It’s time to sit down and look at 2011. Did I reach all the goals I set for myself? I have to admit the answer is no. Oh, I did a lot and I’m happy with the results, but there are some basic goals that I always fall short on. One such goal is fitness. As I said in Fitness: One Step at a Time, it’s time to get in shape. I need to lose the extra weight I’m carrying around. I vowed to lose weight last year and the year before that. I’ll make the same promise again this year. I start out on the right track, but then I let the demands of everyday life mess with my routine.

I’m renewing my vow again this year, but I’m going to track my campaign with hard facts and numbers. Walking is a part of my plans. Researchers claim that in order to lose weight one needs to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. If that goal was met, a person would have walked 2000 miles over the course of a year. I walk a lot during the school day and routinely top 10,000 steps, but I always fall short on the weekends and during the summer. My goal is 8,000 steps a day or 1,500 miles for the year. I also want to return to the gym. I attended faithfully through the spring and summer but when school started this fall I started making excuses. There are water aerobics classes four nights a week. Attending twice a week is not an unrealistic goal.

My writing goals are a bit more complicated. While I enjoy my online writing, I miss writing fiction. I’ve had this idea… It’s fiction but not a novel. I’m afraid to mention what it is for fear of jinxing the project, but I wrote the into last night. It turned out really good. Even my husband gave it the thumbs up. The thought of writing, really writing again, is exciting. Will I have it finished within the next year? Maybe.

I have several other goals and plans for the new year but none can hold a candle to the two I’ve already listed. Whether or not I succeed is yet to be seen, but my intentions are good.

Wish me luck!

Organizing my Content

I’ve had an account on RedGage for over two years now. It’s a great place to post your favorite pictures, blog, and create backlinks to your websites and articles. Since opening my account with RedGage I’ve posted over 700 pictures, links to articles and blog posts.

Not long after I started on RedGage I took some time to organize my content into different collections. But that was over two years ago. Some of the content and links are outdated. I’ve closed some of my blogs and started new ones. My RedGage content was no longer neat, organized or up to date.

I spent the morning on RedGage deleting old links and reorganizing my content. I have a ways to go yet but I’ll get there.

Learn From the Past

We learn from the past. That fact is never more apparent than on New Year’s Eve. While we look back and revel in our triumphs, we are also forced to acknowledge our failures. Analyzing our failures is hard. Sometimes it’s easier to shove the past into the past and focus on the future. But without analyzing what we did wrong, how can we hope to make changes for the better? What’s to stop us from making the same mistakes over and over again?

In these last few days before the New Year take a good hard look at your past. Did you keep your New Year’s Resolutions last year? If so, great. If not, why not? What could you have done different?

I’ve made many New Year’s Resolutions over the years and failed at most of them. I’m not alone. Only about 12% of the people that make New Year’s Resolutions actually keep them. This year I want to be one of the 12%. So today I’ve sitting here thinking about the past and planning for the future.

Counting Steps

I just received a new Pedometer in the mail. I had to buy a new one as my old one went through the wash. I know carrying it in my pocket is not a good idea (I was tissues all the time) but I do it anyway. This is actually my third pedometer but I don’t like to admit that. Washing it once is understandable, but twice… If I destroy this one I’m done.

I had to get a new pedometer. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to walk more. Walking for Fitness makes sense. There’s a lady that posts on Gather that set a goal of 1000 miles in 2011. She’s close and will probably make it. A 1000 miles sounds like a lot but 2000 steps equals a mile so that’s 5,479 steps a day. Most school days I average between 9,000 and 10,000 steps. Now if I put in 10,000 steps every day I would be walking 1,825 miles in a year.

I would like to set a 10,000 steps a day goal but that’s setting me up for failure. I may walk a lot during the school day but the weekends are another story. I like to spend my weekends relaxing. I spend most days either on the computer writing or curled up in the recliner with a book.

The best I can do is compromise. I am setting a goal of 1,500 miles in 2012. That’s 8,219 steps a day. If I shoot for 10,000 steps a day during the week, I’ll have a cushion for the weekends.

To keep me honest, I’m going to post my totals either here, or on Gather at least once a week.

Wish me luck!

LizzyJean

The Comfort Zone Electric Portable Space Heater

It’s hard to think of the cold when it’s hot outside, but with the economy the way it is, planning ahead is essential. Electric bills, like everything else, are climbing. I cringe every time mine shows up in the mail.

My brother bought a Comfort Zone Electric Portable Space Heater two years ago. It is extremely efficient and had a drastic impact on his heating bill. I liked what he had to say and thought about buying one as well, but hesitated. My brother lives in North Dakota. The winters are COLD. The winters here in South Carolina are chilly but by North Dakota standards they’re balmy. While a portable space heater would be nice, I didn’t know if it would lower my electric bill enough to make it worth the cost.

I’ve changed my mind.

While my electric bill keeps climbing, the cost of the Comfort Zone Electric Portable Space Heater has dropped. It should pay for itself within a year … two tops. I’ve always been budget conscious but with today economy it’s essential. Lowering the electric bill is one way of doing that.

Have a nice day,
LizzyJean

Angels on the Christmas Tree

It’s hard to think of Christmas in the middle of the summer, but it’s not hard to think of cooler weather. A day of it would be nice, but I love the summer too much to wish it away. I spent the morning updating my lens, Angels on the Christmas Tree. There are some awesome new Angel Ornaments on Amazon. It will be hard to resist buying some of them.

I have more Christmas lenses to update, but for now I’m going to head outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Have a good one,
LizzyJean

Reevaluating Goals

We are reaching midyear and time to take a hard look at my 2011 goals. Am I reaching them? Sort of. My original goal was to build a lens a week topping 301 by the end of the year. That went out the window when I took on an extra class this spring. I don’t regret taking on the class, but I need to reevaluate my other goals.

My main goal for the summer is sketching and building coloring page lenses. I just finished my sixth, Sea Creatures Coloring Pages.

Combining sketches with technology to turn it into an appealing coloring page has been harder than I thought it would be. I'm getting better at it. Long term… If I do enough drawings I might consider building a real website.

It’s something to think about.

What I need to focus on now if what I can and will accomplish in the next two weeks. It’s June 25th, still early in the summer, but my “free” time” is almost up. I’ll be heading to Minnesota is a couple of weeks. By the time I return it will be time to get ready for school to start.

I want to build a couple more Coloring Page lenses, but what I really need to do is update my Christmas lenses, especially my Hallmark Christmas Ornaments lens. Unfortunately the 2011 Hallmark Christmas Ornaments are not yet posted on Amazon. Hopefully I’ll get them updated before heading to Minnesota.

I haven’t been blogging the way I should. I doubt that’s going to change much. Time is a factor. Time is always a factor.

I have a Baby Quilt to finish, a Rainbow Afghan to put together…. Yes. Time is always a factor.

Early Morning Thoughts

You would think that with school out I would learn how to sleep in. I haven’t. The sun hasn’t risen yet and here I am, at my computer planning my day. I finish my lens, Explore the Swamp yesterday and started working on some new drawings. My original plan was to do a cats and kittens coloring page but it’s not going well. Cats and kittens are not hard to draw but turning the drawing into a coloring page is. It’s hard to give the impression of fur while maintaining distinct lines for coloring. I may have to rethink the whole concept.

I’m going to shift the whole idea to the back burner for the weekend.

It’s the third Saturday of the month, my usual day for heading to Cypress Gardens. I’m running out of pictures to work with so I really need to go. I would like to add some new pictures to my Photo Expressions lens, and I’m always looking for more bird pictures.

I haven’t been as good about taking pictures this summer. I’ve been too busy drawing. While that’s not a bad thing, I should be posting at least one new picture very day on RedGage.

My head is spinning with would, should, and could. I’ve always been good at making plans and I have good intentions on following through. I’ve always said that I need a thirty hour day. My biggest fear is heading back to school in the fall feeling like I should have accomplished more over the summer.

I need to make a list…

Explore the Swamp

My drawing of water lilies are one of many new drawings that I've put on my lens, Explore the Swamp. It's one of many coloring pages that will keep your children happy on a rainy day.

Coloring Pages

I love the summer. I rarely have the time to do whatever I want. After a hectic school year, it’s nice. I want relax and read, crochet, and draw. I’ve done more drawing in the last couple of weeks than I’ve done in the last few years. They are simple drawings, perfect for the coloring pages lenses I’ve been building. I’ve built four so far and have enough drawings for a fifth.

My first coloring pages lens was Pretty Flowers to Color. It took a long time to stir up the courage to build and post it. I have more confidence in my writing skills than I do in my drawing skills. My seconds lens was Songbird Coloring Pages. I had a lot of trouble with it. It’s hard to keep the drawings simple enough for a coloring page and still identify the bird. I didn’t want to draw a bunch of generic birds. There are enough of those online already. I added a Tufted Titmouse yesterday. I need to add more birds but I’ll never be truly happy that lens.

My third coloring lens is titled Ducks, Swans, and Geese Coloring Pages. I want to add more to it, but I’m a lot happier with it than the songbird lens.

Thus far my favorite coloring pages is Critters in the Garden. That one will be easy to add to over time.

Once I finish posting this I’ll be heading over to Squidoo to build another coloring lens. This one should be interesting. I’m titling it Explore the Swamp. It should be fun.

Have a good day,

LizzyJean

Summer Plans

It’s early Monday morning. It’s been a week since school got out. As usual I spent the first week of summer break wallowing in the freedom of not having a schedule to follow. I could spend the summer that way, but I would return to school with the knowledge that I accomplished little. I am a planner. I need the structure of schedules and plans to be truly happy.

One of my plans for the summer is to get in shape. I joined the Y a couple of months ago when I concluded that Walking for Fitness was not enough. I went every evening over spring break. It made a difference. I want/need to slide into that schedule again.

Working online is another activity that needs to be added to the schedule. I don’t want to build traditional lenses. I’ve started drawing again and building coloring pages is extremely satisfying. I finished one yesterday. I’m very happy with Critters in the Garden. Each lens is getting better. I used to draw all the time but haven’t in the last few years (closer to thirty years.) It’s not quite like riding a bicycle but the skill is returning. With luck I’ll be drawing and building coloring lenses all summer.

If I can balance the need to draw with my desire to get in shape, it will be a very satisfying summer. I need a satisfying summer in order to handle the challenge of teaching again in the fall.

The first week of summer is gone. It’s time to get to work.

Hummingbird and the Morning Glory

I'm having a lot of fun drawing new pictures. I'm not sure if I should make a lens of hummingbird coloring pages or add to my current lens, Pretty Flowers to Color.
For now I'm just going to keep on drawing.

Make a List

I’m a list maker. I started making lists when I was in my teens and have kept up the habit ever since. It’s an organizational skill. When I have a million things to do, I know I’ll forget half of them if I don’t write them down. I may never finish a list, but that’s beside the point.

Make a List

I have a list of goals. It’s changing all the time but it keeps me heading in the right direction. I like to Set Goals and I love reaching them, but sometimes the goal ceases to be important or I’ve found something new to strive for. I’ve never failed to meet a goal. The key is to change the goal before failure becomes an option.

Does that sound like a cop-out?

It’s not.

Goals give us a direction, something to strive for. One of my goals is to lose weight. I’ve been working toward that goal for twenty years now. The only thing that changes is the amount of weight I want to lose and the target date. I may never lose the weight, but if I give up trying, I’m bound to gain fifty pounds.

I’ve been writing fiction for several years now and have worked online for three. I love to write and several writing projects are on my current list, but its building coloring pages that has caught my interest and my imagination.

My lists for the summer are complete. I still want to write book reviews and articles, but a dozen Squidoo Coloring Pages holds center court. They’re fun and goals that are fun are a lot easier to reach.

I’ve built three coloring pages so far. I don’t know how many I’ll have when it is all said and done, but my GOAL for the summer is to build one a week.

So far so good….

Pretty Flowers to Color
Ducks, Geese, and Swans Coloring Pages
Songbird Coloring Pages

Ducks, Geese and Swans Coloring Pages

Have you ever watched a child delight in the sight of a duck waddling down to the water or a goose nuzzling its chicks? Recapture the memory on a rainy afternoon with Ducks, Geese, and Swan Coloring Pages.

Not only is coloring a great form of entertainment for children, it improves their hand-eye coordination and unleashing their creativity.

Buy a box of crayons and print out some pretty pictures to color. Your kids will have fun and so will you.

Songbird Coloring Pages

I just published a new lens on Squidoo, Songbird Coloring Pages. I haven’t published many lenses lately. It’s not that I’ve run out of topics, but a lack of interest. Building a lens is a lot of work. With so many lenses and websites on the internet, competition is fierce. If I’m going to put the work into a lens, I want it to pay off. That’s no longer a guarantee.

Coloring pages are very popular. They are not sales lenses. Any money made will be based on lens rank. I want to make money on them, but if money was all that I was after, I wouldn’t be building them either. To truly make money online one needs to devote more time to it than I can afford. I’m building them because I am proud of my drawings and want to show them off.

I’m very proud of my Songbird Coloring Pages. I featured several of my favorite songbirds. I chose birds that children tend to recognize. Songbird Coloring Pages is a great way to help children learn to identify different birds.

I’m very proud of all of my drawings, but my favorite one is the drawing featuring The Northern Cardinal.

Check out my drawings and let me know what you think.

Have a good day,
LizzyJean

Baby Bluebirds

I put up a bluebird box a few years ago. A pair of bluebirds took up residence almost immediately. I watch them feather their nest in March and watch the babies fledge the end of April. Some years have two and sometimes three broods. It’s heartening.

For a while there the number of Bluebirds in the United States was declining. There were too many different species of birds competing for the same nesting sites. Bluebirds are not an aggressive bird. They were booted out of their nests and left out in the cold.

Their numbers are climbing again. Birdwatchers across the country started catering to the needs of the bluebird. Bluebirds have specific requirements but they’re fairly easy to adhere to.
Click on the link and see how easy it is to put up a bluebird box.

The Eastern Bluebird is a beautiful bird and their song is so sweet…

Attracting Birds to Your Yard

The other day a friend of mine stopped by. We sat down on the patio intent on “catching up.”
It wasn’t long before she was distracted by the number of birds fluttering through my yard. She said she could sit on her patio for hours and not spot a single bird. Her yard is just a yard. She has a birdfeeder but….

Attracting Birds to Your Yard is fairly easy, but it takes more than a single birdfeeder hanging in the middle of a patch of grass.

Birds, like all living things, need food, water, and shelter. I have a large backyard (which was a pain to mow) so my husband and I turned half of it into a bird sanctuary. Basically we quit trying to get the grass to grow beneath the trees. The ground is now covered with a layer of leaves and pine needles. We planted a couple of bushes and added a couple of birdbaths. We already had the birdfeeders.

Since that day we’ve added a couple of Bluebird boxes and birdhouses, but little else. I love to get up early in the morning and sip my coffee out on the patio. I watch the sun rise and listen to the birdsong. Life is good…

Have a beautiful day.

LizzyJean

My First Tomatoes!

I love gardening. Putting a meal on the table that features vegetables from my garden is immensely satisfying. My peppers are doing well. It won’t be long before they start to turn. Red peppers are a nice touch to any salad. I love the peppers and the beans, but it’s the tomatoes are my favorite. I have baby tomatoes on several plants, but it will be a few more weeks before they start to turn.

I’m not a patient person. I don’t want to wait until the middle of June for fresh tomatoes. That’s one reason why I always plant a few cherry tomato plants. The tiny tomatoes start ripening long before the regular tomatoes. I picked my first cherry tomato yesterday. Obviously there wasn’t enough to share…so I ate it myself.

Are you a gardener? I know space and time are factors for most people, but a little Kitchen Garden is a nice compromise. They’re smaller than the typical garden but with a little planning, they will produce a lot of vegetables. My garden is so small that it doesn’t even qualify as a kitchen garden. There are pepper plants in with my irises and a row of beans wrapped around my azalea bushes. And then there are the tomatoes…..

Have a good day,

LizzyJean

Pretty Flowers to Color

When I first started college (a million years ago) I majored in art. After the first semester I switched to teaching. I liked to draw and paint but when compared to my classmates, my efforts were amateurish. Making a living was important to me. Art was not a viable option.
Over the years I continued to draw, but expressed my artistic side through crafts and handmade gifts.

My interest in drawing rekindled about six months ago. I don’t have a lot of time to devote to it, but my skills are returning. I draw and most of my efforts end up in the trashcan, but every now and then I turn out a nice picture.

This weekend I took several of my favorite pictures of flowers and built a Squidoo lens. I’m quite happy with how it turned out. If you’re looking for some new pictures for your kids to color, check out my lens, Pretty Flowers to Color.

I’ve started working on a new set of pictures. My goal is to build a lens of bird pictures that can be used to teach children how to identify birds. It’s a challenging goal but one that will be extremely satisfying.

Wish me luck!

LizzyJean

Weed Your Garden

The sun is shining and the temperature is climbing. I’m torn between getting what I want to do done on the computer, and going out to work/play in the yard. My little Kitchen Garden is doing great, but the yard has more weeds than grass, there are bushes to trim, and I want to plant some annuals. My gardens need a little color.

Unfortunately I’m behind on my writing. (Nothing new there.) According to my “master plan,” I still have to build a Squidoo lens, write three more blog posts, and another article for Buskia by the end of the week. Today is Saturday….


The house is a mess…

I have laundry to do…

Lesson plans to write…

Tests to grade…

Sleep…

And now I want to heed the call of nature and spend the afternoons picking at the weeds.

A few years ago our principal used the theme “Weed Your Garden” as a theme for starting off the new school year. It really hit home even if I haven’t taken it to heart. I need to get rid of all the unnecessary junk that clutters up my life. Twenty-four hours in a day is long enough to get what really matters done. So, why do I have such a hard time accepting that fact?

Part of it is my nature. I’m not a workaholic but I’m far more productive when I’m teetering on the brink of overwhelmed. I’ll reset my priorities, Weed my Garden so to speak, but the weeds will pop up again, and I’ll still be running the treadmill…. That’s life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Have a good one,
LizzyJean

Writing Book Reviews

I stopped at the library on the way home from school yesterday. I needed to pick up a book they were holding for me. I’m behind on my book reviews ... again. I like writing book reviews, but that means I need time to read.

It’s frustrating. I like to read, but finding the time to read is next to impossible. There are new books, like Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward that have caught my attention and older books that I haven’t found the time to read. I try to limit the reviews to books published in the previous six months.

Does that mean I have to pass on a really good older book?

What about the books I love and want to re-read?

What about the books on writing?


I picked up this book, Pen on Fire, last week. It’s a motivational book geared toward busy women in search of writing time. It was published in 2004 and its nonfiction … Does that mean it goes to the bottom of my reading pile?

Not in your life! I need to read this book. If Barbara Demarco-Barrett has the key to finding more writing time, I want to know what it is. The only thing I can think of is extending the day to thirty hours and I don’t think that’s going to happen.

I’ll find the time to read it, even if I have to forfeit sleep…

LizzyJean

Growing Tomatoes

Fresh tomatoes are one of the sweet treats of summer. I no longer have the time for a big garden but I always put in a few tomato plants. There are tomatoes tucked in with my flowers and in pots on my patio. The key is to make sure they are planted where they will get a lot of sunlight.

The tomatoes need well drained soil and daily watering. A layer of mulch will help maintain the moisture. Water daily, but don’t over water. Too much water can lead to root rot. Watching your pampered tomato plants wither and die is disheartening.

Stimulate your tomatoes into blooming by mixing two tablespoons of Epsom salt in a gallon of warm water. Use the mix to liberally soaking the soil around your plants just as they begin to flower. You will be rewarded with lots of blooms and oodles of tomatoes.

I Love Irises

I love irises and I have a lot of them. Unfortunately they are all pink. Every spring I vow to buy some new rhizomes in the fall. But when fall rolls around, I’m so busy with school that I forget. The following spring I’m kicking myself again.

Well I just finished planting some new rhizomes. Spring is not the best time to plant Irises, but they should survive.

They’re the double bloomers. They will not bloom this spring but I should see blooms this fall.

Time will tell.

Have a good day,

LizzyJean

The Color Red

Do you have a red car? I’ve never even considered a red car. Red cars are flashy. You can’t poke along. You have to drive twenty miles over the speed limit. It’s a rule. Only the young and the reckless are allowed to drive them.

I’m not young and I’m not reckless.

Do you have a red dress? Own a pair of red pants? Red dresses have to be slinky and red pants are always skin tight. If you weigh over a hundred pounds you might want to consider black instead. Tuck a few extra pounds into those pants and it will look like you’re dragging a caboose.

Red heads have tempers and red hearts bleed. I will never earn the Red Badge of Courage and forget to mark the red letter days. I even fall asleep on the red-eye.

So why do I like The Color Red?

It’s one of life’s little mysteries.

Have a nice day,

LizzyJean

I Hate Mosquitoes

I spent some time in my garden late yesterday afternoon. I had received some new Iris Bulbs in the mail and wanted to get them planted. I managed, but I picked up a dozen mosquito bites in the process.

I don’t like mosquito repellent and an occasional mosquito bite doesn’t bother me, but when we have a wet season, the mosquitoes are overwhelming. I started thinking about how best to control the mosquitoes. There are foggers and repellents, but neither are environmentally friendly. After doing some research, I came to one conclusion; Bats.

Think about it. Bats are nocturnal hunters and their primary prey is mosquitoes. Seems like a logical solution to me.

Something to think about,

Have a good day,

LizzyJean

Bird Walking

I had a great day at school yesterday. We got off topic and started talking about the birds. Okay, I sort of led the topic that direction. Bird watching is one of my passions and I need to share it once in a while.

Saturday I walked down to the library to drop a book into the return slot. I never return books when I go to pick up new ones. I always drop them into the return slot when I go out walking. It’s a ¾ walk from my house and once I’ve walked that far, it’s not so hard to keep going. I hate paying the late fee, so having to return a book gives me the push I need. I need to walk.

Well anyway, there was a dead animal alongside the road. It was all squished and bloody and nasty looking. There were close to a dozen vultures feeding off of it. It was a nasty sight, but when I walked up to the library yesterday, there wasn’t a scrap left behind. Vultures are awesome garbage collectors.

The birds have little to do with Physical Science, but it’s my job as a teacher to expand their horizons. Once I had them all pumped up and happy, I handed back their tests….

Fledglings

The Bluebirds arrived back in the area in March. I knew they took up residence in the bluebird box by the side of my house. They like the location and have used it for several years now. I used to watch them come and go all the time, but it’s not as easy this year. We put up a new fence last year. There’s no longer a gate (easy access) to the north side of the house. They hear me coming and disappear. Getting pictures is nearly impossible.

Well the babies have fledged. They hung around my backyard for a day or so before disappearing. While I didn’t get many pictures, it’s still nice to know that the brood survived. For a while the number of bluebirds was declining but more and more home owners are putting up Bluebird Boxes. It’s making a difference.

Do you have a bluebird box in your yard? Bluebirds are fun to watch, even if they’re camera shy.
Have a nice day,
LizzyJean

Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

Lover Unleashed is the ninth book in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I picked it up on my way home from school on Friday and finished it before turning off the light. It was a fast paced, entertaining story…fantasy fiction at its best.

I loved the book, but I gave it a four rather than a five. I’ve been reading the series since its inception, and have re-read some of the books several times. There were inconsistencies…. They were easily overlooked but annoying just the same.

Click on the link to read the full review.

Lover Unleashed

Have a good day,
LizzyJean

I'm Carving out a Niche, One Word at a Time

My name is LizzyJean and I am the author of the widely acclaimed humorous novel, My Mother’s Shoes. Widely acclaimed may be stretching the truth a bit, but I write fiction so it’s allowed. If someone asked me what I did for a living I would have to say I’m a teacher, but writing is in my soul (although I didn’t realize that until a few years ago.)
I am a teacher, author, free-lance writer, wife, mother… The list is endless. I’ve published one book, My Mother’s Shoes, and have considered writing another. I spend a great deal of time writing online. I have two websites, 252 Squidoo lenses, and two blogs.

So why am I starting another one?

The answer to that is simple. I started writing six years ago. I was responding to a dare when I sat down to write my first book. I had no illusions. I’m a science teacher, not an English teacher. My grammar is atrocious and the meaning of most four letter words eludes me. I can spell them—sort of.

In any case, I had a ball. I didn’t realize how much fun writing could be. You know the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” is a bunch of malarkey. I went back and learned all the things I should have learned in High School English. My grammar has improved and my spelling… well if it wasn’t for Spell Check I’d be in trouble.

The point is writing was fun. I wouldn’t spend what little free time I have doing it if it wasn’t.

Reading is fun.

Writing is fun.

And every third Monday and fourth Thursday, teaching is fun.

I want to keep it that way. I would like to say that teaching is fun, but it’s not. For it to be fun the student have to want to learn. It’s easier to force-feed a baby squashed beets than to force-feed knowledge to I-know-it-all-already teenagers. After all, they’re smarter than any adult living on the planet today. (One student told me Einstein had to be stupid. Why else would he use a capital C to represent the speed of light?)

So I write….

and I write…

and I write…