Little Jack Sprout

Almost the first thing that came to my mind when I read about the April theme (my garden was first) was my son. Recently, he "sprouted" to 6'4 and 1/2" tall. Aside from feeling a bit overwhelmed, I'm 5'6", I feel the most amazing sense of pride. Pride. Like growing tall is a special accomplishment. Perhaps it's that he is a very attractive young man all around, with broad shoulders - and I could go on and on.

Both of my kids are blessed. They got the best of their dad and me and don't seem to have gotten any of our bad physical traits. I can't say they didn't pick up a few of our bad habits along the way.

When my daughter did her sprouting and was suddently taller than me, I felt left behind somehow. It was the strangest thing. I guess it was because I had to face the fact that she was growing up and learning to get along without me. She is fiercely independant.

Letting go is the hardest thing. Truthfully, the taller my son gets, the more I know I have to let go of him too.

Radiation Panic at Home

Today's word is Fear.

As you all know, Japan is dealing with the horror of impending nuclear meltdown at the Daiichi plant in Fuchushima. The news is filled with stories of the brave volunteer firefighters who are risking their lives to keep it under control.

Another story involves radiation poisoning, who is at risk, and what can be done. Clearly, many Japanese are in danger.

However, it appears Americans here at home are concerned for their safety as well. And not just on the West coast. Understand that Tokyo is 5478 miles from Los Angeles. Now, think about this. I heard a news story this morning about the town where I grew up, Fort Walton Beach. Apparently, the shelves in all of the health food and vitamin stores they checked were empty of potassium iodide. This is supposed to protect you from radiation poisoning in some way. By the way, Fort Walton Beach is on the Gulf Coast of Florida, 1870 miles from Los Angeles.

I got curious. So I did some calling around near where I live now, 40 miles West of FWB. I got through to a couple of major stores in Pensacola - sold out. I called a smaller establishment and they were sold out too. When I told the lady I wasn't interested in the supplement for myself, but that I was writing a little article, she told me that we weren't being told everything by our government about radiation exposure and we had another two to two and a half months of exposure yet to deal with. She recommended these potassium iodide supplements for pregnant women and children. (Please understand that I am not making any such recommendation. I believe a doctor's advice should be sought before taking anything like this especially if you are pregnant, or if you intend to give it to a child.)

Another lady I spoke with said these could be dangerous if taken too much, that Iodine isn't something you want to keep introducing to your system.

I'm sure this isn't the only item people are stocking up on. The question is, are they being paranoid, or is it possible, somehow, that we could be affected by this disaster?

DayGlow A Go Go

So, in an effort to save a bundle, ladies you know whereof I speak, I decided to color my hair myself. But instead of the drug store box - yuck - I ordered a professional haircolor application from an internet company. Everything looked great. It came with detailed instructions and all the tools I needed to do the deed. I invited a friend to come and help. We followed all of the instructions, but when I emerged from the shower, I was purple. You know the shade I mean. The color you get when you're going for red and you miss it.

What to do now is the question? I sent an inquiry to the company and they called me withing ten minutes! Now they're looking at pictures of the issue. The more I deal with these people, the more I like them. Hopefully, there is something they can do about the glow. The underlying color is very pretty. I tell you one thing. I don't have any stubborn roots! lol.

And no, I won't be updating my profile picture any time soon.

Villain

My word for today is Villain. My villain is about to get his comeupance. It's only taken 1212 pages, but it's going to be good. All of the story lines should be involved in this. Things are finally coming to a head, a big one anyway. Hopefully, I can put an end to this puppy.

Severe Weather

My word for today is Weather. I'm sitting here listening to a blow by blow of the Severe Weather bearing down on my little city in northwest Florida. We're under a tornado warning, there have already been 55,000 lightning strikes with this system and we are looking at possible inch size hail. The winds, of course, are an issue as will be the rain, with possible flash flooding.

The only room in my house that is suitable to hide from a tornado is a small internal bathroom built in under the stairs that you can barely stand up in. My son is 6' 4 1/2 " tall. The bathroom is not made for two, but I've used pillows to try to make it so. I will be sitting in the sink - lol. Of course, we'll have pillows to cover our heads. I really hope we don't have to cram in there.

Description

My word for today is Description. I don't have enough of it in certain areas of my book. I know 1160 some odd pages - what am I writing? Lots of dialog, lots of description of how characters are feeling and what they are thinking. What I'm missing is more about their physical appearances, their surroundings, and the characteristics of the world they live in. Don't get me wrong. That sort of stuff is in there, but for the size of the book, it is woefully lacking. So, my word is Description. Got to get to work on that.

In A Word

The March theme for NaBloPoMo is "In a Word" I think my word for today would be "behemoth". My novel is currently topping 1165 words and I'm still writing. I've slowed down a bit recently. It think it's because I'm in new territory. Until recently, I had already decided on the story in my head, so it was easy to write. Now, I'm having to create new situations as I go along. And I have to constantly go back to make sure my characters don't act out of character and don't do the same thing twice. It's definitely a labor of love though. I think when you can get caught up in reading past chapters of your book and they bring you to tears, you must be doing something right. Anyway, that's my word for today. I'll try to have another ready for tomorrow. I realize I'm behind again, but that's the story of my life.