Song Stuck in My Head: Memories by Barbara Streisand

So, how lame am I? I started this blog, posted one measly entry, and then promptly forgot about it! I suppose that it could appear like I was busy with my writing, that I was not actually *that* distracted. But that's not entirely true, because I've been plenty distracted with other things.

Like, trying to finish Anansi Boys. I'm sorry Neil, but I just can't seem to find the motivation to pick up the book and finish it. It's sitting right here on my nightstand, next to Neverwhere, and I can't even manage to pick it up and read more than a paragraph. Not because it sucks, but just because I can't find the time to just allow myself to get sucked back into the story.

And spring has sprung in Germany, so we've been trying to spend time outdoors. I've been trying to urge Amelia to ride her bike (because heck, all the kids her age have already mastered pedaling!) but she just doesn't seem to be interested. She'd rather play with her ball, or make me blow bubbles while she kisses or kicks them. Some days, I blow bubbles so much, I get lightheaded. I need an automatic bubble making machine or something STAT!

She does, however, know all her letters, numbers, shapes and colors. She's even really started counting, like pointing to her fingers and counting up to five. Big ups, Little Girl! And she recognizes some sight words, like "have" and "play" and "of." She surprises me everyday with what she's learned by observation, like when I brought the water bottle in the other day and she said, "Heavy?"

Gosh, my Schinkenbutt is all growed up! *pretend tear*

I guess I have been getting some writing done too, or more like, editing (which nobody tells you is a real pain in the ass when you're a perfectionist!). I keep tweaking scenes and rewriting dialogue for maximum impact, and it's really taking a helluva long time. But the payoff will be a (hopefully) decent novel, I guess. I've also made it darker, so it's been a little difficult writing scenes with death and such, since that's not something I normally encounter in my day to day life. But hey, it's all about growth and crap like that, right?

I am what I am...

Hi, my name's Wilette and I want to be a writer. Unfortunately, I get distracted quite easily. Take right now, for example. I should be writing additional scenes to my novel, but what am I doing instead? I'm snacking on my daughter's goldfish crackers and starting a new blog. I'm hopeless.

I've also been playing catch up with music lately. Since we moved to Germany (coming on two years now), I've found myself in this bubble of ignorance. We don't have German cable and the only t.v. we have is AFN satellite, which airs only a select few American shows but replaces product advertisements with unitentionally goofy military commercials. So James Morrison, who released his first album Undiscovered in 2007? I only *just* discovered him. I am way behind.

To make matters worse, the Media Gods That Be has banned anybody outside of the United States from watching anything on youtube so that the only version of Beyonce's Single Ladies video available has a leotarded Jonas freaking Brother in it. I am, quite frankly, appalled. And a little sick to my stomach.

I never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for the wonderful Army Europe library system, a veritable Shangri-La of books, movies, music, magazines, newspapers, you name it. Their new system allows me to log on to the website, search for whatever the heck my heart desires at that very moment (i.e. Elmo & Abbie's Great Adventure), reserve it, and be able to pick it up a day or two later. The network involves the entire European library system, so if the book I want is in Schweinfurt, they'll send it down to our library. I am in love with this system hardcore!

The only problem now, though, is that just gives me more fodder for distraction. Ah well.