Who's that Knocking On My Front Door?

I? Have been a busy monkey.

I just wish I could say it was at a paying job.

BUT! They are all opportunities. Opportunities are knocking left right and center lately, I just have to encourage them to come on in. Here's some of what's been going on:

• First, last weekend I went to the American Library Association convention and, just by chatting with people, became an "official" blogger for Penguin's young adult imprint. That means they are going to send me books — before they come out — for me to review. For free. WOO! I also picked up about 50 free advance reading copies of other books to review, so I'm going to be a busy little blogger.
  
• Because of all that, I redesigned The Spiral Notebook so that it looks a little more professional and hipper. Cool, right?
  
• I also applied to be an "examiner" on Examiner.com, which is like a local blogger, and I got the gig! I'm now the Eco-Friendly Living Examiner for the Denver area, which means I blog about eco-friendly living (duh) in the Denver area (double duh) and — wait for it — they pay me money based on how well my articles do (how many people visit them, etc.). No idea yet if this will pay off, but we'll see.
  
• Finally, I got my first ever real live freelancing gig from a former boss. I'm writing about jewelry designers in Colorado. Right up my alley, right? :D Doesn't pay a ton, but if it were to be the first of many, that would be OK by me.
  
• Also, I'm trying to be really diligent about working on my book. I've got all this time off, I need to be putting it to good use, right? The other exciting opportunity that came out of the ALA conference last weekend is that I might have found a new critique group. Which would be awesome, because I always work better on a deadline!

So that's what's been going on. Nothing terribly promising yet on the permanent job front, but I'm applying all over the place. Guess I'll just keep using my down time to explore other opportunities while I can!

Deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome someday.

Looking for the Open Window...

As some of you may have already heard, I was laid off from my job of just over two years on Monday. The company cut eight positions from the production team, including editors, designers, web monkeys and others. My boss made a point of telling me more than once that it was purely a financial decision and not a reflection on my performance, but frankly, that's small comfort when they've also just told you your position has been eliminated.

On the up side, I'm actually doing fairly well, all things considered. Monday was hard, and I took the day to be sad and upset about it. But since then, I have just gotten my rear in gear and got to work at the job of looking for a job. I've already had one phone interview, and I'm in the process of connecting with a second.

This isn't a good time personally or economically to be out of a job. It's really going to put a major damper on our plans to buy a house before our lease is up in June. But I'm trying to remember something Gini Moore told me almost 15 years ago — that whenever God closes a door, he opens a window.

Y'all tell me if you see an open window anywhere, OK?

Sunday from Scratch

I made an apple coffee cake today! I had some apples that were just a little too soft to be eaten by themselves, so I looked up "apple cake" in my trusty Joy of Cooking and found a recipe for a sour cream (or yogurt) coffee cake with apples on top, so that is what I made!

It wasn't at all difficult. It astonishes me sometimes how much I take for granted; like many, I automatically assume that making a cake from scratch will be so much more difficult than making one from a mix when, aside from a little measuring, it really isn't that much more involved.

We also watched Sabrina today, the old version, and I remembered why I like it so much. But I also lamented that I will never be as elegant or graceful as Audrey. Ah well. C'est la vie.

And now I've got La Vie En Rose stuck in my head from the film. So, all in all, a nice Sunday.

Christmas Photos!

It was an excellent Christmas in Dallas, filled with family and lots of good times.



We must have all been very good, because Santa (and Mom and Dad and all the family) was very good to us!







The food was good, the company even better. To see all the photos from Christmas, click here.

And happy new year!

Snow Day!

The wind chill this morning is -17 and it's snowing. I have to admit, I'm kind of excited to have an excuse NOT to run all my errands today.

So, if anyone needs me, I'll be here on the sofa, wrapped up in blankets, enjoying my own personal snow day.

*snuggles in for a long winter's nap*

(The clip is from the movie "Elf" which is actually a really cute Christmas movie. I thought there was more to this cute little duet, but that's all they wrote!)

Geni.com Family Tree

View more of Lacy's tree | Get your own family tree at Geni.com

I just started playing with the family tree tool at Geni.com and it's addictive and kind of fun! I think it would be so neat if a lot of us started contributing to it, uploading photos, adding events to the timeline, etc., to create a living picture of what's going on with our family.

I think I sent out invitations via the website for people to join me, but if you didn't get one don't be offended! It was something of a squirrely process! Just send me an email if you want to join or leave a comment here and I'll be sure you get on.

I'll start adding photos once I have access to them from home!

Las Cruces

I promised photos of Thanksgiving in Las Cruces and, more importantly, the bundle of adorableness that is my nephew!

Seth was immediately taken with his uncle Brandon. He shouted "UNCLE! UNCLE!" throughout the whole trip, wanting Brandon nearby, playing with him, or watching what he was doing at all times. It was pretty freaking adorable.


I was surprised at how well he did on the hike we took on Friday. He didn't complain much, and walked a lot of the way by himself. But he was a little too fascinated with rocks — of which there were MANY lining the path — and he really wasn't having any of the backpack/carrier his parents provided.


He did, however, get pretty sleepy by the end, and he took a nap on my shoulder for a while until my arms gave out and I had to give him up to someone else to carry. He was pretty good at saying "Lacy" because his speech therapist's name was Lacy!

Overall, he is such a sweet, fun, happy boy! He's a joy to be around, and I know his parents and grandparents are so very, very proud.

Frost

Frost
Originally uploaded by LacyLu42.

We got 4 inches of snow yesterday in Broomfield, and I awoke this morning to the most intricate coating of frost over everything. Absolutely beautiful.

Blogging, Blogging Everywhere!

For those who are interested, here's a look at some of our designers' work on the Weaver Design Blog.

And, although we don't post much in the way of samples, you're welcome to check out the conversation at the Weaver Editorial Blog.