The House Poet

Happy first day of March everyone!  I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for Spring! There is a lot going on this month and I need to take care of myself so I feel good!  February was pretty busy too, especially since I had my Irish Dancing Grade Exams. I did the first two, which comprises of the first four soft shoe dances: reel, light jig, slip jig, and single jig.  The exams were done at our dance studio with Gary Healy! (Scary Gary, as he is sometimes called :D) It was apparently his first time doing Grade Exams and he was soooo nice! He really took the time to write down lots of comments and when I had to stop my light jig since I was so nervous, he was really kind about it and told me not to be nervous. Looking back, it was a great experience, but I was really anxious and nervous about it!  I don't feel great about my reel and light jig, but after I relaxed and got in the flow of things my slip jig and single jig were much better. We still haven't gott...

Dear readers, how is this week treating you? The fact that we've been having sunshine and warm days over here has been quite nice after all the rain and cold temps we've had! Now that my kiddos aren't sick, their energy levels seem higher than usual. I think spring fever is starting to blaze! ;)  I am working on a couple new projects. I still want to finish my fantasy novel WIP as soon as possible, but I haven't been able to get in the zone for it lately. It might be because I need to find the time to settle back into my world and characters. Hopefully that can happen soon. When my kids were napping, I used to work on my WIP during that time, but now that they don't nap anymore, it's so much harder to work on things.  But, I've been having fun with a new fantasy piece that I'd like to turn into either a super long story or novella. I love the characters so far and really like how I wrote the beginning. I'm definitely excited to see where this ...

I love Sunday nights in January because that usually means DOWNTON ABBEY!  I'm getting ready to watch the second episode of the new season tonight and I'm already in bed.  How, you ask?  Well, I woke up this morning with a sore throat, a stuffy nose, and a fuzzy head. My wonderful hubby has been helping me with the kids and took care of them all after dinner. He's putting them to bed as I write and it's lovely just to lay down in bed and rest. I've even been able to send emails, reply to comments, and work on a new short story all from my warm bed! Thank you, dear husband!!  But, seriously, why did I have to get sick a week before my next Feis?? Ugh! I wanted to practice and prepare all week, but I think it's more important to rest and try to get better. I'm still planning to go to dance class on Tuesday, so if I'm still feeling sick by then I'll be taking some Tylenol and dancing away!  I worked hard on my Hard Jig and my Blackbird set last ...

Today was the day I had set aside to do all the important things, such as paying bills, phone calls, cleaning, giving the kiddos a bath (they were incensed that I washed their hair!), and trimming their nails. Luckily, I was able to get all that plus a few more things done, however I really want to try and practice some Irish Dancing today too. So we shall see!  2015 was a great year for accomplishments, both as a family and personally. My husband and I are excited about 2016 and are going to keep moving forward and working hard. Just as 2015 was ending, I had two poems published, one of which won a holiday poetry contest! :)  My poem, "Christmas With Little Ones," won Mothers Always Write's Holiday poetry contest and I am so excited about it! That was the first time I'd ever won a writing contest and it means so much to me. That poem came straight from my life and my heart. Check it out here:  Christmas With Little Ones-Winner My poem, "autumn," was p...

Hello friends! We are over midway through October and I can't wait for the holiday season. My kids are obsessed with Halloween and they love seeing Halloween decorations everywhere. I am excited about Halloween, of course, but I'm even more excited about the day after Halloween. Why, you ask? Because Sunday November 1 is the Adult Competition day of the East Bay Feis! It'll be my first Feis (Irish Dance competition) in about 10 or so years, so I am really looking forward to it! I have been practicing more at home, which is great but requires a strong will because once the kids are in bed, I'm pretty tired. But I just think about how much I love Irish Dancing and how I want to do well at the Feis and then I  find the energy to practice. I need to work on some technique things, though. Less than two weeks to go!!! And the crazy part is that there are a lot of adults competing in the Adult Beginner category, so now I'm feeling the pressure! :)  In more exciting n...

It's early Wednesday afternoon and I've already done four loads of laundry. It's been a busy day! The kids have decided that naps are not cool any more and I have found that finding time to work on writing or blogging or even just practicing my Irish Dancing has been hard to find. So! Last night I had my dance class and it was WONDERFUL! It was four of us adults in the class and we flew through our dances and even started learning the Hard Jig. So exciting! I was smiling almost the whole class. I know I still have some little things I need to work on, like pointing my toes and kicking up my feet in the back during tip downs, etc. It's a lot of fun! Two of my poems were recently published in the October issue of Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal that really promotes poets supporting one another through positive comments and such. It's a lovely journal, full of meaningful poetry and insightful poets. Here is the link to my poems "Foghorns" and ...

Hello everyone! Here we are at the end of September and I am enjoying hot chocolate, even though this past weekend was HOT. Hope everyone else is well! I've been thinking about motherhood lately, and the ways to express my experience with motherhood in writing. I wrote two new poems for an anthology about motherhood called All You Can Hold, and I hope the editor likes them! I recently had a poem accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of Mothers Always Write, which is a wonderful online literary journal. They published one of my poems in the beginning when I was just coming back to writing and submitting a couple years ago. The staff have been so supportive too! Writing about motherhood is important but might not be easy or simple. So many emotions come with being a parent, and sometimes it can be difficult to sift through those emotions and express them on paper. I love writing about little moments with my kids; my most recently accepted poem is about peeling an orange f...

It has been a busy, exhausting, and hot week over here. I have had almost no time to work on my writing. I spent most of yesterday cleaning and moving things to make room for a new fridge, only to find out that the fridge Best Buy did deliver was defective. So, back it went with the delivery guys and I had to put everything back in our awful old fridge. It was such a nightmare and I've called Best Buy twice about some sort of discount or anything and they won't do it.  Hopefully I can get some writing done soon. I'm thinking about working on a couple new projects, so we'll see what happens. Just wanted to pop in before the kids pop out of their room (nap time is not for napping anymore...) and share a lovely poem I came across today. We were attempting (notice I say attempting...heh) to read this gorgeous book of poetry illustrated by the amazing Jackie Morris, whose website can be found here:  Jackie Morris UK  . We managed to read a few poems before I noticed my e...

Hello all! I can't believe the summer has flown by so quickly! I am definitely looking forward to cooler weather, Fall colors, crisp leaves littering the ground, pumpkin everything, and Christmas decorations!! (Yes, I love Fall!) Also, I am back into my Irish Dance class again after my school had a summer break and I am so happy! I am now preparing for the East Bay Feis on the last weekend of October, so wish me luck! I've got lots of work to do before then! ;) As for my writing, I've hit over 73,000 words in my novel now and I am inching closer to the end. However, my characters have minds of their own and keep bringing things up that I, the author, have to deal with. They are so logical! I'm worried that my novel is going to be crazy long, but that might just mean I'll have to cut some scenes that don't work. We'll see. This whole writing a novel adventure has taught me so much and there is more to learn! I've had a few pieces published and I am ...

I can't believe it's already the end of July! This summer has gone by so quickly! This morning I found myself thinking about Fall and all the changes we are going to see in the weather and trees. Grey skies, chilly mornings, random hot chocolate cravings, acorns crunching all over the place...lots of fun to look forward to! Actually, I just want the heat to go away. On Sunday, we took the kids, along with my dad, to the beach. It was their first real "beach day" and we had fun, but it was exhausting. Taking three young kids to the beach takes a lot of you, just saying. They didn't even want to go near the water, which is understandable since the waves are loud. So they just sat in the sand and played for a couple hours while I went into the water and splashed around. I felt like I was 9 years old again! Anyway, back to the real world now. I have a few sandy tote bags that I need to clean out, not to mention a crazy amount of laundry. So, writing news! My p...

Hi everyone! Busy times over here. I've done nine loads of laundry so far this week and I've put the twins in underwear the past few days. I'm hoping to finish up potty-training and get them used to underwear and using the potty. Potty-training twins is no joke, especially boy/girl twins. Half the time I think I'm going about it all wrong. Anyway, wish me luck! They've been pretty good about it so far, little cuties. Anyway, I wanted to share a link to an online poetry magazine that I was recently published in. The editor is a very nice woman and I was so excited when she wanted to publish one of my poems. I submitted two poems for the "Short" themed issue, and she chose the one I was most proud of. It's only four lines, but I love it dearly. It came to me while I was listening to "Tears For Affairs" by Camera Obscura. A great song by a great band. :) Here is the link:  Allegro Poetry Issue 3 March 2015 My poem is about three-quarters...

Hello all! With three kids under the age of four and a busy household, sometimes it's very difficult for me to make time for writing and creating. However, in the past couple of weeks, I've had two poems published in online literary magazine, which is amazing! I feel very accomplished and ready to forge ahead and write. But life can get in the way, and sometimes you just want to watch Downton Abbey and paint your nails to relax. I think there are many moms out there, be they stay-at-home moms like me or working moms, who want to write more. Perhaps you want to start a blog or novel? Maybe poetry is your outlet. Whatever it is, I thought of 5 ways to boost your creativity and how to keep it going. Make sure you have the materials you need on hand and nearby. For me, cute and colorful notebooks can really inspire me and feel good to write in. Right now, my favorite poetry journal is a Moomin journal from a set published by Chronicle Books. Beautiful, smooth paper just b...

It's been a busy day; warm rain interspersed with random bouts of blue sky. All three kids finally took a nap at the same time and I was thrilled to be able to finish the book I was reading (The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton) when out of nowhere shrilled the terrible building fire alarm. ARGH. We ended up taking the kids on a little drive to get some ice cream because, hey, when you're rudely woken up from your nap ice cream can make anyone feel better. ;)  Anyway, I was thinking about the origins of the title of this blog The House Poet, and thought I'd share where it came from. I've been writing poetry since fifth grade, maybe even before that, and poetry has always been a large part of my life, even though I go through periods where I don't write many poems at all. I don't like to force the words out.  When I was a freshman in college, I met a senior who was writing and producing plays, CDs, shows, all sorts of artistic and musical events. I became in...

Hello everyone in the blogging world! It has been quite some time since I've last posted on here, and I am happy to be back! I am planning to use this blog as a writing blog; I want to post news about my pieces and updates. As for what I've been up to, it comes in three! That's right, I am a stay at home mama to my three kids! I'm married to my college love who I've written about in this blog and now we are working hard together to raise our family. I'm trying to send my work out and become published. I am writing my first novel and I am so excited about it! On the side, I'm working on stories and sending out some finished pieces. This morning, I found out that one of my poems was accepted by a new online literary magazine called Mothers Always Write! I am so thrilled! Check out the website: http://mothersalwayswrite.com/ I have been working hard and sending lots of pieces out, and I've been receiving rejections, so it feels amazing to get an ac...