The House Poet

Hello all!  I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated this blog. I've wanted to, but the last few months have been so busy! Then, my old chrome book broke down and I had to wait until I could buy a new one. Now, I've got a working chrome book and am slowly working on writing again.  I'm still waiting for some feedback about my novel, but once that starts coming in, I plan to revise a lot and hopefully send it out later this year or next.  I have been revising another children's picture book manuscript and plan to send that to publishers very soon, which is exciting.  Life has been so full lately and I'm trying to take it one day a at time. My three kiddos are doing great and the twins are almost done with school, which is exciting. There is a lot going on right now, such as the fact that I'm learning to drive, we want to buy another car, our bathroom is going to be worked on next week, and all sorts of things. But that's life! ...

Hello dear ones! We are deep in the midst of Fall and the changing colors of the leaves add such a nice tinge of color to the world. Life has been very busy for me, but hopefully this holiday season we can relax a little! ;)  This is also a busy time for Irish Dancing, because the Western Regional Oireachtas is happening near me the weekend before Thanksgiving! I'm dancing in the Adult Traditional Set solos on Nov 20, so I've been working hard and practicing my set a lot! I'll be dancing Job of Journeywork, which I love and enjoy dancing.  On October 30, I danced at the East Bay Feis and had a great time! I even brought home a crystal vase! It was my first time dancing in Adult Novice (except for my Hornpipe, which is Adult Beginner since I learned it over the summer) and I enjoyed it. The Feis was running behind schedule which was a little stressful and I think it made me feel really tired. When we arrived at the Feis, I stretched, practiced, and snacked until I fe...

Hi all!  I haven't had a lot of time to write lately, but I do have some exciting news!  Remember how I was writing a book? Well, I took a break for it for a while because something wasn't quite right about it. After talking to my dad a few weeks ago, he mentioned writing a series and it was as though lightning struck my brain. I realized that my book works better as two books and the first one is all done! :D It's about 60,000 words right now and I am still in the process of editing and adding some scenes to help the continuity. The second book is about a quarter of the way done and I'm putting that one on the back burner for now so I can focus on revising the first one. :)  I am so pumped about this and I feel so much better about my book! It makes more sense now and I think it will flow better. I've found a few agents I'd like to send it to, however it won't be ready for a little while. I'm hoping to start sending it out after January, maybe ear...

Hello all!  Hope you've all been enjoying the very beginning of Autumn. Today was the chilliest day we've had in ages! I think the high was 72 degrees. Crazy, but I was so grateful. ;)  Forgive the lack of posts, but my twins started school a few weeks ago and that has been quite a change for all of us. I've got a disgruntled three year old at home with me in the mornings who misses his twins desperately while they are in school. Mornings are so busy now! Trying to get twins ready for school is a little stressful; they aren't used to having a routine like this and since they are young, they don't really understand the urgency. We are taking it day by day. The twins like school and their teacher, so that's good. :) There have been some other things going on, so I haven't been able to work on my writing for a long time. I did apply for a writing grant that is specifically for writers who are parents of young children; that grant would help me so much and a...

All summer, I've been a bit concerned about August. There are so many events and changes happening this month that I'm a bit overwhelmed!  First of all, my twins start Transitional Kindergarten in a few weeks and that will be a huge change for our family. Our schedule will change as well as our routine. With three young children, that can be a little worrisome. Not in a bad way, but we will all have to adjust and that could take a little while.  My youngest is turning three on Sunday, which is crazy because he is my baby!! I am so proud of him and I love watching him grow, but it's still a little bittersweet. He loves his birthday and has been excited about it all week, which is a lot of fun. Sunday will be a big day in our house, so I need to get ready! ;)  Those are two big milestones happening this month, and there are a lot of smaller things going on as well. We are meeting up with my second cousin and her daughter from Luxembourg in SF the week before the twins...

Hello dears!  I just saw noticed that I haven't posted anything since the first day of March! Woah! So much has happened since then, which is why I haven't been online that much. We had a busy spring and now it's already summer!  I haven't had much time for writing, but I was able to revise a few pieces and I have been submitting them. Now, it's that always fun game of "wait for a response." Not always pleasant, but very important if one wants to be published. I just submitted a very special piece this morning about my adult Irish Dancing journey. Fingers crossed that it gets accepted, but even if it doesn't, I'll revise it again and send it somewhere else. It's a piece I strongly believe in. :)  As for Irish Dancing news, it's been going very well! I have now moved up into Novice adult, which means I can start learning more advanced dances. I am very proud of myself and how much I have progressed as a dancer since January. It's a...

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...