Marla Bowie LePley

plantars fascitis

2009-12-29T17:02:41Z

I've had pain in my heel for about a month, which has gotten progressively worse. This last weekend I could hardly walk on it. Infact, I couldn't walk on it at all the first 15 minutes or so after I got up in the morning. I had to ease into it.

Yesterday I went to the foot doctor and he diagnosed me with a fairly common problem. Plantars fascitis. Then he proceeded to stick a long needle in my heel and shove it full of cortizone. Talk about painful. I sure hope it works. Today I'm still hobbling but at least it isn't throbbing and constantly sore. (which has been keeping me awake at night)

A weird thing about this: they took my blood pressure yesterday and it was high. I've always had extremely low blood pressure. It was still within normal limits but on the high end. I've heard that pain can cause your blood pressure to go up.

It's a great excuse to stay home from work, stay off of it, catch up on my rest and write all day long. I'm getting another cup of coffee right now. Along with some ice to put on it.

titles

2009-12-27T21:28:20Z

I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to call my novel. For a long time I called it nanowrimo07 because that's when I wrote it.

April Henry actually thought up my title for me, and the editor that's working on it right now LOVES it!

Here's an interesting article on coming up with a title.
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/7-tips-to-nail-the-perfect-title/

Friends of friends

2009-12-22T15:24:10Z

I love it when I find out that one of my good friends (not from the writing community) is good friends with an editor who worked for Macmillan Publishing and has the following clients listed on a resume: Harcourt, Henry Holt, Rodale Press, Holiday House, Clarion Books, DK Publishing, Mulberry Books, Greenwillow Books and HarperCollins Publishers.

That's how fairytales happen.

Mt. Hood climbers

2009-12-15T03:17:22Z

Saying prayers for the missing on Mt. Hood. And their families.

blogging tips

2009-12-12T16:31:08Z

I thought this was interesting:

http://www.blogohblog.com/50-creative-ways-to-make-your-blog-popular/

No. 9 is: Share some secrets.

So here's a secret about me. I have a bone collection. Animal bones. Already dead thank you very much. It started when I was picking blackberries in my Grandma's backyard as a kid. All the easy places had been picked over, so I wedged myself between the back fence and the bushes. I stuck my hand in blindly, to feel around for berries. It was low to the ground and my hand felt something smooth and hard. (if I'd done that now, I would have been creeped out, but back then, I was simply curious). I grabbed hold and pulled it out. It was the perfectly clean skull of a cat. Since then I've collected beaver skulls, complete with long teeth, bird skeletons, a deer skull plucked from a Montana highway, and even a fully intact petrified rat (which my cousin kindly gave me for Christmas one year.)Plus lots, lots more.

Yes, it's gotten to the point where I get these things as gifts.

So, the secret is out. I hope you don't think any less of me.

Volunteering

2009-12-12T15:57:05Z

Sometimes I over extend myself. Actually, quite often I do. Last year I volunteered to help at the DHS Christmas party for foster children. I opted not to this year. Last year I wasn't mediating. I didn't have much else going on. Since then, I showed up almost every week for a year to mediate at East Metro Mediation. BUT, I still feel guilty that I didn't volunteer to help out at the Christmas party. I have to keep reminding myself that I can only do so much. Also, I tire myself out to the point of not being able to do what I really want to do, which is writing. I think that if everyone volunteered just a small amount of their time each year to help other people, this world would be a better place.

a piece of chapter three

2009-12-05T21:23:28Z

My hands clenched tightly. I wanted to slap his hand away from my face. I lowered my eyes and saw something that made me want to retch. He had pushed his shirt back to reveal a swell in his pants. Roc had been nothing more than a classmate when the world still turned right. My boyfriend’s brother. An annoying and weird kid named Chester. Now he was a psycho. Someone I was terribly afraid of. Roc’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“You can eat with me tonight.” It was more of an order than an invitation.
“I’m not hungry.” I stared down at the ground. I felt like sobbing. My heart ached for Shane. God, I missed him.
“Then just sit with me while I eat.” The thought churned disgustingly in my head. “I can’t.”
“You can if I say you can.”
“But…” What could I say to convince him? “I should help Jill get the new kids settled in. They’re going to need a lot of help…learning the new rules.”
“Jill can deal with them.” He put his mouth close to my ear and whispered, “I want to be with you tonight.” I stood in silent desperation. Kids were scattered along the street, most heading home. But all eyes were averted. They pretended not to see me standing with him. I wondered what they thought of me. Did they think I like his attention? Did they think I wanted him? I raised my head and looked him in the eyes. I hoped he could see the hate I felt. His lip began to twitch slightly - a sign that just below the surface his rage was boiling. He kept it subdued. I had one thing the other kids didn’t. Roc could not stand to be hated by me.
“You look angry. Don’t you want to have dinner with me?”
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to,” I whispered through clenched teeth. The tendons on my neck drew tight. I felt his eyes contour my silhouette as dusk settled on us. The movement of his eyes defined the curve of my breasts, hips and legs. I felt as violated as if he had touched me. Again, Roc tried to draw my attention to the swelling between his legs. I flashed him a look that I hoped he perceived as dangerous. He ignored it and drew closer to me.
“I think that you should tell me the answer I want to hear,” His voice was a sickening husky whisper. He grabbed my hand and walked toward his house pulling me roughly behind. I didn’t fight it. He was twice my size. I just stumbled along wishing one of these kids would grow a backbone and come help me. If Shane had still been alive, he would have rescued me. If Shane had still been alive, I wouldn’t even be in this situation. You only have yourself to rely on now, Jennifer.
Just before he reached the door, I pulled free and tried to run. Roc ran after me. He reached out, tangling his fingers in my hair and yanked me to the ground. I kicked him hard in the shin. He roared in pain. Roc threw himself on top of me, knocking the wind from my chest. I tried to inhale but the air couldn’t find its way back in. My mouth gaped open like fish sucking the water’s surface and then I finally found air. He grabbed my hands and straddled me. Only ragged shreds of breath kept me from passing out. I felt smothered by the rotten egg smell of his breath on my cheek. He reached over to hold me down and I could smell his body, like he hadn’t taken a shower in weeks. And he had the nerve to tell me I wasn’t taking care of myself!
He giggled like a giddy little girl at my efforts to get away. The blood rushed to my head. All I could think about was hurting him. I thrashed around in vain. I couldn’t get free as long as his big body was on top of me. He let go of my hands and kept laughing as I struggled to get out from under him.
“You can make this easy or you can make this difficult Jenny.” He leaned close to me, his chest smashing my breasts, his breath gagging me. “I wanted you since the first day I saw you. You were meant to be mine, Jenny.” His thick fingers found their way under my shirt. They felt splintery and rough, like shards of wood. He squeezed at my breasts as if they were made of play dough. In the dusky light, I could see his tongue poke out from dry lips. He leaned down and licked my neck and my cheek.
“I could have you right here Jenny. No one would say a thing. They’re all afraid of me, you know.” My pulse sped up. I felt something hard poking into my abdomen. He unsnapped his pants and loosened the zipper. Roc grabbed my hand and shoved it down between his legs. I tried to pull my hand back but he pressed hard against me. I was trapped. His whole body became tense. He closed his eyes and rubbed himself against me.
Oh God, this is not happening.
My body and mind separated. My mind went somewhere far away. Anywhere else. Anywhere but here. When I heard him moan, my mind suddenly snapped back to reality. I grabbed between his legs and twisted as hard as I could. He screamed and his body went limp. He fell over moaning. I shoved him off me and jumped to my feet. I stood over him for a moment. My breath came in short, hot puffs.
“Don’t… you ever… touch me again. I would rather die than be your ‘girl’.”
He stared up at me through half closed eyes. I ran down the street and turned the corner - out of his sight. I wasn’t sure where to go. He would look for me everywhere. In the moonlight, I backtracked and watched him, hidden behind bushes. He lay in the dark a long time. The night was empty. I wondered what he would do to me. Break my neck like he did to Shane? Slam a metal bar into my head? Or maybe he would skin me alive and savor my screams.
Finally, he crawled to his knees, then to his feet. He climbed the steps to his house and went inside. I wondered if I had sentenced myself to death.

peopleofwalmart.com

2009-12-01T04:14:54Z

peopleofwalmart.com is hilarious. Sort of. Until you start to realize those are REAL PEOPLE, and they think there's nothing wrong with how they look.

insomnia

2009-11-20T04:47:53Z

How many things can I think of that keep me from getting a good night's sleep:

1. finances (always)
2. my oldest daughter is out there driving around somewhere. I hope some idiot doesn't hit her.
3. my youngest daughter is waiting in line to watch the New Moon premier tonight - I hope she doesn't fall asleep in school tomorrow.
4. the kitchen is a mess.
5. my dad and his grouchy girlfriend are coming for Thanksgiving. If she brings her bottle of bourbon, I'm going to really lose some sleep. And she needs to keep her gas to herself!
6.Our min pin seems to have a very flemmy cold.
7.Thanksgiving prep this weekend.
8. I need to really do some serious writing and revising. Why can't I be as motivated as other writers?

that's all for now. maybe writing them down will help me sleep tonight.

Home remodel: my new library

2009-11-17T02:28:39Z

My new library. It's not quite done but it's coming along pretty good

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The closet is being made into a nook for a roll top desk. As soon as the bookshelves are secured to the wall, I'm going load the shelves up!

And I even found time to write this week. I fell a little behind with Nanowrimo, but pumped out over 6000 words this weekend. I'm going to have to start thinking of EVERY month as a Nanowrimo month. Writing really is a state of mind.

blogging

2009-11-11T05:43:22Z

I like writing a lot. But I'm not sure I like blogging. I'd rather read them. I tried keeping a blog about my experience being a surrogate, which fizzled out because:

1. I forgot about it most of the time, and
2. I had to wait forever (over a year) for the mom to get her act together. I was getting too old to wait any longer and called it off. (I wanted to be able to have a glass of wine on my 40th birthday.) So, no surrogacy, no blog.

I'm going to give it another try. Maybe once or twice a week.

This month I'm consumed with Nanowrimo and getting my house fixed up for the 20 something guests I'm having over for Thanksgiving. Miraculously, I've been able to keep up the 1667 words a day without too much stress. I'm marla67 at nanowrimo.org.

Tomorrow, new flooring will be installed in the library downstairs - I'll post before and after pics.

I think the problem I have most about blogging is that I feel like - who gives a crap what I'm doing...

I'll let you know if something really interesting comes along.