Friday Five for March 11, 2016

1. Today is my final guest post with The Really Real Housewives. It's been such a fun week with those awesome ladies. I've been talking about geek parenting on a budget. Today we discuss SCIENCE!

2. I'm working on book #4 of my Totem series, and it's sounding more like a contemporary romance than a paranormal one. Where's all the creepy stuff? My protagonist is fighting hard to make it all about her. Sure, the theme is discovering her true self, but still, I need to drop more supernatural scares in there.

3. The final edits are done for the second book in my Sasquatch Susies series, Big Longing. The release date is April 1st. No joke! The third book in the series is my favorite, so I'm eager for my editor to delve in to that one.

4. Next week is my son's spring break. The first of two weeks. Yup. Wouldn't you have loved two weeks off as a kid? Since we haven't had many snow days, the kids have two weeks off. I'm making playdates and writing a list of things to do. This means I won't be around as much. So please forgive me if I get behind in visiting everyone.

5. Finally a big thank you to everyone who participated in the MEME Blog Hop. It was so much fun! And you made it difficult to judge. Plus a huge thanks to my amazing co-hosts Tara Tyler and C. Lee McKenzie. Here are the winners:

2 Grand Prize Winners of $20 Gift Cards

M Pepper Langlinais

and

Yvonne Ventresca

J. Lenni's

We also chose J Lenni Dorner (Broken Branch Falls by Tara Tyler & Double Negative by C. Lee McKenzie) and Juneta Key (Sudden Secrets by C. Lee McKenzie & Of Blood and Sorrow by Christine Rains) as 2nd runners up, winning two ebooks each!

Juneta's

And here's the rest of our winners, each receiving an ebook:
Michelle Wallace - Jolissa by Tara Tyler
Tamara Narayan - Pop Travel by Tara Tyler
Jess Haight/Fairday Morrow - (still deciding)

Have a fantastic weekend!

Find me at The Really Real Housewives Blog

I'm having so much fun over at The Really Real Housewives blog. Love my hosts. Aren't they a fabulous bunch?

Join me for another post about geek parenting on a budget.

My family always comes first. I love spending time with them. Here are a few pictures of things we've done together recently.

Here's my little guy and his buddy walking along a boardwalk in a wetlands preserve not too far from where we live. There are tons of birds nesting in this area including bald eagles and Indiana owls. All this fun and adventure was free!

 This is the Louisville Arcade Expo. It's difficult to tell in the picture, but that is a conference center ballroom filled with retro arcade games, pinball machines, and consoles. Children ten and under are free. You can pay one flat fee and play all day long. (Tip: it was less crowded in the morning. Saturday afternoon got packed!)

After the expo, we stopped for dinner at Steak 'n Shake. One of our favorite places to eat out. Kids eat free on the weekends when you dine in. Most meals on the menu are $4, and not only do I love that price, but I like that they don't heap stuff on your plate. You get normal portions, so you aren't stuffing yourself. Thus leaving room for milkshakes!

Juggling - guest post by Tara Tyler

Happy Monday, folks! This week I'm excited to be a guest blogger at The Really Real Housewives. I love that blog! I'll be doing three posts about geek parenting on a budget. Even if you don't have kids, it's fun geeky stuff!

Today I'm excited to have the fabulous Tara Tyler as my guest. One lucky commenter will win a free ecopy of her newest awesome tale, Jolissa. Take it away, Tara!

* * * * *

Juggling

I cannot juggle. Juggling takes skill, balance, practice, and perseverance - you're going to drop a lot of balls before you get good!

Here's my definition:
juggling - there's something up in the air at all times

And here is my point:
Juggling life is just as difficult.
We all struggle with finding a good balance between family and work and free time. (I heard that chuckle when I said free time!)

But when all the pieces fall into place, there is peace.

The things we want to do the most, we seem to have the least time for! We work to pay bills so we can enjoy time with our families and our free time. If we don't get enough sleep, we are cranky. If we don't work enough, we fall behind on bills. If we don't keep up with our family and chores, the house falls apart. But don't sacrifice your free time to get the other stuff done!

Putting off to tomorrow things I couldn't get done today is NOT procrastination. It's underestimation of time needed.

NEVER FEEL GUILTY FOR ENJOYING YOUR FREE TIME!  We must have our time - our time to do what we enjoy plus sleep re-energizes us so we can go back to work.

And there is the circle of life, a continuous juggling of time management, trying to keep it all balanced.

Inevitably, life throws an extra ball into the mix, so we adjust. It takes a little work, but it's okay to drop the ball sometimes. And make sure you ask for help - you're not alone! Plenty of clowns trying to juggle their own balls.

Thanks for having me over Christine!



Tara's latest publication is Jolissa - An Anti-Princess Story, a novella with an on-going Youtube storybook.

A trouble-making maiden, a clumsy out-of-work squire, a loyal puppy, and a talking goat go on a quest - What could go wrong?

Tara Tyler has had a hand in everything from waitressing to rocket engineering. After moving all over, she now writes and teaches math in Ohio with her three active boys and Coach Husband. Currently, she has two series, Pop Travel (techno-thriller detective capers) and Broken Branch Falls (fantasy adventures). She's a commended blogger, contributed to several anthologies, and to get all these projects in, she economizes her time, aka the Lazy Housewife. Make every day an adventure!


How to find:
http://taratylertalks.blogspot.com
twitter - @taratylertalks
facebook – Tara Tyler - Author
Really Real Housewives of America