Book Signing, Silver Unicorn Books

My first signing for Stromple and the Super-Huge Temper Tantrum is on the books (no pun intended) at Silver Unicorn Books at Boutiques of Rogers (in MN).  If you live near the Twin Cities, stop at Silver Unicorn Books of Rogers (northwest suburb) between 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 24 (09).  I’ll be giving away handshakes & bookmarks and will have my books for sale with a rainbow of Sharpies ready for signatures.  Also – come in to sign up to win…something ;)   That is yet to be determined!

Boutiques of Rogers is located at 14192 Northdale Blvd. , Rogers, MN 55374, and is on the corner of Hwy. 101 and Cty. 144/141st Ave. in Rogers.  Bring your shopping shoes, too!  They are open weekends and have a huge variety of vendors, from artisans & crafters to seasonal produce and unique foods.  Lots of great gift ideas!  Check out their link found now at:

www.silverunicornbooks.net

If you’re from the area and are interested in learning more about becoming a vendor, use the contact info from the site.

Find it!

Find it!

Clearing out the cobwebs

It has been so long since I’ve been here!  I blame facebook, really.  On the advice of an “expert” I created both an author page and group for The Tantrum there.  Add to this the fact that my profile is finally active and complete with pictures and links, etc., and you have a very busy me in another place for the same reasons/purposes.

Not sure what will happen after this…

Published in: on August 18, 2009 at 9:02 am Leave a Comment

Advice: Useful site for marketing your book

Interested? Check out this site:

www.strategicbookmarketing.com

They offer services and/or lots of insight, including an article that gives advice about how to use facebook to market yourself and your book, using a profile, page and group:

http://strategicbookmarketing.com/FacebookExample.pdf

I’ve been on facebook for quite a while, but now have both an author page and group for my first book, Stromple and the Super-Huge Temper Tantrum.

My friends love each other. A lot.

Just got back from Vegas.  If I ever talk about going there again, please advise me not to.  I’m not a gambler! 

THAT SAID…

If I do go there again, it will be for another wedding.  Of course, it won’t be for either one of my friends, because they’re going to be together forever.  This is true. 

Of course, they could decide to renew their vows.  If they do, I vote for Cancun or any location where I can find a quiet beach and a cold drink with an umbrella.  That would be great.

This awesome wedding in Vegas was fantastic and meant to be, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.  That’s the honest truth.  How I forgot my tissues and waterproof mascara, I have no idea! 

We’re so happy our friends have found “the one.”  Hence, the crying problem.  I’m sure we depleated the bride’s sisters’ tissue supply in about 10 seconds flat.  The need for tissues definitely put me in a 911 situation; meaning, it was definitely one of my favorite weddings ever.

Congrats, Vicki & Steve.  Love you both!

Published in: on June 29, 2009 at 8:36 pm Comments (1)
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Blogtalkradio Interview with Brian Sandell

Tonight I was interviewed by Brian Sandell on his Blogtalkradio spot, “Before Bedtime.”  The interview will be archived and can be found/listened to by going to blogtalkradio, searching “before bedtime,” going to the Before Bedtime site and finding the 6/21/09 interview.

In the interview we talk about Stromple and the Super-Huge Temper Tantrum, my experience with writing and self-publishing and other related info.

Check it out when you get a chance!

Before Bedtime Blogtalkradio Interview

Before Bedtime Blogtalkradio Interview

Kids having temper tantrums…how to deal with it!

Temper tantrums have been a hot topic for quite some time.  Just search online – you’ll find hundreds of thousands of resources that deal with them.  Bookstores like Barnes & Noble, Borders & Amazon.com alone yield hundreds of books pertaining to the subject!

Understanding why tantrums happen can help parents better deal with kids having temper tantrums.

Kids having temper tantrums are dealing with their frustrations of the moment, whether it’s physical, mental or emotional.  They may be hungry, tired, frustrated, have had their feelings hurt, or are frustrated because we don’t understand their limited vocabulary.  The result of this frustration may be a temper tantrum.

There are certain things parents can do while they’re waiting out this period in their child’s development.  According to Dr. Jay L Hoecker, a pediatrician at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, you should do the following:

  • Be consistent. Establish a daily routine and stick to it as much as possible.
  • Plan ahead. Go out and about when your child won’t be hungry or tired. Always have a snack or portable activity or toy on hand.
  • Encourage your child to use words, or teach them sign language for basic words that are necessary for communication.
  • Let your child make choices (one or the other) when you can, to give them a sense of control in their every day lives.  When they’ve chosen, compliment their choice.
  • Praise good behavior; offer extra attention and lots of praise for it.
  • Use distraction if you feel a tantrum coming on.  Do something – anything! 
  • Avoid situations likely to trigger tantrums.

Dr. Hoecker also says ignoring a tantrum is best.  Like Mama in Stromple and the Super-Huge Temper Tantrum, ignore it and never lose your cool – if you do, your child will only learn that kids having temper tantrums run the show.

Kids having temper tantrums can learn that they really aren’t worth the effort!

This useful tidbit can be found on the site map at www.stromplesspot.com.  The site is still a tiny bit under construction, but I hope it will be finished very soon.  Go there for other great information and resources for kids, parents, teachers, etc. and also for worksheets that reinforce literacy and coloring pages that…well…are just fun to color.  Or, send yours in to the coloring contest for a chance to win a signed copy of Stromple and the Super-Huge Temper Tantrum!

Dream: Powerball Stress, Scary Swim, Strange Turtle and The Lizard Room

(this will move to “Unopened Letters” later on)

Note: I just submitted this dream to dreamschool.org which I found through the “School of Metaphysics” website.

dreamschool.com

dreamschool.com

I first heard about this site when someone commented about my dreams here.  I checked it out, and found the dreamschool site.  If they respond with an analysis of the following dream, I will let you know what they say…even if they say they’re concerned about me :)

THE DREAM

The first part of this dream was set in various gas stations.  I had been purchasing lottery tickets at the request of my husband but kept losing them or getting the wrong ones.  The last station I purchased the tickets from was Holiday – I knew I had the right tickets this time and was bound and determined to get them to Dave.  I asked the attendant for a stapler and stapled them all together.  HA!  Problem solved.

Then the dream moved suddenly to the water.  I was in a lake with a swampy channel.  Another girl and I were in the water – our task was to pull two boats from where they were stalled (I think) to the place where they needed to be.  I was talking with the girl while we towed our boats; while I was pulling and talking, I turned around to look at her.  She suddenly asked if I had seen the dark figure that swam between the boat and my kicking legs and then ducked beneath the water.  I told her I noticed it but didn’t think about it at first.  Then, I was sort of concerned, wondering if I was safe or would be bitten or worse. 

Suddenly the dream moved indoors.  I was entering a house, talking with the owners.  I saw a creature that first reminded me of a turtle – very cute – and, because I wanted to give them a compliment, mentioned how cute it was, and “what is it?”  They told me it was a turtle, but as we walked into the room where it was, it didn’t look like a turtle at all.  It was more sloth-like, but had the head of a human, wore a pink shirt and was climbing slowly up the side of the couch.  I didn’t want to contradict the owners, so I just took it in. 

After a while, we moved to the basement.  The owners of the house then changed – they were still the owners but they looked and acted completely differently.  The woman had been blond, thin and very stuffy-proper; now she had long, thin, brown, slightly curly hair pulled back in the front,  was a bit overweight and was very down-to-earth.  The husband was previously in a gray suit and tie, with a haircut straight out of Leave it to Beaver and a clean-shaven face; now he was one of our friends (don’t want to mention his name) who has a short beard/mustache and was now wearing jeans and a flannel shirt.  The basement wasn’t finished, but had furniture and accessories like is was. 

The couple began telling the story about their “Lizard Room” which was to my right; I faced the woman who sat on the 1980s (I think??) plaid, ruffled couch in front of me and began to tell the story as her husband went to the doorway of the lizard room to check on them & make sure everything was okay.  There was no door on the room he knelt next to.  At first glance, I saw a couple of lizards (all small like geckos) fall/crawl over the threshold of the door.  The man wasn’t concerned at all, and for good reason – the lizards stopped immediately and re-entered the room.  He talked to them all like they were children, but there were literally hundreds or thousands in the room, covering the walls and ceiling in addition to the floor of what was probably an 11 x 11 bedroom. 

Back to the story – the woman was talking about how her husband wooed her even when they didn’t have money, and moved to the time when he was again professing his love for her in a unique way.  He had taken a poster with pre-printed circles and squares for featuring different bits of information, but which was a “second” because when it was printed there was a problem, and gibberish was covering the poster here and there.  She proceeded to read his notes to her, moving from how they met and when he knew he loved her, and how happy he was to be with her in good times and in bad, etc.  That moved to the “bad” times, when they didn’t know how they would pay the bills.  Then came mention of the lizards, specifically, “then I made the decision to get into lizards.”  This was his love note to her as well as a note to tell her that they would no longer need to worry about money.  She reminisced about the time he gave her this strange, life-sized love note, refolding it as she read the last lines from memory: all the numbers in the amount of money they had suddenly made because they decided to “get into lizards” – the number began with 34 and was followed with many, many other numbers that I can’t remember.  I remember there were 2s, but that’s about it.

Note about the “love note”: like I said, it was the size of a poster.  Her husband had folded it in intricate sections that, when combined, all also folded together in a sort of large “card.”  The folds reminded me of that children’s book about Papa getting the moon, but the entire poster-note was folded in this way and that and all came together perfectly.

That’s all I remember.

Published in: on June 15, 2009 at 9:24 pm Comments (4)
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My Mom’s “Secret Glory”

It’s time I opened up.  My Mom has an addiction…to gardening!  Here is one of her recent pictures - I really like this one because dh and I had irises in our wedding:

Angel Iris

Angel Iris

On more than one occasion my mom has said, “I don’t know why I never did anything with the yard when you kids were younger…”   I, in turn, swiftly remind her that it’s probably because she was working practically 3 jobs and raising 2 children.

A no brainer!

There are so many beautiful pictures I’d like to share here, but she plans to sell them online someday soon, and I don’t want to ruin that for her.

Speaking of, if you are reading this and know something about selling a product like this, consider sharing your experience.  You can share your story right here on my site – she’s my mom and she visits often :)

Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Mom :)

Hope you’re having fun and doing all your favorite things :)   I love you SO! much :)

Love,

Stacey Marie

Published in: on June 13, 2009 at 3:44 pm Comments (2)
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Countdown to “7″

So far, here’s our status on Rachel’s “donate a blanket to a puppy in need” birthday party:

  • 5 out of 11 girls have said they’re coming
  • 1 out of 11 girls have said they can’t make it

This means that, even if all of the girls who haven’t RSVPed are NOT coming, I will still have 7 girls overnight at my house on Friday.

Again, what was I thinking?

Oh, I’m just kidding.  I can handle it.  At least that’s what I keep telling myself :)

I have done the following:

  • Bought 70% of the groceries needed
  • Have 20% of the remaining ingredients on “the list”
  • Have forgotten 10% of the ingredients I cannot do without and will not remember them until 3:30 p.m. Friday.  I will have dh go get them, as usual :)

I have also done the following:

  • purchased the fleece for the tie fleece blankets – both the large piece to donate to the shelter for a puppy in need and the stuffed animal sleeping bags each girl will make.
  • purchased the decorations, plates, cups, etc.

I haven’t done:

Um, everything else:

  • cut all fleece and paired pieces for the choosing
  • blown up more balloons than I care to think about
  • charged the camera
  • chosen games in the event of a rainy day (can’t count on MN – does what it wants)
  • made the cake (hot fudge banana split – YUM!)
  • chosen a punch recipe
  • purchased remaining food items for the party
  • purchased pipe cleaners, tags & beads for the girls’ favorite stuffed animal “collars” (new development)
  • prepped all food items
  • prepped the basement for meals and made it convertible for sleeping beauties
  • purchased all the things I don’t realize I’ve forgotten and will send dh to buy last minute before the party
  • prepped all of the things I didn’t realize I’d forgotten and so sent dh to buy last minute before the party
  • All of the things I’m forgetting

There’s more.  Always is!  I just don’t know what those things are yet.  Story of a busy mommy’s life.  Or a mommy like ME, anyway :)

Published in: on June 10, 2009 at 10:04 pm Comments (4)
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