SweetZ loves to do my hair. She brushes, blow dries, and fluffs it at least twice a day. Usually more. It’s the best. I love her intense look of concentration while she’s doing her thing – play is serious business around here.
Today SweetZ is decked out in a pink sparkly tutu, loaded down with bracelets and necklaces, and has more barrettes in her hair than I would have thought possible. She is a Walking Talking Explosion of Girly-ness.
She says to me, “Mom, can we play? I have lipstick. Let’s brush our teeth and put on lipstick.”
I say, “I’d love to sweetie, but I need to work a little, first.”
“But mom,” she says, twisting a strand of my hair in her chubby little fingers. I notice the dirt under her nails and smile. She likes digging in the dirt almost as much as she loves doing my hair and playing ballerina. “But mom, I can smell your breath.”
“You can?”
“Yeah. It smells like coffee. And stinky cheese.”
“Stinky cheese!”
“Yeah.”
I grin at her. “Okay. Let’s go brush our teeth, but then I need to work until Alice wakes up.”
“Let’s brush our teeth and put on lipstick. You’ll work better with lipstick on.”
My grin widens. There might be some wisdom there. “Alright. Toothbrushes and lipstick. Let’s do it.”
“And then I will fluff your hair while you fluff your book.” She grabs her Tinkerbell brush, holding it out in front of her like Arthur wielding Excalibur. How on earth can I say no to that?
I can’t.
“Sounds good to me.”
oOo
Shrilugh’s sequel, The Darkening, is coming along. I’m not ready to give y’all a release date just yet, but I wanted you to know that I’m making progress. If you’re interested in some of the things I’m chewing on while I’m writing, check out this Pinterest board.
If you’ve read Shrilugh and loved it, I’d love it if you left a review over at Amazon, iTunes, Smashwords, or Goodreads. Actually, if you’ve read anything recently and loved it, I’m sure the author would appreciate a glowing review – not only for the positive affirmation, but because your good reviews help encourage others to buy our work. *grins*
And if you haven’t read Shrilugh yet, do! It’s only $2.99 (for an eBook) on Amazon, iTunes, and Smashwords.
Myndi Shafer 
SweetZ is a doll! I love the way she maneuvered you into brushing your teeth (stinky cheese, indeed), putting on lipstick, and letting her fluff your hair.
KA-SNORT! on “fluff your book.”
Thanks for the morning grins, Myndi.
Isn’t she the best? Have a great day, Gloria!
Haha! Your breath smells like “stinky cheese” – only a kid will tell you. 😉 You have the best posse, EVER.
Very, very true. I’m very loved. 🙂
P.S. – good luck with the sequel-writing!
*grins* Thanks!
🙂
She’s adorable! Now I’m compelled to put on some lipstick so I can be more productive. Her ‘stinky cheese’ comment reminded me of when I was pregnant with my first. I had lifted my shirt to let my 3 year old nephew feel the baby kick. He leaned over and smelled my stomach. When I asked him what it smelled like, his reply was, “Brown meat.”
Okaay, then … 😉
OHMYGOSH – just totally snorted coffee out of my nose. IT BURNS!! ‘Brown meat’ – that’s priceless.
Coffee-snort … My job is done!
A-freaking-DORable, Myndi. Seems like you have an awesome, and highly entertaining, crew in your court. Good luck with the sequel!
Thanks! And, yep, when it comes to having fun, my kiddos have got it down pat. 🙂
Ahhhh! I remember well. Thanks for the memories. What a little darling! They are a gift.
Good luck with your book! I am still working on my first one!
Where are you at in the process, Susie?
Just at the last climax of the first rewrite. I have been off for nearly two weeks for vacation and need to get back into it!
I took some time off, too. It’s been REALLY hard to get back into the swing of writing, which is kindof weird for me. Hopefully I’ll find my rhythm soon. Good luck, Miss Susie!!
Thanks so much!
I actually have no problem writing and wrote two articles on Monday. One got published in the newspaper today. Yay!
It’s getting back to the book that is hard. I think it’s because I am at the end and have to make some really big decisions. The next rewrite will be a breeze!
Congrats on the article – that’s super-fabulous! And best of luck with those big decisions – I’m sure it’ll all work out beautifully. I’m doing the editing hack-n-write right now. It’s such slow going.
After commenting here yesterday, I put on my big girl panties and “hacked away!” 40 pages left. Whew!
Thanks Myndi and good luck to you!
PS at least we are hackers. So many won’t touch their words and edit!!!
Sounds like you made some serious progress – that’s great! I’m such a sloooooowwww editor, but you’re right – at least we’re not afraid to do it. It’s like decluttering for me. I like to pitch the stuff I don’t need. 🙂
Myndi, your kids are so freaking precious. Also, SweetZ is quite the intelligent one. I can testify that I do indeed work better when wearing lipstick. 😛
Happy writing! Shrilugh is next up on my TBR list!
She is a GEM. Also, she was born with an intrinsic understanding of the power of lipstick. I swear, the girl was born with a Sephora bag in hand. 🙂
So adorable! Love the book fluffing too. And Myndi, I really like the new look you’ve got going on for your site. Good stuff!
Thanks, Coleen! And I haven’t forgotten about your book and chocolates – I’m just a *little* terrible about remembering to take them to the post office. *squinches nose*
Tell SweetZ I ran off and put on lipstick. She’s right; I’m working better now.
Good luck with Shrilugh II!
I told her. She said, “That was a good decision.” 🙂 Somethings, like lipstick, are always a good decision.
This was the first thing I read this morning and it made me smile. I needed that today. (It’s hard to smile with shingles.) 🙂
Oh so GLAD to make you smile. I’m so bummed for you. How long does it take to recover from shingles? Anything I can do in the meantime?
Supposedly, the time line is 2-4 weeks. I’ll let you know. 🙂
Oh, blech. Hang in there, sweets.
Awww – nothing better than a good hair fluffing. And, she is absolutely right – we are more productive with lipstick on. And we look better too!
Congratulations on the book! Good luck with sales.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
The general consensus seems to be that our productivity is directly affected by lipstick. I think I need to go to Sephora and do some scientific research on it. 🙂
Myndi, this melted MY heart! I can only imagine you how smiled after this conversation. So fun! And you need to make that photo into a greeting card and I will so buy it. Side business? Personalized bookmarks with your Shrilugh purchase? Eh? Eh?
I could help market this. You can pay me in chocolate and first dibs on your funny notecards/bookmarks…ooh mugs? 😀
You’re so adorable, Jess! 🙂 You’re like Buddy the Elf: Will work for sugar and smiles. 🙂
I’m in a store and I’m SINGING!!!! 😀
Have mercy! I’d like a play date with SweetZ!!
Gotta go put on my lipstick. SweetZ speaks the truth! Good luck with the sequel!