lighten up

The Write Words

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:10:00 +0000

Dialogue is one of my strong points in writing, but in real life I often sputter over my words. When trying to talk smack to my husband, he'll say, "Should we go instant message each other so you can come up with some decent retorts?" Daniel is great at real life dialogue, and that's probably why I excel at writing it, but every now and then I can be funny, too. Here's a couple of our conversations from this morning that I got a kick out of:

Dan is excited about getting HDTV today. "Even Sponge Bob will be in high definition!"

He's going to have to try another way to get me excited. "I don't care about either Sponge Bob or HD," I say.

Dan gasps. "Please rephrase your comment so it doesn't break my heart."

I rephrase. "I hate them."

Then we were talking about a meeting that we have to attend on Monday and who we should hire to babysit the kids. This gets me much more excited than HDTV.

"We can make it a date!" I suggest, thinking we can add dinner and a movie to our evening.

Dan gives me a blank stare.

"Remember those things?" I tease.

Yes, it all sounds silly now that I write it, but I enjoy silly. ;-p You'll see when my books come out.

The Rock and Worship Road Show

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:02:00 +0000

My kids weren't really ready to watch five bands at their first concert, but I got a lot out of it--even though Lauren fell asleep on my lap for the last hour.

Addison Road--So glad she performed. She's having a baby in a five weeks, so I'm guessing she'll take a little time off from touring.

10th Avenue North--They were probably my favorite because they had the words to the song on the screen, and that's my learning style. (Yes, that makes me a geek.) I also feel attachment to their songs since a friend of mine recently fought in his first cage fight, and though everybody else came out to the heavy metal song of their choice, he came out to By Your Side. Beautiful.

Hawk Nelson--They make me want to teach aerobics to Christian music. I choreographed step routines to Friend Like That and Let's Dance. They were my son's favorite.

Jeremy Camp--Could have listened to him all night. It was like he'd forgotten we were all there and was singing just for God. As he was repeatedly singing "Hallelujah" my husband leaned over and whispered (yelled) Jeremy's history to me--how he'd married his high school sweetheart even though she had cancer and how he wrote a song on their honeymoon... As a romance writer, I just had to tear up a little.

Mercy Me--Dan recorded the crowd sining I Can Only Imagine on his phone. An amazing moment.

We then went out for pie to celebrate our friends' son's birthday. The kids got their second wind and we made it home by 1 AM. Definitely a night to remember.

My first concert memory involves Carman. Remember him? Kids couldn't fall asleep when he was entertaining. What ever happened to him?

Anyway, I went to the Carman concert with my best friend from first grade, and I recently found her again online. Now her husband is in a band. Here's a little bit of their muscial talent for you to enjoy.

Embarrassing Weekend

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Embarrassing Moment #1

My kids like to get "kid packs" from the library. They come with games, toys, books, puppets and more, and each pack has a theme like ballet or chess. So last week we brought home the Black History Museum Kid Pack. I knew it had some dolls in it that my girls were playing with, but I didn't really pay attention until my African-American friend Tiffany came over. Her one-year-old picked up a doll to play with, and Tiffany was like, "What the heck?"

On closer inspection I found that the dolls represented the historical slaves of the South. There was an Uncle Tom like figure dressed in rags and a big floppy hat, and there was even a woman stooped over as if working in the fields with a baby attached to her back. Not the most politically correct toy, to say the least. Of course my husband had to tease me about it, but we all had a good laugh after I explained.

Embarrassing Moment #2

Every year for our Upward awards night we have a guest presenter. This year it was a ventrilliquist. No, I didn't get called up on stage again, but I did draw a little bit of unwanted attention to the cheerleading squad I coach.

We'd been watching the act, and a couple little girls said they had to go potty. I asked if they could wait. Finally they couldn't hold it anymore, so I motioned for them to quietly head toward the back of the sanctuary, and I stood to follow.

Unfortunately we were in the very front.

Unfortunately the whole team decided they had to go.

And unfortunately it was right as the presenter gave the invitation to accept Christ.

My husband Dan had been sitting right behind me with his basketball team. I guess he leaned forward to ask my assistant coach why I was running out of the room with my whole team the moment Jesus was mentioned. When explaining to him later, I admitted that I felt pretty bad about ruining the chance for my team to dedicate their lives to Christ.

Now if you know my husband, you know that he likes to dispell my worries by blowing them into such rediculous proportions that I can't do anything but laugh. He sang me a revised version of that song "Thank you for giving to the Lord"--a song about a man who goes to heaven and finds out all the surprising ways he touched people's lives. Dan sang: "Thank you for taking me to the bathroom, even though I'm now in helllllll."

Terrible! But I laughed harder than I have in a long, long time. It's a good thing I can laugh at myself.

Writing Advice For Myself

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:51:00 +0000

A friend just wrote and asked for writing advice. He has an editor interested in one of his novels, which adds pressure to his writing. He said, "My writing scope feels inadequate to the task." I know the feeling well. And after I wrote him back, I decided I need to keep my words of advice for myself. A good reminder when I lose focus. Maybe you all can be encouraged by them as well:

This is what I suggest. Feel free to write garbage for the first draft. Feel free to take risks. Turn off your mental editor and write from your heart. Then when you get to the end, read books like Writing the Breakout Novel and apply them to your story. Bravely slash the stuff that doesn't work. Add in new twists, deeper conflict, and tangible emotion. Tie it all together as best you can. Then hand it over for critique to writers you trust. Let them slash and suggest. Take their feedback and use what feels organic to your story.

Whatever you do, don't lose the passion. And Pray. Make yourself humble. Lift it up to God. Dance for joy because of the opportunities He's granted you. Revel in the knowledge that God is going to use you in ways you can't possibly imagine.

Then get ready for rejection. Take it in stride, knowing that it's not a reflection of your worth. It's simply one step closer to a dream you've allowed yourself to follow. Being willing to take another step is the mark of true success.

Ready to Race

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:07:00 +0000

So I won a scholarship from Cec Murphey to attend a writer's conference in May. I'm already stalking all the presenters who will be there--just on Facebook, so don't worry.

My ACFW chapter awarded a couple scholarships to our IDAhope Writer's Conference last month. The best essay entry was from a woman who lives in a shelter. She compared her desire to have her writing published to the desire of a little boy who caught a big fish and is not strong enough to carry it far enough to show anybody. I learned a lot from her humility. Beautiful.

Here's an analogy of my own. Writing a novel that no publisher will buy is like training for a race, setting up on the blocks, then finding out the starter pistol is broken. I've had a few too many false starts. Now I'm ready to run. Thanks, Cec!

Blog-A-Book

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:30:00 +0000

I'm having so much fun helping Rachel Hauck and Susan May Warren write a book. As if they need my help. But anyone can get involved. Right now we're voting on names for the main characters. I picked out Jaxon and Makenzie.

Come on over to my book therapy and get creative. In the Voices chatroom we're currently making up "lies" for the main characters to believe. And we're trying to think up an "inciting incident". If you've ever wanted to write a book, this is a great place to start. And better yet, all the proceeds from the book are going to be donated to fight against sex slave trade. Everybody wins.

For Your Fiction Wish List

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:40:00 +0000

Three summers ago I met my critique partner Christina Berry at the Oregon Christian Writer's Conference. This past weekend she came out to Idaho to speak at the IDAhope Writer's Conference. See, she sold her first novel, so now she's on the other side of the table. :-) I'm so excited for her that I want to tap dance.

The Familiar Stranger comes out in October. It's about a man who gets amnesia in a car accident, then gets a second chance at the life he'd previously messed up. It will keep you guessing. And yes, you can judge the book by its (dynamic) cover.

Ten Years

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:16:00 +0000

January is the busiest time of year for our family, so to celebrate our tenth anniversary, Dan and I were only able to go out for dinner. (We've got big plans for later on this year.) Now, I say "only", but I am so blessed by our dining experience. First, we went to Epi's--known for their Basque food and named after a cook who emigrated to America from Spain in the 20's. Second, we were served by the woman who will be catering our meal at the IDAhope Writer's Conference. Bridget was bubbly and attentive. As my husband put it: "She was the best thing about the meal." Third, the whole dinner was paid for by the IDAhope treasurer. Thank you, Carol!

Before I go on, I have to tell you about the food. (I'm a stay at home mom, so usually the only time I don't have to cook is when my kids have a play date at Carl's Jr.) We started with calimari, though I don't think we would have ordered an appetizer had we known that both soup and salad came with the entree--not to mention the bread. (That's a whole meal at Olive Garden.) Then the main dish came. Shrimp stuffed fish in a cream sauce--I'll be finishing it for lunch tomorrow. Last, Dan told Bridget to surprise us with a dessert to share. And boy did she. Green apple bread pudding made from croissants, with fresh whipped cream and Epi's homemade caramel sauce. Wow! This was especially cool because Dan and I love bread pudding.

Now back to our anniversary. :-) In the card Dan gave me, he said that the best thing he's ever done was walk into my dorm room on my first day of college. Ahhh, how romantic, as my five-year-old daughter would say when Dan and I kiss and she's pretending that we're Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical. The truth is that Dan walked into my dorm room looking for my roomate who he'd dated the year before, but that just adds the needed comedy to my romance. In response to Dan's superb line, I simply quoted Jeremy Piven from Gross Point Blank. "Ten years! Ten years, man!"

Grandma Makes a Splash

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:44:00 +0000

So, my novel is coming out next spring or summer. I was working on it tonight, and I stuck a real life story into it. I can't tell you what happens in the book, but in real life my Dad promised my grandmother that if she rafted down the Icicle River with him, she wouldn't get wet. Dad let her sit up on the back of the raft, and he stayed close to the bank. Unfortunately, that meant when he rounded a bend, an overgrown bush was able to knock her backwards and head first into the water. I wasn't there, but all my family saw after the splash was my grandmother's feet sticking out of the water. She got pneumonia from the incident, but she's okay now. Hi Grandma! Thanks for inspiring my writing tonight. I love you.

Fun and (Spy) Games

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:52:00 +0000

Since we didn't make it to Portland to spend Christmas with family, we've been continuously receiving packages of presents in the mail. Today my son Jordan got dart tag, and I have admit that I have terrible aim with a gun, but I could sure act in a spy movie--sliding across the floor on my side, weapon ready, or ducking behind a couch just in time. It was great fun, though the kids were rowdy for the rest of the night. When Dan got home, he asked if the apple juice had fermented. Just a normal night in the Meuser household.

Sometimes

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:43:00 +0000

I wrote this poem in high school. It was published in our school newspaper over thirteen years ago. I'd like to think that I've grown up and matured since then, but sometimes things don't change.

Sometimes

Sometimes I fit in.

Sometimes I stand out.

Sometimes I am sure.

Sometimes I have doubt.

Sometimes I am hidden.

Sometimes I take center stage.

Sometimes I roam free.

Sometimes confined to a cage.

Sometimes I can't stop laughing.

Sometimes I cry myself to sleep.

Sometiems I want to rise to the top.

Sometimes I'm afraid the road's too steep.

Somtimes I fall in love.

Sometimes I hate it all.

Sometimes I know who I am.

Sometimes I can't recall.

Merry Christmas!

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:59:00 +0000

We're a little excited, as you can see...

O Fake Christmas Tree

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:35:00 +0000

We were supposed to go to Portland for Christmas, but because of all the snow, I-84 has been closed. We kept hoping the snow would melt and we could make it. We didn't. So that's why we ended up shopping for a Christmas tree on Dec. 23. But guess what. Fred Meyers didn't have a single tree left. We were about to head somewhere else when my husband got distracted by a fake tree display. What distracted him was the price--regularly $300, on sale for $75, Dan talked them down to $70. We couldn't pass it up.

I always thought fake trees were for clean freaks who didn't want to deal with pine needles or for safety freaks who were unwilling to bring a fire hazard into their home. I'm neither of those. But now that we're in Idaho, a fake tree makes sense. (And it's easier for my hubby--who is great at business and sales and fun and psychology, but not so good with a saw and a tree stand.)

Coming from Oregon, we thought we could go to a tree farm for our first Christmas here. The overgrown Arbavidas in my backyard would have made nicer trees. So the next year we drove up into the mountains for our tree. While in the mountains, my daughter got the flu and my husband got a speeding ticket. Since then we've just gone to Fred Meyers. But no more.

I'm going to miss the smell of pine. My husband texted his brother (back in Oregon) and told him about our tree. His brother texted back: Sinner. Having a fake Christmas tree is kinda like having a manger scene without baby Jesus. Just wrong.

What do you all think? Fake or fir?

Making Memories

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:02:00 +0000

Jordan has come a long way since his first Christmas program at church. When he was a preschooler, I led his class out to the stage to sing, but when I turned around he was gone. At first, I couldn't figure out where he went. Then I noticed a wave of heads in the congregation looking down towards the floor. Jordan crawled under the seats all the way from the front of the sanctuary to the back. Six years later, he's owning the stage.

Tonight Jordan played part of the clean-up crew in a muscial. They were three boys who rocked out to their air guitar brooms and mop microphones. Jordan had a feather duster drum solo. For a grand finale, the boys were to take a knee. Jordan kneeled then lept up into the air (in a move I'm guessing he learned from guitar hero) and recieved thunderous applause. Who is this kid?

My daughters also made me proud onstage. Caitlin was such a little lady when singing "Away in a Manger", not to mention the way she gave her lines perfectly. And though we woke up to the sound of Lauren vomiting this morning (too much candy at last night's Christmas party) she still donned a halo and took her position in the manger scene.

To cap off the evening, we returned home (it was still standing despite Dan's attempt to burn it down by leaving water boiling on the stove for hot cocoa) to watch the whole thing again on our new HDTV--Dan's Christmas present to himself. And if that wasn't enough, we also used the Wii to look at all the pictures I'd taken during the musical. The Wii has a neat little gadget you can use to draw on top of photos. Dan gave Caitlin a booger hanging out of her nose, Lauren got glasses, and Jordan grew some angry eyebrows. This might not be a tradition we continue, but it's one I'm sure they will remember for a long time.

For more pictures, click here. Here's wishing many memorable moments to you all during the holidays.

Christmas is Coming

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:29:00 +0000

Last night we watched Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, and I've never enjoyed it more. My kids hadn't seen it, and they got such a kick out of Snoopy. We rewound the part where Snoopy dances on the piano, and we just laughed and laughed. We've been so busy lately (and I've been sick) that we hadn't done any fun family things. The cartoon, hot cocoa, and Christmas cookies made the evening perfect.

The Perils of Publishing

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:14:00 +0000

About two weeks ago the right side of my back really started hurting. I stopped to get a free chair massage on the way out of Gold's, and the massage therapist really freaked me out by saying that I have scar tissue that's attached itself to bone and is going to pull my whole spine out of alignment. She, of course, recommended that I get a massage. My husband teased that a pedicure and facial might also help my problem, but I ignored him and called my masseuse friend Angela so she could come over and "get her hands on me."

Here's the good news: No scar tissue--just a rotated rib. (What was the other masseuse talking about?)

Here's the interesting news: In high school I broke four ribs while cheerleading. I wrote about it, and this became the first article I ever sold. (American Cheerleader published it as the debut story in their IT REALLY HAPPENED column.) Angela's opinion is that most likely the reason my muscles are flaring up now is because I just got a verbal offer for my first CBA novel. She said that the feelings associated with my broken rib experience have been recreated, which activates muscle memory. I'd never heard of such a thing, but I find it fascinating.

Anyway, I'm planning to get used to this pain in my ribs because I want to sell lots more books. I'm sure I can suffer through a few more massages if I have to.

School Visit

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:10:00 +0000

I gave an author talk in Jordan's class today. We played a game where I had the kids all try to write the first line of the same book. I then mixed up their sentences with the original, and they had to vote on which one they thought was the real first sentence. (If you read my last blog, you'll see a trend in the games I play.) I also showed the students pictures from my scrapbook that inspired some of my stories. Then I got to read some of my stories, too.

Fouth grade is fun. They get my jokes. I love seeing their smiles and hearing them laugh, knowing it's because of the words I wrote.

NAKED BABY ON THE RUN is usally a class favorite. Jordan's favorite is now SPY BABY--I caught him spying on his sisters the day after I read it to him. And I loved the reaction I got from just the title THE SIBLING S.W.A.T. TEAM. I hope that someday I have illustrations to go with these manuscripts.

IDAhope

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:49:00 +0000

The local ACFW chapter I started--IDAhope Writers--had the last meeting of our first year this week. It was our best meeting yet. I'm so blessed to be a part of such a neat group. Let me share the reasons why.

1. Adam Graham announced that he had part of his political blog published in Mike Huckabee's book, Do The Right Thing. His name is even listed in the bibliography. This book is ranked as a best seller on Amazon. How cool is that?

2. We had a visitor, Vlad, who moved here from Russia. He had three books printed in Russia and is hoping to translate them to English and sell them here. They have international settings, and one was even a bestseller. The cool part? The people who made Pirates of the Caribbean were talking to him about making a movie out of one of his books.

3. There is also a guy in our group who writes a hunting/fishing column for a variety of newspapers in the Northwest. He suggested that I write a column for young moms, and he'll have one of his friends translate it into Spanish. He believes there is a big need for it in our area, and he wants to help me pitch it to his editor. This isn't a dream of mine the way writing fiction is, but it's an open door. And not only was I a young mom, but I started a MOPS for teenagers here in Boise. I'll have to get to work on some sample columns this weekend.

4. My Vice President and Treasurer gave me flowers. I gave them cute little Christmas ornaments that read: Always Have Hope.

5. We played a game where we divided up into two teams. Each team had to pick five books and write new first lines for each of them. Then the teams took turns reading both the original line and the rewritten line. The other team had to pick which line they thought was the real one. The game ended in a tie, but we decided that everybody in our group can write better first lines than the authors of the books we used.

6. We had a tie breaker to our game and the winning team each got $5 off registration for our conference in January.

7. It looks like I'll be president for another year, which is a really good thing because I need to make up for all the clueless mistakes I made this year. Anyway, we've decided that we will have ten meetings next year--one a month from Feb.-Nov. Every other month we will have a guest speaker, and in between speakers we will meet for a critique group.

I'm really looking forward to another year of IDAhope.

A Cinderella Story

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:24:00 +0000

I've been having a fairy tale month. No, I didn't move into a castle. I've just been reading a lot of Cinderella stories.

It started when I bought the book CHICKENRELLA for Lauren. She loves it. Not only because there is a princess involved, but because for quite some time we've been calling Lauren our chicken. (This started when she was three years old and would "bock" like a chicken after being introduced to anybody new.) Next, my older daughter begged me to order DOGERELLA from the Scholastic book forms. Now, finally tonight, we watched the movie A CINDERELLA STORY with Hillary Duff. It was cheesy, but cute--like most Cinderella stories are.

Of course, being a writer means I'm writing my own version of the classic. When I get ink for my printer, I'll be submitting NINJARELLA to a New York editor I met at a conference. She was a little too educated and urban for me to feel comfortable around, but I'm hoping the women's lib twist to my tomboy fairy tale will appeal to her.

I've got another idea, as well. In fact, I just penned the rough draft, but I need your help. This version is a fairy tale allegory. Which title works better--SINNER ELLA or SINNERELLA? I want readers to get the connection with Cinderella, but also have an idea that the ending is going to be "happily FOREVER after." Thanks for your feedback!

Playing Dress-Up

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:25:00 +0000

This is me and another Angela--there were three of us at the party. I got a Tinkerbell costume 1/2 off at the Disney Store. Angela was a Greek Goddess. The party was at her house. They have this huge garage (two stories high and big enough for over six cars) because her husband owns a body shop and collects cars. So they set up a basketball hoop and a bounce house in the garage for the kids and the adults got to play poker.

I've never played poker for money before. It was fun. And I think it bothered some of the guys by how well I did. I'd lay down my cards and say, "I only have two tens," and the dealer would be like, "You have a straight." Tee-hee. Out of sixteen players, I made it to the final four.

If you want to see more pics of my kids in thier costumes, check out my brother-in-law's blog. You can also find pictures of him dressed up like "Reformed Hitler" and some other funny/disturbing stuff.

Harvest Par-tay

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:54:00 +0000

This year we set a family record for attending Halloween events. The first one we went to was two weeks before Halloween. My husband was working late on a Friday night so I checked out the events calendar for Boise and found a church harvest party. We hadn't bought costumes yet, so Caitlin wore her old kitty costume. The following week we went to Boo at the Zoo. By that time I'd bought Jordan and Lauren new costumes, but Caitlin still didn't know what she wanted to be so she wore the Pocahontas costume from last year. Finally, on Halloween, Caitlin decided she wanted to be a Japanese princess.

That night we attended Trunk or Treat and were planning on hitting a few more churches in the area just for fun, but Jordan decided to slam his fingers in the van door. He stopped crying when we suggested going home to ice it because he didn't want to miss his opportunity for more candy, but we had another party to attend, so we left anyway. On top of that, when Catilin went to climb back into the van she hit her head on the roof of the car, which jabbed the chopsticks she was wearing in her bun down into her back. The next day she still had a splinter in her skull.

I'll blog more about MY party later. For now, I just want to record the number of parties we attended. Can you say sugar high?

Playing Hookie

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:43:00 +0000

Today I got my kids out of school early to go watch High School Musical 3. This isn't something I normally do, but my sister-in-law homeschools her kids and they drove to town to attend the movie, so we decided to join them. It was very fun. My sister-in-law brought a whole crew of girls, and we pretty much had the whole theatre to ourselves.

I have to say that the movie is very similar to my own high school experience--except for the part about being a beautiful genius who could sing like an angel and dated the hot, basketball star. Oh, and my house wasn't a mansion either. But other than that...

Anyway it was a fun surprise for my kids. When I picked them up from school they thought we were headed for the dentist. Jordan did wish that I was taking him to more of a macho movie. We even thought of a great title for something he would want to see: Sweaty Armpit Man. Maybe next time.

My Little Literature Critic

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:51:00 +0000

Last night I read to my son Jordan from my book coming out in 2011. I love to hear him laugh at the characters I created. He rates my book as one of his favorites. "Mom, that was better than THE KID WHO RAN FOR PRESIDENT. But just barely." The funny thing is he's really into nonfiction, so he thinks I should write THE REAL WATER FIGHT PROFESSIONAL and make it a biography about him.

Jordan might become an author himself someday. As it is, he's a walking thesaurus. I showed him a baby picture from when I was three months old and frowning. This was his response: "You look evil. You look ominous. You look sinister." Yeah, that was me--a sinister baby.

Trashing the Wedding Dress

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:42:00 +0000

We had newlywed friends over last night. I showed them my dated (already) wedding album, and they showed us wedding photos from their laptop. The coolest thing is that after they got back from their honeymoon they did a trash the dress photo shoot. Rachel got dressed back up in her wedding dress and they splashed (and rolled) around in the ocean. The pictures were gorgeous. The coolest thing is that Rachel said some couples do the photo shoot on their ten year anniversary.

My ten year anniversary is in January. Guess what I'll be doing. ;-) We don't have an ocean here in Idaho, so I'm thinking Dan and I will go up to McCall and do photos in the snow and forrest. Unless, of course, my husband decides to take me to Cancun for our anniversary. Then I'd get to trash my dress on the beach. Either way, I need to lose ten pounds... and increase a cup size.

I Made a Student Cry

ameuser@cableone.net (angela) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:36:00 +0000

I remember hearing Rosie O'Donnell and Meg Ryan talk about how doing yoga made them cry. I'd never experienced it before today. During the relaxation section of my Body Flow class, a woman laid and cried on the studio floor. She was fine afterwards. It was simply a release of emotion. I feel privileged to be a part of it.