"I highly doubt that."

Today I got a text from a writing buddy who just finished her first draft. She's floating on quite the cushy cloud right now and said that even though she knows she should be sitting back and not diving in to another project right away, all she wants to do is write a short story. You know, like true writers do.

I had just finished a long, self-absorbed emo-fest in the shower when I got her text where I'd convinced myself that maybe I wasn't cut out to be a writer, since it's been forever since I've worked on my story, and when I do find some time, all I can manage to think about it is, "Bluuuuurrrrrggggghhhhh."

So I texted her back, all cheery and sunshine, and said, "Sadly, I seem to have lost that writing spark...perhaps I'm not meant to be a writer after all?"

Her answer, among other encouraging things, was, "Well, I highly doubt that." And it was just what I needed to hear. She helped me back on my writing horse and slapped its bum and sent me back on my way.

Aren't writing friends awesome? My husband is supportive, my family is supportive, but writing friends are there to say "I KNOW!" when you worry about really dumb things like an apocalypse coming before you can get your book published.

So, here's to writing friends. Many posts of praise to come, I'm sure, because YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!

Phew

*blink blink*

Oh, hello. It's me again.

I almost didn't find myself under piles of boxes and dirty laundry that I'm preeety sure were breeding like rabbits in the back of the moving van for the three-day journey from West Virginia to Idaho.

Yeah, kinda like that.

Everything went smoothly, though. My two-year-old even conked out for the last leg of our flight and I got to read! A book!

Also, SkyMall Magazine has something that I really, really need. It's not even a want.

Accio Survivor!

See, this wand can be trained to take over your remote control's functions. An upward flick of the wrist could up the volume. A twirly figure-eight and the TV turns off.

Holy cow, guys. You can't get closer to real wizardry.

My birthday is in July, by the way...

Anywho, I'm thinking maybe I should take more long, languishing breaks, because I got two awards and a meme shoutout while I was gone!

Thanks to Keriann at Novel Beginnings for:

And my fab crit buddy Ani from Anime's Musings for:

 You make a girl feel so loved, really.

Along with these awards (I'm kind of mooshing the two and their requirements together) I'm supposed to tell seven facts about myself.

1) I put way too much thought into random lists like this. I think about them for days or weeks (Ani gave me this award almost a month ago and I've been thinking since then) (I took a good 2 months to write a random 25 list on Facebook). Sometimes, I'll think of a random Jeigh-fact and think, "Ooh, that's a good one!" but then I think maybe it's not quite random enough. Since most of you don't know me personally, though, I'm trying to keep the nit-pickyness to a minimum.

2) My name (pronounced "Jay" for those of you unsure) is actually a typo. It's the name my parents intended me to have, but I was named after an ancestor named Leigh. In my mom's copy of our family history her name was misspelled and my mom loved it. Later she found out it was wrong, but kept it anyway. I hated my name when I was younger because it drew a lot of attention to my shy little self, but now I like it.

3) Speaking of shy, I'm not any more, really, but you'd never know it by talking with me face-to-face. I have this unfortunate habit of turning lobster-red at inopportune times. Like, when people speak to me. Or sometimes when I get caught talking to myself in the grocery store. And especially when people point out that I'm turning red. That doesn't help, people. I also blush when other people do embarrassing things. The worst was in high school, when the guy in front of me farted and I very kindly took the blame away from him by lighting up like a Christmas tree. Did I mention my crush was sitting right next to me? He was.

4) Because of genetic misfortune, I'm missing most of the permanent teeth in the top half of my mouth. The teeth I have are either baby teeth or surgical implants, except my two, large, squirrelly front teeth. Sadly, I never had access to the tooth-shrinking spell Hermione did, so they just stand out.

5) I consider myself exceptionally dorky. My awkward years started early (1st grade) and lasted long (10th grade? Maybe still going...?) I've made peace with it, though. Hi. I'm a dork.

6) I am a sucker for color and patterns. I'm not very crafty, but I've got a huge collection of fabric and scrapbook paper and all sorts of embellishments that are just so. darn. cute. that I can't help myself.

7) I want to own a Great Dane just because I think it would be so awesome to walk a dog that came up to my chest. I would name her Regina, or maybe Ingrid.


The other requirement of these awards is that you pass them on to other deserving bloggers. I'm going to beg moving brain/jet lag privilages, though, and only pass it on to two bloggers who I know without checking haven't gotten it yet.

Emily at Book Savvy. She won me over back in the day with some hilarious commentary on Taylor Swift's love life, among other things.

AND

Julie from rosewood pencilbox. She laughs at all my geeky jokes. And makes geeky jokes back. And I'm pretty sure we're twins separated at birth because SHE CAN READ MY MIND.

So go check out their blogs and send a little love their way.