Author Archives: Just Call Me Mel

2011: Month of Mel Day 8

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It’s Fat Tuesday! Totally my favorite holiday. Let’s face it…any holiday with the word “Fat” in it is worthy of admiration, respect, and celebration! Also there are beads! and Feathers!

Friday night my friend Laura threw an impromptu Mardi Gras/pseudo Bday party for me since El Jefe was in town. And look! I ate the baby!

We also had a dance off in the play room where (as Jefe so kindly put it) Ellis schooled me. Whatever. I let her win. (or as Laura said, “We forgot to tell Ellis she had to let Mel win…) Hah! No respect. There are a few pics of the schooling on Jefe’s camera. I believe he thoroughly enjoyed watching me wiggle my booty. BTW, I did beat Ellis when IT’S RAINING MEN came on. I guess I just needed the proper inspiration. Hahaha

Feathers, Masks, Beads, and Wine! How can you go wrong???

And for my favorite photo of the evening:

Photobomb: El Jefe does it right. I swear it looks like he’s gonna eat our heads. heh

Had a great night with my friends and it served as a fabulous appetizer for the Day of Mel which is coming up next Monday…

Isn’t the Month of Mel the best month ever? Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! Go out and get your eat on!! Yay Gluttony!

2011: Month of Mel Day(s) 4,5,6,& 7

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So, here’s the thing. I haven’t seen El Jefe in 3 weeks. He was in town Thursday afternoon. I didn’t blog Friday… so deal with it. If I had blogged, it would have gone something like this:

Month of Mel Day 4:

In 1900 my Mema was born today. She was awesome. I miss her and her fried pies.

I haven’t seen El Jefe in 3 weeks and I’ve missed him like I would miss oxygen a little bit. He got me an iPad for my birthday. Let’s all pay homage to El Jefe because he is awesome.

(this is where we pay homage. Do It.)

Saturday

Month of Mel Day 5:

Saturday we went to see Jenn C. do her emcee thing at Electric Cowboy. She was really funny and looked beautiful…I wanted to ride the electric Bull but couldn’t because I was afraid something would go wrong and I wouldn’t be able to do my Sunday event…

Sunday:

Damn. 5:00 A.M. comes really effin early. Just sayin. I needed to get El Jefe to the airport in the 6:00 A.M. range–then I had to get to the River Market to walk/run that half marathon that was a really good idea a few months ago.

My untrained goal was to finish at 3:30. My walking partner, Eric and I finished at 3:25:09. As far as I am concerned, this was a big win.

Here’s Team Melf:
Lindy, Me, Eric, Robyn
Me and Robyn after we finished. We are totally celebrating. As we should be.
And here is my official stuff. I . Am . Awesome . If you don’t think so, then you suck.

I came home with a couple of souvenirs…and I’m not talking about my medal and MELF shirt

Yes that’s a 2 blister, blister. Awesome.

I’m happy. and proud. and so glad it’s over.

Today is Monday. If I’m not at work, now you know why…

2011: Month of Mel Day Three

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SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE!

I gladly share the Month of Mel with the American Red Cross! I am planning to donate blood next week, and I encourage you to do the same. March is officially Red Cross Month…and they need your hemoglobin! So go forth and donate. I’m challenging Team Melf and our cheerleaders to do the same. (Thanks Lynne for the idea!)

In other sharing news (I’m a giver, you see…) yesterday was Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Now I adore anything Dr. Seuss, and so I am donating space in my Month of Mel to some of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.”

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”

“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”

“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”

May you all fall into weird today and have a lot of fun doing it!

2011: Month of Mel Day Two

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THE LEGEND OF THE SPARKLE!

Once upon a time, there was a buxom (isn’t that a great word?) red-head named Melf. Melf wrote a book. A vampire book for teens. Melf sold that book in 2007…and then this other vampire book for teens MADE A BIG SPLASH.

And then Melf’s book came out…and the #1 question Melf was asked? “Do your vampires sparkle?”

And Melf’s answer? “I sparkle. My vampires do not.”

Welcome to the beginning of awesome. (BTW, I’m totally going to buy these shoes. Holy Crap how freaking sexy are they? Plus they are my favorite color AND THEY SPARKLE!)

In all seriousness, I love sparkle. It’s a great word when applied to how I feel most of the time. Sparkle is contagious, so I try to sprinkle my sparkle everywhere I go. The world is just a much better place when it’s all a-glitter. Don’t you think?

2011: Month of Mel Day One

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The Month of Mel has arrived…and with it, so have the daffodils! YAY flowers! and Spring! and Warmth! and Sunshine! and Me!

Check out Kitty G checking out the daffodils in my backyard. How sweet is that?


One thing I’ve missed over the past few years is my flowerbed. In Oxford, I built a ginormous bed which sometimes was way too much work…but the end result was always worth it. I had a beautiful rose garden at the end of the house, two giant star hibiscus, some gardenias (OMG I
This year, I’m not going to plant a garden, but I am going to do some potted plants & hanging baskets on my front porch. Daisies (my favoirite), sunroses, geraniums…anything with color. Because let’s face it, vivid is the only way to be. 🙂

This is gonna be a great day–I’m sparkling bright for day one of the Month of Mel…are you?

a nice surprise

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Saturday afternoon, I popped over to fishdog’s house to pick up the kids. He wanted to show me he’d cleaned out the storage area (where he had very nicely boxed up all my romance novels in one box). We popped below the house to have a looksy. It was very neat and tidy. Who knew?

Anyway, he’d found my old 35 mm camera (not digital) and thought I might like to take the film to be processed somewhere. (do they still process film? haha) I took the camera and the boys and I went home.

Yesterday I was going through the bag, hoping maybe I’d stashed some cash inside…nope. No cash. But I did find something better…

My coin ring. I’d gotten this as a gift in high school. I always loved my coin ring because it was dainty and feminine…not like the manly rings everyone else had. I was thinking about this ring the other day, as a matter of fact….and look! Here it is! I bet I haven’t seen it in 8 years or more. (I bet when I get my pics developed I’ll be able to figure out exactly the year I last wore it…)

Here it is being modeled by Sarah Jessica Parker’s my Man Hands…
I had a great weekend. Made some new friends at the Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas meeting. I had fun chatting about my journey to publishing and just talking about the industry in general. Then they treated me to a very yummy lunch at Corky’s. I do love their hot BBQ sauce!
Afterward, there was an impromptu gathering on the patio at So. It was just too nice a day to go home…
The half-marathon is this Sunday. I sure hope Team Melf is gonna represent!
BTW: it’s my Monday at Fictionistas…where I ask the question: Who Are You?

Nemo

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Here’s my #1 child. He turns 17 in just a few weeks. We always called him Treefrog when he was a baby.

Now his friends call him Nemo. He’s all growed up and stuff. His butt no longer fits into the palm of my hand (not that I’ve tried, but I’m fairly certain that’s an accurate statement) and now he’s wearing his first suit for tonight’s Winter Formal.

I’m a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.

a month of mel history lesson

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Gather ’round the blackboard, boys and girls of the internetwebz. Ms. Melf has a history lesson for you…

Once upon a time, there was a feisty-once-blonde-now-red-head named Melf. Oh wait, that’s a fairytale beginning…this isn’t a fairytale!

2009 was a big year for me. My second book was due in February and in early January, it was barely half written. I started working part-time, was still a full-time mother, and had long ago forgotten what sleep was. I was falling into a very deep depression because my 16 year marriage was falling apart and then in March, I was gonna be 40 years old.

I never worried about being 40 before. Age is a number and I certainly don’t feel that 40 is old. (and can I say, after being carded twice last week, I don’t feel 41 is old either) But with so many life changes happening at once, I was starting to dread my birthday. Hell, I was dreading getting out of bed everyday.

I have never dreaded my birthday. I’ve always had to plan it myself (yes, including most of my own gifts) but even though I was the one planning my annual birthday trip to Oaklawn & dinner at the Brau Haus, I still loved it. I think everyone should embrace their day. It’s magical.

So the fact that I was becoming sad about my birthday worried me. I had been trying to take control of my life…something I had lost a long time ago. I was planning to run my first 5K, I was exercising and losing weight, I had surrounded myself with wonderful people…but still, something was missing.

That something was me…I was relying on others to make me happy and that just wasn’t okay.

I needed to find some self-fulfillment. I was finally self-aware. I knew the marriage was crumbling, I had turned my book in, and I needed to figure out how to find happiness during what felt like the darkest time of my life.

And that’s when THE MONTH OF MEL was born.

I decided I was worth having a month to myself. I created my 40 Things to do at 40 list, (which I think actually only had like 36 items on it) and I began to live the month of March like it was made for me.

And by the end of that month, I had found my sparkle again.

Now, the MONTH OF MEL is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of me. Trust me, I learned the hard way, if I don’t celebrate me, nobody will.

And dammit, I’m worth celebrating.

We all are.

I encourage you all to adopt your birthday month. Celebrate yourself. Find your sparkle. Believe me, if I can find mine again, anyone can…

in less than a week…

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We will begin to celebrate THE MONTH OF MEL!

Remember: A Mel-a-Day will keep the Doctor away!

I’m really stoked about this year’s Month of Mel! Lots of fun will be had by all. There will be a half-marathon, a birthday, a birthday celebration, a tattoo (possibly. Might have to wait til April…) tiaras, pedicures, A MANICURE! (Lola-the-ToeGirl just gasped. She’s been after me to do “something with my God-awful hands” for a while. Or as I like to say, my Man Hands.) We’ll have feathers, confetti, stories, pictures and ENDLESS fun.

I’m going to start off the Month of Mel by treating myself to a trip to my favorite online store: Pinup Girl Clothing

You know what’s great about being a full hourglass figure? Being able to wear sex-on-a stick clothing from Pinup Girl. Dangerous, curves ahead…

My first purchase will be a bathing suit because I have a girls’ trip to the beach in May… and I need something new to celebrate.

I’m leaning toward the cherries…


There’s also a 2 peice cherry that I love a whole lot but I’m not sure I’m ready to be that dangerous. (okay, I’m not sure the world is ready for it…)
Are you ready for THE MONTH OF MEL? (is anyone ever really ready?)

don’t worry, I’ll save you.

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In last night’s weird dreams, I was a WWII nurse. I was also a mercenary. I looked real damn good in my hot little nurse’s uniform, while I was kicking ass and taking names with my bad ass guns and big knife.

I don’t know where any of this came from. I do know that the dream ended with my plane going down in flames and I had to save myself and my patient.

So I hooked myself and dude up to our parachutes, and tossed him out of the plane, then I jumped out after him. Of course, my chute was completely buggered but somehow I managed to dive toward dude, attach myself to him and open his chute…thereby being a heroine of epic proportions. All the while still looking really damn hot in my nurse’s uniform.

It’s my dream, and I’d appreciate it if you’d just play along. Mkay? Thanks.
Today I plan to walk 4 miles at lunch. Don’t know if I can do 6 again…mainly because I don’t have the time. But also because my legs hate me today. But they can just keep on hating me…because I have an image to uphold. I can’t continue to wear a hot nurse’s uniforms in my dreams (and be a kick ass mercenary/angel of mercy) if my legs don’t look good…