On Monday, my office passed final inspection. HOORAY! The cabinets still have to be finished, and the internet isn't up and running, but yesterday my desk got moved over, so it's all happening. (As they say in Almost Famous. I also love, "Does anyone remember laughter?" and "Your looks have become a problem!" Oh, don't get me started on quoting from that movie, I will go on all day.) I have to say, though, even though I am way excited, it's also a little daunting. The last book I wrote in my actual office was Lock and Key: Along For the Ride, and what I'm working on now, have all been done in either my daughter's room, while she slept downstairs, or our guest room. Glamourous, yes? It's like when we moved to this house from our old Durham farmhouse rental, where I wrote in a back room with brown carpet and wood paneling that resembled a cave. And I still had to write facing a wall so I wouldn't get distracted. Then we come here, where I have windows and this big airy space, and I was convinced I'd never get anything done. But I did.

That's the thing. Writing is a job you can do anywhere. Sure, it's nice to have all your creature comforts, and I think most authors have their superstitions and habits, ranging from working a certain time of day, every day (guilty) to what kind of music they listen to, or what they eat while they're writing. But if the last couple of years, and books, have taught me anything, it's that really, I don't need anything other than my laptop and time. The rest is just gravy. Nice gravy, but gravy. So even though it may be daunting to take my show on the road (or across the breezeway and up the stairs) I know eventually I will adjust. Although I might have to face the wall for awhile first.

Now that I'm starting to pack up, I'm realizing how much stuff I have accumulated in my office since we moved in here ten or so years ago. LOTS of books, mostly. Now, I know a lot of people consider books to be decor, and the more you have, the better. But I'm a big believer in passing books along to other people. If I like a book, I'll usually pass it around to my friends and family and then donate it to the library. But if I LOVE a book, I'll keep it and put it on my office shelf. It's like the best of the class, or something. Going through them this morning, you can see what I mean: lots of Anne Tyler, John Irving (three copies of A Prayer for Owen Meany, my favorite book ever) my personalized copies of novels by Lee Smith, Doris Betts and Jill McCorkle. I also have signed copies from Pat Conroy and Dave Eggers. Nice, right? Plus some of my favorite books about writing---Bird by Bird, What If, On Writing---and ones that were given to me as gifts that have personal meaning. In all, they only fill about one big bookshelf, which isn't much, I know. Then I have a smaller shelf of my own novels. It's not rooms and rooms worth of books, like the house I grew up in. But they are all mine.

Okay, I have to go pack up some more boxes. The hardest part, I swear? Not getting all caught up in the nostalgia, looking at every single thing as I pack it. I found a bunch of How to Deal lipglosses yesterday and got all misty! I am such a sap. Honestly.

Have a great day, everyone!

Okay, so, not to alarm you or anything, but there are only ELEVEN days left until Christmas. Holy pajamas! I thought I had, like, much more time. Better get cracking.

In other news, I debated this morning whether I should even discuss the fact that I caught a couple of episodes of Jersey Shore on MTV this weekend. Why? Because a show like this is so completely over the top that you really need to watch about ten hours of Masterpiece Theatre to atone for it. I know there's been a lot of reaction to this show, especially from the Italian-American community, claiming it is full of stereotypes. And, well...it is. These people are SO overblown and exaggerated, it's like they aren't even real. I know people from New Jersey, and they are not like this. But it's MTV. People have figured out that in order to be on these shows, you need to be a "character," not just a person. And I know that if they were filming a show about NC and looking for Southerners, they'd probably pick the most Yee-hawing, tractor-driving folks they could find. But, seriously. I think, stereotypes aside, I am too old to be watching any show like this, about people in their twenties. When The Situation (and that's what he calls himself, I am not even joking) got pink eye, all I could think was that it was probably from the hot tub, which most likely needed to be disinfected. Yes, I am a mom. It's official now.

(It has just been pointed out to me that The Situation did not, in fact, get pink eye. That was Vinny. I stand corrected.)

(On a related note, The Situation, as a nickname, has become a running joke around here. My husband has decided I should be called The Complication. I personally like The Aberration. I could go on and on.....)

The rest of the weekend I spent indulging my office supply obsession, which was just entirely too much fun. (Again: geek.) My office is almost finished---I might actually get to move in before the new year!---so I had an excuse to hit Staples, which is always a great thing. Only fellow office geeks will appreciate the fact that I am having to transition from my regular file folders (manilla, letter size, tabbed) to hanging folders in my new cabinets. Confession: I don't like hanging folders. I feel that things fall out the sides. It's like a Pepsi or Coke thing among us office supply people: you either like one or the other, it's all personal preference. But I can adjust, right? On the plus side, I have an excuse to use my label maker, which is, like, the most fun thing ever.

*reads over entry*

Between Jersey Shore confessions and my labelmaker, I am NOT coming off well here today. Quick! Let me talk about something that makes me look cool, stat!

*thinks*

I got nothing. Oh, well.....

Have a great day, everyone!

1. Well, it's official. I knew changes were coming, but I don't LIKE change, especially in the morning when I am not fully caffeinated. But, yes: George Stephanopoulos is replacing Diane, and JuJu Chang is replacing Chris, who, in my opinion, deserved his own last day and not a kind of "don't let the door hit you on the way out" in the midst of Diane's big celebratory farewell. Clearly, though, nobody is listening to me. I do LOVE me some Juju Chang, though. So clearly, even when the higher-ups shut a door (and ask you not to let it hit you as you exit) they open a window. So, welcome George and Juju. I will do my best to adjust. Starting Monday. Today, I reserve the right to just get all verklempt.

2. In other TV news, the Top Chef finale was Wednesday night. But, because I am super lame, I just couldn't manage to stay up and watch it live. So yesterday, I had to do the whole news media blackout thing, so I wouldn't see a spoiler of who won. It was HARD. I couldn't read Google News all day, and now I know I am kind of addicted to that, which I guess is helpful. But last night, we FINALLY got to sit down and watch. And I don't want to ruin it for any of you who haven't had a chance yet to watch it, so I will just say I was not really happy with the outcome. It was kind of like Project Runway: I understood why they picked the person they did, but it would not have been my personal choice. I will leave it at that.

3. I've written here before about how I am kind of obsessed with lipstick and lipgloss. My favorite brand, for years, has been Stila, for all kinds of reasons, but especially because it was the ONLY brand that didn't have some kind of drying agent in it that, apparently, I am kind of allergic to. But I just got some new lipstick from Stila and now I'm having a reaction. What's up with that? Does this mean I have to abandon Sephora altogether and start buying my lip stuff at Whole Foods? Oh, please say no. I don't think I can quit that place, allergies or not.

4. It was announced yesterday that Kirkus Reviews, one of the big book reviewing magazines, is being shut down. It's right up there with Booklist, Horn Book and PW when you're waiting for reviews of a new book, and totally nervous about what people will think of it. I can't believe that Kirkus is being shuttered, especially since I FINALLY managed to get a good review out of them for Along for The Ride. They gave me a star! I should have known it was the beginning of the end for them. It's like the center could not hold, or something. Oh, well.

5. Speaking of writers and writing, this week Amazon announced their annual Breakthrough Novel Award contest, and this year, there's a prize for YA fiction as well. And guess who is listed as a judge on their "panel of experts" ? Stop laughing! I'm really excited to be part of this contest, and I'm looking forward to reading the finalists in the spring. If you have a novel--General Fiction or YA---and want to enter, go here for more info. And good luck!

Okay, I'm grabbing some tissues and my coffee and sitting down to catch the last half hour of GMA. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Oh, I just don't even know what to say about the latest GMA developments. It's, like, a bad news-good news situation. The latest is that Chris Cuomo will leave for 20/20 or (sob!) another network and George Stephanopoulos will replace Diane. That's the BAD news. The good? Supposedly, Juju Chang will then become the news reader. And you KNOW how much I love Juju:

She's the whole reason I got to visit the set last year! She introduced me to Diane and Robin and Sam AND Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens. I mean, come on. I kind of owe her my life for that. Plus, she's a totally sweet person and a GREAT reporter. So I'm happy, happy, happy for her. But in a perfect world---and I know this isn't one, none is, but we can dream---they would have moved Chris up to co-anchor, brought Juju in as news reader and TA-DA: dream team. Sigh. Oh, well. I'll shut up now.

In other news, all the power stuff went well on Monday, and my office now has LIGHT! Check it out:

Cabinets come later this week, then carpet next. It's actually starting to seem REAL, finally. On the downside, the power outage apparently caused a fatal error (don't you hate that term? It's so scary!) on the DVR in our playroom. The other one, that has all my Friday Night Lights and Hoarders and everything else, was fine. Which is great. But the one that died had ALL of Sasha's shows: a ton of Olivias, Gabba Gabbas, and Sesame Streets. POOF! They're all gone, leaving me to try to explain why we can't watch Slimy get a pet bug or Olivia in the old west anymore. Yikes. A new receiver is on the way but we're basically relying only on DVDs until it gets here and we can start taping again. I don't let Sasha watch much TV---and I know some of you are shocked to hear that, but it's true---but we do let her have a little while she eats breakfast, and I'm not sure how long we can keep watching these same DVDs over and over before there's some kind of toddler riot. I am trying to stay calm, at any rate.

So I've written here before about how much I love Rosie O'Donnell. I used to watch her talk show RELIGIOUSLY. I even timed my trips to the gym so I could be on the treadmill when it was on. Then I watched her on the View, until that kind of imploded, and she disappeared. But then, flipping around my Sirius XM radio the other day in traffic, who do I hear but Ro? She's got her own morning show, every weekday morning. Hooray! If you've got Sirius XM, find out more here. I am such a nerd that I am just waiting for the chance to try and call in. I would DIE to talk to her, even for just a second. No joke.

Finally---God, sorry this entry turned out to be so long---I got a request from someone on the comments asking for book recommendations for holiday gifts. Personally, I loved the new Jennifer Weiner, Best Friends Forever, and I'm eagerly awaiting Anne Tyler's latest, which is coming out in the new year. Also I LOVED Olive Kitteridge, which is not the newest book but was new to me and reminded me what great writing is all about. What a book. If you have other recommendations for this reader (and for me!) feel free to leave them. Especially if they are picture books. We have all the Olivias and all the Corduroys, and have read them a million times, so I'm ready for a change, Big time!

Have a great day, everyone!

I know it's actually Sunday night, and I normally don't post until Monday, but tomorrow, I will have no power. I don't mean in the figurative sense---although I often do feel powerless, in oh so many ways---but literally. We're at the point with our garage construction that the new power lines have been run, and tomorrow there are all these people coming over to inspect and connect and do a new transformer. Which means at some point---probably just as I am writing a blog entry---the power will go out, I'll have no internet, and that will be that. So here I am.

In other exciting news, this weekend I FINALLY got around to watching Twilight. We had some friends over and I had the DVD from Netflix, and the boys agreed to put it on with one codicil: they would be allowed to mock it as much as they wanted. I said sure. I have to say, again, that vampires are not my thing. I am not into sci fi or fantasy or really any stories that couldn't happen here in this world, right now. But I TOTALLY get the appeal of this movie. A lot of it, for me, had to do with Robert Pattinson, who I have been reading about in US Weekly for ages, but never seen on screen. He is not hard on the eyes, I will give you that. When I wrote this on my Twitter, though, I was surprised how many people got SO mad at me for liking him. Apparently, you are either Team Twilight or not, and there's no in between. Can I just say, though, in my defense, that I don't think it's really about vampires? It's the hair.

Exhibit one? Luke Perry, circa 1990 something:


And here's Robert Pattinson:


And don't even get me started on Johnny Depp in his 21 Jump Street Days:


Yeah, I know. It's kind of creepy. I never really THOUGHT of myself as a person who liked the long, moussed-up hair thing. Especially since I married someone who had a shaved head when I met him. But apparently, this is a trend with me. Although I have to say, Robert Pattinson's is kind of above and beyond. It looks like birds could be living in there. But still: cute.

The movie as a whole, well, it wasn't really my cup of tea. I didn't really expect it to be, though, for all the same reasons the book wasn't. I'm just way too literal and I like stories about real people. If they have big hair that looks like it could harbor wildlife, clearly, all the better.

Okay, I'm off to catch up on Top Chef and Hoarders. Got to get my TV on before I'm powerless. So to speak.

Have a great night, everyone!

1. The latest news is that ABC has offered the GMA host job to George Stephanopoulos. Now, don't get me wrong. I like George just fine. Remember when Monica and Rachel were obsessing about watching him take off his shirt on Friends? (Yes, I know he has many other great accomplishments other than being mentioned on Friends. But this is the Friday Five, after all.) But George already has a show, on Sunday mornings. And, honestly, I'm just not sure he can move so easily between interviewing world leaders AND doing cooking segments like Diane did. But you know who CAN?

That's right. Also, I'd like to point out that if George comes, and then Chris LEAVES (which is the rumor, that he'll move on if he doesn't get moved up) then we, the loyal viewers, are down HALF the team. And I don't like change. Especially in the morning when I have not yet had my coffee. It's going to be hard enough to go without Diane. But Chris, too? Oh, GMA. Don't make me quit you.

2. In other news, I've been getting a lot of requests lately for some info on the book I'm working on. I want to tell you that I am very flattered that people are so excited about the prospect of another novel (my tenth!). But to be honest, I just don't like to talk about my books when I'm writing them. I'm getting kind of nervous even writing this entry, actually. It just seems like a jinx. Plus, I learned way back in college, when I was in brutal writing workshops trying to write my first novel (now in a dusty box in my attic, where it belongs) that input AS I write does not help me. I like to have my book and characters all to myself until it's done. Then, I pack it up and send it off to my agent, the One True Voice, for a yay or nay. Until she sees it, though, nobody does. My husband doesn't even know what I'm writing about. So I'm not ignoring your requests, just honoring my neurotic yet necessary process. I'm sure you understand.

3. Speaking of my crazy ways, can I tell you how much I hate to make big decisions? This was why I was TERRIBLE at wedding planning, which I was in the thick of ten years ago right now. All these little choices that are so important (or seemed like they were, then): cupcakes or big cake? champagne toast or no? buffet or sit-down? Oh, I'd just get totally paralyzed and end up freaking out. Now, I'm having to make all these decisions for my office, like picking carpet. I know, I know. It's carpet, you walk on it, big deal. But do I get beige? Or a lighter beige? Do I get berber or loop pile or something sort of shag-esque, which the carpet people insist is not retro but really cool? Oh, dear God I have no idea. I actually tried to send my husband to just pick it out himself, as I trust his taste, but he refused. I am honestly at the point of just closing my eyes and pointing at the samples, that random. Leave it up to fate. It can't go THAT wrong, can it?

4. Speaking of my wedding, I can't believe it was ten years ago this June. Also crazy? I will be 40 in the same month. FORTY. Holy crap, how did that happen? I had this totally crazy realization, while watching Cougartown, that I might actually be a cougar at forty. Or maybe I've BEEN a cougar, and didn't even realize it? How can this be, when mentally I still feel like I'm about eighteen? I can't even think about it. When I turned thirty, I was so distracted by my wedding, which was four days later, that I couldn't really think about it. But forty is big, wild jungle cats aside. Luckily I have six months to brace myself.

5. Finally, I'm heading out today to do some Christmas shopping and it's got me thinking. I'm really trying to do less in terms of gift buying and give more to the NC Food Bank, because they really do so much good and a lot of folks out there can really use help right now. It's a little tricky with the gift thing, though, since this is the first Christmas that my daughter is actually aware of what's going on. She's been reading Olivia Helps with Christmas for weeks now, and has already informed me she wants toys for her gifts. Yikes. So far I have only bought her a couple of picture books, and I know she wants some playdoh, which she was introduced to at a playdate this week. I really am trying to avoid bringing any more huge, plastic THINGS into this house. (Especially huge plastic things that made noise when buttons are pushed.) Simple, simple, simple. I'm thinking puzzles, crayons, no batteries required. It's a noble aspiration, right? We'll see if I can actually pull it off.

Have a great weekend, everyone!