PRE-HOLIDAY CLEANING/ Jamin Update

 I made a huge dent in my pre-holiday cleaning. Yes, you read that right. It never quite got done before the holidays. ::snort::

The boys moved the freezer, and we gave it away to its new owner. Nolan swept out the garage. Jared moved the grain and co-op laundry baskets to the spot that was formerly occupied by the freezer.

All the kids cleaned their rooms.

I got all the laundry caught up.

We cleaned light switches, walls, doors, door knobs, bathrooms.

I deep cleaned my bedroom. This took several days. ::blush:: I took down all the curtains and hanging stuff from above our bed and washed it. I usually do this when the girls are home because it takes all 3 of us to get it back up. Today, I had Nolan. We tried. It all kept falling down. Finally, I just threw it at the curtain rods - and it stuck. We left it. I think it is fine. ::Snort::

I also washed the shower curtain and will put it all back together after I finish this - so that I don't have a nasty surprise early tomorrow morning. I cleaned under the bed. I went through all closets and drawers and lined the side of the garage where the grain had been with more bags for another trip to a local charity. I even vacuumed the closet. I still need to overhaul the kitchen and deep clean the bathrooms....I think I'll make it a goal to have both those done by the end of this month.

We were tired...and then I remembered I am supplying refreshments for the 1100 service tomorrow....Sam's club it is; sometimes you can do homemade. LOL

I also remembered I am teaching Mike's Sunday school class in the a.m. Prepped for that.

In between dust bunny wars, I fielded phone calls about various food co-ops.

It was a full day.....

OH - and Mike called. Jamin met with a representative from Bethany House today. They are interested in reading Jamin's book - The King of the Reid. They also stressed that Jamin needs to get published in order to have name recognition. This will make his work more marketable. Catch 22? You can't get published unless you've been published. ::snort:: Jamin does have a short essay he wrote on being shy that I think would be good for a teen venue. He's going to try to get that published. He's attended a couple workshops on how to publish so he will have an idea of how best to proceed. He'd contacted Brio or whatever that Focus on the Family magazine is and had been told that they have their own writers and don’t' accept outside writers. He'll knock some more. LOL He may also have an idea of which writing agents he wants to pursue. This is another catch 22. It seems that most publishers would rather you have one (of course, they preview the material LOL), but most agents don't want to accept you until you've published a book. Now, this is all stuff that I've picked up from Jamin. Don't ask me to tell you where HE heard it all; probably the internet somewhere. LOL

We are fully aware that sending his book to a publisher does not mean it will be published...but we're encouraged that he pitched it well enough that they are interested in reading the rest. Prior to the conference, he'd been told that these folks don't accept "unsolicited manuscripts"; now he's invited to send his book. It's a foot in the door.

No pictures today - we were working too hard for Mom to play with the camera. ::snort::