i like wal-mart.  it's just not what i want to do forever.  what i want to do forever is write and take care of my pets.  i stopped wishing for a decent man who would let me be a stay-at-home wife--he obviously isn't out there.

so i have to figure out a way to make this happen for myself.  my teaching degree is apparently useless here in texas.   i would earn enough for the life i want if i could teach, but of course i wouldn't have any time to live it.  book sales are picking up, probably because of christmas.  my illustrator says he'll have the pics for the second book by april.  meanwhile, i'm working on a "grownup" book.  i thought of it as a coffee table book until this morning, when i realized that it is more like a "bathroom book."  it's a collection of writings, some humorous, some wise, some heart-tugging.  the "chicken soup" people aren't interested, so i'm going to publish it myself.  i found a place to do that:  www.lulu.com.

i'd still like to tutor reading and/or writing, but i don't have the energy this minute to research it.  unfortunately, i've always been one of those people who could work or live, but not both.  i have to overcome that.  right now, i have at least summoned enough in the way of focus to work on the new book.