Snow On Friday/(Tuesday*64) = Southern Virginia in January

Thirty degree variation in one week?
I know! Crazy, right?
I'm drafting my Monday morning blog post on Friday evening with nearly 3" of snow outside and temperatures in the 20's. But as a lifelong Virginian - I ain't scared. Oh no! Because if you're a Virginia native like me, you know that no weather pattern is going to stick around long in these parts.

Case in point -- our forecast ---


And quite honestly the snowy icy cold weekend is perfect timing, because I'm on deadline. PECAN PIE AND DEADLY LIES is due to my editor on February 1. It's been a really fun book to write because I've been spending all my free time with honky tonkin' country western singer Cody Tuggle and well....'nuff said! He's a hot hero and if you read Out of Focus, you already know that.

Knowing that we've got a couple nearly 70 degree days coming up next week, I think that I'll be able to keep my buns glued to the chair through the cold days and make the last tweaks so I can play outside later this week :)

Now -- today, JANUARY 28, is National Kazoo Day. So here's to happy memories of kazoo playing birthdays and driving our parents crazy when we were kids. Yes, they still sell them at Dollar Tree - so stop and pick some up and surprise your family with some dinner music tonight. That's bound to get a smile (okay maybe an eyebrow lift).  Trivia:: Alabama Vest (a man, not a clothing outfitter) first invented this delightful-sounding, easy to play instrument in Macon, Georgia in the 1840's.

Wish me luck on the deadline. Hopefully by next post I'll have the final cover for Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes to share with you - coming July 9th!

How's your January been?

About Nancy :: I am the author of the Adams Grove series and the co-author of the YA novel, inkBLOT. I write stories from the crossroad of small town and suspense.

Check out my website NancyNaigle.com and on facebook and twitter @NancyNaigle

Two more Adams Grove novels coming out in 2013. 
Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes will come out in July, followed by Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies around Labor Day.  
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Thanks so much for being a part of my journey.

Hugs and happy reading.

NEW YEARS EVE - countdown to 2013

As we get ready to ring in the new year, it's always a time of reflection for me. I like to look back on the year, the new friends I've made, the old friends I've reconnected with, the progress I've made with personal goals and all the fun along the way.

Here in our household we've always followed the tradition of fresh black-eyed peas on New Years Day for good luck. I start on Sunday soaking a good salty Virginia ham and on New Years Eve I'll be slow cooking that ham and the black-eyed peas together.

Now, it was news to me to learn today that you're supposed to eat collards for money. Who knew? Not me, and I have a garden full of fresh collards. I think I'll add them to the menu just for good measure, even if they don't sound too good together.

We stay home, the husband and I, on New Years Eve and we'll probably celebrate 2013 on the Greenland time zone. I can stay awake that long!

What will you be doing and what traditions do you follow?

About Nancy :: I am the author of the Adams Grove series and the co-author of the YA novel, inkBLOT. I write stories from the crossroad of small town and suspense.

Check out my website NancyNaigle.com and on facebook and twitter @NancyNaigle

Two more Adams Grove novels coming out in 2013. Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes will come out in July, followed by Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies around Labor Day.  Thanks so much for being a part of my journey.
Hugs and happy reading.

Merging Holiday Traditions

I loved Christmas when I was a kid. I wish I could say it had something to do with the religious aspects, but it was the presents, the toys. It was the best time of the year because I got more toys than I could conceivably play with... although I did give it my best effort.

In our family, we opened gifts on Christmas morning. During the night, while we slept, Santa brought our gifts and left them out for us. There were four of us kids, and we all had our special spot. Mine was the single chair in the living room. When I came down Christmas morning, my chair would be covered with toys and clothes. Not wrapped, just neatly laid out.  The year I got a new bike it was parked next to my chair. The same with the chalkboard I received the following year. It was like a party. And later, after my parents woke and got their coffee, we attacked the wrapped gifts under the tree; the ones we'd gotten each other. It was a wonderful experience and although I couldn't put it in words then, when I got older I knew I wanted that same experience for my children.

My first week of law school I met the man who would become my husband. Now, this blog post is not the place for THAT story, but we were inseparable from that moment on. Christmases during the years we dated and the ones after we married, before children, we spent rotating between our two families. He was surprised the first holiday he spent with my family to learn we opened gifts on Christmas morning.

His family opened gifts on Christmas Eve!

As I expressed my incredulity, he went on to share his childhood experience of opening gifts at night on Christmas Eve. And all of his gifts from Santa were wrapped and nestled under the tree. I smiled indulgently, but I knew in my heart that if he was lucky enough to spend his life with me, our children would follow my family's traditions, not his weird ones.

Ten years later, we had a choice to make. We had three children and one was old enough to understand Christmas and look forward to it. We'd continued visiting our families during the holidays, but we both knew it was time to start our own family tradition, and that meant staying at home.

And settling the long debate of Christmas Eve versus Christmas.

We both had valid reasons for our preference and they were backed by years of emotions and memories. It wasn't easy, but we had to do what was best for the family we created, not the ones we grew up with. And in the end, we came up with a compromise that has since become our family tradition. We open gifts on Christmas morning, but they are all wrapped and nestled under the tree, even the ones from Santa.

From the W3 family to yours... Happy Holidays!!

What are some of your favorite Holiday traditions?

Tracey Livesay
True Love in black & white
www.traceylivesay.com
Mimosas at Midnight
Twitter: @tlivesay
Facebook: TraceyLivesayAuthor