What I've learned this year

Rather than another Too Done List like I did last year, today I'll post about what I've learned in 2010. So here it is, in no significant order:

• Failing to stop the Runkeeper GPS app on my iPhone when I'm done walking really drains the battery. (so, hey... I'm starting off small!)
• Teens can sleep upwards of 25 hours per day.
• The extent to which teen boys can--to quote one of my alltime faves, the Coneheads--"consume mass quantities", is simply staggering.
• Nicole Richie is Lionel Richie's daughter. (and see, I never would've learned that if not for my TMZ addiction)
• It's easier to earn much more from an ebook novella than from a full-length book in both digital and print formats.
• Some 9-year-old boys will walk right up to a teacher and say, "Damn!" (cue visual of me falling over, LOL)
• Sometimes the thing you've dreaded most of all comes along, and forces you to do something much better. :) (waxing philosophical and life-coachey)
• Carly Phillips & Julia Quinn are funny, friendly women--besides being wonderful authors. (Yay RomCon 2010!)
• The best laid plans (ie the most time spent silkscreening and sewing) can still sometimes go to straight to hell. (more gleaned from RomCon, but hey... the upside is, I'm still in possession of a shitton of Autumn Piper sunglass sacks, LOL)
• All bread will mold eventually. Unless it's for a science fair project where a 7th grader is trying to time how long it takes bread to mold after being exposed to germs.
• Telling people I know about being an author isn't as scary as I'd expected. :)
• The staffs at Rifle Middle School and Highland Elementary School are wonderful, helpful groups of people. (Thanks for the support, ya'll.)
• Teachers rock! (yes, I did know this before, but it should be said more, and louder)
• Having 3/4 of your hair turn gray (silver) isn't the end of the world. Nor is it the end of the graying process...
• Something as commonplace as a blownout tire really can have tragic results. To that end, kids are much more adept at finding ways to grieve and cope than we give them credit for. Kids rock, too.
• The most effective fix for SAD (seasonal affective disorder, and no I'm not giving it capitals because I've figured out how to fight it and it's losing) is quality time with a tanning bed. And now I understand why all the coffee kiosks in Alaska also had tanning salons when we visited. Doh!
• No matter how vast the Crouton Collection in my pantry (a small aside: crouton collections don't carry much street value, even on eBay, nor do they increase in value over time)it won't affect the amount of salad I'll consume.
• Everything tastes better with ranch.

So there we have it. Rather an eclectic summation of 2010, but by no means an encyclopedia. And I do like to think I still learn something everyday... that's what TMZ is for!

Have a safe, fun night with little physical evidence to remind you of it tomorrow.

Autumn Piper

Got romance?