Friday, February 22, 2019

Flashback Friday

February 2009:
This was an eventful month.

It began with Bruce Springsteen singing the halftime show at the Super Bowl, though I can't recall who won, the Cardinals or the Steelers!  I do remember Bruce sliding into a camera, crotch-first.

The famous Octo-Mom gave birth...god, those kids are 10 years old now!  At least she's not still making headlines...

I began walking twice a week with the HS moms, and finally visited Charlie's Candy Shop and some downtown stores I'd only driven by.

We had three deaths in the family; D's Uncle Jack , my 'adopted grandma', Cecelia, and either her friend Kenny or Wally, who had no arms and loved it when we'd bring Lucky to the facility.

I was dragged onto FB via our HS reunion coordinator, who decided it was a better effective way of letting everyone know the plans.  I resisted at first, but quickly grew to love it!  Thanks Freddy:)

Writng-wise, I finished writing OTC and raised my status in a friend's eyes, as he read it and told me I'd surprised him.  "You're NOT 'just' a romance writer." 

"Ummm, no, I'm not."

Also, edits arrived for ASEW, and my already-published friends laughed when I posted about being excited about it!

I was invited to sign at the Blue Moon Art Gallery on one of the First Friday Art Walks....no one showed up to see me, but still had fun talking to those who came into the store!

S and I decided to finally unwrap the Mama Mia DVD and watch it.  Movie begins, I start singing.

S hits the 'pause' button.  "Mom, don't sing."

So I start humming.  Again she pauses it.

"How do you know these songs?  You didn't see the Broadway show; we didn't go see the movie.  We just unwrapped the DVD, so I KNOW you haven't seen this!"

"Honey, it's the music of ABBA.  I've been singing these songs since I was ten years old."

Eye-roll from the teenage daughter.  ""Just....don't sing."

The Pinky/Mikey/Oreo Comedy Show was in full swing! Click the link and scroll down.

Next Month:  Edits Make Me Snarky

***********
Present Day:
Our weather continues to hover in the 30s, and rainy.  On a positive note, we've only had a light dusting of snow, so yay!

I managed to write a short story on Monday, then discovered on Tuesday the glaring plot-hole in the center:  If it's barely 30 degrees outside, and my heroine is wearing a 'chilly shoulders' top, the last thing she'll want to do is be outside on the patio of a bar!  Oops...but on the other hand, it could be a 'foreshadowing' moment for what's about to happen?  Still, I'm opting to go back in and change it.

Teen came down with strep throat last week, and was out of school two days.  Granddaughter didn't feel good Monday night, but bounced back and was fine Tuesday morning.  Spouse woke up Wednesday with the stomach flu, and I'm praying I don't catch it!

Friday, February 15, 2019

Flashback Friday

Feb 1999
This year, I think I simply made a delicious meal for the family, and sent the kids off to school with their Valentines.

This might have also been about the time S began wearing her black jeans and black turtleneck to school, since her friend Dalton liked her in it and 'black is Grandpa's favorite color.'  Since she only went to school one day a week, I had a chat with her teachers about her choice of wardrobe, and convinced them she wasn't depressed; she was simply wearing her favorite outfit to impress her 1st 'boyfriend'.

Next Month:  Baseball sign ups 

********
Present Day:
Am putting the final touches to two books, in order to get them both back up.  Catered Romance is nearly finished, with having the chapter headings revised, and I'm waiting to see if it's too much trouble to switch Winning Her Heart to a Molly Daniels book.  If N can't switch it via photoshop, I may send off a query to Val about doing it, and seeing how much she'd charge.  I also need to switch the blurb, since I changed all the main character names.

I hope to get the e-version of Catered Romance up for pre-order by March 1st.  Going to offer it for $.99, with the full price being $3.99 on May 21st.  That's also the planned date for the print version to go live.

I wanted to do it on May 19, but that day happens to fall on a Sunday.  What do you think?  Release it on Sunday or Tues?

We're having the Bundy Valentine's Day this year, since our tax refund arrived today.  Payday happens next week, so S and I fixed pork chops, mashed potatoes, and California veggies.  W has strep throat, so he spent the day in bed.  He was still feverish this morning, so hopefully he'll feel better by Monday.

S also brought me a dozen yellow roses and a yellow bear, along with two bags of peanut butter eggs:)  A got a brown bear with a heart-shaped box of chocolates, and a Nutella snack.  After taking A to school this morning, S went to the store and brought back doughnuts, a large case of bacon (on sale for $10!) and some other goodies.

Breaking News:
My College Kid proposed to his girlfriend this morning!!!!  They arrived with fresh doughnuts to let us know the news:)  We like J; they've been together over a year now, and I think they're planning to wait until after K graduates from college to set the date.





Friday, February 8, 2019

Flashback Friday: Me and My Big Mouth....

Feb 1989:
Recap:  DB and I had been dating for nearly a year, and his juvenile antics were making me weary.  Senior-itis was definitely beginning to set in, and I'd also reconnected with JF, who had divorced the woman he dumped me for!  I broke up with DB for the grand total of six days, but only after he whined about our breakup.

JF and I continued to have long phone conversations, and I also had developed a mild crush on one of the guys we hung around with.  Problem was, nobody knew his last name!  So when the opportunity arose to send him a Valentine through the dorm, I did so....but badly mangled his last name.

Valentine's night, I found an excuse to be in his room with another friend, but no 'secret Valentine' was delivered.  Resigned to the fact no one knew who he was, I concentrated on the upcoming party with DB and JF.

I separated those candy hearts with sayings on them into two piles.  All the 'lovey' ones were going to JF, while the more 'friend' ones would go to DB.  I drove down for what would turn out to be a very tearful weekend.

I told you I was bad at Valentine's Day, right?

While at the party, I knew DB had a crush on a girl named Y, and when I found out she liked him too, I stupidly told her to hang on for about two more weeks, and he'd be all hers.  What did she do?

Ran right to him and told him what I'd said, which caused DB to blow up at me.  JF got involved and told me he didn't feel 'that way' about me anymore, which stunned and shocked me.  DB and I had a long talk, and ultimately decided to stay together.  But I was humiliated in front of my friends, and very depressed.

Next Month:  Senioritis Rears Its Ugly Head aka My Panic Attack

********
Present Day:
I finally finished filing our taxes yesterday, so our Valentine's Day celebration will be closer toward W's birthday.  We're not getting much of a refund this year, which sucks, and I managed to get the number we owe State down to just over 1,000.  We have got to get state taxes paid out of the SSI!  Maybe this is the year we'll finally do that?  Only been saying we need to do this for the past six years....

Roofers finished last week, but it began raining on Tues, and suddenly we had a waterfall above the kitchen sink.  I called them on Wed, and the guy immediately came out and fixed it.  Turned out some of the siding had been knocked loose.  Half an hour later, no more waterfall!

Good thing, because it rained all day Thurs, and a tornado touched down south of town.  Kids had a two hour delay due to fog yesterday, and the buses had issues getting kids home from school.


Tuesday, February 5, 2019

"Punt Bowl' 2019

Forget the Super Bowl.  Sunday's match up between the NE Patriots and the LA Rams turned into a battle between two defensive lines.

Pregame:
Admittedly, I missed it, since I was in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on our snacks, which consisted of:
Ham and Cheese Sliders
Chocolate-Chip Blondie with Maple-Butter Sauce
Hummis and pita chips
Honey BBQ wings
Pina Colada mix
Iced Tea
Pink Lemonade

Since we have no access to local channels, I signed us up for a free trial of CBS All Access.  But because I was in the kitchen, Daughter didn't hook up the laptop until 6:30pm.

I missed the anthem, the coin toss, and the kick off.

When I joined the action, Brady had just thrown an interception.

1st Qtr:
It became a battle for 1st downs. Rams would punt, Pats would gain yards, then have to punt it back.
I think the Pats did make it to Field Goal range, but missed.
Score at end:  0-0

2nd Qtr:
Punt-fest continued for several minutes, and the Pats managed to get a field goal.
Score at halftime:  3-0, Pats.

Halftime:
I like Maroon 5, and my only complaint was he didn't sing Payphone.  I had no clue who Travis or Big Boi were, though I do wish Travis had cleaned up his lyrics.  I didn't think it was the snooze-fest everyone else thought it was, though at one point I joked if Adam took off any more clothes, he'd have his own Wardrobe Malfunction.

3rd Qtr:
Rams began picking up 1st downs, and even began getting to the other end of the field!  But Pats sacked/intercepted/caused them to punt.  Still, they did manage to make at 43 yard field goal!
Score at end:  3-3

4th Qtr:
With 5 minutes left in the game, Pats managed to make a touchdown.  A few minutes later, Rams almost scored a TD, but with a flag on the play, they could not recover and had to punt it away.  Pats marched it back down the field and with two minutes left, scored another Field Goal.  Rams simply couldn't recover, and the game was over

Final Score:  13-3

Commercials:
I LOVED the M&M one; the Bud Lite/Game of Thrones crossover, the Bud Lite saga, and Budweiser, as well as the Stella Artrois and the car commercial with the elevator.  I also enjoyed the Mr. Peanut one, and an Audi commercial which turned out to be a dream caused by a guy choking on a cashew.

The ones I missed, I caught up online, but didn't understand some of them.  Chance the Rapper and BSB?  Meh.  2Chains?  Meh.

Daughter and I discovered that if we took the time to update Facebook, or even check a site, we'd come back to the game and wonder, 'who's got the ball?'

We did find ourselves cheering every time the Rams would get another 1st down, and I was even hoping they'd tie it up again with a TD.  But no....Brady now has his 6th SB win, and tied with the Steelers now for most SB wins.  Will they try for 7?  Who knows?

See you next year!

Monday, February 4, 2019

February Goals

So.....it seems I made my Yearly goals, but not any Monthly goals for January!  What did I do?
-Finished Hair Affair
-Lost 2 lbs (238)
-Kept up with Online shows and DVR'd 'Nostalgia TV'
-Paid for August book fair (Minneapolis)
-Planned March Comic Con, April Book Fair, and possible May Comic Con, plus PrideFest.
-'Hibernated' during two snowy weekends
-Had new roof put on the house
-Was a guest on The Star Chamber Show
-Started filling out tax forms
-Watched Ep 1-3 of SE 7 GOT(finally!)

Health:  Fought off a cold, though still sneezy
Ankle:  Continues to have its good days and bad.

Books Read: 22
           Print: 9
       E-Book: 12
           DNF: 13

Karaoke Songs Added To Good List:  16
                                                   Thurs:  9
                                                       Sat:  7

What are my February Goals?
-Finish taxes and get them filed 2/7 Check!  Getting small Fed refund, but have to pay State.  Bleh.
-Buy stamps and mail Christmas cards
-Send packages to Wa and Tx
-Write #2 in Regrets
-Write new Bad Decision story
-Submit Dreams poem/write Dreams short story (2/18:Check!  Came in at 3638 words; will edit and give it a title before submitting it) and get it subbed Subbed poem 2/9:)
-Enjoy the Super Bowl (Pats vs Rams) Pats won, 13-3; see post 2/5/19
-Lose 5 lbs (starting wt:  238)
-Organize more of basement
-Watch the rest of SE7  GOT Check!
-Spend an enjoyable Valentine's Day Check:)
-Figure out pre-order on AZ Check:)  It's up as of 2/21!
-Pay for Cil-Con (Sept, $50); Vision Comics (March, $20); N.Evansville (April, $35 check!); Washington (April, $25-50)
-Pay cover art

Feb. Reading Schedule
E-Book:
Santa's Surprise-Jean Joachim DRR!  Loved this!
Angel's Master-Sandra Sookoo Don't know how this one didn't get read before; enjoyed it, but skimmed over many chapters.  The ending was very surprising!
Jesse's List- Mysti Parker DRR!  Loved this!
Unpredictable Heart-JJ
Renovating The Billionaire-JJ
Mike and Heather-JJ DRR!  Loved this and couldn't put it down:)  Now want to read Sandy and Rafe's story!
Home For His Heart-Angela Raines
The Gift of Forgiveness-AR
Never Had A Chance-AR
Christmas at Holiday Peak-Candace Havens
Be Mine, Maybe-Sandra Sookoo
Mountains Wanted-Phoebe Alexander
One-Jane Blythe

Karaoke Songs:
Thurs:
With Out You-Hinder DNH or Motley Crue Did fairly well:)
99 Times-Kate Vogel DNH
Beauty and the Beast-Celine Dion/Peabo Bryson Nailed it!
Who Knew-Pink Nailed it:)
Woman in Love-Barbra Streisand 2/14:  Did well, with slight off-key moment on 1st verse.  Place was packed, so will re-sing this next week. 2/21:  Nailed it!
White Rabbit-Jefferson Airplane Nailed it:)
If This Is The Last Kiss-Meat Loaf DNH??
With Heaven On Our Side-Foreigner Did well:)  Quicker tempo than I was used to.

Won't Get Fooled Again-The Who
Written In the Stars-Tinie Tempah
Where The Rubber Meats The Road-Meat Loaf
Words Get In The Way-Miami Sound Machine
Before He Cheats-Carrie Underwood



Sat:
Ring Ring-Abba Did well:)
River Deep, Mountain High-Ike and Tina Turner 2/9: Mangled the bridge, and camera batteries quit.  Will have to re-sing.  2/23:  Did MUCH better!
River of Time-The Judds DNH
Roam-B-52s Had a rough start, but recovered by the chorus:)  Crowd pleaser!
Say You Will-Foreigner Nailed it!
Roar-Katy Perry Nailed it:)
Rock-n-Roll Fantasy-Bad Company Did fairly well on this:)



Friday, February 1, 2019

Flashback Friday: An Unusual Valentine's Day Gift

Feb 1979:
I think I mentioned before that I'd been on the swim team for over a year now, and was dismayed last month when I found myself bumped up to the next age group.  I had trouble in practices keeping up, and since that group used the clock to keep distance between swimmers, I struggled because I couldn't see the second hand.  I ended up counting to ten, in order to not dive in too soon, but since I was slower than the person behind me, I often ended up going last in practices.

One day we did a mock swim meet, and since breast stroke was my specialty, I often swam that leg of the Individual Medley.  In the middle of our heat, I bent down into position as the butterflier grew closer....and the strap to my swim suit broke!  I motioned frantically for her to fix it, but she couldn't, and I ended up diving in anyway.  Needless to say, climbing out while holding one hand to my suit was a little awkward, but my teammates realized what had happened, and someone handed me a towel as I climbed up the ladder (fortunately, our lane was on the outside!).  Mom wasn't thrilled at having to buy me a new Speedo in the middle of winter.

Top of the List....Not An Honor
Normally, I'm the type of person who's never at the top of any list, unless it was reading.  So imagine my surprise when we went to a swim meet, and my name was at the top of the 100 meter breast stroke list.

My excitement was short-lived when it was pointed out the names were listed slowest to fastest.  In swimming, you want to see your name at the bottom.  I quit the team soon after, due to my issues during practice and that humiliating eye-opener.

Valentine's Day:
My boyfriend of now seven months decided to make me a pipe cleaner anklet and fastened it around my left ankle, saying we were now 'ankled', since he didn't have a pin or a ring for me.  I wore that thing for weeks, until someone asked me about it, and the teasing about me going with a boy from a rival school resumed.  I quickly changed my story to say I was using it to keep my pant legs tight, so it didn't get caught in my bicycle chain, but that didn't make sense either, since I only wore one.  Finally, I stopped wearing it altogether, and the teasing stopped.

Next Month:  Square Dancing!

********
Present Day:
The Arctic Blast reached us this week.  Wed, the low was -4, and the wind chill was -22.  Yesterday, when we left for Indy, it was 10 degrees, but -3 in Terre Haute and -5 in Indy.  But on the way home, it rose to 15 in Indy, and 22 at home.
Our roofers arrived on Tuesday and shingled the entire front half of the roof:)

Spouse and I went to Indy yesterday, for his semi-annual trip to see his doctors. He received a clean bill of health again, so yay!  I also sold two copies of Whispers....one to Danielle, the cardiac nurse, and the other to Dr. Steve:)  Ate lunch at Primara Bros (by Cabellas), and dinner at Golden Corral with ES and her hubby.  So good to see them!  Daughter F's wedding is planned for May 25th, the same day I might be in Chicago.  Ugh.

My mom was released from Rehab yesterday!  Dad is beyond thrilled to have her home again:)

Update on Roof:  They came while we were gone yesterday and got most of the back half finished.  They should be done today, so no more leaky kitchen roof!