Several Things...

Currently Reading: Camouflaged Hearts. I'm already finished with the first story, but I've apparently missed something and I need to go back and re-read a section. I was mildly disappointed; I wanted to jump into the story and grab the heroine by the hair and shake her until she got over her uncertainty! If I'd been in her shoes, it would have been a no-brainer. Unless, of course, there were 2 other people to consider...then I would have raised objections! But they were both single, still attracted to each other, and in the end, it all worked out. But I was still gnashing my teeth at her internal dialogue. And no, Bron, it wasn't yours!

NCAA Final Game Tonight!

I've been going back and forth as to who will win the game tonight, and then I said 'screw it." No, I didn't flip a coin; I looked over my bracket and realized I only picked Kansas to win in the first round! Memphis, I'd picked all the way up until the last round. So, I'm picking Memphis over Kansas tonight.

Goodbye Auntie Rene

I was given a gift yesterday. Hubby and I took the three toddlers (ages 6,5, and 4) to see Grandma yesterday. As all toddlers do, they were soon restless after speaking to her and checking out the birds in the aviary. They settled down when my daughter produced the Etch-O-Sketch, but soon that wasn't even holding their attention. So we left.

I briefly considered popping my head in my aunt's room to say 'hi', but decided at the last minute not to do it, as the 6-year-old always wants to go wherever I go. And we'd only been home a few moments when Jackie called and said she was gone.

As in so many cases, the first thing I blurted was, "But I was just there!" But in all likelyhood, had I gone in her room, I would have found her already gone. I can rest assured, the last time I saw her, she smiled at me, squeezed my hand, told me she loved me and was proud of me, and said she was about to take a nap. And she had read both of my books and was happy I had finally submitted the third.

Funeral arrangements are still pending; she wanted to be buried next to her husband in Kentucky, so I'm not sure where the service will be.

And now for the rant

I won't mention the company my friend works for, but they will not give him any bereavment time to bury his only remaining relative. Parents, siblings, and children are listed, but as his parents are long gone; he's an only child; and only has stepchildren, the fact Auntie Rene is his aunt and 'next of kin' (except for his wife and her children) does not meet the criteria for time off from his work. That is a crime. He lived with her for several years while he was working, to take care of her. After he married, he insisted she continue to live with them, and his wife loves her as much as he does. So why does this company not take into consideration she was all he had?

I met this sweet lady when my hubby and I were dating. She attended our wedding, and made multiple trips to see us, especially after the kids began arriving. She introduced me to Lavryl Spencer books, as well as those by W.E.B. Griffen and John Grisham. We didn't have a computer; we travelled to Cincinnatti and she and John took the rest of the family to the Mall so I could type my manuscript onto a floppy disk. We attended the Tall Stacks festival and enjoyed the day, laughing at the people who chose to eat on the deck of the floating restaurant and shivered, while we were upstairs in the ENCLOSED area, warm as toast, and eating off the buffet.

Ghostlie Antics

My turbie-twist has disappeared. Literally.

I showered Wednesday morning and hung it on the closet doorknob so it could dry. The younglings arrived Thursday afternoon, and Friday morning, I could not find my white towel I use to dry my hair! I looked downstairs; I looked in the chute to see if it was caught somewhere; I looked behind every door! No clue where it has gone. My older kids remember seeing it, but no one has touched it. So I'm back to wrapping my head in smaller towels and trying to balance it on my head once more.

What's a turbie-twist? Basically it's a small turban-like towel with a tiny loop of elastic at one end. You place it over your head, with the elastic at the back of your head. Twist your hair in the rest; flip your head back and place the end through the loop. Voila! Everything stays in place. Especially if you have an odd-shaped head, as I do, or simply want to bend over while your hair is still dripping wet! If I don't find it soon, I'll have to remember where I put the other one...they came as a pair. And I've not seen them anywhere lately.

Record Snowfall

This is for Bron and Brynn. Saw on the news that y'all in Grand Rapids have had...(drum roll please)....107 INCHES of snow, double the normal amount, and here it is, APRIL, and yes, Mother Nature isn't finished with you yet! Whew....that's a lot of snow. And when it melts, it's going to filter down and flood me out, if your water hits the Wabash River. If it flows to the Mississippi, then I'm safe!

And finally...

The results are in, and apparently no one is reading my 'Notes' page on my website anymore. Good; I was getting tired of copying and pasting it. And sometimes the internet would rebell and all my hard work would be lost.

Now the only question I have is, what about the MySpace blog? I've not updated it in a while; does anyone care? I'm sure I have friends who don't read this, but keep up on the MySpace; maybe I ought to be more diligent in updating it. What do you think?

Fooled you...this is the final thought!

Tomorrow is the 200th entry of this site. I was going to give away a free book, but no one entered the last impromptu contest. So if you'd like to win a free copy or download, leave me a comment tomorrow and I'll randomly draw a winner.

With that said, have a great day! It's beautiful outside, and today is our normal errand day. Especially with not having to wear a coat!

Today

3 pm: Just got word that my aunt passed away quietly in her sleep a few moments ago. Thanks to everyone for all their thoughts and prayers.

Final Four

Here's my pic for Monday's final game:

UNC-Lost:(
UCLA-Lost:(

AAAACCCCKKKK! With 3 minutes to go, Kansas is spanking UNC by 12 points!!! There goes my steak dinner...I'm going to have to spring for it this year! Esp since I already said UNC was going to win the entire thing...so far, Memphis is the only team I consistantly picked, save for today's game...Grrrr...check back Monday. Depends on my friend's bracket. Maybe I still have a chance to win this??

Be back later after the signing:)

Had another good signing...sold 4, and the first one was sold within the first ten minutes:) Spoke to several people, including two budding authors.

I also passed out all of my bookmarks; now I've got to get some more made before next Saturday!

I'm exhausted; after I took down my posters and went to the store for some last minute stuff, we grilled hamburgers, brats, and hot dogs; it was in the 60's and beautiful! All the kids have been bathed, and I'm off to put the younglings to bed. And then cheer on my last team, if I don't fall asleep.

PMS or am I Getting Old?

Currently Reading: Bought Camouflaged Hearts last night. Will get to it later.


This goes out to anyone who's lived alone for several years. Do you find yourself upset when your schedule is interrupted?

My college roomie and I lived together peacefully for 5 years. When we graduated, she got married and I moved into my first apartment. Yes, I sort of moved my boyfriend/fiance' in at the same time, but when I kicked him out, another friend stayed with me for 2 weeks while her apartment was being cleaned.

She drove me nuts. Why?

She would play my tapes and put them back in the wrong order.

She left her clothes scattered around.

When she left, some of my clothing disappeared and although she claims she didn't take it, I haven't seen them since. And one shirt was my red Coke shirt.

Now, fast-farward twenty years, and I eagerly welcomed two more toddlers for a couple of days. It's been less than twelve hours, and I'm late getting this post out because of constant interruptions! And I'm irked at their mother...the kids arrived with two sacks of clothing, "all clean".

NOT!

The second bag was soaking wet. And guess which sack the pj's were in? If you guessed the wet one, you're right! So they slept in T-shirts. And their clothes are coming out of the dryer as I type; they also smelled, so I washed everything.

But that's not all; nooooo. Neither child has socks; there is only a pair of pants apiece; and several pairs of summer clothes. Last time I checked the temp, it was in the 40's. So yes, they are bundled in sweatshirts on top of their short-sleeved tops!

So my question again; is this just a case of early PMS, or am I turning into my grandmother, who welcomed us into her home, but made sure we stayed quiet?

Or do I just need to have a chat with my 'oldest child' about how to pack for weekends?

On a good note, I checked my royalty statement for Love is Sober, and I've reached the $19 amount! Yea rah, yippee skippee...five more books and I get another check!

As I've stated, I have another signing lined up for tomorrow. So don't expect a post until later tomorrow night! Hopefully, it will be another successful one.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Stuff...

Currently Reading: Finished Sweet Dreams, by Dakota Rebel. I was surprised; I don't usually like vampire books, and it was far down on my TBB list, but when I won it the other day, I thought, "what the hell...I'll try it!" And I really liked it! I was a little disappointed in the ending (don't worry, D...not giving it away!), but on a the whole, it was a very good read! A page scroller. And to me, that's the mark of a good e-book. After all, I loved Hello, and now I'm looking forward to the Bound Brits anthology. How far am I behind? This should tell you; my next e-book is Camouflaged Hearts! Which came out...last September??

Print book: Finished Texas as we were driving to meet the kids. Loved the first pair of stories, but halfway through the third, my interest was waning. Read 2 chapters of the last one and closed it. Now I'm reading Vienna Prelude, by Bodie Thoene. It's about WW2, and the Jewish Underground. Hopefully it will be a good read!


I'll admit, this hasn't been a good blog week. I seem to be stuck in finger twiddling mode.

But that's okay. After all, I'm dealing with the aftermath of my 'vacation', the stress of the fact that soon hubby will be returning to work, and the fact that I'm "wasting money" (his words, not mine!) on this self-proclaimed book tour. But get this: When I added up the books I've sold so far, it means that I'll (gasp...drum roll, please...) have a nice check coming to me by summer! And maybe even another small one this month? Depends when my royalty statement comes out. Also, if memory serves, doesn't that mean I'm GETTING PAID? Guess what? That falls under the title of REAL JOB! Get over yourself and quit complaining about the amount of time I spend on the computer.

Invasion of the Rug Rats

My 'grandkids' are arriving today:) They will be staying until Sunday, as they are on Spring Break, and their mom works nights.


Huh???

The morning news carried the story of the pregnant man this morning, that Ashley Ladd had on her blog a few days ago. They stated he plans to 'skip the epidural' and have 'natural childbirth'. Okay....did I miss something? Does he not have all the male parts in place? How the hell is this going to happen? Or....does he NOT have everything? If so, why would a woman marry a man without one? Unless she's a transgender too....No bigotry here...if they're happy, more power to 'em. But it just boggles the mind. And as for natural childbirth, I've done it twice, and it was no picnic. The third time around, I thankfully was able to have the epidural, and the only thing I complained about was it too so long to wear off. But that's me; Speedy Delivery when it comes to babies!

Sorry, AJ...blame Ashley, LOL!

I discovered why all my efforts to send our rain to Brisbane is failing. There is a huge, blocking High Pressure over Florida, keeping our Midwest in rain. Now while I'll take rain over snow, I don't particularly care for it day after day. Why?

1) Hubby's job is weather-dependant. If it rains, he doesn't work. If he doesn't work, then no money coming in. No money comes in, then I can't buy the next book or two on my list. See the problem?

2) The month of May is coming up. Specifically, the BIG RACE in Indianapolis. Indy cars don't race or even qualify when there is water on the track! Therefore, weekends need to have at least one dry day so the cars can qualify and the race can be run. Oh, and I'd prefer to be wearing shorts at the track on race day? The worst race I can remember was when it was only 33 degrees outside. More on this race next month.

3) Do I even have to mention the massive FLOODING that has occured? And since I live in a town very close to the river, I'd really like my levees to be intact. I've already been displaced once, thankyouverymuch, and don't care to to it again.

Okay, I'm off to type up what I wrote in longhand last week. I'm at the point where I have a choice; I can end the chapter or keep going. And until I type it up and see how long it is, I can't decide which way to go. At least, that was what my rebellious creative mind was saying yesterday.

More ranting on http://www.ohgetagrip.blogspot.com/ and on AJ's site; I wondered about the Zelda comment on someone else's blog; AJ's posted the link on her site, http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ if you want to see the latest opinionated person on blogger. I went over and read the posts, and I still don't know what to make of her. Some of the comments were downright rude, but then again, she was rude back at 'em. So go over and judge for yourself. And Anny's making Mystic Valley goodies as promotional items! Way to go for being original! Hopefully she'll post pictures soon! Makes me wonder if I can drive over and sneak in for a day??

Answers:)

Currently Reading: Texas, by Debra White Smith. Just finished the first two stories, Texas Honor and Texas Rose. Read all of the Wyoming ones...fantastic!

E-book: Am on Chapter 4 of Dakota's Sweet Dreams. I read her blog daily, and her personality is definitely shining through this book!


Is there a Fourth of July in England? Yes...and a fifth, a sixth, and so on...

How many months have 28 days? All of them:)

If a blue house is made of blue bricks, a red house is made of red bricks, a brown house is made of brown bricks, what is a green house made of? Glass

You are driving a bus. At the first stop, five people get on and three get off. A mile down the road, three people get on and two get off. A couple of miles later, six people get on, but no one gets off. The final stop, two get on and two get off. What was the driver's name? Your name...You are the driver!

Out in the field there is a green house. Inside the green house there is a white house. Inside the white house there is a red house. Inside the red house is a bunch of black babies. What is it? A Watermelon.

What do you put in a toaster? Bread...it's when it comes out it's considered toast.

Not much going on over here. Sinuses are acting up again, and my motivation is shot. I did refill my tote in preparation of this weekend's signing, and have been talking to everyone I see about last Saturday's, as well as reminding them about this coming weekend. I've written half a page on the new wip, and am getting ready for my 'grandchildren', who will be arriving tomorrow and staying through Sunday.

Have a good day:)

April Fools...

No, I'm not going to fool you:) I will, however, tease your brain a little. Enjoy:)


Is there a Fourth of July in England?

How many months have 28 days?

If a blue house is made of blue bricks, a red house is made of red bricks, a brown house is made of brown bricks, what is a green house made of?

You are driving a bus. At the first stop, five people get on and three get off. A mile down the road, three people get on and two get off. A couple of miles later, six people get on, but no one gets off. The final stop, two get on and two get off. What was the driver's name?

Out in the field there is a green house. Inside the green house there is a white house. Inside the white house there is a red house. Inside the red house is a bunch of black babies. What is it?

What do you put in a toaster?

My all-time favorite April Fool's prank was the one I pulled on my sister when we went to Washington DC. I was 17; she was a very self-conscious 12 year old who worried about her looks.

As we are heading out the door of our motel room, I suddenly sucked in my breath and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, Wendy!"

"What?" She said, alarmed.

"There's a huge stain on the back of your shirt!"

She panicked, turned around, and ran to the mirror to look.

"April Fools!"

She punched me, and our dad laughed about it all the way to the car.

What's your all-time favorite trick to pull? I'm not a prankster by nature, but sometimes I just can't resist! Especially a gullible sister...and I admit, I've been the target of a few! But I've learned to laugh at myself, thankfully!