Yay, It's Thursday!!

Currently Reading:  Finished Unexpected Blessings by Joyce Brennan, and liked it.  I was hoping more would have been done with the 'triangle'; maybe I've read too many similar stories, or watched too many soap operas over the years, but as I read, I kept anticipating the next move of the rival, only to be disappointed.  Maybe the author wanted to avoid that 'predictable' plot?  This book was also longer than I thought, and the subplot was drawn out a little too long, imho.  Now, I'm reading Jessica E. Subject's Accidental Romance.  I'm also about halfway through Acceptable Risk.  This storyline has ties to the Salem Witch Trials, and I keep reading this at night.  I really need to read it in the daytime, lol!

Since the last day of the month falls on Sunday, I'll post my monthly wrap-up on Monday, then the April reading schedule on Tuesday.

Thank you for the wonderful comments on yesterday's post!  LOL....I guess I've gone 'rogue', or turned to 'the dark side'....you DO remember I have another pen name, right?

Looking Forward To Easter
Tonight I'm singing in the Holy Thursday service, and then going to a friend's house to watch the movie 'Burlesque'.  Yes, I'm 'sacrificing' part of the Sweet 16 games in order to spend time with the girls.  But I hope to be home in time for the IU/Syracuse game!

Here are my pics for today and tomorrow:
Wichita St         Arizona
Indiana              Marquette
Louisville           Kansas
Michigan St.      Florida GC

Today I'm double-checking the supplies for Easter.  Paas Kit, vinegar, enough candy for everyone, and an Easter gift for Alexandria.  I also want to go window shopping for a potential Easter outfit.  I've got a 20% off coupon at Maurices, and Cato has some nice things in their window.  But I also like to shop the clearance rack for items I drooled over in the winter, but thought were too high priced.  So we'll see.

No Flashback Tomorrow....unless I need to add something else to the posts. 

Hump Day Hook #9

For a complete list of Hump Day Madness, click here. 


This is part of a short story I wrote on a dare, entitled Afternoon Delight.  Enjoy:)
“You should have seen the look on your face Mary, when Josh stuck his tongue in your ear.”  Derek laughed as he recalled their playful antics on the diving platform only moments before.

“I wasn’t expecting it; I was trying to keep from flashing everyone. You’re the ones who decided to see how far we could go before that older couple yelled at us.  Between you sucking my tit and Josh nibbling my neck…which one of you had your hand on my ass? And when are you going to get rid of those God-awful Speedos?” Mary shook her head, enjoying the contact of the two men.  Josh’s arm was draped around her neck, while Derek’s palm rested possessively on her right hip.  “You’re still sporting a boner.  What happened to shrinkage?”

“With a hot thing like you around?  It has a mind of its own.  As for the suit, never.  If you’ve got it, flaunt it.  And baby, I’ve got it.  Just like you in that string bikini.  Now Josh, he’s just self-conscious about his package.”

“I am not!  Where did you get that idea?”  Josh yanked his arm away and stopped in his tracks.

More Pics and Good News:)

Currently Reading:  Finished Cinderella Demon Tale the other day and LOVED it!  I wasn't sure if I was going to like this story, but the characters sucked me in and I kept reading.  I'll admit I was a little squeamish about the way the queen treated Rose, but everything worked out in the end.  And now I want to read the 1st one in this series, and the others.  Recommended Read!  Finished Hearts in Darkness by Laura Kaye, and thoroughly enjoyed this, as the characters enter an elevator, then are plunged into total darkness for several hours.  He knows she has red hair; she has no idea what he looks like.  After getting to know each other, will their opinions change after the lights come back on?  Definite Recommended Read!  Am now reading Joyce Brennan's Unexpected Gifts.

Print:  Finished Heart on the Line by Judith Arnold and LOVED it!  It was a wonderful story of two people trying to stay 'just friends', but circumstances keep throwing them together.  The only thing I was disappointed with was I'm not sure they ever disclosed who was ultimately fired from the show which the heroine works for in production.  I may need to go back and reread the last chapter.  Definite Recommended Read!

And now for the pictures:)

House on stilts (concrete blocks) down by Ohio river

Hilltop Inn, where I'd like to spend at least one night:)  It has a wonderful view of the downtown Madison area!

Took this because the sign says 'Skunk Hollow Yacht Club'!

Waterfront restaurant.  'Boat in, Ride in'.

The actual restaurant

Then we hit Clarksville, and went to the Bass Pro Shops.  My 1st time.

You've heard of the ammunition shortage/people buying as much as they can, or even DHS buying all of it?  None to be had at 8pm this Saturday night.

I liked this sign as we were leaving:)  In fact, before the SU picked me up at the Author's Fair, he'd driven across the bridge to Kentucky and bought gas .20 cheaper.

Ready For The Good News?
-I signed my contract for Love Weighs In and sent it off yesterday.
-Kenzie received word that Off The Clock edits should arrive in a week or two:)

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the Hump Day Hook!

Monday Ramblings

It had the audacity to snow last night.  Travel plans have been cancelled.  Which is good, considering it's nearly noon and I'm still in my jammies.  I have more time to knock out the laundry and clean up my kitchen, which I've seriously neglected the past four days.  Why?

March Madness Is Here!!

Thursday Night:
Cheered my 1st 16 teams and ended up being correct about 10 teams moving on, which included Butler:)  Fixed a delicious beef cobbler, then went back to my post in front of the television.  I also discovered a wonderful 'Cinderella' team, Florida Gulf Coast U.

Friday Night:
Cheered on the next 16 teams, including Indiana and Illinois.  And was only correct for 9 of them.  We'd had a late lunch at BW3, so I wasn't hungry.  I fixed my youngest some hot dogs; the SU took himself to Ponderosa for the seafood buffet.

Sat:
Parked myself in front of the TV at noon and was soon yelling at my 8 teams to step it up.  Butler was eliminated, and so was Gonzaga.  Only 3 of my teams advanced.  The spouse picked up pizza for us, since I was in no mood to cook.

Sun:
Did better this day.  6 of the 8 teams advanced, including Indiana and Florida GC:)  Illinois was knocked out by Miami.  I put together a beef roast, and fixed baked potatoes.  Warmed up some leftover veggies in the fridge and ate mine during halftime of one of the games.  The SU was not amused, but I reminded him "It's TWO weekends out of the YEAR!"

The Sweet 16:
Louisville          Kansas
Oregon              Michigan
Michigan St       Florida
Duke                  Florida GC
Wichita St          Indiana
LaSalle              Syracuse
Arizona              Marquette
Ohio St               Miami

Want pics from last weekend?

Carol Preflatish, me, and Karen McClive.  We look cold because the temps were in the low 50's and the wind was occasionally not nice to our promo items.

Maddie James, whom I've 'talked' online to in the last several years.  I wanted to buy one of her books, but she left before I got around to it.

The lovely Jan Scarborough:)  I loved one of her 1st books, A Man of her Own.  Go pick this one up:)

Left:  CS Marks, fantasy author I met last October in Columbus, IN.  Right:  AuthorViolet Peterson, dressed as one of her characters.

CS Marks' vehicle:)

Frank, owner of That Book Place and I

Myself and Terry, another author.  I'd seen him walking around, but didn't get to speak to him until after the event.

The bridge from Madison, IN to Kentucky, SR 421.  It's under construction.

Key West Shrimp House, where we ate dinner Friday night.  Yuuuummmy!!!  And the owners and staff are very friendly!

Flashback Friday

Currently Reading:  Cinderella Demon Hunter by Kerrianne Coombes.  I have to be honest; I wasn't sure I was going to like this book.  But since I couldn't remember which  book was next in the queue, I went ahead and opened it, thinking I'd at least read the 1st chapter.  And Could. Not. Put. It. Down!  I'm already 85% through this book and LOVE it!  Now I want to read the 1st one in the series, as well as the next one.  Good job Kerrianne!! Recommended Read:)  I'm also still on Judith Arnold's Heart on the Line.


Story thus far:  D had heart surgery in January to replace his aortic valve.  He had surgery again in February because of internal bleeding/blood clot behind the heart.  It turned out he was more sensitive to Coumidin than the doctors originally thought!

March 2003:
We still battled heavy snow, and my daughter's 1st Communion Retreat was upon us.  I still had to drive, but the day was clear and sunny.  D helped with the bread making; I helped the kids make crosses out of match sticks.

And afterward, we decided what the hell, let's go ahead and attend Mass; we're already here.  But after the service, snow was falling, and ice was beginning to form.  And we had a hill to climb, no matter which was we went home.  I played it safe; I chose the route with the widest street and less curves.  We made it home in about an hour (it usually only took 15 minutes).

Our son was still in basketball, and I white-knuckled drove behind the caravan to little towns all around the county.  But the route to Stinesville scared the hell out of me.  We followed the bus up winding, narrow roads up a steep hill, with barely any guard rails.  After the game, I offered to PAY someone to drive our car back down, but one of the parents knew a better way home and told me to follow them.  And we made it home safely.  Thankfully, the next game was closer to home!

His 5th grade team didn't win any awards, but it showed my child he was more suited to football and baseball.

Hubby celebrated his 49th birthday and we made a trip to Terre Haute to meet his sister's family for dinner.  Liz also bought S's 1st Communion dress and even an Easter dress.  I'd conferred with Fr. Mark about what to do IF she out and out refused to wear the white dress, and he'd agreed he'd accept her in a white shirt and blue slacks.  But 'since Grandma was going to be there and Aunt Liz bought the dress', S agreed to look like a girl for that day.  Especially after the Sunday her friend N went to church with us and her friend M couldn't keep his eyes off of N in her pretty dress!

He was forbidden to return to work until June, so every Wednesday morning, after dropping the kids at school, we'd head to the post office, pick up our mail, and head to the bank.  Then we'd eat breakfast and do our grocery shopping for the week.

One evening, a neighbor showed up with six or seven bags of food she'd picked up for us, much to our gratitude, and when the alternator went out on the car and we didn't know how we were going to pay for it, that same neighbor handed my husband the money to go get a new one.  We were overwhelmed by the generosity.

Next month:  New issue.

Getting A Little Personal....

Before I forget, I'm featured over at Haven's Realm:)  Come over and say hi!

With the urging of two choir members, I agreed to add the '33 Days to Morning Glory', a devotional consecration of ourselves to Mary, the mother of Jesus, to my morning Quiet Time.  As the only non-Catholic member of our choir, it still baffles me that this much attention is given to Our Lady.  The first 7 days was all about how St Louis DeMontfort, who (I think) stated that if we give everything to Mary, all our prayers and needs, then we lose the right to pray for others.  I strongly disagree with this.  We can ALWAYS pray for others.  I also disagree with the statement of giving everything to Mary, and standing before God with empty hands.  Maybe on some level it's a case of 'Mary has everything I've done; go and ask her.'  I just don't buy that mentality.  I want to stand before God and Jesus with my strong faith and devotion.  Not because of the things I've done (yes, they count, but not ultimately) or said, but the basic truth that I accept the fact Jesus died FOR ME, and I have FAITH and proof of him working in my life.

Week 2 focused on St. Maximillian Kolbe, and I only took issue with his teachings twice:
1)  I do not believe Mary's mother 'immaculately conceived' her.  That would make two, and there was only one.

2)  "(God) made a creature who was conceived w/o sin..."  He refers to Mary.  I disagree; this was JESUS. Jesus leads us to do God's will, and helps sinners along the way.

However, now we're in week #3, I have found something I DO agree with.  Mother Teresa wrote a letter saying when others don't accept you, or even if you yourself don't accept you, know that Jesus does.'  I clung to this knowledge throughout my entire 8th grade year of hell, and the first few weeks of my 9th.  I was convinced I had no friends; I was an ugly, unwanted person, but because I was only 14, dropping out of school wasn't an option.  I built a wall around myself, adopted an 'I-don't-care' attitude, and suffered in silence, except for on Sundays and Wednesdays, when the message 'Jesus loves you' was reinforced by godly people in my life

And when an incident took place where I was publicly humiliated, again, dropping out wasn't an option.  I had to go to school and face those who laughed at me.  I put on my toughest attitude and went to school.

And when I walked into my 1st period classroom, I was in for a shock.  Everyone gathered around me, expressing sympathy for me and outrage at the person who had hurt me.  I found out that day I had more friends than I thought, and let my walls down a little, slowly letting people back in.

Instead of railing against God ala 'why did you let this happen to me?', I clung to him, believing he was going to get me through this and everything would smooth out.

And it did; I developed the tough skin I have today, to put my work out there for criticism.  I also learned to be humble.  My affliction came at a time when I was getting a swelled head from certain attentions.  If this hadn't happened, who knows what kind of person I'd be today?

Things happen for a reason.  And my faith saved me 33 years ago, and got me back on track.  In a sense, I was lucky, because I had parents who refused to let me give into self-pity and who brought me up with godly principles.  The only thing I'm seeing from the Catholic teachings is a bunch of false guilt.  Every time something happens to my spouse, he assumes God's mad at him.  I wasn't brought up that way at all, but 50+ years of this teaching has him convinced.  He was never taught to read the Bible, never taught to pray directly to Jesus.  And more importantly, was never taught that he is loved unconditionally.  He feels he has to 'earn' his way in.

Even when he crossed over, he feels 'rejected', because he was sent back 3 times.  He doesn't see it as 'we're not ready for you; it's not your time'.  Rather, he feels it was God (or the saints, maybe?) saying 'We don't want you.'

And that's a tragedy.

Hump Day Hook #8

Currently Reading:  Finished Closing Costs last night and was a little disappointed by the time jumps and a crucial point to the plot.  I can understand her fear, but jeez!  Why hold someone at arm's length for nine years?  I guess there are some extremely stubborn women out there.  Now on to Cinderella:  Demon Tale by Kerrianne Coombs.    I won this in a contest last month, so thought I'd give it a try.

For more Hump Day Madness, go here.

This is from my zombie story.  Enjoy:)

 “Assistance needed at 2600 Mulberry…officer down.  Repeat, officer down.  2600 Mulberry.”

            

Cam looked at Wade.  “Isn’t that the hospital?”

            

Their captain opened his office door.  “Record, you and McPhearson go and assist if needed at Union Hospital.  Their security guard is down and so is the first unit which responded.  Something fishy’s going on over there.”

           

  “On our way.”  Cam saved his file and activated his screen saver.  He made sure he had ample ammunition and noticed Wade checking his supply too.  They returned to their car and drove toward the hospital.

           

  “Unit 42, proceed with caution; repeat, caution.  Large crowd reported in parking lot.”

           

  “Roger that.” Cam replaced the microphone.  “What the hell is going on?”

           

  “Almost reminds me of the Twilight Zone.  Do you suppose we need the riot gear?”

Happy Birthday to my Spousal Unit of nearly 22 years:)  He's the Big 5-9!!!