Eureka!

While laying here in bed I made an amazing discovery. When I watch TV I have to lie on my side facing both the TV and the door to the bathroom. One morning I was lying here and noticed Bubba playing on the rug below the bed. He was tossing something into the air and then smacking it down – sort of what I wanted to do to my last boyfriend. I watched for a few moments as he batted one of my black socks around. I have this habit of taking my shoes off there and tossing the socks on the rug, even though the hamper is a little over an arms length away. I never said I wasn’t lazy. I return to watching the TV while keeping a peripheral eye on Bubba. He tossed the sock towards the bathroom, stalked it, and then “killed” the monster (if you have cats, you’ll know what I mean). Now I must explain something about the bathroom. When we moved in here there was a little vanity area next to the sink – an open place where you could put one of those fancy bathroom chairs. The small room was lacking in storage space, so my father the carpenter enclosed that area with drawers. They don’t go all the way down to the floor though – there’s a small gap along the bottom. Got it? When I next looked at Bubba he was rolling around on the bathroom rug pulling one end up over him and then jumping out onto the sock – a real giggling moment. Then I saw him do something I’d never seen any of the cats do – he started stuffing the sock into that little slot and then reaching a paw under there to bat it around. I called him away and then went to get a broomstick to retrieve my sock. When I swept the handle underneath the cabinet not only did I retrieve one sock but three more. It’s not the washer/dryer that’s eating our socks, it’s our pets!

I almost forgot - Happy Birthday Ruby! I wish you a year of improved health, happiness and all of the books you want to read. You've been a great friend - remember you're never alone, we're all here.

February 27

I need to do a little catching up. Last Friday was Glenice’s birthday, but I was too sick to do anything, so here’s a Happy Belated Birthday! Glenice, you have been such a great friend. You’ve supported me through hard times, flying here after mom died to help me; painting my bedroom, re-caulking the bathtub, keeping me company. I can never thank you enough. I love you sweetie.

Now, guess what today is? What, you don’t know? It’s my first anniversary. Yep, 1 year ago today I started this blog. It’s been a long and winding road filled with ups and downs (although more downs than ups). I’ve made a lot of friends, had a bunch of giggles – you’ve touched my heart in many ways. Here’s to a lot more good times. I had planned to do a lot more about this, but not now – maybe later.

Went ahead and took Tuesday off, I won’t be returning to work until Thursday. I’m still struggling a bit for breath, and I’m still tired.

Oscar, Oscar

I can’t remember ever having been so bored by the Oscar broadcast. I mean, some years were better than others, but this was just … or I don’t know – blah? My mind kept drifting, I didn’t find a lot of the jokes funny. I love Ellen – I think she’s hysterical and, whenever I remember to, I watch her show, but I didn’t think she was funny. She was better than David Letterman, but Ben Stein could have done better than he did. I did like her banter with members of the audience - giving Martin Scorcese a screenplay. I miss Billy Crystal. He is the uber-host of the Oscars. Or Whoopi. The shtick between Leonardo and Al Gore was cute though. I'm glad Jennifer Hudson won - so there Simon, she is an American Idol. And what is it with those dancers/whatever they were? Totally dullsville. But then a bright and shiny moment happened. In the midst of all of this blahdom out walked, yes, Hugh. My Hugh. Handsome in his tux, resplendent in all of his manly glory. Almost made it worth the nearly four hours.

I also felt a little lost. I haven’t seen any of these movies. I’m so out of the loop.

Breathing is a little better, strength not great. I don’t know if I’m going to make it to work on Tuesday or not. And now that I've stayed up so late watching the Oscars, I'm awfully tired.

Entertain Me

I’m a little better. I managed to get the flowmeter up to 150 on Saturday, previously it was only going to about 100. For those of you unfamiliar with asthma, a flowmeter measures the amount of air that you’re moving – it should be in the 200s. My energy level is a little better too. Not great, but better. I haven’t been reading because I’ve not been able to keep my eyes open long enough. I’m hoping to spend Sunday reading.

I’m taking one of Michele’s suggestions on yesterday’s post – I’m going to let you entertain me. I have several movies that, while not necessarily my favorites, are movies that I can play over and over again – like background noise. I know when to stop what I’m doing to catch a favorite scene, for example. Here is my list of 5 movies that I can do this with, in no certain order:

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Volcano
The Mummy
While You Were Sleeping
Independence Day

So, what about you? Give me your list.

Rules for Non-Pet Owners Who Visit

1. They live here. You don't.

2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.

3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.

4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

Update:

The sinuses are better, but the breathing isn't. I'm only able to be up for about 10 - 15 minutes at a time. And I'm bored.

Update

Sinus induced asthma, I'm on my butt for a few days - won't go to work until Tuesday. No spam this week, sorry.

Yuck

This thing has sunk into my lungs, I have an appointment with the doctor on Thursday, I'll let you know what happens. Until then, I'm in bed - I don't even have the energy to stand up long enough to fix something to eat, let alone stay at the computer long. Lets just hope it's not pneumonia.

Happy Birthday Jana

Please allow me in indulge myself in a little personal moment.

Jana – I know you’re lurking out there and I wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday. The first birthday of yours that we celebrated was 31 years ago, but it was your birthday in 1978 that I remember the most. I waited 2 months for you to turn 17 so that we could go to our first R rated movie. Remember? Kentucky Fried Movie. Ah yes, that brilliant contribution to the list of classic movies. Not. We were carded at the ticket booth, by the usher before we went in, the usher while we were sitting in the theater. I was so scared we were going to get caught with our contraband of cans of soda and candy that we’d snuck in – you know I’m not that adventurous. I recently had the opportunity to see that movie again; it was boring. I can remember laughing hysterically, so it shows that sometimes you should avoid revisiting old memories – they won’t measure up. We were so innocent then.

It doesn’t matter how much time passes, our friendship is essential to my life. I hope you have a good day sweetie, I think about you everyday and I’ll love you forever.

Oy

Good news: I’m not so dizzy anymore.
Bad news: Now I have a head cold/sinus – fungus is very, very high and I’m a stuffed up/draining, sneezing little fool. But I’ll make it.

And furthermore, my characters have been giving me hell.

You can say that again.

Excuse me, this is my blog.

I don’t care if it’s the bloody Tower of London. Somebody is planning the ol’ switcheroo.

No, really? *gasp*

Don’t think I’m not paying attention. Did you really believe I’d let you get away with this. Operation: Eden is my book, not my wuss of a brother’s.

You have no idea what you’re talking about. Just hold those pretty little horses of yours …

Honey, that’s not all I’m going to be holding. Eden is my girl.

Nobody said otherwise.

But you’re switching characters. You said so yourself.

Where’d you hear that.

I read it, right on this blog.

No one gave you permission to read this blog.

Sure they did.

Who?

Bud and Ernie.

The Satellite Twins have no say in the matter. They’re just characters too.

Don’t tell them that.

Hey, they’re lucky I didn’t keep them as figments of my imagination. If they keep this up, that’s where they’ll be heading. Just a couple of voices in my head. And as for you …

I get the girl.

Of course you get the girl.

I do? I don’t understand, I thought you were switching the characters.

I am.

But I’m still going to get the girl?

Oh yeah, you’re going to get it all right.

Eeek, Monday

Well it’s after 9:00 on Sunday night and I just realized I haven’t written Monday’s blog post, sooooo here I am. I had a quiet Sunday, slept on and off, did some Myspace friending (If you haven’t “friended” me yet – why not?), re-did the bio for that site since what I had there was a bit sparse. Like two sentences? I really hate writing about myself so I’d left it for as long as I could. I’m not so dizzy tonight, but I am still quite tired. I had a really bad dizzy spell this morning – I thought I was going to fall over, which wouldn’t have been a pretty sight. Then I looked at the clock and realized it was after 10:30 a.m. and I hadn’t eaten yet. I’ve never had a sugar drop before, but that may have been what it was – I’m hoping it wasn’t the new meds. I don’t like all of this sleeping – it’s interfering with my writing and reading. When I wasn’t sleeping I was laying in bed catching up on episodes of Supernatural and Criminal Minds that I’d taped last week, tomorrow I catch up on my Dresden episodes.

Oh wow, this is such a titillating post I don’t know how you can stand it. I miss blogging. I miss all of you, and I hope I can get back to it. I won’t be hitting my entire list in one day though – I did that last week and it took almost 2 hours. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m not dropping any of you, so I’ll figure something out. Right now I’m yawning so much its insane. Or is that you yawning? I wouldn’t blame you. Give me another day and I hope to be back to my usual witty self, or somebody’s witty self, I don’t care.

Y’all take care, thank you for visiting (I do read the comments), and I’ll see you (as soon as my eyes open fully).

Blah Sunday

Not going to The House today, thank goodness. I don’t think I could handle it today, so it’s a good thing that Bebo had something else she had to do. I think all those extra days at the bookstore has added to my not feeling well – we’ve discussed before my allergies and that store.

I’m not feeling 100 percent yet. Not constantly dizzy, but it does come in waves and the nausea isn’t completely gone – I’ve just got to let me body get used to these drugs and then those side effects will go away.

I’m going to have a quiet Sunday, maybe laze around in bed for a while – I might try to get one or two household chores done, but honestly I’m exhausted.

So how has your weekend been?

A Beautiful Winter Poem

From Susan

" WINTER "

a poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre

" SHIT It's Cold ! "

The End

Coffee, Tea or Spam

My discovery. (Didn’t I tell you to stay out of my backyard?)
Said he showing me. (Who’s showing you?)
Now the secret is out. (Well if he’d quit showing everyone.)
Margarita plane. (Where do I buy my ticket?)
I’m coming over. (In the margarita plane? Gives a new meaning to the phrase “flying high”)
Would you like to use your dick as a billiards cue? (For the thirty-three hundredth time, I’m a woman!)
Works on women too. (Oh, this is too much.)
The copyright notice is reproduced on the page immediately following the title. (And you’re telling me this because … someone has a copyright on spam?)
Elvira we have the most advanced ass tracking services in the world. (Other than the fact that I don’t want my ass tracked, who the hell is Elvira?)
Amazing! They told her she was approved. (That’s good. Maybe they’re hearts on fire for Elvira.)
How’s it hanging? (It.doesn’t.hang. But hey, have I got a product for you. Do you like to play pool?)
Free condoms for all in Brazil. (Must be where all of the margarita planes take off from.)
It’s all in the mind. (I’ve got drugs for that now.)
Weight loss in 7 days. (Quickie divorce in Brazil.)
What your cat doesn’t know about credit repair. (Oh no, Bubba has a credit card!)
Bob said that the Sal and Richard thing is getting out of hand. (Elvira, Bob, Sal and Richard? My God, spam’s got names!)

Egads!

I'm working with the boss Thursday morning

This has been a warning from the My Boss is a Perfectionist System

We now return you to your regular blogging.

So, yeah, I'm working with the boss on Thursday morning. Can't you tell I'm excited? I like him, but not to work with. He's picky, a perfectionist and he makes me nervous. I make more mistakes when he's around than I would in a month or two. I don't do things the way he does and trying to remember how I'm supposed to do it, well it's just frustrating. On the bright side, I do start my new anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication that morning too. Maybe they'll conteract each other? I apologize for yesterday - I had a minor meltdown Tuesday night and couldn't post. I thought about mom's birthday, Christmas, New Years as days that would get me, but I never considered Valentine's Day and how lonely I would feel. No card, no rose, no mom. Even through the fog of Alzheimer's last year, she somehow remembered to have Bebo buy me a rose. So yesterday pretty much sucked. Big time. I spent the morning getting enrolled in our low-income medical program, saw a doctor, got hooked up with drugs, had three vials of blood withdrawn and in a couple of weeks I should be seeing a psychiatrist. Then maybe Bailey will be a happy camper again. I've had a very hard time since mom died - being clinically depressed when I began taking care of my parent's didn't help much. Not having any medical care for the last 7 years wasn't a good thing either. It's one of the reasons I've had a hard time getting the house in order, and it's also interfering with my writing. Major no no. When you're depressed you have periods of high energy and then periods where things that you normally enjoy don't interest you; hence the writing and then not writing, reading and then not reading.

On the writing front - weeeellllll, my readers may have fits, but I'm thinking of changing the direction of the story. Brandy, quit throwing things at me; Glenice? Yeah, you and what army; Jeanne, I think my cats can take yours; Susan, yeah, they could probably take yours too. I'm getting to know my characters and, well, they're not happy with the story line. Imagine that - like they think it's their story or something. Of all the nerve. No, really, I think (and Bebo too) that the direction I'm leaning towards is a good one. We'll see, I haven't decided yet.

I'd better get to bed now - I have "you know who" in the morning and I don't want to be a slug.

Sorry I haven't been a good blogging buddy either. I think I mentioned that I'm filling in for someone at work and I've been working every day this week. Things will be back to normal (as normal as I can get) after the weekend.

Valentine's Day

Sorry, there isn't a post today. I hope everyone has a happy Valentine's Day.

Tuesday Musings

Couple of questions from yesterday’s blog. Siobhan – Wallyworld is the nickname for Walmart. And yes, there are a lot of soap actors on my boards. I do this for two reasons. There are a few soap magazines and it’s easier to find them than to scan several “variety” type rags for one or two precious pictures of someone for my characters. I like to have several pictures of the person representing many moods, especially if I’m not that familiar with their work. Secondly, you can find more casual or action pics of soap stars. Scenes from the show, etc. In mags they’re more formal shots, posed for the sitting. Take yesterday’s “cover” (that’s what I call them). There’s a photo of my heroine Maddy aiming a gun, which she actually does in the book AND Clooney (my hero of course) running from a car explosion, only in the book he’s the one in the explosion. They add to character dimensions that I’m looking for. I also make up writing tapes/CD’s for each book. Some have words, others don’t. If I’m in the zone it doesn’t matter if there are words or not, but if I’m having trouble, am easily distracted then I have to go with instrumental. For example, on Maddie and Nathan’s tape is the Theme from Somewhere in Time and Etta James singing At Last. Since they are mysteries, you’ll also find songs like Smugglers Blues and In the Air Tonight. Ambience, so to speak. These books were about the Delmont siblings and Clare Delmont was the youngest. When she takes to the floor at the local bar, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Look at Little Sister plays. It gives me a feeling for the character. This is another of the covers, the book is Gifts from the Devil. I’ll get back to them some day. They call to me every once in a while just to let me know they’re waiting.

Monday, Monday

This is the character board I did for The Devil You Know, I've changed some of the people I picked out for my characters though. This isn’t an actual storyboard, but a small (about the size of the flat insert in shirts) group of images that I would take with me if I worked over at Bebo’s house. We used to do that a lot, work in her bedroom while my brother Howard watched TV in the living area. We’d bounce ideas off of each other, talk through storyline problems, search through endless magazines for character pictures. Some days we’d go over to B&N or Borders (whichever had an outdoor sitting area) and write. The original opening scene for The Devil You Know was written while at one of those places. I used to be able to write in long-hand then. But most importantly, I would come home full of energy and excitement about the writing that I couldn’t wait to get started. I miss those days. When we’re through with The House we’re going to try to start doing that again.

They’ve brought the “s” word back in to the forecast (snow) for this Wednesday. I have an appointment early that day that I had to wait three weeks to get. I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to cancel it, so I’m hoping for a light snow and no ice.

That’s it. A co-worker is on vacation and I have to work a 1 – 5 shift today. I hate that. I can’t really do anything because once I get started on something I have to quit and get ready for work. Oh well, it’s only one day. I’ll also be working Wednesday night and a full shift on Saturday, so I’ll be picking up 12 extra hours this week. That will help.

I’m outta here. I have to go to Wallyworld tomorrow and since I have to be at work by 1:00 I’ll need to get up early and get stuff done.

Have a great Monday everyone.

Horrors of Horrors ... And a Happy Birthday too

(Cue Vincent Price type music)

So, we’re off to The House today. Can everyone say Yay? Thought not. This 2 – 3 hours every Sunday is going to take us forever. I think I have a little under a half of the kitchen packed, although if you ask me (which The Sister wouldn’t) all of that stuff will have to be disinfected before use. Everything. Altogether we probably have about 50% of the house packed. Then there’s the garage. Can everyone say Fun? Yeah, I saw that smirk. I’ve been told there’s a cabinet with a lot of their wedding gifts. Huh? Married for a little over 20 years, divorced for about 10 – when does one decide that wedding gifts should be used? Whoever buys this house (and it will be one of those “cash for homes” people) will have to do a lot of work. A.lot. Not to mention disinfecting.

Well, let’s see, what else is happening? Did I mention my toothache was back? Out with the cloves again. The writing has been sort of, well, um, it’s – OKAY I HAVEN’T BEEN WRITING. So there. I’ve realized what the problem is and I’ll be dealing with it hopefully this week. I haven’t done a storyboard on my characters. I’ve never written without one and in fact, didn’t have it on the last MS. Problems with it too. Anyway, I’ve also been doing some thinking about the WIP too. I’ve got a germ of an idea for Taylor’s story (my hero’s brother), and maybe for the series as a whole. I even have a small inkling of the first scene for Taylor. I’m also fighting an old demon. Yep, I’m thinking about dragging out The Devil You Know, which is the most completed MS I have. But that’s not quite true. It’s the most completed all right – it’s also the one that has to be reworked entirely. I fell in love with my secondary male character to the detriment of my hero, so I’ve got to go back and re-write it, or at least re-write my hero. And heroine. She ended up being a little wimpy, so she needs a backbone. And it’s not funny – I’m not sure if I’m going to leave it as a romantic suspense or entice it to the lighter side.

That’s it for awhile. I’m off to find a hazmat suit.

Oh, and ….

Happy Birthday Pam! I hope you have a great day. You’ve been a wonderful friend and deserve all the best there is.

Justifiable Homicide

Sarah walked into a pharmacy and told the pharmacist that she needed some cyanide.
The Pharmacist said, "Why in the world do you need cyanide?"
Sarah then explained she needed it to poison her husband.
The pharmacist's eyes got big and he said, "Lord, have mercy. I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband! That's against the law! I'll lose my license; they'll throw both of us in jail and all kinds of bad things will happen! Absolutely not, you can NOT have any cyanide!"
Sarah reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed... with the pharmacist's wife.
The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well, now. You didn't tell me you had a prescription."

Okay, Saturday's a work day, so I'll talk atcha later. Be good or have fun, I'll let you decide.

When You Wish Upon a Spam

Isn't Neely Shae pretty? She's my only girl.

Let's see what's in the ol' spam bulk file.


Gentle pork chop. (Yes, grasshopper?)
Your neighbors lost their alarm clock (I don’t have it.)
If not there, where? (Have you looked in the back yard?)
You’re so far away. (I’m right next door.)
I want to sell you a Rolex. Do you want one? (Nope, but the neighbors might.)
Then why would you want to pay for money for something you can get for free? (I’m not paying for them. They keep losing them and … well, you know.)
Credit Kung-Fu … Haaiiiiya (Tae Kwan Do to you too.)
Alpha male (Hugh Jackman? Yes please.)
Some people need to live in the real world. (Excuse me? I like my world.)
On pizza. (It’s better than being on drugs.)
The book has improved vastly over what it was half a year ago. (It should. It was barely there 6 months ago.)
And it’s hard to describe the intensity of this scene. (How do you know? Susan? Glenice? Brandy? Jeanne? Which one of you sent the MS to spam?)
You keep asking a lot. (Yeah? Fine. I’ll start telling. Leave me alone.)
The answers are “it depends”, “no, definitely not”, and “yes and no”. (I’m afraid of the questions.)
Tell me this wasn’t worth it. (It depends.)
I’ll be your man. (No, definitely not.)
Do you want your dick as tall as the Eiffel Tower? (Yes and no?)