I have one day left at work before I head off for military duty. It has been hectic as hell here. I hope to have it all done by Monday.
Then off to play with the aircraft for 15 days. I am excited. Working on the birds is very cathartic for me.

This weekend I am going to B&N for books to support the kiddos school and that is it. Well I have drill so that too, but otherwise nada.

Hectic still, back to work.

I am in deadline hell this week. I have several deadlines to meet before I do my two weeks for the ANG which starts Tuesday of next week.
It has been crazy. Trying to gather, retrieve and twist arms to get everything I need so I can get the complicated stuff out of the way for my colleagues.

All I have been doing is thinking about my short story and novel, no action taken. I will try to find time tonight. Strike that! I will find time tonight to organize, note take and finish the damn outline. I have to get these women out of my head, they side track me. A lot!

I have been reading a lot lately. I just delved into the world of Karen Chance and her third novel Embrace the Night. I was slowly getting into this book, but I had other things to do. I was going to set it down and do those things, but the first line of chapter eight just sucked me in. I am paraphrasing so deal, but it was something like…

“It was a really classy and modern place, except for the blood everywhere.”

Needless to say, I finished that chapter and a couple more. Her books flow well and are interesting. I am looking forward to more climactic events this evening.

Next up..
Jeaniene Frost’s Halfway to the Grave. Saturday my son and daughter’s school is having a Barnes and Noble night benefit for their school. A percentage of all books purchased between specific hours will go to the Middle School. This is great! And a wonderful excuse to stock up on my favorite authors. I have a list. There were seven books out yesterday that I need!

We are rocking and rolling here in my neck of the woods and now we have some crazy wind to go with it. So we are seismically active and windblown.
Whew.
I am glad I watered everything yesterday. I would be a sopping mess if I attempted today.
The crazy wind has a mind of its own. The wind isn’t just blowing one way, it’s blowing every which way and switches direction after a few minutes.

I cleaned and watered and worried about my cat last night. Hobbes is an adorable grey tabby with really long fur, a needy disposition and very much an indoor kitty. After sitting at home for about thirty minutes last night I asked, “Where’s the cat?”
This brought on the mad dash around the house and garage in search of our vocal feline. He was no where to be found.
Hobbes has only been outside once and that was for less than a half an hour. (On this small excursion he returned when I called for him and his eyes were the size of saucers for the next hour. It scared the crap out of him).
I left our back door open through out the evening in hopes that the easily frightened kitty would return. I went to bed after ten and he still had not returned. I locked up the house and hoped and hoped no coyotes had found my adorable little fluff ball.
Around 5:15 am this morning I heard Hobbes. There were three distinctive cries and I jumped out of bed and went asked my husband if he had heard that. Superman laughed, “Yeah I let him in about twenty minutes ago I thought he was headed to tell you about his adventures.”
Hobbes was checking the bedroom apparently, like an inventory. Yep this is the right place, my house, home, whew! I didn’t hear any stories this morning and he settled in on his back and fell asleep before we headed out for the day. I am sure I will get an earful about being locked out this evening.
I am looking forward to it. I was worried about that silly cat.

I am in a blah state today. Usually I am a fired up, focused type of gal. Not today. I am just sailing through this middle Monday.
It's gorgeous outside, my house is clean, my work load is low, but I can not get energized about anything.
I have the scene from Pulp Fiction stuck in my head where they are at the hamburger joint and are dancing to 'Stuck in the Middle Again'.

This too shall pass.

I live in the magestic Sierra Nevada mountain range and work on the fourth floor of an old bank building. Lately we have been getting mild earthquakes. I think the largest was a 4.2. Yet, I somehow didn't feel them. Until today! We had a wicked rock and roll going on in the office. Pictures were swaying, desks wobbling, computer screens doing a jig. I was alright with the rolling feel and the few seconds it hung out. Everyone came out into the hall to confirm, yes we did just feel the earth move, even though it's four stories below. We even had a top exec yell from his room, "What the hell was that?"
Everyone got their anxieties out and returned to the offices.
And low and behold. Whump Whump Whump Crunch was heard and an aftershock that was worse than the initial quake hit. That freaked me out a bit. Something in my office has cracked and I'm not sure what it is. I recall all of my child hood earthquake drills and am prepared to dive beneath my desk if another 3.8 or 4.1 hits this area.
Who knew I was going to have earthquakes in northern Nevada?
I have no word count thus far.

I finished Small Favor by Jim Butcher last night. Wow! He keeps that story rolling until the last page. I am ready for the next, now! Great story, wonderful characters and the flow of this book was seamless. I was really excited about love life potentials, but this Black Court thing is driving me crazy. The ending about broke my heart, but I know it will be touched on in the next book. It better be! We know a big bad menace is coming, but what is it? What makes his books such magic for me are the interesting entities, the twists, plot turns and foreshadowing. I am thrilled to see where this series heads.

I still haven’t sat down and watched the Dresden Files DVD set I got last summer, but I am revved up and ready to check it out.

Currently reading My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon, which means more of my favorite authors. I have already breezed through Kelley Armstrong and Jim Butcher’s short stories. Loved `em.

I have been tweaking my Netflix account this morning so I have some great movies for the weekend. We actually have very little planned this weekend which is a miracle. I can actually get my brows waxed and hair cut. Of course make another trip to the Library book sale and take the Princess to volleyball practice. We have a small appointment on Sunday afternoon. This is a sacred day at our house, it is Family Day. We are not supposed to do anything but hang with the family, we broke the sacred trust. How do you make up for that?
Take the kids to TGI Fridays for lunch, let them pick dinner and the games for the evening. They really weren’t that torn up over the change.

My word count was good yesterday.

917 / 1,000 (91.7%)

So far today I am at…

622 / 1,000 (51.4%)

More than half way there.

In other news.
There was an interesting post yesterday about the ‘Open Source Boob Project’. A gentleman on LJ decided to attempt an experiment on touching women’s breasts. I think if this is a project that wasn’t in the midst of a Con, and with hundreds to thousands of people around; more of a ‘my town’, ‘my house’ sort of thing I would be ok with it. Women want to be groped in the privacy of their own home I am all for it. However, I have no wish to participate (I am a little more private than that) and I don’t want to see other people groped in public. A lot of interesting comments popped up, but they were taken down before I had my chance to post. The post about the project has been updated with some additional info after a billion posts yesterday but you can still check it out if interested.
http://theferrett.livejournal.com/1087686.html

The last couple of days have also had some great writing advice out and about. Check out m_stiefvater for How I stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Ending and jimbutcher for How to Get Your Story Started or Organizing This Frickin’ Mess.

Have a great hump day!

I managed to get through on of the books on my TBR pile over the weekend. It was Personal Demon by Kelly Armstrong.
I loved the characters in this book. I loved the twists and turns and learning about Karl, Hope and more about Lucas. I adore Kelley’s world and would recommend this book to everyone.
I also started Jim Butcher’s Small Favor. His latest is extremely fast paced, creative as all hell, creepy and a very quick read. I have less than a hundred pages to go.
I also took a trip to the annual Library Book Sale! Oh I could have spent my entire Saturday there, but I had other engagements and a tired 3 yr old. I did manage to spend about $50 and get about 35 books. Sweet! I have an enormous TBR pile now. I didn’t even make it to the large fiction section. Me and my daughter are returning on Saturday for more steals.

I had a parent/teacher conference on Friday with my son’s Math Teacher. I showed up at the appointed time, wandered through the halls that smell of angst and hormones and arrived at the classroom in question. There was my boy happily reading and soon we were joined by both Dads. As I was looking around the small room, with small desks and all the odds and ends on the walls the remainder of my son’s teachers filed in.
I had no idea this was going to be an enormous group meeting.
All went well though. They all believe in my Prince and just want more effort from him. It was really nice to have all of the positive feedback along with the negative. He is a happier kid after that meeting and has completed the backlog of homework and is keeping up to date thus far on new homework. We are only in day two of the total transformation. I was happy about it, but the school gave me weird flashbacks of my own adolescence and I was happy to escape.

568 / 1,000 (56.8%)

( List Update )

I managed to sit down at the pc last night and get my SS out to a magazine. I actually was relieved. I am doing something to get published, whew. So, I was pondering the submission this morning and realized in my lovely Outlook I did not hit the Send/Receive button when I submitted my SS. OMG! Talk about a beyond blonde moment! I quickly called home and kindly asked Superman to please hit the little Send/Receive button. Whew, disaster averted.

I settled in with the Angel about 7:30 after bath time and played with her train set. She loves that little plastic and metal set like nothing else she has. In the midst of playing with the train I watched ANTM (I’m a self proclaimed Tyra Banks addict, and I’m not ashamed of it).

ANTM was amusing as always and all the built up drama was a disappointment. I was happy with the outcome of the elimination, but my Princess’s last pick is now off the show. Rome next week, which is sweet! Maybe the one who shall not be named (in case I jinx myself) will be kicked off finally.

After the train and ANTM fun me and the Angel curled up on the couch. I splurged by watching both a new Criminal Minds and CSI NY. Love those shows. That was my enjoyable TV night.

This morning I sent in my crazy book order. I have been craving new books and I have so many fabulous authors I want to read and support. So here is the crazy fan girl reader list…

Rogue by Rachel Vincent
Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
Embrace the Night by Karen Chance
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Alibi in High Heels by Gemma Halliday
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry
My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon Anthology

For my Prince

The Vampires Assistant by Darren Shan
Tunnels of Blood by Darren Shan

I wonder where he got his book interests. Maybe by looking at Mom’s TBR pile?

I can not wait for these books to arrive. I may have to set Duma Key to the side for a bit to inhale this wonderful pile of books.

Superman returned on Sunday to turn around and have to work graveyard all week. Ugh! I don’t know what to do with me and the Angel in the evenings (The teenagers are at their Dad’s house this week). We get home, straighten up any messes, and cook some dinner and that is it. We have nothing left to do for the evening. I am not a big TV watcher unless it is Wednesday night (and it is, yay!). I am addicted to ANTM, Criminal Minds and CSI NY.

I should write, I should read, I should be doing numerous things with this new time. Alas, I have cleaned, played a thousand hand of solitaire and played ol. I am procrastinating sitting down and plotting the new book idea and working through the bump on the other book. I should be sitting down and submitting my damn short story to some places. Maybe that is what I will do tonight until 8pm.

I should have done it last night. Instead I went from room to room straightening things. The house looks great, but I haven’t accomplished anything toward my goals. All this should of, could of, would of crap has given me anxiety. I lie awake and ponder all the things I should have, could of, would of done and beat myself up for it.

I am letting that go right now. I am making a list of things I want to accomplish this week and see how far I can get through it.

Weekly List
- Submit Strained Chords
- Review Physical Aspects and get over the speed bump
- Outline The Bank Basement
- Sort through Angel’s toys
- Watch Princess’s last Volleyball game
- Watch Night of the Notables
- Meet with Prince’s Math teacher
- Check on Prince’s reading and homework progress
- Make business calls (Nancy, Marvin, Alan)
- Get a sitter for Thursday and Saturday
- Get a hair cut
- Get eyebrows waxed
- Go to the library (pay fine)
- Print Book List for Library
- Visit B & N
- Take a trip to Lowes
----- Grass fertilizer
----- Sandpaper
----- Flowers for pots
----- Potting Soil


That seems like a hell of a list, but I am sure I can knock out some of it.

It was a gorgeous weekend in my neck of the woods. I managed to spend Friday night out visiting with friends and taking care of some business things.

Saturday morning I got up early and took the Princess and three of her 14 yr old friends shopping. This was an extremely amusing experiecne. I took the girls back to the birthday party house and headed home to have lunch with my Prince and Angel. We had Subway and green ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

We headed home and cleaned and played and cooked and I went to retrieve the Princess and head to my monthly potluck with friends. I was there extremely late, but had a wonderful time.

Sunday, we did a lot of laundry and watched a lot of ANTM. Finally we emerged to head to the craft store for a project the Princess is working on and took a detour to pick up Superman (I am so glad he is home). After that we had some great Chinese food and settled in for the night.

And now it is Monday. I haven't written all weekend but I did take some strides in our business over the weekend and that was good. I have to get taxes filed tonight! There done I just have to print them, fill out the check and send them. I waited until the very last minute this year. Oh well.

I decided to write daily, even if it is absolute crap. I need to write in order to get better, so I am going to do 2K to 4K daily. I did under 1K yesterday, but I am going to write more today. I will see where I land.

Superman is out of the State playing war games off in Wisconsin. I can not wait for him to come home on Sunday.

Our daughter was accepted into an IB Program for High School and we had a socializer event last night. Fine, ok I will stick with my kid and be fine. Oh hell no, they separated us and made me traipse around campus in my freaking heels. Then it was time for Q & A. I did get some additional info, met some nice parents, avoided the crazy parents and picked up my child plus one and headed home two hours later. Wow, that was interesting. There are some crazy ass parents out there pushing there kids through this. Not for my kid, she chose this all on her own. I had no idea about this program until she came to me about it.

We arrived home to the new teenager and my toddler. I had words with the boy earlier for not answering the damn phone and scaring the crap out of me. Come to find out he was surfing the net for porn. Dear Lord almighty, help me please. I had a talk with him told him to place porn with alcohol and cigarettes - you must be of a certain age to consume. I also took away his internet privilages until further notice. Could be two weeks, could be two years. I have no idea yet. I need some damn male input on what to do about the 13 yr old and porn sites. I will be locking that mother down like Fort Knox tonight. Parental controls here I come.

In other news I have officially broken my only two pairs of black high heels. One of them the heel is actually loose, not broken but it needs some repair. The second pair almost knocked me on my ass yesterday. My shoe slid out from under me, and I caught myself but I thought I was going down. Come to find out the little black piece that has grip is gone. Where the hell did it go?
So I now have two pairs of shoes off to the repair shop and am wearing sparkly red today. Lovely, just lovely. I am going shoe shopping tomorrow. Black shoes, high heels, can't be too hard, right? RIGHT?

I played drums in a rock band.

I was in a music video.

I was a DJ at a club.

I finished reading Kim Harrison's The Outlaw Demon Wails yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. There are a lot of secrets revealed and Rachel and Ivy get closer to finding Kistin's killer. This was a very fast paced book and I loved the reveals and the story line. Woah! Is all I can say.

I watched my eldest play volleyball last night; it is only the second game I've seen. She is really good! I love watching her and her team mates play. They have a great time and are really supportive of one another.

One cute thing.
Superman had to go to Wisconsin with the ANG this week. Our three year old keeps asking where dad is, and I thought he was in Minnesota, so I continue to tell her he is in Minnesota. Well he called last night and the three year old wanted to say hi to her dad, so she gets on the phone and this is what I hear...
"Hi Dad, why are you drinking a soda?"

I laughed for a good two minutes. Come to find out I had placed him in the wrong state, but he got a good laugh when he figured out the soda reference came from me telling her all day that dad is in Minnesota. He is really in Wisconsin.

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Ron Weasley You often feel like second best and as a result don't have an awful lot of self confidence, but a truer more capable friend would be hard to find. Ron Weasley 80% Hermione Granger 70% Harry Potter 70% Sirius Black 60% Remus Lupin 60% Albus Dumbledore 60% Ginny Weasley 55% Severus Snape 35% Draco Malfoy 20% Lord Voldemort 15%

It has been ten weeks since I posted. It is amazing how life gets in the way of blogging.
I have a lot to report, but am not going to.
My biggest achievements in the last 10 weeks.

The birthday of my son - he turned 13 (It is official I have two teenagers and a toddler)

I have lost six inches of fat from my waist.

I have lost 12lbs.

Have a great day and may pranks not be played on you.

Last night me and Superman ventured forth to pick up a new cat. We had found the cutie on Craigslist and decided to go get him. The drive appeared a little long but we figured as long as we were together all was well.
So off we went. And went. And went. And went.
We had to finally cave in, and in the middle of nowhere a rest stop appeared and we had to use it! It was uber creepy, right off the highway, in the middle of nowhere, dark, cold and it was like a set up for a heinous crime. I made Superman accompany me to the bathroom and then we were back on the road and off we went again.
There were no signs of life, just acre after acre of sagebrush. No homes, a few big rigs and us. I was starting to have really crazy thoughts about what was going to be awaiting us at the end of this journey.
Was the cat a ruse and were we going to become slaves?
Are they going to chain us to the wall?
Are they going to lock us in the barn?
If I didn't have Superman with me I would have turned around and gone home without the cat.
We eventually arrived in the town and noticed the population was a whopping 20 people. All righty. We headed down a long paved road which turned into a long dirt road and finally arrived at the house with the cat. There were only four houses in the last 15 miles. Once again, it was a good thing Superman was with me. It was a creepy farm house with a barn and three really big dogs.
Out of curiosity we asked what they did. They sale scrap metal, which explained the fifteen beat up cars, trucks and tractors hanging around. We got the cat and started the treck home.
Our newest family member is safely at home and nameless. They were calling him Fluffy. He is a 9 month old black, brown and orange tabby and is sooooo not impressed with the name Fluffy. So he is currently the cat. We'll see what he likes.
As for that little town. It may have spurred a story idea, so the trip was doubly worth it.

I have a fairly busy life and have struggled for some time with fitting everything I want to into my life with the attention I feel it deserves.

My biggest problem is my focus. I get really focused on one area and work really hard at it until something else grabs my focus (Oh is that a shiny organizer for my closet!) and then I am off with my focus on that area for a while.
( Long Post Continues )

Last night the family sat down and watched Sky High and then I watched Blood and Chocolate.

Sky High was a lot of fun, but I really got a kick out of Kurt Russell and Lynda Carter being in this film (especially the Wonder Woman comment). It was a cute movie and a lot of fun. I always loved Warren Peace's name.

Blood and Chocolate was an interesting take on werewolves. I have not read the book and did that purposely. I watched the movie and enjoyed it. Now I am intrigued enough to pick up the book and read it.

I finally got HOT MAMA by Jennifer Estep back from my son and started reading it. It is witty and fun and I like being in Fiera's head.

We have had some crazy weather since Friday.
We had solid rain for the entire day, which promptly turned to snow in the evening. And boy howdy did the snow fall. We ended up with about 18 inches in out yard, with drifts of about four feet. It was crazy.
Although, the dogs love it.




I stayed in all weekend. I like looking at all of the beautiful snow, not so much with the driving in it though.

My oldest turned 14 over the weekend, holy crap.

This year I have decided that I am going to make some.
Last year I disguised them in the guise of goals.
I am not sure why the resolution has such a stigma attached to it, but I have heard a lot of people very negative about it.
I think the new year is a great time to reflect, enjoy the past year and see where I am headed in the next year, five years, ten years.
Last year I did make one resolution as a joke - Cake.
Yep that was it Cake. I saw it I had to have some and I enjoyed a lot of cake in 2007. My waistline can testify to how much I enjoy the cake. I really succeeded with that resolution.
What can I say I am a foody. I really do love good food, but I have decided that the time has come not to switch to icky food, just different food.
Instead of that mini snickers bar at 3 in the afternoon I will delve for the delicious but nutritious something. I am still working on these new food habits. ( Onto the resolutions... )

Good luck in your own resolutions and may you hit them all.

I am off to enjoy festivities with the kids while Superman is out of town! Have a safe and happy new year.
Til next year!

I'm back from all of our holiday adventures and am up to no good. Boredom abounds this time of year at the office so I have to keep myself busy.

50 words

Touch Typing for free

I swiped this from ladyhedgehog

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
I played a real game of raquetball, with rules and partners. Not just bashing a ball into a wall.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make resolutions last year. I set some goals, hit some of them, missed others. I will be reseting the smoking goal

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I had a dear friend give birth to a beautiful little boy this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
We lost Grandma this year and it is weird without her during the holidays. I miss her dirty jokes and twisted humor.

5. What countries did you visit?
Just the USA

( Read more )

There is a sneak peek at Kelley Armstrong's Personal Demon up and out.



Check it Out!

http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553806618&view=excerpt

Charlaine Harris has put up the first chapter of the next Sookie novel. Woohoo!



You can check out the chapter here...

http://www.charlaineharris.com/fromdead.html

I was thrilled when I opened my mail on Saturday and discovered this wonderful gem.



This book is fabulous so far. It amazes me how action packed this book is. Marjorie M Liu is absolutely one of my all time favorite authors. Her description and action forward scenes are amazing.

This book gets released on January 29, 2008.

Go get this book. You will love it! I did.