No so bad afterall, well...

the cutie hasn't forgotten about the trees, he keeps mentioning how his stick pile was shredded and how can he build a fire for Guy Fawkes day without his starters. I've promised to go and find him some more sticks and he'll go out and buy some wood [that won't smoke] and we'll have a rager!

In the end, it's a good thing he was here because I actually forgot about the original reason I was calling the tree man - work on the big maples out front! Ooops, I wanted the other two gone I forgot about the three beauties. Tree man and gang are coming back and will take care of those, thank you cutie :-)

Uh Oh, there's been a spanner thrown into my wicked plan!

Okay, we are easy going folk, not indecisive but it can take us ages to make a decision [remember the couch?].

Anyway, the cutie has been away on a trip and I've been dashing around trying to get some projects done [plumber for the bathroom sink, furnace serviced, etc] before his parents come for a month [gasp!]. Yesterday the man came to check out and give me a quote to have a few trees taken down. All was good, he said end of the month and he'd even have his guys chip up all the logs from the previous trees - NICE! Perfect for me, no need to stress about the cutie, his injured eye and an ax!

Everything was good until this afternoon. The cutie phoned from the plane, he's landed, lovely! I hung up from him and the phone rang again - tree man's gang is coming over this afternoon to take down the trees!

Uh oh, wanted it done while a certain someone was away on a trip then I could present him with a done deal. Oh man, off to buy milk for tea to help ease the way of his trees and manky wood pile going away.

YES! YES! YES!

Cracker is back! Robbie Coltrane is fabulous and sexy as the screwed up Cracker. I can't wait until the 30th to catch up with the character...oh yes!

I'm normally a patient person...

very patient, but I'll tell you all these political phone calls are driving me up the wall!

I finally have time to write and the phone is ringing incessantly with somebody wanting me to answer their questions about where I stand on various issues. The wording of these questions is ridiculous as are the people who are making the calls. Yes, I have just bulked all the polsters into one group because of annoying beasts because of the last man who phoned. So what was wrong with his approach...he was eating his lunch while speaking with me. You bet, he picked the wrong number to dial doing that...rude man!

Grrr!

Okay, I've vented and now the phone will go directly to the answering machine, bypassing the human :-)

Oh for crap sake!

Early I went on this rant about the November issue of Elle posting the winner of Project Runway...I was angry, disappointed and so very wrong!

Yes, I know, how unusual for someone to admit they'd made a mistake but I am.

Even though I knew the outcome I still taped the show to see what the others had to offer...and then I was shocked to see it was Jeffrey who won and not Uli [spelling ?]!

Now I'm on to Top Chef and am not so sure it will be as good as the first season. As with many reality shows [and why I don't watch any other than PR and now TC] is that they attrack the "I want to be famous for whatever reason" type of person. No thank you.

Such fun!

Every two months another author and I meet up for lunch and chatter. Okay so it's more talking than anything else, but the hot chocolate is great [they have whipped cream and drizzled chocolate on top] so all is good.

Anyway, we got together earlier this week and, as usual, I truly enjoyed myself. JJ Massa is an incredible woman who also happens to write great erotic romances [love her Barback]. We feel free to talk about work if we want to. She has me thinking about trying a new avenue...hmmm, maybe.

Yup, it was a fun day...despite the rain :-)

What a day!

It was a perfect fall day...there was not a cloud in the sky but there was a chill that required a wooly jumper to be pulled from the rear of the closet. So, where did I spend this wonderful day? With a good friend trolling through a book fair, then we stood in line for almost two hours for a paper engineer to sign my book. Had the obligatory chit-chat and found out he, he and his partner, their imprint have a load of pop-ups coming down the line. By the time I got home the cutie had a mug of hot chocolate with a covering of mini-marshmallows...yummy!

Oh, what a day!

Oh Bugger!

I love Project Runway, it and Top Chef are the only two reality shows on that I'll watch. Today I was at the shops and saw the latest [November] Elle. I purchased, got home and after a few phone calls started to flip through...then the true pisser happened. Next Wendnesday, not the one that just passed, is when the winner is announced - except for in Elle!

Grrr, do they not know timing is everything?!?

So very disappointed :-(

WOW! What a flick!

For the first time in months the cutie and I went to the movies. Until now there hasn't been all that much of interest come out, and if it sounded like we might like it, it wasn't available out our way. So, what did we see: The Departed. It was fantastic! I'm not a fan of "stars", you know when you see the person and not the character because they are overexposed, well, in this flick there was not a single moment where I had a flash of realiy, it was all character...nice job :-) And, as a side note, may I say DiCapprio finally looks like an adult and not a pretty boy kid.

We saw ads for Stranger than Fiction, 300 [apparently from a graphic novel but looked different] and Casino Royale [the latter opens a couple of days after the in-laws arrive...yup, were still going, can't wait to see this one. I like the idea of this new James Bond.

Life is getting a bit of a routine again...finished off the October Monthly Scorcher and got it out, love the wicked flaming short 'Taming Marie Antoinette', may just end up expanding on this one :-)

Back from a break!

Oh, that was so what we needed...a break away from work, computers, mobiles, everything that screams "HAVE TO!"

We took the last of my sister's kids abroad, our nephew was on the block this time and have to admit at times he was much more of a trial that the three girlies who went before. The weather was shockingly wonderful, t-shirt time, and only one day of rain - what a shocker! Had firm words for my father-in-law, looking at the positive is much more fulfilling than dismissing an idea out of hand...if we'd gone his way he never would have known how beautifully his son bbq's a leg of lamb. I also came back with a suitcase full of my favorites, should keep me going until the in-laws come over next month [for a month - ahhhhh!]

The joy of our trip was only slightly diminished when I picked up all our post this afternoon and found the painting I'd bought for my birthday had arrived damaged. The artist responded with confidence he can fix it and I'll hold that belief close.

Today is beautiful and I'm back from a break, ready to delve in to work :-)

Banned Books Week Contest is up!

Banned: Prohibited, Outlawed, Barred

Did you know books are challenged, restricted, removed or banned all the time? Well, they are and Banned Books Week [September 23-30] makes sure you don’t allow your freedom to choose and read what you want to be trampled.

Want to know more? Curious to know the authors who write material so offensive they can’t be on the shelves? Wonder what titles could possibly be so bad they must be banned? Head over to Tilly Greene’s Hot Thoughts Blog, now through September 30th and take part in her Banned Books Week contest.

It’s guaranteed you’ll be shocked!

Everyone who participates receives a goodie bag, and one winner will be randomly picked.

Tilly Greene, author of scorching romances
http://www.tillygreene.com/

Tilly Greene’s Hot Thoughts Blog
www.myspace.com/tillygreene

Nothing better than belly laughs!

Watched Rick Dees last night and laughed so hard - he was talking about having visitors and then being a guest, so flippin' funny! The promos were for Eddie Izzard tonight so you know where I'll be...laughing until I, well, laughing :-)

Went out for donuts and hot chocolate this morning to settle down and watch some footie, it is a slow moving match, nevermind.

For birthdays we always give books, not much of a shocker consdering I love books. So, later, after all the errands are finished, we are going to pick out a birthday book for our neice. Yesterday we did Peter McCarty's Moon Plane for the youngest nephew, love his books for little ones. Hondo and Fabian and T is for Terrible are still a couple of my favorites for giving as gifts. Really it means quality time for me in the book shop!

Best day in ages...

The new couch arrived yesterday and it is even better than when I signed on the dotted line. Unlike what the salesperson said, this is not stone but a lovely milk chocolate brown. It's cushy, long enough for the cutie and the chaise bit fits me perfectly.

Downside to it all...the cutie won't get rid of the old couch. Wants to leave it for a few months: his parents are coming for an extended trip, the nephew is coming for a few days, it doesn't look so bad, could go in the cellar...you name the excuse has been voiced. With the next reason given why it can't go out with Friday's trash is that IT'S BROKEN! With the visiting cat came a busted spring!

But there is more...yesterday saw the release of my erotic futuristic romance and a lovely ecard from a reader [so thoughtful], it truly made my day. And then, best of all, the cutie was given the green checkmark from the surgeon on his eye. The lid still pulls away from his eye when he bends down but the Doctor figures that will stop when the swelling goes down. Yup, it is still swollen and bruised 3 weeks after surgery and 4 weeks after the accident, but the eye sight is great - I couldn't be happier.

Giving a sigh of relief!

The cutie had another post surgery check-up and, despite still be swollen and bruised after 3 weeks, the doctor was pleased with his eye! It's still pushed back but not nearly as much as it had been.

To take my mind off this coming appointment I've been working on my Banned Books Week [September 23-30] contest and I am so excited...I always away from this subject, stunned and fired up to make other people aware of what is going on in their own backyard so keep your eyes open for an event near you or head over to my Hot Thoughts Blog for work.

This year seems to have been a bumper year for the banners.

Oh yeah, not really.

Dental appointment today. I've been good [brushing twice a day] but it is still a worry, and the scraping off the plaque I missed is torturous. But the upside, when I get home I'll finish working on the final line edits for one of my stories and then I'm done editing for stories contracted through July 2007! Yippee! Although I still have some stories out there waiting to hear from editors whether they want them or not [who would have thought this would take 3 months for an in-house submission], so there may be more to come. Otherwise it will be all about the writing...oh yeah for real!

There is a huge smile on my face today!

My spontaneous couch purchase has freaked the cutie out! We have been looking at couches for almost 2 years, then the visiting cat bust a spring and it became necessary. The cutie has to hang out on the couch for 3 weeks straight and it becomes urgent...end of story.

Today the cutie is in day 1 of the takeover [watches and bbq's] and I'm actually home, surrounded by my own noise, working! Finishing an errata list, reworking a short for submission, WIP research is almost done and my fingers are anxious to be productive, and finally one of my wicked tales is going to be released today...yup, there is a smile on my face.

Well, the sun may not have been shining...

but today was still a good day. The cutie spent went in to the office today and, despite all the telling and retelling of his orbital blowout, seemed to have faired well. I went out and bought a couch before settling into a local coffee joint to wait for him to call for a ride home. I feel as if I've run a marathon.

I'm thinking tomorrow can only be better, besides the new couch shows up on Tuesday - yippee :-)

How do I know the cutie is on the mend?

He's hunkering down for weather phenomenon watching, minus the pacing, with tea and bisquits at his side. Now, if only I could sleep.

I know I'm going to look back...

and wonder how I survived this time in our life. Worry for the cutie is my constant companion and while I'm taking care of him, I'm still trying to make my deadlines. I have to believe any moment now we are going to get some great news and when we do I will collapse with relief.

Well, a small setback...

the cutie is heading in for surgery. We had hoped for it not being necessary but it is. His eye has been pushed back with nothing left to support it below. He thinks this will make him the bionic man...dare I tell him it will be his same eye just supported by titaniam?