Happy Halloween!

We have pumpkins and candy! Of course, carving will take place later today, but as long as we're finished by the time it's dark we're fine! Huge sigh of relief.

The other decorations never made it up, but we got the main stuff. The kidlets are happy and that's all that matters. They cannot wait to go trick or treating. I'll have two pirates and a dolphin making the rounds tonight. I'm hoping they get some really good candy. Chocolate especially. I need some to make it through the next seventeen days!

A new family moved into the neighborhood. They have spent the last two weeks turning their house into a Halloween horror house. They've made theater-worthy sets and vignettes. My littlest said she'll try not to cry when they go there. It's pretty amazing. I need to walk over there and take some pictures.

Will you be passing out candy tonight, trick or treating or doing something else?

UPDATE: I was reading my daily blogs via Google Reader and saw something on Dear Author you might be interested in. Click here if you want to know how to get a free Carly Phillip's ebook for Halloween courtesy of eHarlequin.

Also, chapters three and four of Husband Material are now up at the Mills and Boon website. Click here to read them.

Running on Empty

Halloween is tomorrow, and I still haven't bought pumpkins or candy. At least the lights (pumpkins and bats) went up. That appeased the kidlets slightly. But the rest of my orange and black rubber container of Halloween decorations is still sitting in the Great Room untouched. It'll probably remain there, too. Well, except for the orange candy bowl. I even told the kids we were skipping the Trunk or Treat Saint party at church this year. I just don't have time to put together three saint costumes and three trick and treat costumes.

I feel like a bad mommy, but with hubby's knee surgery on Wednesday, I've been trying to get as much writing as I can because I know he's going to need some TLC during his recovery. Of course this hasn't been the best thing for my hands, but I'm feeling like my back's against the wall. There was a good reason the original deadline was November 3rd! After the 5th, I'll be the one driving the kids and taking care of everything in and outside of the house until hubby's back on his feet.

I called my mom last night and asked if she could block Wednesday and Thursday off on her calendar in case I need some help. She said she and my dad would just plan on driving up. Parents are such a blessing!

I know it won't be that bad. The images running through my mind are just the result of an overactive, worst-case scenario thinker brain. But I was feeling so stressed out, I even ate a Ding Dong yesterday. There went watching what I was eating!

How are you doing? Are you running on empty or is your tank full?

Tell Harlequin

You may have already heard that Harlequin has a new website called Tell Harlequin. It's a place where you can join a reader's panel and also tell them your comments, suggestions and or/ideas. You'll also be able to receive free goodies and sneak previews by contributing. I'm sure a few of you would enjoy that!

If you read Harlequin Books, no matter what the imprint or line, I suggest you become a member of the Tell Harlequin website. Readers opinions are important, and this is the perfect venue to have your voice heard!

I Haz no Brainz

It was one of those nights. My youngest was scared of zombies thanks to hubby's jokes so I ended up having to move her little bed into our room to get her to go to sleep so I could get some writing done. It was an act of desperation on my part and a way to teach hubby a lesson. Zombie antics are fine with ten and eight year olds, but leave the five year old alone!

She'd finally fallen asleep when I heard a ruckus in the back yard. Yep, the kitty wars continue. This time outside.

A little back story first. The stealth kitty aka Smalls used to be a full-time outdoor kitty when we lived in Lake Oswego, Oregon, but up here in Washington she doesn't go out as much. She's getting older (13 or 14, we aren't sure because she came with our old house) and prefers were it's warm and cozy. I don't blame her with the cold temperatures that have set in.

Well, yesterday, she decided to run out the open front door. I know it was to escape the dog and get a few minutes of fresh air, except she forgot it was close to dinner time and it would be getting dark soon. I figured she'd be back once she was hungry and cold. She was. The only problem? Hubby let Chaos out back without realizing Smalls was waiting to come indoors.

The dog saw the cat and decided a game of chase was in order. Not only around the yard, but along the fence too. Chaos had a blast. Smalls not so much. Hubby said he'd never seen Smalls' tail so full. Needless to say, the cat disappeared.

I checked in the front and back yards. Called for her. Walked around. No sign of her. I knew she would not be a happy kitty out in the cold all night so I waited until ten o'clock to try again. I called her name, and this time heard a rustling in the neighbors tree and a few soft meows. I finally found her sitting up on the back fence, looking sad, cold and hungry. Her meows were pathetic, but would she come down like a good kitty? Nope.

So what do I do? I spend way too much time trying to coax her down. Me in my pajamas and barefeet. (Note the title of this post.) I got cold so retreated inside for a moment, but Smalls continued to sit there and cry so I hurried out again. I tried again. And again. And again. Still barefoot. I really need to keep shoes by the back door because this is not the first time I've had to do this. I'm sure it won't be the last.

Finally I'd had it. I was tired, cold and still had pages to write. I'd spent over a half hour trying to get her down. This on top of my zombie damage control earlier. I told Smalls I loved her, but enough was enough. I wished her a goodnight, shut and locked the back door and turned off all the lights downstairs.

Wow! I've never seen a cat move like that. She was more cheetah than tabby. She ran off the fence and raced toward the door as fast as her four paws would carry her. I cracked the door open and she darted in. A big sigh of relief on both our parts!

Of course, I'm sure she'll be telling the other two cats how she played with Mommy. Grrrh! But at least she spent the night inside, with her tummy full and a nice warm place to sleep. And I didn't have to worry or keep getting up all night to see if she'd come home.

Have you ever had to coax an animal inside? Any tricks you know to make it easier to do?

Weekend update and book winner

A busy weekend. The kids danced in an Irish Dance feis on Saturday. The competitions ran four hours late. It was in a word, hell. We'd arrived at 7:20 am, thought we'd be out of there by 1, but didn't leave until five. I really thought my youngest one would lose it, but she held it together with minimum whining. Hubby had to leave in the morning to coach a soccer game. He'd stopped off to let the dog off, but then later in the afternoon had to drive home and get her since we didn't want her to be left that long alone.

This is the kids' favorite feis because they have a costume reel where you dress up and dance 16 bars where anything goes. The first year, Mackenna and Finn were Padme and Darth Vader. Last year, the three kidlets danced with two other dancers and dressed as Wizard of Oz. This year, the three kidlets dressed as climbers.

Climbers might seem an odd costume choice, but I'll be honest. I didn't want to spend money on costumes and we had all the gear, so it worked great. They wore helmets and harnesses. I borrowed a shorter rope from a climbing friend and tied them together. It was really cute. Rose wore a pink princess backpack with a teddy bear in the back. Mackenna choreographed the dance. They tied for fifth! And it was a really big competition!

Yesterday was church, a practice swim meet and a trip to REI to buy our season ski passes. Last night, Mackenna and I attended a dinner for our priest for mothers and daughters. The girls put on skits for him. It was really sweet.

I managed to get some writing done, too.

Okay, book giveaway time...

Here are your random numbers:

16
Timestamp: 2008-10-27 14:09:10 UTC

This week's free book winner is Rottie_mom. I think she's a first time winner. She won with a comment on the post Husband Material. Rottie_mom, please choose one book from the list here. Email me your choice along with your snail address.

Last week's winner Sarita chose Tempt Me Tonight by the Toni Blake. Enjoy your book!

A new contest begins now! To enter, post a comment on my blog. Each comment earns one entry! Good luck!

Reminder: This is the last week of the free book giveaway. It'll start back up again in December, but I'll have a special contest to celebrate the release of the Magic of Christmas. Details coming soon!

What did you do this weekend?

Facebook and Friday Fun

I'm loving Facebook. My hands keep it from being a total time waster, though I still try to pop by there a couple times a day to comment on people's status and update mine.

I'm behind on all the little gifts and things people send you, but one of the things that's been fun is the "poke." I really don't know what it is, but every time I go to my profile I see I've been poked by a certain climber so I just poke back. A few people have sent me things called Flair and they are so cool. I love the one's I've gotten but have no idea how to send Flair back.

I've managed to connect with lots of people. High school friends, college friends, climbers, writers, readers, you name it.

One friend I reconnected with came through for me big time yesterday. Rox and I were in band together at Stanford. She has some Hollywood experience so I asked if she'd answer some questions for my current story. She said yes. We spoke yesterday. Needless to say, last night I worked like crazy trying to make my story a whole lot more plausible based on what I learned from her. I was so excited and energized to get writing last night. I'm still psyched today. I love when that happens.

Are you on Facebook? If yes, are you having fun with it?

An Engineer's Guide To Voting

Since some of you commented about enjoying the Engineer's Guide to Cats video yesterday, I thought you might like their latest YouTube clip. Enjoy!



I wonder if Ginger will get any write-in votes this November!

Just so you don't forget this blog isn't just about cats and dogs, I want to tell you about my new author page at Long and Short Reviews. Marianne and Judy have done a great job with the review website so I wanted a page there as soon as they offered them to authors. Of course, it took me forever to send them the info, but I finally did and this is the result. Check it out! And check out their reviews and the rest of their website, too. They have a lot of fun things to offer romance readers and contests, too!

Oh, and before I forget. Chapter 2 of Husband Material is now up at the Mills & Boon website. This chapter is told from Kate's POV. Click here and select chapter 2 near the bottom of the page to read.

I'm off again this morning to the Wolf to Woof exhibit. It's my five year old's turn to attend the workshop/class see what it's like to be a vet! Do you have any plans today?

Chaos Attack!

Poor Chaos! She can't walk anywhere near the bed. If she does, she will be attacked from underneath by a stealth kitty who hisses and will claw at the poor dog. It's so sad. The cats just do not like her.

She's a smart dog though. She either puts me between her and the edge of the bedskirt (the cats know better than to do that to me) or jumps far enough away to get on the bed that paws can't reach her. It's kind of sad though that Chaos can never just be.

Granted, Rocket and Spirit are sharing the bed with her when I'm in it. And those two will walk past Chaos when she's sleeping on the floor without bothering her. But both of them are still guilty of hissing and trying to scratch her at other times. Unprovoked mind you!

I think it's time for some kitty corporal cuddling. Did you guys ever see the engineer's guide to cats video? It's absolutely hilarious.



How are things at your house?

Husband Material

I noticed a spike in my blog traffic yesterday, so I checked my referrals. The typical ones for Crossfit (Elizabeth, Filthy Fifty) and "Ben Barnes smoking" were there. But I was surprised to see "Husband Material by Melissa McClone" there, too.

My first thought was hmmm, I never wrote a book by that title, and then I remembered! Not a book. An online serial read! But that had been a few years ago. Why would it be coming up now?

So I went to my beloved google. Turns out Mills & Boon has re-released the story on their website! Though I'm wondering why my google alerts never picked it up. Click here if you never caught Husband Material the first time around. Only chapter one is out right now. If I remember correctly, there are eight chapters.

Anyway, I'm so glad the story is out there again. The setting is New York City. It's a boss-assistant romance and my heroine is, well, not exactly thin. She enjoys food, especially chocolate-iced donuts with sprinkles for breakfast! The hero prefers maple bars. Needless to say, I had fun writing the story and eating lots of donuts for research.

What's your favorite kind of donut? Bet you can guess mine!

Guest Blogging Today

I'm blogging at The Wedding Planners today. Well, actually Serena James, my heroine from SOS Marry me is blogging! She's got a wedding dress test for you to take. Stop by if you have time!

Book Giveaway winner!

Here are your random numbers:

62
Timestamp: 2008-10-20 02:10:41 UTC

This week's free book winner is Sarita again. She won with a comment on the post Clone Wars. Sarita, please choose one book from the list here. Email me your choice along with your snail address.

Last week's winner Sarita chose She's No Princess by the Laura Lee Guhrke. Happy reading and hope you're feeling better, too!

A new contest begins now! To enter, post a comment on my blog. Each comment earns one entry! Good luck!

Two more weeks of book giveaways! After November 2nd, I'll be taking a month-long hiatus to run a special month-long contest for the release of Rescued by the Magic of Christmas. Stay tuned for more details.

Hope you had a nice weekend! We went to Mass on Saturday evening so I slept in past 8 o'clock this morning. It was great. I just wish we had two more days of it before getting back to the weekly grind.

Clone Wars

A couple of days ago I asked you what you were watching on television. Well, here's the new show all five of us look forward to every Friday:



We are really enjoying Clone Wars. Granted, we're a family of Star Wars fans, but the show is really well done. And it's a total blast to see the kids, especially Finn, totally engaged (okay, mesmerized to a point of being comatose) when it's on, and see the biggest smile you've ever seen erupt on his face.

Of course, that means I have the perfect thing to now take away should any of the kidlets misbehave. Just the hint of no TV on Friday night gets amazing results, including their rooms cleaned without asking. Gotta love George Lucas! This fangirl turned fanmom sure does!

If you want to catch an episode, check out the Cartoon Network on Friday nights. A new episode plays at 9:00 pm. The week before episode plays at 8:30 pm.

We've got 2 soccer games, swim team diving practice today and regular swim team practice tomorrow. I'm going to be giving my voice recognition software a go and try to catch up on all my pages. What are you doing this weekend?

It might take a while...

Here's my first pass using the voice recognition software. Around 6:30 pm, I dictated a passage from one of my prologues:

J. Porter doubled checked the deer and his pack his motion is driven by having a sharp sense of purpose in the sack avalanche and seizure probes shovel his friends were somewhere up on Mount Hood in the middle of 1 of the worst weather systems to ever hit the Cascades in December and Jake was going after carabiners rattled as he closed the pact now came the hard part waiting the embers of the Norton whisky in sat at cafeteria tables inside the White East Bay Lodge their faces tight and their voice is low as they checked their own gear. Space yawning reporters crammed quick interviews between sips of coffee. In your photographers snapped pictures of that early morning mission preparations. Paragraph
Indent

Not quite sure how "members of the mountain rescue unit" became "embers of the Norton whisky!" I think this is going to take some time to figure out and getting used to.

Here is my second pass after reading all of their passages and doing the voice analyzer, not just one of them as I did above. This was a couple hours after the first attempt:

Jake Porter double check the gear and his pack his missions driven by habit and a sharp sense babysat. Avalanched receiver. Probes. Shovel.

De his friends were somewhere up on Mount Hood in the middle of 1 of the worst weather systems to ever hit the Cascades and December and Jake was going after them did the

Pierre's rattled as he closed the pack now came the hard part waiting

The other members of the mountain rescue unit sat at cafeteria tables inside the white east to day lodge their faces tight and their voices low as they checked their own gear. Yawning reporters grant quick interviews between sips of coffee before photographers snapped pictures of the early morning mission preparations. Did

A little closer! Now to figure out how to teach it what it did wrong. I need this thing up and operational ASAP!

Overnight Delivery!

My voice recognition software will be delivered today. I couldn't get the one everyone talks about as being the "best" due to compatibility with my needs upgrading iBook, but I'm hoping what hubby found and ordered for me will help.

Yesterday, I also got a two week extension on my current manuscript which led to a huge sigh of relief. I'm still having to write by hand and not able to type it all in. The extension will affect my ability to do NaNoWriMo. Again. But I'm not complaining. My hands are more important as is a book that's already slotted for October 2009! At least I should be able to join in on NaNo during the last couple of weeks of November. I already have the characters figured out and the entire book plotted!

Thanks for telling me about the shows you are watching! I want to give hubby some suggestions since I need my nights to finish this book!

Hope you have a great day! I'll be waiting for the FedEx guy to arrive :-)

P.S. If you are doing NaNoWriMo, let me know and I can add you to my buddy list. A few of you are already there!

Kitties!

I joined YouTube back in April so I could save my favorite videos, and this was one of the first I saved. I hope I have posted it before, but the kitties are so cute it's worth a second look if I did.



Thanks so much for your well wishes! Still resting my hands from the keyboard and trying to write by hand! My poor critique partner. We had to do her critique yesterday over the phone. I just can't type too much right now. But the hands are feeling better. So yay on the improvement! I'm seriously looking into voice recognition software. Well, hubby is doing the research for me since I'm limiting keyboard time. Just need to see what will work on the computer I have. I really don't want to upgrade right now.

So has anyone seen any good new shows this season? My hands were hurting so bad on Monday night I forgot Heroes was on. That's the first show since it premiered that I've missed.

Hands!

My hands started hurting yesterday morning really, really bad. I was fortunate to attend a harp concert today so that let me rest them some. The music was absolutely beautiful! I tried to write once the kidlets were in bed, but no go. Too much pain.

I have no idea if it was the writing push I did over the weekend or the climbing. Needless to say, the hands need a break. So that's why I didn't visit any blogs or play on Facebook yesterday or replied to your emails or sent your Amazon.com gift certificates. I will be laying low today, too, because right now they are pretty much worthless.

Thanks for all the bed suggestions! I can't wait to show hubby and do some research once I get my newest book finished.

Hope everyone is doing well and feeling good!

A bigger bed

We've been talking about getting a bigger bed for awhile now. We currently have a queen which was a big step up from the full we had when we first got married.

This morning it became apparent that we've now outgrown the queen. In bed at 6 am were me, hubby, one dog and two cats. Talk about crowded. I couldn't move.

Rocket and Spirit sleep on my side of the bed. Rocket stretches out along side me. Spirit curls up on my feet. Chaos sleeps on hubby's side so our bodies block her from the cats. That doesn't leave a lot of room for humans.

Guess it's time to start researching mattresses. Does anyone have recommendations?


more animals

It's Free Book Sunday!

Two contest winners to announce today! One on The Wedding Planners and one here.

Here are your random numbers:

42
Timestamp: 2008-10-12 23:01:02 UTC

This week's free book winner is Sarita. She won with a comment on the post Caturday. Sarita, please choose one book from the list here. Email me your choice along with your snail address.

Last week's winner Jane chose Blackthorne's Bride by the Shana Galen. Hope you enjoy the book! I've been packaging up books and ran out of envelopes so I'll get more so I can get all the books that have backed up out this week. Sorry for the delay but between getting sick and my hands, I've been doing the best I could.

A new contest begins now! To enter, post a comment on my blog. Each comment earns one entry! Good luck!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend! I just got back from the rock gym. I have a blister on my hand, but I'm all smiles!

Caturday

I've got to get to the soccer field early this morning. Pictures for my youngest's team are at 8:15 am!

Happy Friday!

I don't know why I'm so happy it's Friday, but I woke up smiling and relieved the week was almost over with. We have a typically busy schedule this weekend: 2 soccer games, a birthday party for one of the kidlets to attend, first swim team practice of the season. Maybe it's because I'm finally going to get to go climbing. I haven't climbed in what feels like forever. Okay, it's only been a few weeks, but I've missed it so much. I want to get on the wall. I want to see how my hands do. I want to catch up with my climbing partner!

On the writing front, I've been re-reading my page proofs for my June 2009 release. All they need is to be typed in and emailed. I've been writing new pages on the current story I'm writing. And I've been critiquing my critique partners current work in progress that's due in a couple of weeks! I'm also trying to get my website updated with my new release that's coming out in a month. I'm so bad with promotion usually, but I'm really behind with this book and need to kick it up a step! Especially since I thought it was a December release, not a November one.

What plans do you have for the weekend? I'll be doing all of the above!

Wolf to Woof

I'm off this morning to the World Forestry Center in Portland to attend a field trip that's part of the Wolf to Woof exhibit. They are putting on a future vet class for kids. Should be fun!

I thought I might show a couple pics of my own woof aka Chaos!





We've had her six months now and can't imagine life without her. Of course the cats might disagree!

Hope you have a nice Thursday!

Guest Blogging and a contest

I'll be at The Wedding Planners today. Stop by and see the video I found on YouTube. Talk about a bride's nightmare!

I'm also giving away a $5 amazon.com gift certificate on The Wedding Planners. How to enter is on today's post!

See you there!

Free Book Goes to...

Time got away with me on Monday. I'd been waiting for the AAs (page proofs) for my upcoming June 2009 release, Blind Date with the Millionaire, to be delivered since I first missed the DHL truck on Wednesday. They finally arrived, and I dove right in.

I really like how the story reads so far. Only a few minor things I want to change in the first hundred or so pages. So yay! I hope I feel the same way when I reach the end.

Here are your random numbers:

9
Timestamp: 2008-10-07 03:39:56 UTC

Hmmm. Last week's random number was 8. This week's was 9. Interesting.

Okay, this week's free book winner is Jane again. She won with a comment on the post Free book giveaway. Jane, please choose one book from the list here. Email me your choice along with your snail address.

Last week's winner Amy chose His Mistress By Morning by the oh-so-talented Elizabeth Boyle. Happy Reading, Amy!

A new contest begins now! To enter, post a comment on my blog. Each comment earns one entry! Good luck! Oh, and I'll have a special mini-contest going on later this week with a $5 amazon prize. Check back tomorrow for more details and where to enter!

Also, I found this quiz and thought it was perfect seeing my Blind Date with a Millionaire has a strong Jane Austen influence.

Take the Quiz here!

You Are...Marianne Dashwood!

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

What Jane Austen heroine are you?

Been Feising

The kids had an Irish Dance feis this weekend. A fun time and they won lots of medals and trophies, but I'm absolutely exhausted, still have pages to write tonight and a chapter to critique for a friend so I won't be posting the free book winner until tomorrow morning! Just think, more time to get more entries by posting comments.

Hope you had a nice weekend!

Melissa

Old Books

I sometimes wonder what happens to my books after people are finished reading them. Some might end up on keeper shelves, other resold, given away, donated, thrown away, used for paper mache, maybe even burned as kindling on a cold winter's night. Lots of scenarios, right?

Well, here's one I never considered...poetry. Someone has made a website where they've taken books found at thrift stores, removed the binding and blackened out words on a page to form poems. One of the books is my Santa Brought A Son. A google alert last night sent me here.

What do you do with the books you've read?

Ozone Guide Release and Climber Benefit Recap

Last night at the Lucky Lab was so much fun! A big turnout to support climber Kevin Rauch (pictured with a climber from the climbing forum I belong to) and his family.

The kidlets and I came straight from Crossfit Kids. They were starving so they grabbed seats while I ordered. I bumped into a climbing friend while in line who offered to run to his car for his camera when he heard I didn't have mine with me. He also let me take the camera home last night to download everything so a big thanks to Bill or I'd have no pics for this post!

One of the first things I wanted to buy was the guidebook! They had a room set up for the silent auction and guidebook sales. One of the guys (and an author of the book) was someone I'd met at the climbing gym. He's also on the climbing forum I belong to. The silent auction had some really great items. I started bidding on a guided climb and a few other things caught my eye, but as the evening wore on I knew the kidlets would never make it to the time the table closed so didn't bid anymore.

The Climbing Cutie showed up with a friend of his. The kidlets were so happy to see him. Me, too. It had been a while. Of course, the Cutie proved himself total romance hero material when he sat next to the kids, watched and entertained them the entire evening so I could walk around, take pics and talk to people. This was great since I'd missed the Ice Fest on Saturday. At one point, Rose was on his lap and the other two were hanging all over him. Thank you so much, Cutie!

I also showed him the dedication for my upcoming November release, Rescued by the Magic of Christmas. He's there! Since that's the book that got me into climbing and how I met all these people doing research, it was the perfect time to bring out a copy. A PMR member was also there and got to see his name, too. I'm sending them all books, but my cold got in the way last week.

I saw a lot of familiar faces from the rock gym as well as the local PDX crew who posts on the climbing forum. But there were a couple of surprises last night.

My daughter ran up to me and asked if a guy in line was Zach, the climbing guide we use when we go to Smith Rock. Turns out it was! He came over to visit for a while and it was great to see him. He's also the one who sold me most of my climbing gear when I first decided to climb. I remember being at Red Point in Terrebonne, Oregon. The Climbing Cutie had given me a list of gear and Zach had a question so I had the two talk on my cell phone. Last night I introducee them, well, over the table, noise and kidlets!

I also got to meet two new climbers from the forum. One was from Colorado and I've wanted to meet him. He and the Climbing Cutie have a somewhat adversarial relationship on-line so it was great fun to introduce the two in person.

Another climber had driven down from the Seattle area. She and I had pm-ed about climbing together so it was great to put a face to a name. She does not like having her picture taken (I thought of a couple of you!) but was a good sport and let me take a picture of her from behind for the forum.

I also met one of the event organizers, Jon Bell, who commented on this blog a couple of days ago. Turns out he's a writer, too.

All of Kevin Rauch's friends should be proud of themselves and take a bow. An event like this takes so much work, but I know I had a blast and so did everyone I spoke with. Thanks for helping your friend out and bringing the PDX climbing community together for such a great event. The Ozone Guidebook is really cool, too! I'm so happy I got a copy!

Back!

I 'm running at about 75% right now. Necessity, otherwise known as a traveling spouse, has forced me into action, but I'm doing okay. A little tired, but I'll get there. The class I teach starts back up today. We've been off since March so it'll be fun seeing the kids again and adding a few new ones. I'm really looking forward to attending the Ozone Guidebook release party and benefit tonight.

Today the kidlets and I are starting the 100 Day Burpee Challenge. Beginning October 1 (today), we are going to do one burpee on day one and add one each day until we get to 100 burpees on the 100th day! If you don't know what a Burpee is, go here and scroll down to Burpee under the Crossfit exercises. It involves push ups and jumping. I hope doing this helps me get stronger! And improves my push up.


On the writing front, I turned in my newest proposal. Now it's a waiting game to see if they like it, but I'm continuing on with the story! It sure is a fun one to write. And this hero (my Lancelot hero) is oh-so yummy!

I managed to do a little catching up with my blog hopping and email so that felt good to start getting back into the routine again! Now to keep it up today. I want to be back operating at 100% by Sunday!

How have you been?