Friday, August 31, 2012

Guest blogging for Miss Mousie


I kind of feel like the kitten above. Sinking fast! LOL!

I used my blogging time on a post for Miss Mousie's blog. Actually it's in Miss Mousie's words. I was just the typist.

To read it, go here!

Enjoy!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Help Miss Mousie

My senior foster cat, Miss Mousie, needs an expensive surgery. The West Columbia Gorge Humane Society (WCGHS) gave me permission to fundraise for it so I came up with this...



It's a blog where people can read about Authors & Their Cats and donate money toward Miss Mousie's medical expensive. All donations go the WCGHS and are tax-deductible. I've put a call out to authors with cats to write posts and hope to add them to the blog as they come into my inbox.

I hope you'll check it out. If you're an author with a cat or know an author with a cat, I hope you'll check out how you can help Miss Mousie by writing a blog post. Thanks!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

50 Ways to Say Goodbye

So my back door into embedding LOLcats was slammed shut this morning. I even tried making my own to see if it would come up. Nope. If you want to see it just click on the link. But I have to get my daughter to freshman orientation so I don't have time to mess around any more this morning.

So....

I thought I'd post this music instead. The song just makes me smile. The lyrics are so funny. It's by Train and called 50 Ways to Say Goodbye. Enjoy!



Have a great day! We're entering a new phase in our life...high school. It should be interesting!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

If there be pirates...

Today is the release day for my friend Maria Zanini's new book, Mistress of the Stone, and I want to tell you about it! The story is a Paranormal-Historical from Samahain. Just so you know, it's a more sensual read than the sweets I write!

Two things about this book really appeal to me. First the author—love Maria—and second, pirates! I love pirates!

I especially love these two handsome sea-dog devils to the left. They belong to Maria, but these pirates can come pillage and plunder my pantry anytime they'd like!

But back to the book...

Want to know what Mistress of the Stone is about?

A young woman at the helm of a pirate ship braves ghouls, ghosts and werewolves to find her father--or avenge his death.

If that doesn't whet your appetite, maybe this blurb will...

Luísa Tavares has a list of sins the length of the Antilles, but there’s no time to repent for them now. When a pockmarked Frenchman hands her Papa’s ring—still attached to his severed finger—she orders the Coral back to the Caribbean, despite her father’s earlier warning never to return.

It’s Luísa’s luckless fate that the only man who can help her is a blasted Inglés pirate hunter who’s more dead than alive and locked in a curse he doesn’t want lifted. Worse, his feral sensuality sparks a hunger she can’t ignore.

Xander Daltry hadn’t planned on kidnapping this wild woman—or succumbing to his uncontrollable desire for her. But he needs Luísa and the moonstone she wears around her neck to rescind a witch’s spell. His sister, long dead, and others like her have been cursed to remain in the mortal plane for eternity. Only the stone can set them free. 



The only way to convince the reluctant pirate queen to help him is to withhold one small bit of the truth. For if she learns who really betrayed her father, the longing in her fiery eyes could easily turn to murderous wrath…


Doesn't that sound good? You can purchase the book here at Samhain.

If you read the book, make sure you let me know what you thought, okay? Hope you have a great day!

Monday, August 27, 2012

A nice time



I only had to blow out one candle last night and it wasn't on a cake. Because I was on Day 26 of my second Whole 30, I opted for a pyramid of strawberries with a candle stuck on top. Very yummy and I got to make a wish which was the whole point!

I mentioned my present on the blog a couple of weeks ago—Margie Lawson's Immersion Class in September. But I did get a dozen lovely roses in a rainbow of colors, picked out by my son, a Stanford sweatshirt from hubby and cards from everyone, including the four-footed kids. I also received a cute email card created by Dru, who is a good friend of mine and commenter here on the blog. And this handmade card from my friend Julie, who I've gotten to know via Facebook:



For someone I've never met in person, Julie sure knows me well. The card is perfect for me, mixing things I love: cats, Jane Austen and puzzles. Not sure if she knew about the last one though!

Needless to say, I had a great time yesterday. My son's soccer team tied their game, my daughter got all the classes she wanted for 9th grade and I got to spend some quality time with the family! Can't beat that!

Hope you had a nice weekend!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

One more candle on the cake



I wish I were getting a cute little kitty today, but my present was decided a few weeks ago. No complaints at all. Today is all about taking it easy for me. I've survived another lap around the sun, as my friend Al wrote this morning on my FB page! I plan to write, go to my son's soccer game and my daughter's back-to-school ice cream social. What are you up to?

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Reflections

When I was in my early twenties my dear friend Elizabeth, who passed away in June, told me that she looks in the mirror and doesn't recognize the reflection staring back at her. That she still felt and saw herself as her younger self, as if she were in her twenties, not middle-aged. Her words stuck with me, even though I didn't quite get it at the time. As I got older (and continue to get older) I suddenly understood exactly what she meant. My number of years on this planet keep increasing, as do the lines on my face, but that's not how I feel inside at all! I even called her when I had my epiphany, and we had a good laugh about it. If Elizabeth was still with us, I would have emailed her this link, told her to look at the photographs taken by Tom Hussey and then call me so we could discuss it. Unfortunately my dear friend isn't here, so I'll tell you instead. Click on the link and then let me know what you think. Thanks!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Summer winding down



Many of you know I've homeschooled my kids for the past four years. For the past two years, they have attended a school two days a week and are home with me the rest of the time. This parent partnership program has worked out well for all of us. And given me a little more time to write as well as sleep! But this year, change is afoot. My oldest will be starting and attending high school full-time.

It's weird to think of her being away five days a week. I know she's looking forward to it, but I'm not. Even with her sometimes acting as if she were an alien or auditioning for a remake of the Exorcist, I'll miss her. But it was her choice to be homeschooled when she finished fourth grade and when she said she wanted to go to high school, we supported that decision, too.

I do think it'll be strange for her to have to get homework done the day it's assigned. It's never been that way with the alternative school. Already she's been doing schoolwork. Her Pre-AP English class assigned a book called The Book Thief and her AP Human Geography course has her reading Fast Food Nation (her choice out of a list of selection) for summer assignments. 

As for what I blogged about yesterday in regards to LOLcats... I did find a site that will add captions to pictures. If anyone is interested, it's called rolfbot. It's pretty basic with no bells and whistles that I could see when it comes to font size, but it works. I was too tired to do anything more than a sample one of Chaos and her ball...



Not exactly LOLcat quality, but it's a start. I'm assuming there are more sites like this and I hope they allow you to play with the font size and stuff. Just need time to keep looking.

Have a great Friday!


Thursday, August 23, 2012

No can has cheezburger



I'm bummed. I woke up and went to icanhascheezburger.com to see what LOLcat might inspire this morning's blog post. All I could do was stare in disbelief. They've taken their Beta site and made it the real one.

Why is this a bad thing?

Well, I've been trying to figure out how to embed the lolcats using BETA to no avail. There may be a way, but I've yet to find out how except by sneaking in a back door I found by accident which is how I managed to get this morning's lolcat on the blog. I hope that continues to work. Fingers crossed. If not I guess I'll just have to start taking pics of my own cats and figure out a way to make LOLs on them.

Anyone know an easy to use site for that for this non-techie?

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this...

I said I wanted pay for annoying the doggie, not play!


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Cats


Sometimes when we leave, we'll see a cat sitting in the window watching us go. I always figured they were thinking "good riddance," but now I'm wondering if they're like the lolcat above!

Yesterday was the first anniversary of my cat Smalls crossing the Rainbow Bridge. My whole day was off, starting with a 5 am wake up from the dog, who heard something outside. Then Spirit wouldn't eat so I took her to the vet for more Sub Q fluids. I fear we may be getting to the end with her with kidney failure, which made yesterday that much harder.

That means writing like crazy to catch up to where I should be. I spent what time I had yesterday rewriting some parts and making my heroine more consistent and sympathetic. She was a bit too hard-nosed originally and ready to take-down the hero (and not in a good way) the minute she sees him. A lot nicer and motivated now! At least I hope so!

I did want to share another link with you. 25 pictures of places cats like to relax. It's so cute. I just love these articles from Buzzfeed. Enjoy!

Have a great hump day. Don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend already!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Links for Tuesday



I'm short on time this morning. Overslept my alarm after my dog decided she had to get up at 5:05 am to go outside. I must give Chaos credit. There was something tramping around in the wetland preserve to the north, but still...

These two stories came across my Facebook newsfeed yesterday. They are, of course, about animals.

The first is a great story about strangers (well, not on-line since they belonged to the same forum) coming together to rescue a dog who was injured and left by her owner on a mountain in Colorado. Now the owner has been charged with animal cruelty, and the person who found and later rescued the dog wants to adopt her. Interesting read and pics here on dogheirs.com. I'm still scratching my head about the dog's owner who left her on the mountain. I know a person is innocent until proven guilty, but his actions just don't make any sense to me.

After reading this next story, I was sure it had been put out by The Onion, but no, it looks legit since it was posted by NBC affliliate station KSEE. According to vet researchers, cats who beg for food or are too eager to eat their dinners may be suffering from mental illness. I'm wondering who paid for this study—a group of wanna-be cat pyschologists and feline psychiatrists, perhaps?

I've got a couple cats like this. The reason they act that way isn't because they have psychological problems or eating disorders. It's because they are cats. Those who have a strong hunting instinct, especially ones who aren't allowed outside, will want search for food anywhere it can find it, including the table and a human's plate. Hunger will also do it. If you want to read the original story from the UK Daily Mail, it's here.

Have a great Tuesday

Monday, August 20, 2012

Win, win, win!



Long and Short Reviews 5th Anniversary Celebration is taking place from August 18-26. Lots of great prizes are being awarded such as:

* One $100 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC (Scavenger Hunt Grand Prize)

* Three $50 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC (Blogfest Grand Prizes)

* Three $25 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC (One for Scavenger Hunt, two for the Blogfest)

* Dozens of $5 Amazon / Barnes and Noble GC, Print books, eBooks, Author swag (Awarded randomly both weekends of the blogfest)

If you want to find out how to win, go here. I'm participating in the Scavenger Hunt so be sure to check out that contest because somewhere on my site (and other authors) there's a hidden graphic. Grand prize for LASR's scavenger hunt is a $100 GC. They are also giving away $5 GCs to random winners!



Friday, August 17, 2012

My New Cover



This LOLcat made me smile this morning. I believe my cats think they've already achieved world domination at our house!

This morning, I woke up to an email with a link to the new cover of my upcoming November release, His Larkville Cinderella, book 5 of The Larkville Legacy. Here it is...


What do you think?

I think it's pretty. They've done a lovely job branding the Larkville Legacy continuity series with the flourishes at the top and the flash on the bottom.

I always remind myself whenever I see a cover that it's all about marketing and isn't supposed to match my image of the characters, but I must admit the martini glasses made me chuckle. I'm going to pretend they are holding champagne flutes instead.

Hope you have a nice Friday!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Fit



This is how my cats think. That includes my lap. It's theirs. And the dogs.

I've been trying to make things fit myself. I managed to get three days worth of clothes into my computer bag! I'm off to a dog show with my two daughters. We get a girls weekend while the boys will have theirs. This will be the first time Rose shows at an AKC dog show!

I'm planning to get lots of writing done while away! I've got my Alphasmart and my MacBook Pro. Friday will be a full day, but we should finish around lunchtime on Saturday. Plenty of time for the girls to swim while I work! Sunday's an early day, too, so we should be home with lots of free time in the afternoon and early evening.

What plans do you have for the weekend?

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Craft



I usually don't blog about the craft of writing much on this blog because my intended audience has never been other writers. Oh, I have a few here—hi Sarita and Maria!—but the majority of you are friends, family, readers and cat lovers. A few of you end up here because of an Internet search—usually LOLcats or Crossfit or Ben Barnes Smoking (still not sure why my site comes up for that!) And a few brave souls are sent here by the Blogger next blog thingy. I did that once and can't erase what I saw from the memory banks. Never again...

But craft is important. I was reminded of that last night when I read a fantastic article called The Essential Invisible Thing by Harper Collins editor Molly O'Neill on the Write On Con website.

All I can say is wow! A great read for this writer.

It isn't always easy to work on craft with tight deadlines, but it's one of those things I make time for, even if I feel like I'm taking baby steps when it comes to my writing.

A former critique partner used to tell me it's time to put it, usually a specific scene or part of one, under the microscope to make sure it worked right. That meant looking at each word, each sentence, each reaction one by one. It took forever, but made such a difference and taught me a lot.

I often feel like the more books I write the more I need to learn. My first (and so far only) RITA finalist novel came after taking a Michael Hauge 2-day workshop sponsored by my RWA chapter and for the first time, incorporating all of the finale beats to Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet. Coincidence? I think not.

I recently received two new writing books from Amazon. Both came recommended by people I know. My friend Amy tagged me on Facebook about this one and Harlequin Historical author Michelle Styles let me know about the title of this one in the comment section when I was in Anaheim for the RWA conference. I'm halfway through one of them and enjoying it immensely. Will the book improve by craft? I don't know, but it's given me lots of food for thought.

Improving my craft is the reason I told hubby all I wanted for my upcoming birthday was to attend one of Margie Lawson's Immersion classes. He said yes, cashed in FF mileage to cover the plane ticket and mailed a check to Margie. I'll be flying to Colorado in September with—fingers crossed—a complete of my current work in progress to work on during the session. I can't wait even if that puts some pressure on me to be more productive with my page count right now. But I think it's worth it! I hope when that book is out sometime in 2013, my readers agree!

Hope you enjoy your Wednesday!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Tuesday Blahs



I've been putting drops in a kitty's ears and giving her antibiotics. She ended up with a very bad, painful ear infection, but is improving every day. I learned to give a cat a shot, something I'd never done before. But I'm very glad she's finished with those and now on pill form. Though that has it's challenges too.

I woke up feeling like I got hit by a train. I was feeling this way yesterday so didn't do a lot except write and computer stuff—things I could do while in bed. I think I must of caught some kind of bug while camping. Everything hurts and I have a nose that can't decide if it wants to run or bleed and a headache. Must get better since I want to have a rough draft of my complete manuscript done by Labor Day and I also have to go to a dog show this weekend.

Anyone having Olympic withdrawals? If so, click on this link to go to Funny or Die and watch a video of an Irish Olympic Sailing Commentator. This made the rounds last week, but worth another view if only to add some laughter to your day. Word of warning: there are some curse words used so not something I'd view with kids around!

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Home Sweet Home!



Yesterday I was sitting under a pop-up tent on the side of a hill with a perfect view of the Big Kahuna Swim Meet in Coos Bay. There was one problem, however. A spider had decided to crawl on our blanket.

The two girls, my daughter who is nine and another swimmer who is a year or two older, were not happy. I was asked to "get rid" of the spider. I got it off the blanket and far enough away that I hoped the little spider was smart enough not to return. But I tried to explain that when you're camping (we were) and/or spending lots of time outside (like we were) bugs were part of the deal.

The bugs were easy to deal with for me. But I must admit I was so happy to sleep in my own bed. I didn't wake up once in the middle of the night. I was also nice and warm and comfy!

Even with a blow up mattress in the tent I just couldn't quite get comfortable. And it was so cold. The final night I slept in sweats with a fleece jacket on. I tightened the hood as well as the sleeping bag around my face. Better, but still a little chilly. I might have to rethink my dream of alpine climbing unless I can toughen up a bit!

Camping was fun. I missed out on S'mores due to Whole 30, but I didn't mind so much. The best part of the weekend was the swim team beach party on Saturday evening. It was overcast and misty, but a great time. I laughed so hard watching all the kids (young and old) play this game of tag with partners on the sand.

The swim meet was also good. The temperatures were a lot warmer than anyone expected (the weather forecast proved totally wrong once again) but knowing the Oregon coast, I told my kids to bring two outfits for each day—one for if it's sunny and another if it were cold. Some people didn't even pack shorts and they were definitely needed.

By Saturday night I was campfired and socialed out so retreated into our tent, crawled into my sleeping bag and used my headlamp to write. I've changed the working title for my new story from Best in Show to Bachelor of the Year. I just think it fits better!

What did you do this weekend?

Thursday, August 09, 2012

Gone Camping!



I rarely go dark on the blog unless I'm sick or on deadline, but I won't be posting again until Monday. The two younger kidlets have a swim meet on the Oregon Coast so we're going to camp in the park next to the pool and make a mini-vacation out of it.

Our oldest wants nothing to do with camping (or maybe she wants nothing to do with me since we've reached that stage of adolescence) so she's not going. The animals aren't going either, not even Chaos. We have housesitter staying here to make sure all our babies are okay while we're away.

Even though this is a vacation, I plan on writing. I'm bringing my Alphasmart since I doubt they'll be a place to recharge my MacBook Pro. But if I have Internet access, I will put my Alphie aside so I can use this app I found last week on Twitter. Written? Kitten! is totally awesome! Perfect inspiration to get me writing more words and faster.

I did want to share this story from the New York Times about outdoor cats wearing Kitty Cams and what they do when you're not watching. My cats stay indoors all the time, but it's worth a read. I had to smile when I read about cats cheating on their owners. I'd wondered about that!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I intend to. See you on Monday!


Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Dogs and a Contest



There's a new post up on the Harlequin Romance Authors blog by Barbara Wallace titled Dog Days of Summer? Meet the dogs of Harlequin.  It's a fun article that shows some of our dogs, including my Chaos, and there's a giveaway to boot! One lucky visitor will win a $25 Amazon gift certificate so be sure to leave a comment so we know you stopped by!

If Barbara's article doesn't fill your quota of authors and their pets, check out Jill Krementz's Photo Journal on the New York Social Diary to see some other Top Dogs!  Or this Writers and Kittehs from icanhascheezburger.com.

Enjoy your Wednesday. Only a couple more days and the weekend will be here!

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Fair Fun



The Clark County Fair wasn't scary yesterday, but a few of the rides were! Two of my nephews, ages 10 and 12 joined us for our fair day on Monday. I'd taken their sister with me on Saturday, but yesterday was going to be our all day fair fun fest. It wasn't as warm as the weekend, but it was still hot and cooling down took retreating into the air conditioned Expo Center for a few minutes.

Yesterday was our ride day. We had unlimited ride bracelets. While I took my daughter's place doing herdsmanship in the dog barn so she could finish up her dog judging competition, the boys rode rides. And rode and rode. They returned with slushies and red faces (from the heat, not sunburn.) I then joined them for more rides, but the kind I like (no spinning or upside down ones.)

A 4-H friend brought Rose to the fairgrounds for me after her dance camp. The four kids shared the largest Elephant Ear I've ever seen. Wow! It was the size of a pizza. The four of them had trouble finishing it. I was on Day 6 of my second Whole 30 so had to pass. But boy, I was tempted to take a little taste.

Soon Mackenna had finished her shifts in the dog barn and the expo center. That meant riding more rides. This is where the scary comes in. She is fourteen and has no fear when it comes to rides. I get quesy just looking at what she wants to ride so I did a lot of waiting while they went on the scary stuff. I made the mistake of going on the hang gliders. My stomach is still feeling that one. Unfortunately, my son has my disposition when it comes to ride. He did a lot of waiting with me.

Hubby joined us once his day was finished. He arrived with what we needed at that moment—cash. The kids spent a little time in the water bubbles. Think blow-up hamster wheel in a pool. After dinner, we had to hit all the rides again with hubby.

It was a great day. Lots of food, fun and prizes won playing the dart game. Exactly what a county fair should be!

I hope you had a great Monday and an even better Tuesday!

Monday, August 06, 2012

Bears

funny pictures - LIONS TIGERS AND BEARS !!
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

We had a lion on the blog yesterday. No tiger today, but I must share this bear video that came across my Facebook wall yesterday. I wasn't quite sure what was going on as I watched, but I got a nice surprise! Worth a view.



The Clark County Fair 4-H Dog barn opens today. We'll be there for dog judging, but just today. I decided last year I couldn't spend seven days there. A good thing I made that decision because I really do need to write. A lot of people think because you work at home that you're really not working. But that isn't the case at all. I've gotten much better at saying no. If not, I'd never get anything done!

The kids don't seem to mind since I promised they'd still get to go to fair, and they still entered a few events. A win-win situation!

Well, I'd better get writing before it's time to head over to the fairgrounds. Have a great Monday!

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Baby Lion

funny pictures - Animal Capshunz: I Just Can't Wait to be King
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Yesterday I took my oldest daughter and my niece to the Clark Country Fair. We wanted to check out the 4-H Cats, who are on display through today. It was a gorgeous, blue-sky day, but the temperatures were predicted to be hot! Getting two fourteen year old girls out the door before ten wasn't easy, but we did it!

This is our third year of 4H and our third year attending. The same vendors are in the same spots. Oh, a few new things are there. Wine slushies are everywhere. But it's nice to know where things are.

By noon, we were burning up. I suggested we take a peek at the exotic animal display put on by A Walk On The Wild Side (if you click on the link make sure your volume is down or off because they have music on the site), get them milkshakes then head home since there was still a swim meet last night.

Oh my goodness. They had an eight week old lion. Everyone was sighing. Talk about cute. Adorable. Insert favorite baby adjective here.

I love cats. I really love big cats. I was head over heels in love.

The girls decided they'd rather spend the $10 I'd said we use for their milkshakes on a picture with the baby lion. For that price, you got to hold the kitty, get a photo taken and then time to pet the cutie cat. So we got in line.

It moved relatively quickly. It was hard to complain because we were in the shade, surrounded by other animals and they were very generous with the time they allowed you to spend with the lion. That boded well for all of us.

About two groups ahead of us the cub fell asleep, reminding me so much of the kitties we've had in the house. The staff member said they didn't know when the lion would wake up, but no one cared. Alseep or awake, the lion was still amazing.

When our turn arrived, I let the girls do the holding while I stood back and took additional pictures with my daughter's iTouch. Then we were all allowed to pet the baby. I was so excited when the cup opened his eyes. I didn't want to stop petting. To be honest, I didn't want to say goodbye, but unfortunately adoption isn't an option! I'm sure my neighbors and my other cats would have something to say about that if it were.

All I can say is best $10 spent in a very long time!

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Cats

funny cat pictures - Karma takes too long
see more

See that cat on the bottom? That's how I feel. I was beat up pretty badly yesterday. The reason? Two cats at two different vets for appointments yesterday. I really should have taken in my Chronic Renal Failure cat in, too, but I just couldn't deal with much more.

Verdict from the vets. Both need surgery.

One of the cats belonged to my friend, Elizabeth, who died in June. I'm waiting to hear from the vet this morning about her blood test results then we'll schedule the surgery, most likely next week.

The other is a foster cat. Unfortunately her surgery, a TECA aka Total Ear Canal Ablation, is crazy expensive. Last night, a friend suggested a cute idea in regards to fundraising. I'm hoping the rescue group will approve my doing something to raise money for the surgery. The alternative is sending her over the Rainbow Bridge. I don't want that to happen. She may be a senior cat, fourteen years old, but she could live a lot longer if not for her ear issues.

Enough about cats. Well, sort of...

The Clark County Fair opened yesterday. We're not doing fair this year. At least not how we've done it in the past. I just didn't that much time to spend with the 4-H dog program. Not to mention a week of complaining and hating life isn't fun for me or my family or blog readers. Seven days is just too long, especially for working parents. The girls don't seem to mind too much. Mackenna is still doing the dog judging competition and entered the Photography category for the first time. Both girls also made educational posters.

This weekend the 4-H cat clubs are on display so we're heading over to check that out. The girls might do that instead next year so we want to see what it's all about. Plus Mackenna wants to see how her pictures fared.

What are you up to today?

Friday, August 03, 2012

Lost and Found

funny cat pictures - Dropped contact
see more

Hottie mountain rescuers from Hood Hamlet (the Mount Hood setting where my Christmas Magic series takes place) aren't the only ones who know how to perform rescues. Check out this story from Gawker about a Chihuahua named Bell helped locate three lost girls!

Today Yoda turns three! It's so hard to believe. He's still such a kitten.

Speaking of cats, I'm a bit worried about one of my seniors. I'm hoping to get her into the vet today. Fingers crossed that there's nothing seriously wrong with her and I'm just being paranoid.

Hope you have a good Friday!

Thursday, August 02, 2012

July Contest Winner

funny cat pictures - If there was an award for laziness,
see more

I wasn't exactly lazy yesterday and this morning I woke up late and was scrambling to get the kids to swim practice out at Mount Hood Community College. Needless to say, I'm still catching up on my sleep since returning from the RWA conference and totally missed yesterday was August 1st and announcing the winner of the $10 gift card giveaway. So without further ado...

Here are your random numbers:

28

Timestamp: 2012-08-02 21:11:07 UTC

July's winner is Quilt Lady with her post on Hump Day Randomness. Quilt Lady, please use the contact button on the menu bar above and send me your email address and whether you want an Amazon or a BN.com $10 gift card.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I new contest is in effect. Instead of a gift card, I'm going to put as many books as I can in a USPS flat rate box to send to August's winner. These are new books I picked up in Anaheim at the RWA conference. If the winner lives outside the US, they will get a $10 Amazon gift card. I'll post a pick of what I have when the box arrives!

To enter just leave a comment on the blog. Each comment equals one entry.

Hope you're having a nice Thursday!

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Olympics

funny pictures - The Cutest Gold Medal Winners EVAR!
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

I'm finally getting into the Olympics. Being away meant missing all but a few minutes of the Olympics and only catching the late night broadcast when I was back in my hotel. Last night I enjoyed the gymnastics (WTG Fab Five!) and swimming, but I must admit I was bummed to see results posted on my friends' Facebook status messages since I didn't want to know what happened earlier in the day. Oh, well...

In honor of the Olympics, I found this cute video from Animal Planet. Enjoy!



What are your favorite Olympic events? Are you watching the live streaming or waiting for the tape delay?

I just realized it was the 1st of the month! I totally spaced on that and will announce my contest winner from the July comments tomorrow. Sorry!