NYC Day 3

Yesterday was another jam-packed twelve hours away until we returned to the hotel. It started with a walk down Fifth Avenue. More rain was predicted so we bought more umbellas. Now everyone has their own. We don't carry umbrellas back home even though it rains all the time, but here in NYC getting caught in a downpour isn't fun.

The first stop was American Girl Place! Rose was torn about being here. One part of her was happy but the other sad because she'd forgotten her doll at home. We checked in for our breakfast then looked around. Wow! Talk about little girl heaven. Everywhere you look are American Girl dolls, clothing and accessories. There's a whole section devoted to Bitty Baby and the Bitty Twins. Both are big faves at our house.

Breakfast ("brunch" on the menu) was a yummy affair. The table was set in pink and black. It matched the cafe decor. The napkin rings were black ponytail elastics with hot pink fabric bows. They had a little box with conversation starters. The girls had so much fun with those.

The cafe has thought about everything to make this an enjoyable outing for families. Rose had forgotten her American Girl back home. But the cafe has dolls the girls can borrow during the meal. This was so nice.

The appetizer was small cinnamon rolls. The girls had chocolate chip pancakes. They made me a scrambled egg plate with Canadian bacon and fruit since I'm eating gluten-free. Dessert was chocolate moose in these cute little flower pots with daisies sticking out of them. I received a pot of lemon sorbet!

After breakfast, we did a little shopping. Rose wanted a pink sweatshirt for her and her doll. We also bought the box of conversation starters and a couple other little things. We then met up with the boys who had breakfast across the street at another restaurant.

Our next stop was the American Museum of Natural History. The kidlets know this place from the movie Night at the Museum. They kept looking for things from the movie. It was a very cool museum with dioramas, replicas and exhibits. We watched the Journey to the Stars in the Planetarium. The dinosaur exhibit was totally cool.

I headed to my literary agency. I've been represented by them since 1999, but I've never seen the office. Though author John Saul told me about it when I met him at a BBQ thrown by Susan Wiggs for agency authors. It was so nice to sit and chat with my agents without the rush of conference surrounding us.

It's take a couple of days, but I'm finally figuring out who to use public transportation to get around town. The subway didn't take too long. Yesterday, I got to know the buses! I was even asked directions! That was nice, especially since I could tell her which subway to take and where to catch it!

After my meeting, I arrived at the pier just as my family was arriving on the Beast. They'd had lunch and then gone for a ride with their uncle while I was away. The Beast is a high speed thirty minute ride around the lower part of Manhattan Island. I purchased everyone a New York CityPass before we left home. They had a choice of different cruise options, but they wanted The Beast!

We then took a bus to Hell's Kitchen and ate dinner at Uncle Nick's. It's a Greek restaurant with good food and huge portions. Casual and loud. Perfect for a big group like ours!

After that we hit Nintendo World. The kids were in heaven! It's the only store like it around. They picked out T-shirts of their fave characters then played games. We had to drag them out of their. We stopped in at St. Patrick's Cathedral to pick up the Mass schedule for this weekend. Then we went to Dylan's Candy Bar for dessert. Three floors of candy as well as an ice cream parlor. Wow! Lots of sugar!!! A quick look at the Roosevelt Island tram, a bus ride and we were back at the hotel. A late night trip to the Jazz Standard Club to see a set capped off the night for a couple of us while the others slept. The surprise guest at the show was Cyril Neville. Some great New Orleans jazz.

We slept in this morning and now we're about to hit the town again. The boys will be doing one thing. The girls another! Fingers crossed we finally see the sun!

Day 2 in the Big Apple

Today was a nonstop day. We left the hotel a little after ten in the morning and didn't get back until 11:30 pm. A crazy day of thunderstorms, laughter and family fun!

Our first stop was Grand Central Terminal where we purchased our seven day Metrocards. On the way there, we met hubby's brother, who was spending the day with us. The kids were so excited to see their uncle.

We took the subway to Lincoln Center. As my nephew, oldest and I took a tour of Juilliard for future applicants, the rest went to Central Park.

The tour was fascinating. I thought it was hard to get into Stanford these days. That's nothing compared to Juilliard's dance and drama programs. The facilities are amazing. The musician in me (and I haven't played the clarinet in a while) was in awe of the performance spaces with amazing acoustics. Our tour guide had just graduated from the dance program. She was full of enthusiasm for the program.

We were hit by rain afterward so ducked into a little restaurant for a quick lunch. We met up with everyone on Fifth Avenue and went to MOMA aka Museum of Modern Art.

We started on the Fifth Floor. I wanted to see Van Gogh's Starry, Starry Night as well as the paintings of Cezanne and Monet. After that we worked our way down. Rose had just taken a class called Discovering Great Artists. She'd study a couple we saw and recognized others from different art curriculum we've used. But a lot of it in her words, "I don't get it." She wasn't alone in that sentiment! But we had a blast at the museum. Lots of laughter and fun!

From there we walked to an Italian restaurant in the Theater District and had dinner with my friend Dru who comments here (and who I met through blogging!). She'd picked out a great Italian Trattoria. The atmosphere was a bit like Tuscany. The kidlets asked if they could come back tomorrow. Yummy food!

We then headed to Times Square. Mackenna had missed riding the ferris wheel at Toys R Us. Rose wanted her uncle to ride, too. We said goodbye to Dru (only for now. We'll see her on Sunday again!) and looked around Times Square until it was time to head to the theater to see Mary Poppins.

The New Amsterdam Theater is gorgeous! Everywhere you look are carvings. We had seats on the mezzanine level

The show was great! We all enjoyed it. Especially Rose. She was so excited to see her first Broadway show. We got her a Supercalifragilistic shirt and matching bag. She wanted to wear her shirt right away. She sat on her edge the entire time. the look of awe on her face was priceless.

The performers, especially Mary Poppins and Bert, were incredible. The kids playing Jane and Michael Banks were really excellent, too. A wonderful evening.

We said goodbye to the kidlets' uncle at Grand Central. We finally made it back to the hotel at 11:30 pm. A long day, but a wonderful one!

Wicked!

The flight arrived on time around 5:30 am. Hubby surprised us with a white stretch limo to drive us from the airport to the city. As we were driving, the youngest kidlet said, "Where's the Golden Gate Bridge?" I explained that was in San Francisco. The most sombering moment was staring at the skyline without seeing the World Trade Centers. The last time I was in New York was 1999.

We got to the hotel, but it was too early to check in so we changed, left our luggage and headed to the Empire State Building. We had no wait at all. A little rain fell, but we're from the PNW. We're used to it!

After a late breakfast, we walked to Times Square. We went to the Gershwin Theater to enter the Wicked Lottery. Around a hundred people entered. My name was one of 13 picked. We won the right to purchase two front row center tickets for $26.25 each to see the 2 o'clock matinee.

We grabbed lunch than went back to the theater. The seats were amazing. The show incredible. I had only heard the songs sung on GLEE. I didn't know too much about the storyline and was blown away. Loved it! Being so close let us really see the character's facial expressions, too.

I am so thrilled we got this chance. Wicked was the #1 thing Mackenna wanted to do in New York, but by the time I got around to buying tix it was too late for anything affordable. She was very understanding about it. So happy she got to do this!

After that, we walked back to the hotel. My friend Dru who lives in NYC is always blogging about free giveaways. Well, The Suits, a new television show, was on a corner near Grand Central Terminal giving away Hazen-Das ice cream cones!

We went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Josie's and stopped by Baskin Robbins for ice cream on the way home. Hoping today we aren't so tired!

How was your day?

On my way...

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I'm writing this the night before because I have no idea if I'll be able to blog in the morning. I've spent the day preparing for my departure. I'm sure I've forgotten something.

But I made it to the airport! I had my doubts when the car keys got lost. Of course, I arrived to find 85 just graduated 8th graders checking in on my flight. Fingers cross they sleep! That's what I'm planning to do.

Hope you have a great day! I'll report in from the Big Apple later!

Swagger

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I want to have a swagger like the LOLcat above. But I'm not the swaggering type. I'm the walk softly so no one notices me until I stumble and fall flat on my butt type. So not fair!

I've been preparing for the RWA conference. Gathering all my stuff and making sure I don't need anything else. I now know why I don't go to every single conference. It's too much work getting ready!

Yesterday's invite about the eHarlequin Pajama Party prompted a run to Kohl's for new jammies. None of my old ones would work. They run more towards the flannel type to keep me warm (I'm always cold!) so I needed something a little summery. I got a cute pair. The top is blue the bottoms striped with different colors. The kidlets preferred hot pink ones with little hot dog type doggie on them. Those would have looked great on them. Not me.

Today I'll get everything together for the big literacy signing next Tuesday afternoon/early evening. If you're in New York be sure to stop by the Marriott Times Square. The event is free. All proceeds from book sales will be donated to literacy. Lots of authors will be signing books and passing out promo items. I'll have my romance trading cards to giveaway!

What's going on with you?

Whirlwind Weekend

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The faces of both my kidlets and my furbabies would work in the pic above. Too cute!

I hope you had a great weekend! We returned to needing to be at three places at once. Boy, did I miss having nothing to do. We left a dog show in the middle to make Mass. It was definitely a squeeze it all in sort of weekend. I'm kind of glad it's Monday!

In spite of the rain on Saturday and all the driving both days it was a very good time. Finn's new soccer team went 3-1 in the tournament and won third place. He got a nifty pin for his new soccer bag. He was very happy. I only got to see one game, but there's plenty of soccer ahead of us.

Mackenna won a blue ribbon at the 4H show (no idea yet on obedience, but she doesn't think she did that well) and lots of swag during the two Jr. Handlers competitions at the Cascade Hound Show in Oregon. She also handled a couple puppies to the breed ring (these aren't kids only competitions) for Chaos' breeder. This was an excellent learning experience. By Sunday, she was figuring out how to handle them better and one of them won Reserve Champion! It also helped her in competition later that afternoon.

Father's Day didn't happen until much later. The kids wanted to get hubby a dessert. They picked out a giant cookie from Walmart and had "Happy Father's Day" written on it with icing and sprinkles added. His present was a Kindle. He'd been eying one for a while. They wanted to watch a movie so we stopped by the Redbox Kiosk to get Unstoppable. Hubby had been wanting to see it for a while. We all thought it was very suspenseful. At one point two of my kidlets had to walk about of the room (the older two), it got a little too intense for them. But they were still listening to what happened.

I didn't time the plot points, but I could see elements of both Save the Cat! and Story Mastery in the plotting. I don't know how the movie did at the box office, but it's definitely worth a watch!

How was your weekend?

Best in Show

Two dog shows today. One in Washington an hour north of us. One in Oregon an hour south and west of the first one. The 4H Leader show date changed four times until they settled on the this one. We'd already signed up for the other show so we decided to do both. What was I thinking?

Both shows were outside. It's been raining all day. Real Pacific Northwest rain that doesn't let up. I'm finally home, tired and wet and needing to get some words written.

I'm very proud of Mackenna. She did great. For the first time, she competed in the breed ring (a competition not just for juniors aka kids) with a puppy today in addition to her regular junior showmanship with Chaos. So I'll leave you with this...



Hope you're having a great weekend!

Not much to say...

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Busy day! We finally got the final test results for my son. It's staph and his current medication is working! He gets to play in a soccer tournament this weekend! Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

I need to get back to writing!

Hope you have a great Friday!

Random Thursday Once Again

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I'm not exactly spooning with my furbabies, but Chaos is on my lap making it hard to type. Hopefully I'll catch any typos. If not, just blame my 46 pound lap dog!

Still no word on our son's final test results. We've called, but never hear back. Very frustrating.

Each day, I've been taking a little time out of my day to prepare for my trip to the RWA conference. The only things left to do: pick up my dry cleaning, do some laundry, buy a clip for my hair (thinking of wearing it up at the award ceremony), get a hair cut (appt. made) and a manicure (right before I leave.) Oh, and pack!

I'm enjoying my new story. The hero is a professional soccer player. I think he's going to be a great hero and am looking forward to seeing his character arc. The guy definitely is not where he should be at the beginning of the book, but then neither is my heroine!

Yesterday, Washington's governor, Christine Gregoire, signed the budget that significantly cuts funding for education. I kept hoping it wouldn't happen. Even though we have spots for the next school year, the knot in my stomach is still there. I want it to go away and feel like everything is set and stable!

I was so busy working on Tuesday night I completely forgot about watching The Voice. Did anyone see it? Anything good happen?

Have a nice Thursday!

A House of Legos

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I'm debating whether to show this LOLcat to my son or not. He loves Legos. I'm sure he'd love to construct a cat house.

My house is full of Legos. They (along with Chaos) are what led to my broken two a couple of months ago. My son can't get enough of them. Ever since Sunday, he's been building things while stuck on the couch with warm compresses on his leg. Using the ottoman, he put together a cardboard castle from a book he had then used Legos to create other pieces. He made a complete battle scene complete with figures. I should have taken a picture before either the dog or one of the cats destroyed it. Not that he hasn't built and rebuilt it several times since then!

Still waiting for test results. It's been well over forty eight hours. Fingers crossed we hear good news soon!

Hope you have a great Wednesday! I'm off to buy a pair of shoes at some point today. I thought I'd found what I wanted for the RWA conference but after wearing them for the past two days decided they weren't comfortable enough for NY. I gave them to the oldest kidlet. They are a little big for her, but I have no doubt she'll grow into them sooner rather than later!

Little Hoominz

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On of my little hoominz is getting tired of hanging on the couch and having compresses put on his leg. But it's looking so much better. Not the wound itself. That's nasty, but the swelling and redness. We get test results back today. Fingers crossed.

With my iBook on my lap, I sat with my son yesterday and worked (and changed compresses) while he watched I Am Number Four on DVD. We both enjoyed the movie. It made me wonder what the book series is like.

Something good finally happened yesterday. It seems lately everything has been not-so-good. The UPS man delivered a box from Harlequin. My July release. I always get this warm and fuzzy feeling when I open the box and pick a book up. The excitement never changes even though I've published many books. It's the same as it was the very first time!

That pretty much covers my day. How was yours?

Sigh...

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This picture would be me if I was a tiny kitty. I thought after camping out overnight and getting the kids enrolled in school things would get back to normal. I wanted to get caught up on blog hopping, go shopping for my New York trip, write and cross a few things off the To Do list.

So much for my plans...

My son, Finn, has a nasty leg infection. We saw the doctor yesterday. They are running tests, but she kept mentioning MRSA which wouldn't be good. He's on antibiotics and we've been keeping warm compresses on it. He can't swim or play soccer or be around other kids in case it's contagious. I would appreciate prayers that's it's nothing serious.

Did you have a nice weekend? What did you do?

A long night!

I spent last night camping out to get the kids a spot at their school. I arrived to volunteer in Rose's class a little before eleven. I was at the school until just a few hours ago. I hadn't planned on staying that long, but when I saw the line-up was already happening I spoke with the principal. I then sent Rose out stand in line until I finished in Finn's math class at three o'clock. I'm pretty wiped out, but here are a couple of stories on what was going on.

This story is from the local paper, The Columbian.

And here's a news report from one of the news crews that was there. One showed up around three in the morning and both were still there when we went in to register at eight!



Hope you have a great Friday!

On Mount Hood

Writing the Hood Hamlet books set on Mount Hood introduced me to many local climbers. One, Jon Bell, is a writer. We met at a fundraiser for another climber a couple of years ago. We've exchanged emails and tweets ever since. Jon is a great resource for all things Mount Hood. He helped me with my upcoming November release Firefighter Under the Mistletoe.

Tonight is the launch party for his new book On Mount Hood: A Biography of Oregon's Perilous Peak. It tells the story of the mountain. I could go on about all the great things Jon writes about, the interviews he's conducted and the research, but there's a great website that tells all about the book here. Check it out!

If you're around Portland, the launch party, including a slide show, is tonight from 7:30 to 9:00 PM at Powell's on Hawthorne Blvd.

I was planning on being there. I want to be there! But with all the changes that happened with the kids' school I have to be there instead. If you go, please give me a full report! Thanks!

Change

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Yesterday I mentioned I was worried about what might happen with the Alternate Learning Experience (ALE) program my kids attend due to budget cuts by Washington State. Governor Christine Gregoire hasn't signed the bill yet, but the cuts are much worse than I expected.

The program was awesome. It went all the way to high school with amazing teachers. High test scores. Even higher parent involvement. You are required to be in the class three hours a month. They use block scheduling so kids received an hour and a half instruction in various subjects two days a week. The other subjects would be taught at home or through enrichment courses.

I was so excited when I picked up the kidlets' schedules for next year. They got all the classes they wanted, on the days we wanted and with their friends. Mackenna even made it into the high school Algebra I class! She was so excited for eighth grade.

All that has changed.

At the meeting I learned the school is moving. Rather than being 5 minutes away, it'll now be around 30 minutes. The facility is smaller, too. There will only be spots for approximately 200 students. Enrollment at the current school is approximately 600. Spots for next year will be first come first serve on Friday morning.

And the classes aren't the same. Both the 3/4 and 5/6 classes went from three blocks to two. The 7/8 blend class used to be four blocks. Now it's two.

There was lots of shock, disbelief and tears from parents. But my concern is the kids. Mackenna is so sad. She's been talking to friends and classmates trying to find out who is going to try to get into the school and who's leaving. The more she learns, the bummed she gets.

The worst part is I can't do anything to make it better. It hurts so badly when your kids hurt. I will get in line on Friday and hope I can get her and her siblings into a class, but she said it won't be the same. And she's right. It won't be the same as this year. Change is never easy.

My heart aches for these kids, especially the students who will be seniors next year. But all any of us can do is make the best of the new situation. And hope we can be a part of this new chapter of the school. If not, we'll just have to figure out something else.

Random Tuesday

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I haven't made it downstairs yet this morning. I'm surrounded by my cats and dog. I would love to believe this is because they love me so much. But right now they are either ready for breakfast or a morning bone.

Has anyone seen the new X-Men movie? I've never seen any of the X-Men movies, but this one looks interesting. I think it might be one to see in the theater, too.

I started reading a new book last night, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My daughter Mackenna wants me to read it. She's read and loves all three books. She also can't stop talking about the upcoming movie. She knows who is playing each character. She's so excited, but I reminded her about the Percy Jackson movie. Her shoulders sagged and she said, "Oh, yeah."

I miss The Event a lot. Tonight I'll be tuning into The Voice. I'm curious about what will happen now that the four teams have been set.

Today, I've got my fingers crossed. I'm also saying a little prayer. My kids attend an alternative education program that we all love. But Washington State has cut education funding for next year in order to balance the budget. There is a meeting this morning to find out what changes will be happening next fall. I hope it's nothing too drastic.

That's all I've got this morning. What about you?

The Dress Saga Continues

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Yesterday afternoon, my daughter and I headed to NW Portland to go dress shopping. I'd googled some dress shops and one in particular caught my eye. I phoned them to make sure they were open. We set off eager to enjoy the nice weather and see if we could finally find "the dress."

NW 23rd is a great street with lots of shops, boutiques and restaurants. It reminds me of when I lived in San Francisco.

The shop I wanted to visit was Lena Medoyeff. Check out the website if you have a minute. It's a gorgeous boutique full of beautiful dresses made out of stunning fabrics.

When I walked into the store, I was asked what I needed the dress for. I explained about the RITA® Awards Ceremony in NY. The designer got up, headed to a rack and picked out this gorgeous black lace dress. She said the dress would be perfect.

As I looked around, another woman who works at the shop picked out a few more dresses for me to try on. I liked them all, but narrowed it down to three, two black and one green & gold. But when I tried on the black lace dress again I knew it was perfect. And I hadn't even wanted a black dress. But it's an amazing dress. It's cut on the bias so flattering for all figure types. The neckline and sleeves are elegant and can be tied up to give the dress different looks. You can also wear a black or colored sash with it to change the look. The lace is from France and simply divine. Best yet, it's comfortable to wear.

I sent hubby a pic, who was on his way home from a swim meet in Pasco, WA. He thought the dress was very nice. His problem was the price. A bit over the budget. I understand his point. We really are trying to take the Dave Ramsey method of budgeting to heart. Cash only. No credit cards, only debit. He did ask when my royalties would arrive (very soon!) so I was hopeful I could splurge and get the dress. It's the kind of style that I could wear for a very long time! So dollar cost averaging per wear made it more reasonably priced.

I was so excited I asked a friend in SF, who's really into fashion, what kind of accessories to buy. She sent me a list this morning: black stockings with seam up the back and strappy black heels.

And then this afternoon a little after one o'clock, I got an email from Harlequin, my publisher. Their big party, something Harlequin authors look forward to at conference, is black and white dress.

An elegant dress code for sure. Except I already had a dress to wear to it. A pretty purple dress that my friend Kelly was loaning me. Sigh...

The last thing I need is two fancy black dresses hanging in my closest, especially when the one really would be a total splurge. I couldn't even justify it to myself for thirty seconds given I'm so not a dressy, formal type person and only wear nice clothes at conferences or a rare writing event. There is the lovely green and gold dress at the boutique I could get, but I'm not in love with it as much as the black lace one.

But the idea of now going back out to look for dresses, black ones or otherwise, just slays me. The shopping gene just isn't part of my DNA.

Wish me luck! I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

Bad Hare Day

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This pic was too cute not to post! I'm actually feeling better! The sunshine is definitely putting me in a better mood, too! It could also help that I stepped on the scale this morning and have lost more weight. I'm down 8 pounds total from where I started. A bit slow to come off, but I'll take it!

As for today, I'll give dress shopping another go as well as some writing. I'm trying to decide what story to write. My editor and I have decided I should put the Hood Hamlet snowboarding story on the backburner even though the complete is due on the 20th. Being so sick and fuzzy-headed really messed up that one so I'm going to work on something else and go back to it later when I've gotten some distance.

My deadlines are going to be all messed up, but I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to focus on getting 100% healthy and just writing. I'm praying the rest will work out.

Hope you have a nice Sunday!

Mission Impossible

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I saw this LOLcat and had to laugh. It describes my day so far. Oh, it started out great. Breakfast with my daughter, Mackenna, and my good friend, Elizabeth Boyle, at Mother's Bistro in Downtown Portland. We had a delicious breakfast and chatted the time away.

After that we headed to the shopping area to see if I could find a dress to wear to the RITA® award ceremony in NY. We made a quick stop into the Goodwill store which is more like a designer boutique. I didn't luck out in finding a dress, buy my daughter ended up with a jacket, a blazer and a skirt!

We bid Elizabeth goodbye and kept shopping. The sun is finally shining in the Pacific Northwest and it's gorgeous out. We kept looking and looking. I tried on a few things, but no luck.

This really is feeling like a mission impossible to me. I'm not a formal type dresser. I don't like buying something I'll never wear again. I just don't look good in sleeveless cocktail type dressers that fill the racks at stores these days. I did find one dress, by Oscar de La Renta, that caught my eye at Nordstrom. It was a beautiful blue color with a vintage style skirt. Plain, but stylish. It was even on the sale rack. I checked the size. It wouldn't fit. A good thing considering the price tag $1795. That sure isn't in my budget!

Hope you are having a good day!



I still have a couple of weeks, but I was happy to have to head home so I could let Chaos out to go potty. Yes, that made me smile more than shopping for a dress.

Almost the weekend!

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This picture reminded me of my trip to the Sylvia Beach Hotel with my friends Amy and Dru (who I met after we started commenting on each others blogs!) The hotel had a couple of cats, one who always seemed to be around us!

Three of the family just set off for a three day weekend swim meet a few hours away. Instead of staying in a hotel though, they'll be camping. They are very excited to do this.

Me? I'm glad I'm staying home. I like camping a lot, but not when the camping is going to be right next to a 50m pool. Okay, I'm probably exaggerating. I'm sure there's some cement and grass separating the two areas. Maybe even a fence!

I know they'll have a great time. I'm really looking forward to some one-on-one time with my oldest. She has a band concert tonight and will swim in a different meet this weekend. So I'll still be sitting at a 50m pool just not sleeping there, too!

Do you have any weekend plans?

Romance Trading Cards

Have you heard about Romance Trading Cards?  If not, think baseball cards for romance novels. The front of the card is the book cover. The back is a character from the book.

For my upcoming July release, Not-So-Perfect Princess, I had Kim at Hot Damn Designs make make three cards—one for my hero, one for my heroine and one for a stray kitten in the book.


Okay, I'm totally biased, but I love them! Once I have the cards in hand, I'll figure out what I'm going to do with them besides taking them to the literacy signing at the RWA conference in New York and giving them away during my July Virtual Book Tour. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

For any authors wanting cards made for their book(s), Kim is amazing. She is so easy to work with and lightening fast. I'd put off ordering these for way too long due to being sick. I didn't contact her until Monday when I asked if it was even possible to have them done in time for RWA. I had the proofs in my inbox yesterday morning. I can't recommend Kim and Hot Damn Designs enough! Totally awesome!

May Contest Winner!

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This fits all of my cats perfectly!

Where did May go?  I can't believe it's June 1st.  But since it is, that means I need to announce the winner of my blog contest.

To enter all you had to do was post a comment. The prize is a $10 gift card from either amazon or bn.com.  It's the winners choice. And with no further ado....

Here are your random numbers:

24 

Timestamp: 2011-06-01 15:43:42 UTC

The winner of the May contest is Brandy with her comment on my post First Communion. Brandy, please use the Contact link above to send me your email address as well as whether you want an amazon or bn.com gift card emailed to you. Thanks!

I never did get this contest posted under the link bar. And I still have a backlog of prizes to get out and hope to have everything finished by this week. I've been so sick for a few months now (I don't think I ever fully got rid of the sinus infection back in February) that I'm way behind. I appreciate you being so patient with me!

I also appreciate all the comments/entries into the contest, considering my blogging has been a little hit or miss lately with the way I've been feeling!

A new contest begins today. It'll run until the 4th of July since I have a book coming out on the 5th.  Same prize. I'm going to make it easy on me again this time. The prize will be a $10 gift card to amazon or bn.com.  Just comment to be entered and check back on the July 5th to see if you're the winner!

Have a great Tuesday!

Animal Kingdom

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Do you remember watching Mutual of Omaha's Animal Kingdom with Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler? It started before I was born, but I remember watching it as I grew up. We really enjoyed that show. Now when people say Animal Kingdom, many think of Disney World!

Still recovering. A few things to do today, but not a lot. Looking forward to some more down time.

Hope you have a nice Monday!

Happy Memorial Day!

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This picture reminds so much of Yoda when he was smaller. He still will lie down anywhere, including places he shouldn't!

Hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend! A big thank you to all who have served our country and especially those who paid the ultimate price. Thanks and prayers to their families, too.

I'm taking it easy today and trying to get rid of this sinus infection once and for all. Hope to be back to normal and blog hopping sometime this week! Fingers crossed!

Hugs

So sweet!

Hope you have a great Friday! I'll be finishing up my AAs on Firefighter Under the Mistletoe and seeing if I can get a different medication. The second one worked the way I hoped :(

Dibs and AI

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This LOLcat made me smile! I haven't said "dibs" in a long time, but I remember when it used to be a word used almost daily when I was younger. What about you?

My three kidlets are thrilled Scotty won last night on American Idol. I don't know how many times they voted, but I know it was more than once until I made them go to bed on Tuesday night. Wednesday is a sleep-in late day so they got to stay up a little longer to watch the show and get their votes cast. They've never listened to country music before, but my oldest has all of Scott's songs on her iTouch.

Did you watch AI? Who did you want to win?

Princess Leia Kitty

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The things our furbabies put up with. I must admit we have put a Yoda hat/hood on ours. Rose wore it as part of a Halloween costume when she was two. Now she was a seriously cute Yoda!

Spirit is feeling a little better. She's found herself a place away from everyone, but within eyesight of me to rest. Smart kitty since Yoda just jumped off the bed and on top of Smalls when she walked by the bed. Guess he's practicing his Ninja moves.

Today is the last day of the classes I teach at church. I enjoy them, but am ready for the break until fall.

Still can't beat this sinus thing. The late night at the vet hospital has not helped. I'll give the new medicine a couple more days to kick in then I'm calling for something else. I wan to feel better!

This morning I'll be preparing for the last class and then tonight I'm reading through the page proofs of Firefighter Under the Mistletoe. What are you up to?

Sick Spirit

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I got home for the 24 hour emergency vet hospital at 2 am. One of my cats, 14 yo Spirit was not feeling well last night. Of course, I don't realize this until way too late when I should be going to bed. But I was concerned enough to call. And they were concerned that she could have a blockage so off we went.

Fortunately, it's only a UTI. Huge sigh of relief. They told me she was in great shape for her age. They gave her an injection of antibiotic and gave me pills to give her at home. She's resting now. I'll be taking a nap later!

How's your day going?

Falling asleep with a good book...

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The last book I fell asleep with was my own. I was writing it. Oops. How about you?

Hope you have a good Monday!

Sleeping in late...

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This LOLcat describes what's going on in the house right now perfectly. Only Yoda and I are awake. We were out late because of an evening swim meet. A very casual, chilly meet. I get cold just thinking about it, but fortunately the rain stayed away until we were walking out to the car.

We usually go to early Mass, but not this morning. I knew the kids needed to sleep in. Me, too!

Not much on the agenda today. I'm thankful about that.

I did start reading the AAs for my November release, Firefighter Under the Mistletoe. A few lines are jumping out to me. I marked them and will go to my original copy and see if I wrote them or if the CE made some changes. I don't think a lot about "voice" as I write, but it's funny how obvious it is when something clearly doesn't sound right or like me!

Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

Ahhhh...

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So sweet! One of my fave things about waking up from a nap is to see who joined me while I was sleeping. I usually have a few furbabies lying next to or on me.

I have new medication. Fingers crossed it works. I'm so far behind on stuff and hate feeling this way! I'm still trying to take it easy as much as I can.

We do have a little fun on the agenda today. A friend of Finn's who is also in one of my Wednesday classes turns 11 today so we're taking him out to lunch! Do you have any plans?

Random Thursday

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You know you're a crazy cat lady when seeing the above pic makes you want to put clear containers around the house to see exactly how your cats do it!

I'm heading off to the doctor's today. Hoping to get something else that will get this sinus infection out of here once and for all. I've had a headache now for a couple of days. So not fun! I was going to have Yoda blog for me yesterday, but it was just too much!

Not much to say, except one of my blog readers and very good friend, Dru, alerted me to this post on Daily Cheap Reads. The kindle version of my RITA finalist book, Christmas Magic on the Mountain, is on sale for $1.24. The paperback version at Amazon is only $2.46. The large print version is even less, $1.30. Okay, sales pitch over!

On the writing front, I'm giving my hero a conflict redo. Heard back from my editor and she likes the new direction. Huge sigh of relief since the book is due a month from today!

Other than that, I head back to the doctor this morning. Anything going on with you?

Also don't forget to comment if you want to enter the contest to win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon or Barnes & Noble. I don't think I've posted info about it under the contest tab yet, but there's a post below about it.

Tiny cats

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My kitties think they are tiny kittens. Only Smalls, however, is on the smaller size. The rest are bigger. Yoda still think he's a teeny weenie little thing. His favorite spots are small Amazon boxes and even smaller baskets. It's cute, but sure looks uncomfortable. He doesn't seem to mind though.

I'm trying to get words written before blogging or blog hopping. I've had to up my daily word count, too. Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays are going to be my hardest days for writing and getting online so I'm posting this even though I'm not near where I should be. I really need to be disciplined right now. The book is due in a little over a month. And my stupid sinus infection seems to be coming back. Bloody noses have returned and headaches, too. Argh! Hate this!

Last night watching The Event was bittersweet. Only one more episode to go (on NBC at least.) The episode brought together two pairs of characters which was cool. It felt more like a build up to next week's show than a standalone show though. A few juicy tidbits were learned, but I wonder if we'll get a satisfying ending to the series if it isn't picked up by someone.

I keep getting this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that it'll be just like when ABC canceled Invasion. I even wrote letters about that one! After that, it was a long time before I got attached to a new series. I think it'll be a long time before it happens again.

Did your fave shows get renewed or canceled?

Kid Free

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For once, I don't have any kids with me. Just cats and a dog. That means uninterrupted writing time.

Because of the kidlets, I didn't get as much done yesterday as I hoped to do. Fingers crossed today will be different. I already wrote 1205 words as part of a #1hr1k on twitter. Just a couple hundred more and I'll be ahead for the day!

What are you up to?

Shredding paper

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I don't make my kitties shred my scrap paper though sometimes they have fun with it. I leave all my no longer in use pages on the floor. No one is allowed to touch them until the book is complete in case I need to find something. Messy, but it works. Needless to say, this LOLcat definitely fits where I am now. Knee deep in rewrites of the first three chapters and trying to get the rest of the first draft written.

I'm finally feeling human again, too. Not 100%, but better than I've felt in almost a month. Yay! But I'm not going to overdo it. Really. I mean it this time!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend. I am. Yesterday I watched my youngest play soccer. Today I saw 4 current students in the first Wednesday class I teach and a former one make their First Holy Communion down in Portland. Now it's "me" time. I'm going to spend the rest of the day writing (and possibly sneak in a nap!)

Talk to you on Monday!

A long night...

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So this blog is late going up this morning. I have to admit it would have been late even if Blogger hadn't been down. I spent last night at the ER with my son Finn. He fell at soccer and put his right arm out to break his fall. He ended up hurting his wrist. Fortunately it's only a sprain. The ER doc turned out to be his former Little League coach. Needless to say, it was a late night and I got zero writing done. I feel like the LOL kitty above.

Because of that, and the fact a nap is looking like a must-have before lunchtime, I'm going to leave you with this link. It'll take you to a blog of pictures containing writers and their kitties! Enjoy!

Fire Alarm

Yesterday while hubby cooked lunch, Chaos started acting very strange. Her curled tail uncurled. She walked around the downstairs as if lost. I told hubby that she was afraid the smoke detector was going to go off. He laughed, saying I was crazy.

Last night the same thing happened when he was fixing dinner. Chaos looked so nervous. And then the smoke detector went off. The dog freaked as she usually does when that happened. She was on my lap, cowering and trembling so much we wrapped her in a blanket. It was heartbreaking to see her so scared. I tried to get her to go upstairs, but she wouldn't budge. It took over an hour for her to settle down. Poor baby!

I started thinking about her actions prior to the alarm going off. I wonder if she smelled something ahead of time or knows when daddy turns on the fan on the stove the chances of the loud noise sounding goes up. Maybe it was simply the noise from the fan. She doesn't like the vacuum cleaner, either. She obviously knew something was up.

It'll be interesting to see how she acts today during meal time prep!

Still dragging a bit here. I hope to get back to more online stuff soon, but right now trying to rest as much as I can when I have free time.

Hope you have a great Thursday. I keep hoping the rain will go away, but it returned again! I want sunshine! What's the weather like where you are?

Nap Attack!

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This was me yesterday! I would sit down to write only to start nodding off. I had at least two, maybe three naps, in between some errands and writing. The naps helped me stay awake long enough to watch The Voice. Some good battles last night! I'm looking forward to next week's episode. Since I've been watching that show, I've stopped watching Glee. I just don't have that much time to spend in from of the television.

So the more I look at the LOLcat above, I can't help but wonder if pirate kitty grew weary of being dressed in pirate garb and decided sleep was a better alternative. What do you think?

Have a nice Wednesday!

New Contest!

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I'm still not feeling all that great and realized I haven't put up a prize for this month's contest. I haven't even posted it on the contest page!

I'm going to do the old stand-by. A $10 gift card only this time you can choose whether you want Amazon or Barnes & Noble, who now do eCards.

All comments posted in May (the time stamp will be what shows up on MY computer) will be entered. Multiple entries allowed so comment away. Check back at the beginning of June to see if you won. The winner's name will be posted on the blog! Good luck!

Hope you have a great day!

Off we go!

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The little kitty in the pic above reminds me of Yoda when he was younger! So sweet!

I spent yesterday exactly the way I wanted—resting and writing. I wrote over 4000 words, a chapter's worth of pages! A very nice Mother's Day present to myself. Mackenna took care of Rose for me (and also kept Chaos away) so I didn't have a care in the world. The kidlets made me cards (and ones from the cats and dog) and hubby got me a card, too. A very quiet, low-key holiday.

Too bad the week couldn't be that way, but that's not how things work around here! I did cancel the kids' piano lesson. They have testing and trying to find a time to fit it in was too hard. At least I have one less place to be.

A couple of people asked to see pics from the First Communion, but I haven't uploaded them yet. Yesterday was all about me! It was so cute to see Rose all dressed up in white, only to come home after celebrating, change into her soccer uniform and cleats and get covered in mud during the game. From one extreme to the other!

Today begins the new soccer season 2011-2012 for Finn. Only a week off because he's switched to a team that's closer to where we live. We really liked his old club, but it was in Oregon and just too far a drive. It wasn't an easy decision since the development at the old club is really good, but I'm at the point in my life where I'm all about making things convenient. I took him to kickarounds at clubs to see what he thought about the various teams. I was worried he would just want to go back to the old club, and I really didn't want to have to keep doing that commute a couple times a week. But fortunately he really liked one of them and wanted to play there instead. Yay!

This weekend he swam his first long course meet of the year. The pool is 50 meters. It always looks so much bigger when I see it after the short course season. He aged up due to his recent birthday. That means he must qualify at 11 year old times this season. He managed to beat an A time in the 400 meter by 4.5 seconds on Friday night. We were all very happy about that. He skipped Saturday's races due to the First Communion, but was back at the pool yesterday. He just missed his A time on the 50 Fly by a couple tenths and beat all the B times for his other two races! A very good meet for him. Hubby kept sending me texts to let me know what was going on!

Tonight after the soccer practice, I'll be watching The Event! (I still need to catch up on last week's episode. I was too busy writing.) It's a show I really like (the only one I watch regularly), but fear will be canceled. A friend just became a Nielsen family and I told them to please watch it. Turns out they already do!

Anything on your Must See TV list tonight?

Happy Mother's Day!

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I want to wish all you moms out there a Happy Mother's Day!

Hubby asked what I wanted. I told him a day where I didn't have to do anything but write! He said okay! We went to the early Mass at a different parish first thing this morning. Now he's taking Finn to the swim meet. Mackenna is going to watch Rose. And I'm free to write! The cats are already staking their places next to me!

Hope everyone, whether a mom or not, has a nice Sunday! I'm really looking forward to mine!

First Communion!

Today, my youngest makes her First Communion. Needless to say, lots of excitement in the McClone household. There's no time to blog right now!

Hope you have a great Saturday!

TGIF

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Lately I feel like the evil side of my furbabies has been out more than the good side. At least with two of them. I hope that changes!

I'm so happy it's Friday! This weekend my youngest makes her First Communion. She looks so sweet in her white dress and veil. Best yet, only three things remain on my To Do list for it: buy her white tights, put together the favors for her celebration afterward and pick up the cake! Not bad considering how busy and badly I've been feeling this week. But the medicine is finally are helping. Boy, it took a while!

Anything big happening this weekend with you?

A Quickie

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It's been a crazy week. Still trying to recover from the sinus infection and catch up on stuff, especially with an upcoming First Communion for Rose this weekend. I'd rather just sleep and write, though!

Sorry I haven't posted a new contest. Still trying to figure out the prize and get all the past winners theirs. At this point I may just go with the old standard, a gift card, unless someone has some other ideas. What are your favorite prizes to win? Any ideas for the contest here?

Thanks!

May the Fourth be with You!

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In honor of Star Wars day, I thought I'd give you a couple of links and some pics. This is an unofficial day. Some fans celebrate on May 25th. My thought is something this epic can be celebrated twice!


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The first link is from Lonely Planet. The title of the article is What Star Wars can teach you about travel. Click here to read.


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Today, Lucusfilm announced details about the is about the saga's release on Blu-ray. This article on DVDTOWN has all the info.

Hope you have a Happy Star Wars Day!

It's off!

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I emailed my proposal last night. Considering I started over with it right before Easter, I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief. Writing the synopsis is always painful, but with this one not so much thanks to my Story Mastery template and Blake Snyder Beat Sheet. Both the chapters and the synopsis came in shorter than I usually send, but with the rewrite and a sinus infection I'm satisfied with it. Of course, I have to wait to see what my editor says. I might be singing a different tune then!

I was working so hard last night I missed The Event! Oh, well. I'll catch it on line sometime today. I have lots of little things to do that will be perfect to keep my hands busy while I watch the show.

Speaking of shows, did you catch The Voice on NBC last week? I was curious after the endless slew of ads so tuned in. It had already started, but I enjoyed what I saw. It's not a carbon copy of American Idol, so if you like that kind of reality show you might want to check out The Voice tonight.

Okay, time to hang with the kidlets! Have a great day!

Contest Winner!

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Sorry for the delay in posting a contest winner. I forgot it was May 1 yesterday morning then after I got home last night from my son's final soccer game for the season and the team pizza party, I needed to write!

The random generator I use to pick the winner sometimes surprises me. I don't know why or what that says about me since it's supposed to be random. But with over 90 comments for the month of April, it selected #1.

The winner of the $10 Amazon gift certificate is Sarita who commented on the first of April on my post titled, "Ouch!" Sarita, please send me your email via the Contact link on the menu bar above.

As soon as I get this proposal off, I'll figure out the May contest. But all May comments will count towards it!

Thanks for commenting and keeping me company here. It means alot! xoxox

Same as the last!

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This LOLcat cracks me up!

Today will be just like yesterday with the addition of Mass and an end of soccer season pizza party and even more writing. Just need to subtract one game.

Better get writing! The proposal still isn't where I want it to be, and I'm still sick.

Have a great day!

UPDATE: I just realized it's May 1st. I totally forgot about the contest. I'll draw a winner and post the name tonight. Can't do it right now. So sorry I didn't do it this morning!