For Hubby...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The above LOLcat is for hubby. It's now been two days I've yet to speak with him. Oh, he's called, but every time I've been driving so the kids answer my cell phone. They've had lovely discussions with him, keeping him informed of what's going on here at home. There's just no time to talk given the sixteen hour time difference, his schedule there and mine here. Between 7:30 am and 8:30 pm I think I was home maybe 45 minutes.

I hope today will be a little better. I really want to finish up the Christmas decorating. The mantle and the staircase banister are what's left. I've definitely taken the spirit of Advent (i.e. the season of preparation) to heart this year. A good thing I have another week and a half to get completely ready. I'm Catholic so the celebrating doesn't really begin for us until the 25th then it continues on for three more weeks though we usually take decorations down after Epiphany. Given I have a book due on the 9th of January, things will most likely be up a while longer this year.

Are you ready for Christmas?

Random Wednesday

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This LOLcat made me laugh and grimace. My printer has not worked since I bought my new MacBook Pro. It no longer works with my iBook, either. I have no idea what happened, but I hate being printer-less. Sometimes I just try it to see if I can print something. So far no such luck. Hubby has spent hours trying to troubleshoot it. No luck. I really don't like revising on the screen. I much prefer paper.

Last night I watched Thor on Blu-ray while I wrapped 60 presents for the children in the Atrium I teach. I had wanted to see the movie when it came out, but never got around to it. We enjoyed it. And a good thing I had four things left to wrap during the credits. I would have missed the scene at the end. Now to watch Captain America so I can be ready for when The Avengers comes out!

Our little kitten is off to the vet today to be spayed. I'm sure she'll come home with the cone of shame, too. Poor baby. She remains totally captivated by the Christmas tree, but no ornaments have fallen off or been damage. Fingers crossed we make it through the Christmas season with zero casualties! That would be a record if it happens.

I've spent the last week getting Spirit off dry cat food. They say it's not good for IBD cats so I've been wanting to do this for a couple months. After her getting sick over Thanksgiving, I decided to go for it. She, however, would always turn her nose up at canned food. I ended up meeting someone through the FOJs (Friends of Jack-the lost at JFK cat) who familiar with weaning cats off the dry stuff. Her tricks/suggestions worked.

I also stopped free freeding the cats. Now to get get down to two feedings a day. That would be so nice,I also would like all the cats to eat the same stuff. That would simplify things immensely. Of course I've heard a raw food diet would be the best thing for Spirit, but I'm not there yet!

How are things with you?

Gotch ya

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

It never fails when hubby goes away, life says "Gotch Ya" to me. Stuff just seems to happen. Coincidence, I know, but sometimes the coincidences make you go, "Hmmm." This is nothing we won't get through, but I did not have the Monday I expected to have. I'm also hoping today is better.

One good thing that happened yesterday was I came across a new-to-me site called cuteoverload.com. You don't have to be a Crazy Cat Lady to enjoy it, but I did find this Maru video there which does appeal to CCLs. Some regular folks might like it, too. Enjoy!



Holes in boxes. I must try this with Yoda! I seriously love the super-hero-cape-box-look, how about you?

Have a nice Tuesday!

How could they?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Last night on ABC's Once Upon a Time, Regina showed she didn't have to recharge her evil at all. She's one mean queen, make that mayor.

If you are planning on watching last night's episode, stop reading this blog now. There are spoilers. If you don't watch the show, this probably won't make sense so feel free to stop, too.

I only watch one show each year because I don't have a lot of spare time on my hands. I usually watch all the premieres and sometimes the second episode then decide which show I'll follow. Last year it was The Event. This season it's Once Upon a Time.

I've been enjoying the show so much, but last night's episode was so amazingly awesome (from the acting to the storytelling) until the last couple of minutes. Acting continued to be top-notch, but I was left stunned by the turn of events.

My new crush, my fave hottie of the moment, the gorgeous Sheriff Graham aka The Huntsman from my new fave show Once Upon a Time has bit the dust. Well, his heart did. In the land of Storybrooke that means he's dead. So sad!

The guy (played by Jamie Dornan) is gorgeous, an animal lover (the volunteering at an animal shelter comment now makes more sense plus there's something about a guy and a wolf!) and has an accent. Definitely a catch and the chemistry with Emma was great. Romance novel worthy. Or rather was. My only hope is that he's still alive in the Fairytale world. Please, oh, please let this be the case. Did I mention his accent?

Of course, the show is now on break until January. If you haven't seen it, you should. I'm sure it doesn't appeal to all tastes, but it's gathering quite a following thanks to the acting and if the writing keeps up like this episode watch out!

So what's your fave new show of the season?

In My Closet

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

My 13 year old daughter wasn't rummaging through the recycling bin this morning, but my closet. She wanted to my black boots. My new black boots that I've never worn except for trying them on in the store.

So it begins. Sigh...

I wonder if I'll ever see them again.

Hope you have a good day. Lots going on here. I got my AAs for the soccer book turned in. Now it's to get more words written on the continuity. I really wanted to take some time off over the holiday, but that's looking less likely. Two days off won't be same as the two weeks I was hoping for, but it's better than no time off at all!

What are you up to today?

Caturday

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The above pic could be Yoda and Beauty. The two have bonded, soul mates most definitely. When Beauty is in another room with the door closed, they stick their paws underneath the door to touch each other. Sweet. Of course, when they are together their love is expressed like the LOLcat above playing and fighting.

We hung unbreakable ornaments on the tree. So far so good. We have a few more items to put on, including the angel, but it's a work/test in progress. Beauty has stayed out of it without us doing anything. Not sure if it'll last, but we're hopeful!

I wanted to share a cat link with you. It's from catswhothrowupgrass.com. Some of the stuff is familiar, but this is worth a quick look. It's called How To Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You. The format is different than the cat journal that made the rounds a couple of years ago. And yes, it looks like mine are plotting against me as I type!

Hope you have a nice Saturday. I'll be spending some of mine at a swim meet. Hubby is off this weekend since he did the bulk of swim stuff last week!

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The above LOLcat is exactly how a couple of my cats were last night as I cleaned. The stuff I found, no doubt the result of little paws and teeth, as well as bigger kidlet sized hands, had me shaking my head.

I also couldn't believe how long it had been since I dusted. I think the dust bunnies were on their third or fourth generation of off-spring. This is what happens when deadlines get stacked upon deadlines. The basic stuff gets done around the house, but all the extra stuff like corners and window ledges and what not kind of slip through the cracks.

It didn't help that my cleaning efforts, though needed, were being done in a complete and utter mad dash aka panicked frenzy. My parents called yesterday afternoon to say they were coming up tomorrow. I had my new furniture, but all the old stuff was still there, too. As well as all the boxes and containers of Christmas stuff.

So I decided to clean and decorate. At the same time. That way I could be finished by the time my parents arrived.

Yeah, right.

In my defense, common sense wasn't a class I took when at Stanford. But the thought of parental comments about the state of my household can make even a reasonably intelligent person go crazy. (i.e. motivated by past experience.)

So hubby took the kidlets to swimming. I started the cleaning/decorating. I would clean an area then decorate. This worked well with the built-in shelf unit in the Great Room since my daughter had already packed everything up for me. All I had to do was dust. Then put up the water globes, shelf sitters and other decorations. Easy-peasy.

I switched out all the DVDs, putting away the regular ones and replacing them with holiday fare. I also organized two basket with Christmas books to go on the hearth. And fought the dust bunnies (dusting wouldn't do, disinfectant wipes were required) and clutter the entire time.

Unfortunately, I had the bright idea to sort through the decorations to find all the unbreakable ones (see yesterday's post as to the reason why I needed to do this.) Suddenly both the new and old ottomans were covered in ornaments. When the kidlets got homed they hung on a couple ornaments then were hungry for dinner. After that they were too tired. I have yet to go downstairs because I'm almost afraid to see if the cats got to them last night.

Of course in the midst of my cleaning efforts, the phone rang. It was my mom telling me that they'd decided not to come up today after all. I had to laugh.

At least the house is almost finished. I ended up stopping to have dinner. Hubby outdid himself last night with Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, rolls and a chocolate cake. After realizing no more decorating was going to happen, I headed upstairs to work. (There's only so much cleaning I can do at once. A domestic goddess I am not!)

So today, I'll get back to it after I get a little writing done this morning. And then the house will be all nice and Christmassy and I can post pics of my new furniture!

Hope you have a great day!

Going, going, going...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The day started early due to Mass at 7 am and I feel like I've been scrambling ever since. Lots going on. Holy day of Obligation. School day for the kidlets. Words that need to be written. A house that desperately needs to be cleaned.

The furniture arrived last nigh. Hubby had no trouble putting it together except for one nut that needs to be replaced. It'll work for now though. I love it. I came home from taking the kids to school this morning and it was all set-up! I will take pics once we can get the old stuff out of there. It's a bit crowded at the moment. But I love it. The colors are gray, red, black and off-white. So very pretty with the Christmas tree, too.

 Speaking of the tree...

Beauty, our kitten, loves it. All the other cats are content to lie underneath it. Not her. She wants to be in it. As high as possible.

I thought it might be a one-off kind of thing yesterday, but this morning she was back in there with no intention of coming down. I managed to get a few pictures then took her out. She jumped right back in as soon as I let go of her.

She's so darn cute though it's hard to get to upset at her.

Right now there aren't any decorations on the tree. Just lights. I've gotten some advice from cat people on what to do since none of my other cats have done this. This website is funny. It shows how this family's cats help them decorate their tree. Definitely worth a visit!
We haven't put any irreplaceable ornaments on the tree the last two years due to Yoda. We were never sure if he'd climb the tree or not, but he did like to bat at the branches. I bought a set of unbreakable colored balls last year at the after Christmas sale. I think they might come in handy this year!

A funny cartoon was posted on my Facebook page by my friend Emilie about this very thing if you want to see it. I would put it here, but I'm not sure about the copyright of cartoons and use on blogs so I'm just pasting this link instead!

Okay, that's all I've got for now. Gotta run!

Awl Mine...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

...or it will be sometime between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm today!

After 16 1/2 years of living with a couch that I've never liked (it came with hubby when we got married, and I've been buying slipcovers for it ever since), I'm getting a new one. I'm also getting some chairs and an ottoman. Tables and a new area rug will follow once I figure out what I need!

I am so excited!

I have been looking at furniture for years. I had an interior designer put together a master plan for our current house when we moved in six years ago. Our plan was to buy one piece at a time paying cash. We managed to get a few of the pieces (dining room set, built in bookcases in office, built in buffet in dining room, desk, dinette set and matching bar stools) but then the economy tanked and all non-essential buying was put on-hold. And has been on hold for years.

But an unexpected check arrived from Harlequin. Last year's free on-line read Snow-Kissed Reunion was published as a bonus novella in a book. I'd never received a check out of the blue before. Hubby said to put the money toward the Great Room furniture.

When another check arrived, this one was expected (acceptance payment for the soccer book) hubby said wit was time to redo the Great Room so start figuring out what I wanted.

I'd already decided that the Great Room furniture in the master plan binder was too nice for our current lifestyle. With three active kids (13, 11, 8), a dog, cats and puppies that come and go as needed, I had to be realistic about what we needed furniture wise and how much I wanted to spend. I looked at several furniture places as well as on-line vut decided to go with what seemed most practical and reasonable—slipcover sofa and chairs from IKEA.

I ordered them yesterday. (Got 15% of my purchase back as a gift card, too, which easily covered the additional costs of gathering the items and home delivery!) As I was talking to the home delivery guy, he said I sounded really excited. I told him I was and explained about my hubby's couch. He said they could dispose of it for me, but hubby said no. He wants to move it to the bonus room instead.

Sigh... But really, I can't complain!

The furniture will be delivered this afternoon. My hope is that when I finish teaching at church hubby will have at least one piece put together and the old sofa will be upstairs!

Once we get the sofa and chairs arranged (could be interesting with our Christmas tree in the way!), I'll decide on what area rug and tables I want. I have a few ideas, but I need to see how everything looks first. And I'm beside myself imagining having a set of slipcovers for each season! Though I'll need to add that to the budget first!

Of course, hubby may want to throttle me once he has to put all the things together. But hey, he's got an engineering degree. He might as well use it. (And even though my degree is in Mechanical Engineering, I'm sure he won't let me anywhere near the furniture. That's his territory.)

Fingers crossed it all works out and looks as nice as I think it well!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The kidlets set out their shoes last night in hopes St. Nicholas would come. He did, leaving gold covered chocolate coins and little presents in their shoes.

I love the story of St. Nicholas and how his saint day is celebrated in the Catholic faith. A few families exchange their Christmas gifts today, rather than on the 25th. Others hang stocking instead of shoes. It all depends on one's traditions.

If you want to know more about St. Nicholas Day, check out the St. Nicholas Center that has loads of info, including how the day is celebrated, recipes and crafts.

Hope you have a great day!

Wenty

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I wanted something badly last night. I wanted Wenty, a cat who had gotten lost while flying on Alaska Airlines, to be found. I belong to a group on Facebook of people who met on Jack the Cat's FB book. Needless to say there was lots of activity going on once word of this came out. Calls for help, humane traps, you name it. No one wants another outcome like what happened to Jack at JFK.

In this case, thanks to Alaska Airlines doing the right thing amd getting word about about Wenty being lost, Wenty was found at 1 am by a United Airlines employee who saw two white paws sticking out from under a conveyer belt (could have been a baggage carousel since both have been mentioned.) Great news for Wenty and his family!

If you want the full story from the people who were involved in the search, click here. Lots more details!

Wenty is currently with is mom at the vet's. Praying we hear good news about his condition!

A little Christmas Magic? Or perhaps a little help from above by a cat named Jack? Either way, a great way to start my week!

Christmas Movie Disappointment

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

If actions speak louder than words, my cats don't think much of me. None have left little hearts for me ever.

Today we decided to tag team it to the swim meet. Yesterday we all went, including the dog. That made for a long day. This morning hubby and the two younger ones set off at 6:15 am. Hubby will then bring the youngers home so they aren't stuck at the pool all afternoon when Mackenna swims. I will miss seeing Finn and Rose swim, but I think this will work better. Plus Chaos can stay home. She won't be alone for long, either, due to the break they take between the two sessions! A win-win situation for all involved.

I was very disappointed with last night's Hallmark movie, A Princess for Christmas. I'm a Christmas movie junkie. I watch only one TV show a week, but I tune into as many Christmas movies as I can in December. I usually love Hallmark Christmas movies. I know I'll have that same warm and fuzzy feeling I get when I finish a romance novel. I can't wait to watch them over and over again.

But this one left me shaking my head and thinking, huh? Needless to say I won't be watching it again that's for sure. Which is a bummer because it had all the elements I would have normally loved in a holiday movie. But I just can't get into a movie with such weak characters. Not the actors. I enjoyed their performances, but the plot structure and the character conflicts/arcs didn't work for me.

(There are spoilers in the next couple of paragraphs!)

The Duke (played by Roger Moore) was the only one with any kind of character arc and conflict. The heroine (Aunt Jules) starts off as the kind of heroine I love. She's trying hard to do her best, but not really succeeding, still she's spunky and not about to back down against the duke. She's willing to do what it takes to give her orphaned nephew and niece a good Christmas. Anyone can see why the prince would fall for her over the aristocratic shrew who he's dating. It was a very enjoyable movie up to this point.

Then Jules overhears a conversation between the prince and his father, the Duke, and thinks it's about her when it isn't. Rather than be her spunky self and prove them wrong, she turns into a weepy wimp and runs away, leaving her niece and nephew at a castle with a bunch of people they just met to spend Christmas without her. I can imagine what my editor would say if I tried doing that.

Maybe there were other scenes that explained her motivation that got left on the editing room floor, but this just didn't work for me or the rest of movie. Even hubby, who isn't a writer, mentioned how badly Jules was acting out of character.

If you're an inspiring romance writer, this is a perfect movie to watch to show you what editors mean when they say not to use misunderstanding as the conflict and/or plot device. A couple sentences of dialogue resolved this at the ball. It was a total non-issue that Jules was willing to run off for. Watching this movie is also a good lesson in keeping characters consistent. That is don't make them act out of character without good (strong is probably a better word) motivation.

I realize movies aren't books. You can't get into the heads of movie characters and know what they're thinking regarding conflict the way you can in a novel, but just watch Borrowed Hearts if you want to see a made-for-TV Christmas movie that does it right. There are others, too, but this was the one that popped into my head when I started thinking about Christmas movies of the past.

Okay, it's time to get writing. It's easy to read page proofs at the pool so I'll do those this afternoon. It's a little harder to write so I'm going to do that now. I want to get my words in so I can watch Once Upon a Time tonight.

What are you up to?

A very long day!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'm late posting a blog today. I feel like I've gone nine rounds of Rockum Sockum when all I really did was sit at a swim meet. But when you get up at 5ish and are out the door at 6ish and at the pool until 4ish. It makes for a long day. We swung by a different church so we could attend Mass because why not make the day longer while we're at it!

But I'm home now. Huge sigh of relief.

It was a fun day watching the kidlets swim. They dropped some time on a few events. I managed to proof four chapters of my AA's (page proofs) of the soccer/crush book in between their races.

Tonight I'm taking a couple of hours off and watching a Christmas movie about a princess. I can't remember the title, but it looks right up my alley. Not sure a princess would ever visit Hood Hamlet, but who knows where my imagination will take me when it comes time to write the next Christmas Magic story!

Hope you had a nice day! I'm hungry and need to eat dinner!

Christmas Guest Blogging

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'm guest blogging at Rachael Johns' blog. I'm talking about the things I like to see when I'm reading a Christmas romance!

Rachael is having romance authors blogging all month about Christmas. Rachael's first book, One Perfect Night, has just been released by Carina Press! I'm so excited for her.

I was scheduled to guest blog next week, but an author needed to change so I took her place. Of course, with everything going on this week, I messed up the dates and it appears as if my post went up yesterday. Those who know me are probably not surprised this happened! LOL! I hope you'll still stop by and say hi today!

As for the new contest here this month, I'll let you guys decide on the prize. Is a e-gift card an okay prize or would you rather I pick something else since it's Christmas?

Have a great Friday! I have to take Finale back home today. We're going to miss her so much!

Random Thursday Redux

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

My oldest daughter is reading To Kill a Mockingbird. She, however, doesn't think it's boring like the LOLcat above!

My soccer book which was titled Return of Her Secret Crush has been retitled It Started with a Crush. It'll be out in May in the US and June in the UK!

It's time to announce the winner of my monthly giveaway. The random generator picked #37. That's Brandy, who commented on my post Return of the Puppy. Brandy, please send me your email address using the comment button above and I'll send you a $10 Amazon gift card. You have a week to contact me or I'll pick another winner.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll post a new contest tomorrow, but comments made today will count!

We all love Grand Finale, but it's time to return the puppy. Not sure if I have time today, but I know I'll have time tomorrow. We'll miss her a lot. She's fit in so well. But we'll get to see her again. She's our Norwegian Elkhound breeder's puppy!

This is my morning to volunteer at school so I need to get going. A shower is a must and I'd like to eat since I was so busy I forgot to have dinner last night.

Anything random you want to share?

Writer's Block and Guest Blogging

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This is exactly my problem! If it's not a cat blocking my writing, it's a Norwegian Elkhound. Chaos was bad enough, but now the puppy wants to be on top of me, too, and she has no qualms about the keyboard. Either does the new kitten, who is becoming quite the typist. The older cats prefer to lie on my manuscript pages. Sigh...

Today I'm over at Paty Jager's blog. I hope you'll stop by and say hi! Paty writes western romances and has a special gift for readers, a free download of her novella Christmas Redemption from Smashwords, Nook, Kindle and iBook.

Don't forget! Today is the last day to enter my two contests. Here and at Jennifer Shirk's blog: Me, My Muse and I! Comment here and there to be entered. One commenter from each blog will win a $10 Amazon gift card.

Can anyone else believe it's the last day of November? I am in complete denial!!!!

Hats and gloves and mittens, oh my!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

As the temperatures cool, I've been trying to gather our winter accessories together. Emphasis on trying.

The long underwear, fleece type stuff was easy. I have a shelf in my closet where I keep it all. But it appears as if there's a glove/mitten and hat thief in our house. All of mine are missing. Considering I have at least four pairs that's a little frustrating. I have searched everywhere. No purple fleece gloves, no red wool gloves, no gray fleece mittens and no brown heavy duty lined gloves. As for hats three of those seemed to have vanished, too. A gray fleece hat, a brown one and a very nice North Face maroon striped one.

Maybe the sock monster got tired of living in the laundry room upstairs and moved to the hall closet downstairs to munch on some winter gear. Or maybe I need to teach a certain kidlet if she borrows something of mom's she needs to put it back where she found it!

Back to the standard routine today. Yesterday I volunteered at school so that threw everything off. I've got kidlets to school, words to write and another guest blog to submit.

I haven't posted any pictures, but we've had Grand Finale, a Norwegian Elkhound puppy, since Wednesday. We'll have her a few more days. It's going well. She's not as much work as Nicki was. I have a feeling that's more of an age thing than anything else. We're having a lot of fun with her!

What's going on with you?

My LOLcat and Guest Blogging

I usually post LOLcats from icanhascheezburger but today I had to use this one instead. My friend, Sherri, who is not only a great climber but a very talented and amazing artist, made this LOLcat for me. Isn't it cute?

Hubby took the pic yesterday. That's our kitten Beauty in Rose's baby stroller. A few hours after I'd uploaded the pic to Facebook, Sherri "fixed" the picture for me and placed it on my wall. My own personal LOLcat photo. I love it! A big thank you, Sherri!

Today I'm guest blogging at Me, My Muse and I. I'm talking about the research I did for my heroine's career as a firefighter paramedic and volunteer mountain rescuer. I'm also giving away a $10 Amazon gift certificate to one commenter there. I'm not sure how long Jennifer, the blog owner, will be running the contest, but be sure to post a comment so you're entered.

You still have until the end of the month to enter my giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift certificate here on this blog. Each comment gets you an entry. Check back on December 1st to see if you won.

I can't believe Advent has started and December is almost here! But I have my candles, wreath and most importantly for the kidlets, their chocolate Advent calendars.

I also want to wish my mom a very Happy Birthday if she's reading this! I love you! 

Hope you had a nice weekend!

A Purrfect Rescue

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

My current release, Firefighter Under the Mistletoe features both a hero and heroine who are firefighters. I'm always on the lookout now for fun firefighter stories and I found one yesterday on a cat group I belong to.

On Thanksgiving Day, a kitten got stuck in a pipe in El Cajon, California. For three hours, firefighting crews, police and Emergency Animal Rescue worked to free the cat. Here's a link to the East County Magazine story on it if you prefer reading to watching.

This first clip is from ABC in LA. It's short and to the point.



If you want to see more, here's a newsfeed of the rescue. It's longer, over seven minutes, of raw footage.



A great story! Firefighters and cats are a perfect combination. Well, at least us crazy cat ladies think so. And of course, I love happy endings!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Post Black Friday

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I wasn't quite pummeled by Black Friday shopping, but I sorta looked like this cat by the time I'd gotten home! I'd done two blocks of bargain shopping, one in the morning and then again in the afternoon. In between, I ordered items on-line that needed to be sent to family and friends. Shopping overkill for sure, but I really did get some amazing deals!

Of course, I was so tired. I worked on a guest blog for Monday last night (they'll be a $10 Amazon gift certificate giveaway there, too!) and watched a new Hallmark Christmas movie, my first of the season. It was very reminiscent of Miracle on 34th Street with a struggling lawyer (widowed with a young daughter) taking on Santa Claus as a client. It was cute.

We're having fun with Grand Finale, the Norwegian Ekhound puppy who is staying with us. She wasn't sure what was going on Wednesday night when she arrived, but she's settling in nicely. Boy, is she cute. I'll get some pics up this coming week. It's just been so busy around here with the holiday I haven't had time.

Today is all about writing and cleaning! The house is slowly getting there. We don't start decorating until after Advent begins. That begins tomorrow. I doubt I'll be ready, but I will have my advent wreath and candles ready so we can light them tomorrow evening.

What are you up to?

Black Friday

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I didn't have any help this morning when I hit the stores to find some bargains, but I did get some interesting texts while waiting to check out. Turns out Yoda is back to his old playing with the curtains in the bathroom and knocked the rod and drapes into the bathtub! Hubby was amused. By the time I got home everything was back to normal.

My sister took Mackenna and my niece out shopping last night. They started at 9 pm at Toys R Us. They finally got home at 3 am. They slept and are now back out there. I didn't wake up that early. I got to the stores around 7. I'm definitely out of early shopping mode and routine since I've been on deadline the last couple of years. But I still managed to find what I was looking for!

I've been shopping in person and on-line since I turned in the proposal on Sunday night and have put a huge dent into my list. I heard from my editor yesterday and she likes it. Huge sigh of relief.

How are you spending today?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have much to be grateful for especially my family, friends and readers! Today, I'm looking forward to spending time with my family, eating turkey and pouring over sale flyers! I hope you have a wonderful day! I'd love to hear how you'll be spending your turkey day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I know I complain about things (lack of sleep, deadlines, weight, left arm, etc.) but I truly am blessed and feel thankful for all I have. Not everyone is so fortunate.

The video below came across my Facebook wall yesterday. It was posted by my wonderful friend Tiffany, who has lost a couple of good friends to breast cancer.

If you have a minute, okay four minutes, please watch the video below. The reason? I'm pasting this from the video's page on You Tube:

Help us hit 5 million views by December 13, 2011! When this video reaches 5 million page views, UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania will donate $50,000, to the Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to empower the fight against breast cancer. Please help us achieve this goal by clicking the "share" link above to tell your friends about this video via email, Facebook, and Twitter.

For the first million views, UHC has already contributed $100,000 for this inspiring, powerful campaign.

Thank you for your support!

If you could share this on Facebook, Twitter and/or your blog, that would be awesome. Thanks!

Frontal Attack

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

On the cat front, I saw a Huffington Post article on a cat group I belong to about a blind kitty named Oskar. They included this video of the kitten learning to play with toys. So cute!



On the book front, I was on twitter when a link to an awesome review of Firefighter Under the Mistletoe on Harlie's Book Blog came across my @mentions. I don't get reviewed very often. I'll usually get a couple amazon reviews, a mention in Dru's book blog and RT so it's really exciting when someone I don't know takes the time to post a review! Needless to say I was smiling all day yesterday!

On the writing business front, I got amazon gift cards sent. Am pulling together all the RTC requests and wins. I also realized I'd never sent in my RITA books to be judged. Oops.Now to figure out what books go where and find them all! I also realized I owe some guest blogs. Those will be top on my list after getting some words written on the continuity.

On the holiday front, I bought a couple Christmas presents yesterday. A couple of places had Monday-Tuesday specials going on so I took advantage of the sales. I was starting to feel some pressure since I'd done almost nothing except for a present I'd purchased a couple of months ago. Several of our neighbors have their lights and trees up. That's way too soon for me.

What are you up to?

Monday!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Yeah, this pretty much sums up my face this morning! I'm tired, but happy the proposal is off. Of course, I still need to finish writing the book. But that'll give me something to do while I wait for feedback from my editor.

I am participating in NaNoWriMo this month, but my word count is pathetic (22K) considering this is the final week. But that's what happens with deadlines. There are all these write-ins and gatherings where I live, but I haven't had time to participate. One of these years, I'm going to have to schedule a free November so I can really do it right.

Now that I have one month without a deadline, I'll be pulling out my To Do list. I'm still in denial that Thanksgiving is on Thursday and Advent starts Sunday, but I'll just have to suck it up and get into holiday mode in the next couple of days. I never managed to get caught up. I have contest prizes to send, books and RTCs to get in the mail. I also have a house that desperately needs cleaning. Hubby did a bunch yesterday which was so awesome. He's off all week so we should get a lot crossed off!

Hope you have a nice Monday!

Random Sunday

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I've always said my life could be summed up by LOLcat pics which is why I usually post one each day. Today is no different. The above pic equals Spirit. That expression matches hers right now. She is not a happy cat, with understandable reasons, and I do believe if she had the opportunity to kill us or at least a few of us, she would without any hesitation. Sigh... Animals and kidlets always make things interesting around here!

Finn's soccer team suffered a hard loss yesterday in the semi-finals. They played well. But after two OT periods, it went down to penalty kicks. One of his team missed a shot. Game and season over.

Yoda and his box

Yoda has discovered a new favorite place. It's a Wizards of Waverly place shoebox complete with a pic of Selena Gomez on it. A very cool box actually. (Please ignore the mess around him. One of the cats knocked everything off my desk. Paper, books, contracts, you name it. I've yet to have time to clean it all up, but that's on my To Do list once the proposal is off!)

The only problem with Yoda's box is it's on the small, size 1 1/2. We all think he needs a bigger box. I'm guessing he needs at least a size 4 maybe larger to fit comfortably. We've put others out for him, but this is the one he likes. The sides of the boxes are starting to cave in a little, too.

But he's happy so that's all that matters.

I need to get writing. I have to send off my proposal tonight. I'm still working on the synopsis and polishing the chapters. Hope you have a nice Sunday!

A cold, rainy day

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This kitty has the right idea for the weather around here. My son's soccer team is in the semifinals of the end of the season tournament. Of course, the game will be played in the rain with temperatures in the thirties. Brrrr. I've pulled out my winter gear and dug out my rainproof pants. At least I'll be warm and dry. Just need to find an umbrella. I'd rather not have rain dripping on me for the entire game! I'd much prefer if it was going to snow, but the temperature right now is 38 degrees so not cold enough.

The dog show yesterday went well. Mackenna got fourth. It was a long day and an even longer drive home in the rain. We got home around 9:30 pm.

I did get some work done, but my proposal (that was originally due on the 31st) is due on Monday morning so besides the soccer game (and another if they win today) and church, I'll be spending my weekend writing. I was supposed to host Thanksgiving, but my mom offered because I'm so busy right now.

I'm absolutely stunned Thanksgiving is coming up. Black Friday, too. Where has the month gone? All the Christmas decorations and carols playing on the radio are freaking me out a little. I'm so not ready for it to be the holidays! How about you?

On The Road

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I wasn't quite as messy as this kitty eating my breakfast this morning, but mine sure tasted good. Why? My mom made it! I spent the night at my parents' house and when I woke up my mom wanted to know what I wanted for breakfast.

Why am I not at home today?

I headed out last night with two Jr. Handlers (one being my daughter) and two dogs (one being my dog.) There's a dog show in Roseburg, Oregon today. With all the rain we're having, I thought it might be a good idea to break up the drive so we're staying at my parents. I'll drive the entire way home later tonight.

By staying with my folks, it also means I get a little extra time to write without being surrounded by dogs and noise at the show! Still playing catch up with my word count!

How are you spending your Friday?

Crazy Busy

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This pic pretty much sums up the past couple of days. I have so much to do, but it never fails a cat, dog or kidlet needs something right when I should be heading out the door or doing something else. Heaven forbid someone should actually want to talk to me on the telephone. That's when everyone, two or four footed, needs me right then! I'm thinking another getaway to the coast is in order if only I had time! LOL!

How is your day going?

An early winter?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

My cats don't go outside, but there helpful like this when it comes to folded laundry I've left on the bed, paper I want to put away or recycle and piles of books.

The weather is changing here in the Pacific Northwest. It's getting downright chilly. There's a prediction of snow this weekend. We're not high enough for it to reach us, but I have a feeling we're going to need to bundle up for soccer and not all of us are going to want to attend the game! My son's team won their flight (division) so is playing in the semi-final of an end of the season tournament. They will be playing a local rival.

Yesterday was spent driving and having to write on my Alphasmart while waiting for kidlets. I'm in catch up mode. I'm currently two weeks behind where I want to be. The goal is to be all caught up by December 1. Otherwise, I won't be able to take the time off I planned for Christmas. That would not be good.

I better get to it while only the animals are up! Well, and hubby. But he's locked away in his office on a conference call. I won't see him for hours!

What is hour Wednesday going to be like?

Goodbye Puppy!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

One of our four-footed cuties will be leaving us today—Nicki. I'll be taking the cute little Norwegian Elkhound puppy to her mommy.

We've had so much fun having a puppy around. Chaos has, too! They have been so cute together.

The cats, however, will be happy to have free reign of the house back. They've been staying upstairs. Rocket, who prefers the downstairs, just stairs longingly from the banister.

Getting this puppy experience has been great for us. We weren't dog people until adopting Chaos so have lots of learning still to do. Puppies are a whole new world.

We did better with the potty training yesterday, too. Amazing the things you can learn by googling!  Only a couple of piddles to deal with so definite progress.

Nicki will be missed. The house will definitely be quieter without her!

With puppies the main topic of discussion around here, I wanted to share this link with you from the Times-Gazette in Hillsboro, Ohio. It's about a dog, a Saint Bernard named Hercules, who was adopted and what he did a few hours later. A great read!

Hope you have a nice Tuesday!

Puppy Cuteness!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Too cute! Our Norwegian Elkhound puppy visitor aka Nicki has been pretty cute herself. Well, except for the barking. She barks a lot more than Chaos. But then she'll settle down.

So sweet!

That's Chaos' pillow, but she's been so good with the puppy. They are getting along even better than the first time Nicki and Pink Puppy were here before.

We've still had a few piddles and poops to pick up, but we've been working on potty training with her. We're a bit confused about puppy brain, too. Not sure why when we take her outside and she goes only to have her go again as soon as she gets inside the house. The same thing happened after a nice walk last night. But we keep at it!

Not sure how long we'll have Nicki, but we're enjoying our time with her!

Hope you have a great Monday! I'm hoping to finish up the rest of the continuity proposal.  What about you?

Craft Kitty

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This picture reminds me so much of Rocket. Not the color and appearance of the kitty, but the way the cat is lying on whatever project is being worked on. Rocket is my craft kitty. Whenever I get crafty, he is right there.

His favorite thing is the sewing machine. He loves when I pull that out. I don't know if it's the fabric scraps, the up and down motion of the needle or what, but he's right there watching and getting in the way the entire time.

He also loves when I scrapbook. All those scraps of paper! He likes to see what I'm doing though so that makes the papercutter a little tricky at times. Of course, he likes to lie on the paper which is always challenging. That's one reason he's not allowed in the room when I have to wrap a present. It just takes to long with his help!

I wish I was doing something crafty today, but I'm working on my new proposal while the kids are at a swim meet this morning with hubby. It's just me and the animals at home. I should get a lot done. Well, if they let me.

What are you doing today?

Catvertising

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I see pictures like this and wish my animals would sleep together. I would love to come home one day to find the dog and the cats all cuddled together like this. Highly doubtful, but one can hope!

A while ago I posted the Kittywood Studios who made cat videos. This one is the advertising version. Check it out.



It's cute, but I like the Kittywood Studios one better.



Which one do you like better?

Happy Veterans Day!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

A big thank you to all the Veterans who have done so much for us!

I saw this on Facebook last night. Given the dog's name is "Tank," I thought it would be good to use today! Enjoy!



Hope you have a wonderful Friday! I've got my hands full with Nicki the puppy and a bunch of other stuff going on today.

Return of the Puppy

see more Lolcats and funny pictures,

I imagine the pic above is what my kitties are going to be doing very soon. Nicki, one of the Norwegian Elkhound puppies we watched a few weeks ago, returns today for a few more days. She needs a little more exposure to different things before she goes to her family to live happily ever after.

The cats tolerate Chaos.(That's putting it nicely.) Last time the puppies were here, the cats did not come downstairs. I'm guessing it'll be the same thing this time! Which will not please the cats since they like to be with us. Okay, me!

This morning I'm off on a field trip with my youngest. We're going to a Rock Museum. I've heard it's a cool place so looking forward to it.

What's going on with you?

Who ate...?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The big discussion around our house is who's been eating the kidlets' Halloween candy. One clue... it didn't start disappearing until a certain someone returned from his business trip! At least the kids' reactions weren't like some of these from the Jimmy Kimmel show:



Hope you have a great Wednesday! It's a typical crazy day for me, but after having the last two Wednesdays off, I'm ready for it!

Ring o' Cats

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I love this pic! I can't imagine my cats eating in ring like this (nor do I have enough though I guess they could be points on a triangle), but I wish they would! It's so cute. Bet all those bowls fill an entire dishwasher.

Last night we had an extra dog in the house. It was so fun. Astra, a Norwegian Elkhound, is going to be Rose's dog for 4H so on Mondays she'll be here. It was so cute how Astra followed Chaos around. They got along great. The one thing Astra wouldn't do it go upstairs. She wanted no part of that!

This week is all about playing catch up. I had some extra revisions to do on my soccer book last week and with being sick the week before, I'm behind on my proposal. I also have a newsletter to finish for the Norwegian Elkhound group I belong to. As well as a lesson for the Wednesday class at church. Plus I still have Romance Trading Cards to mail out and contest prizes!

I wanted to remind new blog readers about the free on-line read I wrote for eHarlequin last year. It's a short eight chapter novella called Snow-Kissed Romance set on Mount Hood and takes place in November. My heroine, Leanne Thomas, from my new release Firefighter Under the Mistletoe appears in one of the chapters. You can read it here.

Have a nice Tuesday!

Cats and Jack

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Today I'm guest blogging at Long and Short Reviews. Stop by LASR and say hi! Here's the link.

A friend from high school posted a link to this Simon's Cat cartoon on my Facebook wall this morning. It pretty much shows what I go through when I try to write. The only difference is I have more cats and a dog to deal with! Enjoy!



On a sadder note, Jack the Cat who was lost at JFK had to be euthanized yesterday. His condition had worsened and he was suffering. I'm so sad for his owner Karen and his aunt Mary Beth and all the Friends of Jack who have been praying and pulling for this kitty since he went missing in late August.

Here's a link to a picture of the Karen and Jack taken on Saturday. Having been through this recently with Smalls, my heart is breaking for her. I can't imagine the emotion of having lost Jack, then found him, only to lose him again.  I really thought he would pull through.

Jack pulled people together from all over the world. The Friends of Jack (FOJ) are a group of strangers who came together because of a lost cat. So far the likes on Jack's Facebook page are over 24K and growing. They searched for him at JFK, contacted businesses around JFK, saved cats rounded up by the Port Authority during the search for Jack, prayed for him  and yesterday, when the news was posted, cried.

Now is time for mourning, but this incident as well as American Airlines response to Jack being lost isn't going to be forgotten by the Friends of Jack. Calls for reform to the transport of animals by airlines have begun. According to Mary Beth, Jack's aunt who was also the administrator on the Facebook page, a website is going to be created in addition to keeping Jack's page going.

RIP Jack. I hope you know how many people love you! We were praying and pulling for you, handsome boy. You will live on with all of us who have been touched by your story and with those JFK cat who have now found forever homes because of you! I've been imagining you playing with Smalls and Lil' Pumpkin at the Rainbow Bridge. I hope you're having fun!

Release Party and Giveaway!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

If you're not doing too much and have time, be sure to stop by the Goddess Fish Party Pavilion. Today I'm there with nine other authors celebrating our November releases. I've written four posts about Firefighter Under the Mistletoe that will be posted throughout the day.

The gracious ladies at Goddess Fish are giving away a $10 gift certificate to one commenter so if you head over there, be sure to comment! Each post gets you an entry so comment away on the various authors' posts!

I will be checking in there as I can. I have a swim meet to attend in the early morning so hoping I'll have the right connection so I can comment via my iPhone!

What are you up to today?

Trapped!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This picture is perfect for the morning I had. One of my kitties needed a password this morning!

When I woke up and went downstairs to feed the cats, one was missing. Given this was Rocket, my fat cat, who lives for his wet food I knew something was wrong. I did a quick search of the house. No Rocket. I grabbed a bag of treats and shook it as I made another pass. Still nothing.

My concern ratcheted. Rocket is the kind of cat who would never pass up a treat.

I phoned hubby who was already at a swim meet with our youngest. No he hadn't seen Rocket this morning. No he hadn't opened any doors to the outside except when they'd left. And no Rocket hadn't been there to get out.

I was pretty confident Rocket was in the house, but where. Even though we keep most of the doors shut to keep the cats out of the kids room and playroom, I went through the entire upstairs and looked in each closet. I checked under beds and on window sills, shaking the treat bag the entire time.

I called hubby again a little more panicked. He said to check under the buffet in the dining room. It's built-in, but there is a little space.

As I got closer to it, I shook the treats and yelled his name. I heard a noise. I knew it wasn't Yoda, who had been following me around on my search. He doesn't make a lot of sounds. I called again. This time I heard Rocket's distinct meow. It was coming from inside the buffet.

What?

I opened the doors and he jumped out. Meowing and not looking too happy. He is the kind of cat who likes sleep inside things, but I guess he must have gotten trapped somehow last night or this morning! Poor baby. He's not happy, either. When I tried to pick him up he hissed.

But he's had his wet food and some treats. A nap, and I hope he'll be back to his old self.

Hope you have a nice Saturday!

Friday Links

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

It's been crazy this week. Halloween, more revisions, proposal writing, sick kidlets, grieving kidlets, and traveling spouse. Needless to say, I'm ready for the weekend.

Here are some links I came across this week that I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

If you have been following the tale of Jack the Cat who was lost at JFK, here's one of the better articles on him since he fell through the ceiling into the customs' office at Terminal 8.

A video clip from 2006 about an autistic basketball player came across my FB page. Somehow I'd missed it when it first went around. Given my life and age of my kids back then, I'm not surprised! So I googled to see if it was on YouTube and found this. Definitely worth watching. I also found a follow-up article on the from ESPN written in 2008 here.



For all you cat lovers, this might be old news, but I found a new-to-me website called Life with Cats. You can check it out here.

Random Thursday

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This pic makes me think of both Yoda and Spirit. Spirit was the first kitty to sleep inside the box spring. Yoda has followed suit and still naps inside there!

A big thank you to all who purchased my new release, Firefighter Under the Mistletoe. It's always fun to watch a book climb on Amazon's Kindle sales ranking after it goes on sale!

I'm rewriting the new chapter I added to the soccer book today, then I'll go back to work on the continuity book. I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month with it, but have yet to add any words due to revisions on my revisions. I'm going to have lots of writing to do to catch up and have 50K by the end of the month.

We watched Once Upon a Time again on Sunday night. That's become our family show to watch together and the one show a week I watch. The kids really like it. I'm curious to see what they do with it since I love fairytales. Hubby thinks it'll be canceled.

Here's a humorous article from Guest of a Guest about Things that Began and Ended in 72 days (think the recent Kardashian-Humphreys marriage!) They include Jack the Cat on page 4!

Not much else going on except I need to get the Halloween decorations down. But it's been raining, and I haven't been all that motivated to do it especially in the rain. Maybe this weekend!

Remember to check out the contest page on how to win some gift cards this month!

Anything random going on with you?

Puppy takes a train ride!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I love this cat's expression! As soon as I saw this LOLcat this morning, I thought about an article one of my Facebook friends had posted on my wall last week while I was stuck in bed. This is what she wrote with it:

Trains. Firefighters. Puppy. Happy Ending. Thought this might be a good story since you are sickly.

It was a good story though I don't know how the puppy could have found her way to the top of the boxcar by herself since it took firefighters and a ladder to get her down. It was a very good thing someone saw her up there.

The story made the rounds last week, but it's worth a read if you haven't heard about it. The article is exactly what she said it would be, puppy being the key word. Well, and firefighters! Here's the link to the story on Huff Post Green.

And here's a news report about the incident. You can also hear the 911 call:



Hope you have a nice Wednesday!