Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!! Girl and I were out of town without benefit of Internet access since Saturday. Let me try to catch up without putting anyone to sleep.

Highlights from past week:

* Seeing Casino Royale — twice.:cooldance:

* The DH’s last drag race of the season.

* Getting caught in a light snow out in my car with my mom and we both started singing and laughing. It was beautiful with the snow coming down and it’s tucked away as one of my favorite times with her ever.

* Thanksgiving Day at MIL’s and everyone got along famously. :thumbsup: Good food and good fun and no one had to superglue a tooth back into a partial plate (that’s another story for another time).

Not so high lights from past week:

* Altercation with the desk clerk at the HoJo Inn over an additional towel and waschloth as there were three of us in the room and only two washclothes and towels — if you could actually call that threadbare rough rag a towel — which left me muttering profanities at her back.:cursing:

* No excercise in any way, shape or form and an additional two pounds.

* Replacing the old nasty glued-down shelf paper in all 29 cabinets and 8 drawers in my mother’s kitchen so that when my brother and his fiance come it’s not the old nasty glued-down shelf paper. Like they’d even notice. Actually they will because I plan to give them a kitchen cabinet tour.:twisted: (Actually think Mom just wanted it done and she’s supremely happy over her shelf paper and that makes me supremely happy.)

* Sitting through Happy Feet. My only happy moment was when my feet were walking out and for the record, I really like kid’s animated movies…when they’re well done. I think this must’ve been the discussion in the studio war room. “What’re we gonna do? This movie sucks.” “Sorry, boss, it does suck. Not even the tremendous talent of Robin Williams can save this one from bad writing and scattered plot lines.” “Crap. We’ve sunk a lot of money into this.” “Hey, I’ve got it. We just sink a ton more money into advertising it and tell everyone it’s great and they’ll come.”

So…that’s a wrap. Hope you enjoy your day wherever you are and whatever you’re doing!:wave:

Today I’m starting a new project — come hell or high water. I’m itching to start the project, yet intimidated at the same time. There are so many choices to make at the beginning of the book. It’s like creating a person from nothing. Heady. Confusing. Powerful.:cooldance:

And now…I suppose I’ll get down to it.

For the first time since Sean Connery stepped down, I’m looking forward to a James Bond movie. I..um…have quite a thing for Daniel Craig.

The advertisement for the film came on t.v. the other night. The DH got the cat-hiney look (ya know, that look when the cat walks on you and turns around and you’ve got a cat hiney stuck in your face).

DH: That’s the new James Bond? That guy?

Girl: Daddy, he’s good looking. (I’ve trained Girl well).

DH: Him?

Me: (pattting DH’s arm) He’s hot, honey.

DH: The one that was just on t.v.

Me: Yep. Very hot.

DH just shakes his head.

I think I’ll have to treat myself to the matinee — ALONE — when it comes to the theatre near me.

So, who’s your favorite Bond?

Yesterday I dropped my car off early in the morning for a service call. They put me in a rental car while mine is out of commission. The rental is a Kia Spectra (or maybe Spectrum — can’t remember). My car isn’t particularly big, but it’s bigger than this and just feels more substantial.

So…last night I met some friends for dinner over at Perimeter Mall. It’s around 9:30 when I leave and I get in the car and go. I’m a little uncomfortable driving 285 which is the beltway that runs around Atlanta. This car is little, there are lots of big trucks, traffic runs fast (average around 80 mph), and it’s crowded even at 9:30 in the evening. I hurtle along 285 and then up I-75, get off of my exit, and as I pass beneath the overpass I notice it’s suddenly very dark.

THEN I switch on my lights.:doh: I’ve been driving along 285 and I-75 without any lights on. When I crank my car, the lights automatically come on and then they turn off when I kill the ignition. I’m so used to it that I didn’t think a thing about it when I started up this rental. I suppose it was light enough in the parking lot and with all the other cars around that when I started this rental, it looked as if my lights were on.

I got sort of sick to my stomach afterwards because I’m not exactly sure how someone didn’t pull over on top of me while I was driving without lights in that little car. I’m glad to be here this mornig. I think I must’ve had my guardian angel riding in the front seat.:!:

Thursday, November 9

12:30 a.m. Suitcase is packed for trip to Sedona. Soccer info for Girl for the weekend is clipped to refrigerator. Go to bed.

1 a.m. Too stoked about the trip to sleep. Get back up. Finish the book I’ve been reading. Back to bed at 2 a.m.

4:30 a.m. Alarm goes off. Up and getting ready. Leave for airport at 5:40.

Fly from Atlanta to Denver. 2-hour layover. Denver to Phoenix. Set clock back two hours because of time zone difference

2:00 p.m. (Arizona time) Vicki, who has driven two hours to get to Phoenix, and Rhonda, who has flown in from Alabama an hour and a half earlier, greet me. We’re all thrilled to see one another. I pick my bag up off of the luggage carousel and we leave.

5:00 p.m. Arrive at Sedona condo after stopping for lunch along the way.

5:30 p.m. Open suitcase to get notepads out that are gifts for Vicki and Rhonda. Where are my notepads? Why are there baby bibs in my suitcase? Maybe because it’s not my suitcase. :cursing::wallbash:

Tearful confession to my buddies that I’m a d*&khead and have picked up the wrong suitcase. Numerous phone calls to airport and my baggage is tracked down. I’ve done a quick mental calculation and my suitcase probably has about $800 worth of shoes/jewelry/clothes in it. And somewhere a baby doesn’t have it’s bib or blankie cause I’ve got it.

6:30 p.m. Leave to drive from Sedona back to Phoenix airport.

10:00 p.m. Back to Sedona. Pour a BIG glass of wine.:fryingpan:

Catching a 7:55 a.m. flight tomorrow morning for Sedona (yes, those lovely red rocks!) via a 2 1/2-hour layover in Denver — the upshot of being cheap and opting to save $150 bucks on a direct flight. Rhonda Nelson, Vicki Lewis Thompson, and I are converging for a semi-annual BentQuillPosse meeting. Twice a year we meet to discuss writing, brainstorm upcoming projects, and define and assess writing/career goals.

Yes, it’s fun. We gab, we eat out, and we’ve been known to spend half a day shopping, but for the most part we’re working. I can think of at least one book that was plotted over an eggs and bacon breakfast last year. I know for sure I walked away with a powerful idea plotted out from our July meeting this year.

We have an agenda and a time frame. Each day is structured and it’s probably some of the most productive time I spend each year, although I think it probably doesn’t look that way to many others (interpret DH here).:)

I’m not taking my laptop. I’ve got enough to schlepp through the airport and it’s a laptop but it’s sort of old and heavy. So…I won’t be back on-line until Monday. I’ll be busy filling my well and plotting what will hopefully be some great books.(*)

Until then….

I was feeling like Wonder Woman or Super Female or whatever tag you want to stick on me. Finished my book during my 2-day extension (even managing to fit in Trick-r-Treating with my Tinkerbell girl), picked up my niece at airport, whipped house into shape, DH and I took Girl, Niece, and six other girls bowling (incredible fun) and had them for a birthday sleepover, took Niece and Girls to the mountains for a hayride and a waterfall hike next day, had niece at airport for her 6:30 a.m. check-in…and I crashed…and burned.

It didn’t matter that I needed to blog, tidy up my office, work on website updates, select contest winners and mail prizes (yep, late again). It didn’t matter that yesterday was scheduled a freebie. It didn’t matter that I’d planned to get back to kickboxing class last night.

Nope.

My body said, “Thank you, very much. I’ve had enough. I’ve accomodated you on three to four hours of sleep for a week now. You owe me, because I’ve got nothing else to give you, if you don’t give me something back.”:(

So…chicken soup (compiments of the DH) liberally laced with cayenne pepper, legitimate drugs, and a full-night’s sleep are a beautiful thing!

Yay!

I’m Wonder Woman again!:d(y)

There’s an inevitability about it. I’m on a tight 2-day extension on a book that was due November 1 and I’m right there but I need focus and uninterrupted time to finish it and then give it the final read thru. Girl’s birthday is Saturday. We haven’t seen my niece in nearly three years and she’s flying in mid-day on Friday as a surprise for Girl. Girl has her first basketball practice on Friday afternoon. Soccer game Saturday morning. Six girls will show up Saturday afternoon for a birthday sleepover. House needs cleaning. Birthday cake needs ordering. (^) Presents need bought. (g) That’s all fine. Here’s the inevitablity factor — Girl is sick.:(

Book is due? Guests in from out of town? Birthday? Yep, my poor little baby has the wicked sore throat, swollen glands, and a fever.(n)

Last night pulled out the thermascan and got the fever reading. I’m more of the let’s-get-some-rest-and-gargle-with-salt-water philosophy. My DH is heading for the doctor at the first hint of a low-grade fever, obviously missing the pertinent fact that a fever is the body’s way of fighting back (despite the fact that I’ve tried to hammer this into his thick head for numerous years):

DH: I guess you’d better keep her home from school and call the doctor tomorrow.

Me: I’ll keep her home. You have to take her to the doctor.

DH: My day is packed tomorrow.

Me: (Just a look. No shower in two days. I just had a bowl of cold cereal for dinner. I’ve gained five pounds — just tossed that in as a general indicator of frame-of-mind:s because I’ve been eating crap and haven’t had time to exercise. My tomorrow doesn’t accomodate 2-3 hours for doctor visit/pharmacy pick-up and he will do nothing for the above spate of activities other than show up)

DH: We’ll see. I’ll try.

Sigh. It was inevitable.:[