Summer Days

Over the past week or so, the g-kids and I have been trying to make a trip to the nearby playground a daily ritual. Even with no sidewalks for three blocks and the fact that we have to watch out for crazy drivers, we enjoy the four block trip. In fact, when I offer to drive, they all loudly refuse. They like to walk.

(Gavin swinging)

On our first trip, the kids were enjoying the equipment (2 sets of swings, a lopsided merry-go-round, 3 types of bars, and a slide), when I looked at the sky and saw that dark clouds had formed in the southwest, a sure sign of rain coming. We quickly gathered our things and started for home. We were half a block from my house when huge drops of rain started falling from the sky, accompanied by tiny pieces of hail. Jaxon and I walked faster, while Scarlett, Ally, and Gavin ran on to the house. Just as we stepped up on the porch, the sky opened up, then a loud crash of thunder made us all jump when we ducked inside.

(Scarlett with Jaxon on the basketball court)

I thought they might not be as eager to go the next day, so I didn't mention it. They did! Our second trip was even more enjoyable without the rain. And they'd still rather walk.

(Payton swinging)

The Five Days of June

Each year during the week after Father's Day, my daughter Lyndsay and her hubby go on a canoe trip in Oklahoma with his family and a few family friends. They leave on Wednesday and return on Sunday. Sabrina and her hubby, Chelsea and her guy have all joined them at one time or another. I'm the designated baby-sitter, with Mallory's help. I call this time of year The Five Days of June.

I've never gone on the canoe trip. I don't plan to. From personal experience, a camping trip means at least one very stormy night. At my age, rain, wind, lightning and hail are better experienced in a sturdy building, not in a tent.

Today is Sunday, the last day. Gavin, Jaxon, and Payton will soon be going home with what I expect will be exhausted parents. I'm eager to hear what Ally, who went on the trip this year, thinks of the trip. I suspect it might not have been as great as she'd hoped, but I could be wrong. Will know more in a few hours.

The bright spot in all this is that it'll be another year before we do this again. I'll have my bed back, instead of sharing it with Jaxon's feet in my back. I'll sleep the night through, not being awakened once by Payton's crying from the playpen next to my bed. And Gavin, well, thank goodness he sleeps like a log on the sofa. But we had some good times, and those are what we'll remember...until next year's Five Days of June rolls around again. :)

A Tribute to Dads

Still Moving at Warp Speed

In spite of my good intentions, my last post was three weeks ago. My excuse? The release date of the fourth of my books set in Desperation, OK--The Reluctant Wrangler--was moved up from January next year to October of this year. The book was written and in the hands of my editor, but there were changes that needed to be made, in addition to getting the information for the cover, new title suggestions and other small but important details to her. Now that all of that is done, I have a couple of days of breathing space. Not much, because copy edits are here and are due back in a few days.

The cover for The Reluctant Wrangler will probably be available about the time The Lawman's Little Surprise (Trish and Morgan's story, if you've been following the series) hits bookshelves in July. The Desperation books, dubbed by me as Hearts of Desperation, have been a joy to write. Will The Reluctant Wrangler be the last? I hope not! But there's no word on others, as yet. When I know, you'll know!

I'm blogging on the 8th and 29th of each month at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way, and also blogging on the Harlequin American authors blog on the 18th of each month. At Bits & Bytes, we focus on writing topics, with some reading favorites thrown in, so if you're an aspiring romance author, we'd love to have you visit at any time! And, of course, the HAR authors would love a visit from readers. With a huge array of topics, there's something for everyone there. Hope you can visit both soon!

It's back to work time...those copy edits await. As soon as my energy level gets back up to normal, I'll post more! Until then, enjoy spring!

Happy First Day of Spring

Ahhhhh, Spring! Yes, it's the Spring Equinox on this side of the world. Autumn Equinox downunder. Winter, here in Kansas, where overnight, after a beautiful 60+ degree day yesterday, a storm dumped 2 or more inches over much of the state. Typical.

Today is cold. It's 30 degrees at mid-afternoon, but the forecast says the temp will be in the 40's tomorrow and quickly climbing back into the 60's the rest of the week. I can accept that, but I'm really, really hoping this was the final blast of winter until much, much later this year. We've had more snow days than I can remember, and that's a long time.

I know there are a lot of people out there who pooh-pooh Global Warming and Climate Change, but I've been saying for the past 20 years that the weather as part of the climate has been changing. It's been slow, but it's been happening. I don't want to debate GW or CC. I'm not a scientist. But I have experienced the weather for many decades and have a fairly good memory of, at least, the past.

When I was a young girl, we had seasons. I remember Spring, especially in high school, and experienced many days of Spring Fever. I loved Fall and still do. It's my favorite of all the seasons. But the change in seasons, at least where I live and have always lived, has been slowly changing. Now the coming of Spring means a slow back and forth between days and days of bitter cold, interrupted by a day of warming. That back and forth continues as the bitter cold warms a few degrees for less days and the warming lasts for more days, until cold runs out, and it's hot summer. The opposite is true between summer and winter. Disagree, if you will, but I'll stick by my experiences. And I just don't like losing my 4 seasons.

So I'll stay inside today and avoid the snow as much as possible. At least the roads are clear, but wet, and driving isn't dangerous. There's plenty to keep me busy, and by the time I'm done with all that, the temps will be hovering 80 degrees. Deadline hell has arrived.

The Appliance Saga

A week ago today, my 20-year-old refrigerator gave it's last blast of cold air...and that only in the freezer. After nursing it along through ill-health for close to a year, it was almost a relief to unplug it and put it out of its misery. And mine. I'd been checking craigslist for something promising, but had come up empty-handed. I think that fridge knew it and decided I was procrastinating. Being the Queen of Procrastination, I guess that was only fair.

By Wednesday evening, I'd found a terrific prospect, and the owner and I began to exchange emails on a time to see and pick it up the side-by-side fridge the next day. Details of who had a pickup and could do the hauling were decided on, and all looked good. I began moving things out of the way, in preparation for the homecoming.

Thursday morning brought a call from my editor that threw a small monkey wrench into the pick-up plans, but more about that in a later blog. Fridge owner and I agreed on a good time, and off we (youngest daughter Mallory and I) went to start the process. Before it was over, we'd involved the friend with the pickup, Chelsea's (#3 daughter) SO, and one son-in-law, but it was exciting to know I'd have cold food again and not have to dig in two small coolers for the few things we managed to save. Getting the fridge into the house proved possible only after the guys removed the front door. But, hey, as long as they put it back, all was well. We left the appliance in the living room, along with the boxes waiting for content sorting from my office and the still unpacked treadmill I bought a year ago.

Too tired (and busy!) that night to even think about getting the fridge into the kitchen, I left it for the next day. By the time Friday evening came around, I finally had the time and energy to try moving it. Mallory, however, had other plans and left the moving to me. The oak coffee table was put into the only empty space left in the living room, and then I scooted the fridge toward the kitchen doorway, remembering to open the freezer door and angle it in.

Didn't work. And the fridge now blocked the doorway into the kitchen. I slept in Mallory's bed (off doing her own thing again), where the bathroom was closer, just in case. Saturday brought much the same results, but by now I was becoming an expert at walking across the coffee table and especially climbing the "black mountain" aka the big fridge. With one of the coolers stacked on a foot high table, I was able to boost myself to the top of the fridge, where I pivoted around, and then slowly lowered myself, feet first, to a tall, upholstered, bar chair on the other side. After many trips back and forth that way, I was thinking of applying for a job with the Flying Wallendas, but I didn't have a splangled costume. :(

Sunday was busy again, but by evening, I had time to remove both doors and hinges. Thankfully, the fridge now fit through the doorway, but neither Mallory (now home again) nor I nor even together could push it into the kitchen. An SOS to my son-in-law brought him over, and he managed to shove it through the doorway and into the kitchen.

I now have a wonderful, working, black, side-by-side refrigerator that's only 3 years old and didn't cost me a fortune! I also have sore ribs from all the boosting over the top of it and am eternally grateful that I'm not any bustier than I am. If I had been, I'd probably still be stuck between the top of the fridge and top of the doorway.

Sorry, no photos of the death defying trick, even though Mallory threatened.

Thanks go to Brandon, Dan, and double to Aaron for all the help! Such manly men!

In Like a Lion...

March is here! The month of wind, not to mention rain, has arrived. I entered this month of promises (in like a lion, out like a lamb) with a roar. I decided to take the plunge and move the furniture in my office and bedroom, and then start purging the boxes and bins of definitely unneeded items. Now it's my body that's roaring.

Part of that roar is caused by sleeping on a loveseat in the living room, while my bed was loaded with papers, files, record albums (yeah, vinyl), and boxes. Believe me, when it comes to sleeping on a space that's not quite a foot too short is more than one night is too much--even for this not-tall person. But my bed is cleared and I enjoyed the stretching out as I drifted off to sleep last night.

So why the sudden need to rearrange my personal space(s)? Desperation, mostly. I picked up my packrat tendencies from my mother, the hoarder, and am surrounded by things I probably don't need. It's the sorting that may be my undoing, but I've begun tackling it today. Papers first. The Government-issue, 5-drawer steel file cabinet still has to be moved, along with the 5-shelf bookcase that holds treasures, but until the aches in my body ease, I won't be tackling that for a couple of days.

Oh, and did I mention that my 9-year-old desk finally bit the dust? All that's left are pieces, including a broken-in-half side that I'd reinforced once. Or was it twice? There's the still-very-good hutch that I've decided not to use. (Craigslist, maybe?) It was beginning to make me claustrophobic, no matter how much I like having things within reach. And because the desktop is still reasonably good, I've built a "new" desk, using it and two stacked 15"X15" wood cubes on each, one with 3-drawers for pencils and "stuff" to hold the desktop. Just recycling what I have, so there's been no expense. And except for the desk now being much taller than it was, it's working well. Moral of the story: A compressed wood desk can only take so many moves and nailing-togethers before it crumbles into a pile. Next time, I'll spend the extra $$ and buy real wood! But now I don't need one, so I've saved $$.

I'm hoping that by the end of March, everything will have a place that's out of the way (mainly the trash bin), and that there'll be more lambiness in my life. Time will tell. :)