see more puppies

1) VEGG!
2) Finish Surface
3) Start revisions on BD
4) Submit Surface and STTA
5) Enter Eppies
6) Enter Barclay Gold
7) Enter the Suzannah
8) Keep up house
9) grocery store
10) Open house/faculty meeting

Okay, I LOVE this picture.

The boy is editor-in-chief of his school paper!!!!!! We're just calling him Chief now. I'm thinking this will be helpful on college applications. Go, BOY!!!

more animals

In the summer, I didn't care much for Friday. It meant another week had passed. Now....I get to wear jeans and my cute shoes and don't have to worry about balancing everything once I come home tonight.

Last night I came home and my stepmom was making dinner. AWESOME. Great salad and asparagus and barbecue. I think we're going to do the same thing tonight. She laughed at my cookies (Nestle precut chocolate chip.) Hey, I cook at Christmas. We watched some of the Cowboy/Viking game and then Obama's speech. My folks are Republican. It was....interesting. I was so tense I didn't hear a lot of it. The boy and my dad had a little set-to that will probably be followed up today. The boy doesn't care - he loves to talk politics and he's good at it.

I'm blogging today at Samhain about the last things I learned before publishing. Come say hey!

Have you seen this?



I can't imagine looking into my yard and seeing such a thing!

more animals

For someone whose favorite thing is sleep, I don't do it very well. I woke up at about 3:30. Not. Good.

My dad and stepmom rolled in about 7 last night, we ate around 8:30, I went to bed around 11. Today is going to feel like a really long day. I wish my grade level still had planning and lunch together - I'd take a nap!

I had planned what to wear today but we're having a fire drill, so once again, no cute shoes because we'll be standing in the wet grass. ARGH.

I think (hope, pray, whatever) I have the right ending....now to tweak it.

Okay, so I've always liked September, but this one is going to be really good ;)

Supernatural Season 3 is on DVD September 2. I preordered it in June.

Trish's first book comes out September 9! I'm going to go around to stores and tell everyone it's my friend's book.

My book will be in print September 12. I cannot WAIT to hold it in my hands. Can. Not. Wait.

Kabluey, JDM's new movie, is on DVD September 16, I think.

New Supernatural season starts September 18.

New Grey's Anatomy season starts September 25.

Iron Man is out on September 30.

The church down the street, the one I got married in and baptized the boy in, has a big fall festival. It's always amazingly hot, so not very fall-like, but still fun.

And our high temps should start cooling into the 80s.

What do you like about September?

more animals

So I've been checking for weeks and the print copy is on Amazon!!!! It has a link to another seller, but I'm pretty sure you'll be able to order it directly from Amazon soon. At least, I ordered Gina's directly from Amazon. Took forever, but.....

Amazon Where There's Smoke

Dad and Sue should be rolling in this afternoon. The house is mostly clean, though I'd like to clean off the patio furniture. We'll see, if I get home before they do.

Surface is the book that Will Not End. I just can't make it emotional enough.

more animals

I ordered print copies of my book!!!!!! I wish they'd come while my dad is here.

21 kids showed up yesterday, and still we had no AC. Oh, and only 18 desks. But they seem good and bright. I'm excited about it.

I got my insurance taken care of, did my errand and got home at 5. TIRED! And finished Wayback and sent it to my editor. Now, to finish Surface.....

see more puppies

Dad called yesterday - they're coming down a day earlier than scheduled. I thought my head would pop off yesterday, but I'm back on schedule now. I even managed to finish my Wayback edits last night.

Dinner is cooking, lunches are packed, fashion faux pas of the day: I thought it would be that my fingernails and toenails are different colors. But I found a sample packet of hair lotion that I thought would calm my frizzies. I applied some, looked closer at the packet - HAND lotion! ARGH! I told the danged doctor I needed bifocals!

Today: teach, go to insurance sign up (one teacher went Friday and it took her an HOUR AND A HALF - the entire district has to go to one school to sign up, and I don't even get insurance from the district and I STILL have to go), dry cleaners, UPS store, Blockbuster (returning Recount and Street Kings), Lowe's (to get plants since most of mine have DROWNED) and then come home to clean the kitchen and maybe bathrooms.

more animals

Officially overwhelmed....

1) edits for Wayback
2) clean house for Dad's visit
3) get accustomed to my students, get into the swing
4) get the boy back in the swing
5) finish Surface (please GOD!!!)
6) order senior pictures
7) write a blog for Samhain Friday

I know, doesn't look like much, but it's all big.

more cat pictures

I haven’t blogged since school started and today I got up early and my internet was down!!! GAH. School is good, though, and I’m working hard to not slack off in the other areas – writing and keeping the house up. It’s been raining, though, so I haven’t been able to wear my very cute shoes!!! We've been going out to lunch every day and yesterday my mom was at the same restaurant and she bought me lunch ;)

I’m so tired. Last night was SARA. I got home at 9:30 and was in bed by 10. The meeting was great. My friend Sarah’s husband was the guest speaker, a 15 year police veteran, and he was very engaging. I got at least 3 new ideas ;)

I’m revising Surface, hoping that the ending will come to me…..nothing I come up with feels right.

I watched the last disc of Robin Hood yesterday. I would rate the season as this:

Disc One: Meh
Disc Two: Okay, looking forward to more.
Disc Three: WHERE IS THE LAST DISC? DOES ANY STORE IN SAN ANTONIO HAVE IT? I NEED IT NOW!!!
Disc Four: I cannot believe they did that. I CANNOT believe it. Must speak to someone who has seen it…..which is no one. Also, will watch Season 3 but not with hope.

My new old favorite show is Sex and the City. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that a man writes it because the friendships, the absolute loyalty these women have for each other. The break-ups and the relationships and the sickness and the celebrations. It’s idealistic, of course, but something women should strive for in their friendships.

One of my SARA friends is going through a rough time. Lupe, who posts here now and again, recently discovered her son Michael needs a bone marrow transplant. He was diagnosed with cancer 4 years ago and went into remission twice, but has had 2 relapses. Thank God, a match has been found, and the surgery is scheduled for September. Please, if you could, say a prayer that everything goes well!

more cat pictures

I'm dressed (in a red t-shirt and DANG my denim skirt got tight!), make-up on, hair ironed, nails done (though I painted them at 4 PM yesterday - took me an HOUR to do the French manicure - and they got messed up while I slept!!! Emergency stop at Walgreens this AM), very cute shoes by the door, car loaded. I slept well, once I convinced my body that 11 PM is a reasonable hour to go to bed, and I woke on my own an hour before the alarm. Bodes well.

Last night we went to dinner and my brother was there working on the AC so we got a free meal! Cool.

I met my page goal for the day early yesterday and let myself play with a new story - and got 1200 words! When you meet your goal for the day, do you press on or do you play?

more cat pictures

1) Finish revisions on Surface
2) Start revisions on BD
3) Get back on a schedule
4) SARA
5) Keep up house
6) Do nails

Hey, not too bad, except for the whole having-a-schedule-again thing.

I got my scores back from the Heart of the West contest - 98, 88 and 80. Not too bad. I was a little nervous ;)

more cat pictures

Last night while trying to see if Where There’s Smoke was available in print on Amazon yet, I learned I was Joyfully Recommended again:




Woot! I’m one of her favorite authors!!!

And I stayed up till 2 watching Phantom of the Opera. Yes, I own it, but it was on and I was finishing a scene for the day. (And I still woke at 7:30!!)

And then I started thinking about my favorite Gerard Butler movies. I came up with 8.

1) Tomb Raider 2 – very action-oriented, and that love scene…mmm.



2) Dear Frankie – his burr is so pronounced, and he’s darling with the kid



3) Phantom of the Opera – LOVE his singing, LOVE the Don Juan scene, LOVE the kiss



4) PS I Love You – pure charming mode



5) Nim’s Island – dual roles, as a smart-mouthed adventurer and a nerdy dad



6) 300 – weeellll, you saw the costumes, yes? And the scene with his wife the night before he leaves?



7) Reign of Fire – charming again, especially with the kids, and love the shaggy hair



8) The Jury – a bit of romance, a tortured character, sympathetic



Okay, I know I’ve left some out – Beowulf, Timeline, that soccer movie, the movie with Pierce Brosnan, but I just didn’t like those as much.

What about you? A favorite Gerry movie? A movie you’ll stay up till 2 AM watching even though you own it?

Today I need to color my hair. I spent 45 minutes the other night looking for pictures of Rachel Ray to show the stylist. I could have just gone to HEB and gotten Rachel Ray’s magazine. Who knew?

I need to do laundry and clean the kitchen, but thanks to last night's write-a-thon, I only need 3 pages to meet my goal today. Oh, and I need to finish that blasted contest entry.

more cat pictures

Today was payday, so we went to the grocery store and spent $250!!!!!! Yes, I bought a lot of food, meats, lunches, canned goods, cat food, stamps, but dang.

And I went to Office Depot and got my calendar and I love it. The black is my page goals, the blue is life stuff and the red is writer stuff.



We also went to the library, where I got Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love Snell's book, a Dennis Lehane audio book, and the last season of Sex and the City.

I've met my page goals for the day and want to finish a scene before I finish this last contest entry.

Oh, and I was asked to judge another contest and I said NO!

I decided I'm buying this when it goes on sale at Blockbuster since I have a gift card.

more cat pictures

The dh has been on vacation this week and has cooked every night. Bliss! We need to hit the grocery store tomorrow again, though, for veggies. And bottled water. And lunches for the boy. I dread taking him with me, he's very spendy.

I also need to get to the library and I think I'm going to break down and get the laminated poster calendar.

I'm judging another contest (yes, I know, but the coordinator is a bud and she begged) and in both the entries I've judged so far, the heroine is so immature. She paints the hero with the same brush as every other man she's dated, which is no wonder why she hasn't had success. I mean, who knows what she's passed up before with her prejudices. It's very irksome. I wonder what's the deal, because I've judged a lot of contests and not seen that in awhile.

Oh well, one more entry to go.....maybe I can knock it out tonight.

more cat pictures

When I was a girl, I worshiped the bible of Seventeen magazine, especially the Back to School issue.



Yesterday I got my hair and eyebrows done. I'll color my hair this weekend. I also bought the supplies to give myself a French manicure, and FINALLY got the necklace fixed that I broke on Christmas day. Today I went shopping for the boy and ended up buying some more wedges



and falling in love with these:



Now, I've been in shorts and t-shirts all summer, and from April on, I wore my Crocs to school. So I've gone from zero to painful in just a day ;)

I'm planning what to wear. I bought this dress last fall but haven't worn it because it's a bit low cut. Mine is gray and blue, though. I thought it was very Lorelei Gilmore.



I have three skirts of the same length, and I have these shoes to wear:







Blame the wedges on my SIL, who mentioned them and made me want them, then I bought 3 pair for $40. Of course, she's five feet tall and I'm 5'7.....

Oh, and these are on the way from Chadwicks, the tortoiseshell ones:



Now I need to put skirts and blouses together with shoes and accessories to get ready for next week. Sadly, the first day we have to wear matching t-shirts - what's the fun in that????

What about you? Back to school shopper? Shoe lover? Wardrobe planner?

Anyone want to take bets on how long before I'm back in my Crocs?

more cat pictures


A- Amazon (wayyyy too much)

B- back yard, books, blogging, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Blockbuster, Bath and Body Works

C – contest entries judged, critique groups

D – drivers ed with the boy, Dark Knight, DVDs, Diet Coke

E – edits, email, ER reruns

F – forgetting what day it was

G – Gruene, Guenther House lunch, Google reader

H – hanging out with Mom

I –inflatable swimming pool

J – jungle books – revising them

K – kitty love

L – library visits, late nights

M – margaritas, Macaroni Grill with the teachers, McDonald’s

N – NAPS!!!

O – obsessing over JDM and Watchmen and Comic Con

P – Panera breakfasts

Q – Quizno’s

R – reading, revisions, research

S – SARA meetings, Spaghetti Warehouse, shopping in San Marcos, sun tea

T – t-shirts every day, Tivo

U – underwear – my son’s wardrobe of choice

V – Veronica Mars marathon

W – writing, Whataburger, WW2 miniseries

X – X-Files, the movie

Y – YaYa (my kitty) watching – she sure stands out in the back yard

Z – zero children corrected

more cat pictures

I need a system of organization as the school year starts, as events are coming up, contest deadlines, booksignings, promo, writing, school events. What I want is a dry erase calendar, but with more than one month on it. When I went to Office Depot, they had one, but it was like a laminated poster, very flimsy, and it was $24!!! Hmm.

Then I looked online and found these magnet ones, called Week over Week, but while they only cost $10 a set, shipping is $8!!!

What I did was print out some calendar templates and wrote on them myself, but I need something with color coordination that is easy to change....so I don't have to print out a new calendar every time I change something.

What do you use for organization?

Oh, and I'm guest blogging today at Authors and Books Come say hey!

more cat pictures

It's also dh's vacation, so...we'll see.

1) haircut/eyebrows done
2) color hair
3) pedicure
4) plan wardrobe
5) go by school (noooooo!!!) to get t-shirt for the first day (BUT I HAVE THE PERFECT DRESS!!! And SHOES!)
6) Surface query and the end of the synopsis
7) Surface revisions
8) BD revisions (yes, I know, but I'm slimming it down)
9) library
10) MAYBE start Ghost Hunters revisions
11) keep up house
12) judge contest entries
13) maybe a day trip with the dh