So last month my brother (not Baby Brother) fell out of a tree. He was trimming a big oak and one of the branches was resting on the roof and he was trying to get rid of it. My SIL was getting a manicure, but the guy next door was working in the yard and they were talking over the fence and then my brother fell off the 12-ft. ladder. He fell on his butt and his left wrist, breaking his arm so badly that he said it was like the scene in Harry Potter where Harry's bone disappears. The neighbor called my SIL, who raced home, took my brother to the ER. They set his arm poorly (turns out part of the bone was CRUSHED) and blew off his concerns about his back. Wouldn't x-ray it or anything. He went to a specialist the following Monday, then went in for hand surgery on Wednesday, but was throwing up so they couldn't do the surgery. He went for a CAT scan on Thursday, where he sat miserably and was appalled by the lack of concern any of the staff showed him when he told them he just couldn't sit up anymore. Finally he had the tests done, but didn't hear the results till the following week. He had the hand surgery that week, but still couldn't get anyone to listen to him about his back. He can't stand up more than 15 minutes without excruciating pain.

Last week my son went to work for him (my brother has his own AC business and when he doesn't work, he doesn't make money. He just started in October and doesn't have employees) and told me they couldn't finish the job because my brother was hurting so bad.

This week he went for a second opinion, and indeed he has two broken vertebrae and 3 bulging discs. The CAT scan results had been filed with the insurance, but not looked at, apparently, and my brother has been trying to tough it out. After his hand surgery, once he was out of pain pills, they wouldn't give him anymore, thinking he wouldn't need them for his hand, and he didn't, but did for his back. So he's been a week with a broken back and no pain pills!

Now he can't be evaluated till April 16 (ANOTHER week) and then they decide what to do. Meanwhile, he's not working and has no income. (My SIL is a vice principal and she has the insurance, so they have SOME money, but she doesn't make more than me and we have the same house payment, which takes nearly one of my checks.) How scary is that??

So my brother is thinking about calling a lawyer. Do you think he has a case?

HATED Jericho last night. HATED, to the point of may never watch again. I wonder if Pamela Reed ever gets tired of saying, "We have to do something." Bones was kinda lame, too, and I fell asleep before LOST.

I am obsessed with The Gilmore Girls right now, and I think we're at the beginning of Season Six, where Lorelei proposed to Luke. What got me, especially in Season Five, (and it's completely in character for Lorelei) but she wouldn't share much with Luke. I mean, she and Rory were estranged, but she didn't tell Luke. I get that she's been on her own for so long, has difficulty trusting, and that Rory is her daughter and her responsibility, but there were so many times I wanted to yell, "TALK TO LUKE!"

It's not just The Gilmore Girls that gives me this reaction (how's THAT for a passive sentence?) I've had the same reactions to books and movies, because keeping it in is never good (unless it's a plot device, but even then...) I feel a little anti-feminist wanting the heroine to go to the hero for help, but as long as it's well informed and well intentioned, I think it's the basis of a successful relationship. Heroines who think they can do it all on their own....well, many can, but if they want to open themselves to a relationship, should they?

I know, I'm working on Alex (finally ready after a 4 day break), but it IS Supernatural Thursday. And frankly, not a lot of pictures of Alex!

Even with a Tylenol PM, I didn't sleep well....woke about 4, and when I fell back asleep, I dreamed about getting to Nationals. I dreamed we decided to fly, but it wasn't in Dallas. Still, we only paid $48 each, but our flight wasn't till 10:19, and I forgot to pack. We missed the flight because I couldn't convince the dh what time the flight was at, and as I was running around trying to figure out what to do, I realized I'd miss the GH certificate ceremony and I hadn't packed anything to wear for that OR the awards night!

It's a bad thing to wake up stressed.

But I did see Jude Law at the airport and he was charming. I know, totally random. I remember thinking, "I can't wait to tell Janice Lynn!"

I've been reading SO SLOW lately. Part of it is that I'm tired - I read only ten minutes last night before my eyes started drooping. But another part of it is that my reading is kind of fractured lately.

I'm reading this during silent reading at school, which is 25 minutes a day, but we've been skipping it lately because I haven't been able to get the kids to get their work done. Plus we're doing long division - takes FOREVER!



Then I'm listening to this to and from school. I've had it three weeks and just started disc 8 yesterday. It might be better just to read it, then I can skip over Every Medical Procedure. Good Lord.



At home I'm reading these.





I'm almost done with Angel, which is a good book. Dime Store Magic is good, too, but long and tiny font.

Then I walk by all my OTHER books that I don't have time to read and feel guilty. Does it stop me from getting more? Noooo, I got about 6 more this week!

I did read Entertainment Weekly cover to cover yesterday, though.

I know, everyone works towards them, but for the rest of the school year, I only have ONE weekend to myself!

This weekend: Starving Artist and Easter

Next weekend: MINE!!

Weekend after that: My birthday (okay, maybe technically mine, but there will be a party, and cleaning involved)

Weekend after that: Fiesta/critique

First weekend in May: SIL's bday

Second weekend in May: Mom's bday and Mother's Day (more party and cleaning)

Third weekend in May: Baby Brother's graduation

Last weekend in May: Nephew's confirmation

First weekend in June: Broken Brother's birthday

Then finally another free weekend!

Finished Ghost Hunters tonight. Was determined, so skimped a bit on the last 3 scenes. That's what revisions are for, right? Now I'm going back to Breaking Daylight. Will let Ghost Hunters sit for a bit before I start revisions.

So last Dean picture for a bit. We're going back to Justin.

I'm a big believer in signs, you know, something happens and you believe that random action is a sign for something else. Last Sunday when we got in the car to go to breakfast, the first song we heard was "Paperback Writer." (The college station does a Beatles show every Sunday.) The dh just looked at me, knowing what day it was, and shook his head.

For Christmas, JoAnn gave me a tiger's eye bracelet for luck. I wear it religiously every day, and you know, it's working. But Cindi's husband was talking about The Devil (my old principal) and I gestured to make him stop (She's a bit like Beetlejuice, if you say her name, she shows up) and my bracelet shot off my hand and shattered. I can restring it, but I've been a bit desperate this week without it ;)

Do you believe in signs?

I'm off to work. Yes, on a Saturday. Remember the ice storm the week of MLK? We're making up one of the days today and the next one the Monday after Easter. At least we only have to stay till one. I'm taking three new CDs to blare, and I'm wearing my regular Saturday clothes - yoga pants and t-shirt.

So Baby Brother got rejected yesterday – by Yale. I have to admit, part of me (the Gilmore Girls fan and the part who wanted to say “My brother goes to YALE”) was really rooting for him to get in, though I know it would be hard for him to make that adjustment. I called him to talk, and he was a little teary. He said he wonders what those other people have that he doesn’t and he worries that other people will think he’s a loser because he didn’t get in.

Sound familiar?

My other brother, Broken Brother, (he fell out of a tree 3 weeks ago, broke his arm and hurt his back) said that Baby Brother has never been rejected academically. He’s always been above and beyond the top of his class. BUT he’s been in small Catholic schools all his life. Not saying he isn’t smart, he’s amazingly smart, can speak Latin and knows so much about so much, especially things he’s interested in, but he hasn’t had a lot of competition. He’s already taking college classes part time because he’s fulfilled his HS requirements, has been accepted everywhere he applied.

Except Yale.

So now he has to make the decision of what to do next, where will best suit his needs. He recently found out another local college has everything he wants, but he didn’t apply, and now it’s too late (?). He thinks he put all his eggs in one basket, which isn’t true, because he was accepted at two other colleges. He just really had his heart set on Yale.

And I know just how he feels.

Broken Brother has his own AC business, and hasn’t been able to work since falling out of the tree he was trimming. So he’s got my son working for him tomorrow. He offered him a summer job, which at first excited The Boy. The dh likes the idea, too. The Boy would learn a trade, make some (likely) good money. But it’s hard, hot work. I worry that The Boy won’t like it, and it will be hard to quit because, well, it’s his uncle.

But honestly, I can’t think of a better first boss.

So we’ll see how he likes it after tomorrow – which will be cool by comparison to the summer.

I almost slept till the alarm again! Yay!

Jericho was sad - I cried. Of course, the dh had seen promos and knew someone was going to die, and almost immediately realized who it was. Lost was intriguing, especially the ending, though of course the dh called it. He's not allowed to talk during TV shows anymore.

No estimate on the roof yesterday, and it's supposed to rain the next three days. Urgh.

I LOVE B-movies. I was thinking maybe it stemmed from my Mystery Science Theater mania in the 1990s (Joel, not Mike) but I realized the other night when I was watching Reign of the Gargoyles on Sci Fi it started before then. But I remembered another gargoyle movie that was made in the early 1970s that they'd show LATE late at night. It was about an archaeologist who found gargoyles in a cave or something, in the Southwestern part of the US. It was creepily terrible, but I would watch it every time it came on. Same with Devil's Rain, which had Ernest Borgnine, William Shatner, Tom Skerritt and melting faces.

I have an even earlier memory of fascination with B movies. My dad was watching a Japanese horror movie (they used to show them on Saturday afternoons in the years BC - before cable). It was about a town carving a giant statue, and as they were carving it, it started to bleed. It came to live and smooshed a bunch of people. I remember Dad saying that he shouldn't have let me watch it - I guess I freaked out. And clearly it's stayed with me for years.

Now I indulge my B-movie love on Sci Fi Saturdays, though some will never hold up to those early movies.

Tonight's Supernatural is a rerun but it is one of my FAVORITE episodes. If you haven't seen it yet, tune in for the Black Moment-y goodness. And the brotherly love.

I was searching for new pictures of Jensen and came across some disturbing ones....plaid pants, leather pants (and not in a good way), playing with a hose. Ew. And sometimes he's just Too Pretty.

I slept till the alarm today! Yay! I did wake up at 4:15, looked at the clock, said, "I'll get up and wri-zzzzzz."

I was talking to our computer teacher about the leaky roof and she said that our assistant coach has a carpentry business, so I went to talk to him and he's coming to give an estimate this week. We think we're just going to do part of the roof, from the kitchen over, which should keep the cost down. Of course, we're expecting rain for the next TWO WEEKS. BAH! And the bad thing is, he's someone I work with, so I have to clean up the house ;)

I stole this from Marianne, I'm pretty sure.

Movie Meme

1. Name a movie you have seen more than 10 times.

The Mummy, The Two Towers, Speed, Princess Bride, Ferris Bueller, Ghost Busters, Tomb Raider 2, Dear Frankie, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

2. Name a movie you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.

Return of the King, Dear Frankie, Raiders of the Lost Ark

3. Name an actor who would make you more inclined to see a movie.

Gerard Butler, Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Will Smith, Clooney

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to see a movie.

Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell

5. Name a movie you can and do quote from.

The Princess Bride, Mummy, Big Trouble in Little China, Ghostbusters

6. Name a movie musical in which you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

Sound of Music, natch, Grease, Phantom of the Opera, Moulin Rouge, Buffy’s musical

7. Name a movie you have been known to sing along with.

All of the above ;)

8. Name a movie you would recommend everyone see.

Casino Royale!

9. Name a movie you own.

ONE???? Please.

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

Marky Mark – I mean, Mark Wahlberg.

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

Yep. A LONG time ago, though, and all B movies.

12. Ever made out in a movie?

No

13. Name a movie you keep meaning to see but you just haven’t gotten around to yet.

Lost in Translation, Slither, Snakes on a Plane

14. Ever walked out of a movie?

No. I won’t even turn off one I rented.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

Dear Frankie, Return of the King

16. Popcorn?

Of course!!

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

MAYBE 6 a year. This year will be more.

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

300

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

Action

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

HR Pufnstuf. Funny story. The movie came out the day my brother was born. I was staying with my grandparents and I LOVED HR Pufnstuf. The characters were going to make an appearance at the theater, so my grandfather took his truck and parked it at the theater the day before so we'd be able to see. I got so scared when we actually got to the theater, I hid. Didn't see him at all.

Found out years later, the dh was there that day, too.

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

I can't think of one.

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

Talladega Nights. I’m so ashamed.

23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?

I can't think of one here, either.

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?

Ghostbusters

Yup, look at the time. 2 AM. Woke up about an hour ago, snapped awake with a knot forming in my stomach. I finally gave up on sleep, came out and finished my Merritt contest entries (I had one judge who NEVER got back to me, I had to scramble at the last minute because the finalists need their hard copies to the coordinator by next Tuesday) and caught up on my email, which was piled high.

There's nothing else I can do tonight, but the knot in my stomach won't go away.

I'm anxious about the hotel and registration.

I'm anxious about the library books that I have sitting on my ottoman for research, and the ones sitting at the library waiting to be picked up.

I'm anxious about Ghost Hunters, AKA The Book That Will Never End.

I'm anxious about the roof that leaks.

Heck, I'm anxious about having too many shows on Tivo.

All this stuff I bring on myself, but how do I stop stressing about it? Maybe just writing it down will help. I'm going to try to go back to sleep.

I was calling the dh after work and saw I had a message on my cell. Breaking Daylight (AKA Alex's story) is a finalist in the ST category!!!

It's BD's first contest. I'm very proud.

I feel a little hungover today, and I didn't have ANYTHING to drink, not even the champagne that's been in my fridge since I signed with my agent ;) I was on the computer almost all afternoon, hoping to see other names show up on the list, but they never did.

That's one of the hardest parts about finalling, knowing there are deserving writers out there who don't final. My friend Elizabeth finished her first historical this year, and it was wonderful, but it didn't final, apparently, and she'd email me now and again to ask if I'd heard anything.

Then on the Wet Noodle Posse loop, there were several people who hoped to final but didn't.

So I've got a touch of guilt (I know, surprise). BUT I'm so happy that ALL the mss my agent has are GH finalists.

Yesterday was weird, though. The loops were so slow in bringing the news, maybe because it was Sunday. Maybe I'm on the wrong loops ;) When Trish called to tell me I'd finalled, we'd JUST gotten back from Lowe's. I told the dh I needed a project to keep me busy, so I bought blue stain for my bench. I did eventually stain it, after Trish called to tell me she'd DOUBLE finalled!!!! (COVEN! COVEN! COVEN!) It looks nice.

I need to register for conference, but need to wait for, you know, PAYDAY. And since the hotel is sold out, we need to find another place to stay. Good thing is, we'll only be going 2 days, and we'll be driving. I already have my dress and shoes (though if I see some rhinestoney ones I'll buy them) and I have my picture (though if JoAnn's photog isn't too dear, I might get professional ones). The dh does need a new suit and shoes, though.

Beneath the Surface did it!!!! It finalled in the Golden Heart, in the Single Title category!!!!!!

And Trish was the one to call me!!!!!

This was my first year to coordinate an electronic contest. I only had 12 entries in my category, should have been easy, right?

Uh.

Apparently I’m a kinesthetic person, and like the actual sorting of entries. Because sorting them electronically was a pain in the neck. You had to make copies of each entry, electronically (at least that was the only way I could think to do it) so I made folders for each judge.

Only when I sent the folders as attachments, no one could open them. Sigh.

Then you had people who didn’t save as .rtf and you had to reformat.

One person sent in her entry only it had comments from her critique partner in it! She would have seen it if she’d printed it out. I couldn’t get ahold of her to resend, so I cleaned it up myself.

I accidentally sent the same entries to 2 different people to judge. Never would have done that with paper entries ;)

The ONLY good thing is no trips to the post office.

Never again.

GOOD LUCK to everyone who entered the GH/Rita!!! Check in if you final!!!

Please help spread the word by passing this on to any relevant loops you're on:
Once again, Melynda Beth Skinner will be hosting her Unofficial List of Golden Heart® and RITA® Award Finalists at
http://www.melyndabethskinner.com/finalists.html on notification day, March 25th, 2007. She updates the list every few minutes throughout the day. There's also a bulletinboard/chat room, and great fun is had by all. If you'd like to help, send names of finalists, their entries' titles, & the category(ies) entered to melynda@melyndabethskinner.com .
Permission is hereby granted by Melynda Beth Skinner to forward this paragraph.

Grey's is seriously making me mad. George and Izzy? George and IZZY?

Izzy was always my favorite character. I loved her compassion, her sass, her background (have we ever heard anymore about her kid? NO.) I loved that she loved Denny. I cringed when she cut his LVAD wire. I cried when she mourned.

This season she's turned into a complete bitch. She can't even try to be nice to Callie, and I guess now we know why. So what does this show us? Men and women can't be friends? George is a bigger man-whore than Alex? And you know Izzy isn't going to be able to keep a secret (though why did Addison immediately jump to the conclusion Izzy was talking about adultery?) This is not going to be good, and I don't think I can watch.

I think part of it is that, while it was time for her to move on from Denny, I loved Denny and don't think George is fit to follow his footsteps. He's been a butthead lately, too. Maybe they deserve each other, and Callie can have Alex-now-with-a-soul.

Then LOST. We finally know what happened to Locke to put him in that wheelchair. (My dh wonders if that was Locke falling past the window when Hurley was meeting with his accountant in that one episode.) But what is the deal with the box???? (The dh also thinks Locke's dad is the real Sawyer, the one our Sawyer is looking for.) And would Jack really have left his friends behind on the island? That seems completely against his character.

I'm listening to A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, the latest (last?) Jamie and Clair book. I have the book, but would get a hernia reading it, so I checked the CDs out of the library.

58 hours.

I drive an hour a day, but only have 48 days of school left!

Anyway, this week, I was listening and it took TWO DAYS to listen to ONE SCENE, and it was with Roger and Brianna (yawn)! And now Clair is going on and on about hemorrhoids. Honestly.

My friend Elizabeth recommended this series to me years ago, when I was living at my old house (I've been here almost 8 years, so...) I remember sitting on the back porch. I finished OUTLANDER, head over heels for Jamie, and made the dh drive me to the bookstore then and there for DRAGONFLY IN AMBER. It was not my favorite. My heart was broken for the 20 years they lost. I LOVED VOYAGER, but all the rest since then have been forgettable.

However, it's surprising to me how I remember the characters so well. Not just the main ones, but the peripheral ones, including Jenny, who will likely not be in anymore books since she's back in Scotland.

What about you - are you an OUTLANDER fan?

I'm thinking about taking the day off - I have all these contest entries to organize, even though they're not going back till Monday, I have stuff to read for critique (not much) and I want to WRITE. So mostly I want to write. And get through some of my library books. And sleep (which, clearly I'm not, up at 3 AGAIN!)

Supernatural last night --- not what I expected. LOVED Dean's glee at hunting werewolves, LOVED the love scene, and the emotion (does this mean Sam is stronger than Dean? And will Sam love again?) But when I think of werewolves, I think of forest and pack and isolation. I wish there had been more action, more werewolf fighting, more, well, werewolves. That would have been cool.

But did you see Sammy's arms? Could we PLEASE put him in some t-shirts now and again, y'all?

What do you do when you have this larger than life hero but you can't find the perfect woman for him? I usually start with the hero, though most of my books are the heroine's story. But have you ever been writing along and saying to yourself, "This one isn't the right one for him?" How do you fix it? Do you visualize her in a different way? Change her name? Or change her completely?

What does it take to be a heroine for a larger than life hero?

The field trip wasn't bad yesterday - it was interesting to see the different styles of practice for the 2 teams. And the game last night was fun, though we walked 3/4 of the way around the ATT Center to get to our seats, then decided we wanted Whataburger, so had to go back down. We were still in our seats (near heaven, somewhere) by the National Anthem. And we talked almost the whole time!

New Supernatural tonight - whoo!!!!!

The Return was the worst movie I've ever seen that didn't have one of my crushes in it.

What is The Return, you ask? And well you should. It came out in the fall, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (BUFFY!) and was set in La Salle and Luling, Texas. No movies are ever set there, and why this one was...who knows. Sam Shepard was in it (mighty = fallen) which was a bonus for me.

First, it was incomprehensibly told, and my dh, who has the terrible habit of asking "Now what's going on?" because he's on his laptop instead of paying attention, got dirty looks instead of answers.

Second, it was the longest 85 minute movie ever....slowwwwwwwwww. So me, being someone who doesn't try to figure things out ahead of time, started trying to figure out why it was happening.

Every idea I came up with was better than the ultimate resolution, which was so completely random. RANDOM! Grrr.

So I was done by 8:30, started watching the Tivoed American Idol and was done with it by 9:10. That's right, that's how much padding is in that show. Really liked Jordin and Blake.

Today we have a field trip to the Aggies' basketball practice (here for March Madness) and tonight I'm going to the Spurs game with Baby Brother (he won tickets.) A sporty day!

And I'm blogging about trusting yourself at Wet Noodle Posse

So after school I watched Gilmore Girls, started supper, judged a contest entry, ate, then went outside to sit in my new chair on the front porch, with my copy of EW.

Now, Saturday night I sat out there, and the dh joined me. As soon as he sat down, his chair snapped. We took it back. I inspected the replacement chair closely.

But I was sitting in the other chair.

I heard creaking, but just thought, you know, it's sliding a bit on the concrete. But alas, no. The leg snapped clean off!

Okay, we are no lightweights, but I've NEVER broken a chair.

Yes, I will try to exchange it today (I just bought it on Friday!)

We get to wear jeans today, which I have mixed feelings about, since I got out all my pretty spring clothes. And we have a field trip tomorrow (ugh.) Then my baby brother won tickets to tomorrow night's Spurs game and invited me. Which means I'm driving. To a Spurs game. Where lots of other people drive. Yick. And I'm missing SARA on top of that. Oh, well, bonding with baby brother is good, especially since he may be going away to college next year.

Skippy is doing better. He followed me all around last night, and was waiting outside the door this morning.

Yesterday was the LEAST relaxing day. We went to breakfast, then to see 300, which I liked but didn't love. Then I came home to take a nap. My baby, Skippy, was on the bed. I knew he wasn't feeling good, and the side of his neck was swollen. The dh told me to take today off and take him to the vet. I was going to take him when I got home.

But when I was laying down, I could feel him scratching. And scratching. And scratching.

That couldn't be good.

(MAYBE SKIP THIS IF YOU'RE EATING)

I looked at him and he'd scratched himself bloody. I started hollering for the dh, who was at Lowe's (WITHOUT ME!) and so the boy watched the kitten while I got dressed and washed the quilt and afghan, then we drove him to the kitty ER. We were only there about an hour and 20 minutes, got him cleaned up (and since he was sedated, they neutered him, too). They gave him antibiotics and he spent the rest of the night groggy and unhappy and, well, they didn't stitch him up because they wanted the abcess to drain, so, oozing.

But this morning he was waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom, and it sounds like he's playing with one of his toys now, so he'll be well. Still we have to give him antibiotics. Not easy.

So I need to go to work. Hard because Cindi and her husband won't be there - they have an inservice. Nicely timed, those rats.