Okay, guys, February is sneaky! The month is over and I’m not ready! Tomorrow I’m scheduled for my next epidural shot, which is done in an outpatient surgery center. It completely snuck up on us. We are really REALLY hoping this shot puts everything into a form of remission for a while. Treating this kind of nerve pain is complex (and expensive!), but we’re very hopeful.

If I don’t post Friday, it’ll be because Thursday was a long day and I just don’t have the energy after the sedative they give me intravenously. I’ll catch up with everyone on Monday.

Now let’s move onto Wednesday Worthy. So I have a Very Important Question for you all: Do you prefer white or gray? In case you need visuals, here you go:

WHITE?

OR GRAY?

So which is more worthy to you? The white towel or the gray?

Saturday morning was cold and clear, and Maggie and I conquered the Stairway to Heaven through the hills (in the national forest behind out house):

This is one set of the zillion and two steps up and down through the hills, but it really is surreal up there! Worth the climb! Although coming back, my foot slipped on some sandy mud, and I had that split second of Oh shit! but I didn’t fall! Fortunately, Maggie either heard me slip or gasp, and stopped so I was able to regain my balance. All the steps have railroad ties at the edge, which really helps too. But this is also why I work to stay in the moment and pay full attention to what Maggie and I are doing.

Back at home, here is Maggie waiting for a treat in a small barren patch of our hill at the side of our house. Can you tell she wants the treat?

Today I’m working on a foreign rights offer on my old mystery series. I want to say here, that I emailed the Steven Zacharius of Kensington Publishing to make sure the old licensing agreement had expired and he answered that he’d follow-up on Monday. That’s right, he took the time out of his Sunday to let me know he’d check on it. That was way above and beyond any call of duty and truly appreciated. I know people have their own stories, but I always found both Kensington and Random House, my two NY publishers, to be professional and generally helpful even years after I stopped writing for them.

And since I’m generally unimpressed with the Weight Watchers freestyle, I’m just focusing on being healthy, happy and grateful.

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

Happy Friday! Let’s get to sharing five things about our week.

1. I had a good writing day yesterday, and I want more, more, more of them! I’m greedy that way!
2. It’s COLD here for So. Cal. But much more in line with what February should be like. It’s better than the 80’s and 90’s we’ve had for weeks. I especially love the cold when I sleep!
3. Maggie is not a fan of the cold, and she doesn’t get under her covers in her kennel. Instead, she creates a nest with the sides of the blanket raised up around her and I assume she stays warm that way. (Oh! And Maggie runs into her kennel on her own every night when I get up to go to bed. She sits there and waits for me to give her her nighttime treat and close the door. She never makes a peep until I let her out in the morning. Patience and consistency really pays off!)
4. I’m sticking pretty close to my Weight Watchers points plan (except for a planned 24 hour period I took off from it last weekend), but dang, it’s hard. I’m on the new freestyle program and pretty much hate it. There’s a few good things, and a whole lot of gimmick to it. On the other hand, my goal is only 10 pounds and I’m close to halfway there. This is just about feeling more comfortable in my clothes.
5. I haven’t been to the gym since before we got Maggie. My shoulder was too bad then, and now I spend between 30 to 90 minutes a day walking Maggie, and feel myself steadily getting better and stronger so I’m not excited to go back to the gym right now.

It’s obviously been a pretty quiet week here, and I’ve loved it

So that’s my Friday Five, now I’d love to hear yours! Have a great weekend!

Happy Hump Day! Here’s our candidate:

What do you think, is he worthy?

It was a great weekend! Well, aside from a small infection in my thumb, that is mildly gross and pretty much my fault. Peroxide and neosporin should take care of that.

So dress shopping with Middle son’s fiance was fun and she found the perfect dress that made me tear up when I saw her in it! The group included fiance, her mom, grandmother, aunts, cousins and friends (11 of us in total!). Technically I was the outsider, but they were all so warm and welcoming to me that I never felt that way. We began lunch on that patio of a charming cafe then onto the first dress shop appointment. That place wasn’t the experience we had hoped for. But our bride-to-be was game to give it a try to we were all in a great mood. They had some nice dresses, but nothing that was THE ONE. Everyone was very positive, we headed to the second dress shop and it was like stepping through the looking-glass into pure elegance, just like on the bridal TV shows.

We began to scan the lovely displays finding breath-stealing dresses! Then we looked at the price tags. Holy Houses! As in those dresses cost about the same as a down payments on a house!

And then we moved to another room brimming with more beautiful dresses, and these had price tags that fit into her budget! (She has a very reasonable budget.) The dress consultant took her off to chat about her wedding, then they got started. We were all settled in a very comfortable seating area around a modeling pedestal and mirror. We were served chilled pink champagne in flutes so enticing that even I tried one (I wasn’t driving). I usually avoid champagne as it will give me a headache, but I sipped one glass of this with no headache. It was crisp, bubbling and just a touch sweet. Then our girl came out in dress after dress, each more stunning than the last. The consultant really began to do some magic then, swiftly defining what she loved and what didn’t work until he seemed to know exactly what her dream dress looked like. Then he whisked our bride off again.

When they returned for the final time in a dress he had selected, I had the moment a chills and tears. Her mom, aunts and grandmother felt it even more of course, they all have loved her from the moment of her first breath. But for me, when I saw her beaming in that lovely, perfect dress, all I could think was There she is, my son’s beautiful bride, and our new daughter-in-law. I know, I know, I sound ridiculously corny. But some of this may make its way into Savaged Devotion

Sunday was an equally great day. For Youngest’s birthday, I spent the morning making ribs and chocolate kahlua pound cake with a chocolate ganache icing.

I also made some kahlua whipped cream to add to the cake or coffee. And yes it was over the top, but I was enjoying a morning of cooking and baking. I did 90% of everything ahead, so it was easy and fun when Youngest and his fiance were over (they will marry next year). We had a nice, low key afternoon and they both seemed to really enjoy dinner and the cake (and playing with Maggie!)

My neck, shoulder and arm is bit sore but the weekend was worth it! Since the first epidural shot a few weeks ago, the pain settles down pretty quickly with a little rest and the meds I have on hand so I’m not concerned.

Today it’s back to the book! I’m hoping to pick up some speed again. This week should be less busy and I can focus on writing.

That was my weekend, how was yours!

Another whirlwind week and it’s time to do our Friday Five where we list five random things about our week.

1. The Florida school shooting. We were as horrified as everyone else, and our hearts break for all the victims, the traumatized students, teachers, staff, families, first responders, and all the hearts hurt by this. Where our pity stops is for the shooter. Before he picked up that gun and chose to murder, I would have been a vocal advocate for resources to get him help. I respect and admire those who seek out help. But the second he pulled that trigger, I don’t care if he’s mentally ill. There are people all over our world who struggle with mental illness and they don’t commit cold-blooded, terrorizing murder. A very few do, of course, but most don’t. My pity stops there. (And I don’t blindly blame families and friends with the “they should have known” syndrome either–many families fight to save loved ones on a terrible path and they simply can’t.)
2. Onto lighter, happier things, today is Youngest Son (BLB’s) birthday. We’re celebrating on Sunday. This is typical BLB, he called us the other night to firm up some plans. Then I told BLB, “Hey I was on your company website the other day, and saw that you are assistant controller. You didn’t tell us!” And BLB’s response? “Nope, I was waiting until I make controller to tell you.” That is Classic BLB. He sets a goal and works to achieve it, but he doesn’t brag. Youngest is totally the strong and silent type
3. Saturday, I’m going dress shopping with our Family Wine Connoisseur  (Middle’s fiance!) and her family and friends. It’s going to be fun. Being a mother-in-law is so awesome. And I’m so proud of Middle Son. He’s trying to give her and her mom a wedding that means something to them. He told me how important that was, along with budget and I just wanted to hug him for being a great guy and putting his future wife’s needs (and heart) front and center.
4. Five weeks until our grandson is due! Special K is already an awesome mom, and CPA Boy can’t wait. He calls me once or twice a week on his way home from work to tell me about about it. And Special K keeps me up to date with her appointments, concerns or fun stuff. Wizard and I are looking forward to being grandparents.
5. Maggie is such a showoff. Honestly, she’s not super well-trained like dogs I’ve seen. I never let her off leash, and she can pull on heel when excited, the assorted normal stuff. One older gentleman calls me “The Dog Trainer,” every time I see him–usually when he’s walking his little dog. I saw him yesterday talking to another man and he was saying it again. I stopped and was chatting, telling him that Maggie is just an easy dog and I really didn’t do anything. Which is true. The other man broke in and said, “Look at her, she’s sitting at your side without you doing anything.” That’s when the older man added, “That’s what I mean, you have a connection with her that’s special, you handle her in a way she understands.” Guys, that meant so much to me. He wasn’t saying Maggie was perfect after all, he was commenting on our relationship. That was pretty awesome moment.

I wish I had time to write this weekend, but it’s going to be pretty nonstop.

So that’s my Friday Five, now I’d love to hear yours! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

This year, Valentine’s Day landed on Wednesday Worthy, so let me ask you this: For Valentine’s Day would you rather spend it with:

A sexy hunk?

Decadent Chocolate?

or Adorable Puppies?

Which do you choose?

Wizard and I are spending a quiet Valentine’s Day. He’s much better, but the cough is still hanging on, so we’ll stay home. I may get wild and make a few chocolate dipped graham crackers, but that’s about as much celebrating as we’ll do. We have a big weekend coming up, so we’re not really missing out. Hope you all have a great Valentine’s Day!