Happy Friday! It’s time to list five random things about your week. Here’s mine:

1. I’m enjoying walking and playing with Maggie so much, I gave myself a wicked case of shin splints on my right leg It’s improving day by day exactly like shin splints does. Over the weekend, I was running barefoot with Maggie on cement in the backyard, and I definitely brought this on myself.
2. Still talking about Maggie–I left her with Wizard again yesterday for a couple hours with no crying! Her separation anxiety is improving as her confidence grows. She’s definitely a submissive/timid girl, but she’s really blossoming. We’re all learning.
3. I working and reworking the first few pages of Savaged Devotions as I mentally replot the whole book and timeline from my critique partner’s awesome suggestions.  Normally I rewrite much faster, but the whole Real Life things keeps getting in the way. However, I’m once again finding myself thinking about the book in any free moment, and that’s both a huge relief, and exciting, at the same time. I had began to wonder where the magic of hearing characters in my head, and feeling the drive to write, had gone. For months, it was only flickers in radio silence. It was frustrating and scary. (Also scary is trying to get my RA meds approved by my new insurance when I’m already late, but I don’t want to dwell on that right now. I’m thinking positive as much as I can.)
4. This story has haunted me since I saw it on the news Wednesday night. It’s about animal abuse, so feel free to skip this if you want.  But I just can’t shake it off–some asshole poured boiling water in his girlfriend’s dog. That is pure evil and enrages me, and I know all of you feel the same. The one bright spot is that the poor little dog cried out for help–and two 17 year olds were his hero that day. I’m so proud of them! They heard him crying, videoed the jerk, and called the police. I’m really proud of those teenagers! (I can’t believe that asshole who did it is out on bail though.)
5. This weekend I’m going to my niece’s wedding shower. That’ll be fun to see her, and all the family as well celebrate her upcoming marriage in January.

That’s my Friday Five, now it’s your turn! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I came on here to post my Wednesday Worthy blog and found a really snarky comment on one of my past Wednesday Worthy posts. I hit spam and delete, and was just going to forget about it because I don’t care. But then I thought I’d take a second to share my philosophy on crap like this.

Ready? I’m going to be blunt here.

SOME PEOPLE SUCK. That’s right, they suck, and they are such miserable creatures who desperately want our lives to suck too.

Not happening. Not in my life. I’m too old and wise for that shit. My life is full of love, family, friends, a sweet foster pup, hard work, joy, fun, and yes, there are annoyances, pain and tragedies too. But even as Wizard and I are dealing with hearth-breaking news about a beloved family member, I’m witnessing some amazing love that makes my heart swell and fills me with eternal hope. Honest to God, there is joy and love even in tragedy. No one wants to go through it, but there are real lessons about the human spirit and how we rise to the challenge.

I absolutely refuse to let PEOPLE WHO SUCK tarnish that for one second longer than it takes for me to click the delete button. You don’t have to either. Let’s not allow PEOPLE WHO SUCK to ruin even one minute of our day. We have too much to celebrate, and we have people and animals who need us. They deserve our passion and energy.

Okay I’m done with that

So little Maggie is charming us, challenging us and amusing us. Yesterday she scared us when she got sick. We ran her into the vet tech at the shelter and she looks okay. We’re doing another round of antibiotics to clear up any remaining problems. I’m not a fan of a lot of antibiotics, but she was on the streets then in a shelter, so it’s the wisest course of action right now. She’s growing more confident each day, and is testing boundaries which is fine. She’s a source of love and joy, and we’re grateful for this special girl in our lives right now.

And my little brag–I got her to go in her kennel on her own for the first time yesterday! She may not do it again tonight, but it’s still a big step for her.

Okay let’s get to our Wednesday Worthy Candidate. I found him on Depositphotos yesterday.

What do you think, is he worthy?

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was good

Today is our anniversary of 35 years! I would marry Wizard all over again. We’re going out to dinner tonight to celebrate. I just want to say: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WIZARD!

Youngest son (BLB) came by unannounced on Saturday. Wizard and I had a vague plan to go to the movies, but thought we’d skip it when youngest son showed up. But he strongly encouraged us to go while he stayed with Maggie. (It’d been a tough two week’s finding out bad news, then having it confirmed, about a family member and youngest was helping in a big way.) Wizard and I went to see Bad Mom’s Christmas. We both laughed until we cried! It was exactly what we needed–a relief from life. If you like totally inappropriate humor, I highly recommend the movie.

Maggie is an awesome dog who is a “work in progress.” She’s timid and skittish, and has strongly bonded to me, but it’s taking more time with Wizard and everyone else. I’m taking a wait and see approach. If she and Wizard build a bond, we’ll keep her. If it doesn’t work out that way, we’ll work to find her a fantastic forever home. Since we’re dealing with a family illness, I’m not making any decisions, but rather enjoying the gift of Maggie for the moment.

Wizard, by the way, is working at it with her too. One moment she will be great with him, then she’ll suddenly skittish again. Also, she cries and is anxious when I leave. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out she’s had some trauma, but I won’t let anyone feel sorry for her. The goal is to build her confidence into the best Maggie can be

Also this weekend, I got my book back from my critique partner, Marianne. I LOVE her notes. She put comments in the manuscript, and wrote out 22 points of concerns and suggestions, and then she answered all my questions on going forward.  I’m both grateful and excited. We also talked on the phone for about an hour as I worked out what to keep in the pages and what to toss out. I know it’s not always easy to hear critiques (criticism of your beloved book), but this is why I wait until I’m not only ready to hear it, but actually desperate for direction.

That’s the moral of the story — don’t ask for a critique until you’re truly ready to listen and appreciate the words of wisdom. Marianne put in untold hours and many days worth of work into this critique, and it’s all invaluable to me. But if I hadn’t been ready to hear it, it would all have been wasted time and effort. So here’s my unasked for advice on critiques for writers:

–Find a critique partner you trust and respect.

–Don’t ask until you’re ready, maybe even desperate, for valuable feedback and guidance.

–Be appreciative!  You don’t have to use everything, but it’s a talent and skill to critique pages, and a hell of a lot of work.  Treat that with the respect it deserves.

–Don’t be afraid to ask respectful questions and really listen to the answers.

That was my weekend. How was your weekend?

Happy Friday! Okay here’s my Friday Five:

1. I saw my new doctor and feel good about that. The first hurdle he’s facing is getting my expensive RA medication approved, then we’ll move onto pain management. But I feel so much better having made this change.
2. Maggie is super cute It’s a relief now that she’s sleeping at night in her kennel with no complaining, even if she doesn’t want to go in the kennel. My middle son is helping me work on that, along with a lot of great advice I asked for on FB.
3. I’m hoping my critique partner doesn’t hate the chunk of the book she’s reading. Naturally I always fear the worst, and it’s a pointless waste of time. I’m going to focus on the positive–I can fix problems once I have her feedback!
4. Cancer Really Sucks.
5. There’s a street in our neighborhood I have to avoid when walking Maggie because a enraged Rottweiler loses his mind and tries to get over the fence. He can get his chest and front legs to the top of the fence, and one day, he’ll get over.  I don’t know what is wrong with people getting a powerful breed dog, then just leaving it in the backyard like that. I blame the owners. Don’t get a power breed dog if you’re not going to put in the work, time, money and attention. I have met plenty of well-balance power breed dogs with great owners, including my grandpuppy Jett. He’s probably a pit-boxer mix, well socialized and very friendly. But he has two owners who care about him. Anyway, that’s my rant for the day.

That’s my Friday Five, now it’s your turn! I really hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! I’m writing this on Tuesday before the kids start showing up. We don’t get as may as we used to not that the neighborhood is aging out, and a lot of parents choose different Halloween activities than going to door to door these days.

Yesterday I finally sent a big chunk of Savaged Devotion off to my critique partner! First off, a huge shout out to Marianne! She almost always has to save my books. I’m dead serious. I rely on her and owe her a lifetime supply of Starbucks and more. Now we’ll see if she can even get through the pages I sent. I can be a hit or miss writer–either really on my game or off. But I am also a determined writer, and if the book need a shitton of work, I will do it. I’ll whine (and wine!) and complain, but I’ll do it because I love what I do even when it’s hard

Today I go to my new doctor and I’m very happy to be making this step forward in taking control of my health. I’m actually seeing the Physician’s Assistant because that’s who we really like in our family. He treats Wizard and my youngest son (BLB). This isn’t magic, but it is finding the right medical team to work with to get to my best self.

Okay enough of that. Now it’s time for Wednesday Worthy. Here’s our candidate:

So what do you think, is he worthy?