TGIF! How is today the last day of February? It just started! Anyhow, let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week:

1. Wizard is pimping me out for my white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.  True story, he came home yesterday from picking up some parts, and said, “My friends at the store like baked goods and I told them about your cookies. Can you make them some?” I’m like…what’s in it for you? He laughed and said his discount. Whatever…
2. Today I’ll be buying macadamia nuts and white chocolate because it turns out I’m a pushover.
3. Our little serial killer took out another lizard yesterday. Don’t believe her pathetic attempt at an innocent face here. I caught her prancing around with the lizard in her mouth. She was very proud of herself. I made her drop it, and she did–unmoving on it’s back. Sigh. Also this chair is literally falling apart, ignore that. We’re semi-shopping for a new one. Wizard thinks it’s hilarious that we’re buying a new chair for a dog. What has our life come to?
4. I made Wizard dispose of the deceased lizard. Refer to #1 and 2 If he’s going to use me, I’m going to use him right back, LOL.
5. We may try to go see Turbo again this weekend if Special K isn’t busy, or I’ll keep my butt in the chair and writing. Or I could clean something, but I’d much rather write It’s still slow and my characters are rushing down blind alleys and into dark rooms with no escape plan, but I’m at my keyboard, following them into their folly, then deleting the evidence when necessary.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Not long after Maggie came to us:

And 2 1/2 years later…this is what living with me and Wizard did to her, LOL

Both Maggie and I are both aging, but we are still besties! Also, she HATES pictures. She’s either in witness protection or thinks cell phones are evil.

Happy Wednesday!

The highlight of my weekend was seeing Turbo–of course! He’s so eager to see us now, but the true shining moment for me was when I hugged him goodbye:

It looks awkward because he refused to let me go. I tried to set him down a couple of times, but he’d developed a serious case of spaghetti legs. Then he got a fist full of my shirt, and held on. He didn’t cry, he just didn’t want to let go of Grandma It was sooo cute! He’s 23 months old and already knows he has Grandma wrapped around his finger.

When he’s not being a drama boy, his motto in life is pretty much: “Why walk when you can run!” He’s a fountain of energy!

Oh, and if you look down and to the right in that picture, you’ll see Max, the youngest of CPA Boy and Special K’s dogs. Max has had two major back surgeries and is partially paralyzed, which is why he’s on wheels. Max zooms around just fine on his wheels all day long. The only time he gets cranky is when they take his wheels off and make him rest, LOL!

Sunday, I did two things. First, I’ve met my goal of  doing stretch and strengthening exercises every morning when I get up at 5:30 for 6 weeks, so I bought myself another pair of exercise pants for going to the gym. It doesn’t sound exciting, but that was what I wanted, and it helps me stay motivated. I’ve been pretty committed to walking Maggie (often twice a day), going to the gym 2 to 3 times a week if I can, and doing these morning exercises. However, because I’m not long a youngin’, I’ve developed some soreness in my hip that I’ll have to work around that this week.

The second thing I did is made some progress on the book. I just keep telling myself to let Justice and Liza tell their story, and I really REALLY want to do this. It’s the hill I have to climb to get to the other side and recapture my writing mojo. I just love both this story, and writing, too much to stop. I have to mention that the exercise discipline is beginning to spill over into writing discipline. I knew it would, but I can’t tell you exactly why. My best guess is that physical exercise rests my brain from the tinnitus that constantly rings in my head when I stop. I really don’t hear it when I’m moving enough. In any ways, it doesn’t matter why it works as long as it helps!

So that was my weekend, how was yours? As always, I really do want to know!

TGIF!! Time to jump into sharing five random things about our week:

1. I’m happy with my new washer and dryer. Now that we have them, I aware of what a struggled it had become to get laundry done with my old machines.
2. My book stalled out this week and it took me a few days to figure out the OBVIOUS problem. Because I’m keeping some scenes I had already written, then rewriting or moving others around, things can get confusing, LOL. Anyhow, I just have to keep going until The End! “Write it now and fix it later” is my mantra.
3. Today, if all goes as it’s supposed to, I’ll get the permanent crown on my tooth. Yay! I’m hoping I can work after that, but dental work can irritate my neck so I’ll wait and see.
4. I made roasted red pepper and garlic humus yesterday. I like it, but it gives me indigestion. This isn’t exactly a surprise, I don’t do well with roasted garlic as a rule. But who cares, life is about trying new things! As soon as my mouth is up to it, I’m eating some more with the pita chips I love, enjoy it, then suffer the consequences if the garlic is still feeling mean However if I make another batch, I’ll try one without roasted garlic or veggies.
5. We are going to see our grandson, Turbo, tomorrow. Wizard hasn’t been able to see him in a while so he’s really looking forward to it. CPA Boy will be at work (tax season) and we’ll be able to give Special K a break for a few hours. I’m always happy about that since I remember the endless exhaustion of being a mom.

My week was pretty boring, and while it doesn’t make for exciting blogs, I have no complaints. Now I’d love to hear five random things about your week!

My reading/listening choices are weird as usual. I finished listening to Leah Remini’s TROUBLEMAKER, and I just started  A WOMAN IS NOT MAN by Etaf Rum. I know, I know, very eclectic selections. My interests tend to bounce around.

My next book on Kindle is THIEF RIVER FALLS by Brian Freeman, but I may put that aside for a light, fun romance to change things up.

What are you reading?

Interesting factoid, my stomach is a touchy, drama queen, troll just looking for an excuse to throw a hissy fit. I’m trying to tame it with some diet alterations and they are actually helping. But this week I struggled with insomnia, and messed up by forgetting to take a medications that needs to be taken on a regular schedule (that’s very rare for me to forget–thanks insomnia!).

So Saturday arrived, and I got up feeling off. But I am A Woman, and therefore, I get shit done. I got busy baking two kinds of cookies; BLB’s special lactose free chocolate chip cookies. And then, because BLB is SELFISH with his cookies and growls at his wife if she tries to take even one of his precious cookies, I made her a batch of her favorite cookies; white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies. I refused to let my cranky butt stomach stop me.

But I had two kinds of chocolate chips opened and tempting me. And macadamia nuts, which I’m normally way too cheap to buy. Yum!

My stomach laughed its evil cackle, and said, “I dare you. Go ahead, eat some.”

And I said, “I”m not afraid of you. I’ll eat whatever I want.”

So I did.

Turns out, my stomach wasn’t bluffing. I spent the rest of Saturday pretty sickish and shooting pepto bismol shots. Which is not tasty at all, just saying.

By Sunday, I was MUCH better, probably because my stomach cried “Mercy” after I drowned it in gross pink slime. Two can play this little game, Stomach. Remember that next time you want to get mean. I fight dirty and pink!

Anyhow, the cookies came out well. We had a nice birthday lunch of tri tip, chicken, rice and salad with Youngest and Wife. And cookies! My daughter in law seemed genuinely happy that I made her cookies of her very own that BLB can’t eat

You can bet I ate some of those cookies too. Any time my stomach even considered throwing another hissy fit, I held up the bottle of Pepto, and said, “I dare you.”

Through all this battle, baking, cooking and entertaining, I didn’t get much writing done, but I will remedy that today! I’m heading into the last quarter of the book, so today may be more planning/plotting and nailing down emotions than actual writing, but it’s all part of the what it’s takes to get this full draft written. The key thing is to get the whole story written as soon as possible, then I can worry about how to make it stronger, and you know, readable.

So how was your weekend?

TGIF and Happy Valentine’s Day! Okay, let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week.

1. I need to start writing these blogs in the mornings when I have ideas…by late afternoon/evening, I just want it to be wine time That’s what happens when I start my days around 5:30 a.m.. On the other hand, I’m usually going nonstop in the morning, then I write after lunch until 4 or 5, so…I could get up at  4:30 or 5???? LOLOL! That would make for some interesting blogs. I’m often awake, but definitely not articulate.
2. Wizard and I went to a quick dinner last night for an early Valentine’s Day. We wanted to go to a nice place and debated it all week, but between my temporary crown and Wizard’s having a health issue too, we decided to put a nice dinner on hold. And I just didn’t want to cook dinner myself. We went to a local Mexican restaurant. Today, I think we’ll go to the movies just to do something together.
3. My Romance Writers of America (RWA) organization is giving me emotional whiplash. My problem is that this organization played a pivotal role in my writing career, creating a deep nostalgia in me that is getting in the way of me making rational decisions.
4. I’ve been chipping away at a lot of goals this year, and I’m very happy about that. Even writing Savaged Devotion–although it’s sooooo slow– it is progressing and I’m determined to be pleased with that.
5. Sunday is Youngest Son’s birthday, and he and his wife are coming over for lunch. We’re making tri tip, and of course, his special lactose free cookies. I offered to make him a lactose free cake, but nope, he wanted the cookies. I will make him anything he wants, and he knows it, LOL!

That’s my Friday Five, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a very Happy Valentine’s Day and a great weekend!