Hola!! We have a new week in front of us — but we can’t get on with it until we review our weekend. Here’s mine:

Saturday we had our tables delivered. The good news, they brought the coffee table with the side tables, rather than delivering it later in the week as scheduled. The bad news — the top of the coffee table has a piece that appears warped. So they’re coming to look at that on Wednesday. The coffee table has a pop up section and that the piece does not lay flush once it’s down. Fortunately even the delivery truck driver agreed it was off and contacted the company right away. This shouldn’t be a problem, just a bit of a process that requires patience (oddly, they didn’t feel the need to have patience about charging me for the item). I’m rather proud of my patience

Sunday we had some hard drizzle and not much else where we are. L.A. usually gets a bit more rain than us, but this really isn’t much of a storm. However, aside from a walk with Maggie, it did keep me inside most of the day and that led to…baking! I made chocolate chip cookies. I may not make my protein goal for this day with the chocolate chip cookie dough taking up space in my belly, LOL. I’m totally okay with that. I’m not sure if you all know this or not, but chocolate chip cookies are medicinal and excellent for emotional well being.

Out of the blue, Wizard asked me if I would like to go to dinner, and where, on Valentine’s Day. It seems like these last few years, he’s been the thoughtful, romantic one! I randomly suggested a steak house that we were talking to the kids about not too long ago, and to my surprise, Wizard was all for it and made reservations right away.  As it turned out, we couldn’t get reservations on the 14th. Not a big deal, we chose the 13th and are looking forward to it. I appreciate that he thinks of these things and cares enough to make an effort.

This week I may look for some table lamps, but there’s an end of the month lockdown on our budget, so I’ll be just looking

How was your weekend?

TGIF! Let’s get right to sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. Winds and fires have been dominating CA, but there’s hope for some rain in the forecast around Sunday. Fingers crossed! Yesterday was warmer than any day in January has a right to be. We really need some rain, but not too much as the burn areas will have mudslide. It’s a delicate balance right now. But hey, New Orleans is dealing with snow so we all have out problems.
2. We’ve looked at more dining tables. We were ready to buy one when we asked to test putting the leaf in and out — and that was a deal breaker. Our extreme pickiness is a LOT of the problem, here. And so, the seriously unimportant table hunting saga goes on
3. But we did buy living room tables! We began with buying the side tables on Wednesday to be delivered on Saturday. We’d decided we didn’t need a coffee table. Then Wizard suddenly realized Thursday morning that he puts his coffee on the coffee table in the morning. Evidently this was a big deal So I’ve either ordered (by the time this post goes up), or will order soon, that the matching coffee table. The tables we have currently have are showing wear and tear from lots of use. And yet — I’m still repurposing those side tables into guess room nightstands.
4. I’ve been tracking calories and macros right now for fitness goals. My top goal is to get a 100 grams of protein a day without overeating calories. It’s work to do it, and it’s about as boring as it sounds, but I don’t mind right now. It’s all part of what I consider a hobby I care about right now. Building strength is important to me for my future self and making sure I don’t gain weight while doing it will keep extra pressure of my joints since I have RA. What’s weird is how defensive I feel about it, and I shouldn’t! But the anti diet culture makes me think I ‘ve suddenly developed an eating disorder for tracking. We live in a weird world when I feel defensive about improving my fitness!
5. We may go see Wizards mom today and take them some enchiladas that I made for Thursday night’s dinner. As for the weekend, we have the side tables coming Saturday and I’m not sure about the rest. We’ll see if any new and fun adventures come our way!

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

Yesterday, I received news that my agent, Karen Solem, has passed away. She was (I can’t even believe I’m saying “was”) my one and only agent for a reason. She was a damn good agent, but even more importantly to me, she was honest and straight forward. By the time I’d published after 8 years of rejections, I had a pretty solid feel for agents, and I chose carefully.

So right after my first book, DATING CAN BE MURDERED, was published with Kensington books, I flew to NY for a conference. While there, I had a meeting with Karen. One of the first things she said to me was, “You can write.” I was caught by surprise, because I’d assumed she was interested in me because I’d already published one book in a two book contract and was ready to negotiate the next two book contract. It was then that I understood she’d have passed on me if she didn’t think I had the chops, despite the upcoming contract that would earn her money. Karen had been NY Publisher editor for years before becoming an agent and had been in this business for a long time. She’d seen it all by then. And once I grasped that she really believed in me, I have always valued those words to this day, and I tried to remember them when I doubted myself. It was the start of a good professional relationship with a side of personal friendship.

Years later, when I needed a new publisher, I sent Karen the outline for my paranormal BLOOD MAGIC. She loved it. But it took time to sell, and she never gave up. She found the right editor and a series was born. That said, it was a troublesome birth, with a few more snags along the way as there often is on the path of NY publishing. Karen stood by me the entire time, and her steadiness helped me navigate the rough ride.

And then I decided to try category, she sold THE BABY BARGAIN to Entangled and we hit the bestseller list. That was a surprise!

Over a couple decades, I’ve had endless emails with her, tons of phone calls, and a smattering of lunches, cocktail parties and coffees with her. Once I was self-publishing, we were still connected by the residual business of my NY published books, and we’d chat now and again. I always knew if anything that needed an agent came up, I’d call her. It feels odd that she’s no longer “there”.  That we won’t talk about books, or our love of animals, or the state of publishing. Nor will I hear her stories (and she had some!).

Honestly, this feels like an era has passed. But I am grateful that I had a strong, kind and professional agent who doubled as a friend guiding me as I waded the minefield of being an author with NY publishers.

By the time this blog goes up on Wednesday, I’ll feel grounded again and I’ll be smiling at the memories. Today I’m just a bit sad.

Happy Wednesday

It was a good weekend, but not much to tell in a roundup. I did a little cleaning, ran a few errands and a worked out on Saturday. Sunday was a designated chill day to rest. But because I’m so good at chilling, Maggie and I went on two walks and clocked over three miles, LOL. But it actually was a nice day with no demands and the walks were fun. I even managed to easily finish the Dell book because I saw down in the day when I’m not as prone to falling asleep. I felt very accomplished! I only had something like 10 pages left but by the time I sat down to read, my eyes were tired and burning (contacts!) and I’d fall asleep.

Oh and another highlight for me that most will find silly or dumb. I got two sets of tiered drawer-baskets for under my bathroom sink and I love them! It was a mess under there, and most of the stuff was a pain to get to. Now everything feels organized and accessible. I’ve been “thinking” about these tiered baskets for a year when Wizard finally had enough and told me to just order them. Now I have no idea why I was dithering! But honestly, sometimes it’s the small things that make us happy.

Last night we went to dinner with friends we haven’t seen in years. However I’m writing this before we go because I’ll forget after — until I go to bed in which I’ll remember and either 1) get up and write the blog then not sleep or 2) dwell on the fact that I didn’t write the blog and not sleep. Yeah, I know, my brain is a puzzle. Anyway, I’m sure the dinner will be fun! We are looking forward to it.

How was your weekend? Hope everyone stayed warm and safe in the cold!

TGIF!!! It’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. The winds have calmed! I’m very happy about that. I don’t see any rain in the forecast, but I’ll take no winds as a win.
2. This week, we had pillow drama So I buy expensive pillows on my doctor’s strong recommendation for my neck. They’ve worked well in the past. Then the new ones arrived, and frankly, they were garbage. I do think I ordered the size wrong, but I did not order crappy pillows. Think sleeping on an letter sized envelope filled with few paper shreds —  they were just terrible for us. There was a long 24 hours of me being mad at myself (because I should have known the quality had gone down?) Then it dawned on me — we can still return them. The company has a guarantee. So I contacted the company, they agreed to my returning them, and I shipped them off. I should get the refund soon. This stupid little thing stressed me out more than was reasonable.
3. We have run all over the county, and we’ve seen a lot of dining room tables. They all are starting to look the same, and my very old one is starting to look better. At this point, I just need the most amazing and perfect table in the universe to ring my doorbell, or I’m moving on to other, less exhausting projects!
4. I made a version of white chili chicken yesterday to freeze for lunches. I changed a few ingredients to use what I had on hand. Fingers crossed I like it because I have six servings batched up in the freezer and fridge I also made two loaves of sourdough bread and put one of those is in the freezer.
5. Today the plan is to go to Baby Girls for a bit. Daughter in law needs to drop her car off for a few days, so Wizard will go with her and bring her home.  If anyone’s wondering, Middle Son is working so hard right now and asked us if we could help, and we’re happy to. I’ll watch the baby while they get the car into the shop. It’ll be fun for me! But when Wizard gets back, I promise to share Baby Girl with him. That reminds me, Wizard saw a funny video a grandpa holding the grandbaby and the grandma repeatedly trying to get her from him. Wizard cracked up and made the totally shocking accusation that that grandma is me! Can you believe that? I know, it’s outrageous even if it’s probably true, LOL. This weekend, we’ve talked about trying to see Turbo but we haven’t talked to his parents yet. We both are running a bit tired, so we’ll see.

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

I just finished listening to a mystery, THE LOCKED DOOR by Freida McFadden. I liked it. For the record, I figured out the killer before the story revealed it! That’s a win for me, and also, I like the way the author hid the killer in plain sight. The narrator was good, but she tended to use a whisper-like voice that I, at times, had trouble hearing. But I have trouble hearing certain pitches, so that’s totally on me.

Next up, is an autobiography THE HOUSE OF MY MOTHER by Shari Franke.

I’m at the very end of the biography by Michael Dell, PLAY NICE BUT WIN. The first third and last third have been sluggish, while the middle third kept my interest. I’m glad I read it, and I feel like I learned some things. It’s just been a slow read for me. And I keep falling asleep, that’s likely another me problem and not a book problem

What are you all reading?

It’s been a mostly good weekend, aside from fire news and winds. But we won’t dwell on that too much.

Saturday was lovely for us! We spent a few hours with our granddaughter, while her parents and several other volunteers worked on inventorying merchandise for a charity organization. They had brought the trailer with the merch to Middle’s house as he has a huge driveway. The cause is childhood brain cancer, and these dedicated folks donate a lot of time and effort to support it. I admire them all for it. And just a quick brag: Middle Son is bone-crushingly busy with work, and he traveled out of state for a good part of this last week. And yet, he and daughter in law are still committed to this important cause. I know I’m flat out mom-bragging, but I’m proud of their priorities.  Anyhow, back to Baby Girl, she was delightful! Full of smiles and fun. She’s a happy, easy going girl these days! Here’s a pic of her that her mom took when she turned four months old last week:

Sunday, Wizard went racing and I managed to wash all the floors. The winds have made everything so dirty, but I wouldn’t dare complain when others are dealing with a lot worse than a little dirt. Otherwise, I did my usual workouts, finally conceding that I need to give one of my hips a break. I have a bad habit of trying to go back to working it too soon and annoying it all over again. So in frustration with myself, I wrote down on my log book (where I track what exercise sets and reps) in big, blog capital letters to REST MY BAD HIP!  The hope is I’ll listen to myself if I write it down, LOL! Also, this hip stuff is old news, and I know better than to push it as hard as I have been.

Overall, it felt like a good weekend for us. More winds are coming today, but they shouldn’t be anywhere near as bad as last week.

How was your weekend?